Proven Ways to Get Along with Others

1. Before you say anything to anyone, ask yourself 3 things:

       ♦  Is it true?

       ♦  Is it kind?

       ♦  Is it necessary?

2. Make promises sparingly and keep them faithfully.

3. Never miss the opportunity to compliment or say something encouraging to someone.

4. Refuse to talk negatively about others; don't gossip and don't listen to gossip.

5. Have a forgiving view of people. Believe that most people are doing the best they can.

6. Keep an open mind; discuss, but don't argue. (It is possible to disagree without being disagreeable.)

7. Forget about counting to 10. Count to 1,000 before doing or saying anything that could make matters worse.

8. Let your virtues speak for themselves.

9. If someone criticizes you, see if there is any truth to what he is saying. If so, make changes. If there is no truth to the criticism, ignore it and live so that no one will believe the negative remark.

10. Cultivate your sense of humor; laughter is the shortest distance between two people.

11. Do not seek so much to be consoled, as to console; do not seek so much to be understood, as to understand; do not seek so much to be loved as to love​.

The Eucharist

The Eucharist

My life was like a little box

The insides were all I could see

The walls were covered with mirrors

So all that I could ever see was me

Then I met you in the Eucharist

And you taught me something new

The mirrors turned into windows

Now I was able to see

A world I never knew​

Faith

13th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Sometime between 1411 and 1427, a Russian monk, Andrei Rublev, painted an icon that he named The Trinity.  What is interesting about The Trinity, is that it does not depict the Trinity as we usually envision it.  Neither God the Father, God the Son nor God the Holy Spirit are there.  What is there are three angels, a table, a bowl, three chairs, a house and a tree.  Like most icons it is flat and some might consider it plain.  Yet in 1551 a Council of the Russian Orthodox Church declared it “to be the ideal medieval painting of its type, and the model for all Orthodox Russian artists” (Encyclopedia Of Art Education).  Ultimately Andrei Rublev was canonized by the Orthodox Church.

So why am I telling you about this icon.  I’m telling you about it because it is better known by its other name, The Hospitality of Abraham.  And you probably have seen it at some time or another.  It tells the story about when God visited Abraham in Genesis 18:1-10.  Abraham didn’t know it was God, he only saw three men.  Even though he didn’t know who they were, he welcomed them, washed their feet and provided a feast.  Before they left, “One of them said, “I will return to you about this time next year, and Sarah will then have a son.”  This is one of the greatest hospitality stories in scripture and today’s first reading and Gospel are also about hospitality. 

In today’s first reading from 2 Kings 4:8-11, 14-16a, we hear about a woman from Shunem who offered Elisha hospitality multiple times. She built him a room and furnished it so that whenever he was in Shunem he had a place to stay. In return for her graciousness Elisha promised her a son.  Hospitality is one of the greatest virtues of the Bible.  The scripture scholar William Barclay observed that: “If a man is a true man of God, to receive him is to receive the God who sent him.”  Jesus carries this virtue into New Testament duty in today’s Gospel from Matthew 10:40-42, “whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me…. And whoever gives only a cup of cold water to one of these little ones to drink because the little one is a disciple--amen, I say to you, he will surely not lose his reward.”

The virtue of hospitality is recognizing the presence of God in  other people and honoring and nourishing that presence. We cannot all be prophets, or preach and proclaim the word of God, but we can all practice the simple virtue of hospitality.  By practicing hospitality each of us can bring the Kingdom of God into our hearts, homes, communities and the world.

On Saturday, we celebrate Independence Day. Our celebrations will be different this year.  However, what we are celebrating remains constant.  We are celebrating the principles of democracy and freedom.   And so, we pray:

God of justice, Father of truth,

who guides creation in wisdom and goodness

to fulfilment in Christ your Son,

open our hearts to the truth of his Gospel,

that your peace may rule in our hearts and

your justice guide our lives.

Make our vision clear and our will strong:
that only in human solidarity will we ­ find liberty,
and justice only in the honor that belongs
to every life on earth.
Turn our hearts toward the family of nations:
to understand the ways of others,
to offer friendship, and to find safety

only in the common good of all.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Amen

God and the Spider

During World War II, a US marine was separated from his unit on a Pacific island. The fighting had been intense, and in the smoke and the crossfire he had lost touch with his comrades.

Alone in the jungle, he could hear enemy soldiers coming in his direction. Scrambling for cover, he found his way up a high ridge to several small caves in the rock. Quickly he crawled inside one of the caves. Although safe for the moment, he realized that once the enemy soldiers looking for him swept up the ridge, they would quickly search all the caves and he would be killed.

As he waited, he prayed, "Lord, if it be your will, please protect me.  Whatever your will though, I love you and trust you. Amen."

After praying, he lay quietly listening to the enemy begin to draw close. He thought, “Well, I guess the Lord isn't going to help me out of this one.”  Then he saw a spider begin to build a web over the front of his cave.

As he watched, listening to the enemy searching for him all the while, the spider layered strand after strand of web across the opening of the cave.

“Hah,” he thought, “What I need is a brick wall and what the Lord has sent me is a spider web. God does have a sense of humor.” 

As the enemy drew closer he watched from the darkness of his hideout and could see them searching one cave after another. As they came to his, he got ready to make his last stand. To his amazement, however, after glancing in the direction of his cave, they moved on. Suddenly, he realized that with the spider web over the entrance, his cave looked as if no one had entered for quite a while.

“Lord, forgive me,” prayed the young man. “I had forgotten that in you a spider's web is stronger than a brick wall.”

We all face times of great trouble. When we do, it is so easy to forget the victories that God would work in our lives, sometimes in the most surprising ways. As the great leader, Nehemiah, reminded the people of Israel when they faced the task of rebuilding Jerusalem, “In God we will have success!”

[Nehemiah 2:20]​

God's Wings

After a forest fire in Yellowstone National Park, forest rangers began their trek up a mountain to assess the inferno's damage. One ranger found a bird literally petrified in ashes, perched statuesquely on the ground at the base of a tree. Somewhat sickened by the eerie sight, he knocked over the bird with a stick. When he gently struck it, three tiny chicks scurried from under their dead mother's wings. 

The loving mother, keenly aware of impending disaster, had carried her offspring to the base of the tree and had gathered them under her wings, instinctively knowing that the toxic smoke would rise. She could have flown to safety but had refused to abandon her babies. Then the blaze had arrived and the heat had scorched her small body, the mother had remained steadfast...because she had been willing to die, so those under the cover of her wings would live.

He will cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you will find refuge.

Psalm 91:4​

Kindness

Prayer for Anxiety and Worry

Dear Loving Lord,

I am feeling stress,

I am worried.

Too many things

Occupy my mind.

Won’t you help me?

Show me, Lord

Your order.

And your plans

Are eternal.

Let me trust

In you alone.

Your word tells me

Where there is love,

Drives out all fear.

Let me be filled

With your love

That tells me

I am not condemned,

But I am saved.

I can do all things

Through you.

You strengthen me.

In Jesus name,

Amen.​

Will You be Ready?

Abraham Lincoln once said, "I will prepare, and some day my chance will come." When his chance came, he was ready.

During his seminary years, one priest-in-training sported a T-shirt that never failed to bring chuckles. Across the front was emblazoned: "Expectant Father." His chance came and he, too, was ready!

When your chance comes, will you be ready?

Hockey superstar Wayne Gretzky was always ready. He broke almost every record imaginable and is known as the greatest hockey player of all time.

Gretzky is not particularly big for his sport -- he stands at 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighs in at 170 pounds. He never skated particularly fast, his shot was not high-powered, and he often placed dead last on regular strength tests administered to his team. So what made "The Great One" so great? He was ready.

Gretzky attributes his stardom to practice and preparation. He practiced stick handling in the off-season with a tennis ball, as the ball was harder to control than a puck. In practice he innovated. He practiced bouncing the puck off the sideboards to his teammates until that technique became a regular part of his play. Then he worked on bouncing the puck off the net! He became so accomplished at these maneuvers that he sometimes said, "People say there's only six men on the ice, but really, if you use the angle of deflection of the board, there's seven. If you count the net, that's eight. From the opening face-off, I always figure we have 'em eight-on-six."

What made "The Great One" so great? Gretzky was always the best prepared member of his team. He was ready.

It's been said, "If you want your ship to come in, you must build a dock." When your chance comes, will you be ready.

Cup of Coffee

A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. The conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life.

Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups - porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain-looking, some expensive, and some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to the coffee.

After all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said: “If you noticed, all the nice-looking, expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is but normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress.

“Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. In most cases, it's just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink. What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups.  And then began eyeing each other's cups.

“Now consider this: Life is the coffee; and the jobs, money, and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain life, and the type of cup we have does not define nor change the quality of life we live. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee God has provided us.”

God brews the coffee, not the cups.  Enjoy your coffee​!

12th Sunday in Ordinary Time

In today’s gospel, Matthew 10:26-33, Jesus was sending the twelve apostles out into the world and instructing them to announce, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.”  This announcement was not to be “whispered,” in the dark.  Jesus directed the twelve apostles to “proclaim [it] on the housetops.”  “Speak in the light.”

Proclaiming the gospel message required boldness then and it requires boldness today. Boldly proclaiming the gospel was so  important that Jesus repeated it three times in seven short verses: “fear no one,” “proclaim on the housetops,” “Do not be afraid.”  In addition, sharing the gospel message required/s faith.  It requires faith in God the Father who, as Jeremiah tells us in the first reading, is with us, “like a mighty champion.”  It requires faith in God’s infinite and overwhelming love, a love so fervent that God the Father knows how many hairs each of us has on our head. In the First Letter of John 4:18-19 we read that “There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment, and so one who fears is not yet perfect in love. We love because [God] first loved us.”

God’s transforming and empowering love is a gift; it is a gift revealed through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ who died for all our sins.  In Romans 5:5-8 St. Paul said “the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the holy Spirit that has been given to us. For Christ, while we were still helpless, yet died at the appointed time for the ungodly. Indeed, only with difficulty does one die for a just person, though perhaps for a good person one might even find courage to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.  With such irrefutable proof, there is no room for fear.”  And so, we all should have the courage to proclaim the gospel message from our housetops, in our schools, in our work places and in our community:

THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS AT HAND!

Lord God, our Father,
we have experienced much grace and love
and forgiving mercy from you
and your Son Jesus has brought us
an unforgettable message of joy.
Do not allow us ever to forget this
and make us bold enough to share with others
what we have received from you as a free gift.
May our very lives bear witness
that Jesus walks by our side
and that we should never be afraid
of proclaiming with our very lives
our hope and trusting faith in you.
Grant this through Christ our Lord.

Amen

Don't Undermine Your Worth

Don't undermine your worth by comparing yourself with others.

It is because we are different that each of us is special.

Don't set your goals by what other people deem important.

Only you know what is best for you.

Don't take for granted the things closest to your heart.

Cling to them as you would your life, for without them life is meaningless.

Don't let your life slip through your fingers by living in the past or for the future.

By living your life one day at a time, you live all the days of your life.

Don't give up when you still have something to give.

Nothing is really over until the moment you stop trying.

Don't be afraid to admit that you are less than perfect.

It is this fragile thread that binds us to each other.

Don't be afraid to encounter risks.

It is by taking chances that we learn how to be brave.

Don't shut love out of your life by saying it's impossible to find.

The quickest way to receive love is to give love,

the fastest way to lose love is to hold it too tightly,

and the best way to keep love is to give it wings.

Don't dismiss your dreams.

To be without dreams is to be without hope;

to be without hope is to be without purpose.

Don't run through life so fast that you forget not only where you've been, but also where you're going.

Life is not a race, but a journey to be savored each step of the way.​

Keep Believing in Yourself

There may be days when you get up in the morning and things aren’t the way you’d hoped they would be.  That’s when you have to tell yourself that things will get better.

There are times when people disappoint you and let your down.  But those are the times when you must remind yourself to trust your own judgments and opinions, to keep your life focused on believing in yourself.

There will be challenges to face and changes to make in your life, and it is up to you to accept them.

Constantly keep yourself headed in the right direction for you. It may not be easy at times, but in those times of struggle you will find a stronger sense of who you are.

So when the days come that are filled with frustration and unexpected responsibilities, remember to believe in yourself and all you want your life to be.

Because the challenges and changes will only help you find the goals that you know are meant to come true for you.

Keep believing in yourself

Stop & Pray

As the day goes on, we can pause where situations must be met and decisions made, and renew the simple request: Thy will, not mine, be done.

Just saying it over and over will often enable us to clear a channel choked up with anger, fear, frustration, or misunderstanding, and permit us to return to the surest help of all – our search for God’s will, not our own, in the moment of stress.​

Does God Show Through You?

A little girl, on the way home from church, turned to her mother and said, "Mommy, the Priest's homily this morning confused me."

The mother said, “Oh! Why is that?”

The girl replied, “Well, he said that God is bigger than we are. Is that true?”

“Yes, that's true,” the mother replied.

“He also said that God lives within us. Is that true, too?” 

Again the mother replied, “Yes.”

“Well,” said the girl. “If God is bigger than us and He lives in us, wouldn't He show through?”

Houses

I walk in and out of many worlds. - Joy Harjo, Creek/Cherokee

In my mind are many dwellings. Each of the dwellings we create ourselves:

the house of anger, 

the house of despair, 

the house of self-pity, 

the house of indifference, 

the house of negative, 

the house of positive, 

the house of hope, 

the house of joy, 

the house of peace, 

the house of enthusiasm, 

the house of cooperation, 

the house of giving. 

Each of these houses we visit each day. We can stay in any house for as long as we want. We can leave these mental houses any time we wish. We create the dwelling, we stay in the dwelling, and we leave the dwelling whenever we wish. We can create new rooms, new houses. Whenever we enter these dwellings, this becomes our world until we leave for another. What world will we live in today?

Creator, no one can determine which dwelling I choose to enter. No one has the power to do so, only me. Let me choose wisely today.

Elder's Meditation of the Day

God, I Offer Myself to Thee

God, I offer myself to Thee
to build with me and to do with me as Thou wilt. 
Relieve me of the bondage of self, that I may better do Thy will. 
Take away my difficulties, 
that victory over them may bear witness 
to those I would help of
Thy Power, Thy Love, and Thy Way of life.

May I do Thy will always!

Corpus Christi Sunday

Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ.  It is a day for us to reflect on how God is present to the Church today and how God continues to sustain and nourish us.  In our first reading from the Book of Deuteronomy, Moses reminds the Children of Israel how God sustained them during the 40 years they wandered in the desert.  Now, as they wait on the plains of Moab, preparing to cross the Jordan River and enter into the Promised Land, Moses wants them to remember the covenant God made with them so they don't become complacent.  Once they cross the river, they no longer will need manna because God, is leading them "into a good country, a land with streams of water, with springs and fountains welling up in the hills and valleys, a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, of olive trees and of honey ..." (Dt. 8:7-8).  So, Moses enjoins them to remember, "that not by bread alone does man live, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of the LORD" (Dt. 8:3).

Thousands of years later, God made a new covenant with the world.  St. John tells us in his Gospel "the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father's only Son, full of grace and truth" (John 1:14).  In today's gospel, John 6:51-58, Jesus, the Word made flesh, told the children of Israel and he tells us "I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world."  Unlike perishable manna, the bread Jesus offers, "endures for eternal life" (John 6:27).  The children of Israel ate manna "but they died" (John 6:49).  Those of us who eat the living bread offered by Jesus will not die because the Word made flesh sustains both spirit and life (John 6:63).

Every time we receive Jesus in the Eucharist, we are infused with his Spirit and become one with him.  Jesus says, "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him" (John 6:56).  Through the mystery of the Eucharist, in the elements of bread and wine, Jesus is a very real presence in our midst.  When we receive Eucharist, Jesus dwells in us individually and communally.  Our communion with Jesus Christ makes us a community, one body.  St. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 10:16-17, "The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ?  The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?  Because the loaf of bread is one, we, though many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf."  We become the Body of Christ in our world.  Let us all pray that the world can recognize the presence of Jesus in us as we strive to fulfill his mission. 

Lord Jesus Christ,
you ask of us to be your body
for the life of the world.
Nourish us here with your word of life,
give us your body to eat
and your wine of joy to drink,
that we may become more like you
and learn from you how to live
not for ourselves only
but for God and for the people around us.
Make us of one mind and heart,
that the world may recognize
that you are alive in us.
Be our Lord, now and forever.

Amen

May You Always Feel Loved!

May you find serenity and tranquility
in a world you may not always understand.

May the pain you have known
and the conflict you have experienced
give you the strength to walk through life
facing each new situation with courage and optimism.

Always know that there are those
whose love and understanding will always be there,
even when you feel most alone.

May a kind word,
a reassuring touch,
and a warm smile
be yours every day of your life,
and may you give these gifts
as well as receive them.

May the teachings of those you admire
become part of you,
so that you may call upon them.

Remember, those whose lives you have touched
and who have touched yours
are always a part of you,
even if the encounters were less than you would have wished.
It is the content of the encounter
that is more important than its form.

May you not become too concerned with material matters,
but instead place immeasurable value
on the goodness in your heart.
Find time in each day to see beauty and love
in the world around you.

Realize that what you feel you lack in one regard
you may be more than compensated for in another.
What you feel you lack in the present
may become one of your strengths in the future.
May you see your future as one filled with promise and possibility.
Learn to view everything as a worthwhile experience.

May you find enough inner strength
to determine your own worth by yourself,
and not be dependent
on another's judgment of your accomplishments.

May you always feel loved.

May God's Blessings Abound in your life!

Crayons

David Wallechinsky in "The Complete Book Of The Olympics" (Penguin Books, 1984) gives us a story that is worth retelling.

It is 1936. American Jesse Owens seems sure to win the long-jump competition in the Olympic games. The previous year he had jumped 26 feet, 8 1/4 inches -- a record that will stand for 25 years.

As he walks to the long-jump pit, however, Owens sees a tall, blue-eyed, blond German taking practice jumps in the 26-foot range.  Owens feels nervous.  He is acutely aware of the Nazis’ desire to prove “Aryan superiority.”  And as a black son of a sharecropper, he knows what it is like to be made to feel inferior.

On his first jump, Owens inadvertently leaps from several inches beyond the takeoff board.  Rattled, he fouls on his second attempt, too.  One more foul and he will be eliminated.

At this point, the tall German introduces himself as Luz Long. “You should be able to qualify with your eyes closed!” he says to Owens, referring to his upcoming two jumps.

For the next few moments, the African American and the white Nazi chat together. Then Long makes a suggestion.  Since the qualifying distance is only 23 feet, 5 1/2 inches, why not make a mark several inches before the takeoff board and jump from there, just to play it safe? Owens does and qualifies easily.

In the finals, Owens sets an Olympic record and earns the second of four gold medals.  But who is the first person to congratulate him?  Luz Long - in full view of Adolf Hitler.

Owens never again sees Long, who is later killed in World War II.  “You could melt down all the medals and cups I have,” Owens later writes, “and they wouldn't be a plating on the 24-carat friendship I felt for Luz Long.”

Perhaps unknowingly, Luz Long taught the world a valuable lesson.

Someone else put it like this: “We can learn a lot from crayons. Some are sharp, some are pretty, some are dull, some have weird names, and all are different colors.  But they all have to learn to live in the same box.”