God's plan for us and the world

“…the plan of the Lord stands firm forever…” (Ps. 33)—a reminder in today’s liturgy.   That plan is the transformation of every man and woman into Christ, by Christ, and for Christ. That plan is our redemption and that of every nation, every  government, everyone in leadership (church, civil, corporate and congregational)—all wills coming into harmony with the will of God, being obedient to God in all the circumstances of our lives, unlike Adam and Eve who disobeyed God and fell into the ego trap of being a god unto itself.  Through the obedience of Jesus, the new Adam and the perfect Israel, we are empowered by the Cross of Christ to “demolish…[our] idols; and no longer bow down before the work of …[our] hands” but “ to act justly, to love tenderly and to walk humbly with… [our] God” (Micah 6:8) this day and every day. 

I pray for the humility and the inner peace to carry out God’s will, not my will, in all of the circumstances of this day. Grant that grace to all persons, Lord.

Enriched in every way

In today’s first reading, 1 Cor 1: 1-9, St. Paul recalls the graces God gave him as an apostle of Christ Jesus, as willed by God, to serve the Church of Corinth, as well as the graces given to the members of the church, to us disciples of Christ.  All of us have been “sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be holy.”  He reminds us that we have been “enriched in every way,” that we “are not lacking in any spiritual gift as we wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 

The challenge is the waiting for and the making visible, by our actions, this revelation of the Lord in our personal lives.  This challenge to be one with the will of God is made difficult by the fact that we are vulnerable to Satan’s deceptive ways. We may think we are in sync with God and not be.  Our efforts  to be faithful to God’s way of being in this world are also challenged by the fact that we live in a nation that strives to be a god unto its own making. All around us, people seem to be carving “golden calves”  out of power, prestige, pleasure, popularity,  money, domination,  weapons of war, and the pursuit of ambitions that oppress the poor of this world. These ambitions can even lead to killing others (physically or  psychologically/spiritually crushing one inner spirit of hope, love and faith in oneself, in others, in God).    Our faithfulness to the graces Jesus wants to pour out upon us is tested in this crucible of “evil.” Will I allow the forces of evil or the grace of God to win out in my life? When the Son of Man comes, will I be distributing the food that supports life, that nurtures live, that sanctifies life? Will I be among the blessed that Jesus speaks about in today’s  Gospel, Mt 24: 42-51?

Am I a John the Baptist or an Herodias, a Herod?

Today we celebrate the Passion of Saint John the Baptist. The Gospel reading relates the circumstances that led to his beheading. We have the contrast of two persons: one who is in sync with the will of God, who, in the words of Micah 6:8, does “what is right,”  loves “loyalty” (to God and to one’s faith) and walks “humbly” with his God.  Herod, Herodias and their daughter, on the contrary, are in sync with this world’s values, are blinded by their egos and guided by selfishness and sin.

 All of us face the same challenges: to listen to the good spirits within us or to follow bad spirits, to be alert to that which is of God or that which is not of God, that is, the voice of selfishness, maliciousness, evil inclinations, that of  pleasing the crowd and clinging to a decision that we have come to know, in our heart of hearts, is not of God’s making.  We can choose to avoid embarrassment when we are wrong and follow through with poor choices or humbling ourselves to do what is right when others are clamoring for us to follow ways contrary to the Commandments and to Gospel living.

Giving one's life for another

Today we celebrate the feast of St. Maximilian Kolbe, who, in the concentration camp, gave his life for the sake of a man who was destined for death. This man had a family and Maximilian, a Franciscan friar, ask the "executioners" that he be allowed to replace this family man.  The same heroic decision and unselfish giving of self for the sake of another occurred in Aurora, Colorado, when several young men shielded their girlfriends from gunfire and in Oak Creek, WI when the pastor shielded his parishioners.  Every day, men and women, from all walks of life, all sexual orientations, all cultures, courageously follow the Spirit's direction to spare others from harm, to protect a child from abuse, even from being neglected and ignored; to save others from natural disasters and from violence in our streets and homes.

You and I may choose a direction that is heroic and about which only we know. In other words, our choices do not attract national attention but we know we have been courageous in what we have done or not done out of concern for another person.   May God continue to give us that kind of courage on a daily basis as we live our lives according to the Gospels.

A Spirit-filled Summer of Blessings

I will be on vacation until August 28^th.  As I prepare for my own vacation, I hope all of you who frequently visit this site are having a wonderful summer, have also had time off from a busy schedule  doing some “fun” things you otherwise do not have time to do. 

My summer certainly has been one of tremendous blessing.  This past weekend I just returned from Rome where I was attending a General Assembly Planning Commission Meeting at our Generalate.  It was a great experience of everyone being willing to do the work in a spirit of collaboration and deep respect.  When I was asked to be chairperson of this Commission, my response was: “I’ve never done anything like that and not sure this is within my abilities.”  What I realized was that my most important task was to allow the Spirit to function freely and creatively in each of the committee members and also be open to the Spirit working within me. 

Earlier in the summer, I spent three weeks in Trinidad, spending most of that time with three pre-postulants, processing with them, praying with them, accompanying them in whatever way needed.  During that same time, I did an assessment for another religious community and completed three lengthy reports to support my recommendation of each of the three women to be accepted into our postulancy program.  During that time in Trinidad, I was blessed in ways I could never imagine in being with these three women but also with being able to participate in great liturgies and be the recipient of awesome homilies by some very young, Spirit-filled priests. 

To any one discerning a religious vocation or a vocation to the priesthood, know that God and we need good women and men willing to give their all to building the Kingdom!  If God is calling you, I pray that you have the courage to say “yes.” I did and have never regretted it!

I now look forward to some time off to be with family and friends. The blog will be continued on my return here on the 28^th of August.

The Glory of God

In the first reading of today’s liturgy, Ez 1: 2-5, 24-28, Ezekiel describes a vision of God’s glory—a brilliance he describes as a “flashing fire enveloped in brightness,  from the midst of which…something gleamed like electrum.  Within it were figures resembling four living creatures that looked like this: their form was human.”

 We know that we have been created in God’s image but probably never consider the glory of God that shines forth from us, or another,  when we are one with the Spirit in our ways of thinking, acting and choosing; when we are loving and caring for another; when we are reconciling, understanding, and forgiving of others, when we are patience and compassionate as God is compassionate.  Each of us has probably seen the glory of God radiating through the beauty of nature—sometimes taking our breath away! At others times we have stood in awe of a child who reflects God to us. What about our perception of God’s glory in the mundane realities of our lives, of ourselves?  At times, like Ezekiel in exile, we may actually wonder whether God has abandoned us when, suddenly, as it seems in Ezekiel's case, God reveals His presence. 

When has God suddenly shown His glory in your life?

Great is your faith

In today’s Gospel, Mt. 15: 21-28, the Canaanite woman from the region of Tyre and Sidon, a non-Jew, approaches Jesus, asking that He free her daughter from a malicious demon that torments her.  Jesus seems to ignore her.  The disciples get exasperated by the woman’s persistence: Send her away, she keeps begging on and on. Her whining is intolerable, so it seems to be their position. Jesus is not welcoming, so it seems. He even refers to her as “a dog.”  I’m here for the Israelites. You’re not a Jew. Go away, He seems to be saying to her.  She does not give up hope and finally Jesus gives in and heals her troubled daughter.

Jesus’ withholding of a positive response seems cruel. Or is He holding out in order to call forth the depth of her faith and strengthen her resolve?  Sometimes, when my prayers do not seem to be heard, when I am going through rough times, I may feel as though Jesus is ignoring me. When I come up against others’ taunts or when others say, by word or action, as the disciples said to Jesus “shut her up”, I could disappear and sulk. The Canaanite woman did not do that. She knew what she wanted. She knew that Jesus was the answer. She did not give up hope or stop trying to make her dreams a reality. She was willing to work for the results she envisioned.

I have much to learn from her.  Is my focus strong? Is my faith unshakable? Am I that sure of what I am pursuing that I am willing to go to whatever length is necessary for as long as it takes, not giving up, but being even more sure that what I am hoping for is possible, as long as I do not lose hope, as long as I am willing to work for it, as long as I go to the right source, ignore the outer noise, the objections, the ridicule, willing to stand alone in what I know is possible, as did the Canaanite woman?