“For God did not destine us for wrath, but to gain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.”  While the First Reading, at the beginning, can feel frightening, in the end it is is quite a reassuring meaessage about how our faith and trust in God will carry us through our life’s challenges. The reading is also a reminder of our need to support others who may be questioning their faith, or are acting or discerning out of fear with so many uncertainties that exist in life.  “Therefore, encourage one another and build one another up, as indeed you do.”

If “The Lord is my light and my salvation” truly “Whom or what should I fear?”  The Psalm today is such a reassuring message that God does want us to embrace the goodness of life and our own unique gifts, which, when given an opportunity, we should not shy away from sharing with others.  “To dwell in the house of the Lord…  and contemplate his temple” gave me an over whelming sense of peace knowing that I can trust the guidance which God has provided for me throughout my life thus far, and will continue to provide for me.

“A great prophet has arisen in our midst and God has visited his people.” Jesus was not one of the established Jewish Authority figures nor a part of the Jewish Leadership team and no doubt, many were confused and possibly even frightened by his parables and “new ways of thinking.” Following the Gospel lessons can also be challenging to us but we must remember and be assured that God, through his examples and words, will be our guide in how we relate to and love others- even those that seem to possess an unclean demon.   God seems to be encouraging us, giving us an invitation to “pay attention” to what moves our hearts, whose words we are drawn to and feel we can trust, and whose words feel like a rejection, or untruth. Our challenge is to be true to God’s truth and to be confident in calling out the untruths that surround us in life, so as to find God in all things and proceed accordingly, in order to “build one another up and gain salvation.”