Blessed Are They

Dear Faith Family,

One of my favorite things to experience is when I have the realization that our liturgies work seamlessly with each other. I especially enjoy when the readings have themes that have correlations that are impossible to ignore.

This Sunday’s second reading is quite striking and it is indeed true. If Christ has been raised from the dead, how can we ignore the promise that we will be raised as well? It’s a pretty direct message and it is quite powerful. God always keeps his promises, even those that we perceive to be impossible.

This Sunday’s Gospel fits perfectly with this idea. As humans, it is impossible to avoid suffering. We all have encountered the poor, hungry, weeping, etc., but I feel that it is safe to say that we have experienced these things as well. A lot of us have experienced times in our lives where it seems impossible that God is present.

When we experience these things, we can sometimes correlate them with death. When we are downtrodden with nowhere to look, it may feel like a glimpse of death. Our Lord helps us to see that although the pursuit of suffering is not something we should do, there is somehow blessing in our most difficult times.

Death is something that is not desired, but it is inevitable. But if Christ preaches perfect life after death, love still somehow conquers. If love conquers the unconquerable, God is not only present in the pleasant parts of our lives, but he is equally present in the difficult parts. What an amazing message that our God preaches. He is there, at all times, even when it is hard to see Him.

Notice though, that the theme of these readings aren’t “just be happy!”. God is simply letting us know that He is there, even when it seems like no one is. His love is eternal, not faltering when things become difficult. God meets us where we are, and we are truly blessed to have a God who will never fail in loving us, even in situations where we find it most difficult to love others or ourselves.

​These past 2 years have been hard, but on reflection, hopefully we recognize the God that conquered death has been present the whole time and he continues to be present to this day. 

Let us be images of God and let our friends and family who are suffering know that we are present, in the good and bad.


​God Bless,
​
Brett Becker
Youth and Young Adult Minister