May 13, 2026 // Wednesday of the Sixth Week of Easter // Optional Memorial of Our Lady of Fatima
Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s First Reading: Acts 17:15, 22—18:1
Reflect on the Word //
Every mother has at least one scary “lost child” story. Mine involves a shopping trip with three-year-old Augie, my youngest child at the time. We were together at a sporting goods store when he disappeared. I spent the next thirty harrowing minutes racing through the store in search of him. I did all the logical things. I ran outside to check the car. I barged into the men’s room. I even checked the large safes at the back of the store to confirm he had not gotten trapped (being a mom makes you wise and also crazy). Eventually, Augie appeared right behind me and had been trailing me the whole time, hiding in clothing racks and watching me look for him.
Today’s First Reading reminds me of searching for someone who feels very far away. When in Athens, Paul discovers an altar inscribed to “an unknown god,” which he explains is actually an altar to the one, true God. He tells them that this God that they do not know is not far away at all but is right here, giving us “life and breath and everything” (Acts 17:25). In our own lives, God sometimes feels distant, but in truth He is actually very close. When we are searching for Him, we find evidence of His presence in the blessings we have had in our lives, in the comfort we have had from Him in our sorrows, in the love we experience from friends and family. God does not lurk behind us but is waiting for us to reach out to Him, to ask Him to reveal Himself to us. Sometimes it is as simple as His peace as we pray to Him.
We do not worship an unknown God, but a God Who is very near, right here within each one of us. How is God made known? When we search for Him, we find Him. When we seek evidence of God’s presence, we find it. And while we may think we are doing all the work in searching, the God Who gives us life and breath seeks out union within each one of us even more.
Relate to the Lord // Pause and pray. Breathe. God is not far off but has made His home within your baptized soul. Connect with Him there.
Rachel Balducci is a writer and speaker and co-host of the Gist on CatholicTV. She has a Masters degree from the Grady School of Journalism at the University of Georgia and teaches at Augusta University and is working on her doctorate in Religion at the University of Georgia. She and her husband Paul have five sons and one daughter and are part of an intentional Christian community in Augusta, Georgia. Find out more about her here.
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