Posted by The WORD in other words (2022) by Sister Yeye Tayson SSpS – Quezon City
Tuesday 6th Week in Ordinary Time
One day during a community meal, a sister said, “You are mabait (good)!” affirming our Indian sister. Because she did not know Tagalog enough, the Indian sister asked what ‘mabait’ meant. A third sister, who caught only the tail of the conversation, exclaimed, “Mabait is another name for mouse,” to the total shock of sister mabait!
Sometimes we ‘miss the point’ or get things wrong when we are distracted or preoccupied, like the disciples in today’s Gospel narrative. Jesus was warning the disciples against the ‘yeast of the Pharisees’ but the disciples, concerned about forgetting to bring bread, thought Jesus was reprimanding them for failing to bring enough provision for their next meal!
Lately, there has been a renewed appreciation of the different prayer practices of mindfulness, perhaps because humanity realizes that we are overly stimulated and intensely distracted. In the exercise of mindfulness, we switch off (distractions like gadgets) in order to tune in to the ever-present Presence.
The (prayer) exercise boosts our awareness of the good and true. It also helps reveal unhealthy predispositions that control us from the hidden place of our unconscious, like the yeast of the Pharisees. We need this soul awareness to appreciate the clues and revelations God litters our life and world with, to help us grasp the gift of life in its fullness.
Come Holy Spirit, grace me with clarity of mind and strength of heart that I may be better disposed to sense you in things and circumstances, in nature, in others, and myself. May I live in you as you in me.
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