Thoughts on the end of the year

Every Situation

Now may the Lord of peace himself give you His peace at all times and in every situation. The Lord be with you all.
2 Thessalonians 3:16, NLT 
 
To many people around the world, 2020 was a difficult year, even a tragic one, and we have no idea what the new year will bring. But we know this without a doubt: In every situation we face, our Savior is with us.

As the new year dawns, paraphrase 2 Thessalonians 3:16 as an earnest prayer: Lord, may You, the Lord of peace, give me Your peace at all times and in every situation.

Remember what Paul said in Philippians 4:6-7: 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 (NIV). He added in verse 12: I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation (NIV).

Every situation means every day, every hour, every circumstances, every location, every need, every fear, every joy, every opportunity, every step. He is more present than you know, and more powerful than you can possibly conceive. Our times are in His hands.

Dr. David Jeremiah

Thoughts on death

 

Love is Stronger than Death

God is Spirit and the Source of all love. Our spiritual journey calls us to seek and find this living God of love in prayer, worship, spiritual reading, spiritual mentoring, compassionate service to the poor, and good friends. Let us claim the truth that we are loved and open our hearts to receive God’s overflowing love poured out for us. And living fully each day let us share that love in all our wonderful and difficult relationships, responsibilities, and passages. The seeds of death are at work in us, but love is stronger than death. Your death and mine are our final passage, our exodus to the full realization of our identity as God’s beloved children and to full communion with the God of Love. Jesus walked the path ahead of us and invites us to choose the same path during our lifetime. He calls to us, “Follow me.” He assures us, “Do not be afraid.” This is our faith. Henri Nouwen

Thoughts on truth

 

Truth Will Set Us Free

St. John the Evangelist tells us that the truth will set us free. But what does that mean? St. Francis found the truth that leads to freedom in the truths of the Gospel, and the freedom he found was the freedom to love. God’s truth imparts to us the freedom not only to grasp the truth that is being imparted but also the freedom from what previously had been preventing us from acting on that truth. The Gospel itself will show us not only how we are to discern the truth, but how the truth leads to the action we call love.

—from the book Surrounded by Love: Seven Teachings from Saint Francis
by Murray Bodo, OFM

Thoughts on Saint Stephen

 

Saint Stephen’s Story

“As the number of disciples continued to grow, the Greek-speaking Christians complained against the Hebrew-speaking Christians, saying that their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. So the Twelve called together the community of the disciples and said, ‘It is not right for us to neglect the word of God to serve at table. Brothers, select from among you seven reputable men, filled with the Spirit and wisdom, whom we shall appoint to this task, whereas we shall devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.’ The proposal was acceptable to the whole community, so they chose Stephen, a man filled with faith and the Holy Spirit…” (Acts 6:1-5).

Acts of the Apostles says that Stephen was a man filled with grace and power, who worked great wonders among the people. Certain Jews, members of the Synagogue of Roman Freedmen, debated with Stephen, but proved no match for the wisdom and spirit with which he spoke. They persuaded others to make the charge of blasphemy against him. He was seized and carried before the Sanhedrin.

In his speech, Stephen recalled God’s guidance through Israel’s history, as well as Israel’s idolatry and disobedience. He then claimed that his persecutors were showing this same spirit. “…you always oppose the holy Spirit; you are just like your ancestors” (Acts 7:51b).

Stephen’s speech brought anger from the crowd. “But he, filled with the holy Spirit, looked up intently to heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and he said, ‘Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.’ …They threw him out of the city, and began to stone him. …As they were stoning Stephen, he called out, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’ …‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them’” (Acts 7:55-56, 58a, 59, 60b).

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Reflection

Stephen died as Jesus did: falsely accused, brought to unjust condemnation because he spoke the truth fearlessly. He died with his eyes trustfully fixed on God, and with a prayer of forgiveness on his lips. A “happy” death is one that finds us in the same spirit, whether our dying is as quiet as Joseph’s or as violent as Stephen’s: dying with courage, total trust and forgiving love.

Franciscan Media, 28 W. Liberty Street, Cincinnati, OH 45202, USA

Thoughts on Christmas!

 

We Are Not Alone

God came to us because he wanted to join us on the road, to listen to our story, and to help us realize that we are not walking in circles but moving toward the house of peace and joy. This is the great mystery of Christmas that continues to give us comfort and consolation: we are not alone on our journey. The God of love who gave us life sent his only Son to be with us at all times and in all places, so that we never have to feel lost in our struggles but always can trust that he walks with us. The challenge is to let God be who he wants to be. A part of us clings to our aloneness and does not allow God to touch us where we are most in pain. Often we hide from him precisely those places in ourselves where we feel guilty, ashamed, confused, and lost. Thus we do not give him a chance to be with us where we feel most alone. Christmas is the renewed invitation not to be afraid and to let him—whose love is greater than our own hearts and minds can comprehend—be our companion. Henri Nouwen

Thoughts on Christmas Eve

 

A Prayer

O Lord, How hard it is to accept your way. You come to me as a small, powerless child born away from home. You live for me as a stranger in your own land. You die for me as a criminal outside the walls of the city, rejected by your own people, misunderstood by your friends, and feeling abandoned by your God. As I prepare to celebrate your birth, I am trying to feel loved, accepted, and at home in this world, and I am trying to overcome the feelings of alienation and separation that continue to assail me. But I wonder now if my deep sense of homelessness does not bring me closer to you than my occasional feelings of belonging. Where do I truly celebrate your birth: in a cozy home or in an unfamiliar house, among welcoming friends or among unknown strangers, with feelings of well-being or with feelings of loneliness? I do not have to run away from those experiences that are closest to yours. Just as you do not belong to this world, so I do not belong to this world. Every time I feel this way I have an occasion to be grateful and to embrace you better and taste more fully your joy and peace. Come, Lord Jesus, and be with me where I feel poorest. I trust that this is the place where you will find your manger and bring your light. Come, Lord Jesus, come. Amen. Henri Nouwen

Thoughts on Emmanuel

 

December 23: “O Emmanuel” Emmanuel is perhaps the most familiar name we give to God during Advent. It means “God with us.” For a people who longed for the Messiah through the centuries, Emmanuel named the fulfillment of all their dreams. We believe that God is with us today and every day. Take time today to think about your deepest desire for this Christmas season. How is God’s presence part of the fulfillment of that desire?   Today’s Gospel tells of the birth of John the Baptist. Because Francis often characterized himself as the herald of the Great King, it’s not surprising that his biographers would see in his mother’s desire to name him Giovanni (John) a sign of his identification from birth with the forerunner of the Messiah.   Francis, the servant and friend of the Most High, to whom divine providence gave this name so that by means of this singular and unusual name the knowledge of his ministry might become known to the whole world, was called John by his mother, when, being born again of water and the Holy Spirit, he was made a child of grace from a child of wrath…. For while her neighbors were wondering at the nobility of soul and the modesty of Francis, she would say, as though prompted by divine guidance: “What do you think this my son will turn out to be? Know that he will be a son of God by the grace of his merits.”   This indeed was the opinion of not a few whom the youthful Francis pleased by reason of his good inclinations…. He considered the feast of John the Baptist to be more illustrious than the feasts of all the other saints, for the dignity of his name left a mark of mystic virtue upon him.

And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people by the forgiveness of their sins. —Luke 1:76–79

Click here for a Minute Meditation on Christmas!