Reflection for the Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

In today’s first reading from the First Book of Kings (3:5,7-12) Solomon, the son of King David, is in conversation with God. He has just been crowned King, and God asks him what he would like from God as he begins his reign. Solomon first describes his sense of inadequacy to rule the people of his kingdom in the Name of God, then asks for one thing: an understanding heart.

Would that we all would ask God for an understanding heart from time to time. How beautiful our world would be if we could see into the heart of the other in all things, realizing that there is more to the story than meets the eye. If only we could look into ourselves when we are tempted to complain about another’s faults, remembering that we are guilty of our own transgressions, perhaps far worse than those we see in others. How much grief we would save ourselves and others if, when we become irritated with the frequent failings of a loved one, we could recall our own struggles to be good, to be holy, to avoid all that is unholy, and how often we fail. How much angst we would avoid, if, instead of judging others for not measuring up to our standards, we looked with understanding at them as we realize we can’t even measure up to our own standards.

What personal freedom would be ours if, when we fail Our Lord even after a hundred resolutions to be faithful, we could call to mind with understanding that we are beautiful in His eyes. In the Liturgy of the Hours for Friday, Week IV at Mid-Afternoon Prayer, the Church places these words on our lips:

Look on us, O strong Protector,

And see the face of Your Christ.

If God can do that for us, surely we can do that for others–see the face of Christ in them.

Let us pray,

Father, grant us a heart to love, a heart to serve, a heart to understand.

God bless you.