An Overflowing of Grace

St. Paul reminds us in today’s first reading, Romans 5: 12, 15b, 17-19, 20b-21, that “…just as through the disobedience of one man the many were made sinners, so, through the obedience of the one the many will be made righteous.  Where sin increased, grace overflowed all the more so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through justification for eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Wow! What love God has for each one of us. No way, would a loving, compassionate, kind God allow Satan to take possession of us, to drag us down into a pit of sin and sorrow and death, to control our lives or deprive us of eternal life with the Lord.  No!  God sent His Son out of love for us, to  lift us out  of that pit of sin and sorrow and death, to save us from eternal  death, to teach us to love, not to hate; to be kind to ourselves and others , to return good for evil, to forgive rather than holding others and ourselves hostage in anger, resentment and revenge.  God sent His son to teach us obedience, to transform sin in us into holiness, to set us free to serve the Lord and one another.  Yes, where sin abounds, grace abounds even more because our God is a generous, loving, forgiving, reconciling God. “When I am lifted up from the earth,” Jesus said,  “I will draw everyone to myself”  (John 12:32). That means you and me and all peoples of all nations, all nationalities, all walks of life, those we love and those we hate, those of whom we approve and those of whom we disapprove. God is an inclusive God: all who repent  and believe and accept the free gift of salvation in Christ Jesus are saved by Jesus’ obedience to His Father, obedient to the point of death on the cross. I believe that because God’s love is infinite and unconditional.

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.

Called to evangelize and be evangelized, to love and be loved, to nurture and be nurtured by friends

Today we celebrate the feast of St. Luke, the evangelist and a physician.  God calls persons from all walks in life to serve Him as priests, as men and women religious, as deacons, as married men and women and as single persons.  All of us, no matter what vocation in life we choose--and hopefully we seek God's will in the choices we make--are called to evangelize, to share our faith with others: parents with each other and with their children, single men and women with their co-workers, neices and nephews and with the children in their parishes as catechists,  as fellow worshippers and participants in parish programs; men and women religious through their ministries (healthcare, education, youth ministry, pastoral associates, catechists and other forms of services that address the needs of the poor and needy, the marginalized; that confront injustices perpetrated in the world of our day).

St. Luke was a friend of St. Paul, one who did not abandon him in his sufferings, including being imprisoned and put to death for the faith. Luke was at his side.  God also sends each of us friends to support us, encourage us, and give us strength to proclaim the message of salvation, to share our faith with others in a variety of ways, but especially by how we live our faith in the daily events of our day.

May we have the courage, the wisdom, the passionate love to fall in love with Jesus over and over again and share that love with those with whom we live and minister in Jesus' name.

Saved by Faith in Christ Jesus

In the first reading of today's liturgy, Romans 3: 21-30, St. Paul reminds us that we--Jews and Gentiles alike-- are saved by our faith in Christ Jesus, not by faith in laws or by the works we do.  Jesus is our Savior.  "God," St. Paul proclaims, "...will justify the circumcised on the basis of faith and the uncircumcised through faith."  Without exception, "all have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God."  However, all have been restored to "the glory of God" by Jesus' death and resurrection, when sin was destroyed and Satan's power crushed.  God belongs to all of us--the power of the resurrection is now at work in all believers because, as today's responsorial psalm proclaims, "[w]ith the Lord, there is mercy, and fullness of redemption."  God has been victorious and all of us--Jew and Gentile, peoples of all nationalities and cultures--await the victory that will be ours, in Christ Jesus, for all eternity and that is ours, here and now,  when, on a daily basis, by grace, we overcome sin, dying to our selfishness, our pride, our hopelessness, our lust for power and control; in short our efforts to be like God, as Adam and Eve did in original sin.

May each of us know the power of the resurrection at work within our lives.  May we have the courage and the wisdom to stop long enough from frantic activity to listen in the stillness of our hearts to God quietly at work in our personal, familial, communal, civic, political, and ecclesial dimensions of the world in which we live.

God's Infinite Patience, Forbearance, and Kindness

In today’s first reading, Romans 2: 1-11, St. Paul confronts us as follows: “You, O man [woman],  are without excuse, every one of you who passes judgment. For by the standard by which you judge another you condemn yourself, since you, the judge, do the very same things.”  As I reflected upon that message in my morning’s meditation, I made a list of other people’s behaviors upon which  I have passed judgment.  Next to each behavior I could write: “I’ve done that sometimes, too.”  It was a sobering experience, as the list grew and so did my awareness of how those same behaviors/attitudes, from time to time--and sometimes frequently--are a part of my history. 

Paul then goes on to ask us whether or not we are aware of God’s infinite kindness, God’s patience with us, and His forbearance by which He invites us to repentance.  Are we aware of God’s unconditional love, a love manifested in Jesus taking our judgment upon Himself, becoming sin for us, on the cross.  St. Paul tells us  in Colossians 1:22:  “You were once estranged and of hostile intent through your evil behavior; now he has reconciled you, by his death and in that mortal body, to bring you before himself holy, faultless and irreproachable—as long as you persevere and stand firm on the solid base of the faith, never letting yourself drift away from the hope promised by the gospel….”  Repent and believe in the Gospel, we are told on Ash Wednesday when the priest signs us with ashes. May we repent of standing in judgment over others and realize that we, too, have sinned in whatever way we are complaining about our neighbor.

The Power of the Gospel

Today’s first readings, Romans 1: 16-25, contains gems of wisdom that each of is challenged to ponder within the depth of our hearts. What are these gems? 

·         That the Gospel “is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes…”

·         That in the Gospel “the righteousness of God” is revealed “from faith to faith”

·         That the “one who is righteous by faith will live”

·         That “what can be known about God is evident to… [the impious and to those who have suppressed] the truth by their wickedness”

·         That what can be known about God is evident [to all of us] because God has made it evident [to us]

WOW!  The question is: do I believe that the Gospel is the power of God for my salvation? And if I do, what is keeping me from reading and reflecting upon the Gospels regularly and, yes, even daily?  That is where my salvation lies, that is where I will encounter Christ, who saves me from my own wickedness: from my own sinfulness, my own vulnerability to give in to temptation.  What temptation? Satan’s deceits, Satan’s subtleness in luring me into gossip, into cheating myself and others of the gift of forgiveness and unconditional loving, of respect and openness to the wisdom of God at work within them and within me, refusing to listen to them or to the Spirit directing me; from responding or not responding because of my prejudices, my fears, my hopelessness, my greediness and/or stinginess.  In whatever sin I engage, I am suppressing the truth of who I am in Christ Jesus, of what I am capable of doing because of the Spirit living within me.   My potential for choosing good instead of evil is contingent upon my relationship with Christ and I grow in my knowledge of Christ through the Scriptures, the Word of God! 

What is holding me back from this Source of God’s power?  Have I, in St. Paul’s words, “exchanged the truth of God for a lie and revered and worshipped the creature rather than the creator, who is blessed forever”?

The Lesson Jesus Teaches in Today's Scripture

Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites that they had significantly strayed from the Holy One of Israel, that they had offended God and needed to return to Him. God was offering them the opportunity to repent and return to the right path. Jonah is also communicating indirectly that God deeply cared about the Ninevites' eternal welfare, about their well-being.  God did not want to see them lost for all eternity.

In today's Gospel, Luke 11:29-32,  Jesus reminds us that Someone/Something greater than Jonah is here. Something is happening in our midst that is greater than what happened in Nineveh.  The Kingdom of God is here, right here, right now!  God sent His Son Jesus from heaven to earth--does so in every liturgy of the Mass which we Catholics attend weekly/daily.  Truly a greater one than Jonah is here. Yes, someone also much wiser than Solomon, whom the queen of the south "came from the ends of the earth" to hear is in our midst, Jesus reminds us. 

If we are asking for/looking for a sign of God's Presence, no sign will be given us other than Jonah. For what/for whom am I looking?  For what sign am I looking?  Am I seeking Jesus?  Am I seeking Jesus' wisdom in the Scriptures, in the Mass/the sacred liturgy, the Eucharist, in the events of my day, in the innocence of toddlers, the wisdom of children, adolescents, young adults, elderly, the homeless, the sick, the infirm, those living in poverty, those sharing their wealth with others in need, in anyone God sends into my life today?

Have I found God in my life or am I looking elsewhere?