March 20: In You I Take Refuge

Saturday of the Fourth Week of Lent

March 20, 2021

“O Lord, my God, in you I take refuge.”

There is a picture of what God looks like and God’s actions in our lives in today’s Responsorial Psalm, in a story told by theologian Walter Bruggemann in one of his books:

“I recently heard a Lutheran pastor describe a woman who had walked seven hundred miles as a refugee to escape a violent war and was finally able to cross a national boundary out of the war zone. She walked all that way and brought with her an eight-year-old girl, who walked beside her. For seven hundred miles the child held her hand tightly. When they reached safety, the girl loosened her grip, and the woman looked at her hand. It was raw and bloody with an open wound because the little girl had held on tightly in her fearfulness. This is no casual hand-holding. This is a life-or-death grip that does not let go.”

I don’t know how many of you have had the need to hold onto God with “a life-or-death grip.” Over this past year, I have had this need, and I can tell you; God never let me go. And I am still holding on. God’s hand is there for you whenever you need it, and God will bring you to safety.

These reflections are meant to challenge us on our journey through Lent. Please feel free to share your thoughts and comments with us.