Fr Colin's Desk
From Fr Colin
“Trust Me” is a phrase which, I’m sure, we will all have heard many times over. Yet, to really place our trust in someone or something else can be difficult, as it means that we let our defences down in order to rely on another, which is never an easy thing to do—especially if we think we know what’s best in the first place.
Trust is a theme very much at the heart of our readings from today’s Mass. The first reading, a piece of Wisdom poetry from the prophet Jeremiah, contrasts the wicked who trust in human beings and the righteous who trust in God. The former are compared to a barren desert shrub as opposed to the latter who are likened to a fruitful tree planted beside a flowing river. The first reading both prepared us for and leads us on to contemplate the Gospel reading from St Luke, in which Jesus declares the poor blessed. Blessed in that they have no-one to trust in, perhaps, other than God.
At the time when St Luke was writing, there was a strong presumption among some of his contemporaries that the poor, the hungry, the oppressed and those on the margins were outside the venue of God’s blessings and graciousness. On the opposite side of the fence, many people believed that those who were wealthy and powerful were the ones who had been blessed by God.
But in today’s Gospel passage, Jesus’ sermon puts right these presumptions by teaching that God’s blessings were not conditioned by economic or social standing, but are rather the free gift of God’s graciousness. The only condition for God’s blessings is clearly spelled out in first reading: “trust in the Lord.” By trusting in God and placing our faith in Him, even in moments of crisis and times of trial, blessings will be ours.
Whether on life’s journey we find ourselves rich or poor, happy or sad, oppressed or secure, if we can but trust in God, we are blessed.
As we prepare once again to enter into the holy season of Lent—which begins this coming week on Ash Wednesday—may we be ready to put our trust in God and willingly place ourselves in God’s hands.