The Word of God

Frankly, I find this Gospel challenging. I don’t like it, and I have difficulty finding spiritual truth in it. During these last few weeks, I have prayed with the Gospel, looking for a hint of inspiration, and I have been disappointed. I had a bunch of pious platitudes wandering around my head, but who needs that. Then I realized the problem wasn’t the Gospel. The problem was me. 

I was trying to find a truth or insight to share with you, but that isn’t what God wanted from me. He didn’t want me to find anything. God wanted to reveal Himself in His own way and in His own time. All I had to do was be patient in His presence. His gift would come. So, I waited.

The feast is an analogy for the Kingdom of Heaven.  What follows in this reflection may be totally off course, but it is where God is leading…so I will follow.

Do you realize that every priest, deacon, preacher, or spiritual writer of any kind has only one homily? They each have only one truth that they have been given by God to share? Their preaching is the Word that God has planted in their heart. 

Preachers spend a lifetime of preaching homilies saying the very same thing in a million different ways. As a preacher matures in faith and oneness with God, the Word preached becomes more precise and powerful. In some ways, it becomes more uncomplicated. It becomes a pure note in the symphony of God.

The same is true for us. Each of us has been given one homily to preach with our lives. We have been given one Word that is only ours and is unique for all time. Our call is to be faithful to the journey and preach our Word even when we are not sure, and when we feel awkward, unable to speak it either well or clearly. God doesn’t want perfect words, but He does want us to continue to pray ourselves into greater union with Him. As we mature in our relationship with God, God’s Word planted in us becomes more unambiguous, more precise, and purer. It takes a lifetime to be able to preach the Word planted in our hearts. We are all called to be preachers. 

One person’s Word is not more important than another person’s Word in God’s Kingdom. The Word planted in Popes, and Saints’ hearts is not more important than yours or mine. Saints can be inspirations to us, and they can give us the courage to live God’s Word planted in our hearts. It takes all of us praying and finding the truth God has planted in our hearts and proclaiming it without reserve or hesitation to enkindle the Kingdom of God. 

Said another way, it takes all of us singing the note that is ours alone to create the symphony of God that will echo for all eternity.

We must be faithful to the journey, and we must encourage one another on the way. Sometimes, when we look into others’ eyes and watch them interact with the world, we can recognize their Word. All of us can be insecure, and the encouraging Word of another can give us the courage to continue to seek, speak, and live the Word planted in our hearts. Work to recognize the Word of others, encourage them, and be enriched by them. Look into one’s eyes and see humility, and another and see fidelity, see in another hope and another grace. Your own Word will be strengthened when you begin to see the Word lived and preached by others.

Our Words, when spoken together, become the Word of God. Our Words, when lived together, become the Kingdom of God. It is only together that we can create the face and the heart of God. It is only together that we can forge the Kingdom of God alive among us.

Okay, after all of that, what does any of it have to do with the Gospel. I honestly don’t know. But it is the Word God planted in my heart today, so I will trust it and trust Him. God knows what we need; rest in His Word.

In God’s Unending Love,

Gwen