June 30, 2011
Thursday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Some time after these events, God put Abraham to the test. He called to him, "Abraham!" "Ready!" he replied. Then God said: "Take your son Isaac, your only one, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah. There you shall offer him up as a holocaust on a height that I will point out to you." Genesis 22:1-2
Which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Rise and walk'? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins" --he then said to the paralytic, "Rise, pick up your stretcher, and go home." He rose and went home. Matthew 9:5-7
Piety
I will walk in the presence of the Lord, in the land of the living.
Study
Today, we are halfway through the calendar year. Remember back to January when everything started with fresh resolutions and a fresh outlook. How are you doing in regards to those grand plans?
In some parts of the world, this year has seen people throw off the mantle of oppression and prevail for freedom in the "Arab Spring." Yet elsewhere, dictators remain in power and people remain hungry for independence.
In the United States, we may not be tested as much with harsh political systems. Our tests are of a different kind. How will we personally respond to the Lord's call to change the direction in which we look for happiness? How will we act differently when commanded to love God and love our neighbor?
Our tests may not be as harsh as the test Abraham faced on the mountaintop. Our challenge may not by physical paralysis like the man on the mat. We may be tested with challenges to our physical health, our families, our careers, and our emotions. How will we respond?
Action
Today's Psalmist gives us a great action -- "Walk in the presence of the Lord."
When I was growing up, I had this image that the God portrayed in the Hebrew Bible was this harsh war-like God who banished Adam and Eve, killed the Egyptian army and extracted retribution time after time on His people.
Yet, God has not changed. We have changed. We need to continue to change.
Throughout time, God just wants to be with us and walk with us like the paralytic man who was cured and walked home. As he walked home, that man must have had the Lord in his mind, on his lips and in his heart after being cured of his physical ailments and his sins.
Let's also take some inspiration from the youth in our parish (St. Mary of Sorrows, Fairfax, VA) who are completing a week-long service project in Ohio. Like other young people in other churches, they have elected to start their summer vacation not at the beach or the swimming pool, not at the amusement park or the playground, but by making a journey into a far away land to serve the poor and walk with the Lord. Let us pray that they all return home safely.
As you approach a long holiday weekend, make some time to spend alone with the Lord so you can figure out how to respond to the ways that he will test you over the second half of this year.
