Saturday, January 31, 2015

This Little Light of Mine


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Deacon Tom writes ©

This Little Light of Mine


Casting out the demons from the man in the Synagogue in Capernaum is how Mark recounts the early days of Jesus’ ministry. The people who witnessed this event took it as a sign of Jesus’ authority. Today our world is still plagued by demons that seem to have adapted well to our circumstances. And they are just as real and destructive and pathetic today as they were in Jesus’ time. We know them by the fruit of their works: hunger, poverty, war, ignorance, etc. and they continue to raise havoc with many of our brothers and sisters, keeping them wrapped up in fear and seizing them with a perpetual sense of hopelessness.

How are we who claim to be disciples of Jesus respond to the evils we witness either on our media or in personal experiences? Or asked differently, how do practice our faith in a positive manner? Are we minimalists, adhering to the practice of attending Mass once on week on Sunday?  Or, do we go above and beyond the minimum by engaging in the corporal works of mercy – you remember them, don’t you? … feeding the hungry; giving drink to the thirsty; clothing the naked; sheltering the homeless; visiting the sick; ransoming the captive, burying the dead on the corporal side. Or, perhaps you prefer helping others on their spiritual journey by teaching them, counseling them through their doubts; w warning them they have wondered of the straight and narrow; bearing wrongs patiently; forgiving offenses willingly; comforting the afflicted; praying for the living and the dead.  St. Thomas Aquinas regarded the works of mercy as various forms of almsgiving. Furthermore, he considered these works to be a duty, an obligation we owe to one another predicated on the golden rule to do to others, as we would have them due to us.

There are many ways in which followers of Jesus can respond in a positive way to the evils we see and experience in our daily life. What is important is that we do something to respond to the many faces of evil in our world. Doing nothing is not an option! We know the scriptures. We know what Jesus asks of us. AND, we know the consequences of choosing to turn our heads. We find them spelled out clearly in Matthew 25:41:"Then he shall say to them also that shall be on his left hand: Depart from me, you cursed, in everlasting fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry, and you gave me not to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me not to drink. I was a stranger, and you took me not in; naked, and you covered me not; sick and in prison, and you did not visit me", etc.

It is easy to be overwhelmed with all the evil that we see each day. It is easy to think that there is nothing we can do to change it… that the problem is too big and we don’t have the means to stop it. That way of thinking is the work of the devil. Apathy, indifference, inactivity, feelings of hopelessness, inadequacy, or that we are too old, or too young and the like on our part tips the scales even more in favor of the evil one. There is a saying that we should call to mind should such thinking enter our minds… “It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.” As friends of Jesus nothing could be more truthful. Christ is the light of the world who came to chase away the darkness, the chaos, the evil in the world. By his life and his ministry he set the example that we are to be lights too, to cast away the darkness and to resist the evils in our world, little by little, each and every day.  May we always be faithful in following his example.

Enjoy the day!
Deacon Tom



Friday, January 23, 2015

Time is Running Out


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Deacon Tom Writes ©

“Time is Running Out”



Paul’s message to the Corinthians rings equally true for us today…  Time is running out”. Who ever has enough time?  Ronald Rolheiser, OMI writes in his book, Against an Infinite Horizon, “In the torment of the insufficiency of everything attainable we come to understand that here, in this life, all symphonies remain unfinished”. What a sobering thought that reminds us that we all suffer from a chronic shortage of time. We will never live long enough to accomplish all that we want to do in this life.  This is the theme of the movie, The Bucket List.  Life is short! And life can take a dramatic turn once we realize that our days are numbered and that the clock is always running.  That's why it's so important for us to invest our time wisely while we can!  

Paul’s letter to the Corinthians wasn’t a lesson on time management!  He stresses the importance of using the time we have now wisely in light of a future event that he is quite sure will take place…the end of one era, and the beginning of a new one, when Christ will return in glory. This will be the final age when the things of this world will pass away and God’s kingdom will reign forever. The message St. Paul wants us to understand is that in order to prepare for this day, we need to live differently and act differently; we need to have a Christocentric mindset and view of the world; we need to live our lives as disciples of Jesus and not be in lock-step with the ways of the world. 
 
We look to Jesus to teach us how to be faithful to the gospel while living in this world. According to Mark the journey begins when we answer His call, as did His first disciples. Simon and Andrew, James and John dropped everything when Jesus invited them to “Come after me”. Jesus knew that time was critical and there was much work to be done. Nothing has changed!  There is still much work to be done and the clock is running as we wait for the kingdom of God to break forth on earth. A time when all Christ’s promises will come to pass and his followers will not have to worry about  "time running out”.

Enjoy the day… each and every one of them!
Deacon Tom


Sunday, January 18, 2015

What Are We Looking For?


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Deacon Tom writes ©

What Are We Looking For?



Today, through the words of Sacred Scripture, we are witnesses to Jesus’ baptism by John and the beginning of his public ministry. Some of John’s disciples, prompted perhaps by John’s identification of Jesus as the “Lamb of God”, leave John to become followers of Jesus. When Jesus notices them he wastes no time in confronting them about their motives asking, What are you looking for?”  What a great question for us to reflect upon as we continue our faith journey in these new and challenging times.

The disciples did not hesitate in their response. They wanted to know where Jesus was staying. Simple enough isn’t it?  At least on the surface that is. How do we respond to the question raised in the gospel today? What are we looking for? 

I believe we all have the natural tendency to pursue those things that we desire most in life, those things that we believe will give us the greatest amount of happiness and joy. We want the good things this life has to offer… material success and good fortune, a prestigious career, the praise and adulation of others, good families and friends, ad infinitum. But, as we may have experienced so often in the past, once we have what we desire, the happiness that we imagined is seldom realized or, at best, is brief and fleeting. Soon disillusionment follows and we begin the chase all over again!

Does that mean we are never to achieve true happiness in this life? Not at all! In today’s Gospel Jesus, “the teacher”, gives us some practical advice on how to find and maintain a spirit of true AND lasting happiness in this life. He invites us to join him as he begins his public ministry, to “Come and…see” the marvelous things he has in store for those who tag along with him as he preaches the gospel, the Good-News of the dawning of the reign of God. In the Gospels Jesus teaches us that it is by deepening our personal relationship with him that we “Come and see” that only he can satisfy the innermost longings of our hearts. It is only through Christ that we can experience healthy and mutually beneficial relationships have a sense of well being, be satisfied with who we are and what we have and to thus be filled with a joy and a peace that the world cannot give.

As we begin this New Year, may we respond to Our Lord’s invitation to “Come and see” as did Samuel, James and John, Peter and the first disciples so that, like them, we too may discover the truth that, above all else, Jesus is our hearts greatest desire. 


Enjoy the day!
Deacon Tom

Saturday, January 10, 2015

The Word Became Flesh


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Deacon Tom writes ©
The Word became Flesh


Today we celebrate the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord completing our Christmas Season that began on the First Sunday of Advent way back on November 30th. I suspect for many of us these six weeks have passed quickly, hastened, as usual, by our busyness preparing for all the festivities, not to mention all the traveling to visit family and friends. I hope these Advent and Christmas Seasons were joyful and memorable for you and your families. Even more so, I hope you were able to take in some quiet time to experience the mystery of our faith that liturgically comes to completion today… the mystery of the Incarnation, “And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us…” (JN 1:14)

Yes, this simple yet profound message of the Christmas season… “And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us…” is not an easy message to incorporate into our daily lives. How do we who call ourselves “Christian” or who include ourselves as “members of the Body of Christ” reengage the world after celebrating the birth of our infant savior with a renewed level of energy and a deepened commitment to living the gospel message born by our infant savior?  The answer, I believe, comes from this notion that our Savior came down from heaven to “dwell among us”. Once we grasp this profound reality, we begin to realize that for Christians there can be no “packing away” our faith along with the Advent Wreath and the Christmas ornaments until next year. No! We don’t just celebrate our Savior’s birth and baptism then just pick up where we left off with business as usual, forgetting our uniquely Catholic-Christian identity.   Like Jesus, we too are called and we are sent… as his disciples, to make a difference in the world…for the better…to make his presence and his teachings known to all around us…by living them!  Yes, it is one thing to sing “O Come All Ye Faithful” at Midnight Mass. It is quite another to be faithful to the teachings of Christ…and the example he set, of forgiveness, compassion, tolerance, patience, and unconditional love for all, even his enemies, even those who put him to death.

We begin 2015 with a deep sense of hope; hope that we will all choose peace over violence; hope that we will choose reconciliation instead of retaliation; hope that we will choose love over hatred.  We hope to turn our backs to evil in all of its degrading forms.  We hope that by living in the way Jesus lived, we can transform this world into the kingdom ushered in by his birth.  If we have truly come to believe that, “the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us…” all that we do will reflect the Christ Child’s abiding love and presence within us as we work together building the kingdom of God on earth.  

May the “Word become Flesh” dwell within your hearts.

Enjoy the day!
Deacon Tom


Saturday, January 3, 2015

God's Wonderful Plan



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Deacon Tom Writes ©
“God’s Wonderful Plan”


As we celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany today we recall God’s immense love for his people and his coming to claims us as his own. The Preface to the Eucharistic Prayer tells us how the Father “revealed the mystery of our salvation in Christ as the light of the nations…” This light dawned on that first Christmas day when Mary gave birth to her Son Jesus, who is both son of God… and Son of Mary.

It was difficult for the Jews of Christ’s time to understand that God willed salvation for everyone; that salvation was not reserved for the children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob alone. True, God revealed himself through the Jewish people, but God intended Christ’s redemptive work to be shared by ALL.

This Feast we enjoy today celebrates the reality that God has not restricted or limited the saving work of Jesus Christ. It is through this revealing Christ to the World that, again, in the words of the Preface, “you made us new by the glory of his (i.e. Christ’s) immortal nature.”  What an encouraging thought in light of the challenges we face today…that we can tap into this newness of life and love that Christ offers each of us.

None of us have the power to change things very much on a global scale. But, each of us can do something to show that we have been renewed by Christ’s love. We can do little things that make a difference in the lives of the people we encounter every day. We can pray for one another; we can visit someone mourning the loss of a loved one. We show that we have been renewed by Christ’s love whenever we visit a sick friend, welcome a stranger, give hope to the despairing, write a card to someone immobilized by old age or illness. We, ourselves, are renewed whenever we are animated as a member of the Body of Christ to be stewards of God’s grace or give witness to God’s transformative power over all things. We are renewed each time we realize God’s wonderful plan is to make all things new, even us.  Yes, our destiny is be remade in the image of Christ… “to put on the new self, created in God's way in righteousness and holiness of truth”(EPH 4:24).

Have a wonder-fill New Year sharing God’s love with everyone you meet!

Deacon Tom