The Lord Has Done Great Things for Me

Lately there is so much to pull us down. International news tells us of wars, starvation, the powerful victimizing the poor and helpless. National news is as bad, maybe even worse because it is so close to home where we should know better ... or so we think. Innocent schoolchildren gunned down in two different places so recently, murders, again the brutal making victims of the helpless. Our leaders squabble and we deal with our daily problems, thankfully not as tragic as those of many but still the problems that we must face and overcome one way or another.

And yet, what should we expect? Jesus called Satan "the Prince of the world." The Enemy is not going to make this easy for us. Worse yet, as our priest often reminds us, we so often don't even need the Enemy to make the wrong choices, often tragically, often repeatedly in spite of what we know to be true.

I am a Christian, and indeed a Roman Catholic, so that I do not expect "history" to be anything but a long defeat -- though it contains (and in a legend may contain more clearly and movingly) some samples or glimpses of final victory.

J.R.R. Tolkien

Thinking all of that over this morning, I also was thinking of things closer to home ... a loved one seeking a job, a good friend struggling with a crucial test she must pass, those I know who have had children die.

In spite of all that, I found myself infused with joy and thanksgiving. Because I also was thinking of the email that reminded me the men's Christ Renews His Parish retreat will be this weekend. Attending that two day retreat over two years ago allowed the Holy Spirit to blow through my soul and life has never been the same. I suddenly got excited thinking of what those men (and the women on the following weekend) will experience. How God will touch them and also the ones giving the retreat. How, in the midst of all that seems so sad and bad, God is always with us, giving us love and hope ... and joy.

I thought of how He has fundamentally changed me from a negative, cynical person to essentially the opposite. Now that was a true miracle. He is still at work within me, helping me to turn more to prayer and away from distractions. Yes, I have struggles and frustrations and I fail repeatedly. But how good God is to never give up, to always be with me. What a difference that makes to facing each day with joy instead of as a chore to be gotten through.

It makes me think of Mary. She lived in a conquered land and undoubtedly there was violence all around. She lived in a tiny village and doubtless had times when juggling the household resources was a severe challenge, not to mention dealing with the local gossip at the well. Not only that, through Simeon's prophecy she was promised sorrow and hardship and suffering for herself and her precious son, Jesus (Luke 2:25-35). Her Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55) was said to Elizabeth before Simeon's prophecy, yet I think that she always had the Magnificat in her heart. After all, not only was she close to God in daily life, but she had Jesus living with her in the flesh for 30 years.

My soul magnifies the Lord,
And my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.
For He has regarded the low estate of His handmaiden,
For behold, henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
For He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name.
And His mercy is on those who fear Him from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with His arm:
He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He has put down the mighty from their thrones,
and exalted those of low degree.
He has filled the hungry with good things;
and the rich He has sent empty away.
He has helped His servant Israel, in remembrance of His mercy;
As He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to His posterity forever.

May we all hold God's promises and mercy and love and joy as close to our hearts in these troubled times. For we have not only the examples from times of old, we have not only his comforting words, but we also have his promise for today and all the days yet to come. He is waiting to calm our fears and bring us to joy.

It is Jesus that you seek when you dream of happiness;

He is waiting for you when nothing else you find satisfies you;

He is the beauty to which you are so attracted;

it is He who provokes you with that thirst for fullness that will not let you settle for compromise;

it is He who urges you to shed the masks of a false life;

it is He who reads in your hearts your most genuine choices, the choices that others try to stifle.

It is Jesus who stirs in you the desire to do something great with your lives, the will to follow an ideal, the refusal to allow yourselves to be ground down by mediocrity, the courage to commit yourselves humbly and patiently to improving yourselves and society, making the world more human and more fraternal.

Pope John Paul II

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity