Blessed are the Meek

 "Blessed are the poor in Spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven." Mt 5:2

Something very new and very old is happening in the fifth chapter of Matthew's Gospel. While not abrogating the commandments as we know them, Jesus offers his followers a new way to fulfill them. Blessed are the poor, he commands, and those who mourn, who are meek and merciful, and are peacemakers.

While it will always be important to honor the one God, to keep the Sabbath, to honor our parents, and not to covet another’s wife or goods, how we live these values becomes central to the Christian life. No longer can we honor only those from our tribe or the keepers of the covenant. Now we have to be alert to those whose lives have been heavy with sorrow and grief, but who continue to remember not to exalt themselves, and live simply for the sake of God's reign.

Simple gestures, like sitting down when someone wants to speak with us, might not have the power of Jesus who sat in order to let his followers know that what he was about to say was important, but our willingness to stop and listen will assure those with whom we are talking that they are important. Isn't this what Jesus did all the time?

Today, ask yourself how expansive your love really is.

Who has made your feel important and how did they do this?

St John Bosco

 "A prophet is not without honor, except in his native place." Mk 6:5

When when St. John Bosco was only nine years old, he had a dream in which he rushed into a group of children who were cursing and tried to stop their misbehavior by fighting with them. Failing to help them he look up and saw a man clothed in white who told him that the only way to change the children was through kindness and gentleness. John resisted the message for a long as he could, but the dreams kept coming.

Though many told him to ignore his dreams and others tried to have him committed to an institution for the mentally ill, John listened and began to develop skills like juggling and and magic in order to draw young troubled young boys to God. Kindness and gentleness, he learned, were much more effective than harsh words. Eventually, his dreams, confirmed by Pope Pius IX, led him to found the Salesians who continue to minister to wayward boys all over the world.

Today, listen to your dreams.

Have you had dreams that shaped your life?

Mustard Seeds

  "The Kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a person took and sowed in a field. It is the smallest of all the seeds, yet when full-grown it is the largest of plants. It becomes a large bush,and the 'birds of the sky come and dwell in its branches.'" Mt 13: 31-32

Jesus continually surprises his disciples. Just as they get comfortable with the direction he is taking, he turns a corner and turns their world upside down, telling them that God's reign is like a mustard seed. When someone from the crowd, exultant and full of himself, proclaims that he will follow Jesus anywhere, Jesus reminds him that he has no place to lay his head. Is the fellow from the crowd willing to become a nomad and follow Jesus into the wilderness? Challenge after challenge faces the Apostles and disciples.

In claiming his identity as a pilgrim and an itinerant preacher, Jesus promises us that like the God of the Hebrew scriptures he will follow his flock anywhere and everywhere. Though he makes few demands, he is always imploring us to live like him, without family or wealth, but full of hope and compassion. God will guide us and care for us, he insists, but we have to trust. The emptiness of having nothing in Christ is a fullness beyond compare. Clinging to nothing, we have everything. The faith to believe this is the test we all face.

Today, empty yourself of everything that gets in the way of loving God and neighbor.

Have you known the glory of feeling rich even when you have nothing?

Be a Light

  "Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket." Mt 5:14

The gospel today reminds us that we are salt and light, people who are supposed to bring flavor, perseverance, healing and hope to the world. Especially when we gahter with others in faith who are trying to be light in the world we are reminded that God continues to do God's work even in a church as hurt and broken as ours.

Being a light in the world is simple, but often difficult. It means discerning when to speak or be quiet in difficult circumstances. It means doing the right thing even when it is unpopular. It means remembering that it is not our own light but Christ's that we put on the mountain top so that all can see.

Today, be a light to others.

What or who brings the light of Christ into your life?

St Thomas Aquinas

 "Christ is mediator of a new Covenant." Heb 9:15

No one in the history of the Christian west has been more influential in shaping theological thought than Thomas Aquinas. A prolific writer whose works include the Summa Theologica, his thought also helped Christians probe the wisdom of the Greek philosophers, especially Aristotle, as a path to new insights about the Gospels.

There is a wonderful lesson in Thomas' willingness to study Aristotle for all of us. As the 21st century unfolds we need to find new and probing ways of helping the Gospel live in this age, and while the wisdom of the past will always be an aid in this regard, it must be supplemented by tools contemporary believers recognize and use. How the Internet and other social media will open up paths to a new Evangelization is still to be seen, but surely needed.

Today, be wise. Say nothing. Just listen.

What thinker or social media has helped you enter the Gospel message more deeply?

We are all God's Children

  "Who are my mother and my brothers?" Lk 3:33

We are the family of Jesus. It is that simple and that clear. It is also important. While some might be unnerved when Jesus stretches his followers to think of anyone who listens to and tries to live God's word as his family, it is not a rejection of his own family.

Jesus loved his mother and family deeply. That he wanted everyone listening to him with an open heart to see themselves as his brothers and sisters did not diminish his respect for and love of his immediate family, but was a way to break down the artificial and unnecessary barriers between and among people.

Jesus' love for all people is a lesson for us. We are called to love everyone as He did. We are not free to reject anyone for reasons of race, religion, culture or ethnicity. While it is obvious that there are some people who will be more difficult to love than others, if we want to call ourselves Christians, we must put aside every prejudice to love as Jesus did.

Today, love someone to whom you are not attracted.

What kind of people are most difficult for you to love?

Saints Timothy and Titus

  "I yearn to see you again, recalling your tears, so that I may be filled with joy." 2 Tim 1:4

St Paul's affection and love for Timothy is one of the few instances in the New Testament that allow us to experience the passion present in the first disciples. Paul reminds Timothy that his mother and grandmother were filled with faith and that he can rely on them as examples for his own faith growth

Seeing old friends, especially those who strive to live an integrated faith, is always a joy. While some may have abandoned the practice of the faith, many others have deepened their commitment by daily prayer, reading and reflection, and in all of this, they fill us with joy and hope.

Joy is an important virtue. When people encounter believers whose joy is transparent and authentic, they cannot not be impressed and attracted to the One who gives us joy and proclaims through us the freedom of the sons and daughters of God.

Today, seek out an old friend and share your faith and joy.

Who or what brings you joy and hope?

Fishers of People

    “'Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.' Then they left their nets and followed him." Mk 1:17

Reading about the call of the disciples, it is natural to wonder if Jesus knew any of the men before inviting them to follow him. Did he notice something in them that would help announce the great salvific message of his Father? Did he know their families? Did he call them because he noticed them listening intently to him when he preached.

We know none of the answers to these questions, but we do know that the apostles followed him immediately, and this knowledge is startling. What made Jesus' fist disciples leave everything so readily and quickly? They had families and reasonably good jobs, but something in Jesus made them look past what they had to the one calling them, and they could not resist. The readiness of the apostles to follow Jesus without questions is a major focus of the story for us.

The simplicity of the Gospel has not changed. Neither has its difficulty. Our task is to live its message of hope, transformation and submission to God with integrity and honesty. Admitting our dependence on God and being willing to serve others in his name remains a powerful invitation to anyone looking for a God who will never stop loving and challenging them.

Today, listen for the voice of the Lord in your life and follow it unreservedly.

Have you ever followed someone immediately without really knowing much about them?

Not Blaming Others

  "When his relatives heard of this they set out to seize him, for they said, 'He is out of his mind.'” Mk 3:21

We are often tempted to blame behaviors that upset us on mental illness. Mental illness is an easy target, and while we need to be sensitive to anyone who suffers psychologically, we also need to recognize that some people choose to behave in ways that upset others despite the cost to themselves.

Jesus regularly chooses to behave in ways that upset the authorities and his family. He allows  bleeding women to touch him, he reaches out for lepers and the blind, and he ignores some Sabbath laws for a greater good. Though his relatives want to protect themselves from the shame that comes to them because a relative breaks the law, Jesus continues to interpret the law in ways that protect the broken, the poor and the voiceless. We have the same mission.

Today, pray for those you don't understand or agree with.

Whose unconventional life impacted you for good?

St Francis de Sales

  "In whatever situations we happen to be, we can and we must aspire to the life of perfection." Introduction to the Devout Life

Lawyer, bishop, and writer, St. Francis de Sales remains an important figure in the spirituality of the Christian West because of his personal commitment, despite a quick temper, to gentleness, understanding and compassion.

Modern readers might quibble with Francis' metaphors and style in the Introduction to the Devout Life, but it is difficult to overestimate his importance. Convinced that every person had a vocation with limitations and gifts, he wrote eloquently and convincingly about how everyone, Popes and lay people alike, could practice devotion and grow closer to God.

It is sometimes unfortunate that when our church reminds us to pray for vocations, we focus almost completely on vocations to the priesthood and religious life. While these vocations are important, unless we celebrate marriage as the sacrament to which most people are called, we risk undermining the foundation upon which the church is built.(1) Francis de Sales would never have made this mistake.

Today, be grateful for your vocation.

What married person do you most admire for their holiness?

The Protection of the Unborn

 “The Kingdom of heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls. When he finds a pearl of great price,  he goes and sells all that he has and buys it." Mt 13:46

Often great thinkers and saints come along at a time in church history when there is division, even chaos, and rage. St Francis of Assisi changed his society not by being upwardly mobile, but by choosing to live as a poor person among the poorest of the poor in Assisi. Thomas Becket famously said: "I am ready to die for my Lord, that in my blood the Church may obtain liberty and peace. But in the name of Almighty God, I forbid you to hurt my people whether clerk or lay." And Mother Teresa of Calcutta saw a million people dying on the streets of Calcutta and decided to respond to them with love when no one else wanted to see them. All of them were pearls of great price.

Our task today seems very similar. Sometimes the Catholic church is known more for what it condemns than what it promotes, a comprehensive concern for the human family. While some in the press challenge the church’s condemnation of abortion as limiting a woman's legitimate freedom, the bishops remind us that we must have an “option for the poor and vulnerable," especially unborn children as well as promote workers rights, provide health care for all and welcome refugees fleeing violence and political oppression if we are going to have an authentically formed Catholic conscience. 

Today, practice virtue and justice.

What do you think it means to be a faith filled citizen in the United States today?

St Agnes, Virgin and Martyr

 "He told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd." Mk 3:9

Being ready for whatever comes each day is everyone's goal, but often difficult to do. When we are busy with a matter that demands our full attention, it can be irritating to be interrupted, especially when we determine that our time is precious.  This is not the way of Jesus!

Today's scripture suggests that the apostles and disciples should expect to be interrupted. More, they should be ready to respond. The posture of servant demands that Jesus' followers think more about the poor and lowly who are looking to Jesus for nourishment than their own needs or plans.

A stance so simple should not be confusing or awkward for the disciples, but it is. Too often the disciples forget who they are and why Jesus came. Sound familiar? The lesson today is straightforward. Get ready to welcome anyone who comes seeking faith. Nothing is more important than the discipleship to which we have been called. Stay alert to the seekers all around you. They need the fullness of the Gospel.

Today, make the way of the Lord less cluttered for others.

Who helped you when you were lost and in need?

God's Rushing Spirit

   "The Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David." 1 Sam 16:13

Regularly in the scriptures God does not do what we expect God to do. The choice of David as King is a good example. After rejecting Saul as King, God tells Samuel that he will choose a King from Jesse's sons, but after Jesse has presented seven of his Sons to Samuel, all of whom seemed worthy by Jesse's standards, God is not satisfied. Samuel ask Jesse if he has another son. Yes, Jesse says, and sends for his youngest son David. When David appears God tells Samuel that this is the one and when Samuel anoints David, "the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him."

Most of us have known the rushing of God's spirit upon us, at least for a time, but we don't always respond as completely as David. Fearful that a call as radical as this might disrupt our lives and everyone around us, we resist. Today's reading reminds us not to be afraid. It is God's spirit that rushes upon us. We have only to rely on God to do the work of God. When we ask for the grace to put aside our fear, as David did, all things become possible.

Today, trust God's rushing spirit.

Has the Spirit rushed upon you?

Weddings and Promises

    "Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them?" Mk 2:20

It is no wonder that Jesus uses the image of a wedding to help his critics understand his larger message. Everyone in the ancient world knew how important weddings were. A time for families and tribes to deepen their bonds with one another, weddings lasted at least a week and the entire time was given over to the celebration of the new couple and the promise their marriage contained for their families and their faith community. 

Remembering that the Lord has made a covenant with us, married us, invites us to believe more deeply in the resurrection. At the time of Jesus, after a man was betrothed to his intended bride, he would leave her and return to his father's house, but before departing he would say, I go to prepare a place for you, the same words Jesus uses to assure his disciples that he would return for them after his death and bring them to the bridal chamber he had prepared for them in heaven.

Today, rest in the realization that Christ has betrothed himself to us forever.

What image do you use to help yourself remember Christ's eternal and total love for you?

Seaching for the Spirit

   “I saw the Spirit come down like a dove from the sky and remain upon him." Jn 1:32

The Spirit of God is powerful and transforming, and when John the Baptist sees the spirit in the form of a dove descend and remain upon the Lord, he knows Jesus is the Messiah, the promised one. What is more remarkable is that this same spirit is promised to and comes upon us as well. While it is true that we can turn away from or reject the transforming power of the Spirit, it is God's desire that we accept and live in, with and through the Spirit.

It can be difficult and dangerous to speak of God's desire, but when we carefully read the scriptures and the tradition of the church, we can speak confidently. God wants to be near us. He sends prophets our way and eventually his own Son to demonstrate that he desires our salvation. God wants to be with us, to love us totally and to guide us to the fullness of life.

Paying attention to the Spirit around us, within us and among us will allow us to see God's love and know God's desire not only for us but for all creation.

Today, look for signs of the Spirit in your everyday life.

Where do you most often "see" God's Spirit?

St Anthony, Abbott

  "Forever I will sing the goodness of the Lord." Ps 89

No matter how far Anthony went into the desert, people followed and found him. Though unlettered, he was gifted with so much wisdom that many were drawn to him, hoping to absorb some of what he had learned in silence and solitude. Reputed to have lived for twenty years in a single walled room, Anthony grew in faith and devotion. While some thought that the isolation he sought would drive him crazy, Anthony grew more quiet and serene because he had found God and himself in the silence.

Obviously, not everyone is drawn to the life and lifestyle of St Anthony, but Anthony does teach everyone a basic truth of life. When we learn how it is that God wants to work in us, we have only to follow God's promptings to be at peace. Some will be drawn to God by a life of total involvement with the world. Others will find themselves and God in a life among the poor or as missionaries. A few will be drawn to the hermetical life like St Anthony. Where we arrive in life is not the issue. How we get there is.

Today, pray for the grace to be totally open to whatever God wants for you.

Have you met someone whose lifestyle at first confused you but whose peace taught you to follow God no matter the cost?

True Friendship

  "They came bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. Unable to get near Jesus because of the crowd, they opened up the roof above him. After they had broken through, they let down the mat on which the paralytic was lying." Mk 2:3-4

Where would we be without friends? A paralyzed man who hears about Jesus has no way to see or visit the Lord unless friends help him. Though Jesus is  surrounded by needy people, the paralytic's friends are not deterred. They go up on the roof, dig through it and lower their friend in front of Jesus. It is really an amazing scene which the scribes cannot spoil with the mumbling about Jesus not having the power to forgive sins. So anxious not to lose their teaching role in the society, the scribes think nothing about the paralytic while the man's friends think of nothing else. Who doesn't yearn for friends like this?

The twelfth century monk and writer, Aelred of Rievaulx, says it this way:

No medicine is more valuable, none more efficacious, none better suited to the cure of all our temporal ills than a friend to whom we may turn for consolation in time of trouble, and with whom we may share our happiness in time of joy. ― Aelred of Rievaulx Spiritual Friendship

Today, be gracious and accept the help of your friends.

To which friends are you most grateful?

Hiding with Christ

 "The leprosy left him immediately, and he was made clean. Then, warning him sternly, Jesus dismissed him at once. Then he said to him, 'See that you tell no one anything, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses prescribed; that will be proof for them.'” Mk 1:43

Not wanting to be the focus of people's adulation, Jesus hides from the people after curing the leper because he knew that flattery rarely led to imitation and discipleship.  Jesus wanted the Jewish leaders and the people who first listened to him to fall in love with his Father and commit themselves to God's will.

This was and is a hard lesson for us. It is natural to want security and answers to life's problems and concerns. We go to doctors to avoid and address health issues and financial advisers to help us invest our money wisely and safely, but Jesus did not come to promise us protection from life's every day trials but to accompany us on every journey. He is the new Covenant, the fullness of God's love, the one who will always be with us as a guide. We should not expect him to shield us from difficulty but to be a light in the darkness.

Today, pray to be aware of God's unconditional love and presence.

Who has been with you through every dark night?

Letting Jesus heal You

  "Jesus approached, grasped the hand of Peter's mother in law, and helped her up. Then the fever left her and she waited on them." Mk 1:30

Like most Catholics born in the middle of the last century, I was schooled to believe that the best way to live a devout life was to get to mass as frequently as possible, and to confession every week. These religious practices, good in themselves, often led people of my generation to worry about trivial matters in a way that was out of proportion to the faults themselves.

Worse, we often struggled every day to be better, not so much to honor God, but to "earn" our salvation. Unfortunately, while we became good practicing Catholics, our call to discipleship often got lost in the shadows of our compulsions. When the focus of the spiritual life becomes our personal holiness, union with God often takes a back seat.

Today's gospel offers us a different perspective. God is a healer who wants to lay hands of hope upon us and draw ever closer to us on our journey. When we, like Peter's mother in law, accept the help of the divine physician everything changes. Having confronted our weaknesses, we are freed of our compulsions and return to our daily work more energized and committed to the only one who can make us whole.

Today, who yourself to God as you really are and ask for healing.

What happens when we acknowledge our weaknesses and submit to God?

Childless Women

 “I am an unhappy woman. I have had neither wine nor liquor; I was only pouring out my troubles to the LORD." 1 Sam 1:15

Hannah, unable to get pregnant, pours out her concerns to God. Assuring God in quiet prayer that she will give any child she bears to God for God's service, Eli, the priest, seeing her praying and crying, thinks she is drunk. Assuring Eli that she has had nothing to drink, she tells Eli of her unhappiness and Eli prays that God will give her what she so ardently desires.

Reading this passage, I think of dozens of women I have known who wanted to bear children, spent thousands of dollars being tested, and still were unable to conceive. Hearing their stories over the years, my heart broke for them but no assurance on my part that women did not have to bear children to be beloved of God consoled them. No doubt all who are reading this know women like Hannah.

How sensitive we need to be to those whose stories we do not know. All of bear some sorrow and the Gospel response is simple. Listen to them as God listen to us and trust that will be enough.

Today, pray for someone you know is struggling in marriage or trying to have a child.

Who taught you how to accompany those who suffer?

 

Fishers of People

   “'Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.' Then they left their nets and followed him." Mk 1:17

Reading about the call of the disciples, it is natural to wonder if Jesus knew any of the men before inviting them to follow him. Did he notice something in them that would help announce the great salvific message of his Father? Did he know their families? Did he call them because he noticed them listening intently to him when he preached.

We know none of the answers to these questions, but we do know that the apostles followed him immediately, and this knowledge is startling. What made Jesus' fist disciples leave everything so readily and quickly? They had families and reasonably good jobs, but something in Jesus made them look past what they had to the one calling them, and they could not resist. The readiness of the apostles to follow Jesus without questions is a major focus of the story for us.

The simplicity of the Gospel has not changed. Neither has its difficulty. Our task is to live its message of hope, transformation and submission to God with integrity and honesty. Admitting our dependence on God and being willing to serve others in his name remains a powerful invitation to anyone looking for a God who will never stop loving and challenging them.

Today, listen for the voice of the Lord in your life and follow it unreservedly.

Have you ever followed someone immediately without really knowing much about them?

The Baptism of the Lord

  "I need to be baptized by you, yet you are coming to me?" Mt 3:14

With this feast, the season of Christmas comes to an end, but the challenge to give birth to the Christ begins in earnest and John the Baptist teaches us how to go forward. John's humility about his own role and his assurance that Jesus is the Messiah lifts us up and sends us forth in hope. Jesus, Isaiah and John remind us, has not come into the world to destroy it, but to assure all those listening, especially the poor, that his task is to heal the bruised reed and keep alive the flame of faith, but only if we accept his word and allow his power to transform us.

As Jesus begins his public ministry by having John baptize him, it is clear that he will risk anything so that his message from his Father will be clear and transparent. Jesus is among us to announce Good News, but his message will be difficult for those who want to cling to power, wealth and worldly prestige. Jesus wants to set us free from the domination of all systems that fail to create a just world. This message will be his downfall and our salvation.

Today, put aside your fears of being broken and weak. Our God heals.

Is it time to begin again your own ministry of service and freedom?

Jesus is the One

  "The one who has the bride is the bridegroom; the best man, who stands and listens for him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice. So this joy of mine has been made complete. He must increase; I must decrease." Jn 3 29-30

What was it that John saw? What did the Spirit look like? Most of us have been in the presence of people with political or religious power. We know what that feels like, but Jesus was an itinerant preacher and minor prophet. Surely, John was talking about something more than the power we invest in hierarchies when he said of Jesus, "He must increase, I must decrease."

In order to see, we must look long and hard at ourselves, others and the world. This takes practice and discernment. We cannot expect to see what it is that God is doing within and among us unless we take time to gaze upon God and God's works everyday. Some call this prayer or contemplation but naming it is not as important as doing it. Finding time in our busy schedules to stop, listen, and allow the Spirit of God to guide us is essential to anyone who wants to live the Gospel.

Today, slow down and let the Lord look at you as you are.

What most keeps you from developing a daily prayer life?

Agitational Love

  "It was impossible for Jesus to enter a town openly. He remained outside in deserted places, and people kept coming to him from everywhere." Mk 1:45

It is clear in Mark's gospel that Jesus was becoming so popular that he was bound to be challenged by the leaders of Rome and Palestine. When Jesus started to attract large numbers of followers he could have negotiated his own terms with the Romans and Jews, but he wanted none of it. Because he knew that his message was not political in a narrow sense, he sought deserted places to pray, regroup and commune with God, but the crowds would not leave him alone. Though he was not trying to gather people to himself but for his father, his power to heal and the strength of his presence were so influential that the civil and religious leaders had to stop him.

Is our faith and its practice ever agitating for others? Does the way we live challenge people to reorient their lives and lifestyles? When we remember that the gift of faith is not simply a personal treasure given to us for our own salvation but for the world to know the saving love of God, we can be sure that it will upset some. Nonetheless, God demands that we live a transparent and simple faith despite its consequences. Jesus modeled this and we have always to learn it.

Today, pray to be bold about your faith.

Whose practice of faith most agitated you? Did it help in the long run?

Limitless Love

  "Beloved, let us love one another, because love is of God; everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God." 1 Jn 4:7

John's first letter is remarkable in so many ways but two are especially noteworthy. His demand that we love one another because love is of God is no simple task. As more contemporary writer remind us, love is often a decision, not simply something that we feel, but something we choose. Moreover, when we remember that Jesus told us to love our enemies, we realize how difficult the choice to love can be.

Whether we are able to love as expansively as John suggests everyday is not the point. All will fail regularly trying to live the vision of Jesus, but we must always ask for the grace to love each person we meet with the love that will open them to the God who is love. What happens to them is up to God. What we do is up to us.

Today, taste the sweetness of loving another in the name of the living God without expectation.

What or who is most difficult for you to love as God would have you love?

Prophets

"Great is the generosity you showed me today, when the LORD delivered me into your grasp and you did not kill me. For if a man meets his enemy, does he send him away unharmed?" 1 Sam 24:20

When God calls men and women to prophesy, there is nothing that can stop them. Surely this is true of Amos. Although threatened by Amaziah, who wants him exiled for presuming to speak for God, Amos reminds everyone that he did not choose to be a prophet, but God chose him, and he cannot not speak God's word. That God's message to Israel is hard and frightening is not Amos' choosing or preference, but God's. Unless the people of Israel repent, Amos warns, they will suffer the ultimate indignity of dying outside their homeland.

Truth will always have its day. In the Office of Readings, David dances ecstatically before the Ark of the Covenant, a display that Mychal, the daughter of Saul, thinks is beneath him because he has "exposed himself to the view of the slave girls." (2 Sam 6:20) Undeterred, David tells Michal that his only desire was to please and thank God, and he will further humble and demean himself so long as his dancing brings honor to God.

Both Amos and David teach us a great lesson. No matter our background or sin, God will use us for good if we submit to God's will for us. Discerning exactly what path we should take will still be difficult, but as long as we are unafraid to let go completely, to accept God's forgiving love, all things are possible.

Today, speak the truth with compassion.

What keeps you from submitting yourself completely to God's path for you?

Take Courage

 “Take courage, it is I, do not be afraid!' He got into the boat with them and the wind died down." Mt 14:26

God is always calling us. The scriptures are clear about this, but we are not always listening, and even when we are listening, we sometimes misinterpret what God wants from us.  Several years ago, the New York Times  featured an article about soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan who were seeking all kinds of outlets to wash themselves of the scars of war and renew their lives. It reminded me of an earlier article in the Times that featured soldiers who, even after many years, cannot drive, and when they do drive often speed up at intersections and go through stop signs for fear there are people ready to fire upon them.

Rereading the article I realized I was breathing very shallowly. I don't want to know about these soldiers problems, because I do not want to face the horrors of war, especially as it impacts the lives of children. But unless we face these issues, we will never come to terms with the long term disabilities these men and women face, and the terrible effects upon our society. Dwight Eisenhower wrote, "I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, only as one who has seen its brutality, its futility, its stupidity." Today's scriptures remind us not to act on our fears when we are threatened. Otherwise, we will rush into war again and never find ways to establish peace on the earth.

Today, ask God to help you be a peacemaker.

In what area of life do you most need the courage of Jesus?

Love is of God

  "Beloved, let us love one another, because love is of God; everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God." 1 Jn 4:7

John's first letter is remarkable in so many ways but two are especially noteworthy. His demand that we love one another because love is of God is no simple task. As more contemporary writes remind us, love is often a decision, not simply something that we feel, but something we choose. Moreover, when we remember that Jesus told us to love our enemies, we realize how difficult the choice to love can be.

John's letter also pushes us beyond our comfort zone in another area. Love is no longer restricted to love of family, tribe, culture, nation or church. Everyone who loves, John insists, is begotten by God and knows God. The God about whom John writes is not a God of the Jews or Christians alone, but someone who belongs to all who are willing to let go of their natural limitations, fears and prejudices to love those upon whom they stumble each day. This love demands a huge heart and a willing spirit that sees in all creation and especially in all people, an image of God, the creator of all.

Today, taste the sweetness of loving another in the name of the living God without expectation.

What or who is most difficult for you to love as God would have you love?

St John Neumann

 "If someone who has worldly means sees a brother in need and refuses him compassion, how can the love of God remain in him?" 1 Jn 3:17

St John Neumann knew well the truth of John's first letter. Because he saw so many in need, he did everything he could to respond, including learning Spanish, Italian, French and Dutch. As a missionary to the United States, he became a kind of itinerant pastor; but acknowledging his need for community, he joined the Redemptorists.

Named bishop of Philadelphia at 41, the young Redemptorist, anxious to respond to the needy and unlearned, approached the teaching brothers and sisters in the area and invited them to serve with him in the schools of Philadelphia. Determined to give immigrant children a chance at a better life, John immediately began to build Catholic schools. In less than a decade Philadelphia, which had only two Catholic schools when he arrived,  had more than one hundred.

Success stories like John's continue to lift us up with hope. When people of faith work together for the good of all, everyone benefits. The parochial school system that John helped build not only provided Catholics with a good education, it prepared them to make a difference in society, and taught them how a deep faith life could impact their neighborhoods and cities for the good of all.

Today, pray to know how best to announce the Good News with your lives.

What aspect of church life has been most important in your faith life?

The Epiphany of the Lord

  "Where is the newborn king of the Jews?" Mt 2:2

Stability is something we all seek.  We want a permanent job, a house or apartment of our own that we can afford.  We want our children to do well in school and enter strong solid marriages.  It goes on and on.  Stability is like a prize that we cannot live without, but today's readings ask us to make a very deep examination of conscience.

What kind of stability are really seeking? Jesus does not promise us that we will have a land to call our own, but assures us that God will always be with us in the flesh, and will send his Spirit to dwell within us and among us forever. Rather than building temples, we are God's holy tabernacle. We are a pilgrim people who build places of worship and call them churches, but the real church is us! United in faith with the assurance that God will be our anchor, we are set free from the compulsive need to live in one place, have the same job forever, and measure our success by what we have rather than who we are.

Today, ask God to give you a stable relationship in faith to continue your journey.

Have you had an Epiphany lately?

Finding the Spirit

   “I saw the Spirit come down like a dove from the sky and remain upon him." Jn 1:32

The Spirit of God is powerful and transforming, and when John the Baptist sees the spirit in the form of a dove descend and remain upon the Lord, he knows Jesus is the Messiah, the promised one. What is more remarkable is that this same spirit is promised to and comes upon us as well. While it is true that we can turn away from or reject the transforming power of the Spirit, it is God's desire that we accept and live in, with and through the Spirit.

It can be difficult and dangerous to speak of God's desire, but when we carefully read the scriptures and the tradition of the church, we can speak confidently. God wants to be near us. He sends prophets our way and eventually his own Son to demonstrate that he desires our salvation. God wants to be with us, to love us totally and to guide us to the fullness of life.

Paying attention to the Spirit around us, within us and among us will allow us to see God's love and know God's desire not only for us but for all creation.

Today, look for signs of the Spirit in your everyday life.

Where do you most often "see" God's Spirit?

St Basil and Gregory

  "When, in the course of time, we acknowledged our friendship and recognized that our ambition was a life of true wisdom, we became everything to each other: we shared the same lodging, the same table, the same desires, the same goal. Our love for each other grew daily warmer and deeper....our great pursuit, the great name we wanted, was to be Christians, to be called Christians." (1) St. Gregory of Nazienzen

The saints whose lives we honor today were, in contemporary language, "soul friends."  Basil, who is recognized as the father of monasticism in the East, could be fierce and unbending. Much like Mother Teresa of Calcutta in our day, he was a reformer and  made decisions quickly, often without much conversation with others. Gregory, on the other hand, was shy and retiring.  When appointed Archbishop of Constantinople, he lived with friends rather than take up residence at the city's center. Both men were accused of heresy and were slandered by those who resented their power and fortitude. Despite their differences, they remained friends.

All of us need people with whom we walk closely in faith, especially when life is difficult and confusing. Having one other person to accompany us through the dark and light times is a gift beyond words. 

Today, treasure the gift of a  soul friend.

With whom do you walk most closely in faith?