16 June, Wednesday – Dialogue with Divinity

Wednesday of Week 11 in Ordinary Time

2 Cor 9:6-11
Mt 6:1-6,16-18

“…and your Father who sees all that is done in secret will repay you.”

One of my favourite bible verses of all time is Heb 11:1, “Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen”. It speaks to the interior reality of faith as fundamentally believing in a God whom we cannot yet see with our own eyes.

But the logic cuts both ways as well. The faith of a person cannot be seen by the human eyes either. How often have we entered a space of worship and watched others either praying fervently, or completely absorbed in praise and worship? And in these moments, have we not wondered if we ourselves are not outwardly ‘faithful’ enough?

But in today’s Gospel, Jesus assures us that a faith that is focused on God and practiced in the hiddenness of our hearts is enough for Him. That just as our reward in heaven cannot be seen by earthly eyes, so too our faith cannot always be perceived through the lens of empirical reality. We are spiritual beings, and our faith an ongoing spiritual dialogue with God.

There have, for me at least, been many days when I’ve questioned my faith. There have been many more days when my faith has been questioned by others. Have I not been praying often enough? Do I do my devotionals with sufficient devotion? But how much is enough, and who is to say what devotion looks like?

Perhaps we need to remember Jesus’s reminder for us to “go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret”. For me at least, it is in this inner room where I can be most comfortable – free from the performance indicators and expectations that others may place on me. Free to receive what the theologian Jean Luc Marion calls ‘saturated phenomenon’ and ‘given-ness’ that is God revealed in our deepest inner dialogues with Him.

(Today’s OXYGEN by Jacob Woo)

Prayer: Lord, we ask for Your love and presence in our inner lives, that we may, through Your sustenance, overcome hard times and rough days.

Thanksgiving: We thank the Lord for His friendship and dialogue, that we in our sinfulness can enjoy the privilege of being in communion with Divinity Himself.