Tuesday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time
It happened again yesterday. My grocery list was clear. Somethings listed were given extra detail like found in a can. Clarity above and beyond, yet I still came home with two things on the list that I thought met the bill. Instead, I overlooked the details and now find myself going back to the store to get the correct product. What made matters worse was my wife had even shown me the product before I left the house.
Imagine Jesus sitting with his disciples, hearing them being worried about only having one loaf of bread. He questions them about recent events. He tries to draw them a straight line between the events. Jesus points out that there was food leftover and the disciples were with it enough to remember how many baskets of food had been collected with extra food. It was as if the disciples were unable to connect that God provided then and that God would provide now.
How often I imagine the Lord wondering aloud to me, “do you still not understand.” Sometimes we fail to live the instructions we have been given to live the law of love. Sometimes we give in to the temptations that we know are wrong. We must make every effort to not be deceived. God does not lead us astray. Our submission to desire is what can lead us away from understanding God’s love.
We are called to understand that we are to be upright in heart and mind. We are called to live and love radically, so that we show through our faith, that we want what is right and just. When we recognize that every good gift comes from God, then our radical discipleship can reflect that we want God’s love, God’s justice, and God’s reign to flourish in both us and our world.
Deacon Michael Montgomery