"Brothers and sisters: We hold this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing power may be of God and not from us." 2 Cor 4:7
What a gift our bodies are! Paul calls them "earthen vessels," and indeed they are. Wonderful vessels that allow us to listen, see, speak, eat, touch others with compassion, and breathe. More important, our bodies are the vessels that allow our spirits to engage others and work together to create a world that is just for all.
Unfortunately, most of us don't appreciate our bodies until they balk or break down. Only when we can't see because of a cataract or walk easily because our knees are swollen or sore, do we realize how well our bodies have served us and God.
In the United States where so many struggle with eating disorders and where there is so much public and private transportation available, we compromise our bodies by not walking or exercising enough. While people rarely call this a sin, we need to think about this. Not eating well or exercising regularly places a tremendous burden on our families and hospital systems and, more important, allows us to take our bodies for granted.
Today, take five minutes to be grateful for your body and how well it has served you.
Have you discovered ways to be grateful for your body on a daily basis.
Sunday, July 24, 2016
Saturday, July 23, 2016
Teach us to Pray
"Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be they name." Mt 6:9
For believers, the first task each day is to acknowledge God and God's place in our lives. The Lord's Prayer both helps us remember this fundamental stance and teaches us how to do it. More often than not, most of us are ready to tell God our story, enumerate our needs and ask for help, but the Our Father reminds us that for the believer recognizing our dependence on God must always be first desire and duty.
Muslims, though using a different name for God, take a very similar stance when they pray the Shahada, "There is no God but God, and Mohammad is the Prophet." Some Muslim scholars suggest that when Muslims pray they are seeking the same blessings that Catholics desire and experience in the Eucharist. Learning to bow our heads at the name of God is another way of accepting God's presence and power in our lives, and is something that would help believers to live more fully in the presence of God.
It is so easy in a world full of information and internet web access to think of ourselves in powerful terms. After all, we can ask Mr Google almost anything and receive 100 million possible answers within two or three seconds. Doesn't this indicate the growing control we have over the world as we know it? While we do have access to more information than we could every process or interpret, knowledge without gratitude for the One who is all knowing does the believer little good.
Today, say the Lord's Prayer slowly and reverently.
If you, like the Apostles, could ask Jesus how to pray what would you expect him to teach you?
For believers, the first task each day is to acknowledge God and God's place in our lives. The Lord's Prayer both helps us remember this fundamental stance and teaches us how to do it. More often than not, most of us are ready to tell God our story, enumerate our needs and ask for help, but the Our Father reminds us that for the believer recognizing our dependence on God must always be first desire and duty.
Muslims, though using a different name for God, take a very similar stance when they pray the Shahada, "There is no God but God, and Mohammad is the Prophet." Some Muslim scholars suggest that when Muslims pray they are seeking the same blessings that Catholics desire and experience in the Eucharist. Learning to bow our heads at the name of God is another way of accepting God's presence and power in our lives, and is something that would help believers to live more fully in the presence of God.
It is so easy in a world full of information and internet web access to think of ourselves in powerful terms. After all, we can ask Mr Google almost anything and receive 100 million possible answers within two or three seconds. Doesn't this indicate the growing control we have over the world as we know it? While we do have access to more information than we could every process or interpret, knowledge without gratitude for the One who is all knowing does the believer little good.
Today, say the Lord's Prayer slowly and reverently.
If you, like the Apostles, could ask Jesus how to pray what would you expect him to teach you?
Friday, July 22, 2016
Living with our Faults
"No, if you pull up the weeds you might uproot the wheat along with them. Let them grow together until harvest; then at harvest time I will say to the harvesters, 'First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles for burning; but gather the wheat into my barn.’” Mt 13: 29-30
All of us have faults and most of us have determined to rid ourselves of them without success. If our words get us in trouble regularly, we decide to be quieter, and for a while it works, but as soon as we lose our focus, we find ourselves talking too much about ourselves or others. These are the weeds that grow in our life. We can try to blame someone else for planting them, but they are ours and we need to be responsible for them. Thank God Jesus recognizes us despite our faults and suggests a response.
The Lord tells us to stop worrying too much about our sins and concentrate instead on doing good. It is remarkable when we think about it that when we have lots of good to do, there is little time for faults and sins. While we might talk too much, spend too much, worry too much or try too hard, when we are focused on living well with and for others, our faults don't bother us as much and neither do they last as long.
It is also a very good practice to look with the eyes of Jesus as others who bother us for reasons we cannot always understand. When we let friends, family and enemies be themselves and emphasize the good they do, we soon learn to tolerate their faults. More important, it usually becomes apparent that their good qualities far outnumber their faults.
Today, let the weeds grow together with the wheat in your life.
Which of your own faults or sins bothers you the most?
All of us have faults and most of us have determined to rid ourselves of them without success. If our words get us in trouble regularly, we decide to be quieter, and for a while it works, but as soon as we lose our focus, we find ourselves talking too much about ourselves or others. These are the weeds that grow in our life. We can try to blame someone else for planting them, but they are ours and we need to be responsible for them. Thank God Jesus recognizes us despite our faults and suggests a response.
The Lord tells us to stop worrying too much about our sins and concentrate instead on doing good. It is remarkable when we think about it that when we have lots of good to do, there is little time for faults and sins. While we might talk too much, spend too much, worry too much or try too hard, when we are focused on living well with and for others, our faults don't bother us as much and neither do they last as long.
It is also a very good practice to look with the eyes of Jesus as others who bother us for reasons we cannot always understand. When we let friends, family and enemies be themselves and emphasize the good they do, we soon learn to tolerate their faults. More important, it usually becomes apparent that their good qualities far outnumber their faults.
Today, let the weeds grow together with the wheat in your life.
Which of your own faults or sins bothers you the most?
Thursday, July 21, 2016
St Mary Magdalene
"Jesus said to her, 'Mary!' She turned and said to him in Hebrew, 'Rabbouni,' which means Teacher." Jn 20:16
Neither the disciples on the road to Emmaus, nor Mary Magdalene, recognized Jesus immediately after the resurrection. Why this was is not clear. The disciples may have been too angry or hurt by Jesus' death, and Mary's grief may have blinded her, but that they did not recognize Jesus is clear. Only after the Lord breaks the bread and calls Mary by name do the disciples and Mary recognize him.
Most of us have experienced this in everyday life. If we are waiting for someone at an airport or bus station and they don't appear with the other arriving travelers, we find ourselves wondering whether we missed the person for whom we are waiting or whether they are on a different flight. We scan the crowds, ask others if they were on the same flight for bus, and sometimes check to see if they are at other exits. Only when the person calls our name or we see them sitting in a corner of the station do we realize that our anxiety blinded us to the obvious.
It is clear that the gospels want to teach us about the resurrected Jesus through signs and sounds. We have only to quiet ourselves and pay attention to see the risen Jesus among us. Every time we gather for the Eucharist the Lord is among us in the breaking of the bread. Every time we pause to listen to him in prayer, he lives within us. When we open our hearts to hear the word as a call to change, we encounter the Christ who is always active, but when are hearts are troubled or distracted by large or small concerns, we miss the presence of the One who is always looking for us.
Today, remember the times the Lord called you by name.
What concerns most often blind you to the presence of God in the world?
Neither the disciples on the road to Emmaus, nor Mary Magdalene, recognized Jesus immediately after the resurrection. Why this was is not clear. The disciples may have been too angry or hurt by Jesus' death, and Mary's grief may have blinded her, but that they did not recognize Jesus is clear. Only after the Lord breaks the bread and calls Mary by name do the disciples and Mary recognize him.
Most of us have experienced this in everyday life. If we are waiting for someone at an airport or bus station and they don't appear with the other arriving travelers, we find ourselves wondering whether we missed the person for whom we are waiting or whether they are on a different flight. We scan the crowds, ask others if they were on the same flight for bus, and sometimes check to see if they are at other exits. Only when the person calls our name or we see them sitting in a corner of the station do we realize that our anxiety blinded us to the obvious.
It is clear that the gospels want to teach us about the resurrected Jesus through signs and sounds. We have only to quiet ourselves and pay attention to see the risen Jesus among us. Every time we gather for the Eucharist the Lord is among us in the breaking of the bread. Every time we pause to listen to him in prayer, he lives within us. When we open our hearts to hear the word as a call to change, we encounter the Christ who is always active, but when are hearts are troubled or distracted by large or small concerns, we miss the presence of the One who is always looking for us.
Today, remember the times the Lord called you by name.
What concerns most often blind you to the presence of God in the world?
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