Looking Deeper For God

 Reflection on Today's Readings, Friday of 9th Week of Ordinary Time, Year 1,June 4th, 2021
Texts: Tobit 11:5-15; Ps. 146:1-2.6-10; Mark 12:35-37
Many a time we fail to look deeper; we fail to recognise the presence of God. God reveals Himself to us, but we often take Him for another. He speaks to us but we take His voice for another's. He works with us and yet we do not acknowledge Him. He acts and acts and yet we fail to recognise Him for who He is. We take Him for another because we do not look deeper. This brings to mind the words of St. Augustine: "For behold you were within me, and I outside; and I sought you outside  and my ugliness fell upon those lovely things that you have made. You were with me and I was not with you. I was kept from you by those things, yet had they not been in you, they would not have been at all. You called and cried to me and broke open my deafness" (Office of the Reading p. 121). To break open our deafness, today He says, “How can the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David? David himself, inspired by the Holy Spirit, declared, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, till I put your enemies under your feet.’ David himself calls him Lord; so how is he his son?” In these words, He opens our eyes to recognise Him as God, He opens our ears to hear the divine voice in Him, He opens our minds to understand the Scripture.
Today's first reading tells the story of the companionship of angel Raphael with Tobias and the healing of Tobit's blindness. Tobias journeyed with angel and did not recognise him, he walked with him and yet did not recognise him, he spoke with him and yet he took him for man, he drove out evil spirit and yet he did not see him as an angel of God. Today he healed his father's blindness and yet could not see anything divine in him. Today's psalm says, "It is the Lord who opens the eyes of the blind". Let us look a little deeper, we will see God; He is with us. We are not alone in our life journey and journey of faith. He is present with us in number of ways we can never imagine.
Today's psalm reminds us that God is present with the oppressed, He is present with the hungry, He is present with prisoners. He abides with the humble, with the just, with the orphans and with the strangers. Are you oppressed? See Him close to you. Are you hungry? See Him with you. Are  you in prison? He is there with you. If you are humble, be sure of His presence; if you are just, be sure He is there with you. We just have to avoid wickedness if we want Him to be with us; for He thwarts the path of the wicked. Tobit, in today's first reading, reaped the fruits of be just; his eyes are opened. It pays to be just. Be just, be humble and enjoy the presence of God.

Come Holy Spirit and open our eyes to recognise You, open our ears to hear You and open our minds to understand the Scripture. Amen.

Fr. Andrew Olowomuke