Cell started again as usual with a small group of us coming together to share on "Oppression". What is oppression? It is the mental burden of carrying something or being resisted.
Etc: I'm being oppressed by my parents because they nag at me; I'm being oppressed by my boss in the workplace because they give me a lot of work.
What about you? Are you oppressed in either your workplace, school or home? Sometimes, it's our loved ones that give us the bulk of oppression. Most of us shared on how our friends and non-Christian relatives questioned us on our religious beliefs (etc: Why do Catholics worship Mary? FYI: We do NOT WORSHIP MARY! We honor her as the mother of God! John 19: 26-27).
Oppression from our family members also comes in the form of ridiclude. One shared on how her brother questioned her being so holy molly in Church but does not live out her Christian ways at home. Another shared about the frustrations of having a whole family in the Catholic faith but does not practice it. In what ways are you oppressed?
Oppression also exist in a very real sense within the world: terrorism, economic crisis, war, famine, governments oppressing the people instead of helping them...
The point is wherever you go, you will be faced with oppression from friends, family members and colleagues. Oppression in your faith, your religious beliefs, your working style... It will always be open to comments from others. These comments hurt and cause us mental anguish. How then to battle this oppression? First you pray and secondly you relax. Pray not to change the others but pray to change yourself first. The way you respond to others will either ease or up your own mental anguish.. Secondly, you relax because no one thinks alike!
"God, give us grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, courage to change the things which should be changed, and the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other."
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