Going to the "Mountaintop" to Listen to God

In today's Gospel, Matthew 17: 1-9, Jesus takes Peter, James and John up a high mountain by themselves.  Jesus is transfigured before them, his face bright as the sun and his clothes white as a bright light.  they see Jesus in His glory and in conversation with Moses and Elijah. Peter is so excited that he says to Jesus: Lord, let us build three tents here: one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.  Suddenly a cloud covers them and they hear a voice say: This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased. Listen to Him. Hearing the voice of God, the disciples fall to their knees frightened. Jesus touches then and says:  "Rise, and do not be afraid."  they look up and see only Jesus.

Like Peter, James, John and Jesus, this mountaintop experience was to bolster their spirits, as the time was nearing for Jesus to go up to Jerusalem, where He would be crucified.  We need and are given these "mountaintop" experiences in order that we, too, will be strengthened to pick up our crosses and go "up" to the Calvaries of our lives.

Just as Jesus invited Peter, James and John to the mountaintop with Him, so, too, does He invite us to come away with him to a high mountain.  Every day, however we choose to seek God's face, we need to take time out for prayer, be that in the solitude of nature, in a quiet place at work, or dropping into an  empty church on our way home from work.  Or, possibly, while at work, we might slip away
at lunch time to speak to the Lord, thanking Him for the graces of the morning and asking for guidance before we take up our responsibilities for the afternoon.  Jesus wants to touch our hearts and speak to us, just as He spoke to the apostles. Just as the three apostles heard the Spirit say to them: "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased; listen to him," so, too,do we need to listen to Jesus. It is important to create that kind of quiet in our lives to hear God's voice.

When was the last time, you or I sought the kind of solitude in which God's voice can be heard?

The Transforming Power of Prayer

In today's first reading, Exodus 34: 29-35, Moses comes down from the mountain where he was conversing with the Lord.  In the process of this encounter, Moses' face became radiant, so much so that the people were afraid to approach him.  The change that took place in Moses because of his conversations with the Lord had become obvious! 

You and I are also changed by prayer when our minds and hearts and entire beings are receptive to the Lord. We are changed from the inside out! The change might not be as obvious as it was in the case with Moses. But, nevertheless, honest conversation with the Lord, time spent with God, transforms us into the person God calls us to become: men and women of integrity, men and women who are honest with one another, are just and loving, compassionate and caring, forgiven and forgiving, willing to make any sacrifice that improves the lives of others. As with Jesus, who spoke with His Father on a daily basis, doing only what the Father asked of Him, we bring new life and hope to the world in which we live when we want what the Father wants and allow the Lord to work through us to make the world a better place.

Thank you, Lord, for your readiness to communicate with us on a daily basis.  Thanks, also for the graces you pour into our hearts to make us one with you and the Father and the Spirit.  May our lives glorify you!

Stirring our Faith into a Flame

In today's first reading, 2 Timothy 1: 1-8,  Paul, imprisoned for the faith,  writes a second letter to his friend Timothy, whom he remembers "constantly in [his] prayers night and day."  Paul is excited about the faith that Timothy's grandmother and mother passed on to Timothy and encourages him to "stir into flame the gift of God" that has been  given  to him. He encourages Timothy to "not be ashamed of [his] testimony to [the] Lord, nor of [Paul], a prisoner for [the Lord's] sake; but bear [his] share of hardship for the Gospel with the strength that comes from God."

Like any other gift, if it is not used, faith can wither and die! Paul stood by Timothy, challenging him to stand firm and not give in to erroneous teachings about Jesus. Paul kept at him to confront the issues threatening the faith of the young Christian community in Ephesus (1 Timothy 1: 18-20)--See reflections on this Scripture passage in Word Among Us, January 26,  2019--to be assertive, and to live rightly.

Timothy's faith was tried, to say the least, as he died a martyr's death for his commitment to Christ. Your faith and mine will also be tried, though not necessarily to the point of being martyred, but certainly in the case of being challenged to be assertive, claim our faith, and give testimony among persons who are unbelievers or who mock our faith.

How strong am I? How strong are you? Are we willing to stand up for Christ or do we back away from such situations? Do we take time to "stir into flame the gift of God," that is, the faith passed on to us from our parents/grandparents or other adults who, in our childhood, were true to God's call to to are their faith with us?  How faithful am I, are you, to reading and reflecting on the Sunday's Scriptures, to setting time aside to pray/to talk to God about our worries, concerns, joys or grief over something that touched us during any given day?  Do I actively seek God in the events and encounters of each day? Do I bring God to my relationships and to the situations of the day? Or do I aimlessly wander through a day relying only upon myself for the strength, the wisdom, the patience, the courage, the love and understanding needed to radiate Christ to the world in which I exist today?

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!

Persistency in Prayer

In today's Gospel, Luke 18-18, Jesus tells a parable in which He speaks about the necessity to "pray always without becoming  weary." The parable is about a widow who does not give up in persisting that the judge render her a just decision.  The judge holds out for a long time and then finally says to himself:  "While it is true that I neither fear God nor respect any human being, because this widow keeps bothering me I shall deliver her a just decision for her lest she finally come and strike me."  If this dishonest judge will finally respond positively to this widow, will God not respond to us when we call to him, day and night, for justice to also be done in our situations?  Luke emphatically states: "I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for [us] speedily. But when the Son of Man comes," Luke asks, "will he find faith on earth?"

We may find it difficult to continue praying for justice, when, day after day, the evening news repeatedly informs us of people within and outside of our government getting away with one crime after another: mass scale shootings, including children being shot in scho persons of color apprehended--shot and killed (some not even being the criminal that was being pursued)--innocent policemen ambushed and killed, undocumented persons  denied the right to pursue a legal path to citizenship, millions losing affordable health insurance, treaties to protect the earth and its inhabitants being revoked and on and on! I want to cry out:  God, where are you!  I am sure that children being bullied or persons facing terminal illnesses that will leave their children without a parent may also want to scream: God, are you  listening!

The Israelites were in the same position when enslaved by the Egyptians.  We read in today's first reading, Wisdom 18: 14-16; 19: 6-9: "When peaceful stillness compassed everything, and the night in its swift course was half spent, [God's] all-powerful word, from heaven's royal throne bounded, a fierce warrior, into the doomed land, bearing the sharp sword of [God's] inexorable decree....[A]ll creation, in its several kinds [then and in the time of Noah], was being made over anew, serving its natural laws, that  your children might be preserved unharmed. The cloud overshadowed [the camp of the Israelites]; and out of what had before been water, dry land was seen emerging; out of the Red Sea an unimpeded road, and a grassy plain out of the mighty flood. Over this crossed the whole nation sheltered by [God's] hand, after they beheld stupendous wonders."

God can and will do the same for us today!  God is mighty! God is a warrior God, who is on the side of those who, in faith, call upon Him day and night!  Let us, in faith, turn back to God for the help we need today to turn away from the darkness of sin!

A Prayer for Deliverance

In today’s first reading, Daniel3: 25, 34-43, “Azariah stood up in the fire and prayed aloud: ‘For your name’s sake, O Lord, do not deliver us up forever, or make void your covenant. Do not take away your mercy from us, for the sake of Abraham, your beloved, Isaac your servant, and Israel your holy one, to whom you promised to multiply their offspring like the stars of heaven, or the sand on the shore of the sea….So let our sacrifice be in your presence today as we follow you unreservedly; for those who trust in you cannot be put to shame. And now we follow you with our whole heart, we fear you and we pray to you. Do not let us be put to shame, but deal with us in your kindness and great mercy. Deliver us by your wonders, and bring glory to your name, O Lord.”

Lord, today, I stand up in the “fire” of a cancer ravishing the body of a loved one.  I cry aloud to You, O Lord: “For your name’s sake, do not deliver this young woman to the cancer within her that is aggressively taking possession of so many areas in her body. For the sake of her parents, her siblings, her grandparents and great grandparents—living and deceased—and all of her relatives, both living and deceased, show her your mercy.  “Let the sacrifices [she and her family have made in dealing with this uncaring disease] be in your presence today, as [she has, throughout her short lifetime] followed you with her whole heart, [as has each of her family members].  [She and her family] reverences you and prays to you. Do not let [her] be put to shame, but deal with [her] in your kindness and great mercy. Deliver [her from this cancer, according to God’s will] by your wonders, and bring glory to your name, O Lord.”

What Esther Teaches Us about Prayer

In today’s first reading, Esther C: 12, 14-16, 23-25, Esther prostrates herself from morning until evening,  first acknowledging God as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob and then blessing God.  Do I, when I come into prayer, first acknowledge who God is and bless God, praising and thanking God for who God is? Or do I begin prayer telling God what I want from God?  If the latter, that approach to God is significantly different from what Esther teaches us about prayer!

Esther comes to God at one of the lowest points in her life.  She is an orphan, having been taken away from her family and forced to join the king’s harem.  Her people, the Jews, are about to be systematically killed by the king’s orders and she feels responsible to intercede on their behalf (Word Among Us, Lent 2017, p. 29).  However, the king has not invited her to enter his presence and she will need to do so minus that invitation. She could be risking her life in doing so and also because the king does not know that she is a Jew! 

Esther turns to God in prayer in this darkest of moments in her life. To what do you and I turn when at the lowest points of our lives? And when we turn to God, do we do so by first acknowledging who God is and second by blessing God with words of thanksgiving and praise?

"Made Glorious in God's Sight" (Is 49:3, 5-6)

In today’s first reading, Isaiah 49: 3, 5-6, God says to us through  the prophet : [You are] made glorious in the sight of the Lord,…God is now [your] strength.” That gift is confirmed in the second reading of today’s liturgy, 1 Cor 1: 1-3, where St. Paul reminds us that we “have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be holy, with all those everywhere who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ…”In today’s Gospel, John 1: 29-34, John the Baptist points out Jesus to us, saying: “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world….[H]e is the Son of God.”

May you and I ponder the fact that we “are made glorious in the sight of the Lord.  If I truly believe that,  then nothing else really matters!  And if I remember that God is my strength, then, too, nothing else matters.  When I do not remember these realities, I can easily become flustered, even in the face of minor realities affecting my life.

I have  a greater possibility of remaining calm in today’s troubled world when I take time to ponder God’s Word and sit in God’s Presence every day!  When I do not take time to seek the Lord in personal prayer on a daily basis, it is easy to get swept away in frantic activity. Calling upon the Lord’s name is an essential element of growing in holiness—that is my responsibility. God has done His part: He has sanctified me in Christ Jesus. I have to seek God in quiet, personal prayer and devote time to serving the needs of others  for that holiness to grow in me!

Happy Easter: Looking for the Risen Christ

In the first resurrection story in John's Gospel, John 20: 1-18,  Mary of Magdala, while it is still dark goes to the tomb and finds the stone removed and the grave empty. She quickly runs to Peter and tells him that someone has stolen the body of Jesus and that "we do not know where they have put him."  Peter and the disciple whom Jesus loved run to the tomb. Peter goes into the tomb first and sees  the linen cloths on the ground. "The cloth that had been over [Jesus'] head was not with the linen cloths but rolled up in a place by itself".   The disciple whom Jesus loved entered the tomb. "[H]e saw and believed.

Meanwhile, Mary of Magdala stays outside the tomb weeping.  When the apostles leave, she "stooped to look inside, and saw two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus had been...They said, 'Woman,  why are you weeping?' 'They have taken my Lord away...and I don't know where they have put him." She turns around and there, before he, stands the Risen Lord but she does not recognize him. Jesus says to her: "Woman, why are you weeping? Who are you looking for?"  She thinks it is the gardener talking to her and says to him: "Sir, if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him,. and I will go and remove him."  Jesus says: "Mary!" Her eyes are opened!

Who am I in this story? Sometimes, in prayer, like Peter, I do not recognize the Lord. I leave with no sense of  a lively faith. At other times I am like John: I know and believe that I was with Jesus. Still, there are times when, like Mary of Magdala, my eyes remain closed and I do not recognize Jesus at all  until He whispers my name. And, yes, I recognize Him then.  That is the result of developing a personal relationship with the Lord by persevering in prayer and sharing all of your concerns, your feelings, and your worries with Jesus in prayer as you do with your best friend!

The Power of Faith

“Only say the word and my servant shall be healed,” the centurion says to Jesus in today’s Gospel, t. 8: 5-11.  Jesus is amazed at this man’s faith, a faith He has not found in his fellow Jews. The centurion is a Roman soldier, one who enforces Roman law and probably has killed Jews who have transgressed Roman demands.  To hear Jesus praise this man must have been difficult for the Jews. “What is Jesus doing,” they must have wondered. Does He not know who this man is?  God has no favorites, we are told by Paul in Romans 2:11. He saved anyone who believes that He is Son of  God, the Messiah, the One sent by the Father to reconcile the world to the Father.

Do I believe, as did this centurion? Do I realize who comes down upon our altars at every Catholic Liturgy, that is, at every Catholic Mass? Do I realize that at every Mass Jesus is reconciling humankind with God in the breaking of the bread, the Body of the Lord,  and the outpouring of the wine, the Blood of Christ? At the time of Holy Communion when we pray  “Say only the word and my soul shall be healed” that my soul is actually being healed? That too happens when I intercede for the world, for loved ones, for all involved in crime of any kind. Like the centurion, I am saying:  “Say but the word and those I am praying for will be made whole.” Yes, in every liturgy, we ask the Lord to say only the word and our world will be healed of its divisions and participate in the reconciling action Jesus has accomplished for us on the cross. Do I really believe that?

Courage, Truth, and Liberation

In today’s first reading, 1 Samuel 1: 9-20, Hannah pours out her soul to the Lord, telling the Lord of her agony in being barren and the pain of repeatedly being insulted and disrespected by Peninnah, her husband’s other wife, who has borne him children.  She is devastated by her inability to conceive and begs the Lord to grant her a male child. Eli, the priest, observes her prayer, hears her sobbing inconsolably, sees her lips moving and concludes that she is drunk.  Brashly, he says to her: “How long will you make a drunken show of yourself? Sober up from your wine.”  Hannah, a courageous woman, a women of integrity and inner strength, stands up to him, not allowing him to get away with abusing her verbally and emotionally.  She puts right his wrong, telling him that she has “had neither wine nor liquor; I was only pouring out my troubles to the Lord.”

Who am I in this Scripture story? Penninah, Hannah, or Eli?  Do I insult and degrade others, speak down to them, treat them with disrespect, “step upon” them with rude words, drive them to the depths of despair?  Am I Hannah, a person of integrity, a woman of faith, a person who takes his/her sorrow, his/her agonizing moments to the Lord, asking for God’s help, trusting in the Lord, knowing God personally and intimately in such a way that I keep nothing from Him? Or am I Eli, who misjudges others, looks down upon them, verbally and emotional abusing them without knowing or seeking the truth from them?

May I have the courage to acknowledge when the Penninah and the Eli in me. And, like Hannah, may I have the strength and the wisdom to develop an intimate relationship, a friendship with God, that holds nothing back from Him.

The Spirit Praying within Us according to God's Will

In today’s’ first reading, Romans 8: 26-30, St. Paul reminds us that the Spirit prays within us “in inexpressible groanings” when we do not know how to pray.  This truth may be difficult to get our arms around!   Because the Spirit prays within us  according to God’s will it would seem wise for us to let go in prayer and  let God the Spirit make intercessions for us!  Is this why the psalmist asks us to “be still and know that I am God” (Ps. 46).

As I tried further to get my arms around this truth, I spelled out what the specifics might look like if I do let go and allow the Spirit to intercede for SSMs, for new vocations, for the church, for my family and relatives, for me;  for abortionists, for human traffickers and victims of human trafficking, for drug addicts and alcoholics and the mentally, physically, emotionally ill and those who assist them in their struggles, for those actively racist and sexist, for those involved in corruption, war and violence of any kind as well as victims of such.  Imagine the Spirit praying for all of these intentions according to God’s will.

I also attempted to understand  this truth by describing it as follows: 

Through the intercession of the Spirit praying within us, God transforms chaos into order, sin into holiness, deceit into truth, fear into courage, emptiness into fullness of life according to God’s holy will. 

Truly, God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are warriors who come into our lives, and the lives of the world at large, to conquer sin and death--the death of faith, hope, and love; the death of truth and decency. And does so in a very real way in the liturgical celebration of the Eucharist when we here on earth, as Catholics,  join the angels and saints in a heavenly liturgy when God and all the angels and saints war against evil in our world offering Jesus’ passion, death and resurrection for the salvation of all and when Jesus, in Holy Communion, enters the Temples of our bodies to cleanse them, just as, when entering Jerusalem, He went to the Temple and cleansed it before entering His passion.

How great is the Lord, our God, through all the earth (Psalm 8).

The Lord's Prayer and Ours

In today’s Gospel, the disciples ask Jesus to teach them to pray as John taught his disciples to pray.  Jesus tells them to say “our Father, who art in heaven”.  He is asking us to go to God in prayer as a child would go to a loving, caring, understanding parent, one’s dad, or, in some cases, a surrogate father.  For some children that is a teacher, a coach, a counselor one regards with great trust.    “My Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be your name.”  As a child proudly speaks the name of his/her loving, caring, compassionate and wise father, or surrogate father, so, too, Jesus asks us to address God as a Father whom we highly respect, whose judgment and wisdom, love and concern, we highly revere.   “Your Kingdom come; your will be done on earth as in heaven.”  Jesus encourages us to approach God desiring that things happen in our lives according to the way God plans them to be. In Jeremiah 29:11, God says to us through the prophet: “For I know the plans I have for you.  They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”  From that faith, we pray: “Your will be done on earth as in heaven.”

In the second half of the Our Father, Jesus turns our attention to relationships with others and to our own need for our “daily bread,”  forgiveness, not being led into “temptation”  and deliverance  from evil. For what more can we ask! And we know that God is eager to answer this prayer, as eager as any parent is to protect his/her children from evil, to ward off temptation that will lead a child onto the wrong path—a path that will lead to misery, suffering and pain—and to provide the child his/her daily bread for the day, that is, all that the child needs to realize his/her potential, his/her greatness, his/her ability to make a difference in the lives of others, to bring peace, justice, love and forgiveness to the world that day, one person at a time, including oneself. 

Make Haste to Help Me, Lord

In this morning’s meditation, my eyes were riveted on the entrance antiphon: “Forsake me not, O Lord! My God, be not far from me! Make haste and come to my help, O Lord, my strong salvation.”  My thoughts quickly reversed the words to read: “O Lord, may I not forsake You. May I not be far from You in how I think, in what I do and what I plan to do this day.  May I hasten to seek Your help for You are my secure and ever-present salvation.” I prayed that God would purify my heart, my mind, my will, my entire being; that He would pour out His precious blood upon me to heal me and transform me into Christ. I prayed that, like Jesus who came to served not  to be served (compare today’s Gospel, Lk  20:   17-28), would  give me the courage and the wisdom to let go of anything that would lead me to wanting to be glorified in God’s place rather than being God’s servant here on earth.

James and John, in today’s Gospel, approach Jesus, asking to be given the honor of sitting one at his right and the other at his left in the Kingdom—we can be seeking “kingdoms” here as well.  Their petition was not in accord with God’s will for them. How often, I asked myself, to do seek something that is not in accord with God’s will for me, or for another.  What God promises is that when I meet the events of my life that bring me suffering, when sin in me is being purified by God’s grace, He will send angels to me as He did to Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane and He will give me the strength, the courage and the peace of mind and heart that He gave Jesus in Jerusalem, where Jesus was betrayed by Judas and handed over to those determined to destroy Him. “Do not be afraid,” Jesus tells us in Mt 10:28, “of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; fear him rather who can destroy both body and soul in hell.”  And remember, as Jesus tells us in Jn 15: 20-21, a “servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will persecute you too…[I]t will be on my account that they will do all this to you, because they do not know the one who sent me.” Remember, too, that Jesus is at our side and that before He went to Jerusalem to face death He prayed for us, asking His Father to “protect us from the Evil One” (Jn 17: 15).