The Gospel reading today brings us the reality of what it means to let go of our attachments and desires, to abandon our agenda, and to submit our will to God the Father. We can acknowledge a sadness and loss that we feel when we begin to let go of our addictive attachments and yield to a growing awareness that surrender is the only way we will find peace. We can do this because Jesus laments this reality when He says there is nowhere for Him to rest His head. He is accepting His mission and destiny, modeling for us the attitude to which we must submit and render to God what He desires for our happiness and peace. We can’t help but notice a sadness that accompanies Jesus’ submission and resignation to live out God’s will for Him. For as long as He is on earth, Jesus has no home and is often alone and perhaps even lonely. We can take comfort that our Savior does not ignore the reality of the difficulty and discomfort that can accompany us as we persist in living our lives based on the Twelve Steps and our Catholic faith. Jesus knows we will not always feel good, blessed, and supported in our faith and recovery journey. The sense of being alone, abandoned, and without a home may arise from time to time, despite our 12-step practices that force us out of isolation and require our integration with the world around us. On a very deeply personal level, we will occasionally experience an awareness that we are entirely alone in this world and it is only God who can truly understand us. Jesus gives us the gift of going before us and showing us the way. Let us take heart and look to Him to lead us.

Reflection Questions

• What are some of the losses you experienced in your life as you lived out the recovery definition of “insanity”? What brought you to your “bottom”?
• How do you relate to Jesus’ apparent lamentation of His predicament in today’s Gospel reading?

Daily Mass Readings

First Reading: Genesis 18:16-33
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 103:1b-2, 3-4, 8-9, 10-11
Gospel: Matthew 8:18-22

Reflection by Mark L.