My pastor asked me to write and present a reflection for the remaining Tuesdays of my assignment.
July 9th Reflection
Gn 32:23-33, PS
17:1b, 2-3, 6-7ab, 8b and 15, Mt 9:32-38
In today’s reading from Genesis, we hear about Jacob
wrestling with a messenger from God, all night, in a physical test. The psalmist, likewise, talks about our
hearts being tested, all night, in a spiritual test.
I’m willing to bet that none of us have ever had a
physical struggle with God, or his messenger, but we have all had our share of
spiritual struggles. We may have had a
crisis of faith, or wondered why God allowed evil to exist, or why a loved one
had to get sick and die. We may have
questioned or completely ignored a teaching of the Church. We have all
struggled with our faith or with our God at one time or another.
On the other end of the spectrum is the image found
in today’s Gospel. Christ looked upon the
crowds and saw them as sheep without a shepherd. Sheep do not struggle against the shepherd;
they follow the shepherd because the shepherd knows what is best for them and
cares for them.
So should we just follow God blindly as a sheep
would? Or should we struggle like Jacob?
The answer lies somewhere between.
God gave us a free will, so following blindly is not the answer. Struggling with God’s truth can be good for
us. If we do not understand a teaching
of the Church, or of our faith, we should take the time to learn more about it
and understand it. This struggle towards
understanding more of our faith is good for us.
The result of the struggle will frequently put us in a position of
following God more closely.
Today’s Gospel calls for more laborers for the
harvest. The more we know about our
faith, the more we can act as harvesters in the fields.
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