A Further Thought

About 12 years ago God gave me a gift I never wanted. As I looked at the package I was not impressed with the bow, the wrapping paper really turned me off. I opened it up and looked inside and was not immediately impressed with his choice. It certainly wasn't a gift I would have picked out for myself! Yet as I tried to smile prettily and say thank you, I came to recognize how special this gift really was and how much I truly needed it. The gift God gave me was the Catholic Church and all these years later, after nearly 10 years of being a Catholic I am still finding new treasures in the hidden nooks and crannies of the gift. Maybe some of those ugly duckling gifts you get this Christmas are God's way of preparing you for an ugly duckling that will turn out to be a swan in your life as well.