May our hearts be not far from you, Oh God.
Scripture reminds us today during the Liturgy, that the most important thing is the heart, and a personal and intimate relationship with God, who created us to be with Him. We hear about the Pharisees who, through their concern with the rules of Religion, had their focus taken away from the heart of Religion.
This doesn’t condemn “human traditions” or the Jewish rituals, but rather brings the focus back to the root, the place where we honor God not just with our lips, but with our hearts. The actions, then, spring forth from an overflowing of love, love of God and love of neighbor.
This makes me think, too, of the older brother in the parable of the prodigal son. He had done everything “right” and still was far from the Father, because he was focused on his actions instead of relationship. And Martha, busy busy Martha, who wasn’t committing some horrible sin by doing the dishes! Her heart was not with HIM. It was focused on Mary, who “wasn’t helping.” Had she been focused on Jesus while she happened to be doing the dishes, all would be well.
What is it that takes your heart away from God? This God who is always there…waiting to love us, waiting to comfort us, waiting to direct our path. This is my question today, to me, to you. And the title above is my prayer. If we are present to Him, then His Presence will be our strength and our joy.
On that note, I’d like to invite you to go check out this beautiful column – just written by Michael Dubruiel – on bad things happening despite our efforts, on sudden and unexpected death…and on trust. It was his last.
I’d often heard my father speak of him warmly, as he communicated with him over the years about various publishing ventures. All I really know, is that Mike was a talented guy who used his gifts to serve the Lord. His heart was focused on God. This last column is a powerful testimony to leave behind…I’ve no doubt it’s just a glimmer of what those who knew and loved him, felt in his presence. My thoughts and prayers are with his wife, Amy, and their children. ~Erin
Song on my heart today: Be Still My Soul (Which, yes, I just now discovered is wrongly labeled on the player as Be Still and Know!)
JPII Quote
I came across this quote again today and just found it so inspiring. It is sufficient for reflection so I won’t add anything! Blessings ~ Erin
“It is Jesus that you seek when you dream of happiness; He is waiting for you when nothing else you find satisfies you; He is beauty to which you are so attracted; it is He who provoked you with that thirst for fullness that will not let you settle for compromise; it is He who urges you to shed the masks of a false life; it is He who reads in your hearts your most genuine choices, the choices that others try to stifle.
It is Jesus who stirs in you a desire to do something great with your lives, the will to follow an ideal, the refusal to allow yourselves to be ground down by mediocrity, the courage to commit yourselves humbly and patiently to improving yourselves and society, making the world more human and more fraternal.”
-Pope John Paul II at the vigil of World Youth Day Rome
“Shalom”
Divine Mercy Sunday!
Readings: Acts 2:42-47; 1 Pt 5:3-9; Jn 20:19-31
‘Peace be with you,’ he said. Jn 20:19
Today’s Gospel tells the story of the first Easter Sunday and its octave day, which we celebrate today as Divine Mercy Sunday. The disciples are confused and frightened. Christ had represented their deepest hopes, but all that had changed in the garden, in the court of the high priest, in the praetorium of Pilate, and on that awful hill of Calvary where most of them had not even dared to show themselves. After the torture and execution of Christ, all had seemed lost. So the disciples had withdrawn into the upper room and locked the doors.
And suddenly He was there with them. (In our fear we can try to lock Him out, but He is always with us.) The first word He spoke was “shalom,” which means not just “peace,” but complete health and well-being in mind, body, and spirit.
Thomas wasn’t there and refused to believe unless he could see the holes in Christ’s hands and put his hand into the wound in His side. So, eight days later, Christ shows up again, offering Thomas the proof he needs. What a wonderful testimony to how far God is willing to go to reveal Himself to each of us, personally, when we long to see Him!
Here we are, some 2000 years later. So many plans that haven’t worked out. So many dashed expectations. In our fear, how many rooms have we fled into to hide? How many locked doors are there in our minds and hearts? How many times have we been afraid to trust, unwilling to believe, unable to receive?
Every day, but especially today, when we remember and celebrate His mercy, Christ stands before us (even in the deepest locked rooms of our being), offers us His “shalom,” and invites us to receive His Spirit. “One thing alone is necessary: that the sinner set ajar the door of his heart … to let in a ray of God’s merciful grace” (Diary, 1507).
Lord, help me to let go of all fear today and trust You to break through all the locked doors, heal all the wounds, and breathe Your “shalom” into my heart.
Return to the Charcoal Fire
Friday in the Octave of Easter
Readings: Acts 4:1-12; Jn 21:1-14
When they landed, they saw a charcoal fire. Jn 21:9
In today’s Gospel, Peter and six of the other disciples have been fishing all night, but have caught nothing. Jesus shows up on the shore (once again they don’t recognize Him), and tells them where to cast their nets. They obey and are rewarded with a huge catch. Realizing that it’s Jesus, Peter excitedly jumps into the water.
For Peter, it must have brought back the memory of an earlier scene when he was first called to be a disciple. After a similar miraculous catch of fish, Jesus had told him he was to be a fisher of men (see Lk 5:1-11).
From that time on, he had followed Jesus. But then had come that terrible night when he had denied Jesus three times. And now, as he approached the shore, he was about to be reminded of that event, too, for there was “a charcoal fire there, with a fish laid on it and some bread” (Jn 21:9).
What’s a charcoal fire have to do with anything? The only other place in the New Testament where we see a charcoal fire is in the courtyard of the high priest where Peter denied Christ (see Jn 18:18).
Christ is about to put Peter in charge of his flock, but first there’s healing needed. So He builds a charcoal fire to lead Peter back to the time of his sin. Then comes the tender dialogue of mercy: Do you love Me? … Yes, Lord. … Then feed my sheep (see Jn 21:15-17). Three times Peter is allowed to reaffirm his love for Jesus to make up for the three denials.
How wonderful to know that the same mercy is available to us. Whenever we fail, Jesus stands there at the shore of our sin, waiting to build a charcoal fire and gently ask the question that matters above all else, “Do you love Me?”
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for Your infinite mercy. Don’t ever let me cling to my sin and guilt, but lead me to the shore of Your love for forgiveness and healing.
Doubly Loved
Thursday in the Octave of Easter
Readings: Acts 3:11-26; Lk 24:35-48
It is really I. Touch me and see. Lk 24:39
The theme of recognizing Christ continues in today’s Gospel. After Jesus had vanished from their sight, the two disciples had rushed back to Jerusalem, “where they found the Eleven and the rest of the company assembled” (Lk 24: 33.) While they were recounting the story of “how they had come to know Jesus in the breaking of the bread,” suddenly “Jesus himself stood in their midst” (Lk 24:36).
How does the group react? They panic. Why? Because they think they’re seeing a ghost. They’ve seen bodies raised from the dead before, but this is different. This body still looks human, but has obvious spiritual qualities, too, and doesn’t seem limited by the laws of nature. Jesus in His risen, glorified body can show up or vanish when and where He wishes and even walk through locked doors!
So Jesus has to reassure them that they’re not seeing an apparition, but that He’s really present with them. Imagine hearing Him say this to you from the Eucharist: “Look at My hands and feet; it is really I. Touch Me, and see” (Lk 24:39).
Jesus is really present in the Eucharist; alive as God and alive as a human man. What does that mean? It means that in the Eucharist you are doubly loved. As God, Jesus has always loved you. But now, with His human will completely united with His divine will, He loves you in His full humanity, too. From the Eucharist, He looks at you with His human eyes, thinks about you with His human mind, loves you with His human heart. And His loving, living presence is as real as it was to that first group of Christians in Jerusalem.
Thank you, Jesus, for this awesome gift of the Eucharist. Forgive me, Lord, for any times I have failed to recognize You, treating you as an object instead of a living person.
The Emmaus Problem
Wednesday in the Octave of Easter
Readings: Acts 3:1-10; Lk 24:13-35
Their eyes were opened and they recognized him. Lk 24:31
Today’s readings pose an important question: “How do you look?” Not your appearance, but your way of viewing. Do you simply observe things, or do you gaze intently, looking beyond the obvious? Do you merely see with your eyes or do you probe with your mind?
Check out this scene from the first reading: “Peter fixed his gaze on the man; so did John. ‘Look at us!’ Peter said. The cripple gave them his whole attention” (Acts 3:4-5). Peter then healed the cripple and, when the people “saw him,” they “recognized him.” (Acts 3:9-10).
In the Gospel, when Jesus joined the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, they didn’t know who He was until the breaking of the bread. Then “their eyes were opened and they recognized him” (Lk 24:16, 31).
This “Emmaus Problem” is still with us. When the priest elevates the Host, many people still see only bread. Even those of us who believe that Christ is truly present need to grow in our ability to recognize who Christ is for us in the Eucharist and thus enter into fuller, more personal communion with Him.
What’s the answer? To get in the habit of “gazing upon the Lord,” pondering as Our Lady did, with your mind, heart, and soul. “To contemplate the face of Christ,” wrote Pope John Paul II, “and to contemplate it with Mary is the ‘programme’ I have set before the Church at the dawn of the third millennium. … [It] involves being able to recognize him … above all in the living sacrament of his body and blood” (Ecclesia de Eucharistia, # 6).
“Although You have hidden Yourself,” St. Faustina writes, “my eye, enlightened by faith, reaches You, … my soul recognizes its Creator, … and my heart is completely immersed in prayer of adoration” (Diary, 1692).
Lord, help me to keep my gaze fixed on You and to schedule times of adoration so I can grow in my personal relationship with You.
Come as You wish
Tuesday in the Octave of Easter
Readings: Acts 2:36-41; Jn 20:11-18
Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:38
Today’s first reading is taken from St. Peter’s Pentecost sermon, in which he urges his listeners to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (see Acts 2:38). The only reason the crowds are listening to Peter at all is that they have just witnessed the Holy Spirit in action. Christ had promised that when the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples they would be clothed with power, and He wasn’t kidding (Acts 1:8)!
A sudden loud sound. Tongues of fire. Everyone speaking in strange languages. So much noise that thousands of people gather, amazed and bewildered (see Acts 2:1-12).
It’s doubtful that the apostles had expected this kind of behavior from the Holy Spirit. And they probably didn’t anticipate the effect He would have on their own behavior. The “devout men” who have gathered certainly don’t seem to be viewing this as a legitimate religious experience. Some of them openly mock the apostles, saying, “They have had too much new wine” (Acts 2:13).
Though it’s only nine o’clock in the morning, the apostles are indeed acting drunk, so much so, that, as he begins the first Christian sermon, St. Peter has to assure the crowds, “These men are not drunk, as you suppose” (Acts 2:15).
It’s helpful to look at this scene now and then so we don’t try to keep the Holy Spirit in a tidy little box of our own making. It’s really a control issue. We like to think we’re in charge, and we don’t like surprises. We have certain expectations of how God will act and how people ought to act if they are really filled with His Spirit.
Reliving Pentecost reminds us not to judge others and not to place conditions on God. It invites us to throw away the remote control unit and call upon the Holy Spirit to “clothe us in power” in whatever ways He chooses.
Lord, I want to be completely open to Your will. Help me to pray constantly: “Come Holy Spirit; come now; come as You wish.”
The Bond of Love
“I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator …” (Apostles Creed)
Ever notice that in this prayer God is referred to first of all as “Father” and only then as “creator”? There’s a whole teaching here. Pope John Paul II, in Rich in Mercy, explains that God is not just the creator, but “He is also Father,” and He is linked to us “by a bond still more intimate than that of creation. It is love, which not only creates the good but also grants participation in the very life of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. For he who loves desires to give himself” (#7).
God doesn’t create as an all-powerful but distant artisan with no real interest in His creations. He “fathers-forth” from His heart, not just creating beings, but begetting children who are to be His own. Lovingly and tenderly he forms each of us in our mothers’ wombs, fashioning us in His own image and likeness, and breathing His Spirit into us, so that one day we may return to Him “holy and spotless” to live like Him and with Him forever. For “such is the ‘plan of his loving kindness,’ conceived by the Father before the foundation of the world” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, #257).
What should our response be to such a gift? To simply live as His children, trusting that His love never changes, His fathering never ends. In the midst of life’s busyness, we can rest in His heart, trusting and rejoicing and giving thanks, letting our daily lives form an endless song of praise.
“He fathers-forth whose beauty is beyond change. Praise Him”
(Hopkins, Pied Beauty).
Vinny Flynn
Are you a fair face?
I heard a homily awhile back that really hit me. It was one of those times where I felt like the priest was talking directly to my heart, and at a time when I was trying not to be annoyed at the church I was in and the people I was with! (Ever notice that Catholic churches unfortunately aren’t always the most welcoming places, and that many times it seems the people want to be anywhere but there?) It grabbed my attention because it wasn’t the take I would have thought of for a homily on that Gospel.
The passage (Mt. 11:2-5 or Lk. 7:18-22) was the one where John the Baptist is sitting in prison, and he sends his disciples to Jesus to ask Him if He is the Messiah, the one they’ve been waiting for, or if they should look for another. Jesus basically says to them, “Go and tell John” and then He proceeds to list the things that are happening. “The blind see, the lame walk…” and so on. I remember being astounded when I first started studying Scripture in college and realized that this comes directly from passages in Isaiah where it says that all these things would come to pass when the Messiah came. (esp. Is.61:1)What Jesus is saying to John (who of course knew his Old Testament) is, “Remember this prophecy? It’s being fulfilled through me now. Yes, I am He.”
What the priest focused on, however, was John in the dark, having to ask through his disciples. Here he is apart from everyone, not seeing Jesus anymore who is now out preaching and performing miracles, and John wants to know if Jesus is THE ONE. “Do I have it right? Have I prepared the way for He who is to come?”
Maybe he was really doubting. I mean, he hears of what’s happening outside and maybe, as some say, it doesn’t exactly fit his expectation of what the Messiah would be like. Maybe more than anything he wanted his disciples to hear the answer…who knows. But what is important here is that this does happen in our life. We don’t see Jesus before us the way He was then…laying His hands on the sick, giving words of comfort to the downtrodden. And we don’t always understand why God acts the way He does, why He allows certain things in our life and in the world.
When we suffer, when we feel alone, when we don’t feel God’s presence the way we’d like or don’t understand something, we can start to wonder, is there meaning to all of this? Is my faith in God well placed? Do I have it right? What if I am truly alone? And Jesus says through this passage to John and to us, “I am He. My presence is real and my love is active in the world, though you do not see me right now, though you do not understand it all.”
One of the main points of the homily became the fact that often it is through others good works and “fair faces” that we recognize and experience God. I thought his expression was cute because…well, who says fair faces? But as I looked around I thought it was an apt description. All around me, in the very people I had felt alienated from a bit earlier, were fair faces. All of a sudden my heart was opened and my expectations of what things should be were left behind. I saw the sweet old women who smile with their eyes of wisdom, teens trying to find their way in a society that doesn’t support their morals…all around me children of God who are in their imperfect, wounded way, bearing Christ to me, if I but have the eyes to see Him.
When Mary (speaking of fair faces) said her “Fiat” (her “yes”) to the angel Gabriel, she became the first to have God “take flesh” in her. She then went immediately to visit her cousin Elizabeth, who at the sound of Mary’s voice felt the babe in her womb (John the Baptist!) “leap for joy.” (Lk.1:44) In the Eucharist, Jesus has given us the great gift of remaining with us here on earth, fully present to us under the veil of bread and wine. When we receive Him in Holy Communion and say our “Amen,” we are saying, “Fiat, let it be done. Jesus, take flesh in me that I might become like You, that I might carry You out from here and bear You to a world in need.” This is how we conquer our doubts, this is how we become Christ for others. Hopefully, if we allow ourselves to be transformed by Him, even our voice will witness to His presence.
Be encouraged, look for God in the unexpected, draw near to Him in the Eucharist.
~ Erin Flynn
