Yesterday we reflected on some of the difficult relationships in our lives. Today let us take a moment to reflect on the times when our relationship with God has encountered difficulties.
Sin is a rupturing of our relationship with
God, others and creation. It is when we let fear and selfishness take centre stage in our decision-making that we close the door to love.
Sometimes we feel like God has abandoned us. Many of us felt this way during the Covid-19 pandemic. It is tempting to feel this way every time we open up the news: new Covid-19 variants, the war in Ukraine, higher petrol prices,
load shedding! Sometimes it feels like we have abandoned God, especially when we become aware of our sinfulness. Sometimes it just feels like our relationship with God is in tatters or even just non-existent: the precious coin that is our relationship with God, is lost.
Take a moment to reflect on these times when your relationship with God has gone through a rough
patch. Did you feel that God had abandoned you? Did you feel that you had abandoned God? When has fear or selfishness robbed you of your care for others or made you forget your responsibility for creation? How did you feel in these moments? Talk to God about these experiences.
Thankfully, God is like that lady who had lost her silver coin: God sets out in search of
us, turns the lights on and sweeps up the house, searching. When we turn to God in prayer, we find that God is already there looking for us. Prayer lights a lamp that helps us to see ourselves more clearly. In prayer, we can sweep up our hearts and, with God, search for the precious coin of closeness to him.
Today let us pray for the grace of a renewed
relationship with God, confident that God is already there searching for us.
