God holds on tight!

Good News ReflectionTuesday of the Fourth Week of EasterMay 5, 2009
Today's Readings:Acts 11:19-26Ps 87:(117:1a)1b-3-7John 10:22-30http://www.usccb.org/nab/readings/050509.shtmlAudio: http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/09_05_05.mp3
God holds on tight!
Think of the people you know who are straying from God and/or the Church. Are you worried that they might never return? If you have prayed for them and placed them into God's hands, why worry? As Jesus points out in today's Gospel reading, "My Father is greater than all, and no one can take them out of his hand."
God is greater, bigger and more powerful than the people you're concerned about. He is greater, bigger and more powerful than all their reasons for ignoring him and disobeying him. There is no obstacle in their path, no demon, no misconception, no stubbornness, nor any sin that is more powerful than God. What seems like a hopeless situation is merely God submitting to their free will decisions while at the same time using the delay to produce many (and often surprising) blessings.
The Good Shepherd knows what the straying sheep need. He will use their delays for their benefit, he will turn their sins into victories, and he will use their eventual conversions for his glory.
Right now, he is actively working to use their decisions and even their sins to provide them with very important lessons. The longer it takes, the more these lessons will give God a bigger foothold in their lives later. They are lessons that will motivate them to embrace him more fully. They are lessons that will give them knowledge that can minister to others. Why should these people be denied these lessons just because we're worried?
When they make bad decisions that ruin God's plan for them, he simply implements a new plan — one which he developed a long time ago, one which, if he's given enough time, will amazingly turn out to be better than the first plan. He's that awesome!
The best way to pray for those who are straying is to ask Our Father to make sure that none will die before turning their hearts over to him. Jesus assures us in this scripture that the Father will honor this prayer. I've seen it work for my father-in-law. For years, my husband and I prayed for him to accept Christ's love, but when Alzheimer's Disease afflicted him, it seemed impossible.
Two weeks before Dad died, something happened. We don't know what, because he wasn't capable of talking about it, but suddenly he wanted to go to Mass to receive the Eucharist (it was brought to him) and he lived his final days in great peace. God is more powerful than the mental disability of Alzheimer's Disease.
We can confidently trust that God will answer all of our prayers for the conversions of others. He desires it more than we do. Trust in his desire to save the people you've lovingly placed into his hands, and seek forgiveness for your sin of worrying. Keep offering them to God in your daily prayers and on the altar of the church when the Eucharist is consecrated. Your prayers are infusing God's grace into their hearts. Trust in God's love and power to make a difference.
© 2009 by Terry A. ModicaFor PERMISSION to copy any of my reflections, go to:http://gogoodnews.net/DailyReflections/copyrights-DR.htm
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