“HONEY FROM THE ROCK”
Daily Reflections
Wednesday, 2nd August 2017.
Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time
Ex 34: 29-35;
Ps 99: 5-7, 9;
Mt 13: 44-46
SEARCHING FOR THE PEARL OF GREAT VALUE!
The central tenet of religion is prayer; it is the way to union with God. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us that “Prayer is the raising of one’s mind and heart to God or the requesting of good things from God”. This raising is turning all our attention, desires and love on God and nothing else. But, usually we concentrate on things rather than God.
The Kingdom of God is not a place, it is God himself; it is heaven and eternity; it is union with God. It is sharing in the paschal mystery of Jesus. And “If this pass-over is to be perfect, we must set aside all discursive operations of the intellect and turn the very apex of our soul to God to be entirely transformed in him” (St. Bonaventure). This is what we are invited to do, daily, spend some time in absolute emptiness of all thinking and understanding, and surrender ourselves to the Lord. If the Lord is your sole treasure, the true pearl, then empty yourself of everything.
The Kingdom of Heaven is analogous to the “merchant searching for fine pearls.” The Kingdom is found in our diligent search. We search the mystery of Heaven and it is this search that, in and of itself, presents to us God’s Kingdom. As a divine “Mystery” it’s important to understand that we can never fully “find” God. We certainly can find Him, understand Him, come to know Him and give our lives to Him. But we can never do so fully. The truth is that the more we come to know God, the more we seek Him and the more we seek Him the more we realize we do not fully know Him. But this revelation draws us ever more deeply into the life of God and the acquisition of the Kingdom of Heaven. We must spend this life searching, finding, and searching more. This is what we will do in Heaven. Heaven will be a moment of the full revelation of the Kingdom and the inner life of God, but we will discover in this revelation that we will eternally enter more deeply into God and His glorious presence.
Reflect, today, upon the search that you embark on in your life. Is it a diligent search for God? Recommit yourself to a wholehearted search for God and you will find that this search is actually a discovery of the glories of the Kingdom of Heaven.
Prayer: Lord, I love You and desire to love You all the more. Please fill me with zeal and hope as I seek You. May my wholehearted search for You reveal to me the mystery of Your glorious inner life. As I discover You, help me to seek You all the more. Jesus, I trust in You. Amen.
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