“God is Always with Us” by Colleen O’Sullivan

Rembrandt, Photo of Peter and John Healing the Cripple at the Gate, c. 1855-1858, Creative Commons Lic., Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons

“God is Always with Us” by Colleen O’Sullivan

Wednesday in the Octave of Easter

Peter and John were going up to the temple area for the three o’clock hour of prayer.  And a man crippled from birth was carried and placed at the Gate of the temple called “the Beautiful Gate” every day to beg for alms from the people who entered the temple.  When he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked for alms.  But Peter looked intently at him, as did John, and said, “Look at us.”  He paid attention to them, expecting to receive something from them.  Peter said, “I have neither silver nor gold, but what I do have I give you: in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazorean, rise and walk.”  Then Peter took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles grew strong.  (Acts 3:1-7)

James Tissot, The Pilgrims of Emmaus on the Road, c. 1886-1894, Brooklyn Museum, Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons

Then some of those with us went to the tomb and found things just as the women had described, but him they did not see.”  And he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are!  How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke!   Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?”  Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them what referred to him in all the Scriptures.  As they approached the village to which they were going, he gave the impression that he was going on farther. But they urged him, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening, and the day is almost over.”  So he went in to stay with them.  And it happened that, while he was with them at table, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them.  With that, their eyes were opened, and they recognized him, but he vanished from their sight. (Luke 24:24-31)

Piety

I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
    Where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord,
    the Maker of heaven and earth.  (Psalm 121:1-2)

Study

Every morning friends carry the disabled man in our first reading to the Beautiful Gate and gently set him on the ground.  In the evening, they come and bring him back to wherever he sleeps.  Every day the same old thing.  The same people stream through this Temple gate all day long.  Maybe some of them stop to talk, but I’d bet this man has just become part of the scenery for most folks.  They don’t see him, and they don’t acknowledge his presence with even a kind word.   It sounds like a depressing existence.  

The disciples in the Gospel reading aren’t enjoying life much, either.  Their hearts are broken.  For three years, they’d been following in Jesus’ footsteps, hanging on his every word, experiencing astonishment at every miracle and healing.  He was the One. They had been sure.  Now all their hopes seem to have fizzled out on the Cross.  They find themselves trudging home in defeat. Their leader is gone. It’s over.  Not the sort of feeling anyone wants to have.

And maybe that’s how we feel about the whole stay-at-home order. How are we going to do this for months, we wonder? Regular routines have gone out the window.  Instead of going to a place of work, more people than ever sit at a computer somewhere in their house all day.  Many of us have kids who can’t go to school or daycare now, so we’ve got one eye on our work and the other on what our children are doing.  Going out for groceries has turned into an expedition.  Do I have my mask, my gloves, my hand sanitizer?  Remember to stay 6 feet away from anyone else in the store.  Forage for toilet paper, paper towels, or whatever other items you need, only to find empty shelves.  Then go home, wipe down everything you’ve bought and then wash your hands with soap and water for the umpteenth time in a day. 

As I think about the three scenarios – that of the disabled person, the one on the Road to Emmaus, and our situation today, I am reminded of a sermon Fr. Stefan Starzynski preached nine or ten years ago in which he talked about depression.  He said that things look the bleakest when we are feeling the deepest despair; it is at that moment that God is actually closest to us.  We just don’t recognize it. 

That disabled person at the Gate probably believes his life will never change.  Then Peter and John happen upon him.  They have no coins to give him; they have something far better.  They have the power through Jesus Christ to heal him.  His ability to walk is restored! 

The disciples on the road to Emmaus have no idea who their traveling companion is or how he can explain recent events to them using the Scriptures.  They only discover that he is the Risen Christ when they break bread together that evening.

Some of us today are frightened at the potential of COVID-19 to make us seriously ill or even to kill.  Others are overwhelmed at either the thought of being isolated on the one hand or of having too much togetherness for months on the other.  Some are even angry about having to stay at home.   Whatever we are feeling in this time so different from anything we’ve experienced before, rest assured that God is in this with us.  God walks beside us.  God never abandons us.

Action

When you are praying today, pray for those who lie in hospital beds without the comfort of family or friends.  Pray for those who have no faith to sustain them in this crisis.  Pray for those who have lost their jobs.  Pray for those who have lost loved ones to this virus.  Pray for those who are hungry and those who are homeless.  Add anyone else you know of who requires any sort of assistance. 

Prayer is excellent and so is action.  If you can help someone in your neighborhood by getting their groceries when you shop for yours, please do.  If you can donate either non-perishable items or cash to the food pantry at St. Mary of Sorrows Parish in Fairfax, those served by this ministry will be very grateful.  The need has dramatically increased, and the shelves are somewhat bare.  If you can call someone who is alone just to say hello, that may help them to get through the day.