Wednesday, February 21, 2018

All You Have to Do is Believe



It’s almost funny how scientists once believed the earth was the center of the universe.  They KNEW it, and you were delusional if you did not believe.  How many people today say they know things, when all they really know is what is right in front of their nose, and even then, they often don’t see things clearly.
How often have you asked: “Where are you, God?” 
I wrote a blog post about that a few days back, and even titled it that question.  I wrote about how I was blessed to see God’s workings in 6 strangers, who all were there, in the right place, at the right time, doing just what was needed --- all part of God’s workings, and I was blessed to see this, this miracle.
And a few days later, a woman came up to me in church and said: “God told me to help you.”
And Fr. John Riccardo, who I know reads probably almost as much as I do, said in Friday’s homily that he had a book he wanted to recommend for Lenten reading:  The Crucifixion, Understanding the Death of Jesus Christ.  And so, I went out and bought copies for my Bible Study friends, and began reading it myself.  “The cross is the heart of Christianity,” I am reading.
And tonight, I picked up a video, one of a pile a friend gave me, and without even glancing at what it was about, opened the package ---- it was unopened; she had not even seen this one herself before she gave it to me --- and then put the disc in the CD player.  The video is titled:  Do You Believe, Experience the Power of the Cross.  It was a most moving video, about not 6, but 12 unrelated people, and how God worked among them, through the crosses in their lives --- the bad things that turned out to be so good, in the big picture of things.  Twice as many people as I had personally experienced, so I guess the movie was twice as good as what happened to me. 
And perhaps it was.
Fr John recommended the book; I think I’ll recommend the video for him, on the same topic, that God in his way put in front of my eyes.
Where are you, God?  He’s in my life, and in yours, if you let Him.  If you believe.

Wednesday, February 14, 2018

Ash Wednesday --- It's Personal



“The founder of no other religion is absolutely essential
for that religion in the same way that Christ is essential
for Christianity.  It is the personal relationship to Him
that is decisive.  When you come to Christ, Christianity
demands the personal, intimate bond.
- Archbishop Fulton Sheen

The Gospel for today (Mt 6:1-6; 16-18) talks about our heart, and its personal relationship to God.  “Be careful not to parade your good deeds … so when you give alms … be secret.  When you pray, go to your private room.  When you fast do not put on a gloomy look … so that no one will know you are fasting except your Father who sees all that is done in secret; and your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you.” 
The Gospel is saying that those good things you are doing because of where your heart is, you are doing for God; don’t involve others; keep it personal.  St. Augustine called it an “interior way of praying.”
The Better Part (Meditation 15) reflects on today’s Gospel so well, so I’ll stop with my own words here and just conclude with its:

Christ The Teacher
Following Christ … is the very center of everything.  Following Christ affects your relationships with other people, thus the reference to almsgiving.  It includes your direct relationship with God, thus the instructions on prayer; and it includes your relationship with yourself, your efforts to discipline yourself … thus, the comments on fasting … Relationship with God, with others, and with oneself: the threefold path of life – Christ invites us to travel this path as He did, by following in His footsteps and thereby achieving the purpose for which we were created.
Christ in My Life
You see all my motives and intentions, but I think sometimes I try to hide from them.  Show them to me, Lord; I don’t want anything to get in the way of our friendship.  I don’t want to fall into hypocrisy.  I want to do all things out of a humble, sincere love for You.  With the humility of Your heart, Lord, shape my heart.
At times life seems so complicated … but You simplify it.  Stay with me, Lord, walk with me; teach me how to love You, to love You, to love my neighbor, and to master my own selfish tendencies. … Teach me to be free to give myself to You and to my neighbors.  Show me how to make loving sacrifice as much a part of my life as it was a part of Yours.

This seems like a good place to start our Lenten meditations.  It reminds me of a hymn I very much like:  Change my heart, O God.

Monday, February 12, 2018

Where Are You, God?



There are many answers to the question “Where are You, God” because He is everywhere.  But when we ask that question ourselves, most often there is a further qualification:  Where are You, God --- when I need You?  When we need Him, we ask: “Where are You,” and we want to see Him, He who is everywhere.  And because we are looking for Him in a particular place, doing a particular miracle for us (in the way we want it done), we don’t see.  That’s where faith comes in, not having to see to believe He is with us, to trust in Him.  He acts in ways that are often not of our choosing, loving ways, everywhere, and we don’t see.
1.        1) The man wanted to love his neighbor, but found he couldn’t.  In effect the neighbor was like the leper shouting “unclean, unclean,” needing physical and emotional and spiritual not God’s, and was reluctant to ask others to help, fearing both for the one to be helped and for the ones helping.   

2.       2) The woman was stressed with the demands of work, with trying to spend more time with God, and the illnesses which seemed constant this winter.  And she was stressed in not finding time to spend with friends, who might share her burden.  So much was worrying as she thought:  Where are You, God?  And she wrestled with plans on what she would do, alone.

3.       3) The woman of 5 young kids knew about colds this winter; they seemed ever-present in her house.  Caring for her kids, she could not go out for needed groceries, and asked for food to be delivered to her from the local food bank, which helped with her financial needs.  But financial needs were just part of the stress in the family’s life, and she sometimes wondered: Where are You, God?  But she had strength, and would continue with or without help, as best she could.

4.      4) One of the children of the above woman had her own financial needs, but knowing the family’s tight finances kept quiet.  With childlike trust yet curiosity, she wondered: Where are You, God, as she resolved to do with less things than her classmates at school.

5.       5) A man went shopping; he loaded his cart and went to the checkout line, where he discovered he’d left his wallet at home.  Leaving the store, he went to his car, and there was reminded of something else he’d planned to purchase:  gas.  He sat in his car, perhaps wondering “Where are You, God” as he tried to decide his next step, who to call for help.

6.       6) The priest was a teacher, and a good one.  So, he was troubled that the online class he had created seemed not to be working.  What he thought to be interesting presentations were generating no comments, no questions.  Were the lectures really boring, quickly forgotten?  Why couldn’t he reach these students, touch their souls?  “Where are You, God?  What should I do,” he pondered as he considered changes he’d make.

All of these people believed in God, and trusted Him to some degree, yet they felt that if they couldn’t find a solution to their problems, He wasn’t there, where they were looking for Him.  They expected God to help them with making happen the solutions they’d perceived.  But real trust is believing there might be a better solution than they could conceive, His solution.  Trust is accepting that there might be a bigger picture that we cannot perceive, because we are not God.
And yet, on some rare, blessed occasions, He lets us see some of His work:
It started this way.  The woman (2) called her friend (1) on Friday: “Come and watch the Super Bowl with me?  If you have time, stop and pick up pizza, which was on sale, two-for-one, at the local grocery.”  The man agreed, and purchased 4 different pizzas.  But by Saturday, the woman’s latest cold was worse, and she called again: “I feel terrible.  Don’t come over; I don’t want to get you sick.” But the man persisted: “I bought these 4 pizzas; I’ll come over and we’ll sit on opposite sides of the room.  Okay?”  And to his surprise her response was: “Those pizzas are okay, but I like the ‘Supreme’ toppings best.”  Wanting to be with his friend, he replied: “Then the ‘Supreme’ is what I’ll bring; see you at 4 tomorrow.”
Now, you might say at this point:  God’s done little so far, --- and I believe, you would be wrong, for things were set in motion.
The man (1) went back to the store to buy the ‘Supreme’ pizzas.  As he was leaving the parking lot, another man (5) was in his car when he noticed (1).  He (5) got out of his car and ran up to tap on the window of (1)’s car: “God told me to ask you for help,” he said, blurting out the story of the forgotten wallet and the need for $2 for gas to get home.  And (1) helped (5) in his need.
On Sunday, a friend told the man (1) about the woman (3) getting food from the food bank, and he remembered the 4 pizzas he didn’t need, and he called the woman to ask if she’d like them, and then delivered them to her house.  While there, she showed him her youngest, taking her first steps --- a blessed moment.  But then he noticed the quiet 12-year old (4), and was inspired to ask: “Want to earn some money shoveling my walks?”  She certainly did, and agreed to go with him to get it done.
She shoveled for a half hour, and when returning her home, he (1) was surprised to see a priest (6) visiting there.  The woman (3) and the priest worked together at the seminary.  And as the woman went to tend to her kid’s needs, the man (1) couldn’t help himself as he blurted out: “Father, since you are here, could I ask you about a problem I’m wrestling with?”  He could, and did, and along the way spoke of his teaching problem.  And the man (1) was able to relate how a similar problem was addressed at a recent Bible Study he attended, and offered a book which described possible solutions.  And the priest was pleased.
By now you can see that all six of these people were helped in some way with their concerns, and none in the way which they were planning to proceed.  God had a better way.  And how did God help them?  I think it was a simple as a forgotten word: “Supreme”.  Did (2) not say it in her first call, or did (1) not remember it?  It doesn’t matter, but from that one misunderstanding 6 lives were changed --- oh yes, (1) and (2) had a great time, eating pizza and watching the game, and her cold seemed to get better.
- - - - - - - - - -
Did everyone get all they had hoped (or prayed) for?  Of course not.  But this morning’s Readings included some words of Saint Ephrem, which may help put things in perspective:
“Lord, who can comprehend even one of your words?  We lose more of it than we grasp, like those who drink from a living spring.  For God’s word offers different facets according to the capacity of the listener,” …

“And so, whenever anyone discovers some part of the treasure, he should not think that he has exhausted God’s word.  Instead he should feel that this is all that he was able to find of the wealth contained in it.  Nor should he say that the word is weak and sterile or look down on it simply because this portion was all that he happened to find.  But precisely because he could not capture it all he should give thanks for its riches.” …

“Be thankful then for what you have received, and do not be saddened at all that such an abundance still remains.  What you have received and attained is your present share, while what is left will be your heritage.  For what you could not take at one time because of your weakness, you will be able to grasp at another if you only persevere.  So do not foolishly try to drain in one draught what cannot be consumed all at once, and do not cease out of faintheartedness from what you will be able to absorb as time goes on.”
Saint Ephrem is telling us that God provides what we need, not all we might want.  But we should not be discouraged, for He always has more: “if only you persevere.”

- - - - - - - - - -
Solutions don’t come from where we expect.  I had asked someone in the chapel to pray for a person I was trying to help, and a few days later person from the chapel stopped me after mass: “I think God has asked me to help you with your problem.  What can I do?”
His ways are not ours, they’re better.  Perhaps I should stop praying for what I want, but ask “What do You want?”