Learning to crawl

I know that God answers me when I pray. How can I be so sure? Because I seldom like the answer. One of the things I KNOW about my heavenly Father is that he will always speak the truth to me, even when I don't like the answer. In all Love he calls to reflection, faith and accountability, because he truly Loves me. Where others may say what I want to hear, sparing my feelings, God speaks the truth of a Father and calls me to understanding and sometimes change. I remember a story of Max Lucado, a wonderful Christian writer and minister, where he spoke of his daughter dropping an ice cream cone in the dirt and her crying when he wouldn't let her put it back in her mouth. God seeks only the best for us, even when we protest, because he knows what is best for us.
God grant me patience and humility as I continue on this journey.

Apostolic potential

To be honest, I find myself identifying with some of the apostles in their failures rather than successes more often than not. Like Peter my anger can get the best of me and my trust can wane at times. I also find myself walking in the steps of Paul when My zeal overtakes my consideration for others. Yet maybe, to my own personal dismay, I also find myself acting as Thomas, doubting the ability of God or the willingness of God to help me in times of distress. When Jesus called from the cross," My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?", I can feel the words forming on my lips. Yet if I but close my eyes to the distractions of daily life and allow myself to draw into the quiet, there is the gentle assurance of his hand upon my shoulder and the loving encouragement and comfort of his voice in my ears. And I am reassured of his love for me, and that through my faith in that love I may come to realize the potential with which he created me. And in all love and humility I pray ..."father forgive my despair and grant me peace, that I my become the man you created me to be, your loving and faithful servant.". Amen

Thankful

I find that my greatest joy has come in the realization that the most significant gift that God has given me is the opportunity to serve. In service I can come to embrace the possibility of changing lives through something as simple as just everyday kindness. Yet this happiness isn't from the gratitude of others but rather my unreserved thanks to my God for looking past what I have been, and patiently teaching and showing me what I can be for him. "Praised be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has bestowed on us in Christ, every spiritual blessing in the heavens."
I don't assume that anyone seeks to hear the words from my mouth due to their eloquence, but I would pray to share the joy I have found. God bless you and keep you all the days of your life, and may you someday awaken in that new Eden to find the face of God gazing upon you in happiness.

Born to serve

Even though Jonah was trying with all his might to get away from God, God had other plans. Swallowed by a great fish and held for 40 days, this bleached out and wrinkled man is set ashore at Niniveh to prompt the people to repent, needless to say, it worked wonderfully. Just another example of how God can use us to reach his lost children. Chance after chance he offered Jonah the opportunity to be a part of his message of salvation, and even though Jonah waited till the last minute, Jonah's "yes" allowed the people to grow in love with God once again.
Is God calling you? Do you hear that faint whisper or that gentle tap on your shoulder? Our loving Father invites us to share in his joy each and every day, knowing that our happiness lies in our participation with his holy will. Like the Apostles of old, may we find the courage to venture from our comfort zone, trusting in God's protection and love, and find ourselves as faithful servants ready to bring our brothers and sisters home to our Father in heaven.

God bless you today and every day.

Here I am, you called me.

How busy do we allow ourselves to be? Are we so concerned with what's going on around us, almost afraid we'll miss out on something, that we fail to just embrace the quiet? Recent Old Testament stories at Mass have shown that one of the most utilized times in which God speaks to us is in the quiet. Remember as Elijah waited in the cave for God to pass by, that God wasn't in the roaring fire or the heavy winds but rather in the whisper of a breeze. In the story of Samuel and his first encounter with God, God spoke to him in the silence of the night. Soft whispers with words of love, that's how God speaks to us. I suppose the only problem with that is that in order to hear, we need to listen. And with all of the noise and distractions in our lives we need to make some time for listening each day. We all have things we want to accomplish or achieve but the struggle begins when we fail to set our priorities correctly, remembering that without God nothing else really matters.
Quiet is a rare and precious commodity. It is an opportunity to connect with our Father in heaven and to listen. Let us make time for God in our busy lives and prepare ourselves that we may be good servants. May we seek the quiet, open our hearts and when He calls to us may we joyfully answer, "Speak Lord, your servant is listening."

Be prepared

If the last few months of political debates and personal attacks have taught us nothing else, the least we should come away way with is the message to be prepared at all times. It really doesn't matter which political party you affiliate yourself with or with which candidate you find yourself most in line with, we have seen that no matter how a person may profess to be at this moment their past deeds are always waiting there, in the wings, to be brought forward into the light. That practice should give all of us pause to contemplate how what we choose can effect our ability to witness to others in times of moral uncertainty. Because when we feel the need to put ourselves out there in controversial issues, and stand for what we believe is right, we risk having our failures brought to the forefront and exposed.
Have we safeguarded our good name and reputation or have we sacrificed our ability to speak or witness, for a brief moment of instant gratification or because doing the right thing was just too hard? Make no mistake, evil in our world is alive and well, and it flourishes in our silence. We know that it's wrong for a man and woman to live together like they are married when they are not, yet do we allow our adult children to act immorally by our silence when we should be seizing the moment to teach them? Have we ourselves been silenced by our past? E are called to proclaim the Gospel to all people and not just when it seems safe for us to do so. We are called not to pass judgement but to teach what our Lord Jesus has taught to us, no matter the cost to us. When we let embarrassment restrain us from the will of God, we allow evil to grow in strength and affect more people.
May we find the courage to witness to the truth and live our lives in such a way that our witness may be heard. May we love those around us enough to care for their spiritual welfare as well as their material needs, and may God, in his wisdom give us the words to speak, the courage to speak them and the mercy to forgive those around us as well as ourselves so that we might not be restrained in our efforts to further his kingdom here on earth.
God bless you today.

As you increase, may I decrease

The walk can be difficult sometimes and the signs confusing. It becomes a trial in and of itself to recognize what God is asking as it is mixed in with my own desires and needs. It is at these times that I find my prayer life at the root of it all. At the root because the lack of prayer is what leads me to the confusion in the first place, and it is through that time, reclaimed and better utilized in conversation with my Father, that I find my direction. As I seek guidance, my own interpretations need to be set aside and my own need to feel in control along with it. Because how am I supposed to hear the voice of God when I won't be quiet and listen? And how can I know His guiding hand when I feel the need to lead?
And so again I pray for the humility of a worthless servant who has done no more than has been asked of me. I pray for the wisdom to discern the task laid before me from all the things that I would choose to do, and the courage, and trust to complete the task at hand.
Almighty Father hear my prayer and grant that I may seek only to do your will, and that my joy may be found in knowing that I do your will. As you increase, may I decrease until the only memory be not of me but that the will of the Father was done.

A new beginning

Another new year has arrived, full of the hopes and promises that didn't quite make it through last year yet are given breath to try again. With each new year we seek some sort of change don't we? My prayer for each of my fellow travelers is that God would grant us the insight to recognize the things that we need to change, or at least pay a little more attention to, and the strength to carry out those changes. And may we also embrace the reality that we will never reach the perfection we desire but rather understand that we are in a constant state of change, developing into the person that our Father created us to be. May we also come to appreciate that this growth is destined to be directed and utilized by God as we submit our wills to the glorious wisdom and Will of Him who created us.
God bless you with this coming year. May almighty God pour his blessings upon you to heal your brokenness and give you peace. May he give you comfort in distress, wisdom in uncertainty, and faith in times of doubt. And may God bless you, in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

We all have needs, very few yet very important needs. If asked for a list, our minds fade back to those things which sustain life at first, food, water, shelter and such. But in our list have we reserved a place for God? Unlike mythology of the gods of Olympus, our God does not survive by our worship, but rather we survive because of his Love. We are all wonderfully made and beautiful creations in the eyes of our creator. No matter our physical appearance to others, we have been created with the same potential for perfection in the wisdom and love of our Father in heaven. Our beauty lies in our ability to further his message and kingdom here on earth. So how is it that our God doesn't make the top of our list of needs? My greatest stumbling block is that of true humility. I pray each day that I be granted the wisdom and strength to see beyond my desire for validation and seek to truly serve others whom God has placed in my life. I am reminded daily that God gives me what I need but not always what I want. Hopefully, as this journey continues, those things that I truly need will replace those things which I desire that I may be a true servant of my fellow travelers and so a better son to my heavenly Father.

Peace on earth

With the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season steadily winding down, may we take a little time to look back on those hurried days of shopping and preparations for those family gatherings to seek out and identify those moments of peace or quiet that we may have let slip by without giving them their due attention. The moments, or rather opportunities, to encounter the grace and peace of God when we most need it yet fail to avail ourselves of and instead,we almost instinctively retreat into the comfort of our busyness. And as we realize these moments, and mourn the loss of them, we pray for the wisdom to recognize them again and the courage to let go of our familiarity and embrace those moments as the gifts that they are. Let us cease the hurry and rush to find the true peace which our Father sets before his children. And in doing so may we become the instrument of peace to all our brothers and sisters that our God would use to reach them and bring them closer into himself.

The Will of God?

What is the "will" of God? It seems that we use our understanding of it to help us accept certain events that happen in our lives when we just can't come up with any other reason doesn't it? From the death of a loved one to tragedies around the world, as we seek to make sense of it all, we lay the cause at God's doorstep just hoping He'll explain it to us. Sadly we find that the answer isn't quite as forthcoming as we would hope and we chalk it up to yet another quandary we save for the day we stand before Him. Maybe it would be helpful for us to consider that just because God "can" do anything, that doesn't mean that he causes everything to happen. We would be foolish to think that our free will has no effect in our lives or the lives of others, or that through our actions or inactions we do not influence the choices and decisions that other people make for good or evil. So if our own free will can affect the lives others shouldn't the same apply to our lives and the effect the choices of others have upon us?
The Desire of God is our salvation. The Desire of God is our eternal happiness. Because of His Love for us, The Will of God can happen when we are willing to set our free will aside and ,in all trust and love, seek the wisdom of God's design for the salvation of all and allow His Will to place us completely in His service. When we are willing to do that, we see the beauty of His influence in the lives of others by way of us as His instrument.

Preparation

What demonstrates love more effectively than forgiveness? True forgiveness is when all memory of the offense is forgotten and the relationship begins anew with no ties to that injury of the past. Sounds almost too good to be true doesn't it? Yet that very same forgiveness is available to us every day by just walking into church and embracing the sacrament of Reconcilliation. Jesus demonstrated his knowledge of us when he gave us this gift of healing, as it addresses each of our needs as we seek to be reconciled to God. We approach humbly, we hear our own voices speak our sins, we hear the guidance of the priest and finally we hear the words of absolution. Praise God for this opportunity to heal and strengthen our wounded hearts. May we, as we prepare for the birth of our beloved Savior, avail ourselves of this sacrament of spiritual healing and rebirth. May we welcome Him with pure hearts and soaring spirits freed from the weight of our sins and joyfully proclaim his arrival as God incarnate.

The New Translation

As we have begun the season of Advent we begin the use of the new translation of the Roman Missal. Not a change in the Liturgy but rather a greater understanding through a more accurate translation. It may seem a little strange at first but everything new usually seems that way doesn't it? This Sunday at Mass take time to familiarize yourself with the new text. The changes, though not many for those of us in the pew, are profound in nature as they are intended to reveal a deeper meaning of our participation in the Holy Mass. With familiarity we can sometimes lose the intimacy of what we are saying to our creator as we gather to play our part in this Sacrifice. May we take this occasion of change as an opportunity to grow in our faith through greater participation in the Liturgy this weekend.
May God bless you and bring you peace.

Happy Thanksgiving !!

      Today we are given the opportunity to focus on what appears to be a lost art these days and that is the art of being thankful. We are asked to take a brief moment to look beyond our own needs and wants and to recognize the blessings in our lives which surround us everyday, keeping in mind that even the hardships we face in life are never faced alone as we know that God is always offering to strengthen, counsel and console us. This day which is, for a great number of us, a time when we try our utmost to forgo that last bite that makes our stomach feel just a little too full, is also an opportunity to seek out those in need and ,in an act of christian charity, try to ease their burden at least on this day. May we embrace this brief time on earth and faithfully serve our fellow travelers and truly spread the message of the Gospel to each person we meet, leading as many people as we can into the kingdom of God.
Peace be with you and yours this wondrous day,
And may Almighty God bless you, in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Amen

Presentation of Mary

      This feast day commemorates the dedication of the church of Saint Mary which was built in Jerusalem near the site of the temple. With this we recall this day , the presentation of Mary to the Lord by her parents in the temple when she was a small child. This is yet another reminder of the reason why we hold Mary in such high regard. Mary continues to be a shining example of purity, chastity, service and obedience. Through her "fiat", her eternal yes to the will of God, Mary shows us that the human condition need not be a deterrent to obtaining the kingdom of heaven.
       This day especially may we thank her for her willingness to play such an integral part in our salvation history. As Mary acted selflessly on our behalf may we, in our own lives, seek the good of all our brothers and sisters by having the humilty, to ask God to reveal His will to us, and the courage to follow it.

Hail Mary, full of grace
the Lord is with you.
Blessed are you among women
and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, mother of God
pray for us sinners,
now and at the hour of our death.
Amen

Christ the King Sunday

The Church gives us this incredible Solemnity in all Love to help remind us, and so grow in a greater understanding of the dual nature of our Lord Jesus Christ. Fully human yet fully Devine, God become man so as to help us better accept this relationship of salvation which he offers us each day. As Moses was not allowed to stand on the ground near the burning bush, and Elijah hid his face in his cloak as the Lord passed by, lest he die from gazing upon the glory of God, we too need to be reminded of the diety of Christ. A true Brother, Teacher, Friend and Companion our Lord Jesus Christ remains our Lord and God as well. If we allow ourselves to focus on only one nature, whether man or God, we miss the significance of the act of salvation in that the presence of God incarnate was and is the act which allowed our salvation to be made available to us. God allowed Himself to share such intimate communion with his creations so that his suffering and death might be tied directly to us, so that we might better understand and accept this redemptive act. Praise be to God !!
As we come to accept and embrace His Diety, this day also calls us to acknowledge in thanksgiving His humanity as well. As we are all, everyone of us, created in the image of God. Each of us with the same potential for good. Our choices, or responses to life events, direct us either to God or away from Him. Christ Himself was tempted in the desert as the devil tried to use his humanity against him, yet his choices re ia Ed faithful to the Law of God rather than the gratification of man. That example was for our benefit that we would have guidance when asked to decide between our human desires and the ways of God. That we would follow our teacher in all things as we live among and interact with our fellow man.
Today's Gospel reminds us that we are to search the face of Christ in all people and his beauty in all creation. From the lines of perfection in a blade of grass to the wanting eyes of the homeless, we are reminded of the presence of Christ in His handiwork. Sometimes easier said than done, the pressures of appointments, our personal desires or just our unwillingness to acknowledge our fellow travelers, we hurry past the faces in the crowds. We drive by the homeless living under our bridges along the highway, we hurry past the growing number of nursing homes and senior care facilities yet seldom take the time to visit those inside, and we do our best to avoid that uncomfortable eye contact with that guy with a sign asking for money at the red light. All are missed opportunities to encounter the Risen Christ in our midst. There is a church in a Canadian Province that has at it's door a life size sculpture of a beggar squatted on the ground with outstretched hand. At first glance you might think, "Oh great, the church wants to boost collections again.",but under closer inspection we notice the nail print in the hand. As we look under the hood viel of the downcast face, we come face to face with Jesus.
Today take a moment to reassign priorities. Take time for the passing stranger, feed those in need, visit the lonely. We are all traveling the same road, yet the burden is lightened when we take the time to search out the risen Christ in our brothers and sisters along the way.

God Bless you this day!