Today’s readings are a quick summary of our relationship to God. In Genesis we are reminded of the sin that separates us from God. It is as real now for each of us as it was back in the garden for Adam and Eve. Who among us does not feel guilt for something or other? But in Psalm 32 we remember that the sins of those who acknowledge them and confess them to the Lord are forgiven. We can’t cover up our guilt, but the Lord does. God promises us that not only are our sins forgiven, we don’t even need to be afraid of them. When the deep waters of sin overflow us and when we are in distress, we can easily fall into despair. But the good news is that the Lord frees and protects us from the peril of our sins. The Lord provides for us a shelter.
Our response to those promises in the Old Testament should be an active faith in which our hearts are open to the comforting and encouraging words of Jesus who is the Kingdom of God among us. As children of the New Testament, we now live in the light of the promises. It is now Christ who brings the good news to us about the freedom and protection from our sins. Jesus is the proclamation of the good news in word and deed in our lives. But we are admonished today to keep our hearts open to Christ’s words to us, especially when we share the good news of the Gospel.
There is a tension with our sharing of the good news, we find in the gospel message for today. Too often we think it is about us and our experience. That can confuse other people. The message of the good news is that Jesus is the fulfillment of the promises of God for healing and resurrection, not just for our bodies, but our spirits as well. If we only spread the message about the good things that God has done in our lives, we are not telling WHO HE IS, just what he does for us in rather shallow ways. When we think it is all about us, we become too self-centered in our faith and often we even expect miracles. I know that I am sometimes guilty of that. So what happens if you haven’t had a good miracle lately? That is why a lot of people give up on God. They stop listening and looking for God in their lives when they don’t get what they think they need. The good news is that we can come to God by faith, not through miracles of healing the body. The message we need to share with the world is that of openness to the on-going process of redemption and salvation in the words of Jesus. In and through our faith in the fulfilled promises of God we are both healed and made whole spiritually. Given what sinners we all are, that is indeed a miracle! We pray, then, with joy and gratitude for Jesus who is God’s promise to free and shelter us from our sins. That should take a huge load off of most of us.
Barbara Dilly
I came to Creighton in 2000 and retired in 2020. My twenty years of teaching, research and service in the Jesuit tradition enhanced my own life. It was an exciting time of celebration. I loved teaching and interacting with Creighton students because they responded so eagerly to the Ignatian pedagogical emphasis on the development of the whole person. It is this spirit of whole person development and celebration of life that I hope to infuse in my reflection writings.
My academic background is eclectic, preparing me well for the Liberal Arts academic environment at Creighton. I earned my BA in World Arts and Cultures from UCLA in 1988 and my Ph.D. in Comparative Cultures from the University of California, Irvine in 1994. My research focused on rural communities in the American Midwest, Latin America, and Australia. I taught Environmental Anthropology, Qualitative Research Methods, Social and Cultural Theory, and Food Studies courses.
I retired to Shell Rock, a small rural community in Northeast Iowa where I enjoy gardening, cooking, quilting, driving my 65 Impala convertible an my 49 Willys Jeepster. I have lots of fun playing my guitars with friends from the Cedar Valley Acoustic Guitar Association. But most importantly, I am still working to make my community and rural America a better place. I host a community quilt studio and serve on the Mission Board of my church. I also serve as the Climate Committee Chair and on the Executive Board of the Center for Rural Affairs.
