A blessing or a curse? At the end of our lives, we will have been one or the other. We will have blessed or cursed people. We will have brought negativity or joy.

Most likely, of course, it will be a mix -- we will have blessed and cursed -- and if so, the ramifications of curses must be purged in the place of gray areas (purgatory).

"You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment," said Jesus (Matthew 5: 20-26). "But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment, and whoever says to his brother, Raqa, will be answerable to the Sanhedrin, and whoever says, 'You fool,' will be liable to fiery Gehenna."

How many "religious" people insult others in the name of their religion!

They are fooling, and cursing, themselves.

Harsh language has no root in love.

So it is that we have to be careful how we think and speak, what we curse or bless (thoughts count); and at the same moment protect ourselves against the curses of others.

Has a relative "attacked" you out of the blue? Has a friend seemed to turn on you for no reason? Are you "attacked" by the mere presence of another? Have things been slung at you without cause?

These are signs of our strange time but also the age-old precept that one can be cursed, knowingly or unknowingly, intentionally or not, by others. A sting is the beginning of a curse. We have to stop it before it takes root. Many times, in life, people "sling" things at us. They sling with gossip. They attack with e-mails. They attack with snide remarks. Often, the reason is spiritual.

In the Old Testament, slingers were those who took stones from a fort, fired them over the wall, and plugged up wells. (See 2 Kings 3:25).

That happens to you also.

A missile comes from over the horizon with suddenness and it seeks to take away your joy. It seeks to plug up the living waters. It seeks to stop you.

Don't let it. Know your mission in life -- and go for it!

Indeed, if there are blocks in your life, they may have been placed there by the jealousy, or animosity, of others.

Now, don't take this and run crazy with it. Don't overly imagine (often, a block is simply because something is not in God's Will), but pray about it. And remember: most attacks are not so much from the mind of a person as from a spirit behind them. Most attacks spring from jealousy.

And that is not only a form of curse but potent. Says Proverbs: "Wrath is fierce and anger is a flood -- but who can stand before jealousy?" Sometimes, this comes from behind faces that smile. They may come from those who resent your holiness, because they know they are not at that level, and should be.

Stings spring from jealousy and are the devil's attempt to steal the joy we have in God.

Don't let them do that. Maintain your peace. Keep your joy. Grab onto it and don't relinquish it! Slough off insult.

How do we stop it?

By blessing them. By blessing those who curse us. When you respond to an attack with love, it loses its power.

We also do it with joy. Simply ignore the attack and put yourself back in a frame of mind that is joyful. Joy is closeness to God and sweeps away the fiery darts. Joy sweeps away the darts like leaves. Have you ever noted how -- when we let leaves decay -- they can stain even cement?

More than peace, joy is the marker of God. Look to the Rosary, where we see first joyful mysteries and then the ones of sorrow but finally those that are luminous and glorious.

What starts with joy ends in glory.

Couple it with blessings.

"The words we are pronouncing say much about ourselves," said an astute Croatian priest. "A word can wound and heal, it can kill and bring back to life. This is why it is important to overcome what is bad and evil within us with what is good, pure, and blessed.

"Whatever is blessed brings blessing. Bless a thing and it will bless you! Curse it and it will curse you! Whatever you judge in your life will come back to you and hurt you. If you bless a situation, it has no more strength to hurt you and, even if for a time it causes you trouble, little by little this trouble will disappear, and the blessing coming from a pure heart will become a blessing for others. When you bless, you become ready to receive blessing. Blessing is the strength and the light for our paths. Through the blessing, light and peace enter into us. As soon as someone starts to bless instead of curse, wishing good to others instead of cursing them, he becomes healthy, happy, and saved from the hands of the enemy."

"Let joy reign in your hearts," said the Blessed Mother of Medjugorje. "I wish only that you would be happy, that you be filled with joy, that you be filled with peace and proclaim this joy. I desire that through you the whole world may get to know the joy of God."

3/2/07