Expectations for God

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today bring us into contact with our tendency to want God to be according to our expectations. We miss the irony that the One from whom we often seek extra human evidence of His existence is expected to adhere to human direction. The tone of the psalmist and some of the Prophets to present God with the argument that His intervention is necessary to demonstrate to the godless the reality of the God of Israel seems to border on irreverent. The healing of the Syrian, Naamen, in the episode from the Second Book of Kings reveals the danger of our self image becoming an obstacle to receiving life from God. We often dismiss opportunities which arise and attract us for a moment as not suitable for our attention because they don’t fit our image of where we are in our spiritual journey. We set them aside as too simple, too complicated, too intense, too frivolous, too early, too late... Our disposition sets the environment in which we are prepared to hear and react. The prayer of seekers for humility and vulnerability sets our encounter with the Divine in a direction of openness to change. Moving toward less of self allows us to begin to see the light and truth praised by the psalmist which leads us to the dwelling place of God. The Gospel from Luke concludes the scene in the synagogue of Nazareth where Jesus attracts and captures the attention of the people with His message of the graciousness of God and the authority with which He presents the Word, yet the openness to see Him as the fulfillment of the Promise is a “bridge too far” for the believers in His home town. Why can’t we see? This is the rearrangement of the question we naturally have for the people of Nazareth so that we might reflect on our own disposition for revelation of Truth.