28 July 2020
Tuesday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time
There is a two-fold grace that comes from considering St. Ignatius’ “Principle and Foundation”, which says God creates us for His glory and we should attend to the other aspects of life to the extent that they help us indeed give glory to the God who loves us more than we can ever imagine. The first grace is to marvel in gratitude at how lavish our generous God is to us, seeing all that He gives us. Attentiveness sensitizes our hearts, helps them to perceive the warmth of God’s love. The second grace which comes from considering our goal of loving our good God, is to become sensitive to the tragedy of deliberate separation from Him and choosing to act contrary to His commands.
“Let my eyes stream with tears…” prays the prophet Jeremiah. (Jer 14:17) Much of the tragedy that we see around us does not bear the mark of our own personal choices. Yet, the violence, the hunger, much of the suffering which we witness in our society and our world can be traced back to concrete human decisions to pursue selfish ends rather than what would glorify God and aid our neighbor. A temptation to close our eyes to such suffering may arise in our hearts. The prophet, however, does not look away from the tragic destruction and suffering in Jerusalem. Prompted by the Lord, he prays to let the pain of those who had separated from the source of life sink into his heart and pour forth in weeping.
We must certainly be attentive to our own mental and emotional capacities when we contemplate the numerous tragedies around us, especially this year. Yet, we must not forget that asking for the grace of wisdom, the grace of understanding right from wrong, involves sensitivity not only to the warmth of goodness, but also to the frost of evil. Let us pray for wise and discerning hearts, like the heart God gave to Jeremiah, so that we might name the evils in our lives and society, and then work to replace them with what will give true glory to God.