THIS IS THE DAY THAT THE LORD HAS MADE

This is the day that the Lord has made:
Let us rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24

Years back my wife and I were one of a group of couples that would lead a charismatic prayer group that met in the basement of our Catholic church. Two of the regular attendees were Laura and Moses LaCombe, a Catholic couple both in their seventies. The most Moses would ever contribute was his smile, but Laura (and every prayer group has its Laura) would have something to share every week.

Laura, who was a little heavy, loved to sing all the peppy praise and worship songs, and more than once she shared (and demonstrated from her chair) the following: "You know what I do when I get up in the morning? I sit up, put one leg over the edge of the bed, and then the other. Then I start singing "This is the day, this is the day, that the Lord has made, that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice, Let us rejoice, and be glad in it, and be glad in it.' I swing my legs back and forth with the song for 15 minutes, and that is my morning exercise!"

Laura was one of those people who would come up to me after I would explore the depths of scriptural insight during a teaching, and remark; "That was so deep", which actually meant - "I have no idea what you just said, but thank you for sharing". Laura loved God, and everything she heard - the Mass - Christian TV - prayer group songs and teachings - confirmed to her heart that an amazing God loved her and had sent His son Jesus to save her.

Ah, life SHOULD BE so simple. My wife and I eventually left the prayer group, and soon after the Catholic Church, because the conflict between what the Spirit was showing me in the Bible and what the RCC was teaching became increasingly broader. One day I finally realized that my prayers were not going to move the Holy Spirit to change any of the doctrines or the structures of the Catholic Church, and that is wasn't right for me to have my children attending Mass and going to a Catholic school and then be critical of what was being taught there.

That was in 1983. I guess it was fitting that the last sermon we heard while belonging to the Catholic Church was one on nuclear disarmament. For me there was nothing spiritual to be found in what I had heard. But I imagine Laura's attitude would have been better than mine, for truly; This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it!