For the moments you feel weak

“Isenheim Altarpiece: The Crucifixion” by Matthias Grünewald, 1515

“Christian life is not a spa therapy,” Pope Francis said at Mass. For some of us, he’s stating the obvious: my Christian faith does not magically make my life sweet and pleasant. But should it?

When I am feeling particularly weak and vulnerable, many times I’m tempted to ask: “If I serve God, isn’t he supposed to make my life better? Why do I feel this way? Why do I find myself in this difficult situation?” But in those times, I have forgotten my faith entirely.

Saint Paul tells us, “For our sake (the Father) made (Christ) to be sin who did not know sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him” (2 Cor. 5:21). Look at Christ on the Cross. “Christ became sin for me! And my sins are there in his body, in his soul!” Pope Francis exclaimed. “It’s crazy, but it’s beautiful, it’s true! This is the scandal of the Cross!”

God became sin. For you. See the broken body of God on the Cross? See the one who took all the sins of the world on himself? This is the God we reverence, we praise, we proclaim, we eat. Look at this tortured, maimed Jesus. This is the God who says, “Follow me.”

Why did God choose this cruel death for himself? To show us how much He wants our nearness. God lowered Himself until he could go no lower. This is how strongly God desires to be close to us. “What the Lord wants from us is to announce this reconciliation,” said Pope Francis. This is the Good News: God gave us himself completely – totally vulnerable, anticipating the moment we would say to him, “I give myself to you.”

By rising to new life, Jesus shows us the fruits of our total self-gift.

Why am I afraid to be weak when my weakness makes me more like Jesus? Shouldn’t I wish to be perpetually weak – a total gift to God?

When you are weak, contemplate the horrible beauty of the Cross.

How I Met Your Mother

Even though I returned with fervor to the Catholic faith following my “Mary Magdalene” conversion, I could not understand one of the Church’s pinnacle teachings – the importance of the Blessed Mother in our spiritual growth. I didn’t grasp why a devotion to the Blessed Mother was necessary to draw closer to our Jesus. He was the one that rescued me from the edge of despair and He was all I needed.

The women in my first group Catholic faith study made me question if I was missing something. As a wife and mother, I loved listening to how their faith helped them tackle the daily struggles of raising a family. It became apparent that the women who were most fulfilled and content spoke of their devotion to the Blessed Mother. Why?

I wanted to know so I asked her Son, “My Lord, if you want me to know your Mother, please introduce us.” Immediately Jesus made it very clear to me, He wanted me to meet her. It seemed that Mary, the ever virgin and Mother of God was the subject of every Catholic TV show, radio program and article I came across over the next few weeks. Following a program I watched that spoke of Pope John Paul II’s apostolic letter titled Redemptoris Mater (Mother of the Redeemer), I looked up the letter myself on the Internet.

In it I read in words what I witnessed in these women,

“In light of Mary, the Church sees in the face of women the reflection of beauty which mirrors the loftiest sentiments of which the human heart is capable: the self-offering totality of love, the strength that is capable of bearing the greatest sorrows, limitless fidelity and tireless devotion to work; the ability to combine penetrating intuition with words of support and encouragement.”

“Christ on the Cross with Two Marys and St. John” by El Greco (1588)

No wonder these women are so content, I thought. This letter speaks to the dignity in all the roles we women hold; and I can achieve that in light of Mary?!

The pope goes on to write how our Lord gave His Mother to us at His Passion:

…we perceive the real value of the words spoken by Jesus to his Mother at the hour of the Cross: “Woman behold your son” and to the disciple: “Behold your mother” (Jn. 19:26-27). They are words which determine Mary’s place in the life of Christ’s disciples and they express the new motherhood of the Mother of the Redeemer: a spiritual motherhood, born from the heart of the Paschal Mystery of the Redeemer of the world.

This letter convinced me how important it is to Jesus that we know His Mother and that meant it became important to me. I went to the ‘go to’ way our Catholic faith teaches to meet and spend time with her: the daily rosary.

What I soon discovered is that walking with Mary in her ‘rosary garden’ is a twenty minute visit with the woman who best knows Jesus and who never tires of revealing her Son’s love for us. It is never about her; that’s not her style.

J.K. Huysmans writes, “She soothes us and places us in the hands of her Son; but her hands are so light, so delicate, so soft, that the soul touched by them feels nothing.”

During May, if you have yet to open this gift, then take advantage of this month of Mary and meet your Mother.

Authentic Christianity: What does it look like?

Triptych by Duccio (1308)

In the reading from the Acts of the Apostles, Peter and Paul “…strengthened the spirits of the disciples and exhorted them to persevere in the faith saying, ‘It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God.’” They did not tell them that God would make things better for them in this life; the focus was on eternal life, the salvation of their souls. As we know, some disciples gave up everything to be in the company of the Apostles and follow the “New Way” of being in relationship with God. Many disciples were persecuted and some were martyred.

This message from Peter and Paul was not only for the Christians of the early Church, it is also for us today. It is expected that our faith will influence all the important decisions we make and sometimes those decisions will be difficult. Are we willing to make sacrifices and put other people’s needs before our own desires? Jesus himself tells us we must deny ourselves, take up our crosses and follow him. We cannot allow our appetites and desires to dominate our life. If we live only for our self, we close our self off to the graces God wishes to give us and are destined for unhappiness. If our lives are not ordered to God, they are disordered.

What are some of the hardships you have endured? What is your most difficult trial? These come to all of us naturally; we don’t have to look for them. No matter how bad we had it on our worst day, there will always be others who will have had it much worse. Some will allow their trials to overwhelm them. They continue to look at their problems and in their imagination they become bigger than reality and they become bitter and depressed. Others, instead of dwelling on their trials look at Christ on the cross and find the strength to persevere. Those who draw close to Christ can even experience joy in the face of adversity.

The challenge is to experience our hardships in the light of Christ’s love and sacrifice for us. If we unite our suffering with the suffering of Christ it becomes redemptive for us, and others as well. Not only that, Christ also lessens the weight of our burdens just as he promises. Hardships are necessary because they help us to become dependent upon Jesus Christ, to discover “his strength in our weakness.” There are some people who would never have turned to Christ except for their hardships.

In the Gospel, Jesus says, “I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.” When Jesus tells us we must love one another he makes it a new commandment because he says we must love one another as he has loved us. In other words, we must love with a supernatural, sacrificial love. It is only possible to love in a supernatural way if we love God first above everything else, because He is the source of all love and everything that is good. If God is our first love, it will be possible for us to reach our potential in loving ourselves and others.

We can only love as Christ has loved us if that is the desire of our heart. If that is our desire, we ask for the grace to be faithful to what has been revealed to us through the Scriptures and the Church. We make a commitment to pray every day, to live the sacramental life and to continue to be formed in the Faith.

God has great plans for all of us that require us to surrender our will to His will. In His will, we experience unconditional love and mercy which lead to happiness now and forever. If our will is in opposition to His will, we are destined for unhappiness.

Lord, give us the grace to put our total trust in you so that you may be our hope in adversity and victorious in our struggles.

Where’s YOUR Galilee? – Rediscover Your Love for Jesus

Galilee

“O happy fault that earned so great, so glorious a Redeemer!” (from the Easter Proclamation chanted during the Easter Vigil Service)

The Easter Season is my favorite liturgical season, for many reasons. First of all, the biblical readings are taken from the Acts of the Apostles and the Gospels concentrate on the Lord’s apparitions after His Resurrection before He ascended to Heaven. Secondly, the readings referring to the Apostles encountering the Risen Lord at the Sea of Galilee remind us of the Lord’s omnipotent patience with us. In Mark 16:1-8, we read about the Resurrection of Jesus. Mary Magdalene and other women came to the tomb and encountered a young man sitting (Mark 16:5) inside the empty tomb. He said to them, “Do not be amazed! You seek Jesus of Nazareth, the crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. …But go and tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him, as he told’” (Mark 16: 6-7).

Jesus was to meet his disciples and Peter in Galilee. Why Galilee? It was in Galilee when they first encountered Jesus, it was in Galilee where Jesus called them and they left everything to follow Him. The disciples left Jesus during His arrest in the Garden of Gethsemani, and Peter denied Him. The beloved disciple, John, was the only one at the foot of the Cross. The disciples were now to “go to the place where they first met Him.” To remember how they first fell in love with Jesus, to remember they left everything for Him. In John’s Gospel, chapter 21 we read about the Resurrection appearance in Galilee. As the disciples are fishing, Jesus again calls out to them.

How amazing! Jesus gently reminds Peter and the disciples of their “first love”, their first encounter with Him, whom they learned to love.

Are there times we have lost “our first love” for Jesus? Have we allowed the fire within our souls to die simply because we have become too busy, or have denied Him, or have simply allowed daily routine to control us? If so – return to your Galilee! Remember when you encountered the mercy of Christ, or when you experienced His presence in your life for the first time! He is there! He remembers! He has gone ahead and waits for you again and again to embrace Him.

Jesus said from the cross: “I thirst.” (John 19:28). He continues to thirst for mankind to seek Him. Don’t let time get away from you and say – “Later…” or “Not now, I’m too busy with…” He never tires, we do! Encounter Him again and again. Let us remember the words that were chanted on Easter Vigil: “O happy fault that earned so great, so glorious a Redeemer!”

The Easter liturgical season leads us for 50 days to the Feast of Pentecost, the birth of the Church.

Palm Sunday: Christ’s love and our freedom

“The Entry into Jerusalem” by Giotto (c. 1305)

This Sunday was Palm Sunday, the day we remember how Jesus was gloriously received as he entered Jerusalem amidst the shouts of “Hosanna in the highest! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” It was the only time that Jesus was received with great jubilation by the crowds as he entered Jerusalem.

However, we have just read the Passion of Christ, and we know that these same people who shouted, “Hosanna!” will also shout “Crucify him!” During the reading of the Passion we also shouted, “Crucify him!” and it is fitting that we did. It was our sins also that he bore on the way to Golgotha. He carried the weight of the sin of all humanity for all time with him to his death. He died for my sins and for yours so that we might be saved from eternal death.

“Ecce Homo” by Andrea Mantegna (1502)

Even though he died for all humanity, all humanity will not receive the same benefit from his death. He has entrusted his plan of salvation to his Church, expecting those who believe in him to be a light in the world, sharing the Good News of salvation with others so that they might believe in him and their lives be transformed by his grace. We each have a free will and we each must make the choice to turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel.

Next weekend, during the Easter Vigil, there will be thousands of people received in the Church throughout the world. In a way, it will be a little like Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem as these people joyfully welcome Jesus into their minds, hearts and souls and the whole community will proclaim, “Alleluia!” as it was proclaimed for each one of us as we were baptized. During the Easter liturgy, we all will renew our baptismal vows together as a reminder of what Christ has done for us and of our need to put our total faith in him.

The reading of Christ’s Passion reminds us that our baptism is not only about the joy of welcoming Jesus Christ, it is about believing in him, trusting in him, and being faithful to what he has revealed to us through the Scriptures and the Church. Our purpose in this life is to know, love and serve God so that we can be happy now and forever. Jesus Christ shows us how to live our life close to God so that our faith will influence all the decisions we make. When we refuse to be faithful to Jesus Christ, we once again say, “Crucify him.“

How I learned the Good News – and then some Better News.

Have you ever heard this one?

The Good News is: There’s a Messiah!
The Even Better News is: It’s not you.

I think I need to write this joke on my mirror, because I often feel like everything’s up to me: I’ve gotta write that email! I’ve gotta be involved in that meeting! I can’t get sick or rest, because if I do, everything’s gonna fall apart!!!

Wrong.

Recently, we’ve all gained a hero in this regard. By his abdicating what’s arguably one of the most powerful seats in the world, the Chair of St. Peter, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI made everyone stop and think, ‘Hold on…did he really just do that?’ And yes, he did. Taking all the consequences into consideration, he decided to step down from being THE POPE. The leader of over 1 billion people. The Vicar of Christ on earth. Yes, he did it.

That decision took an almost-unbelievable amount of humility, a virtue quite rare in our modern world. Today, people give up their privacy, safety, and health for just minutes of fame on TV. In politics, business, and even schools and churches, we accept cherished leadership positions for which we’re not prepared, qualified, or to which we cannot dedicate our time. Social media, while giving voices to once-voiceless minorities, have also contributed to a culture of vanity, egoism and pride.

Where did we go wrong?

Undoubtedly, you and I have responsibilities; we’ve each been entrusted with a mission from God that no other person can accomplish. He ‘calls us by name’ and sends us forth to accomplish this mission (cf. Isaiah 43:1). However, Jesus teaches us repeatedly in the Gospels that we are stewards. We have a mission, but God provides the mission and the means to accomplish that mission. To make this point, he asks his disciples, “‘When I sent you forth without a money bag or a sack or sandals, were you in need of anything?’ ‘No, nothing,’ they replied.” (Luke 22:35)

When we begin congratulating ourselves for what God has helped us accomplish, we start nudging God out of the picture. Certainly, we should have joy and ‘take pride’ in skills, talents and abilities that we’ve refined with hard work. But we cannot lose sight of the Source of every good thing in our lives: Our Heavenly Father.

God has taught me this lesson by allowing me to suffer greatly over the past several years, in my body, my mind, and my spirit. The pain often led me to immense frustration with God. Over time and with prayer, however, my pain helped me realize how little, weak, fragile and frail I am. I realized that I couldn’t accomplish anything without God’s help. God had given me my body, my soul, my spirit. He filled me with talents. He provided me with wonderful opportunities, a family, and friends. With every sunrise, He’s brought me a new day of life.

We cannot live the Good News without remembering “the Better News,” as the joke calls it. God lives! And despite how everything may appear to you, He is taking care of everything. So, cultivate your sense of gratefulness. Start your own ‘ritual’ of daily offering; for me, that means getting on my knees every day and saying, “Lord, I love you. I thank you, and I give you everything that you have given me. Help me serve you well today.”

Let God be God. You, be you.

I always knew that the Lord is in the ship, that the ship of the Church is not mine, not ours, but His – and He shall not let her sink. It is He, who steers her: to be sure, he does so also through men of His choosing, for He desired that it be so. This was and is a certainty that nothing can tarnish. It is for this reason, that today my heart is filled with gratitude to God, for never did He leave me or the Church without His consolation, His light, His love.
- Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, during his final General Audience

Why We Can’t Stay on the Mountaintop – Following and Resting in Jesus

Depiction of the Transfiguration, inside Church of the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor

“Jesus took Peter, John and James and went up the mountain to pray.” In the Gospels there are several moments of significance when Jesus takes Peter, John and James to be alone with him. Here, on Mt. Tabor the three apostles will witness something that the other apostles did not. They will see Jesus glorified speaking with Moses and Elijah. Moses represents the Law and Elijah represents the prophets. All that God had revealed to His Chosen People could be summed up in the Law and the Prophets. Now, Jesus is speaking with Moses and Elijah and he is above them; he is the fullness of God’s revelation, being God and man.

Mt. Tabor is unlike most of the mountains or hills in the region which are usually connected or part of a chain. Mt. Tabor is a mountain all by itself in the middle of several valleys, only a few miles from Nazareth and Cana. As a matter-of-fact, you can see Nazareth from the top of Mt. Tabor, which you reach by way of a zigzagging road which is too narrow for a bus.

Nowadays, when you arrive at the top, you see a beautiful church with three domes; the one in the center is larger and taller because it is over the altar dedicated to Jesus Christ. The one on the left is dedicated to Moses and the one on the right is dedicated to Elijah. These three domes were inspired by the words of Peter, “…let us make three tents, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” For the moment, Peter was caught up in the ecstasy of that mountaintop experience and wanted to remain on the mountain.

Church of the Transfiguration atop Mt. Tabor

However, if they would have remained on the mountain, they would have neglected their mission. It is a temptation for all of us to hope we will find a place where everything will be okay and we won’t have to be concerned with trials and difficulties. However, that was not real life for the Apostles and it is not real life for us. The Lord will continue to take us to places where we must depend upon him so that we can become spiritually mature and be filled with hope, even in the most difficult circumstance.

By his transfiguration, Jesus is preparing Peter, James and John for the scandal they will witness when he enters into his Passion. As they follow Jesus, there will be many things they will see and hear that will challenge their faith, so Jesus has given these three this glimpse of his glory to strengthen them.

We are beginning the second week of Lent. The purpose of this liturgical season of Lent is to renew the mission of Christ in our lives so that by cooperating with his grace, we will be reconciled to God and one another. It doesn’t happen automatically. We must make concrete choices. That is why we once again look at prayer, fasting and almsgiving as a means of surrendering our hearts to the Lord. If we do not take time to pray, if we are not generous with what we have, and if we allow our appetites to dominate us, we are far from the kingdom of God.

Jesus Christ is not just a God of miracles that we look to in our time of need, hoping he will fix everything for us. Sometimes he does that, but most of all he wants a personal relationship with us that draws us into intimate and fervent prayer, that leads us to trust him completely with every aspect of our lives. This trusting relationship will free us from anxious dependency on our own resources so that we will be generous with what we have, knowing that God cannot be outdone in generosity.

The most important thing we can do for ourselves and the people we love is to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Jesus by being faithful to what he has revealed to us through the Scriptures and the Church. He is the one who brings peace and happiness into our lives, but on his terms because he knows what is best for us. If we do not look to God for direction as we make our plans, we are destined for unhappiness.

St. Augustine once said, “Our hearts are restless O’ Lord until they rest in you.” Lord, you have created us to be in relationship with you. There is no other way we can reach our potential for happiness. Give us the grace Lord to love you above everything else and our neighbor as our self so that we may be happy now and for all eternity. Let our prayer be, Lord I desire that my heart should rest in you.

The Gift of Silence Can be Sweet: Lent + Valentine’s Day

This year, Ash Wednesday and Valentine’s Day fall side by side; Valentine’s Day is the day after Lent. They are dissimilar – Ash Wednesday is the beginning of Lent and reminds us of penance, fasting and almsgiving; Valentine’s Day reminds us of lovers, sweets, flowers and feasting. The Lenten period of 40 days begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Holy Thursday, in preparation for the celebration of Easter. Valentine’s Day is well – one day.

Forty days is very symbolic in the Bible; here are a few references, although there are many others:

• It rained 40 days and 40 nights during the Flood (Genesis 7: 4)
• Noah waited 40 days after the waters receded and the Ark settled on Mount Ararat before he sent out the raven (Genesis 8: 3-8)
• The Israelites spent 40 years “wandering” in the desert (Numbers 14: 33; Deuteronomy 29: 4)
• Elijah fasted 40 days in the wilderness (1 Kings 19: 8)
• Purification of Mary is 40 days after birth of Jesus (Luke 2: 22-4)
• Jesus spent 40 days fasting in the desert after His baptism (Matthew 4: 1-2)

My husband, Tom and I, had the opportunity to lead a pilgrimage to the Holy Land during Lent. Pilgrimages are journeys of faith, a time to think about God and experience the land He sanctified with His very life. Jesus spent 40 days fasting in the desert after His baptism in the desert near the River Jordan, a 10 minute bus ride to the vast Judean Desert. Our pilgrimage includes spending 40 minutes in this desert! Our bus driver leads us off the main highway into a gravel pathway leading to an area where he parks the bus, turns off the motor…and immediately one experiences the silence of the desert. As pilgrims get off the bus and walk up the hill, their breath it taken by the view of the vastness of the desert, and most especially the silence! They are asked to take this symbolic 40 minutes (remembering Jesus’ 40 days) and experience a time of prayer and total silence. For Tom and I, this time passes too quickly! The view of the desert, realizing Jesus was in that area and spending time just embracing the silence is an unforgettable moment! Numerous pilgrims have told us how much they appreciated this experience. One man in his 40′s said, “I have never experienced a silence like this, never!” Others have commented on how this experience of silence gave them a desire to include silence in their daily lives upon their return home.

How can we choose silence in today’s world filled with noise from television, radio, traffic, music, conversations? It’s possible – it’s a choice! Consider a time in your daily schedule when there is less noise. (Early morning? Late evening? Lunch period? When children are sleeping?) What do we benefit from silence? Personally I become more aware of God’s presence and I experience a peace.

Blessed Mother Teresa explains it well in a way that is called the Simple Path:
The fruit of silence is PRAYER.
The fruit of prayer is FAITH.
The fruit of faith is LOVE.
The fruit of Love is SERVICE.
The fruit of service is PEACE.

What does silence have to do with Valentine’s Day? Spending time in silence with someone we love is a gift, perhaps greater than the best chocolates or beautiful flowers. A time when one appreciates the other and experiences the ‘inner beauty and sweetness’ of that person. My husband and I enjoy sitting in swinging bench in the yard and just enjoying being with each other without conversation or outside noise to distract our moment of silence with one another.

Consider giving the gift of silence to someone you love this Valentine’s Day. Begin the Lenten Season by planning time for silence.

“We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature – trees, flowers, grass – grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence… We need silence to be able to touch souls.” – Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta

Soul Searching at Mardi Gras

My family loves Mardi Gras parades. My husband, two sons and I return often to our hometown New Orleans so we can join this annual party. If you’ve never experienced a Mardi Gras parade, let me tell you it’s quite an interactive event. As floats roll through the streets, throngs of people line the route yelling, jumping and waving their hands in the hope of getting the “throws” that are tossed or more often hurled at the crowd by the masked riders. These “throws” are traditionally plastic bead necklaces, plastic cups, stuffed animals, plastic swords, and wooden spears; in other words, pretty worthless junk. I am not a fan of crowds so I prefer to stand back while most, including my family, push their way up screaming, “Throw me something, Mister!” It’s very entertaining to watch all the ways people try to get the attention of the riders and what lengths they will go to get this junk.

“Miss Louisiana” by thepipe26

One year, an interesting revelation came to me when I noticed what often happens after the victor gains his treasure. Without even a backwards glance, the throw is tossed in a pile and forgotten. I realize that it’s not the throws but getting them that is the fun. The whole value of a throw then is the few brief seconds from when it is spotted in the rider’s hands until it makes into the victor’s grasp. After that, it reverts to junk and will soon be stuffed into a box and stowed in the attic or garage until an industrious spring cleaning day relegates it to the curb.

…which is just how Satan views our souls.

Satan will try any antic to get our attention and like a Mardi Gras throw, once he wins our souls we are tossed away never to be thought of again; left to the boxed confines of our sins. Because you see, the devil has no desire to spend eternity with us; he only wants to get us so he can make sure God does not. He hates God; we are simply a means to an end.

The good news is that the devil is not the only searcher of souls. Our Lord is there as He always is, waiting for us. But unlike that pile of beads that ends up in the trash bin, garages or storage sheds in New Orleans, He has wonderful plans for you and me. . .

I know well the plans I have in mind for you; plans for your welfare and not for woe. (Jeremiah 29:11)

Why then, if our Lord desires such great plans for us, do we more often feel as worthless as those discarded pair of plastic Mardi Gras beads?

“Christ Embracing St. Bernard” by Francisco Ribalta (16th-17th century)

I received the answer to that question over ten years ago when my choices had brought me to my knees lost, alone and weary from battling the grasps of darkness. My Lord came to me, picked me up, put His arms around me and loved me out of my debilitating depression. He promised I would never feel alone again as He gently led me back to His Church and my Catholic faith.

In my return to the faith of my youth that I so ignorantly dismissed as archaic and unnecessary for my happiness, I discovered that God does not want to get us, but rather He wants to be with us now and forever in the complete and continuous exercise of our free will. We cannot be passive and expect to find the joy we so desire. God wants us to want to be with Him and joins us in discovering our happiness through Church teachings, His word in Scripture, through the Sacraments and most significantly by joining our suffering with His in the Eucharistic Celebration of Mass.

God does not view our souls like cheap plastic beads to be tossed at the mercy of the rider, but rather active participants in His wonderful plans for our happiness. We have a choice in whose hands we land.

The devil could not care less whether we cooperate with him or not. Since the beginning he has lied and tricked to get his way like when he told Eve, “You certainly will not die! God knows well that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods, who know good and evil,” (Genesis 3:4-5) but failing to mention that along with the knowledge of evil will also be the desire for evil and the consequences to pay. He flat out lied when he told her you will not die. He will make any effort to grasp our souls and keep them away from God and His wonderful plans for us.

My Catholic faith has taught me that I am not to find happiness on my own and there are two good reasons why. Firstly, no matter how intelligent, educated, willing or brave any of us may be, we are no match for the cunning and sinister ways of the devil.

Secondly and so very wonderfully, that is not God’s plan for us. We need our God with us just as He has wonderfully planned, “And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20)

I look toward the floats and imagine the people clamoring for God rather than throws. I see our Lord reach down and pull people up into His arms calling each by name. He searches the crowd and when our eyes meet, He holds out His arms for me.

I run to join the party.

Will You Proclaim the Kingdom of God?

Christ Preaching in the Synagogue at Nazareth (14th century; Visoki Decani Monastery, Kosovo)

In this Sunday’s Gospel, Luke speaks to us about the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry and His return to Nazareth, where he grew up. In the synagogue, where everyone knew him, he reads to them from the Prophet Isaiah. After he has read, he sits down and everyone is looking at him. He then says:

“Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”

Jesus tells the people that his mission as Messiah is the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy. Jesus is the one that the chosen people have been waiting for – He is the Good News. The best thing that can happen for the people has just happened. The kingdom of God is made present to them because Jesus the Word of God is in their midst.

If you continue to read from this Gospel, Chapter 4, you will see that “…all spoke highly of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth.” They also asked, ‘Isn’t this the son of Joseph?’ And from there, it goes down hill. How can this man, who has been their neighbor, claim to be the Messiah without the proof of miracles?! As we know from other Gospel accounts, even when Jesus does perform miracles and speaks with unheard authority, few put faith in Him. He is the Good News for all time, and is met by rejection – especially by his own people.

The Good News of God may not always seem like Good News to us, either. The Kingdom of God is opposed to the ways of the world. The world and what it has to offer have a powerful attraction on us, more now than ever before because the world is becoming more attractive to our senses and, our appetites keep increasing. Most of what the world has to offer is good, but the challenge is to keep everything its proper place. If God isn’t first in our life, then other things – people or ideas can become an obstacle to recognizing God in our midst.

The truth is: God is in our midst, the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. One sign of God’s presence would be the kind of justice and charity present in a community as Jesus reads about from the prophet Isaiah. But even if we don’t recognize God’s presence in the community or people around us, we can humbly invite Christ to dwell within us and then bring his presence to our surroundings.

Billy Graham

This is how we can be a light in the world to bring hope to others. It’s a choice we must make.

In recent times non-Catholics have been more effective than Catholics in encouraging people to make a concrete choice for God – which they call being ‘born again.’ About thirteen years ago, as a representative of the Archdiocese of San Antonio, I attended a Billy Graham Rally at the Alamodome. They wanted members of all the local churches to be present because they knew thousands of people would come and they wanted to be sure that as many as possible would be connected to a church.

We were instructed on how to approach people and pray with them as they would come forward after Billy Graham’s message.

Thousands of people did come forward who wanted to be connected to God. We approached them, asked them to commit their lives to God, and then prayed with them. They then filled out a card with their name, address and phone number which was sent to the Church of their choice. We did receive some of those cards at our parish, and I personally know of at least one person who went through RCIA to become Catholic because of that effort.

As Catholics we have been born again, by water and the spirit through Baptism and we have received the gifts of the Holy Spirit which we begin to discover as we mature in the faith. However, the truth is we must make an adult decision to be committed to Christ and to live a faithful relationship with the Holy Trinity. It’s not a one-time thing, but a process of ongoing conversion. As Catholics we are greatly blessed because of the abundant access we have to the grace we need, to live this relationship through the Sacraments of Reconciliation and Holy Eucharist.

There was a Lutheran minister who said something to the effect:

“The Catholic Church is a sleeping giant, waiting to be awakened.”

If we would awaken and use the gifts God has given us, it would be obvious that the Kingdom of God is at hand.