Do you compartmentalize God’s presence in your life? Do you tend to limit God’s presence in religious times and places, forgetting that God is with you 24/7? - Daily Reflections March 28,2014

LOOK WITHIN

 

If you are familiar with San Carlos Seminary where I am assigned, you know how noisy it can be. It is right along EDSA, a stone’s throw away from the business center district of Makati. It is right beside Rockwell Center and, right now, new skyscrapers are being built, making construction music a regular evening lullaby. One time I booked myself for some days in a retreat house far from the maddening noise of the city.

       One night I was distracted at prayer and so I went outside the chapel and walked through the halls of the retreat house. I then chanced  upon a poster that read: “Madness, to look at the war without, when the real battle is within.” Then it hit me. I travelled far looking for silence without but I was still noisy within.

       That is true. Sometimes we think the war for silence is waged outside when the battle for real silence is actually won within.

       I have facilitated countless retreats. The number one problem that retreatants usually complain about is not the accommodation, the food or the ambiance of the retreat house. It is about their inability to be still even as they are hauled away to a secluded retreat facility.   It’s all about the heart. It’s all about whether I have opened my heart to the actions of God’s grace or my heart has hardened to the point of being impenetrable.

       In the Gospel, Jesus commends the effort of one of the scribes by declaring, “You are not far from the reign of God.” What does it mean to be near or far from the Kingdom? Jesus was not talking mathematical nearness or “farness.” Yes, retreating to a quiet, distant place is a great aid for a spiritual experience, but God’s reign is not about distance and location.

       Even on the heart of the city, God’s reign can be found. I really must not look far and without. I must first look near and within. Fr. Joel Jason

 

REFLECTION QUESTIONS: Do you compartmentalize God’s presence in your life? Do you tend to limit God’s presence in religious times and places, forgetting that God is with you 24/7?

 

Still my troubled heart, Lord. Help me to silence the noise within me by focusing on You.