26 June 2017
Monday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time
When I was in the Jesuit Novitiate, there was a senior priest who lived with us. One day, the Provincial told him to move to a new mission. It seemed to all of us that the Provincial was asking a lot from this eighty year-old Jesuit. Packing up and moving away from a familiar home to a new place seemed a bit too much. One of my fellow novices compared the situation of our senior priest with his grandfather who was around the same age. He said that his eighty year-old grandfather would definitely have refused to leave even if God had asked him to relocate and move to an unfamiliar place.
In the first reading, we hear that the seventy-five year-old Abraham is to move to an unfamiliar country. Abraham trusts God completely and he does not complaint when he goes off to visit many unfamiliar places. Abraham does not even complaint when for a brief moment God seems to disappear and abandon him after he leaves his home. God reappears with His blessing and promise that God will give to Abraham and all of his descendant all of the land.
Let us pause and reflect. Can you trust God like Abraham did? Or, do you feel that sometimes God has abandoned you. Can you feel God’s presence in your life now? Do you need some assurance and promises from God like what He gave to Abraham? Whatever you need, speak to God directly now.