because even thirsty and hungry, I still resist

“Like the deer that yearns for running streams, so my soul is yearning for you, my God.

My soul is thirsting for God, the living God; when can I enter and appear before the face of God?”

~psalm 42

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“How quick we are to forget God’s faithfulness. we say we only have one loaf of bread, but remember that Jesus multiplied just a few loaves and fed thousands, with baskets of leftovers remaining.

God has been faithful in the past. God will be faithful again. Don’t let the leaven of forgetfulness grow in your heart. Just remember.”

~Fr. Michael Peterson, OSB

reflection for February 13, 2018, Give us This Day

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“Be mine, maría”

I am alone in the small second floor rectory chapel.

I sit with eyes fixed on the small crucifix hanging above the altar. Outside, the rumbles of city construction remind me, I’m not in Oklahoma any more.

I came before the Blessed Sacrament to offer not only my talk – an evening presentation I’m giving to college students on our beloved Blessed Stanley Rother – but also to offer myself.

Not my words, but yours.

Not my will, but yours.

Not myself, but you, Lord.

Señor mio y Dios mio.

“Be mine, maría”

Yes, Lord. I see you.

I want you.

Grant me the grace to choose you

above all else,

above everyone else.

“Be. Mine. María”

This time my reply is silence.

I bow my head in reverence, but also humility, realizing there are no less than six versions of the 1^st person pronoun in my brief prayer response to God.

I close my eyes and see my Lord’s open arms, stretched on the cross, and I drop to my knees. 

My be-ing loved beyond measure.

“ Be *MINE* ”

“Be mine, maría”