When you don’t think you can take it anymore

You are not alone! Have you ever felt you couldn’t take it anymore or wished that God would just take you? You are not alone! Even the great prophet Elijah felt his life was so much in pain, fear and worry that he wanted his life to end. Our first reading this Sunday even quotes him: "Elijah prayed for death saying: ‘This is enough, O LORD! Take my life" (1 Kgs 19:4). But our good and gracious God, whose very name Emmanuel means you are not alone/“God-with-us," wants us to never fear or doubt His love. On this 19th Sunday of ordinary time we have more to rejoice in than you think. It is also the feast day of one of my favorite saint friends, Saint Clare of Assisi (August 11th). She learned about the permanence of God’s presence in her life through Jesus in the Eucharist. Even when you see her statues or paintings, she usually has the Blessed Sacrament with her in a monstrance.

She had reason to trust in Him. Just outside the walls of Assisi is the monastery of San Damiano where St. Clare and her small community of nuns lived. When a group of pillaging saracen soldiers reached Assisi to invade, they realized their first obstacle was St. Damiano monastery and so they began to scale its walls and terrorize the innocent religious women. At this point St. Clare rose from her sickbed and prayed before the Blessed Sacrament. Suddenly a voice resounded in her ears from the tabernacle: "I will always protect you!"

Taking the Blessed Sacrament ciborium from the little chapel, she proceeded to face the invaders at an open window against which they had already placed a ladder. As she raised the Blessed Sacrament on high out the window, the soldiers who were about to enter the monastery fell backward with confusion, and the others who were ready to follow them took flight. She knelt down and said a short prayer to God, asking Him to protect the remaining parts of the city. Instead of trying to find another place to enter the city, the army retreated and never came back.

This week take some time before His Tabernacle or in Eucharistic Adoration so you can be reminded you are never alone and He will give you every reason to believe you are worth everything. Also pray for our seminarians as they return for the school year and Saint Mary Seminary begins their annual retreat.

Pax et Bonum,

Fr. Bline