Each day in our life is a new thread, and a tiny piece of the great tapestry of human history. On some level we understand this theoretically. We know we can begin anew each day. God allows start-overs and U-turns. Oftentimes however we get caught up in what feels like a sticky web from which there seems no escape. The past reminds us of our failures, the present does not always work out as we planned, and the future is a whole lot of what if worries.

Venerable Madeleine Delbrel wrote this to help us understand God’s Providence. “…we receive each morning and each day in its entirety from the hands of God. God gives us a day which has been prepared for us by Him. There are no “too muches” or “not enough” in it. No part of it is neutral, no part of it useless.”

What is the goal? Heaven. We need to foster an eternal outlook as we live life.

It is so easy to get caught up in the temporal now, because this is the reality, we currently live in. There are bills to be paid, broken relationships to be mended, jobs that stink and jobs that fulfill. How can we consider the reality and necessity of life, and ponder what Delbrel is suggesting? What we will discover is that each day is planned by God to be a source of our sanctification. Our Father will do everything to help us grow into the saints He created us to be. Yes, the pain, frustrations, messy relationships, joys and sorrows of any given day will uniquely afford us an opportunity for grace or for sin, as Fr. Teilo loves to remind us.

The choice however is ours.

We can reject the notion of a good and loving God who is intimately, personally involved with our life and desires our happiness and well-being. Or, we can embrace our birthright by nature of our Baptism, and live as sons and daughters of the Most High.

There have been times in my various sufferings when I have said to the Lord in my nightly monologue, (do you see the problem already?), that this is “too much.” “I can’t take it anymore.” Yet, as I look back on those moments, God knew that I could, and did, with His help. In those quiet dark nights as the tears flowed, I begged to be freed from the physical or emotional pain I was in. It was exactly in those moments as I ponder them, that I realized my littleness and total dependence on God. Those times drew me closer to the Heart of Love itself. I have realized when everything is going my way that I begin to push God out little by little towards the peripheries. There is nothing like loss and raw pain to bring clarity and priority.

God does not love one more than another. He knows what it takes and what each of us needs to draw closer to Him, to learn from Him, and to grow in holiness. He loves us that much. Remember, love is sacrificial. It hurts. It hurts a lot sometimes. Look at the Crucifix-that is what unconditional, selfless, authentic love is all about. God asks so much less of us than He did of His own Son.

She goes on to write, “We are charged with an energy which is way out of proportion to the measure of our world: the faith that moves mountains, the hope that refuses to accept that something is impossible, the love which sets the world on fire.”

God’s abundant generosity provides all that we need to battle anything spiritual or otherwise that comes our way. We need not fear a little virus, an army of demons, or death itself. Whatever God calls us to, He also provides all that we need in abundance to overcome it. What my problem was is that I would try and rely on my own strength and it wasn’t until it was exhausted that I reached out to God. Trust and entrust yourself, your family, your challenges, fears, problems and suffering to the ONE who can do something and equip you with what you need to overcome it.

I have heard people say that they do not want to burden God with their little worries. Think about that. Would you want your children or close family members to go it alone and not “burden” you? No. That’s not what love does. We need each other, but more importantly we need God. And don’t worry about God running out of grace and mercy either.

“The LORD’s acts of mercy are not exhausted, his compassion is not spent; They are renewed each morning—great is your faithfulness!” (Lam 3:22-23)

Let us especially in this uncertain time, begin to live out our faith boldly. To trust God implicitly even when we don’t like what we see or experience. There is a bigger plan. A better plan. Our life can look like the backside of a tapestry at times, gnarly, nasty, and one huge hot mess. The Master Weaver however, knows what He is doing and when the tapestry is finished and turned around, we will see that the darkest, hardest moments in our lives added depth and incredible beauty to the whole piece.

See you in the pews! Let’s go set the world on fire!