July 7, 2025 // Monday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: Matthew 9:18-26
Reflect on the Word //
This past Lent I gave up rushing. I usually prize efficiency so highly that I attack my daily errands as if there’s a world record for fastest grocery shop to be won. So for Lent I decided that I would give up speeding through traffic, trying to snag the shortest checkout line, and racing to pick up my kids at the exact minute their activities ended. What I noticed the most was that I had an attitude of wanting to control time to run according to my schedule and, in turn, expecting everyone else to treat time the way I do with an exacting eye toward efficiency. I even realized that these expectations of timely efficiency cropped up in my prayer life.
In today’s Gospel, the official begs Jesus to come and bring back to life his daughter who has died. Jesus decides to follow the official back to his home so that he may lay His hands on her. When I imagine myself in the position of the official, I would have been so impatient and desperate for Jesus to raise my daughter that I can’t imagine standing silently by while Jesus had the encounter with the hemorrhaging woman.
But the quiet, patient faith of the official is something that inspires me today. The official does not become part of the crowd ridiculing Jesus. He does not become frustrated or disbelieving. He maintains a silent faith that Jesus can raise his daughter from the dead. And Jesus does not rush. Jesus does not come speeding in to save the day like a superhero, or arrive with a sideshow of special effects to proclaim His power in performing such a miracle. Instead, “When the crowd was put out, he came and took her by the hand, and the little girl arose” (Matthew 9:25).
Earthly impatience and our attempts to control time do not bring miracles more quickly. Waiting for answers to our prayers is so hard, but there is a beauty in the gentleness in God’s perfect timing.
Relate to the Lord // Give up rushing today. Practice slowing down as you walk, speak, eat, and breathe.
Christy Isinger is a cradle Catholic, wife, and mother of five teenagers from western Canada. During the short Canadian summers she tries to garden and grow flowers, while in the long cold winters she reads a lot of books, writes, and homeschools. Her Substack newsletter can be found at christyisinger.substack.com.
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