The Power of Prayer

In today's first reading,  Esther C: 12, 14,-16, 23-25,  Queen Esther, an orphaned Jew, feels obligated to intervene for her fellow Israelites, whom her husband, the King, has given orders to be put to death.  Seized with incredible fear, Esther, with her handmaidens, prostrate themselves in prayer day and night begging for help.  Esther begs for the courage to approach the King, praying: "Put in my mouth persuasive words in the presence of the lion and turn  his heart to hatred for our enemy, so that he and those who are in league with him may perish. Save us from the hand of our enemies; turn our mourning into gladness and our sorrows into wholeness." And God grants her request and the Israelites are spared execution. Obviously, without God's intervention and help, Queen Esther, in no way, would have had the courage to approach her husband. He was bent on getting rid of all the Israelites who dwelt in his land.  On the other hand, her faith in Yahweh was solid.  She was convinced that God would give her the courage she needed to stand up to the King. And He did not disappoint her.

Queen Esther reminds me of King David, who has a little boy, possibly an adolescent, approached Goliath with the same faith. We see this same faith lived out by Jesus, a human being like us in all things but sin.  When faced with incredible evil, he did not flinch. He confronted demons, raised the dead to life, cast out diseases of all kinds, including leprosy, and challenged the Pharisees and scribes who plotted to kill him. Evil forces did not stop Jesus from carrying out the mission God had given Him, as was so evident when He told His apostles that He was going up to Jerusalem, where He knew He would be put to death.  Jesus did not hide from life's difficulties, not even death. He showed us that the powers of evil do not have the last say. He triumphed over death and all other evils that plagued Him during His active ministry.

Lord, we need the courage of Queen Esther, King David and You Yourself, so as to confront evil in our day.  How many times do I not cower in fear and do nothing.  How often do I not pretend that the evil is not happening around me or, worse, join others in doing what is absolutely wrong and against Your holy will.  Have mercy, Lord!  Please give me the courage that you gave Queen Esther to do what I know you are calling me to do for the welfare of others.

Blessed by the Lord, my Rock

In today's first reading, 1 Sam 17: 32-33, 37, 40-51, David goes to Saul, proposing that he go and fight Goliath.  Saul is initially appalled. "You can't do that. You are merely a youth; Goliath "has been a warrior since his youth."  In other words, Saul belittles David, puts him down, and discourages him strongly!  David does not back down. "The Lord, who delivered me from the claws of the lion and the bear,  will also keep me safe from the clutches of this Philistine."

If you and I, in the face of opposition from others, are relying only upon ourselves, arrogantly believing in our strength and have not gone to the Lord, knowing that only in God will we be successful in overcoming "Goliath" situations that we encounter, we are likely to crumble both under others' disbelief in us and in handling difficulties beyond our native strength.  It is in God, with God and through God that we are strong and no other way!  In it is humility, not pride, that we are armed with grace!

Jesus, whose aim here on earth was "to do not [His] own will, but the will of him who sent [Him]", tells us in John's Gospel that He "can do nothing by myself" (John 5:30). Relying on His Father, one with His Father, Jesus confidently went about His Father's work. In today's Gospel, Mark 3: 1-6, Jesus enters the synagogue and is met by scheming Pharisees, who look upon Jesus with the same contempt that Goliath looked upon David.  Strong in the Father, Jesus calls up the man with a withered hand and, in the front of those plotting to kill him, heals the man of his disability.

How strong is your faith? my faith?  What happens to me/you when we face opposition, when people treat us with contempt? Do we continue to carry out the command we know is coming to us from the Father, from God, the Rock of our Salvation?  If we believe that that Rock will destroy any "Goliath" that threatens us, we shall be unafraid to do what God is calling us to do!