thursdays with John Vianney

"This is what purifies the eye of the heart, and enables it to raise itself to true light: contempt of worldly cares, mortification of the body, contrition of heart, abundance of tears...meditation on the admirable essence of God and on his chaste truth, fervent and pure prayer, joy in God, ardent desire for Heaven.  Embrace all this and continue in it.  advance toward the light which offers itself to you as to its sons, and descends of itself into your hearts.  Take your hearts out of your chests, and give them to Him who speaks to you, and He will fill them with deific splendor, and you  will be sons and daughters of light and angels of God."

John Vianney

what we put into our hearts and minds and lives will show itself in the manner of our life.  What we choose to devote our life to, will be written all over our face, illustrated by our lives, seen in the works of our hands and words of our lips.  We are, as St. Paul says, a letter written in recommendation.   By our life choices, people read in our life either the noise of the world or the solemnity and joy of eternity.  John Vianney simply seeks to edit our life with his words so that in the end the edition that stands before God is that which most perfectly reads as a love story between the human soul and God Himself.  What remains in every page written in our blood and flesh and desire and will is a simple "yes" to God.

no ordinary errand

Genesis 41:55-57; 42:5-7, 17-24; Psalm 33 Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you; Matthew 10:1-7

In today's gospel, Jesus gathers the twelve apostles and sends them on mission.  Now, this isn't some ordinary errand he has them perform.  This isn't a trial run.  It is a full blown mission. 

He gives them AUTHORITY over unclean spirits to drive out demons and cure every disease and illness.  He gave them a mission to proclaim that 'The Kingdom of God is at hand.'

No, this is no ordinary errand, or chore, or trial.  This is the real deal. 

Pope Benedict exhorts us to remember that Jesus gathers twelve to show he is different.  A rabbi was known to have, as was customary,  at least five disciples as a sign of his authority and status.  

Jesus chooses twelve so that he could be identified as set apart, different.  He wasn't just like all the rest.  He was starting something new.  It is this newness that travels with the apostles.  Through the apostles, as they live and embrace their mission, their new life, Christ himself reaches through them and touches those they encounter as they are called to faith.

In bearing their faith in Jesus, the apostles allow Jesus to vicariously make himself known through them, thus they can with certainty make the proclamation, 'The Kingdom of God is at hand,' because the person of Jesus, who sends them and walks with them, is the kingdom itself. 

The proclamation of the kingdom requires a personal faith and responsibility.  Thus, the twelve called are not anonymous but they are named, they are real, they each have a face, their personality bears witness to the reality of their encounter with Jesus.   Their face to face encounter with Christ gives their mission credibility.  This personal witness gives credibility to this new reality, the kingdom that is no longer far away but very near for it lives in the heart of the one who professes faith, in the heart of the one who has seen him face to face and is known by name.

In that heart filled with faith, that personal encounter with Jesus, the kingdom is made manifest.  

In our personal faith, following with the apostolic tradition, walking in the footsteps of the named apostles, we too become bearers of the kingdom of God that dwells in our hearts, reaches through us, and touches those around us. 

This is how the kingdom grows. 

Bethel and Peniel

Yesterday we read of Jacob's encounter with God in a dream.  After the encounter he was pumped, beaming with enthusiasm so much so that he exclaims, "How awesome is this shrine.  This is nothing else but the abode of God and gateway to heaven."

Jacob was in his youthful prime, searching for a bride and just filled with love for life.

Today we read of Jacob having another encounter with God.  This time, he is alone.  This experience is a bit different.  For 7 years he had worked for Laban.  In those seven years he has acquired to wives and two concubines and 11 children, 10 boys and one girl.  He has been busy.  He is exhausted and tired.  He is also filled with fear over his brother Esau who is headed his way.

Jacob leaves his family and possession on one side of the ford and spends the night alone.  In this solitude he encounters God.  But this encounter is different, though it is the same God.  There is no vision of a stairway to heaven like the first.  This encounter is a wrestling match.  Jacob wrestles with God, and it is such a tussle that his hip socket is wrenched. 

What encounter with God!

The story of Jacob points us to the reality that God will come to us in many ways, not just in  great emotion or good feeling, but in all different circumstances.  He will seek us and speak to us in a manner that we need, not as we want. 

Sometimes we will shout with joy, "how awesome is this place"  and think we have found Bethel and sometimes we will be left scratching our heads or even limping, left exclaiming, "Because I have seen God face to face and yet my life has been spared" and know we have found Peniel.  

Both Bethel and Peniel reveal the face of God to us and this is the true spiritual journey. 

Champion of chastity

Genesis 28:10-22; Psalm 91 In you, my God, I place my trust; Matthew 9:18-26 

To we celebrate the memorial of Maria Goretti.  She was born in 1890 and was killed in 1902. 

A young vibrant girl who sought to live a life of love for God and others.  With her family, she moved from her birth town to Rome and then to a farm outside of Rome, where her family was basically tenant farmers. 

Her father became ill with menigitis and malaria and thus they needed to partner up with another family in harvesting the crop.   This father and son tandem  would eventually lead to the death of Maria Goretti. 

The young man, Alessandro Serenelli who was brought on to assist the Goretti family began to take interest in Maria.  He burned with lust and desired to sexually assault her. 

on 1902, his lust and rage overcame him, and he dragged Maria at age 11 to a room and forced himself upon her, he being 18 at the time.  With a knife in one hand, holding her down with the other, he threatened to kill her if she did not give in to sex.  Maria refused to give in for the sake of her chastity, for the sake of her soul and his soul as well. 

In a fit of rage, Alessandro began to attack her with the blade, stabbing her 14 times and leaving her for dead.  

Maria was discovered and taken to the hospital where she lingered suffering for hours.  Mortally wounded, the priest was sent for to give her Viaticum.  Upon arriving the priest asked Maria if she forgave her attacker, she responded, "I, too, pardon him. I, too, wish that he come some day and join me in Heaven."  

The story is tragic on several levels.

Because of poverty and illness the family was forced in a compromising situation where strangers were invited into their family.  

Secondly, while Maria grew up in a devout and faith filled family, Alessandro, the attacker, was not.  Hi mother was put in an asylum and his father abandoned him at the age of 12.  Alone, he was passed around from relative to relative, ending up working in the shipyards, where he was introduced to violent and lewd materials and posters.  

When he met back up with his father some 6 years later, he was well immersed in graphic and pornographic material.  slowly, he began to burn with lust and rage. 

This is what fueled his attack on Maria. 

In reminds us of the importance of good parents to form their children.  It warns us of the damage and destruction that  lewd and violent material has on one's development.  

If you look at today, with the constant flood of sexual graphic movies and books and the like, it is easy to see why we are in the state we are with a moral decline and no respect for sexual purity. 

Eventually, however, Alessandro does have a conversion.  In prison he has a vision of Maria Goretti which begins is conversion.  

In his cell, Nov 10, 1910 he writes on the floor, "I am deeply sorry for what has happened.  I have taken the life of an innocent girl whose one aim was to save her purity, shedding her blood rather than give in to my sinful desires.  I publicly retract the evil I have done  and beg pardon of God and of the stricken family.  One hope encourages me-that I may also one day obtain God's pardon and so may others." 

After his release he sought out Maria's mother and asked for forgiveness.  She responded simply with, "If Maria could forgive you, then so can I."  She led Him to the church where he confessed his sins before the church of Maria's hometown.  He was present at the Beatification of Maria Goretti then he entered a monastery where he spent the remainder of his life as a gardener. 

On his death bed, his last words were,"I am going again to be with Maria in paradise."

The story is a story of grace.  It is a story of how God does not give up, his grace always seeks to bring souls back to him.  Even in tragedy, grace can be found, grace is effective, love is stronger than death.

words of Pope Pius XII at canonization of St.Maria Goretti

"Finally, all of you are intently listening to Our words, know that above the unhealthy marshes and filth of the world, stretches an immense heaven of beauty.  It is the heaven which fascinated little Maria; the heaven to which she longed to ascend by the only road that leads there, which is, religion, the love of Christ, and the heroic observance of His commandments."

St. Maria Goretti, youthful martyr, patroness of purity, champion of chastity, pray for us now and forever until we shall be reunited in paradise.   

Dependence Day

Ezekiel  2:2-5; Psalm 123 Our Eyes are fixed on the Lord, pleading for mercy; 2 corinthians 12:7-10; Mark 6:1-6

In the first reading, we encounter the call of the prophet Ezekiel.  

God says to Ezekiel, "whether they heed or resist- they are a rebellious house-they shall know that a prophet has been among them."

They shall know that a prophet is among them.

Each of us is baptized a priest, prophet, and king, which means we no longer live just for ourselves.  Everything we do has bearing on all of us.  We are sent in to the world like the prophet ezekiel to bear witness to the truth and justice of God.  

We do this by the words we speak but also by the life we life.  We are either a true prophet or a false prophet.  Which are we?

In our life do we reveal the face of God or do we reveal our own face? Do we rebuke the nations or do we go along with them and the latest trend?  Do we invite them to renew the promise of the covenant or do we write our own terms?  Do we help restore lasting hope or are we satisfied with temporary hoax?

Do we embrace the teaching of the church or do we pick and choose?  A true prophet stands firm on all not just some of the truth.

In the second reading St. Paul speaks of the thorn in the flesh.  Three times he begged the Lord to take it from him, but God chose for it to remain.  Sometimes, God's answer is no. 

How often have we asked God to remove things in our life that are difficult.  Time and time again we sought it gone, only to have it remain.  We thought God wasn't listening because he failed to heed our request.   Yet, we fail to realize that God is not at our beck and call. We don't carry him around in our back pocket to do as we please

We are at his.  Did we ever stop to think that perhaps, his prompt answer was let it be and stay the course. We discover that God wants us to enter deeper into our weakness, enter deeper into humility.

Here we learn true strength.  

In our weakness we learn compassion, we learn mercy, and we learn dependence. 

When we keep one eye on our own weakness, we have a tendency to no longer judge the other by their weakness but rather our hands reach out to support.  We discover that we can relate, thus compassion builds communities of love.

In our weakness God keeps us on our knees and keeps us looking up, here we truly can begin to serve and grow in holiness.  

In the gospel, Jesus comes home.  There is a homecoming.  Jesus is back at his old stomping grounds.  And the people recognize him. They know his trade, "he is a carpenter"; they know his mother, "son of Mary" and they know his kinfolk.  They know everything about him, yet they don't know him. 

They ate the same food, shopped at the same market, worshiped in the same synagogue, talked with the same accent, and probably hung out at the same places growing up.  Yet all this familiarity caused contempt not rejoicing.

What was to be a home coming turned into a gossip party, "who does he think he is."

They were so close yet they missed the Messiah right beside them because he looked too much like one them.   But this is the good news.

God comes as one of us so that we might finally recognize ourselves as ones loved by God.  

The people failed to recognize the holiness of Jesus because they had not accepted their own call to holiness.  They couldn't honor Jesus' relationship with God because they never fully explored their own relationship with God. 

How often we see people that look like us and we put on airs, put up walls, or make judgments.  Yet if we raise our expectations, carefully peel back our eyelids, we might catch a glimpse of God, in us and in them. 

Until this happens miracles will be scarce as rain.  

We can amaze God with our lack of faith or we let him marvel at our faithfulness, embracing the face of God in those around us. 

devoted

Genesis 22:1-19; Psalm 115 I will walk in the presence of the Lord; Matthew 9:1-8

"I know now how devoted you are to God..."

This is the response of the angel of the Lord to Abraham in his willingness to do what the Lord commanded, "I know how devoted you are to God..."

As we think about that response and look in our own lives, what do we do that exhibits our devotion to the Lord.

Often times we think about what God is doing or what  we want God to do in our life, but what do we do...

John F Kennedy once posed this statement to the country, "Ask not what your country can to do for you but ask what you can do for your country," and in a similar manner God speaks to us, "ask not what God can do for us but ask what we can do for God."

What in our life reveals our devotion to the good God?

On thursday I plan on reflecting on the life of St. John Vianney for the Year of the Priest. 

Something that John Vianney grew up with was devotions to the Lord.  His family lived their life devout and seeking to please the lord. 

They would pray together every night.  They would bless their meals before they ate.  His mother, was in the habit of praying every time the clock struck a new hour; she would bless the hour with a simple sign of the cross and one "Hail, Mary."  This habit was picked up by the young John Vianney and he would carry it out the rest of his life.

His family was also very active in assisting the poor.  This also was something John Vianney would take upon himself.

It was the habit of devotion seen in his parents, especially his mother, that encouraged John Vianney on the path of holiness in responding to God's call in his life. 

We should never under estimate the power of small acts of devotion.  In them God sees how devoted we are to him and our hearts and our wills slowly become conformed to His. 

In our acts of devotion, we learn to be true to the one who is true to us.

Words to remember

"When the heart is pure, it cannot help loving, because it has found the source of love, which is God himself." John Vianney 

I would walk 500 miles

Genesis 21:5,8-20; Psalm 34 The Lord hears the cry of the poor; Matthew 8:28-34

Today we celebrate the memorial of Blessed Junipero Serra.  At the age of 56, he was sent to settle what is known today as the state of california.  Considered by most to be the pioneer of california, Blessed Junipero Serra, logged more than 24, 000 miles by foot, on horse and mule and over the seas to spread the message of truth. 

When he arrived in California, he was both an asthmatic and he suffered from a chronic foot sore that would remain with him until he died.  Yet, he worked tirelessly.   

Pope John Paul II reminds us that "difficulties and sorrows, if accepted out of love, are transformed into a privileged way of holiness, which opens onto the horizons of a greater good, known only to the Lord."

Today, 60 percent of the population of California live along or within the missions that Blessed Junipero Serra established.  

In 71 years from 1713-1784 he lived a life seeking to embrace the missionary task placed before him by his superiors and placed within him by Christ.

In his homily for his beatification in 1988, John Paul II, stated that Blessed Junipero Serra, was "a shinning example of Christian virtue and the missionary spirit...his great goal was to bring the Gospel to the Native people of America, so that they might be consecrated in the truth...he sought to further their authentic human development on the basis of their newfound faith as persons created and redeemed by God." 

Most of us will not be asked to go to foreign lands to proclaim the gospel, but every time we step a foot forward we are missionaries in our own right.  Whether, we are at home or at work or any where around time, the opportunity arises to proclaim the message.

May we follow in Blessed Junipero Serra's footsteps and log countless miles seeking to bear forth the message of faith, "created and redeemed by God" and thus futher the human development.