Sitting at the crowded cafe, a voice asks, "Would you mind if I sit here?" I look up. It is a woman, pointing to the empty chair and holding a bag of ice. She tells me that she was in a bank, walked into a glass door and hurt her head. She was told to hold the bag of ice on her head for twenty minutes, but she can't find her watch. I assure here that I will watch the time. We talk about the papers I am grading: homilies from students in a class I teach. I tell her some of the homilies don't seem to have a direction. She says, "It's like life, ain't it? If you don't think about where you want to go, you wind up walking right into the glass doors." At times we are like the Pharisee, focused selfishly on ourselves. Other times we are the tax collector focused only on how bad we are. Standing in either place, we are without direction in our life. We wind up walking into glass doors, and in doing so we lose our way. It is Jesus who sits at the table. He wants us to sit down, because he has the time. He humbly invites us to let him show us the way.
Reflection based on Luke 18:9-14
Monsignor Gregory E.S. Malovetz
Mighty God, help me find my way when I am lost. From
where I stand, let me be humbled by your compassion.
Today's suggested penance: Console someone who is grieving.