theROCK

God is With Us

Every now and then we have to go through some of the bad stuff in order to get to the good stuff. The bad stuff, like Jesus’s suffering and death, only helps us to better appreciate the good stuff, like his resurrection. If Jesus didn’t lay down his life for us, we would never have the opportunity to join Him in Heaven. Did you know that the heart of Easter resides in the covenant that God made with Abraham? Indeed, the history of our salvation is the story of God’s covenant with his people as told in the Bible. It is a story that took thousands of years to make. It is a story that continues to be written. It is a story marked by “Yea! God” moments and “Where did God go?” moments. It was in one of the longer stretches of “Where did God go?” moments that led to God sending His only Son to
remind people, teach people, and reaffirm people that God is always there. Faith and trust in God helps you to live joyfully in spite of the difficulties. God is with us – Emmanuel. I am hoping that now is not one of those “Where did God go?” moments for you. It isn’t for me. I can see Him plain as day. I can see what God is doing in us, with us, and through us. He is very much present. He is alive and well this Easter.

May the risen Christ be your joy and peace. May the joy of the risen Christ be your strength in your work, your way to the Father, your light to guide you, your Bread of Life. Remember that the passion of Christ always ends in the joy of the resurrection. When you feel in your own heart the suffering Christ, remember that the resurrection has to come. The joy of Easter will dawn. (St. Terese of Calcutta, Thirsting for God by Angelo D. Scolozzi)

Enduring our Cross

How are you all doing out there? Me? Well, words do not exist for what I am feeling. I simply can’t put a finger on just the right adjective. I guess the closest would be brokenhearted. My cup gets filled by the kids and the teachers. Their worlds of instruction and learning are going on, persevering in their studies, undoubtedly doing amazing and wonderful things, and I can’t see nor hear them. I did not sign up to be a principal of a virtual school. I need people. I need kids. I need the Knights!

Last week, I was talking about how this experience is supposed to be teaching us something. I am learning a lot about myself as a child of God and as a servant to His people. I have always known that I am not perfect, but I am learning how truly imperfect I am. Therefore, I am making a change to my Lenten sacrifice for the remainder of the season and into the Triduum. This is all a level of suffering that is helping me to identify with my Lord and His Blessed Mother.

Mary, my mother, your heart desires to alleviate suffering. Help me first to offer my suffering to the Lord so I may find peace from what afflicts me. Then help me see the suffering of others and give me the desire to alleviate that suffering just as you desire to alleviate it yourself. Amen (A Heart Like Mary’s: 31 Daily Meditations to Help You Live and Love as She Does, p. 107)

Each of us are carrying a cross right now, it is our job to recognize  that and be empathetic toward it. I am working to be vigilant for how God is moving among us so that I don't lose sight of Him. Places I would usually find Him are gone or hidden from me. I am left looking for it in the words that come across my screen or through my family. One must be vigilant toward looking for it to see it. A Knight is vigilant. God is good, all the time! All the time, God is good! Good will come from all of this. Good is occurring.

In times of trial, it is imperative that we strive to find hope and bring hope. As an Easter people, this is what our faith depends on. Hope. Hope is trusting in God’s loving plan with our hearts set on the goal of heaven. To lose hope is to lose God. Don’t lose hope.

Faith

Faith. If God loves us, why do bad things happen? That isn't an easy answer. Some of the bad things that happen are the result of God loving us enough to give us free will. We are free to choose what we do and what we don't do. God created us with a conscience, reason, and gifts us with a whole lot of grace, so that we hopefully choose options that are in line with His will. Working counter to God's will results in actions with less than great consequences. That makes sense.

But what about those things that randomly happen. To this I would say, especially as it related to natural disasters, that the Earth has been doing what it has been doing for millions of years. Plates shift and move, air masses collide, stuff happens. People get in the way. The Earth is bigger than people. That makes sense. God has empowered people to develop ways to track storms and warn people so choices can be made.

Then the questions of illness, pain, suffering pop up. Indeed, these are the toughest because one can't reason it away. That is where faith steps in. When we struggle to understand why, our faith compels us to action. There's a reason in the suffering somewhere. It can be hard to find what the reason may be but faith leads us to it. This level of "bad" is to compel us toward God; to a dependence on Him. It doesn't make sense but it will if you have faith. It is said that hindsight is 20/20. When a person takes time to think back to a time of suffering, the fruit can be seen. What was to be learned? What was the reason? In fact, long suffering is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. How is suffering good? It brings us to dependence on God. Faith.