From the Hermitage
Dear Friends,
Ask! Ask! Ask! Yes, it will be given, as David said in the words of Psalm 126 in today's responsorial psalm. Are we like David who realized how often he asked of Yahweh? And like David, do we utter our own psalm of thanksgiving? How do we mix up a batch of discernment?
However, there will be those petitions that seem to go unanswered or rejected as we read in the gospel today. The mother of James and John begged Jesus to allow her sons to be seated on each side of Jesus when he would again be with the Father. How mother-like for her to be caring for her sons' future in the Kingdom of God! Yet, as Jesus said to her: this is not in the Father's plan!
Yes, yes. There will be times of seeming rejection or being ignored by God because we only see with human eyes and are moved by a human heart. Good ol' humanity! But when those unanswered prayers seem to bother us, it is time to recall yesterday's gospel: having ears but not hearing, having eyes but not seeing. Discernment, discernment is so important.
In making my breakfast "smoothie" this morning, I was thinking about discernment while mixing, spinach, apple, tart cherry juice and cucumber. A little of this and a little of that: a healthy breakfast. The same with discernment: mixing in a half a cup of prayer, a full cup of quiet, two tablespoons of thanksgiving and four cups of patience! These are the makings of discernment in my recipe book!
For another way of reflecting on today's reading, there is a MOVING STORY prepared by a younger Jesuit priest working at Creighton University, Omaha, Nebraska. Always a good stop in shopping for prayerful thoughts. Thanks, Fr. Duffy.
For another way of reflecting on today's reading, there is a MOVING STORY prepared by a younger Jesuit priest working at Creighton University, Omaha, Nebraska. Always a good stop in shopping for prayerful thoughts. Thanks, Fr. Duffy.
Oremus pro invicem!
Fr. Milt
