A reflection on the daily readings, for Tuesday of the First Week of Lent, by Father Perry.
+ None of God’s words are frivolous, silly or nonsensical, or fruitless or empty or meaningless. None!
God speaks, and God’s word and words are meant to bring life; and just as God is love, so also are God’s words. Not only are they full of love they are love.
And God even says that every word that goes “out from his mouth” shall not return to him void, but has its purpose and will do its purpose.
But, do we not, then, come into the equation? If we fill our hearts and lives with weeds, won’t the word of God and its watering and lifegiving purpose bring more life and growth to our weeds and our weediness?
It’s not just in God’s giving, but also in our receptivity that things grow — be they beautiful plants and trees, or weeds galore.
+ If we want to go a five-mile distance from point A to point B, but point B happens to be north of us, we walk in a northerly direction a distance of five miles.
And do we not go — in the opposite direction, south — back to point A, a distance of another five miles?
But, and this is the sad part — we have now traveled a full five miles.
The only problem is that we now distanced ourselves 10 miles from the point to which we wanted to arrive at.
Did God put us there? Or did we put ourselves there?
We have all heard the adage: “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.”
Well, fellow horses, we must apply the same logic to us!
As Jesus teaches us a rather splendid prayer, he points out that “our Father knows what we need before we ask him.”
One might ask: “then why ask at all?”
Perhaps it is in the asking that we point ourselves in the correct direction to arrive at the desired point B.
Perhaps it is in forgiving others that we plant the right seeds and not weeds that will make us most open and receptive to God’s forgiveness and love.
God’s word and love are powerful things that produce wonders in our lives — that which we call grace!
But our openness and response to grace also makes all the difference in the world.
Yes, we are led to the waters.
Now, let us drink!
Father Perry D. Leiker is the 13th pastor of St. Bernard Catholic Church. Reach him at (323) 255-6142. Email Father Perry at pleiker@stbernard-church.com. Follow Father Perry on Twitter: @MrDeano76.
