Becoming One as the Trinity is One

Today's first reading calls us to faithfulness, to abandon positions of rebellion and follow the Lord. With Him, we are on a journey to the New Jerusalem, to the everlasting city of our God!  "I am your Master," says the Lord.  "I will take you, one from a city, two from a clan, and bring you to Zion. I will appoint over you  shepherds after my own heart, who will shepherd you wisely and prudently...."  On this journey through this world, you and I  will eventually come to the point in our lives when we "will call Jerusalem the Lord's throne; there all nations will be gathered together to  honor the name of the Lord at Jerusalem, and [we] will walk no longer in...hardhearted wickedness."  

Every day, every hour, every year, God is leading us toward union with Himself, with one another, all nations with all other nations, all peoples with all other peoples. Becoming one with the Lord,  one  with one another and one with our innermost self where God dwells are our goals here on earth.   Every day, every hour, every moment, God "appoints over [us, over you and me] shepherds after [His] own heart, who will shepherd [us] wisely and prudently,"  teaching us the ways of communion with one another and with our God! It is God who does the gathering, the coming together in unity, as in the Trinity, where Father, Son and Spirit are one.

In place of today's responsorial, we pray from Jeremiah 31: 10, 11-12abcd, 13.  We pray that "[t]he Lord shall ransom Jacob, he will redeem him from the hand of his conqueror, [Satan who seeks division, not unity]. Shouting, they shall mount the heights of Zion, they shall come streaming for the Lord's blessings: The grain, the wine, and the oil, the sheep and the oxen. Then the virgins shall make merry and dance, and young men and old as well. I will turn their mourning into joy [as they enter into greater communion with one another],  I will console and gladden them after their sorrow [of being divided, of following wicked ways]."

O, the greatness and the mercy of our God!

Champions and Warriors

In today's responsorial psalm, God says to us about David:  "On a champion I have placed a crown; over the people I have set a youth.  I  have found David, my servant; with my holy oil I have anointed him, that my hand may be always with him, and that my arm may make him strong. My faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him." 

God has also found you and me, His servants and His handmaidens!  To God, we, too, are champions upon whom has been placed the crown of redemption. Like David, we have been singled out and anointed for God's purposes. When? at our Baptism and in the sacrament of Confirmation. Many of us have also been anointed in the Sacrament of the sick. Why has God anointed us? For the same reason that He anointed King David: to assure us that His hand is always with us and that His arm is making us strong and, most importantly, because His faithfulness and His mercy is always with us!

David grew as a military leader and king.  How? by co-operating with God, following God's instructions!  On our way to God's Kingdom, we, like King David, are also warriors,  fighting a war against Satan, who wants to keep us out of "the Promised Land" of heaven. Like David who, in  his journey to the Promised Land, encountered Israel's enemies,  we will encounter enemies.  We will win our battles over Satan if we listen to the Lord, seek the Lord, let the Lord lead us, acknowledge our need for guidance and wisdom, recognize our pitfalls, and trust the Lord to lead us through the darkness and around the traps set for us.

We will be champions, as was David, or is any athlete, if we practice and practice and practice the skills needed to become successful spiritual warriors!  Practice what? what is needed to win our battles: humility, repentance, honesty, forgiveness, spending time at the feet of the Lord on a daily basis, acknowledging where we are weak and seeking reinforcements from the Lord on a regular basis,  and praying for courage and wisdom!

Angels--Good and Bad--at Work in the World

In today’s first reading, Revelations 12: 7-12, we are told about the war in heaven, when “Michael with his angels attacked…Satan, who had led all the world astray...” Satan and his angels were defeated and “hurled down to earth…”  Our salvation had been won by the Blood of the unblemished Lamb, the Son of God Incarnate, who gave His life on the cross as a ransom for our sins and rose triumphant over death.  Satan, our accuser, “who accused our brothers [and sisters] day and night before our God, has been brought down. They [Michael and the good angels] have triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word to which they bore witness…” We are warned, though, that “disaster is coming—because the devil has gone down to [us here on earth] in a rage, knowing that he has little time left.”   In a prayer to St. Michael, we pray: O Prince of the heavenly hosts, by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan, and all the evil spirits, who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls.

We are never left alone! God has given each of us a Guardian Angel. Also, the archangels—Michael, Raphael, and Gabriel--whose feast we celebrate today, continue to work on our behalf. Michael, whose name means “Who is like God,” continues defending and protecting us from Satan’s snares and lies. Raphael, whose name means “God has healed,” continues healing us, as he had healed Tobit’s blindness. Gabriel, whose name means “God is my strength,” continues, as he did with Mary, to strengthen us in giving “birth” to Jesus in our world and embracing the will of God for us as revealed in our everyday life.

May you and I, each day of our lives, grow more and more aware of the angels at work on our behalf, ask for their aid and cooperate with them in being sources of healing, protection, and intensification of a person’s desire to bring forth Jesus, especially in areas where individuals have striven to cast God out of sight, out of mind, and out of hearts!

Angels, Good and Bad, Roaming the Earth

In today’s first reading, Job 1:6-22,  when angels of God present themselves before the Lord, among them is a fallen angel, Satan, who has been “roaming the earth and patrolling it,”  and still does.  Know that Satan is not roaming the earth to protect us but to trip us up to curse the Lord our God, to rebel against God as he and the other bad angels had done.  Satan is jealous of us, as he has lost heaven eternally and does not, in any shape or form, want us to enter eternity as women or men who have accepted God as God and ourselves as creatures subject to our Creator.  God has secured salvation for all who obey Him, are grateful to Him and recognize God as our Savior, our Sustainer, our Comforter and Protector, who remain faithful even when things are rough and tough, even when nature  and the violence with humans turns against us. After all, God did not even spare His Son the worst that is within other human beings who are jealous of each other. The leaders, in Jesus’ time, put Jesus to death out of jealousy.  Jesus, as God Incarnate, did not lose faith in His Father, even as He died upon the cross.

 Satan’s jealousy is something all of us will endure and survive by the grace of God, as Job did! He lost all of his possessions and even his children, who, when the building in which they dwelt collapsed upon them in a vicious storm, died.  His response:

 “Naked I came forth from my mother’s womb,

And naked shall I go back again.

The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away;

Blessed be the name of the Lord!”

May our faith, like Job’s, never falter, even in the worst of times. God is at our side. God trusts us, knowing the strength of our faith, and, as with Jesus, endures what we endure, as Jesus was not alone on that cross. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, though three divine persons, are one God! In God, you and I live and move and have our being. So, we, too, are never alone in the sufferings we endure or will endure!

The "You-Don't-Really-Believe-That,-Do-You?" Trap

In today’s first reading, Gen. 3: 1-8, we are given the story of the fall of Adam and Eve.  The serpent, “the  most cunning of all the animals that the Lord God had made, asked the woman, “did God really tell you not to eat from any of the trees in the garden?”  How often does Satan not say to us: “Is that really true that…?” We can fill in the blank easily!  “Does the Church really say that?” “Are you sure that that is what the commandment means?” “You don’t really believe that, do you?” And on and on.  It is so easy to get trapped or to be the one setting a trap for another.  Satan is cunning, no doubt at all!  Imagine, Satan telling Eve and Adam, who was also present, that God lied to you, telling you that you shall die if you eat of the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden. “No, God knows well that the moment you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods who know what is good and what is evil.”   How clever! Whenever we go contrary to God’s will, whenever we sin, our eyes are opened but not in the way that Satan suggest. No, we become aware of our nakedness, our shame.  Satan’s play on words is phenomenal and how often do we not fall for his trickery!

Adam and Eve fell into a hole from which they could not climb out by themselves.  “The woman saw that the tree was good for food, pleasing to the eyes, and desirable for gaining wisdom. So she…ate it; and …gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he [also] ate it.”  How many times are we not lured by that which appears “pleasing to the eyes, and desirable for gaining wisdom.” In that deception, humans kill babies in the womb, the Supreme Court legalizes abortion and gay marriages, the Congress passes bills that make the rich richer and the poor poorer without enough money to support their families, government deficits are reduced by cutting education and healthcare access for the minorities, and on and on and on! Yes, Satan, “the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8).

By God’ grace may we not be that someone! May we remain alert and recognize our dependence upon the Lord’s mercy and unconditional love. Left to ourselves we cannot climb out of the holes into which we fall. How gracious of our God to have saved us by the death of His only begotten Son.

Jesus, the Strong One, who Walks beside Us

In today’s Gospel, Mark 3: 22-30, Jesus, the Son of God Incarnate, is accused by the Scribes that he casts out Satan by the prince of demons, Satan himself.   They refuse to recognize that Jesus’ power over Satan is of divine origin and does not, in any way, originate from Satan.  Satan delights in causing division upon the earth. He is permanently cast out of heaven and will not re-enter the reign of God. Neither does he want us to be one with Christ and certainly not for all eternity.
Jesus tells the Scribes that “…[N]o one can enter a strong man’s house to plunder his property unless he first ties up the strong man.” Jesus is that strong man who ties up Satan, not allowing him to “plunder” the property that belongs to God.  Oh, the   greatness and the love of our God, who comes to this earth to take on Satan, a force too powerful for us, on our own, to overcome.  Left to our own weaknesses, we easily fall into the traps Satan sets for us.  God will not allow it. Through Jesus’ obedience to the Father to the point of death on the cross, Satan is rendered powerless over those who seek the Lord above all, who recognize their sinfulness, repent and believe in the Gospel. With Jesus, in Jesus, and through Jesus, we are one with our God and destined to enter His reign for all eternity.
The Lord says to us in the responsorial psalm of today’s liturgy, Ps. 89:   “I have found David, my servant; with my holy oil I have anointed him, that my hand may be always with him, and that my arm may make him strong. My faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him, and through my name shall his horn be exalted….”   This can be reread as follows:  “I have found you (insert your name), my servant; with my holy oil I have anointed you, that my hand may be always with you, and that my arm may make you strong.  My faithfulness and my mercy shall be with you, and through my name shall your horn be exalted….”

Thank you, Lord, for your mercy and compassion. Thank you for your companionship, for always being at my side to make me strong!

Protection from Satan's Traps

In today's first reading, Acts 20: 28-38, St. Paul tells his fellow Christians that, after he leaves them, he knows that "savage wolves" will attack "the flock."  That message had got to have been terrifying for those whose faith may not have been all that strong.  Jesus, at the Last Supper, less that 24 hours before leaving us in death, prays for us, asking His Father, and ours, to keep us in His name. He reminds the Father that while here he "guarded" us. "But now I am coming to you. I speak this in the world so that they may share my joy completely" (Jn 17: 11b-19).  He reminds the Father that He has given us the Father's word and that the world hates us, as the world hated Jesus, because neither Jesus nor we belong to the world.  He then says to the Father: "I do not ask that you take them out of the world but that you keep them from the Evil One."

What a promise, a promise that Jesus continues to keep. Yes, you and I are shielded from the Evil One. He has no more power over us. Jesus crushed his head from the tree of the cross.  For those of us who believe and rely upon God, evil will not overtake us eternally and eternity is NOW!  Jesus is NOW and where Jesus is, so, too, is the Father and the Spirit. And where the Trinity is, so, too, is eternity--a life beyond this world's reality. If I live by faith, then, when I encounter evil, I  will ultimately triumph over it, no matter from whence it comes. The resurrection is NOW. Rocks are rolled away from our tombs NOW as we rise with Christ to the new life of grace, to the power of the Spirit at work in the depth of our souls.