Daily Reflection
June 16th, 2000
by
Andy Alexander, S.J.
University Ministry and the Collaborative Ministry Office
Click here for a photo of and information on this writer.


1 Kings 19:9, 11-16
Psalms 27:7-9, 13-14
Matthew 5:27-32

Elijah is discouraged.  The people aren't listening to him.  In fact, they are out to get him.  He goes and hides - a venerable tradition.  And he listens for the voice of the Lord to call him out of his cave and give him his mission.  But, he's listening in all the wrong places.  God's voice isn't in all the scary and threatening things he's listening to.  God's voice finally comes to him as a tiny whispering sound - perhaps deep in his own heart.  He is to leave the cave and take up the mission he is given.

Oh, Lord, in my fear, in my discouraged and wounded times, let me listen for you, for your gentle voice, deep down inside my own heart.

Jesus is calling us to a fidelity, and integrity beyond simply avoiding infidelity.  Beyond the commandment to not be unfaithful to the spouse we have vowed to be faithful to, Jesus calls us to confront our lusting.  He knows avarice and greed are at the heart of infidelity, for they stem from ingratitude.  Whenever I am lacking in gratitude for what I have, I want more.  And we know that rape-like greed is deadly.  It never leads to fulfillment, only destruction.  In startlingly obvious language, Jesus tells us to get rid of whatever leads to our unhappiness, to our self-destruction. 

Oh, Lord, help me to be faithful, grateful, simple and honest.  As Ignatius prayed, "give me your love and your grace, and I'll be rich enough, and ask for nothing more." 
 

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alexa@creighton.edu
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