St. Alphonsus Liguori, the founder of our Redemptorist Congregation, rarely spoke about the extraordinary, mystical events of his life. He was much more focused on the ordinary, everyday experiences that mark God’s presence. When people, for example, would speak to him about going on pilgrimage, Alphonsus would gently remind them that we do not have to travel far to meet our Lord. He is patiently waiting for us in even the humblest of tabernacles.
Naaman, the army commander under the King of Aram, was appalled that the Israeli prophet, Elisha, did not come out of his house to administer a cure for his leprosy. He was even less impressed with the Elisha’s directive to bath in the Jordon River seven times. I’m sure Naaman was right to say that the rivers in Syria were far more inspirational than the lowly Jordan River, but he was missing the point. Fortunately for him, his servants were more perceptive to the smaller, less noticeable ways that God works in our lives. Naaman had more faith in his servants than in Elisha, but after his cure, he was moved to say: “Now I know that there is no God in all the earth, except in Israel.”
We have all experienced moments of God’s extraordinary grace. Perhaps it was an answer to a prayer, a conversion of a loved one, or even the bending of the laws of nature. But we must remember that Jesus comes to us in humble, tasteless wafers. He does not make a show of his presence. He waits patiently for us to step into the waters of faith, to believe that God is present and wants us to experience God’s abundant life within us.
When we listen with understanding; when we care to be engaged in the lives of the ordinary people around us; when we demonstrate love and gratitude for the gift of another day and all the promise it offers; then we will be well on our way to becoming the perceptive and malleable disciples of love that God envisions. St. Alphonsus would be proud.
Lenten Blessings,
Fr. Kevin MacDonald, C.Ss.R.
POWERED BY BLUBRRY
