Hope has a way of turning its face to you just when you least expect it.
You walk in a room, you look out a window,
and something there leaves you breathless.
You say to yourself, ‘It’s been a while since I felt this…
but it feels like it might be… hope.’
From It Might be Hope by Sara Groves
Sometimes, in these cold and often bleak winter days and nights and Lent about 10 days away, we all can feel a little (or a lot) like Job- frustrated and tired, feeling like there’s nothing to look forward to, just as what seems the longest month of the year- only 28 (yes, this year, 29) days is beginning. We all feel that way… I’m sure Jesus did, too, and then, something happens. With a word, an action, God reveals Himself to us, gives us courage again, and we’re off again!
In today’s Gospel, It would have been easier for Jesus to stay where he was doing such good work to stay where He was, but He understood that there were others who need Him, as people need each of, who have received this great hope, to give it to them, by our words, our actions, our lives. Jesus rises and challenges us to see that there is work to be done, hands to grasp, lives to change, mercy to give, and He challenges His disciples, and us, to get up and get going! Yes, we don’t deny that it’s cold and dark these days, but Easter is not far away! Hope is all around us, within us, and we need to find it, live it, and share it! Let’s go and be about our Father’s business.
Coming next month: Something… some one… extraordinary!
Please invite one and all to join us on Thursday and Friday, March 21-22 at 7 pm at St. Mary’s Church,
for a Drama Mission led by TV and film star Frank Runyeon! He will be presenting powerful and moving presentations: SIGNS! The Gospel of John on Monday, the Sermon on the Mount and Hollywood vs. Faith on Tuesday. Frank has toured the country sharing these and other presentations with warmth, wit and skill, a hit with people of all ages!
I have seen him twice and was left awestruck at not only his brilliance, but also his deep faith. Admission is a free-will offering. Check out his work on You Tube and mark these days in your calendar, just as we arrive at Jerusalem and Holy Week. I promise you will be profoundly challenged, engaged and affirmed by these presentations of faith, hope and love!
If you have questions, please ask me!
~ Fr. John Sheridan