Meditations

Read more about the article This Is My Body

This Is My Body

Today is Easter Sunday, one of my favorite days of the year.  For Catholics, we celebrate the Resurrection every Sunday, but Easter is especially joyful.  After preparing during Lent with sacrifices, fasting, almsgiving, repentance, forgiveness, and prayer, we experience a deeper connection with each other, with Our Lord, and with the Mass.  As our pastor explained in his homily how we are all connected to “The Greatest Story Ever Told,” I felt such gratitude for the gift of faith.  Then I thought about what I have not done to share this gift with others.

A few weeks ago I returned a phone call to a friend.  When I mentioned that my phone is silenced when I am in church, she responded, “You went to church on a Thursday? To pray?”  When I responded that I went to Mass, she said, “Your church has services every day?”  I started thinking deeply about what we had said and I realized that my shortcomings were staring me right in the face.  Each conversation we have at some point turns to Scripture and she always shares her love for Jesus.  I leave the conversation feeling elevated, my burden of the day lifted.  I have known my friend Myrna all my life and she has the gift of joy which she readily shares with me and everyone she meets.  How is it that I have been such a poor friend that I have never shared my witness, my testimony, with her? Why have I never told her why I go to Mass?

As Catholics, we use the shorthand – “going to Mass.”  We say it so casually, we ourselves often forget that we are “going to participate in The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.”  Yes, we are active participants and yes, it is a sacrifice.  In every Mass, Jesus is on the altar offering Himself to the Father for us.  We begin the Mass with Scripture (the Liturgy of The Word), which always includes at least one passage from the Old or New Testament, a Psalm, and a Gospel reading.  We then follow with the Liturgy of the Eucharist, in which the gifts of bread and wine are presented to the Father.  The angels who sang the Hosanna announcing to the shepherds the birth of Christ, are again present with us when we sing Hosanna right before Jesus comes again to be physically present.  The priest acting in the person of Christ says “This is My Body” and “This is My Blood.”  At this moment, the miracle of transubstantiation (change of substance) takes place.  While the appearance remains bread and wine, the Eucharist is the Body and Blood of Jesus.  Jesus Himself is re-presenting His sacrifice on the Cross to the Father.  Every day.  Immediately after, the priest offers Jesus’s sacrifice in prayer for the whole world.  When we are at Mass, we participate by joining our prayers to Jesus’s prayers in interceding for the whole world. It is this daily offering of Jesus to the Father that brings mercy to our world and has kept back the Hand of Justice.  Every Mass is an encounter with Jesus Himself face to face.

Every day Jesus is offering Himself to the Father for our salvation and offering Himself to us in the Eucharist.  In this way He gives us a share of His Body, His Blood, His Soul, His Divinity.  This is the key to eternal life.  In Heaven, we are continually aware of His Presence with us.  He invites us to live Heaven on Earth.  He invites us into His Presence every day.  He awaits us with love and graces to help us advance in holiness.  Every communion received worthily, with love, increases our love for Him.  It is in these moments when I invite Him into my heart that I have prepared for Him as best as I am able, that I feel the intimate presence of Him, Who loves me so tenderly.  In these moments, I touch eternity and I am one with Him on Earth as I will be in Heaven.  This is why I am Catholic.

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Read more about the article Return to Me with Your Whole Heart

Return to Me with Your Whole Heart

Even now, says the LORD,
            return to me with your whole heart,
            with fasting, and weeping, and mourning;
Rend your hearts, not your garments,
            and return to the LORD, your God.
For gracious and merciful is he,
            slow to anger, rich in kindness,
            and relenting in punishment. (Joel 2:12-13)

This was the first reading for Ash Wednesday. God speaks to us through Scripture and also through the natural world.  It is no coincidence that Lent begins in the winter and yields to Easter in the Spring.  God uses these cycles to call us back to Him, to deepen our connection to Him.  If we approach Lent the way we approach a garden, we can yield beautiful flowers in the garden of our hearts.

First, we begin with weeding.  The biggest weed is gossip. Weeding needs to continually be looked after just as we need to continually mind what comes out of our mouths. This is difficult for all of us, but we can ask St. Joseph for help with this.  St. Joseph had a major secret – his betrothed was pregnant and the baby wasn’t his.  He was devastated by this, but instead of telling anyone, he kept it to himself, preserving Mary’s reputation.  In the end he found out that he had misjudged the situation, but he had caused no harm to Mary in the process.  Gossip is difficult to overcome, especially when we think we are in the right, but St. Joseph can teach us how to receive the gift of silence.

Second, we must get rid of all the large rocks in our garden.  Some of them are quite big and heavy because as we carry resentment for past wrongs the rocks grow larger and heavier with each passing year.  Forgiveness cannot be achieved alone, so St. Theresa of Calcutta is there to help.  She would often beg for food for the poor.  One day she brought a child into a bakery and asked for bread.  The shopkeeper spit in her face.  She calmly said, “Thank you for that gift for me. Now how about some bread for this child?”  The child received the bread. She understands well how to react with humility and forgiveness in the face of wrongdoing and she can help us get rid of those rocks.

We must then add amendments to our soil so it will be a healthy place for our plants.  Even after forgiving others, some wounds are very deep and still need healing.  Psychologists say that the greatest thing they do for their patients is listening to them.  In our culture listening is a lost art.  How often have we tried to have a meaningful conversation with someone who was constantly checking every alert on their cell phone?  How often have we done that to others?  To heal these deep wounds, we need to take them to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.  Spending time with Him in the silence, pouring our hearts out to Him and giving Him time to speak to our hearts when we are silent and listening to Him, allows Him to heal these wounds.  He will ask us to pray for those who caused the wounds, but this is part of our healing process so it needs to be done.

We are then ready to plant our seeds.  Almsgiving and acts of kindness and charity are the best seeds to plant because they are not only planted in our hearts, but also in the hearts of those around us. Water the garden thoroughly with prayer, especially the Rosary.  Gentle pruning is required as well, so we fast to help us get rid of those bad habits that keep wanting to grow back.

Just as flowers need to be fed, our “miracle-gro” is frequent reception of the Eucharist, daily if possible, and Confession. When Easter arrives our daffodils will bring us joy as they blossom and our roses will bring us peace when they bloom.   Those around us will also enjoy the beauty of our garden, but most importantly, Jesus will join us on our porch swing and make His home with us.

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Read more about the article Blessed Are Those Who Mourn

Blessed Are Those Who Mourn

This statement really challenges us.  In today’s culture there is a strong aversion to thinking about suffering.  We prefer to distract ourselves with anything and everything to avoid thinking about sorrow.  The real problem is that we do not understand why Jesus said “blessed are those who mourn” or what the fruits are.

Our decisions to do good or evil matter.  Every moral decision has a spiritual effect on not only ourselves, but also on the whole world. It is like casting a stone into a still pond; eventually the ripples reach the shore.  So too do our actions affect others.  Each and every one of us is connected as members of the Body of Christ, so what happens to one member affects all the rest.  When we truly understand this connectedness, we react with sorrow to the suffering around us.  Whether the sorrow is the loss of someone’s family member or the suffering of others through illness or injustice, it affects us.  When we mourn their loss, we sorrow with them.  We imitate Christ, who mourned for Jerusalem, (Mt 23:37) who mourned the death of Lazarus, (Jn 11:35) and who mourns for the souls who choose hell instead of Paradise with Him.

As Christians, and especially as Catholics, we are called to be intercessors for the whole world. At the beginning of Mass at the Confiteor when we acknowledge our sinfulness and need for God’s grace, we end the prayer with “and I ask Blessed Mary, ever-virgin, all the angels and saints, and you my brothers and sisters to pray for me to the Lord Our God.” We proclaim our oneness as the Body of Christ.  What happens to my brother or sister matters to me.

Prayer, fasting, and offering up sacrifices for those suffering is a way to spiritually unite with them, to spiritually walk the road with them, and to bring God’s grace into their lives.  How many times have each of us had something devastating happen and we thought we would never recover?  It was the prayers of others that sustained us through these dark times even if we were unaware of it.  We can do the same for other people. Blessed are those who mourn, because those people understand that mourning with and praying for others is a reflection of what Jesus Himself does for each of us every day.  It is this compassion that sends us straight into the abode of the Sacred Heart of Jesus where all comfort, peace, and joy reside.

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Read more about the article The Lord Bless And Keep You

The Lord Bless And Keep You

The LORD bless you and keep you! The LORD let His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you! The LORD look upon you kindly and give you peace! (Nm 6: 24-26)

This was from the first reading for the first day of the new year, the feast of Mary Mother of God.  What a beautiful way to begin the new year, with the reminder that our loving God cares for us.  A blessing is an invitation to us from God and invitation requires a response. And how do we respond to this call?

“The Lord look upon you kindly and give you peace.” How do we obtain this peace?  The first thing that comes to mind is making a good confession and starting the year renewed.  What are my faults? What have I done wrong? What good did I fail to do?  Then I ask forgiveness and accept the mercy God offers.  Yes I know some people may say, “I don’t have any sins to confess;” my response is simply, “oh, please tell me how you learned to walk on water because I haven’t managed it yet.”  The second thing that comes to mind is how do we live in peace with each other?  The fastest way to patience with and forgiveness of others is to pray for them.  When things seem especially difficult, a novena to Our Lady Undoer of Knots has never been known to fail.

“The Lord let His face shine upon you.” This reminds us to notice all the beauty created for us.  God communicates to each of us through the natural world – the softness of the gentle breeze, the brilliance of the orange and gold painted sky, the stillness of the forest, the roar of the ocean, the music of a child’s laugh, and the kindness of a stranger.  God’s love surrounds us and sustains us and when we want to see His Face, He awaits us in Eucharistic Adoration speaking words of love that only our souls can hear.

“The Lord bless you and keep you.”  God chose to keep His Son safe in the arms of His mother Mary.  Many non-Catholics have told me that Mary is a person like us in all things including sin, but where is that in scripture?  The greatest men of the Bible – Moses, David, Peter, and Paul have their sins as well as their successes told.  What do we know about the Blessed Virgin Mary? An angel greets Her with “Hail, full of grace.”  When Mary receives the message of the angel, she does not doubt as Zachariah did.  She does not try to use human intelligence to interpret the meaning as Abraham did (Abraham slept with his wife’s maid to try to fulfill the prophesy).  She inquires of the angel, Gabriel, exactly what She is supposed to do to cooperate in God’s plan.  She asks if God wants Her to give up Her vow of virginity and is willing to do whatever God wants of Her.  Once She understands, She gives Her assent.  Little more than a child, She is already a spiritual giant.  As mysteries unfold — the shepherds’ visit, the prophesy of Anna, the visit of the Magi, the finding of Jesus in the temple – She receives all these words and “Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.” (Lk 2:19) Her only concern is doing the Will of God and loving Her Son with all Her mind, all Her heart, and all Her strength.

On Her feast day as Mother of God, we celebrate the mystery that God has revealed to us.  God the Son has willingly given up His throne in Heaven to be with us and experience life as we experience it.  God the Father in His great love for His Son has chosen Mary’s womb as His throne at the Incarnation.  The angels’ songs are replaced by Mary’s lullabies.  Our Father loves His Son so much that He created a perfect, sinless human creature to give His Son a love more perfect than the angels’ adoration.  God the Father entrusted His Only Begotten Son into Her arms at His Nativity.  This is the same refuge Jesus gave us at the Cross when He said “Woman behold your son.” (John 19:26) The “handmaid of the Lord” (Lk 1:38) is always obedient to the will of God.  We can trust Her to keep us safe and  carry us toward Him.

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