“Don't say, ‘That person bothers me.’ Think: ‘That person sanctifies me’. St. Josemaria Escriva

When a grain of sand gets into the shell of an oyster, it secretes a substance to coat the intruder. Over time, this process results in the formation of a pearl. The same is true with the irritation that we experience from others. Instead of letting it become something negative, we can, with God’s grace, transform the situation as a means of our sanctification. That was the way of St. Therese of Liseux. When one of the nuns irritated her, she chose to transform the situation into a stepping stone to holiness. There is a pearl in formation in each of us.