18th Sunday of Ordinary Time

 The devil wants nothing more than to separate us from God.

So he throws the kitchen sink at us sometimes

hoping that something, anything

will separate us from the Love of God.

So he tries anguish?

Who of us doesn’t anguish over decisions and questions we face.

Well Jesus is with us in our Anguish,

He faced tough decisions and questions,

As he anguished in the Garden of Gethsemane

about doing His Father’s Will.

And then he tries Distress.

Who does not feel the distress of the Virus, Politics and social unrest.

Jesus is with us in our Distress,

As He stood on the Mount of Olives weeping,

over the impending destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans.

Will persecution separate us from the love of God?

Christians are persecuted everywhere

by ridicule, imprisonment and even death.

Jesus is with them too in their Persecution

As He too was persecuted, mocked and condemned.

Will famine separate us from the Love of God?

So many people hunger for Food, Hope and Peace in Life,

Jesus is with us in our hunger,

As He gives us His very flesh and blood to eat.

Will nakedness separate us from the love of God

So many people go naked,

Stripped of family, love, support.

The basic necessities of life.

Jesus is with them in their nakedness.

As He was stripped of His Friends and His Clothes

And left naked on Calvary

Will Peril separate us from the love of God?

When the storms of life threaten to sink us,

Jesus is with us even there.

As He calms the wind and the waves and brings us safely to shore.

Will the sword separate us from the Love of God?

When we are in danger of death,

Jesus is there dying on the cross with us,

Offering us Paradise.

Jesus is with us through it all.

So that neither death nor life,

Nor angels or demons

NOTHING on earth below or the Heavens above

Can ever separate us from the Love of God,

That comes to us through Christ Jesus.

God Bless