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.

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.