I will always be able to distinguish my mother’s fried rice. Having spent years eating this simple dish that my mother often prepared when there was not much time, I can truly say that nothing else tastes quite the same. Maybe you have similar experiences from your childhood, maybe not. However, I bet that we can both agree that in addition to a dish or a particular characteristic, our mothers are always one of a kind. No one is ever quite the same as our mothers, and we would have no problem picking out their voices and faces from a crowd.

We are called to have the same kind of awareness and knowledge of Jesus Christ. We must be able to pick out the voice of Jesus Christ among the many voices vying for our attention.

To do this, we must meditate regularly on the Gospel. We must spend time daily with the Word of God, letting it soak into our being in a way that goes beyond simple information. The more the Word of God permeates our lives, the deeper our knowledge of Christ. We get used to the rhythms and movements of the heart through which Christ speaks to us. As we chew and nourish our minds and hearts with the scripture, it becomes a part of who we are.

The scripture not only reveals Christ to us, it also reveals who we are. The scripture is like a mirror that allows us to peer into the depths of our interior lives, learning to discern what the work of the Spirit is and what comes from the Devil. Our interior exploration is made possible by the light of the Gospel, a light that reveals and purifies.

So I want to encourage you to meditate daily on the Gospel. It need not be long; perhaps 10 minutes a day. Even if you only dedicate a small amount of time, I believe that you will begin to see a change take place. When the scripture becomes a source of nourishment, we discover a whole world that is waiting for our attention, waiting to make itself known.