I Love You, Lord My Strength!

I used to get sick all the time. Throughout high school and college I seemed to live a chronic roller coaster of incapacitating illness that would eventually move into short periods of again being able to do "normal" activities like my peers. Then I'd experience sickness again as the winding, sometimes terrifying, and definitely uncomfortable ride continued.

I noticed that during the times when I was "well," I did not really heed the wisdom from today's reading to "take care not to forget the Lord." (Deuteronomy 6:12) I began to realize that during the times when I was sick, I definitely turned more to the Lord in prayer, striving to offer my illnesses to God and begging Him for healing. However, once I was doing okay again, I seemed to forget about the healing God had done for me, and I returned to the pattern of relying on my own strength and power without concern, reliance, or gratitude towards Him who had done the work in me.

In today's reading, Moses tells the people that when they come into the Promised Land and when they receive all of these gifts that they have been given without any of their own doing, they must not forget the Lord. They must not forget that it is the Lord who has brought them out of Egypt and out of slavery. It is God who is the source of all of their good gifts.

Throughout my own health journey and especially throughout the last few months, the words of today's Responsorial Psalm have been resonating within me: "I love you, Lord my strength!" (Psalm 18:2) I find myself repeating these words almost daily, and I think it serves as a reminder to me of God's power and mercy in my life and that any strength I possess is a gift from Him.

Today I'm wondering how it is that you take care not to forget the Lord. How has He brought you out of Egypt? Out of slavery? What are a few gifts from the Lord that you can remember today?

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Mary Catherine Craige is a lover of creativity and learning new things. When she is not guiding the development of young children through Montessori methods, you can find her behind her harp, taking an art class, or writing silly poems. You can find out more about her here.