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Read more about the article Doubting Thomas

Doubting Thomas

“Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.” (Jn 20:29)

The Apostle Thomas is often referred to as “Doubting Thomas,” but is this really fair?  When Mary Magdalene finds the empty tomb, she runs to tell the Apostles.  The response?  Peter and John run to the tomb –– they have to see it for themselves.  Once they see the empty tomb and the face cloth rolled separately (signifying that He would be back), then they believe.

When the 10 Apostles are together, Jesus appears to them, shows them His wounds, and breathes on them, saying, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”  It is this act that leads the Apostles to understand the Resurrection, but Thomas isn’t with them.  He doesn’t receive the signs and the Holy Spirit as the other Apostles do at this time.  Is it any wonder that he remains in the state of incomprehension that the other Apostles had also been in prior to seeing the Risen Christ? (Mk 16: 11, 13)

We fail to appreciate what Thomas grappled with.  He has seen Jesus raise Lazarus from the dead, but the idea of Jesus raising Himself from the dead is beyond Thomas’s understanding.  We believe because we have the benefit of the Holy Spirit, the gift of Baptism, and 2000 years of Church teaching, with each generation of saints and doctors of the Church diving deeper into understanding and building on what came before — and we have Thomas, who put his fingers into Christ’s side and verifies that He is not a ghost, but fully alive in His Glorified Body.

We often fail to peel back the layers to contemplate the deeper meaning of Jesus’s response to Thomas.  He doesn’t appear in anger or condemnation.  He loves Thomas and is not willing to leave him in the same state the other Apostles had been in prior to His visit.  He wants Thomas to have the gift of the Holy Spirit too.  He has great plans for Thomas. He willingly offers the proof Thomas needs.  When Thomas is greeted with such unconditional love, he knows he’s in the presence of Jesus. It is this great love that transforms Thomas just as it transformed the other Apostles.

Because Jesus is willing to meet Thomas where he is, as he is, Thomas ends up spreading the Gospel all the way to India. Thomas’s questions don’t phase Jesus; Our Lord wants him to understand and Thomas for his part comes with an open heart, willing to be taught.  Thomas is truly a sign of hope for all of us.  We too often struggle to understand the ways of God, and in our struggles God does not abandon us either.  He meets us where we are, as we are. If we approach our questions with an open, sincere heart, willing to accept God’s timing with patience and humility, we can enter into contemplation of the divine.  It is here that we, like Thomas, move beyond simply touching His side; we are drawn into a deeper relationship with Him that strengthens our faith as we place ourselves in His presence and allow ourselves to be transformed by His tender, merciful love.

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Read more about the article Generosity

Generosity

“Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven“ (Mk 10:21)

Possession.  We usually think of Jesus curing the demoniac or movies about exorcism when we hear this word, but there are more layers and meanings than we realize at first glance. Everyone has possessions; simply having things, even a lot of things, is morally neutral.  It’s the value we place on these things in our lives that determines whether we possess things or our things possess us.  Of course, the more things we possess, the greater the challenge not to be possessed by them.  The sheer effort involved in maintaining, insuring, and securing our possessions grows as we accumulate more stuff. 

So where do we fall on the spectrum?  How closely do we resemble the rich young man in the Gospel who wants eternal life but is unwilling to part with his wealth to get it (Mk 10: 17-31)? We must ask ourselves: do we focus on gratitude for what we have been given, or do we focus on accumulating more possessions to elevate our status?  Do we appreciate the talent God has given us (or our ancestors) to amass things of beauty or do we get bored with what we have?  Are we genuinely happy for our friends and neighbors when they achieve what they have worked for or are we envious of their success?  Do we look for ways to share with others or do we assume everyone else wants to take our treasures?  If we are honest with ourselves, we are all in danger of being possessed by our things to some degree, so how do we break free of this?  More importantly, why should we want to? 

Breaking free begins with fasting and almsgiving.  Fasting forces us to focus on spiritual food.  If we cannot fast from a meal for health reasons, then we should fast from other things that occupy our time, for example, electronics, social media or binge watching sports on TV.  The whole point is to replace the time spent on eating (or surfing social media, etc) with prayer.  It is not so much a giving up of something we want, as it is of giving ourselves something better.  Fasting helps us to break free from envy and from our insatiable desires. It also gives us a chance to silence our self-criticism and the criticism of the evil one, who enumerates all our faults, to put ourselves in the presence of God who loves us and wants to heal our brokenness and strengthen our souls. 

Almsgiving gives us a chance to minister to Jesus in His beloved poor.  Jesus tells us, “The measure you measure with will be measured back to you.” (Mt 7:2)  Almsgiving requires us to trust God that we have enough for ourselves and enough to help others.  Almsgiving on a regular basis helps us to cultivate a spirit of generosity which moves us from worrying about our possessions to gratitude for our blessings. 

Once we break free of being possessed by our possessions, something amazing happens – we appreciate everything around us.  For example, I lost my favorite Crabapple tree to an early frost one year, but I always smile when I see the neighbor’s tree in bloom every spring because it is so beautiful. I can take walks and notice the gardens my neighbors have and appreciate their beauty without having to do all that weeding.   I can’t sing well, but listening to the beautiful voices of our choir profoundly touches my soul. 

Most importantly, when we are no longer consumed by thoughts of our possessions, we can focus our thoughts on Jesus. Our fasting and almsgiving enable us to surrender to the Holy Spirit Who assists us so that prayer becomes a joy and fills us with peace. We free up our mental space and our heart space to pursue our relationship with Jesus Who desires to make His home in our hearts. We open ourselves to the greatest possession of all: possessing God and being possessed by Him.

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Read more about the article Your Faith Has Saved You

Your Faith Has Saved You

In the Gospel of Mark we encounter the story of the woman with a hemorrhage who follows behind Jesus in a crowd. She touches His cloak and is immediately healed. (Mk 5:21-43)  It is one of Jesus’s many miracles — in the Bible and throughout history.  He continues to work miracles in our lives today, but so many times I hear people complain “Well, I prayed for healing and He didn’t listen to me.” These are among the most bitter people, disappointed and angry with God. So why does God heal some but not others?  I certainly cannot presume to know the mind of God, but I have pondered this question, and as I do, I turn to scripture as the key to unlock some answers.

 “Unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven.” (Mt 18:3)

There’s that word we all run away from: “change.” None of us really want to change ourselves.  We would be much happier if God would change and run things our way, so that’s the first stumbling block. He says to become like “little children.” Little children are humble and trusting.  They don’t think they have all the answers.  Instead, they turn to their parents.  They aren’t afraid to say “I don’t know” because they haven’t had enough time on earth to become prideful — and they trust completely.

Would it be so terrible to become like little children? Wouldn’t it be a welcome respite to not feel the need to have all the answers? To not have to be in control? To not feel responsible for everything? Wouldn’t it be a relief to put down those heavy burdens He never asked us to carry in the first place? True freedom actually comes when we have the courage to change – to become humble, to become trusting, to let God be in control.

This was the disposition of the woman with the hemorrhage. She didn’t demand Jesus’s attention. She didn’t try to bend Him to her will. She didn’t even try to delay Him.  She only wanted to touch the back of His cloak. She was humble. She had complete faith in Him, trusting that she would be healed. He says to her, “Your faith has saved you.” He didn’t just heal her physical body; he saved her soul for eternity.

The woman did something else we usually overlook. She listened when He spoke to her.  Do we do the same? Prayer is a dialogue with God which means both people talk and both people listen. Do we just talk at God to give Him our list of wants and consider our “prayer” done? Do we sit with a closed heart, hoping not to hear the voice of God because we aren’t sure we are going to like what He has to say?

What about forgiveness? Have we forgiven our brothers and sisters from our hearts before approaching God? If my child comes to me with dirty hands and asks for a cookie, I tell him to wash his hands first. How can we then go to God with dirty hearts full of unforgiveness and expect that He won’t ask the same of us? Do we stand there with our grudges firmly held, arms crossed, refusing to open them to lovingly exchange an embrace with God? If we won’t allow Him into our hearts, how can we allow Him into our bodies?

“…God clothes the wild flowers growing in the field which are there today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, will He not much more look after you, you who have so little faith?” (Mt 6:30)

God always delights in giving His children good gifts and we need to prepare ourselves to receive them with faith. Sometimes we do not receive physical healing, but that does not mean He has abandoned us. It means that He is trying to draw us closer to Him.  Often we neglect Him when things are going well and only turn to Him when they are not.  Unfortunately, this neglect of prayer tends to lead us on paths far away from God and above all, He wants to lead us to Him because He desires our eternal salvation. 

A priest told me that he often visits the sick in the hospital. One day he went to visit someone who had requested his presence, but that person had checked out and a new patient was in the room. He thought since he was there already, he should say hello. The woman was not baptized and had never practiced any faith but she welcomed his visit.  At the end of their conversation she requested Baptism. After meeting with the family who saw how much this meant to her, they arranged a time at the hospital for the Sacraments of Initiation — Baptism, Eucharist, and Confirmation. She died shortly after. At the funeral the only Catholics there were the priest and the deceased, so he preached the beauty of the Catholic faith to those in attendance. Within a year, half the people who had come to the funeral were on their way to becoming Catholic. Sometimes suffering can lead to your family’s salvation as well as your own.

Sometimes He does not heal our physical wounds right away because the spiritual wounds are so much worse and need to be attended to first. The Inner Healing Prayer (see below) said daily can assist us in opening our hearts. Other times suffering is a blessing in disguise that we can offer up in atonement for our sins, which brings us the grace of a shorter Purgatory.  In some cases, suffering is a gift of a white or red martyrdom because He wishes to give us even greater gifts in Heaven. Whether or not we receive a physical healing, if we open ourselves to His will and trust in Him then our spiritual healing can begin. Then and only then can we receive His greatest gift — the gift of His peace which is beyond all understanding. (Phil 4:7)

Prayer For Inner Healing

Dear Lord Jesus, please come and heal my wounded and troubled heart.  I beg you to heal the torments that are causing anxiety in my life.  I beg you, in a particular way, to heal the underlying source of my sinfulness.  I beg you to come into my life and heal the psychological harms that struck me in my childhood and from the injuries they have caused throughout my life.

Lord Jesus, you know my burdens. I lay them on your Good Shepherd’s Heart.  I beseech you — by the merits of the great open wound in your heart — to heal the small wounds that are in mine.  Heal my memories, so that nothing that has happened to me will cause me to remain in pain and anguish, filled with anxiety.

Heal, O Lord, all those wounds that have been the cause of evil that is rooted in my life.  I want to forgive all those who have offended me.  Look to those inner sores that make me unable to forgive.  You who came to forgive the afflicted of heart, please, heal my wounded and troubled heart.

Heal, O Lord Jesus, all those intimate wounds that are the root cause of my physical illness.  I offer you my heart.  Accept it, Lord, purify it and give me the sentiments of your Divine Heart.

Heal me, O Lord, from the pain caused by the death of my loved ones.  Grant me to regain peace and joy in the knowledge that you are the Resurrection and the Life.  Make me an authentic witness to your resurrection, your victory over sin and death, and your loving presence among all men.  Amen.

Prayer for Inner Healing taken from Spiritual Warfare Prayers published by Valentine Publishing House. Reprinted with permission. Originally printed in An Exorcist Tells His Story by Reverend Gabriele Amorth (p. 201-202). Reprinted with permission of Ignatius Press, San Francisco, CA. For your copy of the Spiritual Warfare Prayers for this and other prayers, go to www.CatholicWarriors.com.

Thank you to Brian Archbold for sharing this photograph.

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Read more about the article Meditations for the Chaplet of Divine Mercy

Meditations for the Chaplet of Divine Mercy

A Chaplet of Reparation

The Chaplet of Divine Mercy is a meditative prayer to God Our Father. Contemplating the suffering of Jesus with compassion is a way to enter into His suffering and offer reparation for our sins and the sins of the whole world. These meditations can be used at each decade.

I.  Before the Last Supper, Jesus said His goodbye to His Mother.  They both knew it was their final embrace before His death.  How much Jesus suffered knowing He could do nothing to lessen Her sorrow.

II. At the Last Supper, Jesus gave His own Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity to His Apostles.  In spite of the love he received and in spite of the warnings of his fate, Judas still chose to betray Jesus.  How much Jesus suffered from the coldness of Judas’s heart.

III. Jesus, the King of the Universe, is brought before Pontius Pilate who treats Him as a curiosity, an amusement.  Without compassion Pontius Pilate orders the scourging of a man he knows is innocent.  How much Jesus suffered for the indifference of Pontius Pilate.

IV. Simon of Cyrene stood before Jesus, saw His blood-stained cloak, the sweat and blood pouring down the face of Jesus, His cheeks covered by the spittle of the crowd — and felt no pity.  He had to be forced to help carry the cross.  How much Jesus suffered from the contempt of those for whom He was dying.

V. The Romans nailed His wrists at the point where so many nerves come together that even morphine cannot kill the pain.  He suffered the humiliation of the world gloating over His naked, tortured body as He convulsed in agony.

———-

A Chaplet of Reparation – Praying with the Saints

I. Saint Joseph suffered the loss of the child Jesus for three days.  In sorrow he searched for Him without consolation and offered up his suffering to join it with the suffering of abandonment Jesus would feel in the garden of Gethsemane when all of His disciples ran away.  We too offer up the times we felt abandoned by family and friends in reparation for the times we too abandoned or neglected God.  We ask Saint Joseph to intercede for us so that Our Lord will give us the grace of constancy and perseverance in times of trial.

II. Saint Maria Goretti was devoted to chastity and resisted her rapist because she did not want him to commit a sin.  She suffered 14 stab wounds and joined her suffering to Jesus’s suffering in the scourging.  We too offer up the times when others have offended our chastity whether in word or deed in reparation for the times we were unchaste in our thoughts, in our words, or in our deeds.  We ask Saint Maria Goretti to intercede for us so Our Lord will give us the grace of purity of heart.

III. Saint Venantius suffered torture and attempted execution five times by the Roman authorities, but his Guardian Angel intervened.  During one of his tortures, his teeth were smashed and his jaw was broken.  He offered up his suffering to join it to the buffets, slaps, and punches Jesus suffered at the hands of the Pharisees and the Roman soldiers.  We too offer up the times we have been unjustly treated in reparation for the times we have been unjust to others. We ask Saint Venantius to intercede for us so Our Lord will give us the grace of humility and fortitude.

IV. Saint Agnes refused to give up her virginity and was dragged naked through the streets of Rome.  She offered up her suffering to join it to Jesus’s suffering as He stumbled, fell, and was pushed and dragged on the road to Calvary. We too have suffered persecution in trying to follow Christ and we offer up our suffering in reparation for all the times we took the easy way out and all the compromises we have made when we should have stayed firm.  We ask Saint Agnes to intercede for us that Our Lord will give us the wisdom to understand the path that is pleasing to Him and the courage to make correct choices.

V. Saint Peter suffered crucifixion upside down.  He offered it up to join it to Jesus’s suffering on the cross and in reparation for his own betrayal.  We too offer up all of our sufferings in reparation for the times we neglected the most vulnerable – the unborn, the poor, the elderly — because we failed to see Christ in them.  We ask Saint Peter to obtain for us the grace to forgive ourselves for all the sins we have confessed in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

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