Let us bring our burdens to the Lord!

In today's Gospel, Matthew 11: 28-30, Jesus invites to bring our burdens to him:  "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light."

Let us bring to the Lord the burden of seeing the coronavirus "march" through our communities, threatening the well-being of our loved one, of ourselves. Let us bring to the Lord our labors to bring this pandemic to an end. Let us bring to the Lord our efforts to get people to understand that this virus is deadly and not a hoax!

We bring to you, Lord, those on the front lines in our emergency rooms and our ICU departments.  Many are at the breaking point physically and emotionally as they do everything possible and yet lose a patient. We bring to you, Lord, the burden of not being able to be at the side of a loved one dying of the virus out of fear of ourselves being stricken and being the next victim. We bring to  you, Lord, the burden of seeing individuals resort to violence when asked to wear a mask in public. Yes, Lord, we are exhausted and need to find rest in You. Our strength is running low.

In the responsorial psalm, Psalm 102, of today's liturgy, the psalmist says: "From the heavens the Lord looks down on the earth."  In confidence, we say to the Lord: "You will arise and have mercy on Zion (insert the name of your city), for it is time to pity her. For her stones are dear to your servants, and her dust moves them to pity. The nations (insert the name of your country, your nation) shall revere your name, O Lord, and all the kings (governors, presidents, prime ministers) of the earth your glory, when the Lord has rebuilt Zion (name your city, your country)and appeared in his glory; when he has regarded the prayer of the destitute, and not despised their prayer."  We are those destitute people, Lord!

We thank you, Lord, for You "have looked down from [your] holy height, from heaven [you] beheld the earth, to hear the groaning of the prisoners [us], to release those [us] doomed to die" (Psalm 102).

The Risen, Ascended Christ Seen with Eyes of Faith

In today's first reading, Acts 1:1-11,  Jesus the Christ is taken up into heaven.  He had taught  the apostles up until that last moment when he said to them:  "'...John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit....[Y]ou will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be  my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.' As he said this, he was lifted up, and a cloud took  him from their sight."  Two men dressed in white then appeared to the apostles and asked:  "[W]hy are you standing [here] looking at the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into  heaven."   In Luke 24:49, Jesus, we are told, says to his apostles before leaving them:  "And now I am sending down to you what the Father has promised. Stay in the city (Jerusalem) then,  until you are clothed with the power from on high." We are told in Mark 16: 19, that after he had spoken to them, "there at the right hand of God  he took his place, while they, going out, preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word by signs that accompanied it."

Imagine how this was for the apostles. For three years they followed Jesus around Galilee--here, there and everywhere--listening to his every word, witnessing His compassion toward those who were sick, crippled, deaf, blind or possessed by demons. He healed all who were afflicted in any way, showing them the compassion and love of His Father and ours, His God and ours.  When the time for his return to heaven arrived,  he left them. Suddenly, Jesus is no longer physically with them. They now need to see and know and hear Jesus with eyes of faith in all of the circumstances of their lives.

As for the apostles, so, too,  for us. We, too, at our baptism and confirmation and at each Eucharist are clothed "with the power from on high"  and are sent forth to bear witness to Jesus everywhere we go, "the Lord working with [us] and confirming the word by signs that [accompany] it."  How and when are we or others or the universe a sign, a sacrament, of God's presence?  When is God's power at work in us and around us and in the universe?  I experience God working through me when I am kind and loving, forgiving and caring, forgiving and reconciling, being a peace-maker, a "creator" of good things that bring hope and comfort, and thus healing, to others.  God's power is working in me when I refrain from gossiping, when I leave unsaid a word others do not need to hear, when I am patient and seek to understand the other person before being understood myself. God is at work in me when I respond to another person's need for love and support in times of difficulty and confusion, fear and despair!  I also see God hidden in the beauty of the universe: the sun, the moon and the stars; the seasons of the year--spring, summer, fall and winter; in wind and rain, ice and snow, warmth and cold; in all of the creatures that roam the earth, fly in our skies and swim in our oceans, rivers, seas and lakes. God is everywhere? Am I looking for God?

"Be Not Afraid"--Jesus Is in the Boat with Us

Today's Entrance antiphon reads:  "The waves of death rose about me; the pains of the netherworld surrounded me" (Cf Ps 18 (17): 5,7].  How true!  The waves of death caused by the coronavirus rises around all of us throughout the entire world. "The pains of the netherworld [surround us]."   With the psalmist, we pray: "In anguish [we call] to the Lord, and from his holy temple [God hears our voices]".  As Pope Francis said to us yesterday from a live-streamed reflection at noon our time:  "Be not afraid. Jesus is in the boat with us."  And just as he calmed the fears of the disciples and stopped the storm that was threatening to kill them, so, too, will he calm our fears and assist us in stopping the spread of the virus that could kill us.  He has power over the coronavirus just as he had power over the storm that scared the disciples to death!

In the first reading of today's liturgy, Jeremiah 11: 18-20,  Jeremiah acknowledges that he knows "their plot because the Lord informed me; at that time you, O Lord, showed me their doings."  We know the plot of the coronavirus. We know what the coronavirus is doing to thousands of people around the world.  As those hatching plots against Jeremiah, and later against Jesus, so, too, it seems is the coronavirus determined "to destroy the tree in its vigor"  and to cut us "off from the land of the living."  However, the coronavirus will not have the last word any more than death had the last word in Jesus' life or the life of Jeremiah.  And just as the cases of those who were healed by Jesus revealed the glory of God, so, too, will the glory of God be revealed in today's world ravaged by this evil. Good comes from evil now as it did in Jesus' time when He was with us physically.  He is with us now in Spirit and in Life!

May our faith and trust be strengthened in this storm of life.  May we keep our eyes on Jesus and look to Him for the help that we need!

Mary, Queen of Heaven and Earth

Today, we Catholics celebrate the Feast of Mary, queen of Heaven and Earth.  The Gospel of today's liturgy is from Luke 1: 26-38, which tells the story of the Annunciation.  An angel, a messenger from God, appears to Mary at age 13 or 14 and tells her that she is "highly favored." "The Lord is with you," she is told. The angels' message disturbs Mary.  She asks herself what this message could possibly mean!  Assuredly, the angel tells Mary to not be afraid. She "has won God's favor! Listen," the angel says to her. "You are to bear a son, and you must name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David; he will rule over the the House of Jacob  forever and his reign will have no end."  What? Mary must have said to herself.  "...[H]ow will this come about," Mary asks the angel. "...I am a virgin?"  "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 the Son of God."  The angel then tells her that her elderly cousin Elizabeth has also conceived and is in her sixth month of pregnancy. "For nothing is impossible with God." Mary then says to the angel: "'I am the handmaid of the Lord,...let what you have said be done to me.' And the angel left her."  

Imagine being this teenage Jewish girl!  Imagine "the Holy Spirit [coming] upon" this teenager and "the power of the Most High [covering her] with its shadow." At that moment, while betrothed to Joseph and not yet married,  she conceives the Son of God.  Mary is pregnant not by man but by God's power and will! She has been chosen to be the Mother of God!

What does Mary do?  Learning that her elderly cousin Elizabeth is six month's pregnant, Mary leaves Nazareth to assist her cousin and confide in her!  She stays with Elizabeth until John the Baptist is born and then returns to  Nazareth three month's pregnant!

At some point, Joseph, her husband-to-be, is told by an angel to not be afraid to take Mary into his home as his wife and that the child she is bearing has been conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit  (See Matthew 1:20-22)! With Mary, Joseph learns to trust God deeply and that "nothing is impossible with God!"

How trusting are you and I?  How does the story of the Annunciation touch our hearts?  Do we recognize that Mary is Queen of heaven and earth, Queen of our hearts and minds and wills?  Do we confide in Mary, as Mary confided in her cousin?

Liberation from Slavery to Oppressive Behaviors, that is from Sin

Liberation from Slavery to Oppressive Behaviors, that is from Sin

In today's first reading, Exodus 14: 21-15:1, we are given the story of the Israelites being freed from the oppression of the Egyptians.  God divides the waters of the sea, "with the water like a wall to their right and to their left," the Israelites are able to cross the sea on dry land.  Once safely across, God instructs Moses to stretch out his hand over the sea, "that the water may flow back upon the Egyptians."   None of them survive.  "When Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the seashore and beheld the great power that the Lord had shown against the Egyptians, they feared the Lord and believed in him and in his servant Moses."

This story is not only about the Israelites. It is about you and me, as well!  God also frees us from our oppressors: the oppression of selfishness, prejudice and hatred that holds us back from being a true disciple of Jesus.  It is about the ways, through baptism and the other sacraments that Jesus frees us from the oppressing blindness and deafness that deprives us of the ability to recognize Jesus in others and from hearing the voice of the Spirit guiding us to do good and avoid evil.

The story of God freeing the Israelites from the slavery of Egypt is a precursor of Jesus freeing us from sin as He offered His life for our salvation and rose from the dead, death and sin having absolutely no power over Jesus.  In baptism we died with Christ and rose with Him to new life, a life in which we are empowered to live as brothers and sisters and mothers of Jesus, that is as persons doing what the Father wills of us (see today's gospel, Matthew 12: 46-50).

God Rules with His Strong Arm

In today's first reading, Isaiah  40: 1-11, Isaiah asks us to "comfort, give comfort to my people. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her service is at an end, her guilt is expiated.  Indeed, she has received from the hand of the Lord double for all her sins....A voice...[cries] out [that] [a]ll flesh is grass, and all their glory like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower wilts, when the breath of the Lord blows upon it. So then, the people is the grass. Though the grass withers and the flower wilts, the word of the God stands forever....Here comes with power the Lord God, who rules with his strong arm; here is his reward with him, his recompense before him. Like a shepherd he feeds his flock; in his arms her gathers the lambs, carrying them in his bosom, and leading the ewes with care."

We belong to God. Because we are God's creation, God's cherished children, God did not hold anything back in His love for us.  His recompense is our salvation secured for us by the death of
God's only begotten Son, by God in human form put to death as a criminal!  As on Calvary, so, now, God "rules with his strong arm." God gathers us in his arms, carries us in his bosom, leads us with care now and always until that moment with "the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken....A voice....[that] says...."Here is our God! Here comes with power the Lord God, who rules by his strong arm."

My faith tells me that God is always in work in our world: in the earthquakes, the fires, the disasters, the mud slides, the floods, the rescues, the surfacing of truth, the generosity of persons reaching out to help those in need, the divisions caused by greed, dishonesty, injustice.  What looks like disaster, as on that very first Good Friday, will at some point give rise to new life!  Why? because God "rules with his strong arm."

Sent on Mission to Proclaim the Kingdom of the Lord

Today we celebrate the feast of St. Luke, the evangelist, who worked along side St. Paul in making Jesus known to the Gentiles.  Both Luke and Paul, friends of Jesus, did what the responsorial psalm, Psalm145, proclaims:  "Your friends make known O Lord, the glorious splendor of your Kingdom." The psalmist goes on to say to followers of Jesus: "Let them discourse of the glory of [God's] Kingdom," a kingdom of peace and justice and love.  As disciples of Jesus, we are to make "known [God's] might and the glorious splendor of [God's] kingdom, [a] Kingdom...for all ages."  We are to let people know that God's "dominion endures through all generations," not just Jesus' generation. We are also to reveal the truth that "the Lord is just in all his ways and holy in all his works. [And furthermore,]...is near to all who call upon him, to all who call upon him in truth."

In today's Gospel, Luke 10, 1-9, Luke tells the story of when Jesus appointed 72 disciples to  proclaim the Kingdom and thus precede him to places which He Himself "intended to visit....[B]ehold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves.....In whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace to this household.' If a peaceful person lives there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you. Stay in [that] house." 

In order to do God's work, we need to, first ourselves, be at peace. If the persons we are sent to assist, be that family  or community members, members of our parish, or our fellow employees, are not at peace with our presence or message, we need to move on to other places/persons, as Jesus counseled the 72.  When the Lord send us out on mission, we also need to be prepared to encounter "wolves."  Not everyone wants to hear about the Gospel way of life and not everyone lives a life  that brings them to knowledge Jesus, the Lord who, as identified by the psalmist as one who "is just in all his ways and holy in all  his works."  As with Jesus, we will encounter opposition in living the Christian way of life and being true to ourselves!

Are you/am I ready? If we keep our focus on Jesus as we journey through any given day, or come back to the Lord when we lose our focus,  we will always be ready!


 

Peace of God Be with You

In today's Gospel for Tuesday of the fifth week of Easter, John 14: 27-31, Jesus says to his disciples, that is, to you and me, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.  Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid...I am going away and I will come back to you....I am going to the Father; ....I will no longer speak much with you, for the ruler of the world is coming. He has no power over me...."

"The ruler of the world is coming"!  The ruler of the world is Satan, who sows discord, jealousy, anger, prejudice, hatred, and division. Jesus says: "He has no power over me!" Neither does he have power over those who stay focused on Jesus, seek Jesus and follow Him unreservedly. We are able to do just that because  Jesus prayed for us.  He prayed that we would be one with Him as He and the Father are one and that we would carry on the work He did.  That is why He gave us His peace, saying: "My peace I give to you.....Do not let your hearts be troubled."  Filled with the peace of Jesus and of the Spirit, we are empowered to overcome fear and hatred, jealousy and anger and division.  Our union with others deepens as we foster our relationship with God in prayer and in the sacraments, especially in the Eucharist. Our union with God also deepens as we give our ourselves in  self-sacrificing love to one another throughout a given day!

Proclaiming the Crucified Christ as the Power and the Wisdom of God

In today's Gospel Acclamation "[w]e  proclaim Christ crucified; he is the power of God and the wisdom of God" (1 Cor 1 23a-24b).  In that power the apostles left the place from which Jesus ascended into heaven and went about the world preaching the good news of Jesus' life, death and resurrection, revealing the depth, the length, the width and breadth of God's love for us.  Prior to Jesus' resurrection, the apostles were men filled with fear. They fled for their lives and hid themselves behind locked doors, fearing that what happened to Jesus on the cross would be their fate as well.

Just as  God held nothing back to show us the way to salvation, justice, mercy and forgiveness, so, too, following Jesus' ascension into heaven and His sending the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, nothing held the apostles back from preaching the crucified Christ as "the power of God and the wisdom of God." The apostles and the disciples of Jesus were no longer afraid of those who could harm the body.  Their spirits were fortified by the Holy Spirit. Love for Christ cast out all fear.  Focused on the Lord and relying upon the Lord, they became fierce proclaimers,  if you will.  Like St. Francis of Assisi, Jesus was their God and their All!

You and I are also asked to go out to all the world the proclaim the Gospel of Christ by word and by action.  May we, with the author of today's responsorial psalm, promise that "[t]he favors of the Lord [we] will sing forever; through all generations [our mouths] shall proclaim [Jesus'] faithfulness" (Ps. 89).

With Jesus, for Jesus, in Jesus, through Jesus

In today's first reading, Acts 9: 1-20, we are given the story of Saul's conversion as well as the conversion of Ananias.  Saul is on the way to Damascus and knocked down when "a light from the sky suddenly flashed around him and [he] heard a voice saying to him: 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?'...'Who are you, Sir? ... '  ...'I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. Now get up and go into the city and you will be told what you must do.'"  A similar situation takes place in the city.  Ananias, a disciple of the Lord, is visited by the Lord, also.  Jesus says to him:  "'Ananias.' ....'Here I am, Lord.' ...'Get up and to the the street called Straight and ask at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul.'"    Ananias had to be floored. Saul is out to arrest disciples of Jesus!  So Ananias initially objects to what the Lord is asking of him. "But the Lord said to him, 'Go, for this man is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before Gentiles, kings, and children of Israel, and I will show him what he will have to suffer for my name."  And Ananias goes to Straight Street!

The power of Jesus! Saul is set straight! He is converted from a persecutor of Jesus to a proclaimer of the Lord Jesus. Ananias is converted from fear and resistance of what is perceived as evil to one who is an instrument in converting a man who was a persecutor of the disciples of Jesus.

When God is with us who can be against us, we pray in one of the psalms!  Both Saul and Ananias become instruments in the hand of God to bring about a good willed by God!  You and I, too, can become those instruments when we let down our defenses or, better put, God puts down our defenses! God is always at work in the world doing for us what He did for Saul and Ananias! May our realization of God's presence grow and may our ability to hear the voice of Jesus grow, as well!

A Human Will Embracing God's Will

In today's Gospel, Luke 1: 57-66, we witness Elizabeth and John rejoicing in the birth of their son.  When the eighth day to circumcise him was upon them, those conducting the ritual wanted to name him Zachariah after his father. Elizabeth says: "No. He will be called John." The presiders objected: "There is no one among your relatives who has this name." Not being able to communicate with Zachariah because of his muteness, the presiders made signs to him.  Zachariah asks for a tablet and writes: "John is his name." Immediately, Zachariah's ability to communicate is restored!

Wow! Talk about God revealing His will and His power, both in the birth of John the Baptist and in restoring Zachariah's ability to speak!  God also wills for His plan to be fulfilled in us and that we, too, become His mouthpiece, conforming our wills to His!  Whatever within ourselves that we have distanced from God, God brings near to Himself. Whatever is  barren, God makes fruitful. And whatever part of our hearts has become hardened, God softens so that the will of God in our lives can be realized, as it was within Elizabeth and Zachariah.

Delivered from the Power of Darkness

In today's first reading, Colossians 1: 9-14, St.Paul prays for his disciples, asking God that they be "filled with the knowledge of God's will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, so as to be fully pleasing, in every good work bearing fruit and growing in the knowledge of God, strengthened with every power, in accord with his glorious might, for all endurance and patience, with joy giving thanks to the Father, who has made you fit to share in the inheritance of the holy ones in light." That is why Jesus has come to this earth and why, to this very day, lives among us and within us.  The prayer of St. Paul is fulfilled in each one of us because God has "delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us to the Kingdom of his beloved 
Son in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins."  When did and does God do this? at our baptisms, our confirmations, when we receive the sacraments of Reconciliation and Holy Communion,  and every time we carry out the good God inspires us to do. God also does this for us every time, like Peter in today's Gospel, Luke 5: 1-11, we listen to God's instructions when everything within us says: "That is not going to work, Lord," and we do it anyway for a "large, miraculous catch!"

Willed by God

In today's first reading, Colossians 1: 1-8, St. Paul identifies himself as "an Apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God."  By whose will are you who you are?  Did you consult God before choosing the career that you have chosen or before choosing your spouse or before making any decision, for that matter? Or do you act independently of God, as though you were your own being apart from God? Something to think about!

Jesus tells us in  John 5: 19-20, that He does nothing apart from His Father and that He was sent by the Father; that is, that He did not come of His own will but the Father's (cf. John 6: 57).  Neither you nor I, whether we realize it or not, are capable of doing good apart from God. And, yes, we also have been sent into the world by the will of our God. Perhaps one of the missions we have been given is to realize this truth and to act out of that truth: we are God's and it is God's will that we progress in becoming the person He intends us to become and to give the kinds of service He wants us to give.

We also dependent upon God for being freed of that which deprives us of being the person God intends us to be, as with Peter's mother-in-law who was in bed with a fever (see today's Gospel, Luke 4 38-44). Through members of her family, Jesus intervened,  rebuking the fever and it left her. She got up and ministered to her family. We have been sent here to serve others, as did Jesus, and to build up the Kingdom of our Beloved, of our God and King!

My prayer is that whatever "fever" holds us back from doing the will of God in our lives will be rebuked by Jesus, as was the fever that took hold of Peter's mother-in-law. And may the "fever" that cripples our government officials from doing good for others be rebuked by Jesus, also!

Mary's Assumption into Heaven

Today we celebrate the assumption of our Blessed Virgin Mary into heaven body and soul.

In today's first reading from the book of Revelation, chapter 12: 19a; 12: 1-6a, and 10b,  St. John describes the heavens opening and he sees "the ark of [God's] covenant."  Mary is the Ark of the New Covenant. She carried the Son of God in her womb for 9 months and gave Him birth.

Mary is described in this passage as being"clothed with the sun".  She is crowned with "twelve stars" and, for sure, those stars are more brilliant than any diamonds worn by a bride! Under Mary's feet is "the moon."    Take a moment to imagine this picture of Mary.

John sees Mary in pain,  giving birth and near her stands "a huge red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on its heads were seven diadems...The dragon stood before the woman...,[waiting] to devour her child...She gave  birth to a son,...destined to rule all the nations...Her child is caught up to God and his throne [and Mary] fled into the desert where she had a place prepared by God. Then [John says that he] heard a loud voice in heaven say:

                     'NOW HAVE SALVATION AND POWER COME,
                     AND THE KINGDOM OF OUR GOD
                     AND THE AUTHORITY OF HIS ANOINTED ONE!'" (emphasis is mine)


From the moment of Jesus' birth "salvation and power" have come, as has the "Kingdom of our God and the authority of His anointed one!"  God rules to this very day in ways that those of faith are able to observe.  May we, in faith, seek to know this "salvation and power." May we look for God's Kingdom among us--the Kingdom of God is within us, Jesus tells us in the Gospels--and may we acknowledge the authority of His anointed one in our midst.


             

In Hot Pursuit!

In today's first reading, Ex 14: 5-18, the Egyptians regret having allowed the Israelites to leave their country.  "What have we done!  Why, have we released Israel from our service!"  Angry, they go in pursuit of the Israelites with full force:  "Pharaoh's whole army, his horses chariots and charioteers, caught u[ with them as they lay encamped..."  The Israelites see the Egyptians coming at them in to pursuit. Terrified and angry, they turn on Moses: "Were there no burial places in Egypt that you had to bring us out here to die in the desert? ....Fear not! Stand your ground, and you will see the victory the Lord will win for you today." Through Moses, God parts the Red Sea and the Israelites pass through it on dry ground, while Egypt's whole army parishes in the middle of their attempts to cross over and return the Israelites to being their slaves!

How challenging it is for us to leave the "Egypts" of our lives--those environments or attitudes or behaviors or  people that enslave us to evil or deprive us of the freedom God desires for us.  When we resolve to do what is right, the evil one does not give up. He pursues us just as the Egyptians pursued the Israelites. Do we "stand our ground"  until we "see the victory the Lord will win" for those who are faithful to His commands, seek is help and long to see His face.

God, our Refuge and our Strength

The Entrance Antiphon of today's liturgy reads:  "The Lord is the strength of His people, a saving refuge for the one he has anointed."  We then pray: "Save your people, Lord, and bless your heritage, and govern them for ever."

Let us put that in personal terms:  "The Lord is my strength, a saving refuge for me, His anointed one." Let us pray:  "Save me, Lord, and bless me, your heritage and govern me for ever."

When were you and I anointed? When we were baptized and confirmed. Some of us have also been anointed with the anointing of the sick.  We became God's heritage at our baptism. We were adopted by God as God's daughters/sons; our adoption was finalized at our baptism!

From what do we want God to save us? From Satan's snares, power, and deceitfulness. Where there are lies, Satan is working. The person who lies has fallen into Satan's trap. In that trap, Satan has power over the person who is lying.  That is why we pray in today's responsorial psalm, Ps.69:  I pray to you, O Lord, for the time of your favor, O God!  In your great kindness answer me with your constant help."  We need God's constant help because Satan is always roaming the world seeking someone to devour by his lying ways.  We pray to God:  "Answer me, O Lord, for bounteous is your kindness; in your great mercy turn toward me."   

We pray also for those who serve our country, as they seem to be functioning from Satan's trap, lying to the people frequently.  Corruption seems to surround them and seems to have taken possession of them. May God have mercy and open their eyes to Satan's lies.

Oneness with the Father and the Son and with One Another

In today's Gospel, John 17: 20-26, Jesus prays that you and I--all humankind--will be one with each other, as He and the Father are one.  "...[M]ay all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us,  that the world may believe that you sent me."  Jesus then reminds His Father that He has given [us] the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may be brought to perfection as one....Father, they are your gift to me. I wish that where I am they also may be with me, that they may see my glory that you gave me."

This is Jesus, our brother, our Savior, speaking about us, sharing His deepest desires for us. He wants us to reach the perfection of oneness with one another that exists between Himself and His Father.  We may hear that and say: "No way. Look at all the divisions that exists within families, within our political, ecclesial, social, educational, medical communities, between countries, ideologies, philosophies, spiritualities and so on! Unity? No way!" However,   God is all powerful. He brought together Jews and Gentiles in His day. Paul and other early evangelizers witnessed divisions being resolved in big ways. We can too and will because the power of the Holy Spirit is greater than any opposition to unity!

My prayer:  may I work toward unity, Lord, with You and with others. May my will be one with Yours.  May those whose behaviors are corrupted by power and by securing wealth dishonestly have their eyes opened to Satan's deceptive ways. May I know when I have been deceived by Satan, also.
I ask this in Jesus' name.

The Hand of God Was with Them and Is with Us

In today’s first reading, Acts 11: 19-26, we learn that those who had been scattered by the persecution that followed the murder of Stephen did not cowl in fear but went forth to other places to proclaim “the Lord Jesus. The hand of the Lord was with them,” the author of Acts, tells us, and “a great number who believed turned to the Lord.” Barnabas was sent to Antioch and, when he arrived, he “saw the grace of God,” and  rejoiced and encouraged the people to whom he had been sent to “remain faithful to the Lord in firmness of heart.”

Wow! What testimony! What courage! And what a commitment to the Lord God! Would you and I, I ask, after witnessing a disciple of the Lord being stoned to death and fleeing persecution continue to “proclaim the Lord Jesus”?  Would we, in arriving at a new city/town/country recognize “the grace of God” working in strangers? Do we recognize God at work in those with whom we live? Within those with whom we worship each Sunday? Within our co-workers? 

May we, every day, take time to reflect upon the Scriptures of the daily liturgy, or any other Scripture or spiritually-uplifting reading. Doing so, we will grow in our awareness of God at work in others, and in ourselves. We will awaken our ability to rejoice and encourage others in their faith development and in using their faith to bring others to Jesus!

The Creative, Life-giving, Life-changing Power of God

In today’s first reading, Acts 3: 11-26, Luke shares the story of the how people responded to the miracle that Jesus performed through Peter and John when they said to a man crippled from birth and who was begging for alms, “…in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazorean, rise and walk”   (Acts 3: 1-10). He rose and walked for the first time in his life. People were amazed and “looked so intently at [Peter and John] as if [they] had made [the crippled man] walk by [their] own power or piety.”

 Jesus is the same now as then.  He makes all things new. He makes the lame walk, raises the dead to life (the physically dead to eternal life, the spiritually dead to new faith, the psychologically dead to new ways of connecting with others and self that brings new life to them emotionally and psychologically).  We see the creative power of the Triune God at work in winter giving way to spring, in plants “resurrecting” from the soil, in buds bursting open on trees and bushes. Flowers of a variety of colors and shapes beautify our environment in myriad of ways, revealing the beauty, presence  and life-giving power of our God. We see God bringing forth new life in the birth of baby chicks and birds and baby animals of all kinds. And of course, we also see God’s creative power at work in the birth of babies being born to families wanting to work with God in the creation of life among us.

May God be praised, honored, glorified through all of creation. May you and I be a significant part of that glorification, honoring, praising and thanking God by our intimacy with Him, with ourselves and with others in renewing life around us and within us, as the sun renews all of the plant kingdom this spring!

Given a Spirit of Power

In his second letter to Timothy,  2 Timothy 1: 1-8, St. Paul reminds Timothy “to stir into flame the gift of God that you have[been given] through the imposition of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather of power and love and self-control.”  We, too, at our baptism and confirmation and in the sacrament of the sick, have been given “a spirit…of power and love and self-control,” not “a spirit of cowardice”.  However, believing Satan’s lies that we are unable, we can allow fear to control our lives. We can shrink from acting courageously and cooperating with grace. We do just that when, for instance, we avoid asking for forgiveness from God and from those persons we offend by our words or by our coldness, by our harshness and/or  judgments.  When Satan whispers into our ears that “it is too hard,” or that “we are weak,” to do the good to which we are called, we are then being lied to by the Father of Lies.  On the contrary,  as  Paul tells us, we are able to “bear[our] share of hardship for the Gospel with the strength that comes from God.”  God never inspires us to do a good without giving us the grace needed to do that good.

And how do we “stir into flame the gift of God” that we have been given by the imposition of a priest’s hands at our baptism and confirmation?  By doing good, by serving others, by taking time for prayer and reflection upon the Scriptures, by receiving the sacraments of Eucharist and Reconciliation, by engaging in reading that nurtures our spiritual growth, by gazing upon God in the Blessed Sacrament or in other places where God’s peace abounds and by letting God gaze upon us in love from the Crucifix, from the Tabernacle, from the eyes of an innocent child, by looking for God in all of creation, in all of His beloved children, and in all of the events of our lives.