I Am With You to Deliver You

July 23, 2008

Wednesday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time

By Melanie Rigney

"Ah, Lord God," I said, "I know not how to speak; I am too young. But the Lord answered me, Say not, "I am too young." To whomever I send you, you shall go; whatever I command you, you shall speak. Have no fear before them, because I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord. (Jeremiah 1:6-8)

God, you have taught me from my youth; to this day I proclaim your wondrous deeds. (Psalms 71:17)

"Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it. But some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit, a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold. Whoever has ears ought to hear." (Matthew 13:7-9)

Piety

Lord, quiet my soul when I think I am too old, too young, too fat, too thin, too judgmental, too flighty, too ill, too anything to speak of You. Thank You for Your patience in showing me again and again that You are beside me wherever You send me.

Study

Today's Readings

Jeremiah was less than thirty years old when he protested to God that he wasn't ready to be a prophet.

Joan of Arc was just thirteen and a half when she first heard the Lord's voice—and listened to what He was saying.

Maria Goretti wasn't quite twelve when she fought off a rapist...and prayed for his soul during twenty hours of painful suffering.

For nearly fifty years, Blessed Teresa of Calcutta toiled among the poor and dying...and didn't feel God's presence.

For virtually all of his eighty-one years on this planet, St. Pio of Pietrelcina was ill—gastroenteritis, insomnia, migraines, asthma, kidney stones, ulcers, arthritis, and, of course, the visible stigmata for which he was known.

"I'm scared to get up and speak in front of people," we might say, begging off when we're asked to be on a Cursillo Weekend team.

"I'd like to help at the food pantry, but I'd have to drive to get there," we might say because we're uncomfortable around people who look different than we do.

"Sorry, but I make it a policy not to serve on committees," we might say when we're dodging a request to join a parish ministry...and the person asking works our nerve.

"Whoever has ears ought to hear," Jesus says in today's gospel reading. But for the ears to hear, for the seed to be sowed, someone has to trust enough in the Father to speak. Resolve to remember the Lord's words to Jeremiah: To whomever I send you, you shall go; whatever I command you, you shall speak.

Action

Don't say a knee-jerk no for the rest of the week when you are presented with opportunities, large or small, to speak the Good News. Find a way to say yes, either immediately or in the next few months, to each request that presents itself.