Empowered by Faith and Convinced of God's Promises

In today's first reading, Romans 4: 20-25, we read about Abraham's faith: "Abraham did not doubt God's promise in unbelief; rather, he was empowered by faith and gave glory to God and was fully convinced that what God had promised he was also able to do. That is why it was credited to him as righteousness . But it was not for him alone that it was written that it was credited to him; it was also for us, to whom it will be credited, who believe in the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was handed over for our transgressions and was raised for our justification."

May I, Lord, like Abraham, not doubt your promises to me: the promise of salvation, of being justified, of being made righteous by the Blood of Jesus!  May I not doubt the gift of the Holy Spirit poured out upon me at baptism and confirmation and reconfirmed throughout the events of each day when I call upon you for the help of the Spirit, that is, for the gift of wisdom, courage, prudence, understanding, counsel and fear of the Lord; and for the gift of piety.  May I not doubt your presence, Lord, at the core of my being and existent in every human being.  Every human being is an image of you; may I see your image in each person. Also, Lord, may I seek you in all that is, including the universe and all in it!  May I not doubt your promise to set me free and that you will save me from all of my enemies, especially those within me: pride, fear, envy, avarice, lust, covetousness, greediness, selfishness, and anything that blocks me from surrendering to Your will and serving you and others in faith, hope and love.  May I not doubt your mercy, compassion, and unconditional love.  May I not forget that you are forever freeing me to "worship you without fear" (Luke 1: 75) and that, in your sight, I am holy and righteous, made so by the blood of Jesus!  I ask for these graces in Jesus' name and through the intercession of  Mary, the mother of Jesus and my mother, too. Amen.

The Confidence of Paul and Barnabas

In today's first reading, Acts 14: 5-18, Paul and Barnabas encounter opposition to their proclamation of the Good News of Jesus' resurrection. The jealousy of the leaders of an empire and their leaders' fear of losing their power led to Jesus' arrest and condemnation to be crucified, a fate that happened to anyone who was a threat to those in power at that time. However, death would have no power over Jesus, the Son of God. Efforts to destroy Him, then and now, would be in vain. Hence the confidence of Paul and Barnabas. They simply moved to other towns open to the Good News.

Neither the early Christians nor us today are promised a life free of problems, even problems within the Church, within our own families or society as a whole. What we are promised is that God is with us to the very end of the world as we know it! Some people may oppose us as Christians, as practicing Catholics, especially as believers in the Eucharist--the body and blood, soul and divinity of Jesus, our spiritual food, of which Jesus invites us to partake:  "Take and eat!  This is my body given up for you. Take and drink!  This is my blood poured out for you" (Compare Luke 22: 19-20; Matthew 26: 26-28; Mark 14: 22-24). Many people walked away from Jesus when He said this about His body and blood. They would have none of this teaching. Jesus asked the apostles if they, too, were going to leave and Peter responded: "To whom shall we go, Lord? You have the words of everlasting life."

We may, in some instances, also be mocked for believing that the Scriptures, the Word of God, "is something alive and active: it cuts like any double-edged sword but more finely: it can slip through the place where the soul is divided from the spirit, or joints from the marrow; it can judge the secret emotions and thought. No created thing can hide from [God]; everything is uncovered and open to the eyes of the one to whom we must give an account of ourselves" (Hebrews 4: 12-3). Jesus' friend Mary gave priority to sitting at Jesus' feet, listening to His every word. We do that when we spend time reflecting upon the Scriptures or take time quietly pondering God's presence in nature, in the quiet of our rooms or in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament in a Catholic Church or a prayer space in any church!

Developing a personal relationship with Jesus, as Paul and Barnabas did, is important if we are going to weather the storms of this life!

The Promises of the Lord God

In today's first reading, Amos 9:11-15, the  Lord says to the people of Israel and to us, through the prophet Amos:  "I will raise up the fallen hut of David [and the fallen hut of this world]; I will wall up its breaches, raise up its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old....I, the Lord, will do this.  Yes, the days are coming, says the Lord, when....I will bring about the restoration of my people Israel [of the people of the entire world]; they [the Israelites and the people of the entire world] shall rebuild and inhabit their ruined cities, plant vineyards and drink wine, set out gardens and eat fruits. I will plant them [everyone] upon their own ground; never again shall they be plucked from the land I have given them, say I, the Lord your God."

The psalmist, in today's responsorial psalm, Psalm 85, confirms this message, saying: "...[H]ear what  God proclaims; ...peace to his people [to us]. Near indeed, the psalmist says, is his salvation to those who fear [reverence] him...Kindness and truth shall meet; justice and peace shall kiss.....Justice shall walk  before him [God], and salvation, along the way of his steps."

God is doing and will do all of this and He also uses each one of us to bring these promises to fruition!  What am I doing, what are you doing,  to restore justice, to rebuild ruined relationships, to see to it that "kindness and truth" shall meet because you and I were involved in a conflictual situation?  What are you, what am I doing, so that people have "a ground" that they can call their own and thrive, able to set out "gardens," literal one and virtual ones, and "eat fruit," literally, spiritually, socially, civilly?

God's Faithfulness

In today's first reading, Amos 2: 6-10, 13-16, the prophet Amos is speaking, I believe, directly to us today in the following message:  Thus says the Lord: for three crimes of Israel, and for four, I will not revoke my word; Because they sell the just man for silver,  and the poor man for a pair of sandals. They trample the head of the weak into the dust of the earth, and force the lowly out of the way....Upon garments taken in pledge they decline beside any altar; And the wine of those who have been fined they drink in the house of their god."  Some world leaders, including the U.S., I believe, are doing exactly what Amos states.  Just men and women are being sold for drugs, for sex, for loading the pockets of billionaires. Poor men and women are being sold for whatever some of the rich covet. By lowering taxes on billionaires and easing re taxes of the poor, profiteers "drink in the house of their god," that is unearned wealth, abused power and control. The "head of the weak" are being trampled "into the dust of the earth" and "the lowly" are forced "out of the way," put into cages, detained in detention centers, returned to a country where their lives and the lives of their children are in danger. 

Amos tells us that God "will not revoke" his word. Even though you and I are unfaithful, God remains faithful to His promises. We are told in the Gospels, that Jesus has come, not to condemn the world but to save it.  God does not go back on that promise.  Salvation is ours if we claim it by living in the the Light and in the Truth, cooperating with God's grace, living up to our baptismal promises. Salvation is ours by the choices we make to do good, act justly, love tenderly and walk humbly with our God (see Micah 6:8). Salvation is ours when we respect each person's right to freedom and to a just wage; when we help all peoples experience liberty, justice and happiness; when we reach out to the needy and oppressed, the sick and deprived of this world; when, in short, we return evil with good.

What kind of choices am I, are you making? Am I, are you, living in the Light or have we chosen to live in the dark and spread darkness into other people's lives?  One comes leads to an eternity of darkness--not God' choice for you or me. The other choices leads to an eternity of light and love--God's choice for all of us.

The New and Eternal Covenant Given by Jesus

In the last three Gospels of this week, John 6: 44-51, John 6: 52-59 and today's, John 6: 60-69,  Jesus tells the people that He is "the living bread that came down from heaven" (Jn 6: 57). Whoever "eats this bread," Jesus says, "will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my Flesh for the life of the world" (John 6: 51).  In John 6: 52-59, the Jews are quarreling and asking: "'How can this man give us His Flesh to eat?' Jesus said to them, "Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the Flesh of the  Son of man and drink His Blood you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my Flesh and drinks my Blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my Flesh is true food, and my Blood true drink. Whoever eats my Flesh and drinks my Blood remains in me and I in him'....These things he said while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum" (John6: 54-59).

In today's Gospel, John 6: 60-69, many of the disciples of stopped following Jesus, saying: "This saying is hard; who can accept it" (John 6:60)? Jesus knows what the people are quarreling about and says to them: "Does this shock you? What if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before.  It is the Spirit that gives life, while the flesh is of no avail.  The words I have spoken to you are Spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe" (John 6: 60-63).  To this very day many people walk away because they do  not believe the words of Jesus  concerning the Holy Eucharist celebrated by Catholics.

The Spirit that overshadowed Mary when the second person of the Blessed Trinity took on human nature is the same Spirit that overshadows the bread and wine at Mass when the priest utters the words of consecration: "This is my Body; this is my Blood". The ordinary bread and wine become the body and blood, the soul and divinity of Jesus.  Just as many of the disciples of Jesus stopped following Him when he said to them "unless you eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink  his Blood, you do not have life within you" so, too, today do many people abandon their Catholic faith, saying: "I won't believe" or "I don't believe!"

May my faith, and yours, remain strong in Jesus' words, said by Jesus Himself in the person of the priest.  "Take  this, all of you, and eat of it, for this is my Body given up for you....Take this, all of you, and drink from it, for this is the chalice of my Blood, the Blood of the new and eternal covenant, which will be poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this in memory of me" (Eucharistic Prayer II--The Word Among Us, May 2018, p. L15).

Being Fertile and Fruitful

In  today's first reading, Isaiah 55: 10-11, the Lord reminds us that "[j]ust as from the heavens the rain and snow come down and do not return there until they have watered the earth, making it fertile and fruitful, giving seed to the one who sows and bread to the one who eats, so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; my word shall not return to me void, but it shall do my will, achieving the end for which I sent it."

As a parent, imagine that each instruction that you give to your children bears fruit, that is,  it does not return to you void but accomplishes the good for which you intended it. Imagine, also that, because of your guidance--the words of wisdom you speak to them-- you see your children grow in grace and wisdom, in strength to do what is right, especially when peers are pressuring them to make choices that will bring them harm!  Your words, as stated in the Gospel of today, Matthew 13: 1-23,  "fell on rich soil, and produced fruit, a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold." And you are truly proud of you sons and daughters, your grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Now, apply this to your relationship with God. God instructs you every day, sending His Word to you through the Spirit who dwells within you, through the Scriptures read at a Sunday liturgy and explained in the priest's homily, or in your reflection on a cherished spiritual resource which we read each day.  The word "fell on rich soil, and produced fruit, a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold." And God is truly proud of you!

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 Governs All Things

In the collect of today's liturgy, we address God as the "Almighty ever-living God, who govern all things both in heaven and on earth."  As I reflected upon that prayer, thoughts came to me that God is God, not so any of our politicians nor our president-elect.  God is stronger than any human being, than the persons our president-elect has chosen for his cabinet.  I also voiced the fact that all of the boasting that has been part of the campaigning is just boasting, not action. The Lord, then, reminded me: "I am God; there is not other" and, as St. Paul says to us in today's first reading, Hebrews 7: 25-8:6: "Jesus is always able to save those who approach God through him, since He lives forever to make intercession for them."  Hear Jesus saying to you:

(Your name), I sit at the right hand of the Father, interceding for you and all humankind. I intercede for all those for whom you and others pray.

I know how tragic it is that the people of the U.S. may have been deceived by Satan at work in this election on both sides of the aisle.  I am aware.  I am ready to save all those who come to me.  All need salvation.  

As St. Paul says: I am "mediator of a better covenant, enacted on better promises" of eternal life where moth does not consume, sin is no more and weapons are melted down into instruments of peace, where those who choose to follow the Father of Lies will be separated from those who follow the Lamb of God. Each will go to the destiny they so choose.

Cling to me and be saved.  

Remember that I govern all things and all peoples.  Anything else is an illusion and a deception. What you see is not what you get anymore than what onlookers who stared at my dead body on the cross is what they got!

You Shall be My People and I Shall be Your God

In today’s first reading, Ezekiel 36: 230-28, God says to each of us through the prophet Ezekiel:  “I will prove the holiness of my great name… Thus the nations shall know that I am the Lord…when in their sight I prove my holiness through you.  For I will… gather you from all the foreign lands, and bring you back to your own land. I will sprinkle clean water upon you to cleanse you from all your impurities, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. I will give you a new heart and place a new spirit within you, taking from your bodies your stony hearts and giving you natural hearts. I will put my spirit within you and make you live by my statues, careful to observe my decrees. You shall…be my people, and I will be your God.”

God is at work at this very moment proving His holiness through you/me. He is gathering us from “foreign lands” that do not lead to the holiness of God, that do not reflect God’s purity and goodness, that leads us away from the Truth, the Way and the Life that Jesus is for us.  God, at this very moment, is bringing us back to our own land, that is,  to being who we are in His sight, to being the person God created us to be, men/ women of a nature that is unique, that has the inner strength to make one’s own decisions, decisions that lead to new life, new hope and a deeper faith in the power God  puts within us every morning to be our own persons, not the person someone else wants us to be, a person who seeks God’s approval and the approval of one’s core self that is one with God.  At this very moment God is cleansing us from all of our idols: the idol of self, the idol of needing other people’s approval, the idol of accumulating unnecessary possessions, the idol of selfishness and narcissism, the idol of prideful pursuits, the idol of absolute independence, the idol of sexual pleasures divorced of responsibilities and discipline or any other God-substitute we have chosen as our sole security.

“Let Me be your security,” God says to us. “Place your trust in me, not in things! Believe in Me as your Savior, your God.” 

Our response: Psalm 51!

God's Promises and Deep Concern

In today’s first reading, Jeremiah 31: 31-34, the Lord says to the Chosen People, “The days are coming…when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers:  the day I took them by the hand to lead them forth from the land of Egypt; for they broke my covenant, and I had to show myself their master, says the Lord.”

Has the day come when the Lord, our God, has to show Himself the master of the U.S. and of the world? What will it take for us to realize that God has placed His law within us, that God has written His law on our hearts because He is our God and we are His people? As I listen to the news each night I do not get the impression that we act as people of God!  In this passage, the Lord God says: “All, from least to greatest, shall know me,…, for I will forgive their evil doing and remember their sin no more.”  Much of what is broadcast to the world in the evening news  is the evil doing of people rebelling against God and one another. Is it time for God to “show [Himself] the master” of us all, “to take [us] by the hand to lead [us] forth from the land of Egypt,” yes, from that place of slavery into which we have fallen: slaves to satanic behavior, slaves to power and control over others, slaves to idolatrous positions, acting as though we humans are gods, not servants of the one True God?

Where One's Joy and the Happiness Lie

In today’s  first reading, Jeremiah 15: 10, 16-21, the prophet cries out to the Lord: “Woe to me…that you gave me birth!”  He is upset that others are cursing him, though he’s done them no wrong.  He then reminds the Lord that “[w]hen I found your words, I devoured them; they became my joy and the happiness of my heart, because I bore your name, O Lord, God of Hosts….Why is my pain continuous, my wound incurable, refusing to be healed?....Thus the Lord answered me: If you repent, so that I restore you, in my presence you shall stand; If you bring forth the precious without the vile, you shall be my mouthpiece….I am with you, to deliver you and rescue you, says the Lord. I will free you from the hand of the wicked, and rescue you from the grasp of the violent.”

What a message!  God is always on our side ready to deliver us from evil, ready to protect us from wicked schemes, waiting for us to repent of our wrongdoing rather than complaining about what we judge as the wrongdoing of others.  Am I doing my part? Am I devouring God Word from the Holy Scriptures?  Is my joy and happiness rooted in the fact that I bear God’s name, that I have been created in the image and likeness of God, that I have been baptized into Christ and will rise with Christ as I die to anything that is not of God within my being: attitudes of pride, hopelessness, faithlessness, prejudice, envy, jealousy, hatred, and so on.  If I do these things, I truly, according to today’s Gospel, Matthew 13: 44-46, have found the pearl of great price, as I will then “sell all” that is not of God and clothe myself in grace.

The Promises of the Lord

In today's first reading, Baruch 5: 1-9, the prophet asks Jerusalem "to take off [its] robe of mourning and misery....For God will show all the earth your splendor: you will be named by God forever the peace of justice, the glory of God's worship.....Up, Jerusalem! stand upon the heights; look to the east and see your children gathered from the east and the west at the word of the Holy One, rejoicing that they are remembered by God. Led away on foot by their enemies they left you: but God will bring them back to you borne aloft in glory as on royal thrones. For God has commanded that every lofty mountain be made low, and that the age-old depths and gorges be filled to level ground, that Israel may advance secure in the glory of God."

What promises, not only to Jerusalem, but to every city and town, nations and peoples!  Every continent, every race, every religion is ask "to take off its robe of mourning and misery.  "...God will show all the earth" the splendor of God" hidden within it. Are we willing to yield our robes of mourning to the Lord? Are we willing to leave corruption and sin, injustices and deceit behind?  God has named us forever "the peace of justice."  "Lofty mountain[s]" of pride and lust, gluttony and avarice God has commanded to "be made low."   Isis and Al Quaeda, abortionists, human traffickers, those perpetrating slave labor, all those involved in corruption of any kind will be defeated. That within you and me that needs to be brought low will be leveled and virtue risen in its place.

O, the glory and the splendor, the power and the honor of our God in our midst. God, who is our leader and our warrior, will not be stopped in His plan of saving us. We may for a time be "led away...by [our] enemies]...but God will bring [us]  back...borne aloft in glory as on royal thrones," Baruch prophesies!

These are some of my reflections on today's first Scripture reading, Baruch 5: 1-9. What is God saying to you in this reading?

God's Empowerment

Today’s first reading, Jeremiah 1:1, 4-10, presents Jeremiah’s call to be God’s prophet, an instrument in the hands of God to proclaim His message, to reveal God’s presence, and give hope to a people who were facing a takeover by the Babylonian empire and were eventually sent into exile. It was the prophet Jeremiah who warned them of this possibility but also reminded them that, after 70 years, they would return to their homeland and experience, once again, God’s mercy and favor.
Jeremiah’s response  to God’s call came out of his fear and sounded something like: O, God, I am only a boy.  Find someone else! I am not capable of doing what are you asking of me. Please, look elsewhere.” Sound familiar? How often do we not back away from a difficult assignment or a problematic issue. “Oh, God, not again.  I’m too tired, too old, too scared, too weak” or whatever excuse looms in our minds.  We will find one that we hope will stick!

When we do that, however, our focus is on our own resources, our own power and, of course, we are then unable to manage the turbulent waters of any task.  God never asks anything of us without giving us the tools we need, as He did for Jeremiah:  “…the Lord extended his hand and touched…[Jeremiah,’s] mouth, saying, ‘See, I place my words in your mouth! This day I set you over nations and over kingdoms, to root up and to tear down, to destroy and to demolish, to build and to plant.” God does the same for us, giving us the right words and giving us the graces we need to “root up and to tear down, to destroy and to demolish, to build and to plant” that which needs repair, be it a relationship with a spouse, a fellow religious, a co-worker, a boss; be it rooting up and tearing down, destroying and demolishing sin in our hearts and minds and choices; be it building and planting seeds of faith in our children, in a rebellious child. God is there at our side. God, in fact, equips us with the necessary tools to bring about the changes that need to be brought about for our sakes and the sake of others in order that God’s  Kingdom is made real “on earth as in heaven.”

The Promise of the Spirit

In today's second reading, Eph 1: 17-23, St. Paul prays that the "God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, give...[us] a Spirit of wisdom and revelation resulting in knowledge of him. May the eyes of...[our] hearts be enlightened," Paul prays.

 Note the words "the eyes of our hearts."  Those eyes are different from the eyes on our faces, so to speak.  The "eyes of our hearts" are inward eyes, eyes from the depth of our beings, eyes of faith whereby we grow in our knowledge of Jesus  and of "the hope that belongs to...[God's] call, what are the riches of glory in ...[God's] inheritance"  (Eph. 1: 17-23). Functioning from that depth of faith is the gift of the Spirit promised to the apostles, and to us, by Jesus when He said: "...the Spirit of truth ... will guide you to all truth....", truth of all that He taught while on earth and is contained for us in the Scriptures, is communicated to us by the Spirit living within us and others and which is hidden in all of the events of our lives.  As Jesus tells us in today's Gospel, Mt. 28: 16-20, "I am with you always" and as prophesied by Isaiah: "I have not spoken to you in secret, in a dark place of the earth I did not say to the seed of Jacob 'Seek me in vain'; I, the Lord,...declare things that are right."  And so did Jesus, the Son of God!

The power and effects of love

Today, I invite you to read the first reading of today's liturgy as God addressing you personally. It would then read as follows:

“(insert your name) , beloved, My dear one, if God so loved you, you also must love others. No one has ever seen Me. Yet if you love one another, especially those whom you find repulsive or obnoxious, I remain in you, and My love is brought to perfection in you.

This is how you know that you remain in Me and I in you, that I have given you of My Spirit.  Moreover, you have seen and testify that I, Your Abba God, sent My Son as savior of the world. When you acknowledge that Jesus is My Son, I remain in you and you in Me. You have come to believe in the love I have for you, my Beloved, My cherished one.

I am love and whoever remains in love remains in me and I in that person. In this is love brought to perfection in you, that you have confidence on the day of judgment because as I am, so are you in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment, and so one who fears is not yet perfect in love.

But you, (insert your name), are being perfected in love through your faith in My Son, Jesus Christ, and your effort to love, first yourself so you can love others, and, second, others with whom you live and work and play.” (1 Jn 4: 11-18—I made adaptations).

Wow! What love! I am awed by this passage, especially when I think of married men and women growing in love with and for one another and for their children! All of you in marriage are truly blessed.  Those of us in religious life and/or in the single life are inspired by you but also called to grow in love excluding no one!  That, too, is a challenge but one reachable through the power of God’s love at work in us.

Feast of St. Stephen, the first Martyr

Today we celebrate the feast of St. Stephen, the first person to give his life for his faith in Christ Jesus.

In the Gospel, Mt. 10: 17-22, Jesus tells us not to worry about what we might say when confronted for our faith, when we are challenged by pagans, non-believers, and/or oppressors because “[y]ou will be given at that moment what you are to say. For it will not be you who speak but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.”  Stephen, filled with the wisdom of the Spirit, was no match for his debaters, St. Luke tells us in the first reading of today’s liturgy, Acts 6: 8-10; 7: 54-59.  Stephen “was working great wonders and signs among the people. Certain members of the so-called Synagogue of Freemen, Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and people from Cilicia and Asia, came forward and debated with Stephen, but they could not withstand the wisdom and the spirit with which he spoke.”

The Spirit that willed Stephen is also within our very beings. We, too, have access to the Wisdom of God, who comes to us in Baptism, Confirmation, the Holy Eucharist and through grace available to all who call upon the name of the Lord.  May you and I, today, experience that power at work within us and around us and within and around others as well. May our eyes be opened to the wonders of the Lord worked by others, by the signs God’s gives of His love’s transforming power.

The infant Jesus, God among us, continues to this day to come in disguises and in ways that, many times, pass us unawares. Our efforts to seek the Lord each day make it more likely that we will recognize Him in the daily events of the day: in our children, our young people, the elderly, our own family members and relatives, our priests and deacons, in the signs of the times (the disasters around us that invite us to call upon the Lord and put our faith in God, not in material things or even in humankind. God alone saves!

 

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"?

Repent and Believe in the Good News

In my morning meditation,  I continued to bare my distress to the Lord about a recent conversation that what awaits us following death is God’s  punishment for our sinful lives; namely, that we will suffer in the fires of purgatory and not enter heaven when we die.  It’s not that I do not believe in the importance of being purified before entering heaven; however,  there seems to be a contradiction with the following Scripture passages for those of us who repent and believe the Good News. In  Psalm 103:11, the psalmist proclaims: “[as] the height of heaven above earth, so strong is [God’s] faithful love for those who fear him. As the distance of east from west, so far from us does he put our faults”  and,  in Is. 1:18, God says to us through the prophet: “Though…[their] sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool” (Is 1:18).  As explained in a footnote in the Jerusalem Bible on this passage, “the condition on which God insists is avowal of the sin and repentance…and the inner conversion that this implies.”  I believe that one who avows or admits his/her sins and brings his/her sinful behavior into harmony with the Holy Will of God is purified of that sin in the here and now through the sacraments of reconciliation, Eucharist and the Anointing of the Sick.  Furthermore, did Jesus not say to the good thief on the cross “this day you will be with me in Paradise”?  He did not say” You will be with me in Paradise after you suffer in the burning fires of purgatory following your death.”  If his repentance and sincere sorrow, if his admittance of his guilt and his suffering united with the sufferings of Jesus’ on the cross were accepted  as his purification and readiness to be in the presence of God in eternity that very day, why is this not true for those of us  who sincerely repent and believe in Jesus’ words to us in this very moment and on our death beds: “This day you will be with me in Paradise.”  I believe it does. What is your belief?

God Victory Will be Ours

In Is 35: 1-10, Isaiah prophesizes about the fulfillment of God’s promise of sending a Messiah to turn the world back to God.  We know that, through Christ Jesus, we will be saved.  Satan, seemingly totally out of control in today’s world, will be overcome. Evil will be destroyed along with those who perpetuate evil and do not repent.  “Here is your God,” Isaiah says, “he comes with vindication” Is 35: 4),  All of us, in some way or another, long to be exonerated now. However, our justification might not happen until we enter eternal life, as it did not happen for Jesus until His resurrection.

Isaiah tells us that when the Messiah enters our lives and our world, our eyes and the “eyes of the  blind will be opened”, our ears and “the ears of the deaf will be cleared” (Is 35: 5).   Wars will cease between individuals, families, nations, cultures, men and women, rich and poor, homosexuals and heterosexuals; human trafficking and drug trafficking, and violence of any kind will cease. With the coming of the Messiah into our personal lives we will create a world in which the integrity of every human being will be honored, each one’s needs will be met.

Am I ready for this Messiah? Am I preparing a path in my life where Jesus is welcome, where the Spirit is heard and God’s instructions followed?  If so, how is that happening? If not, what do I need to change?

Abundance of life

“I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly”  (John 10:10).  At the end of a day I may be spent, nothing left to give.  The next morning I wake up alert, renewed, with lots of energy for the day.  I have been given an abundance of life while I slept.  As I move through the day, my life receives even more of the abundance of life God has waiting for those who love Him, seek Him, and serve Him. I may wonder where I will get the insight I need for a certain project or the patience I need to deal with a trying situation or the strength to take on a difficult project. Yet, there is God waiting to meet my need, whatever it might be.   “I came that you might have life and have it more abundantly.”

So what happens when I experience a meager supply? It certainly is not that God is not prepared to give me the abundance He wants to give me. So the problem may be that I am not seeking what I need or do not acknowledge my deficit or weakness or inadequacy.  I do know that Jesus, who showed us who His Father is, always responded to the needy, at one time feeding 5000+ people with two loaves and seven fishes. At other times He restored the dead child/youth to a grieving parent and, at still other times, cast out demons, healed the sick and blind and deaf.  He does so today because He has come so that we “might have life and have it more abundantly.”  Most times, my experience is that God is super generous, a superior giver, a profoundly compassionate God, ready at all times. What about you?