Love Visits Gratitude

Yesterday my fellow Catholic Worker Susan visited our homeless friend Fred who was in the hospital.  Recently Fred was riding his bicycle when a collision occurred between him and a tractor trailer truck.  

In visiting Fred, who has been recovering from his injuries, Susan practices a work of mercy.  She follows the church teaching that we should perform the works of mercy.  

Catholics, and especially Catholic Workers, practice the works of mercy.  There are seven corporal works of mercy, partly echoing the counsels of Jesus at the end of the twenty-fifth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew.  We are to feed persons who are hungry.  We are called to give drink to those who are thirsty.  We must shelter those who are homeless.  We visit people who are sick as well as prisoners.  We bury the dead.  God calls us to give alms to impoverished individuals.  

Jesus has told us that when we care for those who are sick, we tend to Him.*  He has explained that when we do something to the least of those among us, we do it to Him.**  

Fred, our homeless friend, living on the fringes of society, is one of the least of those among us.  Jesus Our Lord is present in this vulnerable homeless man.  When we comfort this impoverished man, we are making a gesture of kindness to Jesus.  

When we love the needy person in front of us, we love Jesus.  When we love our neighbor, we love God.  

When the beggar before us is showing us gratitude, Jesus is thanking us.  When the poverty-stricken individual feels relief due to our efforts, we have gently and lovingly touched the Body of Christ.  

There in the hospital, Fred told Susan that he found it comforting to know that someone cares about him.  He was grateful for her visit.  

Susan gave the gift of her presence.  She received the gift of his gratitude.  

We love our neighbor when we visit our neighbor who is sick.  We love our neighbor when we thank our neighbor who visits us when we are sick.  When we express such love in these ways, we show the love we would want to receive if we were in the other person's position.  

We are to love each other as ourselves.***  If we consider that we would want to receive a visit while in the hospital and be showered with love there, then we can see that we are called to visit the sick.  Then we see that we are to go and do likewise.****  

* Matthew 25:35-36 
** Matthew 25:40 
*** Matthew 22:39; Mark 12:31; Luke 10:27; Leviticus 19:18; Romans 13:9; Galatians 5:14 
**** Luke 10:37 

Dying To Ourselves

How do we die?  Everyday we decide how and when we die.  Each and every day we are confronted with the dilemma whether or not we will die on a particular day.  At every single moment, we are forced to choose whether we are going to die to ourselves.  Do we die to ourselves, to our own desires, so we can live for our neighbor, so we can selflessly serve others?   

We find our prime exemplar of dying for others in Jesus.  In today's Gospel, we hear that 

Jesus and his disciples set out
for the villages of Caesarea Philippi.
Along the way he asked his disciples,
"Who do people say that I am?"
They said in reply,
"John the Baptist, others Elijah,
still others one of the prophets."
And he asked them,
"But who do you say that I am?"
Peter said to him in reply,
"You are the Christ."
Then he warned them not to tell anyone about him.

He began to teach them
that the Son of Man must suffer greatly
and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes,
and be killed, and rise after three days.
He spoke this openly.
Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.
At this he turned around and, looking at his disciples,
rebuked Peter and said, 

"Get behind me, Satan.
You are thinking not as God does, 
but as human beings do."*   

As humans, we think of ourselves.  We aim to survive.  We strategize how we can get ahead in life.  We scheme how we can accumulate wealth; we plot how we can protect ourselves.  We look out for ourselves.  If we think at all about others, so often they are an afterthought.  After we have planned for our own protection, usually then we see how we can help others out of the surplus we have, from our carefully established place of safety and security.  

God thinks not how we think.  God wants us to rely not on ourselves, but on Him.  He wants us to give of ourselves.  He wants us to give, and to keep on giving, not counting the cost.  He wants us to set aside our concerns about how we will live, and to depend solely on Him.  

God wants us to trust in Him.  We are to share what we have with those who need it.  We are not to hoard.  We are not to have so much that we have excess resources which we never use.  

Today I heard a story from a worker about an interaction he had today reflecting this very approach to life.  He is employed in a homeless shelter.  A homeless man showed up at the shelter, asking for some food and for some socks as well as a shirt, because he was wearing a ripped shirt.  The worker heated a plate of meat and vegetables for the man, and also gave him a bag of snacks.  He found some new socks and gave them to the man.  

However, when the worker looked for a shirt in the facility's clothing supply, he could not find one in the size which the man had requested.  So the worker thought of a few shirts of his own which he had happened to bring with him to work.  He checked and saw that one of his own shirts was the size the man wanted.  Although the worker picked up a shirt which used to have sentimental value to him, he gave it to the homeless man.  

Later in the afternoon, in a different storage area where he works, the worker saw a pile of shirts, including in the size which the homeless man had requested.  The worker explained to me that he did not regret giving his shirt to the man.  "He needed it; I don't.  It had been sitting in my drawer for months without me wearing it.  Now he's using it: I saw him wearing it before he left the shelter."  

We are to share what we have with those who are poor, as Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin, who co-founded the Catholic Worker movement, urged when they would quote Saint Basil.  Saint Basil of Caesarea said 

When someone steals another's clothes, we call him a thief.  Should we not give the same name to one who could clothe the naked and does not?  The bread in your cupboard belongs to the hungry; the coat hanging unused in your closet belongs to the one who needs it; the shoes rotting in your closet belong to the one who has no shoes; the money which you hoard up belongs to the poor.  

If we are not using something, by definition we do not need it.  Someone who does not have a coat needs the one we are not using.  

When we consider divesting ourselves of possessions, it becomes easier to imagine when we realize that we have pieces of property we are not even using.  It is easy to get rid of excess baggage when we realize that it is just weighing us down.  

It also becomes easier to let go of things when we see Jesus in our neighbor.  We become able to love our neighbor when we recognize Jesus in our neighbor.  Jesus is in our neighbor, yet He is particularly and especially present in those who are in dire need.  

Jesus has told us that whatever we do to the least of those among us, we do to Him.**  Jesus also explained that when we clothe the naked, we are aiding Him.***  

When we offer a piece of clothing to the poor person in front of us, we are extending a hand to Jesus.  When we extend ourselves to the indigent, we are reaching out to Jesus.  

Sometimes we do not recognize Jesus in our neighbor.  Then we find it more difficult to give of ourselves.  In that case, we can stretch out our hand to our neighbor little by little: we can give of ourselves a little at a time.  Dorothy Day said, "It is by little and by little that we are saved." 

My mind hearkens back to one particular day when I used to live at the hermitage with the monks I so love on the Big Sur coast here in California.  We were sitting listening to a Franciscan friar speak to us about how Saint Francis of Assisi had gradually divested himself of all of his belongings.  The Franciscan priest explained that even Saint Francis, a great saint who lived in extreme poverty, begging for alms to survive, had not unloaded all of his resources in one fell swoop.  Even Saint Francis let go of his physical property by little and by little.  

Dorothy Day was quite fond of Saint Therese of Lisieux, who boldly yet simply asserted that she would get to Heaven through her "little way."  She sought to live her life through offering little acts of love to her neighbor.  

For the vast majority of us, we will get to Heaven through making such choices to give through little acts of love.  Most of us will take the path to Heaven by being lovers in this little way.  
Of course we will hear stories of momentous change in people's lives, laced with dramatic overtures through monumental choices affecting huge numbers of people.  Today at Mass I heard about how Cardinal Giuseppe Sarto relinquished his will over to God, to accept the position, even higher than that of cardinal, to which he was called.  When he realized he was going to be elected pope, he began to weep.  In the end, the other cardinals convinced him that God was calling him to be pope, and so Cardinal Sarto became Pope Pius X, as he said, "I accept the Cross."  He not only became pope, but eventually was canonized as a saint.  

Even those who are elected pope struggle.  We do well to remind ourselves that humans always find it difficult as they strive to do the will of God.  Not only popes are called to be saints.  

As Pope Francis has directed us, "We are all called to be saints."  We can be sanctified, that is, we can be drawn closer to God, in all situations in our lives, even in the tiny, seemingly insignificant little trifles cropping up in our lives.  We can make many little acts of consent to God, assenting each and every day to God and to how He asks us to give of ourselves.  Little by little we can die to ourselves.  In tiny little steps we can give up our own desires and turn more and more to loving our neighbor.  As we open our hearts more and more to our neighbor, we open our hearts more and more to God.  As we love our neighbor more, we love God more and more.  We become more and more who God has always meant us to be, praising Him and glorifying Him through all we do.  We become who God, through all eternity, has always meant us to be.  We become love.  

* Mark 8:27-33 
** Matthew 25:40 
*** Matthew 25:35-36 

Keep On Loving

Today I write to you of love.  I write to you about the love of a woman for a man.  I have seen it with my own eyes, and so I testify to it.*  As usual, I write to you of what I know.  And as I typically aim to do, I witness to how the Gospel is being lived out in front of me.  

I see my neighbor forgiving my neighbor.  I recognize my neighbor consenting to the love of God being shown through her.  I hold in high regard when my neighbor lets God love others through her.  We love our neighbor when we forgive our neighbor.  Jesus instructed us to keep forgiving our neighbor.  Saint Peter asked Jesus, "Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him?  As many as seven times?"  Jesus answered, "I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times."**  God calls us to forgive our neighbor over and over and over again, and to keep on forgiving our neighbor after that.  We are to keep on loving our neighbor despite how he or she keeps falling.  

I have seen this tireless love and devotion shown by a particular woman to her boyfriend here in the San Francisco Bay Area.  Countless times I've interacted with a certain homeless woman, who I'll call "Jocelyn" here, and with her homeless boyfriend who I'll call "Jonny" here.  Despite Jonny's repeated self-defeating choices, Jocelyn has remained with him.  

I had heard that Jonny was addicted to a hard drug.  Someone had also told me that Jocelyn could easily stop being homeless.  This person opined that Jocelyn was obstructed from moving out of homelessness because she was persistently staying with her boyfriend.  This person insinuated that Jocelyn could help herself, but she was refusing to do so because she was insisting on remaining with her boyfriend.  

Essentially Jocelyn has kept putting someone else before herself.  She has kept loving her neighbor without counting the cost to herself.  

Jocelyn imitates Jesus.  Jesus gave Himself up on the Cross to save us, who are sinners.  

While He was on the Cross, Jesus was mocked by the soldiers who told Jesus to save Himself if He was the King of the Jews.  The leaders who were there jeered at Him that if He was the Messiah, that He should save Himself.  One of the two criminals being crucified next to Jesus also abused Him, demanding that Jesus save Himself as well as the two of them.***  Jesus could have saved Himself but He did not.  Rather than save Himself, He died on the Cross from love of us, praying for us even though we had ignored, mocked, disrespected, tortured and abused Him.  

It might seem foolish not to save yourself when you can.  Maybe it seems like deciding to die when you can live.  Yet in the perspective through which you choose to view the world, you determine whether your outlook is setting you on a path to being saved or to being lost, being on the road to life or to death, both for yourself and for others.  Saint Paul explains that "the message of the Cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God."****  

Those who do not love will perish.  People who do not give of themselves are doomed.  When you love, you choose to be saved.  When you persist in loving, despite all indications that your demise is imminent, actually you are working not only to be saved but also so that others may be saved.  When you love despite all evidence suggesting that your love is ineffective, you are loving from faith.  When you love not paying attention to appearances, you are putting credit in faith.   

The medieval mystic Julian of Norwich assures us, "All will be well."  When we say that all will be well, despite what we see to the contrary, we make an assertion of faith.  

If we truly have faith, we are fixing the foundation of our souls, our hearts, our minds and our bodies on what we do not see.  As Saint Paul wrote, "We look not to what is seen, but to what is unseen; for what is seen is transitory, but what is unseen is eternal."***** 

Do not think that I am speaking merely of rewards that we will see only in the next life.  Certainly here I address the glory which will be revealed to us in the life to come.  Yet if you have faith and trust in God, you also reap the fruits of that faith now in this life.  I am not speaking in hypothetical terms, trying to assure you of things which I believe but have not seen.  As I have already said, I tell you of what I have seen.  

I have seen the change in his appearance.  I have seen the deep crevices disappear from Jonny's face over the last few weeks, deep lines which are symptomatic of abuse of hard drugs.  

I have witnessed the change in his behavior, how this month he walked up to me and greeted me with a wholeheartedly warm embrace.  Months ago he would barely acknowledge my presence upon crossing paths.  

Upon greeting him a few weeks ago and asking him how he was doing, I heard him excitedly proclaim to me, "Doug, I've gotten a job!"  After I had witnessed all of these and other signs of improving health, Jocelyn told me, "He stopped using the needle weeks ago."  

Jocelyn kept loving Jonny.  She did not give up on him.  She did not like what she saw, and she told him so.  I was present one day when in public she loudly and vehemently made clear to him that he did not look good, and that she was displeased with his behavior.  Yet she did not abandon him.  She kept loving him, despite his appearance, which was not promising.  Although she was not encouraged by his behavior, by what she saw, she moved forward in faith, in the hope she had for a better future.  

For centuries people have trusted in God, having hope in God's promise, having confidence that God can and will work wonders.  Indeed God will show us marvels if we will but have faith in Him.  In the fourth century, Saint Monica prayed indefatigably for years for her son Saint Augustine of Hippo.  After years of praying for him, he experienced a conversion: his life was reformed and he repented of his sins.  Having such faith in God, and being miraculously transformed from such faith, we enter into a new kind of life.  In the film "Restless Heart," Saint Monica says to her son Saint Augustine, "We are already living in eternal life."  Saint Monica and Saint Augustine lived such lives of faith in God, with such hope in His promise, that even in this lifetime, they had already begun living in eternal life.  

In this time, right now, the work before us is that of faith and hope, for we hope for what we do not see.******  The work of love is also now.  Jesus instructed us to love one another as He has loved us.*******  As Jesus has loved us, and died for us, now we are to die to ourselves for our neighbor, so that we and our neighbor may be saved.  Now we are to love out of faith and hope.  

Later, in the next life, we will see the fruits of our faith and hope.  In the next life, faith and hope will be realized in the love we will then experience.  For those in Heaven, that love will never end, for God is eternal, and God is love.********  And so love is eternal and will never end.  For those of us in Heaven, when we are in eternity, we will be with God, and so we will be with love forever.  

So keep on loving now.  In the end, love will rule.  Love will reign in Heaven once we get there, just as it rules there now.  Love now, and keep on loving.  Step onto the bridge of love which Saint Catherine of Siena described, that boundless love of Jesus, which will take you on The Way into eternal love.  Step into eternal life now.  Live the life of love now you are meant to live forever.  

* 1 John 1:1-3 
** Matthew 18:21-22 
*** Luke 23:35-39
**** 1 Corinthians 1:18 
***** 2 Corinthians 4:18 
****** Romans 8:25
******* John 13:34 
******** 1 John 4:8; 1 John 4:16  

Become Like Children

Recently here on the front porch of the Catholic Worker House once again I spoke with a certain homeless woman.  I've talked with her countless times.  Here I'll call her "Marianne."  

Marianne is one of the happiest people I have ever met.  She smiles a lot.  Marianne is very cheerful.  It's not unusual to see her break into song and dance.  

Marianne is very thin.  You could certainly say that she is lean.  

If she suffers from hunger, she doesn't show it.  She is happy like a little child.  She is playful and seems joyful.  

In addition to being happy, she is also respectful.  Recently she politely asked a Catholic Worker here for food.   She meekly requested the food.  She was happy to be given some food.  

Pleased to be receiving whatever she was given, she was grateful for what she was given.  She was thankful for what she got since she relies on the love of others.  

Depending on the love of others, we depend on the love of God.  We rely on God to love us through our neighbor.  

A child of God relies on what God gives her, like a child looking to his or her parents to supply all his or her needs.  In completely depending on God, one becomes great in His sight.  Jesus tells us so when we hear that 

The disciples approached Jesus and said, 
"Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?"  
He called a child over, placed it in their midst, 
and said, "Amen, I say to you, 
unless you turn and become like children, 
you will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven.  
Whoever humbles himself like this child 
is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven."*  

When we humble ourselves, we become great.  We find greatness in simplicity.  We find greatness in having nothing.  When we have nothing, we must turn to God to supply our needs.  

Who is modeling this exemplary behavior for me?  I see this total trust in God in the discarded, forgotten, spurned homeless woman on my front stoop.  We find our exemplar of utter trust in God through Jesus, who completely trusted in His Heavenly Father.  And Jesus is in those who are least among us,** those among us who fully depend on God to meet all their needs.  

Jesus, in the homeless woman who shows up at my front door, demonstrates to me how to follow His teachings.  Who am I, that my Lord and my God should come unto me?  
  
Jesus shows up in our lives.  He stands right in front of us.  He comes to continue instructing us about the Word of God, how to love God by totally relying on God.  By being present to us in our neighbor, he helps us to love each other.  

Jesus is always with us.***  Jesus is greeting us as we meet Him in the impoverished individual in front of us.  Jesus is with us, teaching us through our neighbor, gently guiding us on our spiritual journeys.  In the poor person before us, Jesus is asking us to open our hearts to Him.  

Jesus is bidding us to open our hearts to Him.  He is calling us to listen to Him.  Jesus is telling us to rely on Him.  We are to let go of our delusions that we can do anything good without God.  

Jesus is calling us to deconstruct our misconceptions of ourselves.  We are to see that we are nothing without God.  We are called to realize that we must depend totally on God if we wish to become great.  We can insist on being prideful, but then we would forfeit greatness in the Kingdom of Heaven.  

Jesus invites us to become more than we have been.  Paradoxically, to become more than we have been, we must become less than we have been.  To become great, we must become little.  So that we may become great in the Kingdom of Heaven, Jesus is beckoning us to become like little children.  

* Matthew 18:1-4 
** Matthew 25:40 
*** Matthew 28:20 

Humility Brings Strength

Yesterday I crossed paths with a particular homeless woman who I mentioned in a previous blog post.  Again I'll call her "Catherine."  

When I spoke with Catherine yesterday, she told me that months ago she had had cancer.  One day she was being seen by a doctor, who was discussing with her how she had cancer.  The next time she saw a doctor, she was informed that she had been cured of the cancer.  No trace of the cancer remained.  

Catherine attributes her miraculous healing to God.  There was no other explanation.  The doctors could not supply a medical reason for her inexplicable recovery.  Accordingly, Catherine testifies that God cured her.  

After Catherine had related to me how she had been miraculously cured, I recalled a man I knew who did not make a similar proclamation after narrowly missing death at a relatively young age.  He worked as a professional and earned a salary well into the six figure range.  At one point, he entered the hospital for an operation.  Due to complications during the surgery, he nearly died when he was still in the hospital.  As I later listened to him speak about how he had almost passed away, I heard him say nothing about God saving him from death.  

I heard about the saving power of God from a homeless woman who someone else once described to me as a drug addict.  From a high-earning professional, I heard nothing about how God delivers us from near destruction.  

Why do we hear about the remarkable saving power of God from someone living in the bushes, who society neglects and casts aside?  Jesus spoke of revelation to the unassuming when his disciples first heard His message.  At one point, followers of Jesus returned from a mission to proclaim His message, and they rejoiced that devils submitted to them when they invoked His name.  He told them not to rejoice that the spirits were submitting to them, but rather that their names were written in Heaven.  He then continued, "filled with joy by the Holy Spirit," and said, "I bless you, Father, Lord of Heaven and earth, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever and revealing them to little children.  Yes, Father, for that is what it has pleased you to do."*  

Why would it please God to reveal his glory to those whom society rejects and counts as worthless?  As Saint Paul explains, "God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise, and God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong, and God chose the lowly and despised of the world, those who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing those who are something, so that no human being might boast before God."**  

To see the glory of God, we need not go and live in the bushes.  However, God calls us all to have humility, however we are serving Him.  If we have no humility, God will correct us.  Those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.***  How will the humble be exalted?  God gives grace to the humble.****  God gives the humble the grace and strength they need to endure what they are undergoing.  God also responds to the prayers of those who are humble.  A contrite, humbled heart, o God, You will not scorn.*****  

When someone who is afflicted is humble, he truly cries out to God.  A humble person sincerely pleads with God to respond to her prayer.  

A humble person admits that only God can help her.  Someone who is humble knows that only God can cure her.  

And so a humble person prays earnestly to God, offering prayers acceptable to God, since they are rooted in the knowledge that only God can save her.  In proper relation to God, admitting that one is nothing without God, one petitions God with due deference.  

Properly acknowledging and glorifying and adoring and praising God, such a person is heard and answered by God.  Having emptied himself of all delusions that he can rely on himself, such a truly humble person is able to be filled with the saving power of God.  Showing genuine humility, such a person is exalted by God, is given the grace to withstand intense trials, is miraculously cured, confounding those who are wise.  

Those who cannot understand such miracles refuse to humble themselves.  Those who grasp the meaning of such miracles realize that God is the only source of such wonders.  In this way no one can brag to God.  To God be all glory, praise and honor, now and forever.  Amen.  

* Luke 10:17, 20, 21 
** 1 Corinthians 1:27-29 
*** Matthew 23:12; Luke 14:11; Luke 18:14 
**** 1 Peter 5:5 
***** Psalm 51:19 

Light In Darkness

This morning I walked out of the house and saw a particular young homeless man straightening up our front porch.  He's the same young man I mentioned in a post a couple of weeks ago.  Here I'll again call him "Brendon."  

As Brendon was organizing all of the free property that no one had yet claimed from the front porch, I greeted him, "Good morning, Brendon.  How are you?"  

He replied frankly, "I'm high."  After pausing briefly, he continued, "I've been trying to stop.   I only got high twice yesterday.  Three weeks ago I was using eighteen times a day."  

I said, "You're making progress.  This is great news."  I was so glad to have heard that he was taking steps toward taking care of himself, so I added, "Thanks for telling me."  

Once we had finished speaking with each other, I crossed the street to go over to the van I use.  As he left the Catholic Worker House, Brendon rode his bicycle over to me and we spoke a bit more.  As we talked, he admitted, "I've got to stop taking drugs.  It's going to kill me."  

Brendon admitted the consequences of his own actions.  He saw what he had been doing to himself through his own choices.  He saw where he was heading if he continued making similar decisions.  

He realizes he's got to change his behavior.  He knows it will take time to change.  He is changing his habits a little more with each passing day.  

On the road to recovery, we take little steps.  Through the little acts of love we perform for others and for ourselves, we follow "The Little Way" of Saint Therese of Lisieux, in the way she described as her way of getting to Heaven.  We can choose to take care of ourselves and others with every little choice we make.  

It truly made my day today when I heard Brendon express how he is trying to care for himself.  I felt so encouraged in hearing about his gradual efforts to reform his life, little by little.  In the last few days, I have felt as if a dark cloud has been pressing upon my soul.  Whether I have felt this encroaching darkness due to unfortunate events taking place in the world, or because my particular soul is threatened by spiritual warfare, I do not know; I only know I have felt more keenly over the last few days a certain darkness.  

With the choices Brendon has been making, he seems like a light shining in the darkness.  A light has been shining in the darkness, and the darkness has not put it out.*  The light has been shining, and the darkness has been receding.  He is progressing toward recovery.  As he emerges out of darkness, he is letting light shine out to others.  

As he takes responsibility for himself, he is taking responsibility for making the world a better place.  By caring for himself, he is making the world a better place.  In improving his health, and thus improving the world, he doesn't realize it, but he is encouraging me.  He is giving me more hope.  He is making me feel better about the state of affairs in the world, because I see valuable, concrete, healthy change occurring right in front of me.  I see him loving himself, and I see the love I want to see others displaying in the world.  

When we love ourselves, we love others.  We are reassuring others that we care about ourselves.  We are setting their minds at ease, and thus we are caring for them as we care for ourselves.  

In caring for himself by striving to overcome his addiction, this young homeless drug addict was consoling me, although he did not realize it.  This young man, living on the fringes, is considered a derelict by society.  Yet he was ministering to me.  

By our society's standards, he would be seen as someone to ignore and push aside.  Jesus has told us that whatever we do to the least of those among us, we do to Him.**  And in what the least among us say to us, we find Jesus ministering unto us.  We find the love we need from Jesus coming to us from those who are least among us.  

If we look to those who are least among us, we will find the love we need.  If we go to those who are least among us, we find Jesus.  In the midst of the darkness, we find the light we seek.  

* John 1:5 
** Matthew 25:40 

Trusting In Love

Most mornings at the kitchen table here at the Catholic Worker House we sit, read the newspaper and begin our day with cups of coffee.  Often we all read in silence in this early stage of the day.  Yet sometimes at this time of the day a story will be told.  

Last week at the table I heard a true story which has impressed itself onto my memory.  Someone's grandfather lived in the American Southwest.  He traveled in that region selling various goods.  

Once he and a companion were on a trip together on which they were planning on making some sales.  One night of their journey, they didn't know where they were going to stay.  They crossed paths with a family who invited them to stay with them.  The grandfather and his friend took the family up on their kind offer.  

Early in the morning, the grandfather's friend woke up.  He said he wanted to start on the continuation of their voyage.  He wanted to set out early, since he felt that by leaving early, they would be in a better position to make more sales.  He was worried that if they waited to leave, others would capture the business the two of them could get for themselves.  

The grandfather said he was going to stay and thank the family for their kind hospitality.  So the friend left alone.  The grandfather stayed a substantial amount of time that morning until the family rose from their slumber.  The grandfather thanked them for being so warm and welcoming, then he continued on his way.  Further down his route, by the side of the road, the grandfather soon found his friend, who had been ambushed by bandits.  They had killed him.  

The grandfather remained with the family so he could thank them.  If he had not stayed, he too might have been murdered.  He was saved by his desire to express his gratitude.  We are saved when we decide to love.  

When we thank someone, we love them, since we are showing our appreciation of what they have done for us.  When we thank someone, we are following Jesus' commandment to love our neighbor.*    

Love was shown to the grandfather.  He wanted to show love in return by thanking his hosts.  Not only did he have that desire, but he expressed that sentiment of gratitude by staying to thank them, despite what appeared to be the apparent cost of sales which would be seemingly lost to him.  

He had set out on his journey trusting, traveling without knowing where he was going to rest his head.  As it turned out, he was able to rest easy, receiving the hospitality which was graciously given to him.  

Having trusted, and having been rewarded for his trust, he valued what he had received.  Having realized the worth of what he had been given, in the generous spirit in which it had been given, he wanted to thank those who had hosted him.  

He had also trusted by staying behind to thank the family.  He trusted that all would work out financially with the sales he might not make since he was waiting to set out on the road.  

Again, in trusting, he was rewarded.  By trusting that he was to wait so he could thank his hosts, and that all would be well, he was rewarded with his own life.  

In life we can be convinced that we have great plans through which we will be providing for ourselves all we need.  Only God can supply for us all we require.  Under our own plan, when we think we are going to be secure, in fact we may be heading into ruin.  

When we encounter delays, we may think that we are being held up from accomplishing what we need to get done.  When our lives fail to unfold the way that we had expected, perhaps God is saving us from calamity which would have befallen us had we continued on the path we had planned to take.  

So often we can think that we are losing, when in fact we are being saved.  When we think we are losing, we are immeasurably gaining.  

We think we know what is valuable, but God knows what we need.  God provides it for us, and we will get it from Him, if we will only listen to what He is trying to tell us, and if we will only be where He wants us to be.  

If we truly have faith, we will not worry about what we are losing.  With true faith, we open our hearts to welcome whatever God is trying to give to us.  Thus we become unconcerned about whether we lose what we have.  

If we have love in our hearts, we will be grateful for how God has given so bounteously to us.  If we love, we will be grateful for what God gives to us through our neighbor.

If we love our neighbor, we will thank our neighbor.  If we love God, we will trust God.  

If we are grateful and trust, we are on the right path.  If we love our neighbor and love God, we will be saved.  

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

Faith Works Wonders

"Are you doing everything you can?"  Someone asked me that question months ago and it has been echoing in my mind since then.  In October last year, I attended the International Gathering of Catholic Workers, which took place in Nevada.  During the gathering, we participated in workshops on different topics related to our ministries as Catholic Workers.  Over the course of the few days we were together, we also walked in a couple of protests.  

In one of the protests, we went to Creech Air Force Base to protest the use of drones.  When drones are used to attack, those who deploy the drones are able to be further removed from the people who are killed and from the property which is damaged.  I took part in that protest because I want people to be conscious, aware, cognizant of what actions they are choosing to take and to recognize and realize the visible consequences of those acts.  

When we had finished the protest, I was speaking with an unusually cordial, polite law enforcement officer.  He appeared so collected in his demeanor that he seemed almost contemplative in how calmly he spoke.  He also struck me in how he seemed to be listening so attentively to me.  I was having with him the kind of calm, considerate, respectful exchange I envision ideally having with people who are in positions opposite me, that is, when I am conversing with someone who has views markedly different from the ones I hold.  In addition to being surprised by his demeanor and by his listening skills, he also took me off guard by asking me, in the context of whether we were accomplishing what we wanted to do through protesting, "Are you doing everything you can?"  

I replied, "It's a very good question.  In fact, it's a question which each and every one of us should always be asking ourselves."  

Now it looked like it was his turn to be taken off guard.  It seemed that he did not expect me to suggest that he should ponder that same question.  However, in keeping with how seemed to contemplate and process what was being said, I was not at all surprised that he appeared to be considering his own question.  

It is a question for everyone to ask themselves.  Are you doing everything you can?  Are you concerned about the state of the world today?  If so, what are you doing about it?  And, if you are doing something about it, could you also be taking additional actions in addition to what you are already doing?  

It is in this vein that I responded to a recent query from a friend.  She asked, that in the midst of current affairs, if I was considering using certain means at my disposal for the greater good.  I replied that yes, I do intend to do so in some form, since I want to be firing on all cylinders.  That is, I am trying to use every last means at my disposal to have a positive impact on the world right now, given the present state of the world.  

And so, as I have previously indicated, I protest.  However, I do not endorse the use of violence, whether in protests or otherwise.  I am greatly saddened and disturbed, and find unfortunate and distressing the resort to violence in protests this week as well as during protests in years past.  I believe that violence towards others is unjustified, even when we find what others say to be offensive.  If we become hateful, we become what we despise.  Then we become hate.  

In contrast, when we peacefully protest, we seek truth since we are objecting to injustice.  When we seek truth, we love.  To fulfill our duty to our neighbor, we protest and we also take other actions.  

If we care, we will act.  If we love our neighbor, we will take action.  We act, rising up out of contemplation to apply those contemplative fruits for the benefit of both ourselves and our neighbor.  

Most certainly we are to pray.  Aware that we are nothing without God, we are to pray with devoted faith, sure of His great love for us.  We are to petition Him to help us love each other here and now in this lifetime.  

As vital as prayer is, we do not fulfill our duty to God solely through prayer.  Faith without works is dead.*  If we have true faith, we will act to show our love for our neighbor.  

And if you truly love someone, you want to do all you can for that person.  You utilize all the means at your disposal to love that person.  

Since I love my neighbor, I seek truth, which I do when I peacefully protest, to object to injustices done.  I protest to cry out against people's rights being violated.  

In addition to peacefully protesting, I write to my representative in Congress and to my Senators.  If we do not voice our opinions on what policies trouble us, how can we complain if and when those policies are later implemented?  

If we do not do what we can when we can, later we will regret it.  If we do not act now, we lose the time to act, which is now.  

Saint Catherine of Siena has related to us that God told her that at the moment of death, our consciences will accuse us.  We will be faced with what we could have done, but did not do.  We must remember at that critical moment of our existence, that God has immense mercy.  At that crucial point in our existence, we must not despair.  We must call out to God and beg earnestly for mercy, for not having loved Him and our neighbor better than we did.  For we will fall short.  None of us can ever possibly do well enough to have no need of God's mercy.  All of us are sinners. 

I know God is merciful.  As Pope Francis has told us, the name of God is mercy.  God is merciful because God is love.**  God is infinitely merciful, because God is infinitely loving.  Insofar as God is infinitely loving, when we see God, we will be basking in a vast peace and a boundless joy which is infinitely beyond anything we have experienced or ever could experience in this life.  We cannot comprehend how amazing God is.  No one can see the face of God and live.***  When our souls pass out of our bodies, you can call it death, but it is truly eternal life if you are going to Heaven.  I know that what awaits there is remarkable beyond measure.  Therefore, I focus on what is coming.  

I am not saying that you should not worry because everything will be all right.  I am certain that dark times are ahead here on this earth.  You should not worry because you cannot change anything by worrying.  As Jesus asked us, can any of us add a single moment to our lives by worrying?****  So He told us, "Do not worry."*****  On any given day, do what you can.  Then rest.  Rest, and get the proper nourishment and sustenance you need, or else the journey will be too much for you.******  

Rest in a sure and certain peace.  I have a deep peace and an abiding calm in me.  I know what awaits me on the other side of death.  It is infinitely better than anything we can possibly imagine. 

I try to do everything I possibly can to try to help my fellow humans now in this world.  I aim to die as much as possible at peace with what I have done.  Then, at that moment of passing away, I will turn over to God whatever regrets I might have over having offended Him, and I will trust in His mercy.  I rest confident in the gift of this faith God has given to me; I rest secure in the sure hope of the promise of God's great mercy.  

* James 2:17 
** 1 John 4:8; 1 John 4:16  
*** Exodus 19:21, 33:20 
**** Matthew 6:27 
***** Matthew 6:31 
****** 1 Kings 19:7 

With Us Always

For months it has been raining often here in the San Francisco Bay Area.  Recently on a rainy day here in Redwood City, I looked slightly into the sky and I saw part of a rainbow near the horizon which disappeared into a dark cloud.  I thought that was the end of the rainbow.  Then I looked past the cloud, and saw that, after not too long a distance, the rainbow emerged from the cloud and stretched in an arc far above me and all the way across the sky.  

We may think we can see only a glimmer of hope.  Sometimes we might think we cannot see even the slightest ray of hope.  If we persist in our faith, we will realize that Jesus, in His great love for us, is always present with us.*  

He only seems not to be present at times.  Then we are to call out to Him persistently and tenaciously, asking God to help us to do His will.  Then we are to pray to Him faithfully and tirelessly out of great love for Him, conscious of how He limitlessly loves us.

He first loved us,** although we had not first loved Him.  He loved us, giving us so much, yet receiving nothing in return.  Yet we have received abundantly from Him, and so God calls all of us to praise Him.  We are all to praise and glorify God, for He created us.***  We are to adore God out of love for Him, for God infinitely loves us.  Since God boundlessly loves us, God intends all things for our good.  As Saint Paul tells us, God works all things for the good of those who love Him.****

And so in the midst of dark times, we realize that God is always loving us.  God is always calling us back home to Him.  God wishes that we always respond in our lives in such a way that, no matter what happens, we continue to be sanctified, that we keep being drawn closer to Him, choosing to show indefatigable love to Him.  

Then amidst the darkness, we realize that God is indeed with us.  Then we know that God is with us now and always.  

* Matthew 28:20 
** 1 John 4:19 
*** Psalm 148:5 
**** Romans 8:28