"God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob, blessed are you.
Help me, who am alone and have no help but you,
for I am taking my life in my hand.
Help me, who am alone and have no help but you,
for I am taking my life in my hand.
In today’s first reading we hear the young Jewish woman, Queen Esther, in anguish as she begs God to save her people. They have nowhere else to turn.
If we don’t always bring the same intensity to our daily prayer, we should pray in the same spirit. We turn to God because there is no help anywhere else. The problems we face are so enormous, so complicated, so old and intractable that only God can lead us through them. And that is true whether I consider the persistence of slavery in the United States or the arrogance in my own heart. There is no place in reality where I can say, “Okay God, you can back off now. I’ll take it from here.”
Christians and Catholics are nothing if we are not people of prayer. That is why we are here. We pray for our own salvation, that of our loved ones, and acquaintances and enemies. We pray for deliverance from the catastrophes that pursue us like a pack of wolves.
Each time we pray we echo the prayer of Esther: we take our lives in our hands. I have nothing else to offer but my life. “Here I am, Lord. I come to do your will.” is the foundational attitude of prayer.
Today, with anguish, we watch a popular uprising in Syria. Men, women and children fight tanks and heavy weapons with rocks and bare fists; and they are slaughtered where they stand. They seem to be fighting for a lost cause; and yet many of them have decided they must give their lives for the sake of a better way of life. They will endure tyranny no longer.
For as long as there are human beings on this earth God will require us to challenge evil with our lives. We do that by our daily prayers. Yes, they are that important.
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I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.