Thoughts on healing and faith

 

John 4:43–54

Friends, our Gospel today tells of Jesus healing a royal official’s son. The official asks him to heal his son, who is near death. Jesus says to him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will not believe.” But the royal official persists, and Jesus tells him his son will live. The man believes Jesus, and his son recovers. Theologian Paul Tillich said that “faith” is the most misunderstood word in the religious vocabulary. And this is a tragedy, for faith stands at the very heart of the program; it is the sine qua non of the Christian thing. What is it? The opening line of Hebrews 11 has the right definition: “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Faith is a straining ahead toward those things that are, at best, dimly glimpsed. But notice, please, that it is not a craven, hand-wringing, unsure business. It is confident and full of conviction. Think of the great figures of faith, from Abraham to John Paul II: they are anything but shaky, indefinite, questioning people. Like the royal official, they are clear, focused, assured. Bishop Robert Barron

Thoughts on fear

 

A Whole New Way of Being

Is it possible in the midst of this fear-provoking world to live in the house of love and listen to the questions raised by the Lord of love? Or are we so accustomed to living in fear that we have become deaf to the voice that says: “Do not be afraid”? This reassuring voice, which repeats over and over again: “Do not be afraid, have no fear” is the voice we most need to hear….. “Do not be afraid, do not be afraid, do not be afraid.” The voice uttering these words sounds all through history as the voice of God's holy messengers, be they angels or saints. It is the voice that announces a whole new way of being, a being in the house of love, the house of the Lord.

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”   - Deuteronomy 31: 6

Thoughts on the Annunciation

 

Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord

Luke 1:26–38

Friends, in today’s Gospel, the angel Gabriel appears to Mary and announces that she will conceive the Messiah. Mary, understandably surprised, asks, “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?” to which the angel replies, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.”  The virginity of the mother of Christ is fitting for a number of reasons. First, it indicates, as clearly as possible, that God is involved in the coming to be of Jesus. Though human cooperation, at both the physical and moral level, is required, the Incarnation would not have happened without a gracious divine initiative.  Further, it signals that the Incarnation involves not simply a revolution in the moral and spiritual order but an entirely new creation. Just as Adam, on the biblical telling, is made through the direct causality of God, so the New Adam is made de novo, and not in the ordinary course.  Finally, the virginity of Mary is a sign of the purity and completeness of her devotion to God, making her a fit vessel for the divine Messiah. She becomes mother in the physical order, though she is given utterly over to God; she is, as classical Christian piety would have it, spouse of the Holy Spirit. All of this, one might argue, is summed up in the greeting that the angel gives Mary at the Annunciation, the most sublime offered to any human being in the biblical tradition: kecharitomene, “full of grace.” Bishop Robert Barron

Thoughts on Spiritual Fruit

 

Luke 13:1–9

Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus tells the parable of the fig tree that the owner cursed because it bore no fruit. On a deeper level, we may understand it to mean that the Lord expects us to bear spiritual fruit. The fruit of the Spirit is the universal, all-embracing consequence of the Spirit’s presence in us. All people who live in the Spirit should manifest these qualities. The word “fruit” is especially good in this context.  In Psalm 1 we find this comparison: “They are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither.” The Spirit is this stream; when we are planted near it, we blossom. Well, what are these fruits of the Holy Spirit? In the fifth chapter of Galatians, Paul enumerates them: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” When discerning whether the Spirit is living in you, in determining whether you are walking the right path, these are wonderful criteria. Bishop Robert Barron

Thoughts on death and dying

                                                                  Our Mortality

   We always begin the Lenten season with the distribution of ashes. The priest traces a cross of ash on our foreheads with the words, "Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return." We are invited to come face to face with the fact that we will die. That can scare us! As the comedian said, " I'm not afraid to die; I just don't want to be there when it happens." For many years as a younger man and priest I was afraid of dying because I envisioned it as coming before God and having to account for all of my sins. I was sure that I didn't deserve mercy and expected only just punishment.

   

After I receive the Lord in the Eucharist I always pray the Soul of Christ and I have been struck by the last line,

"At the hour of my death call me and bid me come to You that with Your saints I may praise You forever." I now envision my death as waking to see Jesus stretching out his hand to me and saying, "C' mon, Ralph, let's go home."

   I have been changed by that prayer and Jesus' parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-24). The son seriously insulted his father in asking for his share of the father's estate. It was saying, "I wish you were dead." The father let's him go and the son wastes the money on selfish pleasures. I picture the father going out every day and sitting under a tree along the road waiting for his son to return. And when he does, the father runs out and meets him with a bearhug and a kiss. There's no judging, no shaming, no questions about the money; there's only love and forgiveness and reinstatement as son with new clothes, sandals and the family ring and the announcement of a huge party. I think that would be worth dying for!

Fr. Ralph Huse, S.J.

More thoughts on relationships

   We come to know who we are through our relationships with others: children, sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, friends, classmates, spouses. We grow by spending time together, sharing our thoughts and feelings, just being together and present to each other. We talk and listen. Ignatius encourages us to grow in our relationship with Abba Father and His Son, our Lord and brother in their Spirit by entering into colloquy with Them. He describes it "as one friend speaks to another". In prayer we give voice to our relationship with God; we thank Him for our life and all of His blessings, His love, compassion and mercy for us. We tell Him of our love for Him and ask that our love may grow and extend out to all in our lives.



   In Sunday's Gospel Luke describes Jesus' transfiguration. He takes his three friends and goes up the mountain to pray and while in prayer he is seen as he truly is: fully human and fully divine. Prayer changes us too; we experience ourselves to be God's beloved children. We are freed, healed, strengthened, forgiven and loved. God speaks to us through the beauty of His created world, His scriptures, His community of the Church, all of our loved ones. During this Lenten season let us make a little more time to speak with and listen to our God.

Fr. Ralph Huse, S.J.

Thoughts on Saint Joseph

 

Solemnity of Saint Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Matthew 1:16, 18–21, 24a (or Luke 2:41–51a)

Friends, today’s Gospel centers on the intriguing figure of Joseph. Joseph is one of the most beloved of the saints, featured in countless works of art and prominent in the devotional lives of many. We know almost nothing about him, yet some very powerful spiritual themes emerge in the accounts of Joseph. He had become betrothed to Mary, and this union had been blessed by God. And then he finds that his betrothed is pregnant. This must have been an emotional maelstrom for him. And, at a deeper level, it is a spiritual crisis. What does God want him to do? Then the angel appears to him in a dream and tells him, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home.” He realizes at that moment that these puzzling events are part of a much greater plan of God’s. What appears to be a disaster from his perspective is meaningful from God’s perspective. Joseph was willing to cooperate with the divine plan, though he in no way knew its contours or deepest purpose. Like Mary at the Annunciation, he trusted and let himself be led. Bishop Robert Barron