“It is a prayer and plea (on our behalf) and a promise and declaration on God’s part.” (Father Thomas Rosica) EMMANUEL – “God be with us,” being our prayer and our plea is also God’s way of whispering to us His promise, “I am with you,” in Jesus.
Jesus’ death and resurrection were not the only pieces of His love for us. It is not just through the sacrifice, but also through the very moment he was conceived in Mary through the Holy Spirit; His very existence. By bringing Jesus to us at conception and birth, it began the fulfillment of an eternal promise,
“Do not fear, for I am with you,
do not be afraid, for I am your God;
I will strengthen you, I will help you,
I will uphold you with my victorious right hand”
(Isaiah 41: 10)
“I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
(Matthew 28: 20)
He had already brought Himself down to live with us, and even through that sacrifice. But His love and yearning for us must be so great that He continuously chooses to live within us through His presence so intimately consecrated in the most Holy Eucharist, and in His very presence in one another, every day, every minute, through the breath of new life!
In every single being is the breath of God, and if we release ourselves from the default mindset of our perception of “waiting,” which is now often times understood to be the moments we idle or stay still like a sitting duck, we will begin to see that there is always a call to see and seek Him more deeply (no matter how grand or minuscule the “call” or moment may be). In this way,
YES, we will lament,
YES, it will be hard,
YES, we may falter,
YES, we may even fail at times,
But the acknowledgement of His divine presence everywhere around us will allow us to go beyond the face value of these hardships and sufferings and see the face of God instead. Which brings me back to the beginning of His call for me…
MISSION (whatever it may be for us) IS NOT JUST ABOUT ENDURING… IT IS LIVING.
The two go hand in hand. It is not easy. Unlike most other jobs, mission work is mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually draining if it is not done because of, for, and with the Lord! But if we allow His Spirit in some sort of daily “Pentecost,” then there is no stopping us. WE LIVE THROUGH ENDURING, AND WE ENDURE BECAUSE WE LIVE.
“At most, we are far from Him, but the path that joins us to one another is open. And this path is not a matter of space travel of a cosmic-geographical nature: it is the ‘space travel’ of the heart, from the dimension of world embracing divine love.”
EMMANUEL.
It is an ordinary, yet not-so-ordinary reminder of our needed plea and prayer, and His never-ending, ever fulfilling promise and declaration to us… We ask for His presence, and He was, is, and always will be with us.
Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us,
Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us,
Amen.