WHAT'S IT ALL ABOUT?

WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT?

The Free Press ran a long series last weekend on the people of Corktown.  They focused on people who don’t just live there, but spend a great deal of time helping their neighbors.  They do everything from paying for food from their own pockets, sheltering the abused, and menaced, farming and sharing the produce, to taking in the homeless and providing meals. The whole area is awash with the homeless and the lost.  They are not popular and some people actually removed all the park benches so they would have nowhere to sleep. Then other people stepped in and replaced the benches and/or found shelter for them. These people have one major thing in common. They do not judge.  They help those in need over and over again and never expect anything in return. 

Their actions mirror those of Jesus.  Some of them are trying to do that; others have no idea that’s what they’re doing. They are just helping.  In his book, Who Is This Man?   John Ortberg describes both Jesus and these people of Corktown.  

“Jesus spent his life with the ordinary and the unimpressive. He would pay deep attention to lepers and cripples, to the blind and the beggar. The derelict, the broken person who has wasted their life away, the homeless, the poor, the diseased, the mentally ill, the exiles and refugees are viewed by many as burdens to be discarded, but Jesus saw them as bearers of divine glory who touch our conscience and still our selfishness.”

Jesus came in the world at a time when a child born with any defect was put on the trash heap to die. It was called Exposure and it was legal in Roman society.  Jesus called a child to him and told his disciples that unless you become like a child you have no place in heaven.  Thus began a radical change in society where the concept of the value of every human being was proclaimed.  We still fight against prejudice, intolerance and downright hatred, but the fact that we fight is proof that Jesus lives in us.

Christmas is a time for giving and the outpouring of generosity is huge, however, the people who are unwanted are always there.  Jesus said the poor wouldalways be there.  Most of us won’t or can’t go there and help but we can change our attitude.

We can stop judging them. We can stop thinking of them as derelicts and hopeless cases and remember that God came into the world, poor and in a filthy stable to be seen first by rag tag shepherds, people that other folk tried to avoid.  That was not an accident.  That’s what it’s all about. 

May the power of Christmas be with you always.

Carol Lemelin OPA

BE YOURSELF

BE YOURSELF, BECAUSE SOMEBODY HAS TO AND YOU’RE THE CLOSEST

I talk too much.  I admit it. I have had to own it for many years. It seems that whenever I’ve been in trouble, talking is the reason.  I said something I shouldn’t have or I said something someone didn’t want to hear, or I spoke out of turn.  Whatever it was, I was very embarrassed by it, but that didn’t change me.  I tried to change but to no avail. Then came a wonderful day when St. Paul bailed me out.  

After being crossed at every turn, criticized by everyone, Jews and Gentiles alike, St. Paul states ‘By the grace of God, I am what I am!’ (1Cor. 15:10)Paul had decided that God has chosen him to spread the message precisely because of his personality not in spite of it.  What a liberating feeling that was! I realized that was probably true for me too. Now, I am an Associate of the Dominican order – Order of Preachers, of course. I got drawn into it not of my own volition, but I love it and I know it is a place I was meant to be. 

For many of us, who we are, what we are, or rather, how we see ourselves is flawed. 

We tend to either over or under estimate ourselves.  We rarely look at the truth.  St. Paul was forced to do that.  He had to look carefully at how he presented himself to others and discern whether he was putting himself first or putting Christ first. 

After he did that, he found the strength and confidence to say in effect, take me as I am because I can’t change and I’m doing my best. 

It is an invitation from God to us to do the same.  Who do we think built the faith?

Peter, John, James, Timothy, Lydia, Lois, Eunice, Bartholomew, to name a few, were ordinary people.  We are ordinary people.  We have exactly the same amount of help that these early Christians had. What’s the difference between us?  They, could not stop themselves from sharing the Good News.  We, got so used to thinking that the clergy proclaimed the Good News, that we lost the evangelization spirit. 

How do we get it back? We get it back by reading the New Testament and following Jesus as he walked the roads of Israel.  We get it back by putting ourselves in the story. We get it back by imagining the scenes, the reactions of the people, and the reactions of the disciples, who must have spent a lot of time in confusion.  As we do this, the charisma of Jesus will take hold of us and the day will come when we will no longer wonder what to say or how to say it.  It will be part of us.  

Here I go, saying somethingagain.  

It is my belief that we should not be trying to fill the pews, but to fill the hearts of people with the desperately needed peace and love of Jesus Christ. 

Blessings,

Carol Lemelin OPA

LET THERE BE LIGHT

LET THERE BE LIGHT

I have my Christmas lights on timers so at 5pm every evening they all go on and drive the darkness away. I really don’t like this time of year when it’s dark at 4:30. From the end of Daylight Savings Time until Dec. 21^stwhen the days begin to get longer it is depressingly dark.  I wouldn’t last 6 months in Alaska, Iceland or Sweden. They would have to lock me up.  Twice in my life I have been in a situation where there was total darkness. It is almost impossible to explain what that feels like.  You are suspended in a way. You know you’re still breathing, but there is nothing, just emptiness and you are afraid to move.  Believe me, your imagination does a number on you.

    

Light is one of those things we take for granted and only notice when it isn’t there.  Have you ever noticed how your heart lifts when you look out the window and see that the sun is shining?  Light figures prominently in all life.  The very creation of the world began with it.  The Big Bang happened when God said, “Let There Be Light!”.  Growth is dependent on light. Light furthers understanding by revealing details we would miss in the dark. That light at the end of the tunnel is a symbol of hope

Jesus is referred to as Christ our Light and with good reason.  When Jesus first appeared on the scene, the light in his eyes struck anyone who heard him or saw him. He revealed the great love of God that is evident in the scriptures but sadly had been forgotten.  He brought people to the understanding that God is not remote and unapproachable but near at all times.  He helps us understand that God’s love exists within us.  He is still doing that.  His light never went out and we see it in the love between people.  We see that light in the goodness shown in times of great trial.  

A life without knowing that the love of God is there for the taking is the worst possible fate.  The light from a star heralds the great miracle of Christmas.  We decorate with lights even in places where it isn’t dark, like Australia this time of year.  We do this from the basic instinct that light is life.  Christ is light.  That light shines year round from within those who recognize it and share it.  

If Christmas is about anything, it’s about that.  The appearance on earth of God himself, bringing the light of love and understanding to any all who will hear, is meant to transform the world no matter how long it takes.  We have a part to play in that and it is our obligation to keep it in mind all day, every day, even in the dark. 

May Christ’s light shine on you this Advent season. 

Carol Lemelin OPA