One of These Days…

 ,,,I am gong to work up the courage to read old posts, knowing very well that I’ll find myself thinking  “did I really write this???  What a…(insert descriptive adjective here.).  Because faith is a journey, not a subject, one changes and grows in one’s love of God.  Or, falls back and goes another way.  Or,all of the above.  One step forward, one step backward, two steps sideways.   What comes to mind is St. Catherine of Siena’s imagery of Christ as the bridge to the Father. We cross the bridge, but not in a direct route.  We go forward, backward, sideways…or even fall off the bridge into the rapid river of sin below.  So, we’re all at different places and may see the same journey, live the same journey but have differences about it.

For example, in my own journey, the closer I have come to Jesus, the more I recognize the depth of my sinfulness.  By starting to see the depth of one’s sinfulness, one enters into the struggle of humility vs. pride.  On going struggle.  A few steps forward, a few steps back, or a “time out on the field” to allow the Holy Spirit to work with you.  

Hope we all meet on the other side of the river.

A Few Thoughts…

 With the Easter season winding down, a few thoughts.  

Surrender is a key.  Jesus has surrendered to the Father, carrying out the mission given to Him by the Father out of love for all of us.  Something to look at in our lives.  If we call ourselves Christian, are we willing to surrender completely, or do we decide to live by our way.  Just saying.  Not an easy thing to do, and it does not make life here easier.  And it does not mean sacrificing your freedom or sense of self.  In my experience, it does just the opposite.  

Lent

 Not going to write much about Lent.  Simply this.  Lent is like the work of restoring a treasured work of art, working carefully and diligently to bring out the beauty of what was originally created.  You and I are the works of art.  The restoration is done by the Artist.  Since we are not an inanimate object, like works of art are, the Artist works at the request of the work of art.   For your homework, Luke 7:36-50.

Dealing With Sin and other notes

     In years past I have talked about one’s own journey with God.  I have been away from here for quite some time, but have returned, and will attempt to pick up where I left off.   I’m not really into Chruch current events.  Doesn’t mean I don’t follow, but I’m not going to participate in a lot of the stuff taking place online.  It’s a diversion.  It keeps us from really facing God and therefore from facing ourselves.

In my own examen before Reconciliation, I saw that Satan was basically distracting me from some big sins that needed to be confessed with much attention on other, perhaps lesser, failings,   The old magician trick…distract with the one hand, while working the trick with the other.   When prayer took me back to one to one with the Lord, the situation became clearer.  I feel freed from an anchor I never fully knew or admitted was there.   

For a long time I had thought of returning to the blog, but kept putting it off.  Looking back, I had my hands full working through life and sometimes felt stuck in place slowly freezing to death (See Dante “Divine Comedy.”)  In this past year, there have been subtle, quiet, but powerful breakthroughs. This latest one has been developing over time and led me to return here.   For years, I worked in communications…I confess, I was a radio deejay, talk show host, news guy.  Later I sold advertising and wrote and produced commercials, before moving into management, (my on-air friends called this a movement to the Dark Side,).   In short, I have some sort of talent which it seems the Lord wants me to put to better use.  And there have been many “distractions” along the way.    So here we go.

When I write or talk about one’s personal journey, there is a red flag.  It can start to sound like, or be taken as, “Me and Jesus.”  That is, it’s all about me and Jesus and the rest of  humanity is “out there,”  and I am being protected by Jesus from it.   Not so.   The personal knowing of Christ leads right to Jesus’ telling us to do what the apostles did…go, and make believers of others.    To me, this journey of faith in this life leads to living the life that Christ led…including the suffering.   My journey goes no where unless I follow this command.  By my ordination, I am a servant.   Coming back to this blog is just one of the ways I am called to serve.

Bread of Life

 John 6:35,37. “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst....Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and I will not reject anyone who comes to me.”

You and I are among the ones who come to the Son because of the Father.  If we so choose. And to be in the Father and the Son means to live as they show us.   We’re not trying to prove anything to anyone, we are simply alive in love.  

A Good Day to Die?

 This morning, I read a twitter post by a lady who’s husband just died at age 38.  My heart and prayers go out to her.  These are the losses that are so difficult!  She noted that 38 is not an age to die.  Well, neither are 16 and 19, the ages of my children when they died.  Both the person who tweeted and me are Catholic, and we believe in eternal life.  Therefore, are we selfish because a spouse, child, close friend, loved one in our life dies suddenly?  Not at all.  When my daughters died, a lady told me not to worry or be upset because they were with God.  Well, I said, that’s the point of my grief....they’re with God, but they aren’t with us.   We don’t deny them that gift, heck, we longed for them and tried to prepare them to receive that gift!  The hard part is that we have to continue the journey without them present.  It’s not an easy journey,

As I wrote above, my heart...and prayers...go to the lady who tweeted, and to all who have recently lost loved ones.  Every morning I pray for those who will die today, and for those they love. That really could be any one of us.  

The Eyes of Mercy

 In the Gospel of this day,  we have the story of the temple leaders who brought the prostitute before Christ, seeking her condemnation.   He silently waits for them to settle down after their citing the charges against the woman, and then challenges that the ones “without sin cast the first stone.”   The air is deflated from their balloon.  One by one they quietly slip away.  Jesus is alone with the woman, and forgives her.

Jesus looked at the leaders, and the woman, through eyes of mercy, not condemnation.  If we claim in any way to be followers of Christ, we also need to be looking at life through a Christ-like lens...through the eyes of mercy.  Scapegoating brings emotional short term pleasure and self-righteousness.  Mercy brings forgiveness and love.   This became the focus of my meditation today.  Am I, a servant of Christ, looking at the world through the eyes of mercy