Hope… even if!

By Trudy Nicome

“Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled; do not be afraid.” Jn 14:27

Jesus should not be secondary, even if we don’t mean to. I listen to folks and hear a sentence that is being made repeatedly that sounds like “well, only God we could depend on now”.

Now? Now that things are bad? We grow and learn through heartache, disappointments, emotional pain, and mistakes, mostly when we take things for granted and it teaches us great lessons. We should be dependent on Him every second of the day, every day.

Jesus is present in our lives but wants us to call on Him, and putting Him first should be the priority, but there is so much happening in our lives. Our minds are constantly occupied with family issues that keep arising one after the next: trying to put food on the table, loss of jobs, bills to pay, vaccines, sickness, death all around us. “Do not be afraid.”

We have adapted to inconsequential, habitual thinking and it is often difficult to keep positive especially with social media. We listen to all of the negative and disappointing news around us each day.

“Do not let your hearts be troubled; do not be afraid.”

We have to remember that we can depend on Jesus, He is our Father, Saviour, our Creator, Keeper, Deliverer, our Rock and Fortress, Provider, Healer. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

He left His Word for us for times like this; He knew that these issues would be present in our lives. There is nothing and no-one in this world who is more powerful than Him.

Even if situations are difficult, even if we are not in the same position we were in before, even if it feels like life is just falling apart, even if no-one is there for you and you feel alone, even if you’re carrying a heartache or have an illness—allow Him to take over.

Empty your heart and show Him your gratitude for whatever you have and how much He means to you.

Attendance at Mass and wearing our crucifix, rosary, Bible, Holy Communion, candles, our compassion, scapular, the love we have in our hearts remind us that Jesus exists and should be first. There are so many things that He gave us that we take for granted.

Prayer is the key to open the door to our Lord and not give up because of all the disappointments around us. Even if other topics are the highlight, use some of these holy tools as a reminder.

He is the core of our days, but we need to show Him that. If this is not being done, it’s going to cause fear, depression and worry in our hearts and minds. That’s not what Jesus Christ wants from us. He wants to be first and be made the highlight of our daily lives and to take the place of every and anything that is put before Him.

Ask Him to make Himself present in everything you do, shut the doors that need to be shut, and open the window of Heaven for you.

Trudy Nicome is a Lay Minister at St Theresa’s Parish, Barataria