Engaged Though Our Senses

God reveals himself through our senses. We are sensual beings and when our senses are engaged, the experience is often more profound. The Mass engages our senses in so many ways. The rising of the incense engages our sense of smell. The crucifix, the candles, the vestments and so many other things draw us in visually. The beautiful music, the prayers, the Liturgy and the bells ringing during the consecration are just a few of the ways that we are engaged through our sense of hearing. Holding hands and exchanging the sign of peace are tactile ways that we are drawn into communion with one another. And we taste the Body and Blood of our Lord. “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood true drink.” (John 6:54-55)

It is amazing how a certain smell can bring back memories of our childhood. The smell of cookies baking takes me back to my mom’s kitchen baking Christmas cookies with my siblings and my mom. A certain song can draw up a memory of wonderful times such as singing with my sisters, or dancing with my husband. A song can even draw up sad memories. Recently at Mass we sang “On Eagles Wings” and the tears began flowing, taking me back to my mother’s funeral. I love listening to music, especially Christian music that draws me closer to God. Sometimes the words fit a certain situation perfectly. I feel that God is talking to me through a particular song. Often times a homily will feel like it was written just for me and the situation that I am dealing with. I think it is a gift from God and that the Holy Spirit is speaking through the priest.

Sometimes certain things can draw up terrible memories and we need healing of these memories. You think you have worked through a traumatic event or at least blocked it out of your mind completely but walking into the room where the trauma occurred sends you reeling back to when you were that frightened, helpless teenager afraid to go to sleep at night. The smell of alcohol on someone’s breath takes you back to the screaming and hateful words that left you cowering in the corner. These traumatic events need to be healed. If we try to just block them out or stuff them deep inside us, they continue to fester and the littlest thing can set it off. It takes God’s healing power to set us free from these memories. It is frightening to go back to these events but with the support of people that are trained in healing prayer, it will set you free. I have experienced this first hand and am so thankful for the people that God has placed in my life that have walked with me through the fire and have helped me to find peace. 

Stop Judging!

 

"For by the standard by which you judge another you condemn yourself, since you, the judge, do the very same thing.” (Romans 2:1)

So often we judge others. We think to ourselves, “I would never do that!” Or we say to someone else, “Can you believe he just did that?” or “How could she do such a thing?” When we focus on the behavior of others, it is a way of distracting ourselves so that we don’t have to look at our own sinful behaviors. It is painful to look at ourselves and see the dark places in our hearts. We are all capable of doing evil things and if we chose to not believe this than we are condemning ourselves. If we think we are not capable of doing evil, we are putting on blinders to our own sinful behaviors. We chose to ignore the times that we wish harm on someone who has betrayed us; the times we have torn someone down through our gossip; the times we have ignored the needs of those around us while we over-indulge. When we do these things we either rationalize our behavior or are filled with shame. Shame because we are doing the very thing that we so harshly judged someone else for doing. Both of these responses prevent God’s grace from working in our lives. We often hold God’s “priceless kindness, forbearance and patience in low esteem.” We diminish God’s abilities by our closed-minded way of thinking. We need to allow His grandeur to be unbound by our pettiness.

God is creating us moment by moment; we are constantly being called to follow him. Conversion is a life-long process so we should be focusing on how we can become more Christ-like instead of judging what others are doing. We need to pray for God to reveal to us the places within us that need to be refined by the fire of his love. At the end of each day, through prayer, we need to look back on the day and see where we faltered (or fell flat on our face) and where we allowed God to work in our lives by being open to Him. We ask for forgiveness for the wrong we have done and we ask for the strength to follow his precepts the next time we are faced with the temptation to do our will and not his. We give thanks for the grace he has given us to do his will and live our lives as we are called to live as his sons and daughters. By doing this, we learn to detect God’s presence throughout our day and discern his direction for us in our daily lives.

Making Room for the Holy Spirit

I went to a class on Saturday, “Introduction to Christian Healing” and the speaker was wonderful. He talked about the Holy Spirit. In Luke’s gospel, Jesus tells us, “When an unclean spirit goes out of someone, it roams through arid regions searching for rest but, finding none, it says, ‘I shall return to my home from which I came.’ But upon returning, it finds it swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and brings back seven other spirits more wicked than itself who move in and dwell there, and the last condition of that person is worse than the first.” (Matthew 11:24-26)

I have heard this gospel many times and didn’t really understand the part about the seven spirits moving in until yesterday. The speaker mentioned that sometimes we try to overcome sin with pride. We think we can overcome it by ourselves, driving it out of us by sheer will. And we may be able to stop the action for a while but without the Holy Spirit, those seven spirits will come and that sin is even more difficult to overcome. Rather than the unclean spirit finding our hearts swept clean, it needs to find our hearts filled with the Holy Spirit. It is only with the strength of the Holy Spirit that we are able to overcome the sin once and for all. We all have a sin or sins that we seem to repeat over and over. I know for myself I have tried to be like the person in this story. I think by my own will I can resist the temptations of my particular sin that I struggle with but it never works. And then I am angry at myself for being weak. But I know that when I call upon the Holy Spirit for strength that I am able to resist the temptation. I haven’t been successful in overcoming this sin once and for all, yet, but I know that when I call upon the Holy Spirit, I am moving in the right direction.

He spoke about the Holy Spirit anointing us, and with any anointing there is oil. This oil is poured over us and makes it harder for the enemy to take hold of us. Our heavenly Father is so powerful and majestic, beyond our comprehension, Jesus walks beside us in his humanity but God the Holy Spirit dwells within us. If we allow him to settle in our hearts, than there is no room for unclean spirits.

“The love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.” (Romans 5:5)

In Tandem with Him

There have been several meditations this week in Magnificat about prayer. And today is the Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary. Pope Benedict XVI says prayer is “about God’s desire to offer us the gift of himself. Prayer is a way of gradually purifying and correcting our wishes and of slowly coming to realize what we really need: God and his Spirit.”

To walk in the Spirit is to live in the present moment, always looking to Christ, always practicing His Presence, always moving in tandem with Him. (Restoring the Christian Soul, p.53) What a beautiful image that is, moving in tandem with Him. We are able to get to this place when we are in communion with God through prayer. God wants us to have an intimate relationship with him. He wants us to trust him with everything that is in our hearts; our hopes, desires, fears, struggles, praise, etc. As I have grown closer to Christ, all of these things have taken on a new light. My desire is to please him; my struggles are against sin and anything else that keeps me from him, all praise and glory is to Him alone, my fears often put up a barrier between me and God because I am often afraid to even voice them. But acknowledging our fears and bringing them into the light allows for the fear to be lifted and is the first step in allowing God to give us the strength to overcome them. My prayers become less about me and more about God’s desires for me.

But I am still trying to find a balance. Several months ago I had to go for a biopsy. I asked Fr. Jason, “Do I pray that the biopsy is negative or do I pray for God’s will to be done and for the grace to accept whatever happens?” He said to pray for both. We know that God is capable of complete healing so I need to have confidence in that when I pray. But we must also pray, “Not my will, but Thy will be done.” It is not either or, but it is both. Fr. Jason anointed me the morning of the biopsy, and when I went to have it done, the nodule was gone; there was nothing to biopsy!! People tried to say that the test must have been wrong instead of even considering that a miracle had occurred. Of course, we knew it was a miracle and the first thing I did was give thanks to our heavenly Father.

The purpose of prayer is not to change the order established by God, but to obtain what God has decided to accomplish by means of our prayer. God wants the working out of certain things to depend on our desire and prayer. Is it not through prayer and our desire that we share in the fullness of God’s work and go beyond the limitations of our actions?  ~ Fr. Bernard Bro, O.P.

Listening With a Heart Like Mary

 

 “Jesus entered a village where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him. She had a sister named Mary who sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak. Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me.’ The Lord said to her in reply, ‘Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.’” (Luke 10:38-42)

Today’s gospel reading always makes me want to defend Martha. Jesus came to her home for dinner, Jesus, the Messiah! Of course she wants everything to be perfect. I have always been an introvert and having people over for dinner takes me out of my comfort zone. It has gotten much better over the years and now I can relax and enjoy our company instead of worry about everything being perfect. But just as Martha was missing the opportunity to be with the Lord and enjoy his presence, in my eagerness to serve my company, I almost missed the opportunity to enjoy the companionship of my friends. And that is why they were invited in the first place, to spend some intimate time together in our ever busy world.

I think for most of us, a part of us is Mary and we want to sit at the Lord’s feet and listen to him speak to us. But there is a lot of Martha in us as well. There is always so much to do. There is so much need in the world. I find this especially true at work. Yesterday I had a new family to meet whose child had a bone tumor that was possibly cancer. I had a family whose baby girl is on hospice and having some difficulties, a child who was sick with fever and needing to be admitted to the hospital and a child who had relapsed. And these are just the ones that required a lot of time and compassion. I have to take a step back and offer up a prayer before I go see each family otherwise it is too overwhelming. We can’t just focus on the tasks that need to be done because what we do is so much more than that.

Our world today applauds achievement but our Lord desires companionship and intimacy. The world is telling us to do more, obtain more, show everyone how successful you are. But our Father whispers, “Be still and know that I am God.” The closer we draw to the heart of Christ, the more we see his heart for the world. And so we serve, we minister, and we love, knowing that when we do it for “the least of these” we are doing it for Christ. But we have to constantly draw him close, allow him to guide us so that what we are doing is for our brother, not for ourselves. We need to sit at the feet of Jesus with an open heart and ready to receive. 

There is No Hiding From the Lord

 Today’s readings from the Book of Jonah and the gospel of Luke are so rich with lessons about how we are to live our lives and also about God’s mercy. There is so much that can be said about both of them but I am going to share my meditation on the story of Jonah. This story demonstrates the sovereignty of God as he employs his creation to accomplish his divine plan. God often chooses those who really don’t want to do his will. Jonah knows who God is and even tells the mariners, “I worship the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.”  (Jonah 1:9) But when God asks him to go to the city of Nineveh and preach to them, Jonah literally takes off in the other direction. Anyone who truly understands who God is and has a proper respect for Him, knows you cannot run from God and that obedience to God is always the best course of action. And just as we see with Jonah, our sinfulness often affects those around us. The Lord hurled a violent storm upon the sea and the ship was almost at the point of breaking apart. The mariners on the boat were terrified.

Father, forgive me for the times that I have responded in the same way that Jonah did; running away from the things you are asking me to do. Sometimes I think that what you are asking of me is too hard. Rather than trusting that you never give us more than we can bear, I become overwhelmed. Often what you ask of me is more than I can bear alone, but if I reach out to you, call out for your help, I will be strengthened by your grace. My disobedience causes the same turmoil in my life that Jonah experienced and my disobedience often cause pain and turmoil for those around me. It is not only you that I sin against. I do long to do your will but my flesh is weak. The words of Saint Paul ring true for me. “What I do, I do not understand. For I do not do what I want to do, but I do what I hate.” (Romans 7:15) I come to you with a contrite heart and ask for the grace to do your will and to never fear what it is that you ask of me because it is all for your glory. Amen.

Your Name is Written in Heaven

“The seventy-two disciples returned rejoicing and said to Jesus, ‘Lord, even the demons are subject to us because of your name.’ Jesus said, ‘I have observed Satan fall like lightning from the sky. Behold, I have given you the power to tread upon serpents' and scorpions and upon the full force of the enemy and nothing will harm you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice because the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice because your names are written in heaven.’”  (Luke 10: 17-20)

The joy in discipleship is not in authority over demonic power, but in the citizenship of God’s Kingdom. In today’s Gospel, we get an understanding of revelation and how it works in Jesus’ ministry. The kingdom of heaven is shared among Jesus’ disciples. It is a kingdom of power over all forms of evil. It is a kingdom in which those who are a part of it are privy to knowledge of the Father because the Son (whom only the Father knows) chooses to whom he will reveal it. It is the “childlike” who are chosen for this revelation. God’s kingdom and the understanding therein, are for those with whom the Son shares it.  Again, Jesus teaches us about the humility necessary to be his disciple. They are able to “tread upon serpents and scorpions and upon the full force of the enemy” because of Christ alone.

We were chosen by God and all we have has been given to us by God. Our discipleship is strengthened by our willingness to receive and be taught. The more we are open to God, the more he will reveal to us about his Father and about ourselves. Let us be open to all that God has in store for us. Let us allow “the dawn from on high” to “break upon us, to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, and to guide our feet into the way of peace.” (Luke 1: 78-79) May we always rejoice that our names are written in heaven!!