God's Hidden Plan Flowing in the Current of our Lives

How often are we blown away by circumstances in our world that are unexplainable, that, in fact threaten our well-being, threaten our faith, shatter our trust: situations, not unlike the situation that Joseph, Israel's favorite son, faced when his father sent him to his brothers, who were tending their father's flock at Shechem. Joseph's brothers hated Joseph  and were jealous of him. Seeing him approach,  they plotted to kill him. Instead, at the persuasion of Rueben, their oldest brother, they sold him for 20 pieces of silver as a slave to Ismaelites, who  happened to be passing through Shechem on their way to Egypt (Genesis 37: 3-4,12-13a1b-28a).  In Egypt, Joseph was thrown into prison, bound with chains, as we are told in today's responsorial psalm, Psalm 105, "till his prediction came to pass and the word of the Lord proved him true. The king, [then,] sent and released him, the ruler of the people set him free. He made him lord of his house and ruler of all his possessions." And it was Joseph who saved his father Israel and his brothers "when the Lord called down a famine on the land and ruined the crop that sustained them" (Psalm 105).  Note the similarities between Joseph and Jesus!

God had a plan in the history of the Israelites, part of which included Joseph becoming a key instrument in his father Israel's and his brothers' being saved from famine. God also has a plan of salvation that, through His Son Jesus,  He is working out in your life and mine, in the life of our family members, in the life of all peoples. That plan may not be obvious; in fact, that God is at work at all may be something we question, as we observe what is happening around us or far from us.

As with Israel, losing his favorite son Joseph, and with his son Joseph in prison in Egypt, we are called to wait upon the Lord, to trust in God's providence. Every day, if faith is our guide, we come face to face with situations that will open our eyes to the fact that God, not ourselves,  is in charge of our lives, the lives of our loved ones--"yes," in charge of our world. We may think that we are the one's in control and then discover that such is not the case!

In circumstances that blow us out of the water, so to speak, do we despair or do we reach out in faith to the Lord, our God? If we choose the latter, we will discover how much God's imminence, His power to save us, His wisdom in guiding us, and His quickness to strengthen us in our weakness. Like Joseph, we will blossom where we are planted, no matter in which condition is the "soil."

Jesus, help us to live as Joseph lived, making the best of our situations, continuing to be women and men of integrity in both good times and "bad" times!  Also give us the wisdom of Rueben, who persuaded his brothers not to kill their brother Joseph but to save His life.  May we live by faith and follow the Spirit's nudges in all of the challenges we face any day. I ask this in Jesus' name!  Amen!

The Queenship of Mary, our Model of Faith

Today we celebrate the Queenship of Mary, the mother of God Incarnate!  Mary, Queen of heaven and earth, describes herself in Luke 1:  38 as "the handmaid of the Lord," as God's servant.  When the angel Gabriel announced that she would "conceive and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus" (Luke 1: 32), for he "will be great and will be called be Son of the Most High" (Luke 1: 32), Mary asks how this will come about. She is told that "the Holy Spirit will come upon you...and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow. And so the child will be holy and will be called Son of God" (Luke 1: 35-36). Mary's response: "Nothing is impossible with God" (Luke 1: 37).

Truly, nothing is impossible with God. He choose a young peasant woman, a girl of 13 or14, to become mother of His Incarnate Son, sent to become one of us and to show us the depth of God's love for us.  Mary cooperates fully with God's plans for her and for us. Her obedience is complete, as was the obedience of her Son Jesus. Unlike the first man and first woman, Adam and Eve, of the Old Covenant,  this new Adam and new Eve, of the New Covenant, are one with God's plan for our salvation. Both now sit at the right had of the Father in heaven as King and Queen of humankind, of heaven and earth, interceding for us day and night, so that, we, too, will accept God's plan of salvation for us!

Are we aware of God's efforts to save us on a daily basis as we walk hand in hand with God  throughout the day in the challenging, the difficult and the awesome realities of each day?  Are we following the Lord's lead to reveal His Presence and/or discover His Presence in the events of the day, tasting a bit of eternity in the here and now?

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 Visitation of Mary: Its Effects

Today we celebrate the Visitation of Mary, who following the Angel’s announcement that she has been chosen to be the Mother of the Savior, leaves, in haste to visit her elderly cousin,  whom she learns from the angel is also pregnant and is in her sixth month.   All is part of God’s plan to bring about the salvation of the world. God is coming to earth, becoming a human being in Mary’s womb, in  order to make holy what was made unholy by our first parents’ disobedience to God original plan for humankind.  His Plan B would not be thwarted by pride and covetousness of divine nature, of humankind wanting to be God!  Reconciliation between humanity and God would be accomplished through the Son of God showing God’s absolute love in the giving His life for our redemption.  The price of our ransom from Satan’s snares, from sin,  would be paid by the unblemished Lamb of God pouring out His blood for us once and for all upon the cross—an accomplishment of purification that no animal sacrifice, as in the Old Testament or any human being  could have accomplished. Only a member of the Trinity could reconcile us to God.

Mary, conceived without sin, carries Jesus, the Son of God, the Creator of the Universe, in her virginal womb to  visit Elizabeth.  John leaps for joy in Elizabeth’s womb when Mary greets her elderly pregnant cousin.  John, in his mother’s womb, is baptized with the Holy Spirit and freed from all sin by  Jesus in His mother’s  womb. What a visit!  What a sacred moment!

You and I also carry God in the core of our bodies. We, too, have the same power of God within us. When you and I visit or encounter others, are we aware of the power God has given us to transform each other, as John and Jesus did, as Mary and Elizabeth did?  Or is our ability to make holy that which is and can be negatively affected by sin paled by our own lack of faith?  Mary believed! What you and I?

God's Wisdom at Work in the Vicissitudes of Life

In today's first reading, Gen. 44:18-21, 23b-29;45: 1-5, we are presented with the continuation of the story of Joseph in Egypt.  Joseph reveals himself to his brothers and says to them: "I am your brother Joseph, whom you once sold into Egypt. But now do not be distressed, and do not reproach yourselves for having sold me here. It was really for the sake of saving lives that God sent me here ahead of you."

You and I, also, have been sent to where we are to carry out a plan of God. Nothing in your life or mine happens without God's being behind its occurrence or involved in bringing about our salvation in the situation and being an instrument of saving grace for others as well. We may not always understand what is happening at the moment, as in the case of Joseph being sold to the Egyptians. Neither did he understand all of the things that happened to him in Egypt, especially his landing up in prison unjustly accused.  However, God always brings good out of the evil in our lives and He always puts us in a situation to be a light in the darkness, to be an avenue that leads others and ourselves to greater freedom, deeper faith, and more radiant love.

In looking back on your life, in what ways can you see the hand of God at work? Where do you find God in your life at this present moment?

God's Design Unstoppable

In today’s first reading, Act 4: 23-31 Peter and John, having been reprimanded for speaking in Jesus’ name,  return to their own people and reported what the chief priests and elders had told them.  Everything done to stop the spread of Christianity and the work of the Spirit failed. Those against Jesus would not prevail then or now, any more than Pharaoh and the Egyptians thwarted God’s  plan to free the Israelites from slavery.  In our day, no one will stop God’s plan to save us from the forces that rise up against Truth, against Christ and His presence in the world. The Holy Spirit cannot be contained  or silenced by humans. 

In today’s opening Scripture reading, Luke quotes the words of King David, God’s servant, “Why did the Gentiles rage and the peoples entertain folly? The kings of the earth took their stand and the princes gathered together against the Lord and against his anointed….Indeed they gathered in this city (Jerusalem) against your holy servant Jesus whom you anointed, Herod and Pontius Pilate, together with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do what your hand and your will had long ago planned to take place.”  As then, so, now, persons  who gather  to voice their opinions against God’s servants, against those doing good in the world, those standing up for the poor and oppressed, those seeking justice and right relationships will, inadvertently, be helping to forward God’s plan of salvation. 

I have a choice to be a “Peter or a John,” a” Mary Magdalen or a Veronica,” actively and knowingly witnessing to the Risen Christ by word or deed or one of those who rant, rage or entertain folly in the world of today. What choice will I make today?

Remaining Tranquil

In today's first lesson, Isaiah 7: 1-9, we read that "when the word came to the house of David that Aram was encamped in "Ephraim, the heart of the king and the heart of the people trembled, as the trees of the forest tremble in the wind."  The Lord sends Isaiah to King Ahaz, encouraging him to remain calm in the face of an invasion from the North.  "Take care you remain tranquil and do not fear; let not your courage fail...." The "blazing anger" of the northern kingdom "shall not stand, it shall not be!....[W]ithin sixty years and five, Ephraim shall be crushed, no longer a nation. Unless your faith is firm you shall not be firm!"

"It shall not be!" "This shall not stand."  How often do you and I "tremble like trees in the wind," not remembering that every hair on our heads is known to the Lord. And, yes, He protects each strand.  He knows when disaster looms, when Satan is about to strike, hurling boulders of temptations at us, rocks that could destroy "houses" not built on faith.  "Take care you remain tranquil," no matter what!Why? Because the power of redemption, the same power that raised Jesus from the dead, is at work in the world, in you and me, in our families, in our loved ones, in our parishes, our workplace, in areas that seem about to fall to Satan's deceptive snares.  "It shall not be" because God is in charge. God took possession of us in our baptism into Christ Jesus. We belong to Him, not to the world, not to that which is not-God. 

Do our actions in the face of "invasions of the tempter" reveal the strength of our faith?

God's Plan Hidden in the Events of Our Lives

Today’s first reading, Gen. 37: 3-4, 12-13a, 17b-28a, presents the story of Joseph, whose brothers sold him for 20 pieces of silver to Ishmaelites.  In Egypt, as stated in today’s responsorial psalm, Psalm 105, Joseph is “weighed down with fetters, and he was bound with chains, till his prediction came to pass and the word of the Lord proved him true….[He was] made lord over…[the king’s] house and ruler of all his possessions.”  In God’s plan, Joseph is destined to be the one who saved the Israelites from starvation. When his brothers come down to Egypt for food, Joseph says to them: “Have no fear. Can I take the place of God? Even though you meant harm to me, God meant it for good, to achieve his present end, the survival of many people” (Gen 50:  19-20).

Many times, without us realizing it, God’s plan for our salvation and for a good unforeseen by us is accomplished  through the convoluted, ill-intentioned, inhumane actions of one person or many persons toward other human beings, of family members toward other members of the family, though God never wills evil on anyone. Joseph recognizes that God used misfortune  and the evil actions of his brothers to bring about a greater good for all those involved in selling him to the Ishmaelites instead of killing him.

God also uses everything in our lives to bring about unforeseen good, to save us from death, to rebuild our lives, to make His Presence known, to reveal  the ultimate compassion and love of God, our Father, Redeemer and Comforter,  whose plan to redeem us is hidden in every event of our lives.

Be Not Afraid of What I Am Asking of You

“’Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary  your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”  When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his house” (Mt 1: 16, 18-21, 24a).

Imagine the agony of Joseph in discovering that Mary, to whom he is engaged,  is pregnant.  He trusted her. He loves her dearly and felt privileged that she is to be his wife. He then finds out that she is carrying a child that is not his own.  Distraught, he plans to divorce her quietly so as not to shame her.  He also is terrified that she could be stoned to death, the consequences, in  that culture, if found to have conceived a child out of wedlock.  Struggling with the situation, a messenger from God appears to him in a dream one night and reveals to him the circumstances of Mary’s pregnancy and that the son she is carrying is the Messiah, the one who “will save his people from their sins.”  “Do not be afraid, Joseph, to accept Mary as your wife; take her into your home.” And Joseph obeys the messenger of God.

Joseph suddenly realizes, in a profound way, the purpose for which God created him: to protect, cherish and love Mary and to be the foster father of Jesus, the Son of God made man.  He is to provide for both of them, being compassionate as His heavenly Father is compassionate, being understanding, and caring.  He is no longer identified with his job, that of a carpenter. His calling is much more profound than that. His career is not his calling. It is not the reason God brought him into existence.

For what purpose did God bring you into the world? What is your calling?  What gives substance and meaning to your existence? What transcends  job/career for you and transforms you into the best version of yourself as a human being?

The Earth Filled with the Knowledge of God

"There shall be no harm or ruin on all of  my holy mountain; for the earth shall be filled with knowledge of the Lord, as water covers the sea, " we are told in today's first reading, Is. 11: 1-10.

What a promise, especially given the fact that the family of Jesse, David's father, has been reduced to "a stump," and appears dead.  How possibly will God's promise of an everlasting Kingdom, where "there shall be no harm or ruin," come about from David's royal lineage?  And happen, it does in Jesus' birth!  The Son of God comes into this world to remind us that God's Kingdom is rooted in human nature, will survive death and last eternally. That Kingdom, through the Spirit at work in the world, at work in each one of us, is removing the obstacles that appear to thwart God's plan of salvation, that seems to be delaying the time when the earth will "be filled with the knowledge of God." 

Blessed, Jesus says in today's Gospel, Luke 10: 22-24, are those who see God's plan coming to fruition, who believe in God's promises and know, in faith, that God's faithfulness has no limitations and no end.  Yes, the day is fast approaching when "justice" will be granted to "the poor," and "the ruthless" will be crushed "with the rod of...[God's] mouth" and the wicked will be slain "with the breath of...[God's] lips" (See Is. ll: 1-10).

O, the greatness and the power and the love and the justice of our God!  Blessed are those who believe when they do not see. Blessed are those who wait and trust in God's coming and acting on behalf of the poor and distraught, the marginalized and the oppressed of this world, of our governmental, societal, ecclesial, familial, and legal systems, for "nothing is impossible for our God" (Luke 1: 37).  Mary believed  and got involved in this Plan in the face of risking her life by stoning.  To what point do you and I believe in God's plan and to what point are we willing to say "yes" to the Lord and assume the mission God has entrusted to us to work along side of and with God, until the time comes when "the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord, as water covers the sea"?

An Intercessor at the Throne of God

In today’s first reading, Heb 7: 25-8:6, we are reminded that Jesus offered Himself, His will, His life, not according to a man-made law but in accord with God’s will, God’s infinite mercy, infinite love and infinite compassion toward humankind, who had severed its relationship with God through its disobedience.  Jesus’ sacrifice for sin, through His obedience to the Father even unto death on the cross,  is eternal, does not need to be repeated as were the  sacrifices offered according to the law of Moses, the Old Covenant.  No! In the New Covenant, Jesus, who interceded for us on the cross, continues His intercession for us at the right hand of God.  Yes, Jesus, like us in all things, sits at God’s right hand, in the majestic, transcendent Holy of Holies, interceding for us just as He interceded here on earth for all who pressed to touch Him and be healed of their diseases (cf. today’s Gospel, Mk 3: 7-12).

What in me is dis-eased, out of sync with God, paralyzed, broken, wounded, choosing my way and rejecting God's way,  that needs healing?  I have One in the Holy of Holies that is beyond the veil that separates us on earth from God, who is ready to heal me.  May I accept this reality and humbly bring myself to touch Jesus today. Only by this contact will I be able, in turn, to be a healing presence in this broken world, especially for those with whom I live and give service to others in my home, in my place of employment and other places to which I am called today. How have I taken time today to seek out the Lord as did the people in today’s Gospel?

Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children

The Church has set aside Jan. 22 as a Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children.

 

Every day in the U.S., 3000 children are murdered in the womb. That means that 1,095,000 children are executed in the womb every year.  Our legal system does not protect those children. We are putting forth significant effort to protect the 6- and 7-year child that goes to school—we do not want to see a repeat of the Newtown massacre, and rightly so. Why are we not fighting to stop the massacre of unborn children? Why does this country detest what happened in Newtown on Dec. 14, 2012 and not detest  the murdering  of  3000 children every day, 150x’s more than at Newtown on that dreadful day?

May God stop the hand of the abortionist! May God stop the parents who are planning to kill the child they have conceived within the past 9 months.  May God open the minds and hearts of our president, vice-president and the members of Congress to reverse the Roe vs. Wade legislation that, 40 years ago today, made the murdering of unborn children a legal right of the mother/parents of that child. May God rise up persons in our presidency and congress, within our churches and society who have the strength to challenge the immorality that has allowed such an abominable sin against humanity. May we once again respect an unborn child’s right to life, trust God’s plan for that child: “For I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you, says the Lord; they are plans for peace, not disaster, to give you a future filled with hope” (Jeremiah 29:11).

Barrenness made Fertile by God's Power

In today’s first reading, Judges 13: 2-7, 24-25a, we are told the story of the angel’s announcing the birth of Samson, to a woman who has been barren. I pray, that like this woman, we, too, will not doubt God’s messengers in our lives. This woman did not bulk at God’s plan, though she had been barren throughout her marriage to Manoah.  She and her husband had tried over and over again, no doubt, to conceive children without success.  At God’s bidding her barrenness is removed. Her womb is made fertile.  The seemingly impossible is achievable.

We live in a world barren of faith in the Sacred, a world disrespectful of life, a world of barren wombs, violated wombs, wombs in which children have been slaughtered.  Nothing is impossible with God. God can transform our deserts into fertile ground or restore the Sacred in the profane, desecrated areas of this world.  Just as the wife of Manoah bore a son whom God blessed and in whom God’s Spirit stirred, so, too, will God  transform a spiritless, Godless world into a God-centered place where life, once again, is considered sacred and is used to give praise and glory to its Creator. 

And so we pray: O Root of Jesse’s stem, sign of God’s love for all his people: come to save us without delay (Gospel Acclamation for the 19^th of December)!

God's Work Environment

“Be still and know that I am God” (Ps 46: 10).  Every morning I begin my hour of prayer in stillness, using the mantra: “Listen to the stillness. God is at work” or “Be still and know that I am God.”  This morning the thought came to me that when I am talking—sometimes incessantly, rambling on and on, as in the case of political issues—I need to tell myself to be still in order to know that God is God.  As in the Old Testament--through Exodus, the wanderings in the desert, through the divided kingdom (The Northern and Southern Kingdoms of Israel), through the Exile, the Return from Exile, the Maccabbean Revolt and  in the New Testament through Jesus’ death-- God prevailed in building His Kingdom and remaining true to the covenant He made with Adam and Eve, namely that the serpent’s (Satan’s) head would be crushed. Sin would not prevail. God’s plan will be accomplished and no one will stop that from happening. Even in our day, in our present circumstances, as we listen to the wrangling of the Democratic and Republican parties, the debates, God’s will shall prevail.  I may not realize it but God is at work.  I simply have got to be still and listen. God says to me in Jeremiah 29:11 I have “plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope…”  God has those same plans for the United States, for the world, and it cannot get worse than it did for Israel in Egypt, in Exile, or during the Maccabbean Revolt, nor for Jesus in His passion, death, and resurrection. God has a plan that will not be impeded.

Do I believe that?