Our eternal friend

Where did this man get all this? (Matthew 13:56)

How could Jesus’ townsfolk not see who he really was? He had already performed so many miracles and spoken so insightfully about the Law of Moses. But to them he was still the carpenter’s son from down the street. So because they came to him with such low expectations, they were kept from experiencing the healings, deliverances, and other works of wonder that so many others had received. By their lack of faith, they placed limits on what they would allow God to do for them.

Do you limit Jesus? Has he become your Savior only on Sundays or in times of crisis and difficulty? Of course he wants to touch you during Mass. And yes, he loves to be with you in the hard times. But he wants to be so much more as well. He wants to talk with you and walk with you as he did with Adam and Eve in the garden. He wants to give you counsel in your decisions, cheer you on in your successes, and teach you from your mistakes. He wants to give you good gifts and teach you how to serve your loved ones more humbly. Jesus wants to be your constant companion!

It can be hard to believe, but God really does delight in revealing himself in the everyday events of our lives. What’s more, he actually enjoys being with us, even when we’re sitting through a meeting at work, watching television at home, or doing the laundry. The more we learn how to sense his presence, the more we will receive his blessings, his revelations, and his love.

Brothers and sisters, Jesus is completely committed to you! Even when your mind is taken up with the demands of the day, he is still close to you. You may not be able to feel his presence all the time, but he is there, speaking words of love, shielding you from the devil, and forming you in hidden, unseen, ways. In the face of such love, how can you do anything but place your faith and trust in him?

from wau.org

Grace multiplied

He withdrew again to the mountain alone. (John 6:15)

Did you ever think that Jesus would let the crowd make him their king after he had multiplied the loaves and fishes? That may be what they wanted, but Jesus chose otherwise. He chose humility.

In today’s second reading, Paul tells the Ephesians and all of us, “Live in a manner worthy of the call you have received” (Ephesians 4:1). We tend to reduce this invitation to specific points of action: I have to do this good thing, and I have to avoid that temptation. But what if Paul were urging us to imitate Jesus first and foremost in our dispositions—especially in our humility?

True humility means trying to avoid building ourselves up in the eyes of others. It means trying not to judge people harshly or bring them down in hopes of elevating ourselves. It means even avoiding the pride that can pop up when other people remark on our humility! 

How can we learn from Jesus how to be meek and humble of heart? The answer may be found in the way we yield ourselves to God and let his grace shape our hearts and our minds. When we stop trying to earn God’s approval or achieve other people’s recognition and allow ourselves to be fed and strengthened by Jesus instead, grace multiplies—just as the loaves multiplied when Jesus offered them to his Father [emphasis mine]. Yielding to the Lord like this will open us to the grace we need to do those things we find hard to do on our own. It will keep us from promoting ourselves because we will be keenly aware of how much we owe the Lord.

Today, tell Jesus that you want his grace to help you view yourself a bit more humbly and view other people a bit more highly. Tell him that without grace, it is impossible to be humble. Ask him over and over again, and watch as he transforms your heart.

“Lord, give me the grace to be just as humble as you were the day you fed the five thousand.”

from wau.org

Move forward

Stand your ground, and you will see the victory the Lord will win for you today. (Exodus 14:13)

Don’t the Israelites seem awfully fickle in this passage? Here they are, overflowing with the riches they had just extracted from the Egyptians, freed from slavery, having witnessed ten awe-inspiring plagues, and their immediate response to danger is this: “Were there no burial places in Egypt that you had to bring us out here to die in the desert?” (Exodus 14:11). It seems almost comical!

Well, we might not fare much better if we were held up to the same scrutiny. When a sudden crisis rears its head, our first instinct is to worry and take action, not to sit still in peace and trust.

Fortunately, God is working in us in the same way he was working with the Israelites, proving to us that his love is strong, steady, and unchanging. He is showing us how constant he is and helping build our confidence in him.

As the Israelites demonstrate, it takes time to accept these truths fully. It’s a good thing that God is patient! Carefully, painstakingly, he will continue to work with us so that our trust and confidence in him grow.

As we become more confident in God, we’ll also find ourselves being set free from fear. After all, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31). We’ll find the strength to give ourselves to other people in love. And we’ll become more trustworthy. All because we are rooted in our eternal, immortal, ever-loving, and ever-giving, Father! We know we belong to him, and we are convinced that no one can snatch us out of his hand (John 10:29).

How are you doing when it comes to trusting God? Do you struggle with the fear that he may let you down? Take a moment to picture yourself on the shores of the Red Sea. Imagine that the Egyptian army represents whatever threats you are facing. Now reread today’s passage—especially God’s word to Moses in Exodus 14:15-18. Let God show you that you don’t have to cry out to him. All you have to do is “go forward” in trust and confidence that your Father is by your side.

“Lord, I put my trust in you today. Help me to rely on you in every situation.”

from wau.org

The opinion of One

He will not contend or cry out. (Matthew 12:19)

A central part of any suspense movie is the cat and mouse game between the villain and the hero. Whether it’s a high-speed chase, a game of wits, or a race against the clock, the villain is seeking to trap the hero in some kind of web to render him powerless against the villain’s schemes. For his part, the hero uses his quick reflexes, his street smarts, and his charm to avoid capture and save the day.

Well, in today’s Gospel reading, we see Jesus employ a unique strategy that probably wouldn’t play out well in a suspense movie. After he heals a man on the Sabbath, some of the Pharisees set out on an elaborate cat and mouse game in which they hope to trap Jesus in his own words so that they can put him to death. But Jesus, realizing what is going on, decides not to get drawn into their web or provoke a confrontation. Instead, he simply withdraws. He avoids confrontation altogether so that he can keep ministering to the people. That, after all, is what he had been sent to do.

What a model for us! God wants us to take after Jesus, the ultimate servant who kept his eyes focused only on doing his Father’s will. Instead of engaging in confrontation, he wants us to become agents of consolation. Instead of “crying out,” he wants us to move on to the next thing on our list. Instead of getting distracted by the enemy’s plans, God wants us to be absorbed with forwarding his plans. Imagine how many more people could hear the good news if we were all to learn the art of letting go of controversy, conflict, and condemnation!

In a culture that thrives on argument and conflict, it can be hard to remember that the only One whose opinion really matters is God. Focus on loving him and serving his people. Make it your goal only to do what you know God is asking of you. Then move on to the next task, trusting that your Father sees all that you’re doing and will both protect and reward you. 

“Jesus, help me learn to walk away from needless conflict. I want to be like you, not crying out or raising my voice, but simply loving and serving your people.” 

from wau.org

Mighty and Merciful

The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. (Exodus 3:15)

When you want to stand a few books on a shelf, you use bookends to keep them from toppling over to either side. Well, today’s first reading and Gospel are kind of like bookends for our life in Christ. We need both of them to keep us secure and safe.

The first bookend is the way God introduced himself to Moses, by telling him, “I am” (Exodus 3:14). Essentially, he said that he is life itself, embracing and surrounding all creation. As the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, he is reminding Moses of all that he has done in gathering them together, giving them an identity as his people, and rescuing them from their enemies. This is a powerful, all-encompassing God who deserves to be worshipped and revered!

The second bookend is the Gospel reading. In it, Jesus, who is God made flesh, invites us to come to him so that he can comfort us and lift our burdens. But why would we go to him and not some other god? Because the first bookend tells us just how powerful he is. Jesus is the “I am,” the Alpha and Omega, the One who holds all things together.

Here is the wonder of the gospel message. God is complete in himself, and yet he longs for us to be with him. He is all powerful, yet he became a helpless baby in order to redeem us. He who put the stars in the heavens hears our prayers and comes running to help us.

In the end, we need both bookends. If we focus only on today’s Gospel, we’ll turn God into an overly indulgent parent who spoils his children. But if we focus only on the first reading, we’ll turn him into a remote creator who holds our obedience only because we fear his power. But God wants us to follow him because he loves us, not because we fear him. He wants us to come to him for comfort so that once we are strengthened, we can go out into the world and tell everyone else how awesome and powerful he is.

It is here, between the bookends, that we’ll find true rest for our souls.

“Father, you are mighty and merciful. Help me to see you more clearly.

 

from wau.org

Created to be childlike

Although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike. (Matthew 11:25)

Think about the incredible advancements in technology that have come about in the past century. Computers that once took up entire rooms now fit on your desktop. People once doomed to die from horrible diseases now go on to live for many happy and healthy years. Airplanes and high-speed trains have made the globe much smaller. And yet the same problems that have dogged us for centuries—poverty, war, crime, abuse—are still around. Why can’t all this incredible knowledge help us tackle these issues?

The problem is that technology cannot reveal the most important truth of all: that we are children of God. Those whom Jesus calls “the wise and the learned”—the ones who rely only on brainpower—can’t quite understand this (Matthew 11:25). They can surmise that there is a God, but only God can reveal himself to us. We just have to be “childlike” and ask him to show us!

What does it mean to be childlike? It means acknowledging that we were created to have an ongoing relationship with God—a relationship of love, trust, and dependence. It means believing that God is committed to us as a father is to his children. It means keeping ourselves open to the promptings that God sends to us.

Here is one way that you can work on being more childlike in your day—even as you go about your very grown-up life. Make it a point to take some time to slow down. It’s easy to fill our days with activities, chores, and obligations and miss out on our relationship with God. Of course, there is much that we have to do each day, but it’s also vital that we not become consumed by it.

So spend time just enjoying God’s presence. Sit outside and absorb the sun, thanking your Father for the gift of its warmth. Or close your eyes, and imagine yourself taking a leisurely walk with Jesus. Put aside all the “grown-up” thoughts for just this time, and simply enjoy the Lord. Be like a child, and see what your Father reveals to you.

“Father, thank you for calling me your child! Help me to know you not just as the Almighty, but as Abba, my Dad.” 

from wau.org

A tale of faithfulness

All the world came to Joseph. (Genesis 41:57)

If anyone had reason to break ties with his family and his God, Joseph did. Sold into slavery by his own brothers, Joseph found himself in a foreign country. Yet look at his faithfulness! In each new position—slave, prison inmate, then administrator—Joseph looked to God for wisdom and for strength to serve. He resisted temptations that cropped up at every turn. In the end, Joseph proved himself to his brothers by lavishing mercy on them. It’s a pretty safe guess that God delighted in Joseph’s faithfulness!

But at its heart, the story of Joseph is really a story of God’s faithfulness. After all, it was God who blessed all that Joseph did and gave him the remarkable spiritual insights that caught Pharaoh’s eye. In his own timing, God raised Joseph to the world’s stage, as we see in today’s first reading. And you could say that God was even faithful to his miscreant brothers who sold him into slavery. He saved them from famine and brought them into fertile Goshen.

So what does this mean for you today? Well, for one, it means that God honors your faithfulness too. He sees your devotion in praying and serving and loving. He hears your prayers. He remembers you. He considers your sacrifices, even the small ones that you think go unnoticed. Even when you’re not faithful to him, because we all make mistakes, he remains true to you.

It also means that today, he is working behind the scenes. He’s using your faithfulness to do more than you can probably imagine. When you feel imprisoned by guilt, fear, or resentment, he is at work, forging a way out for you. When you feel unable to forgive someone who has wronged you, he is at work, finding ways to help you soften your heart. Just as he worked through Joseph’s challenging situations, even when it seemed hopeless, your faithful Father is working in you. So hang in there! Try your best to be faithful, and trust that he will raise you up in his own time and in his own way. Always remember that God loves writing long tales of faithfulness.

“Lord, your faithfulness stretches to the heavens! Thank you that your gaze of love is on me today.”

from wau.org