It took me a while to read Fr. Carron’s February 27th address “An Original Presence,” but I’m glad I did! It reminded me of what my friend Cas Patrick told me one day over 20 years ago, “Don’t should on yourself.” That’s a great, untranslatable sentence! Think about it. If you should on yourself, what are you left with? Not much good, that’s for sure.

I feel like Fr. Carron is trying to liberate us from forcing ourselves to do things that don’t correspond to the original Gift that we have been given---if only we could get rid of all the should, we could breathe freely, coercing neither ourselves nor others.

Yes, we have to say no to drugs, abortion, fornication, sodomy, same-sex marriage, pornography, pollution, assisted suicide, human trafficking, divorce, gossip, gluttony and road rage. I say that every day when I say, “I firmly resolve, with the help of Your Grace, to sin no more and to avoid the near occasions of sin.” Have we not “rejected Satan and all his empty promises”? The greater problem is what we have to say “Yes” to. Fiat. It’s not what we do; it’s what is done unto us. The initiative comes from Christ. He leads, and He responds—even from within! What a relief! Not only that, "He pours gifts on his beloved while they slumber" (Psalm 127: 2).