Integrity, focus, an open mind, even a “tasty” heart — in today’s gospel Jesus invites us to measure our attitudes and actions with these time-honored life qualities.  But then the messiness of life and its relationships enters, and I lose focus as my heart becomes divided, even parched.  And so I begin to drift and my relationships suffer…especially those relationships I hold most dear. Here is where today’s reminder from the book of Sirach can help: “Delay not your conversion to the Lord, put it not off from day to day.”

What is one step I can take today to turn my life back to my God?  To whom do I need to apologize or make amends?  Which Pentecost gifts might anchor my heart anew as “ordinary time” begins?   Go for it!

—The Jesuit Prayer Team