Try to see God’s hand in our life

by Lou Occhi

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/051620.cfm
Acts 16:1-10
John 15:18-21

In early part of chapter 15 of John’s gospel Jesus tells His disciples that He has chosen them so that they may go forth and bear fruit. A vine with a branch that does not bear fruit will be cut off and discarded but a branch that bears fruit will be cleansed by the Father so that it may bear more fruit. When we get to the verses of today’s gospel, Jesus then warns His disciples that they will be persecuted just as He was persecuted. He ends by saying, “If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. And they will do all these things to you on account of my name, because they do not know the one who sent me.” 

This brings us to the reading from Acts. Here we read of Paul’s journey bringing the good news to several unpronounceable places. We start with Paul being in Derbe and Lystra. There was a disciple named Timothy there that was highly recommended by the brothers in the area. Paul asks Timothy to join them in their journey evangelizing. Timothy’s mother was Jewish and his father was Greek. Because they were preaching in areas populated by many Jews Paul had Timothy circumcised. It doesn’t really say why Timothy had to be circumcised other than it was well known that his father was Greek. From this we might assume it was to assure those in the area that he was in fact Jewish. As they went from town to town the churches in the towns grew stronger in faith and increased in number. 

The lesson for us from these first few verses of Acts 16 is the importance of evangelizing and doing the work of the Lord. I am not suggesting that we all quit our lives and go from town to town pitching tents and preaching the gospel. Rather we need to be bold in standing up for our faith. If you have ever been to a pro-life rally and stood on the side of the road holding a pro-life sign you are familiar with the vile comments, and indecent gestures made by some passer byes. This is simply a reflection of the warnings Jesus gave His disciples in John’s gospel. In participating in the rally we are standing with God and professing what we believe. On the plus side there are many people that wave and give thumbs up to what we are doing. I am reminded of the pro-life kids from Kentucky that were roundly persecuted by most of the main stream media. The central figure in the event still gets threatening phone calls and mail for simply being pro-life. Tim Tebow was dragged over the coals for being in a pro-life ad during a Super Bowl. I have friends who were griping about him being a big phony. So I asked them why they felt that way. They said that he was just putting on a show about his faith. I asked them if they knew he gave his entire NFL signing bonus to a children’s hospital in the Philippines. They had no idea. I also asked them if they knew why he did the pro-life ad with his mom. Again, they had no idea. So, I explained to them that his family was on a mission trip in the Philippines while his mother was pregnant. She went to a doctor and was told that her baby, Tim Tebow, was deformed and should be aborted immediately. She refused. Obviously he seems to be just fine. They had no idea about anything other than what they have heard and seen in the press. These examples are ways to evangelize without being offensive and displaying our faith in strong ways. Some of you may have had similar experiences in your dealings with friends and family.

The reading in Acts continues with Paul’s travels north of Derbe and Lysteria. They traveled through the Phyrigian and Galatian territories because they were prevented by the Holy Spirit from preaching in the province of Asia (actually Asian Minor). We do not know how they were prevented from going into Asia Minor. It could have been a vision, illness, impassable roads, etc. The point is that when things don’t go as expected we should try to see God’s hand in it. That is the way the disciples viewed things and perhaps we should consider this in our own lives. We might be disappointed, sad, mad, and highly disturbed. But, if just accept that there was a reason we do not understand and try to see God’s hand in it there is some consolation for us. This is true even for the pandemic of COVID-19 that we are currently experiencing.

When they were in Mysia and they wanted to go on to Bithynia. Again, they were prevented by the Holy Spirit so they went down to Troas. During the night Paul had a vision and heard the words “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” This also is an act of the Holy Spirit but in a much more direct way.

In 2005 we were living comfortably on the Gulf Coast and planned to retire there. Then, Hurricane Katrina hit us. 

Jill and my parents had evacuated prior to the hurricane. Because I worked for the power company I was at our office building so that we could get to work as soon as the winds died down to a reasonable level. The Mississippi gulf coast had 24,000 homes totally destroyed and 60,000 homes severely damaged. When Jill and my parents returned a few days later they found our home was in the severely damaged category. We had parts of our roof torn off, broken windows, and two feet of salt water in our house. My parent’s house was gone. The local expression was that the house was slabbed. That is, there was nothing left but the slab. 

You talk about hopeless. Jill and my parents were sleeping in beds that were moist from water that wicked up through the mattress. Jill was left with the task of starting to restore the house with the help of our priest and my late eighties parents. I was at work and tried to get a couple of hours sleep on the concrete floor of our office. I did not see much anger but I did see a lot of crying and despair initially. There was no electricity, telephone, gasoline, food, water, banks, internet, or sewer. It was not a pretty picture. The following Sunday we had mass on a school playground. Our church was totaled. Many of our friends were homeless and crying. A week later the local Lutheran Church allowed us to have mass at their church after their Sunday service.

The first thing that happened after the shock wore down was that our neighborhood started working together. If someone heard that the National Guard was coming in at one of the schools in a helicopter with bottled water and military meals ready to eat they would go from house to house letting everybody know. Next, missionaries from all over the country and Canada came and set up kitchens around the area. 

A church in Chicago saw our priest on television news and donated pews for us to use. The KC bought an abandoned skating rink for us to celebrate mass. Thereafter our temporary church was known as Our Lady of the Holy Skating Rink. People from Syracuse, New York helped reconfigure the skating rink so that there were CCD class rooms and a large space to celebrate mass. After a couple of weeks, I had friends come down from Atlanta to help Jill work on the house. They ripped out all the drywall from four feet down and patched what they could. I have a good friend who was a contractor. Because I worked for the power company I was able to drive on the roads. So, I drove to his house and was put first on his list to restore my house. Eventually I got back to my house and helped Jill get our house back in shape. It was a ton of work and aggravation and most of it fell on Jill’s shoulders since I was still working. 

I cannot tell you how inspiring it was to see neighbors and strangers from all over the country and Canada going through so much trouble to help their fellow man. Those that came had no place to stay and worked in sweltering heat for long hours out of pure love of their God. It really showed why organized religion is so important in the world.

It took about nine months to get our house livable. I was prepared to stay in Mississippi. However, Jill wanted no part of another hurricane. We had been through many of them but this was the worst. I tried every argument in the book to stay in Mississippi but lost out. Since our daughter lived in Manitou Springs that was where we were headed.

Because our house was among the first available we sold it almost immediately. On a quick trip to Colorado, we found a house in Woodland Park. Within a week we sold our house in Mississippi and bought our current house here.

The Mississippi coast has rebuilt and life is returning to a new normal. If you ask someone when something occurred they will describe it as being before Katrina or after Katrina. The human spirit is incredible and will recover from any tragedy. There is a special bond between all of those who suffered through the storm together. 

In a similar way we are struggling through the COVID-19 pandemic. All things happen for reasons that we do not understand. One day, the sun is shining and all is great in the world, and the next day it seems the world is turned upside down. We have to place our trust in  God in these situations. It is entirely in His hands. Our lives and our routines are changed, perhaps forever, but we will get through this.

Finally, I have to say that my being here was the work of the Holy Spirit. It sure didn’t seem like it at the time, but here we found a great Catholic community, many dear friends who share our faith and values, who are retired and who share our love of the outdoors. I admit, I was led here kicking and screaming but sometimes that is the way the Holy Spirit leads us.