It Really Is GOOD NEWS”

Have you ever felt distant from the Lord….. “believing that God had more important things to think about than me; hey, he has the universe to worry about”. I know I’ve felt this way at times. Yet when I would pray, I pretty quickly experienced the Holy Spirit bringing me back to the truth ..… the truth that the Lord loves me and has never left me, that he has never removed me from his thoughts, that he has always had me in his sights and in his care, that he has always had his angels watching closely over me. I believe the Lord was never surprised that I would have bumps in the road…some caused by me, and others visited upon me. 

I was thinking of some rough years back in the mid 50’s and early 60’s… my father had died suddenly and we had moved back to St. Louis, no longer living in a nice house, but in a small 3^rd floor apartment. I was the new kid in 5^th grade with the southern accent, behind in my studies, and didn’t know anyone. My mother was trying to start a new life without her husband and the security he had provided; alcohol grabbed her causing a lot of tough times for all of us. 

As I think back on those times, it seems that we were a small boat cast upon the waves with storm clouds approaching. Odds pointed to this boat sinking with no survivors; we shouldn’t have made it. But something else was going on. Scripture tells us that “The Lord upholds the widow and the fatherless”. (Ps. 146:9) I believe the Lord spoke into our life proclaiming, ” I will not let them go, they belong to me, I will help them.” We walked along the edge of the cliff for many years …. but the Lord sustained us with his angels (heavenly and earthly) who kept us safe. I can see that more clearly now.

The Lord loves his children…all of us…. you and me. He has a fierce loyalty for each of us. He does not count our good deeds as a criteria for his help…he just loves us. There have been times when each of us should have been the victim of our terrible decisions…but the Lord in his mercy and kindness and love, saved us. He saved us for another day. He saved us for another opportunity, for a day of salvation. 

I have come to know the goodness of the Lord…. not just a goodness that began when I decided to accept his kindness and follow him as my precious savior and Lord, but a goodness that sustained me when I didn’t know up from down and was making the poorest of choices. I now know more clearly that “he who obeys me dwells in security, in peace, without fear of harm.”(Pr. 1:33) I’ve come to know that the ways of God are perfect and bring life and peace to those who follow. When I forget this truth and stumble and fall, the great goodness and kindness of the Lord  that carried me in my youth, is there to once again pick me up and set me on firm ground. 

May we never underestimate the goodness of the Lord. May we never believe that we have placed ourselves outside of the tender grasp of our great God. He is always searching for us, to bring us home. 

My mother had some very rough days, but she finished strong. She died in the arms of the Lord, surrounded by her children, grandchildren and friends. My brother Neal had some rough days, but he died in the arms of the Lord, fortified with the sacraments of the Church. And I have real hope that my brother and sister and yours truly will one day end well….. not because we are so great and wise and holy, but because the Lord is so good and so wonderful and loves us so. 

And for any who are reading this BLOG, if God loves my family with this kind of magnificent love, you can take it to the bank, that he loves you and your family with this same incredible love. And that is very good news. That is the GOOD NEWS !