“Their sturdy backs bent down, by labor and fatigue, their eyes intent upon the earth, sift through stubble discarded by the reapers.”

—Sister Michaela O’Connor

Scripture Reflection for February 28, 2021
Second Sunday of Lent

“If God is for us, who can be against us?” This is a question raised in our Sunday readings this week, and it’s pretty much a rhetorical question. If God is for us, what does it matter who is against us? But another question that might come to mind today is, “If God is against us, what can anyone do?” To many people it must seem that God is against them. Again, I’m thinking of Texas. As if the coronavirus were not enough, there is the weather, bringing with it extreme cold, extreme water, loss of property, loss of shelter, loss of life. And the infrastructure, both civic and church, is just not equipped to handle the volume of need. Is God indeed against us? It’s easy for me in California (75 degrees, tree blossoms and garden flowers everywhere, vaccine readily available) to say of course not, God is for us, but God’s ways are not our ways. God is with us as God was with Jesus on the cross; and Jesus too felt abandoned. We need to remember and hold on through thick and thin, even when the waters have risen to our necks (see Psalm 69!). And yes, that’s easy for me to say, now. But it has not always been easy. Easy or difficult, we need to remember firmly God is for us and with us.
Sister Carol J. Crater, SHF