Tag: <span>Abandonment</span>

February 25, 2021February 10, 2021

No Snake is Given

This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.

It is lovely to have an intimate relationship with God. But what about when real, palpable danger looms? Does this loving, prayerful union transform into a bulwark of defense when you really need it?

How about when you are faced with an impossible decision, with no good outcome? Is He there for you to guide you to the impossible blessed result?

How about that loved one who is making bad decisions? Is He there to turn that person’s head around in response to your prayers?

The answer is “yes,” and this is one of the most breathtaking, dramatic aspects of the Christian life.

When you have a need, ask Him in fervent prayer–perhaps in adoration; ask His mother insistently but trustingly for help. And take comfort. For He is not expecting you to “do this for Him” alone. He is there to do it for you.

So we are assured by today’s gospel:

“Ask and it will be given to you;
seek and you will find;
knock and the door will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds;
and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
Which one of you would hand his son a stone
when he asked for a loaf of bread,
or a snake when he asked for a fish?
If you then, who are wicked,
know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more will your heavenly Father give good things
to those who ask him.”

Such was the experience of Esther in today’s first reading. She asked for deliverance, and she received it.

So too will be your experience, if you ask in trust. You will be able to say with today’s psalm: “Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me.”

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Consider the worries and concerns that cause you most fear and anxiety–perhaps decisions that appear to have no good outcome, or bad situations involving loved ones that are out of your control. Beg Jesus to take control of those decisions and situations, and abandon them confidently into His hands. Tell Him you trust Him to bring them to a good conclusion, even if it seems impossible.

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September 30, 2020September 11, 2020

Spiritual Desert

This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.

From today’s psalm: “Why, O LORD, do you reject me; why hide from me your face?”

To anyone consistent in their commitment to daily dialogue with Jesus, the moment comes when this question resonates oh-so-deeply.

The path of sanctification, which for most of those who embark upon it is a gradual path and process that extends over time, may be defined as detachment from sin, self, and created things, and the filling of the soul with love for and union with God.

Souls who have come some way on this path and have had real experiences of God in prayer may suddenly feel that He is hiding from them. The more intense the experience of God has been, the more intense the feeling of abandonment when this “hiding” occurs.

This sense of loss feels like a step backward in the spiritual life. Here I was, systematically avoiding sin and maybe even making some voluntary sacrifices of things that I liked, and I had a sense of growing closer to God. I have remained consistent in my commitment to daily prayer. But now, all of a sudden, I feel like God just isn’t there. What am I doing wrong? It is as if God had come into my soul, ultimately found it distasteful, and left.

The reality is that this is just one more step in the purification process. Whereas we take some steps ourselves in that process, such as striving to avoid sin and become less attached to created things, this experience in prayer is a sign that God is starting to take over our purification process, which is like the engine in a car taking over for the little starter motor. It is a time, more than ever, to be faithful to our prayer commitment, trusting (albeit blindly!) that God is undertaking something great.

The writings of St. Teresa of Avila (Interior Castles) and St. John of the Cross (Ascent of Mount Carmel and Dark Night of the Soul) provide descriptions and explanations of these phenomena of prayer that can be highly illuminating. Also, there are many more modern spiritual writers who reflect on the works of these saints and also provide beneficial enlightenment. But for the soul that truly trusts in God, it may be enough simply to know that one has an opportunity here to share in the particular suffering of Jesus whereby He exclaimed from the Cross, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” (Cf. Mt. 27:46)

The first reading and the Gospel passage today beautifully highlight the virtues of humility and trust needed by the Psalmist as he cried out to God, feeling rejected.

Job’s argumentation to his friends is an eloquent tribute to God’s sovereignty. He as much as says, “God has both right and might as Creator. Even if I had a legitimate complaint against Him, I wouldn’t voice it, because what can one do? He is all-powerful, and He has a right to our unquestioning obedience, because He’s the one who created us! The most I can do is beg for His kindness and mercy.”

In today’s gospel, people called by Jesus put Him off and delay Him based on human reasoning–which actually sounds rather legitimate! Burying the dead, saying goodbye to one’s family…But what Jesus essentially does is play the sovereignty card to which Job refers in the first reading. When God says jump, you say “how high,” and let everything else take care of itself.

It is to this sovereignty that we must appeal during periods of desolation in prayer. Ours must not be an attitude of indignation or rebellion, nor even of human reasoning or self-doubt. His sovereign majesty and love deserve trust, which trumps literally every other possible consideration in our spiritual life.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: When you find yourself in a time that prayer becomes difficult for any reason–persistent distractions, or a sense of abandonment–make your words to the Lord ones of unconditional praise, trust, and submission to His Providence and will. And know that His effectiveness for your spiritual growth in closeness to Him is more powerful than ever.

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August 11, 2020August 11, 2020

Sweet Surrender

This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.

“How sweet to my palate are your promises, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” (Ps. 119:103)

Strange sometimes are the images we read in the prophets, and today’s is no exception: We have Ezekiel eating a scroll. And it is a scroll we might expect to be bitter, since its message is “lamentation and woe,” but the prophet finds it to be sweet as honey in his mouth.

And indeed, even though God’s message can be hard and challenging, there is something infinitely sweet about being handed the recipe for happiness.

Our culture is one of self-sufficiency and control: We seek to manage our destiny through the choices we make. And all the while, we are inevitably conscious that the greater part of our destiny lies outside our control. This tendency to want to wrangle every aspect of our lives, combined with the awareness that we cannot, is a recipe not for happiness, but for great anxiety. It is no wonder that there are so many mental health problems plaguing our society.

And by contrast, in today’s first reading we see God simply handing Ezekiel the answer key to life, as it were, in the form of His decrees. So too does Our Lord and His Church provide us the key to happiness in the form of a readily available relationship with Him, obtainable through the simplest of means: Prayer, the sacraments, and our simple, daily acts of love within our vocation.

So what is our problem? Why do we continually revert to the recipe for angst, instead of the straightforward recipe for happiness? Is it raw pride, the need to be masters?

Viewed more deeply, it is fear and lack of trust. As we see the world going to hell in a hand basket everywhere we look, we have trouble taking the Lord’s hand and trusting Him. Like Peter suddenly aware of the waves on the raging sea, we grab control and then flounder and flail.

Against this backdrop, it is clear why Jesus in today’s Gospel refers the apostles to little children when they ask who is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. To conquer their fear, children do not grab control. They turn immediately to the person they trust. We intractable adults can learn to do the same in the school of prayer, where we slowly learn to let Jesus convince us that, despite the swirling seas and shipwrecked boats around us, He’s got this.

And sweet indeed is this conviction, when it reaches our hearts–“How sweet to my palate are your promises, sweeter than honey to my mouth!”

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Talk with Jesus about your deepest concerns and fears, the things you strive mightily to avoid with all your daily effort–and abandon them completely into His hands, entrust them to Him. Ask Him if you should truly place all your trust in Him, or if He wants you to keep some of the control yourself.

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