Bringing the Good News

“For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. But how can they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how can they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone to preach? And how can people preach unless they are sent?” (Romans 10: 13-15)

Today’s reading tells us that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. But then it goes on to remind us that people need to hear about the Lord before they can believe in Him. We all have this longing in our hearts to be united with Christ, to be one with him. We were made in his image and likeness and we will be complete when we are one with him. Can you imagine having this longing in your heart but having no idea what it is that can satiate this longing? I would imagine you would stumble around trying to quiet this longing with many things. Even knowing who God is and that only He can fill this emptiness in me, at times I still try to fill it with other things. This always leads me to heartache and sometimes to sin. I finally quit struggling and allow him to provide the peace I am longing for. But if they don’t know that God is the one who can satiate that desire, that longing, then they will continue to stumble around in the dark. So as Christians we are called to preach the good news. We are sent as disciples of Christ, so that others may know Him. “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring the good news!” (Romans 10:15)

Others may not heed the good news but that is not for us to worry about. All we can do is be Christ to others. Others will experience Christ through us; through our touch, our listening ear, our words of Truth and our prayers. The last time I was home my dad shared with me that he is worried about the souls of some of our family members. Some of them had a deep love for Christ and were faithful to the Church’s teaching but have done a complete 180. I told him that we need to pray for them and be good examples for them and some day they may return to Him. Just as Jesus called Andrew and Peter to “come, follow me,” he calls each one of us to do the same, each and every day.

Nothing Lacking

"I give thanks to my God always on your account for the grace of God bestowed on you in Christ Jesus, that in him you were enriched in every way, with all discourse and all knowledge, as the testimony to Christ was confirmed among you, so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ. He will keep you firm to the end, irreproachable on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, and by him you were called to fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1: 4-9)

God has provided us all that we need. St. Paul reminds us that we are not lacking in any spiritual gifts. God has provided us with the gifts of wisdom, knowledge and faith. We have been given the gift of prophecy so that we may go out and proclaim the Good News. And as we begin this Advent season, there is so much good news. We are preparing to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior. God came to live among us so that we may be one with Him.

So often we see that having all the physical things that you think you need lead you to being unfulfilled. You continue to want more and more. You develop a sense of entitlement and become selfish.  But it is not that way with spiritual gifts. Just as we can spoil our children with physical things, we can never spoil them with love and respect. We can’t spoil them by bringing them up in a loving home that has a strong foundation in God. When we teach our children about honor and sacrifice we are not spoiling them. And this hold true for us and our heavenly Father. These spiritual gifts are available to us for the taking.  They will keep us firm to the end and irreproachable.  But we have to take these gifts and use them to bring his kingdom here on earth as we wait in joyful hope for the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

New Beginnings

Tomorrow is the first day of Advent. We will also be celebrating Mass with the changes that have come about with the new Roman Missal. While these changes will allow our hearts and minds to focus more deeply on the mystery of Christ in the celebration of the Eucharist, change is always hard. But how we look upon change has a huge impact on how that change will affect us. There is always grief with change, even if they are changes that we have been waiting a long time for, like getting married or having a baby. If they are changes that we never dreamed would ever happen such as the loss of a friendship or the death of a child, then the grief is profound. But God uses every moment to bring us closer to Him. We can cling to how things used to be or we can pray for God to reveal to us what he has in store for us.  

The focus of the readings and gospels has been the end of the world, the second coming of Christ. For many people this may be a terrifying thing but as Christians, it should be one of hope. Part of spreading the Good News about Jesus Christ is sharing the truth about death and eternal life. How awful to think that everything that happens is just random and that there is no meaning to our lives. When you believe this, there is no reason to think about anyone but yourself. Everything must provide immediate gratification. But for those of us who believe, we know that God created us for Himself. We were created for his pleasure and glory and one day we will stand before his throne and sing our eternal praises. So let us be a sign of hope for all those around us so that they too may hope in eternal life with Christ.

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The former heaven and the former earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. I also saw the holy city, a new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death or mourning, wailing or pain, for the old order has passed away.” (Revelation 21:1-2, 4)

Spirit of Gratitude

Thanksgiving Day brings to mind some great memories; having the family all together and my mom making everything from scratch. She made mincemeat and rhubarb pies for my dad and pumpkin for the rest of us. We peeled potatoes together and helped with the gravy, stuffing, sweet potatoes, peas, rolls, fruit salad and cranberry sauce. I loved setting the table with her beautiful white table cloth, china, real silverware and the silver goblets. We never had a table big enough for all of us to sit at so we, the four little girls, sat at the card table next to the big table. It also had a table cloth and the fancy dishes. We felt like princesses.  The first Thanksgiving after my mom died was especially hard. We missed her so much and we had a true appreciation of how much work it was for our mom to pull that meal together.  There were so many times that day that we wished she was there to give us pointers while we were cooking, and the empty chair at the head of the table tore at our hearts that day. This year is just my immediate family, my husband and our two sons. We went to Mass together this morning and have started dinner. I can already smell the wonderful turkey. This year we got a special treat, four free tickets to the Cowboys’ game, so we had to make some changes to our meal plan but that’s ok.    

As I reflect on some of the blessings that God has bestowed on me, because of course I don’t even know about all the ways that he has blessed me, I am also thankful for the trials. They have helped me learn more about myself and more about our loving Father. I have learned that I am stronger than I think I am. I have learned to persevere and to cling to Him and not those of this world. And I have grown closer to our Lord, even more so in my trials than when things are going well. And while it is great that our nation sets this day aside to give thanks to God for all of our blessings, every day should be a day of thanksgiving. I pray for a Spirit of gratitude and generosity; that I may be more in tune with all that God does for me and that I am willing to share my blessings with others freely. I was reminded in Mass today that each one of us is on God’s heart and that if He didn’t think about us even for a moment we would no longer exist.  “For in Him we live and move and have our being.”  (Acts 17:28)

Being Prepared

Again we hear about the end times in both the reading and the gospel today. In the Book of Daniel, the kingdom of God is described as a stone “hewn from a mountain without a hand being put to it” that will destroy all the other kingdoms and the stone will become a great mountain that fills the whole earth. In the gospel the people are asking Jesus, “Teacher, when will this happen? And what sign will there be when all these things are about to happen?” Jesus tells them not to be deceived because many will come claiming to be him or claim to know the exact day and time when the end will come. And he tells them not to be terrified.

I personally don’t think about the end of time. I trust that God’s plan is perfect. We know that we will not know the day or time so I don’t know why people keep trying to predict when it is going to be. We should be prepared. I know that people say you should live as if this is your last day on earth but that is hard to do. I know the reality of sudden death through personal experience and how you wish you had another day to tell that person that you love them. And as I go through my day I do try to pay attention and try to live as Christ lived. I try to be patient and kind to others especially when it isn’t easy to do. I tell my husband and children that I love them and I’m not shy about giving my 15 year old son a big hug and kiss every day even if it embarrasses him. I spend time in prayer everyday and ask for forgiveness for my sins. But if it was truly my last day on earth I wouldn’t go to work or send my children to school. I would want to spend every minute with them and my husband. I would go to Confession and Mass.  I would want to tell my family and friends how much I love them and how blessed I have been to have them in my life. But you can’t do this every day. I have to work, I have to cook and clean and do homework and so many other things. But what is important is having a heart like Christ to always be striving to be the best person you can be, to be the person God created you to be. So that when it is your last moment on earth you can be at peace knowing that you will soon be welcomed into the heavenly kingdom. 

Christ the King

Today the Church celebrates the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ the King. It is also the last Sunday of the liturgical year. In his homily today, the priest gave a little history on this feast day. It was instituted the Feast of Christ the King by Pope Pius XI in 1925 and was to be celebrated on the last Sunday in October, before the Feast of All Saints. In 1969, Pope Paul VI gave it a new date, the last Sunday in the liturgical year. He felt that “the eschatological importance of this Sunday is made clearer” and assigned to it the highest rank, that of Solemnity.  The readings for today speak about the end of time, our judgment day when we will stand before God and give an account of our lives.

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne, and all the nations will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.’” (Matthew 25:31-34)

 Christ will separate the sheep from the goats, but he doesn’t decide who is a sheep and who is a goat. It is up to us to decide. We come to him as a sheep or a goat. In this gospel passage and throughout scripture we are shown how to live as “sheep.” When we feed the hungry, welcome a stranger, clothe the naked, visit those imprisoned and care for the sick we are making the decision to be what we are called to be, His sons and daughters. The focus on the end of time, standing before the King and giving and account, also causes me to reflect on the things in my life that need to come to an end now so that I can live more fully as a daughter of Christ.

“I charge you before God, who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus, who gave testimony under Pontius Pilate for the noble confession, to keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ that the blessed and only ruler will make manifest at the proper time, the King of kings and Lord of lords…” (1 Timothy 6:13-15)

God Knows What We Need

I went to Confession today. After confessing my sins, the priest began to tell me how we are sometimes caught up in infatuation or pleasures of this world and what we are really seeking is God. He went on to say that at times we may feel that we are all alone but God is always with us. His words were beautiful but they didn’t have anything to do with the sins that I confessed so I was a little baffled why he chose these words.

While I was doing my penance, meditating on the Cross, his words echoed in my head. God was there in the confessional and he placed those words on the priest’s lips because I needed to hear them. I do try to fill this hole in my heart with the love of others and at times I feel all alone. The priest reminded me how much God loves me and that he will never abandon me. As I was meditating on the Cross, the words from a song by Sidewalk Prophets, You Loved Me Anyway, kept playing in my head.

“I am the thorn in your crown but you loved me anyway; I am the sweat from your brow but you loved me anyway; I am the nail in your wrist but you loved me anyway; I am Judas’ kiss but you loved me anyway.”

 Christ loves us no matter what we do. He was thinking of each one of us when he died upon the Cross. He bore our sins so that we may have eternal life. The joy that I feel after Confession, knowing that my sins have been cast as far as the east is from the west, is the result of his death on the Cross.

Heavenly Father,

Thank you for the Cross and for loving me that much. Help me to always have before me the image of the Cross, especially during times of temptation, so that I may allow your grace to pour over me and give me the strength to turn away from sin. I ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen

Clearing His Dwelling Place

In today’s gospel, Jesus drives out those who have turned the temple from a place of prayer into a market place. His dwelling place needs to be free of the distractions of this world. Free from the enticements of money and worldly pleasures. Our bodies are also God’s dwelling place. “Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? (1 Corinthians 3:16)

In order to allow God to dwell in us, we need to make room for him. We need to cleanse our hearts from anything that distracts us or tempts us. It is easy to find pleasure in the things of this world and allow them to draw us away from Christ. So we must do what the Lord himself taught us to do. Jesus often when off by himself to pray. He would go up on the mountain or into the desert to pray, to a place of quiet. We may want the Holy Spirit to dwell in us but we don’t make room for him. We have allowed so many other things to clutter His space. We need to do our “spring cleaning” more than once a year. At times when we feel that he is far away is a perfect time to take inventory of his dwelling place and see what may be keeping him from being close. Have we let fear or pride take root in us? Have we allowed power or money to seduce us? Have we been away from confession too long and gotten comfortable in our sin? Do we spend more time in front of the television than we do in prayer? All of these are questions that we can ask ourselves. Maybe the answer is “No” to each of these questions but there is something else that is taking his place. We each have our own things that trip us up, and that is why we each have to discern this for ourselves. I know for me, I have to guard my heart from the desire for love that only He can fill. So when I feel myself being pulled toward others, wanting their affirmation, I pray for God to fill that empty place that I am trying to fill. I pray for him to help me quit trying to clutter up his dwelling place and allow for things to just be.

He Gives and He Takes Away

"The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD!” (Job 1:21)

During Mass this morning Fr. Jason was talking about love and letting things go. The servants in the gospel parable that doubled their gold coins were able to do this because they were willing to give them away. And the servant who held onto his coin out of fear had even that taken away. The love that we receive from God is not for us to keep, it is to be given away. When we do things out of love God is constantly renewing us so that we don’t grow weary. I know when my heart is in the right place that I can give so much more of myself.

Fr. Jason had a beautiful imagery of love using the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea. Both bodies of water receive water from above. The Sea of Galilee is full of life and the banks are lush with grass and trees along them. But the Dead Sea has no life; the land around it is barren. The only difference is that the Sea of Galilee gives her water away. The Jordan River flows from it. The same hold true for us. When we give our love away then our lives are full and there is much beauty in it. But if we don’t love, out of fear or for whatever reason, then we are lifeless.

Fr. Jason has been reassigned to a new parish in Corsicana in 2 weeks. So we all have to deal with this loss. Not only will we miss him but he will also miss us. Goodbyes are never easy when it is someone you love that is leaving. But God is calling his faithful servant to spread the Good News elsewhere. Fr. Jason has shown God that he is faithful in small matters and is being given the opportunity to be faithful in great matters.  

“Well done my good and faithful servant. Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities. Come, share your master’s joy.” (Matthew 25:21)

No Compromise

I love today’s first reading from 2 Maccabees. It is a perfect example of what it means to be a true disciple. Eleazar was a true man of God and reminds me of Christ. He refused to compromise and stood firm in his loyalty to the holy laws given by God. “He went forward of his own accord to the instrument of torture.” (2 Mac 6:19) They did not take his life; he gave it willingly, just as Christ did. His friends tried to convince him to “trick” those forcing him to eat the pork so he wouldn’t have to die. But he knew this very act would leave the young followers of God astray. “It would be better for him if a millstone were put around his neck and he be thrown into the sea than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin.” (Luke 17:2) Even if he got away with it and no one was led astray, he knew that he would have to stand before God and give an account just as we all will have to do some day.

Learning about these holy men who place God above all things, even laying down their lives instead of compromising their faith, are an inspiration for me. Eleazar was on one the first models of martyrdom in the bible. His example, and those of the other saints, cause me to fall on my knees asking for forgiveness for the times I have chosen the easy way out instead of standing strong in my faith and asking for the courage to be like Eleazar and to never back down or compromise my faith to avoid pain or hostility from others.

Have Pity on Me

"Son of David, have pity on me! … Jesus asked him, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ He replied, ‘Lord, please let me see.’” (Luke 18:38, 40-41)

Do I really want to see? There are times that I am not sure that I do. Times like now when I am struggling with something that is ingrained deep inside of me. It keeps tripping me up and I have been praying for God to reveal to me what the problem is so that I don’t keep falling into this same struggle. I’ve prayed, Lord, help me to see where this comes from and to see how to overcome this, but as he begins to reveal these things to me, I don’t like what he is showing me. I thought it had to do with something from my childhood, and I am sure that part of it does, but a lot of it is my own selfishness. And this I don’t want to see. But God is so good. He knows how this breaks my heart so he ever so gently has been revealing it to me. I can feel him here next to me as I pray, and the truth begins to sink in. It is the truth so I need to know, but he is here to support me.

It reminds me of when we tell a family that their child has cancer. The news is devastating but it is a fact that their child has cancer. But we remain with them while this reality sinks in and then we reassure them that we know how to treat this and that our goal is for their child to be cured and we will be with them every step of the way. The journey will be difficult but they are not alone. Just as we support our families through this difficult time in their lives, the Lord is here to support me through this difficult reality. He has revealed it to me because he loves me and wants me to be whole. I must choose if I want to cooperate with his grace and face this head on or turn away from him and remain in the darkness of sin. He always gives us the choice. 

Multiplying Our Gifts

Each one of us has been greatly blessed by our heavenly Father. He created each one of us to complete a part of his plan and provides us with the grace to accomplish this. As we make use of this grace to further the Kingdom here on earth, God is pleased and lavishes more grace upon us. Sometimes our gifts are easily identified and we find ways to use them to glorify God. Some people have beautiful voices and they become part of the church choir or produce music that builds up the Body of Christ instead of music full of sexual innuendos, violence or vulgar language. Sometimes our gifts may not be as easily identified or just maybe more subtle. We may not think of things like being a good listener or having patience as gifts but God uses all of these things. So often we just need someone to listen to what we have to say. With all the fancy ways we have to communicate now, you’d think it would be easy to find someone to listen but it isn’t, everyone wants their 15 minutes of fame. Everyone has something to say but no one is listening. It truly is a gift when someone takes the time to really listen to what we are saying; it shows us that we are important to them.

Sometimes God prompts us to do things that we don’t feel we are capable of doing. When he calls us to do this we remind him that we aren’t good at that and there are so many others that are more qualified. Many of the prophets felt this way. Jeremiah told the Lord that he didn’t know how to speak and that he was too young. A few years ago I was prompted by the Holy Spirit to be an adult leader, one of the Core Team, for our High School Ministry. At first when I felt these promptings I tried to ignore them because I am an introvert and was very much so at the time. Other Core Members that I knew were younger than me, most of them in college and were very outgoing. I wasn’t either one of these. I was in my mid-forties and very shy and would become almost withdrawn in crowds. Our High School Ministry has around 400 active teens so our weekly gatherings are controlled chaos. But I continued to feel these promptings so I prayed to the Lord and told him that if this is what he really wanted me to do then he would need to provide me with the gifts to do this and he did. God always equips those that he calls. I was using my gifts to minister to the teens but God blessed me abundantly through this ministry. My faith deepened immensely and I learned many things from the teens and the other youth leaders. I learned to speak in front of others and to trust in the Lord.

“There is nothing that pleases God more than to enrich his creatures, and whenever he sees a man making good use of his gifts he pours more and more upon him with lavishness which is astounding... God is rich and there are inexhaustible treasures for bestowal, and he pours them forth ungrudgingly.”  

~ Dom Anscar Vonier, O.S.B.

Healing Prayer

In today’s gospel, “Jesus told his disciples a parable about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary.” The judge in the parable who doesn't fear God or respect any human being is affected by the persistent of the widow. And the gospel ends with the Lord asking, “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” (Luke 18:1,8)

 I am taking a class at my parish called Introduction to Christian Healing, today was our second class. The book we are reading starts by asking these questions: “Is it possible that God directly heals people? Does it really happen? All other questions in this ministry depend on the first and most important question of all: is there such a thing as healing through prayer?” (Healing by Francis MacNutt, p.17) The book talks about many things. It talks about some of the reasons that Christians don’t believe in the healing power of prayer. It talks about Jesus’ ministry and how he cured all those who came to him. Never did Christ encourage the sick to patiently endure their illness (p.34). It also speaks about how the early Christians had the same power to preach, to heal, and to cast out demons that Jesus did. And we are able to do the same because Jesus was the one who did and continues to do the healing. It isn’t man.

This got me to wonder if I need to be doing more at work for my patients. I pray for the families to find comfort and strength in God. I pray for the staff to have wisdom and compassion and I pray for God to use me as His instrument. I pray that His will be done. But should I be praying for complete healing for each and every one of these children? Will my prayers make a difference? I know that what I do is my calling and I know that God uses me as his instrument. I know that the chemotherapy and the other means that we use to cure cancer is God working through his creation. I know that each of these children who die from their cancer are no longer suffering and they are with our Lord, but why do they have to suffer at all? I can deal with my suffering (not always with the grace that I should) but why do these children, even little babies, have to deal with cancer?

I’m not usually so full of questions and at a loss for answers. I am usually at peace with my job, trusting that God is in the midst of all of it; all of the pain, suffering, joys, celebrations and sorrow. This book made me question whether I should be doing more. Should I be putting more faith in the power of prayer? I also know that the fact that we had seven children diagnosed with cancer in a 24 hour period was a little overwhelming for all of the staff on Friday causing us to spend more time on our knees in prayer to the Divine Healer. 

The Kingdom of God is Among You

In today’s gospel the Pharisees are asking Jesus when the Kingdom of God will come. Once again we are reminded that it will not be known. They will hear others say, “Look, there he is,” but Jesus tells them not to go off looking for him because it will be obvious when he comes. Rather than looking for the coming of God, Jesus tells them that “the Kingdom of God is among you.”

Christ was there among them yet they were so focused on knowing when something was going to occur in the future that they couldn’t see the gift of Him before them. Sometimes we get so focused on something that may happen in the future that we miss all the joy around us. A friend of ours is so worried about the government crashing; it is to the point of being paranoid. He had a bomb shelter built on his property and has stocked it with food, water, guns and whatever else he thinks he will need. He talks about this all the time and is so focused on the negative that he doesn’t enjoy life. He is very intelligent and owns his own company but this obsession consumes much of his life, it is very sad. I want to tell him that it is much more likely that he will die in a car accident or have a fatal heart attack than dealing with mass destruction! And if that occurs, do you really want to be the only ones around to survive that? Do you want to climb out of your bomb shelter to utter destruction; no one surviving but those you allowed in your shelter? I certainly wouldn’t want that.

We do need to be prepared because we don’t know when our final moment here on earth will be. But the Kingdom of God is among us right now. We need to realize that and open our eyes to all of the beauty around us that God has created. As his beloved sons and daughters we are part of his kingdom and need to show this to others. We are his Church, we are united with Christ and when we live this out; others are drawn to that and want it for themselves. As we heard in yesterday’s gospel, we are the temple of God and the Spirit of God dwells in us. (1 Corinthians 3:16) If we live this each and every day then we don’t need to fear the coming of the Lord. 

What We’re Obliged to Do

“When you have done all you have been commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do.’”  (Matthew 17:10)

All that we do, we are expected to do. Sometimes we think we are going above and beyond; but are we really? To the secular world we may seem to do this at times, but as Christians, the answer is “No”.  We only have to look to the gospels to see that we often aren’t even doing what we are obliged to do. We are called to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, care for the sick, and visit those in prison. Jesus tells us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us (Matthew 5:44). We are told to stop judging, “for as you judge, so will you be judged” (Matthew 7:2). In order to be a true disciple, Jesus tells us, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” (Mark 8:34) And Jesus reminds us that we are all sinners and, “If you do not repent, you will perish.” (Luke 13:3) These are only a few examples of what we are called to do. If we begin to think too highly of ourselves all we need to do is look to scripture for a dose of humility and see that we are not even measuring up.  But these reminders are not meant to beat us down but to help us persevere. When we think that we have done enough we get lazy but there is much work to be done. “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few.”  (Luke 10:2)

When we do what we are called to do then we become more in union with God and our old self is replaced. It used to overwhelm me when God revealed another thing “wrong” with me. I felt like I was never going to be “good enough.” But I am learning to accept these “revelations” as gifts from God. Today during Mass he revealed another thing to me.  He reminded me that things of this world will never fill this empty place in my heart that only he can fill. At first, I started to be hard on myself for trying to do this again. But then I realized that it was a gift and I gave thanks to God and asked for him to help me overcome this desire to try and fill this hole with things that don’t work and often make it worse because I am preventing God from being able to fill it with his love.

“God has only one love, and when he loves, he can only give that kind of love. The Father wants to revive in us what takes place between himself and his Son.”  ~ Fr. Bernard Bro, O.P.

We are meant to have the perfect love that proceeds from the Father and the Son. In order to enter into this divine love, we need to identify ourselves with the desires of Christ. We need to desire to love the Lord with all our heart, all our being, all our strength and all our mind and to love our neighbor as ourselves. And we do this by loving and serving as Christ did, by doing what we are obliged to do. 

Awaiting the Bridegroom

The Magnificat asks, “Why do the five wise virgins not share their oil with the five foolish ones? Because it is something that simply cannot be shared. The oil is our personal virtue. “The wise maidens represent all those who possess the ensemble of virtues which characterize a complete Christian life. The burning oil lamps which they carry…symbolically portray Christian wisdom…This Christian wisdom empowers all those who embrace prudence and the other moral virtues to fulfill the requirements of an integral and holy life’ (R. Cessario). “

This gospel reading used to bother me because I didn’t understand why the virgins who were prepared wouldn’t share their oil; it would have been the Christian thing to do. But I realize now that there are things that cannot be shared.  While we are one body in Christ, we must individually develop a relationship with Christ. Our faith is a gift from God and wisdom is the highest gift of the Holy Spirit because it is the perfection of faith. Through wisdom, we come to value properly those things that we believe through faith. The other gifts of the Holy Spirit; understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety and fear of the Lord; empower us to live a holy life. As His sons and daughters, we take on an identity with Christ and these gifts help us to share in the life and nature of God.

And while we have been given these gift; we need to cherish them. We need to grow in each of these virtues. We are sinners and we need to acknowledge that each day and remind ourselves that we are nothing without God. When things are going well it is easy to think that it is of our own doing and then God often takes a back seat in our lives. We don’t take the time to pray and allow God to speak to us. We don’t question our motives or discern what God wants of us. We want to enjoy the ride and put our blinders on to those in need. We will worry about those things later.

Each and every day we need to live our lives as Christ lived his. We need to love and serve one another as he did. We need to refresh our souls through prayer and the Eucharist. We need to frequent the Sacrament of Reconciliation. A priest once asked during his homily, “If this was your last day on earth, what would you do?” He gave us a few minutes to think about it and then he asked how many of us had "going to confession" on that list? It was nothing I had ever thought about when I’ve been asked that question or pondered it on my own. But since then, I have made it a practice to go to Confession once or twice a month. It is another way for me to grow in my relationship with God and to be prepared for His coming.

Trustworthy in All Matters

“The person who is trustworthy in very small matters is also trustworthy in great ones; and the person who is dishonest in very small matters is also dishonest in great ones.” (Luke 16:10)

Trust is necessary in every relationship and if it isn’t there then the relationship isn’t one of mutual respect. Throughout each day we put our trust in others, often times it is regarding little matters but sometimes they are great ones. Each day families bring their sick children to the hospital and place them in our care. They trust us with their precious child. When we go to confession we trust that the priest will honor his vow of silence. These are great responsibilities that are given to us and if we break that trust in these great matters we can devastate lives.

Learning to trust others has been one of the hardest things for me to do. For so long I was determined that no one would ever get close enough to me to hurt me like I was as a child. But that mindset caused me to be distant and afraid. I had a hardness about me and I was very lonely. But God wanted so much more for me. Through my healing I have learned to trust others. It has been a slow process. If someone broke my trust even in small matters I would shut down again, and tell myself, “I told you that you can’t trust anyone!” But slowly I have put myself out there and am willing to be vulnerable because that is what you have to do in order to love. I know throughout my life my love will be rejected at times, but I won’t allow it to break me anymore. 

We are all human and we all break the trust others have in us at some point in our lives. Hopefully it is a small matter and the trust can be renewed once we ask for forgiveness. Trust can also be rebuilt for even the greatest of offenses but God needs to be in the midst of it. It is by his example that we know how to love and how to forgive. I know that God is the source of all Truth and that I can always put my trust in him. I never knew how much hope, love and trust were intertwined. I have learned the meaning of true love now that I have opened my heart. I’ve experienced true joy and peace, things I never knew before and I am hopeful.

“The LORD’s promise is tried and true; he is a shield for all who trust in him.” (Psalm 18:31)

Each Shall Give an Account

“Why then do you judge your brother or sister? Or you, why do you look down on your brother or sister? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God; for it is written:

      As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bend before me, and every tongue shall give praise to God.

So then each of us shall give an account of himself to God.” (Romans 14:10-12)

We shall all stand before the judgment seat of God. Wow, the thought of this is very humbling and a little frightening. It reminds me of the words to I Can Only Imagine  by Mercy Me. Will I stand in your presence or to my knees will I fall. Will I sing hallelujah, will I be able to speak at all. I can only imagine.

It is so easy to compare ourselves to others. Sometimes we do it to build ourselves up. We say to ourselves and sometimes to others, “Well at least I don’t ___ like that person.” Other times we do it out of self pity, “Look at what that person has and I only have this.” And other times we may do it out of self-hatred. We beat ourselves down because we think we are weaker, or stupid or uglier than another.  All of these things cause us to take our eyes off of Christ. When we tear others down we prevent ourselves from looking at ourselves. We notice the splinter in their eye and ignore the beam in our own eye.

We will be judged on our own merit. God will ask us what we did for the poor and the sick. Did we comfort those who mourn or are lonely? Did we protect the innocent from harm? Are we going to be able to give an answer or make excuses for why we didn’t do what God called us to do? It’s not about being perfect. We are all broken but we can’t use that as an excuse. And when we fail to do what God calls us to do we must humbly go before him and repent, asking for mercy and the strength to try again. God rejoices over a contrite heart. When we stand before God, the account we give will be of ourselves, alone. Not in comparison to others but according to what God called us to do and how we responded to his call. I long to hear the words, “well done, my good and faithful servant.”

The Necessity of Purgatory

“The souls of the just are in the hand of God, and no torment shall touch them. They seemed, in the view of the foolish, to be dead; and their passing away was thought an affliction and their going forth from us, utter destruction. But they are in peace. For if before men, indeed, they be punished, yet is their hope full of immortality; chastised a little, they shall be greatly blessed, because God tried them and found them worthy of himself. As gold in the furnace, he proved them, and as sacrificial offerings he took them to himself. In the time of their visitation they shall shine, and shall dart about as sparks through stubble; they shall judge nations and rule over peoples, and the LORD shall be their King forever. Those who trust in him shall understand truth, and the faithful shall abide with him in love: Because grace and mercy are with his holy ones, and his care is with the elect.” (Wisdom 3:1-9)

Today is All Souls’ Day, a day that commemorates the faithful departed. It is a reminder of the souls in purgatory and our need to pray for them. Purgatory is a place of hope, a necessary stop on the way to his heavenly Kingdom. Only that which is pure and perfect can stand before God. It is in purgatory that this purification takes place. The Lord will wash us with his goodness that comes from his cross. We are washed by the Blood of the Lamb. The suffering in purgatory is caused by the longing to be with our Lord, trusting in his promise of eternal life but knowing that we aren’t quite there yet. Purgatory is a stopping place, once we get there we are guaranteed to someday be in heaven, it is part of the journey.  God has found us worthy of him and he is cleansing us for the heavenly banquet. We pray for the souls in purgatory and once they reach heaven they pray for us, it is all part of the communion of believers.

I take great comfort in knowing that my loved ones who have gone before me are in heaven praying for me. When I was struggling because of the many deaths at work over the past couple of months, Fr. Jason told me that he believed that all the children that I have cared for over the years that have died, will be waiting to greet me when I enter heaven. What a beautiful sight that will be! When I was sharing this with a friend of mine, she told me that she prays for my mom’s soul often. The last time she was praying for my mother, she had a vision that my mom was caring for the patients I had taken care of that had died. This was my mother’s “job” in heaven. This brought comfort to me and also to my siblings and dad when I shared it with them.

“I will give the victor the right to sit with me on my throne, as I myself first won the victory and sit with my Father on his throne.” (Revelation 3:21)