Daily Meditation for May 6, 2022

In Niall Williams’ novel This Is Happiness, a teenage boy has come to live with his grandparents in a small, backwards village in the west of Ireland. Even though he had prayed hard and even promised to become a priest, his mother died, and with her, his faith in God. For months, he refuses to go to church with his grandparents, and everyone else in the village. He says flatly, “There is no God.” But in this poor village, there is so much love, kindness, forgiveness, and humor that something inside him begins to soften. One Sunday, he goes to church, sits down, and, in case there is a God who is paying attention, he says simply, “I’m here.” He has no fancy words or theological declarations. But these two words may be the most profound act of faith he or any of us can offer. In the midst of our doubts, our loneliness and sorrow, we risk believing that God cares about each of us and is eagerly waiting for us to say, “I’m here.”

By Mara Faulkner, OSB