Mother's Day Peace

 

My mom’s been gone for almost 8 years.  It seems longer.  She is missed.  But I think I’ve gotten closer to Mary, the mom Jesus gave us, in this time.  I prayed to her this Mother’s Day and even to her husband, Joseph, who I began seriously praying to of late.  I prayed for a friend on the Feast Day of St Joseph the Worker on May 1, and less than a week later she said that she had found work, after a long period of layoff.  Every member of that Holy Family hears our prayers.

Which, I guess, is why the meditation I read this afternoon in Stinissen’s book hit home.  We ALL have so many worries in these times, and we ALL seem to be alone --- but we’re not.  This is the meditation from yesterday in his book: This is the Day the Lord has Made:

 

Peace Among Worldly Fear

If we were to ask people what their deepest, ongoing feeling is, I believe that many would answer: “I’m afraid, I feel consumed by unrest and worry.”

Fear plagues a large segment of humanity.  To the individual, it often shows itself in nervousness, physical tension, sleeplessness.  Whether we want to or not, we are all children of our time, and none of us can expect to be completely spared this worldwide epidemic of fear.

None of us can close our eyes to the fact that there are serious reasons for fear.  We really don’t know where the world is headed.  A handful of people have the power to turn our world into a burning inferno --- in a few places, this has already happened.  It isn’t surprising that a wave of fear is rushing over us all.

Nevertheless, the Bible teaches that the afflicted and anxious person can find peace in God, that God is a refuge and a bulwark in times of trouble, that God is the God of peace.  At the birth of Jesus, the angels proclaim peace on earth (Lk 2:14).  Before Jess leaves the disciples to return to the Father, he promises them his peace (Jn 14:27).

For the one who confidently surrenders to God, there is a way to peace in this fearful world.

The visible, outer world will become a world of peace only on the day when God creates a new heaven and a new earth (Rev 21:1).  But your inner world can --- already now, day by day --- be permeated by the peace of God.  It is difficult to reason how this happens.  Still, the more you grow in confidence and reliance, the more you will know this mysterious and divine peace.

 

What beautiful thoughts for today!  Stinissen’s book was published in 2000, but it could have been yesterday.  When we are in desperate need, of a job, of peace, of inner peace, God is there for us, as is his earthly mother and father.  I pray the Surrender Novena each day, and try to put it into my heart, to really surrender everything to Jesus.  I know of some lives that prayer has radically changed, when people surrender to Jesus.  Only he can give peace in this world, and in me. 

Happy Mother’s Day to any moms who might read this.  Don’t be afraid; God is in control if you surrender your worries to him.  You can find his peace among this worldly fear.