Thursday of the First Week of Advent
I have to confess: today’s readings make me worried. In the reading from Isaiah, those who trust in God and are just have a strong city, thanks to the Lord. But the Lord humbles those in high places and will tumble their city to the ground. The poor and needy will trample on it. In Matthew’s gospel, the one who listens and acts on God’s will is like one who builds a house on rock. But if one listens and doesn’t act, it’s like the fool who builds a house on sand and it’s swept away by the wind, the rains, and the flood. So what makes me nervous about these passages? Frankly, I know that I hear the word of the Lord, but also know that I don’t always act on that word. Do I really trust God? Also, living in earthquake country, those descriptions of cities tumbling to the ground feel very possible. And right now the rainy season has started with warnings of mudslides and flooding. Maybe trusting in God is like being prepared for a disaster. Like our Disaster Preparedness team, we need to be ready for crises, for sooner or later they will occur. It’s how we approach those crises that matters. Do we cling to that Rock, or do we think we can do it all ourselves? Do we trust that even if we don’t have all the answers and when we screw up, there is one who loves us, forgives us and cares for us more deeply than we can imagine? Maybe practicing acts of generosity, gratitude, and forgiveness are like disaster preparedness drills. When our clients face the disasters of homelessness, unemployment, mental illness, incarceration, or isolation, we need to be ready to bring God’s love to them in each of our encounters. To do that, we need to trust that God is present in them, in us and in our encounter.
Gregory Kepferle is CEO of Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County and President of Charities Housing Development Corporation in San Jose, California.
|
|
View this message in your browser. |
