12 February 2018
Monday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time
To truly allow ourselves to be fitting dwelling places for the Lord we must cultivate hearts that are true and just. The heart that is true does not deceive itself, nor does it seek to hide its wounds from those it has been created to love.
But what is the heart that is just? The one which gives to others their due. To our children we owe diligent care. To our employers we owe sincere effort in labor. To our spouses we owe fidelity and love. To our God we owe all of these things, and what grounds the offering of all we owe to God is faith. Because faith is so essential for our relationship with the Lord, the pernicious nature of willful doubt needs to be addressed. “For the one who doubts…must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord, since he is a man of two minds, unstable in all his ways.” (Jas 1:6-8) Just as others in our life will have trouble relating well to us if we do not give them the care, effort, or love we owe them, so too God cannot give us the wisdom we long for if our hearts do not openly and justly render Him the trusting faith that is His due. For this reason Jesus sighs from the depths of his spirit before he asks, “Why does this generation seek a sign?” (Mk 8:12) It is not a sign the Pharisees need, but trust in the One who stands before them, the One to whom all signs in history have been pointing! As we turn to the Lord in our need, let us above all turn to Him with the faith of the leper we heard yesterday and repeat once more with all the trust God deserves, “If you wish, you can make me clean!”