God's Ways are Not Our Ways - Easter Sunday - Episode 21 - a podcast by Souls and Hearts

Overall Takeaway

Just as Mary Magdalene and all Jesus’ disciples were shell-shocked on Easter morning, we are often confused about the events of our own lives. Dr. Gerry and Dr. Peter talk about how we cannot rely solely on our limited human vision to understand why God allows the things that happen in our own lives, but instead rely on what we know from divine revelation.

Key Verses from Sunday Mass Readings

"I swear by myself, declares the LORD,
 that because you acted as you did
 in not withholding from me your beloved son,
 I will bless you abundantly."

"The LORD calls you back,
 like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit,
 a wife married in youth and then cast off,
 says your God.
 For a brief moment I abandoned you,
 but with great tenderness I will take you back."

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
 nor are your ways my ways, says the LORD."

"I will give you a new heart and place a new spirit within you,
 taking from your bodies your stony hearts
 and giving you natural hearts."

"We know that Christ, raised from the dead, dies no more;
 death no longer has power over him."

Where Catholicism Meets Psychology

Early on that first Easter Sunday morning, the disciples were utterly shell-shocked. The faced uncertainty and couldn’t understand the crucifixion. It’s similar to the fear and uncertainty that we might all be experiencing with COVID-19. We must not rely on our unaided human vision but on what we know from divine revelation.

If we did not form solid attachments as children, it’s easy to feel forsaken in difficult times. Today, with the closing of our churches, we may feel abandoned. God tells us this week that His love will never leave us. 

We often distort and confuse things in our minds or rely on our feelings. It’s important to remember that our subjectivity isn’t the measure.

From a neurological perspective, parts of our brain go offline when we experience trauma. As a result, we feel like both the past and future are collapsing into the present. Although that is a natural phenomenon, it has tremendous spiritual implications.

God, as a good father, can’t gratify us all the time. He must frustrate us with events that are good for us, but we often don’t understand why these things happen in the moment.

Action Items

Look at the image of Mother Mary holding Jesus and the sheep, and put yourself in the position of the sheep when you are upset, worried or anxious. Imagine Mary taking care of you in those moments.

Pray the Litany of Trust.

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