Friday after Epiphany, 8 January 2021
In today’s reflection, Waiting in Joyful Hope author Michelle Francl-Donnay reflects on Psalm 147:15-18 as well as Luke 5:12-16, and getting locked in ice.
In the comments section below, share your own response to today’s scripture, Francl-Donnay’s reflection, or the accompanying meditation prompt.
The angel Raphael’s advice to Tobit and Tobiah was “Do good and evil will not overtake you.” I think it also helps even after evil has overtaken and dragged you into the mire.
Two ways come to mind. The first and most important to me is the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Examining my conscience and confessing my sins to God and a Priest has many times given me the grace to love God and people more fully. Going into confession is always a hard walk. Coming out is joyful. Our God is always merciful. The second way is that I have been blessed to be part of a small faith group with three other women. In this group we share how we try to live our faith. Each of us is different and I learn so much from the others. I come to realize all I don’t know about my faith which makes me curious and want to grow. I also learn many ways to grow so I can pick and choose what seems best for me at this point in my life. The Holy Spirit is at work.
I have been working on a project which is now coming to fruition. At the outset, I asked Mother Mary to ask her Son to bless it, if it be for the greater glory of God. People close to me kept up a constant challenge that I was expecting too much. For the last several months, I kept at it, choosing to share my thoughts with only those who supported me. When news came that the project will be completed the naysayers said it was all my doing. I absolutely said it was down to the Holy Spirit, if God had not willed it, it would not be. I have lived my life on this belief. I have tried to witness to the naysayers, to little avail. Those closest to me have helped me see that I cannot do more than to keep on living in trust. But it saddens me to think that people I love are choosing not to experience the joy of the leper in today’s Gospel. The first reading deeply bothers me: “Whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.” There are so many moral, holy people in the world, including my beloved naysayers, who do not acknowledge Jesus as their Savior. Will they really miss out on eternal life? This quandary is on my list to discuss with Someone above my pay grade, whenever I get there.