Daily Retreat 02/04/06

2006 Feb 4 Sat: Ordinary Weekday/ BVM

1 Kgs 3: 4-13/ Ps 119: 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14/ Mk 6: 30-34

From today’s readings: "Give Your servant, therefore, an understanding heart to judge Your people and to distinguish right from wrong.... Lord, teach me Your statutes.... When Jesus disembarked and saw the vast crowd, His heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things. "

The Wisest Prayer

It’s common to ask for many things in our prayers: health, peace, reconciliation, strength, inspiration, etc. It is good, of course, to turn to our loving Father with these and all our needs, yet isn’t it strange how seldom you and I remember to raise Solomon’s humble petition, so warmly welcomed and overwhelmingly answered by God?

Solomon asked God to "give Your servant, therefore, an understanding heart to judge Your people and to distinguish right from wrong...." Few of us have been called by God to serve as a judge, so the first part of his petition wouldn’t necessarily apply directly to us (although we certainly can pray for this blessing for our judges and other politicians!); however, all of us can and should pray for an understanding heart to distinguish right from wrong in our own lives!

Admittedly, making the best moral choices is not easy. At times, we get sucked into sin so fast simply because our conscience is caught sleeping. Other times, because of our own moral laziness and, at times, failure on the part of our teachers, our consciences has not been adequately formed to guide us safely through moral dilemmas. Then too, the allure of sin wins when we whine with excuses to rationalize our daily compromises with sin. All this reminds you and me of our need to take advantage of our Church’s moral guidance as we pray daily that wisest prayer: "Give Your servant, therefore, an understanding heart ... to distinguish right from wrong!"