Tag Archives: Catholic

God’s beloved

Jacob de Wit (1695-1754) Baptism of Christ in the Jordan chalk and pen, ca.1716 Amsterdam, Amstelkring Museum via Wikimedia Commons

Jacob de Wit (1695-1754)
Baptism of Christ in the Jordan
chalk and pen, ca.1716
Amsterdam, Amstelkring Museum
via Wikimedia Commons

We are God’s beloved and God is well pleased with us. The whole human family. All of us. In spite of, perhaps because of our human frailty, failures, and weaknesses. God made us human. We are God’s. We are God’s creation, beloved and pleasing to God.

Lord, teach me to see myself and the all of the human family  with your eyes and heart.

And a voice came from the heavens, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” Mark 1:11

Pushed by the Light

512px-Magi_(1)

Basilica of Sant’Apollinare Nuovo in Ravenna, Italy: The Three Wise Men (named Balthasar, Melchior, and Gaspar). Detail from: “Mary and Child, surrounded by angels”, mosaic of a Ravennate italian-byzantine workshop, completed within 526 AD by the so-called Master of Sant’Apollinare
By Nina-no (Own work) [CC BY-SA 2.5], via Wikimedia Commons

God within me urges me on and on to find God, to encounter God, to know God. I am pushed by the light within to find the light in all creation, especially in you. In the moment of recognition, the light in me does homage to the light in you, the Light of God, the Love of God.

[The magi] saw the child with Mary his mother.
They prostrated themselves and did him homage. Matthew 2:11

One Holy Family

Rembrandt (1606-1669) Simeon in the Temple oil on panel, 1627-1628 Hamburg, Hamburger Kunsthalle

Rembrandt (1606-1669)
Simeon in the Temple
oil on panel, 1627-1628
Hamburg, Hamburger Kunsthalle

There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived seven years with her husband after her marriage, and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple, but worshiped night and day with fasting and prayer. And coming forward at that very time, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem. Luke 2:36-38

God’s Holy Family encompasses every human person—from infants to the elderly. We are all equally important in the eyes and heart of God. We all have something to offer to others. No matter what our age, we are all called to open our minds, eyes, and hearts to encounter the Lord every day.

 

God’s messengers

he Annunciation Henry Ossawa Tanner, American (active France), 1859 - 1937 The Annunciation, 1898 oil on canvas Philadelphia Museum of Art

Henry Ossawa Tanner, American (active France), 1859 – 1937
The Annunciation, 1898
oil on canvas
Philadelphia Museum of Art

The angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary. Luke 1:26-27

God sends specific messengers to specific locations to specific people every day.

I met several of God’s messengers at the Salvation Army Friday. Some were tiny children crying for their mothers. Some were cranky or bossy or argumentative adults. I did my best to keep saying “yes” to bearing God’s Love into the swirl of human emotions. It took all my energy.

Some messengers were kind and efficient, unfailingly gracious and cheerful. They are a living example of saying “yes” to being Love Bearers in our world where all of us just want to love and be loved.

Wake up call

2_candlesJohn the Baptist appeared in the desert proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Mark 1:4

The gospel is our every day wake up call: a call to love, to help the poor, to show compassion to all people.

It’s a call to spend time in quiet prayer and meditation, to read holy scripture, to deepen our relationship with Jesus.

The gospel wakes us up to the reality of God’s presence in our world, in our lives, in our being.

Today I will trust the wake up call of the gospel and ask the Lord to bless me with knowledge of his will for me and the power to carry it out.

 

Watching

Candle_flame[Jesus said,] “What I say to you, I say to all: ‘Watch!'” Mark 13:37

What am I watching for?
For an opportunity to be kind.
For an opportunity to help someone.
For an opportunity to encourage someone.
For an opportunity to feed the hungry.
For an opportunity to choose peace.
For an opportunity to speak out against violence.
For an opportunity to let go of arrogance.
For an opportunity to show respect to others.
For an opportunity to rejoice in another’s success.
For an opportunity to welcome a stranger.
For an opportunity share my gifts and talents.
For an opportunity to love my neighbor as myself.

Growing rich

JESUS MAFA. Parable of the Three Servants, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=48297 [retrieved November 16, 2014].

JESUS MAFA. Parable of the Three Servants, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=48297 [retrieved November 16, 2014].

“…out of fear I went off and buried your talent in the ground.” Matthew 25:25

Today I will not bury myself in busy-ness out of fear of loneliness.

I will not surround myself with the noise of the world out of fear of the silence of God.

I will not let fear, indifference, or fatigue prevent me from growing rich in kindness, compassion, and encouragement, peace, and love.

 

 

Cleaning house

Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472-1553) Jesús expulsa a los fariseos del Templo, 1521

Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472-1553)
Jesús expulsa a los fariseos del Templo, 1521

[Jesus] made a whip out of cords and drove them all out of the temple area. John 2:15

I am a little temple that houses God’s Holy Spirit. In the name of Jesus and through the gift of the Holy Spirit, I have the power to drive out anything from my temple that obstructs and interferes with my ability to love God, myself, and my neighbor.

What shall I drive out today? Fear? Greed? Self-pity? Arrogance? Indifference? Prejudice?

What shall I invite in? Gratitude? Gentleness? Acceptance? Encouragement? Hospitality? Compassion?

Going home

Joža Uprka, 1860-1941 All Souls' Day oil on canvas, 1897 Prague, National Gallery Joža Uprka [Public domain or Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Joža Uprka, 1860-1941
All Souls’ Day
oil on canvas, 1897
Prague, National Gallery
via Wikimedia Commons

Jesus said to the crowds: “Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and I will not reject anyone who comes to me.” John 6:37

I have been on the giving and receiving end of rejection. Either side is a lonely place, a place of woundedness and deep grief.

Jesus, the Compassion of God, heals all wounds through the grace of his unconditional love for all of God’s human family. By his example I am learning it is the better part to accept than reject. I am learning it is the better part to forgive than resent. I am learning it is the better part to keep my eyes on the Lord than my nose in others’ business. I am learning to find my way home.

 

Choose Love

Stefy Mante The Shepherd's Love Opera di Pirografia su legno di pioppo, 2010

The Shepherd’s Love, 2010
Opera di Pirografia su legno di pioppo
By StefyMante (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

[Jesus said,]”You shall love the Lord, your God,
with all your heart,
with all your soul,
and with all your mind.
This is the greatest and the first commandment.
The second is like it:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:37-40

When I am in doubt about how to act, how to speak, how to relate to people, all people, my family, friends, colleagues, strangers, foreigners, people who look different from me, who think differently, who believe differently, let Love be my prompter.

When I am in doubt about who I am and what I am doing here, let Love open my heart to the Truth that I am the beloved of God, that you are the beloved of God, that we are the reflection of God’s love to each other and to the whole world.

When I hover between the choice to love or not to love, let Love remind me I was made in love and for love. I am entwined with the One who loved me into being.