March 12/First Saturday of Lent
Happy are those who keep his decrees, who seek him with their whole heart. ~ Ps 119.2
How many of us can honestly say that we seek God with our whole hearts? Do we make a genuine effort to carve out time each day for prayer and reflection — or do we let the press of business encroach? Do we strive to be attentive to the presence of God in our lives and in our world, or is our daily routine on autopilot? As the 20th century French philosopher Simone Weil said, “Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity.” Sometimes we have no choice about where to focus our attention — a child in need, an imminent work deadline, an urgent house repair. But not everything that commandeers our attention is equally deserving of it, and each of us can usually find a few minutes each day. How we spend those minutes matters, for as the theoretical physicist Michael Goldhaber observed, human attention is “one of the most finite resources in the world.” Where will we focus ours? On exercise, or Netflix, or Candy Crush? Do we allow ourselves to be drawn down into the rabbit warren of Instagram or Tik Tok? To put these distractions aside and seek God with our whole hearts isn’t always an appealing prospect. It’s far easier to hit “Next Episode” and slouch on the couch for another 53 minutes than to leave our screens and spend a few minutes in reading or prayer. But we only have so much time, and we cannot always do both. The psalmist affirms that the way of the blessed, the path of the happy, is to seek God with our whole hearts. That is the highest and best use of our attention, and our time.
Steadfast Lord, Inspire me with the courage to put my whole heart into loving and worshiping you above all things in my life. Amen.
For today’s readings, click here: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031222.cfm
To hear The Tallis Scholars sing “Blessed Are Those That Be Undefiled,” click here: http://www.betsycahill.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=1750&action=edit
