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.