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