Sharing the Word for February 21, 2017

Tuesday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time

February 21, 2017

Daily Reading from the USCCB: Sirach 2:1-11

https://www.franciscanmedia.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/SW_022117_I.mp3

A wise man in the Book of Sirach tells us to prepare ourselves for trials if we plan to work for the Lord. He admonishes us to accept whatever happens to us and to be steadfast when sorrowful, and patient when crushing misfortune comes our way. But then he compares this with gold and silver being tested in the fire. He ends by saying trust God and God will help you.

We all know that we don’t need to go looking for suffering; there’s plenty in our everyday life. Just being faithful to our vocations and to the Lord is quite sufficient. Suffering and trials are just built into life–not as punishment–but as a chance at purification: a chance to knock off some of the rough edges like silver or gold in the fire. We will come out far better.

But this takes trust—trust in the Lord and trust in our own willingness to live life to the full. And then trust that suffering and problems are not punishments or a waste of time. They are opportunities to grow with the Lord.