Blog # 195 Growth

Blog # 195 Growth See the lilies of the field, Jesus said, how they grow. Certainly if God creates the lilies of the field with such potential for growth and beauty as they possess, how much more confidence we should have in the process of our own spiritual growth. With reasonable care our spirit, faith, generosity, and the beauty of our soul in love with God will grow. I once read of a woman who visited the seashore on a particular occasion. She was feeling blue. There was little evident meaning in her life. Things seemed to be going around in small circles, monotonously, with little being achieved. Her life seemed like the vast expanse of sand before her, flat, the same every day with little that mattered. Then she discovered a particular shell that intrigued her. She picked it up and began to study it in detail. The lines, color and shape were all beautiful when you studied them. The shell seemed to be the work of an artist. She went from the shell to the sand to the ocean to the sky to God and back to herself. She came away from the beach with a new and impressive insight into the fact God was with her, as He was in the shell, designing her life with no less care wisdom or love than that with which He designed the shell. She merely had to discover it. She was encouraged. She grew in wisdom. We can be sure God is with us too, extending His invitation to us to grow in wisdom before Him, to grow in our friendship with Him and to grow in our awareness of the power of His love in our lives. We remind ourselves that growth is not always manifested nor exhausted in an increase either in numbers or in volume, such as you might say of a pile of stones which 'grows' by adding to its numbers, or our prayer life might increase by adding to the length or number of our prayers. Growth is not just increase but development. To grow in prayer we might indeed grow in the number of times we pray, but also grow in the quality of our prayer. You might greet the mail carrier fifty times a year and your son once as he comes home from service in the Army in a far-away place. The difference in the greeting is a difference in quality as well as in number. All the fifty greetings of the mail carrier do not add up to the greeting of your son. So it is with God and our life of prayer. Father, may our love for You deepen as the days of our lives go on. May we grow in goodness before you and may we not be distracted by the things that should remind us of You. In Jesus' Name we pray, Amen!

Blog # 194 The Power of Faith

Blog # 194 The Power of Faith If you were born this side of 1946 you cannot experience World War II, right? Yes, and no. If you come to think about it, there are several ways you can experience the war even though you were born after it was over. It is true that you cannot sit in Congress on the day in history when President Roosevelt declared war on Japan. But you can read the text of his speech on that occasion, and you can listen to it as it has been recorded on tape, and you can reflect upon its meaning and upon its effect upon our nation and the world. I think it is something like t his with the life of Jesus. It is true that if you were born less than nineteen hundred years ago you are too young to see Him walk from Jerusalem to Jericho, to share His fish supper as the Apostles did on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, or hide yourself in fear on the occasion of His death on the Cross as most of the Apostles did. But you can know these events occurred. You can read of them in the Bible. You can reflect upon their meaning and purpose and effect upon the world and upon your own life. In a very real sense to listen to the words of President Roosevelt on a tape is much the same as listening to him speak these same words in Congress on December 8, 1941. There is a parallel in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus experienced by the world nineteen hundred years ago and our experience of the same life death and resurrection today in the Bible narrative of these events, in our reflection upon them, their meaning and purpose, and in their effect upon our ways of thinking and upon our behavior. This would be true of the events of World War II as recorded in a history book and the events of the life of Jesus as recorded in the Bible. But there is also a large and essential difference. The events of history are human experiences and can be recalled by human memory, The events of the life of Jesus also have this human dimension and can be recalled by human memory, recorded in the Bible, and passed on through the years. But the events of the life death and resurrection of Jesus are also the actions of Emmanuel, God-Among-Us, divine, This dimension of the life death and resurrection of Jesus can only be recalled by faith. "I am with you always..." has a very special meaning for those who believe. Though Jesus stood in their midst in the flesh and their ears heard Him speak among them and ther eyes saw Him walk among them, it was sill up to Peter James and John in faith and freedom to declare this was God's Son, their Savior, the Messiah. And so it is with us.

Blog # 193 Unless...

Blog # 193 Unless... Recently it occurred to me to look up in the bible the use of the word "unless". Unless is a strong word that sets definite fences around actions thoughts and plans. I'll give a few of the references in the New Testament in which the word unless occurs. Mat. 5:20. Jesus is speaking. I tell you, unless your holiness surpasses that of the Scribes and Pharisees you shall not enter the Kingdom of God. Mat.18:3. Jesus called a little child over and stood the child in their midst and said: I assure you, unless you change and become like little children you will not enter the Kingdom of God. Mat 18:35. After telling a story of a man who did not treat his neighbor mercifully, Jesus says: My Heavenly Father will treat you in exactly the same way unless each of you forgive his brother from his heart. John 3:2. Jesus teaches Nicodemus in these words: I solemnly assure you, no one can see the reign of God unless he is born from above. John4:48. Jesus says: Unless you people see signs and wonders you do not believe. John6:44. No one can come to me unless the Father Who sent me draws him. John 12:24. Unless the grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat. But if it dies it produces much fruit. John 19:11. Jesus is speaking to Pilate at the time of the trial of Jesus. You would have no power over me whatsoever unless it were given you from above. Unless we are holy, unless we change and become like little children, unless we forgive our brother from our heart, unless we reform our lives, unless we are born from above, unless the Father draw us, then we cannot please God and attain His Kingdom. This is the message Jesus taught in Jerusalem and Jericho. It is the message He brings to Augusta today. We must be holy, like children,forgive our brothers, reform our lives, believe. Jesus did all of this before us and invites each of us to follow him in these ways. May our lives be a great "Amen!", "Yes" to His desire!

Blog # 192 Ecumenical Love

Blog # 192 Ecumenical Love Twenty-five years ago when I was Pastor of our Glenmary Mission of St. Frencis de Sales in Idabel, Oklahoma , the first Baptist Church was located directly across the Street from ours. That year, 1986, they celebrated their eightieth Anniversary and dedicated a new auditorium on that occasion. In response,I placed the following ad in the local newspaper: CONGRATULATIONS

The People of St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church send Greetings and congratulate the Members of the First Baptist Church, our neighbors, on the occasion of their eightieth Anniversary and the dedication of their new Auditorium this Sunday.

We are one with you in our common humanity, men and women together. We are fellow Americans, living together in Oklahoma and McCurtain County. Then we are one in the greater and more significant unity of our faith that each and all us are created by God because He loved us, and with a divine purpose. Then in an even higher level, we are one with you in our faith in the Lord Jesus. His is the Name, His the power and the Grace in which we hope to gain our salvation and please our Father.

We pray that the full meaning, power, and effect of the prayer of Jesus, given in the presence of His disciples at the Last Supper, the evening before He died for us, would soon be realized among us: " That all may be one, as Thou, Father, in me, and I in Thee, that the world may believe that you sent Me."

When I came across this clipping in one of my files yesterday afternoon I could not remember how long it had been since I last saw it but I imagined it must have been about fifteen years. I decided to make it a blog because I saw it as an example of the ecumenical attitude and experience the Second VaticanCouncil invited and urged all of us to have in our relationships with fellow Christian believers who for the time being are not in full communion with us nor one another. Without watering down our own faith or denigrating the faith experience of those who differ with us in matters of faith we can and should be able to recognize the presence of God in them and be thankful for that presence with hope we may live what we believe, so well, that in God's time we can sit down with one anther and ernestly and sincerely seek and work together for the unity for which Jesus prayed.

Blog # 185 Close to Jesus

Blog # 185 Close to Jesus If we really love someone, including the Lord, we wish to be and live in close union with the persons we love, husband, wife, children, family, friends, God. We keep photos of those we love in our billfolds, on our desks at work, and on the walls of our homes to remind us of them, in honor of them, and to keep them close to us. With Jesus should it be different? And so we have pictures statues and crucifixes in our churches and in our homes. We wear medals and small crucifixes around our necks. And along the same line but in a very special way we recall and celebrate the life death resurrection and glorification of Jesus in our liturgical readings week after week Sunday after Sunday through the entire Liturgical Year. Jesus is no longer just a memory from two thousand years ago, no longer just a friend of Peter James and John,no longer living dying and rising in Jericho and Jerusalem. He lives in the here and now of Augusta. He is our friend in 2011. He is as close to us as our prayer to Him is close to our minds and hearts. He shares the same story conversation relationships and love with us by faith that He shared with the Apostles and with his mother. Because Jesus is God and loves us this much and because we love Jesus enough to trust Him and to believe, all of this is possible for us. But as was the case with the early disciples we also have the freedom to be somewhere else, to forget, or to turn away. "If today you hear His voice harden not your hearts." (Ps 95:8)

Blog # 191 St. Frencis of Assisi

Blog # 191 St. Francis of Assisi Part of the text used at Mass this morning , the feast of St.Francis, was taken from a common text designated for the celebration of feasts of holy men and women. It is part of the Preface of these Mass texts and reads like this: "Father, You renew the Church in every age by raising up men and women outstanding in holiness, living witnesses of your unchanging love. They inspire us by their heroic lives, and help us by their constant prayers to be the living sign of your saving power". Then we praise the Lord with all the angels and saints in our minds and hearts as we proclaim as our own the praise of the angels around the throne of God in the vision of Isaiah : "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts! All the earth is full of his glory!" (Is. 6:3). All the earth is full of God's glory! The life of St. Francis of Assisi was a wonderful witness to a constant awareness of the presence of our Creating God in all that exists and a response to God in a deep personal love. Last Sunday (27 Ord Time A), the Gospel at Mass considered creation as a vineyard of the Lord. From Adam and Eve right on through to St. Matthew the author of Sunday's Gospel, through to St. Francis of Assisi over seven hundred years ago and than on to ourselves reflecting on creation as we know it in 2011, ALL THAT EXISTS can be seen as a vineyard willed to BE, by God! God owns it! Every sunny day, every drop of rain and flake of snow, every leaf on every tree of every species, every fish , every bird, every valley, every stone every calf, every colt and every human person ever conceived, all belong to God. St. Francis knew this and experienced it as the good soil in which the seeds of his faith and love were planted. The same God and Father who made the mountains made the sea. The same God who sent the Word from Heaven to live among us as one like us though as well divine, is the same God who called Francis and calls us to hear God speak in the faithful message of Jesus and see God act in the perfect obedience of Jesus, then make that faith and obedience our own. The same God who called Jesus to know and love Him as Father is the same God who calls us to make the faith and love of Jesus our own through the work of the Holy Spirit in the gift of Sanctifying Grace, the supernatural gift that makes us holy or like to God. No wonder Francis waa so happy in his simple humble holy life!

Blog # 190 Abortion

Blog # 190 Abortion Luke's Gospel begins the story of the ministry of Jesus in Galilee in the synagogue of Nazareth, Jesus' home town . When Jesus stood up to do the reading the book of Isaiah was handed Him. He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written: The spirit of the Lord is upon me; therefore he has anointed me, He has sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives, recovery of sight to the blind and release to prisoners. With the eyes of all in the synagogue fixed on Him Jesus said: "Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing." And ever since, it is today wherever Jesus is recognized among us and is known and loved and followed as God''s messenger and fulfillment of God's plan and desire for all people He will ever create. The passage from Isaiah would very well fit into any political platform statement in the US today. Glad tidings to the poor...liberty to captives... release to prisoners... a time of blessing. The words cited by Jesus would readily be accepted by all. Their meaning and application is a source of dispute. Whatever it was Jesus desired to convey by this experience of His in the synagogue of Nazareth was not for Him and should not be for us ambiguous or uncertain. Today has been designated as Pro-Life Sunday. This afternoon I plan to stand by the curb on Walton Way Extension over close to one of the abortion clinics here in Augusta with a good number of others with signs with varying messages proclaiming our stand in favor of faith and trust in God on the side of life over death for all people. Some people will drive by and give us the high sign of approval. Some will give us the thumbs down. How much better it would be if we could sit down together and speak to one another with respect and reverence in hope to come to a common understanding of what it means to be alive, where life came from, where it is going what it is worth, and why. Abortion exists as a business. Someone could be involved in it for the sake of the money that is available there. Others however may be sincere in their opinion in favor of abortion in the light of their particular circumstances. Someone once hoped to convince me the very words Jesus searched for in the synagogue in Nazareth could be interpreted and applied in favor of abortion. The argument would go this way: Glad tidings for pregnant girls and women; freedom or release from fear of motherhood and the responsibilities that go with it, freedom from guilt and crime. I am personally totally opposed to abortion. The basic and personally compelling reason for my conviction is the fact I believe in the Catholic Church and accept the teachings of the Catholic Church as the Body of Christ speaking officially in the name and with the authority of Jesus . This may sound naive simplistic or an intellectually unworthy way of going about it. For me this is not so. I must do as much as I can to understand the teaching of the Church and to verify it in my own experience and thought. I don't use the word 'blind' obedience but rather total and supernatural. That word is a stranger to many today, but I know it well and it is a friend to me and absolutely necessary if we are to know and love God as Jesus made it possible for us to do. Aside from my faith in the Church, the usual arguments put forth in opposition to abortion are impressive and have great merit. I use them in addition to my main argument. However they are not the argument upon which I have based my conviction. I could not say, for example, it is altogether evil merely because it is the killing of innocent life. No doubt there were some innocent babies killed in the recent earthquake in Japan. Who other than God is responsible for this? If such were evil in itself God could not be held responsible for it. Yet no one but God had control over the earthquake. The ESSENTIAL DIFFERENCE is that God has not only contol over life, but authority over it. We have control in the sense that we can injure or destroy it, but we do not have authority to do so. That is where the sin of murder and abortion comes in. It is against the law of God though for the time being it is not against the law of our United States. May more and more of our fellow Americans begin to see and experience the truth and goodness of the glad tidings, liberty sight, release, and favor of the Lord Jesus claimed for Himself in the synagogue of Nazareth and invited all who believe in Him to bring unto our own lives in His Name. Abortion would then be recognized as sin, for such it is. If anyone has any comments on my thinking here I would appreciate having them. Thank you!