God Cares

 

It’s easy to become upset with life’s challenges, things not going our way.  But a focus on one’s self can be a sin, especially if we become upset.  That’s a sign that God is not the focus of our heart, as He always should be, because He is God and loves us --- in the good and in the bad.  Sometimes we can see evidence of this caring, even in our daily earthly doings.  I think I did this week.

On Monday morning I was leaving for mass.  I hit the garage door opener --- and nothing happened.  I tried again, still nothing.  I checked the power, and the lights came on, but the opener still didn’t open the door.  I called the repair company and told them my car was in my garage and the door opener wasn’t working and I couldn’t get my car out.  I called a friend and asked him to bring me Eucharist, as I would miss mass.  To my big surprises, however, a repairman showed up within an hour.  To my much bigger surprise, when he hit the garage door opener it worked!!  I told him that I had tried that a number of times, and it didn’t work --- but now it did.  I was embarrassed.  He checked out the other opener mechanisms, and whistling he said: “Wow!  Look at this.”  The opener’s wire cabling was extremely frayed and very thin.  “This could break at any time,” he said, “and maybe land the door on top of your car.”  And he replaced the cabling in short order.  I then rushed to church, and arrived right after the sermon, and sat down next to my friend whom I had called to bring me Eucharist.  And seeing me, he just smiled.

That very same morning, I drove to the car dealer repair shop.  The check engine light had lit on my car’s dashboard.  They said I’d have to leave my car, and it might take a few days to get repair parts.  I told them that was a problem because I had some church ministry commitments, and finding a replacement would be difficult.  They agreed to arrange a loaner vehicle, which I could pick up the next day.  When I came to drop my car off on Tuesday, the vehicle they offered me was a pickup truck.  I told them that would be difficult, because my agenda included delivering groceries, which couldn’t be on in a flatbed, and also the truck wouldn’t easily hold the people I’d be transporting.  They looked for alternatives, while I filled out paperwork and spoke with the service advisor.  We discussed her children, and how she had recently found a summer camp which really brought out their Christian faith.  It was a pleasant talk, and then we were told they’d give me a brand new Ford Bronco to drive, much like my Ford Escape.  We were both pleased, and she gave me her business card and said she’d personally follow the repair progress and call me the next day on its status.  Much to my surprise, she called at 3:30 that same day.  “Your car is ready for pickup.”  And I rushed to the dealer before closing time and picked it up.  Under warranty, no charge.

Now, I could make all sorts of reasons for those events, but what are the odds of getting two such caring representatives on the same day?  The garage door man could have said: “No problem,” and billed me a service fee and rushed to his next appointment.  And my car could have been crushed a couple of days later.  The car dealer service person could have gone onto her other work and ignored me.  But, neither one of these service people did. Were they caring people?  Yes, but considering the odds of those event sequences, I’m quite sure it was evidence of how much God cares, even in our daily ups and downs, because a Father never stops caring.  We may forget He’s there for us, especially when things break down, but He doesn’t forget.  Whether we realize it or not, it’s when we need Him.

God cares,

Who is my Neighbor?

Last Sunday was the anniversary of the dedication of Christ the King church in Ann Arbor Michigan.  Fr. Ed spoke of the many events preceding that dedication day, many of which seemed almost impossible, but God provided when we didn’t know how.  It was wonderful to hear all the stories again, how blessed that small parish is.  But Fr. Ed also spoke of the saint’s relics preserved within the altar.  I had forgotten that fact, but now it echoes in my mind as being infinitely important.

The altar of every Catholic Church building contains the relic of a saint.  Often the parish is named in the saint’s honor, like nearby St. John Neumann parish here in Canton, Michigan.  But the Christ the King church altar has 4 relics, those of:  St Maria Goretti, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, St. John of the Cross and those of St. John Vianney.  Just as I’ve recently written about the importance of prayer and how I saw answered my recent prayers for my mother (with the rose bush), I can now see clearly how each of these four saints’ lives has had a dramatic impact on the people of Christ the King parish.

St. Maria Goretti was the young teenager who gave up her life rather than consent to rape.  St. Elizabeth Ann Seton was the founder of America’s parochial school system.  St. John of the Cross was known for his writings on spiritual contemplation and closeness to God.  St. John Vianney was a dedicated priest in France during the French Revolution which killed priests.

In summary, each of those four saints led a life dedicated to their Catholic faith.  They didn’t just know their Catholic faith, like a subject to be learned and memorized, they LIVED the faith.

I have just finished meditating on next Sunday’s Gospel about the Good Samaritan (Lk 10:25-37).  In his book The Better Part, Fr. John Bartunek reflects on the Good Samaritan:

“It summarizes the entire Gospel, the entire meaning of life.  (Jesus was asked) ‘Yes, but who is my neighbor’, and he obliges with further explanations, (which are like) the explanation given by the words and examples of thousands of saints, and by the teaching of the Church in every age (act like the Good Samaritan). … And still, we find it hard to learn the lesson.  One would venture to think that perhaps we don’t really want to learn it. … (But) the time has come to pack up our books and leave the classroom behind; the lesson of how to live only makes sense when we let it change the course of our life.

I am blessed to have met a number of people who did just that.  There was the man who gave away his career, his penthouse and cars to live in the slums and love his neighbor, and the one who gave away fortunes to build an orphanage in the Philippines for street children, and another to pay off the college debts of young men and women so they could enter religious life.  I also know the woman who started houses for unwed mothers, and another who sold all her things to go live in a poor village in Africa.  These people changed the course of their lives, to live their love their God and neighbor.

The saints remembered at Christ the King parish lived those types of lives, and their lives are abundantly reflected in the people of that parish, which has a large number of religious vocations.  A large percentage of the children of that parish are home-schooled, or in Catholic parochial schools --- with the financial support of the entire parish.  Within this parish are many authors and others whose vocation is teaching the Word of God.  And the pastor of Christ the King, he once told the woman he was engaged to marry that he felt called to become a priest instead.  He did, and she accepted and understood, and she became a religious sister.

All these things and people I am blessed to know.  They understood the Parable of the Good Samaritan, which began when a lawyer asked Jesus: Yes, but who is my neighbor.  And Jesus’ answer, in the reflection of Fr. Bartunek is hard: “The lesson of how to live only makes sense when we let it change the course of our life.”

 

Pledge of Allegiance

 

Once again I heard the song “God Bless America”, which so moves me every time I hear it, as I sing along with the words.  Only today I heard it played by running an old video at the men’s group meeting, and I saw fewer men singing the words --- the young ones don’t know them.  They are never sung at churches any more, and are not in church song books.  The closest thing is America the Beautiful, which I heard sung at the end of mass this morning.

Another thing which I don’t hear anymore, and which is certainly not known by anyone under the age of 30, is the pledge of allegiance, which was a normal beginning of a school day when I was growing up.  But it dares to mention “God”, and so it was removed from schools.  From the difficulties in getting young people to choose a military career, perhaps it is also not mentioned because it dares to mention allegiance to “the flag of the United States of America.”  There probably would be students allowed to leave the room or sit down in protest if it were ever allowed to be said again.

This afternoon I decided to go out and have dinner at a local restaurant; perhaps I might stumble on one which would offer a veteran’s discount today.  To my surprise, virtually all restaurants were closed.  I wonder what they were celebrating. 

So, in the quiet of my kitchen I sang God Bless America as I prepared some fish, and then recited this --- from memory!

 

"I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."