“I Am the Light of the World”

Reflection for Lent

Week 5 2016

“I Am the Light of the World”

Br. John Paul, BSD

We meet Jesus today in the second year of His ministry at the temple, specifically, in the treasury of the temple, a place that held the money collected for the poor; around 9 am during the last day of the festival of lights.  The last night was to remember when God manifested himself and led them in the pillar of fire through the wilderness.

There is a distinction between class in regard to education that was based in the study of Sacred Scripture and oral tradition passed on from Moses and Aaron.  The Torah also held the law. This disparity between class and attitudes of elitism was much like it is today. 

The law stated that there needed to be several witnesses to a capital crime in order to convict a person.  (In the first reading we see the law in action, until Daniel applies Wisdom, to exonerate Susanna.) So, Jesus, giving witness to himself becomes a supernatural event verified by the Father and a crime in the eyes of the Scribes and the Pharisees, and they test Him, “Where is your Father?”

The Scribes and Pharisees are concerned with the judgment of Jesus by THEIR standards, the law, and Jesus IS the judgment of salvation.

Let there be no mistake that Jesus will judge our lives as they pertain to salvation and not according to the law of our courts. (Matthew 25: 31-46).

In regard to, Jesus, being the Light He gives claim to be, we need to understand that He stands in the Temple area where the Light celebration was a remembrance of the Pillar of Fire leading the people out of the wilderness or the darkness, which was the law, and Jesus gives claim that HE is now the Light, the Light to dispel the darkness of sin and lead us home.

“You are who you are in the eyes of God, nothing more, nothing less.”

~ St. Francis

No Fireworks

Reflection Fourth Week of Lent

John 4: 43-54

In the Gospel, we meet Jesus in Galilee after He left Judea by way of Samaria.  He performs His second of seven signs that deal with His divinity in the form of miracles.  There is an important moment in this gospel today and it comes just prior to the healing.  The only time that John uses the term “signs and wonders” and it isn’t good. 

Hearing that Jesus arrived in the town of Galilee the official is looking for Jesus to heal his son of an illness in Capernaum, which is about 38 miles away.  (a 2 ½ day walk)

There is no spectacle or drama in this healing just Jesus saying, “Your son will live.”  John is more concerned with the salvation message than he is the miracle. A simple act of faith on the part of the officer and an act of concern on the part of Jesus heals the boy who is far away.

“Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.”  That carries us to the salvation message and union with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.

What is your motivation to believe?  Is it the Source or the spectacle?

Spiritual Leprosy

Reflections for Lent 2016 Week Three

There is a cultural force that associates the value of the human person with looks.   These forces can lead to a number of disorders; Bulimia, anorexia, anxiety, depression, and even suicide. 

Naaman struggles with his own physical imperfections caused by leprosy, so much so that he disregards the fact that he holds a high rank and is esteemed by the king.

Naaman becomes indignant when Elisha offers the cure to his illness because he has his gods to cure him.  He is vain and egotistical in his regard for the God of Israel being able to cure him of his own illness, but he misses the mark.  Though Naaman needs his body cleansed he is in need of a deeper healing than his physical leprosy. 

It is when Naaman has a conversion of heart, a metanoia, that he is able to be free from the chains of his idolatry, his way.

In the gospel Jesus is in the synagogue in Nazareth.  Jesus causes much grief when He reminds the people that only Naaman the Syrian was cleansed of his leprosy.  He is telling them that accepting God can cleanse non-Israelites and He is the prophet they wait for.

In what areas of our spiritual life are we lepers and how will we shed our ego and indignant attitudes so that we can enter into a deep personal relationship with Christ?  Are we concerned about looks and the physical aspects of our dispositions and neglecting the deep spiritual connection that brings us to the cleansing necessary to accept others?  

Here I am

The season of Lent brings with it a hope for change, a change for the better, although it may be worse at first.

Have you ever prayed for patience?  What happens next is the whole day seems to go awry and we get more frustrated.  But, that is exactly what we prayed for.

Jesus isn't in the business of waving a wand and fixing things and we would do well to remember that.  When we ask our Lord to help us with something He will, very often, give us situations and tools to help us grow and be a better person.

I will share a story with you that happened to me Friday.  I went to the chapel at the hospital I work at and I sat quietly and began to clear my mind from all the days activity.

I finally cleared my mind and prayed a rosary.  My intentions were my usual petitions and thanksgiving, and I added one that has been weighing on my heart for a few weeks.

You see when your heart begins to churn it's best to ask for the Divine assistance instead of haphazardly jumping into a decision.

I prayed for Jesus to help me understand a situation I am currently in and then steer my life to the part of the vineyard that I am needed in.

Well, after about an hour I finished and sat silent for a while and meditated on the Agony in the Garden.

I remembered that my spiritual director and long time friend celebrated his first mass in the chapel (over 50 years prior) I was in, so, I stood up, genuflected, and kissed the relic in the altar, and asked "Pete" to help me.

This is where it gets weird.  I was putting the books back and the phone began to ring in the sacristy as I was writing a note for the priest scheduled for mass that day.

I remember hearing this voice in my head say "Answer the phone" I ignored it and kept writing.   The phone kept ringing and so I finally answered it.

"Hello, this is the chapel", I said.  There was no answer, except the open line with a breathing that was not abnormal.

I repeated, "Hello, this is the chapel." Same response.

I repeated a third time, "Hello, this is the chapel." Nothing but the breathing and an open line.

I hung the phone up and the priest that was scheduled to celebrate mass walked in.  I told father what happened and he said, "probably a wrong number".  I agreed and we had a brief conversation and I left.

I was walking away and I began to laugh. You see, "Pete" and I were extremely connected, in fact, he once told me that few people understood him like I did, which brought tears to my eyes. But what I was laughing about was these type of things have happened all my life and I always discounted them as "nothing" until I met Pete.

I took them more serious and this was one of those situations.  I have heard that one way the "dead" can connect or communicate with the "living" is by the same means that I experienced with the phone call.

A call, and I answered except I didn't get any invitation orders, or requests, just a breath, ruach.

The point is that phone call, the small still voice that instructed me to answer the phone, my reluctance to answer the phone, and the breathing on he other side is something that led me to meditation.

Peter was asked three times by Jesus, "Do you love Me?" and I connected that to the phone call.

Here is the kicker, one of the conversations that I had with Pete before he died dealt with him telling me that he would always be with me.  I never doubted that because I feel him closer to me than ever before.

That phone call was no accident or coincidence, it was a message.  Jesus heard me and Pete let me know. he is with me.  (Sound schizophrenic?  well so does prayer and talking with a spirit, the saints, and angels, so don't judge.)

Lent is a wonderful time of our liturgical year to go deeper in faith and trust Christ is with us and in my moments of doubt, he made it clear.

This antiphon from evening prayer tonight says it all and we should pay close attention to the meaning and each word, "Call upon the Lord and he will hear you; cry out and he will answer: Here I am."

Working Toward Peace

There are days when I look around and think "when will we ever find peace?"  The daily news rarely reports on good things happening around the world, well, the occasional dog rescue or a child with a lemon aid stand to support a cause, but they are so rare that we forget that there are good people in the world.

Currently, the Islamic religion is taking quite a beating in the news, and with radical and ignorant Americans.  Muslims are labeled so broadly that it is harmful to humanity.

Murderous acts by radicals are no different than a bad car salesman or a bank that has loaned money to a family knowing they will default, in that the action murders the soul.  The act takes hold and grinds on the person so hard that the results are just a bitter downward spiral of mistrust and profiling so that the person walks away from the situation thinking that all car salesmen are crooks or all banks are predators.

We really need to be VERY cautious when we start placing these blankets over an entire population.  Think how we would view police in light of the recent videos that show the use of excessive force that results in the death of a human person.  We would be very suspicious of police and less likely to help.

The world is a violent place and we need to combat this with peace.  Jesus Christ was persecuted with as much discrimination as was the Prophet Mohammad, whose followers are persecuted just like the Christians.  We are united in the roots of Abraham and we need to remember that.  We are united in the struggle to overcome violence because of peaceful actions and attitudes.

We also need to remember to refrain from harmful and hate filled words because of a terrorist attack that involves extreme and misguided intentions by groups of people that do not accurately represent the whole.

Being more accepting and tolerant is the beginning of the path to a greater understanding that leads to Peace.

This is the second week of Advent and we are called to reflect on Peace and how to acquire the inner peace that produces the fruit of the Spirit.

Peace is possible and we, as a human race, will find it, but it takes work and awareness of state run propaganda that is rallying the people for the wrong reasons and mislabeling people, whether intentionally or not.  It takes refraining from spreading hate on social media.

Take time and study the word of God, and whether you are  Christain, Jew, Islamic, Buddhist, or any other faith that is based in love and peace, and if you have no faith in religion, have faith that a loving peaceful human race will have a greater impact on future generations.

May you always know what Love and Peace are, and may the Light of Christ be with you to guide you in the darkness.

Br. Rob, BSD.

Send Them Back!

Father, forgive us.

My heart is heavy and my spirit is crying to God.  

Stop this insanity.  

Your people, my people, care more about a 40 inch TV., a new car, a big nice home, and bottled water than they do about humans.  "Hearken to the sound of my voice and hear my cry"

What's the worse that could happen?  Someone shoots up a theatre or blows up a federal building?  The names change but the atrocities against humanity are the same, we kill each other and for what reason? Gold, Land, Oil, Religion? What is the reason we kill each other?  Is it worth it?  

Wars have been going on for so long and we keep reverting back to the same solution to conflicts.  We take, we kill, we do what we want when the other guy is weaker and our technology is stronger.   

Isn't it part of the evolutionary process to "get better" and to do things that are against our learned behaviors to make this world safer and better? I mean why is it so hard to think and talk out a solution to end wars, poverty, and injustices. 

When we were children we pointed fingers and called each other nasty names and threw toys and broke things, we grabbed and took things, we bit and punched when we didn't get what we wanted, we still do. 

What is this world going to look like for the future?

Will this violence ever stop?

War and violence are not the solutions for our problems; kindness, humility, and love are our solutions. 

Thinking about the possibilities of dying by a gunshot in a movie theatre, I still go.  

Thinking about the possibility that I may die at McDonalds from an assassin's bullet hasn't kept me from eating there.

Terror attacks happen every day in this country and across the globe and we just keep the same course, and that's insanity.  

We point fingers and call names and then turn on the evening news to see who we need to hate or if we are hating the right flavor of the day.

A child lies on a beach, dead, and we find that image offensive, yet we are not offended by the notion that we should close up our country, prohibit refugees for fear of a trojan horse.  Or that we have systematically committed heinous acts of terrorism throughout the world for many, many years, or that we may be the victims of political agendas.

"Father, forgive them for they know not what they do."  Forgive me, for not doing enough to help my fellow neighbor.

"Judas, dost thou betray the Son of man with a kiss?"

In light of the recent attacks in Paris I have heard some really off color remarks from people that profess a Christian belief and the comments are just filled with fear.

"What if 'they' blow us up?"  "What if this is like a trojan horse?"  "Why should we help them?"  "Send them back" My first thought was; "Why is this a "we" "them" issue?  Why isn't this a humanity crisis that involves solutions and responses from all of the world?

There are so many questions and few answers at this point, but, what I can tell you is that if you open the bible and read the gospels, you will find the story of one Judas Iscariot in the text during the passion of Christ.

The Passion of the Christ takes us from Palm Sunday to the Resurrection and everything in between.  I have read, slept on, mulled over, and LIVED Passion Week and have come to the understanding that what the Christ stood for, what his bare bones message is that we profess is this: "Love God above all" and "Love your brother as yourself"  It's that simple folks.  

So as a litmus test for a response to the refugee crisis in the world look at the examples of Christ during the Passion, especially, because this is where you find the character of the Christ.  

The hardest and most difficult time in your life brings up the "sea floor of your life".  Chaos, misery, lies, deceitfulness, violence, and betrayal are all in the week leading up to the crucifixion.

Jesus lived with, ate with, and worked with a "sleeper cell" named Judas Iscariot.  Jesus knew his attacker was going to betray him and ultimately lead to the death of the Son of God.  

Think about that.

The Son of God, Jesus the Christ, the Messiah, the Chosen One was turned over to be killed by one of his trusted companions and Jesus knew it would happen.

"Holy Week, or the Passion of Christ, has many examples of Christ's wisdom and life lessons in the darkest hours of His earthly life.

When I hear of the "plots" and "plans" made in darkness to betray a nation of people (by refugees) I am quickly cautioned to recall what happened to Jesus.  

Judas kissed Jesus and that began the events of Holy Thursday that lead to the salvation of humanity though at the time I am sure you could see how hard it must have been to trust in the work God was doing.

Now, here is the difference.  We live in fear of losing our cushy lifestyle.  We fear the unknown.  We have this uneasy feeling that terrorist may attack the United States, and they probably will,  to make us conform to Islam.  Jesus trusted in the Divine Plan we, too, must also.  

There are people in agencies that care tremendously about the safety of the American people, that work every day to make this world better, and those people are the ones that do the best they can to maintain a very free life in America for all of us.   

So, why did Judas betray Christ?  Most scholars rest on the misunderstandings of Judas in regard to the mission Jesus was here to fulfill.  When Judas found out that Jesus was not attempting a revolt against the government, Judas, betrayed him because he was angry and hurt.  

What about the ones that want America to be blown up, what is it that they are angry and hurt over? 

Why are we a target? 

Taking precautions to prevent an attack is a prudent and noble aspiration, however, let's be realistic.  Our history and activities throughout the world in the past 75 years have been, at best, poor.  

Now, you need not be a religious person to grasp the concept of "do unto others as you would have them do unto you"  

Would you want to go back to this?

Terrorism will end when there is no longer participation in terrorism.

Find God in the response to a betrayal.