St. John Ogilvie, SJ
Matthew 7:7-12
Seeing God at Work in the Timeline of Our Lives
St. Ignatius asks us to look back at our lives and create a timeline of every life stage and phase…good, bad, painful, happy…all of it. I told my spiritual director that I had always felt alone, a misfit longing to belong. At 72, mine is a long line and however I felt at any given moment, I was never alone. However I felt about being ignored by God, when I thought to knock or to ask for help, help was there in unlikely, surprising places.
It is hard for some of us to see the Father as unconditionally loving. Too many slammed doors make knocking seem a waste of time. It took a timeline laid out before me to believe Jesus. “See, Mare? Look!” Helpers were there when I needed them.
Today, make your timeline. See the ways God was with you. Take a breath and then, knock.
—Mary Ann Gessner first encountered Ignatian spirituality through Jesuit Prayer. She completed the 19th Annotation in May 2021 and is now a Chaplaincy Intern at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, NH.
Prayer
Oh, Lord my God,
You called me from the sleep of nothingness
Merely because in your tremendous love
You want to make good and beautiful beings.
You have called me by my name in my mother’s womb.
You have given me breath and light and movement
And walked with me every moment of my existence.
I am amazed, Lord God of the universe,
That you attend to me and, more, cherish me.
Create in me the faithfulness that moves you,
And I will trust you and yearn for you all my days.
Amen
—Joseph Tetlow, SJ