Gospel reading: Matthew 11.25-27
At that time Jesus said, ‘I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
Reflections
When I hear the question ‘what is God’s will for your life?’ or read the Suscipe prayer of St Ignatius of Loyola, or even whenever I recite the Lord’s Prayer ‘Your will be done’, I often feel a small knot of anxiety.
I am worried to the point of assuming that God will require of me something unpleasant or difficult bordering on the impossible, which I won’t want to do. Maybe God will even demand crucifixion of me. After all, Jesus says ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.’ (Mark 8.34).
But if I qualify it with the adjective ‘gracious’, then it becomes very different: ‘what is God’s gracious will for my life?’ or ‘Your gracious will be done.’ Suddenly I feel comforted. I trust that I am God’s beloved, that God’s grace is overflowing in its abundance, and that God is pouring it out upon me continually.
God’s gracious will for me is to be in relationship, a relationship of faith, hope and love. And if God ever asks something of me, I can hold on to the assurance that God has my best interests – my flourishing – always at heart, and that God will be right there with me in whatever it might be.
Maybe then one day I will come to the point of being able to pray the Suscipe, or should it ever come to the point, say like Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane: ‘not my will but yours be done’ (Luke 22.42), your gracious will be done.
-oOo-
Since April 2020, I have been jointly hosting a shared Lectio Divina group on Tuesday or Wednesday evenings. These are my reflections only, during the prayer session and as I wrote them up. Please see my separate commentary and leaflet for more information about shared Lectio.