Lent 27 ~ Perfect Grace

Then He spoke of exterminating them,
            but Moses, His chosen one,
Withstood Him in the breach
            to turn back His destructive wrath.   ~  Psalm 106: 23

          Today, gentle wings softly brought some unexpected news. Prayers to ease sufferings caused by ignorance, prayers cried out in agony and anguish, from the depths of souls, wrought gentle grace instead. On this Thursday, a day on which I’ve long prayed for the illumination of conscience for myself and others, I learned that God had softened the hearts of a small group of people from work. And through that, they found the grace to be merciful and compassionate. It was unexpected, this change. Yes, it has taken long months of suffering and enduring, but in the earliest signs of spring yet, the first of roses are finding bloom.

          Unlike Moses, when we pray, we cannot always be sure where the answers to our prayers will find landing, nor will we know how they will bloom.

          Yet, guided by the hand of the Almighty, grace will indeed come to rest where it is most needed, in perfect answer to prayer.

Lent 26 ~ Dare To

          Yes, we are raw. Yes, we are in the dark belly of a whale. Yes, we ache. Who can be Jesus’ “little sunbeam” at such a time? Would Jesus even want such a thing? He is after much more than happiness in our lives. He is after a sustaining joy and He will give us that joy by giving us Himself, whether through the small gifts of life that bring us gladness or through the dark night of suffering. Sweeping affliction under the rug of our heart, therefore, is simple denial, an act of cowardice, and act of ungratefulness. We must dare to look it square in the eyes.   ~  Ben Palpant

Lent 25 ~ Coming Dawn

 

God will help it at the break of dawn   ~  Psalm 46: 6

          How many times has this verse from the Psalms lifted me to hope, if not joy itself. Even if it were long in coming true, it has never disappointed.

          Today, I received news that I will be getting a new boss. Naturally, given all that has happened over the years, I have good reason to be apprehensive. But strangely, not a sliver of worry steals into my heart to trouble its waters. It comes to me, that for once, I am reaching out to hope with a lightness of heart, not fear. It is as if the dawn were already within me.

          And I know it is not my doing. Something far greater is taking root within me. Something beyond me, beyond what I can strive for, beyond even what I deserve.

          Telling me, Do not fear. I am already there in your tomorrow. And where I am, the Dawn is.

 

Lent 24 ~ Unfurl the Sails

Unfurl the sails, and let God steer us where He will.   ~  St. Bede the Venerable

Lent 23 ~ In The Evening of Life

          Evening eventually comes for all, and is welcomed by those who have borne the burden and heat of a long day … in the vineyard of the Lord.   ~  Fr Raymond J. de Souza, Catholic Register

Lent 22 ~ Key to the Antechamber

Justice comes before charity.   ~  St. John XXIII

        Something has been on my heart for a while now. The Biblical sifting of the wheat from the chaff. Like many others, I too see the time of now is the time of this great sifting. Perhaps we are not yet at the point of the Great Feast, but something is definitely in motion now. Who will be allowed into the Great Feast, and who will have the door closed against them. A recent word from heaven to someone said,

          I am not coming as a Child but as a Power, with the energy of Resurrection. Those who see Me will be those who have My desire in their hearts and wish for a world of justice. This is how I will arrive, to make right what no longer searches for God and for faith that does not function. Be wary, ye whose mission has been division and whose self-righteousness was conceived by hell. Few who view themselves as saviors will have the eyes to see Me in towers of brightness that will split this night.

Those who wish for a world of justice.

          The word justice moves me where others have not. The angels who come to do the work of sifting will look for justice? I understand that it will not be in the human sense of the word but as God willed it. But why justice, I wonder.

Because Justice comes before charity. 

          Because there are times when it is easier to give of ourselves in various ways than to fight for justice? We all want justice and I believe a great many will do what they can to see righteous justice served. But when justice asks that we step into the open and make clear our stand knowing fully well that we might be stoned for it, will we still choose justice? 

          Searching my spirit for answer, this instead comes,

To enter the Antechamber of the Great Feast, Justice is the key.

Lent 21 ~ Rely Entirely

          Rely entirely on God with perfect confidence in His goodness, which never forsakes those who, distrusting themselves, hope in Him.   ~  St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

Lent 20 ~ Grief to Joy

         

          Amen, amen, I say to you, you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices; you will grieve, but your grief will become joy.   ~  John 16: 20

          One major problem is resolved today even without the win of a court case to help us. My heart is filled with a deep peace and serenity to see the joy in other hearts. For the confirmation of the good news to come on a Wednesday, a day I dedicate to St. Joseph, means a lot to me. It says to me that St. Joseph heard a mother’s plea.

          Looking back over our journey these past few months especially, something stands out – after struggles, consolation comes, but it lasts for short time before another struggle looms bigger. I often felt as if we needed to ask for grace and strength and hope – every few days. It puzzled me why grace didn’t seem to last very long. Often I wondered if it meant that I wasn’t being grateful enough or if I was blind and deaf to what God had so kindly laid out for me.

          While it is all that as well, it came to me today that perhaps this is what it feels like when it gets closer to a summit. When the path gets steeper towards the end, consolation gets replaced by a new need ever so often, making us seek new light from heaven just as soon as we have been comforted.

          I may never know the answer to it. In some ways today, it matters not either. As the eastern skies burst into a blaze of silvery orange, I know that in this one grief of ours, the old words I heard one still dawn 14 years ago, Sorrow before joy, has come true.

          Grief has indeed become joy.

Lent 19 ~ How Often?

Peter approached Jesus and asked him,
“Lord, if my brother sins against me,
how often must I forgive him?
As many as seven times?”
Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.  ~  Matthew 18: 21 – 22

Lent 18 ~ He Will Give Strength

          As I was about to receive Holy Communion, our Lord told me that He would come Himself to imprint on my heart the mystical life which He leads in the Holy Eucharist, a life entirely hidden and annihilated in the eyes of men, a life of sacrifice and seeming inactivity. He added that He would Himself give me the strength to do what He required of me.   ~  St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

          Today comes this quote from a saint who has become my work and study companion. She comes just after I prayed for strength to make it through the mountains and deserts, the hills and the valleys, the ups and downs of life.

He will give me strength

          I ask this of heaven for all of us here, for those whom I love and hold in my heart, young and old. We all have our crosses and some days, they will weigh more than other days, perhaps asking more than we can give.

          May He Himself then come, and give us all the strength to do what He asks of us.