Making Peace with Your Past

I was recently interviewed on a secular radio station on a sports show, both about my sports background and about Catholic Sports Radio, and since I spent ten seasons working in the NHL the interviewer asked me about fighting in hockey. And then when the interview was ending he asked me about how I've survived the two months of the pandemic without there being any live sporting events to broadcast or to watch. And it makes me think of this time that we *have* been given to really search our hearts and do some deep reflecting on those that we've wronged or those that have wronged us. It might not have been a drop-the-gloves and throw punches hockey fight, but there likely are conflicts that are still festering inside of us that we need to reconcile. In 2015 Pope Francis delivered an address in Paraguay during which he said, "Perhaps the most powerful message that you can offer to those around you, is this faith that reaches out in solidarity. The devil wants you to quarrel among yourselves, because in this way he divides you, he defeats you, and he robs you of faith." Friends, if you're mired in that, recite the St. Michael Prayer and free yourself from those unnecessary chains and then praise God for that victory.