Thursday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Some people enjoy crossword puzzles and brain-twisters and are very good at them. Some of us like an occasional crossword puzzle but usually have to cheat when the right word just doesn’t come. It’s always amazing to me that someone can create the puzzle with all the interlocking answers (or pieces) and always with a geometric design as part of it. The story of Joseph and his brothers continues in our first reading today. The pattern of God somehow bringing good out of evil is a central theme of the Joseph story. The overall patterns cannot be seen until all the pieces are in place which of course is the real challenge.
Each of us would do well now and then to stop our efforts to solve a particular part of the puzzle of life and look at the big picture. Perhaps then we could see how we got to this point, what choices were made, both good and bad, and where our present course seems to be taking us. As the poet Robert Frost said, “and I have miles to go before I sleep.”
Perhaps the success of our progress will depend upon the tools and the attitudes we choose. Jesus is refining his commission to his disciples in today’s Gospel as he sends them out to proclaim astonishing news, “The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!” For many people in today’s world, those words are truly puzzling. But Jesus provides some lasting clues. The message must be delivered with great respect, simplicity, compassion, and above all peace. Those are often the missing pieces and the missing words of our culture today.
Reflection: When answers are lacking in a difficult human situation whose words do we turn to? Do we turn to the words of the secular culture or the words of Jesus in the Gospel?
Reflection by Fr. Daniel Petsche, OSB
Posted in Articles for Ordinary Time, Daily Reflections