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

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.