It was a Sunday afternoon, just after 4PM. My youngest daughter, Rosemarie, and I were in the living room alone. Seeing that she was happy, I went to get my Breviary to offer Evening Prayer. Rosemarie saw me get my book and immediately walked over to her wood crate of books in the corner. Grabbing one, she came over and sat on my lap. At this point, I viewed the situation as a “win-win”. She had her book open and I had my Evening Prayer. However, as I started to say the prayers, my daughter very quickly realized that the words I was speaking, did not match what the animals in her book would be saying! So she very gently reached her right hand up to my cheek and pulled my face toward her book. At that point, I read a page or two from her book and then went back to my Evening Prayer. At which point, I again, felt her tiny hand touch my cheek and pull me back toward her book. From that point on, we finished her book…and I concluded my Evening Prayers later.

 

It was actually a very sweet and humorous moment. And it occurred to me, that this is how our Lord often speaks to us isn’t it? How often, He gently pulls our attention to where it needs to be. In that moment, as important as Evening Prayer is, my young daughter deserved my attention focused on her. Consider how easy it is for us to become fixated on this problem, that challenge, or that crisis.

I suppose I could spend my time focused on our Diocesan bankruptcy, our churches that have too many empty pews, our lack of priestly vocations, lack of young people, etc.

 

Or I can focus on our Lord who promised to be with us until the end of time. Where is the Lord’s hand gently pulling my gaze?

 

And to be fair this is not to ignore the very real and substantial challenges that are present, but acknowledging that those challenges can only be faced and solved in Christ. Where does the Lord want me to put my gaze? Nowhere in the Scriptures will you read a command to “solve the world’s problems” or a command to “be consumed with worry” or to “catalog all the problems”. Instead we see Jesus draw us to Himself, “do this in memory of me”, “love one another as I have loved you”, and finally “be not afraid.”

 

A few years ago, the Diocese gave our parish staffs and ministers throughout the Vermont a 4×6 magnet with an image of the monstrance that said “Fix your eyes on Jesus.” That magnet is still attached to the file cabinet across from the desk in my office.

 

What happened when Peter kept his eyes on Jesus? He walked on water (Mt 14: 29-31). What happened when the Samaritan woman at the well focused on Jesus? She walked away changed, no longer bound by her previous problems. When we fix our eyes on Jesus, we too find hope and the ability to overcome our problems.

 

Over the years, I have collected comments from children related to the experience of love. Consider the following from a young girl, Cindy, age 8:

“During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn’t scared anymore.”

 

The Lord not only gently pulls our gaze toward Him, but He also turns His loving and encouraging gaze toward us.

 

I’ve found myself being reminded of that Sunday afternoon with my daughter regularly over these past few months, especially when I find myself being drawn down into being consumed by this or that challenging situation. And in response, I feel that gentle hand, reach up and pull my gaze away from those things and toward the One who is Love and who offers Hope. And in that gaze and the love that He has for us, we can certainly “Rejoice in Hope.”