A woman in need of help saw a row of cars parked at a church at noontime. Hoping that someone there might be able to help, she went inside and found a group gathered in a small meeting room. She asked if the church might be handing out food, but she was told that she had come on the wrong day. This was the weekly midday Scripture study group. The food pantry would be open next week.
The woman was embarrassed for interrupting the Bible study, but said her family needed food that day, not next week. The parishioners apologized and said that she would simply have to wait until the twice-monthly food giveaway came around again. With a look of disappointment, the woman backed out of the church door and walked away empty-handed.
That’s when the group was interrupted a second time – but this time, the interruption was transformative rather than intrusive. Several participants got up from their chairs and followed the woman out the door. They did their best to meet her needs from their own resources. A couple of the women even offered to give her a ride to the grocery store and then back to her home with the food they had helped her purchase for her family.
In that interrupted Scripture study, the group was able to hear in the distressed woman’s voice more than a plea for food. They heard God’s invitation to partner in the work of making whole again the world that God loves so much.
The Spirit of Truth, manifests itself in our lives in ways so ordinary that we barely notice. God interrupts our lives in different voices and people and circumstances.
The significant moments in our lives are moments of grace. God intervenes in our lives when we least expect it. God upsets our routines to make us sit up and notice.
The Gospel is telling us today that we need to be alert to the voice of God in the many different ways that He may speak to us. These moments may not be highly dramatic.
When something unexpected happens in your life, stop and ask yourself. What is happening here? Why this? Why at this time? What is the meaning of this opportunity? What is God trying to tell me? What does God want me to do with this opportunity?