Reflections from the Heart – February 5, 2023

Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
by Fr. Ivan Olmo

“You shall call, and the LORD will answer, you shall cry for help, and he will say: Here I am!” One of the things that most challenges us is the one thing by the grace of God that I have only recently come to appreciate and be most grateful and thankful for is my own sense of being so poor and so weak in the presence of God.  Our world teaches us, our parents instruct us, our friends inform us and our community encourages us to take a stand, to be strong and independent, to rely on our own wisdom and knowledge. To not be weak and vulnerable but to be self-sufficient because no one can do it better than us. We say, they say, you say, if you want it done right the first time then you might as well do it yourself.  What does that say about you?  What does that say about the rest of us?  Well, thanks be to God, he has helped me to be most grateful for my poverty and weakness.  In the presence of God, in the sight of our Creator, in the knowledge of my own creation and existence, and with the help of God’s grace, I have come to know and experience the great poverty God has so graciously formed me. Seriously, how can I say I am wealthy, secure or rich in anything but God?  Without God, I have nothing.  Possessing God and being possessed by him makes me the riches person in the world and in the universe for that matter. For with God I hear him say, “My son, you are here with me always; everything I have is yours.” What? Hold up – what did you say? I am you son, your child, your beloved! I am here, in your presence, in your divine will always! Everything, everything that is yours is mine! What more can one ask for?  What more do we need?  God’s grace must be enough.  God’s grace must be sufficient for you and me. We must cry out to the Lord for help.  We must become weak, poor, vulnerable, naked and needy in the presence of God and beg for his divine grace. We must become poor beggars in the presence of God that he may lavishly pour out his gifts over us, enrich us in our own poverty, and strengthen us in our own weakness for we are heirs to the precious and beloved Kingdom of God.  “God come to my assistance. Lord, make haste to help me!”