Ordinary Time 
Pause
Choosing to unplug, even for a few minutes, can be scary. What if we miss the latest tweet, post, or pic? We don’t want to be left behind in the fast-paced world of our always plugged-in friends.
As much as we like being connected to an entire world at our fingertips, it’s important to step away sometimes. Because the spiritual life is about connecting to something deeper within.
Now’s the time! Take the next few moments to reconnect, refocus, and relax. God is eager to spend time with you.
Listen
Jesus said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the Law from Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures. He said to them, “This is what is written: the Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and a change of heart and life for the forgiveness of sins must be preached in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.
Luke 24:44-48
Think
“Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures.”
Wow! How awesome would it be to suddenly be filled with the full understanding of God’s Word? I can’t think of anything more amazing. I wonder, how we might achieve this?
Maybe, like the disciples, God’s Word is revealed to us through our encounters with Christ. Jesus said to touch him and to share a meal with him, to listen to his story. So, when will Christ appear to us?
Every day.
Each encounter we have with another person, Christ is there. Even in the struggles with those whom we don’t like or understand, Christ is there. Even in that person we see as weird and go out of our way to avoid, Christ is there. And of course, when we share a loving touch, a meal, a story, Christ is there too.
In every encounter is the possibility to be a changed person. Maybe if we can remember that Christ is in each moment we have with another, our minds will be opened beyond all understanding.
John McCrosky
Pray
Oh Christ, surround me! Help me to see you in all those I encounter today so that I will be more loving, even to those I find hard to love. Open my mind and my heart to the Christ that is in me and in each person I see. Amen.
Go
When we encounter Christ, we are changed. Our faith, our hopes, our actions. Nothing is left the same.
What would happen if all we did and said reflected this transformative work that the living God is doing in us? What further changes would take place in our own hearts and in the world around us?
Go now, being bold enough to hope in this change.
