Title: Meditation: Thursday, January 17, 2002
The Catholic Calendar for Thursday, January 17, 2002
St. Anthony, abbot
Scripture from today's Liturgy of the Word:
1 Samuel 4:1-11
Psalm 44:10-11,14-15,25-26
Mark 1:40-45
A Reflection on Today's Scripture:
Today's selections from both the Old and New Testaments, illustrate
two seemingly contradictory views about God. From Samuel we hear how
the Israelites were defeated by the Philistines and the beloved Ark
of the Covenant captured. The Responsorial Psalm bemoans Israel's
great loss and seems to put all the blame on God. In the Gospel, we
witness the contrasting view with the healing of a leper. In this
story we're told that Jesus looked on him with pity and healed him.
How are we to reconcile the disparity between a God who seems to let
His chosen people suffer and Jesus who demonstrates compassion and
manifests it with a look of pity and a miracle?
There are, I am certain, all kinds of answers that theologians and
other articulate and gifted people might offer. Some might say that
the fate of the Israelites was the consequence of their sinfulness
and faithlessness and that God needed to teach them a lesson. On the
other hand, the leper demonstrated great faith and some might say his
cure was its reward.
As plausible as these answers might be, they don't explain
satisfactorily why God acts as He does. We can be certain that His
actions are always directed for our salvation and not destruction,
but how that is supposed to be accomplished remains like God:
a mystery.
God's ways are so beyond our ways, that we can scarcely fathom Him.
We gain a glimpse, a flash of insight, but God Himself and all His
power and glory remain beyond our human comprehension. Let us then be
careful not to analyze God and his motives and strategies other than
to remember that all is intended for our salvation.
Let us cultivate the mystery of God in our lives. Let it stoke the
flames of our wonder and awe leading us in a more humble and
child-like way to accept everything He ordains or allows us to
experience.
- Donna Raye Nelson, ocds
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All scripture quotes are from the Douay-Rheims edition of the Catholic Bible.
Full text from the New American Bible: http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/index.htm
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