By Father David Baumgartner

Frazee Sacred Heart Catholic Church

The Here is a thought from last week’s homily: From the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks.

How hard is it to be charitable? I was having a meal with a friend. A thought crossed my mind and I censored it immediately. It was not charitable. It bordered on gossip, and It didn’t need to be said. I caught myself and I didn’t say it…at least for a few minutes. It was like lava in an active volcano. It kept bubbling in the back of my mind and all of the sudden it spewed out of me as if I had no control. But I did have control. There is no way to justify what happened. I should have kept it to myself, and I didn’t. How hard it is to be charitable? Sometimes it is very hard.

I listened to a pod cast featuring the retired secret service agent, Clint Hill. He was asked to give a word of advice regarding everything difficult in the world today. He said, “It was so much better for everyone if everyone would just be nice.” On one hand it seems like a slogan for a cheap greeting card. Or a saying on a poster of two kittens grooming each other. Clint Hill protected five presidents. He was the first to tend to President Kennedy when he was assassinated. He has seen everything ugly and noble in the world. His advice to us is, “Be nice.”

This sounds like a challenge I want to take on. How about for the next 40 days we all be as nice as nice can be. In every circumstance, be nice. After all, how hard it is to be charitable? Something to ponder is this: how hard is life for us and for everyone because we lack charity?