God began His love for us with His eager calling us forth from nothingness, by His great desire to gift us with His very selfhood, and then He continued by "emptying" Himself of His Son and even the Spirit whom the Son lavishes on us as He fills us out of His richness. God has surrendered Himself to us utterly, in a way and to an extent that is hard for even faith to grasp or accept.
In Mark’s Gospel (Mark 10:28-31) Jesus calls us to abandon our limited and limiting earthly ties in our attempt to turn absolutely everything over to the Father, even things that are very good, but because of the nature of God's love for us we receive father, mother, and all the rest of the good back at least a hundredfold from His loving hands.
Then we no longer merely hold what we possess as individuals but constantly receive them anew in our exchange of love with God and hold all as brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers, in common.
Don’t confuse this with communism! Rather, it’s a sharing in love that involves a permanent personal responsibility and stewardship over the gifts. God has given us the power to dispose of His gifts and their fruits; He does not do it only once or all at once. Neither can we make an absolute gift of ourselves to Him once and for all. It must be a constant part of our lives: marriage, indeed any personal relationship, but especially as regards God, is this way.
This open-ended giving and receiving will be fully evident only in the fullness of the Kingdom, but for now we can at least glimpse a hint of this love and begin to live it in the freedom He offers us.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Oh, Me of Little Faith
One of Jesus’ famous phrases is, “O you of little faith.” I often find myself being one of little faith. It is easy to ignore the blessings bestowed upon us in the daily rush of our lives. Finding any time to recognize God’s hand is a struggle. I would be willing to bet that there are a lot of us who have experienced times in our lives of overwhelming fear that approached panic.
Yet I find comfort knowing that God never forgets us. While we are all very human, and thus prone to forgetting and ignoring much of the world around us, God remains steadfast. We are never forgotten, never ignored, because we are God’s creations – the infants a mother can never forget, as Isaiah beautifully notes.
We may fall into darkness and ignore God’s love. Yet through his son, light will illuminate the love we’ve hidden in darkness. Even creatures of little faith find glorious love in God and his son.
A large crowd is gathered on a mountain, giving rapt attention to the words of Jesus. You're part of the crowd. A baby is crying, but the gentle wind blows phrases your way like "Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear . . . why, look at the birds in the sky, they do not sow or reap . . . yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. . . ."
You strain to hear more, as Jesus tells you not to worry about what you are to eat or drink or wear! "Oh you of little faith, Your Heavenly Father knows you need them all. But seek first the Kingdom of Heaven and His righteousness and all these things will be given you besides. . . . Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself. Sufficient for a day is its own evil."
What wonderfully soothing words. But are they true for us today? Jesus promises that they will come to those who have sufficient faith and trust in Him.
There is a section in Isaiah called "The Book of the Consolation of Israel." The Jews in captivity in Babylon knew that they had wandered away from the Law and that God was punishing them. Even when they returned, they felt that God had abandoned them. So they cried out in their despair, and God answered them immediately in order to give them hope.
He spoke these consoling words, "Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb? Even should she forget, I will never forget you." (Isaiah 49:15) What a "homey" example!
To those who question Jesus' words today when we see such discouraging scenes of starvation and death in countries around the globe, Jesus did not place the whole burden on God the Father. St. Paul reminds the Corinthians that all in the community are "servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God." Doesn't that remind us that much of the burden is ours?
Remember what St. James (my patron saint) told us: "If a brother or sister is ill-clad and in lack of daily food, and one of you says to them, 'Go in peace, be warmed and filled,' without things needed for the body, what does it profit?"
So, faith by itself has no works, but is dead. ( James 2:14-17) Doesn't that fit with what God said in Isaiah, "Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb? Even should she forget, I will never forget you"?
It was God and the early Christian community who attended the poor and the needy back then. It is still God and today’s community of faith who continues to make the promises of the Sermon on the Mount come at least partially true today.
Yet I find comfort knowing that God never forgets us. While we are all very human, and thus prone to forgetting and ignoring much of the world around us, God remains steadfast. We are never forgotten, never ignored, because we are God’s creations – the infants a mother can never forget, as Isaiah beautifully notes.
We may fall into darkness and ignore God’s love. Yet through his son, light will illuminate the love we’ve hidden in darkness. Even creatures of little faith find glorious love in God and his son.
You strain to hear more, as Jesus tells you not to worry about what you are to eat or drink or wear! "Oh you of little faith, Your Heavenly Father knows you need them all. But seek first the Kingdom of Heaven and His righteousness and all these things will be given you besides. . . . Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself. Sufficient for a day is its own evil."
What wonderfully soothing words. But are they true for us today? Jesus promises that they will come to those who have sufficient faith and trust in Him.
There is a section in Isaiah called "The Book of the Consolation of Israel." The Jews in captivity in Babylon knew that they had wandered away from the Law and that God was punishing them. Even when they returned, they felt that God had abandoned them. So they cried out in their despair, and God answered them immediately in order to give them hope.
He spoke these consoling words, "Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb? Even should she forget, I will never forget you." (Isaiah 49:15) What a "homey" example!
To those who question Jesus' words today when we see such discouraging scenes of starvation and death in countries around the globe, Jesus did not place the whole burden on God the Father. St. Paul reminds the Corinthians that all in the community are "servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God." Doesn't that remind us that much of the burden is ours?
Remember what St. James (my patron saint) told us: "If a brother or sister is ill-clad and in lack of daily food, and one of you says to them, 'Go in peace, be warmed and filled,' without things needed for the body, what does it profit?"
So, faith by itself has no works, but is dead. ( James 2:14-17) Doesn't that fit with what God said in Isaiah, "Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb? Even should she forget, I will never forget you"?
It was God and the early Christian community who attended the poor and the needy back then. It is still God and today’s community of faith who continues to make the promises of the Sermon on the Mount come at least partially true today.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Friendships
A priest was preaching one Sunday on the theme of “Love your enemies.” After a long sermon, he asked how many parishioners were willing to forgive their enemies. About half held up their hands. Not satisfied he preached for another 20 minutes and repeated his question. This time he received a response of about 80%. Still unsatisfied, he went on for another 15 minutes and repeated his question. With all thoughts now on Sunday dinner, everyone raised their hand except one elderly lady in the front row. “Mrs. Jones, are you not willing to forgive your enemies?” the priest asked. “I don't have any,” she said. Surprised, the priest said, “Ma’am, that is very unusual. How old are you?” “Ninety-two,” she responded. “Mrs. Jones, please tell me, how can you have lived to be 92 years old, and not have an enemy in the world.” The sweet little lady, smiled, and said simply. “Oh, Father, I’ve had plenty of enemies. It’s just that, at 92, I’ve outlived them all!”
The readings for the last couple of weeks have been from Sirach. According to the Introduction in the New American Bible:
The Book of Sirach derives its name from the author, Jesus, son of Eleazar, son of Sirach (Sirach 50:27). Its earliest title seems to have been "Wisdom of the Son of Sirach." The designation "Liber Ecclesiasticus," meaning "Church Book," appended to some Greek and Latin manuscripts was due to the extensive use which the church made of this book in presenting moral teaching to catechumens and to the faithful.
The author, a sage who lived in Jerusalem, was thoroughly imbued with love for the law, the priesthood, the temple, and divine worship. As a wise and experienced observer of life he addressed himself to his contemporaries with the motive of helping them to maintain religious faith and integrity through study of the holy books, and through tradition.
The book contains numerous maxims formulated with care, grouped by affinity, and dealing with a variety of subjects such as the individual, the family, and the community in their relations with one another and with God. It treats of friendship, education, poverty and wealth, the law, religious worship, and many other matters which reflect the religious and social customs of the time.
Written in Hebrew between 200 and 175 B.C., the text was translated into Greek sometime after 132 B.C. by the author's grandson, who also wrote a Foreword which contains information about the book, the author, and the translator himself. Until the close of the nineteenth century Sirach was known only in translations, of which this Greek rendering was the most important. From it the Latin version was made. Between 1896 and 1900, again in 1931, and several times since 1956, manuscripts were discovered containing in all about two thirds of the Hebrew text, which agrees substantially with the Greek. One such text, from Masada, is pre-Christian in date.
Though not included in the Hebrew Bible after the first century A.D., nor accepted by Protestants, the Book of Sirach has always been recognized by the Catholic Church as divinely inspired and canonical. The Foreword, though not inspired, is placed in the Bible because of its antiquity and importance.
The contents of Sirach are of a discursive nature, not easily divided into separate parts. Sir 1-43 deal largely with moral instruction; Sirach 44:1-50:24 contain a eulogy of the heroes of Israel and some of the patriarchs. There are two appendices in which the author expresses his gratitude to God, and appeals to the unlearned to acquire true wisdom.
The Church uses the Book of Sirach extensively in her liturgy.
As I was reading the passage tonight preparing for Mass tomorrow, it reminded me that the more the world changes, the more it stays the same. We have all had "friends" who have abandoned us when we needed them the most, haven't we? Just as I'm sure we've all had "true friends" who sacrificed their own needs for us. The author of Sirach warns us how to discern true friendship and what it boils down to is a healthy fear for God and His commandments. I know it's semantics, but I prefer the word "respect" to "fear". To love God out of fear is not wrong, per se--after all, He is the Creator--but if we love Him out of RESPECT for Who He IS, then it's a love that is freely given without any reservations or ulterior motive.
Getting back to the "types" of friends described in Sirach, which am I? Am I just an acquaintance and not a "confidant"? Do I go the extra mile to help my friends? What about my enemies? Am I willing to go that extra mile with them as well? Am I even willing to go the first mile? Do I make friendships simply for what I can get out of the relationship, or do I make them for what I am willing to give to make the relationship work? I'm thinking of my friendship with Jesus Christ. In my prayers, it seems to me that all I ever do is ask for this or ask for that. And when my prayer is answered, do I stop asking and just give thanks? I would honestly have to say no. My goal (it should be the goal of us all) is to become the type of friend I have in Jesus Christ--one who puts up with my constant pestering and still loves me unconditionally. I have a lot to learn in the friendship department.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Happy Birthday, Mom!
Lord Jesus, You have known Your Mother’s love and tender care so please hear our prayer for our own mother, your devoted daughter, on this,her special day:
Just as she gave life to her children and has given her best to protect us these many years, please protect her now and let her feel safe in the Light of Life that flows through You.
Take from her all her anxieties and fears and fulfill all of her wishes. If Your will is to refuse her any of those wishes, let even the refusals bring her comfort, as she has comforted her children even in her occasional refusals for our own good.
Though we, her children, can never repay her for all she has given us we have confidence that You will repay her for us one day when she rests in the sweet embrace of Your own Mother.
Amen.
Can you hear me now?
It is easy for the Apostles to answer for others when Christ asks “Who do people say that the son of man is?” They give their responses freely and willingly with (I imagine) great zeal and eagerness to please the Lord. However, Christ’s next question: “Who do you say that I am?” seems to silence the group. Instead, they turn to Peter, their leader, for a response.
Peter responds: “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” Peter comes into himself and his calling to be the first pope in this passage by acknowledging the role that God played in his life.
God asks each and every one of us the same exact question: “Who do you say that I am?” How do you respond to such a personalized question? Because God works in our lives in very personal ways, we must answer this question very personally and intimately with him.
So I’ve come up with 10 questions to try and be specific in my answer to Him:
1. How long have I been in my relationship with God?
2. Do I really know Him on a personal level?
3. How well do I know His mind?
4. Do I know how He works specifically with me in my life?
5. How does He communicate with me?
6. What does God’s voice sound like in my life? We are able to recognize the speech patterns and inflections of the voices of our loved ones. We are able to hear their voice and know who they are without seeing their face. So,
7. Can I do this with God?
8. When He speaks to me, can I recognize the voice of God?
9. And am I able to point His voice out to others?
10. Do I point His voice out with humble confidence? Or is it timidity?
Today let us pray to have the wisdom and perseverance to know the Lord and know how he works in each of our lives, just as Peter did.
Peter responds: “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” Peter comes into himself and his calling to be the first pope in this passage by acknowledging the role that God played in his life.
God asks each and every one of us the same exact question: “Who do you say that I am?” How do you respond to such a personalized question? Because God works in our lives in very personal ways, we must answer this question very personally and intimately with him.
So I’ve come up with 10 questions to try and be specific in my answer to Him:
1. How long have I been in my relationship with God?
2. Do I really know Him on a personal level?
3. How well do I know His mind?
4. Do I know how He works specifically with me in my life?
5. How does He communicate with me?
6. What does God’s voice sound like in my life? We are able to recognize the speech patterns and inflections of the voices of our loved ones. We are able to hear their voice and know who they are without seeing their face. So,
7. Can I do this with God?
8. When He speaks to me, can I recognize the voice of God?
9. And am I able to point His voice out to others?
10. Do I point His voice out with humble confidence? Or is it timidity?
Today let us pray to have the wisdom and perseverance to know the Lord and know how he works in each of our lives, just as Peter did.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Serenity comes from the Wisdom of God
The readings from Sirach and Mark on Monday remind me of the "Serenity Prayer". You know the one I'm thinking of--although you may not know the WHOLE prayer:
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.
This is usually where the Hallmark cards and souvenirs end the prayer--but there is more:
Living one day at a time; enjoying one moment at a time; accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it; trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will; that I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him forever in the next. Amen.
I am also reminded of Proverbs 3:5-6:
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your paths.
What is the wisdom of God? Is it that there is order and not chaos in the heavens? Is it that molecules and atoms behave in a designated way? Is it that the trees know when to bloom and animals know when to bear their young? Sure, it’s all of these, but this doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of the effect of God's wisdom on His creation.
What kind of wisdom clothes us, the most beloved creatures of God's creative hand? Certainly we are clothed with more wisdom than we are aware of and sadly, more than we accept and put into operation. Often, it seems, we have stripped ourselves of God's wisdom, preferring instead what we consider a better way, our way.
Naked and bereft of God's help, we eventually destroy what was created as good. We alter the divine balance that which holds creation together in harmony; we meddle and wrongly misuse the intelligence He has given us.
But we needn’t be despondent! God has not abandoned us or stopped loving us. Instead, He is always present, waiting and extending His almighty hand to re-clothe us in the garment of His wisdom. All we have to do is grasp His extended hand and cover ourselves in His glory.
In Mark’s Gospel, Jesus helps a young boy and his father by casting a demon out of the boy. But in order to do so, He requires the father of the boy to have faith. Only because of the father’s faith did Jesus help his son. I often find myself going back to confession again and again with the same exact sins that I ask the Lord why He can’t just cure me and take my compulsion to sin away. This reading holds the answer: God allows us to live as we do with the constant temptation to sin because He wants us to work on our faith. He wants us to exercise our God-given wisdom.
But what does Jesus mean when He talks about faith in the Gospel? One can define faith as acceptance of Jesus’ free gift of saving grace, offered by His death on the Cross. But accepting His gift requires both believing in His grace and living it as well. What we believe should mirror how we live; that is what Jesus is trying to accomplish through letting us deal with our own sinful desires. Through our struggle against sin, we learn that only through God can we become ideally human and truly “made in His image.”
Prayer is another aspect that is present in this Gospel, even if it is just barely mentioned. At the very end of the reading, the disciples ask Jesus why they were unable to drive the demon out of the boy themselves. He replies, saying: “This kind can only come out through prayer.” Prayer is very important in our pursuit of faith. If faith is the acceptance of God’s saving grace through our belief and actions, then we need to have some form of relationship with God to fully understand what we believe and how we act. Through prayer we can communicate directly with God, and He will always answer our prayers (although not always in the way we think we want or expect Him to).
So from all this we find faith has three aspects: belief, lifestyle, and prayer. Our belief serves to inspire us, our lifestyle maintains us, and our prayer gives us direction. If we have faith in our lives, the Wisdom of God tells us anything is possible and God will steer us in the right direction.
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.
This is usually where the Hallmark cards and souvenirs end the prayer--but there is more:
Living one day at a time; enjoying one moment at a time; accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it; trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will; that I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him forever in the next. Amen.
I am also reminded of Proverbs 3:5-6:
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your paths.
What is the wisdom of God? Is it that there is order and not chaos in the heavens? Is it that molecules and atoms behave in a designated way? Is it that the trees know when to bloom and animals know when to bear their young? Sure, it’s all of these, but this doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of the effect of God's wisdom on His creation.
What kind of wisdom clothes us, the most beloved creatures of God's creative hand? Certainly we are clothed with more wisdom than we are aware of and sadly, more than we accept and put into operation. Often, it seems, we have stripped ourselves of God's wisdom, preferring instead what we consider a better way, our way.
Naked and bereft of God's help, we eventually destroy what was created as good. We alter the divine balance that which holds creation together in harmony; we meddle and wrongly misuse the intelligence He has given us.
But we needn’t be despondent! God has not abandoned us or stopped loving us. Instead, He is always present, waiting and extending His almighty hand to re-clothe us in the garment of His wisdom. All we have to do is grasp His extended hand and cover ourselves in His glory.
In Mark’s Gospel, Jesus helps a young boy and his father by casting a demon out of the boy. But in order to do so, He requires the father of the boy to have faith. Only because of the father’s faith did Jesus help his son. I often find myself going back to confession again and again with the same exact sins that I ask the Lord why He can’t just cure me and take my compulsion to sin away. This reading holds the answer: God allows us to live as we do with the constant temptation to sin because He wants us to work on our faith. He wants us to exercise our God-given wisdom.
But what does Jesus mean when He talks about faith in the Gospel? One can define faith as acceptance of Jesus’ free gift of saving grace, offered by His death on the Cross. But accepting His gift requires both believing in His grace and living it as well. What we believe should mirror how we live; that is what Jesus is trying to accomplish through letting us deal with our own sinful desires. Through our struggle against sin, we learn that only through God can we become ideally human and truly “made in His image.”
Prayer is another aspect that is present in this Gospel, even if it is just barely mentioned. At the very end of the reading, the disciples ask Jesus why they were unable to drive the demon out of the boy themselves. He replies, saying: “This kind can only come out through prayer.” Prayer is very important in our pursuit of faith. If faith is the acceptance of God’s saving grace through our belief and actions, then we need to have some form of relationship with God to fully understand what we believe and how we act. Through prayer we can communicate directly with God, and He will always answer our prayers (although not always in the way we think we want or expect Him to).
So from all this we find faith has three aspects: belief, lifestyle, and prayer. Our belief serves to inspire us, our lifestyle maintains us, and our prayer gives us direction. If we have faith in our lives, the Wisdom of God tells us anything is possible and God will steer us in the right direction.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Go for the gold!
"Go for the gold" is not just for Olympic contenders. It's for all of us. People need challenges in order to grow.
God, speaking through Moses, says to the whole house of Israel, "Be holy, for I the Lord, your God, am holy." It's a call to love one's neighbor as oneself, and not to hold any kind of grudge, or even to seek revenge.
Jesus makes it clear that He has not come to destroy the Law that His Father laid down centuries before, but that He came on earth to fulfill that law. His new law and covenant will go even further. "An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth" kept the Jews to exact justice in righting a wrong. If a neighbor knocked out one of your teeth, you could only knock out one of his teeth in retribution! If a Roman soldier commanded you to carry his baggage for a mile, which was allowed by law, then Jesus' followers were to go with the soldier for two miles. We have all admired people who "go the extra mile" for someone.
Jesus' listeners must have scoffed at Jesus when He told them not only to love your neighbor, but to love your enemies as well! While that may have seemed absurd foolishness, we all know that keeping our distance, and viewing our enemy as somehow subhuman, doesn't get us anywhere. However, treating him with compassion can often bring about reconciliation, and even turn our enemy into a friend.
How can we ever possibly get the grace and strength to follow all this advice? St. Paul's letter to the Corinthians tells us how. First, he tells us that we are stronger and holier than we think. "Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?" Incredible! Talk about bolstering our confidence in ourselves to become perfect! Then St. Paul tells us not to be worried if society thinks us fools for acting on Jesus' advice. "For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in the eyes of God. . . ." When we act according to God's wisdom, then we belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God!
If we go for God's gold, then we can't lose. Not only will we grow instead of stagnating in complacency, but we'll land ourselves right into the joy of God's heaven!
God, speaking through Moses, says to the whole house of Israel, "Be holy, for I the Lord, your God, am holy." It's a call to love one's neighbor as oneself, and not to hold any kind of grudge, or even to seek revenge.
Jesus makes it clear that He has not come to destroy the Law that His Father laid down centuries before, but that He came on earth to fulfill that law. His new law and covenant will go even further. "An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth" kept the Jews to exact justice in righting a wrong. If a neighbor knocked out one of your teeth, you could only knock out one of his teeth in retribution! If a Roman soldier commanded you to carry his baggage for a mile, which was allowed by law, then Jesus' followers were to go with the soldier for two miles. We have all admired people who "go the extra mile" for someone.
Jesus' listeners must have scoffed at Jesus when He told them not only to love your neighbor, but to love your enemies as well! While that may have seemed absurd foolishness, we all know that keeping our distance, and viewing our enemy as somehow subhuman, doesn't get us anywhere. However, treating him with compassion can often bring about reconciliation, and even turn our enemy into a friend.
How can we ever possibly get the grace and strength to follow all this advice? St. Paul's letter to the Corinthians tells us how. First, he tells us that we are stronger and holier than we think. "Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?" Incredible! Talk about bolstering our confidence in ourselves to become perfect! Then St. Paul tells us not to be worried if society thinks us fools for acting on Jesus' advice. "For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in the eyes of God. . . ." When we act according to God's wisdom, then we belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God!
If we go for God's gold, then we can't lose. Not only will we grow instead of stagnating in complacency, but we'll land ourselves right into the joy of God's heaven!
Friday, February 18, 2011
Faith and Trust
In Hebrews, the author says that Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen.
Faith. In Hebrews we hear that God rewards those who seek Him. And without faith it is impossible to please Him. Faith. It always seems our faith is being tested. And at times it seems to be a hard-to-find and rare commodity. The secular world doesn’t care about faith. The world strives to shape us by material and physical things. What good is faith? We want proof. If you can’t see it or hold it in your hand, then what’s the point? So, why do we care about faith? Why does God care about faith?
Some questions simply cannot be answered by our material world.
Mortality. I honestly am not afraid to die, but this got me thinking about my mortality.
I keep thinking about my brother Bob who recently passed away. I thought about the notion that some morning I just won’t wake up. What then? What happens when we die? Is that it? Fade to nothingness? Slide into oblivion? Our moment on earth is just a meaningless blip that blends into the timeline of history as though we never even existed? God promises otherwise. My sister-in-law Marilyn says Bob had the most peaceful look on his face when she found him “asleep” in his bed the morning he died.
We can’t see into the future. We don’t have evidence that there is anything else. So why would we think otherwise? Why should we trust God? I want proof! God presents scripture. No, I mean real evidence. God presents witnesses from the disciples to those around us who testify to God’s work in their lives. I need to know! God says, let’s sit and talk a while. Isn’t it funny? As much as I want proof, I also realize that establishing 2+2=4 does not produce a fuller life. A relationship with God produces a fuller life. And faith and trust are key to that relationship. And if I know this, why is faith and trust such a challenge?
The disciples didn’t understand the transfiguration and had no clue what Jesus meant about rising from the dead. And yet they continued to follow Jesus. Why? They recognized how valuable a relationship with Jesus was in their lives. They had faith and trust.
It’s not that it’s wrong to have question or doubts. God gave us a brain. But we have to be wary of being drawn into the world’s way of thinking. If we view ourselves solely by the world’s standards we will conclude we are unlovable. God says again and again how much He loves us.
My prayer today is for those of us who struggle with faith and trust. That we could release some of that struggle and reap the reward of a better relationship with God.
Faith. In Hebrews we hear that God rewards those who seek Him. And without faith it is impossible to please Him. Faith. It always seems our faith is being tested. And at times it seems to be a hard-to-find and rare commodity. The secular world doesn’t care about faith. The world strives to shape us by material and physical things. What good is faith? We want proof. If you can’t see it or hold it in your hand, then what’s the point? So, why do we care about faith? Why does God care about faith?
Some questions simply cannot be answered by our material world.
Mortality. I honestly am not afraid to die, but this got me thinking about my mortality.
I keep thinking about my brother Bob who recently passed away. I thought about the notion that some morning I just won’t wake up. What then? What happens when we die? Is that it? Fade to nothingness? Slide into oblivion? Our moment on earth is just a meaningless blip that blends into the timeline of history as though we never even existed? God promises otherwise. My sister-in-law Marilyn says Bob had the most peaceful look on his face when she found him “asleep” in his bed the morning he died.
We can’t see into the future. We don’t have evidence that there is anything else. So why would we think otherwise? Why should we trust God? I want proof! God presents scripture. No, I mean real evidence. God presents witnesses from the disciples to those around us who testify to God’s work in their lives. I need to know! God says, let’s sit and talk a while. Isn’t it funny? As much as I want proof, I also realize that establishing 2+2=4 does not produce a fuller life. A relationship with God produces a fuller life. And faith and trust are key to that relationship. And if I know this, why is faith and trust such a challenge?
The disciples didn’t understand the transfiguration and had no clue what Jesus meant about rising from the dead. And yet they continued to follow Jesus. Why? They recognized how valuable a relationship with Jesus was in their lives. They had faith and trust.
It’s not that it’s wrong to have question or doubts. God gave us a brain. But we have to be wary of being drawn into the world’s way of thinking. If we view ourselves solely by the world’s standards we will conclude we are unlovable. God says again and again how much He loves us.
My prayer today is for those of us who struggle with faith and trust. That we could release some of that struggle and reap the reward of a better relationship with God.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Fodder for muttering--sorry, I couldn't resist the pun!
I was driving next to a field of grazing cattle when the word “fodder” came to my mind. I thought “fodder” was a funny word to use for cattle food, when I realized it also means material for stimulating response or creativity. I said to myself, “I have to work the word ‘fodder’ into my blog entry tonight.” Father, fodder. Mother, mutter. Sometimes I crack myself up, and I don’t even get embarrassed.
Anyway, here’s the fodder for tonight’s mutterings:
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When driving to work at 5:30 this morning, the full moon rising in the Western sky was huge! The sight told me I’d better psyche myself up for a day full of weird customers, and I was right. They just kept coming in, each one a little bit more bizarre than the one before. I was so exhausted dealing with the strangeness of it all that I made arrangements to leave work by 4:00 so I could go to Adoration and Mass. I haven’t been able to attend a daily Mass in almost a month because I’ve been so busy. Part of it was because I just didn’t “feel up to it”. But today’s events made me realize that maybe the reason I’ve been having such a hard time lately is because I haven’t been going to Adoration at least once a week or daily Mass as I have been trying to do for about 5 years now—I feel like Jesus was telling me, “You want to know what it’s like without me? I’ve shown you! What are you going to do about it?”
The minute I left work though, a pain shot through my back that almost sent me to the ground. I said, “Oh no you don’t Satan, I’ve already made a date with Jesus!” I couldn’t get to the church fast enough!
When I got there, I picked up a leaflet that had “12 Scriptural reasons to attend Adoration” and “12 Church teachings that encourage Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament”. I will try to cover those over the next few days, but for now I’d just like to relate my experience at the church. I hurt so bad that I couldn’t genuflect or kneel without grunting out loud, so I took a seat at the back of the chapel and began to say my rosary. As I was reciting the rosary, I was watching the priest set up for Mass. He was bringing out all kinds of things that he doesn’t usually bring out, like kneelers and the bells for communion, and a paten for holding under the chins of the communicants. I wondered, “What’s going on?” The priest at this particular parish is very orthodox and traditional, so I thought he was just bringing back one more tradition for the parishioners to enjoy.
Just then, a very well-dressed and well-groomed young man (about 14 or 15-years-old) came in, genuflected on both knees then took his place in a pew. He very piously made the sign of the cross and began mouthing some prayers fervently. It was such an uplifting sight! After about 15 minutes (15 minutes before Mass was to begin) he got up, genuflected on both knees again and headed for the sacristy. You don’t normally see an altar boy at daily Mass, but if you’re going to have one, this is the guy I’d want!
Mass time! Here comes the kid, leading the way for the celebrant, who goes straight to the altar and starts in with the Latin, facing the tabernacle! It’s been a good 40+ years since I’ve attended a Mass in Latin! The reverence was palpable—I felt it to the very core of my being. I couldn’t help but be drawn in by the solemnity of it all. I was so confused though, that I found myself kneeling (back pain and all) through most of it! And the altar boy was so confident in his Latin! I was impressed and kind of jealous at the same time—I was never that good. When the time came for Communion, it was just like the old days—we knelt on the kneelers that had been fashioned into a “communion rail” and received our Lord on the tongue as the priest said in Latin to each communicant “Corpus Domini nostri Jesu Christi custodiat animam tuam in vitam aeternam. Amen.” Translated, this is “May the Body of our Lord Jesus Christ preserve your soul unto life everlasting. Amen.” Wow. That statement brings it home!
And yet, as I reflect on the solemnity of the Mass I attended tonight I am also a little ashamed to say I prefer the Mass as we have been saying it for the past 40 years or so in the vernacular. With the right mind set and faith, the “ordinary form” of the Mass is just as reverent. I actually like the way the priests on EWTN use a mix of Latin and English to maintain the reverence and tradition and at the same time keep it understandable. Reverence is all in how one approaches our Lord. I will continue to pray for those that don’t so that they will come to believe and be drawn into the wonder that is the Mass.
Anyway, here’s the fodder for tonight’s mutterings:
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When driving to work at 5:30 this morning, the full moon rising in the Western sky was huge! The sight told me I’d better psyche myself up for a day full of weird customers, and I was right. They just kept coming in, each one a little bit more bizarre than the one before. I was so exhausted dealing with the strangeness of it all that I made arrangements to leave work by 4:00 so I could go to Adoration and Mass. I haven’t been able to attend a daily Mass in almost a month because I’ve been so busy. Part of it was because I just didn’t “feel up to it”. But today’s events made me realize that maybe the reason I’ve been having such a hard time lately is because I haven’t been going to Adoration at least once a week or daily Mass as I have been trying to do for about 5 years now—I feel like Jesus was telling me, “You want to know what it’s like without me? I’ve shown you! What are you going to do about it?”
The minute I left work though, a pain shot through my back that almost sent me to the ground. I said, “Oh no you don’t Satan, I’ve already made a date with Jesus!” I couldn’t get to the church fast enough!
When I got there, I picked up a leaflet that had “12 Scriptural reasons to attend Adoration” and “12 Church teachings that encourage Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament”. I will try to cover those over the next few days, but for now I’d just like to relate my experience at the church. I hurt so bad that I couldn’t genuflect or kneel without grunting out loud, so I took a seat at the back of the chapel and began to say my rosary. As I was reciting the rosary, I was watching the priest set up for Mass. He was bringing out all kinds of things that he doesn’t usually bring out, like kneelers and the bells for communion, and a paten for holding under the chins of the communicants. I wondered, “What’s going on?” The priest at this particular parish is very orthodox and traditional, so I thought he was just bringing back one more tradition for the parishioners to enjoy.
Just then, a very well-dressed and well-groomed young man (about 14 or 15-years-old) came in, genuflected on both knees then took his place in a pew. He very piously made the sign of the cross and began mouthing some prayers fervently. It was such an uplifting sight! After about 15 minutes (15 minutes before Mass was to begin) he got up, genuflected on both knees again and headed for the sacristy. You don’t normally see an altar boy at daily Mass, but if you’re going to have one, this is the guy I’d want!
And yet, as I reflect on the solemnity of the Mass I attended tonight I am also a little ashamed to say I prefer the Mass as we have been saying it for the past 40 years or so in the vernacular. With the right mind set and faith, the “ordinary form” of the Mass is just as reverent. I actually like the way the priests on EWTN use a mix of Latin and English to maintain the reverence and tradition and at the same time keep it understandable. Reverence is all in how one approaches our Lord. I will continue to pray for those that don’t so that they will come to believe and be drawn into the wonder that is the Mass.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
A fresh look at Mark
I can't blame this last week's absence from the "blogoshpere" on sickness. I have just been really busy and so tired at the end of the evening I don't have the energy or the desire to write. But I felt tonight that
I must force myself to spend a couple of hours to read some scripture for tomorrow's Mass and write a reflection in addition to posting some pictures of our trip this last weekend to Monterey on Lily's blog. It's not a complete set of pictures, but the only ones I could cull from the pictures the girls put on Facebook. We had a great time and I actually spent a couple of the days on the 6th green and 7th tee at Pebble Beach with just Marilyn. Then on Sunday, she and I took Lily to the Dennis the Menace park there in Monterey while Alicia, Sarah and Tony went to the tournament. Family. God sure blessed me in this department, especially. Anyway, on to my reflection for today.
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Mark’s account of the healing of the blind man of Bethsaida is unique because it is one of the rare episodes that appears only in Mark, and it is also unique in that it seems to take Jesus two tries for the healing to be completed.
All four gospels attest to that Jesus performed physical healings. But the evangelists are also interested in the deeper meaning of those physical healings. They also symbolize spiritual healing. This is especially easy to understand in the case of healings from blindness. In the episode immediately preceding the healing of the blind man of Bethsaida, where Jesus is portrayed as scolding the disciples for their failure to understand His reference to “the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of the Herodians,” He asks, “Do you still not understand? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes and not see?” Clearly, He is not referring to physical blindness here. He is using sight metaphorically, the way we do when we ask, “Do you see what I’m saying?” It is the”sight” of understanding.
Once we make that connection, we can deduce why Mark placed the odd two-stage healing of the blind man of Bethsaida right before Jesus asks the disciples about who people think He is. The healing parallels exactly the situation of Peter. When Jesus asks, “Who do you say that I am?” Peter gets it half right. That is, he correctly identifies Jesus as the long-awaited Messiah, but he fails to understand what Messiah means in Jesus’ case. When Jesus mentions rejection and death, Peter rebukes Him. In other words, Peter shows that he “sees” half way. Indeed, throughout the next two chapters of Mark all the of disciples show that they are, to a great extent, spiritually blind. The second time Jesus predicts His passion and death, they argue about which of them is “the greatest.” And the third time He makes the same prediction, James and John ask for the top spots when Jesus comes into His kingdom (10:35-37). After each of these misunderstandings, Jesus teaches them what it means to truly follow Him (to bear one’s own cross, to serve one another). But they remain clueless. Finally, we come to the second healing from blindness in Mark, the healing of Bartimaeus (10:46-52). Jesus asks him the same question He had asked James and John, “What do you want me to do for you?” Unlike the disciples, this man knows he is blind. He says, “Master, I want to see.” “Go your way,” Jesus tells him. “Your faith has saved you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Him on the way.
I think Mark has framed this whole section about training the disciples with the healings from blindness for two reasons: (1) to show how the disciples needed to be healed from their blindness regarding the true nature of Jesus as the Messiah, and consequently about what it means to be Jesus’ follower; (2) Mark expects his audience (including us) to identify with the blind disciples and to face the fact that we, too, may need to be healed from our own blindness regarding who Jesus is and what it means to follow Him. I know after I read Mark 8 through 10 today I saw Jesus and myself in a fresh way.
I must force myself to spend a couple of hours to read some scripture for tomorrow's Mass and write a reflection in addition to posting some pictures of our trip this last weekend to Monterey on Lily's blog. It's not a complete set of pictures, but the only ones I could cull from the pictures the girls put on Facebook. We had a great time and I actually spent a couple of the days on the 6th green and 7th tee at Pebble Beach with just Marilyn. Then on Sunday, she and I took Lily to the Dennis the Menace park there in Monterey while Alicia, Sarah and Tony went to the tournament. Family. God sure blessed me in this department, especially. Anyway, on to my reflection for today.
=====================================================================
Mark’s account of the healing of the blind man of Bethsaida is unique because it is one of the rare episodes that appears only in Mark, and it is also unique in that it seems to take Jesus two tries for the healing to be completed.
All four gospels attest to that Jesus performed physical healings. But the evangelists are also interested in the deeper meaning of those physical healings. They also symbolize spiritual healing. This is especially easy to understand in the case of healings from blindness. In the episode immediately preceding the healing of the blind man of Bethsaida, where Jesus is portrayed as scolding the disciples for their failure to understand His reference to “the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of the Herodians,” He asks, “Do you still not understand? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes and not see?” Clearly, He is not referring to physical blindness here. He is using sight metaphorically, the way we do when we ask, “Do you see what I’m saying?” It is the”sight” of understanding.
Once we make that connection, we can deduce why Mark placed the odd two-stage healing of the blind man of Bethsaida right before Jesus asks the disciples about who people think He is. The healing parallels exactly the situation of Peter. When Jesus asks, “Who do you say that I am?” Peter gets it half right. That is, he correctly identifies Jesus as the long-awaited Messiah, but he fails to understand what Messiah means in Jesus’ case. When Jesus mentions rejection and death, Peter rebukes Him. In other words, Peter shows that he “sees” half way. Indeed, throughout the next two chapters of Mark all the of disciples show that they are, to a great extent, spiritually blind. The second time Jesus predicts His passion and death, they argue about which of them is “the greatest.” And the third time He makes the same prediction, James and John ask for the top spots when Jesus comes into His kingdom (10:35-37). After each of these misunderstandings, Jesus teaches them what it means to truly follow Him (to bear one’s own cross, to serve one another). But they remain clueless. Finally, we come to the second healing from blindness in Mark, the healing of Bartimaeus (10:46-52). Jesus asks him the same question He had asked James and John, “What do you want me to do for you?” Unlike the disciples, this man knows he is blind. He says, “Master, I want to see.” “Go your way,” Jesus tells him. “Your faith has saved you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Him on the way.
I think Mark has framed this whole section about training the disciples with the healings from blindness for two reasons: (1) to show how the disciples needed to be healed from their blindness regarding the true nature of Jesus as the Messiah, and consequently about what it means to be Jesus’ follower; (2) Mark expects his audience (including us) to identify with the blind disciples and to face the fact that we, too, may need to be healed from our own blindness regarding who Jesus is and what it means to follow Him. I know after I read Mark 8 through 10 today I saw Jesus and myself in a fresh way.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Isn't it a shame?
Occasionally—OK, who am I kidding?—Lily, testing the waters of independence will say “no” to Mommy or MarMar or me.
When she realizes it will do her no good, she looks at us as if we’re going to punish her somehow; maybe when she’s old enough to actually know she’s disobeying, but not yet. But when I see this, I see the effects of sin as they are shown in Genesis. The first effect of sin is shame: after Adam and Eve had sinned, they found leaves to cover up their nakedness because of their shame. The second effect is fear. When God called for Adam and Eve in the garden they ran and hid. Because of their sin, shame and fear entered the world and those ramifications are still linked hand in hand with sin. It’s sad to see that the human weakness for sinning and disobeying God is instilled in people when they are so young. We are deprived of the original holiness and justice that God intended for us to have at birth, and instead we’re born with original sin. Isn't that kind of depressing? However, God loves us so much that even though our relationship of trust with him was broken, he gave us means through Baptism and Reconciliation to wash away our sins and receive his unending mercy.
The Gospel reading, while not apparent to me at first glance, goes hand in hand with the story in Genesis. Christ’s miracle with feeding the four thousand people shows how Christ rewards people who persevere in following him and he shows his unending love. God loves all of his creations, and if we follow him and devote our life to him, he will make sure our needs are met. The feeding of the four thousand shows God’s immense love and mercy. By feeding all those who had followed him to hear his word, he made sure that they were provided for. This shows that God will make sure that we’re taken care of if we follow him; through the losses or hardships we incur during our devotion to him, he will take care of us. If we seek to glorify him, we shall be fed by him, because it is not his way to turn people away empty-handed when they look to him for bread. God did and always will continue to invite us to come to him to obtain his mercy and grace in our time of need. And by feeding the four thousand, God shows that with him, nothing is impossible.
Today we are called to ask ourselves, have we confessed our sins in hopes of receiving God’s unending mercy? And have we truly dedicated our lives to following Christ?
When she realizes it will do her no good, she looks at us as if we’re going to punish her somehow; maybe when she’s old enough to actually know she’s disobeying, but not yet. But when I see this, I see the effects of sin as they are shown in Genesis. The first effect of sin is shame: after Adam and Eve had sinned, they found leaves to cover up their nakedness because of their shame. The second effect is fear. When God called for Adam and Eve in the garden they ran and hid. Because of their sin, shame and fear entered the world and those ramifications are still linked hand in hand with sin. It’s sad to see that the human weakness for sinning and disobeying God is instilled in people when they are so young. We are deprived of the original holiness and justice that God intended for us to have at birth, and instead we’re born with original sin. Isn't that kind of depressing? However, God loves us so much that even though our relationship of trust with him was broken, he gave us means through Baptism and Reconciliation to wash away our sins and receive his unending mercy.
The Gospel reading, while not apparent to me at first glance, goes hand in hand with the story in Genesis. Christ’s miracle with feeding the four thousand people shows how Christ rewards people who persevere in following him and he shows his unending love. God loves all of his creations, and if we follow him and devote our life to him, he will make sure our needs are met. The feeding of the four thousand shows God’s immense love and mercy. By feeding all those who had followed him to hear his word, he made sure that they were provided for. This shows that God will make sure that we’re taken care of if we follow him; through the losses or hardships we incur during our devotion to him, he will take care of us. If we seek to glorify him, we shall be fed by him, because it is not his way to turn people away empty-handed when they look to him for bread. God did and always will continue to invite us to come to him to obtain his mercy and grace in our time of need. And by feeding the four thousand, God shows that with him, nothing is impossible.
Today we are called to ask ourselves, have we confessed our sins in hopes of receiving God’s unending mercy? And have we truly dedicated our lives to following Christ?
Sunday, February 6, 2011
It's a wonderful world
In the gospel, we get a glimpse of the faith of those who wanted to only touch the tassel on his cloak to be healed. We have that opportunity every day to believe, to give ourselves over to God and to be healed in our hearts. My faith has centuries behind it with tradition and history. The people who came to meet Jesus and the apostles at the boat dock, at the meeting place, at the mountain didn’t have that certainty. They just had faith.
As I reflect on the wonderful world, I turn to the psalm. May the Lord be glad in his works. May the Lord be glad in me. Let me open my heart to the healing power of love and faith. It’s a wonderful world. And I’m feeling better.
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Back to blogging--well, tomorrow, anyway!
Sorry for my absence this last week. I came down with a cold. As any of you who know me personally know, this leads inevitably to bronchitis. As most of you know also, I refuse to believe it will happen until I have to take time off of work and see a doctor for antibiotics and other medications. That’s what happened. I fought it off until Thursday this week, when the coughing, wheezing, headaches and sinus problems got so bad I couldn’t function properly. After seeing the doctor though, and taking a couple of days worth of medicine, I feel strong enough to continue my routine for a while—but not a full meditation—that will have to wait for tomorrow. I just felt an explanation for my absence was in order.
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