As I continue to navigate through this life, where God often writes straight with crooked lines, I never cease to see His loving hands at work. Lately, I have noticed Him blessing us by providing for our needs. An unexpected reimbursement check from our insurance company, a friend who offered me her mother’s clothes after she passed away, an anonymous donor who gifted new athletic shoes to the kids, scholarships, discounts, and random gifts. All these things have been poured out to our family from God’s loving hand through His instruments.
I can’t even begin to express my gratitude to Him, Who never ceases to amaze me, Who cannot be outdone in generosity. The struggle for families is real in today’s economy, but I can boldly say that we have never gone without a meal. In fact, God has even allowed us to provide meals to others.
Last fall, we were blessed to host young adult missionaries at our house from the NET Team. They are in our county all year to be a presence in our community and help bring young people into a deeper relationship with Christ. They attend youth group meetings, community gatherings, sporting events, hold Bible studies at coffee shops, and meet people where they’re at. Jesus invites us into His heart through relationship, and they are forming just that with the youth.
While these young men and women bless us spiritually, the community pulls together to provide for their corporal needs. Some provide meals, others vehicles, others cell phones, others gift cards and others a roof over their heads for a week or two at a time. It opens our hearts in generosity while they open their hearts to us in God’s love. There is really nothing quite like it. It reminds me of the early Christian community that pooled all of their resources and provided for one another, or of those who were sent out two by two and welcomed into the homes of complete strangers.
These missionaries have given up the comfort of their homes and their way of life because they feel called. They are attempting to embody today’s Gospel in which Jesus commands us to love God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength and to love our neighbor as ourselves. They have left their boats on the shore and followed Jesus.
As Christians, we are all called to be missionaries in our own ways. Whatever our walk of life may be, we can evangelize through our words and actions. Whether it be testifying to God’s generosity, being a positive voice at work, or selflessly serving our family, we can all make a difference in our parishes and communities. Who knows, we might be the instrument through which God speaks compassion to others, saying: “I will heal their defection…I will love them freely.” (Hosea 14:5)
Daily Reading
Monday of the Fourth Week of Lent
Reading I Isaiah 65:17-21 Thus says the LORD: Lo, I am about to create new heavens and a new earth; The things of the past shall not be remembered…
Saint of the Day
Saint Benjamin the Deacon
Saint Benjamin was a deacon martyred circa 424 in Persia. St. Benjamin was executed during a period of persecution of Christians that lasted forty years and through the reign of two Persian kings. St. Benjamin was tortured mercilessly until his death in the year 424, specifically, “sharpened reeds were stuck under the nails of his fingers and toes.”
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