Friday – 29^th Week in Ordinary Time

Gospel – Luke 12:54-59 

The Sign of the Times

Stormy Weather, Mt Carmel

 

Instructions for your own personal ‘weather rock’

If the rock is wet, it's raining.

If the rock is swinging, the wind is blowing.

If the rock casts a shadow, the sun is shining.

If the rock does not cast a shadow and is not wet, the sky is cloudy.

If the rock is difficult to see, it is foggy.

If the rock is white, it is snowing.

If the rock is coated with ice, there is a frost.

If the ice is thick, it's a heavy frost.

If the rock is bouncing, there is an earthquake.

If the rock is under water, there is a flood.

If the rock is warm, it is sunny.

If the rock is missing, there was a tornado.

If the rock is wet and swinging violently, there is a hurricane.

If the rock can be felt but not seen, it is nighttime.

If the rock has white splats on it, watch out for birds!!

If the rock Is full of sand, It’s most likely the beach

All throughout my high school years at Father Judge Mission Seminary in Monroe Virginia, there was one thing we could always count on – the weather!  We knew when it was going to rain or snow or when it would cloud over.  We could see the change in weather coming over the mountain behind the seminary.  It really was an awesome sight to see the rain/snow slowly make its way down the slopes of Tobacco Row Mountain and know what weather was in store for the day. And I must admit, sitting here in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains, that same image presents itself – the rains coming over the mountain and the fog rolling down the hills towards our home.  (Sadly, that also means an uptick in traffic accidents. Like early Wednesday morning, when, in a heavy fog, a car ran off the road down below our house, a rollover a couple of weeks ago and another car with a blowout last night!)  Sheesh!  Tis the season?

Jesus talks a lot about the weather today as a way of exposing the hypocrisy of the Pharisees.  He criticizes the people for not reading the signs of the times.  Yes, you can read the signs in the sky and know if we’re going to have good or bad weather.  But you’re missing the real signs, the signs from God!

Unfortunately, we can get so caught up in the mundane, the forecast for the day, that we lose sight of the spiritual signs in our life. We worry about our health and that of our elderly parents and friends.  We stress over our finances, whether we can stretch our depleted income to cover higher costs of food and expenses. So much worry!  So focused on the here and now, on the physical, cultural and economic side and rightly so!

But what about the spiritual side?  Are we losing sight of that?

Take some time today – step aside from the cares of this world and place those concerns into the hands of the Father.  No matter what the weather (in life or in our hearts), none of us walk this life alone.  Great Spirit, walk with me today.  Remind me of your constant presence and guidance as I face this new day and its constant worries.