Daughter Lizzie is home this week -- arrived on Friday -- with her boyfriend, a great guy from the Caribbean (family originating in Africa). We had a wonderful cookout/BBQ on Saturday with all the kids home: Shane and family, Doah, and Noelle. It has been years since that has been a possibility. The kids really enjoyed being with each other, and we enjoyed seeing them. Some of Lizzie's friends also came to visit, and it was enjoyable meeting them. Sunday they went to see friends in Cool (yes, there is a town called Cool in California), and Monday is up in the air, but I do have to go to work this morning, sigh! The cats have been excited to have overnight guests; Murjan and Intrepid are friendly souls, Simone less so (a bit of a fraidy cat but doing well).This week, as in the last couple of weeks, I continued to read and enjoy Matthew. What a great gospel! I finished Chapter 10 from last week, and there were some things that I need to research further or talk to someone more knowledgeable than I, so I have put them aside for now and moved on to Chapter 11, where I find an important piece of information in verse 25: "At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children."
Reading: Matthew 11: 25
Meditation: So many times I have found my education, especially my Western education, to get in the way of my understanding something from God. I want logic. I want things to "make sense." Most of all, I want them to fit into my system of logic. And they don't. God does not work, of course, within any system of human logic but within a mystical manner of moving that may be beyond human understanding. The priest who baptized Doah, my mentally challenged son, said in his homily that people like Doah are given to us by God to help us understand for they can receive His spirit and transfer His love simply, without needing explanation. They are, in that respect, examples for the rest of us. It seems like Jesus is saying something along these lines.
Contemplation: That is far as I can go with you this Monday morning. I now retire to private prayer to praise God for how He is able to move within the simplest of people in ways that are greater than those open to the most learned of people. I will ask God to help me overcome barriers between us that pop us from my Western dependence upon logic and learning, and I will repent for each time I have tried to substitute study and knowledge for faith. As always, I will thank God for the wonderful explanations and guidance given to us by Jesus and preserved for all ages by Matthew.
I will leave you now to your prayer and contemplation. First, though, I would like to bring to your attention a Monday morning prayer post that you might enjoy:
Fr. Austin Fleming, priest of the Archdiocese of Boston and pastor in Concord, Massachusetts, posts a prayer each Monday morning that he calls "Monday Morning Offering." I enjoy his prayers very much. I think you also will find them inspirational. He has graciously given me permission to include a link to his blog on my Monday Morning Meditation posts. (During the week, he also posts great homilies and other thoughtful discussions. I enjoy reading those, too, as do readers of this blog who have taken the stroll over to his blog.)For additional inspiration throughout the week, I would point out two sets of blogs: (1) the list of devotional blogs on my sidebar and (2) my blogroll, where I am following a number of inspirational priests and writers about spiritual matters. I learn so very much from all these people. I highly recommend them to you.
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