July 14, 2015 Tuesday: St. Kateri Tekakwitha

July 14, 2015 Tuesday: St. Kateri Tekakwitha

Ex 2: 1-15a
Now a man from the house of Levi went and married a Levite woman.The woman conceived and bore a son; and when she saw that he was a fine baby, she hid him three months. When she could hide him no longer she got a papyrus basket for him, and plastered it with bitumen and pitch; she put the child in it and placed it among the reeds on the bank of the river. His sister stood at a distance, to see what would happen to him.

The daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her attendants walked beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her maid to bring it. When she opened it, she saw the child. He was crying, and she took pity on him, “This must be one of the Hebrews’ children,” she said. Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?” Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Yes.”

So the girl went and called the child’s mother. Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child and nurse it for me, and I will give you your wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed it. When the child grew up, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and she took him as her son. She named him Moses, “because,” she said, “I drew him out of the water.”

Where God Invites Me
We all have a daily routine comprising essentials like waking up, preparing for the day, working, eating, and sleeping to begin the cycle anew tomorrow. For some of us, deviating from a routine is either unhealthy, unproductive, and in the worst cases, scary. The application of Ignatius’ revelation that “God is in all things” affirms the goodness of our idiosyncratic routines along with what interrupts them.

Our readings contain stories of people who experienced an interruption from their normal activities. Pharaoh’s daughter was preparing to bathe when she saw the papyrus basket carrying Moses. Despite a return to their regular lives, the townspeople which Jesus mentions must have been originally curious about this itinerant preacher and healer. St. Kateri Tekakwitha, the saint for today, had a decision to either ignore or approach the French Jesuit missionaries who came to her village. God renews each of us through providing for our daily needs in our routines, and by presenting new opportunities to keep our lives fresh with the fragrance of the Gospel.

What is my daily routine? When is the last time I felt God inviting me into something new away from my daily routine? What do I feel God inviting me into currently?

—Dano Kennedy, S.J.

www.jesuitprayer.org

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