To work! I am with you – it is the Lord of Hosts who speaks – and my spirit remains among you.
Sometimes the world suffers from exhaustion.
I see many of my relatives and other good people struggle every day. There seems to be no end to the tasks that the world places on us. Still, we add tasks that increase that exhaustion. It has been my experience that life is busy but to be happy and prevent exhaustion, both physical and spiritual, we need balance. Courage, all you people of the country! – it is the Lord who speaks. To work! I am with you – it is the Lord of Hosts who speaks – and my spirit remains among you. Do not be afraid!
Every morning, I say my rosary and other prayers. It takes me an hour, but if my mind did not wander it would be 45 – 30 minutes. Nonetheless, the wondering is still prayer. I do this early in the morning because at the end of the day the sand has run out of my hourglass. Now my sister, Patti, on the other hand says her prayers at night before bedtime. There are always more ways to do it. Husbands and wives pray together during the day. My point is that whatever tasks you have to do, work, doctor visits, play, school, meetings and study. Prayer is vital. It is the work of building the Kingdom of God on earth. The temple in Haggai is the Kingdom of God Christ established in His ministry.
Our lives need prayer and be have to balance it with the things that have to be done. Human ingenuity will give you many ways to do it, but it can be done with a commitment to prayer. Being human not everything will get done, but prayer is the one thing that has to be done.
We are not alone in prayer. Haggai says that the Lord is with us. How do we know this, because of the Holy Spirit. When we pray the Lord is with us in our room, car, parking lot, city street or country road. We might be overwhelmed but the Lord is with us. We don’t have to fight the battles of life alone.
One day when Jesus was praying alone in the presence of his disciples. The first line of the Gospel gives us a clue to the mind of Jesus. Praying alone in the presence of his disciples. This is the good work of today’s readings. It was instructional to the apostles who didn’t understand His death and Resurrection, and our prayer might also be instructional to us.
God Love You Always
Bob Burford
PS: Please Pray for Pope Leo XIV. Please Pray for Cancer victims and their caregivers. Pray for the conversion of Russia and the salvation of the Ukrainian and Russian people and their soldiers. Pray for the Holy Land. Pray for peace! The impossible could and can happen (Saint Rita). Never deny God! Pray for justice for immigrants! Pray for justice for our President!
