Am I Ready?

A Reflection on the First Reading for Sunday, February 2nd, 2025:
The Presentation of the Lord

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Malachi
3.1-4
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​Thus says the Lord God: “See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight — indeed, he is coming,” says the Lord of hosts.

“But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap; he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, until they present offerings to the Lord in righteousness. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.”

Pause. Pray. Reflect.

This reading challenges me to ponder if I am indeed ready for judgment. I have generally thought of heaven as a destination point to arrive at when my earthly life is finished and that judgment would take place then. However, what if judgment is taking place daily? The question for me really is, “Am I ready now?” If today were my last day, would I hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant”? 

In my immaturity I consider that the works I have done here on earth should “qualify” me. And yet I know that while the Lord desires the kind of works from me that will bring others closer to Him, what He desires even more is for me to receive the gift of salvation and to turn to Him constantly  in trust and unwavering belief.

My earthly journey has seen its share of fire. The times that I have embraced it as refiner’s fire are the ones from which I have experienced the greatest growth in faith. When I opened myself up to the Holy Spirit and welcomed His cleansing fire, I realized the truth that He does indeed make everything new and good for those who believe. He has removed fear, eased grief, straightened crooked paths, and carried me and my sinful ways when I have turned to Him in faith. That’s the power of the refiner’s fire and fuller’s soap – running through me and seeking out my sinfulness to cleanse me of it. 

I have been graced with miracles over and over again when He has taken situations that I had tried, in my humanness, to control and change and finally, fully, handed them to Him and left them in His hands. Some ask why bad things happen if there is a God. Bad things happen because we are human, and God takes those and helps us to learn. Once I have been refined by His fire, it is harder to return to my bad behaviour comfortably again. As Pope Benedict XVI said to the German pilgrims who had come to Rome for the papal inauguration ceremony, “The ways of the Lord are not easy, but we were not created for an easy life, but for great things, for goodness.”

Let us pray: Father God, thank You for the cleansing fire of Your Spirit. You are the greatest healer, scouring my soul for impurity and scrubbing me fresh again. Help me to always welcome the gift of purity and sinlessness and give me the courage to remain in the path of Your cleansing fire, so that I may be pleasing to You.


​​Sandy Graves

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