Father Simon Tugwell wrote a very beautiful piece on thanksgiving, referencing the words of St. Paul, in this months' MAGNIFICAT. His theme was mainly that as Christians, "together with thanksgiving, we are to make known our petitions to God" and how, "to thank God in the way that is expected of us requires a readiness to penetrate beneath the surface of things, a readiness not to judge superficially", and finally, that we should be second to none in saying "thank you." So in light of this lovely meditation I want to thank God for all of the many blessings that He has given to me. I want to thank Him for the beautiful day that we spent together as a family and though I'd like to petition Him to knock down off their high horse the person who broke into our house yesterday while we were gone, just as He did to St. Paul, instead I will petition Him for a merciful and forgiving heart. I will strive this day for the grace not to "judge superficially" someone who steals the quilt off a young boys' bed, taking the quilt he uses to cover himself with every night, to gather up the goods he is stealing, for I can only imagine what kind of childhood this person, who also emptied out a four-year-old's piggy bank, must've had. And finally, I will strive to feel pity for this person who not only stole material things, but who took with him a good nights' sleep, the hope I had about moving here, the peace in my heart on having a fresh start and most importantly, yet another piece of my childrens' innocence.
My children don't deserve to have something like this happen to them, and neither do we, but perhaps "beneath the surface of things" the God who ultimately penetrates the hearts of all men, knows that whoever it was, needed those things more than we did!
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