Do we really believe that we will want for nothing if we receive the Lord into our body when we receive communion and if we receive Him into our hearts when we listen to His word? We should.
It is probably accurate for most of us to say that we believe this but perhaps we do not always live it with confidence. Unanswered prayers, broken dreams and lost friendships are just a few of the circumstances which might cause us to wonder whether or not the Lord is with us in moments of difficulty. Like the disciples in Sunday's Gospel, it might well be the case that He is even closer to us than we realize in moments such as these. The Lord know our needs before we speak them and he knows our needs better than we know them. How many of our earnest prayers of petition were, in the long run, better left unanswered -- or answered in a way that we did not expect (or accept!) at the time. How many times has that broken dream led us to an open door we would not otherwise have found?
As one who observes a tapestry from the underside might be tempted to dismiss it as a mess, we do not share God's vantage point. He sees all the threads coming together in a way which is at once both beautiful and ordered to his good purposes. If we believe that the Lord is the sustenance of our life, the food that will satisfy us and never leave us hungry then we must trust that he is with us and is caring for us even when we do not understand why certain circumstances unfold as they do.
"The measure of the Lord's providence over us is the measure of our confidence in Him."
St. Jane de Chantal
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