Thoughts on good works

 Appreciating the Good Works of Others

 

In this Sunday’s first reading and then in the gospel reading we see first the disciples of Moses and then those of Christ disturbed at the good works being performed or carried out by “others.” What is their problem? Moses suggests to his upset followers that they might be jealous of their achievements. Instead he says it would indeed be wonderful if everyone could do what they’re doing.

Jesus response is somewhat similar. If a person is performing a good deed in my name, leave them alone. What is important is the good deed they perform not who is doing it.

All of this reminds me of the challenge I have sometimes in rejoicing in the good works and success of others. Why shouldn’t I be able to rejoice in the success in good works of others. For me Moses hits nail on the head: I am jealous. For what reason I’m not sure, but whatever it is, is not good for me. It deprives me of the joy and enthusiasm I might have, and it prevents me from commending and congratulating and encouraging the person whose work it is. It seems to me that this response is akin to the reaction of the older son in the parable of the Prodigal Son.

The grace we pray for in the final week of the Spiritual Exercises is to enter into the joy, happiness and fulfillment of the risen Christ. This grace is a very rich gift which can empower and energize one’s work for the Kingdom. A helpful preparation for receiving such a gift is our taking part and entering into the accomplishments, successes and achievements of our day-to-day companions.

 

-Fr. Jim Blumeyer, S.J.

Thoughts on Autumn

 

A prayer for the beginning of autumn

O God of Creation, you have blessed us with the changing of the seasons. 

As we welcome the autumn months, 
may the earlier setting of the sun 
remind us to take time to rest. 

May the brilliant colors of the leaves 
remind us of the wonder of your creation. 

May the steam of our breath in the cool air 
remind us that it is you who give us the breath of life. 
 
May the harvest from the fields remind us of the abundance we have been given and bounty we are to share with others.
May the dying of summer’s spirit remind us of your great promise that death is temporary and life is eternal.
We praise you for your goodness forever and ever. 

Amen.

—via FaithND

Thoughts on freedom

 

God's Love Is Free

Freedom is the gift of God’s humble love. It is the gift of a God who loves us faithfully despite our failures, always bending low to embrace us in love. God’s love is free because real love always desires the best for the other without interfering or manipulating the other. God is one who neither manipulates nor interferes with our created freedom. Rather, God respects the gift of freedom that he has given us. If God forced us to love him, God would not be perfect love and we would not be free. We would be puppets of a controlling God, a God who would be like a dictator; we would live under constant oppression. This would not be a God faithful in love and worthy of our trust and hope. But God does not control or manipulate. No, God is like a beggar waiting at the soul’s door. If we choose to open the door and allow God into our lives, then we will find the freedom of love to be all that we are created to be.

— from the book The Humility of God: A Franciscan Perspective, by Ilia Delio, OSF

9/11/2001

 

God Sends Us Where We Are Needed

“God is not an obligation or a burden. God is the joy of my life!” —Fr. Mychal Judge

On the bright fall morning of September 11, 2001, firefighters across New York were summoned to a scene of unimaginable horror: Two hijacked airliners had crashed into the twin towers of the World Trade Center. As firefighters rushed into the burning buildings, they were accompanied by their chaplain, Fr. Mychal Judge. Hundreds of them would die that day, among the nearly three thousand fatalities in New York, Washington, and Pennsylvania. Fr. Judge would be among them. There seemed to be special meaning in the fact that Fr. Mychal was listed as the first certified casualty of 9/11. A photograph of his fellow firemen carrying his body from the wreckage to a neighboring church became an icon of that day: an image of loving service and sacrifice, a hopeful answer to messages born of fear and fanaticism.

— from The Franciscan Saints by Robert Ellsberg

Thoughts on vocations

 

Is Your Work a Vocation?

It doesn’t take much looking in our economy to see that in fact there is a great deal of work that doesn’t pray, work that disconnects us from our sources of life rather than moves us toward wholeness. For work to pray, it must have a sense of vocation attached to it—we must feel some calling toward that work and the wholeness of which it is a part, that there is something holy in good work. Vocation is a calling and prayer is a call and response, deep calling to deep. For work to pray, to be vocation, it must be brought into a larger conversation. “The idea of vocation attaches to work a cluster of other ideas, including devotion, skill, pride, pleasure, the good stewardship of means and materials,” Wendell Berry writes. It is these “intangibles of economic value” that keep us from viewing work as “something good only to escape: ‘Thank God it’s Friday.’”

— from the book Wendell Berry and the Given Life by Ragan Sutterfield

Thoughts on mercy

 

God Is Mercy

The older we become, the more we realize how limited we are in our ability to love, how impure our hearts are, and how complex our motivations are. And there is a real temptation to want to look inside of ourselves and clean it all out, and become people with a pure heart, unstained intentions, and unconditional love. Such an attempt is doomed to failure and leads us to ever greater despair. The more we look into ourselves and try to figure ourselves out, the more we become entangled in our own imperfections. Indeed, we cannot save ourselves. Only Jesus can save us. That is why it is so important to remove your inner eye away from the complexities of your own broken heart toward the pure but broken heart of Jesus. Looking at him and his immense mercy will give you the ability to accept your own imperfections and to really let yourself be cared for by the mercy and love of Jesus. I remember how Thomas Merton once wrote: “God is mercy in mercy in mercy.” This means that the more we come to know ourselves, the more we come to know God’s mercy, which is beyond the mercy we know. Letting go of the desire to be perfect lovers, and allowing God to love our people through us, that is the great spiritual call that is given to you and to me. There in the pure heart of God, embraced by his unconditional love, you will find the true joy and peace your heart is longing for. Henri Nouwen