Patience Trust in Providence

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to embrace patience as we trust our prayers will resolve our needs in accord with God’s desire for our best life.

Care for Our Neighbours

The Reading from the Book of Esther 14.1, 3-5, 12-14 Prayer of Esther. 

The Greek version of the book dates from ca. 116 to 48 B.C. (see note on F:11). In the present translation, the Greek additions are indicated by the letters A through F. The regular chapter numbers apply to the Hebrew text.

The book may be divided as follows:

1. Prologue (A:1–17)

2. Esther Becomes Queen (1:1–2:23)

3. Haman’s Plot Against the Jews (3:1–13; B:1–7; 3:14–15)

4. Esther and Mordecai Plead for Help (4:1–17; C:1–D:16; 5:1–5) (Esther, CHAPTER 4 | USCCB, n.d.)

5. Haman’s Downfall (5:6–8:2)

6. The Jewish Victory and the Feast of Purim (8:3–12; E:1–24; 8:13–9:23)

7. Epilogue: The Rise of Mordecai (9:24–10:3; F:1–11)

The order of the Vulgate text in relation to the order of the Greek text is as follows:

Vulg. 11:2–12:6	=	A:1–17 at the beginning of the book.
13:1–7	=	B:1–7 after 3:13.
13:8—15:3–19	=	C:1–D:16 after 4:17.
15:1–2	=	B:8, 9 after 4:8.
16:1–24	=	E:1–24 after 8:12.
10:4–13	=	F:1–10 after 10:3. (Esther, THE BOOK OF ESTHER, n.d.)

Psalm 138 is a Thanksgiving to God, who came to the rescue of the psalmist. 

Esther* [Psalm 138] A thanksgiving to God, who came to the rescue of the psalmist. Divine rescue was not the result of the psalmist’s virtues but of God’s loving fidelity (Ps 138:1–3). The act is not a private transaction but a public act that stirs the surrounding nations to praise God’s greatness and care for the people (Ps 138:4–6). The psalmist, having experienced salvation, trusts that God will always be there in moments of danger (Ps 138:7–8). (Psalms, PSALM 138 | USCCB, n.d.)

The Gospel of Matthew proclaims The Answer to Prayers.

* [7:9–10] There is a resemblance between a stone and a round loaf of bread and between a serpent and the scaleless fish called barbut.

* [7:12] See Lk 6:31. This saying, known since the eighteenth century as the “Golden Rule,” is found i n both positive and negative form in pagan and Jewish sources, both earlier and later than the gospel. This is the law and the prophets is an addition probably due to the evangelist. (Matthew, CHAPTER 7 | USCCB, n.d.)

Nancy Shirley shares a focus on our relationship with God and the trust in that relationship.

Our prayers of hope, thanksgiving, desperation, and forgiveness are built upon that trust. It was 20 years ago this summer when I shared my aha moment in looking at the word trust. It was then that I realized the word itself was the key to understanding. It begins and ends with the cross (trust) and U is in the middle or US. Our relationship of trust is steeped in our Savior and His cross. We pray believing that our prayers will be answered, and at times lament that they are not. The truth is that they are always answered, we just don’t always like the answer…

Blessings – Laura Story

Perhaps this song conveys better, in less than five minutes, what I was trying to say in paragraphs!! (Shirley, n.d.)

Don Schwager quotes “The gift of being good,” by Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.

"He who has given us the gift of being gives us also the gift of being good. He gives to those who have turned back to Him. He even sought them out before they were converted and when they were far from his ways!" (Commentary on Psalm 103, 2) (Schwager, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler notes Esther is  a queen of Persia and is also Jewish. She is afraid to reach out to the king. She finally realizes that she has to pray to God for strength and the courage of a lion. God could work through her. In Matthew, we are encouraged to knock and ask to receive from our loving parent, God, who will give us the most loving thing possible. It is what we need and the love of God is to be seen in whatever we experience. Friar Jude comments on the widespread proclamation of the Golden Rule to treat others as ourselves with respect and fulfill the Law and the Prophets.

The Word Among Us Meditation on Matthew 7:7-12 comments that Everyone receives. Maybe in ways we don’t expect. Maybe in ways we cannot perceive. Maybe in ways we will experience only in heaven. But our heavenly Father hears every prayer we offer. He hears the cries of our hearts. And he gives us the grace we need, the wisdom we need, or the courage or hope or correction or refocus that we need. Sometimes, he even gives us the silence that we need so that we will continue to grapple with our feelings and come to a better grasp of his calling and direction for us.

Jesus promises that God will “give good things to those who ask him” (Matthew 7:11). He is faithful. He is loving. He is just. He is kind and merciful. Hold onto those truths, no matter what you are dealing with. Grasp them tightly. Inscribe them in your memory. Write them on a piece of paper, and keep it in your pocket as a reminder. Give yourself the gift of time, and ask the Lord to give you the gift of patience. He won’t fail you. Make this your prayer, day and night:

“The Lord will complete what he has done for me; your kindness, O Lord, endures forever; forsake not the work of your hands” (Psalm 138:8). (Meditation on Matthew 7:7-12, n.d.)

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, comments that  the concept of “nepantla” comes from the indigenous Nahuatl people of central Mexico and nearby regions. It captures a sense of being transformed in and by the wilderness. Spiritual teacher Liza Rankow finds encouragement in the wisdom it offers.

Gloria Anzaldúa wrote about the richly nuanced Nahuatl concept of napantla. She referred to it as a state of in-between-ness, a liminal space where multiple realities simultaneously exist, and transformation can occur. Napantla relates to both our individual journeys and our collective ones….

Nepantla encourages us to embrace the in-between for all we can learn and become in the process:

Wilderness times, like those of napantla, are painful and difficult, and most of us want to get out of them as quickly as we can. Yet to shortchange the process is to pry open a cocoon prematurely because we want the butterfly. All we’re going to find in there is goop, or a half-formed bug body with tiny useless wings. The question is not what we need in order to get out of this wilderness, but rather, what do we need to inhabit the wilderness—for as long as it takes to complete our transition, our metamorphosis. You see, the wilderness is a season not a location. And like the healing of wounds, or the becoming of a butterfly, the wilderness journey is a process, not an event.

In the culture of “life hacks” and instant gratification, the idea of tarrying in the arduous in-between of spiritual wrestling may seem entirely unappealing. It’s so tempting to want to bypass the wilderness and hurry on to the promised land. However, these experiences of formation and transformation are essential, lest we try to enter the new world with the same consciousness that created the old one. 

Wildernesses are crucibles where we become the people who can live into new lands of promise and liberation. (Rohr, n.d.)

We petition God for many needs for ourselves and others and we seek the inspiration to trust that the response of Providence to our Prayer is what we need at the time.

References

Esther, CHAPTER 4 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved February 26, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/esther/4 

Esther, THE BOOK OF ESTHER. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved February 26, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/esther/0 

Matthew, CHAPTER 7 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved February 26, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/7?7 

Meditation on Matthew 7:7-12. (n.d.). Word Among Us. Retrieved February 26, 2026, from https://wau.org/meditations/2026/02/26/1509007/ 

Psalms, PSALM 138 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved February 26, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/138?1 

Rohr, R. (n.d.). Daily Meditations — Center for Action and Contemplation. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved February 26, 2026, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/a-time-for-growth/ 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). Ask and You Will Receive from Your Father in Heaven. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved February 26, 2026, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/ 

Shirley, N. (n.d.). Daily Reflection. Creighton Online Ministries: Home. Retrieved February 26, 2026, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/daily-reflections/daily-reflection-february-26-2026 

Greed and Need

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to respond as Jesus to the needs of those we may have shunned for our own comfort or to satisfy our own sense of self righteousness.

Need for Mercy

The reading from the Prophet Amos is his fourth vision of the summer fruit. 

* [8:1–2] End-of-summer fruit…the end has come: the English translation attempts to capture the wordplay of the Hebrew. The Hebrew word for “fruit picked late in the season” is qayis, while the word for “end” is qes. (Amos, CHAPTER 8, n.d.)

Psalm 119 praises the Glories of God’s Law.

* [Psalm 119] This Psalm, the longest by far in the Psalter, praises God for giving such splendid laws and instruction for people to live by. The author glorifies and thanks God for the Torah, prays for protection from sinners enraged by others’ fidelity to the law, laments the cost of obedience, delights in the law’s consolations, begs for wisdom to understand the precepts, and asks for the rewards of keeping them. (Psalms, PSALM 119, n.d.)

The Gospel of Matthew describes the calling of Matthew.

* [9:13] Go and learn…not sacrifice: Matthew adds the prophetic statement of Hos 6:6 to the Marcan account (see also Mt 12:7). If mercy is superior to the temple sacrifices, how much more to the laws of ritual impurity. (Matthew, CHAPTER 9, n.d.)

Andy Alexander, S.J., comments that Jesus was challenging their thinking about being religious and he is challenging ours. It is so consoling for all of us who are sinners. God doesn't love us because we earn it, deserve it, or prove how good we are. God loves us because we need loving, because we need forgiving, because we can't earn his love. And, because we have experienced ourselves as "love-sinners," - that is who we are - we are moved by grace to love other sinners, too.

Being a sinner who is healed by God's love allows us, blesses us, to love the same way - through compassion, forgiveness, and accompaniment. This self-sacrificing love sends us to be for and with those who need loving - even those who don't seem to deserve it - starting with people in our families, in our churches, and those with whom we work.

How much grace would flow from each of us responding to the call to eat and drink with a few sinners tonight, and to enjoy them, affirm them and love them as Jesus did?

O Lord, may your grace, which brought this grace to our hearts and opened them, bring it to great fruitfulness in love and charity, in ways we can't even imagine. Amen. (Daily Reflection Of Creighton University's Online Ministries, n.d.)

Don Schwager quotes “Matthew did not delay when called by Jesus,” by Chromatius (died 406 AD).

"The Lord, about to give salvation to all sinners believing in him, willingly chose Matthew the former publican. The gift of his esteem for Matthew stands as an example for our salvation. Every sinner must be chosen by God and can receive the grace of eternal salvation if one is not without a religious mind and a devout heart. So Matthew was chosen willingly by God. And though he is immersed in worldly affairs, because of his sincere religious devotion he is judged worthy to be called forth by the Lord ("Follow me"), who by virtue of his divine nature knows the hidden recesses of the heart. From what follows, we know that Matthew was accepted by the Lord not by reason of his status but of his faith and devotion. As soon as the Lord says to him, "Follow me," he does not linger or delay, but thereupon "he arose and followed him." (excerpt from TRACTATE ON MATTHEW 45.1) (Schwager, n.d.)

The Word Among Us Meditation on Amos 8:4-6, 9-12 comments that we know that God loves us and wants us to love him and put him first in our lives. We also know that he wants us to love and care for one another. But sometimes the “requirements” of faith seem burdensome. They become something to “get through” so that we can do what we really want.

At times like these, remember what a privilege and a blessing worshipping God can be! Remember how lifting your heart to the Lord also lifts your burdens. Remember how much he loves you and how worthy he is of your praise. Above all, remember that God is giving you a chance to encounter him. And that can soften your heart and change the way you approach your whole day. “Lord, thank you for the privilege of worshipping you!” (Meditation on Amos 8:4-6, 9-12, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler comments on the attacks of Amos towards the practices of the rich particularly in the light of having to suspend commerce for the new moon observances. Most of the faults we encounter are against our neighbor. We neglect the vertical and horizontal aspect of our faith that seeks mercy for those suffering a famine for the Word of God. Friar Jude reminds us the sick, made lonely by their sin, need a physician  who shows the Love of God to those who need it.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, values how Judaism and the Hebrew Scriptures introduced the gift of self-critical thinking into one’s relationship with God. The Jewish people, contrary to what might be expected, chose to present their arrogant and evil kings and their very critical prophets as part of their Holy Scriptures. They include stories and prophecies that do not tell the Jewish people how wonderful they are but, rather, how terrible they are! It is the birth of self-critical thinking and thus moves consciousness forward. No other religion has been known for such capacity for self-criticism, down to our own time. The Jewish rabbi and noted theologian Abraham Joshua Heschel understood such self-critical thinking and dissent as central to Judaism and to all vibrant and healthy religion.

Inherent to all traditional religion is the peril of stagnation. What becomes settled and established may easily turn foul. Insight is replaced by clichés, elasticity by obstinacy, spontaneity by habit. Acts of dissent prove to be acts of renewal. It is therefore of vital importance for religious people to voice and to appreciate dissent. And dissent implies self-examination, critique, discontent. Dissent is indigenous to Judaism. The prophets of ancient Israel who rebelled against a religion that would merely serve the self-interest or survival of the people continue to stand out as inspiration and example of dissent to this very day. An outstanding feature dominating all Jewish books composed during the first five hundred years of our era is the fact that together with the normative view a dissenting view is nearly always offered, whether in theology or in law. Dissent continued during the finest periods of Jewish history: great scholars sharply disagreed with Maimonides; Hasidism, which brought so much illumination and inspiration into Jewish life, was a movement of dissent. . . . Creative dissent comes out of love and faith, offering positive alternatives, a vision. [2] (Rohr, n.d.)

We ask the Spirit to help us examine the attitudes that separate us from addressing the needs of people we fail to recognize on our journey.

References

Amos, CHAPTER 8. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved July 1, 2022, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/amos/8?4 

Daily Reflection Of Creighton University's Online Ministries. (n.d.). Creighton University's Online Ministries. Retrieved July 1, 2022, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/070122.html 

Matthew, CHAPTER 9. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved July 1, 2022, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/9?9 

Meditation on Amos 8:4-6, 9-12. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved July 1, 2022, from https://wau.org/meditations/2022/07/01/428553/ 

Psalms, PSALM 119. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved July 1, 2022, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/119?2 

Rohr, R. (n.d.). Holy Dissent. Daily Meditations Archive: 2022. Retrieved July 1, 2022, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/holy-dissent-2022-07-01/ 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). I Desire Mercy - Not Sacrifice. Daily Scripture net. Retrieved July 1, 2022, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2022&date=jul1