God's Straightforwardness with Us

 In today's first reading, Acts 9: 1-22, we are confronted with Paul's conversion. He is filled "with murderous threats against the disciples of the Lord" and in that state goes to  "the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, that, if he should find any men or women who belonged to the Way, he might bring them back to Jerusalem in chains."  On the way to Damascus, he is knocked to the ground, surrounded and blinded by a bright light. He hears a voice saying to him: "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?"  Saul asked: "Who are you, sir?"  The answer comes back to him: "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. Now get up and go into the city and you will be told what  you must do!" 

Jesus does not fool around with Saul! He is straightforward and firm! In short, he is asking Saul: "Who do you think you are? Do  you think you are God? Get up now and go into the city. I will show you who you are!" 

We don't know how old Saul was at this moment but we do know that he's completed his studies under one of the most renown of Jewish Rabbis, Gamaliel, as he later tells us when he is doing what God wants of him, that is, proclaiming Christ to the Gentiles.  So Saul certainly is an adult. We also don't know how long God has been putting up with Saul's murderous threats against Jesus' disciples. But now is the time for a change of heart. Now is the time that God chooses to confront Saul. Enough is enough!

Without Saul knowing it, Saul belonged to God! God had a plan for him, a future full of hope for him, as He does for us.  We may for awhile go about life as though we are our own masters. We may also go about life in a way that is full of evil as Saul's was before his conversion. That does not deter God from implementing His plan in our life, assuming His authority over us at a time and in a way He so chooses-- sometimes in stern ways, as with Saul, and at other times, in loving and caring ways as with Peter and Andrew, James and John, when He called them to become His disciples.

Do I, do you, realize whose you are?  Do I, do you, realize that God is our boss, so to speak, and that God has a plan for us, a future full of hope that involves carrying out a special mission in proclaiming Christ to others, bringing others to Jesus?  Do you, do I realize that, like any saint before us,  that we have a mission to carry out, a purpose to fulfill that is decreed by God Himself?

The Kingdom of God Is at Hand!

 In today's first reading, Jonah 3: 1-5, 10, the prophet is asked to go to Nineveh "and announce to it the message that I will tell you."  God's announcement was dire: "Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed."   Why?  The people had turned away from God, were doing evil instead of good, were living lives of corruption, not of integrity!  The people of Nineveh, believing the prophet's message that its city would be destroyed, "proclaimed a fast and all of them, great and small, put on sackcloth. When God saw by their actions how they turned from their evil ways, he repented of the evil that he had threatened to do to them; he did not carry it out."

As with Nineveh, so, too, with us. In the Gospel, Mark 1: 14, Jesus says to us:  "This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel."   In other words, turn from evil ways; live according to the Gospel. Live as Jesus lived here on earth!

In the responsorial psalm, Psalm 25, we ask God to teach us His ways, that is, teach us to live as Jesus lived.  "Your ways make known to me; teach me your paths, guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my savior. Remember that your compassion, O Lord, and your love are from of old. In  your kindness remember me, because of your goodness, O Lord."

 May all of God's children, the great and the small, turn from that which bring destruction--the destruction that comes to us through sinful ways--and turn toward life that comes to us through doing that which is good and right!

The Gift of Redemption

 In today's first reading, Hebrews 9: 2-3, 11-14, St. Paul speaks about the fact that we have been redeemed by the Blood of Christ and says to us: "...[I]f the blood of goats and bulls and the sprinkling of a heifer's ashes can sanctify those who are defiled so that their flesh is cleansed, how much more will the Blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from the dead works to worship the living God."

And, of course, we know the answer to that question! A resounding "yes"! That is the response given in today's responsorial psalm, Psalm 47,  in the statement: "God mounts his throne to shouts of joy: a blare of trumpets for the Lord,"  who  has obtained "eternal redemption" for us!

What a glorious celebration in the resurrection and ascension of Christ into heaven! And where Jesus is, we who repent of our sins and believe in the Gospel of Christ Jesus, will ultimately be. No exception! And, so, with the psalmist, we "clap our hands, shout to God with cries of gladness, for the Lord, the Most High, the awesome, is the great king over all the earth. God mounts his throne amid shouts of joy; the Lord, amid trumpet blasts. Sing praise to God, sing praise; sing praise to our king, sing praise. For king of all the earth is God: sing hymns of praise. God reigns over the nations, God sits upon his holy throne"  and dwells in our hearts and minds and souls as Redeemer!

God's New Covenant with Us

 Disappointed or frustrated with the fact that the first covenant between God and the House of Israel was not embraced, God  developed a second one, saying to us: "Behold, the days are coming...when I will conclude a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers the day I took them by the hand to lead them forth from the land of Egypt; for they did not stand by my covenant and I ignored them, says the Lord. But this is the covenant I will establish with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their minds and I will write them upon their hearts. I will be their God, and they shall be my people."     

How disappointing and frustrating it must have been for God when the Israelites abandoned the covenant God made with them, after leading them out of Egypt, where they had been reduced to being slaves of the Egyptians.   God, however, does not give up!  These are His people, His beloved! He chooses another way, a more intimate way, putting His law in their minds and writing it on their hearts. "I WILL be their God, and they SHALL  be my people!

God goes further with us!  As we, like the Israelites abandoned our God, walking away from Him as did our first parents, choosing our will above His, God is determined to reclaim us, to make us His own. To prove His love for us and become even more intimate with us, God became one of us in the Incarnate Son of God who assumes human nature. God the Son becomes like us in all things but sin and shows us how to live and how to deal with rejection and persecution, forgiving his persecutors and executioners, triumphing over death and resuming His rightful place beside His Father, and ours, in heaven. Like Jesus, so, too, we! "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Whoever believes in me will never die," Jesus says to us!

God sealed the New Covenant with us in Jesus' life, death and resurrection. We proclaim and do the same both by the way we live our lives and every time we participate in the breaking of the bread and the blessing of the cup at a Catholic Mass, accepting Jesus' invitation to "take and eat; this is my body. Take and drink! This is the cup of my blood poured out for you!" 

May you and I not walk away and do things our way when God's way is too inconvenient for us, too difficult  for us to stomach, or too much of an enigma for us to understand. Let us truly embrace the way Jesus taught us, that is, to follow the Father's will when convenient or inconvenient, when easy or difficult, when an enigma or easily understood! Like Jesus, may we embrace the Father's will whether it is to climb the mountain and converse with Him on the Tabors of our lives or to climb the hill to Calvary where death and resurrection await us.

Naked and Exposed to the eyes of God (Hebrews 4: 13)

 In today's first reading, Hebrews 4: 12-16, St. Paul reminds us that "the word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating even between soul and spirit,  joints and marrow, and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart. No creature is concealed from him, but everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must render an account."

That is a consolation to me, as I think of some of the things being done by our leaders and politicians, law enforcement and FBI and, so-called patriots of the U.S.  Though many are law-abiding citizens and persons of integrity, honesty and righteousness, others are not but pretend to be or delusionally believe that they are trustworthy individuals.  "No creature is concealed from [God], but everything [everyone] is naked and exposed to the eyes of [God] to whom [each person, including you and me] must render an account."

That accounting will come to everyone of us, including those who believe that they are above the law!  As we struggle to live honorably and to be men and women of integrity, let us remember, as St. Paul reminds us, in today's first reading, that "we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God,...[who is able] to sympathize with our weaknesses, [and...] has similarly been tested in every way, yet without sin. So let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and to find grace for timely help."  And let us pray for all of those who disappoint us by falling into disrepute and, in the process, blame others rather than acknowledge their wrongdoing.

Does Jesus Reveal Who We Are?

 In today's first reading, Hebrews 1:1-6, St. Paul reminds us of an incredible privilege, namely, that, whereas in the past God spoke to His people through the prophets,  God now speaks to us through His Son, Jesus, "whom he made heir of all things and through whom he created the universe."   He goes on to speak of Jesus as  "the refulgence of  [God's] glory, the very imprint of his being, [and as the one]who sustains all things by his mighty word."  After Jesus had purified us from our sins by His passion, death and resurrection, Paul states the obvious, that is, that Jesus, the Son of God,  "took his seat at the right hand of the Majesty on high, as far superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs." What name is that? The name Son of God!

The Word of God became flesh, assumed human nature in Mary's womb, and suffered and endured what any human being endures, except sin. He, the Son of God, lowered Himself to become one of us, to become human, so that, you and I would become divine, become holy like He is holy, realizing that we are one with the Father as Jesus and the Father are one!  Following Jesus' resurrection when he "took his seat at the right hand of the Majesty on high," we will, Jesus tells us in John 14:20, "understand that I am in my Father and you in me and I in you."   In His priestly prayer before the Last Supper, Jesus prays "May they be one in us, as you are in me and I am in you, so that the world may believe it was you who sent me. I have given them the glory  you gave to me, that they may be one as we are one. With me in them and you in me, may they be so completely one that the world will realize that it was you who sent me, and that I have loved them as much as you loved me."

Oneness with God! Holy as God is holy. Perfected as God is perfect! Compassionate as God is compassionate! 

That is who we are! May we grow in that realization as we age before God and others!

God's Chosen Ones with Whom He is Well Pleased

 In today's first reading, Isaiah 42: 1-4, 6-7, the Lord speaks to us through the prophet, saying: "Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one with whom I am pleased, upon whom I have put my spirit; he shall bring forth justice to the nations, not crying out,  not shouting, not making his voice heard in the street. A bruised reed he shall not break, and a smoldering wick he shall not quench, until he establishes justice on the earth; the coastlands will wait for his teaching." 

God, through the prophet Isaiah, is speaking about Jesus. Jesus is the servant whom God upholds, God's chosen one with whom He is well  pleased and upon whom He has poured forth His Spirit. It is Jesus, our Savior, who brings forth justice upon all nations,  "not crying out, not shouting, not making his voice heard in the street," but in the depths of each heart that is open to God's Presence and that is listening for the Spirit's voice! When we are bruised, Jesus comes as healer. And when the light of our faith is smoldering, Jesus comes to relight it.

At our baptisms, as with Jesus, the heavens were opened and the Spirit  descended upon us, as well.  And, yes, God said to you and me: "You are my beloved son/daughter in whom I am well pleased."  From that moment, we became ambassadors of Christ and were sent out into the world to bring forth justice, "not crying out, not shouting, not making our voices heard in the street," but quietly relighting the faith of those whose faith was weakened in an environment of darkness and by healing bruised hearts by our love, our forgiveness, our honesty, our loyalty to just practices, our lives of integrity, our respect of them as brothers and sisters in Christ, as children of God like us!

Being Made into a New Creation for the Lord

 In the Collect of today's liturgy we address God as follows: "Almighty ever-living God, who through your Only Begotten Son, have made us a new creation for yourself, grant...that by your grace we may be found in the likeness of him, in whom our nature is united to you."  Note the phrase "made us a new creation for yourself."   I suggest that we rephrase that to read: "made me a new creation for God."  I ask God to do just that for you and for me.  Whenever you or I remodel our home, renew the upholstery of our furniture or even rearrange a room, we do so to make it more attractive, more useable, perhaps, more inviting or however you want to describe your renovations to what once was!  "Remake me" is strong language! What needs to be remade? my attitudes? my desires, my motivations, my priorities, my hopes and my dreams, my relationships or the way I relate to others, especially to those who think differently from me?

In the first reading, 1 John: 5: 14-21, St. John says to us:  "Beloved: We have this confidence in him that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us."  It certainly is God's will that we "be found in the likeness of him in whom our nature is united."  And, above all, it certainly is God's will that we be "made...a new creation for God," if we have gone astray and are worshipping idols of any kind: idolatrizing protesters, arousers of violence,  those who insists that lies are truth and so on! God's will certainly is that we turn to Him, keep our focus on Him and withdraw from obsessions about what may be happening and about which we are powerless to change.  The only person we can change is ourselves. We are powerless to change another. So, it is one person at a time that needs changing and that person is you/ me. 

Whom am I worshipping? about whom am I obsessing?  Am I more focused on things and persons who are not God than I am focused on God? Jesus says: "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life!"  Am I following Jesus? Am I listening to  the small, whispering voice of the Spirit leading me from within or am I listening to the loud, intrusive voices outside of myself to the extent that I no longer know the voice of my Shepherd, Christ the Lord?  Do I avoid solitude? do I avoid withdrawing to a place of quiet so I can, in fact, hear God's voice directing me from within  to what is right and just for me, that is truly life-giving for me, and thus for those to whom I most matter?

May I have the courage to honestly answer some of the questions in this reflection.

Remaining in Jesus, as Jesus Remains in Us

 In today's first reading, 1 John 2: 22-28, St. John encourages us to let "what you heard from the beginning remain in you. If what you heard from the beginning remains in you, then you will remain in the Son and in the Father."  What you and I heard from the beginning, at our baptisms, is that Christ is our Savior, follow Him, remain close to Him, worship Him, seek Him always. It was Christ who anointed us at our baptism through the consecrated  hands of the priest.  "[R]emain in him," John says to us in verse 28 of this passage, "so that when he appears we may have confidence and not be put to shame by him at his coming."

I asked the Lord, in prayer, the following question: "How, Lord, do I remain in You?" The answer I received was:

• Seek Me in prayer.
• Call upon Me for every decision you make.
• Come to Me and share your thoughts with Me.
• Come to Me and talk to Me about what is problematic for you.
• Seek  My counsel in all matters.
• Acknowledge your sin before Me.
• Bring your burdens to Me--tell me what they are!
• Be grateful for everything because without Me you can do nothing, not even get out of bed in the morning!

WOW! was my response!

St. John, in today's reading, also says to us:  "...[W]hoever confesses the Son has the Father as well."  As I prayed over this passage, I thought of Jesus' prayer before the Last Supper when Jesus prayed that we would  be one with Him as he and the Father are one. Jesus' prayer, certainly, would not go unanswered! And I thanked Him for that prayer. I then heard, in my thoughts, Jesus say to me: "Remain in Us, Dorothy Ann. That is my prayer also for you. I enjoy your company!" 

What is Jesus saying to you, as you reflect upon today's reading?

Happy New Year, 2021

 How wondrous is our God, who  came to earth to save us

And to set us free from being slaves to sin.

Plenty are God's graces given to us through Jesus and Mary,

Preparing us to follow God's lead tmhroughout 2021, one day at a time,

Yielding to God's will as it is revealed to us through the people and the events of each day.

Never may we forget God's love

Even when we experience difficult times and 

Whenever light turns into darkness.

Your Savior, and mine, is a light in the darkness--a light the darkness cannot overcome.

Every day God is at your side and is

Aware of your neediness and always

Ready to give you grace upon grace to "act justly, to love tenderly, and to walk humbly with your  God" (Micah 6:8) each day of 2021,

Happy New Year

 In the words of today's first reading, Numbers 6: 22-27, we ask God to give you the following blessing:  "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!

 May God keep you close to Him.  May God keep you from entering relationships that demean you, disrespect you, exploit you. May God keep you from falling into snares that Satan sets for you. May God keep you from going astray and not turning back to Him in repentance. May you see God's face shining upon you through your spouse, your children, your co-workers, your friends. May God's face shine upon others through your love, your compassion, your understanding, your generosity, your forgiveness!  And may God give you peace!