His Word Today: Our common home

Good morning everyone,

In today's reading from the second book of Samuel, we hear about a vision that was granted to Nathan.  He was asked to share the details of this vision with King David.  Remember, David had brought the ark to Jerusalem and now he wanted to build a house of cedar (a precious commodity) for God to live in.  In David's mind, this was an act of homage, but God is much bigger than any building.   In his vision, God tells Nathan to inform David of his question:  Should you build me a house to dwell in?  I have not dwelt in a house from the day on which I led the children of Israel out of Egypt to the present (2 Sam 7:5-6).

Far too often, we try to build a house for God to dwell in.  We think that we can define limits for God, but that's the wonder of being in a relationship with a living God: our God is much bigger than any limits that we might try to define.

Instead of thinking of God as someone who can be limited, let's try today to think of God as the sower who constantly goes out to sow seed (cf Mk 4:3).  He throws the seed with amazing generosity and seems to pay little attention to where it lands - some seed fell on the path ... other seed fell on rocky ground ... some seed fell among thorns ... and some seed fell on rich soil (cf Mk 4:4-8).  In reality, our God is exceedingly attentive to every detail.  He cares for every detail of our existence, providing a home for us to live in (cf Encyclical Letter, Laudato Si'), a place where we can flourish and discover the depth of his love for us.

Today, the Church celebrates the liturgical memorial of Saint Francis de Sales, a venerated Bishop who lived in the sixteenth and seventeenth century.  Most noted for his deep faith and gentle approach to the religious divisions - resulting from the Protestant Reformation - in his native France and in Switzerland where he served as Shepherd of the Diocese of Genève (now known as the Diocese of Lausanne et Genève), he was also known for his writings on the topic of spiritual direction.  Saint Francis de Sales was well aware of the need to attentively care for the relationship that each of us is called to cultivate with our loving God and the care that our loving Father extends to each one of us.

Have a great day.