The Greatest Commandments

 “One of the scribes came to Jesus and asked him, ‘Which is the first of all the commandments?’ Jesus replied, ‘The first is this: Hear O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and all your strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:28-31)

Love your neighbor as yourself. This has always been hard for me to grasp, not the part about loving your neighbor but the part about loving them as you love yourself. For most of my life I did not love myself. I didn’t think I was loveable in anyone’s eyes including myself and God. So I’ve always prayed for God to help me love as he loves, to see others with the love of Christ. This is where I draw my strength to love those that I find difficult to love. But I have had to learn to love myself and believe that I am loveable. I prayed for God to drive out of my heart those demons that kept me in darkness and would continually pull me under when I was beginning to be free of their lies.

I have a journal of my favorite scripture passages and several of them remind me of God’s love for me that he has had from the beginning. “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I dedicated you…” (Jeremiah 1:5) “You formed my inmost being; you knit me in my mother’s womb…my days were shaped, before one came to be.” (Psalm 139:13, 16) God is all-knowing, he knew everything about me, all my failures and sins, even before I was in my mother’s womb and he has always loved me. For the longest time I believed this about others but I didn’t believe it about myself. But God has placed some amazing faith-filled people in my life that have helped me to see that I am loveable. They have taught me scripture, the very ones that I mentioned above and many more that reveal His love for each and every one of us. Our bible is the living Word, God speaks to us through this living Word. The words written in Jeremiah weren’t just written for him but for each of God’s children. Christ’s resides in me, just as he does in each one of us, and it is through this understanding that I have learned to love myself and to love my neighbor as myself. 

Faithfulness

“Jesus said to him in reply, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ The blind man replied, ‘Master, I want to see.’ Jesus told him, ‘Go your way; your faith has saved you.’ Immediately he received his sight and followed him on the way.” (Mark 10:51-52)

Faith is a gift from God. It is a gift that we must accept from Him and then nurture it. Bartimaeus doesn’t just receive his healing and go on like we see in the story of the ten lepers. No, he is fully aware of the Giver of his gift of sight and wants to live out his life in gratitude and faithfulness to God. The basis of our faithfulness is God’s faithfulness throughout the ages. There is a constancy to God that is unchanging, therefore he is worthy of our trust. God remains faithful even when we are not. He is always there to receive us with love and mercy when we decide to return to him. “The favors of the LORD are not exhausted, his mercies are not spent; they are renewed each morning, so great is his faithfulness.”  (Lamentations 3:22-23)

What blindness do we need to overcome? If we truly want to “see” so that we can live as we have been called to live then we must pray for God to reveal to us our brokenness, to see the areas in our lives where we are failing. To see the sins that we try to downplay and the idols in our lives that pull us from Him.  In the gospel the men tell the blind man, “Take courage; get up he is calling you.” Lord, give me the courage to look at these areas in my life so that you can heal them. Help me to live a life of faithfulness as Bartimaeus did.  I want to live a life of gratitude and faithfulness. Help me to see that living a life of faithfulness doesn’t require me to do great things but to do everything with great love. 

Faithful Friend

 “A faithful friend is a sturdy shelter; he who finds one finds a treasure. A faithful friend is beyond price, no sum can balance his worth. A faithful friend is a life-saving remedy, such as he who fears God finds; for he who fears God behaves accordingly, and his friend will be like himself.” (Sirach 6:14-17)

I love the Book of Sirach. When my RCIA candidate got her Catholic bible I told her to read Sirach. It is a wonderful treasure that isn’t found in the Protestant bibles. A faithful friend truly is beyond price. Earlier in this passage from today’s reading we hear examples of friendships that don’t last. 

“One sort of friend is a friend when it suits him, but he will not be with you in time of distress. Another is a friend who becomes an enemy, and tells of the quarrel to your shame. Another is a friend, a boon companion who will not be with you when sorrow comes.” (6:8-10) I am sure most of us can recall friends who fell into one of these examples. And it can be devastating when that happens. When you are experiencing a difficult time in your life you rely on your friends to be there for you, not to abandon you in your time of need. This happens often when someone experiences the death of a loved one and family and friends don’t know what to say or do so they pull away. This happened to me my senior year of high school when my brother was killed in a motorcycle accident. I was actually at my best friend’s house when I received the call from my dad asking me to go home because Kevin had been in an accident. From that day on my friend avoided me. I am sure it was because she didn’t know what to say or do, but it was devastating for me. Not only had I lost my brother, but I lost my best friend.

Over the years people come and go in our lives and that is expected. We are called to live in community but the world is always changing. Often times God places people in our lives for a short time and that is all  that God intended. I have tried to hang onto relationships even after they were meant to change or end. When my mother was dying my priest friend was a source of great comfort and strength. Not too long after that things changed but I didn't want them to. I tried to cling to that relationship which only made things worse. My love had turned from being Christ-like to selfishness. When we start to make things about ourselves then love isn't involved because love is selfless and sacrifice. I had to let go of my own desires and re-focus on Christ. I am learning to embrace the gift of friendship that God places in my life for as long as he wants it to be there. And always reminding myself that the love of God is the only thing that is unchanging. I give thanks to God for the wonderful, like-minded Christian men and women he has placed in my life and try to live in the joy of His love moment by moment.  

Do Not Delay

Today’s first reading gives us much instruction on how we ought to live. “Of forgiveness be not overconfident, adding sin upon sin. Say not: ‘Great is his mercy; my many sins he will forgive.’” (Sirach 5:5-6) 

How often do we fall into the sin of presumption? How often do we postpone going to confession so we can continue doing our will and not His? Or maybe we have gotten so lax about receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation thinking we don’t need it because we haven’t committed a mortal sin. All sin causes separation from God who is the source of Life so all sin has a deadly component to it. Sin clouds our judgment and frequently receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation gets rid of the clouds. It clears our hearts and we step out of the confessional ready to stand firm in our faith and avoid the occasions of sin.

“Delay not your conversion to the LORD, put it not off from day to day.” (Sirach 5:8) Whenever I read this verse I think of my husband. I often wonder what he is waiting for. What is it that keeps him from drawing closer to God? What is it that keeps him from embracing the Catholic faith? But I can’t worry about that. I have to place it in God’s hands. This passage speaks to all of us because each day we must choose to follow Christ, each day we have to embrace our cross. In the early church they believed that baptism brought the forgiveness of sins and that those who were numbered among the faithful were expected to live exemplary lives. During this time period the penitential practices for those who lapsed into immorality were quite severe so some converts chose to wait until the end of their lives figuring that a deathbed baptism would be more effective because it would wash away more sins and decrease the amount of time they had to live an exemplary life. What a gamble! How often were they wrong about that? The time for each one of us to choose Christ is now.

In a meditation by Dom Mauro Giuseppe Lepori, the Abbot General of the Cistercian Order, he wrote about Peter’s decision to follow Jesus. Every day Peter felt the joy of being able to love Jesus by allowing himself to be carried, by everyone and by everything, where he would not have wanted to go except for Jesus. It was joy and the height of freedom to sacrifice one’s own will for the will of the Beloved. What freedom, to want what would be undesirable except for love! His hands were always stretched out, always empty, always ready to let himself be taken and led by Christ in everything, by Christ in everyone, always. Let us not delay in surrendering to Christ and allowing him to lead us where he may. 

In His Name

“John said to him, ‘Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in your name, and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow us.’ Jesus replied, ‘Do not prevent him. There is no one who can perform mighty deeds in my name who can at the same time speak ill of me. For whoever is not against us is for us.’” (Mark 9:38-40)

The Lord can use any of us for his glory. He didn’t just allow the Apostles to drive out demons. There were many things that the Apostles still needed to learn. God is all powerful and only goodness comes from Him so anything done in His name will bring glory. For man to do anything “in His name” there is some degree of faith. If man did not believe in God then he wouldn’t do something in his name, faith must be present. We see in Matthew’s gospel that the “disciples approached Jesus in private and said, ‘Why could we not drive it out?’ He said to them, ‘Because of your little faith.’” (17:19-20) The disciples’ lack of faith prevented them from driving the demon out from the boy.

There are many Christians in the world and instead of allowing our different religious beliefs keep us divided, we need to unite ourselves. We all believe in the same Lord so we need to come together and show the world what can be done in His name. Just think if we band together to protect the rights of the unborn we could put an end to abortion. If we changed our mindset and instead of doing things without any thought or for our own sake and did them in His name the world would be a much more loving place. If we saw Christ in every person that crosses our path and reached out to them with love, the simple act of smiling at someone could have a huge impact.

“In the Lord’s name, every action takes on a different aspect. It is as if the most interior impulse that moves us to a deed would sanctify the slightest and most exterior aspect of our action.”  (Adrienne Von Speyr) The Lord sanctifies our action and his love is spread from person to person. We need to come together and do all things in His name. It is through this change in our focus that loneliness, fear, hunger, sickness and demons can be driven out. 

Spirit of Truth

 “Jesus said to his disciples: ‘I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now. But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth.’” (John 16:12-13)

We are unable to bear the fullness of truth here on earth. The Holy Spirit has been sent to guide us to all truth. It is our journey, we are sojourners. This is our story, our love story with a God who loves us beyond our wildest imagination. Our minds can only take in so much at one time. Whether it is good news or terrible news, we can only bear so much.

At work when we meet with a family for the first time and tell them that their child has cancer they quickly get to the point where they can bear no more. Their minds go numb and they don’t hear what else we have to say. We have to find that balance of getting done what needs to be done so we can make the final diagnosis and start the treatment and moving at a pace where they can begin to understand it all. The news often knocks them to their knees, takes their breath away. But the Holy Spirit steps in and guides us. He comforts the family and leads them on this unimaginable journey on which they will embark and all the while pouring God’s love upon them. And he guides those of us who care for the sick, filling us with wisdom and compassion and renewing our spirit so we can continue to do His work.

The Holy Spirit was sent to keep our hearts and minds rooted in Christ. He was sent to reveal to us the Truth of our loving God who does not will for us to suffer but wills for our redemption. But God knew that we would suffer because we live in a broken world. God is goodness and love itself and he so loved us that he sent his only Son that we might have life, God’s life, the life for which we are called to live. God is always near, for it is “in him we live and move and have our being.” (Acts 17:28) So when life becomes more than we can bear, remember that Christ knew that would be the case and he provided a means for us to endure even when life seems unbearable. Let us be open to the God who loves us beyond our comprehension and allow the Spirit of Truth to  guide us on our journey. 

A New Jerusalem

 “Then I, John, 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. I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, God’s dwelling is with the human race. He will dwell with them and they will be his people and God himself will always be with them as their God. 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.’ The One who sat on the throne said, ‘Behold, I make all things new.’” (Revelation 21:1-5)

I love this passage from Revelation. We chose it for my mother’s funeral. It is a promise of hope. There will come a time when there will be no more tears, no more death, and no more pain. But in the meantime, we are reminded that God dwells among us and will always be with us. My mom’s birthday was on April 25^th and it is always a hard day. She has been on my heart a lot these past few days. During his homily today the priest was speaking about the gospel and spoke about when Jesus said,  my children, I will be with you only a little while longer. I say to you, love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. The priest said that it reminds him of a parent who is dying and gathers his children around him. He tells the children to stay together, to be there for one another and to love one another. Don’t let anything tear the family apart.

The ten days before my mother died, we gathered in my parents’ home. The hospital bed was set up in the den and we placed my mom in the bed on September 6^th and she remained there until she died on the 16^th. My siblings and my dad gathered around the bed and cared for her around the clock. We took turns feeding her, turning her, bathing her, comforting her, praying with her and so many other things during those moments that we will always cherish. My mother hated hospitals and to allow her to die at home was pure gift. In the past it wasn’t always peaceful between my siblings and me but something miraculous happened. During those 10 days we drew closer and closer together. Often times that kind of stress can tear families apart, but for us it drew us together. Even though we were exhausted, oftentimes overwhelmed with watching our mother suffer, we also found strength in one another. There was a peace in my parents’ home which had never been there before. And since our mother’s death we have remained close. There have been many trials since, we almost lost our brother Scott who was in a diabetic coma, but we have continued to draw strength from one another and from our Lord and Savior. He has dwelt among us through all of life, our joys as well as our deepest sorrows. And we keep our eyes turned toward heaven, waiting for the New Jerusalem to come down from heaven and allow God to make all things new.