Friday, November 15, 2013

It's my birthday!

I’m 60 years old today. Am I comfortable? I think so. Am I happy? Most days. What do I need right now? Not much. What do I need tomorrow? Probably more wisdom and the courage of the Holy Spirit to go deeper in faith. I ask these questions today as our world urges me to put my happiness first. McDonald’s and Snickers candy bar commercials tell us “we deserve a break” and that treating ourselves should be the priority. Yes, it’s my birthday and I do love the attention I will be getting. But what about others? What about dying to my flesh and loving my brothers and sisters? I have been doing a lot of reflection lately on the words—and more importantly—the actions of Pope Francis.

Love God and love others—that’s the gospel message. One of the hardest battles we face is looking outside of ourselves for the benefit of others. That is the mission we are all called to. We are not just encouraged to follow it; we are commanded to follow it. We have to understand and accept that loving others is generally inconvenient. It means we don’t get our way, we don’t get to be comfortable, and we have to fight our natural inclinations to judge people or to “get along” with people who aren’t like us. This is what Pope Francis is showing us so well in his daily actions.

Today’s gospel message from Luke 17 reminds us “Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses it will save it.” If we live our lives trying to find happiness by meeting our own needs, we will come up short. If, however, we follow Jesus’ example and live to meet the needs of others, we will find life. We will experience true joy and happiness by loving people.

So, even though it’s MY birthday, I’d like to give my readers a present. It’s the greatest gift I can give to others; LOVE.

If anyone wants to honor me with a gift, please don’t—I would rather you donate a little something or (at the very least) pray for the victims of the typhoon in the Philippines. There are all sorts of websites out there soliciting money. Just be sure it's a reputable organization. It’s all about Love.

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"I demand from you deeds of mercy, which are to arise out of love for Me. You are to show mercy to your neighbors always and everywhere. You must not shrink from this or try to excuse or absolve yourself from it.

I am giving you three ways of exercising mercy toward your neighbor:
the first — by deed, the second — by word, the third — by prayer. In these three degrees is contained the fullness of mercy, and it is an unquestionable proof of love for Me. By this means a soul glorifies and pays reverence to My mercy.

Many souls ... are often worried because they do not have the material means with which to carry out an act of mercy. Yet spiritual mercy, which requires neither permissions nor storehouses, is much more meritorious and is within the grasp of every soul.

If a soul does not exercise mercy somehow or other, it will not obtain My mercy on the day of judgment. Oh, if only souls knew how to gather eternal treasure for themselves, they would not be judged, for they would forestall My judgment with their mercy".