St. Vincent de Paul

Ecclesiastes 11:9- 12:1-8; Psalm 90 In ever age, O Lord, you have been our refuge ; Luke 9:43-45

St. Vincent de Paul once wrote an instruction to his religious community  that impressed on them this reality:

 "When the demands of life seem unfair, when you are exhausted and have to pull yourself out of bed yet another time to do some act of service, do it gladly, without counting the cost without self-pity. for if you persevere in serving others , in giving yourself to the poor, if you persevere to the point of completely spending yourself, perhaps someday the poor will find it in their hearts to forgive you.  For it is more blessed to give than to receive, and it is also a lot easier."

Jesus in the gospel tells his disciples, of which we seek to belong, "Pay attention to what I am telling you.  The son of man is to be handed over to men."

In other words Jesus pulled himself out of bed each morning knowing the service he was called to perform, a service of seeking to give himself away, being spent for the sake of the rest.

It is truly more blessed to give than to receive, because in giving we receive the gift of being conformed to Christ who gives it all away. 

timeless

Ecclesiastes 3:1-11; Psalm 144 Blessed be the Lord my rock; Luke 9:18-22

The book of Ecclesiastes speaks of a time for everything; however, often times we find that because we are so busy we have not time for anything.  

What a paradox our lives have become!

In the midst of all the time we have lived, we are living, and we will live there is a constant. 

As Ecclesiastes reminds us, "God has put the timeless in our hearts, without man's ever discovering, from beginning to end, the work which god has done."

 There is a hole in our heart that can never be filled, a hole that drives us forward in the midst of the experiences that only time can truly tell. 

There is a hole in our heart that no time nor experience can fully fill; there is a timelessness that makes us restlessly driven; a timelessness that beckons at us not only from without but from deep within; God has put eternity in our hearts and we long to catch a glimpse of it so that this hole might finally be filled. 

How do we fill that which is timeless with what we experience in time? How can that which is measured by the sunrise and sunset of our lives attempt to fill what is without measure?

What is the answer to the paradox we all live with every breath we take?

Jesus in the Gospel poses a question that links itself with the question of our lives, the longing of our hearts, the hole that lingers even when we have drunk our fill of experiences in life, "But who do you say that I am?"

The question posed is the question that answers this timeless reality we live. 

"You are the Christ of God," Peter replies. You are the timeless and eternal son of God who enters into time to fill the timeless hole from which our hearts are created from the beginning.

Our hearts are made for eternity and eternity comes to meet our hearts with a heart of his own.  Only in Christ does this restlessness find solace, does this eternity in our hearts meet the quenching flame of eternal love.

Seek the face of Christ and let the timeless hole in your heart lead you to where He is to be found! Embrace the gift of time and seek the face of timelessness  by refusing to forget the One who measures the gift we have been given.

Guilty conscience

Ecclesiastes 1:2-11; Psalm 90 In ever age, O Lord, you have been our refuge

Luke 9:7-9 

What is the conscience?

[The conscience is not an oracle but an organ.  It is part of our essence and it requires growth, training, and practice.  

Man has this organ of internal knowledge about good and evil; but for it to become what it is, it needs the help of others.  It requires formation and education.  

Just like we cannot learn to speak on our own without the help of those who understand language lest we are unable to communicate so we need help in choosing right from wrong. 

If not trained properly our conscience like our language ability  can be stunted, stamped out, falsified,  and distorted.  It can be silenced, which becomes a deadly sickness for ourselves and civilization.  

We should never act on our conscience without embracing the obligation to care for it, form it,and  educate it by exposing it to the truth not of our own making or discovery but the truth that has been revealed and withstands the test of time.

What is in us that contradicts the word of Truth revealed by Christ and taught by the Church must then be rooted out.  We must always seek to better inform our conscience so that we truly become fully human and embrace the gift offered in Christ, the fullness of life and joy that is complete.

Part of forming our conscience is having a guilty conscience.  A guilty conscience is not a bad thing.  Not being able to have a guilt conscience is a sickness; it is like not being able to feel pain.  It can be potentially damaging if not eternally dangerous.  ](Paraphrased  and summarized from On Conscience by Cardinal Ratzinger 

Herod in the gospel today was greatly perplexed.  His conscience was bothering him.  He thought that John the Baptist had risen from dead; this was a concern since it was Herod who ordered his execution. 

He had a guilty conscience.  Of all the things that are said bad about Herod; of all his vices he chose to carry with him through life; the fact he had a guilty conscience means that there was hope for change within him.

And what did he do with such a guilt ridden conscience, he sought to inform it by seeking to see Christ.  He was seeking the truth in the face of Christ. 

Herod was trying to fulfill the obligation to care for, form, and educate his conscience. 

The glimmer of hope shines forth in the power of Christ to speak to even the darkest conscience, to grab the attention of the one who seemed closed and tempt it with light.  

And the gospel tells us Herod "kept trying to see him."

Should we all be so daring in forming our conscience with truth revealed by Christ given to the Church to assist us all in training ourselves to recognize and embrace the truth so that we might become more fully human, more fully alive.

Profanity

Proverbs 30:5-9;Psalm 119 Your word, O Lord, is a lamp for my feet; Luke 9:1-6

The book of Proverbs is filled with tidbits of wisdom that come is spiffy sayings.  They are easy to remember and useful in life. 

Proverbs 3:3-4 "Let not kindness and fidelity leave you; bind them around your neck; then will you win favor and good esteem before God and man."

10:3 "ill-gotten treasure profits nothing, but virtue saves from death."

10:10 "he who winks at a fault causes trouble, but he who frankly reproves promises peace."

And the list goes on and on. 

In today's reading we have another tidbit but it will pass you by lest you slow down. 

"Provide me only with the food I need; lest being full, I deny you, saying "who is the Lord?" Or, being in want, I steal, and profane the name of my God."

What wisdom!

Too much and we have a tendency to neglect the one who gives and too little and we have the tendency to denounce the one who gives.

We should seek neither to be satisfied completely nor hunger detrimentally. 

This certainly stares in the face of modern advice and counsel.  The world tells us to get our fill as quickly and often as possible.  We have done so and God has been profaned. 

Also, the poor have been neglected and remain hungry and in want and because of our unwillingness to assist, God has been profaned. 

In both cases profanity arises.  Profanity is not just what happens when we speak rashly; it happens in and through our actions and omissions. 

Profane comes from the latin which means "outside the temple."

But since we are the temple of the Holy Sprit, everything we do has the potential of giving praise worthy of the sacred or causing profanation unworthy of the temple we all are. 

Pope Benedict reminds us that in order to be people of faith  we must let Jesus take charge of our humanity and thus root our profanity and restore reverence and respect for the sacred that abides in us all.

 

 

The God particle

Proverbs 21:1-6, 10-13; Psalm 119 guide me Lord in the way of your commands; Luke 8: 19-21

The recent stir in the scientific world has found its epicenter beneath the ground along the border of France and Switzerland. 

There 7000 scientist have invested 8 billion dollars in hopes to discover the so called "God particle."

Beneath the ground is built the "The God machine", the LHC particle accelerator.  This machine can thrust hadrons (subatomic particles: neutrons and protons) at  speeds of 99.9999991% of the speed light.  The hopes are that eventually they will collide these particles and  catch a glimpse of the big bang that scientist believe started it all.  

As Stephen Hawkings says, "then we might understand the mind of God."

Wow!  All of this complicated gadgetry and money squandered and time spent in seeking to understand the mind of God. 

Jesus in the gospel gives us a simplified version of understanding the mind of God.   Jesus gives us the "God particle" in a nutshell, "those who hear the word of God and act on it."

How simple and not complex is this reality.  You don't have to travel at the speed of light, you don't have to invest 8 billion dollars, you do not have to gather together 7000 scientist for such a noteworthy endeavor; rather you simply have to hear and heed.

Could it truly be this uncomplicated.  It is St. Thomas who reminds us that man has a reoccurring ability to complicate what God has made simply.

As scientist seek to understand what the world is made of, Jesus reminds us what makes the world turn, "hear the word of God and act on it."

The God particle, that which binds us together and makes us  all one family, brothers and sisters, is simply put uncomplicated obedience to Him who reveals Himself in Christ.  In deed "hear the word of God and act on it" and then the mystery of the universe comes to light and we discover that love alone is credible and love alone binds us all together.

 

 

backbiting...

proverbs 3:27-34; Psalm 15 the just one shall live on your holy mountain, O Lord; Luke 8:16-18

The psalmist gives us the prerequisites of those who shall dwell on the holy mountain. 

Those who: walk blamelessly, think truth in the heart, slanders not with their tongue, harms not his fellow man, and the list goes on. 

Let us look at slander for a moment.  The hebrew word for slander is more like to backbiting, that is one who goes around secretly stirring up negative comments about another seeking to destroy the good name of the other.

St. Gregroy says that one one who is involved in backbiting (gossip) is liken to the one who blows in dust and stirs up dirt in the eyes of his hearers lest they see the truth in the other.

Think! When the dirt is stirred, are we not blinded and unable to see the image and likeness of God in the other.

St. Thomas ranks backbiting in relation to sin just below murder and adultery.  For, he says, backbiting, blackens the good name of the other and the good name of the other is a greater riches than any other riches one might posses. 

be careful not to stir up the dirt so that the muddied water will not detract from the truth of our created reality, "in his image and likeness he made them, male and female."

If we focus our gaze on the truth of who we are and not on our own opinion then the beauty of it all is guarded and shines forth as the drama of our relationships continues to develop and unfold.

a reminder

1 corinthians 15:1-11;Ps 118 Give thanks to the Lord for he is good; Luke 7:36-50

St. Paul begins today's lesson with the words, "I am reminding you."

We are forgetful people.  The one thing we all have in common is that we forget and we forget often.  

Not only do we forget, but we have a tendency to remember all the wrong things in the process of living. 

We hold on to grudges of past hurts and humiliations of past failures but when it comes to moments of grace we pass over them often in silence. 

We have a knack for remembering all the wrong things and forgetting all the good. 

We are forgetful.  

This is why we use little sticky notes with smaller messages posted all over the place.  This is why we invest in planners and electronic devices to not only keeps us organized but to help remind us of what is to be done, where we should be, how we should do it.

We need assistance at every turn, lest we forget.

Today St. Paul leaves us a little sticky note just to jog our memory: 

"I handed on to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with scriptures, that he was buried; that he was raised on the third day accordance with scriptures..."

The gospel takes the message of St. Paul and paints a picture as Jesus forgives the sinful woman..."those who are forgiven much, love much."

Let the world know how much you are forgiven by the love you have to offer.  This way we become the little sticky note, we become the reminder for all to see.