This article was originally shared with our email subscribers as part of the Marian Mondays Series, a weekly reflection on the mysteries of the rosary by Jonathan Conrad, owner and founder of The Catholic Woodworker.
During a group bible study last week, my friends and I talked about how the more you invest in your relationship with God, the more He reveals himself to you.
This has certainly been true in my life recently. The last few months especially I’ve struggled with prayer. I’d just been going through the motions and felt disconnected from God.
But now as I’m spending more time in sacred scripture, thanks in part to this bible study, I find myself thinking about God more. Not surprisingly, I’m talking to Him more and am more receptive to His promptings too.
This all reminds me of the Birth of Jesus, our Joyful Mystery for this week, and how important it is to seek Him where He is in scripture and in the Eucharist.
In the Gospel of Luke we hear how Jesus, the King of the Universe, was born in the outskirts of Bethlehem in a cave and yet no one knew.
The angels appeared to the shepherds and they alone went to see Jesus.
Meanwhile, the rest of Bethlehem was busy preparing for the census and had no idea that the Savior was among them in this remote corner of the world.
As I move through my week, I want to be more like the shepherds and to go out of my way to seek Jesus in my own life and in the Eucharist instead of being too busy to notice Him.
Because when I do that, I find that the things that are of God become clearer. And the things that aren’t of Him, that are just distractions, get put in their proper place too.
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