Daily Reflection for Friday, June 10, 2022
Peace and Blessings, Friends and Parishioners!
We encourage you to reflect on Friday’s readings at this link:
http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/061022.cfm
If you prefer to use your own Bible, the readings are:
First Reading: 1 Kings 19:9a,11-16
Responsorial: Psalm 27:7-8a, 8b-9abc, 13-14
Gospel: Matthew 5:27-32
Our reflection on Friday’s readings:
“… there was a tiny whispering sound...” 1 Kings 19:12
In today’s first reading, Elijah is on the run. Jezebel has sworn to have him slain because he has slain all the prophets of Baal who worshiped the gods that she worships. After an angel orders him to get up from under the broom tree where he expects to die, he walks for forty days and then he hides in a cave in Mount Horeb. It is here that God comes to speak to Elijah, not in the wind, not in an earthquake, not in fire, but in a whisper.
I wonder, did Elijah really hear God’s voice, speaking to him out loud? Or did he hear it in his head, in the deep interior of his soul? We can’t know that, but we do know that Elijah was guided by the voice of God.
I cannot relate the drama that Elijah faced, but there certainly is a lot of “noise” in my life. A lot of activity, a lot of distractions, a lot of things to divert me from what God may be trying to say to me. That “wind”, “earthquake” or “fire” that is all that our modern lives throw at us, can seem really important because it is impossible to miss. And sometimes it is important, but often times it is not.
Early in my career, I was training employees in the “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” by Stephen Covey. Habit 3 is “Put First Things First.” Of course we must attend to the important and urgent things in our lives. But next we should turn to the important but not urgent things. This is how I think about the whisper that Elijah heard in the cave. It was important but not urgent. I think this is most often how God is trying to communicate with me. He has important things to say, but He is whispering those messages. If I’m not paying attention, I can easily be diverted by urgent but not important things and miss Him speaking to me.
I’m going to try to find some quiet time today to listen for the whisper. I hope you will too.
Peace and love,
Andra Liepa