Sunday Reflections

I made my retreat for ordination at the Gethsemane Trappist monastery in Kentucky where Thomas Merton lived and is buried.  It was a very peaceful and prayerful place to be. One day after taking a walk on the grounds I was returning to the guest house where I was staying and I glanced up at the archway above the entrance.  The words Deus solo (God alone) were inscribed there. I stopped, paused, and knew with all my heart that those words were true. But the truth is, I also couldn’t tell you how often I have either ignored or forgotten that truth.

At the beginning and end of everything, it is God and God alone. And that is what is behind the beatitudes that we hear in this Sunday’s gospel.  If God is the source, then we will be in solidarity with everything and everyone, the poor, the broken, the sorrowful, the hungry, the oppressed, and all who are downtrodden. In relationship with the Creator, we will understand that the riches of this world will mean nothing in comparison to the richness of belonging to God.

Our hope is that at the end of the day, we can proclaim loudly that God is the center of our lives but a quick perusal of how we spend our time will tell the truth of our belief. If we stop praying, stop going to church, stop being part of a faith community, our faith most often will atrophy like muscles that are unused. And the longer we put our faith practice on hold the harder it is to restart it.  God, on the other hand, never stops loving us or watching over us, it is we who move away or turn our backs.  However, it does not take much to find our way home, just remember the story of the Prodigal Son. The scriptures tell us that while the son was still a long way off, the father ran to him to be reconciled.  That same God will run to us if we but turn our hearts and minds even a little bit in his direction.  If we don’t, the consequences are clear.  May God’s love, turn us back.