22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time
R. My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.
Written by Megan Ourso
This summer has been a scorcher. I dread getting into my car at the end of the workday and seeing the triple digit temperatures. My Star Wars sunshade can only do so much! Right now we are in a span of time where we are waiting for the rain. The environment around me, I feel, is reflecting what has been happening interiorly the past few weeks.
I had the amazing opportunity to attend a retreat put on by Echo Community a few weeks ago. This was not my first Echo retreat, but something was different this time around. Through the rhythm of the retreat being centered around the Sacraments, words of prayer and truth from friends, and a powerful experience as I was being prayed over, I was in a space to receive so many new graces from the Lord. Honestly, He kind of showed off in His generosity.
The Lord had space to move in big ways for the first time in a while, and He wasted no time. He started with the weeds in the garden of my heart. Two dear friends prayed over me, and one specifically went for the big weeds rooted around my identity, my doubts about my own goodness, and my fear. My heart was tender and almost physically sore for a day after, but the soil of my heart was tilled, and Jesus started planting good seeds of Truth the rest of the retreat.
I want more than anything for these seeds to be watered and for them to flourish, and Jesus is the Master Gardener Who I trust can and will do that. I’m in that space where “my flesh pines and my soul thirsts” for Him Who made me and delights in me and delights in delighting me. We cannot encounter Jesus, truly encounter Him, and go back to how we were before. There is a definitive before and an after, not just once in our lives but at each level where He calls us into deeper intimacy with Him.
There is this great line in the second episode of Season One of The Chosen where Mary Magdalene says, “I was one way, and now I am completely different. And the thing that happened in between was Him.” Similar to Mary Magdalene (whose Feast Day we actually celebrated the day I was prayed over; God connects everything, doesn’t He?), I cannot be quiet about Who Jesus is and what He has done in my life. “For your kindness is a greater good than life; my lips shall glorify you.”
May we all have the courage to invite the Master Gardener in to tend the gardens of our hearts. He will show up.
What areas of my heart need tending? Where is the fruit, and where are the weeds? When was the last time I was truly thirsty for a drink of water, and how can I relate that experience to my longing for Jesus?
Megan Ourso works as an appraiser in southeast Louisiana. She has always been fascinated by stories and is an avid reader and writer. She is learning to rest in the truth that she has nothing to prove. She would like to invite you to check out Echo Community. Follow Megan on Instagram.
Pray with today’s psalm.