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Read more about the article Mercy

Mercy

“Who was the man’s neighbor?” “The one who showed him mercy.” (Lk 10:36-37)

We are all familiar with the story of the Good Samaritan – a man beaten and left for dead is ignored by those who had an obligation to help him but is rescued by a foreigner.  What we tend to miss in this story is Jesus’s command, “Go and do likewise.” (Lk 10:37)  We all want mercy extended to us, but do we extend it to others?  Do we really treat others as our neighbor?

In March 2020 we commonly heard the phrase “we are all in this together.”  Yet we have become more fractured and divided than ever.  People have been saying horrendous things to other people online for quite some time, and now we have graduated to saying these things in person.  We have come to see a masked face as just a computer screen, forgetting there is a person on the other side.  We have come to think that if someone disagrees with us that person does not deserve to be treated with respect.  In denying the humanity of other people we are in danger of losing our own.

How do we reverse this dynamic?  The first step is contemplating why we want to change it. In Les Misérables, one of the greatest Catholic novels of the 19th century and one of the most enduring musicals of the 20th century, Victor Hugo contemplates just that.  Jean Valjean serves 20 years of hard labor for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his starving family.  When he gets out of prison, there is no family left and he cannot find work because his papers (sound familiar?) show that he had committed a crime.  Desperate, he seeks refuge at a church where a kind bishop serves him a meal and gives him shelter for the night.  Jean Valjean is arrested later that night for stealing his silver.  The bishop could choose to let Valjean be arrested, but instead tells the policemen that the silver was indeed a gift to Valjean and then turns to Valjean and says, “But my friend you left so early, surely something slipped your mind.  You forgot I gave these also, would you leave the best behind?” and hands him two silver candlesticks.  Valjean cannot understand why the bishop was so merciful to such an undeserving person and the bishop tells him, “By the witness of the martyrs, by the Passion and the Blood, God has raised you out of darkness, I have bought your soul for God!”

The moment of mercy is the turning point of the entire story.  Valjean recognizes his own forgotten humanity and turns his life around.  Several times he risks his freedom to help another person simply because showing them mercy was the right thing to do.   The mercy that he was shown preserves his freedom, but it is showing mercy to others that transforms his own soul.

We are familiar with the words of Jesus, “Be merciful as your Father is merciful” (Lk 6:36) but as we read the parable of The Good Samaritan, we often forget the scribe’s original question: “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal Life?” (Lk 10:25)

Works Cited

Boublil, Alain, Schönberg, Claude-Michel, Kretzmer, Herbert. “Les Miserables.” Les Miserables Script.pdf, Alain Boublil Music Ltd., 1985.

Hugo, Victor. Les Miserables. Mint Editions, 2021.

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Read more about the article Finding Jesus

Finding Jesus

Many parents have experienced the momentary loss of a child in a public place.  The utter terror turns to complete relief when the child is found.  I can only imagine the anxiety that Mary and Joseph felt when they lost Jesus, not for a few minutes, but for three days.

This experience was a foreshadowing of Jesus’s death and three day entombment before His resurrection.  For St. Joseph it was a deeply mystical experience.  From the time they brought Him to the temple when He was eight days old, Joseph and Mary knew very clearly what the scriptures had foretold of the suffering Jesus would endure to redeem the world.  Both St. Joseph and Blessed Mother carried this sorrow in their hearts.  For St. Joseph, though, he was profoundly grieved that he would not be there to comfort his beloved spouse or his Jesus when the time came.  During this time of sorrow and searching, St. Joseph suffered what Mary would experience at the foot of the cross and the tomb.   He not only offered up his suffering to God, but also comforted Mary in Her sorrow during their search.

When they find Him, He says to His Mother, “How is it that you sought Me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” (Lk 2:49) Although Mary did not anticipate this answer, She kept it in Her heart.  Through prayer and meditation over time She came to understand the purpose of Her suffering in this way.  Our Blessed Mother understands what it is like to suffer the loss of Jesus and has compassion for sinners who have lost their way.  Sometimes people move so far from the path of light that they grope in the darkness and end up searching in all the wrong places.  So many of Her confused children turn to worldly things to fill that aching void that only God can fill.  Some pursue power, money, prestige, sex, or drugs all in the attempt to fill that void.  Our Mother of Mercy continually prays for these children, always loving them and never giving up on them.  She never judges, only invites everyone to come to Her Son.  Just as She joyously embraced Our Lord when She found Him in the temple, She joyously embraces us when we choose to follow Jesus.  When we pray the Rosary and meditate on the life of Christ, it is Her hand that we hold.  She offers us Her hand today to guide us through these troubling times.  Don’t let go.  She knows the path to Jesus and will lead us to Him.

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Read more about the article The Book of Amos

The Book of Amos

Last Sunday’s first reading comes from Amos.  Amos prophesies to the kingdoms of Judah and Israel around 750 B.C.  The people of Israel are not happy with his message, and he responds by saying that he was a shepherd and God told him to go and prophesy, and so he did.

Time and again we see God choosing shepherds for special missions.  Moses was shepherding his father-in-law’s flock when God called to him to lead his people out of slavery, David was called from his flock to be anointed king, Amos was called to lead the people away from their hypocrisy and abuse of the poor, the shepherds at the Nativity were the first to receive the news of the Savior’s birth and invited to adore Him, and Jesus many times refers to Himself as the Good Shepherd.  Even in the modern era Our Lady of Fatima appears to three shepherd children in Fatima, Portugal in 1917 with a message of repentance to give to the world.

Why does God so often choose shepherds?  Shepherds have learned patience.  Sheep are not known as intelligent animals and can wander from the flock.  In order to lead people by motivating them through love instead of fear requires a great deal of patience because we, like sheep, can wander off the path and make poor decisions.

Shepherds have learned to listen to God in the silence.  They experience God through the natural world and through His creatures.  They have established a rhythm to their days that does not involve the constant frenetic pace that the rest of us create in our lives.  They create space in their lives to hear God’s voice.

Shepherds tend to be humble.  They spend their days with animals who do not care what they wear, what they have achieved, or who they know.  I am sure it is also easier to be humble with the constant reminder that they smell like sheep, but more than that, they know who they are as creatures of God and who God is as their Creator.  Shepherds are trusted by their sheep because they treat their sheep kindly and it is this kindness that draws people to them as well.

Shepherds are down to earth and not impressed with their own intellect. In Jesus’s own words he says: “I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike. Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will.” (Mt 11:25-26)  When these prophets speak God’s wisdom to the people, the people know that these words do not come from them but from God.  Shepherds allow the Holy Spirit to speak because they realize that this wisdom is not theirs, but God’s.

Moses, David, and Jesus were forced into their desert experiences because the ruling kings sought their death, but God used these experiences to draw them closer to Himself.  During the last year and a half with the lockdowns we have all lived the desert experience of the shepherds.  Many have experienced the difficulty of “Zoom school,”  job loss, decline in physical or mental health, or the death of a loved one who couldn’t receive needed medical procedures or by suicide.  We all have suffered through isolation and loss of the sacraments for months.  We have all been forced to slow down.  It is in this desert that God has reached out to us.

We are the shepherds in the modern world.  Yes, all of us ordinary people living ordinary lives are being called to our own unique missions.  Each of us has talents – and weaknesses – designed for the particular mission God has chosen for us.  He knows our imperfections,  our shortcomings and our excuses –we are His sheep, after all.  Our weaknesses are an opportunity for God to show His strength.  Our lack of knowledge is an opportunity for His wisdom to shine through.  Our uncertainty about the future is an opportunity to rely completely on Him.   

The most important quality of shepherds is that when God calls them, they respond.  Amos says simply, “I was no prophet, nor a prophet’s son, but I was a herdsman and a dresser of sycamore figs. But the Lord took me from following the flock, and the Lord said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.” (Amos 7:14-15). Simply saying yes is all that God required.

God is calling us now.  He invites each of us into the silence to hear His voice.  He invites us to trust Him.   The promise He gave Moses (Ex 3:12)  and the Apostles (Mt 28:20) — “I will be with you” — is the promise He gives to all of us.  All He needs is our “yes” and He will do the rest.

Continue ReadingThe Book of Amos
Read more about the article Time

Time

From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Mt 4:17)

I heard a story a long time ago that went like this:

The demons gathered together to discuss how they would steal souls.  One demon came forward and said, “I will tell people that we do not exist.”  The others thought this was a great idea.  Another came forward and said, “I will tell people that hell does not exist.”  The others applauded him for his ingenuity.  A third one came forward and said, “I will tell people there is plenty of time.”  With this all the demons jumped up ecstatic with his insights into the human psyche.

I remembered this story during a recent vacation I took with my family to see some national parks in Utah as well as the Grand Canyon.  As with many people, God speaks to me through nature.  When I gazed over the lookout at Bryce Canyon, I was amazed to see what weathering had done to the rocks and the beautiful and unique shapes I had never before seen.  I thought about how patient God is in His creation and much time it took to create this beauty.  Then I thought about my soul.  God had given me such a marvelous gift and the only gift I can give Him is to give back my soul in a beautiful condition.  Beauty takes time.  I don’t have thousands or millions of years, so I need to make every moment count.  How much do I pray every day?  How well do I live the Beatitudes?  How much honest self-reflection do I do before going to Confession?  There is definitely room for improvement.

God wasn’t finished speaking with me yet and gave me an experience for further reflection.  We planned a day trip to the Grand Canyon which is a little more than 2 ½ hours from St. George Utah.  We put our destination into Garmin (old school I know but my phone doesn’t do audible commands when it is plugged into the charger) and off we went.  We stopped for gas at Jacob’s Lake then continued on Highway 89 according to Garmin (and lack of signage on the Arizona highway).  We went up and over a two-lane mountain road with no shoulder, no guardrail, and hairpin turns.  I distinctly remember there were also no lights anywhere and wasn’t looking forward to the evening return trip.   Then we descended to the desert floor and proceeded across it, every minute getting hotter and hotter.  Finally my husband commented that we’d been on the road for 3 ½ hours and did I see any signs anywhere on the road?  Sure enough, we had missed Highway 67 way back before the mountain.  So back across the desert we went, up and over the mountain that I thankfully would not have to traverse at night, and finally after five hours of driving arrived at the Grand Canyon.

As an English major I appreciate a good metaphor and I think that’s why God picked this experience.  We can easily take the wrong road in life.  Sometimes we listen to the wrong people and sometimes we are so focused on where we want to go, convinced that we know better, that we miss the gentle urging of the Holy Spirit.  Of course God allows U-turns in life, which means we can eventually arrive where He wants us to end up, but the further we persist in going “our way” the less time we have to appreciate the beauty of the destination.  How much good do we neglect to do when we are doing things “our way”?  How many times do we fail to see God showing us how much He loves us?  How much heartache, worry, and general grumpiness can we avoid if we focus on doing His Will?

On the third breathtaking sunset God gave me on that trip, I stopped to say an Our Father.  No agenda or prayer list of wants, just an Our Father to tell Him I loved Him and to be fully present to Him in that moment.  As I immersed myself in Him, He responded by writing “I love you” in the sky.

If you look carefully you can see the "I," an upside down heart, and a "U."
Continue ReadingTime

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