Have Faith

I was speaking to a woman after mass the other day and she explained how she felt like her prayers didn't matter.  

She went to describe the many years of praying that she has done for one particular cause, her son to find his path. 

I could see that the woman was sad and I asked her why the sadness, she just gave her son to Jesus at mass, surely her mind could rest a bit.

We talked about this centurion in today's gospel and I added that maybe the situation isn't for her son, maybe it's for you.  I mean when God works He has a big plan that we aren't always able to see.

Humility is a gift and the centurion had it and so must we.  How do we get it?  Seeing others with the eyes of God, listening to others with the ears of God, working with the hands of God, loving with unconditional love.  Humility is the road to heaven.

After a short time more I added that all the years that St. Monica prayed for Augustine we only see that her prayers were heard by God and how that transformed Augustine's life, what we don't hear about is all the people that Monica came in contact with while she was praying, we don't hear about the Monica that helped a neighbor, cared for the old, sheltered the poor and orphaned, yet these very things are what her prayers did for her, they humbled her in the face of God, in the face of her brothers and sisters, and in Augustine's eyes.

It wasn't until I asked her what his path looked like that she stared at me; "He's on it" she said.
You got it!  We are on it!

Your prayers are powerful and have an effect on the entire planet, Please, understand that we are all connected to one Almighty, Compassionate, Caring, Loving God.

God hears all of our prayers and has already dispatched his angels to align the plan, sometimes there are a lot of demons working against you and it takes the angels time to fight them all off, and to reach you.

Be humble in His eyes and pray, Prayer goes where we can't

Doing Good all the Time

Reflection for Labor Day 2016

There is a message that may not sit well with today's culture; "Do what is right, even when it's the "wrong" thing to do.

Stand up for those that have no voice, be they unborn children, aged persons, those that may be incarcerated, the poor and marginalized, all these, and whomever else may not be spoken for need a voice to heal and mend wounds, 

Today's culture is so inwardly focused and selfishly motivated, that it fails to see that the voices that we silence are the very voices that breathe life into a system, that is so blinded and singularly devoted to keeping these voices unheard; because they become an inconvenience or fashionably out-dated, that it fails to see the fruits of diversity.

The Pharisees are so focused on what the letter of the law is they miss the point of the law; to protect, help, and heal.  

What Jesus did by giving them a piece of high hanging fruit was to broaden their understanding of the God they worship.  

The "wrong" thing to do in society is to question the law, yet, if we never question we never grow and the spirit becomes stifled, and if we never grow, how will we become more intimate with God?

Doing the right thing has its reward in eternity, no matter if all of our humanity never sees or understands what that may be, the reward rests in the heart of God

Where else would you rather be resting?

May our hearts be open to the spirit of God, that blows where it wills.

Discern Spirits

Reflection for the Passion of St. John the Baptist

The result of grudges and envy are at the root of the gospel message today.  We will see what can happen when we allow these sins to creep into our life and overtake our judgment.

Herod is manipulated into acting on a devious plan fostered by his wife and daughter.  The result is murder, the beheading of an innocent man.

Herodius is steeped in evil intentions marked by the grudge and hate for the John the Baptist and she lies silent until she finds the right moment to strike.

When she finally gets the opportunity to act she takes full advantage of it and manipulates the situation trapping Herod and his daughter in the plot to kill.

We do the same thing when we participate in gossip, hate, and envy.  We may not kill the physical body, but worse, we slowly extinguish the fire of the Holy Spirit that dwells within each of us.

Every time we sin we darken the soul and make it harder to see Truth.

We can even manipulate others to act with us and that causes others to lose the way.

Herod and his daughter are just as culpable as Herodias in her evil plan and their loyalty to her is not commendable at all, in fact had Herod stood up and rejected the murder, John the Baptist, would have survived the scheme.

May we never be loyal to the evil plans of others and not take part in the manipulation that can kill the body and soul, but may we be always truly wise in the Spirit of God and  rejoice in His consolation so as to bring peace to and foster holiness in our life and the life of others.

"Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you"

Reflection for July 18, 2018

“Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.”

After the religious leaders of the time push Jesus to give a sign as to whom He is, the response He gives seems to be obvious to us because we know the end of His earthly life and His resurrection, yet, if we reflect on our own petitions and pleading it may not be as clear.

Let's take a current event and a rather common question to look at this a bit closer.

Recently there was a man in France that drove a truck through a crowd and killed many people, among those killed were children.  The incident comes after the Universal church prays daily, at every moment, for peace and end to conflict and war, yet this horrific event took place.

There are doctors that perform abortions on children and we pray at every moment for an end to the slaughtering of lives.

There are children who live in homes that are verbally, psychologically, and sexually abusive and we pray at every moment for an end to this situation.

There are people that die on their way to work or in some other unexpected way and we pray and beg for answers.

When we lose someone or hear of a senseless deaths we can become bitter and maybe even fall away from God.

Hear the words of our Lord in response to, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.”

If we think in terms of God as father and each and every soul belongs to Him and nothing will happen to us where God isn't present then we can begin to glimpse that promise and the pain will ease.

No matter what the situation is, Jesus came that we may have eternal life with him and that may not be easy to see and feel now, in this moment of pain, but, His resurrection is the promise we will return to Him.

In this year of mercy, may we show our-self a little mercy and believe that no matter how horrible of a death a person has on earth, be it terrorist, abortion, drug addiction, abuses of every kind, don't lose heart because Jesus is with us until the end of time, and His time never ends so we will be with Him in eternity forever.

"Just as Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights,
so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth
three days and three nights. . .  there is something greater than Solomon here.”

May the Peace of Christ be with you!