Daily HOMILY for February 4, 2014: Tuesday of the 4th Week in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

PODCAST - Press sideways triangle below to listen

or click here if there is no triangle
In 2014, I am facilitating a 12-week interactive online course in contemplative prayer and action for priests with Saint Luke Institute.  Please visit SLIconnect.org to learn more:  https://www.sliconnect.org/product/living-god-program-contemplative-life-2/

Tuesday of 4^th Week in OT

St. Luke’s Institute

February 4, 2014

BARRIERS TO PRAYER ++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ø  Truth be told, most of us turn to prayer only in time of trouble

Ø  Jesus is often only the proverbial “rainy day friend” when there’s no one else around

Ø  And when we finally turn to the Lord, often to our dismay we discover there are barriers placed between us and God

Ø  When we urgently need to reestablish our connection with God, we find ourselves, instead, taken captive by pain, invaded by anxieties, or distracted by trivialities

Ø  Our faith reminds us that there is healing to be found in Jesus, but for some reason we are blocked

Ø  The juices, the grace, simply doesn’t want to flow

Barrier Removal ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ø  The unnamed woman in today’s Gospel was separated from Jesus by the crowd, but she came and she touched the hem of his tunic and is saved

Ø  The 12-year old girl is separated first by distance and then by death, but Jesus comes to her

Ø  He touches, and she is saved

Ø  The faith of the woman is strong enough to break thru barriers and taboos in order to find healing

Ø  And the faith of the girl’s father is strong enough and humble enough to seek a higher help when no human hope remains

CONTACT & THE FLOW OF GRACE ++++++++++++++++

Ø  From both stories we learn the necessity to be proactive in reaching out to God when life is difficulty

Ø  We need to take action and not allow ourselves to be discouraged by the difficulty of making contact

Ø  Let words of Jesus continue to echo in our hearts

Ø  “Do not be afraid, just have faith”

Ø  It is faith that will see us through any crisis

Ø  If we are wise, however, we will not wait for a crisis to bring our faith into action

Ø  If we are wise we will allow faith to form everything we do, gradually becoming more conscious of God’s kindly presence in our daily lives

CONCLUSION +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ø  Feeding our faith on the habit of daily prayerful presence will assure us of having the grace at hand when we need it most 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++