Are you a reflection of the Light of Jesus?

We all have a light within us, and this light is a gift from God. The lights within us are wonderful and unique, and it’s our job to let these lights within us shine for others to see. Our lights can be anything from having compassion or the gift of humor or even just having the ability to be a good friend and listener to others in need. The lights within us shouldn’t be covered or placed “under a bushel basket” (Mk 4:21-25); instead we should let these gifts that God gave us shine so brightly that all those we interact with throughout the day feel the worth of our love and the love of God.

Think of the Word of God as light.  Just by hearing God’s Word we have a light within us.  We’ve all heard that we are loved and saved by Jesus and we are called to spread this message to everyone we meet, especially those who are stuck in a dark time. We need to be the light in their lives giving them the courage and strength to let their own lights shine bright. Even though we may be faced with dark times and obstacles we need to make sure that our lights are still shining brightly.  Jesus’ words turn the darkness to light and fill our lives and the world with light and hope.  We cannot just take God’s love and mercy for granted; we need to make sure that we are spreading His love to everyone.

We will be dealt with, by God, in the same way we deal with others.  (Mark 4:24)

God has placed into our lives people who need us to encourage them into greater holiness, greater love, and greater generosity in good works. But he has also given these people to us so that we will grow in holiness, love and good works.  Isn't that a scary bit of irony!

Ideally, we will show mercy and goodness to others simply because it’s the right thing to do.  God calls us to a life of abundant charity, and we should desire to live that life.  But if we struggle with charity toward others, perhaps one motivating factor could be to realize that we will be treated in the same way that we act toward others.

Though this may put a certain “holy fear” in our hearts and encourage us to act with mercy, it should also call us to desire to go beyond the basics and to offer love and compassion in an abundant and unselfish way.

Just be you!

Every day, I try to prepare myself for mass by reviewing the Scripture passages that will be read. I was pretty excited for today’s readings, because all three point to hope and joy.

The first reading from the Old Testament and the Gospel are very similar in that a passage from Scripture is read and words of fulfillment of God’s promises are explained to those who are present. 

As the reading from Corinthians (1 Corinthians 12:4-11) points out, we are now the Body of Christ on earth. This passage is quite detailed, as Paul breaks down exactly what he means by the description.

I was a little disappointed when the lector opted to read the abbreviated version of the passage, leaving out the details that make the description of the Body of Christ so easy to understand that even a child can get it.  What made the decision even more disappointing to me is that the mass today was the kickoff for Catholic Schools Week, and a lot of the teachers and students were in attendance.  I’m sure that the more detailed reading would have been appreciated by the students.

Basically, what Paul is telling the Corinthians—and us—is that we are all—every one of us—important parts of this body! Do not underestimate yourself. God created you and brought you into the world because you can make a significant difference. No one else can do what you can do, the way you can do it, in the plans that he has for making this world a better place.

As if to validate my interpretation, my attention was drawn to a T-shirt that was worn by a little girl as she walked past me after her mom received Communion that read “Just Be You…Because No One Else Can!”

Whenever the prayers of others are not answered, whenever the evil one is allowed to prevail, whenever souls suffer because they have not heard the good news of salvation in Jesus, it's because the parts of Christ's earthly body that can do something about it are not doing it. God provides everything that's needed on earth through us! Jesus continues his ministry on earth through us!

WWJD? Baptism opens our ears, eyes and mouths

Today we celebrate the Baptism of Jesus.  This is a beautiful culmination of the Christmas season during which we have been praying about the incarnation of God becoming human in the birth of the baby Jesus for the purpose of our salvation. 

As I read Luke’s gospel (Luke 3:15-16, 21-22) I am overwhelmed by the deep faith of the people who followed John to the river to be baptized.  I am moved by their quiet hope and curiosity:  The people were filled with expectation, and all were asking in their hearts whether John might be the Christ.

John clarifies his role and assures the people that Christ is coming by telling them:

"I am baptizing you with water, but one mightier than I is coming. I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire."

But rather than arriving in a blaze of glory, the 30-year-old Jesus quietly gets in line with the others and gracefully asks John to baptize him.  From the beginning of his public ministry Jesus provides a template of how we should live with humility.  I wonder how I might have reacted when as Jesus was praying after being baptized by John, I see the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove and hear the voice from heaven proclaiming: "You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased."

It is very important to me that my daughters and Lily were baptized (still waiting on Josephine and Paloma, but I pray that it is soon), and I always take the renewal of my baptismal promises seriously.  Baptism reveals the equality and dignity of every human being, leads us to imitate Christ’s example and makes us disciples to the world.  Baptism requires us to reject sin and evaluate our values, decisions and lifestyles.  Baptism “initiates” us into a life with Christ and opens our eyes to see the blessings and graces that God bestows upon us. 

As I write this, I am thinking of the familiar images of the trio of monkeys sitting in a row with one covering his ears, one his eyes, and the last his mouth.  The saying that accompanies the image is “Hear No Evil, See No Evil, and Speak No Evil.”  Baptism opens our ears, eyes and mouths to Christ and allows us to “Hear the Truth, See the Truth, and Speak the Truth.”  This is the legacy I hope to pass to my descendants through baptism.

Learn to open the vault

When you read a lot of the stories of the Saint’s lives, there is one theme that seems to come up again and again; most of them didn’t set out to be saints. Many did not even know Christ until He called out to them. And He revealed Himself to them always when they were at their lowest points of self-esteem, when they had seemingly lost it all. At these points in our lives we always look “inward”, towards our souls for guidance, and we should think of our soul as a “bank”, where nothing exists except a love for God.

It seems to me that it is “human” nature that we seek Christ out only as a last resort even though, deep down, our souls are aware that all we need to do to lighten our burdens is to give them to Christ, Who asked us to trust in His mercy. But instead, we ignore our soul’s request that we go to the One who created us in His own image, and pretend that it is we who have power over our own lives. The saints are those who have found the key to “open the vaults” in their souls and give small portions of the total love found there to others.

So how can I find the key to open my soul’s vault? I think the answer is found through silence, prayer, fasting (my hardest obstacle!)and persistence.

Take for example the case of Elijah. (1 Kings 19:9a, 11-16)

Elijah had been faithful to the Lord and all that was requested of him. But now it seemed everyone was out to kill him, because he had been speaking out against the wrongs the Israelites had been doing to God, and he was afraid for his life. Elijah is told to go outside the cave and “listen for the Lord, who will be passing by.” Elijah expects the Lord when the hurricane comes, but He is not there. Then an earthquake occurs, and the Lord is not there. Then a fire! The Lord did not come in any of these spectacular events, as Elijah assumed He would. The Lord finally “whispers” in the silence. I think it is interesting that God doesn’t deliver Elijah from his fears immediately, as Elijah hopes. God actually requires that Elijah show even more love through obedience by confronting those who are out to kill him! And, of course, God does eventually reward Elijah by sending a fiery chariot to lift him to Heaven!

Sometimes we look for God to come into our lives with the blaring of horns and flashing of lights, as Elijah did. Or we look for “signs”. If we would just sit in silence and speak to Him, He will come and speak to us. As Jesus said, (Matthew 6:6) “Go into your inner rooms and pray to your God in private. And the Father who sees all that is private will answer.” Our “inner rooms” could be interpreted two ways that come to my mind right away.

The first is literally. Find a quiet room and pray in earnest. Or (one of my favorites) find a church that offers perpetual adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. I have never left the Adoration Chapel feeling anxious or hopeless!

The second is figuratively, and the way I feel the Lord is speaking to me most often. My soul becomes my “inner room”.  When I listen fervently with all my soul and with the only intention of love for God, I will not be denied His presence.

Love Unconditionally

I'm sorry I haven't posted for about a week and a half; my frequent "Winter Visitor"--AKA 'severe' colds--has had me pretty much bed-ridden for that time.  I haven't neglected praying with the readings for the day, but I haven't felt well enough to write reflections.  Here is my reflection on the first reading today.

================================

By loving others, we come to know God. This means that when an irritating person angers us and we respond with an argument or retaliation or anything else unloving, we don't know God well enough. If we knew him better, we'd be appalled at the idea of treating anyone that way, no matter what they've done.

When we fight off the impulse to strike back at those who hurt and dismay us, responding to every person in every situation with unconditional love, forgiveness, patience, and (if possible) an act of kindness, we gain a fuller understanding of God, because this is how he treats us, whether we deserve it or not.

Unconditional love does not mean that we tolerate evil. It means doing good to troublemakers while standing firm behind the boundaries of truth that keep us united to God. Our boundaries invite other people to trade up to a holier, healthier life. This is how God deals with our sinfulness; thus, by doing to others what the Lord does to us, we learn more about him. We develop a better understanding of how he rejects sin while embracing the sinner.

To understand God better, we must love those who are the most difficult to love, since God is Love Itself. When we categorize certain people as outside the realm of those whom we will love, this comes from our ignorance about God's way of embracing diversity. By condemning them as unworthy of our attention and time, we use that as permission to ignore them and avoid them, which is so unlike God that this could only happen because we don't know him.

God loves you and me so much that he doesn't leave us in this mess of ignorance! The Father gave us Jesus as an offering -- an expiation -- for our sins (1 John 4:7-10). When we fail to love everyone all the time, we're relying on our feelings and our limited human ability to love, which is very inadequate. To succeed at love, we have to rely on the ability of Jesus to love. We have to let him supernaturally love others through us.

To succeed at love, we have to rely on what love truly is: It is God's gift to us. He loves you so much that the Father sent the Son to take your sins upon himself in an awesome deed of great suffering and sacrifice. Such a powerful love never fails. When loving others is difficult, get in touch with God's love for you. He wants to kiss your wounds and heal your heart and defend your goodness.