Divine Venting
“We must learn how to explode! Any disease is healthier than the one provoked by a hoarded rage.“ ~ Emil Cioran
Today’s 1st Reading from the Old Testament Prophet Habakkuk (1:12-2:4) would seem to foreshadow Jesus’ words in Tuesday’s Gospel (Matthew 15:1-2, 10-14) wherein the Son of Man likens the day of judgement to “a net thrown into the sea, which collects fish of every kind” as Jesus describes it. “When it is full they haul it ashore and sit down to put what is good into buckets. What is bad they throw away. Thus it will be at the end of the age.” https://hubpages.com/religion-philosophy/JUDGEMENT-Coming-to-a-Soul-Near-You.
“You have made man like the fish of the sea, Habakkuk says, “like creeping things without a ruler. He brings them all up with his hook, he hauls them away with his net, He gathers them in his seine; and so he rejoices and exults.“ Habakkuk appears outwardly frustrated in today’s Reading, wherein he struggles with the idea of human suffering and the God who allows it. In this particular instance, it was the hardships of the Israelites that distressed him. he simply saw no purpose to it.
We touched upon this in yesterday’s Reflection, the importance of carrying one’s Cross and all the divine graces gained from doing so https://hubpages.com/religion-philosophy/The-Convergence-of-the-Mysteries-and-the-School-of-Love. I’m reminded of the words of EWTN Foundress Mother Angelica, who often said “Holiness is not for wimps and the cross is not negotiable, sweetheart, it's a requirement.”
Today however we are reminded that it’s OK to engage in a little “divine venting,” healthy even. As we encounter suffering in our lives, it’s far better to turn to God and vent than it is to wallow in despair or isolate ourselves in the fallacious “me against the world” mentality. We know that there’s value in suffering but it is at times hard to reconcile that fact when we find ourselves squarely in misery’s crosshairs. But as we know, “The Lord hears the cry of the poor.” Amidst your venting, always remain faithful in God’s ability and willingness to pull you through your trials. For as the Lord teaches Habakkuk in the final words of today’s passage “The rash man has no integrity; but the just man, because of his faith, shall live.“ (Hab 1:24).
Saint Dominic (1170–1221), the man whose Feast Day we celebrate today, was born in Spain to a family of noble lineage. At his baptism, his godmother beheld a star shining from his forehead. He was ultimately given to the Church by his parents for the priesthood. He would go on to travel with his Bishop into the south of France, only to discover that it had become overrun with a heretical movement that led many of the faithful away from the Church. This would compel him to establish the Order of Preachers, better known as the “Dominicans.”
The Dominicans sought to mesh the active and contemplative religious life with the labor of scholarly study and itinerate preaching. To aid his mission, the Blessed Virgin Mary would appear to him and in doing so, gave him a new devotion: the Holy Rosary. https://hubpages.com/religion-philosophy/One-Hail-Mary-at-a-Time. I’m not sure there’s ever been a time in the history of the world when the recitation of the Daily Rosary was more important than it is right now.
I leave you with one of Saint Dominic’s more memorable quotes, sound advice for the ages but most particularly in the uber-judgemental, over-indulgent, impulsive world we live in today:
“A person who governs his passions is the master of the world. We must either rule them, or be ruled by them. It is better to be the hammer than the anvil. “
Saint Dominic, pray for us . . .
