Thursday of the Twelfth
Week in Ordinary Time
The LORD’s messenger found her by a spring in the
wilderness, the spring on the road to Shur, and he asked, “Hagar, maid of
Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?” She answered, “I am running away from my
mistress, Sarai.” But the LORD’s messenger
told her: “Go back to your mistress and submit to her abusive treatment. I will make your descendants so numerous,”
added the LORD’s messenger, “that they will be too many to count. Genesis 16:7-10
“Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts
on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the
floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse; it had been set
solidly on rock.”
Matthew 7:24-25
Piety
Give us the fortitude
of Sarai to face whatever forces of abuse we encounter in the world. Jesus, stand by our side as we endure, like
you, the injuries inflicted on us physically, mentally, emotionally or
spiritually. Holy Spirit, set us free
from the desire to retreat back into our cocoon of protection so we can stand
up to listen to the Word and act on it.
Study
Listen AND
act. Both parts of the command make up
what we are supposed to do as followers of Jesus. The listening part can be confusing and
sometimes even confounding. Put yourself
in the shoes of Sarai. She was told to
return to an abusive situation. There
was no safe house for her escape. No shelter for battered and abused
women. No home for unwed, expectant
mothers.
Sarai has no
husband to protect her. And the messenger
of the Lord instructs her to go back to the bad situation from which she came?!
Action
Listening and
acting may be just as difficult and confusing for us today with mixed messages
coming from all directions. Yet, if we
are to build the foundation of our lives on the words of ONE, may we use the
words of Jesus.
Where are YOU
coming from today and where are YOU going?
What message might the angel of the Lord deliver to answer you today?
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