Saturday, September 13
Reading: Luke 6:43-49
“No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.
“Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.”
Reflection
How do you kill a cactus in Southern California? These hearty creatures are supposed to withstand harsh environments: drought, relentless heat, and limited shade. So why doesn’t this succulent love my kitchen counter with its direct sunlight and my watering schedule that borders on neglectful? Some stalks are shriveling up, some are growing wildly out of control. A friend with a green thumb recently told me that even if I’m doing everything wrong, the plant is still going to look for light, water and nutrients.
My spiritual life sometimes feels like this succulent plant gasping for breath. I am stretching and straining, contorting myself in all different directions. God keeps reminding me that He will nourish me, giving me life-giving food and water so that I’ll never want for anything again. And yet here I am, standing on my head, rather than trusting in the slow, patient work of God.
How can I be more aware of the warmth, nourishment, and life God might be offering me today?
Prayer
Trust in the Slow Work of God
Above all, trust in the slow work of God
We are quite naturally impatient in everything
to reach the end without delay
We should like to skip the intermediate stages.
We are impatient of being on the way to something
unknown, something new. And yet it is the law of all progress
that it is made by passing through
some stages of instability-
and that it may take a very long time. And so I think it is with you.
your ideas mature gradually – let them grow,
let them shape themselves, without undue haste.
Don’t try to force them on,
as though you could be today what time
(that is to say, grace and circumstances|
acting on your own good will)
will make of you tomorrow.
Only God could say what this new spirit
gradually forming within you will be.
Give Our Lord the benefit of believing
that his hand is leading you,
and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself
in suspense and incomplete.
– Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, S.J.
Read more on jesuitprayer.org.
Jen Coito: Ignatius at Home 