Every now and then we read about a natural disaster devastating a city in some part of the world with enormous waves. Watching the television footage I am always amazed that some trees are able to withstand the wind and the waves while everything else is blowing away. How do they do it?

With strong deep roots.

A tree with deep roots can whether any storm. In your life and mine it is only a matter of time before this next storm gets here. The death of a loved one, unemployment, financial difficulties, a troubled child, a natural disaster, marital strife or any number of other things, the storms of life are inevitable. The question is not if there will be another storm. The question is when will another storm get here.  And when another storm gets here it is too late to sink the roots.  When the next storm gets here you either have the roots or you don’t.

— Rediscover Catholicism, by Matthew Kelly