The Lord Keeps Us Safe

In today's first reading, 1 Sam 17: 32-33, 37, 40-51, David offers to confront Goliath, a Philistine who is a threat to the nation of Israel.  Saul is hesitant and tells David that he is no match for this giant.  David insists, saying: "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."  Saul then offers him encouragement: "...[T]he Lord will be with  you!"  Goliath, seeing David, a mere youth, approaching him with staff, says to him: "Am I a dog that you come against me with a staff?"  Goliath curses him and says:  "Come here to me, and I will leave your flesh for the birds of the air and the beasts of this field."  David does not flinch. Relying upon the Lord, he is unafraid and says:  "...I come against you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel that you have insulted. Today the Lord shall deliver you into my hand....[F]or the battle is the Lord's."

Like for David, God has rescued you and me from "bears" and "lions" in our lives.  Some of these rescues we are aware of and others not.  God is a warrior who fights on our side against the enemies in our lives.  When we face the "Goliaths" in our  lives, it is God who goes to battle for us.  The "battle is the Lord's."

Do you, do I, have the faith and the confidence of David when we are up against situations which, without God's help, there is no way that we will come out on top?  Never for a moment, did David not believe that God would keep him safe or help him!  Do you, do I, believe that we are safe in winning battles against Satan, who certainly is stronger than we are? Upon whom do I, do you, seek help?

Today, the Lord confronted me in prayer about dealing with a situation without first bringing my concerns to Him and seeking deliverance from Him.  Consequently I fell into the pit of human weakness awaiting me and, in no uncertain terms, the Lord said to me through the Spirit within me:  "You did not come to me about your anger...That was the mistake that opened the pit into which  you fell....!"  The Lord cannot and will not help us resolve a problem that we keep to ourselves.

Christ as One Who Ends All Divisions

In today's second reading,  Ephesians 2: 13-18, St. Paul reminds us that Jesus "came and preached peace to [us] who were far off and peace to those who were near, for through him we [all] have access in one Spirit to the Father."   Paul was speaking to Jews and Gentiles, peoples who were at odd with one another, divided by different faiths. In Jesus, divisions cease between persons, cultures, nations.  Jesus "is our peace, he who made both [parties-- whether individuals or nations, different races or nationalities] one and  broke down dividing wall/[s] of enmity, through is flesh, abolishing the law with its commandments and legal claims, that he might create  in himself one new person [nation, race, culture, religion] in place of the two [or three, four, five, etc.] thus establishing peace, and might reconcile [all] with God, in one body, through the cross, putting that enmity to death by it."

God sees us at war with those we consider inferior to us; He witnesses us at odds with different cultures, races, nationalities, countries. God, not only sees the divisiveness and the animosity that exist among us, but also takes action, sending us the graces we need to end divisions, to reconcile with one another as persons, as countries in opposition to one another, as persons  hostile toward those who may worship God differently than we do.  We have God on our side to help us accomplish the mission of reconciliation and to move toward greater union and deeper love in our relationships on all levels of existence: familial, interpersonal, societal, ecclesial, national, international.

God, our Defender

In today's first reading, Joshua 24: 1-13, God repeatedly reminds the people that whatever successes they achieved was not of their own power but because God intervened when they called upon Him.  "Because they cried out to [Me, I] put darkness between hour people and he Egyptians....[It was I who] delivered [the Amorites] into your power....Balak, son of Zippor, king of Moab,...summoned Balaam, son of Beor, to curse you; but I would not listen to Balaam. On the contrary, he had to bless you, and I saved you from him."

Enemies rise up on all sides. However, with God on our side, we need not be afraid. As of old, God will deliver those who call upon Him!  God will save those who depend upon Him for their salvation.

Upon whom do I depend? To whom/what do I look for the help I need to overcome evil in my life, within me, around me, to do the good that I am invited to do every day?

God's Providence

Today's first reading, Ex 2: 1-15a, tells the story of Moses' birth, his being placed in "a papyrus basket, daubed...with bitumen and pitch," and hidden in some reeds on the river bank. The baby was found at age three months by an Egyptian woman who recognized the boy as very special and belonging to an Israelite woman. He is rescued and eventually adopted by Pharaoh's daughter as her own son and given the name "Moses," meaning "I drew him out of the waters." When Moses grew up and saw an Egyptian fighting with one of his own kinsmen, he killed him. Fearing that Pharaoh found out about the murder, Moses fled to Midian.

The first stanza of today's Responsorial Psalm, Ps. 69, describes Moses' plight: "I am sunk in the abysmal swamp where there is no foothold; I have reached the watery depths; the flood overwhelms me."

You and I--in our sinfulness, in the weaknesses to which we give in when we lord it over others, when we  need to have things work out our way and we refuse to compromise, when we are obnoxious and prideful, when we do not follow the Spirit's lead--can also sink  into "the abysmal swamp where there is no foothold; [we can then reach] the watery depths; the flood [then can overwhelm us]."

With today's psalmist, I "pray to you, O Lord, for the time of your favor...In your great kindness answer me with your constant help....I will praise the name of God in song, and I will glorify him with thanksgiving...."

As we prayed yesterday at the liturgy,  "our help is in the name of the Lord" (Psalm 124).  With God at our sides, we will not sink into the "abysmal swamp where there is no foothold."

Chaos, Woe and Darkness: Invitations to be Creative or to Accept Help

In today's first reading, Isaiah 45: 6b-8, 18, 21b-25, Isaiah makes the statement that God forms "the light" and creates "the darkness", that God makes "well-being" and creates "woe."  My response to the Lord was: "Lord, I have a difficult time believing that darkness and woe (the woes of illness, of war, of violence, and so on) come from You. The Lord's response may sound something like this:

Dorothy Ann (or your name), chaos, woe, and darkness are all part of life, as is order, blessing/joy, and light.  Chaos, woe and darkness are not such for Me. They are opportunities, challenges, and obstacles which, overcome, lead to life anew.  They are opportunities that call for your creativity, that invite you to collaborate with others.  Nothing is really awful or a failure but are temporary blockages to something more profound like discovering My help, My strength within you and others to make things better or to right wrongs.  Your depleted energy, for example, which indicates that your brain is healing, is a blessing that teaches you to respect an injured part of your body and to be attentive to need, your own and others.  Human need, weakness--yours or others--is a time when I, your God, rain down strength and healing from My storehouse of gifts.  It is also when I inspire you to offer help or, if  you withhold what you could do, to realize your stinginess and sinfulness.

The Lord God is My Help

In today's first reading, Is 50: 4c-9a, we encounter the Suffering Servant Song where Isaiah prophesies about Jesus.  Through Isaiah, Jesus tells us that "the Lord God is my help; therefore I am not disgraced...I shall not be put to shame. He is near who upholds my right...Who disputes my right?  Let [that person] confront me. See, the Lord God is my help; who will prove me wrong." In the Gospel, Peter attempts to prove Jesus wrong when He tells them that "the Son of Man must suffer greatly and  be rejected  by goth elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and rise after three days,....Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him." Jesus tells Peter to "get behind me, Satan, You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do."

None of us wants to go to Calvary. None of us wants to suffer. How often when suffering occurs in our lives, in the lives of those we love, in the world itself,  in our churches, families, civic communities, do we not think "as human beings do" and "not as God does."  "How can God allow such a thing to happen?" "One disaster after another!" "Where is God in all of this?"  "I can't believe anymore!" "I am leaving this church, this community." "I'm divorcing this person and going out on my own,  back to my mother/father!"

"How can God allow ISIS, human trafficking, abortion, the violence of war, the tragic legislation against the poor and oppressed, against women and children, legislation which protects the resources of the rich while the poor suffer want?" we ask.  God brought the salvation of the world out of Jesus' death and brings salvation to each of us out of our sufferings as well. Jesus rose from the dead, and so will we.

Go forth, Jesus says to us,  before He returned to His Father, and make disciples of the whole world. Live the Gospel; proclaim it by your lives, using words only when necessary, St. Francis of Assisi, says to us.  By the work we do, in Jesus' name, wrongs are made right for us, as for Jesus, who did the work His Father sent him here to do!

The Crown of Victory

The entrance antiphon for today’s liturgy reads:  This is the one who was not deserted by God on the day of struggle and now wears a crown of victory for faithfulness to the Lord’s commands, alleluia. Obviously this One is Jesus Himself but also all of those who have gone before us and were faithful to what God asked of each of them on their journey of faith.  I think of my own mother and father, both of whom were faithful to what they believed God was asking of them as individuals, as husband and wife and as parents.  Yesterday Pope Francis I canonized two popes: Pope John XXIII and Pope John Paul  II, both of whom also were faithful to what they believed God asked of them  as priests, bishops and popes.

What is God asking of you, of me, on our daily walks with Him, in our interpersonal relationships,  in our ministries (careers), as Christians, in our particular vocation in life, be that marriage, religious life, priesthood, or the single life?  How do you and I become the best version of ourselves physically, spiritually, emotionally, interpersonally, as a family or community member,  in our parish and civic communities, as a responsible citizen of the U.S.?  In all of these dimensions of our lives and in all of our struggles God does not desert us.

Let us remember in prayer today the 16 people, our brothers and sisters in Christ,  killed in the tornadoes that ripped through Arkansas last night and all of those families who lost absolutely everything. 

Jesus' confidence

“My appointed time draws near…,” Jesus tells us in today’s Gospel, Mt. 26: 14-25. As the God-Man, Jesus knew that He would soon be given over to the power of Satan so that you and I would not ultimately succumb to his power. He was about to secure eternal salvation for the entire world. The One  who is guiltless, sinless, would soon assume the guilt of us all upon Himself as He hung upon the cross of crucifixion and death on Calvary.

Jesus knew the Hebrew Scriptures. The prophet Isaiah’s Suffering Servant Song, part of which was today’s first reading, Is 50: 4-9a, must have given Jesus a lot of strength.

The Lord God has given me

a well-trained tongue,

that I might know how to speak to the weary

a word that will rouse them.

Morning after morning

He opens my ear that I may hear;

and I have not rebelled,

have not turned back….

The Lord God is my help,

therefore I am not disgraced;

I have set my face like flint,

knowing that I shall not be put to shame.

He is near who upholds my right…
See, the Lord
God is my help;

Who will prove me wrong?

 

To whom and to what do I look for strength?

What has God given me “morning after morning” to prepare me for what the day holds?

Am I as confident and secure as Jesus was when it seems as though Satan’s power has been unleashed upon me? Do I realize, in those times, that my help comes from the Lord God and that God will not let me “be put to shame,” that the One “who upholds my right” is near?

Make Haste to Help Me, Lord

In this morning’s meditation, my eyes were riveted on the entrance antiphon: “Forsake me not, O Lord! My God, be not far from me! Make haste and come to my help, O Lord, my strong salvation.”  My thoughts quickly reversed the words to read: “O Lord, may I not forsake You. May I not be far from You in how I think, in what I do and what I plan to do this day.  May I hasten to seek Your help for You are my secure and ever-present salvation.” I prayed that God would purify my heart, my mind, my will, my entire being; that He would pour out His precious blood upon me to heal me and transform me into Christ. I prayed that, like Jesus who came to served not  to be served (compare today’s Gospel, Lk  20:   17-28), would  give me the courage and the wisdom to let go of anything that would lead me to wanting to be glorified in God’s place rather than being God’s servant here on earth.

James and John, in today’s Gospel, approach Jesus, asking to be given the honor of sitting one at his right and the other at his left in the Kingdom—we can be seeking “kingdoms” here as well.  Their petition was not in accord with God’s will for them. How often, I asked myself, to do seek something that is not in accord with God’s will for me, or for another.  What God promises is that when I meet the events of my life that bring me suffering, when sin in me is being purified by God’s grace, He will send angels to me as He did to Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane and He will give me the strength, the courage and the peace of mind and heart that He gave Jesus in Jerusalem, where Jesus was betrayed by Judas and handed over to those determined to destroy Him. “Do not be afraid,” Jesus tells us in Mt 10:28, “of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; fear him rather who can destroy both body and soul in hell.”  And remember, as Jesus tells us in Jn 15: 20-21, a “servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will persecute you too…[I]t will be on my account that they will do all this to you, because they do not know the one who sent me.” Remember, too, that Jesus is at our side and that before He went to Jerusalem to face death He prayed for us, asking His Father to “protect us from the Evil One” (Jn 17: 15).

Trusting in the Lord

 In today first reading, Is. 26: 1-6, we are encouraged with words: "Trust in the Lord forever! For the Lord is an eternal Rock."  I am at our province headquarters in Oshkosh, WI.  I came here on the 3rd of Dec. and will be here until the 14th. I came to set up a vocation committee that consists of lay people, SSM Associates and some Sisters.  I said to the Lord on the way here: "Lord, this is a trust walk, an act of faith. I have no idea who I will be interviewing or whether the persons I asked for suggestions have any information for me." The first night at Franciscans Courts, our headquarters in Oshkosh, I went to the library around 7:00 p.m. and around 7:30 a sister who does chaplaincy work at Mercy Hospital in Oshkosh dropped by and gave me a list of names of persons she thought would be good committee members. On returning to my room, the phone rang. It was one of our Associates. She had a list of names for me.  I was overwhelmed. I had been praying the prayer: "Lord, bless me this day and I will indeed be blessed!"

I have 12 person interested in working with us to promote religious life and priesthood, to put forth effort to make SSMs known. I will be interviewing all of these persons and writing recommendations to the Council.

Our communication specialist, who also has background in marketing, has offered to analyze my work and help me develop strategies for more effective use of social media and maintaining ongoing contact with inquirers.

"Trust in the Lord! For the Lord is an eternal Rock!"  How many times the Lord confirms this truth for me! What about you?

Mary, Mother of Sorrows

This week we have been meditating on the prophesy of Simeon, when Mary, unexpectantly, learned that her son would face a great deal of opposition in his life and that her own heart would bear much sorrow.  She’s gazing on this beautiful child and being told that his life would cause much pain, for himself and for her.  At that moment Anna drops by. Anna is an elderly woman, who, following the death of her husband of seven years, spends her time in the Temple. She is 84 years of age when she meets Mary.  She is a woman who has suffered much.  She is a faith-filled and hope-filled and compassionate person capable of understanding Mary’s pain, comforting her and offering her hope. 
 

All of us have “Annas” in our lives: men and women, young and old, infants, children and adolescents who enter into our lives at just the right time, as Anna did for Mary.  They are persons who generate hope and faith in our ability to find our way through the “darkness,” to discover our inner strength to endure the emotional, spiritual, psychological or physical pain suddenly thrust upon us. The “Annas” in our lives are God-sent, beacons of light in our darkness, towers of strength in our weakness, pillars of faith in our doubt.  Many times, as for Gabby Giffords and Mark Kelly, husbands and wives fill this role for one another. Close friends and/or siblings may also do this for each other. From history, we know that St. Francis and St. Clare, Saint Benedict and St. Scholastica (twins), were beacons of light for each other. Pope John Paul II and Mother Teresa of Calcutta have been a source of strength for many.  Sometimes the “Annas” that come by at just the right moment are a phone call, an email or text message, a Scripture passage, a passage from a much-loved author, a song that moves us deeply, or a favorite movie.  God uses many ways to comfort, strengthen, uplift and hearten us when bad news is delivered to our doorstep.

Being awakened

Today's first reading is about St. Paul being thrown "off his horse"  awakened to how he was hurting the Lord. I had a similar experience that has brought me to my knees. In prayer this morning I talked with the Lord about it. Our conversation follows:

“Lord, I was merrily walking along

when suddenly a huge “boulder” landed in front of me.

I looked at it—

‘Can’t walk around it,’ I said,

It’s size blocks any outlet, so it seems, Lord.

“So I come to You, Lord, in my distress.

The stone that sealed You in the tomb

Was removed for you by the power of God’s Spirit.

That same Spirit, I believe, Lord,  will remove this boulder.”

“Have no fear, Dorothy Ann,

You are a resurrection child,

A child of God,

A sister of Christ.

I, your God, am at your side.”

And I said to the Lord: 

“Obstacles are not obstacles to You, Lord!

Setbacks do not disturb You.

Darkness is not darkness to you

And chaos stirs You to action.

Out of mud, and this is muddy, Lord, you created an intelligent, loving human being

Who tilled the earth and became your co-creator.

“So, too, Lord, in my present situation,

You will bring order into the chaos,

Turn the darkness into light,

Remove the  boulders and open the way to move this ministry forward.

Something alive, inspired, creative, co-partnering will emerge from ‘the mud’.”

“Have no fear, Dorothy Ann, I do all things well!”