Our Help is the Lord

July 16, 2007

Monday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time

By Beth De Cristofaro

[H]ad not the LORD been with us – When men rose up against us, then would they have swallowed us alive (Ps 124:2,3)

“Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. (Mt 10:37-39)

Piety

Help me, my God, put you first, as your Son put you first. Keep me from traps and snares whether of my own making or the designs of a world gone astray. Let nothing disturb you as I welcome you into my very being. Fill me Lord, God, with such a desire for you that I can look upon your beautiful creation with appreciation and a questioning heart rather than with desire and incompleteness. Fill me, God, with you alone.

Study

http://www.usccb.org/nab/071607.shtml

The psalmist’s confidence, the tragedy of the Hebrews in Egypt and Jesus’ warning brings to mind the prayer of St. Theresa of Avila:

Let nothing disturb you.
Let nothing afrighten you.
All things are passing.
God alone is changeless
He who has patience wants for nothing
He who has God has all things.
God alone suffices.

Sometimes we feel “life is good.” Then things change. What do we define as good? Life was good for the Hebrews in Egypt under the protection of Joseph. Then things changed. The disciples found life good with their beloved Jesus. Then things changed. The psalmist – taking the long view – rejoices that We were rescued like a bird from the fowlers’ snare (Ps 124:7) and that God is always faithful. Did a mother whose baby boy was drowned in Egypt under the Pharos’ order, have this confidence? Did she, like the psalmist, rely on that kernel of peace and surety within herself that knows God was with her even in the face of slavery and murder?

“God alone suffices,” Jesus says. Family is important, a responsibility as well as a gift from God. But family is not more important than God. One’s own life is not more important than God. Certainly society, law and culture, which Jesus often opposed, is not more important.

There are many “Pharoahs” in the world today. They might be misguided or evil world leaders. Or perhaps they are enticing voices telling us that we should look to our own comfort, beauty and status in order to be happy. Such messages cause us to make choices out of fear or selfishness which drown out the goodness, kindness and love within our own hearts. These messages drown out God’s silence within our souls.

Action

What are the things, voices, impulses that lead you and the choices you make? What are your "Pharoahs?" Your children’s welfare? Financial security? American identity? Job grade? An addiction?

God alone is changeless. Step out of your box. Speak to someone different today and see how you are like her/him. Help someone who might be a rival or threat to what you have. God alone is changeless. Where is God within that other? Where is God within you?

http://www.karmel.at/eng/teresa.htm