Friday of the Fourth Week

Reflection

In today’s readings from Scripture, it talks a lot about healing and having the courage to reach out for God’s help. In the first reading, the main message is about being blinded by wickedness and spite and not understanding God’s message to His people. We sometimes can get so caught up in the negativity and anger we have toward others, that we don’t see or hear God’s plan. We focus all of our attention on negativity, that we cloud our judgment of others and our own world. We tend to not see the good in others and in the world around us. It’s so easy to get caught up in negativity because it’s always there wherever we go, but we have to be able to push ourselves away from this and try focusing on the good.

The Psalm contains themes of struggle and negativity, but it focuses on God who will destroy evil and heal those who have been hurt, reassuring us that “the Lord is close to the brokenhearted.” He will comfort those who come to Him for help. God is always there for us whenever we may need Him, and He will vanquish evil and darkness. However, we have to make the step to reach out to Him and He will respond when we do. I often pray to God to ask Him for help, whether it be for a small problem or, something that has been bothering me that I cannot handle alone. Each time I did, it felt like a weight was lifted off my shoulders and I could no longer feel any negativity but intead found peace.

In the Gospels, themes included having courage to speak the truth and how Jesus expressed Himself when saying He was the Son of God. Even though the people believe that Jesus might be the Christ the prophecy was speaking of, they didn’t believe He would reveal Himself to them because they knew where He was from. Jesus even says that He was sent by God the Father to teach and tell the people that they do not know God yet, but, Jesus comes from God to teach us about who God truly is. I believe that Jesus took a great risk in going to Judea even though he could be arrested by the Jews if He revealed himself. It takes a lot of courage for anyone to go to a place where they know they might get in trouble and be able to speak the truth, knowing they could potentially get caught. With all this in mind, God wants us to push ourselves to reach out to Him. Even though there is negativity and hardship around us, we must strive to push past this and have the courage to find good.

Prayer

Lord, I ask You to watch over me and heal my soul. Help me through the troubles I may face, and give me the courage to reach out to You for guidance.

Rachael Southworth, ’21

Scripture

First Reading: Wisdom 2:1a, 12-22
Psalm 34:17-21, 23
Gospel: John 7:1-2, 10, 25-30

Daily Scripture readings can be found online at the USCCB website