Jesus, You Are filled with wisdom. Father, Son and Holy Spirit, You Are wisdom and love.
Showing posts with label Father. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Father. Show all posts
Saturday, December 30, 2017
Monday, December 25, 2017
Become Like Him
Jesus was born into the world as a baby. As an infant, He was helpless. As a newborn, He was vulnerable. Jesus, the King of the Universe, was humbled by being born into the world as a tiny frail human being. He did such a thing since His ways are not our ways.* God loves us infinitely, and so Jesus, from His great love for us, obediently submitted to the will of Our Heavenly Father by coming to save us from our sins.
Jesus was born in a stable.** He came into the world in stark surroundings. He came to us in a simple setting. In how He came among us, He demonstrated that we are to acquiesce to becoming little. We are to accept how God is calling us to be content with whatever God sends to us. We can choose to happily and joyously depend on God. We find a sure footing when we completely trust in God. If we but totally trust in God, we find that there is much stability in humility.
If we become like Jesus, we are built on a secure foundation, on solid rock.*** If we become like Jesus, we are loving no matter what happens. If we become like Jesus, we love God for all He sends us. If we become like Jesus, we love no matter what the cost.
* Isaiah 55:8
** Luke 2:16
*** Matthew 7:24-25; Luke 6:47-48
Jesus was born in a stable.** He came into the world in stark surroundings. He came to us in a simple setting. In how He came among us, He demonstrated that we are to acquiesce to becoming little. We are to accept how God is calling us to be content with whatever God sends to us. We can choose to happily and joyously depend on God. We find a sure footing when we completely trust in God. If we but totally trust in God, we find that there is much stability in humility.
If we become like Jesus, we are built on a secure foundation, on solid rock.*** If we become like Jesus, we are loving no matter what happens. If we become like Jesus, we love God for all He sends us. If we become like Jesus, we love no matter what the cost.
* Isaiah 55:8
** Luke 2:16
*** Matthew 7:24-25; Luke 6:47-48
Thursday, December 14, 2017
Look For Light
Tonight the doorbell rang. I answered it. Out of the darkness came the answer I sought.
Before me stood a homeless man who I'll once again call "Manuel." Suddenly Manuel reassured me, "God sees everything you do. Do not doubt that God knows all the things you are doing. So just keep on doing what you're doing."
Often we can wonder whether we're making a difference, and if so, how much of a difference we're making. We can sink into spiritual desolation if we start to think that we're not accomplishing much.
I find it apropos that it was today that Manuel came and gave me this particular encouragement. Today we celebrate the feast day of Saint John of the Cross, who wrote about how one can journey through spiritual darkness.
We can feel that we are not receiving much spiritual consolation in the midst of our toil. It might seem as if we are laboring without it being clear what we are really doing.
Yet in the midst of this spiritual darkness, a light shines. A light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not put it out.*
After night had fallen tonight, the doorbell here rang. At the door I found a homeless man who presented me with a spiritual candle, lit in the darkness, and bringing to me light through the hope he was urging me to maintain.
Jesus comes to us in those who are poor, in those who are outcast, in those who are the least among us.** Jesus comes to us and encourages us to keep moving forward, even when we are in darkness.
Jesus is the light of the world.*** He shows us the way since He is The Way.****
When we find ourselves in darkness, if we look for the light He is giving to us always, since He is with us always,***** we will see The Way. Even in darkness, we can see Him, and so we can see The Way home to Our Heavenly Father.
* John 1:5
** Matthew 25:40,45
*** John 8:12; 1 John 1:5
**** John 14:6
***** Matthew 28:20
Before me stood a homeless man who I'll once again call "Manuel." Suddenly Manuel reassured me, "God sees everything you do. Do not doubt that God knows all the things you are doing. So just keep on doing what you're doing."
Often we can wonder whether we're making a difference, and if so, how much of a difference we're making. We can sink into spiritual desolation if we start to think that we're not accomplishing much.
I find it apropos that it was today that Manuel came and gave me this particular encouragement. Today we celebrate the feast day of Saint John of the Cross, who wrote about how one can journey through spiritual darkness.
We can feel that we are not receiving much spiritual consolation in the midst of our toil. It might seem as if we are laboring without it being clear what we are really doing.
Yet in the midst of this spiritual darkness, a light shines. A light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not put it out.*
After night had fallen tonight, the doorbell here rang. At the door I found a homeless man who presented me with a spiritual candle, lit in the darkness, and bringing to me light through the hope he was urging me to maintain.
Jesus comes to us in those who are poor, in those who are outcast, in those who are the least among us.** Jesus comes to us and encourages us to keep moving forward, even when we are in darkness.
Jesus is the light of the world.*** He shows us the way since He is The Way.****
When we find ourselves in darkness, if we look for the light He is giving to us always, since He is with us always,***** we will see The Way. Even in darkness, we can see Him, and so we can see The Way home to Our Heavenly Father.
* John 1:5
** Matthew 25:40,45
*** John 8:12; 1 John 1:5
**** John 14:6
***** Matthew 28:20
Wednesday, December 6, 2017
Do Not Doubt
If I say that I am right with God, all I do is prove that I am not right with God. We are all sinners. We are all in need of God's mercy.
Do not doubt; sin we will. This is not to say that we should abandon our best efforts not to sin; certainly not. Since God calls us back to Him, God calls us not to sin, for to sin is to choose to turn away from God.
Despite our best efforts, we will sin. When we sin, God calls us to repent.
Do not doubt; God's mercy is greater than our sin. God is infinite, and so God's mercy is infinite. The name of God is mercy, as our Holy Father Pope Francis reminds us. Jesus is love and mercy itself, as He told Saint Faustina.
Do not doubt; God is love,* and so God is merciful. If you think that God will not forgive your sin, you forget that God is infinite, and thus that God's love is infinite.
God's love is greater than anything we think, say or do. So often what we think, say and do is sinful. As we come to see how much we sin, we can allow ourselves to be humbled. If we come to see ourselves as the grains of dust that we are in this vast universe, then we can welcome the humility that can lead us to beg God to forgive our sins.
God gives grace to the humble.** By the grace of God, we can come to be who God made us to be, acknowledging that His love and mercy are infinite. Through the grace of God, we do His will, and take our rightful places in this life, and in the next. Amen.
* 1 John 4:8,16
** 1 Peter 5:5; James 4:6
Do not doubt; sin we will. This is not to say that we should abandon our best efforts not to sin; certainly not. Since God calls us back to Him, God calls us not to sin, for to sin is to choose to turn away from God.
Despite our best efforts, we will sin. When we sin, God calls us to repent.
Do not doubt; God's mercy is greater than our sin. God is infinite, and so God's mercy is infinite. The name of God is mercy, as our Holy Father Pope Francis reminds us. Jesus is love and mercy itself, as He told Saint Faustina.
Do not doubt; God is love,* and so God is merciful. If you think that God will not forgive your sin, you forget that God is infinite, and thus that God's love is infinite.
God's love is greater than anything we think, say or do. So often what we think, say and do is sinful. As we come to see how much we sin, we can allow ourselves to be humbled. If we come to see ourselves as the grains of dust that we are in this vast universe, then we can welcome the humility that can lead us to beg God to forgive our sins.
God gives grace to the humble.** By the grace of God, we can come to be who God made us to be, acknowledging that His love and mercy are infinite. Through the grace of God, we do His will, and take our rightful places in this life, and in the next. Amen.
* 1 John 4:8,16
** 1 Peter 5:5; James 4:6
Wednesday, November 8, 2017
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
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
Sunday, October 22, 2017
Give Him Honor
Who do we think we are? What do we think we know? What do we think we owe? To whom do we think we owe it?
In today's Gospel reading, Jesus speaks to us about what we owe and to whom we owe it. In those verses we hear
The Pharisees went off
and plotted how they might entrap Jesus in speech.
They sent their disciples to him, with the Herodians, saying,
"Teacher, we know that you are a truthful man
and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth.
And you are not concerned with anyone's opinion,
for you do not regard a person's status.
Tell us, then, what is your opinion:
Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?"
Knowing their malice, Jesus said,
"Why are you testing me, you hypocrites?
Show me the coin that pays the census tax."
Then they handed him the Roman coin.
He said to them, "Whose image is this and whose inscription?"
They replied, "Caesar's."
At that he said to them,
"Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar
and to God what belongs to God."*
When asked whether people had to pay taxes or not, Jesus asked for a coin. He asked and was told that the emperor was shown on the coin. Jesus then instructed us that we should give to the government what belongs to the government, and to God what belongs to God.
In expounding upon Scripture, it has been written that we are to give to earthly rulers what is due to them, as long as it does not controvert what is due to God.** With similar reasoning, some people conclude that they do not have to pay taxes, claiming that they need not pay taxes to a government which then uses taxpayers' money to fund warmaking. The logic goes that since war is all too often unjust, citizens are not obligated to pay taxes to support unjust wars.
However, Jesus did not teach us to pay taxes unless the government is waging an unjust war. When he offered his reply on this question of whether we must pay taxes, the Roman empire was conquering and subduing many persons. Jesus could have said that taxes should be paid, but not to the Romans since they were subjecting so many people to their forced imperial expansion. However, he did not say so. Despite the warmaking of the Roman empire, Jesus taught people to give to Caesar what was Caesar's.
Elsewhere in Scripture we hear that we are to pay taxes. Today in his sermon here at the hermitage, Father Cyprian reminded us that Saint Paul tells us, "Pay to all their dues, taxes to whom taxes are due, toll to whom toll is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due."*** When taxes are due, we are to pay them. We are to give the honor and respect to our leaders which is due to them as our earthly leaders. We are to worship God since He is Our Heavenly Father, and we are to give Him the glory, praise, honor and adoration which is His due.
Scripture tells us to pay the taxes we owe. Jesus Himself directs us to give our earthly rulers what is due to them. If we decide not to pay taxes, we turn away from Scripture. We all have to decide whether or not to listen to Jesus.
God tells us what we are called to do. God has already chosen who we are. Yet some people try to decide that they are someone other than who God made them to be. Some people were born men but decide they want to be women. God had already chosen their gender. Some decisions have already been made for us. If we try to ignore who God made us to be, we ignore the truth. If we try to be people other than who God created us to be, we are living lies. We all have to decide how we will relate to the truth.
In deciding how we will relate to the truth, we either accept God or reject Him. If we embrace who God made us to be, we welcome the truth into our hearts. The truth is that God made us; He is our Creator. We owe Him the respect due to Him as our Creator by respecting the choices He made for us when He knit us together in the womb.**** We pay him the respect and honor due to Him when we acknowledge our proper place before Him, that we are nothing without Him, that without Him we can do nothing.***** To God be all glory, praise and honor, now and forevermore. Amen.
* Matthew 22:15-21
** Jerusalem Bible, Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc. (New York, 1990), p. 1646, note "d" to Matthew 22:21
*** Romans 13:7
**** Psalm 139:13
***** John 15:5
In today's Gospel reading, Jesus speaks to us about what we owe and to whom we owe it. In those verses we hear
The Pharisees went off
and plotted how they might entrap Jesus in speech.
They sent their disciples to him, with the Herodians, saying,
"Teacher, we know that you are a truthful man
and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth.
And you are not concerned with anyone's opinion,
for you do not regard a person's status.
Tell us, then, what is your opinion:
Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?"
Knowing their malice, Jesus said,
"Why are you testing me, you hypocrites?
Show me the coin that pays the census tax."
Then they handed him the Roman coin.
He said to them, "Whose image is this and whose inscription?"
They replied, "Caesar's."
At that he said to them,
"Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar
and to God what belongs to God."*
When asked whether people had to pay taxes or not, Jesus asked for a coin. He asked and was told that the emperor was shown on the coin. Jesus then instructed us that we should give to the government what belongs to the government, and to God what belongs to God.
In expounding upon Scripture, it has been written that we are to give to earthly rulers what is due to them, as long as it does not controvert what is due to God.** With similar reasoning, some people conclude that they do not have to pay taxes, claiming that they need not pay taxes to a government which then uses taxpayers' money to fund warmaking. The logic goes that since war is all too often unjust, citizens are not obligated to pay taxes to support unjust wars.
However, Jesus did not teach us to pay taxes unless the government is waging an unjust war. When he offered his reply on this question of whether we must pay taxes, the Roman empire was conquering and subduing many persons. Jesus could have said that taxes should be paid, but not to the Romans since they were subjecting so many people to their forced imperial expansion. However, he did not say so. Despite the warmaking of the Roman empire, Jesus taught people to give to Caesar what was Caesar's.
Elsewhere in Scripture we hear that we are to pay taxes. Today in his sermon here at the hermitage, Father Cyprian reminded us that Saint Paul tells us, "Pay to all their dues, taxes to whom taxes are due, toll to whom toll is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due."*** When taxes are due, we are to pay them. We are to give the honor and respect to our leaders which is due to them as our earthly leaders. We are to worship God since He is Our Heavenly Father, and we are to give Him the glory, praise, honor and adoration which is His due.
Scripture tells us to pay the taxes we owe. Jesus Himself directs us to give our earthly rulers what is due to them. If we decide not to pay taxes, we turn away from Scripture. We all have to decide whether or not to listen to Jesus.
God tells us what we are called to do. God has already chosen who we are. Yet some people try to decide that they are someone other than who God made them to be. Some people were born men but decide they want to be women. God had already chosen their gender. Some decisions have already been made for us. If we try to ignore who God made us to be, we ignore the truth. If we try to be people other than who God created us to be, we are living lies. We all have to decide how we will relate to the truth.
In deciding how we will relate to the truth, we either accept God or reject Him. If we embrace who God made us to be, we welcome the truth into our hearts. The truth is that God made us; He is our Creator. We owe Him the respect due to Him as our Creator by respecting the choices He made for us when He knit us together in the womb.**** We pay him the respect and honor due to Him when we acknowledge our proper place before Him, that we are nothing without Him, that without Him we can do nothing.***** To God be all glory, praise and honor, now and forevermore. Amen.
* Matthew 22:15-21
** Jerusalem Bible, Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc. (New York, 1990), p. 1646, note "d" to Matthew 22:21
*** Romans 13:7
**** Psalm 139:13
***** John 15:5
Wednesday, October 18, 2017
Know Patient Love
How do we know God is love*? God loves because God gives. God gives us Himself.
God sent His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him may not perish but may have eternal life.** His only Son Jesus did not cling to equality with God; rather, Jesus loved us so much He emptied Himself, humbling Himself by becoming human,*** submitting in total obedience to the will of His Heavenly Father. Jesus humbled Himself even further, living in poverty and eating with social outcasts to bring them The Word that would save them. Jesus humbled Himself yet further in order to save us, giving Himself up to death, and even more strikingly, death on the Cross.****
Even though God has given us so much, with ingratitude we do not turn to God. Yet God is patient with us, since God is love, and love is patient.*****
When we realize that God has given us so much and that we appreciate God's blessings so little, yet that God is still patient with us, we can come to see that God loves us. God patiently waits for us. Turn to God, and know love. Amen.
* 1 John 4:8,16
** John 3:16
*** Philippians 2:6-7
**** Philippians 2:8
***** 1 Corinthians 13:4
God sent His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him may not perish but may have eternal life.** His only Son Jesus did not cling to equality with God; rather, Jesus loved us so much He emptied Himself, humbling Himself by becoming human,*** submitting in total obedience to the will of His Heavenly Father. Jesus humbled Himself even further, living in poverty and eating with social outcasts to bring them The Word that would save them. Jesus humbled Himself yet further in order to save us, giving Himself up to death, and even more strikingly, death on the Cross.****
Even though God has given us so much, with ingratitude we do not turn to God. Yet God is patient with us, since God is love, and love is patient.*****
When we realize that God has given us so much and that we appreciate God's blessings so little, yet that God is still patient with us, we can come to see that God loves us. God patiently waits for us. Turn to God, and know love. Amen.
* 1 John 4:8,16
** John 3:16
*** Philippians 2:6-7
**** Philippians 2:8
***** 1 Corinthians 13:4
Friday, October 13, 2017
Seek Her Intercession
October 13, 1917. The town of Fatima. Portugal. The night before, it had rained torrentially; on October 13, the people there and the ground there were thoroughly soaked. Seventy thousand people gathered in Fatima on October 13, 1917; they had heard that three little children had seen apparitions of a Lady there that year. The Lady had promised that a miracle would take place when she appeared there on October 13.
There, in Fatima, exactly one hundred years ago on this date, before 70,000 people, the sun danced back and forth in the sky, defying cosmic laws. It fell toward the earth. When the sun returned to its usual location and remained in its place, all the people there were completely dry, even though just a short time earlier, they had been drenched. The ground too was dry, even though it had just been saturated.
On October 13, the Lady identified herself as the Lady of the Rosary. The three little children were Servant of God Lucia, Saint Jacinta and Saint Francisco.
In her apparitions to them at Fatima, Our Blessed Mother Mary told them to pray the rosary everyday for world peace and for an end to the first world war. She explained to them that Jesus wished to establish devotion to her Immaculate Heart.
As we show devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Our Blessed Mother Mary, we welcome Jesus into our hearts, and thus are returning home to Our Heavenly Father. When we pray seeking the intercession of Our Blessed Mother Mary, we are asking her to assist us in returning home to God. She supports us in doing as Jesus told us to do because she loves her Son, because she loves God.
Our Blessed Mother Mary, who is so kind and sweet and loving, who cares for us so tenderly, helps us to welcome Jesus into our hearts. Just as she told the servants at the wedding feast in Cana, so she tells us about Jesus, "Do whatever He tells you."*
If we beg Our Blessed Mother Mary to intercede with her Son Jesus for us, we request what we need to be able to do what Jesus commands us to do. When we ask Our Blessed Mother Mary to intercede with her Son Jesus for us, we ask her to beseech Him that we may have all we need to do God's will. Through her Spouse, The Holy Spirit, we are empowered to do the will of God. Through her assistance, we are given the grace we need to do the will of Our Heavenly Father.
Let us pour out our hearts to Our Blessed Mother Mary. Let us implore her to come to our aid. She loves us so tenderly and sweetly--indeed her will is love, since her will is the will of God, and we know that God is love**--that she will surely love us with great love.
Knowing that Our Blessed Mother Mary loves us so much, we come to realize that we are tremendously aided in coming home to God, who is love, when we seek her intercession. If we wish to return home to God, we have a powerful intercessor in Our Blessed Mother Mary to help us draw back to God. Let us entrust ourselves to the loving care of Our Blessed Mother Mary, consecrate ourselves to her, and, greatly supported by her, thus return home to God. Amen.
* John 2:5
** 1 John 4:8,16
There, in Fatima, exactly one hundred years ago on this date, before 70,000 people, the sun danced back and forth in the sky, defying cosmic laws. It fell toward the earth. When the sun returned to its usual location and remained in its place, all the people there were completely dry, even though just a short time earlier, they had been drenched. The ground too was dry, even though it had just been saturated.
On October 13, the Lady identified herself as the Lady of the Rosary. The three little children were Servant of God Lucia, Saint Jacinta and Saint Francisco.
In her apparitions to them at Fatima, Our Blessed Mother Mary told them to pray the rosary everyday for world peace and for an end to the first world war. She explained to them that Jesus wished to establish devotion to her Immaculate Heart.
As we show devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Our Blessed Mother Mary, we welcome Jesus into our hearts, and thus are returning home to Our Heavenly Father. When we pray seeking the intercession of Our Blessed Mother Mary, we are asking her to assist us in returning home to God. She supports us in doing as Jesus told us to do because she loves her Son, because she loves God.
Our Blessed Mother Mary, who is so kind and sweet and loving, who cares for us so tenderly, helps us to welcome Jesus into our hearts. Just as she told the servants at the wedding feast in Cana, so she tells us about Jesus, "Do whatever He tells you."*
If we beg Our Blessed Mother Mary to intercede with her Son Jesus for us, we request what we need to be able to do what Jesus commands us to do. When we ask Our Blessed Mother Mary to intercede with her Son Jesus for us, we ask her to beseech Him that we may have all we need to do God's will. Through her Spouse, The Holy Spirit, we are empowered to do the will of God. Through her assistance, we are given the grace we need to do the will of Our Heavenly Father.
Let us pour out our hearts to Our Blessed Mother Mary. Let us implore her to come to our aid. She loves us so tenderly and sweetly--indeed her will is love, since her will is the will of God, and we know that God is love**--that she will surely love us with great love.
Knowing that Our Blessed Mother Mary loves us so much, we come to realize that we are tremendously aided in coming home to God, who is love, when we seek her intercession. If we wish to return home to God, we have a powerful intercessor in Our Blessed Mother Mary to help us draw back to God. Let us entrust ourselves to the loving care of Our Blessed Mother Mary, consecrate ourselves to her, and, greatly supported by her, thus return home to God. Amen.
* John 2:5
** 1 John 4:8,16
Saturday, September 30, 2017
Lovingly Choose Life
Earlier this week a homeless woman who I'll call "Katarina" told me that a homeless man who I'll call "Zack" had brutalized her. Soon after she had shared this raw wound with me, again we crossed paths. Then Katarina told me that Zack had come to her, repentant and regretful. Zack, a tall, burly, muscular man, had stood before Katarina, his lip quivering with remorse, and had apologized to her for how he had grossly mistreated her.
God can soften hardened hearts. God can transform brutality into repentance.
Just as God can lead us sinners to repent by guiding us through the Holy Spirit to forsake our hurtful behavior, so God can heal our wounded neighbor. I have already seen how Katarina has been healing, since she has been forgiving Zack. We heal ourselves and our neighbor when we forgive our neighbor.
To heal ourselves, also we must forgive ourselves. To heal ourselves, we must love ourselves. So that we may be restored to health, sometimes we must recognize that we are not responsible for how others have harmed us. Some people who have been abused blame themselves. We are not responsible for others' actions. However, we are responsible for how we respond to others' actions. God calls us to love ourselves, such that we do not blame ourselves for what others do to us.
God calls us not to perpetuate the suffering that others have inflicted on us by abusing ourselves. God calls us not to cling to our pain. God calls us to let go of our anguish by not fostering it through inaccurate images of ourselves.
God calls us not to recreate our torment by continuing to live in our pain. Some people who have been traumatized choose to relive the harrowing experience by putting themselves back into the same situation with the same person who abused them. Rather than live in past abuse which binds us to death, God calls us to new life. Jesus has told us that He came so that we might have new life, and have it to the full.*
We find life in Jesus, who is The Way to The Life, which is The Truth.** We find life when we love others as Jesus loves us.***
God calls us to love our neighbor as ourselves.**** Since God calls us to love others, we must also love ourselves. We must accord ourselves the same love we bestow upon others. We owe ourselves a duty to love ourselves.
If we love ourselves, we choose life.***** As we love ourselves, we move toward having life to the full. When we love ourselves, we move toward God. In loving ourselves, we start to become who God has always meant us to be.
As we become who God has always intended us to be, at the same time we are praising God and glorifying Him. When we open our hearts to who God made us to be, we acknowledge His rightful place as our Creator, and thus come to love our Heavenly Father with all our heart, with all our mind, with all our soul, and with all our strength.******
As we become who God made us to be, we draw back home to God and toward Heaven. Let us love ourselves, our neighbor, and thus become who God created us to be. Amen.
* John 10:10
** John 14:6
*** John 13:34; John 15:12
**** Matthew 22:39; Mark 12:31; Luke 10:27; Leviticus 19:18; Romans 13:9; Galatians 5:14
***** Deuteronomy 30:19
****** Deuteronomy 6:5; Deuteronomy 10:12; Matthew 22:37; Mark 12:30; Luke 10:27
God can soften hardened hearts. God can transform brutality into repentance.
Just as God can lead us sinners to repent by guiding us through the Holy Spirit to forsake our hurtful behavior, so God can heal our wounded neighbor. I have already seen how Katarina has been healing, since she has been forgiving Zack. We heal ourselves and our neighbor when we forgive our neighbor.
To heal ourselves, also we must forgive ourselves. To heal ourselves, we must love ourselves. So that we may be restored to health, sometimes we must recognize that we are not responsible for how others have harmed us. Some people who have been abused blame themselves. We are not responsible for others' actions. However, we are responsible for how we respond to others' actions. God calls us to love ourselves, such that we do not blame ourselves for what others do to us.
God calls us not to perpetuate the suffering that others have inflicted on us by abusing ourselves. God calls us not to cling to our pain. God calls us to let go of our anguish by not fostering it through inaccurate images of ourselves.
God calls us not to recreate our torment by continuing to live in our pain. Some people who have been traumatized choose to relive the harrowing experience by putting themselves back into the same situation with the same person who abused them. Rather than live in past abuse which binds us to death, God calls us to new life. Jesus has told us that He came so that we might have new life, and have it to the full.*
We find life in Jesus, who is The Way to The Life, which is The Truth.** We find life when we love others as Jesus loves us.***
God calls us to love our neighbor as ourselves.**** Since God calls us to love others, we must also love ourselves. We must accord ourselves the same love we bestow upon others. We owe ourselves a duty to love ourselves.
If we love ourselves, we choose life.***** As we love ourselves, we move toward having life to the full. When we love ourselves, we move toward God. In loving ourselves, we start to become who God has always meant us to be.
As we become who God has always intended us to be, at the same time we are praising God and glorifying Him. When we open our hearts to who God made us to be, we acknowledge His rightful place as our Creator, and thus come to love our Heavenly Father with all our heart, with all our mind, with all our soul, and with all our strength.******
As we become who God made us to be, we draw back home to God and toward Heaven. Let us love ourselves, our neighbor, and thus become who God created us to be. Amen.
* John 10:10
** John 14:6
*** John 13:34; John 15:12
**** Matthew 22:39; Mark 12:31; Luke 10:27; Leviticus 19:18; Romans 13:9; Galatians 5:14
***** Deuteronomy 30:19
****** Deuteronomy 6:5; Deuteronomy 10:12; Matthew 22:37; Mark 12:30; Luke 10:27
Wednesday, September 20, 2017
Forgive Through Humility
Earlier this week I saw a particular homeless woman who again I'll call "Anna." Over the last month, Anna has felt called to change.
Anna told me that she knows that she has to make amends with a lot of people. She also said that she has to turn away from sin.
She shared with me that she is aware that God is merciful. She added that although we don't deserve God's grace, He gives it to us anyway because He is such a gentleman.
Anna has taken important steps toward the recovery of her true self. She has realized that regardless of poor choices she has made, she can ask God to forgive her, and that God will forgive her.
God forgives us our sins as we repent. A humble, contrite heart, O God, You will not spurn.*
Forgiven by God, we are shown the love we are to show to others. Forgiven by God, we see how we are to forgive others.
If we forgive others, God our Heavenly Father will forgive us, as Jesus taught us.** Choosing to love, we return home to God, who is love.***
* Psalm 51:17
** Sirach 28:2; Matthew 6:15; Mark 11:25
*** 1 John 4:8,16
Anna told me that she knows that she has to make amends with a lot of people. She also said that she has to turn away from sin.
She shared with me that she is aware that God is merciful. She added that although we don't deserve God's grace, He gives it to us anyway because He is such a gentleman.
Anna has taken important steps toward the recovery of her true self. She has realized that regardless of poor choices she has made, she can ask God to forgive her, and that God will forgive her.
God forgives us our sins as we repent. A humble, contrite heart, O God, You will not spurn.*
Forgiven by God, we are shown the love we are to show to others. Forgiven by God, we see how we are to forgive others.
If we forgive others, God our Heavenly Father will forgive us, as Jesus taught us.** Choosing to love, we return home to God, who is love.***
* Psalm 51:17
** Sirach 28:2; Matthew 6:15; Mark 11:25
*** 1 John 4:8,16
Wednesday, August 2, 2017
Loving Buried Treasure
When we love our neighbor, we give to our neighbor. If we love our neighbor, we store up treasure in Heaven. As we love, we feel joy. Energized by the joy we know when we realize that God is love,* we become empowered to let go of all we have. As we become detached from what we have, and give it out of love, we prepare ourselves to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
We hear what the Kingdom of Heaven is like in today's Gospel reading. There we hear that
Jesus said to his disciples:
"The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure buried in a field,
which a person finds and hides again,
and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant
searching for fine pearls.
When he finds a pearl of great price,
he goes and sells all that he has and buys it."**
The Kingdom of Heaven is like treasure buried in a field. In Heaven we find what is most valuable.
When we realize the joy we will have in Heaven, we feel great joy now. Once we taste merely a tiny morsel of the love of our Heavenly Father which we will feel in Heaven, we are joyous now.
Feeling the love of our Heavenly Father, we are empowered to do as Jesus says, and go and sell all we have from love of God and our neighbor. Some people might wonder whether all of us are called to give up everything we have and live with nothing. We are all called to be completely detached from what we have. If we are totally unattached to what we own, then we can do as we are called to do, and thus love God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength,*** and love our neighbor as ourselves.**** Thus we are called out of love to let go of what we have if our neighbor needs it. When we can live out such relinquishment of what we possess, we can enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
We give up all we have to gain Heaven. If, out of humility, we can become nothing for ourselves, then we can become something of great value to our neighbor.
When we let go of things which we mistake for ourselves, then we can find our true selves. As we gradually discover that our true identity rests in giving up ourselves for our neighbor, then we will be able to do as Saint Therese of Lisieux explained she was able to do: then, like her, little by little we are able to sacrifice ourselves more easily and without hesitation. Bit by bit we can come to realize that what we think we have is not ours alone.
As we release our hold on what we think is ours, we find we share it with others. With every little thing, when we loosen our grip on it, we come to gain a grasp of the reality of love that binds us together with our neighbor.
When we perform little acts of love for our neighbor, we plant seeds of love in our neighbor's heart. As we act with love, we are sowing love in the world. In every little loving choice we make, in time we can come to bear a rich harvest of love in our neighbor's heart.
When we give up all we have from love of our neighbor, especially those amongst us who are most in need, we store up treasure in Heaven. Upon letting go of what we have had, with our hearts emptied of all we thought we had had, then we can be filled with what God wants to give to us. Having given up all we have had, then we can follow Jesus.*****
Jesus told us that where our treasure is, there our hearts will be.****** When we fully give ourselves to our neighbor out of love for our neighbor, we live with transformed hearts: we reside in the hearts of our neighbor, and, residing there, we can love our neighbor as ourselves. Having planted seeds of love in our neighbor's heart, we can come to find a rich harvest there. Having given away all we have out of love of our neighbor, we can come to realize that, in the love we find in our neighbor's heart, we have treasure buried in the heart of our neighbor. Having placed our love in our neighbor's heart, we can find our love abounding there if we cultivate it there. Those who sow in unrestrained love reap rich rewards.
Let us reap a rich harvest. Let us give away what we have, and thus love God and love our neighbor, so we may find buried treasure. Amen.
* 1 John 4:8,16
** Matthew 13:44-46
*** 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
***** Matthew 19:21; Mark 10:21; Luke 18:22
****** Matthew 6:21; Luke 12:34
We hear what the Kingdom of Heaven is like in today's Gospel reading. There we hear that
Jesus said to his disciples:
"The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure buried in a field,
which a person finds and hides again,
and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant
searching for fine pearls.
When he finds a pearl of great price,
he goes and sells all that he has and buys it."**
The Kingdom of Heaven is like treasure buried in a field. In Heaven we find what is most valuable.
When we realize the joy we will have in Heaven, we feel great joy now. Once we taste merely a tiny morsel of the love of our Heavenly Father which we will feel in Heaven, we are joyous now.
Feeling the love of our Heavenly Father, we are empowered to do as Jesus says, and go and sell all we have from love of God and our neighbor. Some people might wonder whether all of us are called to give up everything we have and live with nothing. We are all called to be completely detached from what we have. If we are totally unattached to what we own, then we can do as we are called to do, and thus love God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength,*** and love our neighbor as ourselves.**** Thus we are called out of love to let go of what we have if our neighbor needs it. When we can live out such relinquishment of what we possess, we can enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
We give up all we have to gain Heaven. If, out of humility, we can become nothing for ourselves, then we can become something of great value to our neighbor.
When we let go of things which we mistake for ourselves, then we can find our true selves. As we gradually discover that our true identity rests in giving up ourselves for our neighbor, then we will be able to do as Saint Therese of Lisieux explained she was able to do: then, like her, little by little we are able to sacrifice ourselves more easily and without hesitation. Bit by bit we can come to realize that what we think we have is not ours alone.
As we release our hold on what we think is ours, we find we share it with others. With every little thing, when we loosen our grip on it, we come to gain a grasp of the reality of love that binds us together with our neighbor.
When we perform little acts of love for our neighbor, we plant seeds of love in our neighbor's heart. As we act with love, we are sowing love in the world. In every little loving choice we make, in time we can come to bear a rich harvest of love in our neighbor's heart.
When we give up all we have from love of our neighbor, especially those amongst us who are most in need, we store up treasure in Heaven. Upon letting go of what we have had, with our hearts emptied of all we thought we had had, then we can be filled with what God wants to give to us. Having given up all we have had, then we can follow Jesus.*****
Jesus told us that where our treasure is, there our hearts will be.****** When we fully give ourselves to our neighbor out of love for our neighbor, we live with transformed hearts: we reside in the hearts of our neighbor, and, residing there, we can love our neighbor as ourselves. Having planted seeds of love in our neighbor's heart, we can come to find a rich harvest there. Having given away all we have out of love of our neighbor, we can come to realize that, in the love we find in our neighbor's heart, we have treasure buried in the heart of our neighbor. Having placed our love in our neighbor's heart, we can find our love abounding there if we cultivate it there. Those who sow in unrestrained love reap rich rewards.
Let us reap a rich harvest. Let us give away what we have, and thus love God and love our neighbor, so we may find buried treasure. Amen.
* 1 John 4:8,16
** Matthew 13:44-46
*** 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
***** Matthew 19:21; Mark 10:21; Luke 18:22
****** Matthew 6:21; Luke 12:34
Sunday, July 23, 2017
Tearful Liquid Prayers
Today I saw a particular homeless woman who again here I'll call "Sally." Sally and I were talking about praying when we are crying.
Sally shared with me, "I've heard, and I've thought it too, that tears are liquid prayers, when we feel like we don't know what else to say to our Creator."
I responded, "You know, it's really appropriate that you say that today. At Mass today, one of the Bible verses that was read was about how, when we don't know how to pray, the Spirit in us expresses in groans for us what we feel we don't know how to say."*
If we feel we don't know how to pray, we can simply offer our emotions up to God. We can cry to God and offer our tears as loving prayers to God. With these tears, we can offer wordless prayers to God, to express what we feel we cannot put into words.
And for what we feel we cannot articulate in words in prayers, the Holy Spirit prays in us, in groans we feel we do not know how to utter ourselves. Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to us** to help us to pray to our Heavenly Father. Indeed, our Heavenly Father has sent the Holy Spirit upon us,*** since our Heavenly Father is compassionate about how we express ourselves.
God knows we do not always have words for Him. God accepts our wordless prayers when they are offered in humility. God feels our tears, and hears them as prayers, when they are offered out of love of Him.
Let us cry to God, then. Let us offer how we feel to God, crying out to Him to help us understand how much He loves us. Amen.
* Romans 8:26
** John 16:7
*** John 14:26
Sally shared with me, "I've heard, and I've thought it too, that tears are liquid prayers, when we feel like we don't know what else to say to our Creator."
I responded, "You know, it's really appropriate that you say that today. At Mass today, one of the Bible verses that was read was about how, when we don't know how to pray, the Spirit in us expresses in groans for us what we feel we don't know how to say."*
If we feel we don't know how to pray, we can simply offer our emotions up to God. We can cry to God and offer our tears as loving prayers to God. With these tears, we can offer wordless prayers to God, to express what we feel we cannot put into words.
And for what we feel we cannot articulate in words in prayers, the Holy Spirit prays in us, in groans we feel we do not know how to utter ourselves. Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to us** to help us to pray to our Heavenly Father. Indeed, our Heavenly Father has sent the Holy Spirit upon us,*** since our Heavenly Father is compassionate about how we express ourselves.
God knows we do not always have words for Him. God accepts our wordless prayers when they are offered in humility. God feels our tears, and hears them as prayers, when they are offered out of love of Him.
Let us cry to God, then. Let us offer how we feel to God, crying out to Him to help us understand how much He loves us. Amen.
* Romans 8:26
** John 16:7
*** John 14:26
Saturday, July 22, 2017
Whom You Seek
Who do we want in our lives? Who are we looking for? In the answers to these questions, we define ourselves. You show who you are by the company you keep. You make clear your identity through the people you want to have around you. Through who you welcome into your heart, you not only fix your relationship with your neighbor, but also your relationship with God.
Today as we celebrate the feast day of Saint Mary Magdalene, through her example, we are reminded that we show who we are by who we seek. In today's Gospel reading we are told of how she went looking for Jesus after He had been buried. There we hear that
On the first day of the week,
Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early in the morning,
while it was still dark,
and saw the stone removed from the tomb.
So she ran and went to Simon Peter
and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them,
"They have taken the Lord from the tomb,
and we don't know where they put him."
Mary stayed outside the tomb weeping.
And as she wept, she bent over into the tomb
and saw two angels in white sitting there,
one at the head and one at the feet
where the Body of Jesus had been.
And they said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?"
She said to them, "They have taken my Lord,
and I don't know where they laid him."
When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus there,
but did not know it was Jesus.
Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?
Whom are you looking for?"
She thought it was the gardener and said to him,
"Sir, if you carried him away,
tell me where you laid him,
and I will take him."
Jesus said to her, "Mary!"
She turned and said to him in Hebrew,
"Rabbouni," which means Teacher.
Jesus said to her,
"Stop holding on to me,
for I have not yet ascended to the Father.
But go to my brothers and tell them,
'I am going to my Father and your Father,
to my God and your God.'"
Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples,
"I have seen the Lord,"
and then reported what he told her.*
Mary Magdalene saw that Jesus' tomb had been opened. She not only ran to tell Saint Peter and the other disciple who Jesus loved, who was Saint John, but, since she sought Jesus, she returned to the tomb. There she encountered Jesus. Yet she did not realize she had once again been visited by Jesus. Jesus comes to us. Do we recognize Him?
A homeless woman showed up at my doorstep yesterday. Did I see Jesus in her? Jesus has told us that whatever we do to the least of those among us, we do to Him.** Whatever we do to the homeless person in front of us, we do to Jesus.
We can become passionate about Jesus. We can become so intent on finding God that we can fail to recognize Him when He is standing next to us. Then Jesus, in the impoverished person before us, may ask us, "Who are you looking for?"
Everyday we are presented with precious opportunities to love which are wrapped up with, which are inextricably intertwined with, our eternal destinies. When we have gotten to the other side of death, then we will meet Jesus no longer in poor persons, but Jesus as Himself. Then He will address us according to what we have done.
If we have fed the hungry, given drink to the thirsty, welcomed the stranger, clothed the naked, cared for the ill, and visited those in prison,*** Jesus will bid us to inherit the Kingdom.**** If we have failed to perform these corporal works of mercy, Jesus will tell us to depart from Him.***** For whatever we do to the least of those among us, we do to Him. And whatever we fail to do to those who are the least among us, we fail to do to Him.******
So, now, while we still have the chance to be merciful to our neighbor, especially those who are the least among us, do we recognize Jesus among us now, in the poor persons in front of us? Do we seek Jesus in the impoverished person, in the homeless person, who is literally reaching toward us, asking us for just a little bit of food to ease the hunger pains crying out towards us?
In whom we seek, we define ourselves. For in whom we seek, we decide our eternal destinies. In who we are looking for, we determine our relationship with God. Let us turn toward God, by opening our hearts to love, by loving our neighbor, right now, right in front of us. Amen.
* John 20:1-2, 11-18
** Matthew 25:40
*** Matthew 25:35-40
**** Matthew 25:34
***** Matthew 25:41
****** Matthew 25:45
Today as we celebrate the feast day of Saint Mary Magdalene, through her example, we are reminded that we show who we are by who we seek. In today's Gospel reading we are told of how she went looking for Jesus after He had been buried. There we hear that
On the first day of the week,
Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early in the morning,
while it was still dark,
and saw the stone removed from the tomb.
So she ran and went to Simon Peter
and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them,
"They have taken the Lord from the tomb,
and we don't know where they put him."
Mary stayed outside the tomb weeping.
And as she wept, she bent over into the tomb
and saw two angels in white sitting there,
one at the head and one at the feet
where the Body of Jesus had been.
And they said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?"
She said to them, "They have taken my Lord,
and I don't know where they laid him."
When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus there,
but did not know it was Jesus.
Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?
Whom are you looking for?"
She thought it was the gardener and said to him,
"Sir, if you carried him away,
tell me where you laid him,
and I will take him."
Jesus said to her, "Mary!"
She turned and said to him in Hebrew,
"Rabbouni," which means Teacher.
Jesus said to her,
"Stop holding on to me,
for I have not yet ascended to the Father.
But go to my brothers and tell them,
'I am going to my Father and your Father,
to my God and your God.'"
Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples,
"I have seen the Lord,"
and then reported what he told her.*
Mary Magdalene saw that Jesus' tomb had been opened. She not only ran to tell Saint Peter and the other disciple who Jesus loved, who was Saint John, but, since she sought Jesus, she returned to the tomb. There she encountered Jesus. Yet she did not realize she had once again been visited by Jesus. Jesus comes to us. Do we recognize Him?
A homeless woman showed up at my doorstep yesterday. Did I see Jesus in her? Jesus has told us that whatever we do to the least of those among us, we do to Him.** Whatever we do to the homeless person in front of us, we do to Jesus.
We can become passionate about Jesus. We can become so intent on finding God that we can fail to recognize Him when He is standing next to us. Then Jesus, in the impoverished person before us, may ask us, "Who are you looking for?"
Everyday we are presented with precious opportunities to love which are wrapped up with, which are inextricably intertwined with, our eternal destinies. When we have gotten to the other side of death, then we will meet Jesus no longer in poor persons, but Jesus as Himself. Then He will address us according to what we have done.
If we have fed the hungry, given drink to the thirsty, welcomed the stranger, clothed the naked, cared for the ill, and visited those in prison,*** Jesus will bid us to inherit the Kingdom.**** If we have failed to perform these corporal works of mercy, Jesus will tell us to depart from Him.***** For whatever we do to the least of those among us, we do to Him. And whatever we fail to do to those who are the least among us, we fail to do to Him.******
So, now, while we still have the chance to be merciful to our neighbor, especially those who are the least among us, do we recognize Jesus among us now, in the poor persons in front of us? Do we seek Jesus in the impoverished person, in the homeless person, who is literally reaching toward us, asking us for just a little bit of food to ease the hunger pains crying out towards us?
In whom we seek, we define ourselves. For in whom we seek, we decide our eternal destinies. In who we are looking for, we determine our relationship with God. Let us turn toward God, by opening our hearts to love, by loving our neighbor, right now, right in front of us. Amen.
* John 20:1-2, 11-18
** Matthew 25:40
*** Matthew 25:35-40
**** Matthew 25:34
***** Matthew 25:41
****** Matthew 25:45
Monday, June 19, 2017
Emptying Ourselves Completely
Today is the feast day of Saint Romuald. Today in the Catholic Church we commemorate the life of this saint who lived in the tenth and the eleventh centuries and who reformed Benedictine monasteries. In time, his reforms were seen to have formed a new religious congregation of monks who came to be known as Camaldolese, named after their head monastery called Camaldoli, which is in Italy.
After spending a year and a half living at New Camaldoli Hermitage on the Big Sur coast of California, I grew quite fond of the monks there, as well as the folks who work there too. While I lived there, I came to realize better how and why we can be nourished deeply in the recesses of our souls by the spiritual disciplines of solitude, silence, prayer and meditation. There in a dwelling space called a monastic cell, a monk lives as a solitary, assisted by these monastic spiritual practices as he strives to respond to God's call. These spiritual disciplines position us so that, in opening our hearts to God, we consent to God loving our neighbor through us.
I was significantly guided in my pursuit of these spiritual practices by the Rule of Saint Romuald. He wrote it as a brief directive for men who came to monasteries to commune with God. In his little rule, Saint Romuald counsels
Sit in your cell as in Paradise. Put the whole world behind you and forget it. Watch your thoughts like a good fisherman watching for fish. The path you must follow is in the Psalms--never leave it.
If you have just come to the monastery, and in spite of your good will you cannot accomplish what you want, take every opportunity you can to sing the Psalms in your heart and to understand them with your mind.
And if your mind wanders as you read, do not give up; hurry back and apply your mind to the words once more.
Realize above all that you are in God's presence, and stand there with the attitude of one who stands before the emperor.
Empty yourself completely and sit waiting, content with the grace of God, like the chick who tastes nothing and eats nothing but what his mother brings him.
The Rule of Saint Romuald resonates with how I have sought to orient my life over the last half dozen years. I do my best to take time to retreat and forget about the world for a time so as to be recollected in my soul. I have also aimed to forget the false notions the world gives me. I have been aspiring to forget the false self that the world has tried to convince me I am, as the Trappist monk Thomas Merton describes. We can choose to reject the empty promises the world makes, vainly suggesting that we always need to be buying and possessing certain items in order to remain relevant in today's ever-changing material world. Rather than consume our energies on fruitless pursuits, we can direct our focus elsewhere. In still silent solitude, we are better positioned to listen to God so we can ever more discover our true selves.
This rule directs us to take every opportunity we can to sing the Psalms in our hearts. Insofar as we are to pray always,* again the Rule confirms my inclinations. So often I find myself mindlessly wasting precious time on trivial concerns which ultimately do not matter. Rather than burn up our energy on matters which are truly unimportant, instead we can strive to orient our hearts toward God in every instant.
In his rule, Saint Romuald advises us not to feel discouraged when our minds wander from words of wisdom, which they certainly will. Rather, we are once again to apply ourselves to The Word in front of us. So often I find my mind straying off course. Thus I so appreciate Saint Romuald's gentle encouragement, as a reminder to remain on course. We should not feel downtrodden when we fall, since most certainly we shall fall; we must remain resolute and we must once again rise once we have fallen.
Saint Romuald reminds us that we are in God's presence. Jesus is with us always.** We are to stand before God like a person standing before an emperor. Seeing ourselves for what we truly are, nothing without the help of God, we are humbled. Having been humbled, we are well-situated for God to work through the Holy Spirit in us.
Realizing that we are nothing without the aid of God, we can empty ourselves. Knowing that we can do nothing without God, we can wait for God to transform us. Upon being humbled, we can receive the grace and strength from God we need, for God gives grace to the humble.***
Seeing our true place, and humbled by the reality that we can do nothing without God, we can then open our hearts to God. If we are silent and wait patiently upon God, we can be nourished by the presence of Jesus. Our Lord Jesus empowers us to do the will of our Heavenly Father. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.****
By the grace of God, we can come to do what by human standards seems impossible. For humans, to love like God loves is impossible. For God, nothing is impossible.*****
Through the grace of God, we become able to give to everyone who asks,****** as Jesus instructs us to do in today's Gospel reading. Having sought the tender, warm, loving touch of Jesus in silence, stillness and solitude, we become empowered through the gentle strength of His presence to convey His love to others. By opening our hearts to God, we welcome God into our hearts, so that Jesus abides in us,******* and loves others through us. Opening our hearts to God, we allow God to love others through us.******** We can thus let the love of God be shown through us. Let us let God love others through us. Amen.
* 1 Thessalonians 5:17
** Matthew 28:20
*** 1 Peter 5:5; James 4:6
**** Philippians 4:13
***** Matthew 19:26; Luke 1:37
****** Matthew 5:42
******* John 15:9
******** Romans 5:5
After spending a year and a half living at New Camaldoli Hermitage on the Big Sur coast of California, I grew quite fond of the monks there, as well as the folks who work there too. While I lived there, I came to realize better how and why we can be nourished deeply in the recesses of our souls by the spiritual disciplines of solitude, silence, prayer and meditation. There in a dwelling space called a monastic cell, a monk lives as a solitary, assisted by these monastic spiritual practices as he strives to respond to God's call. These spiritual disciplines position us so that, in opening our hearts to God, we consent to God loving our neighbor through us.
I was significantly guided in my pursuit of these spiritual practices by the Rule of Saint Romuald. He wrote it as a brief directive for men who came to monasteries to commune with God. In his little rule, Saint Romuald counsels
Sit in your cell as in Paradise. Put the whole world behind you and forget it. Watch your thoughts like a good fisherman watching for fish. The path you must follow is in the Psalms--never leave it.
If you have just come to the monastery, and in spite of your good will you cannot accomplish what you want, take every opportunity you can to sing the Psalms in your heart and to understand them with your mind.
And if your mind wanders as you read, do not give up; hurry back and apply your mind to the words once more.
Realize above all that you are in God's presence, and stand there with the attitude of one who stands before the emperor.
Empty yourself completely and sit waiting, content with the grace of God, like the chick who tastes nothing and eats nothing but what his mother brings him.
The Rule of Saint Romuald resonates with how I have sought to orient my life over the last half dozen years. I do my best to take time to retreat and forget about the world for a time so as to be recollected in my soul. I have also aimed to forget the false notions the world gives me. I have been aspiring to forget the false self that the world has tried to convince me I am, as the Trappist monk Thomas Merton describes. We can choose to reject the empty promises the world makes, vainly suggesting that we always need to be buying and possessing certain items in order to remain relevant in today's ever-changing material world. Rather than consume our energies on fruitless pursuits, we can direct our focus elsewhere. In still silent solitude, we are better positioned to listen to God so we can ever more discover our true selves.
This rule directs us to take every opportunity we can to sing the Psalms in our hearts. Insofar as we are to pray always,* again the Rule confirms my inclinations. So often I find myself mindlessly wasting precious time on trivial concerns which ultimately do not matter. Rather than burn up our energy on matters which are truly unimportant, instead we can strive to orient our hearts toward God in every instant.
In his rule, Saint Romuald advises us not to feel discouraged when our minds wander from words of wisdom, which they certainly will. Rather, we are once again to apply ourselves to The Word in front of us. So often I find my mind straying off course. Thus I so appreciate Saint Romuald's gentle encouragement, as a reminder to remain on course. We should not feel downtrodden when we fall, since most certainly we shall fall; we must remain resolute and we must once again rise once we have fallen.
Saint Romuald reminds us that we are in God's presence. Jesus is with us always.** We are to stand before God like a person standing before an emperor. Seeing ourselves for what we truly are, nothing without the help of God, we are humbled. Having been humbled, we are well-situated for God to work through the Holy Spirit in us.
Realizing that we are nothing without the aid of God, we can empty ourselves. Knowing that we can do nothing without God, we can wait for God to transform us. Upon being humbled, we can receive the grace and strength from God we need, for God gives grace to the humble.***
Seeing our true place, and humbled by the reality that we can do nothing without God, we can then open our hearts to God. If we are silent and wait patiently upon God, we can be nourished by the presence of Jesus. Our Lord Jesus empowers us to do the will of our Heavenly Father. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.****
By the grace of God, we can come to do what by human standards seems impossible. For humans, to love like God loves is impossible. For God, nothing is impossible.*****
Through the grace of God, we become able to give to everyone who asks,****** as Jesus instructs us to do in today's Gospel reading. Having sought the tender, warm, loving touch of Jesus in silence, stillness and solitude, we become empowered through the gentle strength of His presence to convey His love to others. By opening our hearts to God, we welcome God into our hearts, so that Jesus abides in us,******* and loves others through us. Opening our hearts to God, we allow God to love others through us.******** We can thus let the love of God be shown through us. Let us let God love others through us. Amen.
* 1 Thessalonians 5:17
** Matthew 28:20
*** 1 Peter 5:5; James 4:6
**** Philippians 4:13
***** Matthew 19:26; Luke 1:37
****** Matthew 5:42
******* John 15:9
******** Romans 5:5
Thursday, June 1, 2017
Plainly Loving Language
When we speak with someone, there is much left unsaid. And yet we do not want to have regrets. We want to express what is in our hearts that is longing to be released.
If we but listen, we can hear the love of God that is knocking at the door of our hearts. If we have let that love into our hearts,* that love in us is meant to be let out. God calls us to love our neighbor** through our actions, and to speak plainly the language of love with our neighbor, whether they are rich or poor, whether they are luxuriously living in a mansion, or are huddled and shivering in sleeping bags and tents in the bushes.
I have been trying to demonstrate to the homeless folks I love here in Redwood City that there is a deeper meaning to interactions they have with people who help them. Recently I have told certain homeless friends of mine that when they receive food from people who aim to help them, it is not just about food. Really, I have said to them, I have been trying to tell you that I love you.
We wish to show you that you are worthy of respect. You are receiving this love God is giving you through me because God loves you.
And so when I have spoken so directly to my homeless friends who I so cherish, I feel as if I could say to them, that the time has come when I am no longer communicating with you in figures of speech, much like what Jesus said to His disciples just before His passion and death.*** It seems as if I could tell these dear homeless brothers and sisters of mine that now I am no longer just speaking with you through the metaphors of my actions. Now I am speaking with you plainly.**** Finally I am talking with you in the plain language of love.
Throughout much of His public ministry, Jesus spoke in parables and figures of speech. Then on Maundy Thursday, He sat down with His disciples for the Last Supper, just before He was handed over to be condemned to death.***** In that meal that night with His disciples, they saw a prefiguring of His sacrifice on the Cross. While His disciples sat down to a meal of bread and wine, they received much more than food and drink; in the Eucharist, we receive nourishment of love from Jesus. Having shown us on the night of the Last Supper how we are to celebrate the Eucharist, Jesus was about to die on Cross, and do what He had just said He was about to do. He was showing them the greatest love one can have for one's friends, as He laid down His life for His friends.******
When we try to show the greatest love we can have for our neighbor, when we die to ourselves, we live for our neighbor. When we forget who we are, who society thinks we are supposed to be, when we disregard the message from society that we are to shun our brothers and sisters who are outcasts, then we can die to the disordered desires and hurtful ideas and selfish tendencies we have, so we can embrace our needy neighbor, and thus live for our neighbor.
Once Jesus had spoken plainly to His disciples, just before He was handed over to be crucified, He told them that He did not have much more to say to them.******* He had spoken The Truth honestly and openly with them, and thus there was not much else for Him to say.
In telling these treasured homeless friends of mine that in trying to care for them, I am truly trying to tell them that I deeply love them, I have spoken plainly to them. I have said what I really have to say to these homeless friends I so love. And so I don't have much else to say.
And so in a certain sense, I would be content if this were to be last blog entry I were ever to write. Since this is the core of the message I feel that God brought me into the world to declare to my brothers and my sisters, I feel I have been embracing the vocation of love to which God has been calling me.
For were I left to my own devices, I would be hesitant to say both that I am an unprofitable servant, and that I have only done my duty. If I had not been instructed otherwise, I would lament that I am an unprofitable servant, and that I am not even sure that I can say that I have even done my duty. However, since Jesus directed us to say in the end, "We are unprofitable servants; we have only done what we were obliged to do,"******** then I do proclaim those words. Knowing that I have done what God has called me to do, to declare the truth to my homeless brothers and sisters, that they deserve respect and are clothed in dignity, since they are loved by God and by me, I rest secure in the loving promise that God, in His great mercy, will forgive me to the extent I have failed in performing this duty.
And so, whether it is today, tomorrow, or fifty or more years from now, secure in the knowledge that I am called to lovingly embrace my homeless brothers and sisters, and that God, in His immense mercy will forgive me insofar as I fail in my best efforts to overwhelmingly love them, I joyfully proclaim that I am going home to the Father.********* When I finally get back home, my dear brothers and sisters, please do not grieve for me, for it will be the most glorious day I have ever seen. For my tiny, paltry, measly efforts to love will be overwhelmed by the unbelievably warm tender glow of the infinite love of God. And thanks to His magnificent mercy, I shall bask in the glory of His infinite love for all eternity. Amen.
* Romans 5:5
** Matthew 22:39; Mark 12:31; Luke 10:27; Leviticus 19:18; Romans 13:9; Galatians 5:14
*** John 16:25
**** John 16:29
***** Matthew 26:26-29; Mark 14:22-25; Luke 22:14-20
****** John 15:13
******* John 14:30
******** Luke 17:10
********* John 16:16-17
If we but listen, we can hear the love of God that is knocking at the door of our hearts. If we have let that love into our hearts,* that love in us is meant to be let out. God calls us to love our neighbor** through our actions, and to speak plainly the language of love with our neighbor, whether they are rich or poor, whether they are luxuriously living in a mansion, or are huddled and shivering in sleeping bags and tents in the bushes.
I have been trying to demonstrate to the homeless folks I love here in Redwood City that there is a deeper meaning to interactions they have with people who help them. Recently I have told certain homeless friends of mine that when they receive food from people who aim to help them, it is not just about food. Really, I have said to them, I have been trying to tell you that I love you.
We wish to show you that you are worthy of respect. You are receiving this love God is giving you through me because God loves you.
And so when I have spoken so directly to my homeless friends who I so cherish, I feel as if I could say to them, that the time has come when I am no longer communicating with you in figures of speech, much like what Jesus said to His disciples just before His passion and death.*** It seems as if I could tell these dear homeless brothers and sisters of mine that now I am no longer just speaking with you through the metaphors of my actions. Now I am speaking with you plainly.**** Finally I am talking with you in the plain language of love.
Throughout much of His public ministry, Jesus spoke in parables and figures of speech. Then on Maundy Thursday, He sat down with His disciples for the Last Supper, just before He was handed over to be condemned to death.***** In that meal that night with His disciples, they saw a prefiguring of His sacrifice on the Cross. While His disciples sat down to a meal of bread and wine, they received much more than food and drink; in the Eucharist, we receive nourishment of love from Jesus. Having shown us on the night of the Last Supper how we are to celebrate the Eucharist, Jesus was about to die on Cross, and do what He had just said He was about to do. He was showing them the greatest love one can have for one's friends, as He laid down His life for His friends.******
When we try to show the greatest love we can have for our neighbor, when we die to ourselves, we live for our neighbor. When we forget who we are, who society thinks we are supposed to be, when we disregard the message from society that we are to shun our brothers and sisters who are outcasts, then we can die to the disordered desires and hurtful ideas and selfish tendencies we have, so we can embrace our needy neighbor, and thus live for our neighbor.
Once Jesus had spoken plainly to His disciples, just before He was handed over to be crucified, He told them that He did not have much more to say to them.******* He had spoken The Truth honestly and openly with them, and thus there was not much else for Him to say.
In telling these treasured homeless friends of mine that in trying to care for them, I am truly trying to tell them that I deeply love them, I have spoken plainly to them. I have said what I really have to say to these homeless friends I so love. And so I don't have much else to say.
And so in a certain sense, I would be content if this were to be last blog entry I were ever to write. Since this is the core of the message I feel that God brought me into the world to declare to my brothers and my sisters, I feel I have been embracing the vocation of love to which God has been calling me.
For were I left to my own devices, I would be hesitant to say both that I am an unprofitable servant, and that I have only done my duty. If I had not been instructed otherwise, I would lament that I am an unprofitable servant, and that I am not even sure that I can say that I have even done my duty. However, since Jesus directed us to say in the end, "We are unprofitable servants; we have only done what we were obliged to do,"******** then I do proclaim those words. Knowing that I have done what God has called me to do, to declare the truth to my homeless brothers and sisters, that they deserve respect and are clothed in dignity, since they are loved by God and by me, I rest secure in the loving promise that God, in His great mercy, will forgive me to the extent I have failed in performing this duty.
And so, whether it is today, tomorrow, or fifty or more years from now, secure in the knowledge that I am called to lovingly embrace my homeless brothers and sisters, and that God, in His immense mercy will forgive me insofar as I fail in my best efforts to overwhelmingly love them, I joyfully proclaim that I am going home to the Father.********* When I finally get back home, my dear brothers and sisters, please do not grieve for me, for it will be the most glorious day I have ever seen. For my tiny, paltry, measly efforts to love will be overwhelmed by the unbelievably warm tender glow of the infinite love of God. And thanks to His magnificent mercy, I shall bask in the glory of His infinite love for all eternity. Amen.
* Romans 5:5
** Matthew 22:39; Mark 12:31; Luke 10:27; Leviticus 19:18; Romans 13:9; Galatians 5:14
*** John 16:25
**** John 16:29
***** Matthew 26:26-29; Mark 14:22-25; Luke 22:14-20
****** John 15:13
******* John 14:30
******** Luke 17:10
********* John 16:16-17
Sunday, May 7, 2017
Belonging To Others
When we see how alike we are, we love each other. We love each other when we remember that we belong to each other.
As we see that we need others to forgive us, we forgive others. We forgive others because we want to be forgiven. As Jesus instructed us, if we forgive others their failings, God our Heavenly Father will forgive us. Yet, as Jesus added, if you do not forgive others, your Heavenly Father will not forgive you.* We are forgiven to the extent we forgive. We determine our destinies in how forgiving we are of others, and so our fates and the fates of others are tied up in each others' hearts.
We forgive each other because we realize we belong to each other. We forgive one another because we do not want to try to separate ourselves from each other. We forgive each other because we do not want to live under the illusion that we are apart from each other. The reality is that we are a part of each other.
Being part of one another, we see we must love one another. Seeing we are intertwined with each other, we know we must forgive each other not only to love others, but also to love ourselves.
Realizing we need to be forgiven too, we are realizing we need to be loved. Forgiving each other, and thus loving each other, we love ourselves.
I have seen these truths lived out amongst the homeless people here in Redwood City. Although they have their disagreements, they forgive one another because they love one another.
Recently I was in a parking lot with a couple of homeless people I know, who here I'll call "Kimberly" and "Benny." Kimberly and Benny were arguing. Although they were not yelling at each other, they clearly were not pleased with each other. Even though I had already started driving away, I stopped. I pleaded with them, "One thing." They both stopped what they were doing and were totally intent on what I was about to say. I implored them, "Please love one another."
Kimberly immediately replied, "Anywhere other than Redwood City, it wouldn't be this hard."
Having made my plea, I resumed driving away. Often it's after the moment has passed that I think of what I would have said at the time.
Had I thought of it at the time, I would have said to Kimberly, "Sister, stop making excuses. You and I have the same bad habit: we need to stop making excuses."
By coming up with excuses, we seek to absolve ourselves of responsibility. As the French priest Jean-Pierre de Caussade noted, our duty to God rests in the present moment. To embrace the present moment, we need to be accountable for our actions in the present moment. We must admit where we have gone wrong and how we can improve. I struggle with this call to accept what I have done and how I can better behave. Typically I start to explain. I begin supplying the context for my actions. Often people need not know what else was going on when I did what I did. Rather, we can be silent and simply focus on what we are called to do in that moment, namely, examine our own actions and how we can conduct ourselves better next time.
To help me better prepare for another opportunity to take responsibility for my own actions, I am encouraged by my sister Kimberly. She reminds me that I am not the only one challenged by the need to acknowledge the shortcomings in our own behavior.
I see this and other similarities between Kimberly and myself, since I know we are more alike than many people think. I look past the differences between her and me, so she can help me to grow. Someone once told me, "Kimberly does meth." Were I to dismiss Kimberly because supposedly she is addicted to methamphetamines, I would lose the insights I gain about myself through her. Welcoming her into my heart, I allow her to teach me about myself. Seeing the commonalities between her and me, I realize that she and I are alike in important ways.
The Dutch priest Henri Nouwen noted this truth, that we share more similarities than we initially think, during his time living with mentally disabled persons at one of the homes in the L'Arche movement founded by Jean Vanier. Nouwen realized that living with mentally disabled persons brought him closer to his own vulnerabilities. He explained that
While at first it seemed quite obvious who was handicapped and who was not, living together day in and out made the boundaries less clear. . . . And when I had the courage to look deeper, to face my emotional neediness, my inability to pray, my impatience and restlessness, my many anxieties and fears, the word 'handicap' started to have a whole new meaning. The fact that my handicaps were less visible . . . didn't make them less real.
At first it may seem very clear who is the one with the problems. We can easily conclude, "That drug addict is not like me." We can quickly misapprehend ourselves and others, and mistakenly declare, "That person is messed up; I am fine." Sooner or later we realize we share some of the same frailties that societally despised persons exhibit. I have been told that Kimberly suffers from depression, and that she takes meth to cope with the depression she feels. I suffer from depression if my blood sugar level drops too low, and so I cope with depression by consuming sugar. Kimberly is addicted to meth, and I am addicted to sugar. I deliberately use that word: if I do not get enough sugar, my mood not only plummets, but my perceptions become severely distorted. Since the only chemical recourse I have to alleviate my depression is sugar, I am literally addicted to sugar. While Kimberly has chosen a less healthy, less socially acceptable, and more disruptive way to cope with her depression, nevertheless the fact remains that she and I suffer from the same problem, that of depression.
When we glance at someone, we may dismiss that person. If we only get a glimpse of someone, we may think we have nothing in common with that person. At first it may seem quite obvious who is disabled and who is not. Initially it might seem apparent who is the one with problems and who is the one without problems. Once we get to know people, and once we see how others are like us, it might become less clear who is who.
Kimberly lives in a tent pitched behind some bushes. I live in a Catholic Worker House. Kimberly suffers from depression, and so do I. Just because I cope with my mental disability in a more socially acceptable way, in a less unhealthy manner, and less disruptively than Kimberly deals with hers doesn't mean she and I don't share a mental disability. Just because my mental disability is less evident than Kimberly's doesn't negate the fact that she and I suffer from the same condition.
Kimberly and I share a common hardship. Having seen that we both have the same deficiency, we are empowered to love one another. In the past, it could have seemed only like a curse; now through the light of love, it is a blessing since it enables us to understand each other better and thus to love one another. When we see why our neighbor acts the way she acts, we come to have compassion on her. Realizing that we share much which is important, we come not only to respect our neighbor, but truly to love our neighbor. We see that in loving our neighbor, we are loving ourselves. We see that God calls us to love our neighbor as ourselves** since we belong to each other. We see that to have peace, we must remember that we belong to each other, as Saint Teresa of Calcutta implicitly urged.
It seems that those who are homeless here in Redwood City have realized these truths. Weeks after Kimberly and Benny exchanged sharp words in that parking lot, I crossed paths with Benny. As we were talking, I mentioned Kimberly. He asked me, if I were to see her, to tell her that he had her bicycle. I told him I would convey that message to her if I saw her.
Then my tear ducts opened. I added, "That's why I love you all so much, all of you who are homeless here in Redwood City. Even if you're angry with each other, you still help each other."
Benny, who already had been speaking in a low tone of voice, lowered his voice even further. He replied softly, "Yeah... we look out for each other."
We look past our differences because we know are similar. We forgive when we realize how similar we are. When we see our faults in others, we are led to forgive them, for both their sakes as well as ours. We forgive because our hearts are tied up with each other.
We forgive because we love. We love because we belong to each other. We love because we belong to God. We are a part of each other because God made us to love Him and one another. In forgiving, and thus in loving, we embrace not only each other, but also the truth that we belong to each other and to God, and thus become who God has always intended us to be.
* Matthew 6:14-15; Mark 11:25-26
** Matthew 22:39; Mark 12:31; Luke 10:27; Leviticus 19:18; Romans 13:9; Galatians 5:14
As we see that we need others to forgive us, we forgive others. We forgive others because we want to be forgiven. As Jesus instructed us, if we forgive others their failings, God our Heavenly Father will forgive us. Yet, as Jesus added, if you do not forgive others, your Heavenly Father will not forgive you.* We are forgiven to the extent we forgive. We determine our destinies in how forgiving we are of others, and so our fates and the fates of others are tied up in each others' hearts.
We forgive each other because we realize we belong to each other. We forgive one another because we do not want to try to separate ourselves from each other. We forgive each other because we do not want to live under the illusion that we are apart from each other. The reality is that we are a part of each other.
Being part of one another, we see we must love one another. Seeing we are intertwined with each other, we know we must forgive each other not only to love others, but also to love ourselves.
Realizing we need to be forgiven too, we are realizing we need to be loved. Forgiving each other, and thus loving each other, we love ourselves.
I have seen these truths lived out amongst the homeless people here in Redwood City. Although they have their disagreements, they forgive one another because they love one another.
Recently I was in a parking lot with a couple of homeless people I know, who here I'll call "Kimberly" and "Benny." Kimberly and Benny were arguing. Although they were not yelling at each other, they clearly were not pleased with each other. Even though I had already started driving away, I stopped. I pleaded with them, "One thing." They both stopped what they were doing and were totally intent on what I was about to say. I implored them, "Please love one another."
Kimberly immediately replied, "Anywhere other than Redwood City, it wouldn't be this hard."
Having made my plea, I resumed driving away. Often it's after the moment has passed that I think of what I would have said at the time.
Had I thought of it at the time, I would have said to Kimberly, "Sister, stop making excuses. You and I have the same bad habit: we need to stop making excuses."
By coming up with excuses, we seek to absolve ourselves of responsibility. As the French priest Jean-Pierre de Caussade noted, our duty to God rests in the present moment. To embrace the present moment, we need to be accountable for our actions in the present moment. We must admit where we have gone wrong and how we can improve. I struggle with this call to accept what I have done and how I can better behave. Typically I start to explain. I begin supplying the context for my actions. Often people need not know what else was going on when I did what I did. Rather, we can be silent and simply focus on what we are called to do in that moment, namely, examine our own actions and how we can conduct ourselves better next time.
To help me better prepare for another opportunity to take responsibility for my own actions, I am encouraged by my sister Kimberly. She reminds me that I am not the only one challenged by the need to acknowledge the shortcomings in our own behavior.
I see this and other similarities between Kimberly and myself, since I know we are more alike than many people think. I look past the differences between her and me, so she can help me to grow. Someone once told me, "Kimberly does meth." Were I to dismiss Kimberly because supposedly she is addicted to methamphetamines, I would lose the insights I gain about myself through her. Welcoming her into my heart, I allow her to teach me about myself. Seeing the commonalities between her and me, I realize that she and I are alike in important ways.
The Dutch priest Henri Nouwen noted this truth, that we share more similarities than we initially think, during his time living with mentally disabled persons at one of the homes in the L'Arche movement founded by Jean Vanier. Nouwen realized that living with mentally disabled persons brought him closer to his own vulnerabilities. He explained that
While at first it seemed quite obvious who was handicapped and who was not, living together day in and out made the boundaries less clear. . . . And when I had the courage to look deeper, to face my emotional neediness, my inability to pray, my impatience and restlessness, my many anxieties and fears, the word 'handicap' started to have a whole new meaning. The fact that my handicaps were less visible . . . didn't make them less real.
At first it may seem very clear who is the one with the problems. We can easily conclude, "That drug addict is not like me." We can quickly misapprehend ourselves and others, and mistakenly declare, "That person is messed up; I am fine." Sooner or later we realize we share some of the same frailties that societally despised persons exhibit. I have been told that Kimberly suffers from depression, and that she takes meth to cope with the depression she feels. I suffer from depression if my blood sugar level drops too low, and so I cope with depression by consuming sugar. Kimberly is addicted to meth, and I am addicted to sugar. I deliberately use that word: if I do not get enough sugar, my mood not only plummets, but my perceptions become severely distorted. Since the only chemical recourse I have to alleviate my depression is sugar, I am literally addicted to sugar. While Kimberly has chosen a less healthy, less socially acceptable, and more disruptive way to cope with her depression, nevertheless the fact remains that she and I suffer from the same problem, that of depression.
When we glance at someone, we may dismiss that person. If we only get a glimpse of someone, we may think we have nothing in common with that person. At first it may seem quite obvious who is disabled and who is not. Initially it might seem apparent who is the one with problems and who is the one without problems. Once we get to know people, and once we see how others are like us, it might become less clear who is who.
Kimberly lives in a tent pitched behind some bushes. I live in a Catholic Worker House. Kimberly suffers from depression, and so do I. Just because I cope with my mental disability in a more socially acceptable way, in a less unhealthy manner, and less disruptively than Kimberly deals with hers doesn't mean she and I don't share a mental disability. Just because my mental disability is less evident than Kimberly's doesn't negate the fact that she and I suffer from the same condition.
Kimberly and I share a common hardship. Having seen that we both have the same deficiency, we are empowered to love one another. In the past, it could have seemed only like a curse; now through the light of love, it is a blessing since it enables us to understand each other better and thus to love one another. When we see why our neighbor acts the way she acts, we come to have compassion on her. Realizing that we share much which is important, we come not only to respect our neighbor, but truly to love our neighbor. We see that in loving our neighbor, we are loving ourselves. We see that God calls us to love our neighbor as ourselves** since we belong to each other. We see that to have peace, we must remember that we belong to each other, as Saint Teresa of Calcutta implicitly urged.
It seems that those who are homeless here in Redwood City have realized these truths. Weeks after Kimberly and Benny exchanged sharp words in that parking lot, I crossed paths with Benny. As we were talking, I mentioned Kimberly. He asked me, if I were to see her, to tell her that he had her bicycle. I told him I would convey that message to her if I saw her.
Then my tear ducts opened. I added, "That's why I love you all so much, all of you who are homeless here in Redwood City. Even if you're angry with each other, you still help each other."
Benny, who already had been speaking in a low tone of voice, lowered his voice even further. He replied softly, "Yeah... we look out for each other."
We look past our differences because we know are similar. We forgive when we realize how similar we are. When we see our faults in others, we are led to forgive them, for both their sakes as well as ours. We forgive because our hearts are tied up with each other.
We forgive because we love. We love because we belong to each other. We love because we belong to God. We are a part of each other because God made us to love Him and one another. In forgiving, and thus in loving, we embrace not only each other, but also the truth that we belong to each other and to God, and thus become who God has always intended us to be.
* Matthew 6:14-15; Mark 11:25-26
** Matthew 22:39; Mark 12:31; Luke 10:27; Leviticus 19:18; Romans 13:9; Galatians 5:14
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