Beloved in Christ,
Come, Lord Jesus!
Don’t you sometimes wish for Jesus’ second coming to be NOW, sooner than later? From time to time comes those moments, periods of social and moral upheaval, when it appears that humanity has lost its moral compass and gone caput. In those tumultuous moments, something deep in your soul desires an end to life as we know it and the advent of Jesus, “the alpha and the omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end, the root and offspring of David, the bright morning star” (Rev. 22: 13, 16 ). It is in those moments you hope for paradise. Such time is this time (and other times in the past). But unfortunately, we have seen an increase in evil in our world in recent years. Sin makes its presence felt in many ways, from pandemics to gun violence. We just witnessed another senseless killing of the innocents in Texas; a trigger happy man pumped bullets into children in an elementary school. We are horrified and angry at the same time. And one of those perennial questions is raised again: where was God when this horror was happening?
One answer or response to the question is that God is present in all that. As weird as that might sound, it is true that God is always present amid our crises. He does not impose Himself on us. God makes Himself available. He reveals himself, but we don’t do an excellent job of recognizing or seeking Him out. In our darkness, His light is ever present. We may not have a clear understanding of the tragedy, but He is ever present to see us through it. Jesus has prepared us well ahead for the troubles and tribulations we will experience (Jn 16:33). Our best answer is to be one with the Divine Logos, Jesus Christ, as Fr. Josh Cavender called Him during our Forty Hours Eucharistic Devotion service this past week. Getting to know who Jesus is, how He matters, and why we should care about Him is a productive way to approach all the calamities in our world. If we pay more careful attention to these essential life questions, as Fr. Cavender told us, we will be better positioned to confront the evil we see in our world. We must come to experience Jesus and allow Him a total hold on our intellect, will, soul and heart. We should all seek the “4 pm moment,” as Fr. Cavender called it, a time of intimate experience of Jesus. Jesus knows about the difficulties we face in all their ramifications, macro and micro, and He is present to keep us united in Him as we live through the vagaries of life.
With John, in the penultimate verse of the Bible, we can invite Jesus into our life and world. It may not be for Jesus to end all things, but for him to step into our lives and make us capable of living victoriously through life’s frequent upheavals. The most suitable place to make that invitation and encounter him intimately is at Mass. So let’s gaze on Jesus with eyes of faith and profess with our hearts and lips, “Come, Lord Jesus!” (Jn 22:20). He will come.
In Christ,
Fr. Bernard
Come, Lord Jesus!
Don’t you sometimes wish for Jesus’ second coming to be NOW, sooner than later? From time to time comes those moments, periods of social and moral upheaval, when it appears that humanity has lost its moral compass and gone caput. In those tumultuous moments, something deep in your soul desires an end to life as we know it and the advent of Jesus, “the alpha and the omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end, the root and offspring of David, the bright morning star” (Rev. 22: 13, 16 ). It is in those moments you hope for paradise. Such time is this time (and other times in the past). But unfortunately, we have seen an increase in evil in our world in recent years. Sin makes its presence felt in many ways, from pandemics to gun violence. We just witnessed another senseless killing of the innocents in Texas; a trigger happy man pumped bullets into children in an elementary school. We are horrified and angry at the same time. And one of those perennial questions is raised again: where was God when this horror was happening?
One answer or response to the question is that God is present in all that. As weird as that might sound, it is true that God is always present amid our crises. He does not impose Himself on us. God makes Himself available. He reveals himself, but we don’t do an excellent job of recognizing or seeking Him out. In our darkness, His light is ever present. We may not have a clear understanding of the tragedy, but He is ever present to see us through it. Jesus has prepared us well ahead for the troubles and tribulations we will experience (Jn 16:33). Our best answer is to be one with the Divine Logos, Jesus Christ, as Fr. Josh Cavender called Him during our Forty Hours Eucharistic Devotion service this past week. Getting to know who Jesus is, how He matters, and why we should care about Him is a productive way to approach all the calamities in our world. If we pay more careful attention to these essential life questions, as Fr. Cavender told us, we will be better positioned to confront the evil we see in our world. We must come to experience Jesus and allow Him a total hold on our intellect, will, soul and heart. We should all seek the “4 pm moment,” as Fr. Cavender called it, a time of intimate experience of Jesus. Jesus knows about the difficulties we face in all their ramifications, macro and micro, and He is present to keep us united in Him as we live through the vagaries of life.
With John, in the penultimate verse of the Bible, we can invite Jesus into our life and world. It may not be for Jesus to end all things, but for him to step into our lives and make us capable of living victoriously through life’s frequent upheavals. The most suitable place to make that invitation and encounter him intimately is at Mass. So let’s gaze on Jesus with eyes of faith and profess with our hearts and lips, “Come, Lord Jesus!” (Jn 22:20). He will come.
In Christ,
Fr. Bernard
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