“Why, Lord?” I cried as I sat in the van outside my doctor’s office and begged Him again for healing. Tears rolled down my cheeks, and my soul screamed in anguish within me. I had suffered so long and had prayed and pursued many promising avenues of healing with little or no relief. I was exhausted and on the verge, once again, of giving up hope. It was all I could do to muffle my cries and calm myself before opening the car door and walking through the parking lot to the entrance of the building.
Today’s Gospel feels challenging to me. Sometimes I feel like the widow continuously begging the judge for an answer, but I am the one being worn down by the delay. Jesus probes, for the purpose of encouraging His followers to persevere in prayer with hope, “Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night? Will he be slow to answer them? I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily.”
This parable and Jesus’ explanation can feel like a slap in the face. Where is my answer? Is God going to do anything to help me? What I have learned over the years of waiting is that, yes, God absolutely hears us and that, though answers often seem slow in coming, He actually sets to work immediately. However, His work, especially in the early stages, is most often hidden.
God’s timing is rarely quick, but it is not delayed either. It is slow and deep. His goal is not to “fix” us, as if we are broken-down machines, but to heal us and bring us to wholeness in Him. That work cannot be rushed if it is to be effective.
I recently saw a quote from C.S. Lewis on Facebook: “I am sure that God keeps no one waiting unless He sees that it is good for him to wait” (Mere Christianity). In addition, one of my favorite shirts boasts the message, “In the waiting, God is working.” When God makes us wait, there is a reason for it. He is orchestrating something amazing behind the scenes.
Waiting frequently comes with a feeling of hopelessness as we continue to experience unrelenting difficulty. It takes great faith to wait on the Lord and to continue to hope in Him when all feels hopeless, knowing that He is working even when we don’t see it. As the sun, hidden below the horizon, is there even though we don’t see it, so can we be certain of God’s help, even when there is no evidence of it. Let us wait on the Lord in hope and faith as we persevere in prayer.
Daily Reading
Friday of the First Week of Advent
Reading 1 Isaiah 29:17-24 Thus says the Lord GOD: But a very little while, and Lebanon shall be changed into an orchard, and the orchard be regarded as a forest!…
Saint of the Day
St. John of Damascus
St. John of Damascus
Feast date: Dec 04
Catholics remember and celebrate the life of the great Arab Church Father St. John of Damascus on Dec. 4.Eastern Orthodox Christians and Eastern Catholics, whose tradition has been particularly shaped by his insights, celebrate the saint’s feast on the same day as the Roman Catholic Church.Among Eastern Christians, St. John (676-749) is best known for his defense of Christian sacred art, particularly in the form of icons. While the churches of Rome and Constantinople were still united during St. John’s life, the Byzantine Emperor Leo III broke radically from the ancient tradition of the church, charging that the veneration of Christian icons was a form of idolatry.John had grown up under Muslim rule in Damascus, as the child of strongly Christian parents. His excellent education – particularly in theology – prepared him well to defend the tradition of sacred iconography, against the heresy of the “iconoclasts,” so-called because they would enter churches and destroy the images therein.During the 720s, the upstart theologian began publicly opposing the emperor’s command against sacred images in a series of writings. The heart of his argument was twofold: first, that Christians did not actually worship images, but rather, through them they worshiped God, and honored the memory of the saints. Second, he asserted that by taking an incarnate physical form, Christ had given warrant to the Church’s depiction of him in images.By 730, the young public official’s persistent defense of Christian artwork had made him a permanent enemy of the emperor, who had a letter forged in John’s name offering to betray the Muslim government of Damascus. The ruling caliph of the city, taken in by the forgery, is said to have cut off John’s hand. The saint’s sole surviving biography states that the Virgin Mary acted to restore it miraculously. John eventually managed to convince the Muslim ruler of his innocence, before making the decision to become a monk and later a priest.Although a number of imperially-convened synods condemned John’s advocacy of Christian iconography, the Roman church always regarded his position as a defense of apostolic tradition. Years after the priest and monk died, the Seventh Ecumenical Council vindicated his orthodoxy, and ensured the permanent place of holy images in both Eastern and Western Christian piety.St. John of Damascus’ other notable achievements include the “Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith,” a work in which he systematized the earlier Greek Fathers’ thinking about theological truths in light of philosophy. The work exerted a profound influence on St. Thomas Aquinas and subsequent scholastic theologians. Centuries later, St. John’s sermons on the Virgin Mary’s bodily assumption into heaven were cited in Pope Pius XII’s dogmatic definition on the subject.The saint also contributed as an author and editor, to some of the liturgical hymns and poetry that Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholics still use in their celebrations of the liturgy.“Show me the icons that you venerate, that I may be able to understand your faith.” – Saint John of Damascus