Love With Mercy

Everyday we are presented with chances to love.  We are repeatedly faced with the choice of whether we will stop what we are doing so we can love others.  Thus we are called to love rather than to fear.  When we fall prey to fear, we fall away from love.  We decide to love when we listen to our neighbor.  We choose love when we are willing to learn from our neighbor.  

Today as we celebrate the feast day of Saint Matthew, once again we hear how Jesus calls us to love and to be merciful and thus to open our hearts to our neighbor.  In today's Gospel, we hear that 

Jesus saw a man named Matthew sitting at the customs post.  
He said to him, "Follow Me."  
And he got up and followed Him.  
While He was at table in his house, 
many tax collectors and sinners came 
and sat with Jesus and His disciples.  
The Pharisees saw this and said to His disciples, 
"Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"  
He heard this and said, 
"Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do.  
Go and learn the meaning of the words, 
I desire mercy, not sacrifice.  
I did not come to call the righteous but sinners."*  

When Jesus told Saint Matthew to follow Him, Saint Matthew got up and followed Jesus.  As a wise person once pointed out to me, Saint Matthew didn't ask Jesus what his invitation entailed.  Saint Matthew simply got up, left everything, and followed Jesus.  Saint Matthew didn't have to discern what he was going to do; it was clear to him that he was going to follow Jesus, so immediately he did so.  

God presents all of us with chances to love.  When God gives us the gift of an opportunity to love, get up and follow Jesus wherever He calls you to go.  We find Jesus in our neighbor, and for however long our neighbor is next to us, we can choose to love our neighbor in every single instant.  Jesus calls us to love our neighbor as ourselves.**  If our neighbor requests love from us, then we are to give that love to Jesus who we find in our neighbor.  When the duty of the present moment requests, then we get up and follow the call of Jesus to love our neighbor.  
When we choose fear over love, we ignore this call from Jesus.  When we succumb to fright, then we are turning away from loving our neighbor.  When we want to run away from what we have to do, then we turn aside from Jesus and from the duty to love our neighbor.  When we run away from our duty, we fail to love ourselves.  

I felt this pull of fear, and I was taught by a friend how to properly respond to such fear months ago.  This friend, who here I'll call "Anna," had done something wrong.  She needed to set it right again.  

She went to set things back in their proper place, and I accompanied her.  When she got to where she needed to restore things, she asked me how she was to do so.  Panicking, I stammered, "Just be done with it, and let's get out of here."  Calmly, she replied that she felt it was more appropriate to speak with the people who she had wronged.  She tried to speak with them, but it turned out that they were not there when she arrived.  She could have just departed, yet she not only left a voice message apologizing to the people she had wronged, but she also left her name.  She did her best to make amends for how she had inappropriately behaved.  

What else can I tell you about Anna?  Anna is a homeless woman who is addicted to methamphetamines.  

It is easy and convenient to declare that the homeless drug addict is the sick one.  Jesus suggests that those who are morally lacking are sick.  I was the morally deficient one in that situation: I was the one who wanted to hurry up and leave so we could avoid an uncomfortable confrontation, rather than see my friend partly spiritually healed through making the appropriate reparations to the people she had wronged.  In demonstrating to me how to begin to responsibly set right one's mistakes, this homeless addict was like a physician to my sick and troubled soul.  

When we see how we can learn from others who we had previously thought were below us, it becomes easy to realize the meaning of the words, "Mercy is what pleases Me, not sacrifice."***  If we realize that we can learn from people who we think are worse off than us, then it becomes easy to be merciful toward them.  

Jesus explained that He came to call not the upright, but sinners.  It is more comfortable for me to think of myself as upright than to realize that I am a sinner.  The truth hurts.  The truth is that I am a sinner.  Yet all is not lost, for Jesus calls me and all of us sinners to repentance and to restoration with God.  
Jesus calls us.  Jesus asks us to get up, leave everything and follow Him.  Jesus asks us to leave our conceptions of ourselves, to realize we are sinners, to give up our sinful ways, to make amends for what we have done wrong, and, having renounced our sinful desires, to follow Him.  Jesus calls us to such renunciation since He wants us to love ourselves and stop destroying ourselves.  He wants us to love ourselves so we can love our neighbor as ourselves.  We are called to love so that we can love each other as Jesus has loved us.****  We are called to show great love, to give up everything, and to follow Jesus.  When we do so, we finally become who God has always meant us to be.  Amen.  

* Matthew 9:9-13 
** Matthew 22:39; Mark 12:31; Luke 10:27; Leviticus 19:18; Romans 13:9; Galatians 5:14 
*** Hosea 6:6 
**** John 13:34; John 15:12 

Trust Yields Grace

When we fear, we are not trusting in God.  When we arrogantly assume we can get along without God, we are deciding that we will not trust in God.  

When we have faith in God, we are trusting in God.  When we admit we need God's help, then we can start to trust in God.  

When we truly, fully trust in God, we find our faith is well-placed.  God will not scorn a humble, contrite heart.*  God gives grace to the humble.**  

* Psalm 51:17  

** 1 Peter 5:5; James 4:6 

Love Extinguishes Fear

A few days ago at our weekly house Mass here at the Catholic Worker House, we heard about knowing Jesus, who He is, how much He loves us, and the importance of faith.  When we know Jesus and who He is, we have faith in Him, and we have no fear, for we know that Jesus loves us, for God is love,* and in love there is no room for fear.**  In the Gospel reading we heard at that house Mass, we heard that 

It happened that one day Jesus got into a boat with His disciples and said to them, "Let us cross over to the other side of the lake."  So they set out, and as they sailed He fell asleep.  When a squall of wind came down on the lake, the boat started taking in water and they found themselves in danger.  So they went to rouse Him, saying, "Master!  Master!  We are lost!"  Then He woke up and rebuked the wind and the rough water; and they subsided and it was calm again.  He said to them, "Where is your faith?"  They were awestruck and astounded and said to one another, "Who can this be, that gives orders even to winds and waves and they obey Him?"***  

At the house Mass, someone explained that the Apostles had been afraid because they were still asking who Jesus is.  When we know who Jesus is, we are not afraid, for when we know who Jesus is, we know love, for God is love, and in love there is no room for fear.  

Let us know Jesus, and know love.  In coming to know Jesus, let us come to know perfect love, and thus come to have all fear cast out of us.****  Amen.  

* 1 John 4:8,16 
** 1 John 4:18 
*** Luke 8:22-25 
**** 1 John 4:18 

Littleness Bears Fruit

This morning I looked out my window here at the Catholic Worker House and saw Jacqueline walking down the sidewalk.  She's a homeless woman who came here to the Catholic Worker House a few weeks ago.  

That night nearly a month ago, the doorbell rang.  When a Catholic Worker opened the door, there stood Jacqueline.  She explained that she was by herself.  And then, she added, as she burst into tears and started sobbing, that she didn't know where she was going to stay for the night.  

Although the Catholic Worker answering the door felt like she couldn't do anything to help, she figured she could at least try to calm Jacqueline.  She suggested to Jacqueline that she sit down on our front porch and take some time to rest.  She told Jacqueline that when another Catholic Worker got home in a little while, we could put our heads together to figure out how we could help her.  

Jacqueline sat down on the porch and began to eat something someone had given to her.  Later that evening, I went out to the porch to check on Jacqueline, but she was gone.  

A couple of days ago, when I was out and about here in Redwood City, I saw a woman walking through a parking lot.  Wanting to be friendly, I greeted her.  

She came over to me and her face lit up.  She revealed to me that she was the one who had been so distraught that night on the porch.  Somehow I hadn't recognized her.  Jacqueline expressed much appreciation and gratitude, saying that she had felt supported during her time in need by that Catholic Worker who had answered the door that night.  She updated me on her life, relating that since then, she has started living in a homeless shelter here in Redwood City.  She was beaming as she happily told me about how she is doing.  

Now Jacqueline is finding shelter and security.  That night a few weeks ago, it seemed she was inconsolable, yet in the midst of her trial, she was finding comfort and care: it had seemed that there was little or nothing that could be done to help, yet that Catholic Worker had been soothing her more than initially was apparent.  

There in the little scraps of time which that Catholic Worker had had with her, in the present moment with her, were tiny chances to perform little actions of love for her.  We can brush off opportunities to give little gifts of love to others, since in the duty of the present moment God might be calling us to such minuscule acts of love that we conclude such opportunities are too insignificant to bear substantial fruit.  

Yet in every little chance we get to love our neighbor as ourselves* as Jesus taught us, we are given a chance to plant a little mustard seed for the sake of the Kingdom of God.  If we seize every small chance we have to love our neighbor, if we plant every such tiny little seed of love, much fruit can result for the Kingdom of God.  

Jesus told us if we have faith the size of a mustard seed, we could move mountains.**  If we have faith the size of a mustard seed, we will have confidence in God's ability to bear much fruit through our little actions of love in each moment, in every tiny scrap of time.  If we have faith, we can value little fragments of time which "The Cloud of Unknowing" describes, and we can be more attentive to "The Sacrament of the Present Moment" as Jean-Pierre de Caussade urges, and can be well-positioned to perform little acts of love, as Saint Therese of Lisieux related.  

Little acts of love are like little grains of wheat: as long as they remain unused and unplanted, they have little value.  Just as little grains of wheat yield a harvest once they are planted, so it is that little loving actions only yield much spiritual fruit once they are actually carried out.  

Jesus told us that unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains a single grain; yet if it dies, it yields a rich harvest.***  If we but die to the inaccurate assumptions we have about what God calls us to do in the present moment, and instead embrace the person standing in front of us, the microscopic seeds of our miniature acts can bear much fruit in the heart of our neighbor.  Having faith in this approach to life, we can let God move mountains through us, when it seems we are only picking up a grain of sand.  With faith, we become more comfortable with dying to our own ideas about what we are to do, and are freed up to love our neighbor in his time of need.  

When we love our neighbor in his time of need, his fear about surviving dies.  When we love our neighbor, we let God love our neighbor through us, and our neighbor is reassured that he is loved by God and by us, and is given the strength from God to carry onward.  When our neighbor lets the fear in her die, she can live to grow into the person God has always intended her to be; she can see who she is and what she is to do.  

Dying to his fear, our neighbor rises from the death that fear had caused.  Then when we see our neighbor risen from the dead, we do not recognize our neighbor.****  He has grown into the new person God has always intended him to be.  He is living out the new life God has meant for him to live.  We foster and nourish this new life when we die to our misconceptions of what we believe we are being called to do in the current moment.  

By embracing the duty of the present moment, to love our neighbor in every little instant of time, we realize that every small act of love for another can bear much fruit in the heart of that person.  By letting God love others through us, others have the love they need to become who God has always intended them to be.  

* Matthew 22:39; Mark 12:31; Luke 10:27; Leviticus 19:18; Romans 13:9; Galatians 5:14 
** Matthew 17:20; Matthew 21:21; Mark 11:23 
*** John 12:24 
**** Luke 24:16; John 21:4 

Wonders From Humility

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 

The Risen Christ

Today someone asked me, "What does the Risen Christ mean to you?"  

The Risen Christ is a sign of God's love.  God so loved us that He became human and died for us.  Jesus rose from the dead, and thus He conquered death,* and therefore we have nothing to fear.  

* 2 Timothy 1:10 

Timing Of God

In what unfolds in our lives, there is a timing which is at work, even when we think the clock in our lives is broken.  God operates in His own timing, not on our timing.  

When we endure troubles, we need not fear, since we can do all things through God, who strengthens us.*  God won't give us more than we can handle, because God will give us the grace we need to do His will, if we humbly request it of Him.**  

* Philippians 4:13 
* 1 Peter 5:5; James 4:6 

Obediently Trusting God

Do we have ears to hear?  If we have ears to hear, let us use them to listen.*  If we listen, do we understand?  If we have the good sense to do our best to try to comprehend what is being told to us, let us do our best to fathom that God wants to meet us in bottomless depths, and that God wants to raise us to great heights, if we are but willing to allow ourselves to be humbled.**    

Let us not fear, but trust in God, remembering that God holds us in the palm of His hand, and that He has unimaginably fantastic rewards in store for us.  If we but open our eyes and use them to see, we will recognize the magnificent wonders that God has already shown us.  Thus we will be led to open our hearts to welcome all the marvels which God wishes to work through us and otherwise in our little lives.  He wishes that we give our consent to welcome His will, so that our souls may flourish like tiny mustard seeds, just as the Kingdom of God is sprouting from a mustard seed into an immense bush which will provide much shelter,*** comfort and repose for ourselves and others, and ultimately bringing us into peace and joy in his loving embrace.  

And so it was when the angel Gabriel announced to the Blessed Virgin Mary that she would conceive through the power of the Holy Spirit and give birth to Jesus.  Thus yesterday in our celebration of the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord, we heard that 

The angel Gabriel was sent from God
to a town of Galilee called Nazareth,
to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph,
of the house of David,
and the virgin's name was Mary.
And coming to her, he said,
"Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you."
But she was greatly troubled at what was said
and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.
Then the angel said to her,
"Do not be afraid, Mary,
for you have found favor with God.
Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son,
and you shall name him Jesus.
He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High,
and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father,
and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever,
and of his Kingdom there will be no end."
But Mary said to the angel,
"How can this be,
since I have no relations with a man?"
And the angel said to her in reply,
"The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.
Therefore the child to be born
will be called holy, the Son of God.
And behold, Elizabeth, your relative,
has also conceived a son in her old age,
and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren;
for nothing will be impossible for God."
Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.
May it be done to me according to your word."
Then the angel departed from her.****  

The angel Gabriel arrived and greeted Mary.  He acknowledged her as being full of grace, that God was with her.  Mary was troubled at this greeting; she wondered what type of salutation the angel could be offering to her.  

God is always wanting to talk with us.  God speaks to us.  Yet we don't understand what God is saying to us.  

The angel told Mary not to be afraid.  The angel assured her that she had found favor with God, so she had no reason to fear.  

When God speaks to us, how do we feel?  Do we worry when God addresses us?  Do we fear when God talks with us?  

In the midst of stressful circumstances in our lives, how do we react?  Do we panic?  Do we trust in God, or do we succumb to fear?  

When we fear, what does God have in store for us?  In times when we are scared of what is going to happen in our lives, is God trying to give us something we don't expect? 

The angel told Mary that she was going to conceive and bear a son, and that she must name Him Jesus, since He would save people from their sins.  Accordingly, He would be great.  He would not only sit upon the throne of His ancestor King David, but He would rule forever.  She was told that His Kingdom will have no end.  

When we are terrified, we must remember that God operates on a much grander scale than we do.  When we tremble, we must keep in mind that God holds us in the palm of His hand.   

When the angel told Mary that she was to give birth to Jesus, she asked, "How can this be?"  She so inquired because she had not had relations with a man.  

God works wonders.  We wonder how God works.  God unravels marvels in front of us.  We marvel at what transpires before us.  We wonder how all these wonders take place.  

The angel explained to Mary that the Holy Spirit would come upon her.  The angel revealed to her that God's power would overshadow her.  

We cannot see how God works through us.  We do not realize how God works wonders in our lives.  Through His mighty spirit, God transforms us, those around us and our lives.  God is infinitely greater than we are, and so God can transfigure us in ways and to extents we could never do without Him.  God reminds us of His great power to work amazing changes in us.  

The angel reminded Mary that her cousin Elizabeth had conceived in her old age.  People had called Elizabeth barren and unable to have a child, just as Sarah was thought to be unable to bear a child to Abraham since she too was elderly.  Yet angels also brought the glad tidings to Abraham and Sarah that soon they would have a son.*****  Thus the angel reminded Mary that nothing is impossible for God.******   

We are to look at what we have already seen.  We must look at the wonders which have already been shown to us.  In recalling these magnificent deeds God has already done for us, we are strengthened in our faith, and are emboldened in our quest to do His will.  

We have already seen the evidence of God's great power and His abounding love for us.  What more proof do we need of what He can do for us?  What more do we need to see to realize that He boundlessly loves us?  

In short, we are presented with a question which forces us to choose between fear and trust.  Do we trust God?  Do we believe that God wants to do great things for us?  

If we believe, then let us say with Mary that we too are servants of the Lord.  Trusting in God, let us say, "God, may it be done to me as you have said."  

How do we get to a point of such utter submissive abandonment, trusting in God so completely that we are totally obedient to God's will?  We use our ears to hear what God is saying to us.  If we remain silent and sit still, in solitude, we can listen to what God wants to tell us.  We look at the wonders God works around us.  We ponder these things in our hearts.*******  We open our hearts, and allow these marvels to permeate our souls and transform us.  Being attentive to the remarkable feats God performs in our lives, then we realize that we cannot rely on ourselves, and that we must depend on God.  When we allow ourselves to be humbled, then God will raise us up.  Then when we assent to His will, and agree to die to ourselves, then, being grains falling into the ground and dying, He will reap a rich harvest through us.********  Sure of this comfort, we rest secure in peace, and approach the joy that comes in eternal life.  Looking forward to this eternal bliss, we gladly offer our consent to our loving God.   

Thus confident that God will work wonders through us to His praise and glory and honor, let us courageously proclaim in bold prayer, "God, do what you want with me.  Here I am, ready to do Your will."   

* Matthew 11:15 
** Matthew 23:11-12; Matthew 20:26; Luke 14:11; Luke 18:14 
*** Matthew 13:32; Mark 4:31-32; Luke 13:19 
**** Luke 1:26-38 
***** Genesis 17:16, 19, 21; Genesis 18:14 
****** Genesis 18:14; Luke 1:37 
******* Luke 2:19 
******** John 12:24 

Abandoning Our Plans

We do not see what we are offered.  We are standing inside of a grand tale.  It is much larger than we are.  We cannot see how we fit into it.  We cannot even see where we are in it.  And yet we propose to determine our own place in this great drama.  However, the Master Storyteller knows and assigns the role each one of us is to play.  He will tell us, in the midst of our discernment, if we only ask Him.  We will hear Him if we merely listen.  When He tells us, we must choose if we accept the role he offers us.  In this decision, we determine our own destiny, which is inextricably interwoven with that of others.  

So Joseph, the husband of Mary the Mother of Jesus, had to decide.  Earlier this week, when we celebrated the Solemnity of Saint Joseph, we heard in the Gospel reading of the day 

Now this is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about.  
When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, 
but before they lived together, 
she was found with child through the Holy Spirit.  
Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, 
yet unwilling to expose her to shame, 
decided to divorce her quietly.  
Such was his intention when, behold, 
the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, 
"Joseph, son of David, 
do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home.  
For it is through the Holy Spirit 
that this child has been conceived in her.  
She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, 
because he will save his people from their sins."  
When Joseph awoke, 
he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him 
and took his wife into his home.*  

In how he began to relate how the birth of Jesus came to be, it is as if Saint Matthew was saying, "Let me tell you the full story."  Within this story, Saint Joseph had an idea of what he was going to do.  It was his own scheme.  It was not God's plan.  

In our lives, we are living a story larger than we realize.  We have our own plans.  Are our limited conceptions the same as God's boundless immensity?  

Our minds are finite; God is infinite.  God can, and wants to, and does devise and execute plans far greater than what we can ever possibly envision.  

Joseph and Mary were betrothed.  They were engaged to each other.  They were not living together.  She became pregnant.  

When we have committed to a course of action, sometimes does something unexpected happen?  How do we react?  

After Joseph learns that Mary is expecting a child, he devises his strategy.  He is going to divorce her, but quietly, because he doesn't want to disgrace her.  

We come up with our own approach to what unfolds in our lives.  Are we trying to stray from where God wants to lead us?  

God told Joseph that He had intended that Mary had come to be with the child within her.  Through His angel, God told Joseph not to be afraid to take Mary his wife into his home.  He explained to Joseph that the child had been conceived in her through the power of the Holy Spirit.  Joseph was to name Him Jesus, since he was destined to save people from their sins.  
Do we trust God when God tells us not to fear?  Do we rest secure in God?  Do we welcome how the Holy Spirit seeks to work in our lives?  

God seeks to give us gifts.  If humans, as evil as we choose to be, know how to give our children good things, how much more will God give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?**  God wants the best for us.  God wants such good for us, and so loves us that God sent His Son, Jesus, the Messiah, to save us from our sins.***  

If we abandon our own plans, then we can welcome what God has store for us.  If we empty ourselves, then we can be filled with what God wants to give to us.  

This week I've heard from both Larry and Susan, my fellow Catholic Workers here at the Redwood City Catholic Worker House, that when one is discerning one's calling, one does well if one is indifferent.  That is, if you are detached from all vocational possibilities, then you can dispassionately evaluate the courses of action which rest in front of you.  When you're unattached to any particular choice, then your mind is clear enough to be well-disposed to hear and listen to what God is trying to tell you.  

If we stop clinging to our ideas about where we think we are supposed to be, and what we think we are supposed to do, then we are turning onto the road of objectivity.  When we let go, and stop trying to demonstrate our strength, instead admitting we do not know, allowing ourselves to be humbled, then we are given the strength we need.  Then we are able to discern well-reasoned, wise decisions.  

Saint Joseph gave up his plan, which he had formulated without understanding where he stood in God's master plan.  After he had been told what he was to do, he let go of the idea he had had to divorce his wife Mary.  Joseph did as he was told.  Once the angel had told him to take Mary his wife into his home, he did so.  Upon being told to accept Mary as his wife, he offered his own fiat.  He awoke and proclaimed through his actions that it should be done to him as he had been told by the angel.****  

For his obedient submission to the will of God, Saint Joseph was rewarded.  For his acquiescence to the will of God, Saint Joseph became the foster father of the Savior of Humanity, inextricably and intimately linking his destiny with that of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  

Do we cling to our own ideas?  Will we open our hands and let go of our own plans?  If we merely unclench our fists, then we are able to open them to what God wants to hand us.  In what God wants to give to us, we will receive what is far better than anything we can even imagine.  

We do not see what we have been promised, for we cannot see it this side of eternity.  As Saint Paul wrote, we fix our hope on what is not seen.*****  Yet as Saint Paul also wrote, we strive toward this goal.******  We are able to make this progress since The Way we follow is illuminated by the light of faith, as Pope Francis has told us.  And so we are encouraged as we move forward, knowing that we are bound in love as part of a communion of brothers and sisters stretching out over centuries.  We are inspired by the examples of faith our brothers and sisters have provided to us over the centuries.  Encouraged by their witness, we are confident that we too can hear and listen to how God is also calling us to abandon our own plans and turn to Him so we can be who and what He has always intended each of us to be.  

* Matthew 1:1-18, 24 
** Luke 11:13 
*** John 3:16 
**** Luke 1:38 
***** 2 Corinthians 4:18 
****** Philippians 3:14