God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the different. Living one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time, accepting hardships as the pathway to peace, taking, as He did this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it. Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to his will, so that I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him forever in the next. Amen
My child, I have called you HERE, and RIGHT NOW to be exactly where you are, and to be exactly who you are. I am calling you to be present in THIS moment. Who are those closest to you right now? How do you love them? How can you love them MORE? Who are the people you interact with on a daily or weekly basis who aren't so close to your heart? How do you love them? How can you love them MORE? Who are the people in your life who you know, but don't interact with very often? How do you love them? How can you love them MORE? Who are the people in your life who are beyond your comfort zone to talk to or interact with? Do you love them? How can you love them MORE? I am calling you always to MORE. This time in your life may seem like an "in-between" time. You are waiting for a "new normal" to come about, waiting for the pandemic to end. As you pray and wait, time passes you by. Remember and cherish the blessings I have given you in the past and in the present and let that give you hope for the future. Because what you hear is true - I LOVE YOU. You are my precious child, my beloved. I want to give you your heart's desires. I want you to be happy and to help you see the beauty of this world and of where you are right now. I know you are hurting. I know even your smallest struggle. I know you long for love and you long for more than this world can offer you. I know all of this because I created you. I created you with desires, needs and passions. I created you with all your little quirks and the exact way you laugh and I created your beautiful soul to love and to be loved. I know the number of hairs on your head at this very moment and every detail about you. In the moments, in the days, in the weeks, in the years that you struggle, know I walk with you. I know what pain is like - did you forget? I walked this earth, I breathed the air that you breathe, I scraped my knee, I lost people I loved, one of my closest friends betrayed me and I died a most terrible and painful death. I know what it is to suffer. But remember, after I died, I rose. Death is not the end. Pain and suffering is not the end. There is hope. In the most terrible situation you can imagine, in the most hopeless place, in death, there is still hope. I know you can't see it all the time. I know that right smack dab in the middle of the pain you cry out, wanting the pain, the suffering to leave. In the middle of that, you can't always see me. But I'm here. I promise. I will NEVER leave your side. Even if you can't see me, let that be your prayer. Come to me anyway. Pour out your heart to me, I am always listening. I too cried out for the Father to take the pain away, remember the Garden of Gethsemane? I know you can't always see the bigger picture. I know you ask "why", and I don't always give you a clear and definite answer - the bigger picture cannot always be understood. I ask for your trust. Remember, I know EVERYTHING about you and I know your deepest desires and what you ate for breakfast this morning :) Trust me. I know you desire more, and I have created you to live in this very moment - in the "in-between" times. I have called you to fulfill a purpose for your life. You are to be a light for others to bring Me to them. The hope that you find, the joy that you have in your heart is contagious, but only if you share that with others. Think about how much you desire to be loved - how much you desire to be noticed and wanted. The people around you have those same desires. As you are filled with love from Me and from other people, will you fill those around you with My love? I asked you how you loved the people around you. Can you love them more? I need you to be fully aware of this call to RIGHT NOW - because if you aren't fully awake to this call, how am I to call you to something more, or to the next thing, if you cannot hear me and act in THIS moment? I will grant you the grace to go beyond your comfort zone, to reach out to those who need your love, I will grant you the grace to be My Hands and Feet on this earth, I will grant you the grace to be present in THIS moment and live these "in-between" times, I will grant you the grace to be my disciple, if you only trust Me and ask.
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Why does God allow suffering? The age old question. If He loves us, and He is all powerful, why doesn't He take it away from us when we ask? Why do those we love pass away, even as we're begging God to spare their life? Why does the pain of rejection in certain relationships with our family or friends hurt so much even though we ask God to be with us, to comfort us? Amidst all our pleas for an end to this pandemic, why has God not taken it away?
We ask this question a lot, don't we? "Why?" We want to know there is a reason, we want to know there might be purpose behind the bad and worst parts in life - which makes total sense! We are a purpose-driven people, even as kids we would ask our parents, "why?" Why do I have to clean my room, it will just get messy again. Why do I have to be nice to my siblings when they were the one who picked a fight with me? Why do I have to eat my vegetables? Why can't I just eat what tastes the best? And of course, now that we are older, and perhaps a little more wise, we know the answer to these questions we asked as children, we know the purpose behind all those small tasks, that perhaps now even seem slightly insignificant. But we are born with that curiosity, born with that question of "why?" in our minds. Because even as we get older, we want to fill our lives with purpose, we want a job or something that we do each day to give our lives meaning, to give our actions a purpose. Sometimes we can see the fruits of our good works, of our hard work, and sometimes we can't. Raising children you might not always be sure if you do everything just right, but hope you do all you can to raise them right and you pray God helps along the way. Volunteering time at Mass (or now cleaning up/sanitizing after Mass) - you might not see the fruits of this, sometimes it might seem pointless, but the purpose is still there in that you are serving God and your neighbor in these actions - doing these small actions with great love as Mother Teresa would say :) But we turn back to the bigger question at hand, the "why" of suffering and pain. Let's consider for a minute, the image of a child and their parent. The child asks "why" to a great number of things. The parent explains as best they can to the child so that they might comprehend it. However, the child does not yet have the mind of an adult, it is not mature enough to understand all the concepts and all the reasons why they have to do a certain chore, or why they have to go through the horrendous pain of eating the broccoli they so despise. So they take the partial answer given from the parent, and eventually just do as their told. We remember asking our parents why, and then at some point they didn't have a better explanation than "because I said so". Maybe it's because they were tired of answering all our "why" questions, but maybe deeper than that, perhaps the child's mind is so inquisitive, the child's mind is so latched onto the absolute truth, that nothing other than that perfect truth will fully satisfy them - and the parent cannot relay this absolute truth, this absolute answer because the child cannot mentally, emotionally, conceivably wrap their heads around it. Now, if we take this image of the parent and child and put it in the perspective of ourselves and of God, we are God's children. We want that perfect and absolute truth when we ask why. But God, as our Father, He knows us. He created us and knows what our minds can comprehend, and what we absolutely need to live this life. Sometimes we like to put ourselves in God's place and we think we know better than Him and we do what is going to make us the most happy, we avoid suffering, we avoid "eating the broccoli" of our time if we can. Although God doesn't give us the suffering, at times He allows it and we don't often understand why. But we have to remember that: "We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose." ~Romans 8:28 God works through even the bad times to create something good. Let me give you an example. Yesterday, July 6th, we celebrated the feast of St. Maria Goretti: "St. Maria Goretti is unique in that she is the youngest canonized saint in the Church. She died tragically on July 6, 1902, at the age of eleven. Born into poverty, her father moved the family when Maria was just six years old from the east side of Italy (near Ancona) to the west side (near Nettuno, about 40 miles south of Rome) in hopes of escaping the grinding poverty that was gripping the area. Just three years later, when Maria was nine, her father died tragically. It fell to her at that time to raise her five siblings while her mother worked the fields to produce the crops with which they would both pay the rent and feed themselves. This was a terrible time of trial and suffering for the whole family. For Maria it was especially difficult. Aside from having the responsibility of caring for her family, she had to also cook and clean for her two next door neighbors–Giovanni Serenelli and his son, Alessandro–who assisted her mother with the farm tasks. It was also during this time that Alessandro began to develop an impure liking for Maria. The big 20-year-old would say rude and crude things to her, things that were inappropriate and embarrassing, and that would cause her to run away. However, at a certain point he began to make direct sexual advances towards her, demanding her virginity and threatening her with violence for non-compliance. Finally, after many months of this, Alessandro forced himself upon Maria in an attempt to rape her. Though she prevented him from violating her, Alessandro brutally stabbed her numerous [14] times. Maria died the next day in the midst of horrendous infection brought on by her lacerations. Her last words were, “I forgive Alessandro Serenelli … and I want him with me in heaven forever.” During his prison sentence Maria appeared to Alessandro and forgave him. That act of mercy and forgiveness—that act of love—filled Alessandro with contrition for his crime. It was also a turning point for him where grace entered his heart. From that point on, he lived a beautiful and converted life of holiness, eventually becoming a Franciscan lay brother." ~mariagoretti.com St. Maria Goretti's story impacts me greatly every time I hear it. She was only 11 years old and stood up for her faith and her understanding of God's call of purity. This horrendous pain she went through, all the suffering, still brought goodness. Even all the prayers offered I'm sure by her family and friends to save her life, and I'm sure Maria prayed as well for relief from the pain. But in the end, God still allowed her the grace to see the power of forgiveness and the strength to forgive her attacker. Which in turn allowed Alessandro to turn to God and a life of virtue. At the time of Maria's death, I'm sure she didn't know if Alessandro would ever repent of his actions. As I'm sure you know, it's not always easy to forgive someone who has hurt you - or to forgive someone who has hurt someone you love as Maria's mother forgave Alessandro. But even in the midst of her pain, she was able to forgive and I believe God's grace gave her the strength to do this. God works all things for good - because God IS good. St. Faustina also experienced much suffering in her lifetime - she was the one to whom Jesus appeared and asked that, what we know know as, the "Divine Mercy" image to be painted. Jesus spoke to St. Faustina many times, and she writes of these in her Diary, which we can now read. In her diary, she tells us of the many times she physically and spiritually suffered. Once, Jesus told her: "My daughter, suffering will be a sign to you that I am with you" ~Notebook II #669 We know Jesus understands what suffering is like. Jesus was fully divine, but also fully human. He grew up, went through adolescence, got a cold, got splinters, lost friends and family he loved, he was mocked and ridiculed and made fun of, and he died the most horrendous death. Jesus knows our pain. And although God can't always answer all of our "why" questions, He is with us through EVERYTHING, He knows what it is like to feel how we feel, and He can bring good out of the darkness. Jesus, I trust in YOU. "When all we end up doing is watching, we're missing out on what we could be doing and that's not bad when it comes to a concert, not bad when it comes to a game. But we bring that same attitude to Mass."
~Fr. Mike Schmitz Fr. Mike said this way before Covid was ever known about, before all of our Masses were virtual and we had to "watch" Mass from home. What he is saying though, is regardless is if you are physically at Mass or you are participating virtually - we all have this attitude of "watching Mass" - why? Because when we were little, that's what we were told to do - we would go to Mass, be told to sit still, be quiet and watch. We just sit and watch the priest saying the prayers, or listen to the Word of God being proclaimed, or just sit and listen to the homily, and we wonder why we don't "get anything out of it". I'm going to guess that you have said, or even heard someone say that "Mass is boring" or hear the response that, "you only get out of Mass what you put in!" I sheepishly raise my hand at this point too, yes it's true. I think if I participate, sing, say the responses when I'm supposed to and pay attention really hard to what is going on, I will walk out of Mass more fulfilled and more on fire with Christ's love. And my focus isn't fully on God at this point, it's on myself and how will I feel after Mass, how I will feel and share Christ's love. HOWEVER - I've been woken up to a reality, and I need to share this with you. I'm sorry, but in reality - the Mass IS NOT ABOUT US! It's not about us "getting something out of it" or leaving more or less fulfilled, or participating in order to make ourselves feel good or to show up to fulfill our Sunday obligation. So what is Mass for? What is it's purpose? "Pray my brothers and sisters, that my sacrifice and yours may be acceptable to God the almighty Father." "May the Lord accept the sacrifice at your hands, for the praise and glory of His name and for our good and the good of all His holy Church. " We know this - we say it at every Mass. But what we've missed is what WE say, is the two-fold purpose for the Mass 1. For the praise and the glory of His name 2. For our good and the good of all His holy Church We are called by God to come to Mass and worship. We are called to worship our God and offer the sacrifice of the Mass and every time we do this, the Father is glorified and the world is saved. "Do you realize that every time that you are at Mass, you are participating in the salvation of the world?" ~Fr. Mike Schmitz We don't realize this, because again, we are just watching. We watch the priest pray , but do we really pay attention to what he is praying, what the prayers mean, or the fact that we are ALL worshiping God together? No, because we have been taught to watch, and not taught to worship. If you're a member here at St. Mary or St. John's parishes, you might know or have heard the term "Ad Orientem." This describes the kind of Mass where the priest is facing the tabernacle instead of facing the people. We have ad orientem Mass on Saturdays at 5:30 pm at St. Mary's and Sunday at 9:00 am at St. John's if you're interested in worshiping at one of those Masses. Anyway, the reason I'm bringing this up is because when we see the priest looking towards Jesus in the Tabernacle and raises his eyes towards heaven, that is where our eyes and hearts are directed too. The priest is not there to entertain us, or for us to watch him, he is there to lead us in worship. We worship God through the sacrifice of the Mass. We bring Him glory by worshiping Him how he asks of us. God gave us the Mass and asks us to worship Him in this way, TELLS us that the bread and wine is no longer earthly food but it BECOMES Jesus - literally His Body and Blood. And we hear this so many times, it doesn't faze us after awhile. When we go up to receive the Eucharist and the priest says "the Body of Christ", he can't be any more clear! He isn't saying "this is a symbol of the Body of Christ" - it IS the physical Body of Jesus. And when we say "Amen", we are saying "I believe" - I believe what you have said to me and who you have given me, on my tongue or in my hand, IS JESUS. So when we go to Mass and we get curious about the homily, if it's going to be a good one, or if we're really going to feel that we have received Jesus today, or if we leave Mass thinking that we didn't get anything out of it, we aren't doing what God asks us to do. The same thing applies when we decide to skip Mass and go hunting, thinking, oh yes I'll find God in the woods - yes, God is there of course, but that is not what He asks of us. The same applies if we choose to go to another service because Mass is boring, God is there of course, but that is not what He asks of us. "If I give God what I want and not what He has really asked for, who do I really love? Do I love Him, or am I saying I love myself more?" ~Fr. Mike Schmitz Even though we are at Mass to worship God, God is so good to us, He is still giving to us, even though the Mass is not about us. He gives us His Word, and He gives us Himself in the most intimate and humble way possible - through the Eucharist. Due to this pandemic, we have had to worship virtually - and praise God for technology! However, we also must realize that God always calls us back to His Church. Yes we can worship God from our living rooms, and we need to keep each other safe if we or those we love are at risk or sick. But I invite you to keep this as a constant thought in your mind as well - God calls us to worship in His Church, and we are made for community. He wants us and invites us to receive Him in the Eucharist - it is a gift to us that we cannot and should not think is replaceable by going to Mass virtually. Although going to Mass, in any sense of the word (physically or virtually), is different right now, God sees our efforts and invites us to continually do the best that we can - if you are staying home due to being at high risk or being with someone else who is, and continue to worship Him with all your heart and soul, our Lord pours out the graces you need to do that as long as you need. If you are able to come to Mass, and continuing to worship Him with all your heart and soul, our Lord pours out the graces you need as well. But I'll tell you one thing - I cannot wait to see our Churches full again :) Wherever you are, remember this: "We're not there to worship an experience, we're there to worship HIM" ~Fr. Mike Schmitz Next time you go to Mass, remind yourself who you are there for. ***Most of what is said in this blog post is taken from Fr. Mike Schmitz' 2019 Seek Talk. I HIGHLY encourage that you take the time to watch it. This is a message that I need, and that we ALL need. I encourage you to share with your family and friends as well! "How to pray the Mass like never before": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpUp6zSGCb4 "Sit with Me," He whispered amidst the chaos of my prayer and my mind. "Just sit with Me."
These were the words I heard in my heart today as I knelt in front of the Tabernacle unloading my heart to the Lord. I had so many thoughts going through my head, so many things on my to-do list for the rest of the day, and so much weighing on my heart. But right in the middle of me expressing my desire to be able to "do it all" and asking Him, "how am I going to make this work?" All He asked of me was to be present to Him so that He could be present to me. You might have days like I do where you are running around, trying to get everything done, and there are a dozen more things on your to-do list, but you look at the clock and realize it's already 3 in the afternoon! Where did the day go?! You may have had the intention of plugging some prayer time into the day, or maybe just taking a few minutes to sit down and breathe before the next phone call, the next child calling your name, the next meal needing to be prepared, or the next spontaneous need from a co-worker, friend or family member that just pops up out of nowhere. But as you move throughout your day, and then throughout your week, you look back and realize you had every intention of taking those few minutes for prayer and quiet, or logging onto the parish Facebook page to join in the rosary or Adoration, but time just got away from you - again! If I had a nickel for every time this happened to me, I would probably be rich, and I'm only 22 years old! :) We devote our time to so many things and we care for so many people that sometimes we forget about ourselves. We forget that time to relax is OKAY! And time to deepen our relationship with God is VITAL to our everyday lives. I recently listened to a recorded podcast by Mark Hart, a wonderful Catholic speaker/author and Executive Vice President for Life Teen International. As I was listening, this message came up again; Mark Hart read the story of the Woman at the Well (John 4:1-42) and expressed the importance of Jesus calling attention to her sins and her shame. Why does Jesus do this? Why would He want to draw attention to her flaws, to our flaws? We know we are imperfect, we know we are human. We get told this from the people around us just as the Samaritan woman did. The Bible tells us that she was out drawing water from the well at noon, the hottest part of the day! Why would she do that? Because she wanted to avoid the others who went to the well in the morning or evening (the cooler times of the day) who were gossiping about her and shaming her for the mistakes of her past. Again we ask, why would Jesus draw attention to these past mistakes, these past sins, of the Samaritan woman's or ours? It is because He loves us. ?????????? Yes, you heard me right :) It's not because He wants to shame us, or to throw it in our face that we made a mistake, that we aren't perfect, or that we have certain weaknesses. If we don't come face to face with the reality of our past, of our mistakes, or the reality of our present, of the busyness that is our lives and we don't make time to have a conversation with Him, then we run into trouble. We get used to the constant busyness and no time for prayer and that becomes a habit. We get used to making the same mistakes over and over again, and that becomes a habit. We get used to feeling sorry for ourselves when we don't get it just right, or we don't make everyone happy, or we wrestle with a certain weakness, and that becomes a habit. We get used to doing it all on our own without asking for help, from others or God, and that becomes a habit. And habits are difficult to break - if you've ever given up something for Lent or taken something on, you know what I mean. And those habits which we've been doing and been taught for so much of our lives (to keep busy, mark off every item on the to-do list, etc), are even harder to break because they are embedded into our minds and our everyday lives - they become almost second nature to us. But in this story of the Woman at the Well, Jesus is trying to show us that as He points these things out to us, these are the things that are keeping us from Him. When all the other things in our life become more important than making sure we have some conversation time with God at least once a day, He is there reminding us to just sit with Him. Sit with Him at well, come to Him in the beautiful sacrament of Reconciliation. Let Him free you of all your burdens, all your past mistakes, all your worries and anxieties. Let Him love you. Because I guarantee no matter what you've done, no matter what you are struggling with - He is greater than it, and He wants to walk with you through everything. I'm here to remind you, and to remind myself :) That God wants all of you, and anything you think of, anything you struggle with, He already knows. But your relationship with Him is more open and honest, because when you are open and honest and share everything, then you are also ready to hear what God has to say. But, if you hold things back, those things weigh on your heart and you can't hear God's voice as clearly. As you move throughout your day, here's a little reminder to make time for prayer, to just sit with Him, even if you don't think there's anything on your heart to say, God might have something to say to you. I invite and encourage you, to just sit in the silence and let Him love you. I was talking with a friend this weekend and we were sharing our "highs and lows" of the day - meaning what was one of the best and worst parts of our day. We do this often to keep in touch with each other and to keep a healthy perspective that even on a bad day, there is some good, and on a good day, there are always ways we can improve. As I reflected on some of my "lows", I realized that I was focusing a lot on my weaknesses and how I didn't do my best in certain situations and was disappointed in myself. Let me get a little vulnerable here and explain......
One of my "lows" from the weekend was that I at my house on Saturday morning, overthinking everything all morning and feeling quite anxious about "fitting in" with my job, the new town and what God has called me to do and to be here in Menasha. (Yes, I just moved to Menasha a couple weeks ago! ) Although I am and have been incredibly thankful that God has placed me here at St. Mary and St. John's, and the faith-filled community here is an absolute inspiration and blessing to me, it still is an adjustment for me to embark on something "new", some days I let my guard down and my brain decides to look past all the good that being in Menasha is to me, and decides to focus instead on the "what-ifs". I think you know what I'm talking about here - we all get those days where we aren't sure about anything, we let our imagination run away from us, and we let fear and worry and anxiety get the best of us. Sometimes this happens just because, sometimes it's triggered by change. Change happens in our lives, whether is something small like what you had originally planned for the day didn't happen at all like you thought it would. Or, it can be a major life change, like what we've been dealing with due to COVID-19, or a loved one passing away. Either way, we can get frustrated with the change itself happening, or our reaction to it. We say that we need to trust God and that He has a plan, but it's not always so easy to see. And it's frustrating sometimes because we think we know ourselves, we think we can do better than those anxious thoughts and letting our imagination run away from us because we want to trust that God has a plan. But that morning, amidst my thoughts racing and the "what-ifs" I just couldn't see His plan. And then my mind goes into overthinking to the max and starts comparing myself to others, and I'm thinking, "gee, this is such a small thing to get anxious about, I know people in my own life who are struggling with way worse things than just trying to "fit-in" with a new community. I should be spending my time reaching out to them, praying for them instead of focusing on myself." In short, after a full morning of procrastination, anxious thoughts and debating what to do with the rest of my day, I decided I didn't want to deal with those thoughts anymore and I decided to go for a run and then walk to a nearby park to read and just enjoy the weather. That afternoon, God taught me something AMAZING. I was reading a book called, Uninvited by Lisa TerKeurst (10 out of 10 recommend) and the first chapter I read that day was titled "Miracles in the Mess" - I read that and I just smiled and realized God might be about to open my mind. "In Mark 6 we find Jesus sending out the twelve disciples, and as they preached, 'they drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them' (v. 13). Miracles! But we also find verse 3: 'And they took offense at him.' We see Him having great compassion on the people who followed Him in the feeding of the five thousand. They all ate and were satisfied by five loaves and two fish. Miracle! But we also see that Jesus and His disciples were physically depleted 'because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat' (v. 31). Messy realities in the midst of miracles. And isn't it so like us to miss this about Jesus' everyday life? we hyper-focus on the lines of Scripture containing the miracles, and we miss the details of the mess." As I read this, I remembered the humanity of Jesus. His life was messy too - just because Jesus was perfect, doesn't mean that the world He lived in was perfect. This made me realize - everyone's life is messy, and there are good parts of the day and bad parts of the day, but God DOES have a plan and He works ALL parts of our lives for good. God got my attention that afternoon, but He wasn't done reminding me how important our messes and weaknesses are...... "We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose." ~Romans 8:28 Later that evening, I was thinking back to the chapter I had read and I remembered something I learned from my Divine Mercy Consecration back during the beginning of quarantine. The book which I did the consecration through talked about the importance of our weakness and how it is connected to God's mercy. We have many weaknesses and we aren't perfect. But when we offer our weaknesses to God and we allow Him to work through us in those moments, we realize it's ok that we make mistakes and we mess up sometimes, and sometimes we can't control it. God still works in ALL those moments. He made us, and He became human, so He knows about our messiness and He is right there in the midst of it. "Remember Jesus' response to the disciples who missed Him, who cried out in fear, not faith, and in their terrified state, set into motion all kinds of unnecessary anxiety. The Scripture says immediately (I love that it was immediate) He spoke to them and said, 'Don't be afraid.' The word used here means 'don't resist me.' And He climbed in the boat with them. He's saying the same thing to you and me. And He's not running from your mess. He's climbing in it to be right there with you." ~Lysa TerKeurst He smiles and tells us - I know you aren't perfect, I know your lives are messy and I know all about your weaknesses and failure. I love you amidst your flaws and if you offer those to Me, I can work so much more intimately in you life and show you my mercy. When we trust God with our messes, and we admit to Him that we are weak and we need His help, that is not a bad thing! When we slip up and make mistakes, when we get anxious without knowing why, or we don't face the changes in our life as positively as we would like, God asks us to give Him those moments, give Him those worries, arguments, "what-ifs" and anxieties and when we do, this is when God shows us His mercy. His mercy comes in many forms - it can look like a solitary moment of agreement in the midst of an argument, recognizing and being thankful for the blessings in your life, a person who makes you smile or laugh on a really crappy day, being thankful for even one blessing on the worst day of your life, or the recognition on how to improve the upcoming day because of poor decisions you've made the day before. On Saturday, for me, His mercy looked like the opportunity to take a step back and offer my anxieties to Him, and remember to trust that He has put me in the right place at the right time AND that He is and will be walking with me always. Be patient with yourself and offer your messiness and weakness up to Him. His love and mercy envelops us ALLways. Just when we think our world hasn't been shaken enough - the death of George Floyd. I know it is on your mind, as it is mine. All our unrest from quarantine, the suffering we feel from the weight of the pandemic, and the grief from losing those we love has all been brought to the surface. We desire to DO something. People are angry, and rightly so. This murder shows us that racism is still present in our country, even if we tried to brush the topic under the rug before, our country is telling us we can't do that now!
Although I am deeply saddened by the death of George Floyd, I am perhaps even more saddened by many people's responses to it. The violence. The looting. The vandalism. This isn't the answer to the problem. I know there is nothing wrong with feeling just anger, there isn't even anything wrong with acting out on that anger in appropriate ways: protesting and standing in solidarity with our brothers and sisters is good! But we also need to look at the bigger picture. How can we use our anger to fuel the fire of life, instead of a fire of death and destruction? How can we be part of the solution? Many times the Catholic Church is looked down upon because of all it's "rules", the times it does not address the hard issues (racism, homosexuality, pornography, etc) and the times it seems not to hear those who feel note heard, persecuted, or not welcome. I say this because oftentimes we leave these things up to "someone else" to figure out or address. We (myself included) often think that "The Church" applies to a building, or the Pope, or the staff of our parish, etc. YOU are the Catholic Church WE are the Catholic Church - the Body of Christ, His hands and feet! This issue cannot be solved by "someone else". It must be solved through US. It starts HERE and NOW. If there is something that this pandemic and the past 3 months have taught us, it should be that God can bring goodness out of chaos - if we let Him. Let's turn to God in prayer, ask the Holy Spirit to open our minds and our hearts, and listen to what He tells us. Let us pray for all those who give us a reason to feel anger, and pray for those who are the victims of others angry actions. Another way we can be part of the solution, is that we CANNOT ignore this and pass through this time trying to block it out or ignore it. When we ignore it, we become part of the problem. We need to be open and have conversations with our family, our friends, our children. Talk about racism, talk about what happened and how you feel about it. Talk about what responses we do feel inside, and what a response might be as a Christian people. "There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." ~Galatians 3:28 Pray. Converse. Be part of the solution. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has many resources for us to learn more about the evil of racism. They give us many resources and call us to DIALOGUE. (This link below will take you to the many resources offered by the USCCB) http://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/human-life-and-dignity/racism/ "But the violence of recent nights is self-destructive and self-defeating. Nothing is gained by violence and so much is lost. Let us keep our eyes on the prize of true and lasting change. Legitimate protests should not be exploited by persons who have different values and agendas. Burning and looting communities, ruining the livelihoods of our neighbors, does not advance the cause of racial equality and human dignity. We should not let it be said that George Floyd died for no reason. We should honor the sacrifice of his life by removing racism and hate from our hearts and renewing our commitment to fulfill our nation’s sacred promise — to be a beloved community of life, liberty, and equality for all." ~Archbishop Gomez "There is not a moment in which God does not present Himself under the cover of some pain to be endured, of some consolation to be enjoyed, or of some duty to be performed. All that takes place within us, around us, or through us, contains and conceals His divine action.......If we could lift the veil and if we were attentive and watchful God would continually reveal Himself to us, and we should see His divine action in everything that happened to us and rejoice in it."
~Jean-Pierre De Caussade These words really jumped out at me from the book I've been reading lately for a book club and throughout the whole chapter, these were the words that grabbed my attention. We say that "God is everywhere" and "we can see God in everyone", but when I really thought about this, I realized we don't always live our lives like God is everywhere. What would it mean for us to live like we can see God everywhere? I was chewing on this thought the next few days and then this post jumped out to me from Facebook, it said: "You will never have today again. Are you fully present in each day? Do you realize that today could be your last day? You will never have this time, this day, back ever again. How do you want to live out each moment? How will you choose to live today? Everything you do makes an impact and you choose if that’s positive or negative. Ask the Lord to lead you moment by moment. Ask Him to give you the strength to be present exactly where you are, exactly where He has placed you. He has placed you in this moment, in this time for a reason. Don’t be afraid to joyfully live out this day. You don’t need to be consumed with the past or the future, He longs to be with you in the present. Now. Yes—Right now. Allow yourself to be in the present and live out your day guided by the Lord. He will lead you, be at peace, be patient with yourself and remember that you’ll never be able to relive today again— how will you live out today?" I recognized these two texts not as a coincidence, but God's voice through my daily activities. He's trying to make me aware of something and I need to pay attention. Then I realized what God was trying to say - I am here. I am here even when you don't think of Me. I am here when you are frustrated with co-workers or your family, I am here when you are sitting outside enjoying the sunshine, I am here when you wake up in the morning, I am here when you are eating dinner, I am here when your children and family are loving you or driving you crazy, and I am here amidst each moment of this life you experience. And when I recognized all these moments in which God is present, I've been able to deepen my relationship with God. Before, when I've thought of that passage from scripture when St. Paul tells us to "pray without ceasing", I think it's impossible. However, when I look back on my life and when I've acknowledged God being present in my day, when I acknowledged God is present through the good, the bad, the annoyances, the pain and the beauty, I realize this is how we can pray without ceasing. This is how we can live in the present moment and realize that God truly is everywhere. What I often struggle with (and maybe you can relate to this) is when I hear God's message, or something jumps out at me and I think "oh, I should be better at that!" Or, "I should try doing that, it would definitely deepen my faith life and relationship with God." but then I don't actually DO anything about it. I continue living my life because I'm "happy" enough, or I'm content where I am and I don't want anything to change because I'm afraid of something different, or I just put it off and say I'll do it later. But when I turn back to that book I'm reading, or I flip on another episode on Netflix, or go back to living my everyday life just like before, I get that nudging feeling in my heart that I should have payed attention when God was calling me to DO something. Sometimes I distract myself so much with other things in life and I don't think about it anymore. But usually later on, God metaphorically hits me over the head with a 2x4 by telling me the same thing over and over again until I finally pay attention :) But ultimately I realize that in order to live the life I really want to live and to deepen my relationship with God, I need to act and I need to do it now. God is HERE, in this moment and in EVERY moment. Are you here in this moment? Do you acknowledge Him? Do you let Him in? Do you trust Him to show you the better path? He is calling you to a deeper relationship with Him. Listen. What is He calling you to do? Are you going to DO something? I have been reading a book about abandoning ourselves to God's will recently, and I wanted to share part of it with you:
"God has given you this moment as an opportunity to become a saint. The opportunity is not in five minutes; the opportunity is not on the next page or even the next sentence. The present moment is His gift to you. It is your opportunity to abandon yourself entirely to Divine Providence." Reading this sounds so inspiring, right? But HOW do we do this?? How do we abandon ourselves completely to God each and every moment of the day? This seems nearly impossible. It is challenging, but perhaps easier than you think! As we go throughout our days, each thing that we do can be a prayer to God, can be a way to deepen our relationship with Him. The mundane tasks, the big decisions, all of it. Much of the day we are inclined to continue doing the next right thing, the next item on the to-do list. This is good, and we are called to do these things and to spend time with our families and write the next email, or answer the next text message. This all becomes meaningless when we look back at the day and measure how good it was based on how much of that to-do list got done, or if the house got picked-up or cleaned, or if you answered each text message when it came in. These things become purposeful when we love through these actions. When we perform these actions with purpose and love. When we do the dishes, not just because they have to be done, but because we love our family members and we want to give them the gift of having clean dishes to eat a meal from. When we talk to a member of our family about something that frustrates us, and we do it with the best interest of the family and of that person sitting in front of you. When we pay the bills, not just because they are due and it needs to get checked off the to-do list, but because we have responsibilities as adults and we love to be able to provide food, a house to sleep in, water for them to drink and heat to keep them warm. When we do these things and ALL things with the loving intent behind them, this is when we take each moment to become a saint. This is how we abandon ourselves to God's will and truly LIVE in the present moment. This week, I challenge you to do ONE thing each day with this mindset. With the mindset that what you do is important and what you do is consciously out of love for someone - whether that be God or family or friends. Stay positive, and love God. You are Loved! |