Wonders From Humility

God is always extending His hand to us.  God will not force us to come to Him.  God loves us so much that He gave us our free will to use as we choose.  

And so God invites us to become more than we have been.  God asks us to assent to His plan, to let ourselves be humbled so that great things may be done through us.  

We are reminded that God works in this way as we celebrate today the Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  Today as we remember how our Blessed Mother Mary visited her cousin Elizabeth, we recall that God lifts up the lowly and exalts them.  We hear of these wonders in today's Gospel, where we are told that 

Mary set out 
and traveled to the hill country in haste 
to a town of Judah, 
where she entered the house of Zechariah 
and greeted Elizabeth.  
When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, 
the infant leaped in her womb, 
and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, 
cried out in a loud voice and said, 
"Most blessed are you among women, 
and blessed is the fruit of your womb.  
And how does this happen to me, 
that the mother of my Lord should come to me?  
For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, 
the infant in my womb leaped for joy.  
Blessed are you who believed 
that what was spoken to you by the Lord 
would be fulfilled."  

And Mary said: 
"My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; 
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.  
From this day all generations will call me blessed: 
the Almighty has done great things for me, 
and holy is his Name.  

He has mercy on those who fear him 
in every generation.  
He has shown the strength of his arm, 
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.  
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, 
and has lifted up the lowly.  
He has filled the hungry with good things, 
and the rich he has sent away empty.  
He has come to the help of his servant Israel 
for he has remembered his promise of mercy, 
the promise he made to our fathers, 
to Abraham and his children for ever."  

Mary remained with her about three months
and then returned to her home.*  

When her cousin Elizabeth was pregnant, our Blessed Mother Mary set out to the home of Elizabeth.  She went to share with Elizabeth the Good News that Jesus was to be born.  She went to minister to Elizabeth in her pregnancy.  Our Blessed Mother Mary went to serve Elizabeth.  We can emulate our Blessed Mother Mary by serving others.  

When our Blessed Mother Mary entered the home of her cousin Elizabeth, Elizabeth exclaimed, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb."  We find this declaration of the blessedness of our Blessed Mother Mary and her Son Jesus not only in the Gospel according to Saint Luke.  Also while reciting the rosary, Christians proclaim the blessedness of our Lord Jesus and His Mother Mary.  We too can join Saint Elizabeth and feel the joy of The Visitation by praying the rosary.  

Elizabeth wondered, "How does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?"  Elizabeth was honored to be visited by our Blessed Mother Mary, yet she could not fathom how she could be accorded the great privilege of being visited by the mother of the Messiah.  We too can wonder how we can be so blessed that our Blessed Mother Mary dotes such great kindness upon us, given our abhorrent sinfulness.  We receive such marvelous and magnanimous assistance from our Blessed Mother since she is humble, loving and sweet.  She answers our cries because she loves us so very much.  Thus we are to cry out to her now, as we are mourning and weeping in this valley of tears.  She very much wants us to call out to her, to ask her to intercede with her Son on our behalf.  

It truly only begins to describe the tremendous effectiveness of our Blessed Mother's intercession to say that she is a formidable intercessor for us.  If people only realized how much sway her prayers have in Heaven, far more people would be seeking her intercession.  Full of the knowledge of how our Blessed Mother Mary protects us if we but call out to her, we are full of joy.  Similarly, right after our Blessed Mother Mary entered the home of Elizabeth, Elizabeth cried out, "The infant in my womb leapt for joy."  In the womb of Elizabeth, Saint John the Baptist was rejoicing at the arrival of our Blessed Mother Mary.  In the loving care of our Blessed Mother Mary, we have nothing to fear, so we rejoice.  

Elizabeth said to our Blessed Mother Mary, "Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled."  Our Blessed Mother Mary has been so blessed because, during her life here on earth, she was filled with faith.  If we too wish to be blessed, we do will well to embrace the gift of faith from God.  

Our Blessed Mother Mary then replied, "My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord."  Our Blessed Mother Mary strove to live out the greatest commandment, "to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind."**  First and foremost in the heart of our Blessed Mother Mary was the desire to open her heart to the will of God.  God calls us too to open our hearts to His will for us.  

Our Blessed Mother Mary told Elizabeth that her spirit rejoiced in God Her Savior.  When we know God saves us, we rejoice.  When we realize we have nothing to fear, we rejoice.  

She knew that God had looked with favor on His lowly servant.  Our Blessed Mother Mary was a poor peasant, yet God bestowed immense grace upon her.  God gives grace to the humble.***  

Well aware of how abundantly God had blessed her, our Blessed Mother Mary confidently announced that all generations would call her blessed.  She knew that she would be remembered as a shining, luminous reflection of God's great glory.  

All generations call Mary blessed because the Almighty has done great things for her.  God has shown His mighty glory through our Blessed Mother Mary.  

Having been reminded of what God had done for her, our Blessed Mother Mary proclaimed that Holy is the name of God.  She knew that all glory belongs to God, so she proclaimed that His name is holy.  We too must keep in mind that all glory is to go to God.  

Since she had experienced His great mercy, she explained that He has mercy on those who fear Him in every generation.  When we realize who we are, namely that we are nothing without God, we fear Him, and we beg Him for mercy.  

Our Blessed Mother Mary described how God has scattered the proud.  She noted that He has cast down the mighty.  God opposes the proud.****  To be like our Blessed Mother Mary, we must turn away from the temptation to pride; we must be humble like our Blessed Mother Mary.  

Everyone who raises himself up will be humbled.  The one who humbles himself will be raised up.*****  

Our Blessed Mother Mary experienced Herself how God lifted up the lowly.  God exalted her, an impoverished little girl.  God gives grace to the humble.  

And so our Blessed Mother Mary declared that God had filled the hungry with good things.  Some people question why there are poor people in the world.  Some ask why there is suffering.  The poor are blessed insofar as they are close to God.  The more desperate we are, the more we cry out to God with earnest prayer, and thus the more likely God is to grant our prayers.  God fills those who are hungry with good things, which provide them the spiritual nourishment they need to survive into true life together with Him.  

Often we think that those who are materially rich are blessed.  So often those who are materially rich are spiritually impoverished.  If we are too comfortable, we do not pray as we should. And thus often the rich are sent away empty, as our Blessed Mother Mary noted.  If we are not humble, we are not accorded grace.  

And yet if we have humility, if we submit ourselves to the will of God, then God comes to our help.  And so our Blessed Mother Mary rejoiced that God had come to the help of His servant Israel.  She was grateful that God had remained faithful to His promise of mercy.  God is merciful, since He is faithful to His promise.  God is faithful, even if we are unfaithful.  He cannot be unfaithful, for His Word is truth.******  

And so if we but give our consent to be humbled like our Blessed Mother Mary was, God will give us the grace we need to do His will.  Opening our hearts to God, God will work wonders through us, just as He worked wonders through our Blessed Mother Mary.  

* Luke 1:39-56 
** Matthew 22:37; Mark 12:30; Luke 10:27; Deuteronomy 6:5 
*** 1 Peter 5:5; James 4:6 
**** 1 Peter 5:5; James 4:6 
***** Matthew 23:12; Luke 14:11; Luke 18:14 
****** John 14:6 

Peace Through Us

Jesus tells us first and foremost to love God with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our mind.  He tells us second to love our neighbor as ourselves.*  

In these two most important commandments, Jesus directs us to love.  We are to let love flow out of us to God and to our neighbor.  God asks us to open our hearts to the Holy Spirit, to help us to love Him.**  God asks us to consent to Him loving our neighbor through us.  

To love God, I must also love my neighbor.  Anyone who claims to love God but hates his or her neighbor is a liar.***  

To love my neighbor, I must not judge my neighbor.****  If I am judging my neighbor, there is no room in my heart to love my neighbor.   

We judge persons when we see what we do not like in them.  When I encounter thoughts, words and actions I dislike, I am to despise them in myself.  I am to be outraged at the appalling tendencies I notice in myself.  

I believe that the path to salvation is paved with despising my own horrible tendencies and begging God to forgive me out of His great mercy. We receive the infinite gift of God's immense mercy when we turn to look at ourselves, acknowledge our own sinfulness, and implore His mercy.  

Since I prefer to direct my energies toward how I need to improve, rather than on where other people might need to change, last week I made a choice reflecting this aspiration I have.  As I have previously mentioned, Catholic Workers regularly protest outside the facilities of a manufacturer of armaments here in the San Francisco Bay Area.  Last week I was asked to choose the short writings we would read before and after our protest.  

In line with the sentiments I have expressed about trying to focus on how I need to improve, for our brief reading just before the protest, I selected a composition in which the Trappist monk Thomas Merton wrote 

Instead of loving what you think is peace, love other men and love God above all.  And instead of hating the people you think are warmakers, hate the appetites and the disorder in your own soul, which are the causes of war.  If you love peace, then hate injustice, hate tyranny, hate greed--but hate these things in yourself, not in another.  

I strive to love my neighbor, though often I find it challenging, and although often I fail.  We love our neighbor by taking an honest look at ourselves and how we need to improve so we can better love our neighbor.  

Thus I prefer to focus on what I need to do to treat people better than I do.  To help work for peace, we can examine our own thoughts, words and actions.  As Gandhi suggested, "You must be the change you want to see in the world."  

Herein rests the reason why I don't protest more than I do and why I don't write about protesting more than I do.  While I find it important to speak out against injustice, I strongly contend that it is far more appropriate to try to improve myself than it is to point out why others are inappropriately acting. Since I wish to witness to peace, I want God to bring about peace through me.  For God to bring about peace through me, I must open my heart to God so He can transform me and thus create peace in the world, right now, in this very moment.  

Consequently, for our short reading together immediately after the protest, I selected the prayer commonly attributed to Saint Francis, which beseeches God 

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me bring love.
Where there is offense, let me bring pardon.
Where there is discord, let me bring union.
Where there is error, let me bring truth.
Where there is doubt, let me bring faith.
Where there is despair, let me bring hope.
Where there is darkness, let me bring your light.
Where there is sadness, let me bring joy.
O Master, let me not seek as much
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love,
for it is in giving that one receives,
it is in self-forgetting that one finds,
it is in pardoning that one is pardoned,
it is in dying that one is raised to eternal life.  

We can agree to God's plan to be channels of His peace.  We can consent to God bringing peace to the world through us.  

In every little fragment of time, in the present moment God is always extending His hand to us, inviting us to open our hearts to Him.  He is requesting that we assent to His will and open our hearts to Him, and love Him, so that He may enter into our hearts and love our neighbor through us, and thus bring peace into the world through us.  Let us open our hearts to God so He may abide in us,***** love through us and bring us peace.  Amen.  

* Matthew 22:37-39; Mark 12:30-31; Luke 10:27; Leviticus 19:18; Deuteronomy 6:5; Romans 13:9; Galatians 5:14 
** Romans 5:5 
*** 1 John 4:20 
**** Matthew 7:1; Luke 6:37 
***** John 15:7 

Gentle Little Tap

Today I was happy to cross paths with a particular homeless woman who here I'll call "Anna."  As I was talking with Anna next to the van I use, I opened the back two doors of the van to take something out.  The back doors of the van easily swing.  Even if there's just a little wind, the doors readily swish back and forth.  

At one point, when the back doors of the van were open, Anna was bent over, collecting some of her property which she had placed on the sidewalk.  She got a little distracted from the task at hand.  One of the doors turned toward her, hitting the end of the bill of her baseball cap she was wearing.  She acknowledged the gesture, remarking, "Yes, thank you, God."  

I was struck by how she seized the opportunity to show gratitude to God for a gentle little tap on the head.  It seemed especially touching how she thanked God for that tiny collision given how, she told me, she had spent much of today repeatedly crying.  Even amidst such intense pain she had been feeling, she found it in herself to give thanks always.*  

It is true it was just an insignificant slight bump on the head.  Perhaps one can see it as something to ignore and forget.  Yet, as Jean-Pierre de Caussade counsels us in "The Sacrament of the Present Moment," we are always being afforded opportunities to embrace how God is trying to reach out to us.  In every microscopic fraction of time, as "The Cloud of Unknowing" describes, we have chances to embrace the will of God.  

God speaks to us as we are able to hear.  God gives to us according to our capacity to receive.  God does not give us more than we can handle.**  God gives to us what we can manage, for in our dear Jesus, we do not have an unsympathetic mediator, but rather one who is most certainly sympathetic to us, since He was tested just as we are tested.***  Therefore, God meets us where we are, in the place in which we find ourselves.  Anna had wept much today, and so God gently and lovingly reached out to her and poked her playfully in the head.  

In this vein, when Anna thanked God, I noted, "Yes, Anna.  It's like God was just saying to you, 'Now, Anna, stay on task!'"  

* 1 Thessalonians 5:18 
** 1 Corinthians 10:13 
*** Hebrews 4:15 

Keeping Some Perspective

Today a particular homeless man I know who I'll call "Han" arrived here at the Catholic Worker House with his bicycle.  I asked him how his day was going.  He responded that he had a flat tire.  

I replied, "Oh, man.  Bummer."  

Han noted, "Well, this isn't that bad.  If this is the worst thing that happens to me today, this is a pretty good day."  

Han makes a good point.  When mishaps seem to occur to us, do we keep them in perspective?  

When we suffer setbacks, do we keep in mind that anything other than sin can sanctify us, if we but respond to it in the right way?  Do we remember that anything that is not sinful can bring us closer to God if we merely react in the correct manner?  Do we recall that God works all for the good of those who love Him?*  

As apparent misfortune seems to befall us, do we remain grateful to God, conscious of the abundant blessings in our lives?  Once we realize how good we've got it, it becomes much easier to give thanks to God always.**  

* Romans 8:28 
** 1 Thessalonians 5:18 

Setting Matters Right

Sometimes we think we've gone wrong.  At such times, as always, God is working to set matters right.  

Today it has seemed God has been fixing things in this way.  This morning someone I know was headed out to a funeral.  This afternoon when I saw him, I asked him how his trip went.  

He explained that he had gotten the day wrong.  Today was not the day of the funeral.  However, he added that it worked out well because he was able to catch up with his friend who is the widower; he had more time alone with him than he would have had if the funeral had happened today.  Then he claimed, "But I still messed up."  

Did he get it wrong?  Did he go when he was not supposed to go?  Or did he get it right?  Did he go right when he was supposed to go?  

His friend needed to be comforted; he went and consoled his friend.  Often when we think we have made a mistake, God is working through us for the good of our neighbor.  Sometimes when we think we've gotten it wrong, God is getting it right through us.  

Called To Respect

We are called to respect others the way we would like to be treated.  Otherwise, when we fail to respect others, we are telling them that they are not worthy of respect.  In time, they come to disrespect themselves, as they slip into a downward spiral in which they get used to abusing themselves.  We can think that we have no responsibility for others' actions, but when we fail to build up people, we choose not to lift them up, we keep them down, and we push them even further down.  

Often I think about the people who sift through the garbage and recyclables in the dumpsters in the parking lot outside my window.  They usually sort through it around 5:00 a.m.  I've imagined that they come at that time because they want to get what they can out of it before the garbage truck comes around 5:30 a.m. to empty the dumpsters.  

I've imagined talking with them when they are going through the garbage and the recyclables.  I've envisioned saying something to them like, "I'm not going to try to stop you from going through the garbage.  You can do so.  I'm not disturbed by the sound.  I am deeply saddened that human beings care for each other so little that some people are reduced to rifling through garbage.  I believe you were meant to be treated with more dignity.  We are supposed to treat you with more respect."  
Homeless folks have told me and shown me that they collect recyclables to exchange for money.  Earlier this week, I asked a homeless woman, who I'll call "Kelly" here, what she was going to buy with the money she was going to get from the recyclables she had.  She told me she was going to buy cigarettes.  

In addition to nicotine, homeless folks also fall prey to illicit drugs.  Kelly has confessed to me that she has taken methamphetamines.  Meth is inexpensive, so homeless folks can get it.  

Although meth doesn't cost much money, homeless folks pay a high price for it.  In using it, people become less than they were meant to be.  

When we do not acknowledge the presence of a homeless person, we treat them as less than they actually are.  By acting as if homeless people do not exist, we rip them down just like an illicit drug tears them down.  

In addition to meth tearing people down, people use it in the first place since they are down.  Kelly has identified her low self-esteem as the root of her problems.  She admitted to me that she does things which she thinks will make her feel better, but which don't help.  She has acknowledged too that she tries to numb herself to prevent herself from feeling what she doesn't want to feel.  Kelly does not want to feel the disrespect that has been shown to her.  She would rather turn aside from the pain inflicted on her.  

We cannot justify ignoring and casting aside those who are homeless or otherwise poor.  We cannot in good conscience tell them that they must accept their lot, for in doing so we reject our duty to love them.  

In loving homeless persons and showing them respect, we build them up.  We help them become more than they have been.  By treating homeless persons with dignity, we help them to rise above the suffering they have endured.  If any of us refuse to help our neighbor, whether homeless or not, we are ignoring the lessons of love presented to us.  

If any of us, whether we are homeless or rich, only try to escape from pain, and never embrace suffering, we are refusing to learn from what life presents to us.  Through life's hardships, God seeks to mold us, just as He does by way of life's blessings.  

God asks that we agree to become who He created us to be.  We are called to become who God made us to be.  

We find out who we are as we endure life's challenges.  If we reject what we have to learn in what unfolds in our lives, we refuse to accept what God is trying to give to us.  If we decide not to seize the chance to love our neighbor, we throw away the gift God is giving us.  

Yet God made us to learn and grow through endurance, which is a reflection of love.  To become more than we have been, by obediently submitting ourselves to the will of God, we show who we are.  By loving our neighbor, we demonstrate who we are.  

In the film "Restless Heart," Saint Monica says to her son, Saint Augustine, "Don't forget who you are."  As he continued to ignore the call from God to become who he really was, she admonished him to embrace his true identity, where he would find deep joy and happiness.  

God made us to be happy and joyous.  We find deep joy and happiness when we turn towards God, and submit ourselves to Him, and praise and glorify and adore Him, and love our neighbor.  We do not realize this is why God made us.  We must not forget who God made us to be.  

We are to use what God has given to us to bear much fruit to His glory.  We are to use the gifts God has given to us.  

Kelly told me that at one point she had been in college.  She has told me that she would like to go back to school and get her Bachelor's Degree.  

Kelly realizes that she is meant to be more than she has been.  She knows that she must respect herself.  In loving herself, she can become who God has always meant her to be.  In loving each other, we become who God created us to be.  

God calls us to respect each other.  When we respect others, we invite them to respect themselves too.  

We respect and love ourselves.  We wish to be respected and loved.  Thus we should respect and love others, since we wish to be respected and loved.  Seeing that we too would like to be respected and loved, we come to be able to love our neighbor as ourselves,* just as Jesus taught us.  

* Matthew 22:39; Mark 12:31; Luke 10:27; Leviticus 19:18; Romans 13:9; Galatians 5:14 

Little Loving Present

This morning I picked up and dropped off food donations.  When I got home, I was happily surprised to see a few of our friends on our front porch.  

One of them, who I'll call "Betty" here, asked me for a pen and paper so she could exchange contact information with someone I'll call "Jane" here.  Someone I'll call "Christy" asked me for a bag so she could more easily carry the items she had just gotten for free that had been left on our front porch.  

When I had gotten what they had requested, I came back out onto the porch to give them the seemingly insignificant items they wanted.  First I gave a pen to Betty, along with a little pad ornately decorated with colorful flowers and sparkling designs, and told her she could keep it.  Then I said to Christy something like, "And much less impressively, here is this bag."  

Immediately Jane got up and came over to me.  She embraced me.  Right away I could tell she needed comfort.  I rested my head against hers and really tried to soothe her with calm and peace as we hugged.  

Before today I had already known that Jane was homeless.  However, after I saw Jane today, someone told me that all of her possessions had just been stolen.  She had nothing.  In the context of being bereft of all she had had, she was in dire need of tenderness and kindness.  She just needed someone to do merely what they were capable of doing, showing her love.  

We do these things in life we don't even consider.  We do little things we forget.  We don't even think about them, so we wouldn't even think that they matter even if we did think about them.  

Yet tiny little moments can be windows of opportunity for great love to be shown through us. If we open ourselves up to what is happening right in front of us, we can let God love others through us.  

In each tiny fragment of time, we can be present to our neighbor to perform little acts of love for each other.  In this vein, I have been wondering if anyone has ever written about the convergence and intersection of thought amongst "The Story of a Soul" by The Little Flower, that is Saint Therese of Lisieux, and "The Sacrament of the Present Moment" by Jean-Pierre de Caussade, and "The Cloud of Unknowing" by an anonymous medieval author.  

The anonymous author of "The Cloud of Unknowing" wrote of how we are responsible for even fractions of seconds.  Thus, even an instant, although it is so brief, holds much significance, since it holds the potential for great love to be expressed in it.  

Saint Therese of Lisieux wrote of how she would get to Heaven along her little way of serving her neighbor through little loving actions.  She saw her vocation as being one of love expressed in small gestures of love for others.  

The Jesuit priest Jean-Pierre de Caussade, in his book "The Sacrament of the Present Moment," explains that we find our duty to God in the present moment.  He explained that we serve God when we embrace what the present moment requires of us.  
If we are attentive to what the current moment presents to us, then in every microscopic moment, we can realize immense potential to love through seemingly insignificant little acts of charity towards others.  Jesus told us that if we have faith the size of a mustard seed, we could move mountains.*  If love that is the size of a mustard seed is in our hearts, we can move mountains with this little love.  The mustard seed of our little loving act may bear much fruit in the heart of the person who receives the love of God that is being shown through us.  If we embrace the duty currently being presented to us, if we agree to love our neighbor** in little ways, even in fleeting instants, we can be witness to much love blooming in the hearts of others.  

Each of our little loving acts can be little flowers.  And from one little action of love, much love can be sown in the heart of another, just as from one little flower, much pollen can spread and germinate and bear much fruit.  

We can become convinced that some actions are insignificant.  How do we know this to be so?  We can assume some acts have no important impact.  How can we be sure this is so?  

Do we think that what we do makes no difference?  Maybe we think it makes no difference to us, but maybe it makes a big difference to someone else.  

* Matthew 17:20; Mark 11:23  
** Matthew 22:39; Mark 12:31; Luke 10:27; Leviticus 19:18; Romans 13:9; Galatians 5:14 

Humility Welcomes Learning

When we keep an open mind about others, we remain open to what they have to teach us.  If we are humble, we welcome what we can learn from others.  

Today I was reminded of these truths upon looking back on last weekend.  As I mentioned in the blog entry I wrote yesterday, there was a festival this past weekend here in Redwood City.  Men and women and children dressed in traditional garb were dancing in the town square.  

This morning, my fellow Catholic Worker Susan showed me a photo of our friend, who here I'll call "Bill," who was in a dance performance in the festival.  In the picture, Bill is exquisitely dressed in a certain type of ethnic clothing, elegantly dancing with a woman on the town square, for people to admire.  Bill is also homeless.  Early this morning I saw him sleeping outside.  

When I saw the photo, I remarked something like, "You see, that's a good example of how people can have a certain idea of what homeless people are like, and they're not like that.  People's ideas about homeless people can be so inaccurate."  

Susan added that while Bill has been homeless, he has had a job for two years.  He is nice, kind and polite.  He was a member of a monastic community for years.  

Upon Susan noting some of these points about Bill, our fellow Catholic Worker Larry said that Bill breaks stereotypes.  Bill contradicts what people expect homeless persons to be.  

We've got our own ideas about people.  People have so much more to give us than we expect. If we respect others enough to learn who they are, we can receive much from them.  If we love them enough to get to know them, we will be educated about those individuals we do not know.  

If we have the humility to realize that we do not know people, we will learn about them.  We must be humble to welcome others into our hearts.  We must be humble in order to love our neighbor* as Jesus instructs us.  

If we are humble, we will open our minds and hearts towards others.  If we let ourselves be humbled, we can receive what others can give us.  If we allow ourselves to be humbled, we can receive love.  

* Matthew 22:39; Mark 12:31; Luke 10:27; Leviticus 19:18; Romans 13:9; Galatians 5:14 

Coming To See

When we can see a person, then we come to know her.  When we come to know the person before us, we come to love that person.  

This weekend I was reminded of how preconceived notions can crumble once we actually spend time with people.  Yesterday I recalled how our assumptions often turn out to be incorrect.  

Yesterday some former guests who used to live here at the Catholic Worker House, and our current guest Samah and I walked into downtown Redwood City.  We went to see my fellow Catholic Worker Susan perform in her band, which was playing in the midst of a festival happening here in town.  We took food and beverages with us in a cooler and had a picnic on the town square.  

At one point, everyone else was out exploring the festival as I sat in one of the folding chairs we had.  I was looking across the square and noticed Samah on the steps of the building directly across from me.  She was standing there looking out across the crowd, wearing her sunglasses, sleeveless top and shorts.  As I watched her, I was struck by how she was wearing thoroughly summer clothing although she is Saudi.  

A short while later, she rejoined me at our picnic spot.  I shared with her emphatically, "I never, ever, ever would have expected to meet a woman from Saudi Arabia wearing a sleeveless top and shorts!"  

I had been coming to that conclusion without contact with Saudi women.  I had always heard that Saudi women had to wear headscarves and be completely covered.  Of course, Saudi women are supposed to have the permission of a male relative to travel; Samah is contradicting that Saudi cultural norm by refusing to return to Saudi Arabia despite the demand that she do so.  Similarly, she rejects the societal expectation that as a Saudi woman she wear a headscarf and be completely covered.  

Despite how Samah bucks cultural expectations, the fact remains that when we operate without contact with others, we remain in the dark about them.  When we interact with them, we learn who they really are.  As we come to see them in front of us, the light of truth illuminates their true identity for us.  

When we get to know our neighbor, we find that we are not as different as we had assumed.  We find we are more alike than we had thought.  

When we come to find that our neighbor is like us, we come to love our neighbor as ourselves, just as Jesus taught us to do.*  When we open our hearts to our neighbor, we open our hearts to love.  When we open our hearts to love, we open our hearts to God.  

* Matthew 22:39; Mark 12:31; Luke 10:27; Leviticus 19:18; Romans 13:9; Galatians 5:14 

Learning From Littleness

Here in the community of the Catholic Worker House, we learn from each other partly through the stories we share with each other.  We learn from hearing how others have grown.  

This morning another Catholic Worker and I were on our way to pick up a donation of food.  While we were in the car, he was telling me about how he brought his daughter, when she was only a few years old, to a monastery.  For much of the visit, the little girl was wearing a miniature wedding veil.  At one point when she was wearing the veil, one of the nuns was teaching her one of the tasks done at the monastery.  A photo was snapped of the small child performing her work, thoroughly enjoying it.  In the picture, the young girl is full of glee, overflowing with joy and happiness as she went about her work.  

This morning her father was relating to me how the nuns took her as an example.  The nuns had been consciously aspiring to live each moment with the joy and spontaneity of a child, yet simultaneously with the wisdom and knowledge of an adult.  For years to come the nuns referred back to the little girl as an exemplar of how to live with a spirit of joy and spontaneity, like a little child.  

The nuns saw that the child provided a model for them to follow.  She simply set herself to the job before her, and joyfully reveled in what she had to do in that moment.  

We can learn much from those who are little.  We do well when we do not take ourselves too seriously.  Of course we should not forget what we have learned, but we should also have the humility to realize that there is much we do not know.  We are called to have the humility to be willing to learn from little children, for as Jesus told us, the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to such as these.*  

When we worry about nothing, but out of great love of God, with much faith in Him, simply trust in Him, we are filled with joy.  We feel such abundant joy when we throw all our cares to Him, and trust completely in Him.  

We are called to depend totally upon God, just as little children completely rely on their parents.  We must become like little children if we are to enter the Kingdom of God.**  

We can grow by becoming little.  The one who humbles himself will be raised up.***  When we have the humility to learn from others, even from little children, we are opening our hearts to others and what they have to teach us.  When we consent to learn from others, we open our hearts to them, and thus love them.  

As we love others, we grow closer to them, and thus closer to God.  Let us humble ourselves, learn, and love, and return back home to God.  Amen.  

* Matthew 19:14; Mark 10:14; Luke 18:16 
** Matthew 18:3; Mark 10:15; Luke 18:17 
*** Matthew 23:12; Luke 14:11; Luke 18:14 

Trust Always Thanks

Do we thank God always?*  No matter what is happening, do we trust God that all is going to work out in the end to be all right?  

In a previous blog post I mentioned Samah, who is our guest here at the Catholic Worker House.  Today Samah and I received good reminders of the need to give thanks to God always and to trust in God always.  In the midst of what seemed like a predicament, we saw how the Providence of God works all things to the good of those who love Him.**  

This morning I went to pick up a donation of food at one location and to drop off a donation of food at another place.  Once I had returned home and had parked the van across the street from the Catholic Worker House, I was on the sidewalk about to open the side of the van to remove some food I had picked up for the house.  

I looked up and saw Samah on the sidewalk waving to me.  Now, typically when I'm out on the sidewalk and Samah and I see each other, she waves to me.  However, today, when I first saw her, she was waving a bit insistently to me.  At first I was puzzled over why she was waving so emphatically to me.  I asked her if she had gotten locked out of the house.  She replied that her car was at the gas station and wouldn't start.  We walked together a few blocks to the gas station.  

At her request, I tried starting the car so I could hear the sound it had been making when she had been trying to start it.  Upon trying to start it, I told her that, with my limited knowledge of car mechanics, I wondered whether she needed a new starter given the sound it was making.  

Then we pushed and steered the car as it was in neutral gear.  Soon a young man, who had been hanging out in the park on the other side of the street, ran across the street and asked us if we wanted his assistance in moving the car.  We gladly accepted his help, and he helped us push it to the gas pump.  

Once we had gotten the car to the pump, we introduced ourselves to each other. He told me his name is Mario.  He mentioned that he works in a Christian ministry which serves homeless folks.  I was so glad to meet him!  I enjoyed hearing about his ministry, since he serves some of the same persons who come to the Catholic Worker House for help.  He told us that after we had put gas in it, if we needed his help again to push it away from the pump, we could call him back over to us from across the street.  

Samah put five dollars in her gas tank.  Then she tried again to start the car, but it wouldn't start.  At some point, frustrated, she exclaimed, "I don't want this car!"  

At some point while we were at the gas pump, I turned and saw that a man was in a car waiting to use the pump after Samah.  I explained to him, "Her car wouldn't start, so we pushed it to the pump to see if it needed gas."  

He replied, "I'll buy that car."  As I stared at him in disbelief, he explained, "That's what I do.  I buy cars."  

I responded, "Great!  Can we get your number?"  He gave us his number, which made Samah very happy, as she was receiving contact information for someone who wanted to buy the car she didn't want to keep.  

After we realized at the pump that the car wasn't going to start, I got Mario's attention from across the street.  He came back over to us and helped us push the car out to the street, where Samah maneuvered it to the curb, where she parked.  After expressing our gratitude yet again to Mario, Samah and I parted ways with him and began to walk home.  

As we were walking home, I pointed out to Samah, "You see?  You wanted to get rid of this car, and now you know of someone who will buy it."  I said that when things seem to be going astray, God is working things out for us.  

She replied joyfully, "God, I love you!"  

When something seems to go wrong, do we thank God?  When events are unfolding in our lives such that we feel our lives are unraveling, do we have faith in God and trust in Him?  

Today we witnessed the loving care of God.  Yet again we heard the call from God for us to abandon ourselves to Him and to trust in Him.  Today once again we saw how God takes care of us, even when we think all is lost.  

And so, having seen the obvious evidence of God's loving Providence today, we are called to deepen our trust in Him.  I said to Samah, raising my hands toward the sky and shaking them, perhaps God is asking us in such a manner, "Do you trust Me now?"  

* 1 Thessalonians 5:18 
** Romans 8:28 

Liking This Trend

Within the last hour I was happy to see two people, who I'll call "Kimberly" and "Davey," whose company I so enjoy.  Kimberly and Davey are friends of mine who I've been coming increasingly to appreciate.  They come here to the Catholic Worker House often to check to see if there's anything they can use that's been donated that's sitting our front porch.  They're homeless, and so often their effects end up getting stolen.  Thus the porch is a place where they can replenish lost items.  

And so when I walked out onto the front porch tonight, I was pleased that I would get to enjoy the playful company of Kimberly and Davey, but not surprised to see them there.  I remarked to them, out of the hope that I would keep enjoying the precious recurring gift of their nourishing daily company, "You know, this is the fourth day in a row I've seen you.  I'd just like to say that I'd like this trend to continue."  

Pass It On

This morning as I was waiting for someone I overheard the following conversation.  A man showed up at the apartment building where I was waiting.  A woman answered the front door of the building.  As she opened the door, he presented a couple of flowers to her as he exclaimed, "Happy Mother's Day!"  

In the midst of thanking him for the flowers, she replied, "You know, I was just listening to Charles Stanley.  He was saying that we need to do what we can to pass it on."  

The man responded, "Well, this is remarkable.  Without your realizing it, you've just told me that you're accepting the mission I have for you."  The man reached out of the woman's sight and picked up another bouquet of two more flowers.  He explained, "Please give these to So-And-So when you see her later today, and when you pass them on to her, please wish her a Happy Mother's Day from me."  

Wonders Through Littleness

We have not been left alone.  We have our guides, companions, protectors and advocates with us, now and always.  They come unto us to tell us The Truth, so that we may remain on The Way, so that we may have The Life,* and so that we may have it to the full.**  

Jesus is gone from our bodily sight, yet He is with us always.***  Jesus further said He would not leave us orphans, but that He would send us another advocate, namely, the Holy Spirit, Who would lead us into all truth.****  

And from the Cross, Jesus entrusted us to His mother, to Our Blessed Mother Mary.  In the Gospel according to Saint John, we hear that when Jesus was on the Cross, 

Seeing His mother and the disciple whom He loved standing near Her, Jesus said to His mother, 'Woman, this is your son.'  Then to the disciple He said, 'This is your Mother.'  And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.*****  

From the Cross, Jesus told His Blessed Mother Mary that Saint John was her son.  As He was on the Cross, Jesus told Saint John the Apostle that His Blessed Mother Mary was his Mother.  
Yet Jesus looked beyond Saint John both as someone for whom His mother would care and as someone to care for His mother.  Jesus was announcing to His Blessed Mother Mary that she was becoming the Mother of all the faithful.  Jesus was telling every human being that the Blessed Virgin Mary is the Mother of all the faithful.  

We are to pray the rosary and beseech Our Blessed Mother Mary to intercede with her Son Jesus on our behalf.  We are to humbly seek the aid of Our Blessed Mother Mary, for through her intercession, by her tremendously effective prayers for us, we will be protected.  

As Pope Francis declared today about Our Blessed Mother Mary, "We have a Mother!"  We have a merciful, loving, sweet, kind, gracious advocate in Our Blessed Mother Mary.  

What more can we say in describing Our Blessed Mother Mary?  We can look to when she appeared to the three peasant children Servant of God Lucia, Saint Jacinta and Saint Francisco in Fatima in Portugal exactly one hundred years ago, on May 13, 1917, and when she appeared to them later that year.  These Fatima seers said she is beautiful.  Saint Jacinta was so overjoyed that she later exclaimed to her mother, "Today I saw Our Lady!"  

We can also recall when Our Blessed Mother Mary appeared to Saint Bernadette of Lourdes.  Someone suggested to Saint Bernadette that she offer pen and paper to The Lady who had been appearing to her, who turned out to be Our Blessed Mother Mary.  When Saint Bernadette suggested to Our Blessed Mother Mary that she write what she wanted, Our Blessed Mother laughed!  Now I would like to see Our Blessed Mother Mary laugh!  There would truly be a joyous sight.  

A glorious reward among many in Heaven will it be when we will see Our Blessed Mother Mary!  As Pope Francis said earlier today, we will have all eternity to gaze upon Our Blessed Mother Mary!  

And how are we to get to Heaven?  How are to conduct ourselves so that we welcome the guidance we need to get there, so that we invoke the protection we need?  

On our way, as Pope Francis has advised, "We can take as our examples Saint Francisco and Saint Jacinta, whom the Virgin Mary introduced into the immense ocean of God's light and whom she taught to adore Him."  As Pope Francis further noted today during the Mass in which he canonized them, "That was the source of their strength in overcoming opposition and suffering.  God's presence became constant in their lives, as is evident from their insistent prayers for sinners and their desire to remain ever near 'the hidden Jesus' in the tabernacle."  

Who were Saint Francisco and Saint Jacinta?  He was eight and she was seven when Our Blessed Mother Mary first appeared to them.  They were very young peasants, poor, uneducated and simple.  Saint Francisco and Saint Jacinta were humbled by the circumstances of their lives.  How can we humble ourselves?  How can we become like little children?  

Anyone who humbles himself will be raised up.******  Someone who makes himself as little as a little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.*******  

We become like little children toward God when we totally rely on God, just like little children completely depending on their parents for all they need.  We humble ourselves when we pray.  When we pray, we admit we cannot get where we are going on our own.  As we are praying, we are acknowledging that we need God's help.  

There is no way we can get to Heaven solely on our own merits.  We all are in need of God's mercy.  

God is love.********  Love is mercy.  Thus, the name of God is mercy, as Pope Francis has told us.  Similarly, Saint Faustina has told us that Jesus told her that He is love and mercy itself.  

If people ever wonder why I am looking forward so much to the next life, there is much I can say.  I know that I will enter Heaven because I will throw myself at the mercy of God's great love.  I know that God will forgive me, for God is infinitely merciful.  And on the day I enter into Heaven, you can imagine me telling you, "Today I saw Our Lady!"  I will have all eternity to bask in the unspeakably marvelous warm glow of the love and glory of God, largely thanks to the immense mercy of Our Blessed Mother Mary, for in her great kindness she has greatly aided me, for she has secured grace for me through her intercession on my behalf.  

How can we get to Heaven?  Be like little children, who greatly respected and honored Our Blessed Mother Mary, Who, in her great humility, did as she was told.  And in turn, she tells us of her Son Jesus, "Do whatever He tells you."*********  

When we have the humility to do as God directs us to do, through us God performs miracles.  Even though we are but little children, God will work wonders through us.  And in the end, God will raise us up, so that we may be with Him for all eternity, in His glory.  Amen.  

* John 14:6 
** John 10:10 
*** Matthew 28:20 
**** John 14:16-18; John 14:26; John 15:26; John 16:13 
***** John 19:26-27 
****** Matthew 23:12; Luke 14:11; Luke 18:14 
******* Matthew 18:4 
******** 1 John 4:8; 1 John 4:16 
********* John 2:5