Response to the Hard of the World

Last updated on: March 19, 2025 at 11:52 pm by Sherry Antonetti

0 Comments

Response to the Hard of the World 2025-03-19T23:52:45-04:00 Sherry Antonetti

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

We live in difficult times, but in truth, we have always lived in difficult times –it’s just we did not recognize the difficulties before us except in hindsight. These days, hindsight is fifteen seconds from now. Everything seems to be happening everywhere all at once. The reality is, as my sister wisely observed, “to love the ones in front of you.” That is the way out of darkness.

Saint Mother Teresa said, if you want peace, go and love your family. She added, ““Find your own Calcutta. Find the sick, the suffering, and the lonely, right where you are — in your own homes and in your own families, in your workplaces and in your schools. You can find Calcutta all over the world, if you have eyes to see.”

Look around, people are scared, they need to be encouraged, comforted. People feel uncertain, they need the steadiness of friendship, of kindness, joy and hope.

This morning, I saw an advertisement for t-shirts for teachers. One said, “I teach because their future is worth my time.” The English teacher in me wanted to tweak that message to have parallel structure. I thought, ” I teach because your future is worth my present.” Our goal as educators is not to indoctrinate, but to introduce. We want to be memories in the lives of our students, not of controlling or managing or even instructing, but inviting them into a larger deeper more meaningful world than that of tic-tok, instagram or anything of the internet.

It means we must use humor, story, light, kindness, poptarts, music, everything we know, to show them there is so much more to the world than they know. They’ve been exposed to only what the internet reveals and the stories are so much greater and more complex than the binary nature of news, politics, and everyday online life conveys. The future must be seeded today. Students need all the beauty of God’s reality we can offer. It serves as a contrast to the awful, harsh, deep and very real suffering the news, life, and the internet brings to us every day.

Lent is a time for discovering how we’ve crowded the desert of our souls with everything other than love of God and neighbor. We’re to pray, fast and give alms. There are times when the day in, day out of life makes one tired, but Lent helps to refresh the soul –because we recognize the ways in which we might have become spiritually stagnant. I was musing, “I buy a lot of snacks for my students.” when it came time to call home and check on some of my kids. Connecting reminded me why.

A few years ago, a student I taught, ran away. I knew the last thing he’d eaten before he ran away, was poptarts in my room. So I promised myself to always have snacks. That memory had begun to fade, but the phone calls home refreshed it. Calling home is a process we use to help students thrive, it also helps us to connect more. I know this in my head and my heart, but it is still a struggle sometimes.

Parenting works the same way. I can know what to do, why to do it, and somehow, I fail. I fall. I flail. Patience and forebearance witness best, but somehow I miss the mark in the moment because I’m tired, I’m done. In those thoughtless tired moments, I do not see the reality. I do not see the needs, I know my needs. Spiritually, going into the desert is finding out how much I need God’s grace to get through every day. That of course is the purpose of Lent, to discover how much we need God.

Previous Post

March 17, 2025

To Go With the FLOW, is to Stand Against the Tide

Next Post

March 29, 2025 The Unbearable Realness of the Cross

Recent Comments

0 | Leave a Comment

"Being a parent is the greatest blessing. As a Father of seven, I know that ..."

Catholic Dad

Blessed Then and Now

"I love your post! A lot of us focus on making it to the mountain ..."

Catholic Dad

Easter Monday, Now What

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Advent Answered Prayers Blessed Mother Confirmation Devotion of the Sacred Heart Doctors of the Church Easter Family Humor family life Good Friday Growing up Healing Holy Spirit taps Lent Love in the little things Mary Undoer of Knots Not an Apologist Parenting Sacred Heart of Jesus Saint Therese of Lisieux Sin Small Success Saturday Teaching others and myself Uncategorized Waiting Writing Year of Saint Joseph

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz