Daily Reflection for Thursday, September 23, 2021
Peace and Blessings, Friends and Parishioners,
We encourage you to reflect on Thursday’s readings at this link: CLICK HERE
If you prefer to use your own Bible, the readings are:
First Reading: Haggai 1:1-8
Responsorial: Psalms 149:1b-2, 3-4, 5-6a and 9b
Gospel: Luke 9: 7-9
Our reflection on Thursday’s readings:
You have sown much, but have brought in little; you have eaten, but have not been satisfied; You have drunk, but have not been exhilarated; have clothed yourselves, but not been warmed; And whoever earned wages earned them for a bag with holes in it. Haggai 1:6
I’ll be honest. I really struggled with these readings today. Sometimes God is so obvious in what message He wants me to take away from the scriptures. Yet today is different. Part of it is that I’m not very familiar with the book of Haggai. When I dug a little deeper, it made sense why. Haggai was a minor prophet and the book is only a page or two long. Yet despite its brevity, the message is still important to us today. It’s also worth noting that it’s one of the rare instances when the Israelites listened to God’s prophet.
In the first reading today, God is chastising his people for failing to carry out His will. They have gone through exile in Babylon and returned after years to find their homes destroyed and the temple of the Lord destroyed. They have failed to carry out God’s call to rebuild the temple, which Jews believed to be the dwelling place of God. Here God’s people are focusing on the wrong things. They are concerned with the material world, while God wants them to focus on their relationship with Him. He points out their struggles and their empty pursuits and how they bring them no joy or fulfillment.
Today I see myself in these people. I, too often, choose the wrong path just as they did. Instead of building the kingdom of heaven, I choose the path of material satisfaction. Of course, like the Israelites of old I am not satisfied. I pursue the things of the world and realize that they don’t really mean anything to me. Yet, I fail to recognize that I am the source of this dissatisfaction. I look around and see I am not the only one struggling with this.
Some fill the void aching for God with food or shopping. Others choose alcohol or drugs. Many in our society immerse themselves in their work. None of these will make us feel better in the end. But what will give us a sense of peace and reward is to build up God’s temple. Instead of the physical temple that the prophet urged the Israelites to build, we just need to allow God some mental and spiritual space to dwell within us.
Today may we all make that space within for God to dwell in us.
Peace and blessings,
Pete Kuester