Monday December 26, 2022

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“Every form of dying to self is a moment of entrusting our spirits to the Lord.”

Good News Reflection for:

Feast of Saint Stephen, first martyr
December 26, 2022

Today’s Prayer:

Thank You, Lord, for the trials I must go through on the road that leads me to You. Give me the strength I need so I will not quit but remain faithful to the end. Amen.

Subscribe to Today’s Saint Quote & Prayer:
gnm.org/SaintQuotes/

Today’s Readings:

Acts 6:8-10; 7:54-59
Ps 31:3cd-4,6,8ab,16bc,17
Matthew 10:17-22
bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/122622.cfm
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
bible.usccb.org/podcasts/audio/2022-12-26-usccb-daily-mass-readings-0

Rest in God’s hands

What does it mean to say, “Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.” This is our response to God’s redemptive power in today’s responsorial Psalm. It’s also the final words of St. Stephen as he was becoming the first Christian martyr (see today’s first reading). And of course we recognize these words as Jesus’ last words on the cross.

It’s the words of true faith. It’s complete trust in God.

In the Gospel passage, Jesus describes this kind of trust. He says: Do not worry about how you will handle any difficulty, any persecution, any challenges in your life. No matter how bleak the future seems, God holds you in the palm of his hand. No matter how troubled you feel, God holds you in the palm of his hand. No matter how unlovingly others treat you, no matter how rejecting or how unhelpful they are, God holds you in the palm of his hand.

God is holding you tenderly, securely, lovingly, protectively. Do you have faith in this?

Why don’t we always feel his strong hand tenderly holding us? It’s because we don’t pay attention to it. We’re too busy wanting to be protected from trials by having them stop. We want God to intervene quickly so that our lives will become easy and happy. But God’s protection goes much deeper than that.

We could be killed for the faith, like St. Stephen, and still we are being protected by God, because no one can steal from us what belongs to God. Our hearts belong to him, and our minds, our souls, our salvation. These are held tightly and securely in God’s hands for all eternity.

When we place our faith in this, fear and hopelessness dissolve away. “Into your hands, oh Lord, I entrust my spirit” is a cry of victory and glory in the midst of suffering.

Sometimes we might say it quite differently: “Okay God, you can stop this suffering now. Into your hands, oh Lord, I commend what I want you to STOP!”

Either way, it’s a vocalization of surrendering our problems to God. It’s an expression of, “I give up, I can’t do this on my own. I need you, oh Lord.”

When we entrust ourselves to God, it’s our deepest effort of humility. Thank God we don’t have to wait until we’re dying before commending our spirit into his hands. In fact, every form of dying to self – giving up our pride, or our insistence on having things our way, or our impatience, or any particular sins we confess – is a moment of entrusting our spirits to the Lord.

Take time today to reflect on what you want to commend to the Lord. What about anger or disappointments that were triggered on Christmas day? Do you need to give up any fears about the future? Do you need to give up plans that are not working out anyway? Do you need to give up the illusion that you don’t need to be dependent upon God for everything?

For every letting go, tell the Lord, “Into your hands, I entrust my spirit” or “… I entrust this matter” or “… I entrust this relationship.” You will find that in this humility, relief comes, peace grows, and your spirit rests.

For more on this, go to our WordByte: “Jesus wants to do much through you” @ https://wordbytes.org/spiritual-growth/jesus-wants-to-accomplish-much-through-you

2022 by Terry A. Modica

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