The Lord Shepherds Me

In today's responsorial psalm, we pray: "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want....Even though I walk in the dark valley, I fear no evil; for you are at my side with your rod and your staff that give me courage.  You spread the table before me in the sight of my foes;  you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Only goodness and kindness follow me all the days of my life;and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord for years to come."

As I pray that psalm, I am deeply touched by the phrase that reminds me that only goodness and kindness follow me all the days of my life!  Believing that, I am filled with gratitude and confidence! I am lifted up above the problems that I might encounter each day!  And even in those times when encountering darkness, I know that God is with me, that He light up my way and carries me when the "waters" of life are too deep for me to cross safely! And what a promise that God Himself spreads the table before me in the sight of my foes!  It's like saying: "Satan, get lost. God feeds me with the best of wheat, with His own Eucharistic body and Eucharistic blood that destroyed you and diminished your power over me. You have no chance. God is at my side. He has anointed my head with the oil of grace. My cup overflows, as I stand beneath the cross of Jesus with the chalice of my being receiving the blood that flows from His Sacred Side."

The Fasting Willed by God

In today's first reading, Dt. 58: 1-9a, the Lord says to us: Lo, on your fast day you carry out your own pursuits and drive all your laborers. Yes, your fast ends in quarreling and fighting, striking with wicked claw....[T]he fasting that I wish [is]: releasing those bound unjustly, untying the thongs of the yoke; setting free the oppressed, breaking every yoke; sharing your bread with the hungry, sheltering the oppressed and the homeless; clothing the naked when you see them, and not turning your back on your own....

The Lord, I believe, is speaking directly to the U.S. and other nations that are quarreling and fighting about passing legislature that will "release those bound unjustly, untie the thongs of the the yoke; set free the oppressed, break every yoke; share...bread with the hunger, shelter the oppressed and the homeless; clothe the name...and not turn your back on your own."  Our government, I believe, is carrying out its own pursuits by oppressing undocumented immigrants brought here to the States as children. They "strike with wicked claw," I believe, by stealing money from the poor to line the pockets of the rich and then lying about the tax reform bill and the health care benefits they promise.

God sees through the lies, the corruption, the crookedness!  God reads hearts! God also sees the tears of the afflicted, the neglected, the sick and needy ones of our nation--those tears and cries of anguish pass judgment on those engaged in wickedness and who "turn their backs on their own."

With the psalmist of today's responsorial psalm, I pray:  Have mercy on me [and on the government of the U.S.];  O God in your goodness; in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense [and that of our government officials and all U.S. citizens].  Thoroughly wash me clean from my guilt and of  my sins cleanse me [also, Lord, thoroughly wash the U.S., its politicians and all U.S. citizens clean of their guilt and of their sins cleanse them. Turn their hearts away from evil toward good. May they repent and do good!]

The Graciousness of our God

In today's first reading, Dt. 6: 4-13, Moses reminds the people that "[t]he Lord is our God, the Lord alone!"  For that reason, he tells them that they are to "love the Lord...with all [their] hearts, and with all [their] souls, and with all [their] strength."  The Lord God is so essential to their lives of well-being and plenitude, that they are to drill these words into their children minds, wear these words "as a pendant" on their foreheads, "bind them at your wrist" and "write them on the doorposts of your houses and on your gates."  In other words, never lose sight of this message!

Further on in this passage, Moses reminds the people that the land they possess, the cities they live in, the houses in which they reside are pure gift:  "you did not build"  the cities; you did not "garner the goods" in the houses in which you reside; you "did not dig the cisterns"; you "did not plant" the "vineyards and olive groves," and also remember "the Lord, who brought you out of the Land of Egypt, that place of slavery."

And how true for many of us, most of the time, that the fruits of our lives--the goods we enjoy, the houses in which we live, the food we eat--we did not plant, we did not build, we did not sweat over!  God blesses us every day with an abundance; and, it is the grace of God that brings us out of that place of slavery that threatens to devour us of the peace, the joy and the love that God desires of us each day!  God wants to free us, as Jesus freed the boy in today's Gospel, Mt 17: 14-20, of any "demons" that deprive us of the freedom purchased for us by the blood of Christ.  Do we frustrate Jesus by our lack of faith, as did the disciples in the Gospel of today?

Thank you, Jesus, for saving us, healing and putting at our bestowal every day an abundance of God's graces!

Sowing Bountifully or Sparingly

In today's first reading, 2 Cor 9: 6-11, St. Paul reminds us that "whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully."  How challenging it can be at times to sow bountifully. If you are like me, sometimes you cut corners by letting the other person do what we easily could do ourselves or do for others. Or we let the other do our share of the chores that need being done. Or, we know what our responsibilities are as partners in marriage, as members of a religious community, as children, as employees but shun them. For instance, a child may say to him/herself: "If mom and dad don't notice, I will get away without practicing the piano or spending time reading", or whatever.  Or, a husband or wife might say:  "Mom/dad can do that; I am tired; I've worked hard all day" and don't lift a finger to help. When we sow sparingly, we also reap sparingly:  we feel depleted, dissatisfied, less loved, less compassionate, less fulfilled.

Those who sow bountifully give the 100-150%.  Nothing is too much for them.  They notice things that need to be done. They look for ways to be helpful. They do not wait to be waited upon but are the waiters. They do not wait to be served, but are the servers.  These persons  "have an abundance for every good work...," St. Paul reminds us in this passage. They are "being enriched in every way for all [their] generosity." 

Are you satisfied with yourself? Are you sowing bountifully or sparingly? The choice is yours and so are the results!

Blessings and Encouragement

In today's first reading, 2 Corinthians 1: 1-7, Paul greets the people of Corinth by saying: "[G]race and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ."   That same greeting is given to us today wherever we are and whoever we are.  Also in  this passage, Paul proclaims that our God is a God "of all encouragement," a "Father of compassion," one  who "encourages us  in our every affliction, so that we may be able to encourage those who are in any affliction with the encouragement with which we ourselves are encouraged by God."

Here in this life you and I are an extension of God. We are blessed by God in order to be a blessing to others. We are encouraged by God in our suffering,  pain, and challenges of life in order that we, in turn, will encourage others as they encounter realities of this life that leave them baffled, confused, hurting or traumatized, not because God wills life's calamities but that, in them, we may seek the Lord, discover God's presence and rely on God's power to bring about our salvation.  

The psalmist, in today's responsorial psalm, invites us to "taste and see the goodness of the Lord."  With the psalmist, may we be able to say at the end of the day: "I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears."  May I also accept the invitation of the psalmist to "[l]ook to him [God] that...[I] may be radiant with joy, and ...[my face] may not blush with shame."    May I "glorify the Lord,...extol his name", and take "refuge" in the Lord" in every circumstance of life and especially in the difficult times.

God's Immeasurable Riches

Today, in Ephesians 2:1-10, we are blessed with another one of St. Paul’s messages of God’s awesome generosity, mercy and love.  Bluntly, St. Paul tells the followers of Christ, that is, each one of us: “You, [Dorothy Ann,] were dead in your transgressions and sins in which you once lived following the age of this world,… the spirit that is now at work in the disobedient.”  [Dorothy Ann] you “…once lived among them in the desires of [your]flesh [and of your ego], following the wishes of the flesh [and of your ego] and [your] impulses, were by nature [a child] of wrath, like the rest.” 

St. Paul puts it on the line, so to speak.  Nothing in that passage is something of which to be boastful or proud. Without redemption, you and I were a mess and in deep trouble, resistant to following the will of God and cooperating with grace. No way, however, would God allow you or me, masterpieces of His hand, His possessions, to perish, to remain “dead.”  No, says St. Paul. “God, who is rich in mercy, because of the great love he had for us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, brought us to life with Christ (by grace you have been saved), raised us up with him, and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus….[Y]ou have been saved through faith, and this is not from you; it is the gift of God; it is not from works,…For we are his handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for good works that God has prepared in advance, that we should live in them.”

How awesome! We live on this earth doing good that God has prepared for us do to ahead of time: everything we need to live a good life has been secured for us by a loving, caring, faithful God! Why has God done this? So that “he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.”

Today, Lord, may my eyes, and yours, be opened to the “immeasurable riches” of God’s grace bestowed upon me “in Christ Jesus” and may I not choose death by following “the age of this world,…the [evil] spirit that is…[always] at work in the disobedient”:  the arrogant, the deceitful, the corrupt, the greedy, the unjust, the proud, the abusive  persons of our societies. And, Lord, when I do fall into Satan’s snares, may I recognize and acknowledge my failures, my sinful ways, and come to you and those I offended, asking for pardon and forgiveness.  

The Goodness, the Greatness and the Power of God

O, how great is the Lord, our God.  Every day the radiance of God’s face shines upon us, molding our minds, cleansing our hearts and re-creating us into the person God designed us to be (See Sarah Young’s  Jesus Calling, November 10^th meditation).  All praise, all glory and honor to our God.  As Creator and Redeemer,  God is also re-creating all of creation according to His original design. These concepts may be difficult for us to grasp, as all around us we see death and corruption, violence and destruction of earth’s beauty and persons stripped of their dignity by those who rape the body, kill the innocent already in the womb, and who torture the mind, and vilify others in a variety of abusive ways.

In today’s responsorial psalm, Psalm 9,  David reminds us that our enemies will be “turned back, overthrown and destroyed.” Over and over again , God has, in the past, “rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked; their name (the name of the wicked) …[God] blotted out forever and ever. The nations (those committed to idolatry—God substitutes--and those blaspheming God by violence perpetrated in the name of religion) are [will be] sunk in the pit they have made; in the snare they set, their foot is [will be] caught” (Psalm 9).

And as we prayed in the response to the psalm, we “will rejoice” in the our salvation.

Trusting in the Lord

 In today first reading, Is. 26: 1-6, we are encouraged with words: "Trust in the Lord forever! For the Lord is an eternal Rock."  I am at our province headquarters in Oshkosh, WI.  I came here on the 3rd of Dec. and will be here until the 14th. I came to set up a vocation committee that consists of lay people, SSM Associates and some Sisters.  I said to the Lord on the way here: "Lord, this is a trust walk, an act of faith. I have no idea who I will be interviewing or whether the persons I asked for suggestions have any information for me." The first night at Franciscans Courts, our headquarters in Oshkosh, I went to the library around 7:00 p.m. and around 7:30 a sister who does chaplaincy work at Mercy Hospital in Oshkosh dropped by and gave me a list of names of persons she thought would be good committee members. On returning to my room, the phone rang. It was one of our Associates. She had a list of names for me.  I was overwhelmed. I had been praying the prayer: "Lord, bless me this day and I will indeed be blessed!"

I have 12 person interested in working with us to promote religious life and priesthood, to put forth effort to make SSMs known. I will be interviewing all of these persons and writing recommendations to the Council.

Our communication specialist, who also has background in marketing, has offered to analyze my work and help me develop strategies for more effective use of social media and maintaining ongoing contact with inquirers.

"Trust in the Lord! For the Lord is an eternal Rock!"  How many times the Lord confirms this truth for me! What about you?