Keep Your Eyes on God

 

I’ve been struggling to write a blog posting about love; it’s such a simple, yet immensely complicated thing.  I now have come to realize that I can’t really think about it --- not in the sense of understanding it.  God IS Love; how could I ever comprehend the totality of His Being so I can write it all down?

But there are some things I can comprehend --- or think I do.  How many hundred times did I read and reflect on Matthew 14, where Jesus walks on water, and bids Peter to come to Him.  And Peter does, also walking on water until He takes his eyes (and focus) off of Jesus, and he begins to sink.  I could write many words, deeply insightful and perhaps inspired words about this passage.  I mean I understood the message, or I thought I did.

In reflections in The Better Part (#47) about that Gospel, Fr. Bartunek wrote: “as he let his eyes wander away from Christ to examine the intimidating waves, he began to sink.”  Certainly, I could add to Fr. Bartunek’s words, but the word “intimidating” struck me.  What would you say if I asked you what was intimidating in your life?  I can imagine many of your answers.  It’s a rare person who would respond: “Nothing.”   We live in the world, and therefore the world does affect us in some way.  It must, but how we react is the question.  Do we ignore the world and events around us, or do we let them influence us in some way?  How much?  You can ignore the breeze or the beautiful sunshine, but you better not ignore that STOP sign.  So, in the situation Peter was in, how could he not be aware, and even worried, about the waves?  That’s why the quote I noted so struck me tonight.

I guess it started a few weeks ago, when my local church displayed a large banner in the narthex.  The banner had a large Image of Jesus’ crucified face, and the words “Seeing Jesus among us,” and lower down were the words “Seeing the face of Jesus in everyone.”  That face and the words seemed to hang with me, like it was important, but I wasn’t sure why.  On the surface, I equated it with the command that we must love God and neighbor, but that seemed too simple.

Tonight, reading Fr. Bartunek’s Gospel commentary about Peter sinking caused me to recall that banner, and my previous attempts to describe my thoughts about love.  I think I now have a better insight into a key underpinning about that word love, and what it means to each of us.  The banner is a suggestion on how we should live our life, seeing the face of Jesus in everyone.  After all, we are all God’s children and He loves each of us, whether we are a good child or a bad one, and so each person is our sibling.  There are many reasons for siblings to argue or even not talk to one another, but we have a parent telling us “to apologize to your sibling.”  In the Gospel of Matthew, that parent tells us rather bluntly that if we have anything against our neighbor to go and ask forgiveness before we enter the Father’s house, and in another place in Matthew are words telling us that we should ask forgiveness if our neighbor has anything against us.  Either way, we are commanded to reconcile before going into the Father’s house.  It’s like a father telling his kids to make up, no matter what the fight was about, or who was right or wrong.  That is what that banner tells me.

Peter’s sinking is not due to his not treating his neighbor right, but from choosing (with his free will) not to see the face of Jesus right in front of him.  And he begins to sink.  Earlier I wrote of how it seems Peter could not ignore the world around him, even as we can’t, but that word “intimidating” explains something he (and we) could do.  We could remember that banner.  There are troubles in the world, in our politics, in our state, and in our family, things in some way impacting us that are hard to ignore.  But we can choose to not be “intimidated” by them, to let those events outside of our control (like the waves around Peter) be a worry --- because it will cause us to take our eyes off the face of Jesus.  And we will begin to sink.

We can choose not to be irritated about politics or wars or even the behavior of some of our siblings especially if, unlike the STOP sign, it will have no immediate direct impact on us.  And in choosing not to be irritated by them, or talk about them to get others irritated about them, we CAN instead resolve to pray about them, because God can do something about them.  And in recalling the face of Jesus in each person, we can calm ourselves down.  Remember how much He suffered for us, each one.  Despite all that is happening, He is in control.  He is God.  Keep your eyes on God, and you won’t crash --- or sink.  Just trust in God.  I know that’s hard to do; that’s probably why they wrote those words as a reminder on one of our coins.    

Mother Teresa: Love: A Fruit Always in Season

 

The above titled book had great words to me this week, so I will place excerpts here, to remember in other weeks.

“No Matter What Religion, What Matters is That We Love
               Some call Him Ishwar, some call Him Allah, some simply God, but we all have to acknowledge that it is He who made us for greater things, to love and be loved.  What matters is that we love.  We cannot love without prayer, and so whatever religion we are, we must pray together.

It is so beautiful that we complete each other.  What we are doing in the slums, maybe you cannot do.  What you are doing in the level you are called, family, college, work, we cannot do.  But you and we together are doing something beautiful for God.

My religion is everything for me, but for every individual according to the grace God has given that soul.  We must not condemn or judge or pass words that will hurt people.

All People are The Same
Looks, education, or position vary, but they are all the same.  They are people to be loved.  The people you see on the streets of India or Hong Kong are hungry in body, but the people in London or New York have also a hunger which must be satisfied.  Every person needs to be loved.

What Mother Teresa said in an interview in China about communism hit the front page of all Chinese newspapers:  “Mother Teresa says a communist is a child of God, my brother, my sister.”

We have absolutely no difficulty working in countries of many faiths, like India.  We treat all people as children of God.  They are our brothers and sisters.  We show great respect for them.  Our work is to encourage these Christians and non-Christians to do works of love.”

I don’t usually limit my blog posting to excerpts of books, but this book, this week of Pentecost --- and of Memorial Day --- are times I reflect on love, love lived out.  In this old book I have on my coffee table for occasional reads, I read her comments this week, and it summarizes my readings and thoughts from the bible and in church when alone with God.  We just need to do works of love; it is how He came and showed us to live.  Just love our neighbor.  All creatures of God, they are our family. 

I want to remember that, when I hear stories of people’s differences and wars.  It’s not something for me to be irritated in any way about, but only to pray about, praying with trust, and love.

The New Evangelization

Only this I want,
But to know the Lord,
And to bear His cross,
So to wear the crown He wore.

Those words of this morning’s hymn echoed in my heart.  Later, as the mass ended, adoration began.  I looked up at the large monstrance and host which now had been placed on the altar, and even as that hymn played on in my heart I felt: “I will be with you always, even to the end of time.”  Those words often come to me while in adoration.  He is here for me; the God of the universe waits for me.  I so want to know Him more.

Today on the radio the host and guest were discussing the history of the term “The New Evangelization,” and said how at Baptism we are all called to evangelize our faith.  “Be a witness,” they said, “not a preacher.”

In recent days I lived examples of witness of my faith, but it was not something I set out to do, to “go and evangelize.”  No, one way I found myself witnessing was when I responded in a positive way to someone asking me for help.  So, recently a friend asked me to find her a good priest, because “I have a question,” and I did.  Another time a young girl in the adoration chapel stared at my old prayer book, and I offered it to her.  And yesterday my parish pastor was on a Catholic radio fundraising program, and when donations were sparse, he made a significant donation, which triggered my heart (and perhaps pride) to call in to double his donation.  I felt these three occasions were requests for my help, and by answering them I was evangelizing, living out the love my faith calls for.

But not all evangelizing/witnessing is asked for.  Recently, I voluntarily changed my plans when: I perceived someone else’s need, and when I helped my Bible Study group, and then when casually walking into church next to someone who asked: “how are you doing?” --- and I cut my answer short to ask her the same, and found out how desperately she needed prayer.  By my being aware of others’ needs and responding in a loving way, I was evangelizing, without being asked.  Evangelizing, witnessing in a loving way, is when you stop putting yourself first, and love your neighbor, whether they ask for it or not.

And then there is a witnessing to God, who we are also called to love.  On Divine Mercy Sunday a local church was having a 3PM Holy Hour.  I went to that church’s adoration chapel to pray before the Holy Hour, intending to follow the priest when he moves the monstrance and host into the church, and there join my friends in worship.  Only for some reason that monstrance and host were not moved to the church, and at the 3 o’clock hour I found myself alone in the chapel, with Jesus.  I recalled “I will be with you always,” and began to pray aloud, and talking to Jesus.  No one else came in, and I prayed a rosary prayer and then, as I said the final Amen, I heard the chapel door open, so I went quiet.  Looking at my watch, it was 4PM.  Jesus was there waiting for me in the chapel that afternoon, and my witness was to Him: “I will not leave You alone.”

Whether asked to help, or “nudged” to help, these were acts of Christian love I lived out.  That is “a new evangelization.”  I preached nothing with words.

 

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In the last couple of days, I have experienced some unusual electronic problems.  As I was turning off my WIFI device, the screen froze, and I could do absolutely nothing, not even turn the device off.  I ended up pulling out the battery, then re-inserting it, and the problem stopped.  Similarly, I was trying to access the text messages on my phone when it froze up.  Again, nothing worked, no matter what I tried, including turning the phone off.  So, I pulled the battery out of that device also, and then put it back in, and things were back to normal.  Nothing like that has ever happened before, to either of those devices.  Reflecting on the events, perhaps what I experienced was kind of a parable of the new evangelization:  the old way doesn’t work anymore. You need to start again.  Evangelize with loving actions, and perhaps the culture will respond as the Roman historian did when seeing the early Christians so long ago:  “see how they love one another.”