Finding God in Quiet Moments

Homily for Thursday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time

In an essay written by Joan Howard, she recounts the years when she was occupied caring for five children whose births spanned eight years. She remembers the many demands that they made on her attention, demands that included tying a shoe, wiping a runny nose, reading a bedtime story, helping with homework, and a myriad of other tasks.

She also recounts how one day she found herself talking to God as she was hanging the laundry out on the lines in the backyard. She said to God, “God, you made a big mistake here. I should be working with Mother Teresa caring for the poor and dying, not attending to the petty needs of five little children.” Of course, she came to realize that her life of satisfying the needs of her children was just as important as that of Mother Teresa who cared for the poor and dying. She fondly refers to the years of her children begging her for attention as the “reign of holy chaos.”

In the midst of all the chaos, she would look for times throughout the day when her thoughts could turn to God. She found a sense of peace and calm hanging out the wash. She also found that peace and calm while washing the dishes. She jokes that as soon as one of her children would come to her while she was washing the dishes, they would immediately make a U-turn. Doing the dishes was not one of their favorite tasks.

Reflecting on the quiet moments of her day, she compared herself to Jesus in today’s Gospel text. The crowd pressed upon Jesus seeking healing of their many diseases, both physical and mental. He sought refuge in a boat. His disciples had been fishermen so boats were readily available to him.

Toward the end of her essay, she wrote, “It took me years to appreciate that prayer can be my unspoken and unrecognized desire for God. Prayer was the gentle, comforting, refreshing presence of Jesus experienced in the chaos of my daily life.  Every day when my husband got home from work he asked, “What exciting happened today?”   Something really exciting had happen that and every day. However, I did not often recognize it.

Like the crowds in today’s Gospel text, she was also in need of healing from Jesus. Gradually she began to realize that the healing presence of Jesus was present in the quiet moments of hanging the laundry or of doing the dishes. She looked back on those days with fondness and a sense of God’s presence in her life.

God is present with us in the ordinary, simple tasks that fill our day. We need not look much further defined the Lord in quiet moments well we are busy with tasks that take nothing but our hands. It is in those moments that our minds can turn to the Lord and find his healing presence.

Each day as we receive communion, we pray, “Lord, I am not worthy that you should come under my roof. Say but the word and my soul will be healed.” It is at this moment in the Eucharist when we, like the people in today’s Gospel, come to Jesus for healing of body and soul. God is always there hiding behind the many mundane tasks that we perform every day.