February 25, 2021: Thursday of the 1st Week of Lent

Today's Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/022521.cfm

In today’s first reading Esther invites us to put our trust in God and to be attentive to the cry of others. Queen Esther had resources and access to everything; she had power and favor. However, she knew that her true power and deliverance remained with God. In spite of her wealth her heart was troubled, her joy was compromised as she watched the suffering of her people. She was broken.  She knew that only God had the substance she needed to restore her joy and make her whole again. 

How many times have we encountered circumstances where we felt helpless, and upset with no idea where to turn? Anxiety, depression, and sadness are vivid in our society due to the current health, economic, and political unrest.  We are facing serious challenges.  The world is in turmoil.  Our normal life has been disrupted and we are experiencing anguish. Esther’s faith guided her to take bold action. She remembered the teaching of her forefathers.  Like Esther we  must remain hopeful and faithful.  The lent season summons us to humble ourselves to pray, dialogue with our God, and be attentive to the suffering of others. 

The Gospel of Matthew 7:7-12 reinforces the promise and love of God for His children.  Esther’s faith is the weapon she needed in this fight. She was fighting for the freedom of her people.  She needed supernatural help from her God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. She humbled herself in the presence of her Lord and pleaded her case.  Esther’s plea was her prayer. Her conversation with God was her prayer.  How do we speak with our God?  What type of conversation do we hold with Him?  Do we know for sure that God hears us? Let us plead our Lord with confidence to “Turn our mourning into gladness and our sorrows into wholeness.”  God encourages us to ask, seek and knock.  He promises if we ask we will receive, if we seek we will find and if we knock the door will be opened for us.  Esther believed in God’s promise and love; with fervor she asked, sought, and knocked and God answered her cry.  I believe God will continue to hear and answer His children cries, today and forever.


- Andrei St. Felix, Director of EOF, Caldwell University

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