God Has Made His Salvation Known (Ps. 98)

,In today's first reading, Romans 1: 1-7, St. Paul describes himself as follows:

• A slave of Christ Jesus
• One called to be an Apostle, that is given the grace of apostleship
• One set apart for the Gospel of God
• One who is to bring about the obedience of faith among the Gentiles for the sake of Jesus' name

Who am I? Who are you?  In one of the Gospels, Jesus says that He no longer calls us slaves but friends because He has shared everything with us that the Father had given to Him.  We are persons called to servant-hood as well as called to a relationship with the Most High, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, God Himself.  What a noble vocation!. What a graced relationship!  By our servant-hood and our friendship with Jesus, we, like Paul, are commissioned to bring about the obedience of faith in others whom we encounter in life.

As we pray in the responsorial psalm, Psalm 98, of today's liturgy, "The Lord has made known his salvation" to us through the Gospels and those who preach the Gospels to us in word or in deed. We, in turn, by our calling to be God's servants and friends, make the Lord's salvation known to ourselves as well as to others.  All of this is possible because of the wondrous things God the Father has done through His Son, Jesus, whose "right hand has won victory for him, his holy arm. The Lord has made his salvation known: in the sight of the nations he has revealed his justice."

Lord, I think you for the wondrous things you have done and are doing in the lives of each of us!  Thank you for making your salvation known to me every single day of the year, in good times as well as in bad times, in every season of my life!  Thank  you for the call to be your servant and your friend.  Thank you for setting me apart and consecrating me to you in my baptism, confirming that gift in the sacrament of Confirmation and through any other sacrament that I am privileged to receive through your love for me. I offer this thanksgiving to you through Your Son,  Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.  Amen.

In Hot Pursuit!

In today's first reading, Ex 14: 5-18, the Egyptians regret having allowed the Israelites to leave their country.  "What have we done!  Why, have we released Israel from our service!"  Angry, they go in pursuit of the Israelites with full force:  "Pharaoh's whole army, his horses chariots and charioteers, caught u[ with them as they lay encamped..."  The Israelites see the Egyptians coming at them in to pursuit. Terrified and angry, they turn on Moses: "Were there no burial places in Egypt that you had to bring us out here to die in the desert? ....Fear not! Stand your ground, and you will see the victory the Lord will win for you today." Through Moses, God parts the Red Sea and the Israelites pass through it on dry ground, while Egypt's whole army parishes in the middle of their attempts to cross over and return the Israelites to being their slaves!

How challenging it is for us to leave the "Egypts" of our lives--those environments or attitudes or behaviors or  people that enslave us to evil or deprive us of the freedom God desires for us.  When we resolve to do what is right, the evil one does not give up. He pursues us just as the Egyptians pursued the Israelites. Do we "stand our ground"  until we "see the victory the Lord will win" for those who are faithful to His commands, seek is help and long to see His face.

God Victory Will be Ours

In Is 35: 1-10, Isaiah prophesizes about the fulfillment of God’s promise of sending a Messiah to turn the world back to God.  We know that, through Christ Jesus, we will be saved.  Satan, seemingly totally out of control in today’s world, will be overcome. Evil will be destroyed along with those who perpetuate evil and do not repent.  “Here is your God,” Isaiah says, “he comes with vindication” Is 35: 4),  All of us, in some way or another, long to be exonerated now. However, our justification might not happen until we enter eternal life, as it did not happen for Jesus until His resurrection.

Isaiah tells us that when the Messiah enters our lives and our world, our eyes and the “eyes of the  blind will be opened”, our ears and “the ears of the deaf will be cleared” (Is 35: 5).   Wars will cease between individuals, families, nations, cultures, men and women, rich and poor, homosexuals and heterosexuals; human trafficking and drug trafficking, and violence of any kind will cease. With the coming of the Messiah into our personal lives we will create a world in which the integrity of every human being will be honored, each one’s needs will be met.

Am I ready for this Messiah? Am I preparing a path in my life where Jesus is welcome, where the Spirit is heard and God’s instructions followed?  If so, how is that happening? If not, what do I need to change?