Hey, everybody. This is Father John Ricardo with Acts 29. And in the middle of all the craziness

and the uncertainty that's going on right now, it seems from our perspective as a team that it's

worth using these days to reflect in a more deliberate way on the scriptures every day, which

for many of us now is the only spiritual food that we're receiving. And so we're going to do a special podcast series simply entitled,

Be Not Afraid God's Word in Uncertain Times.

And we'll try to post something every day, usually reflecting on the scriptures,

so that we can listen in on what God is trying to say to us in these days.

Like many other states in our country at 12-01 this morning,

the state of Michigan put into effect our stay-at-home mandate from our governor.

And I'm sure, like many of you, as I was praying earlier this morning,

I found myself saying to the Lord, wow, I just never thought I would see days like this in my lifetime.

And then I immediately thought how much in solidarity we are with so many of our brothers and sisters in the church down through the centuries who said similar things

about whatever time they were living in, whether it was World War II or the Spanish flu or

the plague back in the 15th, 16th century, the French Revolution, whatever the case might have

been, right? And so I'm turning more and more to Scripture

and trying to emerge or immerse myself in the Word of God

to just listen to him and let him speak to me.

And again, I find the Psalms to be particularly helpful. And the Psalm this morning for what is the reading for Mass is Psalm 46. And so I thought I just, I want to read the whole Psalm in its entirety, which is a little bit longer than what's in the missile for Mass.

And then I just want to offer, if I can, a couple of questions for us to reflect on as we go about our day, as we continue to live this new normal that we find ourselves in.

So it's Psalm 46, and it says this, God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth should change,

though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea,

...