WHO’S GOING TO MAKE WHAT I’M HOPING FOR HAPPEN?
“Faith is the realization of what is hoped for.” Wisdom 11:1
This nine-word sentence from the Book of Wisdom poses three questions for us to answer:
- What is it that I hope for?
- When will what I am hoping for be realized?
- Who will make it happen?
I recommend that you spend the rest of the month pondering and studying so that by the end of this month, you have placed before yourself a firmer idea of
- what you are hoping for,
- when you expect that hope to become a reality, and
- the person(s) whom you think are going to make “happen” what it is for which you are hoping.
I strongly suggest that we find some time to bring in the thoughts of some people who have devoted themselves to studying theology in the light of psychology. If we spend much of our time, as most people do, surrounding ourselves with what is familiar, cozy, comfortable and well-ordered, we will never be able to grow into the Abraham-like heroes God has given us each the capacity to be. And how sad that is for those of us who miss becoming our own style of Abraham.
Here are some suggestions for those of you who want to give yourselves the treat of looking more deeply into what you really are hoping for. (If you do, it should prove to be a life-changing experience.)
- The Introduction to the Book of Genesis This Introduction gives a 10-paragraph overview of the Bible, the story of God and God’s people, from the beginning of time through to the New Testament where, in his Letter to the Romans, St. Paul “cites Abraham as someone who was righteous in God’s eyes centuries before the Law was given at Sinai.”
- These three reflections from our parish website’s Summer Prayer Q&A:
- An Attitude Of Trust Toward God Makes For A New Kind Of Life (“Faith is not something going on in your head. Faith is an attitude of trust which pervades your relationships. It makes you a different kind of human being.” Anglican Archbishop and Lord Rowan Williams)
- Is God Truly Listening?
- Is God Personally Interested In Me?
- Bishop Robert Barron’s Go On A Hero’s Journey, where he links Abraham’s journeying with God to the heroic journeys of the heroes in the “Lord of the Rings” and “Star Wars.”
Listen anywhere, in the car, on the beach, or the deck. But really listen! Give the messages time to resonate, to percolate. Listen many times. Like a really good book or movie – and, as in life, itself – we miss things, from the most intricate to even the simplest, when we see only what gets “in” on our first take.
And let yourself be aware of God’s presence as you are listening. Talk over what you are hearing with your ever-presence Triune God and Jesus – and, then, sit quietly so that you can hear what they are speaking to you.
Sister Loretta