Daily Reflection Wednesday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time

Last week-end while I was driving back from Pennsylvania, I listened to classical music on the car radio. I found the harp music powerful and engaging. At the end of the piece, the host on public radio conversed with the young harpist, Jane Yoo. He also felt uplifted by her playing. So, he asked her what inspired her to engage so powerfully with her music. Her response: “When I was learning to play the harp, my teacher told me to play music as if I were going to die tomorrow.” I became engaged in that advice throughout the rest of the road trip!

When Jesus is speaking with his disciples and us in today’s gospel, he is giving us the same advice that Jane’s teacher gave her: put your heart and soul in following God in action. All that Jesus counsels us with almsgiving, prayer, and fasting is to put our heart, soul, and energy into living. And, yes, sometimes life becomes so difficult that looking toward our eternal life is what gets us through the day! Jesus is so specific about our interpersonal relationships: don’t brag about donating money or time; don’t expect more from others than you do of yourself; don’t impose your own personal penances and forms of worship on others. If we nurture our friendship with God—like Jane and her music—our friendship with the Divine will show itself in our charitable interactions with others.

If all the readers of this daily column came together, we could create a chart of the myriad ways we show God’s love to people. In lieu of that opportunity, let each of us spend time in personal prayer. Let us ask our God for the spiritual energy to live each day as though we were to die tomorrow—not out of a negative pessimism—but out of a renewed spiritual energy that impels us to realize not only what gifts we have been given, but also how we can use them practically every day. When we acknowledge our gifts, we have the spiritual energy to acknowledge the gifts of others. Like Jesus, we will love ourselves in such a way that we inspire others to look inward to their own gifts.

Abba, Father, I love You!

Abba, Mother, I thank You!

Abba Father, I am not afraid.

So, let me walk Your way, wherever it may lead.

Only, Holy One,

Go before me.

                                                                     --Edwina Gateley