You may be familiar with a certain sari-clad nun who was known for serving the poorest of the poor in the streets of her mission country. She apparently kept two coins in her pocket that she would rub together throughout the day, explaining that, just like the relationships among the sisters in her religious community, it is the friction and grinding that makes them shiny. The next time, therefore, we are tempted to withdraw from colleagues, spouses, friends, or any other person because of a painful interaction or an uncomfortable experience, let’s remember that it is precisely in having our faces set “like flint against a stone” (Is 50:7) that our hard exterior may be broken up and some new person revealed. May we thus trust the circumstances into which the divine hand has chosen to place our souls, and may we be generous and open in the way that we give and receive such rubbing. We shall “shine like the stars of heaven” (Dan 12:3) with the one who was ground down for our sake (Is 53:5). Ave Crux, Spes Unica!
Voice of Moreau 
Amen to this… May we thus trust the circumstances into which the divine hand has chosen to place our souls, and may we be generous and open in the way that we give and receive such rubbing. We shall “shine like the stars of heaven” (Dan 12:3) with the one who was ground down for our sake (Is 53:5).