SATURDAY, May 16

The scriptures encourage us and give us hope when we come to know them so well that they infuse our minds and we see the events of our time as the biblical authors saw the events of theirs. We do this not by finding scripture passages to settle the hot-button issues (it is possible to find isolated scripture verses to support anything), but by recognizing and responding to the presence of God in the world about us, as the biblical authors did--in the newspaper and on television, in the faces of little children and of our family and co-workers, in the school lunchroom and at the supper table, in the noise of the street and the subway, in the hospital room and the prison cellblock.

Recognizing and responding to God is not always soothing. Sometimes God challenges and shakes us, raises questions we cannot answer, puts us with people we don't know and would rather not know. But it is God we follow, not our own wishes and whims. Living in response to the God of the scriptures, though often unsettling, brings encouragement that endures, and hope that never fades.

PRAY for the Diocese of Norwich (Canterbury, England)

Ps 75, 76 * 23, 27; Wisdom 19:1-8, 18-22; Luke 9:1-17

View the daily Lectionary Readings at Satucket.com.
Or view the Bible passages at Biblegateway.com.