God Meets Us When Things Are Darkest
It’s easy to fall into worry or despair when life doesn’t go as we planned. But God tells us, and in fact shows us, to trust Him during the ups and downs.
We see this in the readings this week [first week of April 2024] through the stories of three disciples. First, we have Mary Magdalene who rushes to the tomb looking for Jesus’ body. When it’s gone, she doesn’t know what to do. Not only did she just witness Jesus die but now his body is missing too! Her anxiety is rising, she feels abandoned and alone. “They’ve taken my Lord away and I don’t know where they put him!” Next we see it in the two disciples arguing on the road to Emmaus. Nothing that they witnessed in Jerusalem makes sense. They are despairing to the point they’ve decided to leave the Christian community and head home.
For all three disciples, Jesus meets them where they are and sends them on mission - right when things seem the darkest. Mary Magdalene sees the Lord and runs to tell the Apostles. The Disciples in Emmaus see Jesus in the breaking of the bread and realize he was with them all along. The lesson here is to trust in the journey because God is walking beside us.
If you need help recognizing that God has a plan for you and is walking with you too, first and foremost don’t forget to pray and look to the stories in the Scriptures. Throughout history, our faith is full of people just like you who faced adversity and found God walking beside them. In addition, little reminders like blessed medals, holy cards, and other sacramentals are a perfect way to see that God is with us on our path.
Recently, we discovered a new ‘Trust in the Journey’ blessing bracelet with Benedictine Medals in silver or gold and a prayer card and a tag that says “blessed” to remind wearers that God’s blessings surround them. When blessed by a priest, holy bracelets and medals like this bracelet go from being more than a reminder… they become a channel for God’s grace, peace and protection.
If you need the reminder today, allow yourself to trust in the journey. When you do, you’ll find God has been walking beside you all along.
God bless you!
—Matt Meeks/Catholic.Store