Posted by The WORD in other words (2023) by Fr. Herbert “Bubi” Scholz, SVD – Steyl, Holland
21st Sunday in Ordinary Time – A
Photo: Exposition of the Blessed Eucharist at Goma Cathedral, North Kivu, Congo
When praying to God, we often ask for our personal needs or for our family. But the model prayer Jesus gave us, the Our Father, does not start with asking “Give US OUR daily bread” but with “Holy be YOUR NAME (God’s name), YOUR Kingdom come.” God himself and his honor come first.
In today’s Second Reading (Rom 11), Paul, perhaps the most outstanding disciple of Jesus, writes to the Christians in Rome and praises God, particularly his wisdom: “To him be glory forever.”
Paul wrote, “To him be glory forever,” not in a moment of glory, but after a long, painful reflection about how God “manages” history and the life of people, also our life. He tried to understand why only so few Jews believed in Jesus, although he was their kababayan (fellow countryman). Paul found it hard to understand. In the end, he admitted: “God’s ways are unsearchable.” But one conviction consoled him. In his wisdom and providence, God leads all things to a good end. So Paul said: “From him and through him and for him are all things… To him be glory forever.”
Like Paul, we too are often confused because of what happens in our lives or in the world. We cannot understand. One thing, however, is for sure, as it was for Paul. God “holds the whole world in his hand.” His wisdom and providence guide even the most confusing situations. Like Paul, we entrust ourselves to God, and whatever happens, we say: “To him be glory forever.”
We can compare our life to a carpet. The backside consists of jumbled threads without a system or pattern. Sometimes our life is like that: confused, making no sense, hopeless. But at the front side of the carpet is a beautiful landscape or people in palaces. That’s the side that God weaves in his wisdom and providence. That is where he leads our life. Some day we, too, shall see this. For “from him and through him and for him are all things… To him be glory forever.”
Therefore, even in the midst of whatever may happen, we trust God. We entrust our lives wholly to His wisdom and providence. Thus, our burdens become lighter. We begin to see “light at the end of the tunnel.” Even in dark moments, we can say with Paul, “To God be glory forever.” The Taizé movement has expressed this conviction in a song with the lyrics: “O Christ Jesus, my hope, my gladness. You’re my strength; you’re my light. In you, O Lord, my future’s bright. In you, I trust and feel no fright.”
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