Don't Be a Loser!
We have all received gifts. Let's use them!
Who says you are a loser? Have you ever heard people say that we came into this world to suffer? That we need to resign ourselves to our lot because that is just the way things are? Think again!
- Aurora Lopez couldn't read because she had never had a chance to go to school. With lots of effort and perseverance she learned, got an elementary education, and went on to get her GED diploma. Then she started a small business.
- Marta Snchez lived in a poor neighborhood of a big city, riddled with drugs, gangs, and all kinds of problems. She started participating in the activities of the youth group. She says, "I grew in self-esteem." Today she has a degree in early childhood education and is a teacher in her own neighborhood.
- Reinaldo Romero lived in a poor neighborhood in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where drugs and lack of formal education were rampant and people had just given up. He offered the trunk of his beat-up car to start a small lending library.
What these three examples have in common is that these three people refused to pity themselves. They had to fight. No one is born into defeat or failure. Many people are told early in life to be "good losers." But people need to rebel. Oppression begins to be conquered by a personal change of attitude.
- Moses had a speech impediment, yet he confronted Pharaoh to get freedom for the Israelites.
- David was a young shepherd who had to confront a giant in order to defend his people.
- When Jesus' disciples started to preach after the Resurrection, people thought they were drunk because it was strange that such poor and uneducated fishermen should be speaking so forcefully.
Christ did not give up in the face of injustice, obstacles, and persecution. Like Christ, we need to persist stubbornly until we conquer even death.
