Isaiah
35:1-10; Luke 5:17-26
While
living in Rome I have come to appreciate the roof top gardens of many Italian
homes. Although mostly out of sight from
the general populace, when invited to the terrace of an Italian home, the
beauty of greens and flowers displayed there can be breathtaking. Our own Generalate roof, although not as
manicured as some roof top gardens, is the home of some flowering cacti. They seem to reflect, “The desert … will
exult … will rejoice and bloom.” I had
never realized how many cacti actually do bloom and how very beautiful they can
be.
The
desert is mostly perceived as barren, hot, sandy and unfriendly. But today’s reading portrays the desert as
filled with glory, splendor and having a highway called the “holy way.” The reading gives a new perspective on the
desert.
The reading
from Luke also speaks of a “new perspective.”
Once again we find ourselves on a roof.
The friends of the paralyzed man find that they are unable to enter the
house by a door. So they will find a new
way to approach Jesus, the Healer.
Both
readings present us with an alternative way of thinking: the desert can be a beautiful place if we
look for the beauty. Likewise, a deeper
relationship with Jesus might be found in a new approach to prayer.
Mother
Pauline herself found solace in the image of the desert, when on her investing
day she wrote: “It was He also who
counselled the soul to disdain wealth, earthly affections and the following of
one’s own will—all that, we must trust to Him alone. He will guide us safely through this world
and into eternal bliss. ‘Who is she that
cometh up from the desert, leaning upon her Beloved?’”
Where
in my life must I look more deeply to find beauty and ultimately to find Jesus?
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