Optional Memorial of Saint John XXIII, Pope

 Lectionary: 466

Then shall you know that I, the LORD, am your God,
dwelling on Zion, my holy mountain;
Jerusalem shall be holy,
and strangers shall pass through her no more.
And then, on that day,
the mountains shall drip new wine,
and the hills shall flow with milk;
And the channels of Judah
shall flow with water...

Perhaps because Saturday is the Jewish Sabbath, our seventh day readings often contain promises of peace and prosperity. Other weekdays can handle the grim news of God's dissatisfaction with his people. We've come to expect it. But the Sabbath should bring reassurances and inspire hope. 

In today's reading, after the threat of a locust infestation, we come to the last chapter of the Book of the Prophet Joel and hear a renewed promise of peace. It comes with a reminder of our holiness, for only holy people can enter the Holy City of Jerusalem and know the Holiness of God. 

Irreligious people might suppose their prosperity is a result of their hard work and cleverness, or that the goddess Luck provides for them (God bless her!). But God's people recognize the Hand of God. And they know, "the Lord gives, the Lord takes away, Blessed be the name of the Lord."

If trials are a test of faith, so are peace and prosperity. As Saint Paul said, 

I have learned, in whatever situation I find myself, to be self-sufficient.

I know indeed how to live in humble circumstances; I know also how to live with abundance. In every circumstance and in all things I have learned the secret of being well fed and of going hungry, of living in abundance and of being in need.

I have the strength for everything through him who empowers me.

The Providential Eye
of God

Holiness relies upon a Holy God who provides for his people. The Bible recounts those promises from Abraham to Revelation, and we're especially reminded of them by the Hebrews' sojourn in the wilderness, the Lord's temptation in the desert, his feeding the multitudes, and his resurrection. Just when things seemed hopeless and could get no worse, the Lord provided. 

But we also learn to recognize his providence in what looks for all the world like abandonment, as if God has surrendered his people to wretchedness and death; or worse, as if He could not save them. 

Saint Paul first, and then Saint Francis of Assisi, taught the Christian world to recognize desolation as a unique and wonderful opportunity to share in the sufferings of Christ. Can anyone look at the cross of Christ and say "I deserve better than you're treating me?"

George Herbert has a famous poem about this: 

Having been tenant long to a rich Lord,

Not thriving, I resolved to be bold,

And make a suit unto him, to afford

A new small-rented lease, and cancell th’ old.

In heaven at his manour I him sought:

They told me there, that he was lately gone

About some land, which he had dearly bought

Long since on earth, to take possession.

I straight return’d, and knowing his great birth,

Sought him accordingly in great resorts;

In cities, theatres, gardens, parks, and courts:

At length I heard a ragged noise and mirth

Of thieves and murderers: there I him espied,

Who straight, Your suit is granted, said, & died.