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Mrs. Marguerite d’Youville, venerated now as Saint Marguerite d’Youville, founded the Sisters of Charity also known as the “Grey Nuns”. She had a particular devotion to the Eternal Father and his magnanimous Divine Providence. She saw that the Eternal Father of Jesus is the Divine Source of all good things and of life itself, and she understood that God the Father does not seek glory but prefers to “hide behind” his Divine Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.
Marguerite started out as an ordinary woman who, when moved by the misery of others, rolled up her sleeves to do something to alleviate their misery. Other women looking for their own purpose in life were attracted to her and fairly quickly a circle of joyful women gathered around her. In fact, they were so joyful that some malicious tongues called them “the tipsy sisters”, which in French is a play on the word grey; hence “the grey nuns”. Rather than be offended, Marguerite was delighted and adopted the nickname for her new congregation.
Every day of our lives, we find ourselves facing an important choice, a crucial fork in the road of our lives. Will I let the troubles of life beat me up and discourage me, or will I choose to lift up my eyes to the Lord, cry out to Him, and live in patient and joyful anticipation that He will answer my prayers and manifest his power and unfold his inexhaustible blessings?
“With all humility and gentleness, with patience, bear with one another in love,
making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”
We heard how almost three thousand years ago the prophet Elisha, moved by the hunger of the people of God, put aside any consideration of his own needs and instructed his servant to give to the people the food that had just been donated to Elisha by a man. Elisha’s servant, however, could only see that the food donation was insufficient for the number of people. He could only see his human point of view; whereas Elisha exhorted his servant to join him and to lift up his eyes to the Lord and know that with God all things are possible.
Years earlier, Elisha’s master the prophet Elijah had done the same when he was fleeing for his life and was sent by the Lord to stay with a poor widow. There was a drought and she had only enough flour and olive oil left to bake enough bread for a single meal for herself and her son. Elijah asked her for some bread and told her not to worry; as long as she gave him her hospitality, the jar of flour and the jug of oil would not run out. That is exactly what happened.
“With all humility and gentleness, with patience, bear with one another in love,
making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”
In Medjugorje, a village in Bosnia-Herzegovina of the former Yugoslavia, during the war in the early 1990’s which broke up the former communist country, food miraculously multiplied when it was given away to the droves of refugees who flocked to the village because there were signs that, by the will of God, it was being protected by Mary, Our Lady of Peace.
So, how do we react in the face of all kinds of trouble that life brings to us day by day? At first, it is only human to be impressed by the trouble, to feel overwhelmed and fearful, and even to feel frustrated or angry. This is what happens to us in the first moments when trouble strikes. As long as we are alive, we will have all kinds of emotions throughout our days and nights.
According to John in his Gospel, this is what happened when Jesus, like Elisha, was moved by the hunger of the huge crowd of people following and listening to Him. The apostles, like Elisha’s servant, could only see from their human point of view. Jesus then opened their eyes to see how different reality is in the Kingdom of God. They were still on Earth but they saw that what seems impossible to us is possible for God. Our part is to pray and ask, and then to trust and patiently wait in anticipation of the ways in which God will manifest his will.
Our Eternal Father uses all our troubles as opportunities for us to practice putting our trust in Him through Jesus, trusting in God: the Father, + the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
“With all humility and gentleness, with
patience, bear with one another in love,
making every effort to maintain the unity
of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”
Let us take a few moments to let the Holy Spirit renew and
deepen our trust in Jesus.
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