Give With Love

This morning I was instructed, in how to give with love, by a homeless man.  Once again I'll call this man "Manuel."  

Today Manuel sat before me at a table.  I sat on a chair listening to him.  

He shared with me how he knows homeless people who do not have a lot, but they share the little they have.  They have little, yet they give what they have.  When you have a little, and yet you give, you have the potential to give with much love.  

Such people die to themselves so they can live for their neighbor.  If you are willing to die to your own desires, you can give the little you have, and thus love your neighbor as yourself,* as Jesus taught us to do.  

Dead to your desires, you can give yourself away.  Having emptied yourself, you have invited God to fill you with His love.**  If you are filled with the love of God, you can give yourself completely to your neighbor.  When you totally open your heart to God, God can love your neighbor through you.  

If you love God with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your soul, and with all your strength,*** you completely trust God.  Totally loving God, you are open to how God wants to love your neighbor through you.  Completely loving God, you invite God to fill you with His love, so you can love your neighbor as God loves us.****  

Filled with the love of God, you can give much.  Although you have little, you can give much.  

* Matthew 22:39; Mark 12:31; Luke 10:27; Leviticus 19:18; Romans 13:9; Galatians 5:14 
** Romans 5:5 
*** Deuteronomy 6:5; Deuteronomy 10:12; Matthew 22:37; Mark 12:30; Luke 10:27
**** John 13:34 

Recognize Afflicting Blessings

If we are wise, we can recognize the blessings in our afflictions.  If we truly are grateful to God, we thank Him for the adversity we face as well as the comfort we receive.  As we embrace those who are different from us, we are positioning ourselves to learn from them.  If we have faith in God, we welcome all God sends us.  If we have faith, we are saved.  

We are reminded of these truths in today's Gospel reading for Thanksgiving Day.  There we hear that 

As Jesus continued his journey to Jerusalem,
he traveled through Samaria and Galilee.
As he was entering a village, ten persons with leprosy met him.
They stood at a distance from him and raised their voices, saying,
"Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!"
And when he saw them, he said,
"Go show yourselves to the priests."
As they were going they were cleansed. 
And one of them, realizing he had been healed,
returned, glorifying God in a loud voice;
and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. 
He was a Samaritan.
Jesus said in reply,
"Ten were cleansed, were they not?
Where are the other nine? 
Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?" 
Then he said to him, "Stand up and go;
your faith has saved you."*  

These lepers may have anticipated that the apparent misfortune of their leprosy would provide the vehicle through which God would be glorified in them.  In their anguish, they cried out to Jesus to have pity on them.  Jesus, full of compassion and love for others, cured them.  The returning man recognized that God had had mercy on him, so he went back to Jesus, giving the glory and praise and honor due to God.  When we are suffering from what would usually be viewed as a malady, we can thank God for the apparently ill fortune which has befallen us, if we consider that our dilemma provides an avenue through which God can be glorified.  In our pain, we can capitalize on the excellent opportunity to earnestly call out to God to deliver us from what afflicts us.  God likes to hear us offer up ardent prayers to Him.  God hears and responds to fervent prayers.  Then when God saves us from what torments us, all the glory is due to God.  We can thank God not only for being delivered from agony, but also, realizing that trials supply opportunities for God to be glorified, we can also thank God for tribulations.  

At times we are well instructed in thanking and praising and glorifying God by those who are different from us.  The one leper who returned to thank God was a Samaritan.  Normally Jews did not associate with Samaritans.**  The foreigner demonstrated well the need to give thanks to God.  If we dismiss those who are unlike us, we run the risk of refusing to learn from them.  People dissimilar to us may have much important to teach us.  

The Samaritan, the excluded one, was saved by his faith.  Although he was a social outcast, he had the gift of faith from God.  Through that faith, he was saved.  

When we have faith, we welcome the apparent misfortune God sends us as well as the comfort He gives to us.  Having faith, and being cured, we thank God not only for the relief but also for the affliction.  With faith, we welcome into our hearts people who are not like us, aware that they can teach us since we are open to what they have to say.  Being so receptive through our faith, we are saved.  Amen.  

*  Luke 17:11-19
** John 4:9 

Have Some Faith

Do we wonder why God has not worked wonders in our lives?  When we question God so, do we consider how little we trust God?  

The more faith we have in God, the more God will amaze us.  Jesus explained to us that if we had faith merely the size of a mustard seed, that faith could move a mountain.*  

If we have just a little bit of faith, we will see God working wonders in our lives.  If we trust God, we will not be wondering how God is working in our lives, for we will see the truth of His glory being manifested right in front of us.  

* Matthew 17:20; Mark 11:23 

Accept The Invitation

Suffering is an invitation to prayer.  When God allows us to suffer, God invites us to pray.  

If we are agonized, we are poised to present our petitions earnestly to God.  In anguish, we pray with deep feeling, and thus effectively, when we beg God to help us.  

O God, come to my assistance.  O Lord, make haste to help me.*  
When we are tormented, we pray fervently to God.  How we pray matters.  

We also show what we most value in what we request from God.  In the midst of excruciating discomfort, we can do more than merely implore God to stop the pain.  We can choose to ask God to give us the grace and the strength to bear the trials we are undergoing.  

In beseeching God to grant us the grace and the strength to endure our tribulations, we are asking God that he let us be vehicles for Him to be glorified.  When we seek from Him the composure we need to bear our suffering, we wish it to be that we weather our storms only by His grace.  Then all glory and honor and praise is due to God, as it always has been, as it is, and as it ever shall be, to God, to ever has been, is, and ever shall be.  Amen.  

* Psalm 40:14; Psalm 70:2 

Proclaim Your Identity

We find ourselves in our choices.  Out of challenges which force us to make decisions emerges who we are.  

Today we are encouraged to consider how, in our own choices we must realize who we are, as we celebrate the feast day of Saint Martin of Tours.  Saint Martin of Tours was a soldier in the Roman army in the fourth century.  He concluded he could not be both a soldier and a Christian.  He renounced his standing in the military, turned away from war and toward peace, and so courageously declared the truth of who he was.  

We must choose.  Do we realize who we are?  Do we proclaim our true identity?  

Recognize His Love

How does it matter to me that a virgin gave birth to Jesus?  What difference does it make in my everyday life?  

In the Virgin Birth, we see the great love of God.  The Holy Spirit overshadowed the Blessed Virgin Mary.*  The Child that was within her was through the Holy Spirit.  God sent His Holy Spirit upon Mary, and she conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit.**  

We see the love of God living in Mary.  God so loved us that He sent His only Son to us.***  The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.****  God is love,***** and that love, in Jesus, came and lived in the midst of us.  God loves us so much that He came to us.  He lived among us, but the world did not recognize Him,****** yet still He loves us.  

In the Holy Spirit coming upon Mary, and enabling her as a virgin to give birth to Jesus, we are reminded of the great love God shows us.  When we are besieged with troubles, knowing that God loves us, we are comforted. Well aware of the infinite love of God for us, all our trials are transformed.  The love of God makes all the difference in the world.  

* Luke 1:35 
** Matthew 1:20 
*** John 3:16 
**** John 1:14 
***** 1 John 4:8,16 
****** John 1:10 

Love Giving All

Love is costly.  God showed us what we pay when we truly and fully and deeply love.  God the Father so loved us that He sent His only Son to us.*  Jesus showed us how much He was willing to give to us: He emptied Himself; He became a slave** to love, to God who is love,*** to the will of Our Heavenly Father.  He loved the will of Our Heavenly Father so much that He obediently humbled Himself even unto death, and even death on a cross.****  

When we really love, we give completely of ourselves.  If we actually love, we give all that we have and are.  If we totally love, we think, speak and act like Jesus.  

* John 3:16 
** Philippians 2:7 
*** 1 John 4:8,16 
**** Philippians 2:8 

Know You Can

Today I overheard a conversation between a homeless drug addict who I'll call "Patsy" and her friend, who I'll call "Dawn."  They were talking about how Patsy was planning on entering a drug rehabilitation program.  It went roughly like this: 

Dawn: Well, it sounds like you're all set to go into this treatment program.  How do you feel about it?  

Patsy: I think I can do it.  

Dawn: I know you can do it.  

Dawn affirmed Patsy.  In encouraging Patsy by telling Patsy that Dawn knew Patsy could successfully work through the treatment program, Dawn showed Patsy the love that Dawn would like to receive.  She seeks to love her neighbor as herself,* as Jesus taught us to do.  

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

Show God Love

We show God that we love Him when we do His will.  We do the will of God when we love our neighbor, since Jesus taught us to love our neighbor as ourselves.*  We show God that we love Him when we love our neighbor.  

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

Embrace God's Intention

This afternoon I was walking through downtown Redwood City.  As I strolled along, leisurely enjoying my Sunday afternoon, I heard some music being performed.  I looked to the side and saw a man playing a guitar and another man playing drums.  

The man playing drums is a man I've mentioned in a previous blog post.  Here I'll again call him "Ed."  When I first met Ed, he was homeless.  Then he started staying in a homeless shelter.  When I last saw him before today, it was on the front porch of the Catholic Worker House, when he was sharing with me how he had learned that one overcomes depression by slowly, daily, gradually accomplishing whatever tasks are at hand.  

In this arc of improvement, when I saw Ed today, it seemed he was simply living in the moment of playing the music he could play.  He was doing what he could do.  

When we use the skills God has given to us, we accept who God made us to be.  As we become ourselves, we praise God, for we are embracing who God intended us to be.  If we welcome who God always has meant us to be, we show we appreciate what God has given to us, and thus open our hearts to God.  Opening our hearts to God, we are positioned to love God with all our heart, with all our mind, with all our soul, and with all our strength.*  

As we do what we can to be ourselves, we show our neighbor that we love ourselves.  When we take the little steps we can take to be our true selves, we demonstrate to our neighbor that we love ourselves.  Comforting our neighbor with the knowledge that we love ourselves, we love our neighbor as ourselves,** just as Jesus taught us to do.  

When we become our true selves, we love ourselves, for in accepting who God made us to be, we are welcoming God into our hearts, and since God is love,*** we are welcoming love into our hearts.  As we grow into who God has always meant us to be, we welcome love into our hearts.  

With the love of God poured into our hearts,**** we are empowered to bring love into the world.  Being our true selves, we bring love into the world.  

* Deuteronomy 6:5; Deuteronomy 10:12; Matthew 22:37; Mark 12:30; Luke 10:27 
** Matthew 22:39; Mark 12:31; Luke 10:27; Leviticus 19:18; Romans 13:9; Galatians 5:14 
*** 1 John 4:8,16 
**** Romans 5:5 

Be His Will

Today as we celebrate All Saints' Day, when we honor all saints, those both known as well as those unknown, we can be encouraged if we keep in mind how Pope Francis has reminded us that we are all called to be saints.  This might seem like such a lofty calling that it is beyond our grasp.  Perhaps we obscure what we try to see through our own tendency to short-sightedness.  Maybe we fall into the trap of feeling like we can't do something because we rely too much on ourselves.  When we refuse to depend on God, we are telling God that we do not want Him to perform miracles through us.  

God can work miracles through us if we but give our consent.  If we simply submit and give our assent to the Word of God like Our Blessed Mother Mary did, if we merely respond to God that it be done unto us according to His Word,* then we welcome Jesus into our hearts, and show God that we wish that the Holy Spirit dwell in us.  

Until we offer this complete obedience to God, we are cutting ourselves off from how the Holy Spirit can radically transform us.  We can't do much without God, but God can do much through us.  What is impossible for humans is possible for God,** for nothing is impossible for God.***  

If we open our hearts to God, God can work wonders through us.  If we allow ourselves to be humbled, God will give us the grace**** and the strength we need to do His will.  God will exalt those who humble themselves.*****  

In deciding whether or not we would like to be humble, we determine who we will become.  We spend our time well when we ask ourselves who we would like to become.  Having pondered who we wish to become, we then do well to request what we need to evolve into who God has always intended us to be.  

If we pray to God that He give us what we need to do His will, He will give it to us.  Those who ask will receive.  Those who seek will find.  Those who knock will have the door opened to them.******  

God answers the prayers of those who seek to serve Him.  God gives people what they request when they seek to be who He made them to be.  

As I recently suggested to someone, God made us to pray to Him, to praise Him, to adore Him, to glorify Him, and to honor Him.  When we do so with all our heart, with all our mind, with all our soul, and with all our strength,******* and when we love our neighbor as ourselves,******** then we become who God made us to be.  When the will of God is what we will, then we are saints.  When we live the will of God, we become who God has always meant us to be.  Amen.  

* Luke 1:38 
** Matthew 19:26; Mark 10:27; Luke 18:27 
*** Genesis 18:14; Luke 1:37 
**** 1 Peter 5:5; James 4:6 
***** Matthew 23:12; Luke 14:11; Luke 18:14 
****** Matthew 7:7-8 
******* Deuteronomy 6:5; Deuteronomy 10:12; Matthew 22:37; Mark 12:30; Luke 10:27 
******** Matthew 22:39; Mark 12:31; Luke 10:27; Leviticus 19:18; Romans 13:9; Galatians 5:14