Monday June 11, 2018

I spent a lot of time yesterday thinking about our 2nd reading from 2 Cor…

Reading 2 2 COR 4:13—5:1

Brothers and sisters:
Since we have the same spirit of faith,
according to what is written, I believed, therefore I spoke,
we too believe and therefore we speak,
knowing that the one who raised the Lord Jesus
will raise us also with Jesus
and place us with you in his presence.
Everything indeed is for you,
so that the grace bestowed in abundance on more and more people
may cause the thanksgiving to overflow for the glory of God.
Therefore, we are not discouraged;
rather, although our outer self is wasting away,
our inner self is being renewed day by day.
For this momentary light affliction
is producing for us an eternal weight of glory
beyond all comparison,
as we look not to what is seen but to what is unseen;
for what is seen is transitory, but what is unseen is eternal.
For we know that if our earthly dwelling, a tent,
should be destroyed,
we have a building from God,
a dwelling not made with hands, eternal in heaven.

There, by the grace of God, we are not discouraged.  We do not waiver in our love for God because life is hard.  We should not, we can not and we will not dwell on what is transitory.  We must look ahead to what is eternal.  Be reminded of the strength and wisdom shown to us in the book of Job.  No matter what conflict challenged Job, no matter what the devil challenged him with, Job offered us the following mantra to which we should all follow.  The Lord gives and the Lord takes away – Blessed be the Lord.  I was also drawn to Isaiah 55 which tells us…

8“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD.

9“For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways
And My thoughts than your thoughts.

So why was I drawn to those thoughts.  Let’s just say the events of the weekend kind of led me there.  Sarah and I were involved with three Masses on Saturday that got me thinking about this and also, the recent suicides that have made the headlines have added to that.  Why?  The first Mass on Saturday was offered for breast cancer victims and survivors.  In Fr. Sieferts homily he mentioned a couple in the parish having to deal with the onset of Parkinson’s.  If you haven’t heard already, my wife Sarah is in Stage 1 of this disease – we are that couple.  The next Mass was a Memorial Mass for the father of one of the girls who frequently sings with our choir – Richard Miller.  One of the petitions offered was for those who have to struggle with Parkinson’s.  Richard was born in 1957, a mere 8 years older than Sarah.  His death was from complications caused by Parkinson’s – so that kind of hit home for me.  So why the suicides?  Because I struggle with the thought that anything that can happen to us on this earth is so bad that we have to take our life to end that misery.  I don’t mean that statement to sound cold are callous but it breaks my heart to think about how dark their lives where inside because on the exterior they seemed to have it all.  It is because of those experiences and thoughts I had on Saturday that I think the Holy Spirit guided my thoughts when I heard the 2nd reading proclaimed on Sunday…

Therefore, we are not discouraged;
rather, although our outer self is wasting away,
our inner self is being renewed day by day.
For this momentary light affliction
is producing for us an eternal weight of glory
beyond all comparison,
as we look not to what is seen but to what is unseen;
for what is seen is transitory, but what is unseen is eternal.
For we know that if our earthly dwelling, a tent,
should be destroyed,
we have a building from God,
a dwelling not made with hands, eternal in heaven.

I will tell you that my wife has handled the news about her illness with grace and courage.  I pray we both can be strong as her outer self  begins to waste away.  We do not know how long it will take for the Parkinson’s to progress but I pray that her faith – no, I pray that our faith in God never waivers.  It will be that faith that renews her inner self day by day  and it will be that faith that produces for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.  It is my prayer that we both understand fully that God has not burdened us with this affliction but rather blessed us with it.  Once again, I reflect on the words of Isaiah – God’s ways are not our ways.  God’s thoughts are not our thoughts.  We must at all times accept the way God is leading us.  I think now we are seeing why we have been taught that the way to God can be narrow and hard.   Don’t misunderstand me here – Parkinson’s was not something either of us expected to be part of our lives but it is now and we can’t change that but we can educate ourselves about it and prepare for what it is…

as we look not to what is seen but to what is unseen;
for what is seen is transitory, but what is unseen is eternal.
For we know that if our earthly dwelling, a tent,
should be destroyed,
we have a building from God,
a dwelling not made with hands, eternal in heaven.

Sarah, know that I love you and will be there with you always to take on this challenge.  Please pray for us and all those struggling with “what is seen”.  Pray that we are able to see past this to what is “unseen” and always have our sights set on heaven and our will set on God’s plan for us.

Do something great for our Lord today – pray for the sick; pray for those struggling to accept or find God’s will in their life.

God’s will, not mine, be done.

Be not afraid.

Jesus, I trust in You.