This Sunday is the Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time. The readings are from Wisdom 9:13-18; Psalm 90:3-6, 12-14, 17; Philemon 9-10, 12-17; and Luke 14:25-33.
There’s been a small, pink book, sitting unread, on my bookcase for years – so long, in fact, that I have completely forgotten where I got it or who recommended I read it. It’s called Searching for and Maintaining Peace by Fr. Jacques Philippe. I don’t know why I had left it unread for so long, but imagine my delight when the same book was featured this summer on the Hallow app as an audiobook (read, no less, by one of my favorite speakers, Sr. Miriam James Heidland!). Since June, I’ve been listening to the chapters on and off, and it has been such a blessing to me. The secret to maintaining peace, Philippe says, is to keep yourself aligned to the will of God. Easier said than done…
The readings this weekend remind us of God’s omnipotence, love, and care. In His Providence, He leads us and directs our lives, even when we have no idea what is going on or where the path is leading us. One part of Maintaining Peace that struck me the most was what to do when we know that what we want is good, but we aren’t being granted it immediately. Why does God make us wait? The “why” we don’t necessarily know. But we know what the book of Wisdom tells us in the first reading: mortals are unsure, burdened, timid, and we grasp things difficultly. The Lord, however, acts as our refuge (Psalm 90), caring for us and leading us in His kindness. When we cling too tightly to the things of the world, we are distracted from the knowledge that God has everything already laid out for us. He sees what we can’t see, and He will lovingly provide.
Original source can be found here.
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