“DO NOT BE AFRAID… THE BATTLE IS NOT YOURS BUT GOD’S” (2 Chron 20:15)
⏰Saturday of the Seventeenth Week of Ordinary Time 2 (01 August 2020 – Memorial of St. Alphonsus Liguori)
📖Jer 26:11-16, 24; Ps 69:15-16, 30-31, 33-34 (R.v.14); Matt 14:1-12
🎤”DO NOT BE AFRAID… THE BATTLE IS NOT YOURS BUT GOD’S” 2 Chron 20:15
Can you see how the spirit of John the Baptist was hunting Herod even in death?
Trust God when he said, “vengeance is mine” (Deut 32:35) as St Paul reechoed in Rom 12:10. If it is God’s will, your enemy will not harm you. Even if he allows it, still trust him with all your heart just like the three young Jews who refused to worship the golden statue of Nebuchadnezzar (Dan 3:16-18) because he means well for you.
In Psalm 91, the word of God says that because God is your shield, no evil shall ever triumph over you. Consider that promise in relation to Jer 26:11-24. God would not allow any evil to befall Jeremiah because Jeremiah was serving the cause of God.
I know you might want to ask whether those who were killed, like Fr. Jaques Hamel who was murdered some days ago in France, were not serving the cause of God. I have this to tell you: such would not be seen as a victory of evil. Rather, as it was the case with the death of Jesus on the cross, the enemy was simply aiding the cause of God. God can use any means to achieve his salvific plans for us, just as the fierce persecution of Christians after death of Stephen helped to spread the Gospel to foreign nations (Acts 8:1ff).
So do not be afraid of the threat of the enemy. The Lord who put confusion among the people who were constructing the tower of babel (Gen 11) would not allow your enemies succeed in their evil plans about you. Amen.
St. Alphonsus Liguori accomplished so much in life because he trusted so much in God and God did not abandon him. At the beginning of this new month, I pray that God may shield us from every spirit of distraction that might lead us to doubt God and lose out from the blessings of God. Amen.
Happy feast day to all Redemtorists! And happy new month to you. May it be for you, a month of divine uplifting through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Peace be with you.
