The Fellowship...

Frodo: "I wish the Ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened."

Gandalf: "So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. There are other forces at work in this world, Frodo, besides the will of evil. Bilbo was meant to find the Ring, in which case you also were meant to have it. And that is an encouraging thought."

Sometimes in our journey in life we find ourselves on "the bottom" looking "up." We don't always know how we got there, how we are going to get out, or why God would even let us get to that point. We wonder how we can ever over come evil, and we feel as if the battle is lost. We get the feeling that the only thing we can hang out hat on is the fact that we are still breathing, at least for the moment.

So how do we push on when we face a situation like Frodo? How do we pull ourselves up when all we can think is that we wish we weren't in the position we find ourselves in?

I know that you can guess the answer... it is of course God. But how do we get from despair to God? As Catholics we have a multitude of paths - they are called the Saints. They are models for us to follow that are paradigms of the "despair to God" journey-hero. They have decided that they will take the time given to them by God, and use it FOR God.

We know in these hard times that the will of evil is at work. We feel it, we are affected by it, and we find ourselves succumbing to its force... but we have the choice of how to spend our time, even in the midst of evil - while we face it head on. We must look to the Saints, to our faith, and to the teaching of the Church to guide us, and to encourage us. We have encouragement, and must believe that we are meant for the life we have. God will prepare our way, and with him the burden of our life is light - even when we feel it to be heavy. Dark times always lie ahead in this world... so we must prepare. Our goal and our light is heaven... but we first must accomplish our life.

A good time to prepare ourselves is right now. The time of Christmas, after Advent, and before Lent. We are still reveling in the mystery and joy of Christ's birth and not yet faced with the "desert life" of Lent. Therefore we should ride this wave of joy and commit ourselves to happiness and prayer. We should take the opportunities such as the New Year, the Marian Feast Day, and the time of winter to strengthen our faith and solidify our commitment to God. We are human, as such weak, and therefore susceptible to the wickedness and snares of the Devil. When Lent comes, we face tests - we face the desert where we must encounter not just evil - but ourselves. Therefore we must prepare ourselves so that when Lent arrives, we are conditioned well enough to face the athletic pursuit of the Lenten Season.

So as we come to this time ... let us heed the words of Gandalf and decide for ourselves what we will do with the time given to us. We can rest in the knowledge that it was meant that Christ die on the cross, so we can face Good Friday, the showdown of Lent, with courage - that is very encouraging. Yet, we must prepare ourselves enough to reach Good Friday in such a way that our soul is properly prepared for the Triduum. Let us use this time wisely...