Personal Identity and One's Unique Purpose

In today’s Gospel, John 1: 19-28, Jews from Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to John to find out who he was and why he was baptizing; in other words, to give an account of himself.  When asked “Who are you,” John the Baptist replied: ‘I am not the Christ.’ So they asked him, ‘What are you then? Are you Elijah?’ And he said, ‘I am not.’ ‘Are you the Prophet?’ He answered, ‘No.’ So they said to him, ‘Who are you, so we can give an answer to those who sent us? What do you have to say for yourself?’ He said: ‘I am the voice of one crying out in the desert, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as Isaiah the prophet said.’”

John the Baptist knew why he was here.  The answer for him was voiced by the prophet Isaiah.  You and I, too, will find the answer to the question “who are you” written in the Scriptures and then on our hearts.   God says to us, as He said to John the Baptist, “In the wilderness [of life here on earth] prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert [of your life] a highway for our God” (Is 40:3).

 A mother said to me this morning that whenever her daughter came to her with a question, confused about a situation, she would counsel her. After taking the time to truly listen to her and at the end of their conversation, this wise mother would say to her daughter:  “Take your concerns to God.”   In other words, she was saying: “Go talk to God and tell Him everything you just told me.”   How wise! As a teenager, the young lady wrote her mother, this Christmas, a letter thanking her for her wise counsel and voiced her love for her. Truly, this mother knows that she is here on earth to “make straight the way of the Lord,” and direct her children to the Lord, introduce them to God, and teach them to confide in God.

Why are you here?  What is the purpose for which God created you?  May you have the courage, in the beginning of this New Year, to answer those questions and, if necessary, to make key changes in your perspective of why God sustains you in existence each day!  Truly, then, as John says to us in today first reading, 1 John 2: 22-28, you will have “confidence and not be put to shame by him (Jesus) at his coming” (1 John 2: 28).

Knowing the Grace of God in Truth (Colossians 1: 1-8)

In  today's first reading,  Colossians 1: 1-8, Paul says to the Colossians, "...we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love that you have for all the holy ones because of the hope reserved for you in heaven....Just as in the whole world it [the Gospel] is bearing fruit and growing, so also among you, from the day you  heard it and came to know the grace of God in truth..."  You and I have come
"to know the grace of God in truth" because that truth is/was spoken to us through our parents, teachers, pastors, associate pastors, friends, counselors, co-workers; through our very selves, through creation itself, through the goodness in our lives and the good you and I have and are doing each day and will do today, as well as the good others do.

Like Jesus, in today's Gospel, Luke 4: 38-44, we, too, leave our places of worship and encounter issues that need to be addressed, that need our compassionate responses, our healing touch (a smile, a listening ear, an errand run or a good deed done on their behalf, a service rendered). We may confront "demons" today, as Jesus did in the people that others brought to Him or which are within ourselves (pride, deceit, lust, abuse of power and control, jealousy, envy, avarice, impatience, imprudence, and so on).   We may also be pressured by the crowd to give in to demands that we know are not the will of God for us. Jesus says to the crowd: "No, I have been sent to proclaim the good news of the reign of God to other lands, to other peoples. I cannot stay here."    We may not be called to other lands but to another task that is beckoning us.  Sometimes, we may find it hard to "depart" for that to which we are called--what will others think if I leave this conversation, this crowd; if I don't continue to join in or go where the crowd insist on going?

Jesus very clearly states the reason He has been sent to this world. Am I as clear as Jesus was in terms of what my mission is--why I am where I am today?  Did I, today, prepare myself to address the issues that will come by way today by taking time to pray, as Jesus did?  Am I faithful to "the grace of God in truth" that I have come to know and which is stretching to bear fruit and grow within me?

Moving Forward Gracefully

In today’s first reading,  Dt. 34: 1-12, the Lord takes Moses up to Mount Nebo to show him the lands that he promised Abraham and Sarah: “This is the land I swore to Abraham [and Sarah], Isaac [and Rebecca] and Jacob [Leah and Rachel] that I would give to their descendants. I have let you feast your eyes upon it, but you shall not cross over.”  Moses, we are told, was 120 years of age, “his eyes...undimmed and his vigor unabated” when he died. His successor, Joshua, “was filled with the spirit of wisdom, since Moses had laid his hands upon him; and so the Israelites gave him their obedience, thus carrying out the Lord’s command to Moses.”

The covenant of the Lord is passed on from one generation to another. Joshua was filled with wisdom because Moses laid his hands upon him, teaching him all he needed to know and modeling fidelity to the Lord and the Covenant entrusted to him.  Like Moses, each of us has a role to play in carrying out God’s wishes in regard to the New Covenant given to us by Jesus.  Like Moses, we will,or already have, come to the point in our lives where a ministry ended, a part of our mission fulfilled. We may have had to pass our work on to others who continued where we left off and, for sure, moved forward differently than we would have.  Such experiences can be very joyous for us and for them or they can be filled with pain, sorrow, anger and bitterness.  The questions are: did we do our best to carry out the mission given to us? Did we “lay our hands upon others,” that is, did we in instruct others in the ways of the Lord concerning a particular mission or ministry? That mission is to follow the Lord within the vocation of marriage or religious life or the priesthood, or the single lifestyle. Our ministry is that of parenthood, building a strong, happy, healthy, God-centered family; or that of building a strong, faith-filled, loving community as religious and a vibrant ministry of helping others in  need; as priests, leading a parish to Jesus, giving youngsters a fundamental understanding of the faith and strengthening the faith of the youth of the parish; as a single person, passing to future generations their faith, expertise, and commitment to making the world a better place according to the Gospels. 

As we come to an end of any ministry, any mission, are we able to let go and bless those who follow us? When it is clear, as it was for Moses, that we are not going to enter “the promised land” looming in front of those who take our places in the family, at work, in the parish, in religious life,  are we ready to let go gracefully?

Confidence in Oneself

In the Gospel of today, John 17: 1-11a, Jesus says to His Father:  “Father, the hour has come. Give glory to your son, so that your son may glorify you….I glorified you on earth by accomplishing the work that you gave me to do. Now glorify me, Father, with you, with the glory that I had with you before the world began.”  Jesus is about to be arrested, condemned to death, scourged, crowned with thorns in mockery of His Kingship, and crucified.  Three days later, death having no power over the Son of God, Jesus is risen—glorified, with the Father,  with the glory that He had with the Father before the world was created.

Like Jesus, Paul, in the liturgy’s first reading, Acts 20: 17-27, is looking back on his life as well and is about to go to Jerusalem, where, like Jesus, he faces hardships and imprisonment.  Paul can testify that, like Jesus, he “did not shrink from telling you what was for your benefit, or from teaching you in public or in your homes. I earnestly bore witness for both Jews and Greeks to repentance before God and to faith in our Lord Jesus.”

You and I have also been sent here to accomplish a task, a mission, given to us by the Father through the Holy Spirit, the Advocate sent to us by Jesus.  Like Paul and Jesus, as we bring our wills into harmony with God’s will for us, as we give glory to God by  the Gospel values we embrace,  we will meet hardship, be mocked and ridiculed. We will, from time to time,  be rejected on account of our beliefs in the Lord God, in Christ Jesus.  Disappointments, frustration, pain   are part of anyone’s faith journey.  At the end of our lives, hopefully, like Paul and Jesus,  if we have striven to give glory to God by our lives, if we have come to know the Father, the only true God, and the one whom the Father sent, Jesus Christ (cf John 17: 3),  we can confidently look forward to being glorified with our Father in heaven. 

At the end of this day, will I be able to say, as Jesus did, "Father, I have accomplished the work you gave me to do?"

Do You Love Me?

In today’s Gospel, John 21: 15-19, Jesus meets his disciples on the shore of Tiberius.  Things had, supposedly settled down! Yes, Jesus has appeared to some of them a few times after the resurrection and they knew that He would soon be leaving them. It had to be a depressing time for them. What were they to do when Jesus actually left them and returned to His Father. Simon says: “I’m  going fishing” and several of his companions join him. What else is there to do? The simplest choice was to go fishing, something with which they were very familiar and enjoyed.  It could be a distraction from the depressing situation in which they found themselves.

You and I  certainly can identify.  There have  been many down times in our lives  when we have  chosen to do the familiar, that which would distract us from “What do I do now? I feel depressed, uncomfortable. I need to get away from it all.”  We may have not gone fishing but resorted to that most familiar to us, that which would turn our attention away from the stresses of life for a while.
Jesus meets the disciples at the end of that fishing trip, prepares breakfast for them and then has a conversation with Simon Peter in which He asks Him three times: “Do you love me?” Remember,  Peter denied Jesus three times and He is gently reminding Him and challenging Him to think about his relationship with Jesus. Does Peter  really love Jesus?  Jesus does not give up on Peter. He remains committed to His request that Peter head the Church. Peter’s failures do not deter Jesus’ resolve.  No matter how many times we deny Jesus in a given day—giving in to temptation and not following the Spirit’s lead—Jesus does not give up on us either. He remains firm in His asking us to love Him, to be His hands and heart and feet in the service of others, in fulfilling the purpose for which we were created: to glorify the Lord God by our lives.

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"?

Called by Name

Today I am conducting a Come and See for women interested in religious life.  One of the activities today is to take time in quiet prayer, reflection and meditation on Moses' call to mission.
We read in Exodus, 3: 4, 10 that "God called to him [Moses] out of the bush, "'Moses, Moses!'  And he said, 'Here I am.' Then the Lord said, 'I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.'"

With every call--be it to marriage, to the single life, to religious life, to priesthood--comes a mission, comes responsibilities.  Carrying out the mission God entrusts to each one of us means that God calls the shots, God is the one who is sending us, and God is the one who matches the person to the mission.

I was deeply touched when I repeated to myself: Dorothy Ann, God matched you to the mission you are now asked to carry out for the sake of the Kingdom.  God matched me. God called me. God has a work for me to do. And when he chose me for the work I am now doing, He chose carefully. God knew, better than anyone, who He needed to do this particular work. That is true for each of you reading this: God chose you.God matched you to the mission, the job, the tasks to which He sent you to perform in His name. No one else but you and you were specially chosen to be the mate in your marriage, the father/mother to this/that child, to do this or that ministry/job as a teacher, a counselor, a plumber, an electrician, a store clerk, an administrator, a physician, a nurse, a technician, a physical therapist (fill in the blanks).  Specially chosen. Sent by God. And God calls the shots!
Source: I HEARD GOD CALL MY NAME, from the National Religious Vocation Conference.