Saturday of the First Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 310


The word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart. No creature is concealed from him, but everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must render an account.


Diane Rehm recently ran a rebroadcast of an interview she did in 1986 of a former convict known as Race Hoss Sample. He tells a story of extraordinarily evil incidents in an American town and the American prison system, and of an epiphany that came to him in solitary confinement.
His story reminds me of that "living and effective word of God." It came to him, despite the barbaric treatment he suffered at the hands of family and neighbors. The story of a Good God, which he might have heard in the street or a prison cell, penetrated soul and spirit, joints and marrow and blossomed as he left prison to become a champion for the dignity of Texas prisoners.
Hebrews tells us "no creature is concealed from him." We should read that as good news. Our Lord and Savior will not lose anyone the Father has given him, because, as he says,

I came down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of the one who sent me. And this is the will of the one who sent me, that I should not lose anything of what he gave me, but that I should raise it [on] the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life, and I shall raise him [on] the last day.

If the hour seems bleak and our predicament perilous, we should remember that two edged sword of the Lord. It is irresistible. We have only to watch and witness its mercy.