Saturday in the Twenty-Seventh Week of Ordinary Time at Mississippi Abbey

Scripture Readings: Gal 3:22-29;  Lk 11:27-28

I just finished giving a week-long retreat on the theme of “The Face of the Father’s Mercy.” The retreatants wanted to “hear the word of God and keep it.” At times they found that to be a struggle. We all do. We commonly call it a “Journey.” Thomas Merton wrote on “The Monastic Journey.” Monastic seniors might agree with what another American author wrote: “We find after years of struggle that we do not take a trip; a trip takes us.” ¹

What St. Bernard of Clairvaux wrote in 84 sermons on the journey, Author John Steinbeck said in one sentence: “A journey is like marriage: The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it.” ²

1. John Steinbeck, Travels with Charley, p.4.

2. Ibid