Monday of the Fourth Week
Isaiah speaks of a new heaven and earth being created and of the past no longer remembered. This can be viewed in a spiritual, emotional, or symbolical way, or even life after the pandemic. We can choose to believe, trust in the Lord, move ahead, and leave the fear of COVID behind us. All will be well, again. God tells us that there will be both joy and weeping in this imperfect life, that God will sustain us, if we allow His grace to transform our souls to boldly live a life filled with a deep and heartfelt gratitude.
The Responsorial Psalm, “I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.” Rescued me from what or whom? Situations, other people, sickness, the pandemic, or from myself? I often say that God wants to bless us if we would only let Him. Unfortunately, we often get in the way and become our own stumbling block to all the spiritual and temporal gifts God wants to bestow on us. The simple purity of the Lenten journey is God’s gift to help us to realize, understand, and then let go of all that prevents God from rescuing us.
The Gospel reading encourages us to be bold with the Lord. Do we believe and trust like the official? Do we dare to ask for God’s will for us and not our own? I recall the year my daughter got married and my son was diagnosed with cancer. I wondered how I would balance all the emotions, everything that would occur over the coming months and what could, or would I do? I chose to trust in the love of God through his son Jesus to give me the grace, courage, and strength to live each day that year in love and peace and to be an example of this for my family. Although I did not know why this profound joy and deep sorrow were occurring at the same time or whether my son would be cured, I chose to believe that God was and is with me, always, even when I don’t feel His presence. Thanks be to God, like the official, my son was healed.
Prayer
O Lord, our God, unwearied is Your love for us, help us to remember and trust in that love, visible to us through Your son Jesus Christ. Help us to love ourselves and others for love of You and to be a grateful people who understand and acknowledge that You have rescued us in Jesus. Amen.
Nancy Dulude, Administrator Saint Anne’s Shrine
Psalm 30:2, 4-6, 11-12a, 13b
Gospel: John 4:43-54
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