Jesus does all things well to those who believe

God gazed upon “all he had made, and indeed it was very good” (Gen. 1: 31).God continues His creative actions every day through each one of us. “Formless barren lands” are transformed. Chaos—anarchy, bedlam, turmoil, unruliness—is quieted and ordered into something good. Out of the “muddiness” and clay of human existence, God transforms humankind into co-partners with Him in bringing about that which is new, beautiful and reflective of God’s power, presence, and Spirit at work in the world. See, He does “all things well,” (Mk. 7:37), we read in today’s Gospel.  Onlookers and witnesses to Jesus’ miracle in restoring hearing to a deaf mute were amazed at how Jesus transformed those who came to Him in faith, knowing that here was Someone who “did all things well”: the deaf hear, the blind see, the dead are raised to life, the sick are healed and demons cast out. Are we  aware that Jesus continues to “do all things well” in our lives, as well: our “hearing” is restored, our “blindness” removed, our sicknesses healed, demons cast out, and that which is dead in us raised to new life? Do we truly realize that, not only when God brought each of us into existence,but also now, all that He made and is making is indeed very good. Are we aware, with the eyes of faith,that God’s ongoing creation of us out of “the dust” of our lives continues to reveal the goodness, the power, the love of God at work in and through us. Yes, indeed, God, the Blessed Trinity—Father, Son and Holy Spirit--does all things well. May our awareness of this ongoing gift of God’s love operative in each one of us deepen!

Jubilees: Celebrating the call to grow in charity,in serving others and in intimacy with the Lord

Yesterday, in the U.S./Caribbean Province of the Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother, we celebrated our Sisters’ jubilees, that is, in lay terms, the anniversaries of the day they vowed to consecrate their lives to the Lord and live a life of poverty, chastity and obedience and, in the words of our vow formula:  “Through the grace of the Holy Spirit and with the help of Mary, Mother of Sorrows,…seek perfect charity, placing.. [themselves] in the service of God and of the Church…”   Three of our sisters celebrated 75 years of living religious life, yes, of seeking “perfect charity…in the service of God and of the Church.”  Imagine, those of you who have been called to seek perfect charity in marriage or in the single life and who have grown in love  and in loving over the years, deeply committed to one another and to serving others!  In religious life that means growing in the virtue of loving as Jesus loved and in developing a profound relationship with the Lord.  Some of our sisters succeed in that goal in ways that lead many of us to look upon their saintly lives in admiration of what God has accomplished in them, through them and with them.  I say to anyone whom God is calling to consecrate their lives to Him as women religious, what God has in store for you is astoundingly beautiful as you resolve to allow Christ to increase in your life, as John the Baptist did, as the Foundresses and Founders of religious life have done, including the Foundress of the Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother, who is a candidate for beatification and sanctification.

God's compassion and blessing

September 7—Today’s responsorial psalm reminded us that God is compassionate toward all of His works. That means that God is compassionate toward you and me. God understands the challenges we face as human beings to live as Jesus lived: being nonjudgmental; caring toward the oppressed, those who are crippled emotionally and/or physically, the hearing impaired, the mentally challenged, the needy, ourselves, children and adolescents when they test our patience.  Jesus says to us in today’s Gospel: “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” We might translate that into “Blessed are you when you know how dependent you are on me.” To be compassionate as Jesus was we need His intervention; we need grace.  Neither do we develop a sense of compassion without being in relationship with others. Therefore, to put on Christ, we need one another as much as we need God. We do not grow spiritually in a vacuum or by isolating from others and from the challenges of life.  Being poor in spirit and therefore blessed means that we depend upon the Lord and one another, that we believe in the goodness of God, in our own goodness and the goodness of others.  For me, this brings me to the foot of the cross, begging for God’s mercy and His help and thanking Him for the grace of redemption .