God Suffers with Us and Will Revive Us!

In today's first reading, Hosea 6: 1-6, the prophet invites us to return to the Lord, saying to us:   "Come, let us return to the Lord, it is he who has rent, but he will  heal us; he has struck us, but he will bind our wounds.  He will revive us...he will raise us up, to live in his presence. Let us know, let us strive to know the Lord; as certain as the dawn is his coming, and his judgment shines forth like the light of the day! He will come to us like the rain, like spring rain that waters the earth."

TRUST IN THE LORD!  The entire world has been struck with the coronavirus. "God's judgment shines forth like the light of the day," says the prophet Hosea!  It is God, in the prophet's  words, who, "will heal us," "bind up our wounds" once this virus has run its course!  Repent and believe in the Scriptures!   "As certain as the dawn" is God's presence in our midst. God, I believe, suffers with us and it is God who "will revive us,...raise us up, to live in his presence."  That presence is already here! Let us keep our focus on Jesus, or, if we have turned away our focus to other gods, let us return our focus to the Lord, our God, to Jesus our Savior.

If everything looks dark to you, let us recall the first Good Friday. Everything could not have, in my opinion, looked darker to the disciples of the Lord. Their master was being executed in the public square, so to speak. The One to whom they looked to establish an earthly kingdom and rescue them from Roman occupation was being put to death. Yes, they had it wrong. Jesus was not about building an earthly kingdom. His kingdom was of God and existed with God in eternal life and He surrendered Himself to death to raise us up with Him in eternal life to be with Him forever in a Kingdom of justice and love and peace and joy forever. That is our destiny even now!

Recognize Wrong Paths and Turn Around as did the Ninevites!

What an incredible God! Today's first reading, Jonah 3:1-10, tells the story of how God saw the wickedness of the Ninevites and did not allow them to continue without being confronted and given a chance to repent.  He cared! He acted by sending Jonah to warn them that they were gong down a path that would lead to their destruction. The Ninevites listened, repented and changed their lives for the better!

God does the same for us, sending us warnings and inviting us to repent of our wrongdoing and change our lives for the better. He does so for individuals,  communities, municipalities, families, churches, nations , countries,  businesses, governments, and so on.  God is at work when creation groans against us as the result of being abused or sinned against. Other persons rise up to confront us when we harm them. Nations confront one another. God uses whatever instrument is available and whoever accepts his/her responsibility to be the eyes and ears of Christ to call for repentance, just as God used Jonah.

Am I listening? What in my life do I need to change to become the person God calls me to become in Christ Jesus?  What attitudes need changing? Which of my behaviors do I need to challenge as not being in conformity with Gospel teachings?  Is pride, gluttony, avarice, greediness, selfishness, hatred, prejudice, judgmentalism, sexism, envy, jealousy dominating my behaviors? Or am I following the Spirit's Wisdom and cooperating with grace to act as Jesus acted: generously, humbly,  lovingly, compassionately, patiently, honestly, caringly, mercifully? Do I , like Jesus, pray for my persecutors: "Father, forgive them for they know not what they are doing"? Do I conform my will to the will of my Creator God? Or am I following evil spirits whom St. Michael and the good angels  cast out of God's presence and who, now, are determined to keep us out of heaven as well?