Saturday July 16, 2022

For you this week:

• Reflection for Saturday: Where is God When Disaster Hits?
• Inside the Ministry: Resetting personal strategies
• Next Event: Terry’s Corner (Zoom meeting)
• This week’s WordBytes faith-builder: The five stages of spiritual grieving
• Footsteps to Heaven podcast: Find God’s help when all seems bleak

This week’s Trivia Challenge: Who was the only female judge mentioned in the Bible? (Check your answer at the end of this newsletter.)

Saturday July 16, 2022

Micah 2:1-5
Psalm 10:1-4, 7-8, 14
Matthew 12:14-21
bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/071622.cfm
Podcast:
bible.usccb.org/podcasts/audio/2022-07-16-usccb-daily-mass-readings

Saints Calendar:
gnm.org/saints-find/saints-calendar

Why, O LORD, do you stand aloof?
Why hide in times of distress?
Proudly the wicked harass the afflicted,
who are caught in the devices the wicked have contrived.
(From Saturday’s Psalm reading)

Reflection for Saturday: Where is God When Disaster Hits?

When a disaster hits us, or when we witness destruction hitting the lives of other people, it’s normal to wonder: “Where is God? Why didn’t he prevent this?”

Faith is tested in crises. Where is God When Disaster Hits? Well, when we trust God despite all the evidence that says we should not, we receive new personal strength. Spiritual growth doesn’t normally occur in easy, comfortable times. It comes most powerfully when we have to force ourselves to choose to trust God.

Despair and hopelessness are based on a lack of trust in God. Doubts about God are based on what we see with our eyes — as if we can trust our eyes to see the whole picture. Faith tells us that there is a much bigger picture than what we could know or understand. Faith tells us that God has been working a plan — his own strategies — to turn sufferings and disasters into a greater good.

To restore hope, to renew our understanding of God’s protective love, to overcome depression and despair and discouragement, we have to journey through a 5-stage grieving process. If we get stuck in any of the first four stages, we need to ask God to help us figure out why we are stuck and to move us closer to the final stage. (For more on this, see this week’s recommended WordBytes article below.)

Jesus ministers to us in two ways: through others and while we’re alone with him in our prayer time. The Father gave him angels who ministered to him when he took up his Cross. The Father has given us angels, too, and his Son, as well. And faith-filled counselors and friends.

“I tell you, arise!” Jesus says to us after we’ve experienced destruction (see Luke 7:11-17). To “arise” might mean getting back to normal routines. It sometimes means making a change that says “no more.” It can mean walking away from those who bring us down and seeking others who will help with the recovery process. In a resurrection, there is always something new to gain — a new way of dealing with problems, a new place to live or work, a new parish to join, or a new courage to live a changed life.

It includes a new understanding of the Father’s protective love, a comforting compassion that doesn’t stop all evil but instead leads us from tragedies into triumphs, from suffering into recovery. Jesus says, “Rise up! A new day is dawning!” as the Father gives us a new blessing.

God is, because of his infinite goodness, a redeemer who overcomes what is evil by making good come from it despite all obstacles. Hope is not wishful thinking, it’s the awareness of God’s goodness. As you grow stronger in hope, evangelize this hope to those around you who need to hear Jesus say, “Arise!”

Inside the Ministry: Resetting personal strategies

My strength and energy are finally getting near-normal after a month of post-covid fatigue. It’s been quite the opportunity to be still and listen.

During this difficult period, I’ve heard only silence from the Lord. He might have been saying a lot but my spiritual ears were deaf. Or maybe he was simply being quiet because he wanted me to be quiet. At times I thought I was experiencing a dark night of the soul, but it really wasn’t very dark. It was just quiet. I had no energy to go to daily Mass, which is where I hear God most clearly. So I waited. And waited.

I leaned on Abba Father heavily, knowing he was holding me — even though I couldn’t feel it. I knew he could have healed me quickly and he was choosing to let nature take its course instead. The mercy of Jesus kept me afloat. And I waited to learn what would come from this.

It felt like a personal reboot. My work hours have been greatly reduced ever since my mother went into the hospital in early April, then Ralph went in for open heart surgery a couple of weeks later and ended up with a different surgery. While recovering at home, he returned to the hospital with an infection that was probably caused by the surgery. During his second hospitalization, tests revealed that he no longer needed open heart surgery because his badly leaking valve was now only mildly leaking — a miracle that I’m still thanking God for.

That 6-day stay in the hospital exposed him to covid. Three days later he tested positive. Then he gave it to me. Our symptoms were mild; fatigue has been my biggest problem.

What has God been saying to me during all of this? “Slow down!”

For many years, I’ve given my full time and energy to Good News Ministries. It’s my passion! I’m energized by it. When we brought my parents into our home 10 years ago, I took time out for their gradually increasing needs. Caregiving is exhausting, especially you receive back very little warmth and rapport. It affected my health and Ralph’s. In April, my mom (Dad passed away in 2020) moved out for our sake and hers. God provided her with an alternative place to live.

All of this has been a turning point, a reboot. I needed time off to recuperate from caregiving as much from covid. And now, as my energy returns, it’s appropriate to re-examine and rebuild plans for GNM. I’m still hearing, “Slow down.” At age 67, I need to spend more time making sure my health (and my husband’s) is well taken care of so that I’m able to continue serving the Lord through GNM with the same enthusiasm and energy.

While I’m still in the middle of this discernment period, I’d like to hear from you about what’s important to you: Do you want more podcasts? Do you want me to focus on a particular need in my podcasts and writings? Do you want live Zoom meetings with me? Or — how else can I serve you? I’m going to limit what I choose to work on, basing it on the feedback I get.

In August, I will be back on track in offering Zoom meetings for faith sharing and healing (that is, of course, if the Lord gives me an energetic go-ahead). Open to all, our first event will minister to parents of adult children who have left the faith (date and time to be decided soon). I also want to offer help in knowing God’s will. Another idea is to discuss topics from my book on being healed by God’s Fatherhood (see tothefathersheart.com). Since I don’t have time to provide one-on-one spiritual direction, these group sessions are the best way I can serve those who want it.

What topics do you want our meetings to cover?

To see announcements about these events, watch this newsletter or subscribe for announcements @ elists.gogoodnews.net/dada/mail.cgi/list/paracletia.

This week’s recommended faith-builder:
The five stages of spiritual grieving

Spiritual grieving begins with pain that causes confusion. Faith and trust in God seemingly are contradicted by reality.

When we suffer the anguish of living through any kind of destruction, we need hope and healing. We will experience restoration when we allow ourselves to go through the five stages of grieving so that we can reach the final stage — acceptance.

For the five stages of grieving and how they affect us spiritually, visit wordbytes.org/suffering/disasters.

WordBytes is a library of Catholic faith-building articles by Good News Ministries. Come on in and explore! Visit WordBytes.org today.

Find God’s help when all seems bleak

 When all seems bleak — a crisis happens and there seems to be no solution, or when a problem brings darkness and there seems no way out — God has a plan. Where is God When Disaster Hits? Jesus as our Redeemer always wants to redeem bad things that happen, turning them into blessings. If God’s plan gets blocked or ruined by our sin or by someone else or by the devil, he makes a new plan that is even better than the first. But we need to discover how to find God’s help in that situation.

Where is God When Disaster Hits? Well, to find God’s help, we need to trust him. Proverbs 3:5 instructs us to trust him instead of leaning on our own understanding of the situation. We see only what looks bleak. God sees so much more! And he is using this knowledge to bring a miracle into the problem.

In this episode, originally recorded in 2019, I explain how to do it by sharing my own recent experience as an example.

Listen to this podcast @ gnm.org/footsteps43.

The transcript is available for download @ gnm-media.org/when-all-seems-bleak.

Sign up for early access to new podcasts as soon as they’re published. Subscribe at gnm-media.org for the podcast videos or at footstepstoheaven.com for the audio-only version.

Answer to this week’s Trivia Challenge:
Who was the only female judge mentioned in the Bible? Deborah (see  the Book of Judges, chapters 4 and 5). She led Israel for 60 years in the 12th century B.C. She served as a prophet, judge, military leader, songwriter, and minstrel.

God bless you!

Every morning, I lift up in prayer everyone who helps Good News Ministries in any way (donors, volunteers, prayer supporters, etc.) and all the prayer requests posted on our site. What can I cover in prayer for you? Post your prayer request.

How else can the team and I serve you today? Visit our homepage.

Let’s connect in GNM’s own SmartCatholics community, called Good News Faith Builders. I’m available to interact with you there.

Thank you for reading this newsletter.

Your servant in Christ,
Terry Modica, Executive Director
Good News Ministries
gnm.org

Find this and past issues at gnm.org/newsletter. Please share what will minister to others.