God Rules with His Strong Arm

In today's first reading, Isaiah  40: 1-11, Isaiah asks us to "comfort, give comfort to my people. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her service is at an end, her guilt is expiated.  Indeed, she has received from the hand of the Lord double for all her sins....A voice...[cries] out [that] [a]ll flesh is grass, and all their glory like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower wilts, when the breath of the Lord blows upon it. So then, the people is the grass. Though the grass withers and the flower wilts, the word of the God stands forever....Here comes with power the Lord God, who rules with his strong arm; here is his reward with him, his recompense before him. Like a shepherd he feeds his flock; in his arms her gathers the lambs, carrying them in his bosom, and leading the ewes with care."

We belong to God. Because we are God's creation, God's cherished children, God did not hold anything back in His love for us.  His recompense is our salvation secured for us by the death of
God's only begotten Son, by God in human form put to death as a criminal!  As on Calvary, so, now, God "rules with his strong arm." God gathers us in his arms, carries us in his bosom, leads us with care now and always until that moment with "the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken....A voice....[that] says...."Here is our God! Here comes with power the Lord God, who rules by his strong arm."

My faith tells me that God is always in work in our world: in the earthquakes, the fires, the disasters, the mud slides, the floods, the rescues, the surfacing of truth, the generosity of persons reaching out to help those in need, the divisions caused by greed, dishonesty, injustice.  What looks like disaster, as on that very first Good Friday, will at some point give rise to new life!  Why? because God "rules with his strong arm."

A Great and Awesome God

Today's first reading, Daniel 9: 4b-10, begins as follows: "Lord, great and awesome God, you who keep your merciful covenant toward those who love you and observe your commandments! We have sinned, been wicked and done evil; we have rebelled and departed from your commandments and your laws."

God is addressed by Daniel, by you and me and all humankind as "great and awesome!"   We sinners are talking to an "awesome and great God!" All of us, like Daniel, have sinned before God. Our ancestors have sinned! Every nation has sinned, has worshipped idols, has sought strength and comfort, not from God, but from material things, earthly things. We have lorded ourselves over others.  We have, as a nation, as individuals, as a church, as a society, as a nationality, resorted to violence even to the point of war, flexing our muscles. We have alienated ourselves from God and one another.  We have engaged in manslaughter, in various forms of violence, in prejudice, and unjust behaviors. We have been merciless, arrogant, greedy, pride-filled and haughty. We have judged others, condemned them, and on and on and on! And, with Daniel, we say: "Lord, great and awesome God,  you who keep your merciful covenant toward those who love you and observe your commandments! We have sinned, been wicked and done evil; we have rebelled and departed from your commandments and your laws."

In today's responsorial psalm, we pray: Lord, do not deal with us according to our sins. Remember not against us the iniquities of the past; may your compassion quickly come to us, for we are brought very low.  Help us, O God, our savior, because of the glory of your name; deliver us and pardon our sins for your name sake....[W]ith your great power free those doomed to death." And God does and wills it!

What a great and awesome God, a God of love, a God of compassion, a God of mercy.  We are asked to be merciful, compassionate, merciful and love as is our God!

An Attending, Caring, Rescuing God

Today’s first reading, Ez. 34: 11-16, opens with the Lord saying to us: “I myself will look after and tend my sheep….”  I am touched by the humility, the love, the caring, and the commitment of our God.  Unlike so many parents today who turn their children over to guardians or nanny’s while they go off to do whatever, not even around to prepare meals for their children, to offer a shoulder to cry on, to provide guidance in the midst of overwhelming confusion,  or, simply, to  tuck them in bed at night, God says “No, I am going to tend my sheep. I’m not turning them over to anyone else.” 

When I personalize that message, the Lord God says to me:  “Dorothy Ann, I am taking care of you. I am tending to your needs. I am going to be at your side when disaster strikes.  Your safety is my safety. Your well-being is my well-being. Your healing is my healing.  Your daily needs are my daily needs.  That you are safe from the Evil One is my concern.  I am in charge of your safety and I will never leave you at anytime on your life’s journey.”

I encourage you to personalize this message as well. What is God saying to you?

What a humble, awesome, caring and faithful God!  There is no other God!  Safety  exists only in God and no other!  We have men and women,  young and old, children, adolescents and adults who reflect this trait of God but no one equals our God! Any rescue accomplished by humankind is God working through those courageous persons!  We see God at work through human beings rescuing persons trapped in collapsed buildings, pinned by fallen debris from fires, tornadic and hurricane winds, drowning in flood waters, or in danger anywhere in the world from whatever threatening force. God is there tending His sheep!

Where do you find God tending His sheep?