Good Trade

1st Sunday of Lent

For many of us the 40 days of Lent take on all the characteristics of preparation for an Olympic marathon. We approach Lent with motivation and gusto, ready to embrace the strict discipline required to finish the race to Easter Sunday. We strengthen our will power and determination by giving things up and fasting. Some of us build our spiritual stamina by attending daily mass. Others set spiritual goals - I will pray more and read scripture everyday; I will go to confession and perform works of charity every week. Lent is a time for us to sharpen our spiritual skills and develop some good Christian habits and routines. But Lent is so much more than simply developing good Christian routines.

The 40 days of Lent provide us with time and space for spiritual growth and development. Lent is not a race. It is a retreat in the midst of life. Lent invites us to slow down, to evaluate our relationship with God, to identify and then turn away from the things that separate us from God (selfishness, greed, materialism, desire for power) and to rebuild our relationship with God.

During Lent, Jesus invites us to go into the dessert with him to confront our human weakness. Through our prayer, fasting and acts of charity, God our Father offers us the grace to make Jesus the center of our lives, to overcome the power of temptation and sin, and to assure our proper place in the kingdom of heaven.

God our Father,

in the desert your Son Jesus struggled forty days

with the demands of his mission,

and he overcame all temptations.

In these forty days of Lent

convert us; turn our hearts

to the peace of your forgiveness,

the light of your love,

your concern for people.

Let us find the life and the joy

which Jesus brings us,

and dispose us to share it with others.

We ask this in the name of Jesus the Lord. 

Amen.

Eggs

A lady asks: "How much do you sell your eggs for?"

The old vendor replies "50¢ an egg, madam.” The lady says, “I'll take 6 eggs for $2.50 or I'm leaving.”

The old salesman replies “Buy them at the price you want, Madam. This is a good start for me because I haven't sold a single egg today and I need this to live.”

She bought her eggs at a bargain price and left with the feeling that she had won.

She got into her fancy car and went to a fancy restaurant with her friend. She and her friend ordered what they wanted. They ate a little and left a lot of what they had asked for.

They paid the bill, which was $150. The ladies gave $200 and told the fancy restaurant owner to keep the change as a tip...

This story might seem quite normal to the owner of the fancy restaurant, but very unfair to the egg seller...

The question it raises:

Why do we always need to show that we have power when we buy from the needy?

And why are we generous to those who don't even need our generosity?

I once read this somewhere ,that a father used to buy goods from poor people at high prices, even though he didn't need the things. Sometimes he paid more for them.

I was amazed. One day his son asked him "Why are you doing this Dad?" His father replied: "It's charity wrapped in dignity, son.

The story is told of an elderly couple who lived together in a nursing home. Though they had been married for 60 years, their relationship was filled with constant arguments, disagreements, and shouting contests. The fights didn't stop even in the nursing home. In fact, the couple argued and squabbled from the time they got up in the morning until they fell in bed at night.

It became so bad that the nursing home threatened to throw them out if they didn't change their ways. Even then, the couple couldn't agree on what to do.

Finally, the wife said to her husband: "I'll tell you what, Joe, let's pray that one of us dies. And after the funeral is over, I'll go live with my sister.

Anxiety

Do not let anxiety sabotage

your search for God.

You know well that when

you search for something too anxiously

you can come upon it a hundred times

without ever seeing it.

Anxiety masquerades as true spiritual energy,

even as it wearies out mind,

drains our enthusiasm,

and deadens our soul.

It pretends to stir up our soul,

but all it does is dampen our spirit.

It pushes us until we stumble over our own feet.

We need to be on the watch for this impostor

that would have us believing

that our spiritual life

depends completely on our efforts,

so that the more panicked we are,

the more anxiously we search,

the more likely we are to find God.

Let God do his part.

Be patient.

Not even our best efforts

can earn the blessings of God.

Our role is to be ready

to receive God’s gifts

with an open heart -

carefully, humbly, and serenely.

Set Your Heart Free -

The Practical Spirituality

of Francis de Sales

by John Kirvan

Before you ...

 

I Came to Church Today

Hello God, I came to church today

To talk a little while
I need a friend who'll listen
To my anxiety and trial.

You see, I can't quite make it
Through a day just on my own
I need your love to guide me,
So I'll never feel alone.

I want to ask you please to keep,
My family safe and sound.
Come and fill their lives with confidence
For whatever fate they're bound.

Give me faith, dear God, to face
Each hour throughout the day,
And not to worry over things
I can't change in any way.

I thank You God, for being here
And listening to my call,
For giving me such good advice
When I stumble and fall!

Your true presence, God, is the only one
That answers every time.
I never get a busy signal,
because I know your are mine.

So thank you, God, for listening
To my troubles and my sorrow.
Thank you God for loving me
and dying for all my tomorrows.

Judged on Love

 

Love is a Great Thing

Love is a great thing, yea, a great and thorough good. By itself it makes that is heavy light; and it bears evenly all that is uneven.

It carries a burden which is no burden; it will not be kept back by anything low and mean; it desires to be free from all worldly affections, and not to be entangled by any outward prosperity, or by any adversity subdued.

Love feels no burden, thinks nothing of trouble, attempts what is above its strength, pleads no excuse of impossibility. It is therefore able to undertake all things, and it completes many things, and warrants them to take effect, where he who does not love would faint and lie down.

Though weary, it is not tired; though pressed it is not straitened; though alarmed, it is not confounded; but as a living flame it forces itself upwards and securely passes through all.

Love is active and sincere, courageous, patient, faithful, and prudent.
~ Thomas à Kempis

6th Sunday in Ordinary Time

As I reflected on our readings for today, the final line of the second reading, “For the Spirit scrutinizes everything, even the depths of God” (1 Cor 2: 10), resonated with me. It reminded me of a quotation that the psychiatrist Carl Justav Jung had inscribed over the front door of his house and on his tomb, VOCATUS ATQUE NON VOCATUS DEUS ADERIT. Bidden or not bidden God is present. The author of Sirach in our first reading says something similar, “Immense is the wisdom of the Lord; he is mighty in power, and all-seeing. The eyes of God are on those who fear him; he understands man's every deed” (Sir 15:18-19).

The themes of today’s readings are freedom and the law. The author of Sirach reminds us that, “God in the beginning created human beings and made them subject to their own free choice (Sir 15: 14). HOWEVER, no matter how much freedom of choice we have, we are still subject to rules, regulations, laws, statutes and our social and cultural norms. 

The kingdom of heaven has laws too. They are the Ten Commandments and the Laws of Moses found in the first five books of the Old Testament. In today's gospel, Matthew 5: 17 - 37, Jesus tells his disciples and he tells us that he came to fulfill the law and the words of the prophets. He proposes a new order, a new way of looking at the world built on what came before. His fulfillment of the law set a new standard. In the kingdom of heaven, it is not good enough for us to observe the letter of the law like the scribes and Pharisees. Jesus asks us to embrace the Spirit of the law, to look beyond the actual words and internalize the values that underpin the law. 

Jesus defined the Spirit of the law in Matthew 22: 36 – 40 when he told an ambitious young Pharisee “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.” 

If we embrace the idea that no matter what we are doing or where we are, God is present and that God understands our “every deed,” and that “the Spirit scrutinizes everything,” then we should be motivated to behave accordingly. Imagine what our world would look like if everything we did was defined by our love of God and love of neighbor. Then, truly, we will live in the Kingdom of God.

Lord God, loving father, 

In your Son Jesus, you have shown us 

how we should seek and fulfill your loving will. 

Help us respond to your love from the depths of our hearts 

and to be faithful to you in all that we do. 

Reconcile us to one another. 

Make us respectful of one another 

and attentive to the needs of people, 

even when they remain indifferent and thankless. 

Show us the way to bring your love and mercy to our world. 

We ask this through Christ our Lord. 

Amen

Blessed

Blessed are those who can laugh at themselves:
     they will have no end of fun.

Blessed are those who can tell a mountain from a molehill:
     they will be saved a lot of bother.

Blessed are those who know how to relax without looking for excuses:
     they are on the way to becoming wise.

Blessed are those who know when to be quiet and listen:
     they will learn a lot of new things.

Blessed are those who think before acting and pray before thinking:
     they will avoid many blunders.

Happy are you when you can take small things seriously and face serious things calmly:

     you will go far in life.

Happy are you if you can appreciate a smile and forget a frown:
     you will walk on the sunny side of the street.

Happy are you if you can be kind in understanding the attitudes of others, even when the signs are unfavorable:
     you may be taken for a fool, but this is the price of charity.

Happy are you if you know how to hold your tongue and smile, even when the people interrupt and contradict you or tread on your toes:
     the gospel has begun to seep into your heart.

Above all...

Blessed are you when you recognize the Lord in all whom you meet:
     the light of truth shines in your life and you have found true wisdom.

5th Sunday in Ordinary Time

In addition to being the 5th Sunday of our liturgical year, today is Super Bowl Sunday. Practically everyone I know is planning some activity around watching the Super Bowl tonight. There will be parties and barbeques (if it isn’t too cold). I imagine some people even went out and bought new TVs for the event – I know the TV manufacturers encouraged it. What I like best about the Super Bowl are the commercials. I don’t know much about American football, but I know a good ad when I see one. I suppose at eight million dollars for 30 seconds, advertisers should produce something worth watching. So, for several magic hours we will be inundated with car, tire, clothing, beer and other commercials. They will imply that we will be cool, smart, bold, safe or lovable with their particular products. None of these ads will encourage us to be better people, good examples for others, merciful, just, gracious or steadfast. What a pity.

Unlike the hype of the Super Bowl, our scripture readings today encourage us to reach beyond the glitz and glamour of our secular world, and be salt of the earth and light of the world. How ordinary! Salt is so common and yet so essential. Imagine a Super Bowl party without salted food. Today as in the time of Jesus salt is used for flavoring, preserving and healing. We need salt. And we need to be like salt – flavoring our world with kindness, compassion and faith.

We take light for granted. However, without light nothing would grow and our world would perish. Try to imagine living in a world of darkness. Jesus told his disciples and he tells us that the most valuable light is inner light – the light that shines from us. And he tells us that our “light must shine before others, that they may see [our] good deeds and glorify [our] heavenly Father."

In today’s first reading, Isaiah 58: 7 – 10, the prophet tells us how to become salt and light for our world. When we share our food with hungry people, provide shelter for those who are oppressed and homeless; provide clothing to those who have none and take care of the people in our communities, then, Isaiah tells us, our “light shall break forth like the dawn,” and our “vindication shall go before [us], and the glory of the LORD shall be [our] rear guard.” So, in addition to praying for the Atlanta Falcons, perhaps we should ask Jesus to kindle His light in us so that our light will rise in the darkness.

O God of justice,

you have called your Church

to be the salt of the earth

and the light for the world.

Let the light of your own justice

shine in our lives,

that all may see our good works

and give you the praise and the glory.

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.

Let Go and Let God

 

Late Have I Loved You

 “Late have I loved you, beauty so old and so new: late have I loved you. And see, you were within and I was in the external world and sought you there, and in my unlovely state I plunged into those lovely created things which you made. You were with me, and I was not with you. The lovely things kept me far from you, though if they did not have their existence in you, they had no existence at all. You called and cried out loud and shattered my deafness. You were radiant and resplendent, you put to flight my blindness. You were fragrant, and I drew in my breath and now pant after you. I tasted you, and I feel but hunger and thirst for you. You touched me, and I am set on fire to attain the peace which is yours.”

~ St. Augustine of Hippo, Confessions

Take Care of Yourself

 

Prayer for Hearing

“What’s wrong, Paddy?” asked the priest.

“I need you to pray for my hearing,” said Paddy.

The priest put his hands on Paddy's ears and prayed. When he was done, he asked, “So how’s your hearing?”

“I don’t know,” said Paddy. “It isn’t until next Tuesday.”​

When Things Go Wrong

“If you spend your whole life waiting for the storm, you’ll never enjoy the sunshine.”
~Morris West

Today I watched Finding Nemo, one of my absolute favorite Disney movies. When Dory and Marlin are searching for his lost son Nemo and it seems like they’re doomed to fail, Marlin says, “I promised I’d never let anything happen to him.”

Dory responds, “Hmm. That’s a funny thing to promise. You can’t never let anything happen to him. Then nothing would ever happen to him. Not much fun for little Harpo.”

As someone who has often worried about people I love, I find this incredibly insightful. The truth is we never can know for certain when a storm is coming. We can’t fully protect ourselves or the people we love from hardship.

What we can do is choose not to cause ourselves pain by shutting down, fearing everything that might go wrong. When we hide from the worst that could possibly happen, we also close ourselves off from the best.

Today if you’re feeling fearful about things that might go wrong tomorrow, come back to the present and recognize things that are going right today.

There’s a lot of sunshine to enjoy in life, but we can only appreciate it if we’re willing to be firmly rooted in the here and now.