WHEN YOU WALK THROUGH THE STORM
Wednesday of the Thirty-Fourth Week in Ordinary Time
My dear encountered couples:
For the last few days Jesus has been talking about very unpleasant things. The temple would be torn down, nature would go crazy, friends and relatives would cause us all sorts of grief, and life would be anything but a bowl full of cherries. You might say, “Tell me something I don’t already know.” What we don’t personally experience, CNN not only tells us about it but shows us in glorious color — over and over and over. The horrors and tragedies of the world are not a secret.
Neither is the love of God. But when our attention is focused on here and now miseries, when our minds are trying to solve practical, everyday problems, it is possible we forget about God and his love.
In fact, we might wonder if he really does love us. “Why would a loving Father let all these things happen?” That is a question we might be able to begin to answer but never fully comprehend — not this side of heaven. So, we must hang on to what Jesus says today and often said in many different ways:
“Not a hair on your head will be destroyed. By your perseverance you will secure your lives.”
Jesus is mainly referring to our souls, of course. When all is said and done, when all this is over and through, God will welcome us into heaven. Meanwhile we must take it on faith that he has hold of our hand at all times no matter what is happening. God is with us. Let us in mind and heart do our best to be with him.
