The Rose

Not too many years ago, I felt downcast.

I went to see a priest and this is what he told me: Do you know what is the most beautiful flower? It is the rose. But, before the rose becomes a beautiful flower, it has to grow through the most painful thorns.

At first, it is a bud, and then, with agonizing pain, it comes out as the most beautiful flower in the world.

So it is with our lives. If we go through rough times and push through with courage and faith and love, we will come out of our problems as a beautiful rose.

Frances Buratovich
September 8, 2004