It has been a whirlwind couple of weeks. I’m down sitting at my computer and my wife came in and said to me you know you haven’t posted on your blog for quite some time now. I made up some excuse, thinking that would get her off my back but I forgot that my wife is a teacher and when she hands out assignments, she expects them to get done – NOW. She did say I could do this tomorrow but even God rests on Sunday’s, so I decided to offer some insights today instead.
It has been a beautiful week this week – not just weather wise either. Last Friday, we loaded up the truck and we headed to – you guessed right – Toledo, Ohio. Well, maybe you didn’t guess right then. The daughter of the family we have been vacationing with (for many years) got married last weekend. It was a beautiful day and it was a beautiful wedding…may God bless Bridget and Nick on their vocation for the Church.
Yesterday, we loaded up the truck and, again, you guessed it, we headed to St. Gen MO to celebrate my sister-in-laws 25th wedding anniversary. On the way down, my nephew Keith called my daughter Mary and announced the birth of Keith and Sarah’s first child – a beautiful girl they named Kiara Rose. That just put the topping on the wedding cake as the anniversary Mass for Kristen and Marc was beautiful too.
So where am I going with all of this? It is quite simple. Where was it that Mary, the Blessed Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, pushed Jesus into the start of His ministry here on earth? At a wedding reception – the wedding feast at Cana. So with the newly weds, the new parents and the veteran couple all celebrating this week – I got to feel the love of God present in so many ways this week. God offered me a beautiful reflection to contemplate this week. In the midst of all this tumult in our world today, I was able to share in the love of our heavenly Father in a number of ways this past week. First through the love of a young couple and their YES to God’s love through their commitment to each other; second, through the love of a young couple and their YES to their vocation and the birth of their first child – the miracle of LIFE itself; third, through the dedication of a not so young couple and their commitment to each other and to their 5 children to live through all the stresses and struggles of life only to find joy and happiness 25 years later.
Yes, we live in trying times but last week was a reminder of how beautiful life on this earth can be if you remain open to the love and will of our Father. What a great week to be alive last week.
Do something great for our Lord today – hug your wife, kiss your child, kick your cat – just joking – about the child. Be that mirror of God’s love for all around you – it promises to be a great week if you do.
God’s will, not mine, be done.
Be not afraid; just have faith.
Jesus, I trust in You.
He must increase; I must decrease.
Lord, if you wish, You can make me clean.
But you man of God, chose righteousness, devotion, faith, love, patience and gentleness. Compete well for the faith.
Eternal God, in Whom mercy is endless and the treasury of compassion – inexhaustible, look kindly upon us and increase Your mercy in us so that in difficult moments we may not despair nor become despondent but with great confidence, submit ourselves to Your holy will which is Love and Mercy itself.
St. Mary Magdalen Men of God 