Staying Awake

  "Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life." Lk 21:34

With Thanksgiving just past, the notion of a drowsy heart is not difficult to comprehend. Late on Thanksgiving afternoon, most of us grow tired from all the feasting and talking. Some even sneak away for a nap. The combination of reconnecting with family and friends, and overeating make us drowsy, even in heart. Jesus warns us about this.

While Thanksgiving is a convenient way to understand Jesus' caution about carousing and drunkenness, it is not the best of examples. Thanksgiving happens once a year, and Jesus is warning us about an insidious attitude of entitlement. When we are full of food, ourselves, comfortableness, even family, we can take our blessings for granted, and forget our dependence on God for life itself and all its gifts.

As another liturgical year ends, the church asks us to recommit ourselves to a life of faith and service, thereby demonstrating to the world that God is still alive within and among us.

Today, breathe deeply and thank God for the gift of life.

What circumstances cause you to have a drowsy heart?

Preaching with Our Lives

  "How can they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how can they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone to preach? And how can people preach unless they are sent?" Rom 10: 14-15

Too often we reduce the ministry of preaching to the ordained or those specially trained to proclaim and interpret God's Word for retreats and day of prayer, and people who preach the word formally ought to be well trained. There should be no doubt of this in the United States. More than any other aspect of church life, poor preaching is cited as the primary reason that people stop attending church on Sunday's. Close behind preaching is a lack of warmth and welcome in our parishes, and this is the "preaching" that we should look at very closely as foundational to the ministry of Jesus.

At the same time, most people are not called to preach the Word of God formally, but all are called to "preach" with their lives. When we spend our time, talent and treasure for others, we preach loudly about our values, and often people ask about this. Why, they say, do Bill or Barbara, Juan or Minh spend so much time volunteering in soup kitchens, hospitals or homeless shelters? And the answer is faith. Because Jesus sends us to feed the hungry, clothe the naked and visit the sick and imprisoned, we preach when we offer anyone solace, comfort, food or drink, and we should never underestimate the value and power of these actions. If all we do is preach the word formally, but fail to live the Gospel, the faith will be empty and shallow.

Today, do something simple for God.

What keeps us from "getting dirty" in our efforts to proclaim the Gospel?

Making Space for God's Word

   "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” Lk 21:33

Not infrequently, even after more than 55 years of preaching God's word, I will stumble upon a scripture passage that strikes me in a new and powerful way. Even though I have read the passage many times, a word or a phrase that I did not focus on or sit with jumps off the page and challenges me to pause, to read it again, and be grateful.

Recently, I read the words, "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest, says the Lord." Jesus does not promise us freedom from grief and an instant healing, he only promises us a moment of rest. We need to hear this and be grateful. Jesus does not pluck us out of life as it unfolds, but walks with us through every trial and joy. Is that enough?

Today, offer someone a moment of rest by listening to them without interruption.

Who has made a space for you that allowed you to rest and reflect?

Thanksgiving 2024

   "Ten were cleansed, were they not? Where are the other nine? Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?" Lk 17:18

The feast of Thanksgiving is a time to return to the God who has so often healed us, to pause and remember all those who God has given us as companions in faith, who have accepted our faults and lifted up our strengths.  Honestly, if any of us began to name all of these people today, the list would stretch around the world. Today let us sing alleluia for friends and enemies who showed us God's face even when we were distracted by self absorption or lost in self pity.

We also thank God today for allowing us to play a small role in the healing of others.  Broken families, shattered marriages, lonely teenagers, desperate older people and the mentally ill, to name just a few, have all been given to us as gifts. Most of the time the only thing we had to give others was time itself, and to our surprise, that was more than enough. Those we have served have given us more than we could ever give them.

Today, find a quiet place to breathe in gratitude for all God has given you and breathe out hope to those who find life an overwhelming burden.

Who or what forces you to your needs in gratitude?

Letting the Spirit Guide You

  "Remember, you are not to prepare your defense beforehand, for I myself shall give you a wisdom in speaking." Lk 21:14

Jesus makes a pretty big promise to his disciples, assuring them, even though they lack education or in many cases the ability to read of write, that the Holy Spirit will teach them what to say. While this might be the occasion for some of us to think we don't have to prepare a homily or a presentation on faith, there is no basis for this kind of thinking. Jesus is referring to those times when we are attacked unexpectedly and without provocation, not to the ordinary diligence we need to use to present our faith clearly and with passion.

Rather, the Lord wants us to trust in the Spirit of God to guide, direct, and challenge us everyday, and to realize that this is an essential dimension of our faith and its practice. Without this trust, we can only rely on ourselves or expert opinion, and no matter how knowledgeable we or our advisors might be, our insight will be insufficient.

Today, consciously commit yourself to the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Have you experienced the Holy Spirit's strength and direction in your life?

End Times

 "When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified." Lk 21:9

We are always looking for signs. Is there a red sky in the morning? Will it be a rainy day? Iranians threaten to develop nuclear arms. Will there be another war in the middle east? The stock market passes 16000. Will the country finally be able to produce new jobs? Many people work very hard at reading these signs and as often as not there are so many variables that their prognostications are worthless, but we don't stop trying. We want to know in order to control life and in the end our efforts are fruitless.

While all of us must be diligent and caring about creation and our relationships in Christ, trying to control them like toys in a game not only does not work, it is wrong. Life belongs to God and the church challenges us to work hard and then let go into God's hands, trusting that like a Father he will watch over his children, guide them and show them the path to life.

Today, accept your sinfulness and wait for God.

What about life do you most try to control?

Generous Widows

   "I tell you truly, this poor widow put in more than all the rest; for those others have all made offerings from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has offered her whole livelihood." Lk 21:4

Widows were in real danger in the world of Jesus. They rarely owned property, were often illiterate and had to rely on their eldest son for sustenance and a place to live. The widow in today's Gospel ignores these dangers. More intent on giving God her whole self, she offers everything she has to the Temple and God. Her generosity never fails to impress us. I wonder if anyone at the time, besides Jesus, even noticed.

There are so many people in our world who follow the Gospel not to be noticed but to give God all they have. Their example of selflessness challenges us not to worry so much about our security, but to trust that God will never abandon us even when we have nothing.

Today, give someone of your substance and do not count the cost.

What keeps you from being more generous with your time or resources?