Do I recognize God’s healing power in my life when I am in need or troubled, or like the lame man at the Beautiful Gate and the couple traveling from Jerusalem to Emmaus, am I not seeing what is in front of me? One smiles at times when what one most needs one cannot see at first, e.g., misplaced eyeglasses that you already are wearing or lost car keys that already are in your purse. God is persistent with us, however, as seen in Jesus explaining the Scriptures and Peter and John saying, “Look at us,” when at first we miss God’s presence. The Emmaus-bound disciples are inspired and the lame man is healed once they recognize God before them.
We may have a shopping list of needs to give God, or maybe we have one particular, especially vital need that we hope will gain God’s attention, whichever it is today’s Scripture helps us to train our attention on being alert and listening and watching for God’s response.
Seek and you will find … God!
—Fr. Chris Manahan, S.J. is Associate Novice Director at the Jesuit Novitiate of St. Alberto Hurtado, St. Paul MN.