Acts 17:15,22-18:1 / Jn 16:12-15
As we listen to St. Paul speaking to the citizens of Athens, we can recognize something of ourselves mirrored in them. They were groping for God, trying to discover not only where he was and but what were his plans and desires for them. But they were missing a lot of cues that were right under their noses. We certainly know about that!
Part of their mistake, and ours as well, was to look for God far away in the skies or near at hand in things of their own making. What they missed was God’s abiding presence within every human being, giving us life and breath, and whispering to us all that is good and true.
The first Soviet cosmonaut to orbit the earth returned with the triumphant announcement that he had looked most carefully around the skies and could verify that God was not there! Don’t let your quest for God get derailed in so foolish a way. Look inward, be still, and listen. He is there, and if you give him your full attention, he will speak.
