Daily Gospel Reflection for June 11, 2019

Today's Gospel: Matthew 5:13-16 - Memorial of St. Barnabas, apostle Do you ever get that feeling in a particular season of life that nothing is quite as it should be? No catastrophes are erupting, but grey, flavorless mediocrity surrounds you in an isolating fog. Small things become big, big things become tear-inducing, and suddenly you're longing to play hooky from...everything?...for a day or five. We are meant to be the salt of the earth. But oh, how often do we lose that flavor? We become entrenched in daily mud, rather than walking gladly upon the road we have been set upon. Allowing ourselves to lose our flavor, or stifling our light under a bushel -- I'm not singing the VBS song, you are -- is implied to be something like the lukewarmness Christ mentions and threatens in another passage. But then, the opposite of love isn't hatred; hatred at least requires some passion, some focus. Apathy is the true enemy of love. To simply stop caring, to turn up the music so we don't hear His call, to trick ourselves into escaping from God in the fog of routine: that's when we become flavorless, useless salt. But as a friend reminded me recently, even in the mud and under the basket, Christ loves us. There's no apathy, no fog of routine that can hinder the blazing fire of His Sacred Heart. He is waiting for us in every dreary, frustrating moment -- for the creator of salt can restore our flavor, and He who lit the first stars can rekindle our wick.

Ponder:

As you go about the day, whether it's tackling a catastrophe or walking the same old beat, take one moment at least to pause and find Him who loves you in that moment.

Pray:

My God, creator and lover of my soul, I fear losing the flavor You have instilled in me. Teach me to find You and love You in every waking moment, and preserve me from the apathy that keeps me separated from You.