even if we lose we win...12th week tuesday

Elie Wiesel a Jewish survivor of the Holocaust once said, "In Jewish history there are no coincidences." This is exactly the point of our first reading today.  Sennacherib, the Assyrian King was about to invade the kingdom of Judah after defeating the neighboring Kingdom of Israel.  If we rely only on the circumstances of the battlefield, if we rely only on the analysis of defense vis a vis the strength of the invading troops, if we only look at the number of soldiers and arms that are about to clash, logic will tell us that Judah will fall and Assyria would win.  The message of Sennacherib to Hezekiah the King of Judah is correct, ‘Do not let your God on whom you rely deceive you by saying that Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.”  Judah will fall.

And so what did Hezekiah do?  As usual when one is put in a corner, acknowledging that not even our best strength can save us, we go down on our knees and pray.  And that is what Hezekiah did.  He went to the temple to pray.  What happened then.  Sennacherib's army was dissipated, 185,000 of them falling to a plague, a strange illness that struck the Assyrian camp.  That day Judah was saved. As Elie Wiesel has said, there are no coincidences in Israel's history.  And I would dare add, indeed in our own lives – there are no coincidences. 

However, years later, a more powerful army will come to destroy Jerusalem and the Kingdom of Judah but as God has promised to Hezekiah a remnant will remain for the sake of David, survivors who will begin to build the nation once more.  Again Elie Wiesel said, "There are victories of the soul and spirit. Sometimes, even if you lose, you win."  What was thought of as a defeat was in reality a cleansing that would prepare them for a different kind of greatness.  Again there are no coincidences – God's hand is constantly directing us, in our joys and even in our pains.

In the coming days some of you will be tasked to do this and that.  For some it will be difficult, for some it will be easy, for others it will be the cause of his joy and for some of his pain and stress.  Know very well that in life there are no coincidences.  Whatever you go through has a purpose, it has a reason.  Be assured then that the loving hand of God is there directing you in joy and even in pain for there are victories of the soul and the spirit, so much so that even if you lose, you win.

In the gospel Jesus warns us that the way to life is a narrow gate.  This narrow gate in walled cities during the time of our Lord was intentionally made so that people on horses and in heavy armor could not enter easily and attack.  To enter you have to bow down and leave behind that heavy baggage.

This is also true if we wish to appreciate life with its highs and lows, with its ups and downs.  We approach it bowing down humbly, learning to trust on that greater power that cares for us, who loves us.  We need to leave behind that heavy luggage that slows us down, attachments to things, persons, positions and even mindsets that makes us bitter and angry and less open to new possibilities and to the potentials of grace at work in us.

As we look to St. Aloysius, our patron saint let us be set on fire by his example.  A rich young man of noble birth yet he chose to serve God even at the cost of renouncing his inheritance and title.  He opened himself to the possibilities God is leading him into trusting that even his pains and eventual defeat to his disease is part of God's plan for him.  We should not be afraid to embrace the challenges ahead of us.