These readings were challenging – perhaps some of the challenge relates to these unprecedented times – a time when I along with many others are asking some difficult questions.  I heard someone the other day say that God must be very angry with us.  That did make me think about how all of this fit together.  When did we stop putting God in the center of our lives? How did we let everything else take center stage and forget our purpose here? For me, the question is not where is God, but rather how did I drift away and how do I get back.  There is so much evidence of His presence and His love for us, yet it is easy to focus on the negative happenings rather than see how challenges help us grow and can help us move closer to God.

I thought about the story of the butterfly struggling to release itself from its cocoon. A kindly man watching decided to relieve it of its struggle by enlarging the exit hole. Indeed, the butterfly slipped easily through, no more struggling through that narrow slit. However, many of you remember that without that struggle through the narrow passageway, the butterfly emerged deformed and misshapen. The so-called easy exit did not result in an easier life for the butterfly, quite the contrary, the swollen body and wilted wings were not the fate designed for the butterfly. That fate could only be accomplished through the struggle _ the beauty of the butterfly and the gift of flight are the results of struggling. So, as it is with us, we long to see Your face. But, what our eyes may not see, our hearts certainly can feel; we are guided and supported throughout it all, if we only open our hearts. How often have we asked, why me? Rather than the woe is me of why me? perhaps we are better served to ask what am I to learn from this, what strength am I to gain from this struggle? Nothing is a mistake; there are no coincidences with God. I am not denying that at times our willfulness and selfishness may lead us away from God. It is through opening our hearts and souls that we can find new meanings in our challenges.

The gospel truly challenges us in our everyday life to face our sins and our short comings. We need to take that "moral and fearless inventory" that those in 12-step programs know so well. We need to hold that mirror in front of ourselves and see the whole image there. Not easy for any of us. Certainly, we would all find flaws and shortcomings. The difference with this inventory is the opportunity to change what is at hand. As we take count of stock, we can not only recognize what is there but embrace what could be there. If we do not like what we see, we can, with the love and support of our Lord, change it. We can repent and amend our lives. The Act of Contrition is a beautiful prayer that allows us to call our sins to mind and to vow to change.

I will close with some lines that accompanied the butterfly story. These lines have often provided great comfort for me and served to always remind me that I am, in the words of Teilhard de Chardin, a spiritual being having a human experience and that human experience is blessed, indeed, when I heed the Word and surrender my will.

And, of course, a link for a song to fill our hearts:  Big Daddy Weave’s I Know