Reflections from the Heart – July 11, 2021

Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
by Fr. Ivan Olmo

“I will hear what God proclaims; for he proclaims peace.”  My spirit throughout the day is on a constant mission of God’s love. It is on a perpetual pursuit of the sacredness with an ever-increasing expectation for the divine, constantly seeking the face of God in hope and in great anticipation, praying to be in his Holy presence, longing to hear his voice in the depths of my heart, in the silence of my soul, in the stillness of the night. I long for God throughout the day. I long for his presence all the time. I long for his peace always. God’s peace is the peace that no one else can give.  The perfect peace that cannot be found anywhere else.  The everlasting peace that brings us true and everlasting freedom and fills us with the immensity of joy.  The peace that is the ultimate and firm desire of the soul.  What our hearts weep for the most.  The state of mind we seriously need and hope to be in. The aching pain we pray to one day achieve. Peace, Peace, Peace Always. The challenge for peace is the constant attack of the distraction throughout the day. It is a relentless pursuit to distract us from our mission, from our hopes, from our destiny by confusing us with lies, by luring us away from the Truth, by pulling us away from God. Distraction wants our attention.  He wants to consume all our time.  Every second, every moment. Distraction is selfish that way. He doesn’t care about us, about you, about me.  Distraction just doesn’t care. He just wants to consume all our time, every moment of it,  without concern or hesitation.  Distraction is so envious when all the attention is not on him. He is envious of our love for God. He is upset with our call to discipleship, to friendship, to love. He is not happy with our desire for holiness or our commitment to ministry or our love for God or prayer. Distraction would do or say anything to get our attention, all of it, every second, every moment and draw us away from God. He causes us to look away, to look elsewhere for happiness. He steals us away from the peace we were created for and long for by directing our attention away from the presence of God. When you hear Distraction call, simply say, “I will hear what God proclaims; for he proclaims peace.”