God Remains with Us Always!

In today's Gospel, John 14: 15-21, Jesus speaks about His returning to heaven. He ascend to His Father and send us the Holy Spirit, "another Advocate to be with [us] always, the Spirit of truth whom the world cannot accept, because it neither sees me nor knows him. But," he says to us, "you know him, because he remains with you and will be in you. I will  not leave you orphans; I will come to you. In a little while," he says to  us, "the world will no longer see me, but  you will see me, because I live and you will live. On that day,  you will realize  that I am in my Father and you are in me and I in you."


What a promise! And how real! All around us and within us new life is emerging every day. We wake up renewed from sleep! Our life has been restored during sleep!  We wake up with new energy, a new zest for life, a new hope, new faith, deeper love because "another Advocate" has been sent to us in the Spirit, a "Spirit of truth" and life whom the world cannot accept, because it neither sees the Spirit of God nor know God's Spirit.

How do we grow in knowledge of God's Spirit within us and around us? By spending time in solitude, seeking God's face within and around us and in others and in the events of our lives;  by spending time in prayer and in reflection upon the Scriptures--the Holy Bible--and the Scriptures of our lives and of the events of our lives!  God is in both and in all of life, hidden from the naked eye, from the eyes that simply look at problems and how to solve them without bringing them to God or asking for God's help!

Let us remember that Jesus is in God the Father and you and i are also in the Father, as St. Paul tells us: We live and move and have our being in God. Let us also remember that Jesus dwells in our very being itself and if Jesus dwells there so, too, does God and Father and God the Spirit, as they  are one in love and truth and life!

Winter in Jerusalem!

In  today's Gospel, John 10: 22-30, we are told that the Feast of the Dedication was taking place in Jerusalem and that it was winter!  Jesus attends this feast and is asked by the Jews, as he walked about the temple area, how long he would keep the people in suspense of who he actually is!  Jesus responds very directly: "I told you and you do not believe. The works I do in my Father's name testify to me. But you do not believe...." 

To believe in Jesus and in the works that He does, one's heart needs to be open, not frozen, not cold!  Would Jesus say that it is winter for me, that is, that I am cold, inattentive to His words or to His works, especially to the needy and poor, to those who are vulnerable and who need assistance, to little children who needs someone to show and express their love for them, who need someone who will play games with them and help them with their homework and who need a daily structure that keeps them feeling safe and secure?  If I am "frozen," and need to "warm" up to Jesus and to His teachings, Jesus might say to me:

Dorothy Ann, (insert your name), pay attention to My Words in the very core of your heart!  I speak to you there every day and often throughout the day. I also "unthaw" your frozen heart so that you can feel other people's pain. I remove the "cataracts" from your eyes so that you see what I see and the "wax" from your ears so that you can hear me speaking to you through others and through the events of the day!  I cherish you being my partner in the good I do all day long in every person's life and in appreciating all of nature and the graces I shower down upon you every day! 

If I am cold and inattentive to others, they might say to me: "You never have time for me!" "You don't call me!" "You ignore me!" "You don't offer to help with preparing meals or doing other household chores!" "You are "glued" to the internet, the TV, your electronic gadgets!"  "You  are more into  yourself interests than into anything that interests the kid or me!" "You are not willing to give an inch!"

If I, if you, are going to leave "winter" behind, what do we need to be willing to change?

Chosen to Witness to the Risen Christ

Today's first reading gives witness to the fact that, on the third day after Jesus was crucified and died, He was "raised...and granted  that he be visible, not to all the people, but to us, the witnesses chosen by God in advance, who ate and drank with him after he rose from that dead"!  That is you and I chosen in our baptism to know and profess the risen Christ, to eat and drink of His body and blood, soul and divinity in Holy Communion at every Mass or Liturgy that we celebrate!  You and I, men and women, have been "commissioned...to preach to the people and testify that he is the one appointed by God as judge of the living and the dead. To him [we] bear witness, that everyone who believes in him will receive forgiveness of sins through his name."  

Women were the first to proclaim the resurrection of Jesus and it was  Mary Magdalene and another woman who was commissioned by Jesus to let the apostles know that He had risen:  "After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of  the Lord descended from heaven...[T]he angel said to the women..., 'Do not be afraid! I know that you are seeking Jesus the crucified. He is not here, for he has been raised just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, 'He has been raised from the dead, and he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him.   Behold I have told you.' Then they went away quickly from the tomb...and ran to announce this to his disciples"  (Matthew 28:1-9).

How do you announce Jesus' resurrection in your life and in the life of your loved ones and to all those who have contact with you?  Do others know the Risen Christ because they know you?  If not, why not? If yes, give praise to the Risen Christ, who reveals Himself to you and to others through your love, your compassion, your understanding, your faith and trust in the Lord,  your forgiveness, and your generosity in giving of yourself to lift burdens and spread the Good News of the Gospel!

Jesus' Transfiguration: Do I Get it?

Today we celebrate the feast of the Transfiguration of our Lord on Mount Tabor! On this Mount, Jesus spoke to Moses and Elijah about his impending death, His agony on the cross, His crucifixion.  How difficult it must of have been for Jesus. He tried to share his pain with this apostles. But they simply did not get it!  It was important for Jesus to be able to talk to someone who would understand what he was going through. His Father knew that and arranged for this meeting with Moses and Elijah!

Jesus takes Peter, James and John with Him up to Mount Tabor. As Jesus begins to pray, His face "changed in appearance and his clothing became dazzling white. And behold, two men were conversing with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his exodus that he was going to accomplish in Jerusalem."    The three apostles fall fast asleep! Only when they became fully awake did they see Jesus' "glory and the two men standing with him." Baffled and not knowing what to say, Peter blurts out a request: Jesus, let us build three tents here--one for you, one for Elijah and one for Moses. As he was speaking a "cloud came and cast a shadow over them, and they became frightened when they entered the cloud. Then from the cloud came a voice that said, 'This is my chosen Son; listen to him.'"  Then, all of a sudden Peter, James and John are alone with Jesus and "[t]hey fell silent"!

Even on Mount Tabor, the three apostles do not get it, as obvious from Peter wanting to build three tents there for Jesus, Moses and Elijah!  They sleep!  How often do you and I not get it and are truly asleep to what is going on spiritually.  How often are not our eyes closed to God at work in our world, in our lives, in the lives of others, in our church, our society, our families.  How often are we not living in a fog, so to speak, or simply are too busy focused on our desires, whatever they may be--building tents or doing whatever, babbling anything because we don't know what to say. Yes, we easily miss the point of what God wants and how ordinary reality, every day,  is being transfigured into a reality of God's Presence and God's power at work!

"Be still and know that I am God,"   the psalmist tells us in Psalm 46:10!

Dedicated to God for God's Purposes

In today's first reading, Jeremiah 1: 4-5, 17-19, God tells us, through the prophet, that God knew us "before [God] formed us] in [our mother's] womb" and that He "dedicated" us before we were born. Through the prophet Jeremiah, God asks us "to gird" ourselves and to do and say what God commands us to do or say; "Be not crushed on [account of others], as though I would leave you crushed before them....[Others] will fight against you but not prevail over you, for I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord."

And God does not break His promise!  We see that truth in Christ Jesus. In today's Gospel,  Luke 4: 21-30, after Jesus spoke in the synagogue of his hometown, the people turned against Him. They took Him "to the brow of the hill on which their town had been built, to hurl him down headlong." Jesus "passed through the midst of them and went away."  God the Father delivered His son from the evil ways of those plotting to harm Him and He does so for us, as well!  God is on the side of those who do His will and who follow the plan God has marked out for them!

Who am I in today's Gospel: those who, out of anger or jealousy, rise up against others or those who, girded with grace and the power of the Spirit,  speak the truth as directed by God, as Jesus did?  Do I, like Jesus, trust the Father in fighting for us and protecting us from evil?

The Generosity of Our God

In today's first reading, Exodus 16: 2-4, 12-15, we read about the Israelites having been freed from the slavery of the Egyptians and are crossing the desert on their way to the land promised to them by their God.  Food is scarce. In anger, they grumble against Moses and Aaron: "Would that we had died at the Lord's hand in the land of Egypt, as we sat by our fleshpots and had our fill of bread!" God, of course, who is always present, leading  us, walking beside us, behind us and ahead of us, hears their complaint! He does not get sucked into their anger and respond angrily. No! He says to Moses: I will now rain down bread from heaven for you. Each day the people are to go out and gather their daily portion...I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them: In the evening twilight you shall eat flesh, and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread, so that you may know that I, the Lord, am your God."

WOW!  That is our God then and now!

The bread that God sent down to the Israelites in the desert was perishable food, not food that lasts. The Bread set down to us now is bread that lasts into eternal life: that Bread of Life is Jesus, as we read in today's Gospel, John 6: 24-35. Jesus tells the people: Do not work for food that perishes but for food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you....[T]he bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world....I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst."

Are we aware of this Truth? Do we come to Jesus in the Eucharist, in the daily Scriptures, in our personal, communal and liturgical prayer seeking to know Jesus more deeply and more personally, to grow in our faith and trust and love?  Do we even pray for  these graces each day, recognizing our need for the Lord's help?

My Lord and my God!

In today's Gospel, John 20:19-31,  the apostles have locked themselves in a building, fearful of the Jews finding them, imprisoning them and putting them to death as they did Jesus. "...Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, 'Peace be with you.'"  Recall the times Jesus said to them: Fear not those who can physically harm the body. Fear those who can harm you spiritually.   In a sense Jesus is reminding them of that fact. "Be at peace! The Jews cannot harm you. Look at me. I am risen from the dead.  The Jews could not harm me and they will harm you neither. Fear not physical death. Follow me! Proclaim my resurrection. You, too, will one day be raised with me." And later when Jesus is about to ascend to His Father and theirs, He tells them that they cannot follow Him at that moment. It's like He said to them: "You cannot come with me now, but you will join Me later. Where I am, you will also be," referring to His eternal Kingdom.

At this meeting, Jesus commissioned them:  "'As the Father has sent me, so I send you.' And when he had said this, he breathed over them, and said to them 'Receive the Holy Spirit...'"  In the sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation, we, too, received the Holy Spirit.  Though we do to see Jesus with our naked eyes but with eyes of faith, we believe. In today's Gospel, Thomas was not with the apostles when Jesus appeared.  When the apostles told them that they had seen the Lord, Thomas said: "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hand and put my finger into the nail marks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe." A week later, Jesus appears to the apostles again. This time Thomas is with them and Jesus says to him:   "Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe."  Thomas responds: "My Lord and my God."

Notice that Jesus does not condemn Thomas but is very gentle and affirming. He meets Thomas where he is at! He does the same for us!  If we are at a point of disbelief or unbelief and proclaim: "I will not believe unless.......(fill in the blank)," Jesus will invite us at the right moment to a position where, like Thomas, we say: "My Lord and my God."  Jesus is willing to wait as long as it takes for us to open our hearts to His Love.

"Behold, the Lamb of God" and Listen to God's Call

In today's first reading, 1 Sam 3: 3b-10, 19, God calls Samuel three times during his sleep. He thinks it is his master calling him, so he goes to Eli each times until Eli realizes that it is the God calling Samuel. So, he instructs Samuel to let the Lord know that he is listening. In the Gospel, John 1 35-42, John sees Jesus passing by and he says: "Behold the Lamb of God."  Upon hearing this, two of John's disciples follow Jesus, who turns around and says to these two disciples: "What are you looking for?"   In turn, they ask Him where he lives and Jesus responds: "Come and see!"  One of these disciples first goes to  his sibling and says  to him: "We have found the Messiah."

Notice the role of others in bringing people to the Lord or in listening to the Lord calling us by name, as He called Samuel. You and I also need others, at times, to intervene so that we learn both to listen and to go to the special places where Jesus lives (in our Catholic Churches where Jesus resides in the Tabernacle, where consecrated hosts are stored--a red light in a church's sanctuary means Jesus is there in person in the consecrated bread). The bread does not look like "the Lamb of God," but is. God's voice, also,  may sound like any other voice--Samuel thought he was hearing Eli call. It was the Lord.  In John's case, as Jesus walked by, the two disciples of John who were standing there probably just saw another man walk by and, not until John said "Behold the Lamb of God," recognized this man as just another person in the area.  Some Catholics, I am told, in receiving Holy Communion, think they are just eating a wafer of bread, not as the Son of God--body, blood, soul and divinity--come down from heaven to visit them in person!

Deepen my faith, Lord,  in your presence, as Eli did that for Samuel and John the Baptist did it for his disciples.  Like Eli  and like John the Baptist, may I take time to grow in the faith by taking time to pray and to reflect upon the Scriptures as well as doing what is right and helping my neighbor in need so as to grow in intimacy with you.  By living my faith may I, at the right moment, be ready to direct young people to make right choices when you call upon them and as you walk quietly among them.  Like John the Baptist, who recognized you passing by, may I grow in my openness to the unseen God in my midst and direct people to follow Him.

Trusting and Focusing on the Lord

In today's first reading from Genesis 12: 1-9,  we encounter  75-year-old Abram, whom the Lord has just asked to take leave of his father's house and go forth to a land that God will show him.  It's like God said to Abram: "Just leave! Just trust me and start out on a journey. I will reveal your destiny. I know where  I want you to settle!"  Not only that, but God says to Abram: "I  will make of you a great nation--Abram and Sarai are childless--and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you. All the communities of the earth shall find blessing in you." 

Abram, we are told, "went as the Lord directed him" and "journeyed on by stages...." Along the way, Abram is accompanied by the Lord--the Lord reveals himself and speaks with his servant throughout the journey. At certain points on the journey, Abram builds altars to the Lord and worships Him.

We are not unlike Abram. As with Abram,  God directs us along our faith journey, as well.  At one time or other, each of us has been asked to leave "our father's house".  We did so when we married or entered religious life or set out on a career as a single person to follow a dream that we believed was a calling from God.  God went with us, walking behind us or in front of us, at our right and left side, never leaving us alone. Along the way, God has blessed us and, without us knowing it, stopped others from "cursing" us or tripping us up.  Whatever obstacles we encountered, God helped up over the hurdles and continues to do so.  Like Abram, hopefully, we have special places where we set up , or seek out, altars to worship the Lord.

Truly, we are walking on holy ground as the Lord sanctifies it and us as we journey to our eternal home in imitation of Abram, who has gone before us!

"Woman, why are you weeping?"

Happy Easter! Imagine this day! The disciples are in deep mourning over the crucifixion and death of their Lord and Master. Its a bla, bleak, dark, empty day. At this point, the disciples still do not believe what Jesus told them that, in three days, he would rise again. Death would have no power over Him.  

He In today’s Gospel, John 20: 1-9,  Mary of Magdala goes to the tomb and finds it empty. Jesus is not there. Frightened that someone stole the body, she runs to Simon Peter and John and reports the empty tomb. Peter and John dash to the tomb, John arriving first but, out of respect, waits for Peter to arrive and enter the tomb. Peter finds it empty as well, the burial cloths in which the body of Jesus was wrapped neatly folded.  From Peter’s perspective, the body of Jesus is gone.

John enters the empty tomb. “He saw and believed.”

Would you be Peter or John? Would you only see an empty tomb? Are you unbelieving, going about your business today, living your life by celebrating holidays, not holy days? Is Easter only about bunnies and Easter eggs and champagne and Easter lambs to be eaten, enjoyed and then life goes on in a secular, detached, unbelieving way? Is your faith dead or dying, in a weakened state, to say the least?

Jesus, our Lord and Incarnate God, crucified, put to death, has risen. He does so quietly, so to speak, breaking the chains of death, destroying Satan’s power and opening the gates to eternal life for each  one of us.   No crowds of people witness the resurrection, as John reports it. Jesus is risen. While Peter and John went into the tomb,  Mary of Magdala stood outside the tomb weeping.  “As she wept, she stooped to look inside [after Peter and John had left], and saw two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus had been, one at the head, the other at the feet. They said, ‘Woman why are you weeping?’  ‘They have taken my Lord away,’ she replied, ‘and I don’t know where they have put him.’ As she said this she turned round and saw Jesus standing there, though she did not realize that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, ‘Woman why are you weeping? Who are you looking for?’  Supposing him to be the gardener, she said, ‘Sir, if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and remove him.’ Jesus said, ‘Mary!’ She turned around then and said to him in Hebrew, ‘Rabbuni!’…” (John 20: 11-16).

For whom or what are you weeping? For whom are you looking? Do you recognize Jesus in your midst? Do you hear Jesus whispering your name? Or is Jesus not someone with whom you have a first-name relationship, a friendship that does not allow you to leave the "empty tombs" of your life until you find Him?

Jesus Saves All Who Call Upon Him, Jews and Gentiles alike

In today’s Gospel,  Mark 7: 24-30, a Syrophoenician woman approaches Jesus, asking that He heal her daughter, that is, to “drive out the demon” that possesses her.  Jesus says to the woman:  “Let the children be fed first. For it is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.” Sounds harsh; doesn’t it?  Jesus was sent first to the children of Israel, not to Gentiles—that is what He is telling her.e is telling her   .  The woman is not deterred in her request and says to Jesus:  “Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s scraps.” Jesus then commends her for her faith and immediately heals her daughter. “For saying this, you may go. The demon has gone out of your daughter.”

Jesus is teaching His disciples that God reaches out to both Jews and Gentiles, that  is, that God has come to save all people, not just the Jews. 

As we pray over upon this passage, we may reflect upon our own faith in Jesus and the “demons” from which we need to be healed. What weaknesses within us keep us from doing the good that God has planned for us today? And who in our families and among our relatives needs Jesus’ healing touch so that they, too, live up to their potential as children of God, created to let their light shine for all to see and from which others can benefit, being drawn , also to living a life of faith in God, in oneself and in others who need us to show the way to the Father?

Immersed in God's Love and Directed by His Spirit

God is all around us, within us, within the universe, residing in the core of every human being. St. Paul tell us: In God we live and move and have our being. In today's first reading, 1 John 4: 11-18, St. John says to us: " No one has ever seen God."  God is as hidden from the naked eye today as He was as an infant in Bethlehem and as He is in the Sacred Host and Precious Wine,  consecrated on the altar during a Catholic Mass.  I know Him present and hidden by the eye of faith.

St. John goes on to say that  "if we love one another, God remains in us, and his love is brought to perfection in us."  What a gift love is. I was born to love and be loved, to give witness to God, who loved me first and enables me to love as He did and does: giving of myself selflessly for the salvation wrought by God Himself and communicated through humans and all of creation, as God's continues to work in silence and in disguises.

This morning I was going to address a situation that is troubling to me. God's response, as I complained to Him about a specific situation: "My ways are not your ways and my thoughts are not your thoughts." And then He counseled me: "Do not fix what is not yours to fix!"    In faith, I did not write the email I had intended to write!

If we take time with the Lord, if we  bring our issues to the Lord, if we seek God's counsel every day, in all of the day's circumstances, if we bring our concerns to the Lord with an open mind and heart and will, God will, in truth, direct us and spare us untold sufferings that come from acting alone!

Jesus' Knowledge of Our Thoughts and Behaviors

In today’s Gospel, John 20: 19-31, we are given the story of Jesus appearing to the apostles and, this time, Thomas is with them. Jesus greets the apostles and then says to Thomas: “Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.” Without anyone informing Jesus of Thomas’ earlier comment that he would not believe unless he touched the wounds of Jesus, Jesus brings it up to Thomas. Jesus knows our thoughts and actions from afar. He knows them before we even share them with Him.  Some people contend that because God knows us through and through and knows what we have done, have said or planned to do or say, that there is no need to tell him, to be honest with Him and reveal ourselves to Him. The truth is that Jesus, in most healings, asked the person what he/she wanted of Jesus. He waited for the person to tell his/her story before He intervened. He did the same with the disciples on the way to Emmaus. When the disciple expressed his frustration at Jesus seeming to not know, Jesus asks “What things?”  We need to be honest with Jesus, bare our souls to Him, for our sakes, not his.  It is our openness that prepares the way for God to pour forth the needed graces. We have to open the door by open communication.

Loving, Hearing, Seeing, Touching: Vehicles of Faith

The Gospel of today’s liturgy, John 20: 11-18, recounts the experience of Mary Magdalene, who after Peter and John had left the tomb, having witnessed to the fact that the tomb was empty, stayed behind and stood outside the tomb weeping. “Where was Jesus?”  “Who had taken his body?”  John, when seeing the empty tomb and the burial cloths rolled up and neatly placed where Jesus’ body had been laid to rest,  believed that Jesus has risen. His love for His Savior had no room to doubt the resurrection of Jesus.   

Mary peers into the empty tomb, John tells us,  and sees “two angels in white sitting there, one at the head and one at the feet where the Body of Jesus had been.”  They say to her: “Woman, why are you weeping?”  If "an angel of the Lord" asked me that question, what would be my response? Mary says:  “They have taken my Lord, and I don’t know where they laid him.” She turns around and sees the risen Lord but does not recognize Him until He calls her name: “Mary!” Immediately she knows Him—“My sheep know my voice,” Jesus tells us in the Gospels. Would I, do I, recognize the voice of Jesus when He, too, calls my name or am I tuned in to too many other voices and simply do not hear Jesus at all! For whose voice am I listening, in fact?

John, peering at an empty tomb,  believed out of love. He needed no proof! Mary first believed and recognized the Risen Lord when she heard His voice. Peter first believed when he saw Jesus later in the upper room, doors locked out of fear of the authorities who had Jesus killed and could easily be looking for His followers. Thomas first believed when he first touched the wounds in Jesus’ feet, hands, and side. 

What prompts my belief or yours?

Looking Intently to heaven

Today we celebrate the feast of St. Stephen, the first martyr, who held fast to his faith in Christ Jesus in the face of the outrage “of the members of the so-called Synagogue of Freedmen, Cyrenians, and Alexandrains, and the people from Cilicia and Asia.”  They were unable to debate with Stephen, as his wisdom and the spirit with which he spoke was too much for them. Hearing him, “they were infuriated, and they ground their teeth at him. In the midst of their attack upon him, Stephen, “filled with the Holy “Spirit, looked up intently to heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God,” saying to his attackers:  “Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God” (Acts 6: 8-10; 7: 54-59). 

Many times when our loved ones are face to face with death, they, too, I believe, see the “glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.”  The “heavens [open]” and they see “the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God,” as they, too, look “intently to heaven.” God, we know, is always with us in our best of times and our “worst” of times, worst humanly speaking.  God never abandons us. That is why He became one of us in the flesh.  He is always close at hands, even when we are unaware of His presence.

The faith journey

Today, I am directing a retreat at UW-River Falls, WI. The theme of the retreat is “Sometimes you have to go to Jerusalem as a Christian.”  The Scripture reading chosen for today’s reflection is 1 Kings 17: 7-16.  Drought has ravished the land. The Lord says to Elijah: “Up and go to Zarephath in Sidonia, and stay there. I have ordered a widow there to give you food.” As Elijah enters the city, he meets a widow gathering sticks to prepare a last meal for her son and herself before they die.  She is asked to share the little she has with Elijah. She is hesitant. Elijah tells her that Yahweh has promised that the “[j]ar of meal shall not be spent, the jug of oil shall not be emptied, before the day when Yahweh sends rain on the face of the earth.”  She does as Elijah suggested and, lo and behold, the “jar of meal was not spent nor the jug of oil emptied, just  as Yahweh had foretold through Elijah.”

 When you and I think we have absolutely nothing to share or  we are at the end of our rope, there are no more choices left to make, we want to give up totally or simply lie down and die, the Lord says: “Up and go. Don’t just sit here.  Don’t give up.  I have ordered so and so to meet your need, to restore you to life, but you have got to be willing to work  for it. You have got to be willing to leave your “poverty” and seek the more from those who can assist you.

The journey to fullness of life always  involves a dying, a letting go, a  giving and a receiving. If we cling to what is when what is is no longer life-giving—the well has run dry, so to speak-- if we wallow in self-pity, we will continue to feel famished, unmotivated, stuck. On the other hand,  if  we assume responsibility in “finding the widow” in relocating to another “place,” be that a physical move or a psychological/spiritual move, following  Elijah’s example, we will thrive in God’s goodness and grow in our trust of Divine Providence.  The faith journey is learning over and over again to trust God’s invitations to get “up and go to ‘Zaraphat in Sidonia’” or to give of the little we have to help others even when we think we have nothing to give.    

Persistent Knocking, Seeking, Finding

In today’s Gospel,  Luke 11:5-13, Jesus challenges us to be persistent in our praying. He gives the example of a person who, at midnight, goes to his friend’s house asking for bread to share with one of his friends who, unexpectedly, it seems, arrived at his house at midnight.  “I have nothing to offer him,” he says.  Imagine this friend refusing to give him anything, saying “Do not bother me; the door has already been locked and my children and I are already in bed. I cannot get up to give you anything.”  But the needy friend is persistent and keeps knocking.  Jesus suggests that it may not be the friendship that prompts the positive response but the persistence. How persistent am I when I ask God for a favor?

More confusing, perhaps, to the person who has prayed and prayed and prayed and nothing, supposedly, happened is Jesus’ next statement:  “…ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”  So how does one explain this to someone whose prayers seem to go unanswered?

When I was a teenager, I prayed and prayed and prayed that my mother would not die and she did! I still do not have an answer to why God allowed a mother of six children to die of cancer when four of those children were still in grade school. I went through some very trying times, as her death was followed by other family tragedies with no one able to empathize with me, as they had not known such tragedies in their own lives.  Battling an onslaught of anxiety and panic attacks and having fallen into a deep depression during those difficult years, I learned to pray as a child—even had temper tantrums with God, expressing my anger toward Him. God confided to me that it was not He who had trouble with my anger but that I was the one who was bothered by it.  God and I grew very close, as He opened His arms and heart to me in overwhelming ways throughout the years, as I became more and more honest with Him about my feelings and what I was thinking and what I needed from Him that no one else could possibly give me. Yes, I learned to trust the Lord and rely upon Him. I would not trade that relationship with anything in the world!  God, I believed, answered my prayer as my mother intercedes for me and my siblings in ways that have produced miracles in all of our lives.

The Hand of the Lord Was upon Them

In today's first reading, Acts 11: 19-26, we learn that the disciples of Christ fled the region where followers of Christ were being persecuted and moved on to places far away as Pheonicia, Cyprus and Antioch, proclaiming the Lord Jesus "to no one but Jews."  Non-Jews were among their listeners and these persons, in turn, made Jesus known to Greeks as well.  "The hand of the Lord was upon them and a great number who believe turned to the Lord." 

The Church in Jerusalem heard the good news and sent Barnabas to the region.  Barnabas "saw the grace of God,...rejoiced and encouraged...all to remain faithful to the Lord in the firmness of heart, for he was a good man, filled with the Holy Spirit and faith."
When I walk i8nto a situation, what do I see? God's grace at work? Or do my prejudices, anxieties and preconceived ideas block my vision?

Wearying God

In today's first reading, Os 7: 10-14; 8:10, the Lord asks Ahaz to request a sign from God. He refuses.  Isaiah confronts Israel and says, in effect, "Isn't it bad enough that you weary each other? Must you also weary your God?" 

How easy for us human beings to weary God! God asks us, through the prophet Micah, for instance, to love tenderly, act justly and do good (cf Micah 6:8).  Through Jesus, just prior to His Ascension, we are asked to go out to the whole world and proclaim the good news.  In doing God's will, Jesus assures us that if we ask anything in His name, He will give it to us. 

Do I truly believe Jesus? do I ask for the help I need to love tenderly, act justly and do good?  Do I believe that Jesus will truly send me the Holy Spirit so that I will be empowered to "preach" the Good News by how I live life as modeled by Jesus in the Gospels?

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)?