2 Timothy: The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you.
How to help someone who has been wronged?
I have a friend who was recently dumped by a man she thought was "the one." Things were going fine with the relationship, but then the boyfriend got hit by a car just as she was beside her estranged father on his deathbed.
Ever since that time, the boyfriend hasn't seemed right in the head. The things that came out of his mouth were jibberish and disconnected. He had no emotions and said hurtful things. The final blow, was when he last visited. First, he said that he "was all in" but within a week, like he flipped a light switch, he no longer wanted anything to do with her. No word, no explanation, and my friend was devastated, and still is, after weeks of mourning. She's gone down the rabbit hole of darkness.
I've used up all my words so the only thing I can do is pray more. I will pray that the Lord is with her spirit and that grace surrounds her. We've talked about forgiveness but she says she wants to understand first.
I just don't think it works that way. It's not our job to ask why something happened. Our job is to take what is given to us, knowing that God has the plan, knowing that everything works out for our good, and like so many have said, "If it's not good, then it's not the end."
I believe that there will be times in our lives when we will be dropped to our knees with grief. In those times, God is so close to us that He is the only one who can lift us. If we just reach out and cling to that cross that God puts right in front of us. If we but touch the cross, we are healed, like the woman in the Gospel who touched Jesus' cloak and was healed.
In those times when we are on our knees and we reach out and cling to the cross. As we cling to the cross, we must forgive. That's when our Lord raises us to new life and new understanding, without the burden of the cross. That is the Easter miracle. That is God's grace.
May we all be lifted this day by God's infinite and loving grace.
April 22
Matthew: Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him.
Mark: For there is nothing hidden, except to be disclosed; nor is anything secret, except to come to light.
Luke: All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, “Is not this Joseph’s son?”
John: You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.
Acts: For the man on whom this sign of healing had been performed was more than forty years old.
Romans: Therefore his faith “was reckoned to him as righteousness.”
Galatians: For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and the other by a free woman.
Ephesians: You were taught to put away your former way of life, your old self, corrupt and deluded by its lusts,
Philippians: All the saints greet you, especially those of the emperor’s household.
2 Timothy: The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you.