The Feast of St Peter Faber SJ | Wednesday 2 August 2023

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Today is Wednesday the 2nd of August, the feast of St Peter Faber SJ, in the 17th week of Ordinary time.

IamSon sings, ‘Always With Me’. Become aware now of the ways in which God is with you today…

I can make through the day

When you're with me on the way

In my heart and mind you'll stay

I can make it through the night

When I'm clinging to your light

You will make the darkness bright

For you are always, always with me

For you are always, always with me

In the calm and in the storm

When it seems I'm all alone

It's your hand I find to hold

In each hour of unrest

When it seems I've nothing left

You speak peace in every breath

For you are always, always with me

For you are always, always with me

In the morning, in the evening

When I'm waking, when I'm sleeping

When I'm arriving, when I'm leaving

You will have me in your keeping

Even from my mother's womb

Never hidden from your view

I was always known to you

When I fade away in death

You will catch my final breath

You will take me to my rest

For you are always, always with me

For you are always, always with me

Today’s reading is from the Book of Exodus.

Exodus 34:29-35

Moses came down from Mount Sinai. As he came down from the mountain with the two tablets of the covenant in his hand, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, the skin of his face was shining, and they were afraid to come near him. But Moses called to them; and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses spoke with them. Afterward all the Israelites came near, and he gave them in commandment all that the Lord had spoken with him on Mount Sinai. When Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil on his face; but whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he would take the veil off, until he came out; and when he came out, and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, the Israelites would see the face of Moses, that the skin of his face was shining; and Moses would put the veil on his face again, until he went in to speak with him.

One chapter earlier, the book of Exodus tells us that God spoke to Moses ‘as one friend to another’. This is exactly how Ignatius invites us to talk to God and to allow God to talk to us. What has been your experience of friendship with God and learning to speak and listen as a friend?

Most of us probably don’t come away from talking to God with our faces glowing, but God’s presence can ‘shine through’ some people. Would anyone know that you are someone who knows God as a friend, or is there something that makes you keep that friendship hidden?

As we hear the reading repeated, allow whatever strikes you to sink deeper, noticing your feelings and desires as you listen.

Today we celebrate the feast of St. Peter Faber. He was a quiet man whose modesty hid a remarkable gift for prayer. Your relationship with God may be obvious to others or something more hidden, but God invites us all to intimate and everyday friendship. How do you want to respond to that invitation?

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.