theROCK

The Path to Life

“Lord you will show us the path of life.” This is the official refrain of today’s Psalm. It might be slightly different than what was sung, but if you look up the readings for today, this is what you will find. And what a beautiful, necessary refrain of hope we are given today!

The world is in trouble. We are all faced with struggle we could not have imagined. Jobs have been lost. Healthcare coverage lost. People are sick. Many have died. We are all going stir crazy stuck in our homes, ready for life to “return to normal.” We want, oh Lord, that sense of security and ease we had before the pandemic. We want to embrace our loved ones. But we are trapped in a cycle of insecurity and instability as the world battles to understand the nature of this virus and how best to respond.

But the Psalm today reminds us that our security is not in the world. Our security is in God. Lord, YOU will show us the path of life, not money, not prestige, not a bolstered economy or a miracle cure (important though those are). You, God, and only you are our security. You alone give us stability and peace.

The Psalmist goes on to say: “I bless the Lord who counsels me; even in the night my heart exhorts me. I set the Lord ever before me; with him at my right hand, I shall not be disturbed.”

In this time of great trial, suffering, and inconvenience, let us turn to the Lord as our only refuge. Let this time of instability remind us that God alone is our rock. With him fighting at our side, nothing can overtake us.

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)

God's Timing

For a long time whenever I read John 11, the story of Lazarus whom Jesus raised from the dead, I identified with Martha and Mary in deep pain and crying out, questioning Jesus’ timing. However, in re-reading, I realized even if Jesus had left right when he got word that Lazarus was ill, Lazarus would still have been dead upon his arrival. Even when I realized this, I was still mad at Jesus for not leaving right away, because he was delaying his arrival, delaying his time to mourn together with Martha and Mary.

This feeling is likely a result the difficult days in-between my grandfather’s passing and his funeral. It was hard to mourn him without all the other people who were part of my memories of him being there while they traveling to be with us. Then I realized, that through this, Jesus shows us both his humanity and his divinity.

Jesus shows His humanity in the limitations of human travel, which prevented him from being at Lazarus’ side while he was dying, and in weeping at the death of his friend. He also shows his divinity, not only in raising Lazarus but also in the prudence to wait so as to perform a greater a miracle in sight of all those who gathered, that they might believe in Jesus.

In a similar way, we might be profoundly feeling the loss of the sacrament of the Eucharist right now, but Jesus is with us, and He will continue to perform miracles, even if they aren’t exactly when we desire them to be.