I Am

I was regretting the past and fearing the future

Suddenly, God was speaking,

“My Name is I Am”

He paused. I waited. He Continued.

“When you live in the past, with all its mistakes and regrets,

It is hard. I am not there.

My name is not I was”

“When you live in the future with all its problems and fears,

It is hard. I am not there.

My name is not I will be”

“When you live in this moment,

It is not hard. I am here.

My Name is I Am.”

Hidden Gems

A man was exploring caves by the Seashore. In one of the caves he found a canvas bag with a bunch of hardened clay balls. It was like someone had rolled clay balls and left them out in the sun to bake. They didn't look like much, but they intrigued the man, so he took the bag out of the cave with him. As he strolled along the beach, he would throw the clay balls one at a time out into the ocean as far as he could. He thought little about it, until he dropped one of the clay balls and it cracked open on a rock. Inside was a beautiful, precious stone!

Excited, the man started breaking open the remaining clay balls. Each contained a similar treasure. He found thousands of dollars worth of jewels in the 20 or so clay balls he had left. Then it struck him. He had been on the beach a long time. He had thrown maybe 50 or 60 of the clay balls with their hidden treasure into the ocean waves. Instead of thousands of dollars in treasure, he could have taken home tens of thousands, but he had just thrown it away!

It's like that with people. We look at someone, maybe even ourselves, and we see the external clay vessel. It doesn't look like much from the outside. It isn't always beautiful or sparkling, so we discount it.

We see that person as less important than someone more beautiful or stylish or well known or wealthy. But we have not taken the time to find the treasure hidden inside that person. There is a treasure in each and every one of us. If we take the time to get to know that person, and if we ask God to show us that person the way He sees them, then the clay begins to peel away and the brilliant gem begins to shine forth.

May we not come to the end of our lives and find out that we have thrown away a fortune in friendships because the gems were hidden in bits of clay. May we see the people in our world as God sees them.

A nun walks into Mother Superior’s office and plunks down into a chair. She lets out a sigh heavy with frustration.

“What troubles you, Sister?” asks the Mother Superior. “I thought this was the day you spent with your family.”

“It was,” sighed the Sister. “And I went to play golf with my brother. We try to play golf as often as we can. You know I was quite a talented golfer and was a full scholarship student at the university before I dedicated my life to Christ.”

“I seem to recall that,” the Mother Superior agreed. “So I take it your day of recreation was not relaxing?”

“Far from it,” snorted the Sister. “In fact, I even took the Lord’s name in vain today!”

“Goodness, Sister!” gasped the Mother Superior, astonished. “You must tell me all about it!”

“Well, we were on the fifth tee -- and this hole is a monster, Mother -- 540 yard Par 5, with a nasty dogleg left and a hidden green and I hit the drive of my life. I creamed it. The sweetest swing I ever made. And it’s flying straight and true, right along the line I wanted, and it hits a bird in mid-flight not 100 yards off the tee!”

“Oh my!” commiserated the Mother. “How unfortunate! But surely that didn’t make you blaspheme, Sister!”

“No, that wasn’t it,” admitted Sister. “While I was still trying to fathom what had happened, this squirrel runs out of the woods, grabs my ball and runs off down the fairway!”

“Oh, that would have made me blaspheme!” sympathized Mother.

“But I didn’t, Mother Superior!” sobbed the Sister. “And I was so proud of myself! And while I was pondering whether this was a sign from God, this hawk swoops out of the sky and grabs the squirrel and flies off, with my ball still clutched in his paws!”

“So that’s when you cursed,” said the Mother with a knowing smile.

“Nope, that wasn’t it either,” cried the Sister, anguished, “because as the hawk started to fly out of sight, the squirrel started struggling, and the hawk dropped him right there on the green, and the ball popped out of his paws and rolled to about 18 inches from the cup!”

Mother Superior sat back in her chair, folded her arms across her chest, fixed the Sister with a baleful stare and said “You missed the putt, didn’t you?”

Parachute

A small private plane was flying with three passengers on board: the Pope, a rich businessman, and a boy scout. 

Suddenly, the engine sputtered and stopped altogether. They all rushed to get their parachutes. They were horrified to realize that there were not enough parachutes for all of them. One of them will be left without one. 

The pilot took one, saying, “I have a wife and two kids. They need me.” And off he jumped. 

The businessman, seeing that the boy was holding a parachute, grabbed it away from him, saying, “I am a very important person in this world. I must not die!’ And putting the straps on his shoulders, he quickly jumped out of the plane. 

Only the Pope and the boy were left on the plane. The Pope told the boy, “Son, take the last parachute. I am old and I have no family. I’m ready to leave this world. You are still young and have a great future. Save your life.” 

The boy, with a naughty smile, said, “Don’t worry, Holy Father. There are still two parachutes left. The 'very important man in the world’ just jumped out wearing my knapsack!"

16th Sunday in Ordinary Time

In today’s gospel, Matthew 13:24-43, we have a continuation of last week’s gospel in which we are presented with three new parables comparing the kingdom of heaven to a field planted with wheat and weeds, a mustard seed and yeast. Wheat, weeds, seeds and yeast were common, everyday images for the people listening to Jesus. As I have reflected on these images over the years it occurred to me that with the exception of weeds and yeast many people here in Peachtree City may never have seen a field of wheat or a mustard tree. A number of years ago I tried to come up with a few more relevant images like popping corn or a tweet. They didn’t work very well. However, today as I reread the gospel an entirely new idea smacked me in the face. The kingdom of heaven is like anything that grows and matures. The message is that the kingdom is not static or stagnant. The kingdom of heaven is in constant movement growing, expanding, adjusting just like we are.

On a microcosmic level most of the cells in our bodies are growing and dividing all the time. They don’t stop until we die. We don’t feel or see our cells changing but we know it is happening. And on the macrocosmic level the universe in which we live is constantly expanding. Again, we don’t feel or see the expansion of the universe but we “know” it is happening thanks to Dr Edwin Hubble (and Buzz Lightyear).

So, what does this mean for us? All of us are invited to become citizens of the kingdom. The choice is ours. However, with heavenly citizenship comes responsibility. If yeast is stale, it provides no leavening and so we throw it away. If seeds don’t germinate, nothing grows. It’s the same for us. If we want to be active citizens of the kingdom of heaven, we must nurture the yeast, the seeds and our faith. Last week’s first reading from Isaiah 55:10-11 sums it up: “Thus says the Lord: Just as from the heavens the rain and snow come down and do not return there until they have watered the earth, making it fertile and fruitful, giving seed to the one who sows and bread to the one who eats, so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; my word shall not return to me void, but shall do my will, achieving the end for which I sent it.”

The kingdom of heaven is fulfilling the word of God. This is something we pray for every time we repeat the Our Father, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt 6:9-10). As we go about our daily lives here in Peachtree City, let’s all remember our responsibility to live up to the challenge.

With a love that is both powerful and patient, O God,

you sustain the growth of the good seed your Son has planted. 

 Let your word, like a mustard seed,

bear rich fruit within us,

and like a little yeast,

produce its effects throughout the whole church.

Thus may we dare to hope

that a new humanity will blossom and grow

to shine like the sun in your kingdom

when the Lord of the harvest returns

at the end of the age.

We ask this 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 Humble or You'll Stumble

Lincoln once got caught up in a situation where he wanted to please a politician, so he issued a command to transfer certain regiments. When the secretary of war, Edwin Stanton, received the order, he refused to carry it out. He said that the President was a fool.

Lincoln was told what Stanton had said, and he replied, "If Stanton said I'm a fool, then I must be, for he is nearly always right. I'll see for myself." He did, and when Stanton convinced him the order was in error, Lincoln quietly withdrew it.

Part of Lincoln’s greatness lay in his ability to rise above pettiness, ego, and sensitivity to other people’s opinions. He wasn’t easily offended. He welcomed criticism, and in doing so demonstrated one of the strengths of a truly great person: humility.

So, have you been criticized? Make it a time to learn, not lose.”

~ Patience Johnson

God's Will

God gives us choices – it's God’s will that we should have free choices. Maybe God doesn’t have the same control issues we do. God’s will for us is to make wise and healthy and loving choices. Abundant Grace accompanies the gift of free will. We call that “the power to carry it out”. God still leaves it up to us to accept the Grace and to accept God’s will. The consequence of not accepting the Grace is known as an "unmanageable life."

Loch Ness

An atheist was fishing on Loch Ness when suddenly his boat was attacked by the Loch Ness monster. With an easy flip, the beast tossed his boat high into the air and then opened its huge mouth to catch him. As he sailed into the sky, he cried, “Oh, God! Help me!” At once, the ferocious scene froze! As the atheist hung there in mid-air a booming voice came out of the clouds: “I thought you didn’t believe in Me!” “Come on, God. Give me a break!” pleaded the man. “A minute ago I didn’t believe in the Loch Ness monster either!”

Life

We may never get what we want,
We may never want what we get,
We may never have what we like.
We may never like what we have.

Still we Live and Love.

This is life.

Consider the Fish

When you think you control something, you’re wrong.

It’s amazing how often we think we’re in control of something when really we aren’t.

Control is an illusion, as I’ve said many times before.

We constantly make plans that never actually turn out the way we envisioned. ‘If you want to make God laugh, make a plan,’ an old saying goes….

Consider the fish. A fish swims in a chaotic sea that it cannot possibly control — much as we all do. The fish, unlike us, is under no illusion that it controls the sea, or other fish in the sea. The fish doesn’t even try to control where it ends up — it just swims, either going with the flow or dealing with the flow as it comes. It eats, and hides, and mates, but does not try to control a thing.

We are no better than that fish, yet our thinking creates the need for an illusion.

Let go of that thinking. Learn to be the fish.

- Leo Babauta

Lord,

Take my life and let me live serenely for today.
Open my mind to happy thoughts.
Take away my self-pity, I don’t want it.
Take away my ill will towards others.
Make it possible for me to feel joy, love, and compassion.
Help me to accept what is, to hold my tongue, to do my daily task, and to let go with love.
Take away my worry about the future.
Make me realize that in your hands everything will be provided.
Help me to understand that I have no control over anything but my own actions.
Make me know that today is precious and will soon be gone.
Help me to remember that all hatred and pain directed toward me are the hatred and pain the other person is feeling toward himself.
Thank you for your willingness to accept my burden and lighten my load.

~~ Unknown

15th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Jesus used stories, parables, to explain the kingdom of heaven.  Beginning this Sunday and for the next two Sundays, we will hear Jesus tell several different parables describing the kingdom in common, everyday language using common, everyday images.  Today we have the Parable of the Sower.  Next Sunday we have the Parable of the Man Sowing Good Seed and the Parable of the Mustard Seed.  And on July 26^th we will hear Jesus presenting the Kingdom of Heaven as a treasure hidden in a field, a pearl of great price and a fisherman’s net.  

When the disciples asked Jesus why he spoke in parables, he answered, "Because knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven has been granted to you, but to them it has not been granted.  ... they look but do not see and hear but do not listen or understand" (Matt. 13: 11, 13).   Jesus was not trying to repress or hide the truth.  He says, "Whoever has ears ought to hear" (Matt. 13: 9).  However, many who did look and hear, particularly the orthodox leaders of the day, chose not to see or understand.  They rejected Jesus and threw him out of the synagogues.  So, Jesus took his message to the people.  He preached wherever people gathered, in market places, town squares, by the sea, in the fields and in people's homes.  He brought a message of hope, telling stories in language he knew they would understand with concrete examples from their daily lives: farming, fishing, commerce, cooking and relationships.

No matter what imagery he used, Jesus' message was consistent, "The kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matt. 10: 7).  The kingdom is here, present, now and it is open to you.  Turn your lives around and follow me.  For the disciples, the devout followers and those of us who did and do open our eyes to see, our ears to hear and our hearts to understand, Jesus offers a blessing:  “blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear.  Amen, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it” (Matt.13: 16 -17).   When our eyes, ears and hearts are open to understand Jesus' message, when we accept the message and when we incorporate that message into the way we live, Jesus becomes a living presence in our world. 

God of the heavens,
God of the earth,
all creation awaits your gift of new life.
Prepare our hearts to receive the word of your Son,
that we may hear it, understand it,
and bear fruit a hundredfold.
We ask this 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.

 

Miracles

 

Which Road?

One day Alice came to a fork in the road and saw a Cheshire cat in a tree.

"Which road do I take?" she asked.

"Where do you want to go?" was his response.

"I don't know," Alice answered.

"Then," said the cat, "it doesn't matter."

Lewis Carroll, From Alice in Wonderland

Who Will You be Tomorrow?

One man sat at a stop light. The woman in front of him was going through papers on the seat of her car, and when the light changed to green she didn't go. A green light is not a suggestion, you know, it is more of a commandment. But she didn't notice.

When the light turned red again, she still had not moved. The man in the car behind her now started screaming epithets and beating on his steering wheel.

A policeman tapped on his windshield. "You can't arrest me for hollering in my car," the man said. The cop asked for his license and registration, returned to his car, talked on the radio for awhile, and finally handed the papers back. The driver protested, "I knew you couldn't cite me for yelling in my own car!"

The officer replied, "I didn't want to cite you for shouting in your car. But I was directly behind you at the light. I saw you screaming and beating your steering wheel, and I said to myself, 'That man is out of control. He's going to hurt someone!' Then I noticed the cross hanging from your rear view mirror, the bright yellow 'Love Is a Choice' license tag, the 'Give Peace a Chance' and 'Prayer Changes Things' bumper stickers, and I was sure you must have stolen the car."

His behavior did not reflect his bumper stickers. But let's not be too critical. Are we always the people we want to be?

We make changes by stretching. Personal transformation can happen when the person we presently are does not yet resemble the person we hope to be. Better to set high ideals and occasionally fall short than to settle for mediocrity and succeed.

The important question is not, "Who are you today?" It is better to ask, "Who will you be tomorrow?"

Remember: if nothing ever changed, there'd be no butterflies.

An old mystic said this about himself: "I was a revolutionary when I was young, and my prayer to God was, 'Lord, give me the strength to change the world.' As I approached middle age and realized that my life was halfway gone without changing a single soul, I changed my prayer to, 'Lord, give me the grace to change all those who come into contact with me, especially my family and friends, and I shall be satisfied.' Now that I am an old man, and my days are numbered, I have begun to see how foolish I have been. Now my one prayer is this, 'Lord, give me the grace to change myself.' If I had prayed that right from the start, I would not have wasted my life."

We can waste years trying to change other people. But we can only really change one person -- ourselves. In the end, that is probably enough.

14th Sunday in Ordinary Time - 250th Independence Day

On July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress passed the Declaration of Independence.  Anticipating the event, John Adams wrote to his wife, Abigail, this “will be the most memorable epocha in the history of America.  I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival.  It ought to be commemorated as the Day of Deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty.  It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other from this time forward forever more.”  And, 250 years later we continue to commemorate this “great anniversary festival” celebrating a country founded on Christian principles and inspired by Divine Providence. 

In our first reading today from Zechariah 9: 9 – 10, the Prophet celebrates another day of liberation; the day the Messiah arrives.   On this day, there is no pomp or show of force.  The symbols of power will be banished. The Kingdom of Heaven is announced by a “meek” and “just savior” who proclaims “peace to the nations.”  His dominion stretches from “sea to sea” and “to the ends of the earth.”  And, approximately 2534 years after this prophecy was made, we still live in faith and hope that it will be fulfilled. 

Jesus tells us in today’s gospel, Matthew 11: 25 – 30, that citizenship in the Kingdom of Heaven does not depend on being “wise or learned.”  Rather, citizenship in the Kingdom of Heaven comes to people who learn from Jesus and imitate him.  It comes to people who are “meek and humble of heart,” those whose minds are open and accepting like little children.  The Kingdom of Heaven is open to the people who take on the yoke of Jesus

The message today is that Jesus brings us freedom.  Not freedom from an oppressive government like that which John Adams and our other founding fathers sought, but freedom from the tyranny of sin, freedom from the burdens of everyday life, and, ultimately freedom from the fear of death.  This freedom offered to us does come at a price, the price of obedience to the Word of God.  St. Peter wrote, “Be free, yet without using freedom as a pretext for evil, but as slaves of God. Give honor to all, love the community, fear God, honor the king,” for “He himself bore our sins in his body upon the cross, so that, free from sin, we might live for righteousness” (1 Peter 2: 16, 24). 

As we celebrate our 205th Independence Day, remember to give thanks for our secular and spiritual freedom and pray that the Kingdom of Heaven will be revealed in our lives. 

Gracious and loving God,

let your Spirit be with us today.

Hear our prayers,

and increase in us the will to follow your Son Jesus.

Help us to draw on the resources of our faith

as we use the opportunities of our democracy

to shape a society more respectful of the life, dignity,

and rights of the human person, especially the poor and vulnerable.

We ask this through Jesus Christ, your Son,

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

one God forever and ever.

Amen.

Laughter

 

“The most wasted day is that in which we have not laughed.” – Chamfort

When we are adrift and fixated with this world, we take ourselves very seriously and often lose contact with reality. We become lost in fantasy and obsession. Life becomes joyless because we can't see beyond our possessions, and we find no real satisfaction there. We lose touch with the joy and humor of life, and we find that everything around us and inside us is grim and dark.

One of the many positive signs of our return to health and sanity is our recovery of the gift of laughter. Each day as we gain more energy and zest of life, we move in to the world and find many things that are humorous, in ourselves and in other people. We laugh and find we are no longer alone.

Laughter is the mark of a healthy, happy human being. Laughter shows that we are truly a part of the human community. It is a sign that we are alive and on the way to a healthy spiritual life.

Let us be glad when we can laugh and feel in touch with ourselves and others.

Independence Day

The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival, with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forevermore. You will think me transported with enthusiasm, but I am not. I am well aware of the toil and blood and treasure that it will cost us to maintain this Declaration and support and defend these States. Yet, through all the gloom, I can see the rays of ravishing light and glory.

~John Adams, letter to wife Abigail, 1776 July 3, Philadelphia

The most patriotic man, ladies and gentlemen, is sometimes the man who goes in the direction that he thinks right even when he sees half the world against him. It is the dictate of patriotism to sacrifice yourself if you think that that is the path of honor and of duty. Do not blame others if they do not agree with you. Do not die with bitterness in your heart because you did not convince the rest of the world, but die happy because you believe that you tried to serve your country by not selling your soul. Those were grim days, the days of 1776. Those gentlemen did not attach their names to the Declaration of Independence on this table expecting a holiday on the next day, and that 4th of July was not itself a holiday. They attached their signatures to that significant document knowing that if they failed it was certain that every one of them would hang for the failure. They were committing treason in the interest of the liberty of 3,000,000 people in America. All the rest of the world was against them and smiled with cynical incredulity at the audacious undertaking. Do you think that if they could see this great Nation now they would regret anything that they then did to draw the gaze of a hostile world upon them? Every idea must be started by somebody, and it is a lonely thing to start anything. Yet if it is in you, you must start it if you have a man's blood in you and if you love the country that you profess to be working for.

Have you ever read the Declaration of Independence? If you have, you will know that it is not a Fourth of July oration. The Declaration of Independence was a document preliminary to war. It was a vital piece of practical business, not a piece of rhetoric; and if you will pass beyond those preliminary passages which we are accustomed to quote about the rights of men and read into the heart of the document you will see that it is very express and detailed, that it consists of a series of definite specifications concerning actual public business of the day. Not the business of our day, for the matter with which it deals is past, but the business of that first revolution by which the Nation was set up, the business of 1776. Its general statements, its general declarations can not mean anything to us unless we append to it a similar specific body of particulars as to what we consider the essential business of our own day. Liberty does not consist, my fellow citizens, in mere general declarations of the rights of man. It consists in the translation of those declarations into definite action. Therefore... reading its business-like sentences, we ought to ask ourselves what there is in it for us. There is nothing in it for us unless we can translate it into the terms of our own conditions and of our own lives.... The task to which we have constantly to readdress ourselves is the task of proving that we are worthy of the men who drew this great declaration and know what they would have done in our circumstances. Patriotism consists in some very practical things—practical in that they belong to the life of every day, that they wear no extraordinary distinction about them, that they are connected with commonplace duty.

~Woodrow Wilson, Presidential Address at Independence Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1914 July 4

"So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania! Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado! Let freedom ring from the curvaceous peaks of California! But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia! Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee! Let freedom ring from every hill and every molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring."

~Martin Luther King Jr.

Happy Birthday, America!

July 2 - St. Otto

On July 2, the Church celebrates the life and work of St. Otto. He was born in 1060 in Swabia, and died on June 30, 1139. He was the Bishop of Bamberg, an indefatigable evengelizer, and the apostle of the Pomeranians.

He was born of noble rank and ordained a priest sometime before the age of 30. He joined the service of Emperor Henry IV in  1090 and became his chancellor in 1101. He served Henry IV and his successor, Henry V, loyally, but he disaproved of the latter’s disgraceful treatment of Pope Paschal.

Otto was consecrated a bishop on May 13, 1106, and set to work founding new monasteries, reforming existing ones, building schools and churches, and completing the construction of the cathedral.  He lived a poor and simple life, and was called the “Father of the monks” for the concern he showed toward religious orders.

In 1122 Otto was commissioned by the Polish Duke Boleslaw III to convert Pomerania to Christianity, and he set about this mission in 1124. He traveled across Pomerania twice, and won over the people with his holiness, quiet generosity, and gentle, inspiring sermons.

The conversion of Pomerania was his greatest apostolic work. He baptized over 22,000 people and established 11 churches. Many miracles were attributed to him throughout his two journeys, and many more after his death.

Kind Words