How to find God in the present time

Reflection for the 29th Friday of Ordinary Time

Snowy Egret at Hilton Head Island

I’m old enough to remember life before cable TV.  Local news was a thirty-minute slot with five minutes devoted to weather.  I was incredulous when cable services started offering a channel devoted entirely to weather, stretching those 5 minutes into a whopping 24-hours.  Little did I realize that a couple of decades later there would be a 24-hour channel for just about every imaginable subject.

Jesus chastised the crowds for obsessing 24 hours a day about the weather while missing the import of the here and now.  “When you see a cloud rising in the west
you say immediately that it is going to rain. Why do you not know how to interpret the present time?” (see Lk 12:54-59)

The Greek word translated as ‘present time’ is Kairos, a timeless moment laden with significance and infused with God.  My Daily Examen is what I use to step outside the 24-hour drone of information and interpret the ‘present time’ in light of God’s action in the world around me. 

How might you be better able to interpret those Kairos moments?


Post note: The above reflection was posted in the Daily Inspiration from JesuitPrayer.org for the 29th Friday of Ordinary Time. To subscribe, visit Subscription Update (jesuitprayer.org).



Prayer
Open my eyes, Lord. Help me to see your face.
Open my eyes, Lord. Help me to see.

Open my ears, Lord. Help me to hear your voice.
Open my ears, Lord. Help me to hear.

Open my heart, Lord. Help me to love like you.
Open my heart, Lord. Help me to love.

Lyrics to “Open My Eyes Lord”, by John Michael Talbot