Intentional

A Reflection on the First Reading for Sunday, July 16th, 2023:
Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

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Isaiah
55.10-11

Thus says the Lord: “As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there until they have watered the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the one who eats, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”

Pause. Pray. Reflect.

Intentional is my word for the year. Since January, I have sought (and continue to seek) to be intentional in my actions, my observations, my care, and most importantly in my prayer life and relationship with God.  And so in these words from the prophet Isaiah I hear my word, intention, loud and clear. Because our God is an intentional God. There is a purpose for everything God creates.

As I reflected on this short, yet purposeful, passage, I was struck by how deeply intentional God is in His actions. Each act – snow or rain – has an initial purpose to water the earth. But that’s just the beginning!  In that watering a deeper purpose is also born. The water enables further creation of food, which in turn sustains God’s creatures – you and me.  So it would only seem to follow that we, too, are created for more than our own purposes. We are created for so much more than the daily grind that seems to fill our days. Every day I act in purposeful ways that determine how my day will go… or not go, as the case may be. Yet it is only when I pay attention to my various actions that I recognize the small, medium, and large ways they impact others. Small: holding the door open for someone who has an armload of packages. Medium: buying local when and where I am able to support small businesses. Big: saying no, when I want to say yes to all the things. My intentionality impacts me, but it also has an effect on the other. 

Sometimes that effect is immediate, and other times its impact reaches beyond. As part of my ministry I have been fortunate enough to listen and learn from local Mi’kmaq. They have taught me to think of the “seventh generation.” This idea is that the decisions made today should result in a sustainable world seven generations into the future. This sense of intentionality in decision-making also speaks of the connectedness of all things. There is an interrelatedness to all things, or a relationship. And ultimately that is the purpose for which we were all made: to be in relationship with our God and one another. God’s desire for a relationship with me does not focus only on the here and now. Our Triune God is, was, and will be. God’s presence and God’s work began before me, is happening right now, and will go into infinity… and beyond. Being intentional increased my awareness of how connected all of God’s creation is, has been, and will be. And because of that connection, and God’s intentionality, I too can and must be intentional – because there is indeed a purpose for everything God creates.  




Aurea Sadi
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