Today's Sermon in a Nutshell:

A woman was waiting for her flight in a large airport. When her plane was delayed, she decided to buy a book, a package of cookies, and sit down in the VIP lounge to read in peace. Shortly thereafter a man sat down in a seat across from her, put some items on the coffee table between them, opened his magazine and started reading. When the woman reached down, opened the package of cookies and took one, the man also reached down and took one. The woman was shocked by this total breach of courtesy, but didn't say a thing.

And so it went, every time the woman took and ate a cookie, so did the man. This really infuriated the woman, but again, she didn't do anything because she didn't want to cause a scene. Then, when only one cookie remained, she thought to herself, "What will this rude man do now?"

The man picked up the last cookie, broke it in half, and offered her the other half. This proved too much for the woman to bear so, in a huff she grabbed her things, stormed off, and went to her gate. When she finally boarded the plane, sat down in her seat, and looked in her purse, it was then that she saw her packet of cookies – untouched and unopened.

In that very moment she felt tremendously ashamed and realized she was in the wrong. The man had shared his cookies with here willingly, while she had reacted angrily, thinking that he was helping himself to hers. And now there was no chance for her to explain, nor even to apologize.

Each of us has lost our heads at times and we've all misjudged a situation. We're all guilty of reacting before knowing the facts and we each have been in the wrong. Perhaps this is because when it comes down to it, we are more creatures of emotion rather than of logic. Yet as Christians we are expected to do just that: subdue our emotions, control our behavior, bridle our passions, maintain our composure, keep a balance, regulate all situations, and not to lose our cool.  This is what St. Paul was teaching us in today's epistle lesson when he wrote, "Let all that you do be done with love" (1st Cor. 16:14) – because love keeps us [body, heart, mind, & soul] centered in Christ!

Fr. John