Goodness Ultimately Will Triumph

Do not be afraid; I am with you always.

Sunday's word of God takes us back to the Wisdom literature attributed to Solomon. Today’s word was written to inspire people undergoing hardships to persevere in fidelity to God’s Covenant. God, the author says, is mighty and powerful, the source of all good, and a patient judge. And for such a mighty and caring and forgiving God, we should be grateful.

Theologian Reinhold Niebuhr captured a nugget of wisdom in his well-known prayer: “God, give us the grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, courage to change the things which should be changed, and the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other. Living one day at a time...trusting that You, God, will make all things right, if I surrender to Your will.”

St. Paul in his letter to the Christian community at Rome speaks about the Spirit or energy of God dwelling within us. When we pray “Come, Holy Spirit,” for example, we are praying for an increased sense of that presence of God in us. God is present everywhere, yet we do not always sense it. Paul asks us to be aware in our daily lives. We are “living temples of God.” We might pray, as Paul and Barnabas did in the Book of Acts chapter 13, that God will give us the courage to live the “good news” boldly.

In the Gospel according to Matthew, Jesus tells the parable of the wheat and the weeds. Good and evil, virtue and vice, live together. God is patient. But we know the harvest will come, when we will be accountable for our attitudes and behavior. In that judgment, we will see clearly our true from our false self. Jesus proclaims loudly that good will triumph.

One big obstacle to faith is the suffering of the innocent. If God loves us, why so much suffering in the world, so much injustice and violence? The Book of Job grappled with this. There are no easy answers. Yet God meets us in the midst of our struggles. People who have gone through great suffering often have strong faith. They testify to the presence of God within.

It is a great blessing to have a system of justice. Ultimately, God will call us to account. In the meantime, we are called to do everything we can to do right.

There are times when we face major challenges to our faith. St. Paul, for example, was shipwrecked. The crisis gave him an opportunity to speak about his faith. He knew that God wanted the best for him, as he does for us.

Whatever challenges we face, let’s put our faith in God, trust that God will be with us in whatever God asks us to do.

Living a Life of Purpose

Rembrandt's Storm on the Sea of Galilee

Happy summertime and happy Fathers Day!

The word “father” or “dad” evokes many images. My father had a sense of humor. He possessed in abundance, as all good fathers do, love, commitment, support. Communication (we spent time together, especially at the family dinner tqble). Faith (we went to church together). And forgiveness (and he wasn’t afraid to say he’s sorry). A father is a blessing.

So, what did the word of God say to us Sunday?

In the seventh century before Jesus, Jeremiah complains to God: “I'm trying to do what you want me to do, and yet people are slandering me; they want to trip me up.”That happens sometimes to us. Some people make life difficult.

But Jeremiah doesn't let these problems stop him. He will always trust in God. Jeremiah exemplifies courage and perseverance in doing good, in the face of all kinds of obstacles.
St. Paul in his letter to the Christian community at Rome reflects upon the human condition; he sees violence, death, and injustice everywhere. Who can save us, Paul asks? Jesus Christ, of course. Jesus righted our relationship with God and one another. Because Christ lives, we live in relationship with God.

In the Gospel according to Matthew, Jesus says three times: “do not be afraid.” Yes, do the right thing, no worries. God is with us. Have faith in God.

Psychiatrist Viktor Frankl discovered that people could put up with incredible sufferings, if they saw that these hardships had some greater meaning. In their hearts, people yearn for something or someone beyond themselves. When a person finds something that gives transcendent meaning to life, they see more, live better and, in short, they become men and women of faith.

We are by nature believers. Our Christian faith is radically different.   It is a gift from God through baptism that empowers us to relate to the triune God as creator, redeemer and sanctifier.  Faith is richer and deeper than belief.  Faith is about connectedness to Jesus; it's relational. '' Belief is a profession of the essential truths of our faith as in the Nicene Creed we proclaim every Sunday.

Pope St. John Paul II, who often encouraged us to live fearlessly, wrote:
“It is no accident that we are here. Each and every human person has been created in the ‘image and likeness’ of the One who is the origin of all that is. We have within us the capacity for wisdom and virtue. With these gifts, and with the help of God’s grace, we, a faith-filled people, can build a civilization worthy of the human person.” So let us continue to live lives worthy of our status as sons and daughters of God our Father.

Transforming our LIves

Raphael's Transfiguration

As winter changes to spring, the Lenten season calls for a similar change within ourselves: letting our life be transformed into a more God-centered, other-centered life.

Last Sunday, we were in the wilderness, in the presence of Jesus and the tempter. This Sunday we are on a mountaintop contemplating Jesus and his transfiguration.

But first, the word of God takes us back almost four thousand years. Because Abraham trusted God completely, he set out for an unknown land. Many of us can relate to this: going to a new place? A new job? You may have been anxious. I’m sure Abraham was. Yet he trusted in God's unconditional love. God calls us to be people of faith, as we journey through happy days and uncertain days to our heavenly dwelling place.

Paul’s letter to Timothy speaks about God’s tremendous love for us. God became one of us in Jesus so that we could become like God. Paul urges us to live a holy life now. Yes, “Let us go forth to love and serve God.”

In the Gospel according to Matthew, the disciples experienced the unique and awesome presence of God in Jesus. As described, Jesus’s face became as dazzling as the sun, his clothes as white as light, an allusion to the tunic early Christians wore after they were baptized. The disciples glimpsed the “glorious” Jesus beyond the flesh and blood Jesus they knew. They also saw their own future in the transfigured Jesus.

Jesus lived by faith, completely trusting in God's unconditional love for him. That faith made Jesus a transformative person, ushering in the kingdom of God. That faith was tested to the breaking point on the cross. Jesus surrendered himself unconditionally. He died as he lived: with faith in his heavenly Father, with hope of life forever. In the mystery of death God transfigured Jesus into a new kind of spiritual embodiment.

And just as Jesus became a transformative person ushering in the kingdom of God, Jesus calls us to become transformative people. As co-workers with God, we have to do our best to transform injustice and prejudice into fairness and tolerance; to transform hate into peace, indifference into compassion, sorrow into joy and despair into hope.  Yes, we have to transform self-centeredness into other-centeredness so that God, like the risen Christ, can transfigure us into a new spiritual embodiment.

Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz recognized that attitude determines how well one performs any task. One of his many pointers: “Set goals at every stage in life and work hard to achieve them. When negative thoughts arise, start thinking, ‘I can.’ It works better than ‘I can't.’ "

Surely that can-do attitude helps the Grand Prix race drivers in St. Petersburg this coming weekend.

For Lent, let us be transformative: forgiving those it’s hard to forgive; exercising compassion and mercy; making peace; caring for those in need; carrying our crosses; persevering when we are exhausted; and loving when the last thing we can muster is love. Amen.

With Eyes of Faith

Presentation of the Child Jesus to God in Temple by Raphael

The Super Bowl gets plenty of attention each year. But Sunday Feb. 2nd we celebrated the feast of the Presentation of the Lord.

In the readings, the author of the book of Malachi, in the fifth century BC, scolds leaders for their careless worship of God which jeopardizes the special relationship (or covenant) God made with the Hebrews centuries before. But God never reneges on his promises. God will send a messenger to prepare the way before him who will purify God’s people so that they can give true worship.

Malachi may challenge us to ask, what is leadership? I think of three ingredients, three Cs: character, courage, “can do”: Character, at our core, who we are at our core,  when no one is watching. Courage is moving beyond fears and doubts to achieve something worthwhile. Finally, leadership presumes a “can do” attitude. At different times, all of us are called to be leaders.

The Letter to the Hebrews describes how God became human in Jesus. Jesus is indeed the face of God among us. And through his death and resurrection, God gifts us with his divine life; we are brothers and sisters to one another and sons and daughters of God our Father. We are consecrated in baptism, sanctified, to be in relationship with God forever. Our faith in Jesus Christ proclaims that one day, God will transfigure us into a new heavenly life as God transfigured Jesus.

Luke’s Gospel tells us that when Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the temple in Jerusalem, Simeon took Jesus into his arms, praised God and said, “My eyes have seen your salvation…a light….” Quite a recognition of a child for an old man.

At home in Nazareth, Jesus grew up--wise. His family was a vital factor in his human development. Even in his teens and “roaring 20s” Jesus prayed, studied and stayed close to family and to God.

More than two millennia later, Pope Francis urged that families develop “a healthy sense of leisure.” Yes, set aside time to do things, to communicate. Sundays are for family.  Enjoy one another's company, do things together whether is'a at a dinner table or in an outdoor/indoor activity.  Think positively about one another.

Someone wrote: “Twenty years from now we will be more disappointed by the things we didn’t do than by the ones we did.” Think about it. Don’t put off until tomorrow….

Remember, the BIBLE stands for Basic Information Before Leaving Earth. Do good now, not later. Life is not a rehearsal. It’s the “real thing.”

Jesus, and Mary, and Joseph lived a life as a family, a holy family, a life with no regrets.
May God on this feast of the Presentation of the Lord grace us: with trust in God’s unconditional love for us; with faith in Jesus Christ, as in the letter to the Hebrews, as our healer, our reconciler; and may God grace us, as He did Simeon and Anna, with the eyes of faith to see Jesus as our salvation, a light who illuminates our darkness.

With Eyes of Faith

Christ Calling  his First Disciples by Adam Brenner

Isaiah, Paul and Jesus each had faith in an all-good sovereign God.

Sunday's first scripture reading takes us back to the eighth century before Jesus (the 700s). Isaiah speaks about the future: a great light, a king, will illuminate the darkness. This king will trust completely in God. Isaiah challenges us to trust always in God’s unconditional love. God is always close to us.

Paul, in his letter to the Christian community at Corinth in Greece, deplores the divisions that seem to be tearing the early Church apart. He begs for unity in the community in light of their common bond as God's adopted sons and daughters. It doesn’t appear we Christians see ourselves as one family.

In the Gospel according to Matthew, the author proclaims that Jesus is the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecies. Jesus is the anointed one, the Christos, who will bring light into our darkness by proclaiming the good news: Jesus, the God-man, is gloriously alive. Jesus exhorts us to orient our lives to God! The kingdom of heaven is at hand!

And then Jesus begins to call some unlikely people to discipleship. These folks experienced, at some privileged moment, an overwhelming sense of the divine in Jesus. They recognized with the eyes of faith what lay beneath and beyond the immediate appearance, i.e., the reality of God in Jesus the Christ. And we see that too with eyes of faith.

Our faith, a gift from God, empowers us to relate to God. It answers fundamental questions: Who really am I? What on earth am I here for? Faith calls us to commit ourselves to Jesus Christ: our way to eternal life, our truth who sets us free and our light who illuminates the darkness around us as we journey toward our heavenly home. Faith is about connectedness to a person.

Belief, on the other hand, is a profession of essential truths. We say in the Nicene Creed from the 4th century: I believe in one God, despite many who question God’s existence. Yes, we say: our God is almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all visible and invisible. Someone completely other and completely beyond ourselves; One who is the cause for all creation: God, Father Almighty.

And yes, we believe in one lord, Jesus Christ, who for us and for our salvation came down from heaven and became flesh, one of us. Jesus for our sake – “as a ransom” -- was crucified, died, and rose again to life.

Yes, we believe in the Holy Spirit, the lord, the giver of life. The power of the Spirit is within us, enabling us to live a life worthy of our calling.

And we believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic community. We acknowledge one baptism and look toward the resurrection and the life to come.

The Nicene Creed underscores the essential content of our faith. May our faith help us to find purpose in life and lead us on into our heavenly dwelling place.

Manifesting God's Glory

Adoration of the Magi by Rubens

I made one resolution for 2020: to look for "epiphanies" in God’s universe.   Epiphany is from a Greek word meaning “revelation.” The word has come to mean a manifestation of the divine. Sunrises and sunsets, landscapes and waterscapes, furry and feathered creatures and compassionate people—all these and more can be a manifestation of the divine. For beneath all these appearances lies the reality of an awesome creator God who sustains this multi-faceted universe.

Today we celebrate the Epiphany of the Lord, the revelation of the child Jesus to the magi. These were non-Jews, who traveled from far away, guided by a sudden illumination of wisdom – a mysterious star -- to pay homage to this Jewish child named Jesus. Yes, Jesus is for all people, all times, our way, our truth and our life.

The Word of God from Isaiah takes us back to the 6th century before Jesus, when the Jews lost everything they thought would continue forever. Yet the author speaks of a new Jerusalem. A divine light will emanate and people will acknowledge and walk by this dazzling light. Christians of course see Jesus as this light who shows human beings their purpose: to manifest the glory/presence of God.

The letter of Paul to the Ephesians speaks about our future: we are coheirs to God’s promise of eternal life, co-workers in bringing about the kingdom of God.

In the Gospel according to Matthew, we have all the ingredients of a great mystery novel: exotic visitors, a wicked king, a mysterious star, precious gifts and a new child. The Word of God became flesh so that God can transform our earthly self into an indescribable, heavenly self.

Yes, this child in a manger – a feeding trough –will become an adult, a suffering Messiah, who through his death/resurrection we have eternal life. And He will “deify” us—we shall be like God and we shall see God as God is!

The magi gave homage to the Christ child with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.
In our liturgy of thanks, we bring our gifts of bread and wine, and yes, our very selves, to this sacrificial meal so that God can transform them into the real presence of Jesus Christ.

Now who is this Jesus to whom we pledge our ultimate allegiance as a worldwide faith community?
The early Christian community saw Jesus as the fulfillment of the hopes of ancient Israel. They named him the Messiah, the anointed one.

The more they reflected on who he was, the more they saw Jesus as both the fulfillment and the foundation of their hopes. So they called him the eternal Word. The Gospel according to John captures this magnificently: The Word was with God and the Word was God.

Yes, Jesus is the foundation and fulfillment of our hopes as well. He was a real historical person. He experienced, as we do, joy, fatigue, friendship, disappointment and loneliness.
He was a prophet proclaiming that good ultimately will triumph over evil.
He is one with God, truly divine yet truly human; he is gloriously alive in our midst today especially in the sacramental life of our Catholic faith community.

Jesus taught not only that the kingdom of God was breaking into our midst; but that you and I can share in bringing this kingdom forth by living a life of discipleship.

Jesus showed us that God is our Father, a compassionate God, always near us at the start of each day to guide us on our journey to our heavenly home.

So on this the feast of the Epiphany, I invite all of us to rededicate ourselves to Jesus, to ask him to grace us anew at the beginning of this new year, so that we might manifest ever more clearly the divine in our daily lives through our faith, hope, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity and faithfulness.
And may we in 2020 be ever more attuned to those epiphanies all around us:the manifestations of the divine in all of God’s creations.

Pledging our Allegiance

172' Statue of Christ the King in Poland

Across this great land, families will gather on Thursday to celebrate Thanksgiving. It’s a special day to be grateful to God for our many blessings—family, friends and colleagues, and freedoms and opportunities to pursue our dreams. Thanksgiving is all about enjoying one another’s company.

Today, we celebrate the Feast of Christ, the King of the Universe, to whom we pledge our ultimate allegiance, Jesus who is the image of the invisible God, and the Good Shepherd who guides us into eternal life.

In the aftermath of World War I, which saw four empires swept away, Pope Pius XI was convinced that new dictators were emerging who thought they were gods and would deny people their basic human rights. So, he wanted to point people to the one true God. That’s how we have today’s feast.

What, really, is the Feast of Christ the King all about? We recognize the end of the liturgical year when, to quote the letter of Paul to the Corinthians, “every human being and all that is will be subjected to Jesus Christ, who will deliver the Kingdom of God over to his heavenly Father.”

God became incarnate in Jesus to share God’s life and love and goodness with all creation by the power of the Spirit. Yes, all creation is alive with the goodness of God.

The book of Samuel takes us back to the anointing of David as king of the tribes of Israel. The people acknowledge their kinship with the king. He will be their watchful shepherd as well as their wise leader.

The letter of Paul to the Christian community at Colossae in Turkey highlights an early Christian hymn of thanksgiving to God and exaltation of Jesus. Christ before his birth is the image of the invisible God, the model or blueprint after which all things were fashioned. The second stanza describes Christ after his earthly life. He is the head of the Church, the people of God, through whose dying/rising we’re in relationship with God, moving from earth to heaven. The author proclaims that Christ alone is the ruler of the universe.

In the Gospel according to Luke, we reexperience the theme of “rise and downfall.” We remember how Simeon prophesized in Luke’s infancy narrative that the child in his arms was destined to be the downfall and rise of many. We meet two robbers at Calvary; one sees something transcendent in the bloody face of Jesus; the other doesn't. One rises (“This day you will be with me in Paradise”), and the other apparently meets his downfall.  In a certain sense, the good thief pulled off the greatest robbery ever: he stole heaven.

We as a community of faith profess our ultimate allegiance to Jesus Christ. Do we spend our time, our energy, our resources with Jesus in prayer and in service?

Jesus calls us to a God-centered, other-centered life. This Feast of Christ the King of the Universe asks us, how can we rededicate ourselves more single-mindedly to Jesus, who is our way, our truth, and our life.

Faith in Practice

St. Francis of Assisi 

In the Gospel according to Luke, the disciples beg Jesus to bestow upon them the gift of faith so that they can work signs and wonders for God. Jesus replies, You already have faith. Now practice that faith.

Yes, with faith in God, we can work wonders by becoming the generous hands, compassionate eyes, hopeful voices, and dedicated feet of Jesus to the people who touch our lives every day.

Consider an extraordinary person of faith whose feast day we celebrated October 4: Francis of Assisi. Francis has been portrayed as a lover of animals, an environmentalist, a flower-child (ala the movie Brother Sun Sister Moon), a peacemaker, a mystic, a reformer, a poet. But who really was he?

“Francesco” came from a comfortable middle-class family in central Italy. He went off to fight in wars in that region; and failed miserably. Then, back in Assisi, yearning for meaning in his life, gradually, in silence and in prayer, he searched for God.

Eventually Francis gave up “his things,” so to speak. He experienced his absolute dependency upon God, and in that, he found everything: an all good Creator God who became flesh in Jesus and is gloriously alive in our midst by the power of the Spirit.

Francis began to pursue the Gospel way of life in a literal way, living simply, rebuilding a chapel, attending the sick. Eventually, men and women began to gather around him as religious and lay men and women, to live what became known as the Franciscan way of life.

Eight hundred years later, does Francis have anything to say to us? Of course! In addition to his writings like his Canticle of Sun, and his letters, we can find inspiration in experiences from his life.

One day, Francis was praying and suddenly he experienced the marks of the crucified Jesus in his hands, feet and side. This captures for me the depth of Francis’s relationship with God; God gifted him with the stigmata. Francis challenges us always to be in relationship with God, especially through the sacraments.

Another, earlier incident occurred as he prayed before the crucifix in the tumbledown chapel of San Damiano, outside the city walls of Assisi. Francis heard Jesus whisper from the crucifix: “Francis, rebuild my house which you see is falling into ruins.” Francis at San Damiano challenges us to build up our households, our parish community and beyond.

And a third experience: as Francis rode on horseback one day, a man with leprosy appeared. Francis started to ride away. But no! He slowly dismounted and embraced the leper. Like Francis, we may want to avoid distressing situations. Francis’s embrace challenges us as well.

Francis transcended trivia and focused on essentials: our relationship with God and one another, and our positive, pro-active response to the “brokenness” in our fellow human beings and in ourselves.
May Saint Francis inspire us to intensify our prayer life, to build up our family and to reach out with helping hands.

The Gift of Salvation

"Strive to enter through the narrow door" 

The word of God today takes us back to the sixth century before Jesus. In a vision, the author of Isaiah sees all men and women, from all nations, Jews as well as non-Jews, going up to Jerusalem into the temple to worship together the one true God, Creator of us all. This invites us to recognize God’s likeness in all people.

The letter to the Hebrews alludes to the age-old question, why do bad things happen to good people? Of course, there’s no satisfactory answer to human suffering and natural disasters. Yet hardships can help us realize our true selves as sons and daughters of God our Father.  Inescapable suffering, accepted with trust in an all-good God and joined to the sufferings of Jesus, can be saving and healing for ourselves and others. And why do I say that?  Because the sufferings of Jesus were precisely that--saving and healing for all.

In the Gospel, disciples ask, “Will only a few people be saved?” Jesus indicates that many who think themselves respectable or high and mighty may not be first in line for the kingdom of God. And many who are considered down and out will be the first included. God's ways are not ours.

Salvation is ultimately a gift from God. Jesus says that we have to struggle to enter through the symbolic “narrow gate” into the kingdom of God. Many times in life, we can only go through by letting go of our fears and doubts, and by realizing that God is with us as we open these doors into an uncertain future.  Our faith in particular can sustain us, because it helps us overcome these fears and doubts, because it satisfies our basic needs. How is that?

Our faith fosters a healthy self-image . We are made in the image and likeness of God, and through baptism, God lives within us, and we live within God. And people with a positive, healthy self-image generally engage in constructive behavior.

Faith satisfies our longing for happiness. Within every human, being there is a subconscious quest for the ultimate, the all-good. St. Augustine wrote, “O God, you have made us for yourself and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.” Our primary purpose is to live in a right relationship with God and one another. In heaven, we will see God face-to-face.

Third, our faith gives us a sense of belonging. We are a community of believers, linked by a common bond of faith, grace, and baptism. We gather regularly to offer God gratitude and worship. These encounters with the triune God are wrapped up in the mystery of the sacraments.

We are a community not only of heroes and heroines but also of sinners and scoundrels. But Jesus assures us that God’s mercy outweighs our failures. God gave us the sacraments of initiation, healing and service, grace and power to help us through these times.

Finally, our Catholic faith provides us with a guide in the Bible, with the best news ever: how God offers each one of us salvation through Jesus, who is the gate to eternal life. The risen Christ is present in these scriptures proclaimed in our liturgies.

Yes, as we go through life, our faith will sustain us so we may eventually enter safely that final gate into our eternal home with God.

Seize Every Opportunity to Do Good

Caravaggio's Sacrifice of Isaac

It’s “back-to-school time.” I’m going to give you a brief two-part quiz.
Part one: Name the last two movies to win the Oscar for best picture.
Part two: Think of a teacher who made a positive difference in your life, and a friend or mentor who helped you learn something worthwhile.

The point is simple: we often forget “headlines.” However, “heroes and heroines” like teachers and mentors, family and friends, can truly make a difference for the better.

The word of God heard today recalls the first Passover meal, when the ancient Hebrews celebrated liberation from their oppressors, and notes: That same provident God, always faithful to his promises, eventually will send the Messiah who will usher in God’s kingdom of peace and justice and truth and freedom.

In the Gospel according to Luke, Jesus says that we are to be like servants who await their master’s return, ready to welcome him. Be alert; be prepared; focus on what truly matters—eternal life with God. We will be accountable for the person we become with the time and talent God gives us.

To be a disciple of Jesus is to be fundamentally a man or woman of faith, someone who trusts completely in God throughout all the opportunities and threats and disappointments of life, someone who desires to do what God wants even though we can’t always precisely figure out what that is.

The letter to the Hebrews tells of two faith-filled people, Abraham and Sarah: trusting completely in God, in a foreign land, among strangers, in shelters, believing that Sarah would at last have a child. They are models of faith.

The story invites us to reflect upon the dimensions of our own faith: a gift from God whereby we begin a right relationship with the triune God, nurtured through prayer and especially through the Eucharist, the source and summit of Catholic life. It is the acceptance of God’s promises as true and a commitment to live accordingly. Faith includes the essential truths we profess every Sunday in our Nicene Creed, from the fourth century.

Faith is living in a right relationship with God. And there can be various stages in our faith development. We either grow into a relationship with God, or we fall out of it.

This faith compels us to be missionary disciples. Many of us share our faith even though we may not realize it, teaching the virtues of prayer, generosity, fairness, honesty, and service. Teachers develop virtues or habits of heart and skills of mind that will enable students to become good citizens. So do medical professionals. And, so do citizens when they urge their elected officials to set legislation that promotes human dignity.

We especially share our faith when we do our best to stand up for what is right and true and good. Never forget that the only “Gospel” some people may ever see is ourselves. Every day, we have so many little opportunities to be fully awake, to do good for others.

Experiencing God

James Tissot's "He sent them two by two."

The sixth century before Jesus was a catastrophic time for ancient Israel. Yet the author of Isaiah speaks about a bright future. Jerusalem will prosper again. A miracle! Centuries later in Jerusalem, Jesus brought new purpose in life—another miracle! Yes, our citizenship is in heaven. The author of Isaiah may be asking whether our lifestyle and behavior reflect our citizenship.

Paul, in his letter to the Galatians, proclaims that the death of Jesus on the cross and his resurrection from the tomb is our salvation, eternal life. Paul celebrates that God through the life-giving waters of baptism has transformed us into “new creatures,” living temples of God, alive with the breath or life of God in us.

Paul writes that the power of God enabled him to endure all kinds of hardships for the sake of the Gospel. That same power of God enables us to practice a life of virtue.

In the Gospel according to Luke, Jesus sends forth disciples to continue his saving and healing work. They are to trust always in God's unconditional them for them. They reported back how they witnessed to the power of God with healings of the sick.

Now what does it mean to witness? I’m a witness not simply by seeing or saying something is true but if I actually experience it.

The disciples were witnesses to Jesus in that sense. They walked, talked, ate and prayed with him.
Peter, for example, reached out for Jesus’s hand in the Sea of Galilee. Doubting Thomas put his finger into Jesus’s side in the Jerusalem upper room.

We too are called to be witnesses. We testify to our core Christian beliefs: the triune God, the incarnation, the death/resurrection of Jesus, the dependable Spirit, the global community of disciples, life eternal. But what men and women look for, expect from us, is some visible sign that we have experienced what we believe.

We will evangelize effectively if we are a sort of sacrament, a symbol, an outward sign of God’s grace/presence in us. We must not simply know about God; we must experience God.

The heroes and heroines of Christianity knew/experienced God in their lives: Augustine, Francis and Clare of Assisi, Teresa of Avila, Therese of Lisieux, Mother Teresa, and many more.

Faith from God empowers us to have a right relationship with the triune God as creator, redeemer, and sanctifier. Faith is richer and deeper than belief. Faith calls us to enter into a relationship with Jesus Christ, to follow Jesus who illuminates the darkness around us as we journey toward our heavenly home. Faith is about our relationship with God that we nurture, especially in the Eucharist.

Belief, on the other hand, is a statement about the essential truths of our faith that we proclaim e.g., in the fourth-century Nicene Creed.

From faith comes a confidence and purpose in life. We trust in a God who is always near to us. Successes convince us that it is possible to succeed. Our failures show us it is possible to survive and proceed.

We are in the hands of an all-good God. And with a can-do, faith-filled spirit, we can overcome the  challenges we face in life.  Why? Because God loves us unconditionally, because God is always near to us and because God ultimately will achieve His purpose for us and for this universe.  And to this divine providence, and to Jesus Christ, gloriously alive, our way, our truth and our life, we joyfully witness in our daily lives.

Where There's Darkness, Bring Light

Caravaggio's Doubting Thomas

Jesus Christ lives, and because he lives, we live.

We continue to celebrate the Easter miracle.

And we can help create little miracles for others. A depressed person resurrected to hope; an alcoholic resurrected to sobriety; a troubled marriage resurrected to renewed love; an angry man resurrected to forgiveness; an estrangement bridged; an alienated person brought back to faith and kindness. Make miracle an action verb.

In the book of Acts, the disciples work signs and wonders, and a vibrant faith community is emerging and growing. That should inspire us to worship together and share, especially our time and talents in service.

The book of Revelation describes a Christian’s visionary experience of the God-man Jesus, risen and alive. The author encourages readers to persevere in their faith despite hardships, because good ultimately will triumph.

In the Gospel according to John, we have a post-resurrection appearance of Jesus in a Jerusalem house where the disciples hide behind locked doors. Jesus bestows upon the disciples the energizing Spirit, the abiding inner peace, and the overwhelming mercy of God. But the skeptical Thomas wasn’t there. Lo and behold, a week later Jesus appears again. Thomas then makes that awesome declaration of faith “My Lord and my God.”

Thomas the doubter is easily identifiable with many people. They're doubters, questioners; they demand to see compelling evidence that there's a God.

Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” Every human being is made in the image of God. But we are fallen or flawed human beings.  And that is why we cry out for healing and mercy.

We seek God's mercy and forgiveness, and the forgiveness of one another. Jesus, through the mystery of his dying and rising, freed us from death and nothingness so we can live with God forever. God created us for a purpose; gifted us with life eternal; and reconciled us to Himself.

There are all kinds of indicators pointing to God: the order in the universe presupposes an orderer (e. g., a watch presupposes a watchmaker); hope presupposes a future; moral outrage presupposes a judge; and so forth.

Of course, there are also indicators that there’s no God—for example, evil or senseless violence. But faith in God is a calculated risk. The 17th French mathematician, inventor, and philosopher Blaise Pascal captured this risk in his famous wager or bet.  The bet goes like this:
One doesn't have certainty that God exists.
Not believing in God is bad for one’s eternal soul if God indeed does exist.
Believing in God is of no consequence if God does not exist.
Therefore, it is in my interest to believe in God. Think about that bet.

At a funeral mass, we hear the words, “For those who believe, life is not taken away, life is merely changed.” Let us pray that the gift of faith will empower us, like Thomas, to proclaim every day, “My Lord and my God.”

Finding our Way to God

Doing good as long as ever you can

GPS apps are a splendid way to navigate, and to route around obstacles. It’s a powerful spiritual metaphor. We have a “voice” to guide us: our conscience, informed by the bible, the guidance of the church, and the wise counsel of holy women and men.

As I have learned to trust the GPS electronic voice while driving, so I need to learn to trust my informed conscience, as I navigate to my ultimate goal: eternal life with God.

Sunday’s word of God carries us back to a defining moment. Moses experiences the awesome presence of God in the image of “fire flaming out of a bush.” God reveals himself as the creator of this universe: “I am the one who causes to be all that is,” as one biblical author translated this mysterious phrase. And then God empowers Moses to free the Hebrews from their oppressors.

St. Paul, in his letter to the Christian community in Corinth, compares the Hebrew Exodus experience to our baptismal experience; just as God was a rock in the wilderness, out of which flowed life-giving waters, so too Christ is our rock, from whom comes our salvation, eternal life.

In the Gospel according to Luke, Jesus deals with the question of evil. There is of course no satisfactory answer. Why mindless killings in New Zealand, why so many people suffering violence? Evil is ultimately a mystery.

And then Jesus speaks about a barren tree. The point of the parable: yes, God is patient, but God will hold each of us accountable for our life, our attitudes, and our behaviors. Jesus urges us to repent now, to turn to a God-centered/other-centered life. Yes, live in light of your ultimate purpose, life in relationship with God here and beyond.

Often people live in the future. Some imagine, My life will begin when I get a new job, when I rebuild my home, etc. Life will begin in the future? Naomi Levy, in her book Hope Will Find You, wondered, while caring for her critically ill daughter, when could she realize her dreams and goals. She wrote: “… just then something snapped inside my soul:…all of us have to learn to live inside the imperfect lives we have here and now.”

Lent is a time to re-assess our lives again, to decide what we believe to be truly important, and then act on these priorities now.

Our Christian faith proclaims that life has meaning, that there is indeed an all-good, compassionate, and merciful God who seeks us out in our everyday experiences. This God became incarnate in Jesus, and renewed God’s covenant with us through his death/resurrection and thereby opened up to us life beyond this earthly life. This same God is alive among us today by the power of the Spirit.

We can participate in God’s triune life: by regular prayer, by fasting from attitudes and behaviors that jeopardize our relationship with God and one another, and by living a life of generous service.


 

Forever Gloriously Alive

Raphael's Transfiguration

This second Sunday of Lent, the liturgical color at church is purple. But the “wearing of the green” is common as we celebrate St. Patrick's Day today, honoring Ireland’s patron saint and indeed Irish and Irish-American culture. The legends about Patrick are many. The facts are few. But one fact stands out: the missionary Patrick preached the good news, the Gospel, to Ireland. Jesus Christ is alive. And because He lives, we live.

 Perhaps you have read “The Irish in America” or have seen the PBS film. Both begin with a riveting account of the Irish potato famine of the 1840's. An estimated 1 million people died and another 1 million went to America. These “huddled masses” enriched our politics, literature, music, and much more. It's a fascinating story.

The word of God today takes us back almost four thousand years to the land we know as Iraq. Abraham hears the call of God. And because he trusted God, he set out for an unknown land.

Many of us can relate to this challenge. Going off to another state, another nation? We didn’t quite know how things will work out. I’m sure Abraham was anxious. And yet because he trusted completely in God, God made a covenant with him and promised Abraham would prosper.

God also speaks to us and calls us to be men and women of faith, to trust in God, especially as we face everyday challenges.

In the Gospel according to Luke, the disciples experienced the transfiguration of Jesus; they saw the unique and awesome presence of God in Jesus of Nazareth. They saw a vision of the “glorious” Jesus beyond the flesh and blood Jesus of their everyday lives. They saw the face of God in their midst: the Father’s beloved Son.

The Jesus of the Gospels was a real historical person like ourselves. He experienced fatigue, hunger, joy, friendship, disappointment, and loneliness as we do.

But he was more than human. He had a unique relationship to the God of ancient Israel; he was one with God. And what did Jesus teach? That the kingdom of God was breaking into our midst and that you and I can share in this kingdom by living a life of discipleship with Jesus here and now: a life of regular prayer; a life of fasting or giving up attitudes and behaviors that can break or fracture our relationship with God and with one another; and a life of almsgiving or generous service to one another.

And finally, Jesus taught that God is our Father. The God of this magnificent universe, who became flesh in Jesus and is alive in our midst by the power of the Spirit—yes, this triune God--creator, redeemer and sanctifier-- lives and breathes within us by virtue of the waters of baptism.

Let us rededicate ourselves to Jesus the Christ in regular prayer and attitudes and behaviors. Let us live life in generous service to one another so that we can participate fully in the kingdom of God—yes, forever gloriously alive with the glorious transfigured Christ.

Letting Faith in God Illuminate our Lives

Murillo's Holy Family

The Advent season is about waiting. We do plenty of waiting, don’t we? So did the ancient Hebrews.They often waited for the Messiah to rescue them. Yet the Messiah often seemed hidden.

We often pray for God to rescue us from a crisis of one kind or another, to appear and make things right. Some would say that is everyone’s story.

God seems silent sometimes. But our faith proclaims loudly that God is indeed among us. He is closer than we are to ourselves. Do not be afraid, Jesus proclaims; I am with you always.

The word of God gives us Baruch, in the sixth century before Jesus. Times were catastrophic for the Jews; everything they thought would endure suddenly disappeared. Yet, Baruch spoke of hope: a faithful people who will reflect the glory of God.

Paul, in his letter to the Christian community prayed that we will possess true wisdom, to distinguish what matters in life from what doesn’t, so that we will always do the right thing.

In the Gospel according to Luke, John the Baptizer proclaims repentance: prepare our hearts for the Lord. Yes, ask God to help us to hear the word of God in our hearts and turn toward a God-centered, other-centered life.

During Advent the word of God focuses on three biblical personalities: Isaiah, John the Baptist, and the Virgin Mary. Each delivered a special message.
Isaiah spoke about a future Messiah, a liberator, a redeemer, a savior for us.
John the Baptist pointed to Jesus as the Lamb of God, who through his own death and resurrection creates a future for us.
The Virgin Mary is the living temple of God, the ark of the covenant. She carried within herself the Word made flesh, a child, Emmanuel, God with us.

The word of God in Advent also briefly references Joseph, who had a dream in which the angel said, “Do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife.”

I ponder couples’ dreams when they learn that they will be parents. Their first dreams are usually for a safe birth, a healthy child. Then they may dream that their son or daughter will excel. Along the way, things may change very quickly. Parents may pray for their child to pass courses, or recover from an illness or a serious accident, or overcome an addiction.

As Joseph learned, the most important things we can dream for those we love are these: that they always will know that we love them dearly, we accept them unconditionally for who they are, we are ready to forgive them their so-called peccadilloes, and that we are always praying that God will grace them.

All these are manifestations of faith. As I view the beautiful windows in our church, and value the light illuminating them, I think of a quote President Bush read at the National Cathedral:
...without faith, we are but stained-glass windows in the dark.

But with the light of our faith, we illuminate the same splendid multi-colored stain-glass window into a "work of art" for all to see. May the light of our faith make our lives a "work of art" for all to see Jesus as our way, our truth and our life.

Finding True Happiness

Jesus Healing the Blind Bartimaeus

The word of God today first takes us back to the prophet Jeremiah, who speaks about hope: a new beginning for a people now overwhelmed by tragedy but soon to enjoy peace. Jeremiah challenges us to hope always in God even when bad things happen. Sadly, this weekend our prayers are with the Pittsburgh community where eleven people at the Tree of Life synagogue were killed.

The letter to the Hebrews speaks of the saving work of Jesus, who through his death and resurrection re-established our relationship with God and one another. This challenges us to see our earthly life in light of our true purpose: being in relationship with God and one another forever.

In the Gospel according to Mark, Jesus asks a blind man: “what do you want me to do?” The man answers: “I want to see.” Jesus says: “Your faith has saved you.” And the blind man saw.

Today I want to reflect briefly upon a man of extraordinary faith. Paul, initially known as Saul of Tarsus, was well educated in Judaism and Greco-Roman philosophy. He had been a rabid persecutor of Christians.

But on a journey to Damascus in Syria, he was awestruck by a light from heaven. The visionary experience of the risen Christ turned Paul’s life upside down. He became one of the greatest evangelizers, preaching salvation for all. This controversial religious genius established faith communities throughout the eastern Mediterranean, and authored letters shaping the history of Christian thought. Paul eventually was beheaded by order of the Roman emperor Nero.

I believe Paul, well versed in philosophy, had a keen insight into what makes human beings tick. Everyone yearns for happiness. We often do things that we think will make us happy, only to end up miserable. Why? Because we sometimes confuse pleasure with happiness.

Etched into Paul’s vision of human beings were the words of Jesus:  “I have come so that they may have life--God's life-- and have it more abundantly.”

For Paul, the path that leads to the fullness of life is discipline. Think about it. When we eat well, exercise often, and sleep regularly, we feel more fully alive physically. When we love, when we give priority to significant relationships, when we lend a helping hand to others, we’re more fully alive emotionally. When we study the achievements of the human spirit in various cultures, our world grows, and we’re more fully alive intellectually.

And when we take a few moments each day humbly with God in prayer, carefully contemplating God’s word, we experience more fully the transcendent dimension of our lives, the spiritual, the awesome presence of God.

All of these life-giving endeavors require discipline. Discipline sets us free to attain our ultimate purpose: life with God. Freedom is indeed a prerequisite for love.

St. Paul grasped this. He preached that Christ came to reconcile us with the Father and satisfies the craving for happiness that preoccupies our hearts: ultimately a yearning for friendship and intimacy with our Creator.

God's Mercy Outweighs Our Sins

Rio's Christ the Redeemer

According to a Grand Jury Report in Pennsylvania, over a 70-year period, about 2% of clergy committed despicable crimes of abuse, and bishops covered them up.  Two-thirds of those accused are dead; but allegations against them were deemed credible.

For the past sixteen years, policies and protocols are in place to safeguard children and vulnerable adults, and these protocols require regular review and improvement.

These incidents are but one reminder that the community of disciples is also made up of sinners. We must continually – each and every one of us -- ask for God's grace and forgiveness, be “doers of the word,” and rebuild community.

In the Gospel according to John, Jesus challenges the disciples to make a choice: believe in him as God’s holy One. What do the disciples do? Some walked away. Others stayed, acknowledging, “…to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” (John 6:68)

Eternal life is ultimately a gift from God. But Jesus says that we have to struggle to enter through the narrow gate into the kingdom of God.

Many people struggle during the cycle of human development. God is with us through the narrow gates of life. Our faith can sustain us.

Our faith fosters a healthy self-image. We are made in the image and likeness of God, and through baptism, God lives within us, and we live within God.

Our faith satisfies our longing for happiness. Within every human being there is a subconscious quest for the ultimate, the all-good. St. Augustine wrote, “O God, you have made us for yourself and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.” Our primary purpose is to be in relationship with God and one another forever, and in that relationship our yearnings for happiness are completely satisfied.

Our faith gives us a sense of belonging, linked together by a common bond of faith in Jesus Christ, with heroes and heroines who inspire us, saints who encourage us in our pursuit of God and God’s pursuit of us. God gives us each other to support and protect each other.

We gather to thank God, to acknowledge our absolute dependency upon God as our Creator, and to ask God in the Our Father prayer to satisfy our basic needs. These encounters with the triune God are wrapped up in the mystery of the sacraments. God in particular gives us sacraments of healing, service, and grace. Jesus assures us that God’s mercy outweighs our sins.

Finally, God provides us with a guide with the best news ever: how God offers each one of us salvation through Jesus. The Bible demonstrates God’s unconditional love. As we go through narrow gates of life, with fears and weakness at times, embracing our faith in Jesus Christ will sustain us so that we can eventually enter safely through that final gate into the kingdom of God.