The Lord as Our Refuge

In today's responsorial psalm, Psalm 27, we pray:  The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom should I fear? The Lord is my life's refuge; of whom should I be afraid?"

Yet we know that there is much to be feared for some in the world of today.  Many people are fleeing persecution--religious and other forms of persecution, beginning with children being bullied in school and on social media. People in many parts of the world are running for their lives from terrorist regimes, cruel actions on the part of their government officials. There are also those fleeing from domestic and street violence.  Some people plan escape possibilities from pimps and human traffickers while others try to stay safe from sexual assaults in the work place.  A person's refuge may be their car, a fast food restaurant, a homeless shelter, a church, a trusted neighbor's house or that of a relative, and, in some cases another country.

In the midst of these and other situations, we encounter men and women, young adults and children of incredible faith. I remember a little girl, about 9 years of age,  having fled from Isis and living in a refugee camp in the Middle East.  She was grateful and spoke of God's help shown her in camp-- a story on the news this past year.

From where does such strength come? From being taught to take refuge in the Lord. The darkness in this little girl's life was not dark to the Lord.  Nor so in our lives.  May all of us seek the Lord above all in whatever situation we find ourselves and teach our children to do the same.  May we live from the belief that we "shall see the bounty of the Lord in the land of the living." May we "wait for the Lord with courage [and] be stouthearted and wait for the Lord," as  we also pray in Psalm 27.

The Lord's Glory is our Shelter and Protection

In hope, today’s first reading, Is 4: 2-6, speaks about the Lord’s coming.  Isaiah makes the following proclamation: When the Lord washes away the filth of the daughters [and sons] of Zion, and purges Jerusalem’s blood from her midst with a blast of searing judgment, then will the Lord create over the whole site of Mount Zion and over her place of assembly, a smoking cloud by day and a light of flaming fire by night. For over all, the Lord’s glory will be shelter and protection: shade from the parching heat of day, refuge and cover from storm and rain.”

Our faith tells us that God will destroy all that is evil in the world, not just in the middle East or anywhere else in the world but in the U.S., as well.  The wickedness that brought down Jerusalem (it was destroyed in 70 A.D. because of the evil within it) will also bring down any other city or country in the world of today. Our courtship with idolatry, adultery, greed, jealousy, hatred, misogyny, sexism, racism, violence and corruption, deceitfulness and gluttony, pride and selfishness invites the “searing judgment” of our God.  The blood that has been poured out upon the earth will be purged as “a smoking cloud by day and a light of flaming fire by night” envelops the world. When that time comes, “the Lord’s glory will be shelter and protection: shade from the parching heat of day, refuge and cover from storm and rain” that is the result of humankind’s sinful choices, whether those choices are personal, familial, social, civic, ecclesial or corporate.

 In less than a month, we will celebrate the Incarnation of the Son of God, who left the glory of heaven to come to earth. During His earthly pilgrimage, the-Son-of-God-made-man encountered everything that any human being encounters. In fact, as St. Paul reminds us in 2 Cor. 5:21, God "made the sinless one a victim for sin, so that in him we might become the uprightness of God." Yes, through Jesus’ death on the cross and resurrection from the dead, where sin was destroyed, we have been reconciled to God. Truly, Jesus came, not to condemn the world but to save it and, for that reason, out of that love, “the Lord’s glory will be shelter and protection,”  especially when the “blast of [God’s] searing judgment” purges the world of sin and the gates of heaven are opened for all of those cleansed in the blood of the Lamb and who recognize Jesus as their Savior. As John the Baptist says to us: "Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven is close at hand" (Mt. 3: 2).

Come, Lord Jesus, come and save us!