Peace be with you!

The next set of Fr. Freeh’s reflections has yet to catch up with me, as I continue to be a moving target.

My life has changed a lot recently. New job, new residence, new parish, new roads…. All of this dropped out of the sky, disrupting my nice quiet life. I keep thinking how much trust has played a part in all this. Trusting that this is God’s will. Trusting that He’ll be there to support me in these new challenges. Trusting that He will see my husband and me through these changes, bringing us ever closer together.

During the move, I brought with me a box of quotations from St. Faustina that one of my sisters had given me years ago. Each card has a short quote from St. Faustina’s diary, in which she recorded her conversations with Jesus. Whenever I read through the stack, I’m struck by how often the word “trust” comes up. “Love” and “mercy” come as no surprise…but Jesus talks about trust just as often. The box has a cut-away front, so you can read the quote on the first card. This is the one that lived in the front for months:

The graces of My mercy are drawn by means of one vessel only, and that is — trust. (Diary, 1578)

Maybe because trust has been top-of-mind for me lately, I read the Scriptures for tomorrow with new eyes…and noticed that even Jesus had trouble with trust. Trust is hard. Especially when we believe, in our heart of hearts, that we just want God to give us what we want, when we want it. Trust is achingly painful, when we’re walking through that dark valley, and there’s no end in sight.

But Jesus’ trouble was trusting Himself to the people who followed Him because of His signs and wonders; the people who wanted to make Him a king–not of their hearts for salvation, but of the world to topple the Roman Empire.

But Jesus did not trust Himself to them, because He knew them all, and did not need anyone to testify about human nature. He himself understood it well. (Jn 2:25)

While Jesus knew better than to trust in human nature because He knew it all too well, our problem is exactly the opposite. We have trouble trusting in God’s plan for us precisely because we don’t know Him. And so we scramble around, trying to make everything turn out the way we think it should. Jesus had something to say to St. Faustina about this, too:

Let no one trust too much in his own self. (Diary, 1495)

It’s so easy to get caught up in the crazy-busy of life. We all have challenges, problems, troubles…we think we need to solve them. But they’re usually bigger than we are. We are fools if we think we can solve our problems without the grace of God. But trust is what opens the channel of grace.

Sometimes, getting to know God through prayer and the sacraments, especially the Eucharist, leads to trusting Him.

And sometimes, just trusting Him can lead us to know Him. Trust is the key.

As we walk toward Easter on our Lenten journey, let’s practice placing ourselves at the foot of Christ’s Cross, under the mantle of our Blessed Mother…trusting in the graces that will flow from the Heart of Jesus, transforming our lives.

Readings for the third Sunday of Lent.