I hear my mother’s sweet voice. I see my father’s fingers dancing across the keyboard. And I feel my heart reverberating with this song’s promise…

I am the Lord, and there is no other,
    besides me there is no God;
    I gird you, though you do not know me,
⁶ that men may know, from the rising of the sun
    and from the west, that there is none besides me;
    I am the Lord, and there is no other.
⁷ I form light and create darkness,
    I make weal and create woe,
    I am the Lord, who do all these things.
Isaiah 45: 5-7

The Lord is the One who saves us. There’s none like Him. St. Michael the archangel has this truth engraved on His shield, “Quis ut Deus.” Which reads, who is there like God? Are you a “serial turner to God” for all things? Or do you suffer from the, “I’ve got this” malady?

Mired in life’s pragmatic barrage of exigencies, we find ourselves sampling a panoply of solutions. Spirtual stuff is spiritual stuff, and life stuff is life stuff; right? Well, not exactly… the two are inextricably connected. Turning to the Lord is our pathway to living as holy children of the Father’s Divine Will.

Jesus incarnates to rescue us from our ways and establish the Kingdom of God.

Jesus turns reality upside down. This is no kind of kingdom we’d ever imagine. Jesus is intent on unearthing our hearts’ hidden treasures and igniting scintillating riches banked in our souls’ coffers. All things have their genesis in the Heart of God. We are made by God and in the image of God. Jesus comes to restore things to their Rightful Order.

Jesus restores our hearts and souls. Jesus’ human and divine heart give corporal reality an indivisible fruition in a world ordered in, and by, Perfect Love (agape). The Kingdom of God is subservient to the material world but inherent in its manifolding expressions.

The Master Capenter lathes our physical and spiritual sinews recrafting us into eternal temples for His Living Presence full of His Light, Joy, Peace and Love. Jesus Christ’s reign in our hearts and spirits becomes an inexhaustible ark of emerging acts of Love unifying themselves in the totality of the Godhead.

Jesus uses analogies to describe the Kingdom of God/Heaven:

“What is the kingdom of God like, and to what shall I compare it? It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and threw into his own garden; and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air nested in its branches.” And again He said, “To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three pecks of flour until it was all leavened.” Luke 13: 18-21

“The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil;and he goes to bed at night and gets up by day, and the seed sprouts and grows—how, he himself does not know. The soil produces crops by itself; first the blade, then the head, then the mature grain in the head. But when the crop permits, he immediately puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.” Mark 4: 26-29

Jesus’ analogies highlight growth. A small mustard seed grows into a majestic tree that gives birds a place to nest… a bit of leaven turns inert wheat into a loaf of bread that nourishes…a seed is transformed into a crop that can be harvested to feed others. There are three parts to Jesus’ analogies:

1. something insignificant
2. grows into something surprisingly significant
3. that serves others and creates a good.

If we’re still wondering what the Kingdom is, Jesus makes it clear:

Through the beautiful power of His Spirit, Jesus is building His Kingdom by planting the seeds of His Mercy and Love in us. If we turn to Him, and give Him our undivided YES, He will germinate, fertilizer, and water His Spirit’s seeds in our hearts and souls. Our correspondence in His Love starts small, grows, and when it’s transformed into something surprisingly new, we become servants of Love.

Love begets love. Every possible human virtue is expressed and perfected by Jesus’ Spirit dwelling within us. Let me try an analogy. Are you familiar with the idea of terraforming? How a barren, hostile landscape (i.e. the planet Mars) can be transformed into a fertile, habitable geography that sustains and promotes new life. When we turn to the Lord, Jesus terraforms us with His Spirit into new creations. Jesus’ Mystical Body is a network of terraformed hearts and souls in dynamic relationship with Him, and through Him with all of God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), and through God, with each other.

Jesus’ recorded signs and miracles give material witness to the immaterial blessings of what happens when we turn to the One who is the True Source of All Life and Goodness. Love is always in the service of love. It creates and produces fruits. Jesus shows us the way. 

In as much as we turn to the Lord for our needs and questions, Jesus makes it clear: we are to intercede for others. This is an essential part of how He achieves the fruits of the Kingdom. Jesus’ first recorded miracle of turning the water into wine at the Wedding of Cana and Galilee models the intercessory nature of serving as God’s agencies of Grace, Blessings, and Love for others.

Turning to the Lord is the primary posture of serving – it’s the heart of ministry that supercedes the agency of our charisms in the service of others. Turning to the Lord gives Glory (Love) to God. In this context, I like to think of the word Glory and Love as interchangeable. I capitalized the word Love here because it refers to Jesus templed in us and radiating Love back to His Father through us.

Our question needs to be: How can we be a blessing to others?

Isaiah’s prophetic voice is relevant across time…

1. he was sent to guide the tribe of Judah back to God,
2. point to Jesus, and
3. he previsage Jesus’ teaching that in turning to the Lord, we are sent forth to do God’s Will and build His Kingdom.

Jesus instructs His apostles to hit the road in service of the Gospel. By turning to the Lord, He grants them power contained in His Name:

When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases,and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. Luke 9: 1-2

Put yourself in their shoes. They would’ve been overwhelmed. They wouldn’t have understood how Jesus’ Spirit was working in them. However, everything changes after Pentecost. Jesus sets them on fire with His Spirit. We see this shift in Acts chapter 3. Peter and John encounter a lame beggar at the temple and Peter says,

“Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Acts 3: 6-8

Peter and John understand that turning to Jesus leads to healing.

According to aboutbibleprophecy.com Jesus worked over 50 recorded signs and miracles. Many of them illustrate what happens when we turn to Him. Here are a few examples:
 

Miracle	Turning to Jesus Moment	Scripture
Healing the sick in the evening in Capernaum	many who were demon-possessed were brought to him	Matthew 8:16
Healing a leper	“Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”	Matthew 8: 1-4 or Mark 1: 40-45, Luke 5: 12-15
Healing a paralyzed man	Some men brought to him a paralyzed man, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the man, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.”	Matthew 9: 1-8 Mark 2: 1-12 Luke 5: 18-26
Healing people in a crowd	A large crowd followed him, and he healed all who were ill.	Matthew 12: 15-21 Mark 3: 6-12
Healing people during a sermon in Galilee	the people all tried to touch him, because power was coming from him and healing them all.	Luke 6: 17-19
Roman centurion’s servant	“Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed.”	Luke 8: 5-13
The hemorrhaging woman	She said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed.”	Matthew 9: 20-22 Mark 5: 25-34 Luke 8: 43-48
Healing two blind man	“Have mercy on us, Son of David!”	Matthew 9: 27-31

Turning to Jesus produces not just healing but fruits of forgiveness and charity. Do you remember the story of Zaccheaus? He was the short tax collector who climbs a tree to get a glimpse of Jesus. In turning to Jesus, Zaccheaus turns over a new leaf.

Jesus’ mercy catalyzes Zaccheaus’ charity. The fruits of accepting our Lord’s Love lead to compassion and charity. Jesus co-opts our broken narratives and transforms us into co-participants of His Love.

Are you ready to turn up the heat on when and how you turn to the Lord? Here are ten practical ideas to get started:

REMOVING OBSTACLES

1. When you’re paralyzed with fears. Don’t let anxieties and worries put distance between yourself and Jesus. Let Jesus use your fears to show you how to walk deeper into His Sacred Heart.
   
   
2. When you’re consumed with anger. Let Jesus grace you with compassion and new perspectives. He will help you put the past in the past, soothe you in the present, and give you tactics for the future.
   
   
3. When resentments cripple your interactions. When you’re feeling hurt don’t let it fester or become indifference. Turn to Jesus in prayer and ask Him to show you another way through it.

SEEKING GUIDANCE

4. When you need counsel, when you are faced with things that seem impossible, when all your strategies for dealing with people and situations feel like dead ends, go to Jesus for wisdom. Watch, wait, and listen.

5. When you’re at the end of your rope and impatience is leading to rash words and actions or when waiting for any kind of resolution is causing you to feel weary or hopeless, turn to Jesus for patience.

6. When you’re faced with multiple options and need to make a decision, and understand God’s will for you, turn to Jesus for discernment.

ASKING FOR BLESSINGS

7. When you’re in need of healing (heart, mind, body or spirit).

8. When you’re in need of consolation.

9. When you’re in need of peace.

MOST IMPORTANTLY

10. Turn to Jesus because He is Love and is all-deserving of your love.

When I was chatting with my dear brother in Christ Michael Doherty he had the perfect bow for this reflection, he said “We need to turn to Jesus because we are experiencing the deprivation of Him. And isn’t this the reason why we exist in this fallen world?” I couldn’t agree more. Even in the world to come, we will be eternally turned to Him because He will be the fullness of our deepest and truest desires.

To Him all Glory be, now and forever AMEN.