By Beth DeCristofaro
Ezra read plainly from the book of the law of God, interpreting
it so that all could understand what was read. … He said further: “Go, eat rich
foods and drink sweet drinks, and allot portions to those who had nothing
prepared; for today is holy to our LORD. Do not be saddened this day, for
rejoicing in the LORD must be your strength!” (Nehemiah 8:8, 10)
He said to them, “The harvest is abundant but the
laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his
harvest. Go on your way; behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves. Carry
no money bag, no sack, no sandals; and greet no one along the way. Into
whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this household.’ If a peaceful
person lives there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to
you. (Luke 10:2-6)
Piety
Jesus, my Brother,
draw me to you as your favorite. Help me
to accept the joys and the sorrows in my life content that my labors are for
the divine harvest and that the abundance of that harvest will be mine by your
gracious generosity. I thank you every
day for the wonder of your presence by my side, oh My Best of Friends.
Study
St. Therese’ life
helps us understand today’s readings which appear quite contradictory on their
face. In Nehemiah, the Israelites were
dealing with a tumultuous and fragile transition from exile to a mostly
destroyed land where foreign peoples have taken their former homes. In Luke, Jesus tells 72 disciples that they
must go forth carrying nothing in order to perform dangerous work. The Israelites are encouraged to rejoice in
the Lord while Jesus exhorts his disciples to identify and establish peace in
God’s Word.
As a girl, St.
Therese underwent a spiritual event causing her to turn her normal, me-centered
life into a life centered on God’s love.
She convinced her family and the church to allow her to enter a life of
prayer as a Carmelite nun and was “gifted with great intimacy with God.”[i] Therese’ insight was that her happiness, her
strength lay in God not in herself or her life.
Her life was filled with struggle, just as Jesus’ disciples’ lives and
the lives of the Israelites. But in her
profound relationship with Jesus, Therese never lost her childlike wonder and
joy
Action
One of my favorite stories
from Therese is that when cleaning the convent, Therese would gently pick up
and deposit outside, alive, any spiders she came across. Shivers! What shocking – completely “not me” action - might
I do today to break through boredom, complacency, fear, overconfidence or other
self-centeredness which keeps me from being Jesus’ Best Friend and rejoicing in
God’s Will?
No comments:
Post a Comment