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What is one of the greatest public health issues of our time?

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Loneliness.

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For example, some years ago, Mother Teresa visited a nursing home here in the United States.

She was stunned to see how well the residents were treated; it seemed they had everything a person could want –three hots and a cot, air-conditioning, even television.

But not a single person appeared to be smiling. 

When she asked one of the nurses why, the nurse replied, “They’re all waiting for someone to visit them. But no one ever does.”

“That’s the greatest poverty,” Mother Teresa said, “being unwanted.”

What all of those residents craved was simply a visit from someone who knew them.

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In the Gospel, Jesus quotes the prophet Hosea, saying the Lord desires, “mercy, not sacrifice” (Matthew 12:7).

We can all be merciful today by taking the time to show someone else they matter.

Return a phone call, write a letter, send a text, or even pay someone a visit. 

A few minutes spent on another person can lighten their burden.

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But doing so will not only make them feel better; it’ll warm our hearts, too.

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“I will be with you.”

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We’ve all been in positions where it seems like life is asking us to do the impossible.

Think of the first time you laid eyes on your newborn child. How can I give this child everything he or she deserves? 

“I will be with you.”

Or the moment you show up for your first day on the job. You’re a teacher – a class full of twenty young children. Can I really teach them all how to read? 

“I will be with you.”

Or that malignant diagnosis, your first day of retirement, the moment you lose a loved one…or, in my case, the day of my priestly ordination. Can I really do this?

“I will be with you.”

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These five words – “I will be with you”– are the words spoken by God to Moses in our first reading. 

Moses faced an impossible task – he was called to lead his people out of slavery in Egypt into the Promised Land.

He was terrified – he questioned – but the Lord spoke to him from the burning bush simply promising, “I will be with you.”

The same God who guided Moses guides us today. 

Whatever our challenges or trials may be, we can move forward in confidence, for the Lord will be with us.

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For todays Mass readings go to:

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/071719.cfm

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“Suddenly a violent storm came up on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by waves; but Jesus was asleep. The disciples woke him, saying, ‘Lord, save us! We are perishing!’ … Then he got up, rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was great calm” (Matthew 8: 23-27).

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We’ve all cried out to God in distress like the disciples in today’s Gospel. And more often than not it seems like Jesus is asleep. But we must remember that our cries always awaken him.

In that sense, I’d say our prayer lives can be likened to a stoplight.

Sometimes we ask for something and it’s granted immediately. For example, we lose our keys… pray to Saint Anthony… and “poof!” there they are.

A green light.

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Most often, however, we live our lives in the yellow.

We’ve all spent some days or nights on our knees, tears flowing down our cheeks, begging God for help. Anyone who’s followed the Lord long enough knows that most of these prayers are answered.

It just takes a good amount of patience.

After all, that tension of praying for something – and hoping it will be granted – is where most of our spiritual growth happens.

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Then there’s the red light.

These are prayers that are simply not answered the way we had hoped. For example, I prayed for many nights that my mother would be cured from cancer. “She’s dying, Lord! Save her!”

I cried out.

A red light.

But even when the red lights come, we must remember the words of Saint Paul:

“All things (even red lights) work for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).