Called to eternal glory

In today’s first reading, 1 Peter 5: 5b-14, we read: “The God of all grace who called you to his eternal glory through Christ Jesus will himself restore, confirm, strengthen , and establish you after you have suffered a little.” Wow! Just think of that promise! First of all, it is made by “the God of all grace.” How do we finite beings comprehend “all grace, ” infinite kindness, endless mercy , a God of incomprehensible blessing! His clemency is awesome! Secondly, this God has called you and me to eternal glory. Wow! We have been chosen to be on the team that will be admitted into a glorious kingdom with God in heaven forever and we did not even need to come out on top of the competition to win that gift. It is freely given by a loving God! “You did not choose me; I chose you,” we are told in John 15:16. Who would not want to be chosen to dwell in the house of the Lord forever. There cannot be anything equal to that kind of dwelling! For that to happen for us, God Himself, not anyone else, will restore us to the state we enjoyed in His mind before His creation of us. He will confirm us as His own, as heirs of the Kingdom, adopted as God’s children by the blood of the Lamb. And finally, He will strengthen us who have been weakened by sinful inclinations and our struggles with Satan here on this earth. Yes, He will establish us in His Kingdom forever! That is the gift of redemption! To God be all praise and glory and thanksgiving!

Jesus: the Bread of Life

“…the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world,” we are told in today’s Gospel, Jn 6: 30-35.  To paraphrase Jesus’ words to his challengers: “The bread your ancestors ate did not come from Moses, as you believe, but from my Father.  It was not bread intended to last, however.   I am the bread of heaven sent by my Father to bring life to the world. Every human being, so to speak, in relationship to Me is like the moon in relationship to the sun. Without the sun it does not give light to the night sky. Without Me no human being is able to give life to the world. Come to Me and I will refresh you, replenish your energy, sustain your strength, uplift your drooping spirits, fill your empty “jugs” with choice “wine.”  Come to Me and I will raise you to new life every day. Come to me and I will remove that which causes you blindness and deafness of spirit. Come to Me and you will be the Stevens (see the first reading of today’s liturgy), the apostles, the Mary Magdalas, the Veronicas of this world.  Come to Me and you shall never hunger or thirst again.

Choosing truth

In today’s first reading, Acts 6: 8-15, Stephen is   “accosted…, seized…, and brought before the Sanhedrin.”  He is falsely accused, as was Jesus. How often this scenario is repeated in today’s world: in our boardrooms, our courtrooms, our workplaces, our schools, our homes; through the social media, by our politicians, our governments, and trusted leaders throughout the world and in all segments of our society.  We do it personally, as well, when we bring accusations against another that we are unable to substantiate, avoiding direct communication with that person. We also do it when we repeat information about another which we are not sure is true.

The psalm of today’s liturgy challenges us to another way of living our faith: 

                Though princes meet and talk against me [or against another],

                Your servant meditates on your statues.

                Yes, your decrees are my delight;

                They are my counselors….

                Remove from me the way of falsehood,

                And favor me with your law.

The way of truth I have chosen;

I have set your ordinances before me. (Ps 119)

How different it is for me when I choose to “remove falsehood” from my way of thinking about and/or relating to people and instead  “favor” the truth and/or refrain from joining the “Synagogue of Freedman” who orchestrate false evidence against the “Stevens” or “Sally’s” in my life or even against myself.  I might ask myself: am I Steven, proclaiming the good news and believing in Jesus or am I Steven’s detractors, busy about things that lead to suffering and ultimately death.

God prevails!

In today’s first reading, Acts 5: 34-42, Gamaliel, a leading Rabbi at the time of Jesus’ resurrection, confronts the Sanhedrin, of which he is a respected member. The Sanhedrin has arrested Peter and John.  Gamaliel warns them to be careful of what they intend to do to these men, saying:  “…if this endeavor or this activity…comes from God, you will not be able to destroy them; you may even find yourselves fighting against God.”

Ever find that you throw yourself head over heels into something and it does not last or it leads to complete disaster?  Is it possible that the idea came, not from God, but from the false self, the ego self?  Perhaps the ego was seeking accolades or resolved to show up someone or determined to seek revenge.  At other times, have you ever said to yourself: “I can’t believe that I stuck to it; nothing could have deterred me”?  Is it possible that it was God calling you to that engagement, that activity.  And then, again, are there not times when the Spirit is calling you to do something and you forever resist, ending up fighting God. In other words, what you are resisting is God’s will, as Jonah did. Guess who wins!

Another scenario that brings home this Scripture reading is when a parent becomes unglued when a teenager begins dating and the parent is determined to put an end to the relationship at any cost.  Could this Scripture passage give some insights:  “…if this endeavor or this activity is of human origin, it will destroy itself. But if it comes from God, you will not be able to destroy them; you may even find yourselves fighting against God.”

Are you engaged in something that is not of God? Or are you fighting  or resisting something that is of God ?  Guess who wins luckily!

Standing up for what we believe

In today’s first reading, Acts 5: 27-33, Peter and John, when commanded by the high priest to stop teaching about Jesus, responded: Absolutely not!  “We must obey God rather than [human beings].”

How do we know that we are obeying God?  How did Peter and John know? How did Mary, Jesus’ mother, know? How did Mary of Magdala know? The first answer is that  the Risen Lord revealed Himself personally to each of them and they also knew Him before His resurrection.  Each received the gift of recognizing God’s way of making Himself known, whether prior to or following the Resurrection.  The person knows “it is the Lord” (Jn 21:7) and thus is open to following His will—words may not be able to explain that kind of knowing.  Secondly, the individual has developed a deeply personal relationship with God, as with a best friend. That means spending time with God, conversing with God in prayer, contemplating  the Scriptures, and sharing the intimacy of our lives with God each day. What do I mean? Letting God know what I am thinking and feeling, what excites or bothers or hurts me, what I am desiring, what challenges me, what I am afraid of, etc. It also means asking God for advice, for His counsel and requesting the Spirit to send the gifts of the Spirit.  Thirdly,  one needs to seek knowledge from above and sit at the Fountain of Living Water, drinking of that “water” that quenches the spirit. That is done through such activities as holy or spiritual reading, study of our faith and thus arriving at a deeper and deeper understanding of the faith (such as studying the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the encyclicals of the Popes, the social teachings of the Church, etc.); in short, seeking knowledge that nurtures the spiritual life and one’s faith life. Fourthly, we need to be growing in love of self and others, reaching out to the poor and marginalized, giving of our time, talent and energy to make the world a better place that puts God first. If we do these things, our openness to and knowing God’s will becomes well tuned as, for instance, in the case, of St. Francis of Assisi, Ven. Mother Frances Streitel (the Foundress of my religious community),  Mother Teresa of Calcutta,  Martin Luther King, St. Kateri Tekawitha, Mother Seton,  and so many others.

God sent His only begotten Son

Today’s Gospel, John 3: 16-21,  opens with the statement: “God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son...”

My response: “Lord, you so loved the world that You sent Your only begotten Son to take on human nature, to become one with us in our humanity, that is, to experience what this world without grace  is like:  a world where jealousies, intense hatreds and prejudice  lead to death.  Your Son experienced the darkness of evil that, without grace,  leads to violence and condemnation unto death.  Your Son experienced clashes between good and evil  with evil seeming to have the upper hand.  Your Son, the Light of the world, entered this world’s darkness to dispel it,  this world’s jealousies to dissipate them, hatred to transform it and sin to redeem us from its snares, pitfalls and tombs.  And you send us, each day, into the world where we live to do what You did: show the Light in whatever darkness we meet today  and to  be a transforming presence in that which otherwise could lead to death, decay and lifeless tombs.”

May each of you reading this know the power of the Resurrected Christ operative in your lives through your faith, hope and love in whatever you do or say today, in whatever tasks you take on and in whatever ways you make a difference as a believer in Christ Jesus!

"You must be born from above"

April 17, 2012:   As I reflect upon today’s Scripture readings, Acts 4: 32-37 and John 3: 7b-15, I am somewhat bewildered.  Luke in Acts speaks of believers being of “one heart and mind,” no one claiming any possessions as one’s own. Yet we live in a world where there’s anything but people living in harmony.  St. Luke claims that “there was no needy person among them.”  We  live in a world of abundant need. Victims of economic downturn, of high gas prices, of home foreclosures, of unjust wages and unfair taxes; victims of discrimination because of gender, age, race, religion, ethnic backgrounds, and economic status, to name a few of our problems, abound the world over. St.Luke lauds Joseph, also known as the Apostle Barnabas, for selling a piece of, not all, his property and giving the money to the Apostles to be distributed to those in need. We live in a world where the rich rise up in protest because they might have to pay as much taxes as poorer folk around them and where some believe a raise in the minimum wage will cause a recession. 

                No wonder Jesus says to Nicodemus: “You must be born from above.” Unless we are “born from above” we will not see as God sees or act  as  God acts, that is, we will never  understand the example Jesus modeled for us in how to “act justly, love tenderly and walk humbly with our God” (Micah 6:8). With the power of the Holy Spirit blowing in our faces (“…the wind blows where it wills,” St. John tells us in today’s Gospel), we will make a difference in someone’s life today: a needy person will be less needy and both a poor person  and a destitute person will  rise out of “the tombs” of their lives because of our generous giving of time, talent or possessions.