TODAY

September 30, 2015

TODAY

            When Jesus arrived in Jericho he spotted Zaccheus up in a tree - just the man he was looking for!  He then proceeded to invite himself to dinner.  Once at Zaccheus’ very comfortable home, Jesus said:  “Today salvation has come to this house”. (Lk. 19:1-10) Now Zaccheus may have thought: “What do I need salvation for?  I’ve got it all.  I am rich, with a wife and children and a beautiful home. I admit I’m not popular being a tax collector but still, I’m ok.”   Of course Jesus has other plans. 

Beginning at that very minute the life of Zaccheus changed.  Jesus gently but firmly reminded Zaccheus of what God wants from him.  "In the time of my favor I will answer you, and in the day of salvation I will help you; (Isaiah 49-8).  Jesus does not allow him any time to get used to the idea because when He says today he means it. As St. Paul said in 2Corinthians: “Now is the acceptable time.”  When Jesus told the good thief,   “Today you shall be with me in paradise”.   He did not say: “I’ll meet you up there”.  He said: “we will be together today!” and we sing a psalm: “If today you hear God’s voice, harden not your heart.”  God works in the here and now, for with God there is no past and no future.  When Jesus makes a promise it is immediate in its fulfillment.  Today means today.

When we ask God’s forgiveness through Jesus, it is given immediately. God is not like us taking time to bestow forgiveness.   The forgiveness of God is ours immediately.  Even if we do not form the words, if our hearts repent, God knows it and forgiveness is ours.

           

            “Pour out your mercy on us to pardon what conscience dreads

            And to give what prayer does not dare to ask

            Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your son,

             who lives and reigns with you forever. Amen”

This prayer is perfect. It eases those times when we want to hide our face from God. It acknowledges His willingness to forgive and allow us to continue to live lives dedicated to Him trusting that no matter how often we stumble there is no limit to His mercy.

With love,

Carol Lemelin OPA

THE JOY OF THE GOSPEL

SEPTEMBER 23, 2015

           

THE JOY OF THE GOSPEL

            Once upon a time there was a small group of people who lived in a close-knit community where they shared all the work and play except for one thing; there was only one cook.  No one could remember anyone ever cooking except that person.

Each night the cook prepared a broth which was enriching and nourishing and smelled wonderful.  The only problem was the broth never changed.  It wasn’t that the people didn’t like it, they did, looked forward to it in fact, but still…..

            Then one day without a word the old cook was gone and another took the job as though he had always been there. The first night when the people gathered for dinner, there was the soup pot filled to the brim with the same broth but this time the cook himself was standing by the pot with a ladle and the bowls. Instead of the people serving themselves, he insisted on serving them.  When the first person received her bowl she looked up in surprise and even suspicion because in the broth was a chunk of meat, a carrot and a potato with a little parsley sprinkled on top.

Soon the room was buzzing with conversation and finally one person stood and called to the cook.  “Please, sir”, he said, “you have made the same broth our former cook made but you added meat and vegetables to it. It isn’t that it isn’t good we just wondered why you added them?”  The cook smiled and said, “I didn’t add them, they have always been part of the recipe.  It’s just that they sink to the bottom and I think you are entitled to enjoy all of it, not just what’s on top.”

That is what Pope Francis wants for us as we read scripture.  We could go our lifetime only hearing the Sunday readings and never experience all the riches of the Gospel.  The Gospel is like a multi-faceted jewel.  Each Gospel approaches the life and words of Christ from a different perspective; each chapter of each Gospel places emphasis on different things.    We should read, not just listen.  Try putting  yourself in the story.  For example, if you were sitting on the hill when Jesus said, “Unless you eat my body and drink my blood…” would you already be over the hill before he finished the sentence? 

Don’t hesitate to ask yourself these kinds of questions because your desire to understand both the Gospel and yourself will bring you the joy of the Gospel Pope Francis assures us is there.  

With love,

Carol Lemelin OPA

SURPRISE!

September 9, 2015

SURPRISE!

            Funny isn’t it how some people absolutely hate surprises?  When I eat out and the server gives me a long list of choices, I sometimes say, “Surprise me”.  My companions often protest with, “What if you don’t like it?”  Well, say I “That’s the risk.  But if I do like it I can add it to my favorite things.”  That makes sense to me but to others the risk is too great and so they go on ordering the same things over and over. 

            I think of the disciples of Jesus who left Israel to spread the Good News.  I am sure some of their friends asked, “What if no one listens?” or “What if they throw you out of town?” or “What if they laugh at you?”  I’m sure some of them were dissuaded from going, afraid to take the risk but, thanks be to God, some went anyway, otherwise we might never have heard the Good News!

            St. Paul was untiring in his efforts to support his disciples as they spread the Gospel in new places or in places where he left them behind to continue the work he had begun.  His letters always began with exhortations to diligence and prayer and courage as he tells Timothy: “God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather of love.”  He often expressed surprise at the depth of faith of these new congregations.

            Possibly because Paul had experienced every kind of hostile reception on his journeys, when his followers were successful he was elated.  Paul himself is a surprise.  A persecutor of the Christians transformed into the most tireless worker in the vineyard of Christ. We have his letters to give us courage to begin to spread the Good News but we hang back because we are afraid to take the risk. 

            The papacy of Pope Francis is not just meant to change the Church as an institution but to change us.  His intention, like Paul’s is to encourage us to find the disciple in ourselves.  Pope Francis speaks directly to us about spreading the Gospel. Like Paul he exhorts us to do more than spread the Gospel but to live the Gospel, and to rejoice in it.    

            Anyone willing to take the risk will be surprised at the way their effort changes lives, including their own.

With love, Carol        

LITTLE THINGS

September 2,2015

LITTLE THINGS

            “Just a little pinch”, said the radiologist as she gave my flesh another squeeze and then said, “Don’t breathe”. As if I could!  Mammograms are awful.  The machine looks modern but its grandparents are in a dungeon somewhere in France. I feel violated after this test and I left there angry and close to tears as I always do.  I was composing letters of complaint in my head as I went about my errands and then on my way out of a store, the woman behind me called out: “You don’t know how I envy you for having strong legs and be able to walk.”  I turned and saw a woman who limped severely.  I told her I am very aware of that gift and don’t take it for granted.  She smiled and said how hard it was to get used to limping along.  I said that I knew sometimes the inability to do what we used to do was worse than the pain.  She agreed and a conversation started.  She was at the Pentagon on 9/11 as was my son and so we had a little bond. She told me she had had 15 surgeries on her leg from knee to ankle and now was facing a 16^th because the ankle work was failing and she was facing 7 months of immobility.  At that moment my mammogram faded into non-existence. 

            We exchanged names and I said, “Donna, I’ll pray for you.”  She looked startled and said, “You’ll pray for me?”  I assured her I would.  I did and I will.  She hugged me and got in her car.  I sat in mine for a minute wondering why she was surprised and then it occurred to me that this is evangelization in its purest form.

            But evangelization is too big a word for what just happened because this was a little thing.  But then, much of what people do is made up of little things; a painting of brush strokes, a tapestry of stitches, a symphony of notes and here an exchange of words.  To evangelize is to share the love you feel from God with someone else. All you really have to do is follow the example of Jesus and speak of God with affection and sincerity.  You do the little things and leave the rest up to God remembering that sharing the Good News is a cooperative.

Carol Lemelin, OPA