“…evil cannot defeat wisdom.”

When God is included in every aspect of life, everything is more beautiful, even when it’s not perfect. Therein lies the mystery–the beauty is in the struggle. When God is not shunted away, He is always looking after us, even as we sleep. He was and is always there, even when we suffer, because He is also suffering in and with us.

St. Ambrose (c. 339-c. 397) wrote, “For the sun that we see daily in the sky is followed by darkness and night; but the Sun of righteousness never sets, since evil cannot defeat wisdom” (from The Explanations of the Psalms: Psalm 118, Liturgy of the Hours, July 7, 2022).

Just as God provided His people a way out of slavery in Egypt (Exod 12:37), He also called His Divine Child out of Egypt when St. Joseph led his family some 300 miles out of their Egyptian hide-out back to their hometown of Nazareth (Mt 2:15).

Though the pattern prophesied by Hosea (11:1) was fulfilled in Christ–because of this–Christ becomes the new pattern for us. He calls each of us individually out of the parched desert of our “Egypts” throughout our bumpy lives, ushering in life.

What is keeping me enslaved today? To best answer that question, I ask myself, “What do I fear losing the most?” Whatever that is, I entrust it to Him.