Weeping, Mourning and Rejoicing

In today's Gospel, John 16: 20-23, we are again reminded that here on earth we will have times when we "will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices; [we] will grieve but [our] grief will become joy. When a woman is labor,"  Jesus says to us, "she is in anguish because her hour has arrived; but when she has given birth to a child, she no longer remembers the pain because of her joy that a child has been born into the world."   The sufferings of this life that cause us anguish, I believe,  are "birthing" us, if you will,  into the persons God intends us to be.  We might think of suffering as a means of  being "born" into holiness, a way in which God is "birthing" us into the self that resembles God and molds us into our Christ-self!  And if a natural birth is painful, and it is, then, too, is being "born" into our best selves, our God-self.  Suffering could be perceived, I believe, as the "birth canal" into a new self according to God's holy will.

Wanting life to be easy would be as unreasonable as wanting the birth of a child to be easy.  It is not and neither is life lived for and with and through God.  Jesus models for us how to deal with life's difficulties. He shows us how to deal with the traumas of life: being betrayed, being rejected, being ridiculed, being condemned, being impoverished, being bullied,  being a refugee or a stranger in a foreign land, being misunderstood. He even shows us how to deal with death and those causing us "death": "Father, forgive them for they know not what they are doing."  And throughout His life up to and including the crucifixion on the cross, I believe, that Jesus often forgave his persecutors, his detractors, and those who scoffed at His teaching, those who hated Him.  Jesus kept His eyes on His Father and spent time each day in communication with Him. May we do the same so that we, too, are able to put things in their right perspective, especially when they cause us to weep and mourn.

Finding Favor with the Lord

In today's first reading, James 3: 13-18, St. James asks us whether we are wise and understanding and then says to us:  "...[S]how your] works by a good life in the humility that comes from wisdom."   There is no way to do this if "bitter jealousy and selfish ambition" dominate our hearts. How do we know whether these motivations have entered our hearts? Their presence reveals itself when we give in to boasting and abandon truth. In James words: [D]o not boast and be false to the truth. Wisdom of this kind does not come from above but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every foul practice."  And we see the effects of jealousy and selfish ambition every night when we listen to the nightly news.  Our country has stooped, I believe, to a new low where selfish ambition is applauded and rewarded, where earthly wisdom darkens our minds and hearts and will. Yes, there is a aura of the demonic clouding, I believe, the U.S. Every kind of disorder and...foul practice" are the order of the day, it seems.

But what about you and I personally? Because we live in this kind of climate does not exempt us from taking James words seriously!  You and I as Christians are called to be wise and understanding, to live "a good live in the humility that comes from wisdom, divine wisdom that is, not earthly wisdom.  When you and I act from divine wisdom, we are relying upon the Holy Spirit for guidance and strength to make right choices, to follow, in the words of today's  the responsorial psalm, Psalm 19, "the law of the Lord."  Only God's laws and decrees are "trustworthy, giving wisdom to the simple,...rejoicing the heart,...enlightening the eye....The ordinances of the Lord are true, all of them just."   With the psalmist, we pray:  "Let the words of my mouth and the thought of my heart find favor before you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer."

Rejoicing in the Lord, our God

In today's first reading, Isaiah 29: 17-24, Isaiah prophesies about a time when "the deaf shall hear the words of a book; and out of gloom and darkness, the eyes of the blind will see. The lowly will ever find joy in the Lord, and the poor rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. For the tyrant will be no more and the arrogant will have gone; all who are alert to do evil will be cut off, those whose mere word condemns a man, who ensnare his defender at the gate, and leave the just man with an empty claim." 

On that day, the humble, those alert to do good, those who are ready to forgive, those who show mercy to others, those who support justice and do not set snares to bring down the just "shall have nothing to be ashamed of, nor shall [their faces] grow pale.  [Those who] see the work of...[God's] hand in [their] midst, they shall keep my name holy; they shall reverence the Holy One of Jacob, and be in awe of the God of Israel."

As I listen to the news each evening, I often hear about evil being perpetrated by "the tyrant," by those "alert to do evil," and by "those whose mere word condemns a man [and those] who ensnare [a] defender at the gate and leave the just [person] with an empty claim."  I pray that our Savior comes to all of us, transforming our hearts of stone to human hearts, whereby we become alert to doing good, to supporting justice, to removing "booby traps," and to referencing the Lord, our God!

Our Soul's Desire

Today's liturgy opens with the antiphon:  "In your strength, O Lord, the just one rejoices; how greatly your salvation makes him glad!  You have granted him his soul's desire, alleluia" (Cf. P:s. 21 (20): 2-3). By making it personal it would read:  "In your strength, O Lord, I rejoice; how greatly your salvation makes me glad! You have granted me my soul's desire, alleluia!"

Often, I would hear my mother say: "Without faith, I don't know how we would  have made it through life's tragic moments."  That comes from a mother who lost her own mother when she herself was 13 years of age.  Because her father suffered from the tragic disease of alcoholism--was physically, sexually, and verbally abusive in drunken states (he was never sober, a 96-year old uncle told me about him)--the state placed two of the children in foster care and another in a orphanage, while my mother raised two of the older children, she herself being the oldest in the family.  She witnessed her father sexually abuse one of her sisters who was not as fast as she in getting away from him. And God knows how much physical and verbal abuse she herself endured! So, basically, she was saying to us: "Without faith, I don't know how I would have made it through the tragedies of my life."

Faith was everything to my parents.  My mother's and father's strength was the Lord's! How greatly the Lord's salvation was desired by my parents.  Now, I believe, both of them are in heaven. Their soul's desire has been granted!

In our lives, do we realize that our strength, day by day, comes from the Lord? And furthermore, do we also realize that our soul's desire is for our salvation, nothing else really! So, in what ways do we co-operate with God in bringing us closer and closer to the gates of heaven already here on earth by the way we live the Gospel in the here and now?

"I Will See You Again"

In today's Gospel, John 16: 20-23, Jesus says to us:  "I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you. On that day you will not question  me about anything."

Jesus, I believe, longs for that day, perhaps more than we do,  when the veil will be lifted and we will see one another face to face.  "No one will take that joy away from us."  Some 2000+ years ago Jesus took on human nature and all that such means. He has experienced, as we do, the temporary diminishment of joy when friends disappoint us.  Conflicts between Jesus and His disciples and those who opposed His teaching sometimes left Him in tears and certainly left Him with questions!  Imagine, though, His return to the glories of heaven with His Father and the Holy Spirit! The rejoicing had to be overwhelming for Him and the Father and the Spirit! That rejoicing will also occur every time that Jesus returns to earth to take a loved one back with Him into his/her eternal home!  That day will come for all of us sooner or later. We will see Jesus face to face and our "hearts will rejoice, and no one will take [our] joy away from [us]." And furthermore, we will have no more questions to ask!

God's Plan Stands Forever

In today's first reading, Zephaniah 3: 14-18,  we are asked to "[s]hout for joy,...shout aloud! Rejoice, exult with all your hearts,...! Yahweh  has repealed your sentence; he has driven your enemies away. Yahweh,  [your King,] is in your midst; you have no more evil to fear. ...[H]ave no fear, do not let your hands fall limp. Yahweh your God is in your midst, a victorious warrior. He will exult with joy over you, he will renew you by his love; he will dance with shouts of joy for you as on a day of festival."

What is proclaimed by Zephaniah we await in hope!  The day of our salvation is NOW, also, however!  Day by day we live into the reality that our sentence as been repealed; our enemies driven away by Yahweh, our God, a victorious warrior.  In the responsorial psalm of today's liturgy, Psalm 33, we are reminded that "the plan of the Lord stands forever; the design of [God's] heart, through all generations....Our soul, says the psalmist, waits for the Lord, who is our help and our shield, for in him our hearts rejoice; in his holy name we trust."

What we see happening in the world of today and, in particular, in our government that seems to be rejoicing in the  passage of a bill that is predicted by many to deprive millions of health insurance and that eventually, it is also claimed, will tax the middle class and the poor to line the pockets of the rich and create more billionaires, will most likely bring much suffering to many peoples. God's plan, by repealing our sentence, frees us from being enslaved to sin. The government's plan is likely to enslaves us to the effects of the sin of greed for generations to come.

We "wait for the Lord, who is our help and our shield, for in him our hearts rejoice; in his holy name we trust," as we know that "the plan of the Lord stands forever; the design of [God's] heart, through all generations."  

Rejoicing in the Lord

In today's first reading, Nehemiah 8: 1-4a, 5-6, 7b-12, Ezra, the priest, gathered all of the men, women and children old enough to understand to an assembly. "From daybreak until  noon, he read "the book of the law of Moses which the Lord prepared for Israel."  At every liturgical celebration the priest or minister also read from the Scriptures,  a "law," prepared for our instruction, inspiration and strength. As in the O.T. gatherings when "the scroll" is opened "so that all the people might see it (for he was standing higher up than any of the people)...," our priests, from the raised sanctuaries in our churches,  bless "the Lord, the great God, and all the people..." As in Old Testament gatherings, we, by our attendance at liturgical celebrations, are reminded that each day "is holy to our Lord" and that "rejoicing in the Lord must be [our] strength."

How true is this for you, for me? Is "rejoicing in the Lord" our strength or do we bypass the Lord and seek strength in places and in persons are who unable to lift us up and, in no way, are God substitutes?

The Hand of God Was with Them and Is with Us

In today’s first reading, Acts 11: 19-26, we learn that those who had been scattered by the persecution that followed the murder of Stephen did not cowl in fear but went forth to other places to proclaim “the Lord Jesus. The hand of the Lord was with them,” the author of Acts, tells us, and “a great number who believed turned to the Lord.” Barnabas was sent to Antioch and, when he arrived, he “saw the grace of God,” and  rejoiced and encouraged the people to whom he had been sent to “remain faithful to the Lord in firmness of heart.”

Wow! What testimony! What courage! And what a commitment to the Lord God! Would you and I, I ask, after witnessing a disciple of the Lord being stoned to death and fleeing persecution continue to “proclaim the Lord Jesus”?  Would we, in arriving at a new city/town/country recognize “the grace of God” working in strangers? Do we recognize God at work in those with whom we live? Within those with whom we worship each Sunday? Within our co-workers? 

May we, every day, take time to reflect upon the Scriptures of the daily liturgy, or any other Scripture or spiritually-uplifting reading. Doing so, we will grow in our awareness of God at work in others, and in ourselves. We will awaken our ability to rejoice and encourage others in their faith development and in using their faith to bring others to Jesus!

God Daily at Work Recreating Newness of Life

Today’s first reading, Is. 65: 17-21, opens with the Lord telling us that he is “about to create new heavens and a new earth,” and that the “things of the past shall not be remembered or come to mind.”  Rather, God says, “there shall always be rejoicing and happiness in what I create;  for I create Jerusalem to be a joy and its people to be a delight. I will rejoice in Jerusalem and exult in my people.”

God is speaking, also, to us and about us.  The things in our past, the things that are painful or about which we are ashamed, the things that bring forth distress, that have been traumatic for us, will be no more. These things shall no longer be remembered in the sense of causing us the pain they once produced within our minds, bodies and spirit. No, God, is recreating us, day by day,  into the persons God designed us to be: men and women of integrity, men and women of humility, men and women of faith, men and women of trust, forgiving and reconciling men and women and thus healed and forgiven, knowing our hearts of hearts that we are truly loved unconditionally and fully! 

As we come to Jesus as persons needing Jesus’ help and depending on God’s mercy to be made “new” again, to have our sadness turned into “rejoicing,”  as did the Roman soldier in today’s Gospel, John 4: 43-54, we will experience “the fever” of our anger, resentment, guilt and shame and “the diseases” by which we condemn and judge others and ourselves as unworthy of God’s love and mercy leave us. Yes, we will be restored to the health of the redeemed, for, not only has God created “Jerusalem to be a joy,” but has also created us to be a joy as well and to know joy in this life, day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute.

God Rejoices Over You

In today's first reading, Zephaniah 3: 14-18a, the prophet writes: The Lord, your God, is in your midst, a mighty savior; he will rejoice over you with gladness, and renew you in his love, he will sing joyfully because of you, as one sings at festivals."

A MIGHTY Savior walks among us in the debris of war, in our brothels where young men and women, children, adolescents and young adults are sex slaves; in our back gullies where innocent persons are raped, and in our homes where family members are abused.

"[God] will rejoice over you--each one of us--with gladness, and renew [us]in his love, he will sing joyfully because of you, as one sings at festivals."  It is hard to believe that when we find ourselves in appalling situations or are ourselves creating havoc in someone's life.  God is a mighty savior. God does not grow weary of us, Isaiah tells us.  Those who hope in the Lord will soar like eagles out of the messiness of their lives in due time--God's time!

May your hope grow strong as you prepare for the second coming of the Lord. That coming is as sure as the rising and the setting of the sun each day!  If you are down, may pondering the Scriptures renew your strength and direct you to make choices that lead to freedom.  Call upon the Lord with hope and faith! He is nearer to  you than your breath!

Mary's Triumph over Death: The Feast of the Assumption

Today we celebrate the Assumption of our Blessed Mother into heaven.  Imagine going to heaven body and soul, not just soul!  Our bodies will join our souls/spirits at the end of the world, when Jesus comes in His second coming and all is restored to the Father.  The fullness of redemption will occur at that time.  However, today we celebrate the face that, at the end of her life here on earth, Mary was taken up to heaven body and soul. No way would God allow the body of the mother of His Son to undergo corruption.   Imagine the rejoicing in heaven when Mary comes through the eternal gates, so to speak. Imagine Mary’s joy as well as Jesus’  and that of the entire Trinity and all of the angels and saints. What a celebration!  But you know what, the Trinity and Mary and all the angels and saints in heaven rejoice, also,  when  our spirits/souls enter  heaven.  

Though I am here on earth right now enjoying the many ways in which God reveals Himself to me, I am eager for that moment when I will be born into eternal life. What a glorious day that will be for me, for those of my family—both my family of origin and my religious community family—when Jesus leads me through those “gates!”  Of course, I know that I have a lot of work to do in cooperation with grace before that great day of rejoicing. I also know that God is at work in me, in you,  every day to bring about the fullness of redemption in us, transforming sin in us into holiness, selfishness into generosity, deceit into honesty, pride into humility.

With Mary, we pray: “M soul proclaims the greatness of th4e Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my Savior for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant” (cf Luke 1: 39-56).

Creation of a new heaven and a new earth

The Lord says in today’s first reading, Is. 65: 17-21, “I am about to create new heavens and new earth;….No longer shall the sounds of weeping be heard there or the sound of crying… (Is.65: 17, 19) Instead, there shall always be rejoicing and happiness in what I create;  for I create Jerusalem to be a joy and its people to be a delight; I will rejoice in Jerusalem and exult in my people”  (Is. 65: 18-19).

The pagan official in today’s Gospel, John 4: 43-54,  experienced the fulfillment of this promise. His son was dying and he sought out Jesus.  When he found Him in Galilee, he asked that he come down to Capernaum before his son dies. Jesus does not go down. He sadly states to the people gathered around: “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will not believe.” He then turns to the pagan official and simply says: “Go home; your son will live.” This pagan’s sorrow is turned into rejoicing. Everyone who meets him on his way home experiences a man filled with delight.

God is always creating something new in those who believe. He is always putting our sins behind Him, totally forgetting our transgressions.   Jesus’ triumph over death is an eternal NOW.  God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit rejoice eternally over Jesus’ victory. Yes, the prophesy of Isaiah is being fulfilled every single day. Even though our eyes do not see the “miracles,” the signs of Jesus’ triumph over death that are renewed in the depths of our hearts, in the recesses of our homes, in the bowels of our social, political and religious systems, every moment of every day, does not mean that God’s power to transform evil into good, death into life is not occurring in our midst.  Must Jesus say to us: “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will not believe” (John 4: 48)?