Reflecting Him

Daily Reflection – 5/30/2023

Sacred Scripture

Peter began to say to Jesus, “We have given up everything and followed you.” Jesus said, “Amen, I say to you, there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the sake of the Gospel who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age: houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come. But many that are first will be last, and the last will be first.” (Mark 10:28-31)

Reflection

All of us are called to give up “everything” to follow Christ in our own unique way. But what does that really mean?

By giving up everything, we are called to completely surrender our own will and preferences in life to serve Christ in accord with His divine plan.

 The good news is that “giving up everything” is nothing other than giving up our own selfish ideals and preferences in life. The life He has in store for us is far better than we can dream of or imagine.

Jesus said first that when we give good things up for him — our loved ones, our material blessings and property — for him we’ll gain back much more in this life in terms of those same things. Many times, when Jesus asks us to give up something, he doesn’t intend to strip us from it but to detach us from it so that we may relate to it in a way far more united to him.

Jesus says finally that we will receive eternal life in the age to come. When we detach ourselves from possessions and persons, he makes it possible for us to do the impossible with God’s help, to have God thread us through the eye of the needle into eternity. That’s the great desire of us all, to live forever in happiness with God, and Jesus today promises that that will occur when we are willing to pay the price of the kingdom, to sell all that we have to obtain that pearl of great price.

These words of Jesus are meant to remind us that our relationship to God and our hope for eternal life do not depend on our own accomplishments or achievements. They depend only upon our ability to detach ourselves from all that detracts from him.

No earthly good or possession can rival the joy and bliss of knowing God and the peace and unity he grants to his disciples. The Lord Jesus wants to fill our hearts with the vision of the heavenly kingdom – a kingdom of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17).

By saying “No” to our own will and doing things our own way, we are in fact saying “Yes” to doing things in the perfect way of God. Whatever the specific calling in life may be for you, it’s worth embracing God’s will. 

Let us reflect on how ready and willing you and I are to say “Yes” to Christ no matter what He asks of us. Are you willing to say “Yes” even to that which He has not yet revealed to you?  Say “Yes” today to whatever your future holds, and God will bless you in abundance.

Prayer of The Day

“Lord Jesus, I want to follow you as your disciple and to love you wholeheartedly with all that I have. Fill my heart with faith, hope, and love that I may always find peace and joy in your presence.”

Daily Note

Christ makes it plain as he comes to the end of this Gospel passage that an eternal reward awaits those who sacrifice for the Kingdom. This is so affirming, so full of hope! But he also warned his disciples, and warns us now, not to become too sure of ourselves. We are not to be “first” in proclaiming how we have given up our worldly attachments; rather, we must humbly and lovingly live this detachment on earth, hopeful that our God who sees in secret (Matthew 6:4) fulfills his promise for such souls: a place at the heavenly banquet.

Daily Reflection – 5/29/2023

Sacred Scripture

As Jesus was setting out on a journey, a man ran up, knelt down before him, and asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus answered him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: You shall not kill; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; you shall not defraud; honor your father and your mother.” He replied and said to him, “Teacher, all of these I have observed from my youth.” Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him, “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.” At that statement, his face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions. Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the Kingdom of God!” The disciples were amazed at his words. So Jesus again said to them in reply, “Children, how hard it is to enter the Kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the Kingdom of God.” They were exceedingly astonished and said among themselves, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “For men it is impossible, but not for God. All things are possible for God.” ( Mark 10:17-27)

Reflection

This parable is not about an economic process. And it’s not about Jesus disliking wealth. Instead, it is about Jesus seeing into the heart of a person and identifying our greatest need.

In the end it is not how much money we have, how many people like us, how much work we have finished; but rather how happy we are that matters. Although it might not seem so at first, this question is a profoundly religious question. Because, as all people of faith know, our ability to be happy, our ability to live life deeply is directly connected to our relationship with God. If we seek life and happiness, we cannot find them apart from the One who is the source of all life and happiness. We cannot answer this ultimate question apart from God.

Rabbi Abraham Heschel, one of the great religious thinkers of the last century, has said that only three things are necessary for us to connect with God: God’s willingness to love us, the capacity of the human soul to receive that love, and a moment in which those two realities can meet. Moreover, Rabbi Heschel insists that there is not a time in our lives when any one of those three things is missing. God is always loving us, we are always capable of receiving that love, and there is always a moment in which we and God can connect. Therefore, in this sense, finding joy and connecting with God is easy. It is simple, immediately accessible, like breathing in and breathing out, as present to us as our own consciousness.

Yet at the same time connecting with God is challenging and elusive. That is what today’s gospel is about.  For in this gospel, Jesus and a man who runs up to him try to connect. All three things that are necessary are there. Jesus is willing. He loves the man and offers to him joy and discipleship. The man is open. He has kept the commandments his entire life. He seeks Jesus out and asks for his direction and advice. The moment is there, when Jesus and the man meet, where joy is offered and deeply desired. And yet—nothing happens. The man walks away grieving. How is this possible? How is it possible to have life and joy so freely offered and so deeply desired and yet have nothing happen?

The simple answer is: something else got in the way. The gospel says that the man left because he had many possessions. We do not know what those possessions were, but whatever they were, the man put them before what Jesus was offering. Whatever they were, they distracted him from the life and the joy that Jesus was offering and that he so deeply desired. That is the tragedy of today’s gospel. It is a tragedy which you and I can share.

We can be so involved in our work, in our responsibilities, in our problems, in our aches and pains, that we miss the beauty that surrounds us. In missing that beauty, we miss the joy that it can give us and the God who offers it to us. Think of the people in your life who love you, who belong to you, who give you joy. Could you imagine greater blessings? Yet we can become so preoccupied by all we need to do before we go to bed tonight, by the things which make us angry, by the way we want our lives to be different, that we miss the love that surrounds us.

In missing that love, we miss the joy that it can give us and the God who offers it to us. Look at the real opportunities that are present to you in your life right now: the opportunity to grow, the opportunity to understand, to serve, to laugh, to enjoy what you have been given. Yet we can be so deadened by the routine of living, by doing the next thing, by responding only to the next impulse, that all of those opportunities pass us by. When they pass us by, we have lost the joy they can bring and the God who offers them to us.

In this very moment, God is offering you what you desire. In this moment, there is love and joy and beauty. Take it! Do not turn and walk away. Do not place anything between yourself and what God is offering. Step over the obstacles and accept the embrace that God offers you.

Prayer of The Day

“Lord Jesus, you have captured our hearts and opened to us the treasures of heaven. May you always be my treasure and delight and may nothing else keep me from giving you my all.”

Daily Note

Why does Jesus tell his disciples to “sell all” for the treasure of his kingdom? Treasure has a special connection to the heart, the place of desire and longing, the place of will and focus. The thing we most set our heart on is our highest treasure. The Lord himself is the greatest treasure we can have. Giving up everything else to have the Lord as our treasure is not sorrowful, but the greatest joy.

Daily Reflection – 5/26/2023

Sacred Scripture

After Jesus had revealed himself to his disciples and eaten breakfast with them, he said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” Simon Peter answered him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.” He then said to Simon Peter a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Simon Peter answered him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was distressed that he had said to him a third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. Amen, amen, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” He said this signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when he had said this, he said to him, “Follow me.”( John 21:15-19)

Reflection

In today’s scripture, we are reminded that Simon Peter has something that we do not have . . . the opportunity to tell God, face to face, how much we love Him.

But is that true?

We may not have the luxury that Simon Peter had but there is another dynamic at work. Sometimes when Jesus is asking if we love Him, we don’t even hear the question. We just assume that Jesus ‘knows that we love him,’ even though we do not often say it out loud. And, in that, we are right; he knows that we love him.

But Jesus asks us more than three times. He asks us throughout our lives. Especially whenever we are on the verge of sinning. When the subtle gnawing of our conscience reminds us that we are on the verge of doing something wrong, perhaps it is the Holy Spirit asking “Do you love Me?”

How hard is it really to love Jesus?  He asks of us only two things: to love God, and to love our neighbors. Every sin contradicts one or both of those commandments. Each time an action, a spoken word, or a disrespectful thought, which damages a relationship with another person, it also damages our relationship with the Lord. Each time we judge another, we are contradicting his commandment of love.

Yet, we say we love Him. Then what do we need to do to be able to follow His commands of love? We so do by yielding control of our lives to Him. . . by making the decision to walk with Jesus daily and to trust Him with all our hearts.

Complete surrender to Christ is asked and demanded of each of us, but we fall and linger as Peter and the disciples did. They went back fishing, which shows a falling away from trust and complete confidence. Once more Jesus shows them (half of the 12 apostles) but particularly Peter who He addresses as Simon, his old name before becoming a disciple, how little they can accomplish without Him. All their work, effort, toil, and experience – even as a team – achieves nothing without Christ’s word and instruction.

Jesus sees the potential in all of us too to do great things for Him and out of love for Him in the Church and in the world as His witnesses, but we all have to come to that point where we have to answer the question for ourselves – the leap, as it were, to an adult faith, by answering the question Jesus asks of Peter today and which is extended to all of us – you and me – ‘Do YOU love Me?’
The story makes clear that nothing can be accomplished by our own efforts in the darkness because we toil without Christ. But with Him, attentive to His voice, we can accomplish wonders. Christ is the light. We must cultivate our love for Him in prayer. He gives us a sense of purpose, a sense of meaning and especially CLARITY. But first we must answer the question that Christ puts to each one of us this morning – DO YOU LOVE ME? 

Prayer of The Day

Lord thank you for our lives, help us to glorify you through all that we do. Lord, you are our God, and you know what is best for us, help us to never veer from the path of which you have laid down for us. We ask this all through Christ our Lord. Amen. 

Daily Note

Like Peter, we cannot follow God unless we realize how much we love Him and how much we are loved. God is calling out to each of us; “do you love me?” Once we say “yes Lord, I love you”, then we are ready to follow Him.

Daily Reflection – 5/25/2023

Sacred Scripture

Lifting up his eyes to heaven, Jesus prayed saying: “I pray not only for these, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me. And I have given them the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may be brought to perfection as one, that the world may know that you sent me, and that you loved them even as you loved me. Father, they are your gift to me. I wish that where I am they also may be with me, that they may see my glory that you gave me, because you loved me before the foundation of the world. Righteous Father, the world also does not know you, but I know you, and they know that you sent me. I made known to them your name and I will make it known, that the love with which you loved me may be in them and I in them.”(John 17:20-26)

Reflection

In today’s gospel we overhear a portion of Jesus’ prayer to his Father. He prays for us. Three times he asks our Father that we would all become one as he and the Father are one. He prays above all for unity among his disciples as the most effective sign of witness. 

It is said that, in the early Church, people marveled, “See those Christians, how they love each other.”  In a world divided along so many lines, people were amazed to see Jews and Greeks, men and women, slaves and freemen, rich and poor sharing a common community life in love and forgiveness and mutual support. 

Is that the witness that we are giving today? It does not appear that way.  Instead, we live in a world full of divisions – male or female; rich or poor; gay or straight; Hispanic or Anglo; Christian or Muslim; conservative or liberal; educated or uneducated; young or old. I could go on and on listing the boundaries that we encounter. In truth, they have become oppositions.

We seem to overlook the fact that behind every boundary we establish there is a human being. Ultimately, boundaries and differences are not about issues. They are about real people, with names, lives, joys, sorrows, concerns, and needs just like us.

But God’s love knows no boundaries. God loves male and female, rich and poor, gay and straight, Hispanic and Anglo. God loves Christian and Muslim, conservative and liberal, educated and uneducated. God loves young and old, heaven and earth, divine and human. God loves sinner and saved, orthodox and heretic.  All are loved fully, completely, and uniquely. His son welcomed all to His side just as His father did. Time and again, we are called to love, not to judge and to honor the image of God in each of us.

There are some who read this who even may be offended as they read this. But we can’t deny the universal love of our Father for each of His children.

God does not even draw boundaries between Jesus and us. God loves you the same as he loves Jesus. God loves your neighbor the same as he loves Jesus. If that is how God loves how can we do anything less and still call ourselves Christians?

Our churches make a careful effort to provide spaces, prayers and sacramentals to help us pray more deeply and to develop a relationship with God. For prayer is all about a relationship with God. It is not about the words we use or how frequently we use them. If prayer is a relationship with God then what about our lives when we say the prayers but live a life that judges, that criticizes, that delineates us from them?

We can’t live in holiness unless all of our life is holy. We can’t live in holiness unless we live the commandments of love.

Though Jesus is praying to the Father, you and I will in large part be the ones to answer Jesus’ prayer. Perhaps it is time we answer Jesus’ prayer and deal with one another in love.

Prayer of The Day

“Lord God, have mercy on your people and heal the divisions in the body of Christ. May all Christian people throughout the world attain the unity for which Jesus prayed on the eve of his sacrifice. Renew in us the power of the Spirit that we may be a sign of that unity and a means of its growth. “

Daily Note

The unity of Jesus and his Father is a unity of mind and heart, mutual love and trust, honor and respect. Because Jesus loved us first and united us in baptism we are called to live in a unity of love. Jesus’ prayer on the eve of his sacrifice shows the great love and trust he has in his beloved disciples. The Lord entrusts us with the same mission – to make him known and loved by all. 

Daily Reflection – 5/24/2023

Sacred Scripture

Lifting up his eyes to heaven, Jesus prayed, saying: “Holy Father, keep them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are one. When I was with them, I protected them in your name that you gave me, and I guarded them, and none of them was lost except the son of destruction, in order that the scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you. I speak this in the world so that they may share my joy completely. I gave them your word, and the world hated them, because they do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world but that you keep them from the evil one. They do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world. Consecrate them in the truth. Your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world. And I consecrate myself for them, so that they also may be consecrated in truth.” (John 17:11-19)

Reflection

We all go through periods of self-doubt. We all, from time to time, question our “value” or the purpose of our lives. Today’s scripture stops us dead in the track. It reminds us that we are valued because of His love for us and for the purpose for which we were created.

On the eve of his sacrifice on the cross and in the presence of his disciples, Jesus made his high priestly prayer: “Holy Father, keep them in your name that they may be one as we are one”. Jesus prayed for the unity of his disciples and for all who would believe in him. Jesus’ prayer for his people is that we be united with God the Father in his Son and through his Holy Spirit and be joined together, in unity with all who are members of Christ’s body.

What motivated Jesus to lay down his life on the cross as the atoning sacrifice for the sin of the world? It was love – love for his Father in heaven and love for each and every one of us who are made in the image and likeness of God.

Jesus was sent into the world by his Father for a purpose and that purpose was a mission of love to free us from slavery to sin, fear, death, and hopelessness. Jesus trusted in his Father to give him strength, courage, and perseverance in the face of opposition, trials, and temptation.

We also must take up our cross and follow the Lord Jesus wherever he may call us. He will give us the strength and power of the Holy Spirit to live as his disciples. Just as Jesus was called by the Father to serve in holiness and truth, so we, too, are called and equipped for the task of serving God in the world as his ambassadors.

God may ask us to help someone understand their own calling. God may call us to be an agent through whom another person recognizes God’s will. This could happen in our own family, when a family member is stuck and unable to make the decisions that will allow life to move forward. It could happen with a close friend who is hurt by a person or a situation and now is unable to live, because he or she cannot find the path to forgiveness. It could happen in our workplace or in our school when we see someone overwhelmed by their responsibilities, fighting to keep their head above water and wondering whether their life has a future.

Two insights are important here. The first is this: You do not need to be a perfect fit to undertake this helping function. We do not need to be a perfect fit to help others. We might think, “I hardly know that person? Should not his or her family be the ones to give guidance?” We might believe that we are too old or too young to speak out, that we are not as educated or outgoing as other people are. All of these things can be true, but God may be still calling us to help another person to find his or her way. 

As we allow the Holy Spirit to work in our lives, he transforms us by his purifying fire and changes us into the likeness of Christ. Is your life consecrated to God?

Today, take a good long look at yourself in the mirror. Tell yourself, “I am highly valued. Jesus Christ, the Lord of all creation, considered me worth dying for. He treasures me so deeply that he is now consecrated to me for all eternity. He will never abandon me. He will never leave me. He will never forget me.”

Prayer of The Day

“Jesus, I am humbled by your commitment to me. Come, Lord, and fill my heart. Help me to consecrate my life to you.”

Daily Note

Jesus is suggesting in the gospel reading that the essence of eternal life will consist in being in a loving relationship with God and with Jesus. Eternal life consists in a communion of love between us and God and God’s Son, a communion in which we will experience God’s love to the full and respond to that love in full. All of the New Testament strongly suggests that this experience of loving communion with God will not be a merely private experience. Rather, our communion with God in love will at the same time be a communion with others.

Daily Reflection – 5/23/2023

Sacred Scripture

Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come. Give glory to your son, so that your son may glorify you, just as you gave him authority over all people, so that your son may give eternal life to all you gave him. Now this is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ. I glorified you on earth by accomplishing the work that you gave me to do. Now glorify me, Father, with you, with the glory that I had with you before the world began. I revealed your name to those whom you gave me out of the world. They belonged to you, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you gave me is from you, because the words you gave to me, I have given to them, and they accepted them and truly understood that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for the ones you have given me, because they are yours, and everything of mine is yours and everything of yours is mine, and I have been glorified in them. And now I will no longer be in the world, but they are in the world, while I am coming to you.” (John 17:1-11)

Reflection

Today’s Gospel is one of the most encompassing and majestic prayers that Jesus uttered. It is also very intimate because it is a prayer from the Son to God, His father.

In that prayer, he defines all that was contained in His earthly life. It is as if Jesus is reporting to God on all that was accomplished.

As I have throughout my life, I am struck by the sacrifice that was made for God, by God. Jesus offers one sacrifice for the sins of the whole world to God. Jesus offers Himself.

The crucifixion completes Jesus’ work of glorifying God on earth, for by laying down his life he gives himself completely so that the world may know of Jesus’ love for God and God’s love for the world (John 3:16; 14:31).

By his resurrection and ascension Jesus returns to the heavenly glory that God prepared for him in love, and Jesus prays that his followers will one day join him in the Father’s presence to share in this glory and love (17:5, 24-26).

Jesus also spoke about our knowledge of God. Jesus tells his disciples and us that they can know God. To know God personally. The essence of Christianity, and what makes it distinct from other religions, is the knowledge of God as our Father.  Jesus makes it possible for each of us to personally know God as our Father.

 To see Jesus is to see what God is like.  In Jesus we see the perfect love of God — a God who cares intensely and who yearns over men and women, loving them to the point of laying down his life for them upon the Cross.   Jesus is the revelation of God — a God whose love for us surpasses every love that we could ever know.

There is one sentence in His prayer that moves me to tears because I am so humbled. One sentence. So simple. So powerful. Jesus, two millennia ago, prayed for me. Prayed for you. Prayed for us, on our journeys. Together.

He prayed that we could transcend the world. He offered our difficulties to the Father. He brought our crosses to the Father before he brought his own on Calvary. He prayed that we might have the strength, through our faith, to continue in the world, living apart from it.

Whenever I read this passage, I see Jesus passionately in prayer. I can’t help but see a man with his heart on fire with love, truly communicating, truly one with his Father in heaven from whom he came and to whom he will return.  He understood he was physically leaving his friends, both the Apostles and us, soon. He knew how difficult this world was to live in; he knew the challenges, frustrations, and persecutions firsthand, and he didn’t want to leave us alone. So he prayed. In His prayer, our crosses of life are joined with His.

We must always remember that every suffering we endure, every cross we carry, is an opportunity to manifest the Cross of Christ.  We are called, by Him, to constantly give Him glory by living His suffering and death in our lives. Reflect, today, upon the hardships you endure.  And know that, in Christ, those hardships can share in His redeeming love if you let Him.

I read. I reflected. I embraced. I believed. I wept.

Prayer of The Day

” Jesus, it is hard to keep fighting. Sometimes it seems I make little progress. I have the same struggles and difficulties every day. I’m overwhelmed by the evil I see in the world, and it can be hard to see your victory in many places, in many families and homes. Give me the hope that I need to keep seeking your will in all things.”

Daily Note

Prayer does not begin with “me” but with God and his glorification. However, the glorification of God is complete when love abounds, because where love is, there God is. The effect of our prayer has to be seen in tangible love, expressed in deeds, as it was in the life of Jesus.

Daily Reflection – 5/22/2023

Sacred Scripture

The disciples said to Jesus, “Now you are talking plainly, and not in any figure of speech. Now we realize that you know everything and that you do not need to have anyone question you. Because of this we believe that you came from God.” Jesus answered them, “Do you believe now? Behold, the hour is coming and has arrived when each of you will be scattered to his own home and you will leave me alone. But I am not alone, because the Father is with me. I have told you this so that you might have peace in me. In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world.” (John 16:29-33)

Reflection

Jesus knew the hearts of his disciples better than they knew.  He knew they would desert him in his hour of trial.  Jesus met the injury of betrayal and disloyalty with supreme love and trust in his disciples. 

He knew that the cross would not bring defeat but victory over sin and death.  He will overcome, through his cross, all the negative powers that try to prevent his love from reaching the ends of the earth.

Jesus speaks the same word to us today.  “My love for you is unconditional and I will never abandon you”. While we cannot avoid all pain and suffering in this life, Jesus, nonetheless assures us that he will guide us safely through any difficulty or trial we may have to undergo for his sake. 

We look at the violence of the world, the war in Ukraine, shootings in our cities, and we shake our heads and say, “This is hopeless. We will never be able to control the violence that surrounds us.” But we remain people of hope because God is greater than us. God sees things we do not see. God can make moves we cannot make. And God is committed to eliminating the violence of our world.

We look at the anger and the partisan thinking that characterizes our politics today: So many opinions dead set against one another. So little honesty and respect for one another. So few attempts to find common ground for the common good. We say, “This is hopeless. We will never be able to govern our country in a way that is good for all.” But we remain people of hope because God is greater than us. God can open doors that we cannot open. God can present new possibilities. And God is committed to bringing our country together.

We look at issues in our family: jealousy, resentment, divisiveness. Maybe we have tried time and again to heal those wounds without success. And we say, “I give up. There is no way that my family will ever be united.” But we remain people of hope because our God is greater than us. God can change hearts and move people to think again. And our God is committed to bring reconciliation to our families.

It takes courage to believe when we are faced with seemingly insurmountable obstacles and difficulties of life. It is at times like these that our faith is tested and tried. It is at times like these when we have to ask ourselves whether we believe that God is still working for our good. To have courage in the face of adversity, to believe in the face of trials, and to trust and have faith when everything seems to be going wrong, is to have the confidence in the Father that Jesus had. This attitude can be ours if we open ourselves to God’s abundant grace and realize the impermanence of all that assails us. It is to know that, like Jesus, we too will overcome the “world”. The movement from present sorrow, pain and trial, to future joy, peace and hope, is possible and even guaranteed because Jesus has overcome.

No matter how difficult or divisive our situation may be, the power of God is greater than the forces that attack us. We must remain people of hope. When we cannot see a way forward, God has a way forward and is already working to bring us to salvation.

Prayer of The Day

“Lord, help me to trust in your saving power, especially when I meet adversities and trials.  Give me your peace when I am troubled and let me know the joy of your victory over sin and death.”

Daily Note

Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ and the victory he has won for us (Romans 8:35-39). The Holy Spirit gives us the strength and courage we need to overcome every adversity and to persevere with faith and hope in God. Do you believe in the power of Christ’s love for you and in the victory, he has won for you through his death and resurrection?

Daily Reflection – 5/19/2023

Sacred Scripture

“Amen, amen, I say to you, you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices; you will grieve, but your grief will become joy. When a woman is in labor, she is in anguish because her hour has arrived; but when she has given birth to a child, she no longer remembers the pain because of her joy that a child has been born into the world. So you also are now in anguish. But I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you. On that day you will not question me about anything. Amen, amen, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you.” (John 16:20-23)

Reflection

As Jesus approached his crucifixion, he tried to help his disciples through their confusion about his impending departure. He knew that they would be faced with a huge challenge when they saw him die on the cross. To prepare them, he explained that this was part of the great story that he had called them into. They would experience wrenching grief, and they would feel out of step with the rest of the world. But that wouldn’t be the final chapter. Their grief would be turned to joy, and the story would take on a whole new meaning.

While the disciples had to wrestle through the grief of Jesus’ death, you and I have come in later in the plot. We know about Jesus’ resurrection! If you can try to center our life in Jesus’ victory, you’ll know a joy, a stability, and a peace that nothing in this world can take away from you.
True joy – everlasting joy– comes only through a deep connection with our God, one built on and sustained by a deep reservoir of prayer. If we don’t remember who we are and who we belong to, we can be pulled off course by any flash in the pan, but that’s not what brings true joy; only true faith can provide that.

Is it at times difficult to love others, to place their interest and good before our own, to be flexible and willing to compromise, to be generous with our time and resources? Of course, it is difficult.

But being unkind, being selfish, being ungenerous, is not going to bring us joy. The deepest joy in life is in knowing that we have loved and are being loved in return, that we are kind and generous people. That is what will make us happy and that is why Christ commands it.

 Is it difficult to forgive, to put hurts behind us and move on with life? Of course, it is. But refusing to forgive is not going to bring us freedom. It will only assure us slavery to our anger, to our hurt and resentment. Forgiving another is in our own self-interest and that is why Christ commands it. 

Is it difficult to be a person of integrity, to be true to our word, fair to others, responsible to those who belong to us? Of course, it is. But one of the greatest satisfactions in life is to know that we have the respect of others and that we are a person of character. That is what brings us happiness and joy and that is why Christ commands us to be such a person.

What Christ commands us to do, he commands us to do for our own good. Ignoring the teachings of Jesus is not some clever way of avoiding an obligation. It is working against our own self-interest. There really is no other way. If we want happiness, if we want fullness of life and joy, there is no other path to choose. For we believe that Christ has the words of eternal life.

Prayer of The Day

“Lord, I surrender my anguish and burdens to You.  I unite them to Your Cross and trust that You will be there in all things walking with me through my life.  May I keep my eyes on the goal and rejoice in Your steadfast love.  Jesus, I trust in You.”

Daily Note

Jesus wants his disciples to know and believe that after the difficult days of his crucifixion and death, new life will come forth for them.  Jesus also wants us to know and believe that after our difficult days, we also will experience new life.  Once again, we will see him and experience His presence with us.   We will be able to rejoice when Jesus gifts us with new life and hope.
 

Daily Reflection – 5/18/2023

Sacred Scripture

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshipped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.”(Matthew 28: 16-20)

Reflection

Christ chose the disciples not for what they were, but for what they would be capable of becoming under his direction and power. The world they were commissioned to serve was as tumultuous, as fractured and as topsy turvy as the world that faces us every day.

Guess what? The world we have inhabited needs us involved in His Kingdom just as the Apostles did. We are ordinary people who believe in the Word and do our best to live the Word.

The very best primer on living the Word is to look at the Beatitudes to see how God sees.

God sees as blessed those who are poor. God sees as valuable those who mourn, those who are lonely, those who are persecuted. The Beatitudes reveal that God is committed to those who are in need and those who suffer. It is because God is present to them, they are blessed. 

The Beatitudes do not say that it is a blessed or wonderful thing to be poor, or to be grieving, or to be persecuted. They do assert that whenever any of these distressful things happen to us, God comes to us. God is attracted to us because God knows our needs.

The challenge for us today is to stand in our faith that our God is recreating the world and calling us to participate. We are called to believe that God through Christ is establishing the kingdom. How Christ is going to lead us into that kingdom is not entirely clear. But this much is clear: If we are going to follow Christ, we have to begin by claiming his vision—we must  see the world as God sees it.

It would be a world where peace triumphs over war, where people are liberated rather than exploited, where there is compassion and mercy for everyone. It would be a world that shuns violence and cares for the vulnerable first, a world of generosity over greed, a world of humility over arrogance, a world that embraces rather than excludes, a world where truth prevails over lies—the world as God sees it

In that vision lies our role. We need to be the nurses of the Divine Physician healing the wounds of those today. The Church is a field hospital in battle, it’s a trauma unit, and so many are wounded physically, emotionally, relationally, spiritually. We’re sent out as his apostles to try to care for people in their illnesses and to let Jesus and his healing into their lives, remembering that Jesus never healed just for healing’s sake, but to bring people to the deepest type of healing of all, spiritual healing by faith.

There it all is. You and I are called to triage in today’s world. Every small step we take to heal, to put on a band aid, to offer comfort and hope, to love in spite of another’s differences, to dry the tears of another, to offer our arms as an emotional sanctuary are all steps to building His kingdom.

What a great way to live our lives. I might even sign up for taking extra shifts!

Prayer of The Day

“Lord Jesus, you have chosen me to be your disciple. Take and use what I can offer, however meager it may seem, for the greater glory of your name.”

Daily Note

Those who follow Jesus must be people of hope because God cares for us in our need. We must also be people of solidarity, solidarity with the poor and oppressed. If God is close to those who struggle, if God is close to those who are persecuted or in need, we must act towards them in the same way. We cannot worship God and ignore those for whom God cares. We must as followers of Jesus be people who are committed to eliminating poverty and injustice and oppression because those are the very things that our God is also committed to eliminate.

Daily Reflection – 5/17/2023

Sacred Scripture

“I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now. But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth. He will not speak on his own, but he will speak what he hears, and will declare to you the things that are coming. He will glorify me, because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you. Everything that the Father has is mine; for this reason I told you that he will take from what is mine and declare it to you”( John 16:12-15)

Reflection

Stop for a moment and humor me. If we were to portray the Trinity in a song, every one of us would immediately say: “I know that tune.”

But do we?

The mystery and the absolute power contained in the Christian belief in the Holy Trinity is enormous. Yet in its enormity, there is also a simplicity that can guide us and help deepen our faith.

It is important for us to know and understand that God is not just the transcendent Father in Heaven far away from us.  We need to know that God the Son is willing to suffer and die for us.  We need to know that God is always near to us in the Holy Spirit Think about it. Our God is in the heavens. Yet, he found a way to reach us in our everyday lives.  The Father in the heavens, the Son bridging the gap between being God and being human, and the Holy Spirit drawing us to trust that God has bridged the gap and is near.

The Holy Spirit transcends time and space so that we can be with Jesus and the Father at all times. How?   Simply because the Holy Spirit is the same substance and existence as the Father and the Son.

Being the Trinity means that God cares.  Being the Trinity means that God wants to be active in your life and be near.  He will never leave you orphaned.  He will never leave you alone.   How we access God is through prayer, which is talking and listening to God in the Holy Spirit.  We access the active God through receiving the sacraments.  We access the Holy Trinity by reading the Holy Word of God and by worshiping and doing things in his name for his Glory.

But professing our faith in the Triune God is not enough. We must live as if we truly believe what we proclaim. We have been saved by our Triune God and we are continually brought by this same God to a deeper appreciation of the truths of a life of faith. That life is one to be lived in union with God and with each other. The unity within the Trinity is the model placed before us today. That unity is central to our faith and to our life. Living a life of divisiveness and separation one from another is not living in the model of the Triune God given to us. The three divine persons work together for the salvation of all. So too, must we work together for the good of all, over and over and over.

Prayer of The Day

“Lord Jesus, fill me with your Holy Spirit and guide me into your way of truth.  Free me from erroneous and false ways and lead me in the knowledge of your ways and your will for my life.  May there be nothing in my life that is not under your lordship.”

Daily Note

Since God is the source of all truth, then the closer we draw to him and listen to his word, the more we grow in the knowledge of him and of his great love and wisdom for us.  Jesus told his disciples that he would send them the Spirit of truth who will announce to you the things to come.  Through the Holy Spirit, we proclaim our ancient faith in the saving death and resurrection of Christ until he comes again. The Lord gives us his Holy Spirit as our divine Teacher and Helper that we may grow in the knowledge and wisdom of God.  Do you seek the wisdom that comes from above and do you willingly obey God’s word?