My friends, as I studied and pondered today’s Scriptures, I found myself “latching onto” the theme of kindness, once again – a trait that I feel many of us need in our present-day world – I know I do!

   When I am being simplistic, I find myself thinking and feeling that being, “our best selves” in a world of so much bounty, beauty, and possibility –  being kind, understanding, merciful, and even loving, shouldn’t be so hard! Right? Right! 

   But then, reality sets in … and as we said last week, we find that people die every day from starvation because we don’t as a unified world have the will to share so that this is not the case.  Wars are started and fought over the need for personal gratification with no plan about what to do after the fighting – certainly not striving -after-peace, and simply “being good” as Pope Francis spoke of often near the end of his life. 

   Additionally, Francis spoke in a general way, of the need for Christians to go deeper, as we always say here, beyond “doing good things,” to more so, simply, just “being good.”  Being good allows us to not only “do good things,” but to be the type of person who will see, listen, and care about a suffering world from the get-go, and then do something to bring about the needed change.

   I heard a news story this past week about funds being cut-off to families in  this country with green cards, on the path to citizenship, having done all the right things to that end, but unfortunately, in one case, having a child with a serious medical condition. 

      When the person working with the family in question was asked what would happen to the seriously ill child without the funding, she minced no words, “the child will most likely die.”  An official in support of this decision rather, matter-a-factly said, “We must save this funding for our legal citizens! No kindness here …  perhaps in the smallest sense, a good thing is being done, but certainly we don’t see someone “being good.” 

   So, my friends, what can we glean from the Scriptures today?  The prophet Jeremiah, in the midst of his troubles and those of his people answers, “But our God is with [us] – sing to our God, praise God who has rescued the life of the poor from the power of the wicked.” 

   Now if you’re thinking, or even remembering a time when you prayed for something and didn’t get the answer you hoped for, Pope Paul VI, now a canonized saint, had these words for our reflection:  “this is how we know that God is at work.”  He was speaking about how prophets like Jeremiah and Jesus always “noticed” and “listened” to the poor and disadvantaged.  In our world today, we must do the same; we must be the change we want to see – this is how we know God is at work!

   These times my friends, call for great faith, clear vision, great mercy and understanding, along with trust in recognizing that as Jeremiah said, “Our God is with us.”  Whenever we see “good happening,” we must realize that our loving God is with us! 

   Paul, in his letter to the Romans spends too much time again speaking about sin, but ends well reminding this “apparently sinful people,” the Romans, that “the grace of God” and the “gift of Jesus” is with and for them, and us, too. 

    The psalmist in #69 also prays in faith to a “God of Kindness.”  And finally, in the gospel from Matthew, we get confirmation that our God is indeed “kind and good,”  as Jesus shares the lovely story of the sparrow wherein our God is aware of a single one, falling, and not only that, but we hear, we “are worth more than an entire flock!” 

   My friends, the fact that “in faith” we might be able to realize, even when we can’t seem to fully grasp at times, that our God is with us, perhaps a story from my life this past week will help.  It is about a woman in my outreach ministry that I have seen over the past several years, giving spiritual support.  She lives with a mental illness that causes her to believe that she is being sexually abused most nights when she is alone in her room.  She has reported the alleged abuse to the officials within the facility where she lives and they have accommodated her with periodic checks during the night, to no avail, as far as finding anyone. 

   Even though I believe that what she tells me is in her mind, I absolutely believe that what she says, is true for her.  Being that she is a strong, and for the most part, conservative Catholic, (I say, for the most part as she has no problem with my ordination), I can pray with her, use all my holy items, water and oil, to block the evil that seems to plague her. 

   During most of our visits, we share “the good of life,” pray for our family members and give each other support.  This past week, the issue of being abused was especially on her mind.  I listened, and at one point, simply said to her, “When this evil seems present, say in a strong voice, and out loud, “Be gone Satan!” And then say, “Jesus be with me!”  After a bit she said, “Thank you, that really helps!” 

   Sometimes my friends, it seems that we can’t fix a lot of what we encounter because we come at it from the wrong place … sometimes what is needed is a listening heart, faith in powers bigger than us … making ourselves available in the ways that we can, and allowing God to work through us. 

   So, my friends, I began today, “latching onto” kindness as a way to make a positive difference in our world – in the practical sense, it perhaps doesn’t solve all the issues as in the story I shared, but maybe the “difference” we can be aware of, is that by being present to others, in kind and caring ways, people can know that they “aren’t in it alone.”

Amen? Amen!