How often have we expected to God to respond in our time and according to our demands? Have we ever thought that we know what God should be doing? Here’s today’s reflection from Mass
Readings for Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Easter here
I am sure all of us, at times, enjoy having our emotions manipulated when we sit down to watch a suspenseful film or drama. Perhaps we get drawn into a box set and as soon as one episode finishes, we quickly flick through the credits to get to the next. Or perhaps, you are a cushion hugger, waiting for something to happen, or for the final dramatic conclusion to be revealed. We can cope with these emotions when it comes to entertainment. In real life, of course, it’s quite different, particularly if we are in suspense over something that really affects us.
In the gospel reading, the listeners of Jesus are certainly in that place of suspense. Their own words tell us so. “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” As Jesus walks in the temple, the winer chill on his back, he insists that he has already told them and that all the works he has done bear witness to this. Those who belong to him, his sheep as he calls them, already believe. As for the ones who are left in suspense, they are a long way off from that place of believing.
Sometimes, we may be in that place where we wish God would reveal himself more quickly, and more clearly. That he would do something and do it sooner rather than later. We can be full of advice for God, believing that we know what he should do. But God neither needs or wants our advice. If we remain close to Jesus and learn to recognise his voice in the clamour and noise of the world and of our own lives, then we will see the works that he is already doing. Rowan Williams describes the mission of the church as being involved in what God is doing in the world – that means first believing that is already doing something, alive and active.
Mass today is in S Mary’s Church at 630pm.
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