A Good Morning? yes it is

Yesterday, my husband bought a crucifix.

Once each year, a group from the Holy Land comes to our parish and sells crosses, crucifixes, rosaries, and other sacred objects like carved images of the Last Supper and St. Michael the Archangel. Their profits go to help Christians in the Holy Land.

So my husband bought a crucifix. We are new to the Catholic faith, and so we are - little by little - turning our home into a Catholic home.

My husband mentioned that we should have a crucifix in every room. Before he bought the new one, we had only three. Like I said, we are slowly getting there.

On Sunday, he bought a fourth one. It was a small crucifix, with a silver-colored corpus. In a little window at the base of the cross, the carver placed some stones and soil from Jerusalem. The cross, itself, was made from olive wood, also from Jerusalem.

I wasn't sure where to put it. So, last night, I set it up on the windowsill above the kitchen sink.

This morning, when I walked to the kitchen, making a straight path to the coffee pot, I discovered that my dog was sick in the night. He left me soiled spots on the hard wood floor and on the braided rug in the great room. Five spots in all.

This is not how I like to wake up in the morning.

So, I walked to the sink (rather than the coffee pot) and turned on the hot water tap. As I was waiting for the water to run hot, I saw the new crucifix and my irritation became a prayer. Instantly, I gave the anger and frustration up - for His Work.

I offered it up.

These are the lessons Our Lord is giving us, as a newly formed Catholic family. It is good to have a crucifix in every room. Not because we are so holy. But because we are not inclined to be holy and we need the help of our crucified Lord. We need reminders at every turn.

And now . . . the coffee pot awaits.