Finding Favor with the Lord

In today's first reading, James 3: 13-18, St. James asks us whether we are wise and understanding and then says to us:  "...[S]how your] works by a good life in the humility that comes from wisdom."   There is no way to do this if "bitter jealousy and selfish ambition" dominate our hearts. How do we know whether these motivations have entered our hearts? Their presence reveals itself when we give in to boasting and abandon truth. In James words: [D]o not boast and be false to the truth. Wisdom of this kind does not come from above but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every foul practice."  And we see the effects of jealousy and selfish ambition every night when we listen to the nightly news.  Our country has stooped, I believe, to a new low where selfish ambition is applauded and rewarded, where earthly wisdom darkens our minds and hearts and will. Yes, there is a aura of the demonic clouding, I believe, the U.S. Every kind of disorder and...foul practice" are the order of the day, it seems.

But what about you and I personally? Because we live in this kind of climate does not exempt us from taking James words seriously!  You and I as Christians are called to be wise and understanding, to live "a good live in the humility that comes from wisdom, divine wisdom that is, not earthly wisdom.  When you and I act from divine wisdom, we are relying upon the Holy Spirit for guidance and strength to make right choices, to follow, in the words of today's  the responsorial psalm, Psalm 19, "the law of the Lord."  Only God's laws and decrees are "trustworthy, giving wisdom to the simple,...rejoicing the heart,...enlightening the eye....The ordinances of the Lord are true, all of them just."   With the psalmist, we pray:  "Let the words of my mouth and the thought of my heart find favor before you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer."

God Sends His Messenger

In today’s first reading the Lord shares the following promise with us through the prophet Malachi: “Lo,” the Lord says, “I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me; and suddenly there will come to the temple the Lord whom you seek, and the messenger of the covenant whom you desire. Yes, he is coming,…but who will endure the day of his coming? And who can stand when he appears? For he is like the refiner’s fire, or like the fuller’s lye….He…will purify the sons Levi….”

That messenger is Jesus!  Suddenly, without fanfare, quietly, the Lord will appear in each of our lives.  God may visit us in the beauty of creation, in the sun and moon and stars; in the warmth of spring or the heat of summer and fall, in the smile of a child or the unconditional love of a pet.  God may also appear in the call from a friend or a family member, in a letter or an email that brings good news.  God may also come, Malachi tells us, “like the refiner’s fires, or like the fuller’s lye…He will purify” us.  That kinds of visitation may be in the form of an earthquake or in another violent way. God then comes to us hidden in the storm that could easily shatter our confidence, weaken our knees, bring a tremble to our voices.  God’s visitation may be in news of a serious illness, our own or that of a loved one.  Those kinds of visitations reinforce our dependence upon God, our need of God.  Acknowledging such, we are purified of pride and arrogance. 

Am I looking for God, as God searches for me?  In those situations that frighten me, God is there as anchor, as rock, as Savior, Comforter, and Confidante.  “Come to Me,” Jesus says to us in Matthew 11: 28, “all you who labor and are overburdened, and I will give you rest. Shoulder my yoke and learn from me for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”