Monday of Week 10 in Ordinary Time (Year I)
2 Corinthians 1:1-7 | Psalm 33(34):2-9 | Matthew 5:1-12
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, a gentle Father and the God of all consolation, who comforts us in all our sorrows, so that we can offer others, in their sorrows, the consolation that we have received from God ourselves. (2 Corinthians 1:3-4)
“Wah, Adrian, you’re so cheerful!”
“Of course! I find my joy in the Lord!”
That conversation happened just yesterday, and it took me by surprise. Until I’d uttered those words, I never really thought about being cheerful that day.
Especially since, just two hours before, I’d given some of my choir members a good ticking-off for not singing in time.
But as I stopped to think about what I’d just said, I admitted to myself that I have been a lot happier in general, since I committed myself to spending a good chunk of each day with the Lord.
My troubles don’t seem to have lessened, and may in fact have increased, as others who aren’t as thrilled with their lives try their best to wipe the silly grin off my face.
But my troubles aren’t troubling me any more. I don’t spend hours agonizing over what needs to be done. With the Lord comes clarity of thought, and the consolation that, when I feel most alone and abandoned, He’s propping my weary body up with His grace and love.
As John Michael Talbot sang almost 15 years ago:
Only in God is my soul at rest,
in Him comes my salvation.
He only is my rock,
my strength and my salvation.
My stronghold, my Saviour,
I shall not be afraid at all.
My stronghold, my Saviour,
I shall not be moved.
Brothers and sisters, I pray that God our Father, source of all strength and salvation, may grant you the same graces He’s given me,
that when our journey through life is joyously calm, we never lose sight of Him clearing trash and smoothing the way before us,
but when we stumble and fall, He will always be beside us, to pick us up, bandage our scrapes, dust us off, and send us on our way.
To Him be all praise and blessings, now and forever.
Amen.