FIND THE THREAD

FIND THE THREAD

Thus says the Lord: 

If you remove from your midst oppression, false accusations and malicious speech;

If you give bread to the hungry and help the afflicted; then light shall rise for you in the dark, and the gloom shall become as mid-day.

The Lord will guide you always and give you plenty even on parched land.

He will renew your strength, and you shall be like a garden with a spring that never fails.  Isaiah 58:9b-14

Approximately 800 years before Jesus was born, Isaiah’s words were written.  Since the days of Abraham, God has encouraged us to love, to fight against anger and jealousy and all the other emotions that separate us from the happiness God wants for us.  In the quotation above, it would be easy to misunderstand what God is saying.  The words, light shall rise for you in the dark, and gloom shall become as mid-day and the Lord will give you plenty even on parched land, are not meant to be taken literally.   The gloom and the parched land referred to are within us.  They are the state our souls get in when we give in to anger and jealousy and grudges, not to mention the temptations that abound. 

Many people take the promises in Scripture literally and naturally become disillusioned when the promised spring that never fails doesn’t materialize.   Jesus whole ministry was bent on clearing up this misunderstanding.  By his every action, by his words and gentle goodness, he presented God to us.  The spring that never fails is the grace of God that flourishes in the world.  The messages of Isaiah and Jesus are that trust in God is the source of that grace.  Sometimes it means hanging on by the skin of your teeth, but it is worth the effort. 

There is no promise of a perfect life with no troubles, no grief, no fear, but a promise that when we trust in God we will find the strength to withstand those things.  When you read the life of Father Solanus, you see a person who was not well treated, who could easily have become discouraged and angry, but the thread of Grace within sustained him and his example of peaceful acceptance is what has drawn people to him.  Was he some kind of super-human who could do that?  Not really.  God has been calling out to us for thousands of years to trust Him. Fr. Solanus did that.  Why in the world do we keep resisting?  Each of us must answer for ourselves.

Blessings,

Carol Lemelin OPA

OPIMIST OR PESSIMIST? #1

OPTIMIST OR PESSIMIST?

Consider it all joy, brothers and sisters, when you encounter trials, for you know that testing produces perseverance.  … If any of you lacks wisdom, ask God who gives generously, and you will be given it.  Do not doubt.  A doubter will not receive anything from the Lord because they are of two minds, unstable in their ways.”  James 1: 11-9

This letter is from the apostle James.  We know little of James except that he was included in all major events in Jesus’ life, such as the Transfiguration, and that he was bishop of Jerusalem until he was killed in 72AD.  Just imagine the life he led. He faced the opposition of the people of Jerusalem to The Way continuously. Undoubtedly he came across much to be pessimistic about, but his faith in Christ gave him the wisdom to counsel us to accept trials with joy.  I doubt that even he expected his listeners to be able to always maintain an optimistic view, especially in the face of acute danger.  Still he maintained the view that faith will be its own reward. That God can be trusted without doubt.

It is easier to be pessimistic than to be optimistic.  Pessimism gives up without a fight.  Optimism keeps finding reasons to be so.  Optimism realizes that, if things look bleak, it’s time to do something.  Sometimes the only thing to do is pray and that is what the optimist does, prays with hope.  Hope is not a word in the pessimist vocabulary.  It is not possible to be a follower of Christ and be a pessimist.  Optimism has the power to lift the spirit out of the gloom and into the light.  

Christ, our light, is hope personified. 

James counsels that we consider every trial a cause for joy because enduring trials strengthens us.  It is possible that Judas’ pessimistic viewpoint led him to betray Jesus. Unquestionably his pessimism led to his suicide.  He had no hope because he did not believe in God’s mercy even though he spent years in Jesus’ company.   It may be one of the saddest stories ever. 

Jesus most common remark was “Fear not”.  There is no room for fear in the life of the optimist.  There will be disappointments, but the faithful know that even then God triumphs and we move forward without doubt as God gives us what we need to prevail.

Blessings,

Carol Lemelin OPA  

HYPOCRISY

HYPOCRISY

The Pharisees who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus and observed that the disciples were eating without first washing their hands as was the custom.  (Jews traditionally do not eat without first washing their hands.  They also require the washing of dishes, cups, jugs, kettles and beds.)  MK 7:1-4

Even though we we wouldn’t want to side with the Pharisees, we also believe in cleanliness, knowing it is essential for health.  The first time I read this passage I asked my mother about it.  She said the Jew’s insistence on these rules was actually God’s way of protecting them from catastrophic illness, which could decimate an entire population, because they had to survive to produce the Messiah.

But, in this case, Jesus is not interested in that custom.  He immediately strikes out at the Pharisees by quoting Isaiah: “This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; In vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines human precepts.”  It’s safe to say that Jesus did not let hypocrisy go unanswered!   The Pharisees were constantly being shown up for it.  Jesus’ put up with their questions and traps but always called them on this. 

Since this is something Jesus made a point of condemning, it probably is something we need to think about.  Ever since I was little, priests have joked about how the people leave Mass and then promptly cut each off in the parking lot. Everyone laughs and accepts this, not as a criticism, but as harmless behavior, when in fact it is hypocrisy.  We see it in politics and advertising; say one thing, do another. 

Usually we can spot it in others, but less so in ourselves.

What got me thinking about this was a memory of a day when my family and I were traveling in the south.  We stopped for breakfast in a small town.  We hadn’t been to church because no one knew where the Catholic Church was.  It was that kind of place.  Anyway, everyone in the diner was in the their Sunday best after, apparently just coming from their church.  The minute we walked in the door we knew we weren’t welcome.  People looked up and then away. Conversation stopped.  The host took his time coming to us.  It was awkward to say the least.  My father had an innate sense of justice so he just stood there smiling and said, “Do you have a table for us?”  We all wanted to just get out of there but Daddy was not about to give them what they wanted.  When we got on the road again, he said: “ What a bunch of hypocrites.   You can’t call yourself a Christian and treat strangers like that, as though we had no right to be in their space.”  Lesson learned.

Jesus set the tone for living every day, be kind, judge not, be close to God, love one another.  It’s so simple it’s too simple.  All the events of a day keep getting the way of such simplicity, which we use as our excuse.  I’ve been going over in my head my daily life looking for examples of where I am a hypocrite.  This is not a fun exercise!

If, however, I strive to live like Jesus, it must be done.  Let us pray for each other to discern our weaknesses and so live the life of Jesus.

Blessings,

Carol Lemelin OPA

BEING HUMAN

BEING HUMAN

Why did Jesus take on the enormous challenge of living among us?  Was it to redeem us and pay for all our sins or did he come to teach us how to be human?  The answer is both. 

“Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to.

He took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being.”

Why would he do that?  There can only be one valid reason; he came to show us how to be fully human using all the gifts God has given us to make this a good world.

As he hung on the cross, he cried out “Father, why have you forsaken me?” Aside from his death, it was the last human thing he did.  He had hit rock bottom. He laid it all out there, the agony and the despair.  How can we not relate to Him? 

For centuries, Jesus’ redemption of us took a front row seat with the emphasis on his sacrifice and our guilt.  In the meantime, his humanity sat in the back.  But there is now a wave of understanding sweeping the world.  Jesus humanity is the thing upon which all people can rely. A figure that is both God and man became one of us for the express purpose of teaching us how to live.  How this is possible is a mystery.  What is not a mystery is that Jesus was truly human. That is reality. Many writers and philosophers are encouraging us to see Jesus as He truly is. His humanity is our lifeline, our strength and our link to God.   

The remoteness of God is erased because of Jesus.  There is no way that Jesus returned to heaven and forgot all about us. Instead, we are invigorated by his parting words; “I go to make a place for you” and “Behold I am with you all days”.  He has given us the assurance that our bond with him is permanent. 

Shouldn’t we be on fire over this?  After Pentecost the Disciples were on fire. After his sight was restored, St. Paul was on fire. They spread that fire to many others; Luke, Timothy, Lois and Eunice, just to name a few.  They remained in that state all their lives.  It wasn’t that they were all preachers, it was that they lived their lives in imitation of Jesus.  Why are we still so petty about everything?  Why are we so casual about Jesus? Why can’t we see what has been done for us and rejoice in it.  Don’t we want to be the kind of human being Jesus was?  How can we ignore what He did?  God, the Creator lived as we do, suffered as we do, and died as we do.  Nothing anyone has ever done for anyone else can come close to this.  

“At the name of Jesus every knee should bow, on the earth and under the earth.” 

Phillipians 20:10

Live each day in imitation of Christ with the love of God as our strength.

Blessings,

Carol Lemelin OPA