Ordinary Time

Pause

Repent. It’s a word that can challenge us, but simply put, it means to turn.

Sometimes we turn toward things and other times we turn away.

In the next few minutes, settle your heart, mind, and soul and turn toward God.

Listen

The Lord’s word came to Jonah, Amittai’s son: “Get up and go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it, for their evil has come to my attention.”

So Jonah got up—to flee to Tarshish from the Lord! He went down to Joppa and found a ship headed for Tarshish. He paid the fare and went aboard to go with them to Tarshish, away from the Lord.

Jonah 1:1-3

Think

Stubbornness. It’s a quality we all utilize when it suits us. For some it’s a way of being on a regular basis, but in reality we are all stubborn about the things we are stubborn about. Quite often we summon our stubbornness to avoid doing something we simply would rather not do.

Jonah embodies this approach. We all have Jonah moments, don’t we? Moments where we refuse to listen to others for any number of convenient excuses. We want to have it our way, and our life of faith too often resembles a fast-food theology that has us falsely believing that life is all about getting what we want.

What is it that holds us back from following the voice of God? Fear? Insecurity? Feeling unqualified? Voices in our own head that speak so loudly we can’t hear anything else? Even in those times where we are determined to go our own way, the good news is that God stays with us on our alternate routes, ready and waiting for us to turn and follow.

Neil Myer

Pray

God of relentless love, thank you for being with me even when I try to go my own way. Override my stubbornness so that I may truly listen and follow the direction you would have me go. Amen.

Go

Christ is calling you today. Time to trust and follow the example of love.