God's Messengers

In today's first reading, Acts 8: 26-40, we are told the entire episode of an angel speaking to Philip and directing him to "[g]et up and head south on the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza, the desert route." On the way he sees a chariot ahead of him. And the angel says to him: "Go and join up with that chariot."   Philip does so. The person in the chariot, a eunuch,  is reading the book of Isaiah and has no idea what he is reading and asks Philip to explain the passage, which read "Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he opened not his mouth. In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who will tell of his posterity? For his life is taken from the earth."   God uses Philip to explain this Scripture passage to him. Philip proclaims Jesus to the eunuch. As they come upon a body of water, the eunuch requests that the chariot be stopped so that he could be baptized!

God works in your life and mine in the same way.  Out of the blue, we are instructed to do this or that: "Stop and visit so-and-so." "Go see how so-and-so is!"  "Make that phone call to your mother/father, brother/sister, friend." "Ask forgiveness for what you just said!""Stay awhile with this person; the work on your desk can wait"  and so on!  God sends messengers all of the time. Am I listening?

God's Messengers: Are We Listening?

In today's first reading, Gen 28: 10-22a, Jacob leaves Beer-sheba and proceeds toward Haran. He comes upon a shrine there and stops for the night. He has a dream: "a stairway rested on the ground, with its top reaching to the heavens; and God's messengers [angels] were going up and down on it. And there was the Lord standing beside him and saying: 'I, the Lord, am the God of your forefather Abraham [and foremother Sarah] and the God of Isaac [and Rebecca]; the land on which you are lying I will give to you and your descendants. These shall be as plentiful as the dust on the earth, and through them you shall spread  out east and west, north and south. In you and your descendants all the nations of the earth shall find blessing. Know that I am with you; I will protect you wherever you go, and bring you back to this land. I will never leave you until I have done what I have promised.'"

To this very day, I believe, that angels continue to descend and ascend from heaven to earth and from earth to heaven, bringing messages to us from God and from us to God, as well! Are we listening? Are we tuned into heaven or too busy with messages from our iPods, iPhones, Internet, and other electronic devices to hear God speaking to us through His messengers?  Quietly, the angels instruct us to make that phone call, to do this or not do that, to close the iPad, to shut down the iPod, to turn off the TV or radio or the Internet and become quiet.  Only then will we be prepared to hear the Holy Spirit or one of God's messengers revealing God's will to us.

"Know that I am with you," God says to Jacob and to us. God is also with us, standing beside us, walking on our  left and our right!  God never leaves us anymore than He left His chosen people as of old. His promises to us--as shared with us through His Son Jesus and written down by the evangelists Matthew, Mark, Luke and John--God will never break!

Those are my beliefs! What are yours?

God Sends His Messenger

In today’s first reading the Lord shares the following promise with us through the prophet Malachi: “Lo,” the Lord says, “I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me; and suddenly there will come to the temple the Lord whom you seek, and the messenger of the covenant whom you desire. Yes, he is coming,…but who will endure the day of his coming? And who can stand when he appears? For he is like the refiner’s fire, or like the fuller’s lye….He…will purify the sons Levi….”

That messenger is Jesus!  Suddenly, without fanfare, quietly, the Lord will appear in each of our lives.  God may visit us in the beauty of creation, in the sun and moon and stars; in the warmth of spring or the heat of summer and fall, in the smile of a child or the unconditional love of a pet.  God may also appear in the call from a friend or a family member, in a letter or an email that brings good news.  God may also come, Malachi tells us, “like the refiner’s fires, or like the fuller’s lye…He will purify” us.  That kinds of visitation may be in the form of an earthquake or in another violent way. God then comes to us hidden in the storm that could easily shatter our confidence, weaken our knees, bring a tremble to our voices.  God’s visitation may be in news of a serious illness, our own or that of a loved one.  Those kinds of visitations reinforce our dependence upon God, our need of God.  Acknowledging such, we are purified of pride and arrogance. 

Am I looking for God, as God searches for me?  In those situations that frighten me, God is there as anchor, as rock, as Savior, Comforter, and Confidante.  “Come to Me,” Jesus says to us in Matthew 11: 28, “all you who labor and are overburdened, and I will give you rest. Shoulder my yoke and learn from me for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”

What St. Joseph Teaches Us!

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. The Gospel of today, Matthew 2: 13-15, 19-23 gives the account of how God directed the Holy Family, counseling them in ways that kept them safe and in ways in which their needs as a family were met.  Shortly after Jesus’ birth and after the Magi left to return to their perspective countries, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and warned him to make an immediate departure in the middle of the night for the land of Egypt. Herod would be searching for the child Jesus to kill him.  When in Egypt and those who wanted to kill Him had in fact themselves died, an angel again appeared to Joseph instructing him to return to Nazareth.  A third time, again in a dream, Joseph is counseled concerning the  place in Judea  to settle that would be best for the Holy Family.

Joseph is alert to heavenly messages. He listens to the good spirits guiding him as foster father of Jesus.  All along, Joseph is fulfilling the prophesies concerning Jesus. As with the Holy Family, God has a plan for our lives as well. If we follow the promptings of “the angels,” the messengers of the Lord speaking to us, guiding us, protecting us, we, too, will experience God’s overwhelming love and intimacy in our lives, day in and day out.  As with Joseph, so, too, with us: we are guided day and night. Warnings are given to us and  God’s instructions are shared with those who have developed ears to hear.   Do we heed God’s guiding  voice? Do we see God’s guiding hand? Do we trust “our dreams”? Joseph did!  We can, too!

Lord, may each of us develop the kind of intimacy with you that Joseph had developed  and that enabled him to hear your voice, trust the messengers You sent to him and the dreams given for his benefit and those  for whom he was to provide sustenance and protection from  the evil of his day.

The Coming of Our Lord to Bring about Relationship Changes

In today’s first reading, Malachi 3: 1-4, 23-24, the Lord God says to us: Lo, I will send you Elijah, the prophet, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and terrible day, to turn the hearts of the fathers[mothers]  to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers/[mothers].”   Is it possible that the Lord says this because the root of anger, hostility, and animosity is a father’s/a mother’s rejection and indifference towards the children, a parents’ abuse of their children and one another with harsh, loveless words?  Is that why Malachi says that the Lord sends prophets “to turn the hearts of the father/mother to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers/mothers” and, I would say, to one another?  And, in fact, is God saying that divisions, animosities, hostilities must give way to unity, respect, humility, love, mercy, understanding and forgiveness, starting with a father’s/a mother’s attitude towards children and toward one another; that parents’ authority over children is not to be abusive, oppressive, and/or frightening?

As our models, we can, I believe, take to heart the example of the holy family!

These are my thoughts as I reflect upon Malachi 3: 1-4, 23-24. What are yours? To what is God calling you?