Saturday of the Fifth Week of Lent

Today's Mass Readings

I think much of what the faithful Christian can offer today’s world is hope. The Prophet Ezekiel encountered many difficulties (like many of us do), but the latter part of the Book is very hopeful. The Prophet Ezekiel wrote: “I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” Even though the people fail and turn away from God in many ways, God is still faithful and wants to remain in relationship with them. The relationship that God invites us into is a powerful consolation even in times of distress.

Christian hope builds upon and fulfills the hope of the chosen people. The model of hope was Abraham, who was blessed abundantly by the promises of God fulfilled in Isaac, and who was purified by the test of the sacrifice. It was said of Abraham: “Hoping against hope, he believed, and thus became the father of many nations.”

We don’t always see the fruit or the results of our work, but we can trust that if we are faithful to prayer and committed to persevering in a Christian life, God will bring about good in due season. St. Jose Maria Escriva wrote: “He will act, if only you abandon yourself in him. Time has gone by, and that conviction of mine has grown even stronger and deeper. I have seen many souls with such hope in God that it has set them marvelously ablaze with love, with a fire that makes the heart beat strong and keeps it safe from discouragement and dejection, even though along the way they may suffer and at times suffer greatly.”

Let us place our hope entirely in God.

Reflection by Fr. Paul Sheller, OSB