The Wonders of God's Creation

 Today's first reading, Genesis 1: 1-19, tells the story of creation!   "In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless wasteland, and darkness covered the abyss, while a mighty wind swept over the waters."  The sacred writer then goes on to describe in detail God's creation: "God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light . God saw how good the light was." God said let there be this and that and the next thing. And following His creation of all these things--light, darkness, earth, the seas, sun, moon and stars, plants and animals, human beings (male and female)-- "God saw how good" everything was!

God continues to create to this very moment, having put His creative powers in the core of  all that He initially brought into being and continues to bring into existence!  And God sees that it is good, every time!  God's creative energies are at work moment by moment: in every every man and woman,  seed-bearing plant and in every  animal, fish of the sea and birds of the air. Not only are new persons, plants, animals, fish and birds brought into existence every day but those in existence are renewed every day, as well!

WOW! And so, in today's liturgy, we pray in the responsorial psalm, Psalm 104:  "Bless the Lord, O my soul! O Lord, my God, you are great indeed! You are clothed with majesty and glory, robed in light as with a cloak. You fixed the earth upon its foundation, not to be moved forever; with the ocean, as with a garment, you covered it; above the mountains the waters stood. You send forth springs into the watercourses that wind among the mountains. Beside them the birds of heaven dwell; from among the branches they send forth their song. How manifold are your works, O Lord! In wisdom you have wrought them all--the earth is full of your creatures; bless the Lord, O my soul! Alleluia!"

GOD BE PRAISED FOREVER AND EVER AND EVER! AMEN!

Jesus' Example of Coping with Life's Difficult Moments

 In today's first reading, Job 7: 1-4, 6-7, e encounter a depressed Job.  All of the tragic episodes in his life got to him. That is not uncommon.  Life can be overwhelming at times! Job lashed out at God! that, too, can happen! I remember during a very difficult time in my life when I thought God was going to wipe out my family--I was, obviously in acute grief. After expressing my anger at God, I felt terrified--would God strike me dead, I wondered! In prayer, I  heard God say to me in my thoughts: "Your anger is not a problem for me. You are the one troubled by  your anger. Not me!"  I have learned since then that it is important to be honest with God. Another time, when I was hiding my emotions from God in prayer, I heard in my thoughts: "Be honest with me. I know what you are feeling. Don't hide them from me." 

God transcends our anger and understands the circumstances that lead us into anger and/or depression. He meets us in those pits of negative emotions and brings us to the surface, as He did with Job.  Through Christ Jesus, God brings us to a place where we can, with the psalmist, pray:  "Praise the Lord, for he is good; sing praise to our God, for he is gracious; it is fitting to praise him" (Today's responsorial psalm, Psalm 147). And God will give us as much time as we need to get to that point, to climb out of the pit into which we may have climbed!

In today's Gospel, Mark1: 29-39, Jesus teaches us how to deal with life when it gets overwhelming, when we are pressed by the crowd (be that  human crowds or the crowd of negative emotions) and need space to sort things out and clear our minds! Jesus finds a private place away from people and communes with His Father!  We can and need to do the same if we are to maintain our peace of mind and be able to serve others well!

God's Compassion Is Boundless

 Today's Scriptures, Hebrews 13: 15-17, 20-21, the responsorial psalm, Psalm 23, and the Gospel, Mark 6: 30-34, reveal to us a God full of compassion, kindness, and love; in short, a God who cares about us, knows our neediness, and responds generously. Paul says to us in Hebrews: God will "furnish you with all that is good, that you may do his will." Paul then prays for us: "May [God] carry out in your what is pleasing to him through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and every. Amen."

That prayer does not go unanswered! God does, in fact, carry out in us what is pleasing to him and does, also, furnish us with all that is good! Why? So that we are empowered to do God's will, which is to engage in activities that are pleasing to him, and which respond, in love, to the needs of others and our own needs, as well!  If we fail to respect our personal needs, we will not be able to respond lovingly to the needs of others. Deprivation of personal needs for love, forgiveness, joy and peace--all that is good--depletes our ability to give these gifts to others. Jesus recognized that truth when He says to us:  Love the Lord, your God, with your whole soul and your neighbor as yourself.

How generous is God, a God who furnishes us with "all that is good."  Jesus is God and shows us the nature of God in today's gospel, Mark 6: 30-34. At the end of an exhausting day, Jesus says to his apostles: "Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while."  He says the same to us when we are exhausted from a day's work or from years of pouring ourselves out to others in challenging ministries, without costing the cost! In fact, some of our Sisters who worked in our hospitals gave of themselves 24/7, taking on one shift after another when others were unable to come in to work because of a sick child or sick themselves.  "Come away and rest  by yourselves to a deserted place and rest awhile." Perhaps that is what God intends quarantine to be for those of us, temporarily, set apart from the rest of the community!

Following that exhausting day, Jesus and the apostles got into a boat and sailed off to a quiet place on the waters to get away from the crowds.  However, the crowd took note of the direction they were going and met them on the opposite shore. "When Jesus disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them,...and he began to teach them many things." The generosity, the kindness, the love, the compassion of our God knows no limits!

Avoiding Truth and the Consequences of Doing So

 In today's Gospel, Mark 6: 14-29,  Herod, we learn, is very perplexed by John the Baptist, whom his wife, Herodias,  wanted put to death but feared the people's reaction, as they had grown to love and respect John. (Herodias was Herod's  brother's wife).  Herod was trapped when, delighted by his daughter's dance performance, promised to give her anything she asked of him. When given this promise, the daughter went to her mother, Herodias, and asked her advice. Herodias told her daughter to ask for the head of John the Baptist, whom Herod had imprisoned. And thus it happened: John the Baptist was beheaded and his head brought to Herodias on a platter, as she had requested!

OMG! we may be saying to ourselves!  Jealousy, anger and hatred, when entertained, can lead to treacherous ends--yes, even to murder! Every human being, ourselves included, are capable of doing disastrous deeds. If, like Herodias, we do not face the truth in our lives and feed our anger, we, too, are capable of harming others and, ultimately, ourselves. Truth sets us free! Lying to ourselves and not taking responsibility for our wrongdoing will lead to the web Herodias and Herod constructed for themselves.

May  you and I have the courage and the humility to face the truth about ourselves and about our choices! May we come to the Lord with open hearts and minds, seeking to be set free of that which has the power to block us from the truth!

The Eucharist: Countless Angels In Festal Gathering

 In today's first reading, Hebrews 12: 18-19, 21-24, Paul reminds us that we "have approached Mount Zion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem and countless angels in festal gathering, and the assembly of the firstborn enrolled in heaven, and God the judge of all, and the spirits of the just made perfect, and Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and the sprinkled Blood that speaks more eloquently than that of Abel."  When you and I attend Holy Mass, we truly "approach Mount Zion...,the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem...[C]ountless angels in festal gathering" join us, as the Spirit through consecrated priestly  hands transforms the bread and wine into the body and blood, soul and divinity of Jesus.  In the Eucharist, Jesus, "the mediator of a new covenant, and the...Blood [of Jesus] speaks more eloquently that than of Abel." At Mass,  we remember Jesus' pouring out His blood for us on the cross and then, in the resurrection, destroying death. We then, in the sacrament of Holy Communion, respond to Jesus' invitation: "Take and eat; this is my Body. Take and drink; this is my Blood poured out for you."

What a grace! What a privilege to be part of the Eucharist at every Mass!  Thank you, Lord!

Seeking God in Times of Quarantine

 Today we celebrate the presentation of the Lord in the Temple to be consecrated! It is a time when Mary and Joseph were told by the prophet Simeon that a sword would pierce their hearts. During this pandemic, many people have been "pierced by the sword" of being separated from their loved ones and, some, have been quarantined because they have contracted Covid-19 or have been in direct contact with someone with the disease.  That has led me to reflect upon this situation by creating the following acronym:

Quietly, quarantine invites us to surrender to God's will

United with Jesus

And His blessed Mother.

Rich in God's mercy is this quiet time

And filled with God's Presence.  

Never may we abandon God or  believe that we are left

To sink into the pit of frustration.

In that pit, if we go there,  God awaits us and redirects us to the Light!

Named "Beloved" by God,  let us remember that we are

Empowered to bring to life the best in us during this time of separation from those we love and about whom we care deeply!

This time in quarantine is holy ground!

It is never a time without God but is 

Meant to lead us to deepen our relationship with our Redeemer God.

Even though we may encounter the temptation to question why God has allowed this pandemic to invade the entire world, may we never lose faith in God's power to bring good out of what seems to be evil.

Determination in the Light of Adversity!

 As I read today's Scripture readings, Hebrews 11: 32-40 and Mark 5: 1-20, my reaction led me to cry out: OMG!  In the first reading, Paul speaks about prophets "who  by faith conquered kingdoms, did what was righteous, obtained the promises; they closed the mouths of lions, put out raging fires, escaped the devouring sword; out of weakness they were made powerful, became strong in battle, and turned  back foreign invaders. Women received back their dead through resurrection. Some were tortured and would not accept deliverance, in order to obtain a better resurrection. Other endured mockery, scourging, even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, sawed in two, put to death at sword's point" and "the world was not worthy of them," says Paul!  In the Gospel, Jesus encountered a man possessed by a Legion of demons. On one could help this man. "Day and night among the tombs and on the hillsides he was always crying out and bruising himself with stones."  "...he had frequently been bound with shackles and chains, but the chains had been pulled apart by him and the shackles smashed, and no one was strong enough to subdue him."

Could life get any worse, I asked myself! Then I thought of Jesus, who chose to become one of us, to enter our world, experience all that we experience: man's inhumanity to man, the demons' determination to afflict us and, yes, the power of the resurrection! 

Life can throw us curve balls and we can even get hit my one, knocked off our feet, so to speak, sometimes taken out of commission for a while. Sometimes we seem to, initially, be unable to get up but get up, we do!  Yes, life can be overwhelming from time to time! But we, too, are strengthened in our weaknesses, made strong by the battles we endure and take on! We, too, can experience resurrections from that which seems to have the power to zap positive energy away from us! However, at the end of a horrible day, we turn off the lights, go to sleep and wake up refreshed, restored, renewed in our hope and trust and determination to begin again all in God's name and by God's power at work in us throughout the night and now at the beginning of a new day!  God be praised!