You are anxious and worried about many things

How true are these words to us in our world of devices, instant news, and immediate gratification? Even in work we find ourselves consumed with multiple roles and then becoming disillusioned and upset when others don't seem to pick up the slack. There is no doubt that there are some who are leaders and some that are followers but keeping true to the Gospel passage today it is important to keep things in perspective. Why am I upset about the tasks that I have taken up? Am I doing these things in order to be recognized, to be elevated to a position of superiority, or am I truly serving the Lord?

In my daily life I find myself consumed at times with worries about money, work and household tasks, my children, and the general future of our nation and world. The necessity to immediately answer the e-mail or text takes precedent to carving out quiet time. What becomes of these anxieties?  Even those who are associated with the work of Lord and Christian charity find themselves overwhelmed with business of the day.  All of this brings discouragement which itself disconnects us from mercy of Lord.  "Why are they not doing something?" one may ask.  "Why don't they respond to my text, SnapChat, or e-mail quickly?" A better question is how much time have I spent with Lord today? Have I spent time as Mary at the Lord's feet listening?

The Potter's Wheel

As a child I was fortunate to have the experience of using a potter's wheel as my father taught ceramics at our local high school.  I looked forward to the time spent trying to form a cup or vase. There were a few simple rules about molding something from clay; keep the clay moist which meant occasionally splashing small bits of water on the mound spinning on electric wheel or dipping your hands in the water and then resuming the work on clay, don't increase the speed of the wheel too fast or the clay will fly off,  and clean up.  Other than that my father allowed my brother and myself with a watchful eye to experiment.

In today's reading we read about Jeremiah and the potters house.  From my limited experience on the potter's wheel I find some connections to the passage. Keeping the clay moist as an object is formed reminds me of the spiritual cleansing or Sacrament of Reconciliation that needs to take place as we journey to the Kingdom of heaven. Every now and then water needs to be splashed upon us in the form of God's infinite mercy for us to become the image God intended us to to be.  Increasing the speed of the wheel which forms a imperfect object or causes the clay to fly off correlates to the futile attempt to live life in today's world full of immediate gratification, materialism, rage,  and cultural relativism. We become disengaged with our truer sense of what is right and slide off the wheel into the depths of sin.  Fortunately God in his infinite mercy is there to pick us up and place us in the center of the wheel to begin the process of forming a object of beauty only if we allow Him to do so and place our life in his hands.

As the clay spins the potter takes the various tools to add grooves to the object and using his hands sometimes squeezing the clay an image begins to appear from the blob. The excess clay from the use of the tools is thus removed much like the bad fish in today's Gospel. Little by little the once blob of clay takes form.  Once finished it is fired and glazed.  As one can see God's work is never done with us as we are the proverbial piece of clay.

Even after we have made the conscious decision to give up our life to God, we need to be dusted off, cleaned, and shined as to become the true image of God's work in us.  Taking this in mind let us reflect not only us as the object that is being formed, but how we can through God's grace also assist in formation of others around us.

Passing by on the other side

The Gospel story of the Good Samaritan always strikes a chord with me.  It reveals my self-centeredness and lack of compassion which can be difficult to reconcile with. Years ago I was in a downtown area of a large city and was approached my a homeless man who was looking for an additional shirt to keep him warm from the elements which at the time were quite frigid. I was fully decked out in multiple layers of clothing and told the man I could not spare anything at the time. That in itself was not true as I had been blessed with a good job, adequate housing and clothing, but I proceeded on my business in the area not thinking anything of my actions.  However that image still haunts me today.

I was as the just like the priest and the Levite in the Gospel a passerby not willing to be a laborer for God's work.  In a world full of self-centeredness there seems to be a lack of compassion towards those less fortunate. However, there is a Good Samaritan in all of us.  Some people have a natural inclination to helping the needy, poor, and homeless.  They are as the State Farm commercial says "a good neighbor." If you struggle in this area try reading this book, Love, Skip, and Jump by Shelene Bryan.  It has helped me to to carry out the Gospel message of the Good Samaritan with a wealth of ideas.  Carrying a small care package in your car of socks, a bottle of water, hotel toiletries from recent trips and a granola bar was one that appealed to me.

But the struggle still goes on. There are endless numbers of homeless and ill people on the streets where I live. I can choose to look the other way when I am driving by or a quick prayer can be all that I offer. I believe that we are called to be a good neighbor.

We need mercy

In response to the tragic violence in Orlando this morning and violence that consumes our nation daily I am not writing but praying the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. Please join me. Divine Mercy Chaplet

Raising the dead

In today's zombie and vampire saturated television experience the seemingly dead seem to be running amok. Real life does not mirror these shows fortunately, or does it? In both the Book of Kings and the Gospel of Luke Elijah and Jesus raise a dead person to life. Imagine today if we saw a similar occurrence, how might we react? I find that because of my spiritual blindness that these occurrences might be happening around me daily, but because I tend to focus on the biblical description of dead coming to life I probably do not recognize a person that is spiritually dead coming to life.

How many people in my daily encounters have overcome some tragedy or affliction only to carry on and accomplish the extraordinary? Because our culture focuses more on the negative aspect of life, the news cycle is a constant hum of brokenness and vitriol, we tend to see or hear about these stories. "See! Your son is alive," Elijah states to the widow. What may seem to be dead by our perspective can come to life.

We can look to Paul's story in Galatians today and know that one of strongest persecutors of the early Church can be changed. Paul states on many occasions that he was dead and is now alive.  If Paul's life was resurrected, certainly those who we may see as having little hope or who have caused us great pain and suffering can have a life altering experience. We may not see Jesus, but know that the Holy Spirit is working through others to cause this change. Having the tendency to doubt is certainly part of our society as well. I find that through prayer for those that may have caused pain and suffering some of this doubt about a person's newly found life can be overcome. Remembering that all things are done in God's time not mine is important as well. "I believe, help me in my unbelief," cries out the centurion when he comes upon Jesus and pleas for his aid for his sick son. Likewise help me in my own unbelief that others can be changed.

No Longer Just a Story

We hear of the multiplication of the loaves and fish today as we celebrate the Solemnity of the Corpus Christi. It is story that we associate with the Eucharistic celebration during Mass as well as one that many of us remember from the picture bibles of our childhood. The people reclining on the grass, the baskets, the loaves, along with Jesus and the disciples in the colorful portrait.

However, I was prompted to reflect much deeper on this passage as our deacon in his always thought provoking discourse of scripture passages asked us to probe deeper into Luke's Gospel. He took us through the passage to the point where the disciples ask Jesus to send the crowd away.  Jesus replies "Give them some food yourselves." We all know what proceeds. Simply said the deacon's message was we are blessed with many loaves or talents and we are asked to feed others.  This insight had me thinking more profoundly.

The talents that I am given are not of my doing, but from the grace of God. However, I must rely on God to uncover these talents.  When I eat of the loaves I am united with my brothers and sisters in the body of Christ. If I am focused on my own needs, my own self-centeredness, I neglect the body of Christ or as Pope Francis states, "We are torn from him when we are disobedient." These talents are loaves which can be multiplied by actions of love and forgiveness. It is only a matter of me finding these through prayer and reflection. But what about the Blood of Christ?

The connection I see here is that I must make sacrifices to be able to love.  Of course none of my sacrifices are comparable to those who truly gave up their lives to carry out the Gospel message.  "Can you drink from my cup?"  Jesus ask in Mark earlier this week. Perhaps I can drink of the cup is some small way. It is carrying out the message of of serving, instead of being served, loving, instead of seeking to be loved that I become part of the Body of Christ. As a broken individual full of sin, I find that the St. Francis prayer is of great solace, thus I seek God to reveal the loaves so that I can feed the hungry, the suffering, the ill.

Recognizing the Holy Spirit

A whisper in my conscience guides me to take a action of love that which gives me great joy inside.  I would like to think that this is because I am such a nice person. Upon further reflection I realize that this is the Spirit working in me.  I ponder this.  So how long did it take for me to recognize the Spirit?  When is the Spirit working within the recesses of my soul?

A Google search takes me to look for how many books have been written on the Holy Spirit. "Encountering the Spirit,"  "Receiving the Spirit," and host of thousands of other books have been published on the topic.  All the titles seem intriguing, but I would rather look to today's readings for guidance. Paul writes in both the first letter to the Corinthians and late to the Romans about receiving the Spirit in which he talks of spiritual gifts being given in some manner to individuals and of being in the flesh and not being able to please God.

It took me many years to figure this out.  The idea that there are many types of service and that this service actually is understanding God's will and carrying it out was quite foreign to me. I was that person who was living in the flesh that St. Cyril states of , "it is quite natural for  people who have been absorbed by the things of this world to become entirely otherwordly in outlook." I can say I haven't reached this state but certainly understand the concept and try to live it out daily.  The struggles of the world can be all consuming, but it is with the grace of God, the manifestation of the Spirit that I receive reprieve. I am faced with the temptation to judge and condemn daily, to rage at the craziness of the events that seem to be the only focus of the media, and the temptation to carry out the myriad of other sins that reside in me.

Realizing that as Paul conveys so clearly "that if you live according to flesh, you will die, but if you live by Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live," my only source of life is not what I sometimes gravitate to, that of recognition and achievements, but recognizing when the Spirit is working in me.  This state of consciousness forces me out of myself, to see the burdens of others, to provide a helping hand, or at least pray for the wellbeing of those that are suffering.  It is movement within, not of my own doing, that  provides none other than true life. It is that small voice that questions an action that I am attempting to take.  Some might refer to this as our conscience. I however, prefer to recognize this as the Spirit working within me.