Imitators of Christ

In today's second reading, 1 Thes 1: 5c-10, St. Paul says to the people: "[Y]ou became imitators of us and of the Lord, receiving the word in great affliction, with joy from the Holy Spirit, so that you became a model for all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia." Yesterday I had the privilege to attend a funeral of a relative.  She, too, became an imitator of the Lord. She received the Word in the good times of her life and the not-so-good times. She experienced the joy of the Holy Spirit in her relationships with her loved ones and sometimes experienced the sadness that comes with efforts to love and be loved.  And in the end, through the Holy Spirit working in her,  became a model for all the believers who knew her.

Life is not easy by any stretch of the imagination. We encounter the good spirit and the opposing spirit within us and within others, as I mentioned in my most recent blog. I walked into my place of work this morning and someone points out how I have been deceived by someone. No, life is not easy. A part of me wants to set the record straight, which I could by the evidence shown me. Or I can let go and let God. In the turmoil, however, I know that the "Lord is my strength," as we pray in today's responsorial psalm. God is "my rock, my fortress, my deliverer."  As I brought all of the issues to the Lord in prayer this morning, I opened the Scriptures three times and pointed to a passage on each page. The  Lord gave me the following three messages:  The first passage was from Gal 5: 24--You cannot, Dorothy Ann, belong to Christ Jesus, unless you crucify all self-indulgent passions and desires. In this case, I need to crucify my need to make things straight. The second passage was from Luke 10: 23-24--Happy the eyes that see what you see, for I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see and never saw it, to hear what you hear, and never heard it, and the third from Col 3: 11--There is only one Christ. He is everything and He is in everything!"  I am blessed to hear the words of Christ over and over again and to "see" Him at work in me and around me.

What are your blessings? What are you hearing and seeing that brings you to the feet of the Lord? What is God asking of you?

Compassion and Forgiveness: God's Saving Gifts

In today’s first reading, Ephesians 4: 32-5:8, Paul states clearly what the Lord asks of us, namely, to be compassionate and forgiving of others as God is of us.  We are asked to imitate Jesus, who gave his life for us. For whom am I giving my life today? Whom will I uplift today through my acts of love and forgiveness? Will I be a source of strength, hope and love for others today or will I burden others today by attitudes of selfishness, stinginess and disdain or  by deceitful ways and speech, through gossip and the like?  Paul goes on to say: “Immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be mentioned among you, as is fitting among holy ones, no obscenity or silly or suggestive talk, which is out of place, but instead, thanksgiving.”  Just in case we do not get it, he says furthermore: “No immoral or impure or greedy person, that is, an idolater, has any inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and of God.”

My thoughts immediately went to what we witness during the campaigns for presidency of the U.S.  But that, in itself, draws Paul’s rebuke, as am  I not  engaging in silly talk about our politicians. Am I not then being divisive, looking at a “them versus us” categorization?   Is such talk not dragging others down to the level to which I lowered myself? Today’s Scripture opens with the invitation to be “kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another as God  has forgiven you in Christ.”  My thoughts then would be: “Lord, forgive me my trespasses as I forgive others theirs.”  I would, like the republican in Sunday’s Gospel, be saying to the Lord: “O God, be merciful to me, a sinner” (Luke 18: 14). 

May you and I heed Paul’s admonitions and follow the way that truly leads us to the “inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and of God,” that Jesus won for us by His death on the cross for our salvation and salvation of the entire world, including the politicians of today and forever!

Come, Follow Me!

Imagine living during the time that Jesus was involved in active ministry. Imagine also that He sees you fishing and or mending your nets in preparation for a future expedition or whatever your job is.  He calls out to you: "Come, follow me and I will make you a fisher of people." You've never seen this man before and He asks you to abandon your business and follow Him. Who is He, you wonder momentarily but you leave your business, your coworkers, your family's ways and follow Him for a lifetime as a married person, a religious, a priest, a single person.  You listen to One who speaks with authority, to One who heals all who are brought to Him, does not turn the sick or the weak or the vulnerable away and asks the same of you and me. He raises the dead, gives sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf and invites you to treat these people kindly, that is, in a way that fosters healing, physical or spiritual.  He also casts out demons from ranting and raving demoniacs, not afraid to interact with them. He asks the same of you and me.  He gently and lovingly touches lepers and others deformed by their physical or psychological ailments and asks the same of you and me. His teachings and actions are strange: turn the other cheek, forgive sinners, do not throw stones at persons caught in adultery (or any other sin, for that matter),  do good to those who hate you, wash each others' feet, welcome children, include women--in fact, Jesus chooses a woman to be the first to see Him after His resurrection and sends her to be the first to announce the good news. He does not treat women as inferior to men. Yes, Jesus shows us a new way that was not popular in His time or ours!

Come, follow me! Are you/am I willing to follow the Lord when He invites me to do so?

Learning to do Good

In today’s first reading, Isaiah 1:10, 16-20, the prophet spells out the fast God desires of us; namely, that we “cease doing evil; learn to do good.  Make justice…[our] aim: redress the wronged, hear the orphan’s plea, defend the widow.”    In today’s Gospel, Mt. 23: 1-12,  Jesus challenges us to, not just teach others to do these things, but to do them ourselves as followers of Christ.  We are not in this world to place burdens on others , as the Pharisees did (see today’s Gospel, Mt. 23: 1-12) but to lift them ourselves.  Neither are we, as did the Pharisees, to “widen …[our] phylacteries and lengthen…[our] tassles,”—wearing our religion, so to speak, on our sleeves. We are not here to simply and ostentatiously assume places of honor, to be addressed as “Father,” “Sister,” “Brother,” “Mother”.  We are here to  become like our Father in heaven and like Jesus, to whom we are brother , sister, and mother when we do the will of our heavenly Father  (compare Luke 8: 21); that is, we are called to wash the feet of our tired, crippled neighbors,  our overly burdened family members, in short, to be servant of all, to humble ourselves and “raise” others up, as Jesus rose us up on the cross. We are here to learn to forgive others as Jesus forgave his persecutors. Like Jesus, we are  here  to be “poured-out wine” and “broken bread” for the sake of others  who are weighed down by the difficulties of life, those who may be suffering persecution, enduring injustices or  “withering”  under the  violence of war, domestic abuse, slave labor, human trafficking or any other  criminal activity. “Come, now,” God says to us in Isaiah 1: 10, 16-20, “let us set things right….”

How will be able to what God is asking of us? God, as promised in Ez. 18: 31, “will give…[each of us] a new heart, and a new spirit…[God] will put within…[us.]  …[God] will remove the heart of stone from…[our] flesh and give…[us] a heart of flesh.”