Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Would You Rather Be Rich or Poor?

2 Sm 7:18-19, 24-29/Mk 4:21-25

The ending of today’s gospel sounds like a cynical commentary on modern society. "To those who have, more will be given; from those who have not, what little they have will be taken away." It seems to say that the rich will get richer and the poor will get poorer. But that’s not at all what this text is about.

So what is it that people have and then either get more of or lose all of? Jesus isn’t talking about money or wealth in any form. He’s talking about the extent and depth of our connectedness to God. If we are already deeply rooted in God, our spirits will grow larger, richer, and fuller by the day. But if our connection to the Lord is only superficial, it certainly won’t grow, and it probably won’t last at all.

So here’s our question for the day: Does your God-connection have growing power? Is it changing your life day by day? Or is it anemic and able to do little more than stumble through a memorized prayer? If it’s the former, you’ve got an enviable future ahead of you for sure. If your God-connection is the latter, be prepared for a future you’d never choose.

That’s the equation, and there are no exceptions. Why not be rich through and through?!

Thursday, April 1, 2010

It’s Dangerous to Believe Our Own Press Releases

2 Sam 7:4-17 / Mk 4:1-20

None of us has any greater enemy than our own egos, which lie and lie to us, just as the snake did in the story of Adam and Eve. "You can be God’s equal," says the ego. What a lie that is, but we fall for it again and again, and it gets us in terrible trouble.

A raging ego running rampant is what we see in today’s Old Testament story about David. The little shepherd boy had become a king and he seemed to have forgotten who put him on the throne and guaranteed victory in all his battles. David proposed to build a house for God. It seemed like a nice gesture; even the prophet Nathan thought so.

But God who reads all hearts understood David’s heart all too well. David didn’t recognize his own radical poverty in the face of God who made the whole universe. What could he give to God that wasn’t God’s already? What would God need a house for if he already had a whole universe? These thoughts hadn’t occurred to David. His ego had silently shrunk God down to David’s own size!

That can happen. We can shrink God, and we can inflate ourselves. Both will lead us into foolishness that delays our getting on with the real business of life, which is building God’s kingdom not only around us but within us. The core of building the kingdom is the endless process of transformation whose goal is a heart shaped in God’s likeness.

So don’t get distracted by delusions of grandeur. Remember who you are and what your real work is. And be assured that the God who made you will at every turn provide you with what you need to complete your journey.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

He Loved People, But He Could Walk Alone

2 Sam 6:12-15,17-19 / Mk 3:31-35

Today’s gospel records one of the saddest moments in Jesus’ life. His family thought He was crazy, and they were trying to get Him to forget His outlandish ideas and come home with them. What a terrible moment of isolation and utter aloneness it must have been, to be abandoned by those who had been closest to Him all his life, those He loved most dearly.

Jesus’ reaction at this sad and humiliating moment is worth pondering at length. He didn’t waver. He remembered who He was and what was the mission the Father had given Him. And He stood firm in His commitment ... firm and very alone.

There are times in every human life when the normal supports that we’ve come to count on simply aren’t there. The temptation is to scurry to a safe place in the midst of the crowd. The temptation is to bend to the pressures and head for a place in the shadows. That’s when we need to think of Jesus standing tall and alone. That’s when we need to ask His help in remembering who we are and where God has called us.

That’s a prayer that is always answered. And with the answer always comes the strength to stay the course. There are no exceptions, because God is faithful.

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Don’t Close Your Eyes to the Spirit at Work

2 Sam 5:1-7,10 / Mk 3:22-30

It is truly astonishing to see how far away from reality some of us can wander. Sometimes it’s fear that makes us shut our eyes, and sometimes it’s a powerful personal agenda which reshapes and rearranges reality to fit our personal desires. We get a good look at just such a blinding, distorting personal agenda in today’s gospel.

Jesus had been doing what He usually did: heal the sick, cure lepers, give sight to the blind, and expel demons. And what did the scribes from Jerusalem have to say about all that? “He’s possessed by the devil”! They simply refused to let the evidence speak for itself, because to acknowledge the facts would undermine what they valued more than anything else: their own power over the Jewish community.

The Spirit was at work in their very midst, but they simply turned their backs and refused to see the Spirit -- all to protect so little! In part it was a form of despair, thinking that there was no more to their lives than a bit of power over their piece of the “turf.” At the same time, it was a form of presumption, denying that they had any need for God. It was a sin that could never be forgiven, because it locked out the Spirit, saying either “I don’t need your help,” or “You can't help me.”

The Spirit is powerfully at work where you are every day. Don’t underestimate your need or the Spirit’s power. Welcome the Spirit with a hopeful heart, for the Spirit knows exactly what you need today and will give it to you if you ask.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Light or Darkness: Which Do You Bring?

Is 8:23—9:3 / 1 Cor 1:10-13, 17 / Mt 4:12-23 or 4:12-17

Some years ago there was a new eighth-grade class at the local parish school, and they were trouble! Negative and sniping, they were down on everything and everybody, most especially themselves. Nobody wanted to teach this class, until finally old Sister Ambrose volunteered.

She was a wise old nun, so she did something very simple. She gave each student a list of their classmates. "Next to each name," she said, "write down all the good things you know about that person. Don't exaggerate or make up anything. Just write the good that you see and give me your papers on Friday." And so they did.

Over the weekend, Sister read the students' comments and then typed for each one a full page of all the good things the class saw in him or her. On Monday she handed them out.

The students were astonished. "Is this me?" asked some. "I didn't think anybody noticed," said others. "Wow, I can't believe I'm this good!" said still others. And so it went.

Years later, when the class had scattered to the four winds, many of them returned for the funeral of one of the boys who had been killed in Vietnam. After the burial they were clustered around old Sister Ambrose when the dead soldier's father came along.

"Thank you, Sister, for all your help to my boy," he said. "He grew up fine, just as you hoped, and he made us very proud. Now I want to return to you something you gave him long ago in the eighth grade."

With that he pressed into her hand a yellowed piece of paper, folded very small to fit into a wallet, and falling apart now from being folded and unfolded, read and reread many times. It was the list Sister had typed for that shy boy so many years before!

Silently and tearfully each of his classmates reached into their wallets or purses and produced their own worn and yellowed sheets, which we falling apart from being folded and unfolded, read and reread many times across the years.

And old Sister Ambrose, now leaning heavily on her cane, sighed and whispered a silent prayer, "Thank you, God."

+ + +

A small kindness cast its light like a beacon across many years. It pierced the darkness, and nothing could put it out.

May our light shine, and bring light to all we meet. And may it never grow dim. Amen.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Faithfulness or Success, Which Will you Choose?

Acts 22:3-16 / Mk 16:15-18

One evening a man took a small candle from a box and began to climb a long winding stairway. "Where are we going?" asked the candle. "We're going up higher than a house to show the ships the way to the harbor."

"But no ship in the harbor could ever see my light," the candle said. "It is so very small."

"If your candle is small," the man said," just keep on burning brightly and leave the rest to me."

The little candle said meekly, "I will."

When they reached the top of the long stairs, they came to a large lamp. The man took the little candle and used its tiny flame to light the lamp. Soon the large polished mirrors behind the lamp sent beams of light out across the miles of sea to guide the ships safely home. The candle smiled for he realized his faithfulness was rewarded with success.

+ + +

In today's readings, we are reminded once again of the great omnipotence of our Father in Heaven. No task is impossible for the Lord, because He calls not the qualified, but He qualifies the called. In our first reading we hear the testimony of a hard-hearted persecutor of God's faithful sons and daughters who is dramatically called into spiritual service. Jesus transforms his heart and sends him forth.

In the Gospel, we are reminded that Christ chooses an unfaithful and somewhat unstable fisherman to lead His Church. He selects first disciples with no leadership qualities, those that doubt, one that has questionable financial abilities, and others that bicker over petty things or could potentially cause trouble. Yet, this motley group, this band of brothers, was transformed by the power of God to do great things. Of all the first disciples, the only one who showed real potential for worldly success ended up betraying Jesus to His death. Blessed Mother Teresa spoke it best when she said that "God does not call us to be successful, He calls us to be faithful."

The great commission, "Go into the whole world and proclaim the good news to all creation" is for each of us and we do our Lord a great injustice when we think ourselves unworthy for this personal call. The faithful Eleven have changed the world forever and so can we. The success of our work is in His hands.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

A Jealous Heart Is a Great Destroyer

1 Sam 18:6-9,19:1-7 / Mk 3:7-12

The songs that King Saul heard in today’s Old Testament reading as he returned from battle soured his soul. “Saul has slain his thousands, and David has slain his ten thousands,” was their chant, and it cut to the quick. Saul had never lived up to the early expectations of him, and he never really got a sense of what it meant to be a king -- to be, more than anything else, a protector and guide for his people, especially for the weak. For him, ego was master, and ego’s jealousy led him to ever-greater depths, culminating in a plan to murder David.

A jealous, wounded ego can be a great destroyer, and one that can so nicely justify itself to itself all along the way. It can bring a kind of madness upon us, leading us down ugly roads we’ve never even thought of before, roads from which there is no easy escape. A jealous heart takes no joy in its own gifts, and it gives no gifts. A jealous heart never knows peace.

Jesus has shown us a much happier way of living, which wastes no time pretending that we are or ought to be the center of the universe. Letting God be God for us can free us from so much that is useless, and can make us ready for real living in His presence.

Relax in the Lord and share His joy.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Name It, Claim It, Feel It, Fix It!

Heb 7:1-3,15-17 / Mk 3:1-6

Jesus came to us as a brother to reconcile us to one another and to our Father. Given the realities of our human condition and the abundance of our sins and mistakes, piling one on top of the other day by day, his coming should be cause for rejoicing for every last one of us. One would think so, but it is not so, nor has it ever been. Even in Jesus' day, large numbers of his listeners resisted his message and never did find reconciliation.

The reason for this is plainly visible in today's gospel and it was a source of both pain and frustration for Jesus. There is nothing more inaccessible than a closed mind, and that is what Jesus found when he faced the Pharisees. The price of reconciliation and healing is always the same, no matter what the circumstance: Name your sin, claim it as your own, experience its ugly reality in your own heart, and then open your heart to the Lord's healing and to his help in mending the hurts you have inflicted.

Name it, claim it, feel it, fix it. The Lord wants to help us at each of those four stages, but he cannot do so if our minds or hearts are closed, if we do not or will not take ownership for our sins.

Fear closes minds, but faith can open them. Trust in the Lord's powerful desire to heal you, cast aside all fear, and open the door to him. You'll never regret it!

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Not As Man Sees Does God See

1 Sam 16:1-13 / Mk 2:23-28

King Saul made the ultimate foolish choice: he refused to trust the God who made him and who had given him the kingship. Instead, he turned inward upon himself, with predictably disastrous results. There would have to be a new king, but God warned Samuel to judge more astutely this time. “Man sees the appearance, but the Lord looks into the heart.” Samuel listened to the Lord and ended up selecting the youngest and least likely of the candidates, David, a youth of pure heart, who became a great king.

It’s so easy to get caught in the trap of judging by appearances, rejecting too quickly what may have hidden merits, and giving our applause and our hearts to what glitters, but has no staying power. It’s especially hurtful when we do that to our fellow human beings.

Seeing as God sees takes time and requires an open and discerning spirit that is willing to be surprised, and willing to see goodness, truth and beauty in the most unexpected places. Seeing as God sees is not only a more truthful way of living, it’s a lot happier way of living as well.

Let the truth set you free.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Stop the Dithering

1 Sam 15:16-23 / Mk 2:18-22

Saul was the king that the Israelites got when they decided they wanted to be like all their neighbors. As a leader, Saul had real limits, not the least of which were his fearfulness and his resulting lack of vision and purpose. The prophet Samuel confronted him: “Though little in your own esteem, are you not the leader of the tribes of Israel?” Just barely! Although the Lord had promised to guide and protect him as he did the Lord’s work, Saul dithered instead, and let himself be distracted by the spoils of battle. And finally, he tried to bribe his way back into the Lord’s favor by offering lavish sacrifices. It didn’t work.

It never does. God doesn’t need our trinkets or our flowery words. God already has it all, and He can’t be bribed. The one thing God wants from us is integrity, namely, that we walk in the truth wherever that leads us. Saul could have walked that walk and had a happy life as a good king and a friend of the Lord, but he didn’t do it, because he could never bring himself to trust completely in the Lord who alone could give him the power to do it.

So how far are you willing to trust the Lord? Are you really letting him be Lord for you? What better offer are you waiting for?

Why not stop the dithering and give Him your “yes” now!

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Are You a Sleep Walker?

Is 49:3, 5-6 / 1 Cor 1:1-3 / Jn 1:29-34

At the end of a long business trip, a man was searching for a gift to take home to his wife. "How about some perfume?" he asked the clerk. She showed him a bottle for $50.

"That's too much," he replied. So the clerk showed him a smaller bottle for $30. "That's still quite a bit," he complained.

Rolling her eyes, the clerk brought out a tiny bottle for $15. Again he shook his head. "What I mean is I'd like to see something REAL cheap." With that the clerk handed him a mirror!

+ + +

Sometimes it takes us quite a while to recognize the truth. Just look at John the Baptist in the Gospel. He's known Jesus all his life, but shaking his head he says, "I didn't recognize him.... How could I have missed it? I just didn't recognize him!"

How often that happens. How much we miss. And nowhere is that more true than when it comes to seeing ourselves. It's strange but true that relatively few of us would recognize ourselves in a "blind tasting" where our physical appearance was just slightly disguised!

Our ordinary conversation reveals that relatively few of us recognize what makes us special and what rightly endears us to others. We just don't see even half of our own goodness.

Relatively few of us are really aware of WHY we do much of what we do. We see mainly the surface of things which can cover up both the good and the bad, and can keep us perpetual adolescents and perpetual victims to life's surprises.

Relatively few of us recognize that many of the "streets" we drive on daily are dead ends.

In a word, many of us are habitual "sleep walkers" which is costly in the extreme. It robs us of the delight that should be ours at seeing our goodness, our giftedness, and our hard won progress.

It robs us of the chance of growing and getting better.

Being "sleep walkers" condemns us to half a life and, eventually, to dying without ever having know ourselves or our friends.

None of that is what God wants for us. God wants our life to be like his: Conscious, full, and fearless. His constant call to us is to step out of the dark into the light. His repeated assurance is that he'll give us what we need to look within fearlessly and to see what is there ... and what is not. His promise is nothing less than his own Spirit by whose power we can do whatever is necessary to respond to the truth he helps us see.

God wants a whole life for you and me, and not just a fragment. So why not step out into the light and let him show us the way?

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Are We Really Different?

1 Sam 8:4-7,10-22 / Mk 2:1-12

In today’s Old Testament reading, we find the Israelites making one of the most foolish mistakes in all their history. They wanted to be like all the other nations around them. They wanted a king. How ironic! They claimed unceasingly to be different from and better than every other nation on earth, indeed, to be God’s chosen people. Yet in the same breath, they said they wanted to be like their so-called inferiors!

It’s a foolish mistake we Christians make all too often. Our vocation as followers of Jesus is to live by values that are essentially counter-cultural. True Christians judge success and greatness by standards that are very different from the world’s. Having and getting are not our highest values. Building a just society in which everyone has a place takes top billing for true Christians.

The list of differences between Christians and the culture is long, and it poses very nicely the essential question for us: When it comes to lived values, are we recognizable as Christians? Do our daily choices speak unmistakably that we are different from the surrounding culture in wholesome ways? If not, we might want to look again at what happened to the Israelites who so desperately wanted to fit in, that they let go of what made them special.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

God Cannot Be Manipulated

1 Sm 4:1-11 / Mk 1:40-45

I found something quite astonishing in our church the other day, a stack of nine copies of a perfectly fine little prayer to St Jude. But typed on the bottom of each one was this instruction: "Make 81 copies of this prayer, deposit nine copies in your church every day for nine days. No later than the ninth day, your prayer will be granted." As if the Almighty God and Lord of the universe could be manipulated so easily and made to do our bidding! As the title of that old book says, "Your God Is Too Small"!

It was the same kind of mechanical, magical approach to God that the Israelites tried when they sent for the Ark of the Covenant as they faced the Philistines in battle. It didn't occur to them to look inward for the source of their recent defeat. "We just forgot to use the right magic," they said to themselves as they repeated their mistake yet again.

The quest for a quick fix and for cheap salvation is a perennial one, and it can leave us dangerously impoverished within. There is no valid religious practice or experience which is not about transformation, our transformation on the inside. Wherever that is lacking, we are wasting our time, and fooling ourselves into thinking that God can be manipulated or fooled.

He can't! So let's get serious about transformation.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Are Your Troubles Too Ordinary for God?

1 Sm 3:1-10, 19-20 / Mk 1:29-39

Are there ever times in your life when you refrain from asking Jesus for healing because you think that your sickness is too ordinary or that your troubles are not great enough for our Lord to come to your aid?

In today's Gospel, you may identify with the mother-in-law of Peter who lays ill in bed with a fever, while Jesus travels through the town casting out demons and healing those afflicted with horrible diseases. It took the outside insistance of Peter and Andrew to make Jesus aware of the woman's illness, for she did not seek His healing out on her own.

There may be times in our lives when we may feel unworthy to receive healing. We must consider that Jesus desires our need of Him. He wants to be invited to heal our hurts, no matter how small or insignificant they may seem. Are we inviting Jesus into our hearts and homes to receive the power of His healing grace?

If today you struggle with something you deem not important enough for the Lord, don't listen to this spirit of weakness. Ask Jesus to heal your smallest affliction, your most ordinary need. And in return, be like the mother-in-law in today's Gospel, respond immediately with a heart of gratitude and service.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Jesus' Author-ity

1 Sm 1:9-20 / Mk 1:14-28

“He spoke with authority.” Jesus is the author-ity. Jesus is the author of life. We -- made in His image and likeness -- reflect Him. That is why the demons hate us so much. The fact that the Author chose to become one with His own “writing” made them jealous -- especially Lucifer. Yet, His author-ity could not be denied or ignored by them.

Ultimately, that same author-ity cannot be ignored by us either. Jesus has written our hearts with His own creative love. He has also written how we are to respond to that love. The best and most enduring writing He gave us is in The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5, Luke 6). Would you confound the demons in and around your life? Let Him write -- re-write -- your heart. The Sermon on the Mount is a great place to start the re-write process.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Loving Is Giving Your Gift

1 Sm 1:1-8 / Mk 1:14-20

A young man was walking along the beach when he stumbled on a magic lantern. He rubbed the lantern and a genie popped out with a hearty greeting, "Have I got good news for you! This very afternoon you will receive three gifts: a miracle cure for all ailments, a huge diamond, and a dinner date with a famous movie star."

Of course, the young man was elated, so he rushed right home where he was greeted at the door by his mother. "Some odd things have being happening this afternoon," she said. "At noon someone delivered a barrel of chicken soup. A half hour later, a telegram came saying a long lost relative has left you a minor league baseball stadium, and just a few minutes ago, MGM called inviting you to dinner tonight with Lassie!"

+ + +

So much for good news! As with much of life, that fellow was raised up for a moment and then let down fast. We know the experience well: a hungry longing for something more, a momentary hope that it's within our grasp, then disappointment and back to hungry longing.

It is to all of us who know that hungry longing that Jesus is speaking His invitation, "Come with Me! Follow in My path." Many of us are ready to say "Yes" to Him, but we still have a question: How do we follow Him? What is His way? We know the generic answer: Jesus's way is the golden rule: "Love God with your whole heart and your neighbor as yourself." But how does that translate into the concrete? How do we actually put together a life out of that?

We begin by remembering that love is never in the abstract -- general good feelings are nice but they aren't love. Love is always in the concrete. We give our love and care to this specific person or that one at this specific moment or that. Furthermore, we love and care with what we have and with what we are, and not with what somebody else has or is.

The specific shape of the loving and caring to which we are called individually is defined by the specific gifts that God has entrusted to our personal care. That means, on the one hand, that you are very probably not called to be Mother Teresa, and I am definitely not called to be our parish organist. But it also means we have to work very hard at seeing, naming, and developing what are our own special gifts so that we can share those gifts with those who need what we have to give.

The deep and hungry longing for joy, which we all know so well, will never be fully satisfied in this life. But if we see, and name, and develop our own special gifts and then share them open-heartedly with all who need them, we'll begin to experience the joy we've always longed for. We'll begin to know the peace for which we were made.

That's the Good News we've been waiting for! Joy and peace can be ours here and now! Thanks be to God!

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Is It Time to Let Go?

Is 42:1-4, 6-7 / Acts 10:34-38 / Mt 3:13-17

A woman went to see a psychiatrist with an urgent request: "Doctor, you've got to do something about my husband. He thinks he's a refrigerator!"

"I wouldn't worry too much about it," said the shrink. "Lots of people have harmless delusions. It'll pass."

"But, doctor, you don't understand," insisted the woman. "He sleeps with his mouth open, and the little light keeps me awake!"

+ + +

It's hard to stay connected to reality! And sometimes it's very hard not to close our eyes to what's right in front of us. We see one of those hard moments in Sunday's Gospel. John the Baptist had spent his entire adult life on one single mission: Preparing the people for Jesus' coming. And then, Jesus came. John's work was over, and his new task was to fade into the shadows -- not easy for someone who'd been the equivalent of a rock star for so many years. But that's what John did: He let go of center stage and gave it to the Lord.

How was he able to do that? How did he avoid letting his ego get in the way? Because he'd understood from the beginning that his life's work wasn't about himself. It was about carrying God's gifts to God's people -- just as every wholesome life's work must be.

More often than we'd like, we face hard moments like the one John faced, when this or that part of our life's work is done and it's time to let go and move on. Every parent faces those moments of letting go -- again and again. And that's when they discover who their parenting was really about: Their children or themselves!

(The same is true of us at any transition moment in life. When the moment comes, we discover what we've really been about -- if we're willing to look!)

As our lives continue to unfold, the shape of the work to which God calls us changes, sometimes radically. What makes these transitions especially difficult is that usually we can't see what comes next. The fear, of course, is that it may be nothing -- perhaps the best part is already past.

So we cling to what we've been doing. And our life's work ceases to be about carrying God's gifts to those who need them; and it degenerates instead into mindless repetition -- with no purpose. It's rather like a gardener I once observed, week after week, carefully watering a big clay pot full of soil in which nothing had been planted for years!

At every stage of life, no matter how young or old we are, God has valuable work for us to do, and we have the gifts that need to be carried to someone. Trust that. Listen to God whispering to you through your gifts and through the circumstances of your daily life. He'll let you know when you're done in one spot, and where you're needed next. And rest assured, you'll always be needed, because you don't just carry God's gifts: When you're at your best, you ARE God's gift, and you are very much needed!

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Believe and Your Heart Will Be His

1 Jn 5:5-13 / Lk 5:12-16

Unless we've hit one of those terrible periods in our lives when everything fades into shades of grey and the hours hang heavy upon us, most of our days seem to pass with astonishing speed. And if we ever take the time to recreate one of our days, minute by minute, we'll be astonished to see how much we've crammed into so little space. No wonder that we seem to have so little time to think. No wonder we forget some of the most important things that we know.

In today's epistle, St. John reminds us of the most important of all of those things we forget. He says, "You who believe in the name of the Son of God ... (already) possess eternal life." It's astonishing but true, and it's something we'd all like to be a part of.

So what does it mean to 'believe in the name'? It involves a good deal more than a mere intellectual affirmation. It means nothing less than entrusting our very life into the care of God's son, and bonding our heart to his, so that his life flows into us and we are progressively reshaped into his likeness.

That bond is far too important to risk our forgetting it. So, as the hours and days go racing by, be sure to take some time to remember the one to whom your heart is bonded, the one who shares his life with you. Remember and give thanks.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

The Disease of the Pharisees

1 Jn 4:19-5:4 / Lk 4:14-22

Many thinkers and many people in general flee into the abstract and the universal as a way of avoiding the very dull and very concrete demands of everyday reality. It's like the proverbial housewife who flees to daily Mass, while ignoring the obvious needs of her children for breakfast. It's the disease of the Pharisees, having the passport perfectly in order, and then going nowhere.

St. John summarizes the problem with pungent words in today's epistle. "One who has no love for the brother he has seen cannot love the God he has not seen." It's a strident warning to us all. We can't hide behind eloquent prayers or fine sentiments. We have to take care of our neighbors, just as Jesus would, if we want to be His disciples.

So what kind of match is there between your prayers and your deeds? Does what you tell the Lord match what you do? Of all the people you pray for, are there any for whom you actually do something concrete? Why not look for the point where your gifts and their needs touch? That's God's assignment for you and He's waiting for you and for all of us to get busy.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Make No Place for Fear in Your Life

1 Jn 4:11-18 / Mk 6:45-52

This world can be a scary place to live. With terrorists blowing up buildings at random and drive-by shooters menacing the innocent, with global warming imperiling future generations and nuclear weapons in the hands of unstable regimes, with carcinogens and good cholesterol and bad cholesterol confusing and threatening us, and with our retirement accounts looking pathetically small, the temptation to give in to fear is powerful indeed.

What, if anything, is there to prevent us from succumbing to paralyzing fear? One thing only, and that is absolute and total confidence that the Lord walks at our side at all times and never wanders away. If we listen carefully in our moments of uncertainty, we can hear Him speak to us as He did to the apostles in today's gospel, "Get hold of yourself. It is I. Do not be afraid."

If we trust in the Lord's loving presence at our side, we will find that we have both the confidence and the energy to live wholeheartedly in the now and to face, one at a time, the challenges that life inevitably brings our way. And we'll even enjoy the process.

The Lord has promised that with each new day he will give us whatever we need for that day. Trust his promise and his sun will shine on you every day.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Who Could Love That? God!

1 Jn 4:7-10 / Mk 6:34-44

Most of us don't have to dig very deep or think very long before coming up with multiple memories of our foolish choices, egregious errors, false certitudes, and outright ugly sins of various sizes and dimensions. In considerable discomfort we ask ourselves, "What did I have in my head? How could I have done that? If only those people could come back to life so I could tell them how sorry I am."

We've all had that experience many times, if we have even the slightest degree of self-awareness and good conscience. Remembering it helps us see how utterly astonishing are the love and the affection that God lavishes upon us, even on the worst of our days. How can we explain it? Surely not from any merit of ours.

The fact is that God loves us because that's who God is, Love Itself. When we get clear about that, two parallel emotions should well up in our hearts: relief and then gratitude. And that faces us with a challenge. How do we give adequate expression to our gratitude? Words alone aren't enough.

The answer is elegantly simple: Do for one another what God does for us, namely, love one another without counting the cost. It's all that God asks in return for his loving us, and doing it, following God's example, will transform us more and more fully into God's own likeness.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

By Their Fruits You Shall Know Them

1 Jn 3:22-4:6 / Mt 4:12-17, 23-25

“Should,” “must,” and “ought” are words for which we seem to have an inordinate affection. We like to use them a lot when we’re giving free advice to our friends or when we’re evaluating the decisions of others, whether they be coaches or politicians. Somehow, we have plenty of answers for other people’s questions. But what about our own?

Every day, whether we like it or not and whether we’re ready or not, we have to make all sorts of decisions large and small. Very few of them fall into the category of “life-determining,” such as choosing a mate or a profession or deciding to have a family. But many of our tiny, seemingly insignificant choices have a way of adding up into whole lifestyles with major consequences.

So how do we discern what is true and what is not? John’s Epistle tells us: “Do not trust every spirit, but put the spirits to the test to see if they belong to God.” The Holy Spirit will guide us in doing that, if we’re willing to take the time and to listen. And the most pertinent question the Holy Spirit will help us ask of ourselves concerns consequences. The old saying is right on the mark, “By their fruits you shall know them.” Does this choice or that life pattern produce “good fruit” and have good consequences? Are life and love built up or are they broken down and worn away by this or that choice?

The Holy Spirit will save us from the demon of self-deception if we are willing to invest in listening time with an open heart.

May your heart be open and listening, now and always!

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

You Already Have It!

Is 60:1-6 / Eph 3:2-3a, 5-6 / Mt 2:1-12

More than a century ago, a great sailing ship was stranded off the coast of South America. Week after week the ship lay there in the still waters with not a hint of a breeze. The captain was desperate; the crew was dying of thirst. And then, on the far horizon, a steamship appeared, headed directly toward them. As it drew near, the captain called out, "We need water! Give us water!" The steamship replied, "Lower your buckets where you are."

The captain was furious at this cavalier response but called out again, "Please, give us water."

But the steamer gave the same reply, "Lower your buckets where you are!" And with that they sailed away! The captain was beside himself with anger and despair, and he went below. But a little later when no one was looking, a yeoman lowered a bucket into the sea and then tasted what he brought up: It was perfectly sweet, fresh water! For you see, the ship was just out of sight of the mouth of the Amazon. And for all those weeks they'd been sitting right on top of all the fresh water they needed!

There is in all of us a restlessness that keeps us searching, moving, changing, looking far and wide for something -- we're not sure what -- but something that can satisfy us and fill us full. We search and search, for the latest look, the fastest new sports car, the perfect BEST FRIEND, the hottest new resort, the ultimate cabernet. We find them -- more or less -- and before you know it we're weary and listless again. A vague feeling of emptiness whispers, even as we find some new treasure, "Not enough, not enough."

Eventually we ask: Will it ever end? Will we ever find the satisfaction and peace we seek, or will we die listless and world-weary as so many have before us?

As the three kings could tell us, it all depends on where we look. What we're seeking isn't to be found out there. We can't buy it, lease it, invent it, or negotiate for it. We can't beg, borrow, or steal it. We can't move to a new place and find it. What we're really seeking is already inside us, waiting to be discovered, waiting to be embraced: The Holy Spirit of God who has lived within us from the first second of our life. The Holy Spirit who is saying to us at this very moment, "Lower your buckets where you are. Taste and see!"

Only the Holy Spirit of God is large enough to fill us full, to calm our restlessness and bring us the peace and contentment we crave. Nothing less will do. So there's nothing left to do but to whisper our prayer from deep in our heart: Come, Holy Spirit! Fill our hearts, and set us on fire! Amen.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

What Are You Looking For?

1 Jn 3:7-10 / Jn 1:35-42

Most people are fairly well along in life before they can answer with real insight the simple question that Jesus asked those two prospective disciples in today's gospel: "What are you looking for? What do you want?" The two young men fumbled for an answer and finally replied with another question, "Where do you live?"

They knew something was missing in their lives, and they couldn't quite name it, but they had a sense that Jesus might have the answer. So when he said, 'Come and see,' they went and they were not disappointed. It wasn't just Jesus'­ words and ideas that captured their imaginations and their hearts. It was his very being. The way that he always was towards them -- even when not speaking a word -- revealed a goodness in him that moved them deeply and bonded their souls to his forever. They could tell that he KNEW the Father, and that he wanted them to know the Father too.

Ever so slowly, that is what happened as those disciples walked with Jesus across those three years: Through Jesus they came to know the Father, and through Jesus they came to be more and more like the Father -- merciful, compassionate, forgiving, and faithful to the end.

Jesus wants to show us the Father, and more. He wants to help us reshape our lives in the Father's own image. It's a lifetime task, and it's the very thing we've been looking for all along.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

How Malleable Are You in God's Hands?

1 Jn 2:29-3:6 / Jn 1:29-34

There's something in us that can't stop wondering what the next part of life will be like. How old will we be? Will we still like to bridge or basketball or whatever? What will our bodies be like? We have all sorts of questions and even more fantastic speculations about the answers. And none of it matters one whit.

In today's gospel, St. John points us in a more useful direction. "What we shall be later has not yet come to light. But when it comes to light, we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is." There's some gold hidden in that line, which we could easily miss. John is saying that the very experience of seeing God face-to-face will transform us into God's likeness. The change will not come by force from the outside, but freely from the inside, from the heart which at the sight of God will instinctively let go of anything less than God and give itself into God's hands to be reshaped.

That brings us squarely back to the present, for the ultimate transformation that John is talking about is simply the final stage of what our life and especially our prayer should have been about all along, namely, being reconfigured into God's image and likeness. The process of making ourselves malleable in the hands of our Father is the essential work of every day and of a lifetime. So don't let another day pass.

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Do You Know Who You Aren't?

1 Jn 2:22-28 / Jn 1:19-28

One of the most foolish mistakes any of us can make is to believe our own press releases. Taking ourselves too seriously is a fatal error that is made so often that we have to conclude that it's been bred into the human race. It was the mistake that Adam and Eve made in the garden, when they were only too ready to let the snake persuade them that they could become God's equal. What a farce, and yet we see it recurring in our own time and in our own lives every day.

In today's gospel, John the Baptist provides a refreshing respite from the usual self inflation. When messengers from the authorities in Jerusalem asked him in all seriousness if he were the messiah, or the great Elijah, or the Prophet, John had to be flattered and tempted at the very least to make some tantalizing delphic response such as, "In time all things will be made clear," or "You'll be surprised." But he did none of that. Instead, his response was a clear "no" to all the questions. "I am only the voice in the desert, crying out: 'Make straight the way of the Lord.'"

What a perfect example for us all: To know who we are and what our own unique vocation from God is; to delight in answering that call as fully and enthusiastically as we can; and to ask for nothing more and pretend to nothing more. It is the truth that will set us free. Embrace the truth and let your heart soar.

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

If You Want to Be Forgiven, Forgive!

Nm 6:22-27 / Gal 4:4-7 / Lk 2:16-21

One of the characteristics of healthy children is a consciousness of the importance of having rules and playing by the rules. One of the most frequent refrains amidst their games is the outraged challenge, "That's not fair. You cheated." This focus on rules is an important stage in a child's development, and it provides children with crucial habits for the rest of life. Without it their lives and society as a whole would descend into chaos. But by itself it isn't enough to make a life.

St. Paul learned this through painful experience. In his early days as a devout and sincere Jew, he strove with all his might to observe the whole of the law of Moses with perfection. And constantly he failed -- in two ways. On the one hand, the simple human weakness which is common to us all frustrated his very best efforts to be perfect. He just wasn't and he never would be, and it drove him crazy. On the other hand, his frustration with his own inner imperfections and failures hardened his heart as he judged both himself and others. With ruthless vigor, he set out to catch and to punish everyone who was wandering away from the law as he understood it. And so he found himself killing Christians, presiding at the death of the very first martyr, St. Stephen.

In the end, he discovered that there was a way out of this terrible, bitter trap that he'd built for himself, and the way out was Jesus, the compassionate one, Jesus the forgiver. He is the only way out, the only salvation, for any of us fragile, fault-ridden human beings. His forgiveness and his compassion can be ours for the asking. All we need do in return is to pass it on and share it with our brothers and sisters.