July 7, 2007

Distractions

I rode a New York City bus the other day. It was early in the morning and I was on my way to say Mass at a convent in the Bronx. The bus was full of people on the way to work and school and the streets were alive with activity. I was praying as we rode down the road. I was filled with a beautiful sense of God’s presence and His love for each person on the bus, each person we passed by along the streets.

I love to watch people. Some were listening to their ipod. Some were playing a hand-held video game. Some were reading the newspaper (the bad news). Some were talking on a cell phone. Some were just sitting there with a lifeless blank stare. One lady was reading her Bible. I could almost imagine Jesus walking up and down the bus trying to show His mercy to everyone, yet so many were just unaware, unresponsive and distracted. There are so many distractions in this modern age, so many things that hinder our interior growth. Tune out (of modern distractions) and plug in (to prayer)!

Let us pray for each other,

Fr. Luke Mary Fletcher, CFR

St. Joseph Friary, New York, New York

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