Reflection for January 10
Iya, age 8
At times when I feel lonely or in need of reassurance, I visit Holy Family’s labyrinth. On these walks, I often enjoy looking at objects others have left on the circular sculpture at the center. One day, I found a handwritten message: “Solo a Dios/clamale y te oyera/buscalo y lo encontraras/pidele y te clara” or “Only to God/call out and He will hear you/seek Him and you will find Him/ask Him and He will make it clear to you.” A similar message appears in the first few lines of today’s reading.
I took a photo of the note and added it to my collection of quotes from scriptures that ask us how we define faith — faith in ourselves, others, and in God, and how we come to know these delineations. That question appears again and again to me, in other languages, written or spoken, in the gestures of everyday life — and the idea that whether we feel joy, or we suffer, or even when we feel our greatest despair, that God continues to wake us up every morning according to His will and reason.
It is up to us to interpret a message or a sign according to God’s will. I returned to visit Brazil some months ago. I opened the curtain to the sole window in the room I was staying in and was shocked to find a view of the church’s roof next door. On top was a cross, which overlooked the sea. It was stained with dirt from the elements, like the water and wind, and birds sat on its arms. To others, this might have been a coincidence (or expected in a Catholic country) — but to me, it was a message that the trip I had so eagerly been waiting for was in part because of Him, and for that reason, it was blessed.
Though I may not always think consciously of it, every day I am asked to question my relationship with God — what do I ask for from Him, and what am I given without needing to ask? Does it all come from Him?
Angela Siew