A Spirit of Humility

Deacon Tom Writes,

“A Spirit Of Humility”

Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

The Sacred Writer of the Book of Sirach tells us that practicing the virtue of humility draws us closer to God. Why is that? We learn from the Catechism of the Catholic Church that humility is the foundation of prayer, and prayer places our hearts and minds in the presence of God. Indeed, God becomes our companion on the journey of life when we develop a sincere prayer life. In the quiet solitude of prayer we come to know God, grow in love for the divine indwelling, and come to realize that we are intimately and eternally one with God.

What a good place to be – in the presence of God, and to find his favor. In prayer we seek God’s guidance and seek the spiritual courage to follow the movement of the spirit within us to bring God’s love, mercy, and compassion to everyone we meet in the course of the day. In order to make room for God in our lives, though, we have to give up something very near and dear to us, we have to give up some of our own free will, a bit of our egos and our self absorbed way of thinking and behaving. 

To fill that void we create in letting go of our “false self’ as Thomas Merton calls it, God endows us with the divine Spirit of Humility to complete us. The Spirit of Humility gives us the desire to serve God rather than our own selfish interests. If we do not stifle this Spirit of Humility, it will guide us to serve God in just the way that God desires to be served.

Jesus tries to explain the Spirit of Humility in today’s gospel. See, left to ourselves our pride or egos will seek self gratification at every opportunity. We will take the best seat in the house, the bowl with the most ice cream in it (chocolate, double fudge, please…); we will want to reserve the cream of the crop for ourselves. In the example Jesus shares with us today, he tells us that our mindset needs adjusting. We need to rearrange our thinking to allow others to go first, to let someone else have the place of privilege, to let the weak and lame share in the glories of life. These actions do not come naturally to us. We have to learn to learn them by practicing virtuous living.

Furthermore, we can’t overcome our selfish tendencies by ourselves, If we desire to grow in virtue and become more spiritually mature, we need help from above. If we truly ask for God’s help, Jesus will place within our hearts the divine Spirit of Humility that will enable us to follow in his footsteps by loving and serving others as he did and living a virtuous life.

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom

Image by: bowlishgallery.co.uk

On The Outside Looking In

Deacon Tom Writes,

“On the Outside Looking In”

Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

Today we find the Lord busy gathering people from all the nations, bringing them from east and west, north and south to recline at his table. All are invited to the feast. All are welcomed to the celebration; no reservations are required! Jesus, however, indicates that we have to do a little more than show up ready to eat. We need to acknowledge the invitation we receive to participate in God’s kingdom by sending back the R.S.V.P. Yes, it seems that we have to act on our desire to participate in this wonderful banquet the Lord has prepared for us by living good and wholesome lives.

It is so easy to say to ourselves that God loves us “Unconditionally” and then go on living lives unworthy of that love. Today’s gospel gives us cause to rethink this behavior. Jesus makes it clear that following him is difficult, therefore, the reference to the “narrow gate”. Those who are not “strong enough” to walk the narrow path, that is, those who live morally shallow or self-absorbed lives, find themselves “on the outside looking in” when it’s time to enjoy this great celebration the Master has prepared.

We all make choices in life, and all of the choices we make have consequences. We are so blessed to have the freedom to engage in virtually unlimited activity and to do pretty much as we please. With such great freedom, we run the risk of making the wrong choices and there can be dire consequences. Making bad choices that complicate our lives and create problems for ourselves and those we is tragic enough. What about the choices we make that threaten our eternal life? The image Jesus presents today drives home that point effectively.

We don’t want to miss out on eternal life, as hard as that is for us to imagine living, as we do, in a physical, material world. But we do know that St. Paul tries to describe it for us when he says, “What eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and what has not entered the human heart, what God has prepared for those who love him."     (1 Cor. 2:9)

If we could only live each moment of our lives as if the banquet of eternal life was to begin tonight, we would never have to worry about being on the outside looking in!

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom

Image Credit: Becky Johnson - - On The Outside Looking In - steel and glass

Between a Rock and a Hard Spot

Deacon Tom Writes,

“Between a Rock and a Hard Spot”

Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

Jeremiah finds himself in a tight spot. He is accused of “demoralizing the soldiers who are left in the city”. The princes want to put him to death. The charges are correct: Jeremiah has been demoralizing the soldiers and all who remained in Jerusalem. Jeremiah disheartened the inhabitants of the city because he told them the truth…He spoke the words that God wanted them to hear… that everyone who remained in the city would die. It seems that the false prophets were telling the people that there was no need to worry, that everything would be fine; Jerusalem would be safe because their enemy would break off their siege and withdraw from the city. The false prophets were convincing because… the people wanted to believe them. They wanted to be lied to in order to keep the status quo and life as usual. The people wanted to continue on their evil ways and shun the prophet who spoke the Truth.

Well, as we read today, his enemies toss Jeremiah into a dry cistern so that he would die. But, God comes to his aid and Jeremiah is rescued and he continues to deliver the Word of God to a reluctant people.

Today the Word of God remains unfashionable. We turn our backs on him in order to pay homage to the false prophets of our day who say all the right words that keep us snug and comfortable in the cozy world we have fashioned around us. God’s Word calls us out from our comfort zone so we can find “life in the fullest” much like the words of Jeremiah called for the people of Jerusalem change their ways so they can live.

God’s Word is always relevant. It speaks to us today as it has to the people throughout the millennia. The challenge for us is to discern what God is saying and then to live life that way. That’s how we will find true happiness and dispense with the false prophets who would lead us astray.

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom

First Things First

Deacon Tom Writes

“First Things First”

Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

In today’s gospel Jesus touches upon a profound truth about our human condition when he says, “For where your treasure is, there also will be your heart”.  Jesus understands our human dynamic. He knows that we put our energy into the things we are most interested in and that we invest our time and resources pursuing the things that are most important to us. The things we like doing fill up our calendars and empty our wallets!! And that’s the way it should be.

It is interesting to note, however, that last week’s gospel was also a teaching about material things. If you recall Jesus told the parable about the rich man with the abundant harvest who tore down his barns and built bigger ones so he could store away his wealth, “…for many years”… so he could “…rest, eat, drink and be merry” for years to come.   It seems that our need to accumulate wealth beyond the needs for today as a measure of our success and to assuage our worries about the future is systemic to our human condition.

Jesus has many warnings about the problems or challenges concerning wealth. Here are a few you may recall: “Amen, I say to you, it will be hard for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven” MT 19:23. And also, “Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God" MT 19:24. Or this one from Luke 6:24,“But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation”.

I don’t believe Jesus is interested in having more “poor people” in the world. Heaven knows there are too many now! Jesus’ admonition is so that we don’t set our hearts on what we have, that we don’t identify ourselves and others by what we have or don’t have, or that we don’t judge people by their possessions or status. Jesus wants us to depend upon him for all our needs and for us to turn to him and trust in him to satisfy all those desires that he places within our hearts.

One sure way to know what God wants for us is for us to put him in our calendars. You know, like they say in the business world, “Let’s do lunch!”. Well, maybe not lunch, but we may be able to set some time aside for Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament where we can sit silently in the presence of our Lord and listen to what he has to say to us. That could very well be the most important activity of our week. From the spiritual perspective it is certainly a matter of getting around to first things first.

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom