Friday of the Second Week of Easter
The Responsorial Psalm refrain says, “One thing I seek: to dwell in the house of the Lord.” Several years ago, I challenged a young man to identify his deepest desire. When he didn’t know what he desired, it helped us see that his lack of clarity was the root of many of his struggles. If we aren’t clear about what we desire, or the “one thing I seek,” then the rest of our actions and pursuits are taken with a lack of direction.
Whenever I am given a new monastic assignment, I ask three questions: Who are we? What do we do? Where are we going? Answering these questions successively helps provide direction and justification for where to spend time and resources. For our spiritual lives, the main question may be similar in intention, but reworded: What (or whom) do I seek?
Thomas Merton wrote, “It was because the saints were absorbed in God that they were truly capable of seeing and appreciating created things and it was because they loved Him alone that they loved everybody.” To seek one thing, to pursue the one thing necessary is to increase our love for all creation. Dependence on God is the key to our growth as a human person. When we are first so “absorbed in God,” the rest of our actions will follow with clarity of intent and purpose.
Reflection by Fr. Paul Sheller, OSB
Posted in Article for Easter, Daily Reflections