Friday, May 29, 2015

"We Have Received... A Spirit of Adoption"

Photo by tom casey

“We Have Received…A Spirit of Adoption” 

The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, Year B


Several years ago I traveled to Jamaica with a group of deacons and their wives on an immersion trip sponsored by the Maryknoll Fathers.  We went to experience what it was like to, “Put out into (the) deep water...” just as Jesus once asked of Peter (LK 5:4). Early one morning we ventured out leaving behind the relative comfort of the Big Apple Hotel where we were staying. We traveled by van to the Blessed Assurance community somewhere in the mountains to the east of Montego Bay. It was about an hour’s journey but it was a difficult one, for, as you may imagine, mountain roads in a third world country make the journey much longer and more arduous. Upon arriving at Blessed Assurance, a Mustard Seed Community, we were welcomed by the staff responsible for full time care of the 35 children and young adults who were fortunate enough to have found their way to this oasis in the middle of a tropical forest.

The staff was a pious community of Protestants and Catholics working together, shoulder-to-shoulder to care for these children who were abandoned by their parents and most likely would have died. They have serious medical conditions and are completely incapable of any self-care. Yet, here in society’s abandoned ones we found great joy in a community of faith working to do God’s work of bringing the good news to the poor, the outcast, those on the margins of society. Here we found utterances of great joy, like the groaning of the Holy Spirit that gives voice to presence of God within us, within each of us, regardless of physical appearance or mental ability.

This trip has left me with a profound experience, one that I hope I will never forget. I hope that I never cease to be amazed at where and in whom God’s presence is found. These innocent children, the holy innocent of today, are praying for us, I know. They are praying that our hearts will be opened to receive the fullness of God’s love. They are praying that we put aside our pretenses of power, privilege and prestige and live as Children of God, adopted children, like them, who, although they appear to be outcasts in the eyes of the world, they are already living in the kingdom Jesus proclaimed and opened the doors for us to enter.  

These are challenging times but they are hopeful times too. The poor, the anawim, those whose only hope is in the Lord remind us that we have all received a “Spirit of Adoption” and are bound together in the unfathomable love of God to share in the divine essence of Father, Son, and Spirit.

I am thankful for the opportunity to have shared some precious moments with these children and for their teaching me that the “Spirit of Adoption” they have received is more than mere words, but a relationship to be lived, shared, and experienced each with each other and with God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  

Enjoy the day!
Deacon Tom 

Thursday, May 21, 2015

From the Very Beginning



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 Deacon Tom writes ©
From the Very Beginning


Christ’s gift of the Holy Spirit to his disciples on today’s Feast of Pentecost completes Christ’s Pascal Mystery. The Trinity is completely revealed as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We celebrate the dawning of a new era as the Church is born and receives the Holy Spirit as its guide and source of wisdom in order to lead and watch over the people of God until Christ comes again.

The Holy Spirit's mission within the church began on that first Pentecost, but it is not as if the Spirit of God has been sitting on the sidelines with nothing to do up until then. Since the  very beginning of time the Holy Spirit has been busy at work in our world. Here are some of the accomplishments of the Holy Spirit:

In the opening words of the Book of Genesis, 1:2 we find a “Mighty Wind, that is the Holy Spirit, sweeping over the formless wasteland, bringing order out of chaos, generating the creative process that formed the universe and filled our world with life.

In Genesis 1:26 the Spirit gives life to the dust from which we are all made and shares his very divine image with us as is written, “ Let us make man in our image and likeness”.

In the Book of Wisdom the Holy Spirit is personified as wisdom itself. In Wisdom 9:9 we read, “ Now with you is Wisdom, who knows your works and was present when you made the world; Who understands what is pleasing in your eyes and what is conformable with your commands”. Verse 11 continues… “For she (Wisdom) knows and understands all things, and will guide me discreetly in my affairs and safeguard me by her glory”.

The Holy Spirit is the Wisdom of God that is evident in all creation. We know from all of our teachings that God is faithful to his promises, and he has promised to send his Spirit to all who ask him to do so. And so, we wait for the Holy Spirit to continue the work Jesus told us the Spirit of God would do when he arrives...  "But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth. He will not speak on his own, but he will speak what he hears, and will declare to you the things that are coming" (John 16:13).  And so, on this Pentecost, at this time when people around our world are in such dire straits and in such need of God's Truth, it is fitting to raise our minds and hearts and voices to invite the Holy Spirit into our lives to guide and protect us and to give us, and those who rule over us, the Wisdom of God by praying:

Come Holy Spirit
Fill the Hearts of your faithful
And kindle in them the fire of your love.

Send forth your Spirit
And we shall be created
And you shall renew the face of the earth.

Enjoy the day!
Deacon Tom 

Saturday, May 16, 2015

Go, Make Disciples (AscensionThursday) / Sharing In Christ's Joy ( Seventh Sunday of Easter)


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 Deacon Tom writes ©
Go, Make Disciples


It’s hard to believe that three months ago we were just getting ready for the beginning of Lent. Now, as the Easter season draws to a close, this may be a good time to reflect on where our spiritual journey has taken us.
        
Were we able to hear God’s voice in the midst of our Lenten journey through the desert? Or gain a new insight about God’s incredible love for us during this Easter Season; perhaps we have a better sense of what he is calling us to do. How successful were we in changing some of those habits and behaviors we needed to change about ourselves - our judging and criticizing others, our negative thinking, our inertia for self- reflection and sense of superiority, and our gossip…

Three months is not a long time when you think about it, especially if we are trying to measure such things as spiritual growth…. It just not a lot of time.

I suspect that three years isn’t a lot of time either, to make a lot of progress in the spiritual realm. And yet, that’s, at most, all the time that the apostles’ had to grasp his new way of thinking and new commandments of loving, forgiving, and serving one another… friend and enemy alike. They really were, when you think about it, on the fast track. Once Jesus was gone, that was it. It was all up to them to spread the word throughout the world.

Imagine if you were the one who Jesus told to, “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature”. What would you do? How would you begin?

Well, guess what?  You and I, yes, we are the ones Jesus is telling to go into the world and proclaim the Good News.  
In his Apostolic Exhortation on Evangelization in the Modern World[1], (or as they say in Rome, Evangelii Nuntiandi- December 8, 1975 – the feast of the Immaculate Conception), 
Pope Paul VI wrote:

“Those who sincerely accept the Good News, through the power of this acceptance and of shared faith therefore gather together in Jesus' name in order to seek together the kingdom, build it up and live it. They make up a community which is in its turn evangelizing. The command to the Twelve to go out and proclaim the Good News is also valid for all Christians, though in a different way…. Moreover, the Good News of the kingdom which is coming and which has begun is meant for all people of all times. Those who have received the Good News and who have been gathered by it into the community of salvation can and must communicate and spread it”.

My brothers and sisters, there is a saying that goes, “Faith isn’t taught, it’s caught”. Jesus’ work of salvation has been accomplished. What remains is our participation in that work that calls us to spread the Good News, to be living witnesses of the faith that we profess, to do as St. Francis was fond of telling his followers….to go out and preach the gospel, and when necessary, use words.


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Deacon Tom writes ©
Sharing In Christ’s Joy


We read in today’s gospel that Jesus wants to share his joy with us “Completely”. The joy that he wants to share with us has its source in the words the Father gave him. But living those words, Jesus tells us, puts us at odds with the world, “I gave them your word, and the world hated them, because they do not belong to the world”.  Jesus leaves little doubt about where our loyalties lie. 

It is natural for us to want to have as much joy in this life as we can get. How we find that “joy” is the essence of our spiritual journey. How often we confuse happiness with joy! Happiness depends upon our circumstances and the events that happen to us. I am happy when something good happens to me such as making a new friend, winning the lottery or getting that new car or job, just as I may be sad when I have a reversal of good fortune. Happiness doesn’t last. We always need something else each tomorrow to renew our happiness. If we don’t find something new to enthrall us, we very often end up down in the dumps. Here in America it seems that happiness is available for a price. At least that’s what Madison Avenue would have us believe. Isn’t that the message that advertisers are selling…You will be happy if you drive this kind of car, or if you wear this suit or go on this vacation…if you buy this or that?

Joy is something else completely. It is an interior state of being. Being joyful has nothing to do with my circumstances or what is happening in my life. Joy has REAL staying power. As a matter of fact, one can be full of joy while experiencing extreme hardships in life. The Perfect Joy of St. Francis was in serving God completely by renouncing all but the necessities of life. Most of us wouldn’t find the joy in that! I have encounter people with true joy in soup kitchens, lying in a hospice bed, mourning the loss of a loved one…The Anawim, God’s lowly, disenfranchised, poor, humble people seem to have found the secret to the perfect joy Christ intends for his disciples.

Today we are invited to share Christ’s joy completely by listening to the “Word” and letting it take root in our hearts, elevating our love and service to one another. Let us grow deeper in our relationship with Christ so we can choose to live in that complete joy that only he can give and which lasts forever over the happiness of the world that never satisfies and always leaves us wanting for more.

Enjoy the day!
Deacon Tom 



[1] Evangelii Nuntiandi, 13

Friday, May 8, 2015

Remain in My Love



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Deacon Tom writes ©
Remain in My Love 


Being chosen for a special assignment can do wonders for our self-image. In today’s gospel we hear Christ tell us that “...I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain.” God’s way of doing things is a little different than the way things work in this world. Take Major League football or baseball draft choices. All the teams are vying for the best players to augment their teams. They need to have backup players who can step in and fill the position when a player gets injured or is having a bad game. That’s good strategy and essential for major league sports. It’s just not the way that God does things.

You see, in God’s plan every one of us had a role to play, specific work that is unique to us, something that only we can do. If we don’t do the work we are appointed, it doesn’t get done. So, people go hungry, remain lonely and isolated, life if fear and hopelessness, the good news doesn’t get spread…  Only we can give voice to how God is working in our life.  God has made us so unique that he doesn’t have a backup player ready to take our place to carry out the life-long work he has assigned specifically to us to accomplish.     

Understanding that we all have a role to play in bringing about God’s plan helps us to realize just how much God loves us and lets us see that he is there every step of the way to help us succeed. We are in every sense of the word God’s “friends” because he shares his plans with us and gives us the resources we need to accomplish the mission he calls us to do. The secret to success is “to remain in my love” he reminds us today.

The Feast of Easter which lasts from Easter Sunday to Pentecost, a period of fifty days or seven weeks, is a time to renew our hearts and minds and fine tune our lives so that we can experience that “complete joy” that only God can give to us. The joy that comes from God is a joy that is also unique to us and to our circumstances, tailor made for us, just as the mission that comes from God is strictly ours. May these last couple of weeks of Easter help us to know what God is asking of us and may we experience the joy that comes with being chosen by him to be his “First round draft pick”.

Happy Easter!!
Alleluia!!
Deacon Tom

Saturday, May 2, 2015

Fruit of the Vine


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Deacon Tom writes ©
Fruit of the Vine


In the gospel we hear the story of the “Vine and the Branches” that, not surprisingly, contains a message quite suited for us today. That message is this: if we live our lives trying to discern God’s Will for us and see ourselves connected with and dependent upon one another, a life of simple abundance awaits us. Not an abundance of the material “stuff” this age of consumerism has spawned upon us, but rather, an abundance of those things that matter most for our overall “well-being”, both spiritual and emotional.

We begin our journey to pursue the rich abundance the gospel speaks of in earnest when we realize that it is lacking in our lives. Simple abundance is a matter of choosing to live well-balanced lives that contribute and enhance the “well-being” of others.  It is what Jesus taught his disciples to do when he said they must put others first and be the servants of all. This is the hardest challenge Christians face and, make no mistake about it, it is in actuality a… “dying to self”. 

For most of us this doesn’t describe the current state of our spiritual journey. John’s gospel today reminds us that God calls us to “bear much fruit”, but we settle for so much less. Think about it!!!  Would our God, who through Christ promised to raise us from the dead and share eternal life with us not also want us to experience some simple joy and happiness during this life that has more than its share of sadness and sorrows?  I am sure that God wants us to have these good things and more, but we often settle for the glitter and trinkets, far lesser “stuff”.

God has truly set a banquet before us. It starts in this life and comes to completion, perfection in the next. We know that we can do nothing without him, nor should we want to. For God desires to be a part of our life’s journey so he can fill us with his joy and peace, fruits that matter.   And, he waits for us until that day comes when he, the harvest master, gathers to himself the rich harvest of the fruit of our lives.

I know that to be true for my sister Kathleen, who passed away this Thursday, the eve of the Feast day of St. Joseph. The fruit of her life has now all been harvested. For all the good she has done in bringing comfort, healing, and peace to so many others during her life, she has made this world a better place. We will struggle to go on without her. Well done, good and faithful servant…!

Enjoy the day!
Deacon Tom