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."

Blessings on you!

The message to all of those who read this blog comes from today's first reading, Numbers 6: 22-27:

"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!

Happy New Year!  May 2019 be the best year of  your life! 

Heeding the Voice of our God

In today's first reading, Isaiah 58: 9b-14, the Lord says to us through the prophet Isaiah:  "If you remove from your midst oppression, false accusation and malicious speech; if you bestow your bread on the hungry and satisfy the afflicted; then light shall rise for you in the darkness and the gloom shall become for  you like midday; then the Lord will guide you always and give you plenty even on the parched land. He will renew your strength, and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring whose water never fails...."  In the responsorial psalm we acknowledge our human situation, saying to the Lord: "I am afflicted and poor....Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I call upon you all the day....[Y]ou are good and forgiving, abounding in kindness to all who call upon you...[A]ttend to the sound of my pleading" for all enslaved by sin, selfishness, greed, lust, leveling false accusations at others, engaging in malicious speech, and oppressing the poor and needy of this land --all who are enslaved in Satan's lies, who have fallen into his traps!

In the Gospel Acclamation, God says to us through the prophet Ezekiel, "I take  no pleasure in the death of the wicked,...but rather in his [her] conversion, that he [she] may live!"  May each of us be open to being converted by God's grace to abandon evil and do good and to know when we are being deceived by Satan and embrace the truth.

The Abundant Kindness of our God

In the opening prayer of today's liturgy, we state that God, in the abundance of his kindness, surpasses the merits and the desires of those who entreat him, that He pours out his mercy upon us beyond our imaginings, pardons us of dreaded offenses and gives us what we dare not ask.  In today's gospel, Luke 11: 5-13, Jesus reminds us that if someone comes to our door at midnight asking for a loaf of bread, though we may turn him away initially, we would, by this person's insistence, respond positively to his request so that he stops pounding on our door in the middle of the night.  Jesus then asks us: who of us would give our children "a snake when he asks for a fish...a scorpion when he asks for an egg? If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?" And we need to remember that God, in the abundance of his kindness, surpasses the merits and the desires of those who entreat him, that He blesses us beyond our imaginings, and, yes, gives us what we dare not ask!

What a God!  "Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief!"

Choice of Virtue or Sin

Today’s readings,  Ez 18: 21-28 and Mt. 5: 20-26, both address the importance of choosing virtue, of righting the wrongs we have done towards others and ourselves, of turning away from sinful attitudes towards others and ourselves—of letting go of our resentments and our grudges that we hold against one another or against ourselves, of no longer holding others or ourselves in disdain.  Ezekiel tells us that if a sinner, turns away from all the sins he [she] has committed, if he [she] keeps all [God’s] statues and does what is right and just, he [she] shall surely live, he [she] shall not die.”  On the other hand, if a virtuous person “turns from the path of virtue to do evil, the same kinds of abominable things that the wicked…does, can he [she] do this and still live? None of his [her] virtuous deeds shall be remembered, because he [she] has broken faith and committed sin….”

Those are strong words and, from time to time, each of us is both the sinner and then, again, the virtuous and repentant one. From time to time, each of us turns away from sin to virtue and then, again, away from virtue to sin.  With the psalmist in today’s responsorial psalm, we pray:

Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord;

Lord, hear my voice!

Let your ears be attentive

to my voice in supplication.

If you, O Lord, mark iniquities,

Lord, who can stand?

But with you is forgiveness,

that you may be revered.

I trust in the Lord;

my soul trusts in his word.

My soul  waits for the Lord

more than sentinels wait for the dawn.

Let Israel [let each of us] wait for the Lord.

For with the Lord is kindness

And with him is plenteous redemption;

And [God] will redeem Israel [and each of us]

From all their [our] iniquities.

"Forget Not God's Benefits" (Ps. 103)

In today’s responsorial psalm, Ps. 103, we bless the Lord and are asked not to “forget…all his benefits.” God “pardons all  [our] iniquities,…heals all [our]  ills. [God] redeems [our lives] from destruction,…crowns [us] with kindness and compassion….For as the heavens are high above the earth, so surpassing is [God’s] kindness toward those who fear [reverence] him. As far as the east is from the west, so far has [God] put our transgressions from us.”

Wow! There is no God as great as our God! None! As we pray in Psalm 97: “…all gods bow down before [the true God].”  The author of Psalm 97 also prays:

“O God, you reign! Let the earth rejoice;

 let the many coastlands be glad!

Clouds and thick darkness

are round about you;

Righteousness and justice

are the foundation of your throne.

Fire goes before you

consuming your foes.

Your lightning illumines the world;

the earth sees and trembles.

The mountains melt like wax before you,

before the God of all the earth.

The heavens proclaim your justice

 and all the nations behold your glory.

All idol worshipers are put to shame,

who boast in worthless idols….”

What consolation Psalm 97 and today’s responsorial psalm (103) give us.  All who worship “worthless idols” will be put to shame!  Idolaters will not triumph. Evil will not survive. God does—God’s will cannot be thwarted, that is, His will to bring about our redemption as we learn obedience from what we suffer, as did Jesus, our Savior.  Those who worship God, serve God, and become one with God’s way of thinking, loving, being in this world will not be put to shame!   We have died and rose with Christ in our baptism and continue living the Paschal  Mystery every day through the power of the Spirit at work within us who believe and live by faith!

God's Kindness is Forever and Ever and Ever, Amen!

“My kindness is established forever; ….I have found David, my servant; with my holy oil I have anointed him, that my hand may be always with him, and that my arm may make him strong,” we pray in today’s responsorial psalm, Psalm 89.   At our baptism and at confirmation, God found us, His servants. You and I were anointed with holy oil when we received both of those sacraments.  God’s hand is always with us. God’s arm is always strengthening us, the arms stretched out upon the cross for us, the arms stretched out to us at every Holy Mass, inviting us to eat His body and drink His blood, the bread and wine consecrated by the hands of the priest. 

Truly, God will never leave us; His “kindness is established forever.”  “My faithfulness and my mercy,” says the Lord in this psalm, “shall be with [you], and through my name shall [your]  horn shall be exalted,” that is you will be victorious over your enemy, Satan who prowls this world seeking someone to devour! So, with King David, we say of God: “You are my father, my God, the Rock, my savior.”

The Kindness of the Lord

“The earth is full of the kindness of the Lord,” we pray in today’s responsorial psalm, Psalm 33. How, I asked myself, do I experience the kindness of the Lord filling the earth? How does the kindness of the Lord fill my life each day? My responses included the following gifts I have or do experience each day:

•  The daily Scriptures and the ability and time to reflect on this source of wisdom

• The daily Mass and Eucharist: every day I have the privilege of a personal visit from the God of the Universe, the God of all goodness, the God of reconciliation, who enters the Temple of my body as redeemer, sanctifier, lover, healer

•  Creation itself with all of its beauty

•  Motherhood and fatherhood and the gifts of mothers and fathers to their children and the gift of my own parents

• Teachers and counselors and the gift they are each day to their students and clients

•  Friends

•  Children themselves

• Life itself

• The ability:

o   To love and be loved

o   To learn and be a source of learning to others

o   To study

o   To enjoy life

o   To nurture life

o   To discover life: its goodness, its challenges, its opportunities

o   To know and be known

o   To be caring and cared about

o   To be grateful

• The opportunity to make a difference in someone's life today

No doubt, this list could go on ad infinitum. 

How do you experience the kindness of the Lord?

God Perfecting Us

“Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Mt 5:43-48).  As I prayed over this Scripture passage and recalled last night’s faith-sharing session with the Sisters with whom I live, the thought occurred to me that, in our younger years, when, as novices in training for religious profession, we were told to strive for perfection, we were focusing incorrectly.  Why? Because, for me, the focus was on me, not on
God.  God alone is capable of bringing us to perfection. Without God at work perfecting us in His love, we are incapable of reaching any kind of perfection.

I asked myself in prayer how God is perfect. The following thoughts surfaced, namely, that God is perfect:

·         In love,

·         In compassion,

·         In fidelity to His promises,

·         In forgiveness,

·         In mercy,

·         In justice,

·         In truthfulness,

·         In respect for our freedom,

·         In knowing when we have chosen a path that does not lead to freedom.

I then asked God to show me how his perfection reveals itself in my life. The following response was given to me:

·         In your desire for perfection,

·         In the fact that I never  abandon you when you go astray. I am faithful to who I am:

o   A God of compassion,

o   A God of love,

o   A God of truth,

o   A God of mercy,

o   A God who is ever-present,

o   A God who is ever-knowing,

o   A God who is ever-loving,

o   A God who is ever-merciful,

o   A God who is ever-generous,

o   A God who is ever accepting, quick to show mercy and compassion, slow to anger, rich in kindness and fidelity.

Thank you, Lord, for this reminder of what it means to “be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

The Graciousness and Kindness of our God

In today’s first reading, Is 49: 8-15, the prophet says to us:

Along the ways,…[you] shall find pasture,
On every bare height shall…your pastures be…
For…[God] who pities[you] leads [you]
and guides [you] beside springs of water.
[God] will cut a road through all [your] mountains,
And make [your] highways level.
See, some shall come from  afar,
Others from the north and the west….
Sing out, O heavens, and rejoice, O earth,
Break forth into song, you mountains.
For the Lord comforts his people
And shows mercy to his afflicted.

 As I meditated upon this passage, the thought came to me that the “bare height” where our pasture shall be is heaven itself, that God, who pities us, leads us to this Promised Land, cutting through the mountains of our lives, leveling the highways.  “See, some [come into eternal life] from the mud slides in the State of Washington, others from the watery grave  where the Malaysian plane’s  tragedy occurred, others from the devastating 8.2 earthquake off the coast of Chile.  So, too, does God remember those who die by the violent hand of another, those who  suffer because of a terminal illness, an ugly divorce, a domestic dispute. God knows and cares about all who suffer the brutal ravages of a war, all who are the target of ethnic cleansing, who are bullied because they are different from those who abuse them.      “Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb? Even should she forget, I will never forget you,”  God tells us, no matter how much it seems otherwise. 

 “I do believe, Lord, help my unbelief” (Mk 9:24).

The Bath of Rebirth

In today’s first reading, Titus 3: 1-7, Paul reminds us that “…when the kindness and generous love of God our savior appeared, not because of any righteous deeds we had done but because  of [God’s] mercy, [God] saved us through the bath of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he richly poured out on us through Jesus Christ our savior, so that we might be justified by his grace and become heirs in hope of eternal life” (Titus 3: 1-7).  Without this intervention and because of original sin, our minds remain darkened and our wills weakened. So when invited by grace to “…be obedient, to be open to every good enterprise, …to slander no one, to be peaceable, considerate, exercising all graciousness toward everyone’ (Titus 3: 1-7), we easily choose opposite behaviors and  give in to impulses and compulsions enticed by the Father of Lies, who places doubts in our minds of trusting the Holy Spirit of God prompting us to do good and avoid evil.   “…Though I walk  in the dark valley,” the psalmist reminds me, “I  fear no evil; for …[God is] at my side with your rod and your staff that give me courage” to be obedient, to be open to every good which the Spirit invites me to embrace, “to be peaceable, considerate,” and “gracious” toward all those I encounter today.