Readings: Isaiah 55:10-11; Psalm 34:4-7, 16-19; Matthew 6:7-15
As we look towards Easter, we grasp for hope. Hope for changes in our broken world. Hope for a new resurrection, a new world order: less poverty, no war, people taking responsibility for the environment, etc. We know we need a power greater than our own to right all these wrongs. What comfort and hope we hear in today’s readings. God knows of our suffering and distress and is working to rescue us from them (Ps 34). We don’t have to use a lot of words when we come to God in prayer. God already knows what we need before we ask (Matthew 6). God’s word, like the snow and rain that come down to make things grow, will not fail to do what God sends it to do (Is 55). It sounds like everything is being taken care of! What is the call to you and me here? Patience? Trust? Mirroring our lives after Jesus’ example of faithfulness to the Father even when the obvious result is death? This brings to mind some of the immigrant stories I hear from my students. People risking all for the promise of a better life here, but then arriving and facing many struggles day after day. Their hope, courage, and stick-to-itiveness inspire me. I know and believe God’s promise. I have to keep acting on that belief and do whatever will plant seeds of justice so that my life and situations around me are fertile ground for the word of God to act and do what God sends it here to do.
What are some specific things your community mission and spirituality direct you to do to make your life and situations around you more fertile ground for the word of God to act?
Reflection by: Sister Rosemary Russell, C.PP.S. (O’Fallon, Missouri)