Remain in Me

07-25-2021Weekly ReflectionFr. Michael Straley

Deacon James Keating, in a book I was recently reading (Remain in Me), really touched my heart; let me quote a little of his comments on prayer.

“God acts only for the good. God acts only to share himseld as Love, namely, Jesus Christ. We are invited to respond to this revelation of live by allowing God to act in our lives. In welcoming the divine love, we become what Love summons us to become: adopted sons (and daughters) of God sharing in his happiness.”

Later he writes, “Resentment, self-pity, entitlement, or failure of all sorts become sources of anger. We are invited not to get stuck in these sources as our identity, nor in our sins or memories of our sins; such are no who we are. Clings to these attitudes paralyzes our prayer and helps erect a false god who judges us exclusively by failure, a god who we do not want to worship or even go near—the angry rejected God. Instead, the authentic God is always near and hosts us as sons (and daughters). Do not become discouraged. God will cast all our failures to the bottom of the sea. We simply need to keep choosing him over and over so that we may come to emotional rest and remain in him by way of faith, hope, and love.

Yours in Christ,
Fr. Mike