an invitation for you tonight: BYOD (bring your own disaster)

I have been loving Bishop Robert Barron's Lenten Gospel Reflections this Lent, as he leaves us with a question to ponder each day.

Today, being the Feast day of Saint Joseph, he walks us through the quiet trust Joseph demonstrates, "willing to cooperate with the divine plan, though he in no way knew its contours or deepest purpose."

I feel ya, Saint Joseph.

The older I get and the more open I am in sharing my story as well as being given the privilege to enter into others, the lie - that I am alone in my circumstances and that the rest of the world has it so much easier, has been crushed, right along with the head of the serpent beneath the heal of Our Lady. The idea that I am the only one who has been given something that makes no sense and did not come with directions on how to assemble no longer holds true.

Joseph had to have a "what the..???" moment....but he did not marinate in that too long. He was a righteous man, a tree planted near a running stream, his roots went deep, his strength to trust came directly from the Lord. Barron writes of Joseph, "what appears to be a disaster from his perspective is meaningful from God's perspective."

The question Bishop Barron leaves us with today is this: In what situation, right now, are you having difficulty trusting and letting yourself be led? The question I leave you with today is what disaster are you consumed by, and have you considered taking a look at it from God's perspective?

Because, well...our heaviest and most difficult to accept situations feel just like that, don't they? Disasters.

And you can stay in the midst of a disaster for only so long.

I invite you to bring your disaster straight to Jesus this evening. To stop making yourself crazy trying to makes sense of what makes no sense at all, and to sit before the One who knows the plan...who holds the purpose for your pain...who is asking you to quietly trust and let Him lead.

To miss this event would be a true disaster. Take advantage of it...plant yourself by the running stream...it is Lent, people...let's prepare and grow deep roots and praise the Lord, knowing that what looks like a mess to us is part of a much greater plan.