Thoughts on conversion

 

Saturday after Ash Wednesday

Luke 5:27–32

Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus tells Matthew, “Follow me.” The call of Jesus addresses the mind, but it is meant to move through the mind into the body, and through the body into the whole of one’s life, into the most practical of moves and decisions. “Follow me” has the sense of “apprentice to me” or “walk as I walk; think as I think; choose as I choose.” Discipleship entails an entire reworking of the self according to the pattern and manner of Jesus.  Upon hearing the address of the Lord, the tax collector, we are told, “got up and followed him.” The Greek word behind “got up” is anastas, the same word used to describe the resurrection (anastasis) of Jesus from the dead. Following Jesus is indeed a kind of resurrection from the dead, since it involves the transition from a lower form of life to a higher, from a preoccupation with the temporary goods of this world to an immersion in the goodness of God.  Those who have undergone a profound conversion tend to speak of their former life as a kind of illusion, something not entirely real. Thus Paul can say, “it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me”; Thomas Merton can speak of the “false self” that has given way to the authentic self; and, perhaps most movingly, the father of the prodigal son can say, “This brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.”  Bishop Robert Barron

Thoughts on temptation

Jesus Is Tempted

At his baptism Jesus hears his Father's voice, "You are My beloved Son." He is then led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. The temptations begin "If you are the Son of God, ..." They are temptations to his identity, his self-understanding, his mission. They are tempting because they are three different ways to fulfill his mission without his death on the cross. The devil says, Feed the people and they will follow you, cure the sick and the possessed and they will follow you. Jesus refuses to buy their loyalty; he wants them to believe and love him and everyone else. He feeds and cures out of compassion for their hunger and suffering, not as bribery.

   In the Spiritual Exercises Ignatius calls the devil "the father of lies". He always tempts us by his lie that this choice, this decision will make us happy, satisfied, fulfilled, admired, important, etc. We know from experience that it doesn't. Let us ask the grace to recognize and resist the lies and always turn to the Lord for strength in our weakness.

Fr. Ralph Huse, S.J.

Thoughts on anxiety

 

Not Worrying About the Future

For us the future is often a source of anxiety and fear. We have all kinds of questions: What if my children get sick, I lose my job, my wife or husband leaves me, or a war breaks out? Our fears pull us away from the present and extinguish the Spirit in us. When we believe that God is with us always through the Spirit, we can let the future emerge out of the present. When we really believe that God is with us and that we are already now breathing his Spirit, we don't have to worry about the future. We don't have to worry about what might happen next. We can start trusting that if we fully live the life in the Spirit, the future will unfold from the present as we travel through life.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”   - Philippians 4: 6 - 7

Do Something for Lent

 

In the past and perhaps even still now, people will often ask, "What are you giving up for Lent this year?"

Because for years Catholics have been conditioned to give up something for Lent as a means of using that sacrifice as a way to draw yourself closer to God and to Jesus.  For some, it became a change in daily habits for the good.  And there's really nothing wrong with that.  But, then Sunday comes around and you are permitted to let yourself have the thing you gave up for one day. Over time, giving up soda or chocolate, became a bore or a grudge.  It didn't really help you become closer to God, it may have made you feel like it was just something that you were supposed to do during this season of the church, but it didn't make you happy.

Now, and for the past couple of years that I can recall, a new way of thinking has arose during the season of Lent.  Instead of giving up something for God, what if we DO something for God.  Something good, something meaningful?  So we don't have to give up something, except eating fish on Fridays of course, we get to do something meaningful that should point me in the direction of God, or which will help me be a better disciple of Jesus.  So what can we do?  Well, we can pray, we can read the Bible, we can volunteer, we can give alms or give to the poor.  These are all good things that we can do to focus on God, draw us closer to Jesus in a meaningful way, and become a better person all at the same time!  

So if you are still giving up something for Lent, try something new and Do something for Lent!

May God bless you in whatever you do this Lent,

Scott

Thoughts on prayer

 

Ash Wednesday

Matthew 6:1–6, 16–18

Friends, today’s Gospel asks us to do three things: pray, fast, and give alms. Let’s focus today on prayer. Studies show that prayer is a very common, very popular activity. Even those who profess no belief in God pray! What is prayer, and how should we pray? Prayer is intimate communion and conversation with God. Judging from Jesus’ own life, prayer is something that we ought to do often, especially at key moments of our lives. Well, how should we pray? What does it look like? You have to pray with faith, and according to Jesus’ model, you have to pray with forgiveness. The efficacy of prayer seems to depend on the reconciliation of differences. You also have to pray with persistence. One reason that we don’t receive what we want through prayer is that we give up too easily. Augustine said that God sometimes delays in giving us what we want because he wants our hearts to expand. Finally, we have to pray in Jesus’ name. In doing so, we are relying on his influence with the Father, trusting that the Father will listen to him. Bishop Robert Barron

Thoughts on discipleship

 

Mark 10:28–31

Friends, today’s Gospel exhorts us to see the radicality and rewards of Jesus’ call to discipleship, which cuts through so many of the social conventions of his time and ours. He urges us to see that everyone—rich and poor, men and women, those on the inside and those on the outs—is summoned to discipleship, and that this summons is the most important consideration of all. It is the better part, to use Jesus’ words, the one thing necessary. St. Augustine was right: “Lord, you have made us for yourself; therefore, our heart is restless until it rests in thee.” We are all wired for God. There is a hunger in us that nothing in this world can possibly satisfy. And that’s why we must determine to follow Jesus, because only he can lead us to the heavenly banquet. Bishop Robert Barron

Thoughts on eternal life

 

Mark 10:17–27

Friends, in today’s Gospel, a rich young man asks Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life. There is something absolutely right about the young man, something spiritually alive, and that is his deep desire to share in everlasting life. He knows what he wants, and he knows where to find it. Jesus responds to his wonderful question by enumerating many of the Commandments. The young man takes this in and replies, “Teacher, all of these I have observed from my youth.” So Jesus looks at him with love and says, “Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor . . . Then come, follow me.” God is nothing but love, straight through, and therefore the life of friendship with him, in the richest sense, is a life of total love, self-forgetting love. Jesus senses that this young man is ready for the high adventure of the spiritual life: he is asking the right question and he is properly prepared. But at this point, the young man tragically balks. The spiritual life, at the highest pitch, is about giving your life away, and this is why having many possessions is a problem. Bishop Robert Barron

Thoughts on power

 

Divesting Power

The radical, divine choice is the choice to reveal glory, beauty, truth, peace, joy, and, most of all, love in and through the complete divestment of power. It is very hard – if not impossible – for us to grasp this divine mystery. We keep praying to the “almighty and powerful God.” But all might and power is absent from the one who reveals God to us saying: “When you see me you see the Father.” If we truly want to love God, we have to look at the man of Nazareth, whose life was wrapped in weakness. And his weakness opens for us the way to the heart of God.

“Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked. “Come and see,” said Philip.   - John 1: 46

Thoughts on children

 

Mark 10:13–16

Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus declares that the kingdom of God belongs to children: “Let the children come to me; do not prevent them, for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”  How so? Well, children are like stars or flowers or animals, things that are what they are, unambiguously, uncomplicatedly. They are in accord with God’s deepest intentions for them. The challenge of the spiritual life is to realize what God wants us to be and thereby come to the same simplicity and directness in our existence. To find out what is in line with the deepest grain of our being. Let me put this another way: children haven’t yet learned how to look at themselves. Why can a child immerse himself so eagerly and thoroughly in what he is doing? Because he can lose himself; because he is not looking at himself, conscious of the reactions, expectations, and approval of those around him. The best moments in life are when we lose the ego, lose ourselves in the world and just are as God wants us to be. Bishop Robert Barron

Thoughts on honesty

 

Honesty in Speech

In Sunday's Gospel Jesus calls his disciples to do as he does and speak to one another from the love in their hearts.

Don't try to dominate, to prove wrong, to gain advantage, to show superiority. Jesus' message is always that of humility. He is the Son of God but chooses to be the Servant of All and he calls us to imitate him. He teaches us that we are all brothers and sisters and should speak to one another out of that truth. Be honest about who I am and who you are.

   Twelve Step groups recognize and value honesty as an absolute necessity in serene, peaceful living. They promote the practice of asking myself three questions before speaking to another: does this need to be said? do I need to say it? and does it need to be said now? If the answer to any is No; don't say it. Let us ask the Lord for his grace and help to be honest with ourselves and each other.

Fr. Ralph Huse, S.J.

Thoughts on grace

 

Mark 9:38–40

Friends, today in the Gospel, John complains to Jesus that someone not of their group was driving out demons in Jesus’ name. Jesus responds, “Do not prevent him. . . . Whoever is not against us is for us.” What a wonderful, generous attitude!  John was undoubtedly angry that someone outside of their little circle was going to get credit. If you think that this sort of thing only happened in biblical times, you haven’t spent too much time around the Church! I’m a proud churchman, and I love and admire all of the great people who do so much for Christ’s kingdom, and for very little compensation. But I’ve also been around long enough to see this problem on parish staffs, in diocesan offices, within rectories, and among parish communities. We get so tied up in our little games and protecting our turf and making sure things go according to the bureaucratic structures that we have established that we forget what the mission is about. What Jesus saw was that the mission is what matters. Bringing God’s love to the world, being a conduit of grace: that’s what matters. All of our personal glory, position, privilege—all of that is finally a matter of indifference. Bishop Robert Barron

Thoughts on the Holy Spirit

 

Intimate Communion

The intimate relationship between the Father and the Son has a name. It is Spirit. Holy Spirit. “I want you to have my Spirit.” “Spirit” means “breath.” It comes from the ancient Greek word pneuma. “I want you to have my breathing. I want you to have that most intimate part of me so that the relationship that is between you and God is the same as between me and God, which is a divine relationship.” What you need to hear with your heart is that you are invited to dwell in the family of God. You are invited to be part of that intimate communion right now.

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”   - Acts 1: 8

Thoughts on Prayer

 

Prayer, Our First Concern

Prayer requires that we stand in God's presence with open hands, naked and vulnerable, proclaiming to ourselves and to others that without God we can do nothing. This is difficult in a climate where the predominant counsel is “Do your best and God will do the rest.” When life is divided into “our best” and “God's rest,” we have turned prayer into a last resort to be used only when all our resources are depleted. Then even the Lord has become the victim of our impatience. Discipleship does not mean to use God when we can no longer function ourselves. On the contrary, it means to recognize that we can do nothing at all, but that God can do everything through us. As disciples, we find not some but all of our strength, hope, courage, and confidence in God. Therefore, prayer must be our first concern.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”   - Proverbs 3: 5 – 6

Thoughts on Lent

7^th Sunday of Ordinary Time (C)

                                                                                                           

Luke 6: 27-38

Lent begins in only ten days. Most of us are probably not planning what we will do for Lent, the Serious Season of our Church’s year. In fact, some us may even be in the midst of “carnival season,” looking forward to how we will soon celebrate Mardi Gras, the opposite of seriousness.

     What will we do to live our Catholic Faith more seriously during Lent? 

• Repent? We know we must turn to the Lord.
• Pray? We know that Lent should be a time of greater prayer.
• Penance? Sorrow for our sins and acts of self-denial are essential for Lent.
• Charity? We know that we always need to grow more charitable in thought, word, and deed.

     Upon reflection we know how far short we fall from what we should be. We know we need to follow Christ more closely. But how do we do it? How can we change? How can we become more Christ-like?

           Today’s Gospel is taken from the Sermon on the Plain, Luke’s version of Matthew’s Sermon

on the Mount. As I read this Gospel, I see a very specific (and very difficult) plan for Lent. Here are

“Ten Commandments” for repentance and spiritual renewal. We might call them the “Lenten Ten Commandments.”

The Lenten Ten Commandments or The Call to a Higher Standard

1       Love your enemies (Practice a love that is not only an emotion, but willing, wanting, working for the good of the other.)

2       Do good to those who hate you (This is really the way to “love enemies.”)

3       Bless those who curse you (Ask God to look favorably on those who have not been favorable to you.)

4       Pray for those who treat you badly (Learn to pray sincerely for those who mistreat you.)

5       Give to those in need (Give whatever someone may need, even something very simple such as a kind word or encouragement, not expecting any repayment.)

6       Treat others as you would like them to treat you (Try to make the Golden Rule a habit of your behavior.)

7       Be compassionate (Remember that your Heavenly Father is always compassionate.)

8       Do not judge (Then you will not be judged.)

9       Do not condemn (Then you will not be condemned.)

10   Grant pardon (You will then be pardoned.)

What will be the result of following these Lenten Ten Commandments? We will become more and more like Jesus Himself, whom we are meant to imitate.

           These Lenten Ten Commandments are very difficult, much more difficult than the Ten Commandments

of the Old Testament covenant. It is difficult to live these Commandments because we must not simply change our actions, we must try to change our attitudes.

• We must try to be less egotistic, less selfish, less vengeful, less vindictive, less severe. 
• We must try to become less, so that God can become more in our lives.
• We must try to see others as God sees them.
• We must try to treat others as Jesus would treat them.

           

           If you really want a Lenten plan that can draw you closer to Christ, try – with the help of God – these Lenten Ten Commandments. And a practical way to try them is to read today’s Gospel each day this Lent.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Fr. Don Saunders, S.J. 

More thoughts on patience

 

Stay Fully Where You Are

There is this wonderful word in the Gospel and it is “patience.” In the Gospel to have patience means to stay fully where you are, to live the moment to the full, to trust that all you need is where you are.

“The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride.” - Ecclesiastes 7: 8