Thoughts on frustration

In the second reading for the 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time, we find St. Paul writing a small Christian community experiencing persecution from those outside it, as well as divisions and factions within it. Although the Church today is vastly larger, some would see parallels between it and the Church as it existed soon after Christ.

Responding to the mess of it all, Paul exhorts the Philippians not to put the focus on themselves and their own desires. Rather, they need to look beyond themselves. How hard that is for all of us. I have sometimes stated in retreats that I may not be able to give an adequate theological explanation of “original sin,” but I am fairly confident of its ongoing consequence. And that’s the human tendency to be self-focused. We instinctually think of ourselves first, then of our “group” (family, parish, city, nation, race, denomination, etc.), and then if we feel up to it about others. In this regard, I am reminded of a quote from my friend Father Ralph Huse, S.J. who liked to remind folks that we give a lot of power over our own happiness to what we choose to focus on. When we focus only on ourselves, we are, perhaps paradoxically, bound to be frustrated. We will be happier if we put the focus beyond ourselves.

The antidote to this disordered situation is to put the focus on the very source of the Christian life: the self-emptying of Christ. Christ emptied Himself first of all by taking on human nature and then by living his life and undergoing death for our sakes. His obedience and mercy reverse our disobedience and vengeance, transforming death into eternal life.

If we take Christ as our guidepost instead of our own self-focused desires, we see what qualities should mark the Christian life. Our lives no longer are about how much we can grasp at nor about how much we get our own way. Rather, it’s about how much we can love and serve others as Christ loved and served us. We see that the Church is not a merely human organization rife with factions fighting for control but rather the community called by Christ to advance his gospel in the midst of the world.

Fr. Frank Reale, S.J.

Thoughts on Archbishop Fulton Sheen

 

Today is the day! Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen will be beatified today, a historic moment for the Church and a joyful milestone on his journey toward sainthood. Join us as we pray, prepare, and celebrate together: 1:00pm CT: Special broadcast of the Family Rosary Across America® 1:30pm CT: Beatification Mass celebrated by Cardinal Luis Tagle as the official papal representative, with broadcast coverage anchored by Drew Mariani and Brooke Taylor. Extended coverage will continue following the Mass through 5pm CT on The Drew Mariani Show. Be part of this joyful day and watch LIVE in the FREE Relevant Radio App as Catholics everywhere welcome Archbishop Fulton Sheen as one of the Church’s newest Blesseds.

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You can also join us on your local Relevant Radio station, watch free on Relevant Radio+, or stream online at RelevantRadio.com/Watch. We look forward to sharing this unforgettable celebration with you! – Your friends at Relevant Radio

Thoughts on politics

 

Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time

Luke 9:7–9

Friends, in today’s Gospel, we see Herod interested in and perplexed by Jesus. Political rulers don’t come across well in the New Testament. In Luke’s Christmas account, Caesar Augustus is compared very unfavorably to the Christ child. And in Matthew’s account, that child is hunted down by the desperate Herod. Later, Herod’s son persecutes John the Baptist and Jesus himself. More to it, the Jewish authorities are seen in all of the Gospels as corrupt. And Pontius Pilate is a typical Roman governor: efficient, concerned for order, brutal. Like the other rulers of the time, he perceives Jesus, quite correctly, as a threat. “Then you are a king?” Pilate asks. Jesus says, “My kingdom does not belong to this world.” This does not mean that Jesus is unconcerned for the realities of politics, with the very “this-worldly” concerns of justice, peace, and right order. When he speaks of his kingdom not belonging to the “world,” he shades the negative side of that term. The “world” is the realm of sin, selfishness, hatred, violence. What he is saying is that his way of ordering things is not typical of worldly powers like Pilate, Caesar, and Herod. Bishop Robert Barron

Thoughts on gratitude

 

Gratitude Transforms

From: Spiritual Formation: Following the Movements of the Spirit

The opposite of resentment is gratitude (from the Latin gratia = favor). Gratitude is more than an occasional “thanks be to God.” Gratitude is the attitude that enables us to let go of anger, receive the hidden gifts of those we want to serve, and make these gifts visible to the community as a source of celebration.

Reflection Question: How has gratitude allowed you to receive hidden gifts from those you serve?

Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. - Colossians 3: 16

Henri Nouwen (1932–1996) was a priest, professor, and spiritual writer. He authored over 40 books on the spiritual life and spent his final years at L'Arche Daybreak, a community for people with intellectual disabilities. Drawing from his own journey of vulnerability and faith, he invites seekers into deeper intimacy with God, themselves, and others.

More Books by Henri Nouwen

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Thoughts on parables

 

Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time

Luke 8:4–15

Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus explains the purpose of the parables: “Knowledge of the mysteries of the Kingdom of God has been granted to you; but to the rest, they are made known through parables so that they may look but not see, and hear but not understand.” The use of the word “para” in the New Testament signals the failure to see at various levels. The great metaphor here is the blindness of the Jews, a blindness that is identified with disobedience. The parables of Christ are meant to highlight and point out this blindness, this willful refusal to see. They themselves, in their peculiar form, are judgments on those who cannot see in them signs of salvation. The parables are often exercises whose purpose is to confuse and confound the hearer, overturning her expectations and upsetting her theological convictions. A parable does its work by turning our ordinary conception of the spiritual world upside down. And we would be greatly remiss if we did not attend to the instruction that emerges from those startling, funny, off-putting, and strangely enlightening stories that Jesus loved to tell.  Bishop Robert Barron

Thoughts on mercy

 

Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Matthew 18:21–35

Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus tells a parable that illustrates God’s mercy. The Latin word for mercy is misericordia, which designates the suffering of the heart, or compassion—cum patior (“I suffer with”).  Mercy is identical to what the Old Testament authors refer to as God’s hesed or tender mercy. It is the characteristic of God, for God is love. The love that obtains among the Trinitarian persons spills over into God’s love for the world that he has made. Think of a mother’s love for her children. Could you ever imagine a mother becoming indifferent to one of her offspring? But even should she forget, we read in the prophet Isaiah, God will never forget his own. Consider the fact that nothing would exist were it not willed into being by God. But God has no need of anything; hence, his sustaining of the universe is an act of disinterested love and tender mercy.  There is no greater manifestation of the divine mercy than the forgiveness of sins. When G. K. Chesterton was asked why he became a Catholic, he answered, “To have my sins forgiven.” This is the greatest grace the Church can offer: reconciliation, the restoration of the divine friendship, the forgiveness of our sins. Bishop Robert Barron

Thoughts on solitude

 

The Careful Balance

From: Spiritual Formation: Following the Movements of the Spirit

Somewhere we know that without a lonely place, our lives are in danger. Somewhere we know that without silence, words lose their meaning; that without listening, speaking no longer heals; that without distance, closeness cannot cure. Somewhere we know that without a solitary place, our actions quickly become empty gestures. The careful balance between silence and words, withdrawal and involvement, distance and closeness, solitude and community forms the basis of the spiritual life and should therefore be the subject of our most personal attention.

Reflection Question: Where can you find your solitary place? If you can't find one easily, how can you make one for yourself?

… for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose. - Philippians 2: 13

Henri Nouwen (1932–1996) was a priest, professor, and spiritual writer. He authored over 40 books on the spiritual life and spent his final years at L'Arche Daybreak, a community for people with intellectual disabilities. Drawing from his own journey of vulnerability and faith, he invites seekers into deeper intimacy with God, themselves, and others.

More Books by Henri Nouwen