Scripture:
Reflection:
Accept whatever answer you receive from God!
Make it your intention to concentrate on The Word you are reading. The prophet Hosea calls Israel to a prayerful, and real conversion – a change of heart and behavior.
When you are reading the Word or meditating upon it, God is present, just like the scribe was present to Jesus’ teaching.
I believe that healthy spiritual “habits” grow out of convictions that God does listen to us and responds. We just do not understand all the time! In that case it is a matter of trust.
Jesus noticed that the Jewish scribe understood what He was teaching, and He made the comment that “you are not far from the Kingdom of God.”
First, I believe that through our baptism, we are “in” the body of Christ – “embodied,” we say. We are close to His heartbeat, His thinking, His feeling. With that “closeness” do I accept that I am not far from the Kingdom of God, and that will manifest itself in its own time and manner?
Accept whatever answer you receive from God!
It is a matter of faith and trust in the Word.
Second, salvation is the actual lifting of the burden of evil, hatred and greed from all of God’s creation, through our willingness to repent and change, and to hold to the desire to understand God and to do what I believe is best in any given circumstance.
As a Passionist missionary among the marginal and the searching I assume that God’s salvific action is going on within me and around me. It is just a matter of striving to understand, like the scribe.
Third, know that your acting upon God’s answer is your contribution to the revealing of salvation on earth today.
Let your prayer and meditation inform you of how God is working with you in your own conversion, and your inspiring others.
Fr. Alex Steinmiller, C.P., is a member of the Passionist Community in Detroit, Michigan.