September 5, 2014 Friday of the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time 1 Cor 4:1-5, Ps 37, Lk 5:33-39 (usccb.org/bible/readings/090514.cfm) The purpose of prayer and fasting are to help bring us into the presence of God. For us the “presence of God” is a reality, but in a different way than it was for the people who walked and talked with Jesus. God has promised us that He is present when we proclaim His word in the assembly. He promised us that He is there when we gather in His name and pray. He is always present in the Eucharist, and in the sacraments. But for the disciples, God was sitting at the table with them. Imagine how it must have sounded to Jesus when the Jewish leaders complained that His disciples did not practice entering into the presence of God? I imagine that Jesus must have laughed a little the first few times He heard these complaints. And after a while it probably bothered Him that they just did not get it, that they did not recognize Him for who He was. So today Jesus tells them (and us) that there is a time for everything. And the time to long for God is not when He is in your presence. The trick for us is to know and acknowledge that if and when we are open to be in the presence of God, God is indeed amongst us. There is great book I recommend, written by a monk hundreds of years ago and still being published; Practicing the Presence of God, by Brother Lawrence. It’s helpful to those who want to practice what Jesus teaches us today. My wife Robin and I are leading a women’s retreat today that is based on this very scripture. We have chosen to call the retreat “Living in the Moment”. Our intention is to help focus our attention on God’s presence in the everyday moments of life. Pray for us. And today pay attention to all the ways God will reveal Himself to you.
Posted on: Fri, 05 Sep 2014 13:04:30 +0000