April 10/Fifth Thursday of Lent
Seek the LORD and his strength; Search for his presence continually. ~ Ps 105.4
Every day as I wrap up my morning prayer, I resolve to keep God in the forefront of my thoughts, words and deeds all day. Every evening when I reflect on the day, I acknowledge my failure to do so. In other words, I repeatedly fall short of the psalmist’s admonition to “search for [God’s] presence continually.” Not long ago, when I was fretting about this to a wise friend, she encouraged me to look at the situation a little differently. There might be a distinction, she suggested, between prayer and prayerfulness: for seekers of God, everything we do with a loving spirit is prayerful, even if it is not explicitly “prayer.” Putting up the clean dishes at night so my husband won’t have to do it, offering tech assistance to a baffled older person, checking in with a friend I haven’t been in touch with – such mundane activities as these are forms of seeking the Lord continually, because they are ways we express love. Or as St. Jerome is reputed to have said, “All the work of believers is prayer.” Ultimately, this need not be “either-or,” but “both-and.” I’d still like to be more mindful of God’s presence in specific moments of my day, and thankful for the gift of divine love that inspires my little acts of service. This echoes Mother Teresa’s counsel that we do “small things with great love,” and it reflects the wisdom of Trappist monk (and former Comparative Literature professor) Father Simeon, who wrote in The Way of the Disciple, “The Glory of God is always found in movements of love, in communication of life.”
Eternal God, May we continue our prayerful journey by communicating life and expressing love through small daily acts of service. Amen.
For today’s readings, click here: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/041025.cfm
To hear the Choir of King’s College, Cambridge, sing Jan Struther’s “Lord of All Hopefulness,” click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oObLRdLfTIo
