Thursday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time
A good friend was recently telling me about a book she read, Small Victories: Spotting Improbable Moments of Grace by Anne Lamott. I have not read it, although I plan to. But the title alone got me thinking.
First it got me questioning - what is Grace? I remember my days in high school learning the Baltimore Catechism and learning that "Actual grace is a supernatural help of God which enlightens our mind and strengthens our will to do good and to avoid evil." In my life I have really come to understand it as God's unmerited love and mercy poured out on us, sinners. And then I started thinking about the rest of the title - spotting grace in improbable moments - moments we would not think of. And I started wondering - do I only look for grace in certain moments? Am I always trying to make myself aware of the times where God's grace is present in my life? Am I open to seeing how God is using the small moments of my life to bring grace into this world?
And the answer is no. But wow, that would be a refreshing and inspiring way to look at the word! I don't look at each day and see how God's grace has been present and I struggle to look at challenging situations and see God's grace in them. But it is something I need to do more of. Take a moment and think - how is God's grace present in your life today?
I see in this Gospel a challenge - a challenge to not only look for God's grace at work in our lives but to intentionally try to see it, make sense of it, understand it. It's a change in focus. My focus is often - how does this situation/moment/time affect me and my family. But I feel a call to change that focus to how is God's grace working through this moment? And how is God using me to bring his grace into this world?
My prayer for all of us today is that we may spot God's grace in our lives in one improbable moment. And then this week try to find at least one moment each day. And when you find it - share it with someone else. The more we can talk about God's grace at work in our lives and our world, the more accustomed we will be to see it all around us. Amen.
- Amanda Grimm