Pieces of advice to ponder in prayer

September 2, 2007 -- 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

By Bishop Robert Morneau

	Bishop Robert Morneau
	Questions for reflection: 1. What is the greatest advice that you have received on your journey of faith? 2. What is the greatest advice that you have offered to others? 3. How many days have you spent in the desert?

The giving and receiving of advice are part and parcel of human life. As recipients, we turn to our elders to seek their wisdom and counsel; as teachers, we share our learnings with our children and friends. Even the advice offered that demands change and even when the advice shared is not appreciated, we must never sell short the importance of "the grace of advice."

And when that advice comes through God's word, we must be especially attentive. In our readings for this Sunday we are given advice from Sirach, the letter to the Hebrews, and Jesus Himself. Listen attentively; conduct your affairs with humility; don't seek things too sublime; appreciate the proverbs of the sages; give an attentive ear to a wise person's joy; draw near to Mount Zion, God's living city; do not sit in places of honor at wedding banquets; invite the "uninvited" to your home for a meal; and the list goes on.

Here are some related pieces of advice that we might take to prayer and see in them the working of grace:

1. "Expose yourself to feel what wretches feel" (William Shakespeare's "King Lear," III, iv, 34). Jesus was concerned about people who experienced wretched lives. In advising the people to invite to dinner those who were marginalized, He is telling us to have compassion for those who suffer and are in want. Too easily we stay in our comfort zones, tending to just family and friends. Jesus is always pushing us to enlarge our world and to "go where the suffering is." Why? Because He will be found in a special way with those who participate in His cross. By exposing ourselves to the hurt and pain around us, we will encounter the living Christ in a very unique way.

2. "No man can predict when God will visit him, but he can leave the door open" (Ralph Waldo Emerson). In the letter to the Hebrews we are told that Jesus is the mediator of a new covenant. Through the Incarnation, God has visited our earth and changed history forever. We are not dealing here with an untouchable mountain, a blazing fire, or some gloomy darkness. Rather, we are dealing with Jesus who is the light to the nations and glory of the human race. Jesus continues to visit us in the sacraments, in the scriptures, through the community. Our task is to leave the door open and welcome His comings. And those comings are, for the most part, unpredictable and surprising. We must be on the alert.

3. "She welcom'd what was given, and craved no more" (William Wordsworth's "The Prelude"). Sirach advises us to be humble. By craving no more than what is given is a whole way of life. Far too many of us crave for much more than what we need or that is good for us. Our pride is activated in desiring prestige, possessions, and power. A radical acceptance of what is given is an indication of deep faith. God knows what is good for us. Welcoming His will is to know peace.

Having stated the above, I tremble as I listen to the words of Flannery O'Connor: "I am becoming convinced that anybody who gives anybody else any advice ought to spend forty days in the desert both before and after."

(Bp. Morneau is the auxiliary bishop of the Green Bay Diocese and pastor of Resurrection Parish in Allouez.)