When he was at table with them, he took the bread. He blessed the bread, and broke it, and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened and they recognized him!(Luke 24:13-35)
My mom and
dad used to pack us kids in the car to visit Grandma and Grandpa pretty
regularly. We had to drive past Forest
Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery to get there.
Every single time, looking at the headstones and mausoleums would make
me very sad and get me thinking about my mortality. I got pretty good at recognizing landmarks
and knew when we were getting close, so I would always hide my head and try to
think of something else or fall asleep because the thought of dying terrified
me.
At about 5
or 6 years old, I remember crying to my mom and asking, “Does everybody die?” I wasn’t prepared for her answer, as she told
me the truth. “Everybody dies, but
nobody knows when, except God, so please don’t worry about it.” But I did.
The thought of death occupied my thoughts on a daily basis, especially
since Mom made us pray the Rosary every night.
The last line of the Hail Mary prayer is "Pray
for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death."
To my overactive and naive mind, this meant two things; I had been a bad
kid and death was imminent. Of course,
since then I have come to know and love our Blessed Mother and the prayer that she
wants us to pray. She has helped me
through countless times of worry and grief.
Eventually, I
stopped being preoccupied with the thoughts and only occasionally would think
about my own death. I think that’s
because when my reasoning kicked in about 7 or 8 I figured if I kept out
of trouble and if I didn’t get hit by a car or some other tragedy didn’t
befall me, I still had another 60 or 70 years and that was a long time. I thought, “They might find a cure for death
by then.” Another reason I stopped
worrying about dying was that I started Catechism classes and learned that God
created us because He loves us and He loves us because He created us; that
death in this life is just the beginning of our life with Him in Heaven—the
life intended at the beginning of creation.
I think my
experience is pretty much the same as the disciples in Mark Gospel today (4:35-41),
but not nearly as dramatic. These men were
in the boat with someone whom they believed to be the Messiah, and they were
still afraid of death. The lesson He
taught them is the same lesson we can learn today. If we truly have faith in His love and mercy,
we have nothing to fear. It’s a comfort
to me knowing that these men who were afraid of death in the boat are the same
men who later gladly gave up their lives to preserve the faith (except John,
who we know died a natural death—although he did have his share of suffering
and is considered a martyr). I can only
hope to be as brave and confident in the face of death when my time comes. I no longer fear death. But I'm not sure I welcome it, either. There is a lot more I think that I am called
to do for the Lord before I am called to my rest. I’d like to think that I’m like my mom in that
regard. She used to say to me, “I still
have lots and lots of prayers to say.
And much more penance to do.”
Amen, Mom. Amen!
Jesus wants
to use each one of us for the building up of His Kingdom. We may feel as though we can’t do much, that
we aren’t as gifted as others, that we won’t be able to make much of a
difference, but that’s not true. The
truth is that each one of us is packed with unbelievable potential that God
wants to bring to fruition. He wants to
bring forth from our lives glorious blessings for the world. All we must do is allow Him to work.
Like a mustard
seed (Mark 4:30-32), we must allow ourselves to be planted in the fertile soil
of His mercy through faith and surrender to His divine will. We must be watered by daily prayer and allow
the rays of the Son of God to shine on us so that He can bring forth from us all
that He desires and has planned from the foundation of the world.
As I reflect
today upon the incredible potential that God has placed within our souls, I
recall how He made us with the intention to bring forth His Kingdom through us
and to do so in an abundant way. It’s our
responsibility to simply believe this and to allow God to do what He desires to
do in our life.
“Thus I pour out instruction like prophesy
and bestow it upon generations to come.” (Sirach 24:31)
St. John
Bosco was filled with the zeal of the Holy Spirit and dedicated himself to the
education of the young. He realized that
the gift had been given to be shared with the next generation so that they
might be guided in their development and led into God’s ways.
I believe
that as parents (and grandparents) we have the responsibility and privilege to
share our knowledge, our talents, and more importantly our faith and confidence
in the Risen Christ with our “seed”—our children and grandchildren, in the hope
that they grow to be the “largest of plants” in the Kingdom of God.
In John’s
gospel, Jesus says, “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12). Then in Matthew’s gospel, Jesus says, “You
are the light of the world.” (Matthew 5:14) Which is it?
Both. Jesus is like a candle giving light. And we are like mirrors that reflect that
light. And the closer we get to Jesus,
the source of light, the greater will be our reflection of His light.
In Mark’s
Gospel we are called to let our light shine. The lights within us shouldn’t be covered or
placed “under a bushel basket.” This
is so important that Jesus tells us, “Take care what you hear.
The measure with which you measure will be measured out to you, and still more
will be given to you.” (Mark 4:21-25). And in Luke he says, “Take care, then,
how you hear. To anyone who has, more will be given, and from the one who has
not, even what he seems to have will be taken away.” (Luke 8:18)
The closer
we get to Jesus, the deeper is our commitment to the Father’s will. That means we stand up for truth, work for
justice, and strive for peace. That
means we show hospitality, express compassion, and reach out to the poor and
lonely. That means we are forgiving and
understanding. That means that we do not
tear down people, but rather build them up.
That means we love without counting the cost. Like Jesus.
“Forever I will maintain my love for my
servant.” (Psalms
89:29)
“Praise the LORD, for he is good; for his
mercy endures forever.” (Psalms 136:1)
“For I am convinced that neither death,
nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future
things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able
to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39)
We see it repeated
so many times in so many ways: God loves
us.
I find humor
in the Gospel today (Mark 4: 1-20) because Jesus finds it necessary to explain
His parable of the sower to His Apostles in language they can understand. A book
title comes to mind: "God's Love
for Dummies". Our reactions to
life's happenings reveal how much we truly believe that God loves us and cares
about us in all things and no matter what.
Jesus explains this to His Apostles (and thankfully us, too) using 4
different types of soils.
Sometimes we
listen to the truth only on the surface (the path), because we've been
hardened by lies, both big and small. We
hear the truth, but the winds of distraction or turmoil or false impressions
blow it away. For example, we hear that
God forgives us when we repent, but we have a hard time admitting our sins,
because when we were children we didn't understand the love behind the
punishments that our parents meted out. So today we'd rather fool ourselves into
thinking that a sin is not a sin in order to avoid what is really a wrong image
of God the Father.
Sometimes we
accept the truth joyfully, but we forget it when hit by hardships or
persecution (the rocky ground). We
feel God's love only while life is easy. When the rocks stub our toes, we forget about
God's love and we try to deal with the problems our own way; we get rid of the
person who's hurting us, or we jump to solutions without praying for
discernment, or we get angry with God instead of connecting our sufferings to
the Cross of Christ.
Sometimes we
listen only half-heartedly to the truth. We let worldliness, anxieties, cravings, ‘things’
(the thorns) choke it off. We
know about God's love, but we neglect to quiet down long enough to bask in it. We get too busy with our own agendas, too busy
solving problems, too busy rushing into decisions and the fulfillment of our own
desires. We fail to wait on God's
perfect timing and wisdom.
But
sometimes we allow the truth to penetrate into the depths of our hearts (the
rich soil), and it bears much fruit. Think about the richness of your soil and notice
what's growing in your daily circumstances. What decisions and behaviors are
producing God's love and nourishing others? Here is where you realize and truly believe
that God loves you.
To let the
truth sink in deeply, we have to dig out the falsehoods that we believe, and we
have to learn why they are false. We
have to realize that every trouble can strengthen us and that we are closer to
Christ when we embrace our crosses instead of dumping them in an elusive search
for an easier life. We have to identify
our worldliness, let it go, and keep our eyes on Jesus.
Jesus is the
Divine Sower and His Word is the Seed. We
should realize that we are also called to act in His person by sowing the seed
of His Word in our own lives. Just as He
is willing to sow with the realization that not every seed will produce fruit, we,
too, must be ready and willing to accept this same fact.
The truth is
that, very often, the labor we offer to God for the building up of His Kingdom
produces little or no manifest fruit in the end. Hearts become hardened and the good we do, or
the Word we share, does not grow.
One lesson
we must take from this parable is that the spreading of the Gospel requires
effort and commitment on our part. We
must be willing to toil and labor for the Gospel despite whether or not people
are willing to receive it. And we must
not allow ourselves to become discouraged if the results are not what we had
hoped for.
The LORD bless you and keep you! The LORD let his face shine upon you and be
gracious to you! The LORD look upon you
kindly and give you peace!
God is our
Divine Father, and Jesus tells us that doing the Father’s will unites us to Him
(Mark 3:31-35). All those who do His
will are united to Him. Therefore, when we do the Father's will we are bonded
to everyone else in His family.
At the top
of the list of Blood relatives is our brother Jesus. So, what is it like to have God for a brother?
Recall the
best time you ever had with an earthly relative. Remember the camaraderie, the companionship, and
the secrets you shared. Remember how you
could relax in that relationship, assured that nothing would ever shatter the
bond you felt. Remember playing
together, laughing together, crying together, complaining about whatever was
unfair, and remember the sympathy you received along with some advice that
lifted you out of your bad mood.
As I
meditate on my relationship with my brother Jesus, I can’t help but reflect on my
biological siblings. I was extremely
blessed to have 5 brothers and 2 sisters.
My oldest brother and sister were already married and living in their
own homes by the time I was born, so sadly, I didn’t get to grow up alongside
them and have the opportunity to share the experiences with them that I had
with the four brothers I did grow up with.
Whenever I
was experiencing spiritual difficulties or doubts about my faith, I could always
turn to Bob for his help and guidance. His
faith in Jesus Christ and the Catholic Church was unwavering his entire life. I could absolutely count on him to put me back
on the right path towards Jesus just when I needed the redirection the most.
His absolute love of the Eucharist was a shining example to all of us. Very much like St. Peter, I think.
In the practical
everyday matters of life, Dick had been there and done that. He had a no-nonsense approach to life and
usually kept a cool head in times of crisis. He had a knack for getting to the source of my
practical difficulties and suggesting solutions. He was my go-to guy when I needed to stay
rational and sane. His approach to life
was very much like St. Nathaniel—no nonsense, no duplicity in his advice to me.
Bill’s
special gifts are his compassion and sensitivity toward his fellow human
beings, especially family, and his humility. Bill has a talent for listening. I mean really listening. He is the brother I seek out when I have an
emotional issue to deal with. He also
has a very practical outlook on life that I admire. I often think of Bill as a
composite of the best traits in both Bob and Dick. His simple love of God and humanity reminds
me a lot of St. John.
What I
admired most about Tom was his joy in being alive. There was nothing he wouldn’t try, regardless
of the consequences. His spontaneity in
life and his loyalty to his friends are his legacy, as far as I’m concerned. We were the closest in age and the two
youngest, so our bond was extra-strength in relation to our older
brothers. He was so much like his
namesake, St. Thomas; he doubted a lot of things in his life, but once he believed
in something or someone, he was all-in.
A very large
reason why we were all so different, yet loyal to one another is that our Mom
and Dad allowed us to be who we were meant to be, gently—and sometimes not so
gently—nudging us in the direction we needed to go to discern and follow the
will of God.
Do you give
Jesus daily opportunities to be a brother like that?
Do you spend
enough time alone with your Brother to strengthen your relationship with Him? Do you allow Him to be your closest companion
and confidant? Do you share your deepest
secrets with Him? When was the last time
you were playful with Him? Do you tell Him
about whatever strikes you as funny or silly so that you laugh together? Do you cry on His shoulder and complain to Him
instead of sinning by taking your complaints to everyone else who will listen? Do you sit quietly in prayer long enough to
feel His sympathy? Do you pay attention
to His advice, which is readily available in Scripture and other avenues of
revelation?
Using the
same logic we use to determine that Jesus is our brother, we also must conclude
that His mother is also our mother. There
should be no doubt that as Mary listened to those words of Jesus in Mark’s
Gospel with her perfect faith she understood and was filled with joy. It was her perfect “Yes” to God that enabled
her to understand all that Jesus said. Consequently,
this enabled Mary to claim the holy title of “Mother” far more than her blood
relation. Her blood relation is no doubt
greatly significant, but her spiritual bond is so much more.
My mom had
no trouble sharing the title of “Mother” with Mary as she raised my brothers
and me. From my earliest memories, we
were taught to seek out the intercession of the Blessed Mother to our brother
Jesus through the recitation of the Rosary, and the meditations on the life of
her Son. As I’ve stated many times before,
the faith I have in God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is the best gift from
God that my mother “unwrapped” for me through my Baptism and beyond.
The LORD bless you and keep you! The LORD let his face shine upon you and be
gracious to you! The LORD look upon you
kindly and give you peace!
Who among us
has not shown contempt for the Holy Spirit?
Oh, we didn’t think of it as contempt, but we didn’t do as we were
called, nudged, or pushed. Have you ever
sensed that the Spirit wanted you to love someone you found unlovable? Certain politicians come to mind, as do some
of the clergy and Church hierarchy that have caused so much pain to the Body of
Christ. Have you felt the Spirit nudging
you to go a direction that wasn’t the one you wanted to take? Hate sometimes seems so much easier than love,
don’t you think?
Does that
mean that you and I are beyond forgiveness?
Is that what Jesus is saying in Mark 3:22-30? I think not.
So, what sets our “contempt” apart from that of the Pharisees’
behavior? As I reflect on this gospel,
I think contempt or irreverence becomes blasphemy when it is deliberate and
public slander. To blaspheme the Holy
Spirit—we are not “merely” disregarding the Holy Spirit, we are publicly and
knowingly reviling the Holy Spirit, as when the Pharisees defined Jesus’
behavior as Satanic.
While we may
not knowingly revile the Holy Spirit, do you and I always recognize the Holy Spirit
among us? Can I hear the Spirit when He
speaks to me in the voice of my enemy?
Or, do I only “hear” evil? Can I
feel the Spirit when He comes in the eyes of the homeless men and women that I
see every day when I drive anywhere around town? Or, do I only feel contempt? This might not be blasphemy, but it certainly
isn’t worthy of one who knows the good news.
There is so
much power in forgiveness. If we carry
our hurts and disappointments with us – those things that have driven us
through fits of anger and depression – and relinquish ourselves to a life of
unforgiveness, we have failed in our Christian journey. In forgiving we find joy, strength and most
especially peace, and our hearts are enlightened with a spirit of love. Joy can
then return to us once more.
Through our
unforgiveness, we deny ourselves the grace to be and to do our best for others,
as we strive to be as Christ to others. We
don’t have to carry that unclean spirit – we can release ourselves from the
chains that keep us bound, separated from the love of Christ, and release the
gifts that God has had planned for us all along, whatever those gifts may be.
The LORD bless you and keep you! The LORD let his face shine upon you and be
gracious to you! The LORD look upon you
kindly and give you peace!
The
people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; Upon those who lived in
a land of gloom
a
light has shone. (Isaiah
9:1)
Have you
ever taken the time to just lay back and stare at a full moon? Especially on one of those nights when the
moon is larger than normal, low on the horizon, brighter than anything else
around? God created that beautiful
moon. He saw that it was good. And Jesus (Who is God) must have looked up in
the night sky once or twice and seen the same moon. I often wonder what His thoughts were
as He gazed upon it. Did He look upon it
with His divine nature and have a sense of pride in His creation? Or did He look at it with His human nature
and feel the same feelings I get when I look to the skies? When He looked at it, did He chuckle at the
thought that thousands of years later and more, people like me would be
fascinated by how the moon, the stars and the sun interacted with one another
or did He lament that they wouldn’t realize it doesn’t matter?
Imagine
complete darkness covering the entire land.
Perhaps imagine being out in the wilderness on a very cloudy night with
the stars and moon completely covered.
Imagine, then, the clouds parting as the sun immediately begins to rise. Slowly the darkness is cast aside as the
rising sun sheds light across the entire land.
This is not
only an image of what happened long ago when Jesus came and began His ministry,
it also happens every time we sincerely listen to the Word of God and allow His
Word to penetrate our minds and hearts. Jesus
is the “great light” who continues to shine in whatever darkness we encounter. Jesus’ words must fill us with Himself for He
is the Great Light of Truth. (Matthew 4: 12-17)
We are in a
period of great darkness; a darkness of hate.
It cuts through families, communities, and nations. It has placed the entire world in great
darkness.
Jesus
understands this. He knows our darkness
and how much it brings us to despair and death.
He calls us to repent, or turn away, to focus away from the darkness and
to focus on the light, which is the kingdom of heaven in our midst. Look for the light! We must draw on the courage of our faith to
share the Gospel Light of Christ with others.
We can share the good news that the kingdom of heaven is indeed at hand!
The LORD bless you and keep you! The LORD let his face shine upon you and be
gracious to you! The LORD look upon you
kindly and give you peace!
Sometimes it’s
hard to get moving, and it can be especially difficult to change directions if you’re
going the wrong way. Thanks be to God
that He uses others in our lives to help get us moving and to help us to see
clearly. Few of us have dramatic experiences
that change our lives in the manner of St. Paul (Acts 22:3-16), but I think I
came awfully close. In my case, it was
an angel that came to me in a dream, and a priest who helped me to interpret that dream.
In my late
teens, I was questioning the existence of God, as I am sure most teenagers do. I would dream of falling from great heights,
and just before hitting the ground and certain death, I would wake up in a cold
sweat from the nightmare I imagined death would be. The same dream came often; I was spending a
lot of time worrying about death. One
night (in my dream) I was again falling, but this time an angel appeared next
to me and asked why I was afraid. I told
the angel I was afraid to die. The angel
said, “Pray with me.” We said the Lord's Prayer together. I
remember thinking that I wouldn’t have time to finish before hitting the
ground. But I did. Just as I said “Amen”, my angel lifted me up
and we began to soar, and I woke up. Instead
of being afraid, I was sad the dream had ended! It was such a revelation; I could almost feel the "scales fall from my eyes"! I never had that
dream again—nor have I doubted the existence of God since. Now, all these years later, I truly believe
that God was letting me know that He is alive and well and waiting for me—I
just have to remember to “keep the faith” and share my faith with others—maybe not
in as grand a scale as St. Paul did, but in any way that I can.
Paul’s
Damascus experience (Acts 9:1-22) resonates in a special way as we consider how
his experience with Jesus changed his life’s direction. Paul’s youthful enthusiasm, wrought by his
years of education and fueled by the approval of those in the reigning power
structures within his community, took him down a path where he acted with great
certainty—even viciousness, in oppressing those who followed Jesus. But an encounter with Jesus forced him to
answer the question: “Why are you persecuting me?” (Acts 9:4) Oddly enough, Paul didn’t know who was asking
this question. Perhaps he really didn’t
know what he was doing. Or maybe the
zeal with which he performed his actions blinded him.
When Paul
learned it was Jesus, he didn’t respond with all of the arguments he had in his
arsenal. I am a little surprised that he
didn’t seek to justify his persecuting ways, as I probably would have. Instead, he just did what Jesus told him. We are told that later scales fell from his
eyes and he was able to see clearly. The
product of his new vision and his changed life has touched billions of lives
since.
The story of
Ananias is just as surprising as Paul’s story (Acts 9: 10-19). Ananias was a faithful man who undoubtedly
identified with the persecuted Christian brothers and sisters who suffered
because of Paul. If I were in Ananias’
shoes, not only would I be fearful, but I would also be plenty irate with this
zealous and arrogant persecutor of my friends. Isn’t it interesting that Ananias, who knew
God’s voice, needed to ask God if He knew all the facts? I like his honesty. And I admire the fact that somehow Ananias was
able to put all of Paul’s past aside, to the point of not only going to Paul
and praying for him, but also in calling him his “brother”. What a remarkable story of forgiveness and
faithfulness!
In my own life
experiences, forgiving often seems difficult. Interior change is harder to begin than
exterior conformity. But sometimes
simply doing something precedes or accompanies a change of heart. Ananias
provides a remarkable example of cooperating with God, and in doing so he
participated in God’s wondrous work in and through Paul.
May God have
mercy on each of us to help us to recognize situations where we are seeing with
scales on our eyes, and to have the courage to change; even to forgive those
who have trespassed against us. And may
we appreciate the power of positive examples that are all around us.
The LORD bless you and keep you! The LORD let his face shine upon you and be
gracious to you! The LORD look upon you
kindly and give you peace!
In my career as a “Senior Manager”, it
was my duty and privilege to train new managers to essentially own and operate
their own ‘stores’. After several years
of fine-tuning, I found the best way to train was ‘hands on’; in other words, I
would train through my example. I would
perform the duties of the manager while the new manager worked the same shifts
and performed the same tasks standing near me, that they might be with me
and I might send them forth to train their own teams. Based on my evaluation of their understanding
of policy and procedures, I would determine when they were ready to take over the
authority and I would fade into a support role. The men and women I trained were a pretty
diverse group of individuals, with their own strengths and weaknesses that I would
attempt to identify so that I could either applaud them or instruct them in how
to become more successful. Very often, I
learned more than I taught. But one
thing was certain; those that did not follow company policies and procedures (“commandments”)
did not last very long in the position. It
seems my approach was not an original technique; as it turns out, Jesus used it
long before I did!
“He appointed Twelve, whom he also named
Apostles, that they might be with him and he might send them forth to preach
and to have authority to drive out demons . . .” (Mark
3:14-15)
As I get to
know the men named by Jesus to be His Apostles, I am impressed by their diversity
and somewhat surprised by their less-than-faithful performances. Peter’s denial, Thomas’ doubts, and Judas’
betrayal all remind me that the Lord did not choose perfect men without fault.
But in the
brief line from Mark’s gospel quoted above (Mark 3:13-19), we are told of the
common preparation that Jesus offered all of them before they were sent forth:
Jesus called them “that they might be with him.” A period of apprenticeship preceded their
missioning. It was necessary that they
“be with” Jesus, watching Him, listening to Him, observing His way with people,
before heading out on mission.
For us who
desire to place our lives at the Lord’s service, this simple line from Mark’s
gospel cautions us not to allow zeal for mission to pull us away from an
attentive “being with” Jesus in prayer. We,
too, need to “be with Him” before going out to serve “in His name.”
So in this
reflection I have to ask myself some tough questions. How am I doing in that delicate balance
between giving and receiving? Do I
regularly listen in prayer? Do I take
the time to “be with Him” or do I too quickly run to do good in His name
without waiting to learn how He wants me do serve Him?
The LORD bless you and keep you! The LORD let his face shine upon you and be
gracious to you! The LORD look upon you
kindly and give you peace!
I say this
without trying to sound boastful; I trust in God, I am faithful, and I have had
many experiences in my life that I know have been interventions by God. However, I know from personal experience that
daily life struggles, emergencies, and chaotic schedules can prevent me from
taking needed time. Needed time to slow
my pace, reflect, pray, and perform a daily examination of my conscience. Reflection, prayer, and examining my
conscience provides me space to sit with God. During this time I become aware of my inner
feelings and desires. This awareness leads to a consciousness which (hopefully)
leads to action. Action to change and
redirect my energies more positively toward God and my neighbor. That action usually requires the Sacrament of
Reconciliation and Penance.
“In God I trust; I shall not fear” (Psalms 56:5) can be built into our
daily prayer, examinations, and reflections. Today’s readings are a reminder of this for
me, a reminder of God’s love, and a reminder that I fulfill one of my purposes
in life for God when I practice this level of faith.
In the
Gospel reading for today (Mark 3:7-12), crowds of people come to see Jesus,
having heard about all the things He was doing. Mark tells us that “whenever
unclean spirits saw him, they would fall down before him and shout. ‘You are the Son of God.’ He warned them sternly not to make him known.”
Why would
Jesus not want to be made known like this? It seems counterproductive to His mission of proclaiming
the Good News. I think it has to do with
what kind of relationship He wanted then and still wants with people today. I think He might have reasoned that if people
only related to Him in terms of what He could do for them, they would miss
relating to Him as He is.
In the
reading from 1 Samuel (18:6-9; 19:1-7), some of the key words that jumped out
to me were fear, suspicion, insecurity, self-doubt, jealousy, envy,
resentment. On the positive side the
key words were faith, loyalty, belief, and trust. Saul’s fears, insecurity, envy and jealousy led
him down a path in which he was willing to take another man’s life. Fortunately, he had a real friend in Jonathan
who took accountability, took a risk and intervened to save David’s life. He stepped forward with faith, loyalty,
belief and trust.
If we look
at others and wonder why he has this or she has that, and we don’t, and wonder
why God hasn’t blessed us that way, we lose sight of what Jesus did do for us
on the Cross, and the unfathomable mystery of God’s love for us.
We can ask
God for material or physical blessings, and we may or may not receive them,
depending on how God wishes to answer our prayers, and give us what we need. But I do believe that when we ask for
spiritual healing; healing from jealousy, from fear, from anxiety, from
resentment, or from despair, we will receive it.
May we not
lose sight of what Jesus has done for us and what He continues to do for us.
May we not be overtaken by jealousy or fear or anger, but instead put our trust
in God and be at peace.
The LORD bless you and keep you! The LORD let his face shine upon you and be
gracious to you! The LORD look upon you
kindly and give you peace!
“Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath
rather than to do evil, to save life rather than to destroy it?” (Mark 3:4)
Today—and every
January 22 on the anniversary of the Roe v Wade decision, the Church asks all
of us to pray for the legal protection of Unborn Children. And the Scripture for today gives us two very
familiar Scripture images to help us reflect upon this request for prayer. The first one is David and his defeat of
Goliath (1 Samuel 17:32-33, 37, 40-51). The
second one is Jesus curing a person on the Sabbath while the Pharisees looked
on (Mark 3:1-6). Both of these accounts
from the Scriptures are worthy of our meditation and reflection. Prayer, after all, is what allows us to come
close to God and helps us to experience the grace we need to live a life worthy
of our calling as disciples of Jesus, children of God.
There are so
many examples of the “David versus Goliath” story that we apply to everyday
life. It’s the story of the
inexperienced young person going up against the giant and seasoned warrior. It is the story of God’s chosen one from a
small country village going against the destructive rule of gigantic power. We love this story! We may love it so well that we may forget its
underlying truth as found in verses 37 and 39 of the reading: that God would be
with David and David did not take the sword with him, the instrument of war. If God is with us, who
can be against us?
(Romans 8:31) Too many times we rely on
our own resources to overcome evils that surround us.
And the
Gospel account builds upon this important instruction found in the first
reading. It tells us how Jesus gave
life, restored life and valued life over any human norm. We know that we do the good when new life
emerges and healing takes place, regardless of the time and place. So, today especially, let’s take a good look
at how we value life and how we restore life, especially by how we live it and
in what we say and do.
One of the
surest ways that we can protect the Unborn Children is by creating a culture of
justice and peace in our world; in other words, by creating a culture of life. For the vast majority of us, it is about being
respectful of life and cultures and customs. It is about saying no to destructive
instruments and behaviors. It’s about
not hating. It’s about not ignoring the
person on the street hoping for some help.
It’s about not separating families at the border. It could be as simple as the age-old
situation of helping a little old lady to cross the street. Every time we do something that dehumanizes
another human being, young or old, we are failing to protect Unborn Children. This day is about doing something positive to
bring about new life. And there’s no
better way to begin than with prayer.
There is an
old saying that goes this way: “It is better to light a candle than to curse
the darkness.” Let’s bring light and
life and love into the world around us. Let’s all pray for all that is yet to
be born within us.
Years ago,
my brother Bill forwarded this story to me via e-mail. It seems appropriate to share it today. It is a true story, according to a google
search of the internet.
The
smell of rain
A cold March
wind danced around the dead of night in Dallas as the doctor walked into the
small hospital room of Diana Blessing. She
was still groggy from surgery. Her
husband David held her hand as they braced themselves for the latest news.
That
afternoon of March 10, 1991, complications had forced Diana, only 24-weeks
pregnant, to undergo an emergency Cesarean to deliver couple's new daughter,
Dana Lu Blessing.
At 12 inches
long and weighing only one pound nine ounces, they already knew she was
perilously premature. Still, the
doctor's soft words dropped like bombs.
'I don't
think she's going to make it,' he said, as kindly as he could. 'There's only a 10-percent chance she will
live through the night, and even then, if by some slim chance she does make it,
her future could be a very cruel one'
Numb with
disbelief, David and Diana listened as the doctor described the devastating
problems Dana would likely face if she survived.
She would
never walk, she would never talk, she would probably be blind, and she would
certainly be prone to other catastrophic conditions from cerebral palsy to
complete mental retardation, and on and on.
'No! No!' was all Diana could say.
She and
David, with their 5-year-old son Dustin, had long dreamed of the day they would
have a daughter to become a family of four. Now, within a matter of hours, that dream was
slipping away.
But as those
first days passed, a new agony set in for David and Diana. Because Dana 's underdeveloped nervous system
was essentially 'raw', the lightest kiss or caress only intensified her
discomfort, so they couldn't even cradle their tiny baby girl against their
chests to offer the strength of their love. All they could do, as Dana struggled alone
beneath the ultraviolet light in the tangle of tubes and wires, was to pray
that God would stay close to their precious little girl.
There was
never a moment when Dana suddenly grew stronger. But as the weeks went by, she did slowly gain
an ounce of weight here and an ounce of strength there.
At last,
when Dana turned two months old. her parents were able to hold her in their
arms for the very first time.
And two
months later, though doctors continued to gently but grimly warn that her
chances of surviving, much less living any kind of normal life, were next to
zero, Dana went home from the hospital, just as her mother had predicted.
Five years
later, when Dana was a petite but feisty young girl with glittering gray eyes
and an unquenchable zest for life. She
showed no signs whatsoever of any mental or physical impairment. Simply, she
was everything a little girl can be and more. But that happy ending is far from
the end of her story.
One
blistering afternoon in the summer of 1996 near her home in Irving, Texas, Dana
was sitting in her mother's lap in the bleachers of a local ballpark where her
brother Dustin's baseball team was practicing.
As always,
Dana was chattering nonstop with her mother and several other adults sitting
nearby, when she suddenly fell silent. Hugging
her arms across her chest, little Dana asked, 'Do you smell that?'
Smelling the
air and detecting the approach of a thunderstorm, Diana replied, 'Yes, it
smells like rain.'
Dana closed
her eyes and again asked, 'Do you smell that?'
Once again,
her mother replied, 'Yes, I think we're about to get wet. It smells like rain.'
Still caught
in the moment, Dana shook her head, patted her thin shoulders with her small
hands and loudly announced, 'No, it smells like Him. It smells like God when you lay your head on
His chest.'
Tears
blurred Diana's eyes as Dana happily hopped down to play with the other
children. Before the rains came, her
daughter's words confirmed what Diana and all the members of the extended
Blessing family had known, at least in their hearts, all along.
During those
long days and nights of her first two months of her life, when her nerves were
too sensitive for them to touch her, God was holding Dana on His chest and it
is His loving scent that she remembers so well.
The LORD bless you and keep you! The LORD let his face shine upon you and be
gracious to you! The LORD look upon you
kindly and give you peace!
If you feel
left out, ignored, forgotten, devalued or unappreciated, take courage! "Not as man sees
does God see, because man sees the appearance, but the Lord looks into the
heart."
Notice how unimportant
the great King David was in the beginning (1 Samuel 16:1-13). He was so unimportant that his dad, Jesse,
didn't even invite him to Samuel's big ceremonial sacrifice! Maybe he was too valuable in the work of sheep
herding to be considered important for anything else. Jesse didn't even inform Samuel of David's
existence when the holy man asked to see all of his sons. If your heart is with God, if your heart
loves to serve Him, if your heart trusts God to do what is best for your life,
and if your heart wants to be obedient to His ways, God will raise you up. God is, in fact, already preparing you for
something important to do.
Don't
underestimate how important you are to him right now! The responsibilities you have today are very important
for the kingdom of God. Even if all
you're doing is earning money in a job to put food on your table and a roof
over your family's head, which is extremely important to God. If you do little more than care for the
children that He's given you, the importance of what you are doing is beyond
measure.
But be
ready! What you’re doing today is a
preparation for a special anointing that God will give you in a surprising
tomorrow. Because that's the way He
works all the time. He uses everything
about today to prepare us for a future mission, even though we're not aware of
being prepared, so that we can do greater and greater works for His kingdom.
The Lord has
much need of your gifts and talents, experiences and skills, training and wisdom.
There is no one else who can offer to
the kingdom of God exactly what you have to offer. He can put it all to very good use. And He wants to! He plans to! But too often we say no; we fail to understand
how much He's already prepared us, and so we feel intimidated by the
possibilities. We need to trust in God
rather than our limited understanding.
If a hundred
years from now you were to be canonized a saint, what specialty would your
patronage be? That’s a serious question! We are called to be holy, even saintly. Even if we’re never officially canonized by
the Church, we are in fact headed for heaven because of our love for Christ. What would the people on earth ask you to pray
for when you reach the throne of God?
This is what
we’ve been anointed to do now, serving God with our life here on earth.
The LORD bless you and keep you! The LORD let his face shine upon you and be
gracious to you! The LORD look upon you
kindly and give you peace!
In the
Gospel of Mark (2: 18-22) for today’s Mass, Jesus talks about fasting. The Catholic Church historically observes the
disciplines of fasting and abstinence at various times each year. For Catholics, fasting is the reduction of
one’s intake of food, while abstinence refers to refraining from meat (or
another type of food). Ash Wednesday and
Good Friday are obligatory days of fasting and abstinence for Catholics. In addition, Fridays during Lent are
obligatory days of abstinence. Unless
the Friday falls on a Solemnity (and some Feast days).
Throughout
the Catholic Church’s Liturgical Year, there are many days we call special
attention to – whether labeled a “Memorial,” a “Feast,” or a “Solemnity.” Solemnities are the celebrations of greatest
importance and typically include all Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation. Feasts are of second importance and are celebrated
on a particular day, however, they are not necessarily days of obligation for
Catholics. And lastly are Memorials,
which typically commemorate a saint or saints.
In His
response to those asking about the fact that His disciples didn’t fast as the
disciples of John the Baptist and the Pharisees did, Jesus claimed that the
reason His disciples didn’t fast was His very presence with them (Mark 2: 18-22). He’s the difference! In His examples of a garment patch or a need
for new wineskin, Jesus invited His disciples (and us) to be open to new ways
of thinking and acting.
Jesus
constantly invites us, His disciples, into new ways of thinking and
acting. He asks us to trust God in every
aspect of our lives because God is our loving Father. Jesus wants us to realize how deeply He loves
us, so gives His very life for us. He
tells us that love and forgiveness, even or maybe especially, for those who
have injured us or are our enemies are the only paths to peace, either personal
or communal. Jesus teaches us that it is
in caring for the poor, homeless, hurting, oppressed or outcast that we build
the Kingdom of God. Many of us disciples
of Jesus cherish these teachings but few of us are able to live them
fully. It seems our ways of thinking and
our imaginations are just too small to free us to risk living fully the example
and teachings of Jesus.
The LORD bless you and keep you! The LORD let his face shine upon you and be
gracious to you! The LORD look upon you
kindly and give you peace!
Isaiah (49:3,
5-6) reminds us that God has said that we are His servants, through whom He
shows His glory. But, “it
is too little,” God
tells us, “for you to be my servant...I will make you a light to
the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.” This is a wonderful thing, but one that we should
accept knowing that it’s also a great responsibility. God shows His glory through us. Our lives should always reflect that. We are made in His image and asked by Him to
reflect His light onto all nations.
The Psalms (40:2,
4, 7-8, 8-9, 10) show us that God is a loving Father. He doesn’t ask us for offerings, but rather, He
gives us a gift of “ears open to obedience.”
We are asked to do God’s will because it will be our delight. It will be from our heart where God has
written His intentions for us. When we
truly feel that God is speaking directly to us, all we can answer is, “Here
I am Lord; I come to do your will.” This is the new song
that God has given us.
St. Paul’s
opening in his first letter to the Corinthians (1Corinthians 1: 1-3) urges us
to remember that all of us—like himself—have “been sanctified
in Christ Jesus, called to be holy, with all those everywhere who call upon the
name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours.” It only
makes sense that if we are called to be holy—and we answer that call—we are
also telling God that we agree to do His will, setting ours aside for the good
of all His holy Church.
John (1:29-34)
recounts Jesus’ meeting with John the Baptist. His account provides us with a lesson in
heeding, and acting on, what God has said to us. John the Baptist was told to look for a sign
that the Son of God had come; “on whomever you see the
Spirit come down and remain, he is the one who will Baptize with the Holy
Spirit.” Jesus is that person. John the Baptist tells us, “I
have seen and testified that he is the Son of God.”
God the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit has come to us and will remain
forever. Let’s go into the new year
singing the new song that God has given us, “Here I am, Lord;
I come to do your will.” …whatever
that may be.
The LORD bless you and keep you! The LORD let his face shine upon you and be
gracious to you! The LORD look upon you
kindly and give you peace!
A few years
back, a couple of my good friends (my co-workers and superiors) and I were at
the gas station getting the company van filled up. I was sitting in the back seat when my boss,
who was pumping the gas was approached by a young man and I heard some casual
chatter. Then Todd poked his head back
in the car and asked, “Do either of you have any extra cash to help buy this
guy some gas?” As he asked it, he had
one of those looks on his face that indicated he didn’t think the kid wanted
the money for gas at all. But I had
another feeling. So I got out of the car
and asked the kid what pump he was at.
Then I went inside and told the clerk to please put $15 worth of gas on
my card for pump #1. I got back in the
car while I waited for our car to finish filling. My buddies—I love them both dearly—looked at
me like I was unaware of what kind of a world we live in. Trust me; I know what kind of world we are
facing in these times. It breaks my
heart. But the Gospels give me hope, in
particular Mark 2:13-17.
I am moved
by the willingness of Levi, son of Alphaeus (also known later as Matthew),
leaving his post to follow Jesus. Jesus
asked him to “Follow me,” and without hesitation, Levi got up,
left his position, and followed Him. This
to me exemplifies trusting in Jesus, our Lord and Savior, to take us on a
journey to places we might not otherwise find ourselves.
However,
this Gospel reading holds a much deeper message for us as Christians. Jesus dined with the tax collectors and the
sinners, the lowliest of low, at a dinner. He made Himself available to go to supper with
people who needed His love and forgiveness in a very desperate way. Life brings us many opportunities to be
present for people who otherwise do not have a voice in the worldly
conversations; those people who are struggling to find joy and redemption in
all the wrong places. God places us
right where He wants us to be, and at the times He wants us to be there. To open a home up to people who otherwise
would never receive an invitation to hear the good news of our loving Savior,
Jesus Christ, is where God can and will lead us, just as Jesus led Levi.
It is so
easy to not be in those special places, to ignore those who are stricken with
such shame, such hopelessness that they feel lost, and continue to make the
wrong decisions, only perpetuating their misery. Jesus wants and needs to be at the center of
those who daily look for some type of hope in their existence here on
earth. Just stop for a minute, pause, and
look around for those opportunities.
They are there right in front of our faces; we simply don’t take the
time often enough to recognize the struggles and the pain.
After the
young man put the gas in his car, he came over to shake my hand and said, “God
Bless you, Sir!” That simple plea to God
on my behalf was more than enough proof for me that I had assessed the young
man’s need correctly, and that the Holy Spirit had led him to ask my friends
and me for help.
For those of
us who have an intimate relationship with our Savior, we are blessed beyond any
human understanding. It is the Holy
Spirit that lives within each of us that increases our desire to share the good
news of salvation. The ultimate
physician is there for all who are sick and weary, we just need to call His
name. For those who don’t have this
intimate spiritual relationship, we need to share this good news of the saving
grace they too can receive, if they simply call out and acknowledge Jesus as
their Savior.
Imagine a
world of hope this would be if each of us in our own way were to stop and help
those who are sick, who struggle, and who need comfort. I believe that it is God’s intention for each
of us to be a beacon of light to this lost world. God knows what we are capable of doing; He is
trusting us to be His light in this world.
Stop! Look! Feel! Pray! Care! Love! Don’t ignore those opportunities. Thank God for those opportunities. Be that one person who dines with those who
need to know the Good News. Be that one person
who spreads the message of hope and mercy that is Jesus Christ to whomever is
sent your way.
Do I help
everyone who asks for handouts? I
try. But I fail miserably. I can only hope I’m doing enough.
The LORD bless you and keep you! The LORD let his face shine upon you and be
gracious to you! The LORD look upon you
kindly and give you peace!
“We have seen incredible things today.” (Luke 5:26) “They
were all astounded and glorified God, saying, ‘We have never seen anything like
this.’” (Mark 2:12) “When
the crowds saw this they were struck with awe and glorified God who had given
such authority to human beings.” (Matthew
9:8)
Healing the
paralytic at Capernaum is one of the miracles of Jesus in Synoptic Gospels; in
Matthew (9:1–8), Mark (2:1–12), and Luke (5:17–26).
The power
Jesus received from His Father in Heaven to forgive sins on earth is certainly
at the core of these Gospels. But the
power of faith also teaches that the bigger our faith, the better a friend we
make! When a paralyzed man's unwavering
friends couldn't get him in front of Jesus because the stretcher was too
unwieldy to bring through the crowd, they carried him up to the roof and
lowered him through the roof tiles into the middle of the crowd right in front
of Jesus! What a struggle that must have
been! While this act of love isn't as
astonishing as Jesus healing the man and forgiving his sins, we must ask
ourselves – would we go that far for one of our friends?
Sometimes
when we need them most, our friends seem to be turning away. But we can be assured they're actively
learning the same lessons we are, just not at the same time. Today they might not have the capacity to help
a friend in need, but tomorrow, or even a year from now, we may find them at
our side, acting on God's grace. And so
it is with us. Then we should try to
remember that friendship works both ways, and hopefully we'll discover that our
friend was always a friend, and that growing in faith brings greater love,
which helps us to see “incredible things” that “we have never seen” before and be “struck with awe”.
A couple of
things for further contemplation:
What are
friends for, if not to risk a danger of falling through the roof or incurring
the cost of repairing the same, simply to help another human being know the joy
of being whole in God's presence?
And, which
was greater--the cure of the paralytic or the forgiveness of his sins? What greater love can we show one another than
the love of forgiveness?
