Remember: You Are Not Alone

 

Yesterday, I took a friend to the ER, and waited in the crowded emergency room with her, for hours.  She ultimately was admitted to the hospital.  For the next few days, I will stay away from any gatherings, in case I might have caught some illness, and be a carrier of it.

I thought and prayed about not attending daily mass, and I finally resolved to watch the daily mass aired on EWTN.  Thoughts of what I would miss in the live participation weighed on me; I was so used to going to daily mass and receiving Holy Communion.  I had forgotten all the benefits I had received back when I previously watched daily mass on TV, all during the Covid-focused times.  But I forgot; now I was focused on “me” and my feelings --- until I heard the EWTN priest’s homily this morning.

My life is not about “me.”

 

Unlike some saints, we are called not to be martyrs, but to a hidden death, to let go of ourselves, to sacrifice, quietly, willingly, surrendering to the new life Jesus wants to give us.
                                                                               - Fr Mark Mary      Irondale, Alabama

 

Don’t fret about the past, or even the future.  Live life now, with Him.  “My name is I AM.”   

How to Describe Yourself

 

At a recent discussion, an all too frequent topic came up: “How can I not get angry when someone says ….  I’ve got to defend myself and what I know to be true.”  And lots of examples were given, and discussed.  I finally opined with: “My life is not about me.”  And as if from a script, someone responded: “Well, if your life is not about you, then who is it about?”  You know the answer I gave.  “My life is about loving God and loving neighbor.  Jesus’ summary of the Ten Commandments on how to live.”  One of the group was quick to point out that Jesus also said “Love your neighbor, as yourself, so it’s okay if your life is about yourself.”  And the conversation went on, and on.  I hadn’t yet watched the video about the Gospel of John, Chapter 13, where it reminded me that at the Last Supper Jesus said: “A new commandment I give you, to love one another, even as I have loved you.”

Those thoughts came to me as I was driving home from night prayers tonight.  Along the way, I passed a bright new road sign reading: “Welcome to Plymouth.”  It’s a beautiful new sign, but what caught my attention was that the word “Plymouth” was written in script, not typed or block letters, but like it was hand-written.  And that says a lot to me about the city of Plymouth.  It is a small city, very community oriented.  On summer evenings there are wonderful concerts at the park in the center of the downtown area, and lots of people come with their lawn chairs or blankets to set on the grass, and listen to the music --- for free.  Even the downtown parking is free.  You don’t usually hear any loud arguments at the concerts, but see lots of smiles.  Community.  The Plymouth Community.  Hand-writing the name of Plymouth says a lot; it says that Plymouth is a very personal community, where people care for one another.

How could we describe ourselves and what we believe as Christians in such a meaningful, yet simple way?  Whatever you might answer, I’m sure it must somehow convey how we love one another.

Sowing God's Seeds

I said this morning’s rosary for God’s Mercy on our country.  Thoughts came to me as I prayed, and I stopped to jot down some notes, so I could write more later.  But after I had prayed a while longer this thought came to me: “Are you telling Me to wait?”  And so, I stopped and began to write these thoughts:

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I had a dream this morning, in which someone had somehow bothered me.  As a punishment, so he would learn not to do it again, I had him write lots of essay papers.  In my dream, I was coming back to see those papers when I saw a farm tractor pulling a huge cart, piled high with papers, ones he had written.  I saw they were full of spelling errors, and I sighed.  And then we came to the place where I was to meet the paper writer, but he was not there.  They said he had moved away, and they did not know where. 

And I initially felt that he did not learn my lesson, but then further thoughts came, that the one thing I HAD taught him was to stay away from me.  That was not my intention.

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Perhaps the trigger for that dream was the 8^th grade essay papers I was recently asked to assess.  They were for a contest, and a $25 prize.  The topic was: How can the Church evangelize in the digital age?  At my initial glance, the papers were not that good, having grammar errors, perhaps internet-found facts, and not conveyed logically or convincingly to my mature mind.  My initial grades were mediocre.  But then I thought how we will pick one of these papers to award, and send it forward to the state and national contests.  I knew these papers were unlikely to win there, so I re-graded them, recognizing the effort, in hope they would do better on next year’s essay contest.

And then I had the dream.  What was I teaching with my grading?

My grading effort was, like my dream, a form of punishment likely to accomplish nothing.  They would quickly forget my grading and move on. 

As I prayed the rosary this morning, after my dream about the value of punishment, I came to the Third Glorious Mystery, The Descent of the Holy Spirit, and I prayed: “Send me Your Spirit, Lord, that I might love as You would have me love.”  And I thought of my grading of the essays.  And new thoughts came to me.  I would have failed, when Jesus gave me an opportunity to show His love.  How would He grade?  How could this be a lesson in His love that I might convey for Him, to His children?  My dream of the value of punishment, at least this punishment, caused me to think on the matter yet again.

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Yesterday afternoon, I saw a podcast by a priest I never heard of before.  He spoke about the Gospel of John, the 13^th Chapter.  He read how Jesus had said “Love Me as I have loved you,” and the priest pointed to the large crucifix over the altar.  “That’s how He loved us, and asks us to love, to willingly suffer for the one we love.  That’s love.”

I thought of those words, and realized they were the answer to the essay question’s challenge, and to me, their grader’s concerns.  How can the Church convey Christ’s love, in the digital age, is the heart of the question.

I need to not just grade these papers, but also convey a message, a challenge with the help of God’s grace, not easily forgotten by the writers.  I now think I will write something along these lines at the end of each paper:

                Good effort at conveying facts, but the heart of the Church’s message is what Jesus said: “Love as I have loved” (on the cross).  How can you convey that message to someone feeling unloved, unneeded, unwanted in the digital age?  The real question is:  How can you make their phone hug them?

Perhaps those words will be a seed.