June 2023 – The middle of the year – Ordinary Time (in the Church’s calendar).
Life is made up of ordinary time: we care for our loved ones, we attend to our work, we grieve our losses, we manage our households, we walk with friends, we lose track of days, we follow routine…
The world we live in tells us that life is about money, security, power & success, yet the gospels tell us it is about doing the will of God; caring for the poor, changing the lives of widows and orphans, refusing to make war, laying down our lives….
To stay steadfast in following God’s call it is necessary to spend time with the Holy One, to contemplate the beauty in the ordinary. Joan Chittister says that deep contemplation is the intersection of the life of Jesus and our own. It is the place where the mind of Christ and our own come to know one another our soul is strengthened, and we are able to open our heart. To open our heart to life as it is rather than life as we would like it to be.
Can we in this month of June take time to gaze and allow God to gaze back. Take time to listen to God’s voice. Take time to celebrate the great gifts of (ordinary) life.
Lord – open our eyes, hearts and ears to the daily miracles that surround us. Show me where today I have seen your love, where today I have noticed the gold of your presence.
Listen to your life,
See it for the fathomless Mystery it is.
In the boredom and pain of it,
No less than in the excitement and gladness.
Touch, taste, smell your way to the holy and hidden heart of it,
Because in the last analysis,
All moments are key moments
And life itself is grace.”
(Frederick Buechner)