Too Good to Be True

by David Lins  |  11/13/2022  |  (Being) Catholic Matters

This Tuesday, I’m expected to be going under the knife. It will be my first surgery since my tonsils were removed in childhood. This time around, a neurosurgeon will be drilling a hole into my spinal column. In preparation, I had to watch a video that described the procedure in detail along with the odds of every possible thing that could go wrong.

It ended by saying something to the effect of – “…and while incredibly rare, death has occurred in less than 1% of patients during the procedure or resulting from the procedure.”

My yelp review of the video would’ve been negative.

I am more nervous about the surgery than I care to admit, but in the end, tomorrow is never promised to any of us. Time is precious.

This helps explain why it is such a blessing to celebrate 50 years of Our Lady of Joy this weekend. With property set high above the chaos of Phoenix, where there is still more land than construction. Indeed, the view and noise levels are a perfect explanation for the name of the city in which it resides.

And yet, the most precious blessing of this parish is not found in the beauty of a vista or the peaceful sound of the breeze. It is found in God and his family. A family who is imperfect, but generous. A family who is hurting, but faithful. A family who has worshiped and adored their Heavenly Father for five decades.

Five decades.

Those words mean something different to devout rosary-praying Catholics who gather at a place named Our Lady of Joy. And I have no doubt that our consistent worship of Mary’s Son has brought her joy indeed.

So, don’t let this weekend pass without recognizing the gift we have been given. After all, when I go to a conference and people from other parishes see my nametag, they can hardly believe a parish called “Our Lady of Joy” exists in a town called “Carefree,” Arizona. They think it sounds too good to be true.

And I tell them it is.

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