An anniversary of both sadness and great joy!

November 29^th is a day I remember each year with both sadness and great joy.  The sad memory is that on this date in 2010, my brother Bob passed away.

My nephew Tim drew this when his father died.  

It sums up my feelings of sadness followed by joy when I think of Bob's passing

That sadness for me is overshadowed with joy though, because it’s also the day he entered into a new life in Christ as a good and faithful servant.  We in the Catholic Church celebrate the day that saints die as “Feast” days.  Happy Feast Day, Bro.  Please pray for us.  

Our baptism as soon as possible after our birth places an indelible mark on our souls and identifies us as followers of Christ

On this date 65 years ago, 2 weeks after I was born, I was baptized.  Of course, I was not aware what the Sacrament meant to me then, but now that I’m older and wiser (we can debate that another time, lol), I like to think it’s the most important decision my parents ever made on my behalf. Thanks, Mom and Dad. 

Baptism has six primary effects, which are all supernatural graces:

·         The removal of the guilt of both Original Sin (the sin imparted to all mankind by the Fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden) and personal sin (the sins that we have committed ourselves). If only we could remain this way! (sigh!)

·         The remission of all punishment that we owe because of sin, both temporal (in this world and in Purgatory) and eternal (the punishment that we would suffer in hell).

·         The infusion of grace in the form of sanctifying grace (the life of God within us); the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit (wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude (or courage), knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord) and the three theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity (or love).

·         Becoming a part of Christ.

·         Becoming a part of the Church, which is the Mystical Body of Christ on earth.

·         Enabling participation in the sacraments, the priesthood of all believers, and the growth in grace.

Through our baptism we receive the graces we need to be able to ask, “What does my neighbor (mother, father, spouse, son, daughter, friend, co-worker, etc) need from me today?” and “How can I accommodate that need?” Our “job” as baptized Christians is to become the face of Christ to others.

I thank God for giving me the Spirit of Christ in baptism and I ask God to help me be open to the Spirit so I might truly be Christ’s presence for others.

Trying to find my way to the sea of glass

On the sea of glass were standing those who had won the victory…and they sang the song of Moses, the servant of God and the song of the Lamb: "Great and wonderful are your works, Lord God almighty. (Revelation 15:2-3)

Those standing on the sea of glass who had won the victory and remained faithful to "The mind of Christ” are the ones not dead but wear the crown of life.

I want to be one of those standing on the “sea of glass”.  Those are the saints in Heaven.  God bless her, Lily often tells me she thinks I’m going to be a saint.  I remind her whenever she says that, that I’m far from it right now.  But am I, really?

I sometimes feel "martyred", not to the point of death, but very worn-down spiritually.  Some days it seems like everything I hear, see and do just tries to block my belief in Christ and take me down the wrong path. Those are the days filled with frustrations and I just want to wrap the scriptures around my head and wear it like a crown.

Pope Francis said recently, “Martyrdom of blood is not the only way to witness to Jesus Christ. . . . There is everyday martyrdom: the martyrdom of honesty, the martyrdom of patience in raising children; the martyrdom of fidelity to love, when it is easier to take another, more hidden path” (Address, June 18, 2016).

Every time we make a choice for someone else over ourselves, we have won a victory. Every time we cooperate with God’s grace instead of giving in to temptation, we have won a victory. We may not see it, but God is shaping our character. He is making us a witness to his power. And he is giving us the victory.

“By your perseverance you will secure your lives.” (Luke 21:19)

We just have to persevere: “Lord, help me to be humble, simple, and willing to follow you no matter how ordinary life may seem.”

The battle is already won for those who persevere in faith

Coming into the advent season we get a lot of scripture reminding us that this world is temporary. 

In the first reading from Revelation this morning, the angels reap two kinds of harvests: the earth's harvest and the grape harvest.

In the earth's harvest, all God's people are gathered into heaven. This scripture connects back to Matthew 9:37, where Jesus asked for an increase of laborers to work in the harvesting fields of God's kingdom.

In the grape harvest, all evil is cut from the earth and destroyed. This verse connects back to Isaiah 63:3, where the Messiah's garments are stained by the blood of evil-doers.

Then, in the Gospel today, Jesus talks about all of signs that will occur before this “harvesting”—

"See that you not be deceived, for many will come in my name, saying, 'I am he,' and 'The time has come.' Do not follow them!

When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for such things must happen first, but it will not immediately be the end."

Then he said to them, "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be powerful earthquakes, famines, and plagues from place to place; and awesome sights and mighty signs will come from the sky."

All these ‘signs’ sound familiar in our present day, don’t they?  But Jesus says clearly that despite the terrible things happening around us that we should not be terrified for they are not signs of an immediate end. So, rather than feeling fearful and anxious, understand that God protects us by giving us the strength and resolve to persevere through difficult times.  Jesus not only provides comfort and strength, but he reminds us through his teachings that our perseverance and faith will secure our lives and lead us to redemption.  As many of us know, times of great challenge and difficulty often bring opportunities for renewal and growth and that is exactly what the season of advent provides – a chance to prepare ourselves for the second coming of Christ. We rejoice in the birth of Jesus and prepare, with hope, for his second coming by reflecting on and then acting upon his message - a message of kindness, compassion, justice, mercy and love. 

Sometimes our gifts are for others

A pickup truck changed lanes in front of me without a signal and I had to put my brakes on to avoid a collision.  Before I could get angry enough to honk my horn and show my disapproval to the driver with a certain hand gesture, I notice the bumper sticker on his tailgate.  It was 1Sam 2:5-9.  Instead of getting mad, I memorized the reading number and told myself to look it up as a preparatory prayer for Mass. 

It is part of a prayer that Hannah (Samuel’s mother) prayed before presenting Samuel to back to God to be taught by Eli, the prophet to fulfill her promise to God if He would give her a son.

“The well-fed hire themselves out for bread, while the hungry no longer have to toil.

The barren wife bears seven sons, while the mother of many languishes.

The LORD puts to death and gives life, casts down to Sheol and brings up again.

The LORD makes poor and makes rich, humbles, and also exalts.

He raises the needy from the dust; from the ash heap lifts up the poor, to seat them with nobles

and make a glorious throne their heritage.

For the pillars of the earth are the LORD’s, and he has set the world upon them.

He guards the footsteps of his faithful ones, but the wicked shall perish in the darkness; for not by strength does one prevail.”

I wondered why the inconsiderate (or possibly just unobservant) driver would have this specific Bible passage on the back of his pickup truck.  Then I realized that maybe it wasn’t for the driver, but for me.  After all, the driver can’t see the bumper sticker, but those who are following too close (either unintentionally, like me, or on purpose) can.

Because I like to think I’m one who actively listens for God’s voice in my everyday life, it did not go unnoticed that a prayer using an image of a “glorious throne” was literally placed in my path on the Solemnity of Christ the King.

But the image didn’t stop there.  As I reflect on the same passage in the light of today’s Gospel reading—when Jesus noticed the widow putting in “all that she had” into the collection plate (Luke 21:1-4)—I am reminded of a gentleman who used to attend the 5:30 PM daily mass at one of the churches in Bakersfield. 

The church has Perpetual Adoration in their chapel.  This means that at any time of the day or night (with a code to the security gate) parishioners can pray in front of the Blessed Sacrament to ask for intercession or simply converse with Jesus.  Whenever I would attend the daily mass at that chapel, there was a man sitting in the front pew right in front of the altar playing his harmonica in a low tone. 

Occasionally, I could figure out what he was playing, but not often.  Sometimes I thought he was composing his own song, since he would play the same notes over and over and over again.  He was an older man who walked with a stoop and had very arthritic fingers. 

At daily masses it is uncommon for a lot of music to be sung or even prayed.  But this man would always play his harmonica during the offertory rite and again right after communion.

One specific word in today’s gospel is the key to my story.  Jesus “noticed” the widow.  At first the old man’s harmonica playing was a distraction to me and my own ability to be “in the moment” with Christ at mass.  But the more I “noticed” him, it became clear his playing was his ‘giving all he had’ to God through his meager talent.  After a few weeks of “noticing” him, his playing became a portal through which I entered into a more meaningful prayer with God.

Since I’ve retired, I no longer go to that mass.  I wonder if he is still being used by God as an instrument (pun intended) to deeper prayer for others.  Maybe, if it’s possible, an even deeper prayer than Hannah’s.

You Must Prophesy

When the angel told Saint John "Here, take and eat this scroll. It will taste sweet but will sour in your stomach" in today's first reading, my first thought was my birthday celebration last Sunday at my daughter and son-in-law’s home.  After lunch, we went back to their house and they had ordered me my favorite dessert of all time, a lemon meringue pie.  They sliced it up and gave me a sizable portion to taste.  The meringue was perfect and sweet, but I found the lemon custard (made from real lemons, not that stuff you buy in the stores) was a bit on the sour side.  Over the next two days, somehow the lemon got less tart and sweeter and was absolutely delicious by Tuesday when I finished it off.  It didn’t make my stomach upset, as the reading from Revelation says, but the analogy was furthered along by today’s responsorial Psalm.

The Psalm says, "How sweet to my taste is your promise!" The Good News from God is always wonderful, but when we have to share the truth with those who will reject us, it churns in our stomachs, or leaves a sour taste in our mouth.  Jesus spoke the truth in the Gospel passage, and the chief priests, leaders and scribes plotted to destroy him. Who can stomach that kind of rejection and then do it again?

God told John, "You must prophesy." Through our baptisms, we all share in Christ's divine role as prophet. We must prophesy! But not as fortune tellers; that is Satan's twisted warp on it. And not by nagging someone with the truth; that's casting pearls before swine, which Jesus warned against. To be a prophet means to speak the truth to those who need to hear it, but only when God chooses the timing and gives us the words to speak.

We are held accountable for every word that we use or misuse. We are also held accountable for every word he asks us to utter that we do not speak because we're afraid that someone's reaction might upset our stomachs.

To be God's voice here on earth, we must first live the truth, learning it from scripture and Church teachings, letting it change our own lives, and humbly going to Confession for the times we've rejected the truth. Since we can never fully grasp the truth, we must continually study, learn, and live the truth.

Secondly, we must stay in prayer to discern God's will, and thirdly, we must rely on the Holy Spirit's inspiration rather than on our personal emotions and agendas.

And when the sweet taste of his Word turns sour in our stomach or leaves that bad taste in our mouth, we have the satisfaction of knowing that it has united us to St. John and to Jesus.

Invest your talents, don't hide them

“Invest this until I get back.” (Luke 19:13)

Everything we have, we have as a gift from a generous God. Everything that has come to us has come to us at little cost compared with the cost of our redemption. Nothing belongs to us because we cannot hold onto it forever. If many of us traced our ancestry back, we would find that we are the direct relatives of fabulously wealthy men and women. How many of us have anything to show for it?

Our talents are given us, lent to us for our time on Earth to be used for His glory. They are not ours because they will be translated when we are no longer here. But we are expected to use them and to produce more. We are expected to invest them and return a harvest of souls bound for salvation. One of the great tragedies of humankind would be not to use these wonderful gifts in the proper way.

Gifts that are used increase—they do so naturally, like exercising a muscle, as they increase, our capacity to use them increases. Soon we find ourselves in places we never expected—the Lord keeps giving us more and more, knowing that someday we'll stop relying on ourselves and start relying on Him.

So, as we go about our daily chores and our daily activities, we need to think about how we can use the gift of cooking, or cleaning, or writing, or listening, or whatever we may be blessed by and to consider carefully how we might best offer it back to God through loving our neighbor.

Ready or not, here He comes!

If Jesus came up to you today and asked to come to your home for dinner, would you say yes? Would you be willing to let Him in and dine with you on such short notice, knowing that your home was not clean and the refrigerator nearly empty since your plan was to buy groceries the next day?  Would you welcome Him anyway, regardless of how things were with you personally; long overdue for a haircut, or unshaven for a day or two?  Or would you offer Him a rain check for a better day when you had time to clean, prepare a king's feast and have yourself all spruced up for the great visit from your Lord?

In the gospel, Jesus calls to Zacchaeus and invites Himself to dinner and it is possible that Zacchaeus was not ready for this himself.  Jesus did not go to Zacchaeus for a feast or to see his palatial home all cleaned and ready for the visit.  Jesus went to Zacchaeus because he was a tax collector, a man in need of salvation!

Jesus comes to us the same way.  He is not expecting us to be in our finest clothes with a gourmet meal all prepared and ready. He comes expecting us as we are, sinners in need of an all loving and all saving God.  To be ready for Him is not to have our house all in perfect order, but rather to be willing to accept Him when He calls and ready to do His bidding and receive the free gift He brings.

Jesus will help us get our house in order.  But we have to accept His invitation.

Discernment is a Gift from God That Needs to be Opened

In today’s passage from Revelation, we are told, ‘blessed are those who listen to this prophetic message and heed what is written… ‘I know your works, your labor, and your endurance…and (you) have not grown weary.’ But further on, ‘Realize how far you have fallen. Repent, and do the works you did at first.’

I don’t know what made me count it, but the word wicked comes up four times in the first reading today.  Other words are imposters, fallen, insolent and sinners.  There was no shortage of evil when Revelation was written and there is plenty of evil now.  At times it seems we live in a dark world.  Every moral standard is tested.  Absolute truth is mocked.  Good is ridiculed and evil is justified.  God is clear that we are to discern good from evil.  We are to embrace good and repent when we have done evil.

Revelation is telling me that God has made a covenant with me and that I have received and opened the gift of faith, to guide my “life- decision- making.” Trusting in what I believe the Holy Spirit is telling my soul takes some endurance, and after a while I do find myself getting tired and complacent. Revelation reminds me to stay vigilant, grateful, and aware.  Also to remember to acknowledge my faith and decision-making as a gift I have received from God. The last passage also reminds me to share my insight with others as if it were the first time I had ever discovered God’s love.

My newest granddaughter, Paloma Sarah, has given me reason to contemplate further on what today’s reading is about.  She is so beautiful.  And I am head over heels in love with her.  I mean, I really, REALLY love her.  Why is that?  How does that happen?  She is two weeks old tomorrow.  I barely know her.  What does she have to offer me?  I mean all she does is eat, poop and cry.  Good grief, anybody can do that.  And yet, I hold her in my arms and look at her and my heart just melts.  I would do anything for her.  I know I would lay my life down for her in a heartbeat.  The same applies to my other two grandchildren and my own children, for that matter.

I wonder, is that how God looks at us?  Like a baby in His arms?  It’s not like God needs us or we have anything special to offer to God.  And yet, God loves us so much He laid down his life for us.  We are God’s children.  Kind of an amazing thought.  It isn’t what we can do for God or what we have to offer God.  It’s about who we are. 

My prayer today is for discernment.  To be able to discern good from evil and to know God’s will.  To know that we are God’s creation, His children and to realize how much He loves us.  Life is always changing, but God’s love for us remains the same.

Birthdays, End Times, and Hope

The month of November is a roller-coaster for me.  I love the birthday celebrations (my own comes to mind first, lol—and now Paloma’s birthday, as well!) and most of the Feast Days.  But I also get pretty somber when I reflect on the death of so many of my loved ones on All Souls Day.  The scripture readings at mass for the last 4 weeks or so also remind us of the “end times”.  Today's Gospel is also kind of a "downer", unless you read it in conjunction with the other readings the Church has chosen; then, one finds a lot of hope. 

In the Book of Daniel we hear of the frightening times at the end of the world, but are given the reassurance that those who have tried to lead others to justice will reap their reward. The psalm holds the key on how we are to do this in the phrase that refers to God showing us the path to life. It also mentions that our reward is not some fancy gold-lined street as we so often hear heaven described, but rather that God Himself is our inheritance. We've already begun to reap that reward here on earth, in that as baptized Christians we're the adopted sons and daughters of God.

The second reading reassures us that Christ has made the sacrifice for our sins once and for all. That has been done. We no longer have to worry about that, although obviously we need to strive toward holiness and repent for our sins. The Gospel is like the final climax, depicting Christ coming at the end of the world and the angels being sent out to collect the just for the kingdom of God.

So, what does all this mean for us on a day to day basis? It's quite simple, as following Christ usually is. We are to ask Christ to show us the way every day. We prayerfully discern what He is asking of us and we do it. That's it! And to make things even more reassuring, we're often told in scripture, and—in particular—today’s psalm, that Christ is with us through all of this and therefore we shouldn't be disturbed.

A woman of persistence

“When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”  Luke 18:8b

This is a good and interesting question that Jesus poses.  He poses it to each one of us and asks us to answer it in a personal way.  The answer is contingent upon whether or not we each have faith in our hearts.

What is faith?  Hebrews 11:1 describes it this way: “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”  In other words, it can be said that faith is a response from each one of us to God speaking in our hearts.  In order to have faith we must first listen to God speak.  We must let Him reveal Himself to us within the depths of our conscience.  And when He does this, we manifest faith by responding to all that He reveals.  We enter into a belief in His Word spoken to us and it is this act of believing that changes us and forms faith within us.

And so at this time the question of Jesus seems very pertinent.  He is asking if there will be faith on this earth when he comes at the end of the world.  We can’t see the future and so are unable to answer the Lord’s question.  What we can do is to make sure that faith is present among us in our time and that we pass it on to our children and grandchildren.  If succeeding generations can continue to do that then the answer to the question of the Lord will be yes. 

There are many challenges to faith in today’s world.  Many Catholics pay lip service to being Catholic but do not really practice their faith.  Other Catholics find the practice of their faith difficult because of the challenges and struggles in their lives

One of the means of renewing our faith is through the strengthening of our contact with the Lord.  We do this through prayer.  And prayer is the subject of today’s gospel.  In his parable Jesus calls upon us to be like the widow who persisted in her demand for a just decision.  He wants us to be persistent in prayer and never grow weary of asking Jesus for what we need, just as the widow never tired of asking the dishonest judge for a decision.    Perseverance in prayer is not always easy, but it will be rewarded.  Jesus is listening to us.  We know that through faith.

I have a couple of images that come to mind when I think about my mom’s persistence in praying for others.  One is today’s gospel.  The other is like when taking a flight somewhere, the flight attendants will explain the safety features of the aircraft.  In case of the loss of cabin pressure, the oxygen masks will drop from the ceiling above you.  You are supposed to put your own mask on first, then help the others around you, especially the small children and elderly.  I know Mom felt like her rosaries and novenas were not necessarily for HER sake, but for those of us who haven’t put our own masks on yet and expressed our love of God and neighbor through the prayers our Blessed Mother has asked us to pray.  After her retirement, you could say her full-time job was her prayer life!  And Mom was very, very busy! I crunched some numbers a few years back and I figured she had said over 1 million prayers on behalf of her family, just from the time of her retirement!  

Faith is not just believing.  It’s believing in what God speaks to us.  It’s the belief in His very Word and in His very Person.  When we do enter into the gift of faith, we grow in a certainty about God and all He says to a radical degree.  That certainty is what God is looking for in our life and will be the answer to His question above.

“When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” 

Progress? Or the rejection of Truth?

But now, Lady*, I ask you, not as though I were writing a new commandment, but the one we have had from the beginning: let us love one another.  For this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, as you heard from the beginning, in which you should walk.

Many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh; such is the deceitful one and the antichrist.  Look to yourselves that you do not lose what we worked for but may receive a full recompense.  

Anyone who is so “progressive” as not to remain in the teaching of the Christ does not have God; whoever remains in the teaching has the Father and the Son.  If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him in your house or even greet him; for whoever greets him shares in his evil works. (2John 5-11)

*The “Lady” whom John is writing to, is the growing Catholic Church in the first century, but John’s advice is timeless and oh so needed in today’s world!  Here is my interpretation of his advice:

When "progress" means redefining the truth to suit our own purposes, we no longer have God, as today's first reading at mass points out. "Progressive" decisions occur when we allow ourselves to be swayed by the winds of non-Christian influences. We're most vulnerable to this when we don't like what the Church teaches, which happens because we don't understand what the Church is really teaching. To use the analogy that Jesus provides in the Gospel reading, "wherever the carcass is, there the vultures will gather." (Luke 17:37) We flock to what's decaying, because the world tells us it's appetizing and we choose to believe it.

The "antichrist" or "deceiver" is anyone who rejects the truth. We can discern what is not a truth - what is not truly of God - by its unloving character and its unscriptural basis. However, love and scripture are often claimed as validations for deceptions. We must become better educated, double-checking everything against the documents of the Church (which are readily available on the internet), because these teachings are based upon and help explain the scriptures.

Every day, we're exposed to the ideas and pressures of people who are gambling with their eternal happiness. Several prominent “Catholic ‘Progressive’” politicians from both parties come to mind, as well as some "believers" who would like to "Make America Great Again".  I will not name names, as I don’t wish to “bring him/her into my house and therefore share in their evil works”. They are like the folks in Noah's day, as Jesus pointed out, doing what feels right to them up until the very end, without regard to the warnings and commandments of God. They think they're sparing themselves from unhappiness and destruction, but "whoever tries to preserve his life by his own methods will lose it."

The laws, norms, and regulations of the Catholic Church are based on the supreme Law of Love so that we remain eternally alive in the saving love of Jesus Christ. If you doubt any of it, research it. If you doubt the adaptations, research it. If you see Church rules being practiced without love, don't let others dictate your understanding of the rules, research it. There is no excuse for mixing untruths with the truth, not in today's Information Age.

The Kingdom of God is Among Us

Asked by the Pharisees when the Kingdom of God would come, Jesus said in reply, “The coming of the Kingdom of God cannot be observed, and no one will announce, ‘Look, here it is,’ or, ‘There it is.’ For behold, the Kingdom of God is among you.”  Luke 17:20-21

The Kingdom of God is among you!  It’s the Kingdom present by grace living in our hearts and present to us in countless ways every day.

Jesus longs to reign in our hearts and rule our lives.  He is not the sort of King who imposes Himself in a dictatorial way.  He does not exercise His authority and demand we obey.  Of course, this will happen in the end, when Jesus returns, but for now His invitation is just that, an invitation.  He invites us to give Him Kingship of our lives.  He invites us to let Him take full control.  If we do that, He will issue commands to us which are commands of love.  They are decrees that draw us into truth and beauty.  They refresh us and renew us. 

Jesus’ presence is all around us.  His Kingdom is present every time charity is present.  His Kingdom is present every time grace is at work.  It’s so easy for us to be overwhelmed by the evils of this world and to miss the presence of God.  God is alive in countless ways all around us.  We must always strive to see this presence, be inspired by it and love it.

Am I a "Thankful" Christian?

And one of them, realizing he had been healed, returned, glorifying God in a loud voice; and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. He was a Samaritan.  Luke 17:15-16

Most of us think we don't have enough faith, especially when our prayers don't get answered the way we'd like or when miracles we seek don't happen.

However, the opposite is true: We have more than enough faith, because it's a gift of the Holy Spirit, but we underestimate our faith. Our faith is mediocre because our lives as Christians are mediocre. We are an extraordinary people, but we're content with living merely ordinary lives so that God cannot ask us to do something outside the box of our comfort zones.

I’ve noticed that converts to Catholicism tend to be more on fire in their faith and more involved in the parish than "cradle Catholics".  I liken them to the non-Jewish leper in today's Gospel reading, who returned to Jesus full of praise. But, given human nature, I’m sure even they take at least some areas of our faith for granted. Converts tend to be more excited about their faith because they gave up something to get it.

The first reading at mass today reminds us of our responsibilities as Christians. Sometimes we take for granted God's mercy and so we presume that if we break laws, cooperate with dishonesty at work, complain about others, quarrel, or react rudely, etc., God will so quickly forgive us that he won't even notice it. When we take our faith for granted, we rationalize away the wrongness of wrong-doings. This is the sin of presumption and one that I confess to quite regularly, I’m afraid.

Have you ever noticed how many times Jesus says “Thank You” in the Gospels?  It seems he says words of thanks only to His Heavenly Father. Before He raised Lazarus from the dead Jesus prayed: “Father, I thank you for having heard me…” (Jn 11:41) At the last Supper the night before Jesus died “…taking bread and giving thanks, he broke it and gave it to them saying: ‘This is my body to be given for you.’” (Lk 22:18) Again before Jesus multiplied the loaves and fishes to feed the 5000, “Taking the seven loaves, he gave thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to distribute…” (Mk 8:6) Since everything belonged to the Father, His only possible response to God was a simple “Thank you!”

But to everyone else who befriended or helped him Jesus didn’t say “thanks”; instead he did something for them to show his gratitude. When Peter allowed Jesus to use his boat as a pulpit, he didn’t say thanks. Instead he provided him with the miraculous draft of fish. When Mary supplied the amenities that Simon failed to offer, Jesus said her act of kindness would be retold till the end of time. And when the Canaanite woman responded to his request for a cup of water, Jesus gave her water springing up to eternal life, the gift of faith.

When someone thanks us we know how it makes us feel satisfied, sometimes even needed. This feeling bonds people together making us realize that we are our neighbor’s keeper. Whereas ingratitude breeds ingratitude. When people react in an ungrateful way, it distances people one from another making them feel superfluous, perhaps even a nuisance or menace.

Following Jesus’ example is the path to holiness and eternal life. So being ever ready to express gratitude by deeds, or at least words of thanks, should be our spontaneous response to every act of help or kindness shown to us.

Elders' obligations

This reflection is really about and for elders….for people like myself. 

Anthropologists pay a lot of attention to elders.  It seems that our society so values youth that we often fail to see where the age and experience of older men and women can serve as valuable resources for younger men and women.  But sometimes I think that the frequent failure of young men and women to honor their elders has as much to do with the fact that elders need to make sure they are worthy of respect.   I am an elder and I accept what Saint Paul says to Titus (and to me, ultimately) about being consistent with sound doctrines in our behavior such as the ones he identifies.  No one disagrees that it is good to be temperate, dignified, self-controlled, faithful, loving, chaste, enduring and reverent; nor should we be slanderers or addicted to drink. 

Paul describes holiness as the sharing of our strengths and giftedness with others. Those with more experience should serve as examples of holiness. It's the ministry of evangelizing by mentoring.

Mentoring involves noticing which people God has placed in our path on the journey to heaven, then choosing to walk beside them. Sometimes they're crippled and need us to push their wheelchairs down the road until they can walk. Sometimes they're limping along and need us for a crutch until their legs get stronger. Sometimes they just need us to hold their hand as they make their way through a scary or confusing forest.

We have much that the Holy Spirit wants to offer them through our help, taken from our own healing, growth and learning processes. God has placed people around us who need what we can give. If we don't mentor them, they suffer from the absence of what we could provide. The consequences of this could be dreadfully long-lasting. We'll have to explain to Jesus why we refused to help when he comes to take us home to heaven.

We need to tell our own stories about trusting in God.  That is the power of faith stories.  Teaching younger people to do good instead of evil isn’t going to work if we take credit for our own goodness by bragging about how we followed the rules.  We’re just not that good and everyone has different challenges.  But if we share that our goodness comes from recognizing that our salvation comes from the Lord, we become more human and more credible.  And that should make us humbler.  None of us has earned the right to shame other people because of our own goodness.  I think Jesus, in Luke’s Gospel, is trying to tell us that we are good because we are obliged to be, not so we can pass judgment on others to secure a higher place for ourselves. 

Jesus warns us that if we do nothing more than our duty -- fulfilling our minimum Christian obligations so that we get to heaven -- we are "useless servants." Wow.  Let's become truly useful to our Lord! Let's not just go to Mass to fulfill our Sunday obligation; let's uplift the person who sits next to us. I pray that each of us can find a way to share our experiences of trusting in the Lord during our own struggles with a younger person who is struggling to do good. 

The hardest thing in life can be forgiveness

“Be on your guard!  If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.  And if he wrongs you seven times in one day and returns to you seven times saying, ‘I am sorry,’ you should forgive him.”  Luke 17:3-4

Complete forgiveness can be very difficult at times.  This is especially the case when the same person sins against you “seven times in one day” as Jesus says.  Parents know this feeling all too well, when their children continue to do things they have been told not to multiple times during the day.  We get very frustrated with our children or grandchildren, but Jesus’ words should be taken to heart.  He was not being idealistic; rather, He was being very realistic.  Forgiveness must be given, over and over and over again.  We can’t hesitate in offering it, especially to those who sincerely repent.

One of the first things we should notice from this passage is that when someone sins against us, we should rebuke him.  The rebuke is not to be an act focused on revenge; rather, it must be done so as to invite repentance.  This is the only reason for the rebuke of another.  If we have a sense that someone who sins against us may be open to change, then we must offer them a rebuke of love.  And when they accept it and seek our forgiveness, we must offer it.

But, as mentioned, this can especially be difficult when the sin is committed repeatedly.  It can become wearying and discouraging.  And when a sin is committed over and over again, it’s easy to become skeptical about the authentic sorrow of the one seeking forgiveness.

But none of that should be our concern.  Our only concern should be to hear those words, “I’m sorry.”  This is the command of Jesus.  When one says these words, we must forgive and do so immediately. I remember a line from an episode of the old series “Touched By An Angel”; “If you can’t find the love for another in you, let GOD love him through you.” Even when you think you can’t forgive, you have to anyway, as many times as necessary to understand what God’s love is for all of us.

Today’s Scripture verse also reveals to us the importance of expressing our sorrow to those whom we hurt.  It’s dangerous to simply presume that another will forgive.  There is great power in actually saying to another, “Please forgive me, I’m sorry for my sin.”  Though these words may be difficult to say, they are words of great healing.

We are all given numerous opportunities every day to forgive and seek forgiveness.  Do not hesitate in doing so and you will be grateful you did.

Lord, I am truly sorry for the many sins I have committed against You.  Please forgive me.  When I am obstinate, please offer me a rebuke of love.  When I need to ask forgiveness of another, please give me the courage to do so.  Jesus, I trust in You.

Prayer: A conversation with God

When I got to the church this morning to meet up with Alicia and Lily for mass, I had to park almost two blocks away, so I had a feeling something special was happening at this mass.  Sure enough, when I entered the church the first 10 rows of pews were reserved for catechumens and sponsors.  I thought “Someone is overestimating the number of pews they’re going to need.”  Then they started processing in with Monsignor Silva—all 60 catechumens and 60 sponsors!  Praise God!

While the Gospel was being proclaimed, a certain paragraph caught my attention and prompted my reflection today:

“Beware of the scribes, who like to go around in long robes and accept greetings in the marketplaces, seats of honor in synagogues, and places of honor at banquets. They devour the houses of widows and, as a pretext recite lengthy prayers. They will receive a very severe condemnation.”  Mark 12:38-40

The bottom line is the scribes were frauds.  They were consumed with a desire for “places of honor.”  They clearly treated others poorly: “They devour the houses of widows.”  What’s worse, they presented themselves as people of prayer when they clearly were not.  As a result, Jesus severely condemned them.  It reminded me of some career politicians on both sides of the aisle, as well as the occasional “flash in the pan” politicians. 

I think we can learn two things from this small passage from today’s Gospel:

1) The true “place of honor” is the place of the greatest humility.  True honor, in the eyes of God, is found when we serve without notice and give without recognition.  In this way our giving and serving are done purely out of a motivation of love and not self-serving intentions.  The humble person does not seek to be praised and honored for the love they give.  The act of giving and serving is itself the gift they receive.

2) Prayer is about one thing.  It’s about entering into communion with God.  It’s about establishing a relationship with Him in a deep, beautiful and abiding way.  It’s about love.  Prayer is not for show or to gain the admiration of others. 

Each one of the candidates at mass today was given a Bible to read and study during their discernment process until the Easter Vigil.  Monsignor Silva told them to “Read the word of God.  Read it out loud.  When you read it out loud—even to yourself—it allows you to listen to His Word, as well!”  Great advice I would give to anyone.

Lord, help me to be a person of true prayer and worship.  Help me to remain humble and true.  Help me to love You out of love of You alone.  Jesus, I trust in You.

An important feast day, and vacation memories

Lily and me praying in front of one of the relics from the Holy Land brought to Rome by Constantine's mother St. Helen.  This is said to be some wood that was part of the crib of Jesus.

Today in the Catholic Church we celebrate the Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome. Constantine built it in the fourth century and the Church has been celebrating this on November the 9th at least since the twelfth century. This is a day to remember our unity with the Chair of Peter and the mother church. The great Basilica of St. John Lateran is the oldest of Rome’s four major basilicas and, unknown to many, the cathedral of the Church of Rome.  It is thus the official seat of the Pope and holds the title of “Mother church of the whole world” among Catholics. It ranks above all other churches in the Roman Catholic Church – even above St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican. When my family and I visited Italy in 2015, and Rome in particular, we were blessed to be able to see and pray in the Lateran Basilica as well as the other 3 “Major Basilicas” of the Holy Catholic Church—St. Peter’s, St. Paul-outside-the-walls, and St. Mary Major. However, if we look at the readings for today, they challenge us to look beyond physical structures, even important, beautiful ones, and meditate upon our call to be holy temples of God.

A temple is to be a sanctuary, a holy place. From that temple should flow love, joy, peace, healing, and holiness. Ezekiel “saw” such a temple. Water flows out of it. That water makes salt water fresh and causes living things to multiply. Trees along the river produce abundant fruit and their leaves are used for healing.

The apostle Paul takes this image even further. He says that we as a people are God’s temple. To be his temple we need to stand on the firm foundation, the only foundation of this temple, Jesus Christ. Thus, when we serve the Church as builders by sharing our faith and bringing others into God’s temple, we need to be sure that we are bringing them into the temple that has Jesus as its foundation, and not a building of our own choosing. In fact, he gets fairly blunt about it. This temple is holy because the Holy Spirit dwells here. So, if we do anything to destroy that temple, God will destroy us.

John’s Gospel shows us how serious this is. Jesus drives the money-changers out of the temple. They had turned a house of prayer, God’s temple, into a marketplace. Did Jesus have the right to make this judgment and do what he did? Wouldn't it be wonderful if zeal for God's house would consume us all? Wouldn't it be wonderful if our first thought upon rising in the morning was, "Zeal for your house will consume me"? What does zeal for God's house look like?

For me, Zeal for God's house takes the natural form of loving each person as a separate and unique and loveable image of God. It does not consist in long lectures about right and wrong, or in diatribes about who is right and wrong. Instead it lives in leading by good example. You do what you expect others to do and you don't make a point of the failings of others, but instead, of how you love them.  How you love others shows the world what the House of God looks like; the extent to which we live that love shows the extent of our zeal.

Today we celebrate a basilica in Rome. We should look in the mirror and celebrate “that” basilica, too. May zeal for God's house consume us all and show us the way to love each person to an eternity of happiness with God and the whole human family who clings to Him. 

St John Lateran Basilica

Like all of the Basilicas, St John Lateran is beautiful and impressive

It is dedicated to both St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist

A Father's (and Grandfather's) Love is Boundless

 

One of the blessings God has given me in my newly-retired life is an “awakening” of my soul to the wonders of His unlimited and merciful love for His children.

A few years ago, one of my nephews posted a simple but profound statement that I’ve been thinking about the last couple of days after the birth of my 3rd grandchild, Paloma. “If we all give more to each other, we all end up with more for ourselves.”

I think a simpler way to put Alex’s statement is that love is never divided, only multiplied.

When Marilyn told me that she was pregnant with our first child, I was extremely worried. I didn’t know anything about raising a child! All that worry I went through vanished when I was in the delivery room, as I watched Alicia’s face appear and she looked right at me!  At that moment, I realized two things:  I learned what paternal love is all about—it’s an unconditional, no-holds-barred head-over-heels love with a built-in confidence in oneself. Nothing can take it away. And I realized that—biology aside—God creates children and presents them to loving parents, so they can experience the type of love He has for each of us!

A couple of years later, Marilyn told me we were going to have another “little one”.  My worry this time was different! I love Alicia with all my being, how could I ever love another child so much? Would I have to “split” my love between them?  Again, I didn’t have to worry. The minute Sarah was born, God gave me the grace to multiply my paternal love. I love each of my daughters the same—boundlessly, the same way our Heavenly Father loves us.

This same grace of paternal love was multiplied in my heart of soul for each of my granddaughters; Lily, then Josephine, and now Paloma. 

When God gives us children and grandchildren, He is putting trust in us to show them His love and to guide them on their own journeys towards an everlasting life with Him.  I, for one, plan to keep that trust.