MAY 11, 2025
HOMILY BY FR. JIM DEITERS
It has certainly been a few days of excitement for us Catholics as we welcome our new Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, especially seeing how much international publicity the Catholic Faith has garnered these days. Being the oldest institution in the world, people of all religions are intrigued by our traditions and faith. I love what one journalist wrote about us from her ‘non-Catholic’ perspective when she penned, “You got to love these Catholics. What other religion or country can get all their people excited and have tears of joy to welcome their new leader? There is a sweetness in how the Catholics do it,” she wrote. My own delight is not so much about what country he was born in, but the name he chose and the religious order of St. Augustine that formed his thinking.
The name Leo in our Catholic tradition speaks of past popes who have been strong in renewing and unifying the Church, as well as 19th Century Leo XIII, who is legendary for his passionate writings on the Church’s core pillar of justice. The Holy Spirit will never cease to surprise us Christians, even as we often try to ‘conserve’ things as we think they should be. Almost out of nowhere, the Spirit plopped into the papacy and the world…someone who was raised in the wealthiest country of the world…to be a global voice (from the United States!) for Jesus’ love of the poor and marginalized. “Oh, Holy Spirit, you shock us…and make us almost ‘giggle’ at your ingenuity!”
You would think that we Christians would get ‘used to’ the Spirit’s meddling in our human thinking…since these scriptures in the Easter Season are filled with unbelievable stories of the Holy Spirit turning things upside down. The first three weeks of Easter our preaching focused on the miraculous cosmic Event of Jesus’ Resurrection. Today, I call our attention to our First Reading from Acts about the next shocking thing the Spirit did…by convincing Paul, Barnabas, and other disciples to take the Christian message to such far-flung areas known today as Turkey, Lebanon, Syria, and Greece. The missionary journeys of St. Paul are well documented in the Acts of the Apostles…and we get a glimpse of it in our first reading today, reminding us that our new Pope’s call for us to be missionaries of Jesus in the world…has been our vocation from the beginning.
The specific city mentioned that Paul and Barnabas went to is Antioch, which in today’s mapping is pretty close to the center of Turkey. Why this is significant is that we learn from this historical book of Acts in the bible…that the Apostles started their missionary work in the three main cities of the Roman Empire – Antioch in the East, Alexandria in Africa, and Rome in the west. Think about their strategy: in large cities there are often the most educated, the most secular, and where the poor gather seeking help. The Spirit went after them all!
Fast forward to 2025, in a small room called the Sistine Chapel, the successor to Peter and Paul spoke in his first homily about new kinds of missionary territories with whom we must be engaged. For example, what Pope Leo calls, “practical atheism,” in which people think Jesus is simply a “charismatic leader” or superhero…and don’t realize he is GOD, must be evangelized in new creative ways. Our new ‘Apostle’ of the Church, in reference to his predecessor Leo XIII of 1893, spoke about new versions of ‘industrial revolution’… such as artificial intelligence and other technological advances, which give renewed purpose and challenges for our missionary work for the defense of human dignity, justice, and dignified human labor.
The beautiful connection I see between the first Apostles of Peter and Paul and our own new Apostolic Successor Leo, is how the Holy Spirit has been guiding the Catholic Church AND ‘pushing’ the Church to be engaged in new places and ideas for 2000 years. You see, once a person gets baptized and anointed with this same progressive Holy Spirit that expanded the Early Church to become global, one’s middle name becomes “missionary,” …SENT to be a witness of Christ to those who think ‘this’ world is all there is.
The same Holy Spirit who prodded Paul to convert Gentiles, chose the fallen Peter to be the leader of the Church, and selected a simple Augustinian as our new leader, …THAT Holy Spirit came into your life and mine at baptism…and is about to descend upon the bread and wine to create the miracle of the Eucharist. The Spirit of Jesus which we consume…is meant to help, guide, and give us courage to never tire of seeking out the next missionary opportunity… beyond our comfort zone…to bring to others God’s Love and Mercy.
Let us Pray… Jesus, We Trust You…Teach Us Your Ways
There will be many things the world will miss and grieve with the death of Pope Francis, particularly how he ceaselessly reminded us Christians of Jesus’ Commandment to give preferential care for the poor and marginalized. One of my own favorite memories is how often he expressed his love of children, regularly reaching out into the crowd to hold or kiss a child with a disability. Pope Francis was a living embodiment of God’s Mercy for our fragile, broken world. What a memory it will always be for you children making your First Communion, that it was on the same weekend that the world and her leaders paused for a few days to honor a man who used his power and position to point humanity to the true teachings of Jesus Christ. One of those teachings that Pope Francis focused on was Jesus’ message of PEACE, which we hear Jesus pray three times in this Gospel passage today, “Peace be with you.”
Throughout the Easter season, many times we will hear Jesus say, “Peace-Shalom” to calm our restless, sometimes fear-filled hearts. Like he appeared to the Apostles who were afraid about what to do next, Jesus appears here at every Mass to bring peace to our troubled minds and hearts. Our version of a ‘locked room’ into which Jesus comes is our inner closet of fear, doubt, anger, grief, addiction, or anxiety. The Resurrected Jesus wants to come INTO the center of our heart and bring PEACE to whatever has us unsettled.
In this sense, Jesus’ message of Peace…is God’s Mercy...since it is meant to set us free from whatever has us ‘locked up’ or stuck in. How does God change our fear and doubt...to peace? The Gospel tells us that Jesus “breathed on them and said to them ‘Receive the Holy Spirit’.” The breath of the Holy Spirit…is God’s Mercy that Jesus breathes upon US in every Eucharist. God’s Mercy is breathed into the host and chalice of wine...to become Jesus himself…to then change us from disciples of fear or isolation INTO people who “trust in Jesus.” In your prayer this week, try and experience the Breath of the Holy Spirit’s Peace come upon you.
When Pope John Paul II instituted this Feast of Divine Mercy in the year 2000, he reminded us to pray to St. Faustina, asking her intercession for our world to experience a new outpouring of God’s Mercy and Peace upon humanity. Part of the reason we all long for this Eucharist each week is that we each have some ‘lack’ of peace in our lives… and admit we need Jesus’ help. What family does not struggle for happy marriages, faith-filled children, forgiving in-laws, and non-judgmental friends? Whether our heart is restless over a hurt that has been done to us, a grief over a loss of a loved one, or fear, together we long for God’s Peace and Mercy to fill our personal lives as well as our world.
The selfless love that Pope Francis exemplified in his life…will continue to bear fruit if we heed his challenge to follow Jesus’ example of caring for children, the poor, and the marginalized. The world needs our Christian message more than ever, so we come HERE to the Altar to keep learning Jesus’ Way. Pay attention in the Mass prayers and hymns to the times we pray for Jesus’ PEACE. And pay attention in the Mass to the Holy Spirit breathing God’s Peace and Mercy upon you and within you. The Risen Christ is indeed HERE in our midst saying gently to each one of us, “Peace …be with you.”
HOMILY BY FR. JIM DEITERS
One of the most inspiring things for me these past few weeks has happened regularly after Mass on Sunday, when some of the Second Grade students have come up to me with big eyes of delight to tell me how excited they are to soon make their First Communion. One little girl, who is a born planner, told me the number of days and hours remaining when, she so beautifully described to me, “The ACTUAL Jesus will come inside of me!” I wish I had their voices of faith captured in video…to show them as they reach 8th grade, and again when they go off to college. Beautiful, simple faith…in a great Mystery.
The great Miracle of Jesus’ Resurrection is both… THE most profound thing God ever did…and at the same time so simple – an empty tomb. Luke’s Gospel plainly says Jesus body simply was not there in the tomb. And at this moment, every one of us disciples have to decide what we believe. Do I really believe that Jesus Christ miraculously rose from the dead…or not? If we can go “all in” and truly BELIEVE with a sort of childlike faith that Jesus’ Resurrection really DID happen, it changes everything.
Fortunately for us, those first disciples decided to also write down all the times they actually saw and spoke with the Risen Christ. Many of them also ate a meal with him; and they tell us these details to get really clear for us, 2000 years later, that the tomb wasn’t only “empty,” but his Risen Body was a very real thing! I’ll say it again, if we truly believe this…it changes everything…about why you exist.
Because at some point in our faith journey, either at 8th grade, when we are in our 20’s, or sometimes it doesn’t really ‘hit’ us until later, we have to ask the question to ourselves, “What if it is all true?”
What if it really is TRUE that Jesus was crucified, rose from the dead, and sits at the right hand of God praying for you right now? What IF it’s true…that Jesus’ Spirit comes into each of us at our Baptism and changes us from being simply a human to being a child of God? What if it IS true…that the bread and wine really do become the Body and Blood of Christ at every Mass? What if it is true…that the Catholic faith is THE ONE handed down from Jesus and the Apostles? If it is NOT true, then Jesus lied…and the millions of saints who gave their life for this wasted their time.
The power and effects of Jesus’ Resurrection happened right here last tonight as seven new Christians were baptized, saying “YES” that they have found all of this to be true. My heart is also overjoyed to think that perhaps even one other person here today will be enlightened by the Spirit to more fully accept Jesus as God… and all he teaches us in the Catholic faith… as true.
The miracle of the Empty Tomb serves as an ‘authenticity check’ moment…when each one of us who say we are Christian must be bolder in saying…that this is all true! Of course, it goes beyond simply saying “I believe it to be true,” and actually LIVING this Truth in our words and actions – from coming to Mass every Sunday for the Eucharist…to following Jesus’ Way of initiating help for the suffering of our world.
It is NOT easy to live as a Catholic in our society. We are a people of the Resurrection…living in a Good Friday world. At a time of so much darkness and division, fear and revenge, and skepticism toward the supernatural…our lives of faith, hope, and love don’t make sense to most people.
For those who truly DO believe and are committed to living their Catholic faith with greater authenticity, we begin each week grounded in the Holy Eucharist, where the Risen Christ is truly Present at the Altar. Then, like those first disciples who ran from the empty tomb with amazement, we go into the world to invite others to come to believe in this Truth… that gives us meaning and purpose and Eternal Life.
As we each think about how the empty tomb impacted those first disciples… and changed the lives of billions of Christians since then, they pass the torch of the Catholic faith on to you and me this Easter and they are praying for us to really believe…that this is all true.
HOMILY BY FR. JIM DEITERS
I am so inspired when I am here for our Tuesday night Eucharistic Adoration called “Quiet on Cross Street” and see a good number of young people in prayer. Whether it be some of our high school youth or the many parishioners we have in their 20’s and 30’s, it gives me great hope for the future of the Catholic Faith as we ‘older’ parishioners pass on to the next generation something so dear to us as the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. And how inspiring that so many in our children’s choirs are learning such Eucharistic hymns as “Panis Angelicus, the Bread of Angels,” and “Pange Lingua.”
Both of these hymns were written in the year 1250, after the Pope asked Thomas Aquinas to write hymn texts for, at that time, was a new feast called “Corpus Christi, the Body of Christ.” We as a Church have been singing these hymns for about 800 years now, primarily on such high feast days of the Eucharist like tonight, when the Eucharist was instituted by Christ.
Briefly put, the beautiful Eucharistic hymns of Aquinas take their roots in our sacred scriptures for tonight’s feast when we heard about the first Passover celebration with Moses and the Israelites. The unleavened bread offered by Moses becomes the Body of Christ at the Last Supper. The lamb for the meal of the Israelites becomes OUR Lamb of God in Jesus Christ. Jesus IS the new Passover, the NEW Covenant. All of the old scriptures are fulfilled in Him!
From the 1,400 BC Passover with Moses, to the Last Supper of Jesus as God’s Lamb in 33 AD, to St. Thomas Aquinas’ hymns to the Eucharist in 1250 AD, to our Eucharistic Feast tonight in 2025…WE are the next ‘link’ in God’s Salvation history.
To help us go ‘deeper’ into what we celebrate here tonight, I invite us to look briefly at a few poetic lines of the words that St. Thomas Aquinas came up with to try and describe the Mystery of the Eucharist. On page 17, the opening line of Panis Angelicus we will hear, “The bread of angels becomes the bread of mortals.” Of course angels can only “consume” Jesus spiritually, but we mortals get to take the physical bread of Jesus’ Body into our own.
Then flip to the next page to the text of Pange Lingua Gloriosi. The title literally means, “sing my tongue of the Savior’s Glorious Body.” Our tongues that are blessed to have Jesus touch with his Body, now sing His praises! WHY? Because (next line) “his Blood shed for sinners did a broken world restore.” There is a lot for our tongues to sing about!
Then move to verse 4 – “By his WORD…makes of bread his flesh indeed; wine becomes his very life blood.” Jesus IS the Word that brought creation into existence; he is the WORD that commanded Lazarus to come out of the tomb and calm the sea; HIS Word makes happen at every Mass, “This is my Body; this IS my Blood.”
And I love the next phrase, “Faith alone may safely guide us where the senses cannot lead.” Aquinas writes truly…that our “senses” cannot make sense of this…and thus it is FAITH that guides us to really believe that God’s Word can create something out of nothing, bring a body to new life, and supernaturally change the substance of things that are beyond our senses.
Now here is a funny thing – I feel like I am preaching to the choir…since you who come to Holy Thursday are what I call ‘uber Catholics’ and know much of this. BUT Holy Thursday is a night to not only REMEMBER the gift of the Last Supper…but also RE-remember the treasures of our Catholic faith – centered in the Eucharist…which is lived out in our ‘washing of feet’ SERVICE of others.
Jesus…, God’s NEW Covenant, and ultimate Passover, commands us to make the profound connection between what we take INTO our bodies in the Holy Eucharist…and how Jesus wants to ‘use’ our holy bodies to humbly serve the needs of others. In the powerful ancient rituals, prayers, and hymns of this Mass, let yourself be immersed into something beyond yourself…beyond this world…as the Holy Spirit draws into the very Presence of God.
HOMILY BY FR. JIM DEITERS
I have a tradition of giving a brief homily BEFORE the reading of the Passion to help us listen with new ears of faith. And this Palm Sunday, we are blessed with Luke’s account, with particular virtues of Jesus to work on in our own discipleship. When we return on Good Friday, we will hear John’s version of the Passion with its own unique emphasis.
The main Lukan element that I invite us to listen for during the proclamation is Jesus’ unbelievably forgiving, loving disposition through it all. If we listen closely, we have so much to learn from the way Jesus keeps offering love and forgiveness to others, even in the middle of suffering. I want to highlight three encounters Jesus has with other people toward the end of the story… that point us to Jesus’ selfless, non-violent demeanor…for us to follow as His Way.
The first that stands out, is how Jesus responds compassionately to women while carrying the Cross. In the midst of his terrible mistreatment, Jesus meets a group of women weeping for him; he stops to comfort them… and turns the focus to THEIR suffering and not his own. Incredible selflessness for us to learn from.
A second profound moment happens right after Jesus is nailed to the Cross. Instead of hateful, revengeful words against his executioners, he prays, “Father forgive them, they know not what they do.” While his body is suffering, his heart is full of trust in God… as he offers forgiveness to those who have hurt him. Incredible act of love and non-violence for us to learn from.
And the third unique element to notice in Luke’s version of the story… is Jesus’ brief dialogue with the criminal being crucified next to him. Luke makes a point… that a person whom society has condemned to death row and killed… is the first one to acknowledge Jesus as Messiah when he intimately prays, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Then Jesus uses one of his last breaths to say, “Today you will be with me in Paradise.” Incredible selfless love. For the writer Luke, this criminal-turned-saint ‘stands in’ for each of us in the plot; this man teaches us to admit our sins and selfishness…and ask Jesus to SAVE us…as we place our trust in Him.
Since we worry about many things, and the suffering and trials of life can sometimes be overwhelming, let us now listen anew to this Passion story of God’s love for us; it is a story of LOVE. As we listen, we turn our gaze to Jesus and keep this prayer hovering in our minds, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.
WATCH THIS HOMILY
HOMILY BY FR. JIM DEITERS
When we commissioned the artist Meltem Aktas for our Stations of the Cross, it took between 3-6 months to create each one. As each was finished, she would bring the icon herself to us and give a beautiful reflection on its details. One that stands out for me is how she described her creating Station 14, Jesus laid in the tomb. Meltem said she wanted to portray Jesus as dead but already in a “glorified state” sort of ‘glowing’ with Resurrection and peace in fulfilling his life purpose of doing God’s Will. And then she said (with her Turkish accent), “like any icon, I want the person praying with this image to go into Jesus’ experience and feel a PART OF his Resurrection, taking a little piece of Jesus’ Resurrection ‘glow’ with them.”
I love how these special scriptures for the Fifth Sunday of Lent Scrutiny serve as a prelude to the Easter scriptures of Resurrection. The readings invite us into this ‘space’ between the reality of death…and a HOPE about the Resurrected Life of Jesus beyond this world. As Jesus stands at the tomb of his friend Lazarus, he was well aware of his own upcoming death and probably imagined himself with sort of “one foot in the grave,” but also already thinking about his Resurrected Life in heaven.
This story of Lazurus being brought back to life…serves as another kind of ‘icon’ for us to look into regarding our own life of daily ‘dying’ and ‘rising,’ suffering and joy, grief and hope. Often times, we are standing at some version of a tomb, coming to terms with something that we must let go of, that must be buried – a dream, a relationship, an unmet expectation. BUT, when we invite Jesus to stand by our side at these moments like Martha and Mary did, Jesus asks us, “do you believe that I can bring resurrection beyond the grave at which you stand?” I imagine Jesus also saying something like, “Keep your eyes on the glowing light of my resurrection face beyond the trial you are going through.”
The beautiful passage we have today from St. Paul to the Romans breaks this down even further for us…as he is explaining how our Baptism takes us INTO the Death and Resurrection of Jesus. In God’s timelessness, Jesus’ dying and rising, called the Paschal Mystery, is a real LIVING thing that we participate IN during the Mass. We are NOT here as spectators…but participants in something beyond this material world. This is the beautiful miracle we are sharing with the Elect as they will be baptized into this Mystery at the Easter Vigil. We just heard St. Paul say this about Baptism, “the Spirit of God dwells in you…and the Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead…will also give (Eternal) LIFE to your mortal body.”
This is part of why we keep returning to the Eucharist…to admit our frail, broken humanity needs to be SAVED by Jesus; here at the Altar, we go ‘into’ the tomb with Lazarus… and INTO the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross…seeking a new life, a new way of thinking and living…remembering that IN Jesus’ Resurrection, we are a part of something beyond the tomb or suffering in front of us. And Jesus asks, “Do you believe this?” And St. Martha teaches us to say, “Yes, Lord, I do believe.”
I like to think…that if the women who helped bring Jesus’ Body to the tomb had painted what he looked like, I imagine they saw a glow emanating from his body…like our own Station 14. While we cannot physically touch this beautiful icon of prayer, we can ‘enter’ it with our eyes and heart; In prayer with the image…go INTO Jesus experience…and take with you… a little piece of resurrection hope. Find time this week in prayer to invite Jesus to be at your side… looking at whatever ‘tomb’ or trial you are facing…and hear him say with love, “come and be free.” With each suffering or dying to self that we encounter…the Eucharist we are about to receive ‘revives’ the Spirit of God within us…to reconnect us with “a little piece of Jesus’ Resurrection glow,” filling us with new HOPE about our future.
WATCH THIS HOMILY
HOMILY BY FR. JIM DEITERS
Early in my priesthood, I was assigned to two parishes in the rural eastern part of our diocese. As part of the parish picnic, the senior ladies group had a raffle booth of used items people donated. Well, Betty was in charge of it…and she was from the south. For months before the event, after the weekend Masses Betty would sort of hound people to bring their used donations. You could hear her shouting out in her southern accent, “Bring your items, Git shed of it! You don’t need it anyway! Git shed of it!” At first I couldn’t understand what she was saying and it was in English?! Then I learned that “git shed of it” meant get rid of it. Betty and I quickly became friends when I brought her a couple bags of things in my house that I learned to “shed?”
This Third Sunday of Lent is the first in a series of three Sundays that we call the ‘scrutinies,’ which are primarily for our Elect preparing for the Sacraments of Initiation – Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Eucharist at the Easter Vigil. In an ancient tradition, they must scrutinize their lives with regard to things that they need to change, get rid of or ‘shed’ in order to give their life fully to Jesus Christ. You can see how these scrutinies and scriptures can be helpful for all of us…as an examination before confession, as we each go face our own ongoing conversion.
This Gospel story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman challenges us to do some scrutinizing and ‘shedding’ of things that are not helping us be our best self for Christ. In the story, we get to listen in on the surprising, intimate conversation between Jesus and a woman of Samaria, as Jesus breaks all kinds of social norms in speaking with her. In one sense, the woman represents each of us… going daily to various ‘wells’ of what we think will satiate our thirsts...but really don’t. There are several significant things happening in the story, but I invite us to look simply at the meaning of the setting… which takes place at a well. It is a place for people who recognize their thirst. As we will hear later in the Preface prayer at the Altar, Jesus is the one ‘thirsting’ for this woman’s faith…and ours! But the woman is also thirsting for something more meaningful in her life. Jesus…goes out of his way to BE at the well when she arrives. You see, God is the One who comes seeking US…to offer us his Saving Mercy…no matter what our past has been.
The well in the story represents the ordinary, daily places of our life – routines and habits we keep going back to - that don’t satisfy our deeper longings. Often times whatever wellspring we go to is not good for us, not helping us in our discipleship. It may be an unhealthy habit that gives us temporary pleasure; or a ‘well’ that feeds our ego; or a well of superficial living that prevents us from paying attention to the deeper thirsts inside our heart and soul. In other words, what do I need to “shed” and stop doing to be more faithful in following Jesus’ Way?
The Good News…is that Jesus comes from heaven to meet us at THIS Well of his Word and Sacrament, to convince us that he alone is the life-giving fountain from which we need to drink. In other words, if we are not making time to meet JESUS at the ‘well of prayer’ each day…we will continue stumbling through life with our empty bucket, endlessly looking for some other person or thing to satisfy us. The Holy Eucharist, Jesus himself, is our ultimate “thirst quencher.” Our action of coming forward for Communion is our humble way of saying, “Jesus, fill me.”
In prayer this week, think for a moment about the things in your life with which you are not satisfied. In the areas that feel unfulfilled, we must invite Jesus in our prayer each day…and as St. Paul just told us, ask God to “pour his Spirit of Love” into that very place that seems empty or barren.
With our Elect, our first scrutiny and these scriptures basically ask us two questions: What unhealthy or unholy well do I keep going back to? Are we ready to stop going there…and let Jesus fill that need?
HOMILY BY DEACON DAN KIMUTIS
Years ago I worked in some very loud aluminum can factories. Our hearing was tested upon hire as a baseline and re-tested annually to assess any degradation. Every year I would proudly share my stellar hearing results with my wife Kris, and say “see honey, this confirms what we both already knew – I have a listening issue, not a hearing issue”. Most of us to varying degrees struggle to listen well to one another. There are many reasons why – we’re distracted thinking of other things, we talk over the person or perhaps we begin to think about our own feelings, opinions, or anticipated response while the other person is still trying to communicate. We may even think we can multi-task with our backs to the person and still listen. In short, we are not fully present to the other person.
In our Gospel today, God reveals to Peter, James and John, the Glory of Jesus, through Jesus’ Transfiguration. But notice Peter takes no time to ponder what has just been manifested and proposes to busy himself by building dwelling places, tents, for Moses and Elijah and Jesus. He misses that the revelation demands descending the mountain to help resume Christ’s mission. Luke politely describes that Peter “did not know what he was saying”, in other words, Peter was clueless. This prompted God to literally talk over Peter to make himself perfectly clear – Luke tells us that while Peter was still speaking God descended upon them in a cloud saying “This is my chosen Son; listen to him”. And then, finally, the apostles fell silent.
Can you envision yourself making the same mistake as Peter in this scene? I can for myself. In similar ways in which we struggle to listen to each other, we struggle even more to make ourselves present to God and to recognize what he is trying to reveal to us in our daily lives. Sometimes God hides himself a bit from us, other times he overtly tries to get our attention. Either way we can remain clueless and overlook his presence, his love, his guidance and his plan for us in the happenings of our day. Lent is a time of Metanoia, an ancient Greek word that means literally “to change one’s mind”, and in spiritual terms to “turn completely around”. Through Lent we are called to reorient our hearts and minds to God, to turn away from self-centeredness and sin and make ourselves much more present to God - to LISTEN to him!
Our psalm today reads “Your face, your presence, O lord, I seek”. We must both desire and pursue God’s presence, his wisdom, and his clarity in our lives. God wishes us to use our intellect, our senses, our heart, and our free will to orient ourselves to him, ponder him, and hear his voice. Like Peter, we can miss the essence of God’s workings in our lives if we don’t quiet and still ourselves. We must take time to more deeply reflect on God and what he’s trying to tell us in our daily experiences. Recall how Mary modeled this by carefully contemplating God following the mysterious happenings surrounding the nativity – Luke tells us she “kept all these things reflecting upon them in her heart” (Luke 2:19).
A very tangible way we can hear, understand, and respond to God’s voice in our everyday experiences is to make a daily examine or reflection a spiritual habit. We think about God’s blessings on us this day, and give him thanks. We consider how we were the face of Jesus to others and vice versa. We recall how we responded to those in need or handled difficult situations and let Christ tell us how we imitated him or how we could have done better. We ask God to help us know why he placed certain circumstances in our life today. We seek God’s special message in scripture we may have read this day. We reflect on our sufferings and setbacks and ask God how we should join our crosses to Christ’s. We silence ourselves and just absorb his love. And we listen.
Let us pray: Jesus my Good Shepherd, here I am in your presence. Speak to me Lord. Fill me with your Holy Spirit and transform me. Give me the gift to recognize, listen to, and trust in your gentle voice in the events of my daily life, and not be deceived by any other voices.