Weekly Reflection 7/21/19

Sixteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time

July 20 and 21, 2019

     Preparation, it seems as if we spend our entire lives preparing. We prepare for work, while we’re at work we prepare our projects, we prepare our plans for the weekend and when we finally get home we prepare our meals and the preparations never seem to end. We prepare, prepare and prepare again.

    As I examined my own life, in preparation to do this reflection, I discovered quite ruefully that I’ve done my fair share of preparation and upon further review, it is woefully apparent that when arriving at the moments for which I had prepared, the act never really seems to equal the amount of preparation. I often fret over Thanksgiving Dinner, I plan, read recipes, gather ingredients, spend hours preparing the dinner and after a half hour, its all over and done, with little to show for all my effort.

    In the readings today we are cautioned to not let the preparation be solely the focus of our attention, in so far as it causes us to miss the importance of the actual occasion. In the first reading, the description of Abram’s frantic attempt to provide hospitality, almost makes him miss the fact that his visitors bring a message from God, that will not only change his life but history itself. And Jesus has to scold his hostess Martha about preparing so much that she almost misses the moment of the most important visitor that any human can ever have, namely the presence of The Christ in their lives. So we should heed this important message today and slow down and not miss the forest for the trees, besides it was a message prepared and delivered by Jesus himself.

                                                                                                                                                                                        – Barry Zavislan