Love Intensly..

Greetings Brothers and Sisters….

Todays reading is from Peter  it is as follows :

 

1 Pt 4:7-13

Beloved:

The end of all things is at hand.

Therefore be serious and sober-minded

so that you will be able to pray.

Above all, let your love for one another be intense,

because love covers a multitude of sins.

Be hospitable to one another without complaining.

As each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another

as good stewards of God’s varied grace.

Whoever preaches, let it be with the words of God;

whoever serves, let it be with the strength that God supplies,

so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ,

to whom belong glory and dominion forever and ever.  Amen.

 

Beloved, do not be surprised that a trial by fire is occurring among you,

as if something strange were happening to you.

But rejoice to the extent that you share in the sufferings of Christ,

so that when his glory is revealed you may also rejoice exultantly.

 

What do we think about this passage, and what message is it giving us.

 

Be clear and sober-minded.  Speak when your clear about what you mean.

Keep a clear head about you.  If your world is spinnnig out of control then its time to stop, and get off for a bit.  Retrace your steps to where things went wrong.   Pray about it.

 

Love one another INTENSELY !  Love them like family, love one another without abandon.   Think about this.. if you love someone, you dont want to hurt them, or see anything bad happen to them.  You protest, teach, learn from them.  You share, and live with them.   Do you get hurt sure.  Do you hurt others sure, but it is not something of the will or desire to hurt them.and there is a reconcilliation.   

 

Be hospitable.  Go out of our way to help when you can.  Do it without complaining.  Even in your mind.  The things you think get transformed it a physical manifestation or an emotion and they show.  

 

Here is a good one …. What ever you receive, use it TO SERVE OTHERS as gifts from Gods Grace….. there are two parts to this.  What ever you have is not really yours to keep ( you cant take it with you !)..  It was given to you to help your brothers and sisters.  It is yours as a custodian to be mindful of serving your fellow brothers and sisters.  You got it through Grace…. use it to multiply and share the graces you have been given.  

 

Lastly, Dont be surprised if you have trials in life.  Its not anything new.  The thing about trials in life is not that you have them, but what you DO with them !

 

By offering your sufferings up to God to unite them with Christ gives you the opportunity to unite your sufferings together with the sufferings of Christ, not only for your own sin, but for the sins of your brothers and sisters.

 

God does not inflict suffering upon us, nor does he want us to suffer.  But there is suffering none the less.  There is opportunity for us to advance our spiritual journey and help our brothers and sisters in the process.  The last point is where we have the opportunity through our sufferings to be witness to the glory of God.  

 

May God give you the gift of his peace !

 

 

The Joy and the Agony…… which to choose ?

Good Morning Brothers and Sisters,

The Gospel from this mornings readings is from St Mark, 10:28-31 .  It reads as follows :

 

“Peter began to say to Jesus,

“We have given up everything and followed you.”

Jesus said, “Amen, I say to you,

there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters

or mother or father or children or lands

for my sake and for the sake of the Gospel

who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age:

houses and brothers and sisters

and mothers and children and lands,

with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come.

But many that are first will be last, and the last will be first.”

There are a few portions of this that are particularly interesting to note. 

First, is the giving up part.  This does not mean you throw up your hands and walk away.. rather, it means offering up your day, your life, your joys, sorrows, pains , failings, and triumphs of each day to God. 

Each day I try to offer a quick prayer that goes like this “  Today Lord, I offer up my joys, my sorrows, my work, and all the trials and victories in reparation for my own sin, and for the sins of my fellow man, Amen”.     On the good days that prayer is easy.. on the harder days maybe not so easy.    Or maybe after a hard day, maybe the next day it might be more difficult to offer the same prayer,   Indeed, this is the spiritual warfare that we are about each and every day of our lives.

For Parents who’s children are considering religious vocations, this is a great piece of scripture.  You are not giving up a child, or the possibility of grandchildren.  You are gaining the fruits of your childs labors of love.   The love that you shared with this child, and the lessons learned through you will go with that child and be transmitted throughout all the places where that child would go to serve God.

This leads us to the second point.  The Gospel says.. you will recieve a hundred times more ” WITH PERSECUTIONS”.

Each day, and each advancement for the kingdom of God comes with a cross to carry in THIS day and age.  There are challenges, tests, pain and sorrows to go through along with the joys !     To the human mind we are possibly not able to see this well.  Looking back through the history of the saints we can see a litany of people who carried crosses and were persecuted by their own peers, by friends and family, even by people within the human persons of the church.

St Francis, St Clare, St Teresa, St John of the Cross, Padre Pio, Mother Teresa, and the list goes on.  Each of these people, carried crosses and at the same time experienced unspeakable joy.    They each gave up everything for the Kingdom of God, and were given a hundred times as much, but also with crosses to bare.. I would dare say that they did not always understand it, or possibly did not understand until time had passed living with their crosses.  

Then there is the last part, “  But many that are first will be last, and the last will be first”    The Gospels are repleat with examples of the Lord showing us how to be humble.    The human condition in the modern world, tries to teach our children to forge ahead, to get ahead, to be the best, to be competitive and overcome others, literally to be first, and of course to “get ahead” and live comfortably.      Our society wants us to get “stuff”.  Poseessions are the cornerstone of status and social standing.    Its important to have the right car, the right clothes, the right job.   To have influence and power is the name of the game.     We teach our kids to be “first”.    But then once a week for those who do attend some worship community, they listen to another message.   very confusing.   

I once had a Psychology professor who advised us that ” the degree and number of keys you have on your keychain, is the degree and level of stress you have in your life”.    

Consider this, If you have “stuff” then you had to spend money to get the stuff.  That money came from your work, or labors ( hopefully).  How many hours of your life did it take for you to get that thing ?  Now that you have that thing, you have to secure that thing so someone else wont take it.. maybe in a house, a case, a building, a lock.    How much do we have to spend to keep it maintained ?  How much do we have to spend to get all the “goodies” that come with the stuff ?      How many hours do we spend worrying about the stuff we have, or the stuff we need to keep up with the stuff that other people have.    What is all that “stuff “costing us really ?   

Here is the final thought …..  With finite resources is it right that my brothers and sisters live in poverty so that I can have all my stuff   ?

The Holy Spirit Comes

Peace be with you Brothers and Sisters,

Here is the reading from todays Gospel :

Jesus said to his disciples:

“Now I am going to the one who sent me,

and not one of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’

But because I told you this, grief has filled your hearts.

But I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go.

For if I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you.

But if I go, I will send him to you.

And when he comes he will convict the world

in regard to sin and righteousness and condemnation:

sin, because they do not believe in me;

righteousness, because I am going to the Father

and you will no longer see me;

condemnation, because the ruler of this world has been condemned.” 

Jesus said to his disciples:

“Now I am going to the one who sent me,

and not one of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’

But because I told you this, grief has filled your hearts.

But I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go.

For if I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you.

But if I go, I will send him to you.

And when he comes he will convict the world

in regard to sin and righteousness and condemnation:

sin, because they do not believe in me;

righteousness, because I am going to the Father

and you will no longer see me;

This reading brings an interesting balance for us but also is a point of great joy !  

Not only is this the telling of the descent of the Holy Spirit  sent to be out comfort and guide, but it is also something that should give us great comfort at the physical loss of our loved ones.   For our brothers and sisters leave our phyiscal presence, and hopefully have gone to join the communion of Saints.  

In this communion they can join in pleading for us, and praying for us in heaven as they did for us on earth. Even more so, because they have passed through the veil of life into eternal life.     To the Glory of God has the spirit come to change the world.  For those who are very much in tune to the leadings of the Spirit, there are great works to be done, sometimes set in motion by the smallest of kindness and love.  Sometimes it is by the example we lead to show others the depth of the love we have for others.  

I saw a video not long about about a youth group out in California that was going out into the urban areas that were economically depressed and holding up signs that said ” Free Hugs for Christ”   and they were out and about just giving people hugs who might have wanted or needed them.  I think that is an awesome idea.   I am positive that those kids probably saved a life that day or maybe just made someone elses burden easier. 

One of the greatest things that we can do is to share our love with others.   Caring for our biological families.. ” even sinners do that”. caring for others… that is the mark.  

Many years ago while I was changing careers, I worked for a time selling stadium seats to the  public and to businesses.  While I was working there I was dumb struck at the amount of money that flowed into that place.  Ordinary people paying thousands of dollars just to watch a football game.   Corporations spending billions and billions of dollars for the sake of entertaining clients and their top executives.   The only thing I could think about was the fact that here we were spending all of this money during an economic slump and supposedly there was no money to feed the poor, to house or clothe them.   Or to take care of their medical needs, was just not possible.

So the question we need to ask ourselves is this….. Is it morally right, for us to have so much, in order that others do not ?   

 

A short absence…

Greetings Brothers and Sisters !  Peace be with you !

You may have noticed a period of absence from my writing,     This was due greatly to the Easter Triduum, and for me that means a good deal of choir rehearsals and masses of course.    Now that the actual Easter events are done ( Not the Easter season)  I have been working through some time in the dessert so to speak.  Working in a new job, getting through all those initial feelings ( oh no not those !) of uncertainty while I figure out how things are done there and how much the corporate task masters will demand of me.     

Basically, just bare with me while I get myself back together.    I will begin posting again very soon.

Pax et Bonum !

Holy Thursday

Brothers and Sisters,  Peace be with you this day !

 Today is Holy Thursday and the time of the Agony in the garden.  It was during this time that Jesus felt the true weight of the world on his shoulders, Jesus took some friends with him to pray, but in their own exaustion their human side failed and gave way to sleep.   Jesus prayed but did not get the response he was initially looking for.  Ending with the prayer and desire for the Fathers will to be done He moved forward.

 Can you see yourself in this scene ?    I remember thinking about this scene on a few occasions after my human side failed.     On one occasion in particular I was off working as the cook for one retreat I volunteered for.   I remember that  each of us was given one person to pray for, and the while that one person was giving his talk, I was supposed to be in the chapel praying for them.  I was supposed to be his prayer partner.   I had been workingi in the kitchen from before sunrise and had made both breakfast and lunch for the men who were on the retreat and working in the retreat.   It had gotten to be about 3 PM and I had finished helping to clean up the kitchen before we were to start making dinner.    I was exausted. I really wanted to lay down but it was my time to go to the chapel and pray for my partner.  I went to the chapel and it was nice and cool, and that lights were off except for the candles in the sacristy and at the altar.    I prayed, I meditated, As I prayed I started drifting off to sleep.   I caught myself, and I heard those words in the back of my head  ” You couldnt  stay alert and watch with me for even an hour”    I felt terrible,   I knew exactly how the disciples felt.   Guilty, anxious, and very aware of my human limiatations. 

 Or How about when you have finished a really long week at work and you have not gotten that much sleep and your spouse wants to talk after you get into bed and all you really want to do is sleep but you have to struggle to stay awake and talk. 

 Heroic sacrifice is the name of this story.   We all will find ourselves in the situation where we are called on to give of ourselves to some extreme and that is when we learn the extent of our love.  

 Who of us has not gotten to the point where we feel alone ?  Maybe with the same weight of the world on our shoulders ?  Maybe you have felt like your friends have also abandoned you , or were not really able to be with you.  Jesus gave us the perfect example in a few ways.  First he prayed, and when things still didnt look good he prayed some more.   In a moment of weeakness he didnt get the answer he was looking for, and neither do we always. 

 We know that even though his friends failed in thier task of staying awake and praying with him, he knew that they loved him and he kept going back.     

 Our friends might disaappoint us from time to time, but if you care about them you will go back and like the end of the story in the garden, they will fight for you. 

 May you all be blessed with good friends, a healthy prayer life and a life of love.

Last Supper Part II

Greeting Brothers and sisters .  May the Lord give you his peace!.

 Todays reading afterr the instiution of the Eucharist at the last supper Jesus was reclining at table and proceeds to tell the apostles one of them would betray him.    Then tells Judas to go quickly to do what he has planned for him to do.  At the end of the reading is where he tells Peter that he would deny him three times before the cocks crow.

 Some of the thing that are interesting about this.  In thjis reading is the first instance where we have a foreshadowing of things to come.  We find that Jesus maybe was beginning to feel a sense of separation from the Father.   Possibly in knowing what was going to transpire, he was experiencing the very human side of his nature.  Jesus will go and pray for these hours and this cup to pass from him, but ultimately we know that it wass given to the Father that his will was done.     

 In this instance was it possible that

Judas was not forgivable, where Peter was for denying Christ during the hours of his trial ?  Was Judas evil from the beginning or just evil from the point where he dipped his bread into the bowl with  Christ ?    We know Judas hung himself afterrward in grief over what he had done.  Of course it could be argued that Suicide is a mortal sin,.  Aside from that was he  able to receive mercy and forgivness from God  because of the act ?   

 Peter  who loved Jesus and knew who he was, and knew what would happen if he confessed that he knew Jesus and waas a disciple, denied knowing him in order to save his own life.  

 These questions are important to ponder as they have real and relaevent reflections in morder times.  For instance, In some parts of the world Christianity is illegal.  There are places where if you confess to being a Christian you could be killed.   Would you, if asked with the blade at your throat, confess your love if Jesus ? 

 In a society that is clearly against the Christian voice, will yours be raised ?  Do you hide your faith for fear of rejection or ridicule ?   

 This particular reading brings up the subject of Captiol punishment.

Christ was put to death not for committing a crime, and not by being found guilty of a crime, but purely for public opinion.    As a nation we have overcrowded prinsons, and so much so that we have to let other prisoners go in order to make room for the new ones.  Obiviously our method of corrections is flawed.

 Lastly, is there room in our hearts for forgiveness?  CCan we see those in our lives and in our communities who made mistakes,  and work on making themselves better people, can we forgive ?

 For those who have hurt us, are we willing to take the time and the chance at taking the first steps even though we werer the ones who were injured ?

 All in all the first law of God is to Love.   Take the time this Easter season to mend the fences,  and hurts and wounds, and have those hard talks , and then enter Easter in triumph because God has forgiven us and has risen after the battle with satan and so can we becauseof Him we have alrerady won.

Last Supper Part I

Good Day Brothers and Sisters.

May the Lord bless you with peace in your daily walk.

 This weekend we listened to the narrative of the Last Supper and the passion readings.    This week we are in the home stretch and the climax of Holy week.  So many things to be thankful for, so many things to contemplate.  The greatest part of this week is LOVE !   Love abounds and just pouring out from Jesus in every direction and being fully human and fully divine makes the love shown for us even so much more captivating.   Knowing what was waiting for Him he did everything he could do for us on earth.   He spent time giving and teaching us all the way to his very last breath !    Begging forgiveness from the Father for the sins of man.

 At the Last Supper he gave himself to us.  SO that he might be present to us always.   

 The giving of his body and blood he says ” This IS my body”… and “This IS my blood”  This is the divine gift of the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist celebrated in churches all over the world.   

 Sometimes in serving at Mass I see the faces of the people who do not have the light of awe in their eyes when they recieve communion.  Refelcting the lack of understanding of what is before them. 

 Take some time this Easter season to get back in touch with your faith !   Take the time to consider the things that you dont know or the areas that you would like to work on in your faith life.     LEARN about the faith that you profess and learn as much as you can, and finally use that knowledge to build on your relationship with God. 

 A final thought,.   Dont be afraid to learn new things.   you may find some new method of prayer, or scriptural meditation that you like.

The whole idea is to work on your relationship with God.   He will help, Have faith !

Lenten Journeys

Greettings Brothers and Sisters.,

May God be with you this day !

It is almost Palm Sunday !   What has your Lenten experience been like ?  What kind of preparations have you made ?  How are you feeling about life in general ?

There are times in our lives when the times that should be the happiest  are overshadowed by lifes interuptions, and sadnesses.   

It is true we have sadness and stress and interuptions in our day to day lives.  To some extent these are the little interuptions that can distract us from those things which are most important in our lives. 

We have a job, kids, car problems, scheduling conflicts, and sometimes if you are involved in serving others there might seem as though there is no time for oneself. 

Every one of these distractions or obligations can cause us to not find time for our own personal relationship with God.    Make no mistake about it, taking time out for the relationship you need with God is time consuming.  maybe it means you have to get up earlier, or go to bed later.  Maybe that means taking some time off from everything else you are doing in order to commit time to God. 

The Lenten journey should be a bookend to Christmas.  The same sort of build up, the same sort of warm fuzzies you get in your heart thinking of those you love and a time to make some extra efforts in getting things taken care of in your spiritual life.  

Lent is about preparing for the gifts of Easter.  Preparing room in your hearts for God.  Making room in your lives  and clearing out the junk of sin, making some repairs to the foundation of your spritual house.

But the preparation of Easter should not be dull or  burdensome.

It should be a joy  If its not then maybe its time to review some of why it is that Lent is present in our lives.   Aside from the human condition we should celeebrate the gift of life we have been given, The gift of brothers and sisters to love and care for.   The gift of those who came into our lives and shared those things with us.  

Find Joy in the normal, average day.  Take the time to appreciate all of creation or the gifts of someone else, or the gifts that were given to you.  

Part of becoming fully Christian is finding the fullness of the gfifts that you have been given.   It does not mean they have to be fully developed now, it means taking the time to work on them.  These are part of the deposit each of us are given, in Time Talent and Treasures.   Working on the gifts you have should also give you some appreciation of the work of others, and the struggles that they also endure in their day to day lives. Just remember to give thanks and gloriy to God for the gift and its bounty in the process.

May God bless you on your journey !

Prodigal Son Rides again…

Dear Brothers and SIsters,

Peace be with you  !

In the last week or so we revisteed the story of the Prodigal Son. I must confess it is one of my favorite parables because of the many facets it has.   Like so many scriptural reflection it has almost as many stories to tell as there are people to read it and listen to it.

This is particularly so during the easter season as it speaks to us of forgiveness.  

In this story the son who was so wayward, disrespectful and relentless , finds that in the light of truth, he was humbled.  Everyone makes mistakes.  the important thing is what you do about them that makes us what we are.   As he is humbled the son comes to the understanding that he has sinned against God and his father.    

He then comes to the conclusion that if he asks his father to forgive him and let him be a servant then his lot will be much better off.

In our own lives we sin, against each other and against God as well.   Once we come to a bit of humiliy we can realize our mistakes and ask for forgiveness too.  The fact that the son asks to be a servant,  shows us that God does not want mindless slaves., Jesus  made us his brothers and so to spite our sin, at our homecoming, Jesus will take us into his house, to join him at the eternal banquet. 

Now what about the otherr brother ?  The good brother who did everything he was asked.     Can we not see some part of ourselves in him as well ?    If we are good and find someone else has been able to move ahead of us.   Got the promotion we wanted, or the place we wanted to be ?  Does not the Father come to us and give us consolation as well ?  If we spend time in some scritpural reflections we can recieve our consolation, our instructions, and our spiritual feeding that will give us peace.  At the end of it all we can join the celebration with the communion of Saints.

Easter should be a time of joy and celebration ass we move closer to the Easter season, let us celebrate the joy of the resurrection and our freedom from sin.

New Days … New Situations… New Tests…. New Victories

Good Day Brothers and SIsters.

 May the Lord give you the gift of his peace.

As I told you in my previous post these last days have been particularly busy with a new job.  As with all new positions there is a certain period of time when you first begin that creates a certain amount of anxiety as you get  adjusted to new ideas and  new tools and processes.  You also get  a different timing, different expectations and a variety of other variables which all cause a certain level of distress as you move foward. 

Life is very much like this. We are faced with a miriad of differnt and new situations that are often differnt or new to us or at least involving differnt people that cause us a certain level of stress.  The important part of these things is how do we deal with these situations and what can we do to minimize the stress we all feel.  Mostly, how does this reflect onour spiritual lives.

It may be that like me these situations may cause you to withdraw and reflect to a certain degree.  How to approach a situation in a way that is the most Christ like.   The first thing to remember is that all things pass.  The anxiety, stress, and other negative feelings will pass with time and process. 

The important things to remember are…   Remember that God is in charge.     God is in charge of my life, and all the things that happen within it.   I can say therefore that nothing will occur he did not already plan for even if its a test.  Since he is in charge  I dont have to worry about it.

I can only control what happens for me.  I get to have control over my own feelings and emotions, and what happens to me in most cases. 

I give the problems over to God and trust he will sort them out as he wants.  Its my job to carry my own cross and learn my own lessons.   I will do what I need to on order to get the job done as best I can.  God will take care of the rest.

We choose to be happy.  If you are not happy generally speaking, it is because you are making the wrong choices.   If you choose to be happy, You will remove the things from your life that cause you not to be happy,.  If it is a person, and you love them or care about them, you might choose to confine your relationship to what ever is managable for you and therefore the rest of your life will be happy.

First, last and always.   This will make your life happier.  Eventually if God does not want you to do something or be someplace, or does not want you to do something it will become abundantly clear.  It has been my experioence that God is not about being secretive in his desires.  He will let you know. 

Your life will be better, and happier if you follow the signs.   Read the Bible its full of great life advice and the application to todays world is pretty clear if you sit and ponder for a little while and be open to His teaching.

Peace and Good.