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"There Is No Salvation Through Anyone Else."

4/21/2017

How many gods do you worship? How many other people, possessions or plans do you look to for salvation? It seems to me that I forget this fundamental truth, clearly given to us in the first of the Ten Commandments. I sometimes cater to many gods in my life: to power, to pride, to my opinion, to an idea, to plans I have made . . . the list goes on. These invitations to pseudo-salvation come and go throughout the various stages of my life and I am still unable at times, to catch myself from making them my center. Are you like me in this regard?

I refuse to give up, however. I refuse to be too hard on myself. I know that God understands this tendency in myself and loves me regardless. I know that the Risen Christ promised to be with me until the end of time, despite my failures and sins. In fact, this weakness and sinfulness are actually a gift because time and time again they bring me to my knees to once more realize that there is only ONE God for me. There really is no salvation through anyone or anything else for me." Costly grace, being brought back to the true God after drifting away, is difficult. It is also a treasure.

My People . . . Why are you amazed?

4/20/2017

A crippled man is cured and Peter asks those who "hurried in amazement toward them" "You children of Israel, why are you amazed at this, and why do you look so intently at us as if we had made him walk by our own power or piety?"

I have to smile at myself when I read this question from the Acts of the Apostles reading for today. Instead, I ask myself, "Why am I NOT amazed . . .?" Or "Why don't I allow myself to be put into the position of letting God amaze me?" I live in the historical time of thinking foolishly that most of the time, I am in control. I can solve this problem. I can help this person. I can do this. Then God allows me to know my extreme weakness to once again realize that I cannot. I cannot. Only God can do what I need to really do with and in my life. When I give in and let go and surrender to this truth, I allow myself to be amazed at the power and presence of God, of Jesus Risen and the Gift of his Spirit, that I too often leave unused. I forget how much I need this power. Why am I not amazed? It is when I rely on my own self, forgetting that all I have ultimately comes from God, that I don't let myself be open to the many times God continues to try to amaze me.

In a sense, I am like the one who is crippled. If I don't freely accept the gift of God's power and presence in my life, I will never walk or be who I have been created to be.

May I never lose sight of the ever-present power of Jesus, my Resurrection and Life.

He IS RIsen!

4/19/2017

May this Season of HOPE and JOY fill your heart with the PEACE only Christ can give!

This greeting contains a two-edged sword. Peace is not always the absence of conflict or suffering. Peace is not always having life go our own way. How would you define peace?

Pope Francis often speaks of peace, joy and hope. This year, his Easter Vigil Homily speaks volumes about seizing the moment of the Resurrection
and rekindling the power and the hope of the Risen Lord in our lives.:

“After the Sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb” (Mt 28:1). We can picture them as they went on their way... They walked like people going to a cemetery, with uncertain and weary steps, like those who find it hard to believe that this is how it all ended. We can picture their faces, pale and tearful. And their question: can Love have truly died? Unlike the disciples, the women are present – just as they had been present as the Master breathed his last on the cross, and then, with Joseph of Arimathea, as he was laid in the tomb. Two women who did not run away, who remained steadfast, who faced life as it is and who knew the bitter taste of injustice. We see them there, before the tomb, filled with grief but equally incapable of accepting that things must always end this way. If we try to imagine this scene, we can see in the faces of those women any number of other faces: the faces of mothers and grandmothers, of children and young people who bear the grievous burden of injustice and brutality. In their faces we can see reflected all those who, walking the streets of our cities, feel the pain of dire poverty, the sorrow born of exploitation and human trafficking. We can also see the faces of those who are greeted with contempt because they are immigrants, deprived of country, house and family. We see faces whose eyes bespeak loneliness and abandonment, because their hands are creased with wrinkles. Their faces mirror the faces of women, mothers, who weep as they see the lives of their children crushed by massive corruption that strips them of their rights and shatters their dreams. By daily acts of selfishness that crucify and then bury people’s hopes. By paralyzing and barren bureaucracies that stand in the way of change. In their grief, those two women reflect the faces of all those who, walking the streets of our cities, behold human dignity crucified. The faces of those women mirror many other faces too, including perhaps yours and mine. Like them, we can feel driven to keep walking and not resign ourselves to the fact that things have to end this way. True, we carry within us a promise and the certainty of God’s faithfulness. But our faces also bear the mark of wounds, of so many acts of infidelity, our own and those of others, of efforts made and battles lost. In our hearts, we know that things can be different but, almost without noticing it, we can grow accustomed to living with the tomb, living with frustration. Worse, we can even convince ourselves that this is the law of life, and blunt our consciences with forms of escape that only serve to dampen the hope that God has entrusted to us. So often we walk as those women did, poised between the desire of God and bleak resignation. Not only does the Master die, but our hope dies with him. “And suddenly there was a great earthquake” (Mt 28:2). Unexpectedly, those women felt a powerful tremor, as something or someone made the earth shake beneath their feet. Once again, someone came to tell them: “Do not be afraid”, but now adding: “He has been raised as he said!” This is the message that, generation after generation, this Holy Night passes on to us: “Do not be afraid, brothers and sisters; he is risen as he said!” Life, which death destroyed on the cross, now reawakens and pulsates anew (cf. ROMANO GUARDINI, The Lord, Chicago, 1954, p. 473). The heartbeat of the Risen Lord is granted us as a gift, a present, a new horizon. The beating heart of the Risen Lord is given to us, and we are asked to give it in turn as a transforming force, as the leaven of a new humanity. In the resurrection, Christ rolled back the stone of the tomb, but he wants also to break down all the walls that keep us locked in our sterile pessimism, in our carefully constructed ivory towers that isolate us from life, in our compulsive need for security and in boundless ambition that can make us compromise the dignity of others. When the High Priest and the religious leaders, in collusion with the Romans, believed that they could calculate everything, that the final word had been spoken and that it was up to them to apply it, God suddenly breaks in, upsets all the rules and offers new possibilities. God once more comes to meet us, to create and consolidate a new age, the age of mercy. This is the promise present from the beginning. This is God’s surprise for his faithful people. Rejoice! Hidden within your life is a seed of resurrection, an offer of life ready to be awakened. That is what this night calls us to proclaim: the heartbeat of the Risen Lord. Christ is alive! That is what quickened the pace of Mary Magdalene and the other Mary. That is what made them return in haste to tell the news (Mt 28:8). That is what made them lay aside their mournful gait and sad looks. They returned to the city to meet up with the others. Now that, like the two women, we have visited the tomb, I ask you to go back with them to the city. Let us all retrace our steps and change the look on our faces. Let us go back with them to tell the news, in all those places where the grave seems to have the final word, where death seems the only way out. Let us go back to proclaim, to share, to reveal that it is true: the Lord is alive! He is living and he wants to rise again in all those faces that have buried hope, buried dreams, buried dignity. If we cannot let the Spirit lead us on this road, then we are not Christians. Let us go, then. Let us allow ourselves to be surprised by this new dawn and by the newness that Christ alone can give. May we allow his tenderness and his love to guide our steps. May we allow the beating of his heart to quicken our faintness of heart.

Back Again!

1/6/2017

I know, I know. It has been a while and it may have appeared that this blog had ended. Let's just say that we took a little sabbatical and that one thing led to another, etc. You know how that can happen. My apologies for taking a breather from writing. It really is a joy to share spiritually, so hopefully, we can be more faithful during this new year.

I met with our parish Women's Bible Group last everning and we had a wonderful sharing together. We talked about the peace that comes from taking the time to really be with God in quiet and stillness. One woman described herself as needing to "carve out for herself" the time and space to be able to do this. Afterall, we live in a fast-paced world, with many demands and responsibilities vieing for our attention. It is true, that if I do not make a definite effort to be with the Lord, it will not happen. It is so automatic for me to keep other doctor, dentist or work-related appointments, but somehow it is very easy to drop the ball when it comes to being faithful in my times for being with the Lord.

The key is LOVE. If my relationship with God can be summarized as a reciprocal love between God-who-loves-first and Me-who-loves-sometimes, than I think I can grow in my fidelity to the times I choose to be with God in prayer. I choose quiet and suspend all the activities that may distract me from this time together. I choose to wait for the Lord.

May today be a day when we renew our efforts to "carve out some time" to be with God in quiet which always leads to peace. This is my prayer for you.

Listen to "Like a Deer" by the Monks at Weston Priory

All Things Work Together

9/8/2016

St. Paul tells us in his letter to the Romans, chapter 8, that "We know that all things word for good for those who love God . . ." (vs. 28) I couldn't help but think how so many times, when the pieces of my life don't seem to fit together, I doubt the truth of his statement. All things? I mean, the sad things, the unjust things, the horrible things, the shouldn't-have-happened things? How do they work together for good?

As simplistic as it may seem, perhaps the remainder of his sentence provides the answer for me. . . . "for those who love God." Perhaps if my life were, like St. Teresa of Calcutta, love would be my clear motive for thinking, acting, desiring, accepting all that fills my life. If love fills me, then negativity, rudeness, despair, unacceptance, --------and more of the human reactions I excuse myself of when things and people are difficult ---- all these ways of coping with or surviving difficulties would have no room to live and grow in me. There would only be room for LOVE.

St. Teresa of Calcutta, pray for me.

The Change of Seasons

9/2/2016

It seems as if the upcoming holiday of Labor Day is a good time to resume our blog.
We think of Labor Day as the end of summer in the United States and a day for picnics and family gatherings. It is all that and more. It is also a celebration of the values we treasure as a nation, first and foremost, the value of having the opportunity of working to earn a living so that we can provide for our families and for ourselves.

As we celebrated Labor Day 2016, let us be grateful for our employment and let us pray for the many who right now are unemployed in our country. If we are an employer, perhaps we can think of those who work for us and show gratitude. If we are fortunately employed, perhaps we can give our best to the work we are contracted to do.

There is no easy solution to the fact that so many are jobless as I write this. There is no easy fix. Let us not take Labor Day for granted.

PLEASE STAY TUNED! :)

8/26/2016

Tis been a BUSY summer! We'll be back soon!

Seeing Eyes and Listening Ears

7/21/2016

I couldn't help but think of the images above when reading Jesus' words in today's Gospel about seeing and not really seeing and hearing and not really hearing. How true! I know I do this lots of times. Even with God in prayer, there are times I know God is telling me or asking me something and I "somehow" don't hear it. Do I wonder why?

It isn't always easy to hear or listen to God, especially when God is calling me to some kind of personal conversion needed in my life. Do you sometimes know what God is asking of you, yet play the game of not really focusing on it? I've done that for years and I am still wrestling with some areas of my life that need improvement.

Seeing can be a real problem for me too. I can get frustrated with others who fail to see the big picture of things while sticking to insignificant problems that may come up. I sometimes see only through my perspective of things and this can cause problems too. Seeing and listening are gifts from God. Should they be so difficult to open and use?

I ask today, for the grace to truly try to hear and see God's Will for me in my life. I may not always catch myself, but it is worth the try. The one thing I need to see and hear more clearly is the consistent truth that God loves me, even when I fail to see or listen. God understands. God does not blow me off or get angry. God waits patiently, even over a lifetime, for me to come around.

Mercy Is Greater

7/15/2016

Lord, Have Mercy!

7/15/2016

In you, LORD, I take refuge;
let me never be put to shame.
2n your justice rescue and deliver me;
listen to me and save me!
3e my rock of refuge,
my stronghold to give me safety;
for you are my rock and fortress.
my God, rescue me from the hand of the wicked,
from the clutches of the evil and violent.
You are my hope, Lord;
my trust, GOD, from my youth.
On you I have depended since birth;
from my mother’s womb you are my strength;
my hope in you never wavers.
*I have become a portent to many,
but you are my strong refuge!
My mouth shall be filled with your praise,
shall sing your glory every day.
Do not cast me aside in my old age;
as my strength fails, do not forsake me.
For my enemies speak against me;
they watch and plot against me.
They say, “God has abandoned him.
Pursue, and seize him!
No one will come to the rescue!”
I will always hope in youand add to all your praise.
Psalm 71: 1-11,14