Testing Him

May 23, 2008

Friday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time

Do not complain, brothers, about one another, that you may not be judged. Behold, the Judge is standing before the gates. Take as an example of hardship and patience, brothers, the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. James 5:9-10

“But from the beginning of creation, 'God made them male and female. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother (and be joined to his wife), and the two shall become one flesh.' So they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, no human being must separate.” Mark 10:6-9

Piety

From the Prologue to the Rule of St. Benedict (8-13):

Let us get up then, at long last, for the Scriptures rouse us when they say: It is high time for us to arise from sleep (Rom 13:11). Let us open our eyes to the light that comes from God, and our ears to the voice from heaven that every day calls out this charge: If you hear this voice today, do not harden your hearts (Ps 94 [95]:8). And again: You that have ears to hear, listen to what the Spirit says to the churches (Rev 2:7). And what does he say? Come and listen to me sons; I will teach you the fear of the Lord (Ps 33 [34]:12). Run while you have the light of life, that the darkness of death may not overtake you (John 12:35).

Study

http://www.usccb.org/nab/readings/052308.shtml

How do we test God’s compassion and mercy today?

Maybe we are not pummeling Him with direct questions any longer. Instead, God’s mercy remains tested by the hardness of our hearts toward each other and toward God.

Today’s readings take on two specific cases – divorce and hardships. Yet anytime we exhibit the hardness in our hearts could be substituted.

For example, Congress has just passed its latest bill to spend $165 billion for war funding while people throughout the world live on $2 per day, lacking clean water, medicine, housing and other basic necessities for life. Does that test God’s compassion and mercy with us?

Tens of millions of Americans lack health insurance and many of them are children. Does that test God’s compassion and mercy with us?

The United States has more than 3,000 prisoners awaiting execution on death row while the option of life imprisonment without the option of parole remains available. Does that test God’s compassion and mercy with us?

While conditions in society overall may be tests, what about our own personal lives? How does the way we live our lives test God’s compassion and mercy?

Do we approach the altar while still feuding with our sisters and brothers?

Do we divorce our spouses and turn our backs on our neighbors as we build better and better lives for ourselves?

Do we complain about our lives and hardships while knowing how easy life is in the most powerful country on earth?

Action

Are you ready to give up your own will and turn over your life to obedience to God? You don’t have to join a monastery to do that. Why not pick one luxury or benefit in your life that you can easily live without?

Maybe you can pass up Starbucks one day a week and add that $4 to your offering at church or make a donation to a local charity?

Maybe you can cancel one or more magazine subscriptions and send the money to a school rather than Time or Newsweek?

Maybe you can skip eating lunch out and pack your lunch from home. The money you save each week or month can be sent to help feed the homeless in your city.

The next time you need a book, visit a library and skill Borders or Barnes and Noble. You can send that to a literacy program helping people learn to read.

What are some other small steps you can take?