The associated reading for this reflection can be found in your Every Sacred Sunday Mass journal or online here.
“God put Abraham to the test.”
—Genesis 22:1
I think we can all say that we feel like we’ve been put to the test lately. For my family, 2021 has been even more trying, nearly every week bringing something new and unexpected. We’ve had car accidents, job loss, new health diagnoses, tires literally exploding on the highway… and it’s not even March yet. As I was driving to pick up my husband, not yet realizing that his truck was totaled and he barely avoided wrapping around a metal telephone pole, I was trying to understand why all of these horrible things were happening to us now. Last year wasn’t ideal for anyone but the hits just keep coming this year. What is so different?
And then it hit me: Satan hates marriage. From my years of studying theology and just watching how evil manifests in our world, I always knew this to be true. But I didn’t really understand this until we experienced so much hardship in the weeks following our wedding. My husband and I are now sacramentally and spiritually one with each other, as God designed, only to be separated by death. And Satan hates that. Husband and wife, and any family that might follow, can be an image of God’s love for us and an irreplaceable model for those who are searching.
But it isn’t just saying vows or going through the motions of a ceremony that make us this reflection of God’s love. It’s easy to have a strong and loving relationship when things are going well. It takes true difficulty and strife to build a deep love that will change hearts.
And so God allows bad things to happen. But if we hold fast to him, like we should hold fast to our spouse and children, we will come out of it with a love unlike we could imagine. God allows car accidents and job loss and health issues… and a scourging, a crown of thorns, and a crucifixion. Unlike Abraham, who was asked to trust God without being given a Book or a tale of exodus, we have been shown a glimpse of what we can expect through the Transfiguration. We know what is waiting for us, in dazzling white garments, in this life and the next, and we even know his name: Jesus.
We can give our entire selves to him, knowing that he has already given himself for us: once in time and again at every Mass. He is our past, present, and future. If we can just trust in difficult times and give ourselves to God anyway, God will give himself back to us in ways that we can’t even imagine in this earthly life.
We are called to be like the Psalmist, who wrote, “I believed, even when I said, ‘I am greatly afflicted.’” And joke’s on Satan, because every struggle has only brought my husband and I ever deeper into love for each other.
Marissa Rankin (Meyer) is an active cantor within the Diocese of Nashville. She loves her new husband and long-time companion dog Esther (like the queen!)! Follow her on Instagram for updates on an exciting new product for Catholic brides, launching 2021!