THERE IT IS!

July 28, 2-15

THERE IT IS!

             I was watching a television story the other night about a young man sent to a church by his father with no explanation. The only person he met there was the priest.  Having no business with him, the man started to leave but the priest, looking thoughtful for a minute say, “you’ve come all this way, why not stay and have coffee with me? “ The young man turned back, doubt visible on his face but then it clears and he says, “Sure, why not?”

            As I watched, I was suddenly struck by the thought; “There it is, that moment when the Spirit is at work!” In both men, unbidden, unprompted, and unnoticed was the power of the Spirit.   Such simple, seemingly unremarkable moments happen all the time and often turn the tide of people’s lives.  The trick is to recognize it for what it is, the prompting of God.  The more deeply we live aware of the presence of God the easier it is for us to follow the promptings of the Spirit.    As we grow in knowledge of God through Scripture and experience the more we come to expect the Spirit to move us.  Think back on the times you made a decision, changed direction or took action that surprised you; moments that you couldn’t explain but knew were right. Those memories will strengthen you and give you the courage to expect the help of the Holy Spirit and wait for it.   Remember:  ‘God is in the whisper’. (1Kings 19:12)

With love from Carol

MARY OF MAGDELA

Today is the feast of St. Mary Magdalene who was one of Jesus' most influential apostles. - she was not a prostitute. She kept vigil at the Cross, discovered the empty tomb and was the first to actually see the Risen Christ who sent her to 'go and tell' the good news. The problem began in 591 when Pope Gregory characterized Mary as a repentant prostitute, a label that stuck eclipsing her important leadership and apostolic roles even to this day. Making her a prostitute has allowed her leadership role among the disciples to be generally forgotten. For those who prefer a Church with an exclusively male hierarchy, it is easier to deal with her as a repentant sinner than as an apostolic woman who had a voice and used it.  
So says Dr. Elizabeth Johnson, csj and so say I.

THE FAMILY OFJESUS

July 22, 2015

THE FAMILY OF JESUS

            When the messenger interrupted Jesus’ conversation with the people at his home in Capernaum to say that Jesus’ family was outside, (Matthew 12: 46-50) it’s possible the people in the room began at once to get up and leave to make room for these more important people.  But Jesus stopped them with a gesture.  “Who are my mother and brothers and sisters?” he asked.  Then he stretched his hand out to all of them and said, “Here are my mother and brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father is my mother, brother and sister.”  Startling words, of course, especially to people to whom family is everything.  Jesus, as is his way, has taken an ordinary event and used it to proclaim yet another new thought.  In this case He is saying that to him there is no hierarchy.  All the faithful are equal.  What a glorious idea that we, by doing what He has told us to do, have earned the right to be counted as his family.  Since there is no hierarchical structure with Jesus it follows there is none with the Creator either.  Somehow we manage to miss this point.  It’s easy to see why.  In life there are those who lead and those who follow, those who are gifted and those who are not and we tend to elevate those people above ourselves but in the eyes of God we are all loveable.   If we could begin everyday with the thought that no matter what happens during the day, no matter how others treat us we are precious to Him, we might surprise ourselves at how happy we would be. 

With love from Carol

           

CONNECTIONS

July 15, 2015

CONNECTIONS

Holy spirit of God,

Take me as your disciple, guide me, illuminate me,

Sanctify my heart that evil may not dwell within me,

Bind my hands that they may not do evil,

Be thou my Guide,

Be thou my God. Amen

This is such a simple little prayer but it captures in a nutshell what we hope for from the Spirit of God.  We acknowledge that we are prone to sin, to hold grudges and resentments in our hearts and we are asking the Spirit to take over.  The more we pray in this vein the more we sense the presence of the Spirit and find ourselves better able to control impulses that lead us away from God.  Dag Hammarskjöld called that presence,  “Something” which he felt inside himself guiding him and decided from the day he first felt it, to listen and follow its prompts.  No matter by what name the Spirit is known, He is present.  Of course, like everything else in life that is worth pursuing, the accent is on you doing the pursuing.   The perfect relationship with God is a cooperative. God will never interfere with our free will because that one marvelous gift is the key to building an adult relationship with Him.  The freedom to choose is critical to any relationship be it mundane or sublime. We don’t expect to be on equal terms, as St. Paul reminds us, but rather we will be confident that God will never leave us, never doubt our intentions and always forgive our failings.  What happens in our lives will be the result of our choices or the choices of others and God will be with us to sustain us through the consequences of either.  Daily connection to the Holy Spirit through prayer will keep this relationship alive and strong.

With love, Carol

DOUBT

7-8-15

DOUBT

“The evil men do, lives after them, the good is oft interred with their bones.”

Wm. Shakespeare: Julius Caesar.

The name of St. Thomas is almost never unaccompanied by the word Doubting.  Sadly that one moment in the life of St. Thomas has been written in stone and few go beyond it to analyze or sympathize.  But the story of Thomas is critical for all who believe in the Resurrection on faith alone.  Thomas speaks for us all.  I can imagine myself in Thomas’ place asking the Apostles: “Did this really happen?  Are you sure?  You didn’t dream it?”  The way the account is written makes Thomas seem stubborn and confrontational but what if Thomas was in tears as he said it?  What if he wanted to believe so much but simply had to see for himself in case it wasn’t true?  He probably felt he couldn’t stand the heartbreak that would bring. When Jesus appeared next and said, “Come Thomas, put your fingers in the nail holes and put your hand into my side”.  We tend to think of it as a kind of challenge but what if Jesus had smiled and reached out a hand to Thomas letting him know that He understood?  What if the other disciples did not hold it against him for not believing them?  After all, they didn’t believe Mary Magdalene when she told them He had risen.

Never fear to doubt.  Doubt means you’re thinking.  Doubt means you care.  God understands doubt.  Doubt is not repudiation but rather an open door to study. The Spirit guides those looking for answers. In looking for answers we find deeper faith.  When you have doubt, enlist the help of the Holy Spirit and start digging for truth.  As Ezekiel says: “The spirit entered into me and set me on my feet.”  That is what will happen to you, too, as you seek to know God better.

Incidentally, St. Thomas evangelized in what is now Iran and went further east and founded the Church in India. It was 400 years before his body was returned to Rome for proper burial, all because of that pesky title :Doubting Thomas.

Love, Carol

ACCEPTANCE

JULY 1, 2015

ACCEPTANCE

One of the most difficult things in life is accepting what can’t be changed.  How often in life have we wanted to go back ten minutes and not say the words that changed everything?  We agonize over what we did wrong, or forgot to do, or refused to do making our lives and/or the lives of others worse.  Too often, I suspect.  But the one immutable fact is that once changed, things are not the same nor will they be.  The first step is Acceptance and it is a big one as the old joke says.  The Apostles in Jerusalem, who had no instruction manual to go by, worked to spread the Gospel and in doing so devised a structure for the fledgling church, which they believed to be correct.  Along comes Paul and his band of gentiles, every bit as committed to Christ as the Christians of Palestine and the carefully laid plan hit a stone wall.  St. Luke has spared us the details of the fight that ensued but be sure there was a fight.  Everyone thinks they are correct and that the other side is just stubborn or stupid or both.  I have no doubt that some of those who opposed the gentiles could quote multiple scripture passages to support their stance.  Many would conclude that the Church was doomed to failure if their view was unsupported and so, unwilling to accept the change, walked away. It’s comforting in a way to know that even those closest to Christ had to struggle with acceptance to accommodate one another. Peter and Paul would require the disciples in Jerusalem to look at the gentiles in a new way after centuries of discrimination. Should they make it too difficult be a follower of Christ?  Should they impose on strangers their way of life or should they let the Spirit guide?  That is what they did.  They prayed for guidance from the Spirit and waited for it.  When it came, they accepted it. That method is rock solid and incidentally is the reason we are Christians.

With love, Carol