24 March 2014
Monday of the Third Week of Lent
The gospel today contains that well known saying, “no prophet is accepted in his own native place.” It often seems the case that we need to bring someone in from outside the community, pay that person lots of money, and attend a weekend workshop to begin to “formulate the question” in order to move forward to doing the right thing.
So often obvious solutions smile at us every morning and instead of accepting evident suggestions which immediately prevail upon us, we look to some best-seller source or famous speaker to tell us that the truth is under our very nose.
Perhaps this is why Ignatius put so much weight in the examination of conscience, especially the point of seeing what we should be thankful for as the first point of the examination. A continuous examination of our lives would help us identify how God is acting in our lives and perhaps would limit our need in thinking that the exotic prophet from afar has more to say to us than the practical advice we hear from those around us.