The glory of God is revealed in a human being who is living as God intended that person to live. When we become who God has always meant us to be, we do the will of God. When we become who God created us to be, through our actions then we praise God, for the glory of God is made manifest in us.
Showing posts with label praise. Show all posts
Showing posts with label praise. Show all posts
Friday, December 29, 2017
Saturday, December 23, 2017
Hopefully Move Forward
The last year has been lovely. God has shed His grace upon me. Through His grace, He has empowered me to do His will. I feel that I have done what He sent me here to do. And so it seems that the time has come to move on from here.
And so on January 1 I will move back to the hermitage. I feel God is calling me back there.
I imagine you are wondering how this conclusion intersects with my previous discernment to leave the hermitage.
Although I did not explicitly say so, when I left the hermitage to serve poor persons, I was overwhelmingly focused on rejoining the Peace Corps. I re-applied to the Peace Corps near the end of 2015, and in early 2016, Peace Corps informed me that they could not offer me a position.
I applied or at least inquired with other organizations serving impoverished people abroad. Either I didn't hear back at all, or at other times it didn't work out with those other organizations.
Thus in time I came to realize that one reason I left the hermitage, to serve poor persons overseas, was not materializing. I let it go, and so the path I thought I was following turned out to be taking me not as far away as I had envisioned.
Since it started becoming clear I wouldn't be moving to another country again, I began to ponder serving poor folks here in the states. Having been a Catholic Worker in San Jose before I moved into the hermitage, I began to think about once again being a Catholic Worker.
After a brief stint last summer filling in for my friends at Casa de Clara, the San Jose Catholic Worker House, I moved in here at the Redwood City Catholic Worker House. After not too long, I began to get to know homeless folks here in Redwood City. I came to witness the sense of community amongst those living on the streets here. I became much closer with them than I had ever felt with homeless folks anywhere else. And so I have felt much fulfillment as I have served people living on the streets here.
And yet I have gradually, steadily, increasingly felt more and more spiritually malnourished despite how I have continued the spiritual practices I deepened at the hermitage. I read Scripture. I attend Mass. Yet I have consistently felt that God has been calling me back into more solitude, more silence, more stillness, more contemplation. I have felt that God has been calling me back into the deep prayer which monastic life fosters, and then will flow whatever service to poor folks naturally, organically arises out of monastic life.
I feel too that God has given me the grace to make vows to Him. I know that I can make vows of poverty, chastity and obedience to Him. If I were not to do so, I would be wasting graces God has given to me. If you know me well, you know well that I cannot stand wasting what God has given to us. God has given us marvelous gifts: we should not only appreciate and use well His gifts, but thank and praise and adore and glorify God who gives us such magnificent gifts. Out of gratitude to Him, I do not wish to be the servant who buries in the ground a coin or coins he has received from his Master.* I do not wish to be the servant who wraps up in a cloth the coin He has received from His Master.**
I used to think that God had not empowered me to make a vow of chastity. Perhaps I was correct. What I do know is that at times I have prayed to God for grace, and He has given it to me. I have recalled how Our Blessed Mother Mary told Saint Catherine of Laboure that so many people do not receive certain graces because they do not ask for them. I have seen for myself how it is true that you can receive a grace you have not had if you but ask for it.
And so I will be moving on with a desire to use well what God has given to me. I wish to invest well the talents God has given me, so that I may make more,*** just as Jesus teaches us to do.
I look forward to trying to use well the gifts God has given to me. I face forward into the future, though parting under these circumstances is bittersweet, and not just for me.
I think of the homeless woman who once again I'll call "Kimberly." She has shared her pain with me, and so she and I have come to appreciate each other. Despite her sorrow, she has expressed to me that she wants to understand my reasons for leaving, and the goals I hope to reach, so that she can better support me in my decision to leave here.
I think too of the homeless woman who again I'll call "Anna." As she has been considering my moving away, in the context of how she has been well aware that she must repent and do her best to sin no more, she has confidently proclaimed that at the very least, she will see me again in eternity.
I am greatly consoled by these mature words of faith, hope and love. I am encouraged by the spiritual growth these words of sureness convey. I am comforted as I adjust to leaving here, knowing that such faith resides amongst those who are homeless here.
Thus I know that I am not deluding myself when I say that I have seen homeless persons rising up here. I can move on since I have seen real growth and progress among them.
I am reminded that recently a certain homeless woman who I'll once again call "Jane" showed up here at the Catholic Worker House. She had rung the doorbell, and in speaking with a Catholic Worker here, she expressed gratitude, saying, "Thank you for helping me to rise up." Jane too has been rising up from where she had been, to a better place, proven by the gratitude she has expressed.
I have also seen with my own eyes how a certain woman, who I'll call "Helen," has also moved forward in her life. Helen used to be homeless. Now she lives in her own apartment, which I have seen. I need not doubt her progress, which is evident.
I hear and see all this proof of rising up with my own ears and with my own eyes. As my time here draws to a close, I am encouraged by what I hear and see.
And so, as night has fallen today, so too the twilight of my time here as a Catholic Worker is also upon me. Yet as this night is upon us, I am not in despair, for a new dawn is rising up in homeless friends I have made here. This dawn I have been seeing break open in them gives me hope, a hope which stretches beyond them, into the wide community of humanity. This hope extends beyond this lifetime, into the limitless expanse of eternity. The fruits of this faith, hope and love will be seen in eternity. In eternity, we will see the consequences of our faith, hope and love.
Let us move forward in faith, hope and love now, so that we may live in love for all eternity. Amen.
* Matthew 25:18,25
** Luke 19:20
*** Matthew 25:20,23
And so on January 1 I will move back to the hermitage. I feel God is calling me back there.
I imagine you are wondering how this conclusion intersects with my previous discernment to leave the hermitage.
Although I did not explicitly say so, when I left the hermitage to serve poor persons, I was overwhelmingly focused on rejoining the Peace Corps. I re-applied to the Peace Corps near the end of 2015, and in early 2016, Peace Corps informed me that they could not offer me a position.
I applied or at least inquired with other organizations serving impoverished people abroad. Either I didn't hear back at all, or at other times it didn't work out with those other organizations.
Thus in time I came to realize that one reason I left the hermitage, to serve poor persons overseas, was not materializing. I let it go, and so the path I thought I was following turned out to be taking me not as far away as I had envisioned.
Since it started becoming clear I wouldn't be moving to another country again, I began to ponder serving poor folks here in the states. Having been a Catholic Worker in San Jose before I moved into the hermitage, I began to think about once again being a Catholic Worker.
After a brief stint last summer filling in for my friends at Casa de Clara, the San Jose Catholic Worker House, I moved in here at the Redwood City Catholic Worker House. After not too long, I began to get to know homeless folks here in Redwood City. I came to witness the sense of community amongst those living on the streets here. I became much closer with them than I had ever felt with homeless folks anywhere else. And so I have felt much fulfillment as I have served people living on the streets here.
And yet I have gradually, steadily, increasingly felt more and more spiritually malnourished despite how I have continued the spiritual practices I deepened at the hermitage. I read Scripture. I attend Mass. Yet I have consistently felt that God has been calling me back into more solitude, more silence, more stillness, more contemplation. I have felt that God has been calling me back into the deep prayer which monastic life fosters, and then will flow whatever service to poor folks naturally, organically arises out of monastic life.
I feel too that God has given me the grace to make vows to Him. I know that I can make vows of poverty, chastity and obedience to Him. If I were not to do so, I would be wasting graces God has given to me. If you know me well, you know well that I cannot stand wasting what God has given to us. God has given us marvelous gifts: we should not only appreciate and use well His gifts, but thank and praise and adore and glorify God who gives us such magnificent gifts. Out of gratitude to Him, I do not wish to be the servant who buries in the ground a coin or coins he has received from his Master.* I do not wish to be the servant who wraps up in a cloth the coin He has received from His Master.**
I used to think that God had not empowered me to make a vow of chastity. Perhaps I was correct. What I do know is that at times I have prayed to God for grace, and He has given it to me. I have recalled how Our Blessed Mother Mary told Saint Catherine of Laboure that so many people do not receive certain graces because they do not ask for them. I have seen for myself how it is true that you can receive a grace you have not had if you but ask for it.
And so I will be moving on with a desire to use well what God has given to me. I wish to invest well the talents God has given me, so that I may make more,*** just as Jesus teaches us to do.
I look forward to trying to use well the gifts God has given to me. I face forward into the future, though parting under these circumstances is bittersweet, and not just for me.
I think of the homeless woman who once again I'll call "Kimberly." She has shared her pain with me, and so she and I have come to appreciate each other. Despite her sorrow, she has expressed to me that she wants to understand my reasons for leaving, and the goals I hope to reach, so that she can better support me in my decision to leave here.
I think too of the homeless woman who again I'll call "Anna." As she has been considering my moving away, in the context of how she has been well aware that she must repent and do her best to sin no more, she has confidently proclaimed that at the very least, she will see me again in eternity.
I am greatly consoled by these mature words of faith, hope and love. I am encouraged by the spiritual growth these words of sureness convey. I am comforted as I adjust to leaving here, knowing that such faith resides amongst those who are homeless here.
Thus I know that I am not deluding myself when I say that I have seen homeless persons rising up here. I can move on since I have seen real growth and progress among them.
I am reminded that recently a certain homeless woman who I'll once again call "Jane" showed up here at the Catholic Worker House. She had rung the doorbell, and in speaking with a Catholic Worker here, she expressed gratitude, saying, "Thank you for helping me to rise up." Jane too has been rising up from where she had been, to a better place, proven by the gratitude she has expressed.
I have also seen with my own eyes how a certain woman, who I'll call "Helen," has also moved forward in her life. Helen used to be homeless. Now she lives in her own apartment, which I have seen. I need not doubt her progress, which is evident.
I hear and see all this proof of rising up with my own ears and with my own eyes. As my time here draws to a close, I am encouraged by what I hear and see.
And so, as night has fallen today, so too the twilight of my time here as a Catholic Worker is also upon me. Yet as this night is upon us, I am not in despair, for a new dawn is rising up in homeless friends I have made here. This dawn I have been seeing break open in them gives me hope, a hope which stretches beyond them, into the wide community of humanity. This hope extends beyond this lifetime, into the limitless expanse of eternity. The fruits of this faith, hope and love will be seen in eternity. In eternity, we will see the consequences of our faith, hope and love.
Let us move forward in faith, hope and love now, so that we may live in love for all eternity. Amen.
* Matthew 25:18,25
** Luke 19:20
*** Matthew 25:20,23
Monday, December 18, 2017
Humbly Request Prayers
The doorbell just rang. When I opened the door, there stood a certain homeless man I'll once again call "Manuel." He softly and gingerly inquired whether he was disturbing me. I smiled as I assured him that he came at the right time, trying to welcome him. He humbly asked me to pray for him.
If people ask us to pray for them, they show they are humble. It takes humility to request someone's prayers.
In seeking someone else's prayers, we admit that we cannot navigate life's difficulties on our own. When we would like another person to pray for us, we indicate that we realize that we need help in petitioning God.
When we turn to God, we demonstrate humility. If we are humble, we give God what is due to Him as we recognize our true relationship with Him. Realizing that we are nothing without Him, and that we can do nothing without Him,* we are humbled before Him. Seeing that God has given us all we have, with much gratitude, we thank Him. Once we have humility, we become who God created us to be, and so we come to praise, glorify and adore Him. Amen.
* John 15:5
If people ask us to pray for them, they show they are humble. It takes humility to request someone's prayers.
In seeking someone else's prayers, we admit that we cannot navigate life's difficulties on our own. When we would like another person to pray for us, we indicate that we realize that we need help in petitioning God.
When we turn to God, we demonstrate humility. If we are humble, we give God what is due to Him as we recognize our true relationship with Him. Realizing that we are nothing without Him, and that we can do nothing without Him,* we are humbled before Him. Seeing that God has given us all we have, with much gratitude, we thank Him. Once we have humility, we become who God created us to be, and so we come to praise, glorify and adore Him. Amen.
* John 15:5
Tuesday, December 5, 2017
Gratefully Become Ourselves
This morning I saw a particular homeless woman I'll once again call "Kimberly" here. She announced that she has been sober for three days.
She shared with me that when she went to be interviewed for the outpatient rehabilitation program she will soon enter, they didn't proceed with the interview because their computer system was down. They said they'll interview her in two days.
Immediately Kimberly expressed her contentment with the situation as she noted, "Well, then it'll be even better, since I'll have five days sobriety by then." Rather than become disgruntled and discouraged, she chose to recognize and value the benefit of the delay.
I am encouraged by how my dear friend Kimberly is appreciating what God is handing to her in her circumstances. She is showing interest in being grateful to God for what He is giving to her.
When we are grateful to God, then we thank God. If we thank God, we are recognizing His love.
As we realize that God is love,* we can come to adore God. Coming to see that God is, we can praise God since He is.
As we thank God, as we adore Him, as we praise Him, as we glorify Him, we become who God created us to be. When we thank and adore and glorify and praise God, we become our true selves.
* 1 John 4:8,16
She shared with me that when she went to be interviewed for the outpatient rehabilitation program she will soon enter, they didn't proceed with the interview because their computer system was down. They said they'll interview her in two days.
Immediately Kimberly expressed her contentment with the situation as she noted, "Well, then it'll be even better, since I'll have five days sobriety by then." Rather than become disgruntled and discouraged, she chose to recognize and value the benefit of the delay.
I am encouraged by how my dear friend Kimberly is appreciating what God is handing to her in her circumstances. She is showing interest in being grateful to God for what He is giving to her.
When we are grateful to God, then we thank God. If we thank God, we are recognizing His love.
As we realize that God is love,* we can come to adore God. Coming to see that God is, we can praise God since He is.
As we thank God, as we adore Him, as we praise Him, as we glorify Him, we become who God created us to be. When we thank and adore and glorify and praise God, we become our true selves.
* 1 John 4:8,16
Thursday, November 23, 2017
Recognize Afflicting Blessings
If we are wise, we can recognize the blessings in our afflictions. If we truly are grateful to God, we thank Him for the adversity we face as well as the comfort we receive. As we embrace those who are different from us, we are positioning ourselves to learn from them. If we have faith in God, we welcome all God sends us. If we have faith, we are saved.
We are reminded of these truths in today's Gospel reading for Thanksgiving Day. There we hear that
As Jesus continued his journey to Jerusalem,
he traveled through Samaria and Galilee.
As he was entering a village, ten persons with leprosy met him.
They stood at a distance from him and raised their voices, saying,
"Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!"
And when he saw them, he said,
"Go show yourselves to the priests."
As they were going they were cleansed.
And one of them, realizing he had been healed,
returned, glorifying God in a loud voice;
and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him.
He was a Samaritan.
Jesus said in reply,
"Ten were cleansed, were they not?
Where are the other nine?
Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?"
Then he said to him, "Stand up and go;
your faith has saved you."*
These lepers may have anticipated that the apparent misfortune of their leprosy would provide the vehicle through which God would be glorified in them. In their anguish, they cried out to Jesus to have pity on them. Jesus, full of compassion and love for others, cured them. The returning man recognized that God had had mercy on him, so he went back to Jesus, giving the glory and praise and honor due to God. When we are suffering from what would usually be viewed as a malady, we can thank God for the apparently ill fortune which has befallen us, if we consider that our dilemma provides an avenue through which God can be glorified. In our pain, we can capitalize on the excellent opportunity to earnestly call out to God to deliver us from what afflicts us. God likes to hear us offer up ardent prayers to Him. God hears and responds to fervent prayers. Then when God saves us from what torments us, all the glory is due to God. We can thank God not only for being delivered from agony, but also, realizing that trials supply opportunities for God to be glorified, we can also thank God for tribulations.
At times we are well instructed in thanking and praising and glorifying God by those who are different from us. The one leper who returned to thank God was a Samaritan. Normally Jews did not associate with Samaritans.** The foreigner demonstrated well the need to give thanks to God. If we dismiss those who are unlike us, we run the risk of refusing to learn from them. People dissimilar to us may have much important to teach us.
The Samaritan, the excluded one, was saved by his faith. Although he was a social outcast, he had the gift of faith from God. Through that faith, he was saved.
When we have faith, we welcome the apparent misfortune God sends us as well as the comfort He gives to us. Having faith, and being cured, we thank God not only for the relief but also for the affliction. With faith, we welcome into our hearts people who are not like us, aware that they can teach us since we are open to what they have to say. Being so receptive through our faith, we are saved. Amen.
* Luke 17:11-19
** John 4:9
We are reminded of these truths in today's Gospel reading for Thanksgiving Day. There we hear that
As Jesus continued his journey to Jerusalem,
he traveled through Samaria and Galilee.
As he was entering a village, ten persons with leprosy met him.
They stood at a distance from him and raised their voices, saying,
"Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!"
And when he saw them, he said,
"Go show yourselves to the priests."
As they were going they were cleansed.
And one of them, realizing he had been healed,
returned, glorifying God in a loud voice;
and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him.
He was a Samaritan.
Jesus said in reply,
"Ten were cleansed, were they not?
Where are the other nine?
Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?"
Then he said to him, "Stand up and go;
your faith has saved you."*
These lepers may have anticipated that the apparent misfortune of their leprosy would provide the vehicle through which God would be glorified in them. In their anguish, they cried out to Jesus to have pity on them. Jesus, full of compassion and love for others, cured them. The returning man recognized that God had had mercy on him, so he went back to Jesus, giving the glory and praise and honor due to God. When we are suffering from what would usually be viewed as a malady, we can thank God for the apparently ill fortune which has befallen us, if we consider that our dilemma provides an avenue through which God can be glorified. In our pain, we can capitalize on the excellent opportunity to earnestly call out to God to deliver us from what afflicts us. God likes to hear us offer up ardent prayers to Him. God hears and responds to fervent prayers. Then when God saves us from what torments us, all the glory is due to God. We can thank God not only for being delivered from agony, but also, realizing that trials supply opportunities for God to be glorified, we can also thank God for tribulations.
At times we are well instructed in thanking and praising and glorifying God by those who are different from us. The one leper who returned to thank God was a Samaritan. Normally Jews did not associate with Samaritans.** The foreigner demonstrated well the need to give thanks to God. If we dismiss those who are unlike us, we run the risk of refusing to learn from them. People dissimilar to us may have much important to teach us.
The Samaritan, the excluded one, was saved by his faith. Although he was a social outcast, he had the gift of faith from God. Through that faith, he was saved.
When we have faith, we welcome the apparent misfortune God sends us as well as the comfort He gives to us. Having faith, and being cured, we thank God not only for the relief but also for the affliction. With faith, we welcome into our hearts people who are not like us, aware that they can teach us since we are open to what they have to say. Being so receptive through our faith, we are saved. Amen.
* Luke 17:11-19
** John 4:9
Tuesday, November 21, 2017
Accept The Invitation
Suffering is an invitation to prayer. When God allows us to suffer, God invites us to pray.
If we are agonized, we are poised to present our petitions earnestly to God. In anguish, we pray with deep feeling, and thus effectively, when we beg God to help us.
O God, come to my assistance. O Lord, make haste to help me.*
When we are tormented, we pray fervently to God. How we pray matters.
We also show what we most value in what we request from God. In the midst of excruciating discomfort, we can do more than merely implore God to stop the pain. We can choose to ask God to give us the grace and the strength to bear the trials we are undergoing.
In beseeching God to grant us the grace and the strength to endure our tribulations, we are asking God that he let us be vehicles for Him to be glorified. When we seek from Him the composure we need to bear our suffering, we wish it to be that we weather our storms only by His grace. Then all glory and honor and praise is due to God, as it always has been, as it is, and as it ever shall be, to God, to ever has been, is, and ever shall be. Amen.
* Psalm 40:14; Psalm 70:2
If we are agonized, we are poised to present our petitions earnestly to God. In anguish, we pray with deep feeling, and thus effectively, when we beg God to help us.
O God, come to my assistance. O Lord, make haste to help me.*
When we are tormented, we pray fervently to God. How we pray matters.
We also show what we most value in what we request from God. In the midst of excruciating discomfort, we can do more than merely implore God to stop the pain. We can choose to ask God to give us the grace and the strength to bear the trials we are undergoing.
In beseeching God to grant us the grace and the strength to endure our tribulations, we are asking God that he let us be vehicles for Him to be glorified. When we seek from Him the composure we need to bear our suffering, we wish it to be that we weather our storms only by His grace. Then all glory and honor and praise is due to God, as it always has been, as it is, and as it ever shall be, to God, to ever has been, is, and ever shall be. Amen.
* Psalm 40:14; Psalm 70:2
Sunday, November 5, 2017
Embrace God's Intention
This afternoon I was walking through downtown Redwood City. As I strolled along, leisurely enjoying my Sunday afternoon, I heard some music being performed. I looked to the side and saw a man playing a guitar and another man playing drums.
The man playing drums is a man I've mentioned in a previous blog post. Here I'll again call him "Ed." When I first met Ed, he was homeless. Then he started staying in a homeless shelter. When I last saw him before today, it was on the front porch of the Catholic Worker House, when he was sharing with me how he had learned that one overcomes depression by slowly, daily, gradually accomplishing whatever tasks are at hand.
In this arc of improvement, when I saw Ed today, it seemed he was simply living in the moment of playing the music he could play. He was doing what he could do.
When we use the skills God has given to us, we accept who God made us to be. As we become ourselves, we praise God, for we are embracing who God intended us to be. If we welcome who God always has meant us to be, we show we appreciate what God has given to us, and thus open our hearts to God. Opening our hearts to God, we are positioned to love God with all our heart, with all our mind, with all our soul, and with all our strength.*
As we do what we can to be ourselves, we show our neighbor that we love ourselves. When we take the little steps we can take to be our true selves, we demonstrate to our neighbor that we love ourselves. Comforting our neighbor with the knowledge that we love ourselves, we love our neighbor as ourselves,** just as Jesus taught us to do.
When we become our true selves, we love ourselves, for in accepting who God made us to be, we are welcoming God into our hearts, and since God is love,*** we are welcoming love into our hearts. As we grow into who God has always meant us to be, we welcome love into our hearts.
With the love of God poured into our hearts,**** we are empowered to bring love into the world. Being our true selves, we bring love into the world.
* Deuteronomy 6:5; Deuteronomy 10:12; Matthew 22:37; Mark 12:30; Luke 10:27
** Matthew 22:39; Mark 12:31; Luke 10:27; Leviticus 19:18; Romans 13:9; Galatians 5:14
*** 1 John 4:8,16
**** Romans 5:5
The man playing drums is a man I've mentioned in a previous blog post. Here I'll again call him "Ed." When I first met Ed, he was homeless. Then he started staying in a homeless shelter. When I last saw him before today, it was on the front porch of the Catholic Worker House, when he was sharing with me how he had learned that one overcomes depression by slowly, daily, gradually accomplishing whatever tasks are at hand.
In this arc of improvement, when I saw Ed today, it seemed he was simply living in the moment of playing the music he could play. He was doing what he could do.
When we use the skills God has given to us, we accept who God made us to be. As we become ourselves, we praise God, for we are embracing who God intended us to be. If we welcome who God always has meant us to be, we show we appreciate what God has given to us, and thus open our hearts to God. Opening our hearts to God, we are positioned to love God with all our heart, with all our mind, with all our soul, and with all our strength.*
As we do what we can to be ourselves, we show our neighbor that we love ourselves. When we take the little steps we can take to be our true selves, we demonstrate to our neighbor that we love ourselves. Comforting our neighbor with the knowledge that we love ourselves, we love our neighbor as ourselves,** just as Jesus taught us to do.
When we become our true selves, we love ourselves, for in accepting who God made us to be, we are welcoming God into our hearts, and since God is love,*** we are welcoming love into our hearts. As we grow into who God has always meant us to be, we welcome love into our hearts.
With the love of God poured into our hearts,**** we are empowered to bring love into the world. Being our true selves, we bring love into the world.
* Deuteronomy 6:5; Deuteronomy 10:12; Matthew 22:37; Mark 12:30; Luke 10:27
** Matthew 22:39; Mark 12:31; Luke 10:27; Leviticus 19:18; Romans 13:9; Galatians 5:14
*** 1 John 4:8,16
**** Romans 5:5
Wednesday, November 1, 2017
Be His Will
Today as we celebrate All Saints' Day, when we honor all saints, those both known as well as those unknown, we can be encouraged if we keep in mind how Pope Francis has reminded us that we are all called to be saints. This might seem like such a lofty calling that it is beyond our grasp. Perhaps we obscure what we try to see through our own tendency to short-sightedness. Maybe we fall into the trap of feeling like we can't do something because we rely too much on ourselves. When we refuse to depend on God, we are telling God that we do not want Him to perform miracles through us.
God can work miracles through us if we but give our consent. If we simply submit and give our assent to the Word of God like Our Blessed Mother Mary did, if we merely respond to God that it be done unto us according to His Word,* then we welcome Jesus into our hearts, and show God that we wish that the Holy Spirit dwell in us.
Until we offer this complete obedience to God, we are cutting ourselves off from how the Holy Spirit can radically transform us. We can't do much without God, but God can do much through us. What is impossible for humans is possible for God,** for nothing is impossible for God.***
If we open our hearts to God, God can work wonders through us. If we allow ourselves to be humbled, God will give us the grace**** and the strength we need to do His will. God will exalt those who humble themselves.*****
In deciding whether or not we would like to be humble, we determine who we will become. We spend our time well when we ask ourselves who we would like to become. Having pondered who we wish to become, we then do well to request what we need to evolve into who God has always intended us to be.
If we pray to God that He give us what we need to do His will, He will give it to us. Those who ask will receive. Those who seek will find. Those who knock will have the door opened to them.******
God answers the prayers of those who seek to serve Him. God gives people what they request when they seek to be who He made them to be.
As I recently suggested to someone, God made us to pray to Him, to praise Him, to adore Him, to glorify Him, and to honor Him. When we do so with all our heart, with all our mind, with all our soul, and with all our strength,******* and when we love our neighbor as ourselves,******** then we become who God made us to be. When the will of God is what we will, then we are saints. When we live the will of God, we become who God has always meant us to be. Amen.
* Luke 1:38
** Matthew 19:26; Mark 10:27; Luke 18:27
*** Genesis 18:14; Luke 1:37
**** 1 Peter 5:5; James 4:6
***** Matthew 23:12; Luke 14:11; Luke 18:14
****** Matthew 7:7-8
******* Deuteronomy 6:5; Deuteronomy 10:12; Matthew 22:37; Mark 12:30; Luke 10:27
******** Matthew 22:39; Mark 12:31; Luke 10:27; Leviticus 19:18; Romans 13:9; Galatians 5:14
God can work miracles through us if we but give our consent. If we simply submit and give our assent to the Word of God like Our Blessed Mother Mary did, if we merely respond to God that it be done unto us according to His Word,* then we welcome Jesus into our hearts, and show God that we wish that the Holy Spirit dwell in us.
Until we offer this complete obedience to God, we are cutting ourselves off from how the Holy Spirit can radically transform us. We can't do much without God, but God can do much through us. What is impossible for humans is possible for God,** for nothing is impossible for God.***
If we open our hearts to God, God can work wonders through us. If we allow ourselves to be humbled, God will give us the grace**** and the strength we need to do His will. God will exalt those who humble themselves.*****
In deciding whether or not we would like to be humble, we determine who we will become. We spend our time well when we ask ourselves who we would like to become. Having pondered who we wish to become, we then do well to request what we need to evolve into who God has always intended us to be.
If we pray to God that He give us what we need to do His will, He will give it to us. Those who ask will receive. Those who seek will find. Those who knock will have the door opened to them.******
God answers the prayers of those who seek to serve Him. God gives people what they request when they seek to be who He made them to be.
As I recently suggested to someone, God made us to pray to Him, to praise Him, to adore Him, to glorify Him, and to honor Him. When we do so with all our heart, with all our mind, with all our soul, and with all our strength,******* and when we love our neighbor as ourselves,******** then we become who God made us to be. When the will of God is what we will, then we are saints. When we live the will of God, we become who God has always meant us to be. Amen.
* Luke 1:38
** Matthew 19:26; Mark 10:27; Luke 18:27
*** Genesis 18:14; Luke 1:37
**** 1 Peter 5:5; James 4:6
***** Matthew 23:12; Luke 14:11; Luke 18:14
****** Matthew 7:7-8
******* Deuteronomy 6:5; Deuteronomy 10:12; Matthew 22:37; Mark 12:30; Luke 10:27
******** Matthew 22:39; Mark 12:31; Luke 10:27; Leviticus 19:18; Romans 13:9; Galatians 5:14
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
Sunday, October 1, 2017
Little Becomes Much
We can be convinced that we do nothing of any significance. It might seem that all of the evidence shows that we are having no effect on another particular person.
We see so little. So much there is we do not see.
What we do is little, yet it can matter so much. It might seem to matter little, but out of just a little can come so much.
What we do might matter little to us. Yet it might matter a great deal to someone else.
I am not speaking merely in theoretical terms here. I have seen this truth demonstrated right in front of my very eyes.
I am thinking of a generous person I know named Amy. Amy likes to make desserts for people. Recently Amy made a pie for someone who was turning 43, who said no one had ever made her a dessert for her birthday.
We can think that we are doing something routine and normal and ordinary and therefore that what we are doing does not matter much. However, we might find out that what we have done is much more special than we had thought, and gives much more love to a person than she has previously received. In the little presents we give, we might be extending much more kindness, with much more of a nurturing and caring effect than we realize.
Unlike people who do not see that little acts of love can have great effects on others, Amy recognizes that every dessert she makes is an opportunity to love her neighbor as herself,* just as Jesus taught us to do. She bakes treats for people since she seeks to love others. She seizes little chances to serve her neighbor.
When we perform little acts of kindness for our neighbor, we follow the little way of Saint Therese of Lisieux, whose feast day we celebrate today. Saint Therese sought to get to Heaven by making herself little, by making little sacrifices, by showing her love for others in a thousand little ways.
As people choose to be content with doing little, in the end they might find that actually God is doing much through them. If people give their assent to being humbled, to becoming less than they have been, they can come to find God doing great things through them.
When much is accomplished through those who are little, God receives the glory due to Him, since He is performing the great works. Through the little, God is glorified.
When God is glorified, praised, and adored, we find the greatness for which we were made. If you wish to become great, become little.
* Matthew 22:39; Mark 12:31; Luke 10:27; Leviticus 19:18; Romans 13:9; Galatians 5:14
We see so little. So much there is we do not see.
What we do is little, yet it can matter so much. It might seem to matter little, but out of just a little can come so much.
What we do might matter little to us. Yet it might matter a great deal to someone else.
I am not speaking merely in theoretical terms here. I have seen this truth demonstrated right in front of my very eyes.
I am thinking of a generous person I know named Amy. Amy likes to make desserts for people. Recently Amy made a pie for someone who was turning 43, who said no one had ever made her a dessert for her birthday.
We can think that we are doing something routine and normal and ordinary and therefore that what we are doing does not matter much. However, we might find out that what we have done is much more special than we had thought, and gives much more love to a person than she has previously received. In the little presents we give, we might be extending much more kindness, with much more of a nurturing and caring effect than we realize.
Unlike people who do not see that little acts of love can have great effects on others, Amy recognizes that every dessert she makes is an opportunity to love her neighbor as herself,* just as Jesus taught us to do. She bakes treats for people since she seeks to love others. She seizes little chances to serve her neighbor.
When we perform little acts of kindness for our neighbor, we follow the little way of Saint Therese of Lisieux, whose feast day we celebrate today. Saint Therese sought to get to Heaven by making herself little, by making little sacrifices, by showing her love for others in a thousand little ways.
As people choose to be content with doing little, in the end they might find that actually God is doing much through them. If people give their assent to being humbled, to becoming less than they have been, they can come to find God doing great things through them.
When much is accomplished through those who are little, God receives the glory due to Him, since He is performing the great works. Through the little, God is glorified.
When God is glorified, praised, and adored, we find the greatness for which we were made. If you wish to become great, become little.
* Matthew 22:39; Mark 12:31; Luke 10:27; Leviticus 19:18; Romans 13:9; Galatians 5:14
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
Thursday, September 28, 2017
Gratefully Humbly Listen
Yesterday I spoke with a particular homeless woman who once again I'll call "Anna." Anna told me that we do well to be attentive to the many blessings God bestows upon us. She described how we receive many blessings from God, so we ought consciously to express gratitude for these new blessings which arise so often in our lives.
As I have previously related, Anna is not only homeless, but is addicted to methamphetamines. It is so easy to conclude mistakenly from our neighbor's mistakes that we have nothing to learn from our neighbor. If we judge our neighbor, we are deciding not to learn from our neighbor.
In deciding not to listen to our neighbor, we are closing ourselves off to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, who speaks to us through our neighbor. We hear echoes of saints as our neighbor speaks to us.
Saint Ignatius of Loyola prescribed that persons perform an examen at the end of each day in which they look back at their day and recall the many blessings from God over the course of the day. Upon reviewing the numerous blessings from God during the day, we then give thanks to God and we praise God for so abundantly blessing us.
When we are grateful to God, we become more conscious of how much He blesses us. As we become more grateful to God, we become receptive to how He seeks to teach us in unexpected ways and through people who we would otherwise shun.
As we open our hearts to those amongst us who are despised, we open our hearts to Jesus. In how we react to those among us who are marginalized, so we treat Jesus.*
If we refuse to hear what our reviled neighbor has to say, we may be rejecting saintly advice. One who is maligned may very well be speaking the words of a saint without our realizing it.
Everyday we are presented with wisdom as we go about our day. If we are humble, we can learn from our neighbor.
If we love our neighbor, we can learn from our neighbor. God seeks to teach us through our neighbor.
When we listen to our neighbor, we love our neighbor as ourselves,** since we would like others to listen to us. Let us listen to each other, and thus learn from each other, and thus love each other. Amen.
* Matthew 25:40,45
** Matthew 22:39; Mark 12:31; Luke 10:27; Leviticus 19:18; Romans 13:9; Galatians 5:14
As I have previously related, Anna is not only homeless, but is addicted to methamphetamines. It is so easy to conclude mistakenly from our neighbor's mistakes that we have nothing to learn from our neighbor. If we judge our neighbor, we are deciding not to learn from our neighbor.
In deciding not to listen to our neighbor, we are closing ourselves off to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, who speaks to us through our neighbor. We hear echoes of saints as our neighbor speaks to us.
Saint Ignatius of Loyola prescribed that persons perform an examen at the end of each day in which they look back at their day and recall the many blessings from God over the course of the day. Upon reviewing the numerous blessings from God during the day, we then give thanks to God and we praise God for so abundantly blessing us.
When we are grateful to God, we become more conscious of how much He blesses us. As we become more grateful to God, we become receptive to how He seeks to teach us in unexpected ways and through people who we would otherwise shun.
As we open our hearts to those amongst us who are despised, we open our hearts to Jesus. In how we react to those among us who are marginalized, so we treat Jesus.*
If we refuse to hear what our reviled neighbor has to say, we may be rejecting saintly advice. One who is maligned may very well be speaking the words of a saint without our realizing it.
Everyday we are presented with wisdom as we go about our day. If we are humble, we can learn from our neighbor.
If we love our neighbor, we can learn from our neighbor. God seeks to teach us through our neighbor.
When we listen to our neighbor, we love our neighbor as ourselves,** since we would like others to listen to us. Let us listen to each other, and thus learn from each other, and thus love each other. Amen.
* Matthew 25:40,45
** Matthew 22:39; Mark 12:31; Luke 10:27; Leviticus 19:18; Romans 13:9; Galatians 5:14
Tuesday, September 19, 2017
Joyfully Thank Always
This morning a friend of ours came here to the Catholic Worker House. Here I'll call him "Stan." Stan is homeless and suffers from various ailments. He moves very slowly; it seems like one might be overstating his degree of mobility if one were to say that he hobbles along. On his legs and his fingers, his skin has become scaly and is peeling off in large flakes. This morning, it was clear that his sores had broken open and were bleeding.
Despite his misfortune, at one point this morning, Stan proclaimed, "The Lord is good." Stan could lament his medical condition, but instead he chooses to give glory to God. In the midst of his discomfort, Stan praises and adores and glorifies God for His great goodness.
Amidst suffering, just as during times of ease and comfort, we are to give thanks to God. Knowing that God is good, we are to be joyful always, pray constantly, and for all things give thanks.*
I am reminded and am told that we must do so by the suffering homeless man who shows up at my doorstep. Jesus, in the impoverished individuals** in front of us, comes to us to continue to teach us how to love God with all our heart, with all our mind, with all our soul, and with all our strength.***
As we open our hearts to the poor persons who are before us, we open our hearts to God. When we truly see the impoverished man in front of us, we recognize Jesus here with us.**** As we welcome the homeless person here with us into our hearts, we welcome Jesus into our hearts.
As we welcome God into our hearts, we see that God is infinitely good. When we realize that the Lord is good, we give thanks always. We never stop expressing gratitude to God once we see that God infinitely loves us.
When we recognize that God is love,***** we welcome the truth that God loves us always. Aware that God loves us infinitely, we rejoice at all times. Ever joyful, we give thanks for all things. Amen.
* 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
** Matthew 25:40,45
*** Deuteronomy 6:5; Deuteronomy 10:12; Matthew 22:37; Mark 12:30; Luke 10:27
**** Matthew 28:20
***** 1 John 4:8,16
Despite his misfortune, at one point this morning, Stan proclaimed, "The Lord is good." Stan could lament his medical condition, but instead he chooses to give glory to God. In the midst of his discomfort, Stan praises and adores and glorifies God for His great goodness.
Amidst suffering, just as during times of ease and comfort, we are to give thanks to God. Knowing that God is good, we are to be joyful always, pray constantly, and for all things give thanks.*
I am reminded and am told that we must do so by the suffering homeless man who shows up at my doorstep. Jesus, in the impoverished individuals** in front of us, comes to us to continue to teach us how to love God with all our heart, with all our mind, with all our soul, and with all our strength.***
As we open our hearts to the poor persons who are before us, we open our hearts to God. When we truly see the impoverished man in front of us, we recognize Jesus here with us.**** As we welcome the homeless person here with us into our hearts, we welcome Jesus into our hearts.
As we welcome God into our hearts, we see that God is infinitely good. When we realize that the Lord is good, we give thanks always. We never stop expressing gratitude to God once we see that God infinitely loves us.
When we recognize that God is love,***** we welcome the truth that God loves us always. Aware that God loves us infinitely, we rejoice at all times. Ever joyful, we give thanks for all things. Amen.
* 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
** Matthew 25:40,45
*** Deuteronomy 6:5; Deuteronomy 10:12; Matthew 22:37; Mark 12:30; Luke 10:27
**** Matthew 28:20
***** 1 John 4:8,16
Wednesday, July 26, 2017
Waste Not Tears
We are all faced over and over with the decision of whether or not we will love. We all choose our relationship with pain. We all decide whether we embrace suffering or reject it. In what we accept or deny, we determine whether or not we love.
We can cry out of hopeless desperation, feeling frantic, and convinced that all is lost. Or we can profoundly weep out of great love for others.
We can let tears fall from our eyes without realizing their value. Or we can weep offering our tears as prayers to God.
All we send out from our being echoes out into the universe. As a tear falls from your eye, if you offer it as a humble prayer to God, when it drops into the liquid lake of spiritual solidarity we share, you can implicitly offer that tear to help others. Your tearful prayers are effective when they are offered as the basis of humble and earnest prayer. When such humble, ardent tears of yours hit the liquid lake of spiritual community we share, these tears send out ripples of love across that surface. Thus through such tears you can seek to strengthen your spiritual brothers and sisters.
I am not merely speaking in theoretical terms here. Ever since earlier this week, when a dear homeless friend who I'll once again here call "Sally" shared with me how she views tears as liquid prayers, her statement of spiritual insight has been echoing in my soul. Like a drop of water that falls into a pond and causes ripples outward, so her tender spiritual musing, coming into contact with my ears, has been echoing in my soul.
Despite the struggle, Sally has chosen not to let her agonizing experiences dominate how she responds to life. As I have mentioned in prior blog posts, Sally has endured domestic violence. Despite having been hit hard many times by multiple men, Sally refuses to be enslaved by the pain she has felt. Instead she offers up her tears to God. Interwoven with her sensitivity and fragility, she also displays a courageous and admirable tenacity, and so she sends out a strong message of faith, hope and love, that pain can be the basis of a beautiful transformation of one's spirit.
Knowing, then, that we can consent to our suffering being transformed into the joy that emerges out of service of others, we can come to experience a radical alteration of how we feel pain, see pain, and respond to pain. Aware that God works all for the good of those who love Him,* we come to realize that even anguish can lead to joy, if we seize upon such opportunities to petition God. Thus in all we experience we can be joyous,** if all we do is for the praise, glory and honor of God.
Conscious that all we experience presents us chances to glorify God by assenting to call upon Him so He may show us His great love always, we come to give thanks always for all things.*** As we come to express such gratitude at all times, God comes to give us a deep, abiding and enduring peace, as, feeling His love, Jesus comes to abide in us, and we in Him.****
Let us embrace every opportunity we have, then, including in the midst of our tears, to pray constantly,***** give thanks for all things always, and thus love God and love our neighbor. Thus we come to live a life of love. Amen.
* Romans 8:28
** 1 Thessalonians 5:16
*** 1 Thessalonians 5:18
**** John 15:4-7,9-10
***** 1 Thessalonians 5:17
We can cry out of hopeless desperation, feeling frantic, and convinced that all is lost. Or we can profoundly weep out of great love for others.
We can let tears fall from our eyes without realizing their value. Or we can weep offering our tears as prayers to God.
All we send out from our being echoes out into the universe. As a tear falls from your eye, if you offer it as a humble prayer to God, when it drops into the liquid lake of spiritual solidarity we share, you can implicitly offer that tear to help others. Your tearful prayers are effective when they are offered as the basis of humble and earnest prayer. When such humble, ardent tears of yours hit the liquid lake of spiritual community we share, these tears send out ripples of love across that surface. Thus through such tears you can seek to strengthen your spiritual brothers and sisters.
I am not merely speaking in theoretical terms here. Ever since earlier this week, when a dear homeless friend who I'll once again here call "Sally" shared with me how she views tears as liquid prayers, her statement of spiritual insight has been echoing in my soul. Like a drop of water that falls into a pond and causes ripples outward, so her tender spiritual musing, coming into contact with my ears, has been echoing in my soul.
Despite the struggle, Sally has chosen not to let her agonizing experiences dominate how she responds to life. As I have mentioned in prior blog posts, Sally has endured domestic violence. Despite having been hit hard many times by multiple men, Sally refuses to be enslaved by the pain she has felt. Instead she offers up her tears to God. Interwoven with her sensitivity and fragility, she also displays a courageous and admirable tenacity, and so she sends out a strong message of faith, hope and love, that pain can be the basis of a beautiful transformation of one's spirit.
Knowing, then, that we can consent to our suffering being transformed into the joy that emerges out of service of others, we can come to experience a radical alteration of how we feel pain, see pain, and respond to pain. Aware that God works all for the good of those who love Him,* we come to realize that even anguish can lead to joy, if we seize upon such opportunities to petition God. Thus in all we experience we can be joyous,** if all we do is for the praise, glory and honor of God.
Conscious that all we experience presents us chances to glorify God by assenting to call upon Him so He may show us His great love always, we come to give thanks always for all things.*** As we come to express such gratitude at all times, God comes to give us a deep, abiding and enduring peace, as, feeling His love, Jesus comes to abide in us, and we in Him.****
Let us embrace every opportunity we have, then, including in the midst of our tears, to pray constantly,***** give thanks for all things always, and thus love God and love our neighbor. Thus we come to live a life of love. Amen.
* Romans 8:28
** 1 Thessalonians 5:16
*** 1 Thessalonians 5:18
**** John 15:4-7,9-10
***** 1 Thessalonians 5:17
Tuesday, July 4, 2017
Proclaiming Our Dependence
Today is a day when people especially think of, give thanks for, and celebrate their independence. Here in the United States on this particular day, we celebrate the independence of our nation. We commemorate how we declared our independence from the British.
It is often said, and quite rightly, that we must remain vigilant to preserve our democracy and the freedom that comes with it. Some people especially crave power, and oppress others in order to keep it. When people abuse power by using it to mistreat others, we witness a misuse of freedom.
When we make choices which cause us to become enslaved to anything, we misuse our freedom. Unfortunately we can decide to use our freedom to become slaves to many things. We become slaves to possessions, to money, to power and to prestige. We can even become slaves to food and drink if we do not remain in right relation to it. If we become gluttons with food and drink, we have become slaves to our own desires for excessive amounts of food and drink. When we allow our desires to rule us, we have lost our freedom.
If we become addicts, we have become enslaved to our desires. If we have become addicted to drugs or gambling or sex or anything else, we are no longer free. As addicts, our desires rule us.
I am not only speaking about others. I am speaking about myself and about others. I am addicted to sugar. I do not lightly say that I am an addict. If I go too long without sugar, my perceptions become severely skewed. My outlook on life becomes dismal.
Such is the state of an addict. For one who is addicted, being deprived is being tortured.
Some would respond to such circumstances by demanding how God could let people devolve into such a state. They ask how and why God could let this happen to people.
God does not wish anyone to stray from him. Yet God gives us our free will. Sometimes people make decisions which harm themselves. Yet even in the midst of such debilitating situations in which there seems to be no hope, we can use our freedom for our own good. When we feel trapped, we can use our freedom to declare our independence from what enslaves us, by confidently proclaiming that we will steadfastly rely on God. If we utilize our freedom to proclaim our dependence on God, God will free us from being held in chains.
Thus in such situations of suffering, there is a profound opportunity, if we choose to open our hearts to it. When we are faced with challenges which we cannot overcome on our own, we are to pray to God to deliver us from evil.* If we tell God, with all our heart, mind, soul and strength, that on our own we cannot surmount the obstacles we encounter, then God will come to our aid. When we let go of our egos, then we make the room for God to work in our souls, then we welcome God into our hearts. Once we admit that we must have God's help, then we can begin to love Him with all our heart, with all our mind, with all our soul, and with all our strength.**
When we pray in such a way, we pray with true humility. If you truly pray, you have humility. To the humble, God gives grace.*** With the help of God's grace, we can conquer what for us alone would be impossible. As Jesus reminded us, everything is possible for God.****
And so, with all credit for our success going to God, God truly is glorified. When we admit that all glory, praise and honor is due to God, then God delivers us from evil and brings us into true life. Amen.
* Matthew 6:13
** Deuteronomy 6:5; Deuteronomy 10:12; Matthew 22:37; Mark 12:30; Luke 10:27
*** 1 Peter 5:5; James 4:6
**** Matthew 19:26; Luke 18:27
It is often said, and quite rightly, that we must remain vigilant to preserve our democracy and the freedom that comes with it. Some people especially crave power, and oppress others in order to keep it. When people abuse power by using it to mistreat others, we witness a misuse of freedom.
When we make choices which cause us to become enslaved to anything, we misuse our freedom. Unfortunately we can decide to use our freedom to become slaves to many things. We become slaves to possessions, to money, to power and to prestige. We can even become slaves to food and drink if we do not remain in right relation to it. If we become gluttons with food and drink, we have become slaves to our own desires for excessive amounts of food and drink. When we allow our desires to rule us, we have lost our freedom.
If we become addicts, we have become enslaved to our desires. If we have become addicted to drugs or gambling or sex or anything else, we are no longer free. As addicts, our desires rule us.
I am not only speaking about others. I am speaking about myself and about others. I am addicted to sugar. I do not lightly say that I am an addict. If I go too long without sugar, my perceptions become severely skewed. My outlook on life becomes dismal.
Such is the state of an addict. For one who is addicted, being deprived is being tortured.
Some would respond to such circumstances by demanding how God could let people devolve into such a state. They ask how and why God could let this happen to people.
God does not wish anyone to stray from him. Yet God gives us our free will. Sometimes people make decisions which harm themselves. Yet even in the midst of such debilitating situations in which there seems to be no hope, we can use our freedom for our own good. When we feel trapped, we can use our freedom to declare our independence from what enslaves us, by confidently proclaiming that we will steadfastly rely on God. If we utilize our freedom to proclaim our dependence on God, God will free us from being held in chains.
Thus in such situations of suffering, there is a profound opportunity, if we choose to open our hearts to it. When we are faced with challenges which we cannot overcome on our own, we are to pray to God to deliver us from evil.* If we tell God, with all our heart, mind, soul and strength, that on our own we cannot surmount the obstacles we encounter, then God will come to our aid. When we let go of our egos, then we make the room for God to work in our souls, then we welcome God into our hearts. Once we admit that we must have God's help, then we can begin to love Him with all our heart, with all our mind, with all our soul, and with all our strength.**
When we pray in such a way, we pray with true humility. If you truly pray, you have humility. To the humble, God gives grace.*** With the help of God's grace, we can conquer what for us alone would be impossible. As Jesus reminded us, everything is possible for God.****
And so, with all credit for our success going to God, God truly is glorified. When we admit that all glory, praise and honor is due to God, then God delivers us from evil and brings us into true life. Amen.
* Matthew 6:13
** Deuteronomy 6:5; Deuteronomy 10:12; Matthew 22:37; Mark 12:30; Luke 10:27
*** 1 Peter 5:5; James 4:6
**** Matthew 19:26; Luke 18:27
Wednesday, May 24, 2017
Called To Respect
We are called to respect others the way we would like to be treated. Otherwise, when we fail to respect others, we are telling them that they are not worthy of respect. In time, they come to disrespect themselves, as they slip into a downward spiral in which they get used to abusing themselves. We can think that we have no responsibility for others' actions, but when we fail to build up people, we choose not to lift them up, we keep them down, and we push them even further down.
Often I think about the people who sift through the garbage and recyclables in the dumpsters in the parking lot outside my window. They usually sort through it around 5:00 a.m. I've imagined that they come at that time because they want to get what they can out of it before the garbage truck comes around 5:30 a.m. to empty the dumpsters.
I've imagined talking with them when they are going through the garbage and the recyclables. I've envisioned saying something to them like, "I'm not going to try to stop you from going through the garbage. You can do so. I'm not disturbed by the sound. I am deeply saddened that human beings care for each other so little that some people are reduced to rifling through garbage. I believe you were meant to be treated with more dignity. We are supposed to treat you with more respect."
Homeless folks have told me and shown me that they collect recyclables to exchange for money. Earlier this week, I asked a homeless woman, who I'll call "Kelly" here, what she was going to buy with the money she was going to get from the recyclables she had. She told me she was going to buy cigarettes.
In addition to nicotine, homeless folks also fall prey to illicit drugs. Kelly has confessed to me that she has taken methamphetamines. Meth is inexpensive, so homeless folks can get it.
Although meth doesn't cost much money, homeless folks pay a high price for it. In using it, people become less than they were meant to be.
When we do not acknowledge the presence of a homeless person, we treat them as less than they actually are. By acting as if homeless people do not exist, we rip them down just like an illicit drug tears them down.
In addition to meth tearing people down, people use it in the first place since they are down. Kelly has identified her low self-esteem as the root of her problems. She admitted to me that she does things which she thinks will make her feel better, but which don't help. She has acknowledged too that she tries to numb herself to prevent herself from feeling what she doesn't want to feel. Kelly does not want to feel the disrespect that has been shown to her. She would rather turn aside from the pain inflicted on her.
We cannot justify ignoring and casting aside those who are homeless or otherwise poor. We cannot in good conscience tell them that they must accept their lot, for in doing so we reject our duty to love them.
In loving homeless persons and showing them respect, we build them up. We help them become more than they have been. By treating homeless persons with dignity, we help them to rise above the suffering they have endured. If any of us refuse to help our neighbor, whether homeless or not, we are ignoring the lessons of love presented to us.
If any of us, whether we are homeless or rich, only try to escape from pain, and never embrace suffering, we are refusing to learn from what life presents to us. Through life's hardships, God seeks to mold us, just as He does by way of life's blessings.
God asks that we agree to become who He created us to be. We are called to become who God made us to be.
We find out who we are as we endure life's challenges. If we reject what we have to learn in what unfolds in our lives, we refuse to accept what God is trying to give to us. If we decide not to seize the chance to love our neighbor, we throw away the gift God is giving us.
Yet God made us to learn and grow through endurance, which is a reflection of love. To become more than we have been, by obediently submitting ourselves to the will of God, we show who we are. By loving our neighbor, we demonstrate who we are.
In the film "Restless Heart," Saint Monica says to her son, Saint Augustine, "Don't forget who you are." As he continued to ignore the call from God to become who he really was, she admonished him to embrace his true identity, where he would find deep joy and happiness.
God made us to be happy and joyous. We find deep joy and happiness when we turn towards God, and submit ourselves to Him, and praise and glorify and adore Him, and love our neighbor. We do not realize this is why God made us. We must not forget who God made us to be.
We are to use what God has given to us to bear much fruit to His glory. We are to use the gifts God has given to us.
Kelly told me that at one point she had been in college. She has told me that she would like to go back to school and get her Bachelor's Degree.
Kelly realizes that she is meant to be more than she has been. She knows that she must respect herself. In loving herself, she can become who God has always meant her to be. In loving each other, we become who God created us to be.
God calls us to respect each other. When we respect others, we invite them to respect themselves too.
We respect and love ourselves. We wish to be respected and loved. Thus we should respect and love others, since we wish to be respected and loved. Seeing that we too would like to be respected and loved, we come to be able to love our neighbor as ourselves,* just as Jesus taught us.
* Matthew 22:39; Mark 12:31; Luke 10:27; Leviticus 19:18; Romans 13:9; Galatians 5:14
Often I think about the people who sift through the garbage and recyclables in the dumpsters in the parking lot outside my window. They usually sort through it around 5:00 a.m. I've imagined that they come at that time because they want to get what they can out of it before the garbage truck comes around 5:30 a.m. to empty the dumpsters.
I've imagined talking with them when they are going through the garbage and the recyclables. I've envisioned saying something to them like, "I'm not going to try to stop you from going through the garbage. You can do so. I'm not disturbed by the sound. I am deeply saddened that human beings care for each other so little that some people are reduced to rifling through garbage. I believe you were meant to be treated with more dignity. We are supposed to treat you with more respect."
Homeless folks have told me and shown me that they collect recyclables to exchange for money. Earlier this week, I asked a homeless woman, who I'll call "Kelly" here, what she was going to buy with the money she was going to get from the recyclables she had. She told me she was going to buy cigarettes.
In addition to nicotine, homeless folks also fall prey to illicit drugs. Kelly has confessed to me that she has taken methamphetamines. Meth is inexpensive, so homeless folks can get it.
Although meth doesn't cost much money, homeless folks pay a high price for it. In using it, people become less than they were meant to be.
When we do not acknowledge the presence of a homeless person, we treat them as less than they actually are. By acting as if homeless people do not exist, we rip them down just like an illicit drug tears them down.
In addition to meth tearing people down, people use it in the first place since they are down. Kelly has identified her low self-esteem as the root of her problems. She admitted to me that she does things which she thinks will make her feel better, but which don't help. She has acknowledged too that she tries to numb herself to prevent herself from feeling what she doesn't want to feel. Kelly does not want to feel the disrespect that has been shown to her. She would rather turn aside from the pain inflicted on her.
We cannot justify ignoring and casting aside those who are homeless or otherwise poor. We cannot in good conscience tell them that they must accept their lot, for in doing so we reject our duty to love them.
In loving homeless persons and showing them respect, we build them up. We help them become more than they have been. By treating homeless persons with dignity, we help them to rise above the suffering they have endured. If any of us refuse to help our neighbor, whether homeless or not, we are ignoring the lessons of love presented to us.
If any of us, whether we are homeless or rich, only try to escape from pain, and never embrace suffering, we are refusing to learn from what life presents to us. Through life's hardships, God seeks to mold us, just as He does by way of life's blessings.
God asks that we agree to become who He created us to be. We are called to become who God made us to be.
We find out who we are as we endure life's challenges. If we reject what we have to learn in what unfolds in our lives, we refuse to accept what God is trying to give to us. If we decide not to seize the chance to love our neighbor, we throw away the gift God is giving us.
Yet God made us to learn and grow through endurance, which is a reflection of love. To become more than we have been, by obediently submitting ourselves to the will of God, we show who we are. By loving our neighbor, we demonstrate who we are.
In the film "Restless Heart," Saint Monica says to her son, Saint Augustine, "Don't forget who you are." As he continued to ignore the call from God to become who he really was, she admonished him to embrace his true identity, where he would find deep joy and happiness.
God made us to be happy and joyous. We find deep joy and happiness when we turn towards God, and submit ourselves to Him, and praise and glorify and adore Him, and love our neighbor. We do not realize this is why God made us. We must not forget who God made us to be.
We are to use what God has given to us to bear much fruit to His glory. We are to use the gifts God has given to us.
Kelly told me that at one point she had been in college. She has told me that she would like to go back to school and get her Bachelor's Degree.
Kelly realizes that she is meant to be more than she has been. She knows that she must respect herself. In loving herself, she can become who God has always meant her to be. In loving each other, we become who God created us to be.
God calls us to respect each other. When we respect others, we invite them to respect themselves too.
We respect and love ourselves. We wish to be respected and loved. Thus we should respect and love others, since we wish to be respected and loved. Seeing that we too would like to be respected and loved, we come to be able to love our neighbor as ourselves,* just as Jesus taught us.
* Matthew 22:39; Mark 12:31; Luke 10:27; Leviticus 19:18; Romans 13:9; Galatians 5:14
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