It is the Lord!

Ave Maria! The Lord is with us!

Yesterday I had the joy of meeting with my spiritual father for confession. I have loved this sacrament ever since I was a child, and I appreciate it more and more with the passing years. Ultimately confession is always a gladsome experience for me because, as St. John cried out when Christ revealed himself after His resurrection to his disciples at the Sea of Tiberias (Jn 21:1-14), "It is the Lord!" Confession is mainly all about HIM, His love and mercy, His forgiveness and healing. I love this sacrament because I love my Jesus, whom I find there waiting for me with abounding love, eager to reconcile me to the Father of mercies through the life-giving power of the Holy Spirit.

It is he who forgives all your guilt,

who heals every one of your ills,

who redeems your life from the grave,

who crowns you with love and compassion,

who fills your life with good things,

renewing your youth like an eagle's...

The Lord is compassion and love,

slow to anger and rich in mercy.

His wrath will come to an end;

he will not be angry for ever.

He does not treat us according to our sins

nor repay us according to our faults.

Psalm 103:3-5; 8-10

Of course, it helps tremendously that right now I am blessed with such a wise and loving spiritual father, who both challenges and comforts me as the Holy Spirit directs him. On occasion I've teasingly but lovingly called him "Father Tough-as-Nails" and so he can be -- but I wouldn't have it any other way. "Love must sometimes bear a stern countenance for the sake of ultimate good," and Our Lord Himself was often uncompromising.

Included in my penance yesterday was Father's instruction for me to read and meditate upon the reflection entitled "Being Set Free Amidst Our Circumstances" by Father Julian Carron on page 342-343 in the October 2010 Magnificat. Fr. Carron begins with this quote from Msgr. Luigi Giussani:

"The circumstances through which God has us pass are an essential and not a secondary factor of...the mission to which he calls us."

Though I have read and meditated upon this entire reflection, I keep going back to its beginning. I don't always think of all the circumstances of my life as essential to God's plan and will for me, as essential to my vocation and the mission which He has given me. More than a few things I have quickly labeled and thoughtlessly dismissed as secondary, the definition of which, the dictionary reminds me, includes inferior or lesser. But if I really believe that everything is a gift from God -- and I do! -- then am I saying that my Father gives me, His beloved child, inferior gifts which, after a cursory glance, I stash away in a dark closet to be forgotten and unused? Wouldn't a more appropriate and truly grateful response to all the circumstances of my life be the welcoming cry, "It is the Lord!"

Dear Lord, You have made me glad with the joy of your presence (Ps 21:6). May I always welcome Youlovingly and forever sing your praise. Amen. Alleluia!