In the first reading, 1 Thes 4: 1-8, St. Paul exhorts the Thessalonians in the the name of Jesus to conduct themselves in ways that please the Lord. "For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. This is the will of God, your holiness: that you refrain from immorality, that each of you know how to acquire a wife for himself in holiness and honor, not in lustful passion as do [those] who do mot know God; not to take advantage of or exploit a brother or sister in this matter..."
You and I also know that God's will for us is our holiness, nothing less than that! What does holiness look like? It may be a father playing basketball with his teenage son, a mother coloring with her seven-year old daughter, a husband helping his wife prepare the evening meal, a wife tending to her paralyzed husband, grandparents babysitting their grandchildren, an adult being a faithful, dependable employer; a family attending Sunday worship services, persons making choices that improve their physical, mental and spiritual well-being (choices that lead to wholeness or holiness), and on and on!
What is holiness for you? What, obviously, would you not describe as holiness?
Friday, August 30, 2019
Thursday, August 29, 2019
Abounding in Love
In today's first reading, 1 Thes 3:7-13, St. Paul tells the Thessalonians that he is praying that God may increase their love for one another and that they will abound in love for one another as well! Imagine Jesus saying to you:
"(Insert your name), I ask you that your love for others increases and that you abound in love so that you will be blameless in holiness when, with all the saints, you enter my Presence eternally. That necessarily means that I want you, also, and above all, to increase your love for yourself. Why? Because without loving yourself, you will be unable to extend love to others. Healthy love of self is a prerequisite to loving others. When you thrive in love for yourself, you are nonjudgmental of yourself, gentle, caring, and understanding of self. You then, also, care for yourself with appropriate eating, exercising, relaxing, and sleeping and also by developing supportive relationships. Healthy self-love is also reflected in the way you dress. Self-respect, an essential part of love, abounds and, so, too, then, does respect for others. I want all of this of you!
"When you enter my Eternal Dwelling Place in heaven, I will give you a glorified body, revealing that my love for you, then and now, is plentiful. In short, I want you to imitate me on earth in how you relate to yourself and others. And my love for you is unconditional. So, too, must yours be!"
"(Insert your name), I ask you that your love for others increases and that you abound in love so that you will be blameless in holiness when, with all the saints, you enter my Presence eternally. That necessarily means that I want you, also, and above all, to increase your love for yourself. Why? Because without loving yourself, you will be unable to extend love to others. Healthy love of self is a prerequisite to loving others. When you thrive in love for yourself, you are nonjudgmental of yourself, gentle, caring, and understanding of self. You then, also, care for yourself with appropriate eating, exercising, relaxing, and sleeping and also by developing supportive relationships. Healthy self-love is also reflected in the way you dress. Self-respect, an essential part of love, abounds and, so, too, then, does respect for others. I want all of this of you!
"When you enter my Eternal Dwelling Place in heaven, I will give you a glorified body, revealing that my love for you, then and now, is plentiful. In short, I want you to imitate me on earth in how you relate to yourself and others. And my love for you is unconditional. So, too, must yours be!"
Wednesday, August 28, 2019
St. Augustine: From Sinner to Saint
In today's first reading, 1 Thes 2: 9-13, St. Paul exhorts and encourages the Thessalonians to "walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into his Kingdom and glory!" "The word of God," which St.Paul preached, "is...at work in [those hearers] who believe," then and now!
Like the Thessalonians, you and I are also called to enter God's Kingdom and glory. We received that call at our baptisms. St. Paul asks us to "walk in a manner worthy of... God." Who, we might ask ourselves, comes to our mind when we think of someone who walks in a way worthy of God? In today's feast, that of St. Augustine, we are given an example of two persons--St. Augustine himself and his mother, St. Monica. Both walked worthily of their calling to enter God's Kingdom and glory.
"Walking in a manner worthy of the God who calls us into his Kingdom and glory" does not, obviously, mean always living an exemplary life! It does mean, however, turning from evil and choosing good, which St. Augustine did! Before his conversion, St. Augustine's life was anything but saintly. And some aspects of his life following his conversion have also been difficult to swallow, so to speak, namely, his use of "force to compel orthodoxy; his tendency to disdain sexuality, the body, and women's body, in particular" (Ellsberg, Robert, All Saint, the Crossroad Publishing Company, New York, 2004, p.372) taint his saintliness.
However, if Saint Augustine can turn from evil and do good, so, too, can you and I! Sinners, we all are! We are on a journey of faith, knowing that the "word of God is at work in those who believe." Isaiah tells us that God's Word does not return to God until it has done the work God sent it to do, that is, to turn our hearts from evil to good and to deepen our intimacy with the Lord. God waited for Augustine to turn to that which truly saves, God himself who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. God-substitutes do not work!
Like the Thessalonians, you and I are also called to enter God's Kingdom and glory. We received that call at our baptisms. St. Paul asks us to "walk in a manner worthy of... God." Who, we might ask ourselves, comes to our mind when we think of someone who walks in a way worthy of God? In today's feast, that of St. Augustine, we are given an example of two persons--St. Augustine himself and his mother, St. Monica. Both walked worthily of their calling to enter God's Kingdom and glory.
"Walking in a manner worthy of the God who calls us into his Kingdom and glory" does not, obviously, mean always living an exemplary life! It does mean, however, turning from evil and choosing good, which St. Augustine did! Before his conversion, St. Augustine's life was anything but saintly. And some aspects of his life following his conversion have also been difficult to swallow, so to speak, namely, his use of "force to compel orthodoxy; his tendency to disdain sexuality, the body, and women's body, in particular" (Ellsberg, Robert, All Saint, the Crossroad Publishing Company, New York, 2004, p.372) taint his saintliness.
However, if Saint Augustine can turn from evil and do good, so, too, can you and I! Sinners, we all are! We are on a journey of faith, knowing that the "word of God is at work in those who believe." Isaiah tells us that God's Word does not return to God until it has done the work God sent it to do, that is, to turn our hearts from evil to good and to deepen our intimacy with the Lord. God waited for Augustine to turn to that which truly saves, God himself who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. God-substitutes do not work!
Tuesday, August 27, 2019
Consciously Seeking God in Silence or Solitude
In today's responsorial psalm, we ask God how we can escape His spirit. The answer is that it is impossible to escape from God. God is everywhere: in the heavens above and the earth below, in the light and in the darkness, in the day and in the night, in the nether world and in the farthest limits of the sea, in the core of every human being, in all of creation, and in every situation we encounter here on earth!
Human beings try to escape God's sight and God's presence by keeping super busy. What the compulsive activist does not realize is that he or she is actually searching for his/her God! There is an insatiable hunger within each one of us to know God, find God and be with God. To achieve that goal, as far as humanly possible, one needs to withdraw from frenetic activity and enter into solitude. "Be still and know that I am God," God tells us in Psalm 46:10--The Jerusalem Bible).
When was the last time, you or I sat down quietly and listened to the stillness found, for instance, in nature, in churches, in a quiet place in our homes or on our decks, a place where we are not distracted by TV, i-phones, i-pads, computer games or any other gadget or addictive activity that we grab onto to escape the emptiness within and around us.
Let us, each day, choose to be quiet for 5-10 minutes to know that God is God and we are not! One of my retreat directors said to me: There is nothing more like God than solitude. Let us ask God for the grace to consciously seek Him above all in 5 or more minutes of solitude each day!
Human beings try to escape God's sight and God's presence by keeping super busy. What the compulsive activist does not realize is that he or she is actually searching for his/her God! There is an insatiable hunger within each one of us to know God, find God and be with God. To achieve that goal, as far as humanly possible, one needs to withdraw from frenetic activity and enter into solitude. "Be still and know that I am God," God tells us in Psalm 46:10--The Jerusalem Bible).
When was the last time, you or I sat down quietly and listened to the stillness found, for instance, in nature, in churches, in a quiet place in our homes or on our decks, a place where we are not distracted by TV, i-phones, i-pads, computer games or any other gadget or addictive activity that we grab onto to escape the emptiness within and around us.
Let us, each day, choose to be quiet for 5-10 minutes to know that God is God and we are not! One of my retreat directors said to me: There is nothing more like God than solitude. Let us ask God for the grace to consciously seek Him above all in 5 or more minutes of solitude each day!
Monday, August 26, 2019
Chosen to a Life of Faith, a Labor of Love and Endurance in Hope
In today's first reading, 1 Thes 1:1-5, 8b-10, St. Paul says to the people: We give thanks to God always for all of you,... unceasingly calling to mind your work of faith and labor of love and endurance in hope of our Lord Jesus Christ,...knowing...how you were chosen. For our Gospel did not come to you in word alone, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with much conviction. ...In every place your faith in God has gone forth...."
As I reflect upon those words, I think of my parents. They, too, "were chosen." Like the people of Thessalonia, "the Gospel did not come to [them] in word alone, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with much conviction." Their faith was alive and well. It was powerful and changed their lives. They endured all that they encountered in life with the same faith that Jesus had in God's will for Him and thus they were survivors, not victims of suffering. The sufferings that my parents endured in their lives deepened their faith and dependence upon God and one another.
How do you and I cope with suffering? Is suffering a catalyst that nurtures our faith and dependence upon God and each other, making us spiritually strong individuals? Or do we use suffering to feel sorry for ourselves, to vent our anger upon others, and to play the "poor me" role in life? Suffering itself is not harmful. It is the way we cope with pain and suffering that can harm us or others. The choice is ours!
It is also important to remember that God does not send us pain or suffering. Such comes to us through sin. Jesus Himself suffered, as all of us do, because of sin in the world, in his case because of sin in the leaders of his time who were jealous of Him and therefore determined to put him to death. He was a threat to their power and therefore they found a way to destroy Him, so they thought, in death. Jesus teaches us to approach suffering and death in faith, knowing that these realities of life here on earth do not have the last say. God does and God gives new life in spite of and through that which causes us pain and leads to a dying and rising--new life here on earth or to eternal life in heaven!
As I reflect upon those words, I think of my parents. They, too, "were chosen." Like the people of Thessalonia, "the Gospel did not come to [them] in word alone, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with much conviction." Their faith was alive and well. It was powerful and changed their lives. They endured all that they encountered in life with the same faith that Jesus had in God's will for Him and thus they were survivors, not victims of suffering. The sufferings that my parents endured in their lives deepened their faith and dependence upon God and one another.
How do you and I cope with suffering? Is suffering a catalyst that nurtures our faith and dependence upon God and each other, making us spiritually strong individuals? Or do we use suffering to feel sorry for ourselves, to vent our anger upon others, and to play the "poor me" role in life? Suffering itself is not harmful. It is the way we cope with pain and suffering that can harm us or others. The choice is ours!
It is also important to remember that God does not send us pain or suffering. Such comes to us through sin. Jesus Himself suffered, as all of us do, because of sin in the world, in his case because of sin in the leaders of his time who were jealous of Him and therefore determined to put him to death. He was a threat to their power and therefore they found a way to destroy Him, so they thought, in death. Jesus teaches us to approach suffering and death in faith, knowing that these realities of life here on earth do not have the last say. God does and God gives new life in spite of and through that which causes us pain and leads to a dying and rising--new life here on earth or to eternal life in heaven!
Saturday, August 24, 2019
Learning a lesson from Nathaniel
In today's Gospel, John 1: 45-50, Philip finds Nathaniel sitting under a fig tree and tells him that they have found "the one about whom Moses wrote in the law, and also the prophets, Jesus son of Joseph, from Nazareth." Nathaniel initially is sarcastic and replies: "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Philip says to him: "Come and see!" Nathaniel has two choices: one, refuse, and stay stuck in his prejudice responding to the invitation with: "Absolutely not! I am not interested in meeting anyone from Nazareth. The reputation of that place is horrible!" Or, responding as he did by accepting Philip's invitation to come and find out for himself. Jesus spots Philip and Nathaniel coming toward him and says of Nathaniel: "Here is a true child of Israel. There is no duplicity in him." Shocked, Nathaniel asks: "How do you know me?" (emphasis mine). And Jesus says: "Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree." With that statement from the Holy One, the Son of God made man, Nathaniel's eyes are opened and he professes his faith in Jesus, proclaiming that Jesus is "the Son of God; ...the King of Israel!" Nathaniel's life is changed forever. He stays is transformed by listening to His every word and following Him, who is the Way, the Truth and the Life.
Just as Jesus knew Nathaniel through and through, so, too, does He know you and me. No matter where we are, under which"fig tree" we are sitting, He sees us and loves us! Many times, God uses
other people to invite us to get to know Him intimately, to follow His way of life, to embrace the Truth of who He is and what He wants of us, as He used Philip to call Nathaniel. At other times, He uses us to invite others to know the Way, the Truth and the Life that Jesus is for each one of us.
Do we, like Nathaniel, respond positively? Or do we, as did Nathaniel initially, respond with sarcasm and, unlike him, walk away, having nothing to do with Jesus or His way of life? How open are we to letting God use us to invite others to Himself and His way of life? Are we a model, as was Nathaniel, and would Jesus say of us, as He said of Nathaniel: (insert your name), is a true child of Israel, in our case, a true child of God, a true Christian? If not, why not?
Lord, may we truly recognize you as the Son of God and, like Nathaniel, follow you and get to know you intimately! May we be open to invitations to "Come and see," as Nathaniel was and thus encounter You, the one true God, the Holy One, the Way, the Truth and the Life in situations or persons we might otherwise avoid, judging wrongly, dismissing such with: "Can anything good come from that person or that situation"! And may we, also, let You use us to invite others to grow in their relationship with You!
Just as Jesus knew Nathaniel through and through, so, too, does He know you and me. No matter where we are, under which"fig tree" we are sitting, He sees us and loves us! Many times, God uses
other people to invite us to get to know Him intimately, to follow His way of life, to embrace the Truth of who He is and what He wants of us, as He used Philip to call Nathaniel. At other times, He uses us to invite others to know the Way, the Truth and the Life that Jesus is for each one of us.
Do we, like Nathaniel, respond positively? Or do we, as did Nathaniel initially, respond with sarcasm and, unlike him, walk away, having nothing to do with Jesus or His way of life? How open are we to letting God use us to invite others to Himself and His way of life? Are we a model, as was Nathaniel, and would Jesus say of us, as He said of Nathaniel: (insert your name), is a true child of Israel, in our case, a true child of God, a true Christian? If not, why not?
Lord, may we truly recognize you as the Son of God and, like Nathaniel, follow you and get to know you intimately! May we be open to invitations to "Come and see," as Nathaniel was and thus encounter You, the one true God, the Holy One, the Way, the Truth and the Life in situations or persons we might otherwise avoid, judging wrongly, dismissing such with: "Can anything good come from that person or that situation"! And may we, also, let You use us to invite others to grow in their relationship with You!
Friday, August 23, 2019
The Self-sacrificing Love
In today's first reading, Ruth 1:1, 3-6, 14b-116, 22, Naomi and her husband Elimilech, natives of Bethlehem, moved to Moab. They bore two sons, Mahlon and Chilion. These sons married Moabite women, one named Orpah and the other Ruth. Naomi's husband died, as did her two sons. Following the death of her sons, Naomi decides to move back to Bethlehem and tells her daughters-in-law to stay in their native country. Ruth, however, insists on staying with Naomi, saying to her: "Do not ask me to abandon or forsake you! For wherever you go, I will go, wherever you lodge I will lodge, your people shall be my people, and your God my God."
What self-sacrificing love on the part of Ruth! Ruth leaves all that is familiar to her and goes to a foreign land, a country that is not her own. As an immigrant in Bethlehem, she encounters hatred and prejudice and is saved by a kinsman, her future husband Boaz.
In the Gospel, Jesus is asked which commandment is the greatest of the laws. Jesus responds that the greatest commandment is to love the Lord our God with our whole heart, our whole mind, and our whole soul and that the second commandment is like it: Love our neighbor as we love ourselves. Ruth models both commandments: Love of God totally and love of neighbor to the point of sacrificing all for that person.
These scripture passages challenge us to ask ourselves the following questions: Do we allow ourselves to fall in love with God, to love God totally, that is, with our whole mind, our whole heart, our whole soul? Do we love ourselves and, if not, why not? What do we need to do to fall in love with ourselves--the good and the bad, the beautiful and the ugly part of ourselves? Do we love our neighbor as we love ourselves? Furthermore, are we like Ruth, willing to leave all for the sake of another person and, like her, open to learning more and more about the one true God? And finally, are we like Boaz, willing to get to know the stranger and protect such persons from being oppressed by hatred and prejudice against them?
What self-sacrificing love on the part of Ruth! Ruth leaves all that is familiar to her and goes to a foreign land, a country that is not her own. As an immigrant in Bethlehem, she encounters hatred and prejudice and is saved by a kinsman, her future husband Boaz.
In the Gospel, Jesus is asked which commandment is the greatest of the laws. Jesus responds that the greatest commandment is to love the Lord our God with our whole heart, our whole mind, and our whole soul and that the second commandment is like it: Love our neighbor as we love ourselves. Ruth models both commandments: Love of God totally and love of neighbor to the point of sacrificing all for that person.
These scripture passages challenge us to ask ourselves the following questions: Do we allow ourselves to fall in love with God, to love God totally, that is, with our whole mind, our whole heart, our whole soul? Do we love ourselves and, if not, why not? What do we need to do to fall in love with ourselves--the good and the bad, the beautiful and the ugly part of ourselves? Do we love our neighbor as we love ourselves? Furthermore, are we like Ruth, willing to leave all for the sake of another person and, like her, open to learning more and more about the one true God? And finally, are we like Boaz, willing to get to know the stranger and protect such persons from being oppressed by hatred and prejudice against them?
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