Is the Messiah Among You?

Once a great order, a decaying monastery had only five monks left. The order was dying. In the surrounding deep woods, there was a little hut that a Rabbi from a nearby town used from time to time. The monks always knew the Rabbi was home when they saw the smoke from his fire rise above the tree tops. As the Abbot agonized over the imminent death of his order, it occurred to him to ask the Rabbi if he could offer any advice that might save the monastery.

The Rabbi welcomed the Abbot at his hut. When the Abbot explained the reason for his visit, the Rabbi could only commiserate with him. “I know how it is,” he exclaimed. “The spirit has gone out of the people. It is the same in my town. Almost no one comes to the synagogue anymore.” So the Abbot and the Rabbi sat together discussing the Bible and their faiths. The time came when the Abbot had to leave. “It has been a wonderful visit,” said the Abbot, “but I have failed in my purpose. Is there nothing you can tell me to help save my dying order?” “The only thing I can tell you,” said the Rabbi, “is that the Messiah is among you.”

When the Abbot returned to the monastery, his fellow monks gathered around him and asked, “What did the Rabbi say?” “He couldn’t help,” the Abbot answered. “The only thing he did say, as I was leaving was that the Messiah is among us. Though I do not know what these words mean.”In the months that followed, the monks pondered this and wondered whether there was any possible significance to the Rabbi’s words: The Messiah is among us? Could he possibly have meant that the Messiah is one of us monks here at the monastery? If that’s the case, which one of us is the Messiah? Do you suppose he meant the Abbot? Yes, if he meant anyone, he probably meant Father Abbot. Certainly he could not have meant Brother Elred! Elred gets crotchety at times. But come to think of it, even so, Elred is virtually always right. Maybe the rabbi did mean Brother Elred. Of course the Rabbi didn’t mean me. He couldn’t possibly have meant me. I’m just an ordinary person. Yet supposing he did? Suppose I am the Messiah?

As they contemplated in this manner, the monks began to treat each other with extraordinary respect on the off chance that one among them might be the Messiah and in turn, each monk began to treat himself with extraordinary respect.

It so happened that people still occasionally came to visit the beautiful forest and monastery. Without even being conscious of it, visitors began to sense a powerful spiritual aura. They were sensing the extraordinary respect that now filled the monastery. Hardly knowing why, people began to come to the monastery frequently to picnic, to play, and to pray. They began to bring their friends, and their friends brought their friends. Then it happened that some of the younger men who came to visit the monastery started to talk more and more with the older monks. After a while, one asked if he could join them. Then, another and another asked if they too could join the abbot and older monks. Within a few years, the monastery once again became a thriving order, a vibrant center of light and spirituality in the realm.

– Author Unknown: Adapted from the Different Drum: Community Making and Peace by Dr. M. Scott Peck

Look to this Day

Look to this day.
For it is life,
The very life of life.
In its brief course lies all
The realities and verities of existence,
The bliss of growth,
The splendor of action,
The glory of power.

For yesterday is but a dream
And tomorrow is only a vision,
But today, well lived,
Makes every yesterday a dream of happiness
And every tomorrow a vision of hope.
Look well, therefore, to this day.

Ancient Sanskrit poem

Life without Spirituality

 

8th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Three days from today Lent 2022 begins. Last week St Luke presented us with some challenges to consider as we endeavor to live Christian (Christ like) lives. I call them the Iron Christian Challenge. In today’s Gospel (Luke 6:39-45) St Luke continues the challenge with more rules for Christ like living.

In three parables, Jesus describes people who are blind, disciples in training, people who are critical without considering their own faults and good trees and rotten trees. The bottom line of the three parables is: “A good person out of the store of goodness in his heart produces good, but an evil person out of a store of evil produces evil; for from the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks.”

The question is, where are we in these parables? Are we like blind people trying to guide other blind people? Do we believe that we know more than the people who strive to guide us? Do we criticize others for splinters when we are carrying around heavy beams? And finally, what is in our hearts: good or evil?

As part of our Iron Christian Challenge, we must reflect on these questions. Because unless we do reflect, and unless we strive to “clean up our act,” there is no way we can compete. We cannot “love [our] enemies; do good to those who hate [us]; bless those who curse [us]; pray for those who mistreat [us]” without attempting to put on “the mind of Christ” (1 Cor 2:16). Putting on the mind of Christ is not impossible. The Old Testament writer of The Book of Wisdom says that, “…but things in heaven, who can search them out? Or who can know your counsel, unless you give Wisdom and send your holy spirit from on high? Thus, were the paths of those on earth made straight, and people learned what pleases you, and were saved by Wisdom” (Wisdom 9:16-18). We have the Holy Spirit. It was Jesus’ gift to us at Pentecost. So, as we prepare for Lent 2022, let’s give ourselves time to reflect and, calling on the gift of the Holy Spirit, attempt to view the world through the mind of Christ. Who knows what will happen?

O God, our teacher and judge,

hear our prayer

as we gather at the table of your word.

Enrich our hears with the goodness of your wisdom

and renew us from within,

that all our actions,

all our words,

may bear the fruit of your transforming grace.

We make our prayer through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

God for ever and ever.

Amen.

Spring Planting

We are now beginning to prepare the soil for the spring planting. As we prepare to enter the Lenten season, we will also be preparing spiritually for the future. Here are some thoughts on planting and reaping:

If you plant honesty, You will reap trust.

If you plant goodness, You will reap friends.

If you plant humility, You will reap greatness.

If you plant perseverance, You will reap victory.

If you plant consideration, You will reap harmony.

If you plant hard work, You will reap success.

If you plant forgiveness, You will reap reconciliation.

If you plant openness, You will reap intimacy.

If you plant patience, You will reap improvements.

If you plant faith, You will reap miracles

But, if you plant dishonesty, You will reap distrust.

If you plant selfishness, You will reap loneliness

If you plant pride, You will reap destruction.

If you plant envy, You will reap trouble.

If you plant laziness, You will reap stagnation.

If you plant bitterness, You will reap isolation.

If you plant greed, You will reap loss.

If you plant gossip, You will reap enemies.

If you plant worries, You will reap wrinkles.

If you plant sin, You will reap guilt.

So be careful what you plant now, It will determine what you will reap tomorrow. The seeds you now scatter will make life worse or better your life or the ones who will come after. Yes, someday, you will enjoy the fruits, or you will pay for the choices you plant today.

Primordial Souls

Some mystics taught that the human soul comes from God and that the last thing that God does before putting a soul into the body is to kiss the soul. The soul then goes through life always dimly remembering that kiss, a kiss of perfect love, and the soul measures all of life’s loves and kisses against that primordial perfect kiss.

The ancient Greek Stoics taught something similar, that souls pre-existed inside of God and that God, before putting a soul into a body, would blot out the memory of its pre-existence. But the soul would then be always unconsciously drawn towards God because, having come from God, the soul would always dimly remember its real home, God, and ache to return there.

In one rather interesting version of this notion, they taught that God put the soul into the body only when the baby was already fully formed in its mother’s womb. Immediately after putting the soul into the body, God would seal off the memory of its pre-existence by physically shutting the baby’s lips against its ever speaking of its pre-existence. That’s why we have a little cleft under our noses, just above center of our lips. It’s where God’s finger sealed our lips. That is why whenever we are struggling to remember something, our index finger instinctively rises to that cleft under our nose. We are trying to retrieve a primordial memory.

Our souls dimly remember once having known perfect love and perfect beauty. But, in this life, we never quite encounter that perfection, even as we forever ache for someone or something to meet us at that depth. This creates in us a moral loneliness, a longing for what we term a soulmate, namely, a longing for someone who can genuinely recognize, share, and respect what’s deepest in us.

Look Up

THE BUZZARD: If you put a buzzard in a pen that is 6 feet by 8 feet and is entirely open at the top, the bird, in spite of its ability to fly, will be an absolute prisoner. The reason is that a buzzard always begins a flight from the ground with a run of 10 to 12 feet. Without space to run, as is its habit, it will not even attempt to fly, but will remain a prisoner for life in a small jail with no top.

THE BAT: The ordinary bat that flies around at night, a remarkable nimble creature in the air, cannot take off from a level place. If it is placed on the floor or flat ground, all it can do is shuffle about helplessly and, no doubt, painfully, until it reaches some slight elevation from which it can throw itself into the air. Then, at once, it takes off like a flash.

THE BUMBLEBEE: A bumblebee, if dropped into an open tumbler, will be there until it dies, unless it is taken out. It never sees the means of escape at the top, but persists in trying to find some way out through the sides near the bottom. It will seek a way where none exists, until it completely destroys itself.

PEOPLE: In many ways, we are like the buzzard, the bat, and the bumblebee. We struggle about with all our problems and frustrations never realizing that all we have to do is look up!

I Know

I know God is the beginning, so why do I worry about the end?
I know God is the creator, so why do I wonder who will destroy?
I know God has forgiven me, so why can't I forgive myself?
I know God is a healer, so why do I speak of sickness?
I know God can do all things, so why do I say I can't?
I know God will protect me, so why do I fear?
I know God will supply all my needs, so why can't I wait?
I know God is my strength and my salvation, so why do I feel weak?
I know that everything and everyone has a season,
so why when someone's season is over do I weep instead of rejoicing?
I know God is the right way, so why do I go the wrong way?
I know God is the light, so why do I choose to walk in darkness?
I know that whatever I ask of GOD, GOD will give me, so why am I afraid to ask?
I know tomorrow is not promised, so why do I put off for tomorrow what I can do today?
I know that the truth shall make me free, so why do I continue to lie?
I know God gives us revelation, knowledge and understanding, so why do I lean on my own understanding?
I know I should live in the spirit as well as walk in the spirit, so why do I choose to live in the spirit but walk in the flesh?
I know that when praises go up, blessings come down, so why not praise God?
I know I am Loved, so why do I refuse the Word He has given me?
I know God has a plan for me, so why am I rushing it because I am eager to do His will, when it is His time not my time?

The shortest distance between a problem and a solution is the distance between your knees and the floor.

The one who kneels to God can stand up to anything.

7th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Wednesday, March 2, 2022, is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. During Lent most of us give things up – eating meat on Fridays, sugar and sweets, alcohol and tobacco, television, movies, computer games and other forms of entertainment. Others of us take something on - attending daily mass, spending an hour before the Blessed Sacrament, participating in the Stations of the Cross, or praying an extra Rosary. These are all laudable endeavors.

For those of you who have not yet made any plans for Lent, I propose the Iron Christian Challenge:

• If you are angry with someone or about something – give it up.
• If you hate someone or something – give it up.
• If you are judgmental or condemning – give it up.
• If you are hurt because someone has wronged you – give it up.
• If there is someone you need to forgive – forgive them.
• If someone hates you – forgive them.
• If someone is angry with you – apologize.
• If someone is your enemy – pray for them.
• Be generous with everything you have and expect nothing in return.
• Love everyone the way God loves you.

If we can accomplish these challenges, Jesus promises us in today’s Gospel, Luke 6: 27 – 38, our “reward will be great and you will be children of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.” And he reminds us that “the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you.”

My prayer is that each of you will be blessed with a full and rewarding Lent.

Compassionate God and Father, 

you are kind to the ungrateful, 

merciful even to the wicked.

Pour out your love upon us,

that with good and generous hearts 

we may keep from judging others

and learn your way of compassion. 

We make our prayer through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, 

who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, 

God for ever and ever.

AMEN.

Be Here Now

Thomas Merton entered the monastery in Kentucky when he was 27 years old. He was accidentally electrocuted in Bangkok 27 years later on December 10, 1968, at the age of 54. Merton reacquainted Christianity with its contemplative roots. His writings inspired many, including myself, to return to le point vierge, “the virgin point” of pure poverty and nothingness in God’s presence, which can only be found in the now.

Be Here Now

If you watch your mind, you will see you live most of your life in the past or in the future, both of which Jesus warns us against. That’s just the way the mind works. If you are to experience the ever-present and ever-coming Christ, the one place you have to be is the one place you are usually not: NOW HERE or “nowhere.” Everything that happens to you happens right now; if you can’t be present right now, nothing new is ever going to happen to you. You will not experience your experiences; they will not go to any depth in your soul. You really won’t grow unless you’re willing to live right here, right now—to be present.

How do you be present? Jesus describes it rather profoundly: “You must love the Lord your God with your whole heart, with your whole soul, with your whole mind, and with your whole strength” (Luke 10:27). Whenever all of these parts are working together at the same time you are present. He finishes by saying “Do this and life is yours!” (10:28). I like to say that prayer happens whenever all of you is present—body, mind, soul, spirit, emotions—all together. That’s hard work. This is the core and constant meaning of all spiritual practice, no matter what religion: how to be here now! Then you will know what you need to know to go forward.

Usually we have to be shocked into it, I’m sorry to say. Great love does it. When you are deeply in love—with anything—you tend to be present to the Now. Someone has said, “To be a saint is to have loved many things”—many things—the tree, the dog, the sky, the flowers, even the color of someone’s clothing. You see, when you love, you love, and love extends to everything all the time and everywhere. When you love, you’re much more likely to be present. What this moment offers is the grace of God.

Wonderfully Made

In a tiny book written in German and entitled "Wunder der Schöpfung" (Miracle of Nature) the author writes: "friend, your body is made up of 100 trillion cells. If you attempted to count them, taking a second to count each cell, it would take you three million years. This would not be an easy task because the cells are so tiny; each having an average diameter of 10 micrometers (one micrometer is equivalent to one millionth of a meter or 1/1000 of a millimeter). Yet each of these cells has a definite function in the entire organism: for the construction of the eyes and ears, of the teeth and fingernails, of the brain and hormones... Friend, who made this marvelous body of yours?

In contemplation of God's marvelous work of our beings and the beings of other living creatures, we can only exclaim with Psalm 139:13-14 "You formed my inmost being; you knit me in my mother's womb. I praise you, so wonderfully you made me; wonderful are your works!"

Love Is

Love is all there is, and love is enough:

Justice is love holding the balance
Mercy is love being gracious
Faith is love believing
Charity is love giving
Patience is love waiting
Endurance is love abiding
Hope is love expecting
Prayer is love communing
Sympathy is love tenderly touching
Comfort is love soothing
Enthusiasm is love burning
Work is love laboring
Peace is love resting
Understanding is love accepting
Listening is love receiving
Forgiving is love cleansing
Teaching is love reaching
Giving is love circulating
Receiving is love blessing
Love is enough because
Love cannot fail.

Gerry Comstock

Somebody

Somebody is very proud of you.

Somebody is thinking of you.

Somebody is caring about you.

Somebody misses you.

Somebody wants to talk to you.

Somebody wants to be with you.

Somebody hopes you are not in trouble.

Somebody is thankful for the support you have provided.

Somebody wants to hold your hand.

Somebody hopes everything turns out all right for you.

Somebody wants you to be happy.

Somebody wants you to find him/her.

Somebody wants to give you a gift.

Somebody wants to hug you.

Somebody thinks you ARE a gift.

Somebody admires your strength.

Somebody wants to protect you.

Somebody can't wait to see you.

Somebody loves you for who you are.

Somebody treasures your spirit.

Somebody is glad that you are their friend.

Somebody wants to get to know you better.

Somebody wants to be near you.

Somebody wants you to know they are there for you.

Somebody would do anything for you.

Somebody wants to share their dreams with you.

Somebody is alive because of you.

Somebody needs your support.

Somebody will cry when they read this.

Somebody needs you to have faith in them.

Somebody trusts you.

Somebody hears a song that reminds them of you.

Somebody needs you to send this to them, too.

"To the whole world you might be just one person, but to one person you might be the whole world."

By Somebody

This is Life

A son and his father were walking on the mountains. Suddenly, his son falls, hurts himself and screams: "AAAhhhhhh!"

To his surprise, he hears the voice repeating, somewhere in the mountain: "AAAhhhhhh!"

Curious, he yells: "Who are you?"
He receives the answer: "Who are you?"

Angered at the response, he screams: "Coward!"
He receives the answer: "Coward!"

He looks to his father and asks: "What's going on?"
The father smiles and says: "My son, pay attention."

And then he screams to the mountain: "I admire you!"
The voice answers: "I admire you!"

Again the man screams: "You are a champion!"
The voice answers: "You are a champion!"

The boy is surprised, but does not understand. Then the father explains: "People call this an ECHO, but really this is LIFE. It gives you back everything you say or do.

Our life is simply a reflection of our actions. If you want more love in the world, create more love in your heart. If you want more competence in your team, improve your competence. This relationship applies to everything, in all aspects of life; Life will give you back everything you have given to it."

Your Life is not a coincidence. It's a reflection of you!

Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes

Today we celebrate the fact of the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary to Bernadette Soubrious at Lourdes, France, on the northern slopes of the Pyrenees Mountains. Between February 11 and July 16, 1858, Mary appeared to fourteen year old Bernadette at the grotto of Massabielle, eighteen times. The young girl was instructed by the apparition to bathe and drink from a spring that began to flow the following day. Since then the bath at Lourdes has been associated with miraculous healings. The site of the apparitions attracts over three million pilgrims a year. Of some five thousand reported cures at least fifty-eight have been declared miraculous by church officials. In 1907 Pope Pius X made the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes a feast of the universal Church.

6th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Although many of us tend to think of the beatitudes as a New Testament phenomenon, beatitudes are more prevalent in the Old Testament than in the New Testament. There are 57 beatitudes in the Old Testament and we have examples in our first reading from Jeremiah 17:5-8 and responsorial psalm, Psalm 1. A beatitude is a form of writing that declares “blessedness on the ground of some virtue or good fortune.”

When the people heard Jesus preach his Sermon on the Plain, today’s Gospel from Luke 6:17-26, they probably were familiar with the form his sermon took but the words he spoke were radical. Jesus took all the secular standards of his day and turned them upside down. The people who are well to do, well fed, well thought of and happy Jesus calls miserable. And the people most of us consider to be  miserable, people who are poor, hungry, grieving and hated Jesus calls blessed.

These Beatitudes are the core of Jesus’ teaching and they are diametrically opposed to the worldly values of success and money and material possessions that are all around us. They are just as challenging to us today as they were thousands of years ago when Jesus first spoke them. Blessedness does not come from anything our world offers or values. Blessedness comes from our recognition that God is the center of our universe. Fame and fortune can be gone in an instant but God’s love for us is constant and abiding. As Jeremiah reminds us “Blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, whose hope is the LORD.”

God our Father,

you appeal to us today through your Son

to choose freely and responsibly

the kind of happiness that endures.

Let the gospel of your Son shock us

into recognizing the emptiness and poverty

of material riches and human power

and fill our poverty

with the riches and freedom

of your truth, your love and justice,

which you offer us through Jesus,

your risen Son and our Lord forever.

Amen.

Faith

Faith is not something we have or can keep, for it is not something". As St. Declan once said, "When I say I have attained enlightenment, please do not think there is anything that I have attained." A seeker's faith is not attained, contained, or maintained. It is not a body of beliefs held to unswervingly. It is, rather, a response to and embrace of what is unbelievable; it is a willingness to live in relationship to the Mystery that is beyond our comprehension but which comprehends us. As we move forward along a spiritual path becoming more and more taken with the Presence that stirs within all life, we become transformed, focused, smitten, and committed to continued transformation. Our lives become faith-filled, and we become faithful to the living, dynamic Presence that summons us to live dynamically.

Courage

Courage is the power to let go of the familiar.
- Raymond Linquist

Coeur is the French word for "heart." When we act with courage, we act from our hearts, not our heads alone. We boldly do what feels right.

We may be scared if we're going against the grain, but we have confidence and faith supporting our actions.

Being courageous does not require going into battle, We do not have to be saving someone's life. It takes a lot of courage just to be honest with ourselves and others, to decide to change behaviors, and to leave destructive relationships.

Today I will pray for courage.

One Tiny Light

Imagine that you are in a huge cave 250 feet below the surface of the earth. You're down there with about 40 other souls. The cave is artificially lit, as no daylight ever reaches its interior. Suddenly the lights go out.

The darkness closes in and encases you like a velvet glove. You can't see your hand in front of your face. No one makes a sound. Total darkness. Total silence. Total stillness. You're in the heart of Mother Earth.

Then your guide strikes a tiny match. The thick darkness disappears like magic and your eyes take in a marvelous scene.

The light from that one match illuminates the whole cave quite clearly. You can see everyone there. Amazing!

All it takes to dispel the darkness of that huge, dark cave is just one person's tiny light.

And the old saying “let your light shine” takes on a deeper, “secret” meaning.

You don't have to overwhelm those you meet with your knowledge, wisdom, accomplishments, or connections. Why use a floodlight when an ordinary lantern (or even a candle) will do?

By all means let your light shine, but please: Make it inviting, not blinding!​

Knowledge of the Poor and Needy

Knowledge of the poor and needy is not gained by pouring over books or in discussions with politicians, but by visiting the slums where they live, sitting by the bedside of the dying, feeling the cold they feel and learning from their lips the causes of their woes.

~Blessed Frédéric Ozanam

God Said

 

Parable of Two Apples

Today in one of our classes I introduced the children to two apples (the children didn't know this, but before the class I had repeatedly dropped one of the apples on the floor, you couldn't tell, both apples looked perfect). We talked about the apples and the children described how both apples looked the same; both were red, were of similar size and looked juicy enough to eat.

I picked up the apple I'd dropped on the floor and started to tell the children how I disliked this apple, that I thought it was disgusting, it was a horrible color and the stem was just too short. I told them that because I didn't like it, I didn't want them to like it either, so they should call it names too.

Some children looked at me like I was insane, but we passed the apple around the circle calling it names, 'you're a smelly apple', 'I don't even know why you exist', 'you've probably got worms inside you' etc. We really pulled this poor apple apart. I actually started to feel sorry for the little guy.

We then passed another apple around and started to say kind words to it, 'You're a lovely apple', 'Your skin is beautiful', 'What a beautiful color you are' etc.

I then held up both apples, and again, we talked about the similarities and differences, there was no change, both apples still looked the same.

I then cut the apples open. The apple we'd been kind to was clear, fresh and juicy inside. The apple we'd said unkind words to was bruised and all mushy inside.

I think there was a light bulb moment for the children immediately. They really got it, what we saw inside that apple, the bruises, the mush and the broken bits is what is happening inside every one of us when someone mistreats us with their words or actions.

When people are bullied, especially children, they feel horrible inside and sometimes don't show or tell others how they are feeling. If we hadn't have cut that apple open, we would never have known how much pain we had caused it.

I shared my own experience of suffering someone's unkind words last week. On the outside I looked OK, I was still smiling. But, on the inside someone had caused me a lot of pain with their words and I was hurting.

Unlike an apple, we have the ability to stop this from happening. We can teach children that it's not ok to say unkind things to each other and discuss how it makes others feel. We can teach our children to stand up for each other and to stop any form of bullying, just as one little girl did today when she refused to say unkind words to the apple.

More and more hurt and damage happens inside if nobody does anything to stop the bullying. Let's create a generation of kind, caring children.

The tongue has no bones but is strong enough to break a heart. So be careful with your words.

Source Unknown

5th Sunday in Ordinary Time

The readings today present God’s call to three very reluctant and imperfect people: the prophet Isaiah, the apostle Paul and the disciple Peter. Each man believed himself unworthy to serve the Lord and each one was transformed after personally experiencing the overwhelming grace of God’s forgiveness and acceptance. Three very flawed people heard God’s call and responded.

Just as God called Isaiah, Paul, and Peter, God calls us. At our baptism each of us became a member of the Body of Christ sharing in the mission of the Church given to us by Jesus in Matthew 28:19-20, “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.” When we receive Confirmation, the Holy Spirit gives us the strength we need to “spread and defend the faith by word and action as true witnesses of Christ.” In Eucharist we receive the nourishment we need to be transformed in Christ. Through the sacraments we have everything we need to respond to God’s call “Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?”

Today’s readings remind all of us that no matter how unworthy we feel, we are empowered to minister. Each of us is blessed with the gift of God’s unconditional love. It is that love that gives us the grace to respond to God, “Here I am, send me.”

Holy God of our happiness,

you entrust your Good News of life

to weak and fallible people.

Keep us from discouragement

and give us the strength to speak your message

with the language of our life.

Let Jesus your Son work with us and in us,

that each of us may have the courage to say:

Here I am, Lord,

send me as your messenger

to share your glad tidings of happiness

with all willing to listen.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Amen

Seeking God

Insignificant man, escape from your everyday business for a short while, hide for a moment from your restless thoughts. Break off from your cares and troubles. Make a little time for God and rest a while in him.

Enter into your mind's inner chamber. Shut out everything but God and whatever helps you to seek him; and when you have shut the door, look for him. Speak now to God and say with your whole heart: I seek your face; your face, Lord, I desire.

Lord, my God, teach my heart where and how to seek you, where and how to find you. Lord, if you are everywhere, why do I not see you when you are present? But surely you dwell in "light inaccessible." And where is light inaccessible? How shall I approach light inaccessible? Or who will lead me and bring me into it that I may see you there? I have never seen you, Lord my God; I do not know your face.

Lord most high, what shall this exile do, so far from you? What shall your servant do, tormented by love of you and cast so far from your face? He yearns to see you, and your face is too far from him. He desires to approach you, and your dwelling is unapproachable. He longs to find you, and does not know your dwelling place. He strives to look for you, and does not know your face.

~ St Anselm (1033-1109ad)​

Inner Choice

Often we look at the outside world and find it in a state of seeming chaos or disorder. We feel compelled to transform the situation from one of turmoil into one of peace, yet we are often disappointed in our best attempts to do so. One reason for this is that we cannot bring to the world what we do not have to offer. Peace starts in our own minds and hearts, not outside of ourselves, and until its roots are firmly entrenched in our own selves, we cannot manifest it externally. Once we have found it within, we can share it with our family, our community, and the whole wide world. Some of us may already be doing just that, but for most of us, the first step is looking within and honestly evaluating the state of our own relationship to peacefulness.

Interestingly, people who manifest peace internally are not different from us; they have chattering thoughts and troubled emotions like we all do. The difference is that they do not lend their energy to them, so those thoughts and feelings can simply rise and fall like the waves of the ocean without disturbing the deeper waters of peacefulness within. We all have this ability to choose how we distribute our energy, and practice enables us to grow increasingly more serene as we choose the vibration of peace over the vibration of conflict. We begin to see our thoughts and feelings as tiny objects on the surface of our being that pose no threat to the deep interior stillness that is the source of peacefulness.

When we find that we are able to locate ourselves more and more in the deeper waters and less on the tumultuous surface of our being, we have discovered a lasting relationship with peace that will enable us to inspire peace beyond ourselves. Until then, we help the world most by practicing the art of choosing peace within.

I Pray

I Pray…

That I may depend on You and myself;
That You, Jesus and Your Spirit will fill my emptiness;
That I will ask You for help;
That You will give me a sense of well being;
That You will fill my loneliness;
That I will yearn only for You;
That Your Blessed Sacrament will give me dignity;
That I will solve my own problems with Your guidance;
That I will face myself;
That I will face the responsibilities of life;
That I will face my commitments;
That I will face life's tensions one day at a time;
That I will face myself;
That I will find my security in Your mercy;
That I will know that I am not alone, that You are with me as You said;
That I will turn myself over to Your care and protection;
That I will be available to myself;
That I will recognize my delusions and other's illusions;
That I will intimate with myself;
That I will ask for faith;
That I will know You are with me;
That will know that You will make up for my inadequacies;
That I will understand that I am worth your Son's life;
That I will know I am in Your arms and You will never let me go!