The Purpose of Life

Last night I watched a DVD off my shelf.  I saw it years ago, I’m sure, but I don’t remember what my thoughts were then.  I won’t forget my experience of last night’s viewing, though, and I wrote a review of my thoughts here.

The documentary I watched was called The Human Experience, and was said to be true, and filmed as it was lived out.  It begins by introducing two teenage boys, who had been hugely abused by their drunken father, and placed in a homeless shelter.  For the first time in their lives, they found peace and joy in the many things we probably would take for granted.  And they met many homeless street-people while there and heard how they lived.  It was all new to them, and so they decided to experience what they did, and went out to live on New York City streets, in the middle of winter.  Within minutes one of them was saying “this is a bad idea, let’s go back,” but they persisted.  I watched them meet many nice men, who often were friends, as the two boys experienced all the difficulties of the life of the homeless. 

Then the boys heard of a ministry to help the poor in South America, and so they joined for another new experience in life.  In South America (and later Africa) they met and experienced much more poverty and illness and lack of basic needs most Americans never think of.  And while there they met people who were dedicating their lives to helping those poor people, foregoing much more comfortable lives in the United States.  I think the boys learned about the Christian faith there, and the call to “Love your neighbor,” and saw it lived out.  And they met, much to their surprise, many poor people who lovingly helped one another to live.

In Africa, many adults had died of AIDS, and other poor families took in their many children, caring for them as their own.  The two boys from the United States were welcomed; no country or politics or religion or skin color mattered.  The boys experienced, in so many ways, love and the love of families. And they concluded their search for life experiences with the realization that all people are made for a purpose, and while alive a key point was to live and receive love; we are all part of the human family, God’s children.

The video was very moving, and it won many awards.  It demonstrates, by showing real, lived human experiences, what life is about.  When I finished watching it last night, my thoughts went to Jesus’ love for the children and the poor.  Those two boys were experiencing how to love God and love their neighbor, as God loves them.  And their actions brought joy to the human family.  I assume many people, including myself, would watch that video and think about missionary trips and/or alms for the poor.  But then another thought struck me: that the end of the video and all the poor people shown weren’t the most important lesson to be learned, to be focused on today. 

Jesus gave us the commandment to love as He loved, and the video showed reasons why that is the reason for which He created us.  It didn’t delve deeply, however, on the reasons why the two boys didn’t know that; they didn’t have the life experience which taught them that. 

The number of people who now abuse alcohol and drugs is increasing in the United States, as is the number of children now living in abusive homes as the two boys were --- or who are being ignored by their parents, who have “more important things to do.”  We see the numbers of marriages and children decreasing in this country, and the number of child-care centers and very young people rapt in cell phones hugely increasing.  In the  video I watched, the two boys found love and family the key experiences, the purpose of life.  Huge numbers of children in the U.S. today don’t know their purpose, except to get money and make themselves happy.  That is their human experience.  Like the two boys, they too grow up lacking love.

Starting with ourselves, our families, our churches, our country: we need to change; we need to make love of neighbor a purpose of our lives, to live as Jesus lived.

 

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I ordered and sent copies of that DVD video to two of my niece’s young kids, who are just graduating and entering the work world.  But then I realized that they probably don’t have a DVD player (another thing that is disappearing from the world).  Oh well, I’ll send them a copy of this blog posting, in love.

 

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Then this morning I heard the Gospel read at mass on this feast day of The Beheading of John the Baptist.  The mass sermon focused on that event and the faith of John, who died as a precursor of Jesus; we need a firm faith like his.  It didn’t focus so much on the ego of Herod, and that we need to stop acting like him.  No, we don’t have many heads chopped off (I hope), but we do let our pride rule our lives, trying to do things so everyone will love us, and in particular, our children.  I hear of many parents ignoring their children’s sins, to keep the family peace (acting like Herod).  There is a difference between actions which keep a relationship together, of loving a person but not their sinful deeds, and actions which imply we agree with their sinful deeds.  Jesus was blunt about what will happen to those who lead His little children astray.  In this morning’s Readings I read this meditation about John: “His persecutors had demanded not that he should deny Christ, but only that he should keep silent about the truth.”  But he wouldn’t.

 

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And as I concluded my night prayers at the end of the day, I included prayers which God seems to have given us for these times:  The Divine Mercy Chaplet, the Litany of Humility, and the Litany of Trust.

 

The Real Meaning of Love

 

Divine Intimacy is a book of daily Carmelite reflections which I much enjoy, but the last couple of days were very good, and meshed with a lot of things going on in and around me, so I thought I’d save them here:

262: The New Commandment. 

Jesus shortly before his death (said) “This is my new commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you” (Jn 13:34).  … not only as we love ourself, but as He loves us…. Our fraternal charity will not be perfect until it becomes the reflection, or better still, the continuation of the love of Jesus for each of His creatures.  We need to love each of our companions --- even the least congenial, even those who do not love us --- as Jesus loves him…. He did it personally then, today He wishes to do it by means of us.  In this way our love for our neighbor will truly become a renewal of the love of Jesus; we shall communicate to each person with whom we come in contact something of the infinite tenderness of the heart of Christ; but to do this, we must cleanse our heart from every trace of egoism, every feeling of personal like or dislike.

263: Judge Not

We do not think highly enough of others.  We almost always base our opinion on their faults … which conflict with our own way of thinking and acting, while we give little or no consideration to their good points. … In spite of our desire to become saints, some remnant of that detestable spirit of criticism remains hidden in our heart.

264: Be Ye Merciful

When we feel irritated with someone, we ought to plunge with all our strength into the consideration of the infinite mercy of God, in order to stifle all hardness, resentment, and anger in ourselves.  … Oh, if others could see in our attitude toward them a reflection of God’s infinite mercy!

We need God’s mercy, pity and forgiveness.  Why then do we not do as much for others?  Perhaps because they have offended us, have made us suffer?  And have we never offended God??  Too often we are like the cruel servant in the parable who, having received pardon from his master for a big debt, was not willing to pardon a trifling debt which one of his companions owed to him. … Jesus has said: “For if you will forgive men their offenses, your heavenly Father will forgive you also your offenses.  But if you will not forgive men, neither will your Father forgive you your offenses.”

265: The Mantle of Charity

To mention needlessly the faults of others … fixes our own attention and that of others, on the imperfections of the neighbor, rather than on his good qualities. … We are so sensitive about things said against us, how can we think that it is a wholly indifferent thing to speak with so much liberty about our neighbor’s faults, under the pretext that what we say is true and already known?  Are not our faults equally true, perhaps, and evident to all who approach us?  St. John of the Cross says: “Never listen to the weaknesses of others, and, if anyone complains to thee of another, thou mayest tell him humbly to say naught of it to thee.”  St. Teresa of Jesus wrote: “and when we see a fault in someone, we should be as sorry about it as if it were our own and try to conceal it from others.”

If we feel a natural aversion toward any person, or if a certain person has done us some wrong, … this is the time to be especially watchful, to fight against the malevolent thoughts that spontaneously come to our mind … praying particularly for that person.  The mantle of charity must be wide enough to cover, not only the faults of our friends, but even those of our enemies, and those who annoy us.  Charity makes no distinction of persons, but has equal good will for all, because it sees and loves only God in all.

Therefore, O my God, whenever anyone comes to tell me some fault of another, I will not listen, but will tell him to pray for that person, and for me.

 

The above words from Diving Intimacy strike hard, but I, and you, are called to grow in faith, hope, AND CHARITY, and become more as Jesus Christ commanded us to be.

He Said Yes

 

I was praying the rosary for a local priest whom I was asked to pray for when I noticed that the rosary I was holding in my hands had a picture of Mary on it. She wore a crown and behind her beautifully crowned image was blue sky, with calm blue waters beneath it.  On the back of that picture were the words: “Our Lady of Lepanto, pray for us.”  Lepanto is the place where badly outnumbered European naval forces had fought to save Europe and the Catholic faith on October 7, 1571.  Prior to the battle, the European forces had prayed to Mary to plead with her Son for their safety.  The European forces, against all odds, surprisingly won, and the title of Our Lady of Lepanto was created and remembered (although often she is often called Our Lady of Victory).

As I prayed the rosary, I recalled the time Our Lady had intervened in my life also, and like Lepanto things beyond all odds happened. What came to my mind was my strange call to go to Medjugorje in 1987.  It definitely was beyond all odds that I should go to that place that no travel agent had ever heard of, nor knew how to get to.  Yet I was called to go there.  A number of people tried to talk me out of “my silly idea”, but I had to go to that place halfway around the world.

I think a big part of my going, however, was aided by my sister.  When I told her of my strange compulsion, she also said I was silly, and no way would her husband let her go to such a strange place in a communist country.  Yet, two days later my sister called me all excited: “He said yes!”

She was going with me.  And my life, and hers, radically changed.  Up until right now, my focus had always been on my strange compulsion to go there.  I don’t know what would have happened if my sister had not agreed to go with me.  But, although I never spoke to him about it, I think her husband must have also had a strange compulsion to let her go with me.  He said yes.

At Lepanto, the world changed because of Mary’s intercession.  On a much smaller scale, because of her intercession my world, and that of the people I would meet over the rest of my life, changed. Many big things in our lives happen when we follow what I call the Spirit’s little nudges, but at this one my life radically changed course.  Lepanto was much bigger than my change, of course, but there was one major intervention of Mary which was even more world-changing than the battle at Lepanto.

There once was a young virgin named Mary, who said yes to an angel, and …

 

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And as I type these words, I recall that today is a feast day in the Catholic Church.  It is the feast day of the Queenship of Mary.