Ordinary Time 
Pause
All of us live full lives. And yet in spite of all the things we have accomplished thus far or plan to accomplish in the future, there is nothing more valuable in life than the knowledge of God’s presence.
Knowing that God is with you and for you, feel free to let go of everything that is holding you down or holding you back. Settle into the silence of this moment and recognize what a gift it is. Because of God’s love, you are free.
So receive God with gladness, and open both your heart and mind, that God might move in you and through you, even now.
Listen
The Lord: who frees prisoners. The Lord: who makes the blind see. The Lord: who straightens up those who are bent low. The Lord: who loves the righteous. The Lord: who protects immigrants, who helps orphans and widows, but who makes the way of the wicked twist and turn!
The Lord will rule forever! Zion, your God will rule from one generation to the next!
Praise the Lord!
Psalm 146:7b-10
Think
Politicians don’t always have the best reputations. Pressured to secure enough votes, many of them will say just about anything if it means they’ll get elected. This kind of behavior, however, can lead to all kinds of evil, because it’s so self-interested.
Thankfully, God is a different kind of leader. “From one generation to the next,” God watches over all God’s people and refuses to give up or give in. Even as we play favorites, God works faithfully on behalf of everyone, because God sees each and every person as beloved, at all times worthy of love and attention.
Distracted, we don’t always see others this way, and as a result, we often forget about the prisoners, the blind, the lowly, the immigrants, the widows, and the orphans. But God doesn’t. God takes up the cause of the oppressed and makes “the way of the wicked twist and turn!”
Following God’s lead, we must care for others as well. By acknowledging that all people are deserving of God’s love, let us lead the world in a new way.
Chris Robertson
Pray
God, I often get distracted and make everything about me. I mindlessly neglect those in need and forget to care for my neighbors. Though I know you have the power to work in spite of me, I ask that you might give me an enlightened heart and work through me in order to heal the world. Amen.
Go
“The purpose of prayer and religious seeking is to see the truth about reality, is to see what is. And at the bottom of what is is always goodness. The foundation is always love.”
Richard Rohr, Everything Belongs, 2003
God renews our vision and invites us to look deeper — all the way to what is. God wants us to see the love and goodness of what is. Are you paying attention?
