Tuesday of the 22nd Week of Ordinary Time [432] 1 Thessalonians 5:1-6, 9-11 Psalm 27:1, 4, 13-14 Luke 4:31-37

Weekly Guide for Daily Prayer

To live with eyes open takes faith.  We learn early to screen out everything beyond the task at hand.  With jobs in decline, our gaze grows even more shuttered.  Fear alternates with forgetfulness.  To be productive matters most.  The world churns outside our window but only a murmur is heard over our pinging machines.  What good is seeing?  Seeing brings burdens and my life has trouble enough. 

Besides, to live in the light sounds shady.  Those who trumpet truth often dwell in darkness as shills for money and power.  The clamor of emptiness makes skeptics of many.  Thoughtful people take refuge in the inscrutability of truth, but hidden truth sheds little light.  Skepticism brings small comfort.  There is no substitute for a life rooted in understanding and faith.

Our God is merciful and “did not destine us for wrath.”  We are not called into the light to be overwhelmed.  When we let the world into our hearts, we find God amidst the suffering, beauty, and struggles.  God’s presence is everywhere.  We didn’t have to wait.  Amazingly, folly and evil do not defeat us.  In gratitude for the goodness of it all, we “build one another up.”