Clap Your Hands and Shout for Joy!

One of St. Augustine's pearls of wisdom is the statement that God loves each one of us as if there were just one of us. Think about that for a minute. Everything we see around us, God made it all for our delight. He gave us our five senses so we could enjoy His gifts: the moon and stars that light up the night sky, the birds singing to welcome the morning, the smell of the honeysuckle to sweeten the air, the touch of a baby's silky skin, the taste of your favorite meal. All, everything he made for you, not you plural, but you, the precious one. He loves you and me individually and enough to die for. It's a reality almost too big to grasp. Does it make you dizzy? 

That's certainly not the message we get from the world. Think about it. What's their message? 

You're a speck of sand on the beach, a drop of water in the ocean. You're nothing; you're insignificant. You're a single cell on a planet filled with trillions of cells to the nth degree. You're an atom in the solar system, a wisp in the galaxy, an invisible nothing in the universe. You are insignificant and don't matter. And because you are nothing, you can be abused, tortured, even murdered and it doesn't matter. The world will be better off without you. You are irrelevant and no one cares for you. There is no God to save you.

That is Satan's message, "Despair and die!" 

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus,
I place all my trust in You.

What's the message from God, our loving Father?

You are mine, the apple of My eye. Every hair on your head is counted. Read the Song of Songs, God loves every one of us like an espoused lover.  “I belong to my beloved, and his desire is for me. Come, my beloved, let us go to the countryside, let us spend the night in the villages.” [Song of Songs 7:10-11] 

When we stray from God He chases us "with unhurrying chase, And unperturbèd pace, Deliberate speed, majestic instancy." He's not chasing the crowd, but me and you, individually. He loves us; we belong to Him. 

Sometimes it's hard to believe. We focus our eyes on the evil around us and on the difficulties and challenges of our own lives. I get it! I understand how you can shout out, "Where are you, God? I'm drowning here in grief and pain. Are you really there?" And sometimes we don't seem to get an answer. That's when we need to place total confidence in Him and put our faith into action.

Read the lives of the saints. He called them personally. He inspired St. Augustine's conversion through the voices of children, "Take and read." He knocked St. Paul off his horse and spoke to him: "Saul, Saul why are you persecuting me?" He sent His mother to St. Bernadette and the three little shepherd children of Fatima urging them to pray and do penance. They did to a degree amazing for young children. He pursued them all, but He didn't relieve their suffering. He pursues me, but He lets me suffer to unite me more closely to the cross. Believe it! It's suffering that unites us most closely to God, through His Son Jesus Christ Who suffered and died for us. 

Jesus told His disciples not to expect anything but to walk in His footsteps. "Remember my saying that I told you: The servant is not greater than his Lord. If they have persecuted me, they will persecute you also." [John 15:20] The devil wants to use our suffering to discourage us and lead us to despair. The best thing we can do is foil his plans by embracing our suffering and even thanking God for them. If we stop looking at the suffering and focus our eyes on the cross, and the fact that God sent His only Son to die for us, how can we not clap our hands and shout for joy?

There's power in praise! May we all nail ourselves with Jesus on the cross and praise Him with every fiber of our being no matter our circumstances. Come, Lord Jesus!