We can't listen if we're talking

Prayer for the Day

“Speak, Lord, You’re servant is listening”(1Samuel 3:9)

Reflection

When I was a young man, I was anxious to get ahead—to be as successful as I could be.   Following the example set by my father and my brothers before me, I determined the best way to get anywhere was to simply do the job I was paid to do, in the best way I knew how to do it.  That has been my plan ever since my first day on a job and it continues today.   And it has served me well. 

I never actively pursued my career in retail management; I just sort of ‘grew into it’.  Those in authority over me noticed my work, even though I didn’t do the job to be “seen” and I certainly didn’t “blow trumpets” to be heard.  I simply did what I was supposed to do, when I was supposed to do it.  And if I couldn’t get it done in the time allotted me in the course of a shift, I would many times take my work home with me and finish it there, where I would not be distracted  by the incidental “noise” of business.  Success and monetary rewards followed as a consequence of just doing the right things at the right time.  My father and his generation used to call it “keeping my nose to the grindstone.”

I think this is what the message of Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18 is all about.  We don’t go to Mass or perform our works of mercy (either spiritual or corporal) to be seen in hopes of being rewarded with the Beatific Vision of our Lord, we do these things out of love for God and to help Jesus bring hope to those who are hope-less and weak in their faith.  Jesus is telling us that this is the work we have to do.  We should strive to be pious, not pompous.  And while prayer in community is powerful (there is NO stronger form of prayer in Heaven or on Earth than the Mass), we are also told by Jesus to go to our inner room, close the door and pray to our Father in secret.  This prayer is akin to taking the “work” (“prayer”) home with us that we couldn’t finish “on the job” (at Mass). 

“Going to our inner room” is not necessarily meant to be taken literally.  It could mean that, and if it helps you to pray more fervently, go for it.  I personally think it means that we should try to pray from the heart, rather than simply with the intellect.  I can say a Rosary while sitting in front of the television and get distracted, making my prayers “vain and repetitious” or I can turn the TV off and meditate on the life of Christ as the prayers are intended and our Father who sees everything  and hears everything will hear me, no matter how silently I mouth the prayers.

Or, I can go to the church and sit in front of the Blessed Sacrament and just listen to what Our Lord wants to say to me.  We sometimes forget that prayer is a conversation with God.  A conversation implies that one party speaks while the other listens.  If our prayers don’t include time for a response from God, how will we know what He is asking of us?

I’m going to try a little harder to speak less and listen more.  How about you?

It's hard, but necessary to forgive if you truly want to live freely

Prayer for the Day
Dear God, please help us to learn how to become ever more loving and forgiving, both when it is enjoyable and easy as well as when it is painful and seems impossible. Amen.

Reflection

“But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father…” (Matthew 5:44-45)

This Gospel is probably one of the toughest to live out.  Love is not something given to someone because of anything they have done or not done but because of who he or she is: a child of God. Jesus tells us that God loves all his children, the good and the bad, by giving them both the rain and the sunshine, and, as St. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 8: 1-9, Jesus showed us this love by becoming poor for us so that we could become rich. His message shows us that love for all is essential to being God’s children and that he does not expect any less from us than to show that love to others.

Of course, this is challenging because it seems to go against our natural desire. This is the genius of Jesus’ call, though: we are called to move beyond ourselves to become like him. I can’t offer recommendations on how to implement this practically for you, my readers: our different experiences, dispositions, and outlooks are so varied that we probably already know areas in our life that we need to work on in order to be more loving, and each of us probably knows best the people and counsel that can help us achieve this goal. In any case, the theme among them is the call to be children of our Heavenly Father through loving all, even our enemies, just as he did.

Perhaps today we can think about who in our lives we have found difficult to love, pray for, and forgive.  

Did you ever have an “uh-oh!” moment?  One where you knew you were in for it?  Or thought you were? 

I was in the confessional recently making a good confession (I hope) and the priest, in persona Christi, was preparing to give me my penance when a phone rang!  It wasn’t mine!  Father apologized and said, “I’m sorry, I have to take this!”   His voice sounded urgent, and I thought, “It’s probably the Lord, Himself, calling in my penance.   Father was probably going to let me get off light—maybe an Our Father or two, and now I’ll have a million Our Fathers to say!”  

But, knowing how busy priests are and understanding that the person on the other end of the phone might have a life or death issue, I simply said, “That’s OK, Father.  It’s a sign of the times and you have a whole flock to minister to.”

He very quickly ended the call, apologized again, and picked up where he left off.  I’m relieved to say I didn’t have to say even close to a million Our Fathers.
===================================================================
And, lest I forget--June 14th is my father-in-law's birthday.  He would have been 97 years old this year!  Rest in the peace of Christ, Frank.

Thoughts on this morning's Ministry Fair

Prayer for the Day

“Heavenly Father, I thank you that your grace and your mercies are new each day. I marvel at your mercy and generosity. Come, Father, and give me a heart of mercy and generosity!”

Reflection

Today was the 2^nd Annual Ministry fair at St. Anne’s.  I was pretty impressed to learn that there are over 47 different “ministries” dedicated to improving the lives of the entire community (not just the Catholic community) and bringing Jesus closer to them through prayer, action, or example.  Most employ all three.  Why do we have so many ministries?  It was a question I meditated on for the better part of the day.  My answer came to me when I read the Gospel for tomorrow.  Jesus said, “But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil”. (Matt 5: 38-42)

Why would He say that?  Shouldn’t we resist evil?  We should certainly offer resistance to the temptations of evil.  And I don’t think Jesus is saying we should just lie down in front of evil.  I think what He is telling us is that He has already resisted evil and defeated the root of it, Satan, two thousand years ago.

Today, Jesus continues to lead the army of his followers peacefully, but strongly, against evil in a new kind of “resistance”—service to others out of love for God. Our job is only to serve him as our faithful commander and do what he asks of us; to love God and to love one another. It is for this reason Jesus continues on with his teaching, saying, “Should anyone press you into service for one mile, go with him for two miles.” Our job, therefore, is to serve actively in the midst of evil, letting our God do the resisting for us so we can give even when there seems nothing more to give. In this giving service we are made, as Paul says, “ministers of God,” enduring all “in the Holy Spirit” for the sake of the kingdom. (2 Cor 6: 1-10).

The Holy Spirit--the Love of the Father for the Son and the Son for the Father

Prayer for the Day

“Lord, fill us all anew with your Holy Spirit. Melt us with your fire, and refresh us with your wind. May our lives be changed today— forever!”


Reflection

Tornadoes have caused great damage and many deaths here in the United Sates this year. It is very tragic and my prayers are with those who were affected. We’ve even had a couple here in Northern California—nothing on the scale of those back East, but quite disconcerting anyway. We obviously equate tornadoes with negative outcomes. However, there is one tornado-like event that changed the history of the world forever in about 33 A.D. In wind, thunder and fire, in the city of Jerusalem, the Holy Spirit of God entered into the twelve Apostles - and the Catholic Church was born! (Acts 2: 1-11).


From that day forward, the same Holy Spirit has entered the hearts of millions more. On the day of Pentecost, the apostles baptized about three thousand Jews in water and the Spirit. Three thousand! In one day! At one place! I can’t even imagine that—it boggles the mind! After the Spirit had entered the house of Cornelius, they baptized Jew and Gentile. The power of the Spirit was with these totally changed men, and neither threats nor imprisonments, nor beatings nor stoning, could prevent them from preaching with great persuasion and power. They went to whatever country or city the Spirit led them - even to Rome and beyond! And now, 2000 years later, it is estimated that there are 2 billion “Christians”—Catholics number about 1.3 billion!

It is no wonder that the unstoppable Holy Spirit soon brought the news that Jesus, Son of God and Son of Mary, both divine and human, had really entered the world at the command of God the Father. This same Jesus had not only risen from the dead, but had also ascended back to the Father. This same Jesus now lives in all who would believe, and in all who have been given the gifts of the Holy Spirit to continue the building up of the Church on earth.

Why hasn't the Spirit of God, working through us, brought the whole world to belief? It’s because of human weakness. It’s because of complacency, sometimes in the face of human success. We know all about that in today's world, where the sins of leaders, both bishops and priests, have slowed the work of evangelizing. The lessening of moral discipline in society has poisoned and confused the young who are often cynical about the importance of faith. Fewer and fewer listen to and heed the authoritative teaching of the Church. I think in many ways, we have become “Babel-onian” in our hubris. We have so many ways to communicate with each other—in other words, we “speak one language”—that we’ve either forgotten how to or don’t feel we need to communicate with God to thank Him for giving us the very life we feel WE’VE made “easier”! We just continue to “build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the sky, and so make a name for ourselves.” (Gen 11:4)

On this Pentecost, we are urgently called to refocus our belief in the presence and daily inspirations of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit alone can give us that hope in His Power to repair what is broken, to enflame hearts that turn to Him in prayer and listening.

Centuries have passed since this one "good tornado" in Palestine, but the wind and flame are as strong as ever.

The biblical origin of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit is found in (Isaiah 11:1-3) where he is foretelling the qualities of the Messiah:
“But a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall blossom. The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him: a spirit of wisdom and of understanding, a spirit of counsel and of strength, a spirit of knowledge and of fear of the Lord, and his delight shall be the fear of the Lord.”

Each of the gifts perfect certain basic virtues. Four of them perfect the intellectual virtues. Understanding gives an intuitive penetration into truth. Wisdom perfects charity, in order to judge divine things. Knowledge perfects the virtue of hope. The gift of counsel perfects prudence.

The other three gifts perfect virtues of the will and appetites. The gift of piety perfects justice in giving to others that which is their due. This is especially true of giving God what is His due. Fortitude perfects the virtue of fortitude, in facing dangers. Fear of the Lord perfects temperance in controlling disordered appetites.

WISDOM
Wisdom is a sense that everything is a gift. It becomes a growing sense of what things are and what they are not. Wisdom is a way of holding things in tension. We might want something to be more than it is and it would be so good if it only could be, but we allow it to be just what it is, with God’s fingerprints on everything.

UNDERSTANDING
This gift follows upon the first. To understand means that the Holy Spirit is enlightening our minds about the consequences of our use of all the other gifts God has given us. Misuse and abuse of something shows no respect for God’s design for the goodness of His creation. The proper use of something is a great praise of the Creator, but we need this gift of Understanding to see better.

KNOWLEDGE
This is the gift that assists us to know who we are and what we are to do. It is practical, that is it moves us to a gratitude for action. It is more than “self-knowledge”, but a grace that assists us in the awareness of our being in Christ and in our incarnating Him, or bringing Him into more visibility. It is the gift that helps us know who we are in God’s eye.

COUNCIL
This final gift assisting the intellect or our ability to ponder and decide strengthens the mind to be able to look fearlessly at all sides, all the darker areas, all the slavery to sin and self-centeredness in our human struggle for truth. It assists us to be honest and aware of the various gravitational pulls of our weak flesh, prejudices, selfish inclinations and fears. This is the gift we are not so sure we really want, because we love our ways, our patterns of self-indulgence.

The last three gifts are about doing the truth.

FORTITUDE
This gift moves us to a steady hand as well as a desire to keep on keeping on when we do slip and fall. While its root meaning is “strong” it is more about resolve, perseverance, and patience with our not being strong in our living the other gifts. This gift is the encouragement the parent gives to the child beginning to walk, “Come on, get up, whoops, and try again!”

PIETY
Piety encourages a loyalty or fidelity to God and the relationship that God initiates and sustains. This gift encourages us to prayerfully listen and reverently live what we hear. There are so many voices trying to convince us about our identity. Piety results from hearing who God says we are and living accordingly.

FEAR of the LORD
It would be a funny gift from God that would render us scared and frightened of the giver. This gift of the Spirit is similar to how we might walk through a store whose shelves are filled with crystal and delicate china dishes. Respect for the beauty, yet fragility would move us, not to fear the owner, but a love for the creator of these artworks. So this gift works against recklessness and disrespect for the Giver and Creator of all. If we have a view of the beauty and goodness of creation, and stand respectfully in front of them, then we stand in a similar fashion before the Creator of all this delicate handiwork around and within us.

Mercy triumphs over judgment. (James 2:13)

I've been thinking about yesterday's post all day today.  It occurs to me I may not have stressed the need for us to forgive others to merit Jesus' mercy for our own transgressions.  So here goes:

Prayer for the Day
Our Father, Who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name.  Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.  Lead us not into tempation, but deliver us from evil.
Amen

Hail Mary, full of grace!  The Lord is with you.  Blest are you among women and blest is the Fruit of your womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.
Amen


Reflection

The challenge for all of us in this life is to forgive and forget. We can know something is wrong, attempt to forgive in our mind, but can't forget, which prevents us from forgiving in our heart. The symptom of this bondage is to constantly recall the circumstances of the injustices and replay them in our minds, which only reinforces our resentment of the original injustice.


The Lord is our example. As He was crucified, He prayed for the Father to forgive those who were crucifying Him for they did not know what they were doing. He is the ultimate example. There is no greater injustice than for His own people to have crucified Him, when He had healed entire cities of every sickness and disability, raised the dead, restored the sight of the blind, and spoke nothing but truth; yet as He was in unimaginable pain and dying, He prayed for their forgiveness. Now, if there ever was a justification for anger, this horrible crucifixion of the most humble man to walk the earth, had to be the one—yet the Lord did not get angry. So, by His monumental forgiveness of those who murdered Him, we know there is never justification for us holding onto anger. He was sorrowful, with sorrow almost to death, knowing what would happen to Him. And His reaction was sorrow at the colossal injustices He suffered, but not anger; sorrow, not for Himself, but sorrow for how wrong His errant children were.

Forgiveness is the key to spiritual progress. Unless we forgive the injustices done to us, we do not receive the forgiveness of God for our transgressions. Look at the Lord's Prayer: there is only one requirement for us identified in it: forgive our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. We forgive to become free of the disease of resentment, which eats away our peace, our love, and our happiness. We forgive and don't take revenge, knowing that vengeance is reserved to God.

To pray for enemies helps us, and it also helps those who have hurt us. Scripture tells us (through St. Paul, in his letter to the Romans (Rom 12: 19-21)): “Beloved, do not look for revenge but leave room for the wrath; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’ Rather, ‘if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals upon his head.’ Do not be conquered by evil but conquer evil with good.”  —because that not only helps us, it helps the enemy to see his faults and motivates him to change.

If you don't get angry with someone who is treating you wrong, your peace and love convict them of their wrongness on the spot. But if you get angry with someone who hurts you, all they see is your wrongness, and they feel even more justified in their injustice.

Until we are perfected, we cannot help getting angry in some circumstances, but we are told: “do not let the sun go down on your anger.” (Eph 4:26)

I am not saying that nothing is wrong that anyone can do. I deplore wrongful acts, but when someone commits one against me, I realize that I must forgive that person and forget the wrong--otherwise, I suffer even further. Love keeps no record of wrongs. John says: "Anyone who hates his brother has committed murder in his heart." (1 John 3:15) Anger is the opposite of forgiveness. You cannot forgive somebody and still be angry with him/her.

So, what we have to do is to realize all anger is a false illusion to disguise our own failure to deal with an injustice by overlooking it, and when we find ourselves swirling in recall of an injustice, we have to remember anger is false and stop entertaining it, no matter how logical it all seems. Our mind will try to convince us that this injustice is the exception and all anger is not wrong; but that is just our carnal (Satanic) mind trying to justify itself.

More importantly, when we find ourselves swirling in remembrance of injustice, we need to fervently pray for the person who wronged us. I pray for them to be helped to find true happiness. (This is not praying for them to be happy in the midst of their wrongness, because despite appearances, they suffer for every injustice they deal out.) I leave their route to happiness with God. I just want them to eventually be happy, and that is what I specifically pray for. We should also pray for the Lord to help us be rid of the anger and resentment.

Visualize yourself hugging and embracing that person with affection. If I have trouble doing this, I ask myself this question: do I wish this person to suffer the pain of Hell, when I myself may have done equal or worse things, for which God has forgiven me? No, I would forgive everyone of every wrong done to me, to prevent them from suffering in Hell. I then find it possible to visualize embracing them in love. You cannot imagine what a relief this is, to be free from resentment in this manner. Because “blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.” (Matt 5:7)

There is so much more to mercy than just forgiveness

Prayer for the Day

Almighty, true and incomparable God, You are present in all things, yet in no way limited by them.

You remain unaffected by place, untouched by time, unperturbed by years, and undeceived by words.

You are not subject to birth and in no need of protection.

You are beyond all corruption, above all change, immutable by nature.

You live in unapproachable light and are invisible, yet You are known to all those who seek You with hope and love.

You are the God of Israel, and of all who hope in Christ.

Amen.

Reflection

The lector at Mass this morning got so carried away with the story of Paul and the commander of the army that he read all the way to the end of the chapter!  But he is the man  whose oratorical talents are the best I've ever heard at Mass, so it was a pleasant surprise!  I really would like to listen to this guy read the entire Bible someday (I know it will never happen, but it’s a good dream, anyway!). He must have been an actor or on radio for a long time—I just can’t overstate his talent!  He has the ability to put me “in the moment” that he is reading about, and that really helps my meditations.

Another great surprise was that the Mass was celebrated by the newest priest in the Fresno Diocese (he was ordained last week!) who was evidently assigned to Bakersfield.  I have never seen him in person (I did see a picture of him in the diocesan newsletter with a story about his upcoming ordination) or heard him preach, but if today is any indication, he is a very blessed and gifted young man.
Rather than speak about the first reading (that had “gone on long enough”, he probably thought) or the Gospel, he gave a homily on the entrance antiphon and the endless mercy that Jesus shows every one of us.

He began by saying that to most of us, mercy is a leniency—a forgiveness—or a remittance of punishment for sins, a fresh start.  And that’s where most of us stop the definition.  He went on to say that while that definition is certainly true and would be more than enough for a lot of folks, Jesus goes so much further!  Not only does He “pick us up” time and time again when we fall, but He will stay with us to help prevent us from falling again!  But He won’t run interference for us against temptation unless we ask Him to.  He does send us gentle reminders, but it’s up to us whether we listen or not.
I don’t know if Father planned his homily this way, knowing what tomorrow’s Gospel would be, but it seems to me that Jesus’ mercy is explained very well in John 21. 

There are just two charcoal fires in the whole Bible, and they are both in the Gospel of John. The first is mentioned at John 18:18, the charcoal fire in the high priest’s courtyard around which the slaves and guards warmed themselves when the gatekeeper says to Peter, “You are not one of this man’s disciples are you?” and Peter says, “I am not.” Questioned like that two more times, Peter, now warming himself at the same fire, denies being a disciple of Jesus two more times.

The second charcoal fire is the one on the shore of the Sea of Tiberius (the Sea of Galilee, renamed for the current emperor), apparently prepared by the risen Lord Jesus (21:9), where the same Peter is questioned three times by Jesus, “Do you love me?” and the disciple now affirms his allegiance three times. So in one place a charcoal fire is the setting for a threefold denial of discipleship, and in the other place a charcoal fire is the setting for a threefold affirmation of discipleship. Was this a coincidence?  I think not. The evangelist John uses that detail to help us link those episodes together. And who is to say that the association does not go back to Jesus himself, helping Peter to realize that the denier is being given a fresh start in his relationship to the Lord.

And this seaside scenario is not only a matter of astounding forgiveness and mercy; it is also a commissioning: “Feed my lambs; feed my sheep.” The Good Shepherd is enlisting this errant sheep in the Master’s own work of shepherding. Peter is given an opportunity to demonstrate the love he professed by sharing in the mission of the risen Lord. Ultimately, it is going to be a matter of being led where he does not want to go. Loving the head shepherd will entail following Him even to a death like His.  But he need not fear. The Lord stands there full of risen life, a life Peter can also share already in the act of following.

In our own small way, each of us who claims to be a disciple of Jesus is invited into that same act of trust with mercy, as people forgiven and assigned our particular task.
===================================================================
To my readers:  Sorry for the quality of the layouts lately.  I've got a relatively new laptop with Windows 7 that allows the fonts to carry over into the blog, but I'm having trouble controlling paragraphs and spacing.  What I normally do is compose my reflections in Microsoft Word, then cut and paste to the blog.  Maybe I will still do that, but I will use fonts I'm familiar with. I hope the messages continue to be what you're looking for, though.  I think I'll just go back to "plain ol' Arial", large font.  I think the message is what is important, not the "decor".

While we are unique, we are each a piece of the puzzle that is God's plan for us

Prayer for the Day Lord Jesus, help me to recognize the gifts that You have given me that are specific to the Father’s plan for my salvation and the salvation of all mankind.  Show me, through the Holy Spirit, how to use them to do Your will, and give me the courage to act accordingly.  Amen.

Reflection

Being in the right place at the right time is one of those mysteries of life we may never fully understand.  But as I read Acts 22 and 23 this evening, I thought, “Paul was sure in the wrong place at the wrong time!”  And to make matters worse, he starts an argument among them!  What was he thinking?  I don’t think he was thinking—at least not for himself.  He was simply placing all of his trust in Jesus that he would be protected, and he was!

"Wishing to determine the truth about why Paul was being accused by the Jews, the commander freed him."  These words indicate that the commander of the Roman troops in Jerusalem wanted to get to the bottom of why Paul had started such a ruckus among the Jews. He wanted "to determine the truth."

It was not his quarrel, but it was his job to find out what was going on and deal with it.  As the Roman troop commander, he was charged with keeping peace in Jerusalem, which was no easy task.
So he went to pains to protect Paul from both the Pharisees and Sadducees, who were arguing among themselves so violently that the commander was "afraid that Paul would be torn to pieces by them." (Acts 23:10) The commander also did his best to uphold Roman law, and earlier he had freed Paul from impending torture as soon as he learned Paul was a Roman citizen (Acts 22:24-29).

God used this Roman military commander to protect His servant Paul, and used his sense of duty and justice to eventually send Paul to Rome for a trial. You see, God wanted Paul to spread the good news to Rome, and this was the set of circumstances He used to get him to Rome.

And so it is with each of us.  Just as Paul's place of birth, his background and religion, his knowledge of various languages and his legal status as a Roman citizen all came together to accomplish God's will, so we all have characteristics that make us unique to God’s plan for our salvation.

Salvation isn't impersonal, vague or general. It always takes place person to person, with all the specific details each human being has that are unique to him or her. Simply speaking a particular language may open a door, or having a certain citizenship. 

Never take for granted who you are. Never take for granted the unique set of circumstances of your life, even if they seem to be a disadvantage: a lack of education for instance, or a background of addiction or abuse.  It could even be a shattered or rocky relationship.  God can use any of these things for good.  God can use all aspects of your life in surprising ways, if you are open to Him.

Just give Him permission to work in and through you. And when you do, be ready: amazing things may happen. Good things. Wondrous things.  And don’t be afraid!  As Psalm 16 exhorts, “Keep me safe, O God; you are my hope.”

Sing to God, Praise God!

Prayer for the Day

O Lord, we ask for a boundless confidence and trust in Your divine mercy, and the courage to accept the crosses and sufferings which bring immense goodness to our souls and that of Your Church.

Help us to love You with a pure and contrite heart, and to humble ourselves beneath Your cross, as we climb the mountain of holiness, carrying our cross that leads to heavenly glory.

May we receive You with great faith and love in Holy Communion, and allow You to act in us, as You desire, for Your greater glory.

O Jesus, most adorable heart and eternal fountain of Divine Love, may our prayer find favor before the Divine Majesty of Your Heavenly Father. Amen (St. Padre Pio)

 Reflection

In Acts 20: 28-38, Paul reminds the church at Ephesus to watch over each other and protect each other from those who would pervert the truth they had come to know in the words of Jesus.  Paul’s letters to the churches are instructive to us today.  We are reminded that the Holy Spirit appoints us to oversee the Church of God.  This message to be vigilant in keeping the truths of the Church is not at all about maintaining rules.  The instructions are clear.  Help the weak and keep in mind that it is more blessed to give than receive.  (It’s even more blessed when you give freely and not involuntarily—but we’ll get to that in a moment.)

In John’s Gospel (John 17:11-19), Jesus prays that God will protect and guard all those given to Him in the Father’s name.  How can we go wrong, knowing that Jesus continues to pray on our behalf and that God continues to give us strength and power?  We shouldn’t think about our lives, then, in terms of our weaknesses, but in terms of our strengths.  But that is not so easy to do all of the time, especially as we grow older and have to acknowledge that we are physically weaker and our health is often challenged.  I have come to think, however, that during those times, God is even more with us.  It is during these times when we draw closer to God for strength that we are even more protected from evil.  While we may be weak in some ways, we can become stronger in truth in the Word.

Psalm 68 reminds us that God gives power and strength to His people.  We are to confess that power, sing to God, and praise the Lord for the power and strength we receive from God.  If we connect these words to the lessons Paul was teaching to the Ephesians in Acts and the words of Jesus in John’s Gospel, we should apply that power and strength to helping the weak before we help ourselves.  God gives us enough power to both, care for ourselves and care for others.

"As you sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world."-John 17:18

This world we live in is one that places high emphasis on interaction: our connections with others and the world itself.  While this can be seen as a nice utopia, the phrase “too much of a good thing can be a bad thing” could not be more appropriate.  We over evaluate our connections to the extent that our basis of being human is dependent solely on our standings in society, compared to those of our fellow brothers and sisters.  We have ventured away from demonstrating a level of love…we have instead become every man and woman for themselves.  

A sad but true fact is that this world we live in is not as constantly beautiful as we wish it were.  It is filled with lust, hatred, violence, greed, and any other act associated with the devaluing of God’s creation; I cannot turn on the evening news without seeing some mention of murder, acts of terrorism, etc.  All too often, it directly involves us personally or someone we love.   Marilyn and I woke up this morning to find that someone had found a way to use our ATM card number to make a large purchase!   A couple of phone calls and quite a bit of explaining got the charges reversed, but we shouldn’t have had to go through all of this.

This whole episode really put a damper on my day until I realized that as sad as the world is, it is every bit as promising and glorious.  And the glory lies within you and me through the power of the Holy Spirit and the promise of Jesus Christ that He will never leave us.

We will not get out of this life without a full realization of our weaknesses but that shouldn’t make us vulnerable to evil.  John says that Jesus didn’t ask for us to be taken out of the world, but rather to be protected from the evil one.  We are fully in God’s love and grace in the midst of this world’s challenges.  Our job on this earth is to keep watch over ourselves and others, especially the weak and the poor because this is what Jesus asked us to do.  To do this, God gives us power, the Holy Spirit calls us, and Jesus prays for us.  Following His example, we should pray for one another, as well.

Perhaps the hardest of challenges that are placed on our shoulders the instant we call ourselves Christians is the challenge of choosing God in public.   If we truly carry the cross as we claim we do, then it is inevitable for us to show the world our faith.  Our purpose on this Earth is simply not our purpose, but rather God’s.  It is pretty difficult at times to live a life of faith, but that is what faith is.

Psalm 19 : “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows His handiwork.”



Psalm 19 verse 1: “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows His handiwork.”

Prayer for the Day

“Come, Holy Spirit! I surrender. Take my hand and lead me.”

Reflection

Fear of death or fear of suffering often slows us down and makes us timid to take on the work of serving one another in Jesus’ name.  Fear of shame or being made a fool of; fear of poverty or the inability to take care of ourselves; fear of being alone or outcast by those we value; fear that if someone disagrees with our ideology we might be wrong; fear that God does not really love us and so we have to earn that love . . . all these and other self-centered fears are essentially the work of  the enemy of God who attempts to stop the work of Christ in us to bring the whole world to the Father.

John 17:1-11a is the first section of a long prayer that Jesus makes to the Father, commonly called the High Priestly Prayer. It is the longest of the recorded prayers of the Lord in scripture. In this first portion of this long prayer, our Lord uses the words "glory" or "glorify" six different times. In asking the Father to glorify Him, Jesus is offering His soon-to-come sacrifice to the Father in complete knowledge that He will be resurrected and will conquer death.

 In the middle of Christ's offering to the Father, He shares with us that His sacrifice will result in eternal life for us all and that eternal life is to know "the only true God, and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ." Christ will be glorified in His resurrected body and we too will one day be glorified in the same way, due to the complete and holy sacrifice He made for all of us.

Take courage!

Prayer for the Day

“Lord Jesus, your compassion for us is beyond our understanding! I bring the needs of all my loved ones before you. Please draw them close and heal them.”

Reflection

“In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world.”         

(John 16:33) is particularly encouraging and reminds us of two things people often forget.

 The first is that life in this world is normally accompanied by problems. To expect otherwise is unrealistic and can tend toward sadness and disappointment.  

The second is Jesus' exhortation to "take courage," because He has "conquered the world."

Christ begins with a comforting note: “the Father is with me.”  We are never ever left alone to confront our troubles by ourselves because the Father is with us.  The Father does not abandon us to find his plan for us alone.  The question then follows, however, 'do we trust him enough to get us to where we need to go?

By unequivocally declaring victory over the world and all its trouble, Jesus provides us with a remedy from everything that can disturb us. It is this: faith in Him and hope.

Armed with these virtues, problems don't disappear, but take their proper place and we are empowered to respond to all that surrounds us, with Love.

Christ follows this up with an explanation: “I have told you this so that you may have peace in me.”  Christ wants us to be peaceful and to have peace.  He actually offers it to us today in this Gospel.  Do we have peace?  Are we offering the very best peaceful and joyful life lived to God?  Are we enjoying the enormous gift of life that we’ve been given?  Are we allowing God to comfort us and bring us peace?

Christ’s final statement is perhaps the most jarring: “In the world you will have trouble.”  He begins with comforting talk about the Father and peacefulness—almost as if to prepare us for this final statement and soften the blow.  Have we accepted God’s plan for us or are we just waiting for our own plans to begin?  Whose schedule are we following?  The world encourages us to believe in ourselves and to trust in ourselves the most.  The parallel worldly outline to John’s gospel is to have a goal, work really hard for it, and if I am in any way, shape, or form a good person, I will succeed.  If I don't succeed, it means I am a failure and the Self-Pity Monster finds a new home.

We are made for peace and love.  Until we embrace God’s love, (and his plan for us) we will only ever find trouble in the world.

It's an honor to love You, Lord Jesus!

Prayer for the Day

“Jesus, it is an honor to be called your disciple. I want to see you exalted today as I proclaim your gospel with my lips and with my actions.”

Reflection

As the days passed after the Resurrection of Jesus, the Apostles were getting used to their fleeting glimpses of the Risen Christ, appearing here and there so dramatically. He had pretty much cured their depression following the horrible crucifixion on Calvary by finally convincing them that He was alive!

 They never knew when He would appear next, with new commands to preach the Good News everywhere. Then, He suddenly ascended into the air before their eyes, and was lost to sight in the clouds. They must have thought in dismay, "He's left us again!"

 So what did they do? It was one thing to label themselves followers of the Christ when He was not too far away. It was quite another to think of facing the Jewish leaders without His earthly presence. Still shaken at His seeming abandonment, they withdrew together to that upper room to pray and ponder what He had taught them. Wisely, they kept near His mother, Mary, in those nine days of waiting for the Holy Spirit.

 They must have remembered what Jesus had said to them: "If you really love me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father." In other words, I have a better way to remain with you. I will live in you and in the Church through My Spirit and in My Vicar.  And did they remember His wonderful farewell address in that same upper room just a few weeks before at that strange, sacred meal the night before He died? Did they now understand the reason for His institution of the Eucharist that He might remain with them always?

When we think ourselves alone and abandoned, when the contrary spirit of the world depresses us, Christ is there! When we are tempted to give up, to feel far from God, Christ is there through the Spirit!

I think that what Christ really wants of us modern-day followers, is concrete, lasting action. We must not act as though He were present. He is present! His being present in the Spirit is far more powerful than His earthly presence would have been.

We must go simply and deliberately into our souls daily - into the core of our being - and there listen to Him in silence. If you need reassurance that He is truly present, go spend some time in front of the Blessed Sacrament or—better yet—in a chapel where He is exposed for adoration. Then, strengthened by His grace, we can confidently go about our Mission. We need that grace more than ever in these days of rebuilding our nation and our world.

It takes all kinds to make a world, and God loves them all

I have time to write a bonus entry for today.......It's not much, but I can't stop thinking about something I heard on tv this morning:

Unique, precious, unrepeatable.  I heard these three words today on TV, and immediately thoughts of my family came to mind.  That’s the father in me.  After I pondered it a bit, I was overwhelmed by the fact it pertains to me, also, as well as the rest of humanity.   The Father's love for you is particular.  

It is a love for you, because you believe in the Son, "for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I came from the Father." (John 16:27)

To assure that you are aided by the divine love, the Spirit is given to you. The Spirit is the companion, the advocate and the source of inspiration. The love of the Father and the Son enable the Holy Spirit to dwell with you. The Father's particular love for you has a point - that you bear fruit. The Father will tend to the vines and where the fruit does not endure; those vines will be cut away and thrown out into the fire.

The examples of fruit are manifold, in the teaching of Jesus and His example, in the Acts of the Apostles and teaching in the Epistles. While the divine love and inspiration of the Holy Spirit console us and fill us, the fruit that endures is our loving actions.

Lord, perfect my prayer

Prayer for the Day

“Thank you, Holy Spirit, for helping me to pray as I ought. Come and perfect my prayer before the throne of grace!”

Reflection

When we want something, all we have to do is ask, right? Yet so often it seems like God doesn’t hear all of our requests. Our desires, for the most part, are with good intentions and reasoning behind them. They’re things we genuinely think will bring our lives happiness. Jesus wants nothing more than for our hearts to be joyful… so why doesn’t he make it happen right when we ask him to?

Do you remember when you were little, and there would be times that you saw a toy or some fun activity that just made your eyes light up and you wanted it with all your heart? You insisted to Mom and Dad that you would be the happiest kid ever if only you had it.

And then your parents told you 'maybe later,' or 'don’t count on it.' That answer was crushing to hear, because your little heart was so sincere in thinking it would bring all the happiness you need; that it was the best idea ever. The funny thing is, as time goes by and we grow older, we realize that our parents were right to not fulfill that request that we once held onto so tightly. They saw how it wasn’t something that would bring us true joy.

God knows what’s best for us even better than a parent could know. Matthew 6:8 beautifully expresses how “Your Father knows what you need before you ask Him". We ask and plead for these desires on our hearts, and it’s upsetting when God doesn’t seem to follow through. But it’s in these moments that we have to ask ourselves, 'Am I expecting and wanting something to happen that’s my will, or God’s?' If we’re constantly asking God to simply fill in the needs and gaps of our ideal plan for ourselves, are our hearts truly being open to the ultimate happiness that God has planned for each of us?

But we can’t let the fear of being told 'no, that’s not for you right now,' hold us back from asking our Heavenly Father for what’s on our hearts. Don’t be afraid to tell him that you need him. He cherishes when you share the innermost desires of your heart with him. But God is a gentleman: he won’t barge in and take over without your consent. He patiently and sweetly waits for the softest whisper from you asking for him.

Good things come to those who wait....

Prayer for the Day
Blessed Mary, Mother of Consolation, pray with me for the virtue of patience. There are so many times when my lack of patience keeps me from becoming the kind of person God wants me to be.
Guide my thoughts to you and the example we have in your own life. Help me to become patient, as you were patient. Through your guidance, may I become more accepting of others around me. Assist me to welcome difficult times with a patient heart.

May I be patient, Mary, as was your beloved husband, Joseph. His quiet acceptance of the will of Our Loving Father should be an example for me always. His patience was most wonderful in the eyes of God.

Pray for me, dear Mother of God, that I will allow the Father to come into my heart and help me grow in patience. Amen.

Reflection

Ever since I was a small child, I’ve heard the expression, “Good things come to those who wait.”  I understood that meant that if I would stop nagging Mom and Dad, I just might someday get that new bicycle or some other treasure.  Nowadays, I know that what it really means is that if we truly have trust in God and the Truth He gave us through His Son and Spirit as related in the Scriptures and in sacred Tradition, that the “best” good we can ever hope for—Heaven—awaits us.

How many times a day do we give up on a task because it is too difficult, or because it is taking too long? Or maybe it seems tedious and unrewarding?  How often do we become frustrated when we aren’t achieving the results we want? How often do we petition God to speed up His plan a bit, to let us see the rewards of faithfully following Him now, rather than later?

Our society, as a whole, is not patient. We have cell phones with which we can instantly access anyone, we have entertainment at the touch of a button, and we can travel halfway around the world in a day. Many of us wish God would work hastily too.

But He doesn’t. And He never will. Our Father has His own timeframe, which humans (no matter how hard we try) can never influence. God dances to the beat of His own drum. And He invites us all to join in.

The lack of results we sometimes see from prayer can be frustrating, the painfully slow progress we make in our relationships with others can seem unbearable, and the knowledge that if we could instantly affect others’ hearts each person would personally know God can make us wonder why He refuses to work at our pace. And yet, when we wait patiently for God’s timing, the results are beautiful; more magnificent than anything that could be accomplished by humans.

Though God can sometimes seem like a slow learner, He is the Teacher—the Master—and we are called to simply follow His lead, not to set the pace. And hopefully, with this acknowledgement, we will each be filled with peace, as we follow the Lord of the Dance.

As an example, look at Paul. (Acts 18:9-18)  He “remained for quite some time” with a people who had tried to have him put to death. Wow. That takes faith. But more strikingly, it takes patience.

The Lord told Paul to continue speaking and as a result we have the Christianity we live and believe today. Your voice may bring others to Christ.  Do not be afraid to speak the truth of the faith in love. Love cannot fail.

But how do you speak the truth in love? First, God is the Father of the truth. We should never speak unless we have first prepared ourselves by speaking to Him. More, we should avoid speaking until we have heard Him speak in the scripture and in the Word who is Jesus. Speaking the truth in love and in faith means that we must start from love.

Do not be afraid. That also is important. Just as God gave Moses the words he was to say to Pharaoh and indeed, even gave him a spokesman when his own voice failed - so God will do for each of us. But only if what we speak comes from love of the other - not from what we want, but from what God wants for each of us - a home with Him.

Wow. I may hold a record, here!

I found this on another blog as I was “surfing” tonight.  In looking the list over, I find that I’m an overachiever!  I feel like “Steve Urkel”—“Did I do that?”

Guide To Essay Writing
1. Avoid alliteration. Always.
2. Prepositions are not words to end sentences with.
3. Avoid clichés like the plague.
4. Employ the vernacular.
5. Eschew ampersands & abbreviations, etc.
6. Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are unnecessary
7. It is wrong to ever split an infinitive.
8. Contractions aren’t necessary.
9. Foreign words and phrases are not apropos.
10. One should never generalize.
11. Eliminate quotations. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “I hate quotations. Tell me what you know.”
12. Comparisons are as bad as clichés.
13. Don’t be redundant; don’t use more words than necessary; it’s highly superfluous.
14. Be more or less specific.
15. Understatement is always best.
16. One word sentences? Eliminate.
17. Analogies in writing are like feathers on a snake.
18. The passive voice is to be avoided.
19. Go around the barn at high noon to avoid colloquialisms.
20. Even if a mixed metaphor sings, it should be derailed.
21. Who needs rhetorical questions?
22. Exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement.

“Behold, I am with you always. . . .”

Prayer for the Day
Dear God,
May we continue to open our hearts and minds to be filled by the gifts of the Holy Spirit and continue to give thanks to the One who will never leave us. Thank you for this blessed day and may we see you everywhere we go and in everyone we meet.
In Your Name,
Amen

Reflection

In the Gospel for Ascension Thursday (Matthew 28:18-20), Jesus gives His followers what is known as “The Great Commission”:
“All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”

Many parents make it a point to have their children baptized. But it doesn't end there: "teach them," Jesus says, "to observe all that I have commanded you."

This teaching, this learning to observe what Jesus commands us, in turn leads to forming us as true, mature disciples, not just nominal Catholics. And that's crucial. To be a disciple means to be "disciplined" or well- formed in our faith. A disciple is a follower or "pupil" of Christ, our Teacher. That means an ongoing process throughout our growing-up years and right through adulthood.

The beauty of it is that there's always something new to learn about God. The fascinating relationship we as disciples can have with Him can continue to unfold and develop through our whole lives.  I know this is true in my own life.  It seems just about every time I'm feeling smug about what I know, I'll hear a priest give a sermon or an apologist on TV or radio discuss a topic that encourages me to dig even deeper into the Mystery.

So, rather than be discouraged that we may become overwhelmed and will never fully master the practice of our Faith, we can be excited about the ongoing deepening of our faith as Jesus' disciples. Starting today, let's ask Our Lord to deepen our faith and help us better observe all His commands.

From an Ascension Thursday homily by Blessed John Paul II on June 10, 1979:  “You must be strong, dear brothers and sisters. You must be strong with the strength that comes from faith. You must be strong with the strength of faith. You must be faithful. Today, more than in any other age, you need this strength. You must be strong with the strength of hope, the hope that brings perfect joy in life and which prevents us from ever grieving the Holy Spirit.  You must be strong with love, the love which is stronger than death … You must be strong with the strength of faith, hope and charity, a charity that is conscious, mature and responsible, and which can help us at this moment of our history to carry on the great dialogue with man and the world, a dialogue rooted in dialogue with God Himself, with the Father, through the Son in the Holy Spirit, the dialogue of salvation.”

Strengthened by the Holy Spirit, the Feast of the Ascension thus invites us to devote ourselves to consolidating Our Lord’s  Kingdom on earth, a Kingdom of goodness, justice, solidarity and mercy. It challenges us to give courageous witness to the Gospel before today’s world, bringing hope to the poor, the suffering, the lost and abandoned, the desperate and those yearning for freedom, truth and peace.  It inspires us to be good to those we live and work with, to love them, and by doing so to show our love for God, who in all things loves us.  

The Feast of the Ascension of Our Lord does not mean the Lord has left us behind, or that He has departed to some faraway place, far from people and far from our world.  It means He no longer belongs to the world.  He belongs to God.  In His Ascension, Jesus takes our human existence into the presence of God.  He takes with Him our flesh and our blood, so that you and I and every human being who desires to do so can now abide in God, and God will abide in us.  The mystery of the Ascension, therefore, introduces us into the very life of God.  The Ascension means that Christ had not departed from us.  It only seemed so. In fact, He is close to each one of us forever. On intimate terms with Him now, each of us and all of us together can work with Our Lord as He shares His strength with us to bring His own mission to conclusion.