Friday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Does God care? This is a perennial question by most that are open to belief in God. And for atheists, the existence of evil—because of the very fact that we Christians proclaim a good God who made the world good—is reason enough to believe there is no God.
Today the prophet Nahum tells the Jews exiled in Babylon that their captors are about to get their comeuppance. The Babylonians will be subjugated in the same way they conquered others. And the Judahites will be restored to their homeland.
The Judahites spent years in exile, some didn’t survive it, and still others who had the opportunity to return to Judah preferred to remain in the foreign land. In our age we can probably feel like a remnant even as we see half-hearted and fallen-away neighbors alongside us. We can look back to a “golden age” of church attendance and gospel virtues. Yet, God chose us to be the strong ones in this age to build up the Church. We must remember that it was just a holy remnant that went on to produce the Savior of the world in His earthly context: Jesus Christ.
God does hear our prayers, and He does not delay as some understand delay. Gaining the world and all physical health would be a pale exchange for eternal life given to those who trust in the Lord.
Reflection by Fr. Pachomius Meade, OSB
Posted in Articles for Ordinary Time, Daily Reflections