All Is Gift

Disability and strife
along with
Capability and delight.

Some wrapped gloriously,
easily opened.
Some wait in the shadows
until I am ready.

Some wrapped in armor,
laborious to shed.
Some down right ugly to behold,
painful to touch,
impossible to open
unless placed
on the altar,
opened as they are
transformed
at the foot of the cross.
Amen.

--Patrick A. Jones

Through 4 years of diaconal formation we experienced one common thread in all we did. All is gift. Family life is chalk full of gifts, from the awe inspiring wonder of new life to the everyday wonder of dirty dishes and hectic schedules, to the devastation of unwanted grace in face tragedy and death -- there seems no more appropriate common thread for weCatholic's explorations than All Is Gift.

I wrote this 10 months after becoming disabled with traumatic brain injury. This past March, our third daughter (5th pregnancy) died minutes after being born. I have no idea how there is gift in such devastating loss. I do not understand. I struggle with questions without answers. And yet how much more precious is the time I get to spend with our two daughters -- playing in the snow, or a game by the fire, or answering questions about baby Jesus as they add straw to the awaiting manger. The touch and love my wife and I share though is often seems as if we are two beloved ships passing in the day and night. All is gift. Somehow.

I pray for God's blessing on all who come to this site. Give us wisdom to be passionate Lovers, wise and loving parents and help us know and love our faith that we may become more fully who you've created us to be. Amen.

Love and Blessings,
Patrick