Daily Reflection Wednesday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Whenever I read how God invites individuals into a closer circle with the Divine, I am amazed! If only God would show me what I am invited to be and to do through a blazing fire in front of me. Wow! Then I would listen! … As I prayed with this meeting between God and Moses, I began thinking of all the burning bushes in my own life—ones that I have ignored. Then I realized that God invites each one of us into a deeper relationship, and God does it with such tenderness.

    Just as he did to Moses, God invites each one of us to go out on a mission. Oh, sure, I know that I am not asked to save a nation of people like Moses! But God has placed burning bushes in front of each of us in our daily lives.  Do we recognize them? All our circumstances are different. I live in an apartment complex of people from six months of age to 102 years of age. Obviously, their needs vary. Unexpectedly meeting someone is that burning bush. Stopping to speak a few uplifting words, offering to give a ride to a doctor, sharing a joke—all of these actions brighten someone’s day, makes a person feel important.

    I want to stop the wars that are escalating. I desire that our nation’s leaders work together for the good of our people. I yearn for everyone’s acceptance of each other in religion, race, sexual orientation, economic situations, political attachments. Each time we are faced with a challenge, this is a burning bush!

    In today’s gospel, Jesus is inviting us to be “childlike” not childish. When we meet the burning bushes of our day, we are invited to decide how to respond, not to kick and scream because of inconvenience! Both readings today remind us how tenderly God loves each one of us. Anne Lamott once commented that “God holds us to a higher standard AND God holds us.” Are we aware that we are so cradled in God’s love, that daily we are invited into a deeper friendship with God? Wow! We can attend to those burning bushes that God sends us each day.

    Always we are reminded that we don’t face those burning bushes alone. Jesus has given us helps: the sacraments, various ways to speak with God, and his own example of understanding and tenderness. To imitate Jesus we need to be aware of our own burning bushes and how we respond to them.

 

“I’ve learned how to be in the present,” said the mole.

“How?” asked the boy.

“I find a quiet spot and shut my eyes and breathe.”

“That’s good, and then?”

“Then I focus.”

--The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse