For God All is Possible

Tuesday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

By Beth DeCristofaro

Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the Kingdom of God.”  When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and said, “Who then can be saved?”  Jesus looked at them and said, “but for God all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:24-26)

Piety

Thank you for the new day.
Thank you for this work.
Thank you for this family.
Thank you for our daily bread.
Thank you for this storm and the moisture it brings to a parched earth.
Thank you for the corrections that bring me to growth.
Thank you for the bank of crown vetch that brings color to the hillside.
Thank you for pets that bind us to nature.
Thank you for the necessities that keep me aware of your bounty in my life.

(Joan Chittister, from The Breath of the Soul: Reflections on Prayer, Twenty-Third Publications)

Study

Recently I heard Bro. David Steindl-Rast, Benedictine monk , give a TED talk on how to be grateful.  He speaks and teaches about gratefulness, saying that an attitude of gratefulness, a heart full of gratitude, can be the source of joy and communion with the world and others which surmounts tragedy, cruelty, want, divisions.  Sr. Joan Chittister teaches that gratitude is the basic element of real belief in God.  In proclaiming our gratitude we realize that …for men (saving ourselves) is impossible… but that all we are and all we have come from the hands of God.

Bro. David’s talk made me think of the Cursillo approach.  Br. David says that being grateful is as easy as learning to cross the street.  Just as your mother or father told you many years ago, when you come to a street you need to slow down and “Stop, Look, Go.”  We can apply this to a moment of decision, a place of sadness or even waking and going to bed when you can take a moment to take stock.  You look at the place you are and the abundance of life.  Now you go forward, grateful and accompanied by the sure knowledge of the abundance of God within you.

In Cursillo terms I see Stop or Piety: Reconnect with God our Giver of Life.  Place yourself in the moment with Jesus.   Look and Study: What in this moment is God giving to me? Where is Jesus in this moment?  For example: Is this an instance of learning about the world or myself?  A chance to reprioritize?  An opportunity to build community?  An occasion to just be.  Then “Go!” or Action:  In what way will I shine God’s light in this moment?”    For God all things are possible.  And God is for us in all ways, at all times.

Action

Each moment is pregnant with possibility.  “Stop, Look and Go” helps me remember that each moment is there for God to work in my life and in the world.  How aware am I?  Do I keep my God close in the moment or relegate Jesus to Sunday mornings or inside of church?  Today at each dangerous curb, each seemingly insurmountable cliff and even each green valley stretched ahead,  “Stop” “Look” and “Go” deliberately with God.  In what way will I share my abundance with another today?  If you’d like, listen to Bro. David:

https://www.ted.com/talks/david_steindl_rast_want_to_be_happy_be_grateful