Am I a Righteous Person?

THURSDAY AFTER ASH WEDNESDAY 

Luke 9:22-25 

Jesus has a very different way of looking at things than did the people of His time, and indeed the people of all time. Jesus, in today's gospel, is indicating that He will die at the hands of the religious righteous.   

What are the crosses of my daily life?  Anger, frustration, desire to right all the time, etc.  and how will I take up that cross daily to follow the way of Christ?  

Am I a righteous religious person?  

Ash Wednesday 2017

This Lent, we are going to work on being human.  "But, we are already human", you may say "we need spiritual growth" may be the thought. 

Those statements may be true, but, hopefully we are going to begin to move past "Me" and focus on "You", we will focus on shedding dualistic thinking and we will see with the eyes of Christ.  We are going to begin a journey rooted in the gospel that will last a lifetime.

The teachings of Christ are counter cultural and His instruction today brings us to the meat of the gospel.  Do without reward.  "If I do this then this will happen" I begin to expect a reward or a token of appreciation as if I were on a sports team or an Oscar winner, and so my motivation becomes "me" and not "you"

Our Inheritance is already won, and the key to the Kingdom is being human.  How do I treat others that oppose or dislike me? What point do I start at when I meet people or deal with people?  Do I start from the position of acceptance and understanding or do I start at "No" (for whatever reason).  Am I focused on "me" or am I interested in "you" and being in communion with God and Love.

Fast with your spirit as well as the body.  See beyond the immediate gratification.  Experience the woman and child that walk for miles to get a few gallons of water. Experience the hunger of the homeless and marginalized.  Homelessness is NOT just about a physical place to live or living in a parking garage.  Hunger is NOT just about food to eat for the body. 

Praying is NOT just about words. Experience the perspective of the atheist and non believers of Christianity.  Experience the hardship and sadness of humanity. 

Alms-giving is NOT just about giving money. 

Look to the cross of Christ and see what He has done, that we may do.

Ash Wednesday and Lent is a time to disrupt the norms of our inner life and reform and restructure our "inner room"

Reflection 2/27/2017

"Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"This question sounds through the ages.  Still, we struggle to respond "You are lacking in one thing.  Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me." What do I have? Who are the poor? What is the treasure?  We are preparing for a season of sacrifice and suffering and a good way to start is to reflect on the gospel today.  When we sacrifice, (ie fast) when we are hungry, it is a time to think of those in the world that have no food. We experience their physical pain, we experience their emotional state "Where will my food come from?"  When we pray; we remember those that have lost their way in this troubled world, and we remember our own weaknesses and shortcomings, "What can I do?"  When we give; give with a pure heart, not expecting any return.  (From God or man)This Lent; make it a goal to see with the eyes of Christ; non dual thinking and all inclusive.  It is rarely black and white in Gods' eyes.  Lord, help me see you in others and may they always see You in me.

Reflection 2/12/17

Show me a sign.  Show me a sign that you are this person that you say that you are.  Prove that you are a king.  Prove to us that you are the Christ.  All of His earthly life Jesus was continually poked and prodded to reassure the righteous that He is who He says He is.

Jesus just fed a multitude of countrymen that heard he was healing people and they came to test Him further.  The Pharisees ask Jesus to reveal a sign that will undoubtedly prove that He is the Son of God.

Jesus healed many people and walked on water and that wasn't enough.  The people missed the mark, terribly, in thinking that Jesus came to heal the body or feed it, the reason was; that they may believe in the God that is father of the Son, born of a virgin woman.   Can we see the arrogance of thinking we know it all.  The same arrogance that we take from the tree of knowledge.  The devil played with words, twisted and manipulated the true meaning of the reason Eve wasn't to eat from the tree of knowledge.  Knowledge isn't bad, but, the danger is in the thinking we know it all.

The pharisees think they have all the answers and try to trap Jesus or get an "ah Ha" moment to prove to themselves they are right.  During the life of the Christ people were so focused on the physical healing that they miss the spiritual healing.

Jesus isn't impressed with their agenda and pays them little mind.  He lets them know that their generation will find no sign.  No sign will be found because no sign will be searched for, they know it all.  Arrogance is not capable of seeing beyond the mirror, the focus is closed, internal and exclusive.  Love is open, external, and inclusive

"He sighed from the depth of His Spirit"  as Jesus would in His last act of Love- open, external, and inclusive.

Reflection 2/6/17

Add caption

Today we have Jesus healing people that just touched his cloak, but the verse right before this we read "They had not yet understood the incident of the loaves.  On the contrary, their hearts were hardened." So, the apostles totally miss that they just saw Jesus walking on water and creating a feast out of minuscule amounts of food, and their hearts were hardened.

Hardness of heart is a complex problem that is solved by a very simple recipe.  Trust Him.  Believe in Him.  Have faith of a child.

When the waters are rough we can become anxious and fearful, when we look past the tree to see the forest we can miss the beauty of the sapling just poking through the ground reaching high to the sky to touch the cloak of God. 

Miracles are around us at each moment, indeed every breath is a prayer and a miracle.  Keep reaching to the sky no matter how rough the water or how hopeless we may feel.  We can be the cloak that someone needs to touch come to Jesus.

Be open to the movement of the Spirit, "for it moves as it wills."

Stay with me, Lord, for I doubt.  Stay with me, Lord, for I am scared.  Stay with me, Lord, for I trust and believe in your presence.

Peace be with you!

Reflection 1/30/17

This gospel is another one that reminds us that our situation may seem hopeless, but with God all things are possible. Just before this reading, Jesus, calms a storm that seemed impossible to do.  Jesus is on His way to heal a man that is possessed by many demons. The man is roaming among the dead and chained and his life of freedom seems hopeless.   Yet, Jesus, stands right there to confront the demons and they plead "don't torment us" 

Evil compounds evil and our freedom lies in Christ.

What are the demons that chain me to the dead?  (FEAR!!) How does Jesus heal us? (LOVE!!!)

Find Hope that in situations that seem hopeless, there stands Truth, waiting to free us. 

May we not say "Don't torment my comfortable life", but, with the passion of Christ remember He, the Truth, will set us free.

Reflection 1/23/17

While there are those that run around trying to figure out who is following the rubrics, there are those that look for opportunities to grow in Love.  Growing in Love requires a humble approach, and the approach starts with a simple word, "Yes", and "Yes" leads us to a closer relationship with, Jesus.

You see, we are much quicker to send a soul to hell based on our understanding of what we think Jesus wants from us than Jesus is.  Here are the words that are penned

"Amen, I say to you, all sins and all blasphemies
that people utter will be forgiven them.
But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit
will never have forgiveness,
but is guilty of an everlasting sin."

I guess it's hard for some people to grasp the idea that the person we think is going to hell based on our perceptions may be in paradise.

Love never changes and while some argue the tough love stance, remember this 'Judge not less ye be judged."  it is much harder to show Love and Mercy than it is to damn a soul.  Take the road Jesus showed us.

In Him,

Br. Robert, BSD