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Hold My Hand

By October 23, 2014Homily

parent-holding-childs-hand

One of the benefits of being a priest is that I have nieces and a nephew.  The great thing about that is I get to truly enjoy them and share in their lives.
Last year around Christmas time I took my three nieces to the square in Strongsville for their annual Christmas lighting.  There was such a big crowd that we had to park pretty far down the street.  As we approached I got a little anxious because there was tons of activity, it was getting dark, and there was a crowd.  My nieces were skipping along and I instinctively reached out to grab their hands.  There were three of them and I only have two hands.  So I took the two youngest by the hand.  I didn’t want to lose them.  Meanwhile they were mesmerized by their friends, the lights, the music, the hot coffee, the popcorn, Santa and live reindeer!
I found myself always looking ahead, keeping my eyes on them, and taking their hands whenever they would let me.
God does the same for us.  He loves that we enjoy this life but is always aware of the potential for us to get lost when we begin to walk away from him mesmerized by some apparent and seemingly good attraction.  The world is good and full of good, just as it was that evening.  However, we have a tendency to let go of God’s hand and become distracted by the good.
The wonderful thing about God is that He initiates.  He always sees two steps ahead of us and whenever we are in danger or begin to walk away from Him he reaches out his hand to us.
The Lord initiates!  He grasps us by the hand!  Even before it even occurs to us to reach for him.
Do you find yourself drifting away from God because of any “pleasures” or “attractions”?

Do you want the Father to be involved in everything that you do?

Do you delight when you realize that God takes you by the hand and shares in your adventures?

Sometimes it is just good to know that not only is God always there with us but He takes us by the hand even before we realize we are straying.

 

 

 

 

Thus says the LORD to his anointed, Cyrus,
whose right hand I grasp,
subduing nations before him,
and making kings run in his service,
opening doors before him
and leaving the gates unbarred:
For the sake of Jacob, my servant,
of Israel, my chosen one,
I have called you by your name,
giving you a title, though you knew me not.
I am the LORD and there is no other,
there is no God besides me.
It is I who arm you, though you know me not,
so that toward the rising and the setting of the sun
people may know that there is none besides me.
I am the LORD, there is no other.

The song “Hold My Hand” by Hootie and the Blowfish illustrates this quote well.  Imagine God singing this song to you, taking your hand, and sharing in the great adventure of life with you!

HOOTIE & THE BLOWFISH LYRICS
“Hold My Hand”

With a little love, and some tenderness
We’ll walk upon the water
We’ll rise above this mess
With a little peace, and some harmony
We’ll take the world together
We’ll take ’em by the hand
‘Cause I’ve got a hand for you
‘Cause I wanna run with you
Yesterday, I saw you standing there
Your head was down, your eyes were red
No comb had touched your hair
I said get up, and let me see you smile
We’ll take a walk together
Walk the road awhile, ’cause
‘Cause I’ve got a hand for you
I’ve got a hand for you
‘Cause I wanna run with you
Won’t you let me run with you? yeah
Hold my hand
Want you to hold my hand
Hold my hand
I’ll take you to a place where you can be
Hold my hand
Anything you wanna be because
I wanna love you the best that, the best that I can
See I was wasted, and I was wasting time
‘Till I thought about your problems, I thought about your crimes
Then I stood up, and then I screamed aloud
I don’t wanna be part of your problems
Don’t wanna be part of your crowd, no
‘Cause I’ve got a hand for you
I’ve got a hand for you
‘Cause I wanna run with you
Ah, won’t you let me run with you?
Hold my hand
Want you to hold my hand
Hold my hand
I’ll take you to the promised land
Hold my hand
Maybe we can’t change the world but
I wanna love you the best that, the best that I can, yeah
Hold my hand
Want you to hold my hand
Hold my hand
I’ll take you to a place where you can be
Hold my hand
Anything you wanna be because
I…Oh…No, No, No, No, No
Hold my hand
Want you to hold my hand
Hold my hand
I’ll take you to the promised land
Hold my hand
Maybe we can’t change the world but
I wanna love you the best that, best that I can
Oh, The best that I can

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