Across today’s three readings and Responsorial Psalm, there were several comforting and familiar phrases – I feel greatly blessed to have had such meaningful words and images to feed my imagination. But even among these hopeful words, I found one with extraordinary power to begin with.
Beloved.
In a world spiraling with the Covid-19 pandemic, many of us feel unsettled at best. Too many have lost any sense of security; fewer but still many too many have lost loved ones. Still I wonder whether you, too, closed your eyes on your reading to FEEL the warmth of an embrace, to HEAR the whisper of a loving God reminding us we are his beloved. It immediately helped me.
Beloved:
If you are patient when you suffer for doing what is good,
this is a grace before God.
For to this you have been called,
because Christ also suffered for you,
leaving you an example that you should follow in his footsteps.
I wonder whether you, too, immediately thought of our Covid-19 heroes who are putting themselves in harm’s way to do what is good for others – and whether you, too, said a little prayer that they realize that their suffering is a grace before God. I wonder if you, too, thought that the ‘suffering’ that some of us are experiencing because of the need to remain distant from others is also a grace before God (and such a minor sacrifice!). It brought me GREAT peace to be reminded of the Easter promise in this passage – that if we experience any suffering at all in doing what is good, we have been called to do so because Christ gave us the example of his sacrifice for each of us.
There is so much beauty in the first reading in which so many were baptized in Christ’s name; in the Psalm that recognizes God is with us always; in the Gospel reading with it’s familiar call to us to see Christ as The Way. I pray that we each can see ourselves, through a lens of absolute trust and grace, as the willingly baptized – eager to suffer for good – following Christ like sheep through the Gate – knowing that our faith will see us through all and redeem us our sins, so that we may dwell in the house of our LORD, forever. Amen.
Kimberly Grassmeyer
I’ve been an educator at the postsecondary level for nearly 40 years – both as a Higher Education administrator in Student Affairs work, and as a part-time faculty member – at Creighton University and several other mid-western schools. In the midst of that time, I also worked as a consultant to universities across Canada, the United States and Mexico. It is my honor to be closing out my professional life at Creighton, where my professional, personal and faith values dance together in an enriching partnership.
As a seeker and a sinner I am wholly imperfect, which is to say I am the human that God created me to be. My faith is often quite strong; at other moments it is shaken to its core. I am not a scholar of the Bible nor do I consider myself to be faithful enough or wise enough to lead others in their faith journey…. which is why (apparently) my gracious colleagues believe that I may have something of value to say to the other seekers in the world! I hope that my thoughts and provocations may in some measure provide perspective, pause, laughter, grace, and some peace to you.
