RANDOM THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS, by Deacon Sam                                       April 17, 2023

St. Padre Pio was known to advise, “Pray, Hope and Don’t Worry.” Worry tends to kick into our lives from time to time. Do we let concern overtake us, or ask God to help us with the troubling situation? We have a choice. How do we handle worry? We will experience problems and trouble in our lives, but Jesus has overcome the world. There are legitimate concerns that enter our lives from time to time. The word "worry" comes from an old English word meaning "strangle". Worry steals our joy. Praise God in the midst of fear and torment. Praise draws us closer to God. God is bigger than all of our troubles. If we empty out our concerns to God He can fill us up with His wisdom and goodness. Pray for strength to go out into the world in peace. Listen for the voices of hope, joy and love and not the words of doubt and human pride.

Jesus invites us to turn to Him for rest – to believe in Him and to entrust ourselves in His hands. We ask from Him compassion, health and renewed courage. "Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me," He says. Jesus wants us to take time, to follow Him, to meditate on His teachings and put them into practice. He invites us to be like Him in our relationships with others. The Lord is merciful, kind, slow to anger – He does not grow weary. When we turn to Him we are not alone and we find our strength restored.

We have to remove whatever there is in our lives that blocks the light of God from shining on us. When we do this we are illuminated – we are each meant to shine like stars in the universe. We grow in God's light. Sometimes we need to re-order our priorities so we can be fully exposed to God. Over-commitment, anger, bitterness, failure to forgive etc. obstruct God’s light. Look for the light of God; open your heart to Him; don't live in fear and discouragement. Make 10 minutes each day to spend time with God – let Him breathe on us so we can breathe our life on others. God is the light of the world. We sing "Christ be our light".

We are all made in God's image. Sometimes, however, problems so distort our image of ourselves that we begin to identify with the pain in life further than with God's power and love. We know what we look like in a mirror – the outer image of ourselves. But God wants us also to look at the spiritual image of ourselves. Attending Mass, receiving Eucharist, reading the Gospels etc. all keep ourselves in the presence of God and help keep our spiritual image in place. We need to protect the image inside us – an image of humility, love, selflessness, confidence etc. Our inner image has worth and value. Bearing the image of our eternal God is our greatest calling in this world.

The fundamental truth about God is that He is the Creator. The fundamental truth about us is that we are His creatures. Because all things come from God, they are fundamentally good. Sin, however, with greed, arrogance, injustice, war, etc., can undermine God's good creation. God gives us resources to help the things He has created on earth to flourish. The awareness of global warming should make us more conscious of our challenge and responsibility to take good care of this earth - our home. We are encouraged to love the world with its beauty and power. God creates – we need to see the world as a magnificent gift He has entrusted to us and look after those among us who are needy, hurting and vulnerable. Sin will not have the last word in God's creation.

"Act as if everything depended on you; trust as if everything depended on God."  
                      St Ignatius of Loyola

Resurrection – Forgiveness: a new beginning when it was not thought possible -  a restoration of relationship. Devastation of any kind: betrayal, rejection, grief, despair, etc. may cause us to become isolated, but Jesus always shows up to give us support and comfort. Our worst setbacks can be setups for comebacks.