Pay attention.

That’s what my mother used to say to me when as a child, I was in my own world, absorbed in a book or my own imagination. While she is no longer with us, how many times would she have to say it to me now? I sink into social media, into watching the endless screens everywhere, distracted by flickering pixels. Few places exist where I live where there isn’t some form of screen. Distracted by what’s happening in that virtual world, how do I pay attention to what’s in front of me – my work, my family, my friends, the people I share a neighborhood, church and life with? In today’s Gospel, I think Jesus is telling all of us to pay attention. We know how. We can read the signs of a friend’s distress, a colleague happy about a good meeting, a family member’s need for reassurance. We can read them, but what happens when we are distracted? How can I see God in others if our only communication is a grinning emoji and an abbreviation? Any communication can be good, but we need to go beyond that surface level.

I think we are all starved to that kind of attention that is focused, caring, empathetic. We all need to really see the signs and really listen to what those around us are saying. It takes time and effort to see beyond the surface and to interpret the signs of how those around us are coping. Those text messages can wait. I don’t have to watch that video right now. I can pay attention to those around me and pay attention to me.

In the first reading, we are urged to “live in a manner worthy of the call you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another through love, striving to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace.” I pray that I can live that way with gentleness and peace, bearing with those around me with love.