Make known to me your ways, LORD;
teach me your paths.
Guide me by your fidelity and teach me,
for you are God my savior,
for you I wait all the day long. (Psalm 25:4-5 NABRE)
It's not uncommon to hear talk of mentors and heroes this time of year. With Father's Day just around the corner, our thoughts--sometimes tinted with sentimental or nostalgic hues, sometimes tainted with resentment or anger--recall fathers who were, in the final analysis, only human. For many, they were our first heroes, role models, and mentors in life. For others, they were examples of what not to be when we grow up. Most of the time, they were probably a little of both.
Either way, we have a God whom Jesus invites us to call Daddy...what a special invitation! Today's verse, written by King David--though it is addressed to the King of kings (not so much to Daddy)--has that same intimacy in its appeal for help and guidance: David calls on God for help and even recognizes God as his savior.
Lord, help me to set aside the excess emotions of hero worship and the disappointment of dashed hopes. Help me to accept the humanity of all the people you send into my life, and to recognize and accept my own feelings with honesty and clarity. Help me look to you alone for true guidance, accepting that your good council comes through other people, and recognizing nonetheless that it is you who guides me. And finally, help me to discern your faithful and saving ways from the misdirection of the evil one, who seeks only the ruin of my soul. With the help of Saint Michael the Archangel, help me to recognize and endure all hardship with confident joy in your complete love and mercy for me.
Today, I will continue to pray the Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Blessed Joachima, who understood that in times of hardship all we can do is cling to the belief that sustained you: God watches over us always, pray for us.
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