Deacon Tom writes on….
Today’s readings remind us that we are not patient people. When things are going badly, we cry out to God for help, and it never seems to come soon enough. The Prophet Habakkuk cries out for God’s help to end the violence and destruction that are plaguing the people of Judah. But God “does not intervene.”
Being faithful to God when we are experiencing sickness or despair, when we have lost someone we love, or when we are fearful of what the future holds is very difficult. Our hearts and minds struggle to feel God’s presence. What we really want though, is to have our fears calmed, our financial problems resolved, our relationships mended, our illnesses cured, and for our loved ones to remain with us forever.
Difficult, perhaps, even as impossible as it seems, it is in these most painful times we are called to wait on God and to know that we have a share in that vision he told Habakkuk to write down. What is that vision that Habakkuk wrote down on the tablets? WOW! The text doesn’t say! All it says is that the vision, “...still has its time, presses on to fulfillment, and will not disappoint.”
Habakkuk’s vision and prophecy came to completion in the person of Jesus Christ. He entered our human drama in answer to the Prophet’s cry, “How long, O Lord?” God not only hears our cries but even shares in our suffering and pain. It is during these very moments of intense suffering, when we are utterly helpless, that we begin to understand the very vision Habakkuk referred to, the vision that will not disappoint that God has in store for us. That vision: Eternal Life, where our tears will be tears of gladness and all that God has in store for us surely will not disappoint.
To make this vision of Habakkuk’s ours we, like the Apostles, need to first, use the faith that we do have to build up the kingdom of God and then, pray for an increase in faith so that our faith will not run out as we do all the Lord asks of us in this fleeting life on earth before he calls us home.
Enjoy the day!
Deacon Tom
Go to www.deaconspod.com to hear a contemporary conversation exploring the treasures our Catholic faith has to offer.
Recommended Reading: The Breath of the Soul, Reflections on Prayer by Sr. Joan Chittister opens the pathway to a deeper spiritual life through a more authentic and meaningful prayer life.
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