Readings:
Romans 1: 1-7
Luke 11: 29-32
Reflection:
Today’s gospel carries some sadness with it. There seems to have been a demand for signs since the beginning of time. Still today, the ordinary does not seem to be enough, or even good enough to impress us. The ordinary daily experience does not prove anything to us, or so we think! Is it a question of blindness, not seeing the deeper richness around us. Failing to see what does already get revealed to us, what lies hidden in the everyday! Which got me reflecting, there is a certain naivete and immaturity in our faith when we want to be given signs and proof or assurance about what we should do.
In my younger years, I used to ask God for clarity and direction, expecting answers to be displayed in lightning bolts across the sky. I wanted the fleece-and-dew kind of answer that Gideon had asked for in Judges 6: 36-40 because I was willing to do whatever it was that God wanted me to do as long as it was clear that it was His plan. I recall one day kneeling in prayer for hours wanting an answer, only after five hours walking out the church to realise, I had the answer all along. Laughing with God at the ironic nature of the lesson learnt that day – God is in the ordinary, not confined within a space created by bricks, or labelled as a holy site, rather if we have courage to identify our own reflection, God’s reflection in the whispers of daily life God is everywhere being an extrovert and never stop talking!!
Today’s reading prompts us not to pray for signs, but to pray for the gift of eyes to see the signs that are already there. Wisdom can be gained in many ways, for me I have learnt wisdom and discernment comes from paying attention to the movement of God in and around us.
We don’t need lightning bolt messages written out in the sky. We don’t have to have fleece-and-dew moments for us to follow the paths where God leads us. We have the Holy Spirit who guides us into all truth, who shows us the way, confirming His word to us when we need it. May today be an ordinary day with all the extraordinary God moments!
Sr Karen Englebretsen CP, Cross and Passion Sisters. blessed to be a spiritual care worker in the homeless sector in Melbourne.