TUESDAY, FIFTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
Memorial of Saint Scholastica
1 Kgs 8: 22-23, 27-30 Ps 84: 3-5, 10-11 Mk 7: 1-13
GOD LISTENS TO THE PRAYER OF A HUMBLE HEART
Today the church celebrates the memorial of St Scholastica, St Benedict’s sister. She was a woman deeply in love with God and neighbour, a woman who experienced God’s presence within her. Her last meeting with her brother Benedict remains as a great incident which is a profound lesson to all. When St. Benedict after meeting his sister Scholastica wanted to return to the monastery, she prayed earnestly that he might stay with her a little longer to continue their holy conversation about God. God answered her prayer with a sudden storm that prevented Benedict from leaving. This beautiful incident teaches that God listens to the prayer of a heart that is pure, humble, and filled with love.
The first reading elaborates king Solomon dedicating the temple of God. He acknowledges that even the heavens and the earth cannot contain God, for God is Omnipresent and Transcendent yet this same God bends down to heed the prayer of His people Israel by dwelling in the man-made structure. The same God in the New Testament sends his Only Son in a human form. He humbles himself and lives among us: Emmanuel. Further, in the Eucharist He comes to dwell within us. As St Paul says we are the temple of the God, and the spirit of the Lord dwells within us. God’s presence is made tangible and alive in every sacrament. Whenever we receive a sacrament with faith and love, we experience His grace, His closeness and His transformative power.
But to approach God, we need a humble and contrite heart that longs to love Him. Many a time, we become more attached to rubrics, rituals and devotions than, to personal intimate relationship with God. We perform outward practices, yet forget the inner relationship with God that gives those practices meaning. The readings of the day questions us: how do we experience God’s presence? Do we know him personally? Or do we simply follow rituals without a living intimate relationship with Him? Let us learn from St. Scholastica, a woman of deep prayer, pure love and unwavering faith. May we approach God with sincerity and long for his dwelling in us!
Response: How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts!
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