SAINT WENCESLAUS, MARTYR (OPTIONAL MEMORIAL)

We have heard that God is with you. 

Diane sat in her office so anxious about one of her children that it felt as if she was going to have a panic attack. She saw a coworker across the room who had shared with her about her relationship with God. If I can just get over to her, I will be okay, Diane thought. So she swallowed the sense of awkwardness rising up in her, walked over, and asked the woman if she would pray with her. Smiling warmly, the coworker agreed, and when they prayed, Diane felt an unmistakable peace and calm.

That’s not so different from what Zechariah describes in today’s first reading. He said that in the age to come, people from all nations would stream to Jerusalem and grasp the hem of any Jew’s garment, saying, “Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you” (Zechariah 8:23).

How can we overflow with God’s presence like that? Well, first we have to be filled. So isn’t it wonderful that God wants nothing more than to fill us with his grace and compassion? The filling is God’s work; it’s on us to come to him and receive it. And that’s not as hard as it may seem.

Every time you turn to the Lord, he generously pours his grace into you. When you thank him and worship him, he fills you. When you call to him in your struggles, he fills you. When you go to him for wisdom, he fills you. When you pray for healing, confess your sin, and ask his forgiveness, he fills you. In other words, you can be filled with his grace at any time and in any place when you turn your heart toward him.

So how do you overflow? You don’t need to come up with a checklist of ways to reach out to others. When you are filled with God, he will flow out of you. Then when you walk into a room, you bring the presence of God with you. Just by being herself, Diane’s coworker brought the comfort and presence of God—because she kept coming to the Lord to be filled. The same can happen with you. So keep asking God to fill you; then expect his grace to overflow.

“Here I am, Lord! Fill me so that I can be a vessel of your love and your grace!”

Psalm 87:1-7
Luke 9:51-56
Zechariah 8:20-23

WORD AMONG US