Ha!

 

The readings today (Gen 17:5) noted that God began a new covenant with Abram, telling hm that he shall be “the father of a multitude of nations.  No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham.”  God knows how much work it is to be a good father, so perhaps that is why He added a “HA” to Abram’s name, a little pun to the “gift” He had given Abram.  A father of nations ---- good grief!!

There are numerous people to whom God gave huge tasks in Scripture, tasks which changed the whole purpose of their lives, and so He gave them new names.  Abram became Abraham, Simon became Peter, and then Saul became Paul, and there were others.  When Catholics of today receive the Sacrament of Confirmation, they are anointed with oil, just as priests are, and they get an added name.  Not a replacement name. for with the Sacrament they are not given a totally new purpose for their lives, but they are given an added name for the added purpose they commit to when they receive the graces of Confirmation.  After Confirmation, they are called to evangelize, to bear witness in the name of Jesus, and to love their neighbor as He did.

The Jewish people deeply appreciated the value of their ancestors, and memorized the names of many generations back.  They recognized the value of their fathers; they made the Jewish people who they were.  There was a recognized unity, family, among generations.  Abraham believed nations of people would grow from his family.  And what of us today?

Why do we exist?  For ourselves alone?  Do we think of what our ancestors went through for us, and like the father Abraham, think of how much they endured for love of us?  Do we think only of ourselves?  And if we were Confirmed, do we bear witness to the name of Jesus, the faith of our fathers?  Or has all that has gone on before us, all our ancestors, all their beliefs, all their reasons for living, ended with us?  Why are we living?

Many in our culture, in our Church, think all will be great if we have all we want.  But all will come to an end if we don’t pass on love to future generations.  We were created here by a Father God; we were created to love others and to pass on that love.  Without love, there will be no life anymore, no future.  And sadly, many actually work towards that end, thinking it is what they want, so it must be a good thing.

HA!

I wonder who is laughing now, at all our selfish egos, at we who are unable or unwilling to love, forgetting all the sacrifices of all those who went before us.  Forgetting all those who lived for us.  Forgetting Him who died for us.  Somehow, I don’t think it is God who is laughing this time.

Review: Supernatural Saints

 

Patrick Reis and Fr. Mathias Thelen co-founded Encounter Ministries after they both had profound encounters with Jesus in Eucharistic Adoration.  It was founded to counter the Church’s rapid decline in the West.  Fr. Thelen notes that there are areas of rapid growth, and those are areas where Christianity is  “deeply rooted in a biblical worldview, believes in the gifts of the Spirit, expects God to intervene in miraculous ways, and is committed to personal evangelization. … The Lord is indeed performing signs and wonders just as He did in the Acts of the Apostles.”

This book details the lives of six saints:  Vincent Ferrer, Philip Neri, Catherine of Sienna, Francis Xavier, Padre Pio, and Serephim of Sarov.  Detailed records exist, and are cited, how these saints encountered the Holy Spirit even as the Apostles did on Pentecost, and lived lives much like the apostles.

The book’s introduction concludes: “This book… is yet another confirmation of what the Holy Spirit is doing today to renew the Church….  What would happen today if God granted the whole Church a new Pentecost?... Disciples would once again experience the Spirit’s inspiration and boldness…. What would it be like to be part of such a renewal?  Open your eyes.  It’s here.”

This book also describes the Encounter Ministry’s two year class to learn how to encounter the Holy Spirit in faith, and spread His works.  I personally have met many people who have taken those classes, and participate in the miracles of the Holy Spirit today.  The renewal is here.

Open your eyes.  Buy this book, and read it with an open mind.  And then give praise and thanks to God, and ask: “Lord, what would you have me do?”  You are alive now, in this critical time, for a reason.

I Am Sick

 

I am sick; what a great blessing God has given me.

I’ve gradually come to know the many “different” things about my body.  Some of my early physical growth was deemed abnormal, they even thought I had polio at one point.  Then, there’s the epilepsy, abnormally large blood vessels, abnormal heartbeat, very low white blood cell count, and some physical abnormalities too.  And at one point my lifelong indifference in accepting love was pointed out as not normal by my confessor, who noted that it was good that I loved my neighbor, but he saw my reluctance to letting my neighbor love me as not a normal or good thing.  He asked me to work on that.  It was years later before I read where my feelings were recently identified as a condition in some people which they named anhedonia, a pleasure-less desire.

I know that I am a unique human being, and uniquely loved by God who created me for a unique reason.  This week, I’ve had some further insight into that reason, and my anhedonia has played a role.

God put yet another new person in my path, and I perceived there was a reason and so we connected and talked about God’s purposes for our lives.  During the conversation, I mentioned some of my Lenten practices for connecting with God, and that I was having some trouble doing them this year.  This good man, a father of 4, then asked me to come visit his home so we could do those practices together.  And I automatically demurred: “Thank you, but no.  You have a family to focus on; keep your priorities there!  There are lots of friends I can call on to help me.”  And he reluctantly accepted the denial of his offer.

It was a couple of days later at a Bible Study I was attending that these questions were presented for our reflection: “What in your own life could be ‘emptied’ so that you would be able to receive more readily God’s love?  Do people consider you full of yourself or humble enough to receive love from others?”  And I felt as if I had been stabbed; it was pointing a spotlight at my anhedonia and telling me I was “full of myself.”  How true that is!  A stranger had been put into my path, and he offered me God’s love, and I not only rejected it but, I a single man with no children, offered advice to that father of 4 on how to be a good father.  What an ego-centric, full of himself boor!!  I thought and prayed about that, and resolved that if he should again ask me, I’d accept, but things were quiet.  Meanwhile, further thoughts came to me.

We were discussing the Gospel where Jesus healed the man blind for 38 years, and how blessed he was.  Then a different view came to me:  What a huge change in that man’s life!  From a daily routine of begging, now he’d have to find work, deal more with people, and deal much more with the many temptations of the world.  As a blind man, might he not have been more likely destined for heaven, while as a common seeing man, what would be his eternal destination?  Seeing the world through clear eyes is to be open to all the temptations of the world --- and that thought suddenly caused me to look at my anhedonia with new eyes.

I rarely had thought about my life-long disinterest in being loved.  That was just me.  But In recent years, I’ve seen many “coincidences” in my life which I know positively were miracles, and signs of God’s love for me.  When I gave my life to God at Medjugorje, I prayed that I wouldn’t see miracles; I wanted to resolve to love God not based on any rewards I might perceive.  I just wanted my life to be a gift to Him, even as I knew it was a gift from Him to me.  But despite my prayer, I WAS seeing miracles, His love in my life.  Why?  And this morning He showed me.

Over the years, I’ve noticed how each of those physical abnormalities of my body is a blessing, but I never dwelt on that anhedonia syndrome.  But now I see that anhedonia, while a burden in many ways, is also a great blessing.  In the world today the culture is obsessed with self-ism.  It is a temptation overtaking the whole world.  It is evil.  But I am blessed with an illness which is a defense against this great temptation to sin.  I was given an armor which helps me not think of myself as deserving any special love, so I don’t crave it.  I can fight this culture easier than most people.  And now, very much so, God has shown me through miracles that I am not without love; I have His love.  I may ignore human love, but God as shown me how much I need His spiritual love.  And it causes me to recall the words of Diana, who said: “I can’t believe how much He loves me.”

I am sick; it is a great blessing.  Wouldst that the whole world could catch anhedonia.

Oh, and the father of 4 who had offered me to visit his house?  I ran into him at a dinner last night, and he again offered me time with him tomorrow night, and I gratefully accepted