11-11-2011, 07:11 AM
Friday, 11 November, 2011, 32nd Ordinary Week, Cycle 1
BEING CONSCIOUS OF THE PRESENCE OF GOD IN ALL THINGS
SCRIPTURE READINGS: WIS 13: 1-9; LK 17:26-37
Where can we find God and see Him? This is a common question for all. The answer is that He is found in the Kingdom of God. The American version of the Bible translates this Kingdom as the reign of God. Rightly so, the kingdom of God is really the reign of God in our lives. When we become aware of the reign of God in creation and in our history, then God is known, felt and experienced.
The first reading from the book of Wisdom laments that although many people could admire the beauty of creation, the things of the world and be “impressed by their power and energy”, yet they are stupid. In spite of the fact that they have studied the works of God, they do not know Him and fail to recognize Him as the Architect of creation. Instead, they end up worshipping the things as gods themselves. Indeed, the fault of such people is that they fail to go beyond the external and the superficial.
It is true with our lives as well. The presence of God can be seen in the ordinary events of our lives. This is what Jesus is telling us in today’s gospel. It is in the ordinary affairs of our daily life that we come to encounter His presence and love.
As in the case of the people during the time of Noah and Lot, they “were eating and drinking … and the Flood came and destroyed them all.” How can mundane actions like eating and drinking help us to meet God? In themselves, they are mere human activities. But in the light of faith, with greater consciousness, we see that God is so much present in our daily life. If only we are more conscious of Him, then instead of complaining about our lot, we are thankful for His blessings which are far more than our woes. Indeed, quite often we take what we have for granted. When we eat like animals, without self-control, we cannot experience God’s love. But appreciating our food and drink when others are deprived, will help us to be not only grateful but also inspired to share with those who have less. Of course, gratitude does not only pertain to the food we have but equally important is that we can eat. There are many rich people who can afford good food, but they cannot eat because of poor health. That is why even to be able to eat in itself is already a great consolation from God. Such gratitude will help us to become more conscious of God’s love and the needs of our underprivileged fellow human beings, evoking us to compassion and love.
However, we find God not only in eating and drinking alone! We find God especially in our work. Again, the gospel says, “people were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but the day Lot left Sodom, God rained fire and brimstone from heaven and it destroyed them all.” In other words, instead of lamenting how much we have to slog to earn our living, we should be appreciative that we even have a job at all. When we give ourselves fully to our work, we too can encounter God and His love.
Unfortunately for many people, work is a chore and a burden. They hate their work and want to do nothing but just laze around. The truth is that only in work can we realize our potential to the fullest. Work is a gift from God for our personal growth and sanctification. It is at the same time our contribution to the perfection of creation and the good of our fellow human beings. Work is not meant to destroy us. In fact, without work, we would find ourselves useless and redundant in life and society. Indeed, a day will come when we cannot walk, read or do anything. That day, we will find ourselves so handicapped and useless, so much so that we may be tempted to end our life because of boredom or redundancy! That day will come when we want to read, but our poor eyesight would not allow us to do so for long; we want to go for a walk but our legs and knees cannot carry us; we want to do some gardening, but we cannot bend low.
Thirdly, Jesus also says that even another common activity of man, which is marriage, can also help us to encounter God. This is provided we consciously strive to deepen our love and relationship with our spouse and children. Through the supportive, affirming and understanding love of our spouse, we come to experience the love of God. Unfortunately, married couples take each other for granted after marriage. No longer is marriage the sign of God’s love for the couples to mediate to each other. Marriage becomes a human affair, a business contract. When we forget that marriage is a covenantal relationship, where couples are called to share the love of God with each other, such a relationship becomes meaningless. Sex becomes simply an animalistic act. We fight among ourselves and cannot stand each other. Yet a day will come when we would have to be on our own. On that day, we will miss each other’s company and the joy of doing things together as a family.
The question is, why have we missed the presence of God in the daily process of Christian living? It is because we live a superficial life. We have no depth. We are not conscious of what we are doing, where we are going and how we should live. Like the people during the time of Noah and Lot, we drift through life, doing everything in a perfunctory and robotic manner without vision, a sense of mission and therefore without meaning. We fail to pause and reflect deeper the presence of God in the things that we do.
If we continue to live in this manner, there is a warning for us. When that day comes, it might be too late and we would miss out on the blessings that God wants to give us. Hence, He warns us, “when that day comes, anyone on the housetop, with his possessions in the house, must not come down to collect them, nor must anyone in the fields turn back either.” Yes, if we do not appreciate what we have, that is, our food, when the day comes when we have no food or we cannot eat, then we would regret, albeit too late. When that day comes when we cannot work anymore because we are old and sick, then we would regret that we had not done more. When that day comes and we wake up to find our loved ones gone, it would be too late to appreciate him or her. For Jesus said, “I tell you, on that night two women will be grinding corn together: one will be taken, the other left.” Because such things might come suddenly and without warning, it behooves us always to be ready for such circumstances. Or else, it would be too late. We cannot turn back the clock. We would have lost the opportunity. So we must seize the day and do all we can whilst we can, when we can, because that moment might never come again. But we must do everything from the spiritual point of view, in terms of our personal growth in love and knowing His loving presence.
Truly, if we were to live consciously and deeply, we will always experience the presence of God. Then there is no fear of suffering, death or the final coming. This is because we have already lived in the presence of God at every moment in our lives. So if we want to live fully and live responsibly, we must become more aware of what we are doing and most of all, of God’s presence. Whether it is at play, at work, eating, or sleeping, we must do everything with a supernatural motive.
That was what St Paul did, especially with regard to the trials in his life. In Galatians 2:20, Paul said, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.” So even in suffering, St Paul could find the spiritual meaning for what he was going through. He did not see the sufferings he experienced in a negative light, but as a real participation in the death of Christ so that with him dead, Christ can live in him.
St Ignatius of Loyola too, in the final meditation in his “Spiritual Exercises”, invites the retreatant to meditate on the presence of God in all things. Unless, we come to his awareness of finding God in all things, then we have not yet understood what it means to see God. However, if we arrive at this stage, then we can sing from the depths of our hearts, the glory of the firmament of heavens. Indeed, like the psalmist, looking at creation and at our own lives, we know that God must have always been present with us and looking after us.
Truly, the author from the book of Wisdom tells us that we have no excuse for failing to recognize the presence of God in our lives. As he concluded, “they are not to be excused: if they are capable of acquiring enough knowledge to be able to investigate the world, how have they been so slow to find its Master?”
Yes, if we want to find God, we must live deeply. Indeed, Jesus reminds us, “anyone who tries to preserve his life will lose it; and anyone who loses it will keep it safe.” If we do, then God reigns in us. This truth is corroborated with the final statement of Jesus in response to the question, ‘where is the kingdom?’ He said, “Where the body is, there too will the vultures gather.” In other words, when there is honey, the bees would be there. If we live our lives viewing everything from the perspective of faith, always going beyond what is apparent and immediate, there the Kingdom and the presence of God is found.
BEING CONSCIOUS OF THE PRESENCE OF GOD IN ALL THINGS
SCRIPTURE READINGS: WIS 13: 1-9; LK 17:26-37
Where can we find God and see Him? This is a common question for all. The answer is that He is found in the Kingdom of God. The American version of the Bible translates this Kingdom as the reign of God. Rightly so, the kingdom of God is really the reign of God in our lives. When we become aware of the reign of God in creation and in our history, then God is known, felt and experienced.
The first reading from the book of Wisdom laments that although many people could admire the beauty of creation, the things of the world and be “impressed by their power and energy”, yet they are stupid. In spite of the fact that they have studied the works of God, they do not know Him and fail to recognize Him as the Architect of creation. Instead, they end up worshipping the things as gods themselves. Indeed, the fault of such people is that they fail to go beyond the external and the superficial.
It is true with our lives as well. The presence of God can be seen in the ordinary events of our lives. This is what Jesus is telling us in today’s gospel. It is in the ordinary affairs of our daily life that we come to encounter His presence and love.
As in the case of the people during the time of Noah and Lot, they “were eating and drinking … and the Flood came and destroyed them all.” How can mundane actions like eating and drinking help us to meet God? In themselves, they are mere human activities. But in the light of faith, with greater consciousness, we see that God is so much present in our daily life. If only we are more conscious of Him, then instead of complaining about our lot, we are thankful for His blessings which are far more than our woes. Indeed, quite often we take what we have for granted. When we eat like animals, without self-control, we cannot experience God’s love. But appreciating our food and drink when others are deprived, will help us to be not only grateful but also inspired to share with those who have less. Of course, gratitude does not only pertain to the food we have but equally important is that we can eat. There are many rich people who can afford good food, but they cannot eat because of poor health. That is why even to be able to eat in itself is already a great consolation from God. Such gratitude will help us to become more conscious of God’s love and the needs of our underprivileged fellow human beings, evoking us to compassion and love.
However, we find God not only in eating and drinking alone! We find God especially in our work. Again, the gospel says, “people were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but the day Lot left Sodom, God rained fire and brimstone from heaven and it destroyed them all.” In other words, instead of lamenting how much we have to slog to earn our living, we should be appreciative that we even have a job at all. When we give ourselves fully to our work, we too can encounter God and His love.
Unfortunately for many people, work is a chore and a burden. They hate their work and want to do nothing but just laze around. The truth is that only in work can we realize our potential to the fullest. Work is a gift from God for our personal growth and sanctification. It is at the same time our contribution to the perfection of creation and the good of our fellow human beings. Work is not meant to destroy us. In fact, without work, we would find ourselves useless and redundant in life and society. Indeed, a day will come when we cannot walk, read or do anything. That day, we will find ourselves so handicapped and useless, so much so that we may be tempted to end our life because of boredom or redundancy! That day will come when we want to read, but our poor eyesight would not allow us to do so for long; we want to go for a walk but our legs and knees cannot carry us; we want to do some gardening, but we cannot bend low.
Thirdly, Jesus also says that even another common activity of man, which is marriage, can also help us to encounter God. This is provided we consciously strive to deepen our love and relationship with our spouse and children. Through the supportive, affirming and understanding love of our spouse, we come to experience the love of God. Unfortunately, married couples take each other for granted after marriage. No longer is marriage the sign of God’s love for the couples to mediate to each other. Marriage becomes a human affair, a business contract. When we forget that marriage is a covenantal relationship, where couples are called to share the love of God with each other, such a relationship becomes meaningless. Sex becomes simply an animalistic act. We fight among ourselves and cannot stand each other. Yet a day will come when we would have to be on our own. On that day, we will miss each other’s company and the joy of doing things together as a family.
The question is, why have we missed the presence of God in the daily process of Christian living? It is because we live a superficial life. We have no depth. We are not conscious of what we are doing, where we are going and how we should live. Like the people during the time of Noah and Lot, we drift through life, doing everything in a perfunctory and robotic manner without vision, a sense of mission and therefore without meaning. We fail to pause and reflect deeper the presence of God in the things that we do.
If we continue to live in this manner, there is a warning for us. When that day comes, it might be too late and we would miss out on the blessings that God wants to give us. Hence, He warns us, “when that day comes, anyone on the housetop, with his possessions in the house, must not come down to collect them, nor must anyone in the fields turn back either.” Yes, if we do not appreciate what we have, that is, our food, when the day comes when we have no food or we cannot eat, then we would regret, albeit too late. When that day comes when we cannot work anymore because we are old and sick, then we would regret that we had not done more. When that day comes and we wake up to find our loved ones gone, it would be too late to appreciate him or her. For Jesus said, “I tell you, on that night two women will be grinding corn together: one will be taken, the other left.” Because such things might come suddenly and without warning, it behooves us always to be ready for such circumstances. Or else, it would be too late. We cannot turn back the clock. We would have lost the opportunity. So we must seize the day and do all we can whilst we can, when we can, because that moment might never come again. But we must do everything from the spiritual point of view, in terms of our personal growth in love and knowing His loving presence.
Truly, if we were to live consciously and deeply, we will always experience the presence of God. Then there is no fear of suffering, death or the final coming. This is because we have already lived in the presence of God at every moment in our lives. So if we want to live fully and live responsibly, we must become more aware of what we are doing and most of all, of God’s presence. Whether it is at play, at work, eating, or sleeping, we must do everything with a supernatural motive.
That was what St Paul did, especially with regard to the trials in his life. In Galatians 2:20, Paul said, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.” So even in suffering, St Paul could find the spiritual meaning for what he was going through. He did not see the sufferings he experienced in a negative light, but as a real participation in the death of Christ so that with him dead, Christ can live in him.
St Ignatius of Loyola too, in the final meditation in his “Spiritual Exercises”, invites the retreatant to meditate on the presence of God in all things. Unless, we come to his awareness of finding God in all things, then we have not yet understood what it means to see God. However, if we arrive at this stage, then we can sing from the depths of our hearts, the glory of the firmament of heavens. Indeed, like the psalmist, looking at creation and at our own lives, we know that God must have always been present with us and looking after us.
Truly, the author from the book of Wisdom tells us that we have no excuse for failing to recognize the presence of God in our lives. As he concluded, “they are not to be excused: if they are capable of acquiring enough knowledge to be able to investigate the world, how have they been so slow to find its Master?”
Yes, if we want to find God, we must live deeply. Indeed, Jesus reminds us, “anyone who tries to preserve his life will lose it; and anyone who loses it will keep it safe.” If we do, then God reigns in us. This truth is corroborated with the final statement of Jesus in response to the question, ‘where is the kingdom?’ He said, “Where the body is, there too will the vultures gather.” In other words, when there is honey, the bees would be there. If we live our lives viewing everything from the perspective of faith, always going beyond what is apparent and immediate, there the Kingdom and the presence of God is found.