Ordinary Time

Pause

With eyes closed and hearts opened in prayer, perhaps then we have what we need to see what wisdom looks like in our lives.

Listen

What is the source of conflict among you? What is the source of your disputes? Don’t they come from your cravings that are at war in your own lives? You long for something you don’t have, so you commit murder. You are jealous for something you can’t get, so you struggle and fight. You don’t have because you don’t ask. You ask and don’t have because you ask with evil intentions, to waste it on your own cravings.

James 4:1-3

Think

When we pause and look at our lives, what do we see? Some may see the blessings and gifts given them by God while others may only see what is missing: the answers to their prayers.

St. James understands the reason that we do not see our prayers answered: because we do not ask. And sadly, even if we do ask in prayer, we do so with “evil intentions,” and our blessings are wasted before they are received (v. 3).

Even in light of such harsh conviction, there is hope and there is light sufficient for us to see what we must do: never give up. As the Serbian monk, Elder Thaddeus of Vitvonica, writes in his book, Our Thoughts Determine our Lives: “Even if we fall a hundred times a day, it does not matter; we must get up and go on walking toward God without looking back,” because each time we do, our eyes are set not on what we selfishly desire but on what we truly need: God’s love, mercy, and forgiveness.

Sarah Boatwright

Pray

Thank you, God, for words of conviction and words of hope. Please give me the strength I need to continue my walk towards you. Amen.

Go

A candle flickers and prayers arise.

Our Lord, who is with us in prayer,

stays close after the “Amen,”

and will guide us,

who are blinded by ignorance and darkness,

into wisdom and light.