Atlas, We Are Not

First Reading: Malachi 3:13-20B

You have defied me in word, says the LORD,
yet you ask, “What have we spoken against you?”
You have said, “It is vain to serve God,
and what do we profit by keeping his command,
And going about in penitential dress
in awe of the LORD of hosts?
Rather must we call the proud blessed;
for indeed evildoers prosper,
and even tempt God with impunity.”
Then they who fear the LORD spoke with one another,
and the LORD listened attentively;
And a record book was written before him
of those who fear the LORD and trust in his name.
And they shall be mine, says the LORD of hosts,
my own special possession, on the day I take action.
And I will have compassion on them,
as a man has compassion on his son who serves him.
Then you will again see the distinction
between the just and the wicked;
Between the one who serves God,
and the one who does not serve him.
For lo, the day is coming, blazing like an oven,
when all the proud and all evildoers will be stubble,
And the day that is coming will set them on fire,
leaving them neither root nor branch,
says the LORD of hosts.
But for you who fear my name, there will arise
the sun of justice with its healing rays.

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 1:1-2, 3, 4 AND 6

R. (Ps 40:5a) Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.

Blessed the man who follows not
the counsel of the wicked
Nor walks in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the company of the insolent,
But delights in the law of the LORD
and meditates on his law day and night.

R. Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.

He is like a tree
planted near running water,
That yields its fruit in due season,
and whose leaves never fade.
Whatever he does, prospers.

R. Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.

Not so the wicked, not so;
they are like chaff which the wind drives away.
For the LORD watches over the way of the just,
but the way of the wicked vanishes.

R. Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.

Gospel: Luke 11:5-13

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Suppose one of you has a friend
to whom he goes at midnight and says,
‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread,
for a friend of mine has arrived at my house from a journey
and I have nothing to offer him,’
and he says in reply from within,
‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked
and my children and I are already in bed.
I cannot get up to give you anything.’
I tell you, if he does not get up to give him the loaves
because of their friendship,
he will get up to give him whatever he needs
because of his persistence.

“And I tell you, ask and you will receive;
seek and you will find;
knock and the door will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks, receives;
and the one who seeks, finds;
and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
What father among you would hand his son a snake
when he asks for a fish?
Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg?
If you then, who are wicked,
know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit
to those who ask him?”

NAB

oct 8

I do not have the weight of the world on my shoulders.

I do NOT have the weight of the world on my shoulders.

I DO NOT HAVE the weight of the world on my shoulders!

This has become a little mantra of mine lately.

As a busy student, new mother, and wife—I was emboldened with the idea that I can do it all, that I am a superwoman. I believe that not only should I do it all, but that I could do it all. There was always room to squeeze in one more load of dishes, one more study session, one more homemade dessert.

Well, that worked all of two seconds.

There I was, a wife, a student, and a mother—how did that happen? I was falsely empowered by this idea of doing it all. And you know what suffered? All of it.

Doing it all is a myth. I am not Atlas—punished to hold up the sky for eternity—I am the daughter of our Lord.

All I have to do is ask for help and I will receive. That is all.

I just needed to loosen the reigns—ask for help. Just ask.

If you are anything like me, it is almost easier to take on the world and burden myself than to ask for help to lighten my load. Call it pride, call it guilt, whatever it is, it is not what the Lord wants for us.

"For everyone who asks, receives . . . ."

His arms are waiting for me. He is waiting to lighten my load. Because unlike Atlas, punished for his betrayal of Zeus, Jesus knowingly and with free choice allowed Himself to be hung on that cross to actually carry the weight of the world’s sins.

One hundred percent truth. No myths over here.

Are you willing to seek? Are you willing to find?

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photo by Madi Myers-Cook