The Community at Prayer
Reflection by Father Paul M. Baca
January 16, 2011, 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time
See the readings
Last week the board for our non-profit corporation met for their quarterly meeting and the subject of my reflections came up,
and the members wondered why there had not been any reflections on the web page. My response was, "But there seemed to be a loss of interest in reading them." They all disagreed and said that the reflections were a good reminder of the importance and necessity on reflecting on what life is all about and how our lives fit into the whole picture. Immediately the subject of the "unexamined life" surfaced. Was it not one of the great Greek philosophers who stated that the unexamined life was no life at all. I pondered the importance of the discussion, especially in our lives today as we seem to live in the fast lane. How many of us really take time to think about our life and the importance of giving direction to our lives?
In the First Reading through the prophet Isaiah, God tells us, "You are my servant," and "Now the Lord has spoken who formed me as his servant from the womb." As I thought about these words, I realized that according to my Catholic faith, I believe that God sent his son into the world to make us free, not to do whatever we please, but rather free to do anything that is life-enhancing and contributes to the common good. That, I believe, can be a real challenge to any one of us members of the human family that we are. In my life there is God's will and my will. As long as my will coincides with God's will I am on a good journey. The question that repeatedly arises is, "How can I know God's will?" and that is where you find the need for constant reflection. Gree
d, self-indulgence, self-interest and prevailing attitudes in our society create seemingly insurmountable challenges to know God's will.
Saturday's tragic events in Arizona and the human carnage resulting should make us all reflect on the why of it all. Is it just the fringe element in our society, or are we in any way involved in encouraging such cruel and unreasonable deeds by the fringe element in our society? These sad events have made me realize how violence in our language has escalated. Civility has diminished noticeably. Violent language all around us along with violence in so much of our entertainment seems to have numbed us to the point of accepting it all as a way of life. How all different all this is from the experience of so many of us raised by loving parents in a love-filled home where we were not allowed to fight or argue needlessly and under no circumstances to use harsh words that expressed violence.
It seems to me that winning an argument and having our way have become more important than doing the things that benefit everyone, especially our most vulnerable. Enough is enough. We the human family have tried our way and it has resulted in many hurtful consequences. Maybe, just maybe we should try God's way for a change. The words of the psalm come to me, "The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want." How great it would be if we the people, all of us, could pray those words and experience the reality thereof. Perhaps it would be helpful if we were to read again the Letters of St. John prayerfully. Or perhaps just focus for a few minutes on the closing verses of our psalm for today. "In the written scroll it is described for me to do your will, O my God and my delight. And your love is within my heart. I announced your justice in the vast assembly. I did not restrain my lips as you, O Lord, know."