14 June, Saturday – Be Reconciled To God

Saturday of Week 10 in Ordinary Time

2 Cor 5:14-21
Mt 5:33-37

…and the appeal that we make in Christ’s name is: be reconciled to God.

Since Lent began, I made an effort to look closely at the Sunday readings. Starting from Easter, I noticed that the readings focussed heavily on evangelisation. St Paul wrote many letters to the various churches all over, exhorting them to live by the word of God, and to assuage any concerns over cultural or religious practices that may or may not be in line with what is required. He also wrote to encourage the early church to remain strong in the faith. More than 2000 years later, such exhortations, concerns, and encouragement still exist in a similar way.

It is important to highlight that St Paul often alluded to having been led by the Holy Spirit in all these discernments with religious leaders over the course of action to take, over what advice they would give to the churches. It is clear, therefore, that the Holy Spirit is a very important Person of the Trinity. God is the Creator, Jesus is the Redeemer, and the Holy Spirit is the Sanctifier — the saint-maker. When Jesus ascended into Heaven, he promised that he would send his Spirit to guide and lead us; and he has, and the Holy Spirit will be with us until the end of time. Knowing this, it would be remiss of us to ignore the promptings of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We would be doing ourselves a disservice if we do not attempt to quiet the noises in our hearts and minds, in order to listen to the soft voice of the Holy Spirit.

If we listened, we would feel ourselves being nudged, gently, possibly away from the course we have set for ourselves. We would feel ourselves being tugged lightly towards a peaceful stillness. We would feel ourselves being turned towards God and, eventually, we will find ourselves taking tentative steps towards Him.

It is not easy to take those steps back towards God, but it is important for us to do so. We encounter all sorts of distractions in life which drag us away from Him, and which add to the chaotic cacophony in our hearts and minds. Whenever we want to make time for prayer and meditation, something happens that requires our attention, and our plan for sacred time goes down the drain. I go through this struggle all the time. I use the excuse of being too busy to make time for the Lord. But recently, I have been intentionally setting aside some time to relax, to read some religious books, to pray….and nothing bad happened. I have been intentionally letting go of some things that are, if I am to be honest, not really that important. And this has made all the difference. Not a large difference; but a significant one as far as I am concerned, because it reinforces the fact that I do not have complete control over everything, and neither do I need to have complete control over everything. 

The first lesson here that I learnt is that God is in charge. This is still a nascent thought for a control freak like me. But it is significant. The second lesson I learnt is that we must make room for God in our lives. I once saw a reel on Instagram, explaining what it means to be made in the image and likeness of God. So imagine a hand. Then imagine a glove that fits that hand. The hand is God and the glove is us, made in his image. Now remove the hand from the glove. What does the glove look like now, flopped over? How useful is it, lying limp on the table? Only when God lives in us can we be recognisable, and we can live our lives in accordance with God’s will, and we can be who we were made to be. This is the end point for our searching — to have Christ live in us. But before that, we need to be reconciled to God, as St Paul says in the first reading.

God is always reaching out to us, and we need to respond and let him act in our lives. No matter how far we have strayed, he still has his eye on us, watching and loving us. I can only speak for myself. Take the first step to still your heart and let the Holy Spirit speak to you. There are many ways to do this, but I find that a slow walk in nature can do wonders. Also, set aside some time, a little time, to pray. Go to an Adoration room and sit with God for a while and listen to Him. Do not be afraid of the silence, and the truths that will resound in it — they are there to guide you. Read and reflect on the day’s readings — let them speak to you. Sign up for a retreat – a short one will do for starters, or just sign up for the Conversion Experience Retreat already (go big or go home, right?).  

Last but not least, go for the Sacrament of Reconciliation. I know that the longer it has been, the harder it is. But the truth is, from God’s point of view, the longer it has been, the more rejoicing there is. Father David Michael Moses has a little clip (link at the end) on how a priest would react when someone who has not been in confession for a long time re-enters the confessional. If you are as old as I am, however, you may also remember this song by All Star United titled “Thank You Goodnight”, which contains the lyrics ‘“Hallelujah!” all the angels sing, when castaways choose to return.‘

In the end, it is our choice whether or not to reconcile with God. It is our choice to return to him, or not. It is not an easy path to take, but as GK Chesterton said, if a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly. Try and try and try, and never give up despite the awful failures. Keep on trying even after we mess up. We are only human, but we are also made in the image and likeness of God. No matter how often we fail, God’s infinite love and patience means he will wait for us until we succeed, so we must keep trying.

Brothers and sisters, it is never too late to start the journey of reconciling yourself to God. Start today.

Father David Michael Moses: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/yN48Zx3KQAw

(Today’s OXYGEN by Felicia Zou)

Prayer: Dear Lord, we pray for the courage to turn back to You when we have strayed. We pray for those who despair, that they may find hope in You. We pray for those in healing ministries, that they be sustained with your strength.

Thanksgiving: Dear Lord, we thank You for Your unending love and patience for us, even when we fall so many times.