Hidden Blessings

October 10, 2025
By: Bob Wondolowski


When the idea of writing on hidden blessings thought it was kind of trite, contrived. But as I thought and prayed about it, I realized that there are some good lessons.

We have a bug zapper, two forty watt UV bulbs, in our backyard, near the woods. Every day as I sit on our deck under the gazebo, I see the lights. A few years ago I decided to let the lights burn 24/7, all year round. The lights remind me of Jesus, the light of the world. If I wake up at night and look out the window, I am reminded of Jesus.

The other day the lights shut off. We had had some rain and a little wind, which made me think that moisture had gotten into the unit, or into the extension into which it is plugged. As I gazed upon the dark bug zapper, I definitely felt something missing. It just wasn’t right. It made me sad. Upon examination I found that moisture had gotten into the seemingly tight connection between the plug and the extension. I dried it off, plugged it in, and it worked again. I covered the connection with the ever reliable Gorilla duct tape.

The next day we had a deluge, for many hours. As I sat on the deck, happily seeing the bug zapper lighted, I thought of the 30 or so homilies I’ve heard about Jesus in the midst of the storm – the storm of our personal lives. It rang very true. I considered many instances when Jesus had come through for me and my family over the years – in illness, depression, financial concerns, concerns about a test and on and on. My reflection reminded me of one of my favorite scriptural verses, Psalm 81:6c-7 that states, “A voice I did not know said to me, I freed your shoulder from the burden.”

The other thing I became aware of was how a small little sin in our lives, a slight, unheeded lack of focus on our spiritual life, an act of unforgiveness towards another, a discrimination against a group of people, an attitude of selfishness and not sharing, and on and on and on, could get in the way of our sharing in the Light. Small attitudes, unattended, can become big attitudes. Small prejudices can become big prejudices. Small acts of selfishness can morph into big acts of selfishness, and small acts of turning inward upon ourselves can, over a period of time, erase the light of Jesus in us without our realizing it, until we find ourselves far away from the Lord, unable to connect back to him without a lot of effort and help. Erosion in the spiritual life, just as erosion in the natural order, starts with small things that eventually grow bigger and out of control.

The bug zapper attracts bugs and makes them one with itself by destroying them. Jesus attracts us and in our union with him, turns us into light. None of this is trite. If this column makes even one person more grateful for realizing the hidden kindness of Jesus in his or her life … if it makes even one person aware of some small or big thing separating him or her from the light of Jesus, and gives that person the impetus to work on it, to get help in the sacraments and among those close to Jesus, then my writing about the hidden blessings in bug zappers is not trite. It is well worth it.