The Lord has consumed without pity
all the dwellings of Jacob;
Things can seem pretty bleak in the world. Certainly the headlines are filled with much to discourage us. This can inspire a deep and sympathetic sadness for the world. If we aren't careful it can lead to despair. That isn't what the LORD wants. Nor does he ask us to pretend things are other than they are. Instead we can channel our sympathy into prayer.
Cry out to the Lord;
moan, O daughter Zion!
Let your tears flow like a torrent
day and night;
Let there be no respite for you,
no repose for your eyes.
We do not pray because we assume it doesn't make much difference. It is a gentle nudge compared to the hard punches of the world, or so it seems. But it is not prayer that is deficient. It is our faith. Prayer really is the most powerful force available to us. It is just we that fail to realize it. Maybe this is because we selfishly insist that we haven't seen many miracles ourselves. We have a sense, based on past expectations, of what we think prayer can accomplish. We ought to be more like the centurion who doesn't need to immediately experience the results of the power of Jesus first hand in order to believe in them.
The centurion said in reply,
"Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof;
only say the word and my servant will be healed.
The centurion doesn't need to insist on bringing Jesus into his home because of his faith in the power of Jesus. The LORD wants to use the prayers of the humble, prayers that more readily give glory to God, to bring healing to the world. The centurion's prayer is so impressive to Jesus precisely because of how the centurion himself is distanced from the results. He has the humility to accept this. In our pride we are often more recalcitrant.
After this Jesus does enter a house to perform a healing. We ought never assume that Jesus won't heal someone because of the situation. Indeed, he wants to bring his healing to the world. Now that he has ascended into heaven people can only have that healing contact with him through his body, the Church. Let us not deprive the world of his touch.
Lord, forget not the souls of your poor ones.
No comments:
Post a Comment