Tuesday of 12th Week in Ordinary Time, Yr. II: reflection

Theme: Take it to God in Prayer

Reading: 2Kgs 19:9b-11,14–21,31–35a,36

Dear friends in Christ, great is the message today’s first reading has for us. The king of Assyria, Sennacherib, had conquered the bigger nations surrounding Judah, deposed their kings, enslaved their people, destroyed their gods and seized their lands. Then, he sent a letter to Hezekiah, the king of Judah, telling him to surrender since Judah was just a dot when compared to other nations that had fallen before him (Sennacherib). He also warned Hezekiah that trusting in his God will be deceptive since he had destroyed the gods of the nations he conquered.

As soon as Hezekiah received Sennacherib’s letter, which was loaded with real facts and threats, he ran to the temple of the Most High and spread it before the sanctuary of God; He handed the battle to God, asking God to show Himself as God, and God responded immediately, assuring him that Sennacherib will never step foot into Judah and that He will teach him a lesson. That night, God’s angel struck Assyrians’ camp, killed thousands of their soldiers and Sennacherib fled.

Dear friends, what do you do when you face real threats? What do you do when they want to eliminate you just because they feel they are stronger, wealthier and more connected than you? What do you do when you receive unfavourable reports/evaluations despite your good works, sacrifices and honest efforts? What do you do when they fabricate lies against you and still tell you that you cannot do anything? What do you do when you receive unjust judgments? In today’s first reading, Hezekiah teaches us that the first thing to do is to take these issues to God in prayer, handing the battle over to God, for God says: “call on me in the time of trouble, I will answer you.” (Ps 50:15).

May God help you to deal with anything that threatens you this Tuesday.

Fr Isaac Chima.