So Many Blessings

Deacon Tom Writes,

“So Many Blessings”

Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

I imagine the Pharisees were feeling pretty happy with themselves thinking they had trapped Jesus with their cleverness. “Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar on not?” Jesus dodges the ideological controversy surrounding this question with a practical and rational response.  “Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God”. Pretty cleaver answer, isn’t it? But one that also gives us plenty to think about, as Jesus’ answer seems to suggest that we are indebted to both Caesar and God; we live in this world while holding ourselves accountable to the higher standards required of the Kingdom of heaven,

It is not complicated to fulfill our civic responsibilities. We vote, serve on juries, and obey the law. We may run for office or serve on committees that support local elections. 

All and all it is fairly simple. When we claim to be good citizens we may at times be called upon to show proof that we indeed are upholding our civic responsibilities. The same goes for our spiritual lives. We have received many spiritual benefits or perhaps “blessings” is a better description. Yet, if we reflect about our lives, do we ever recollect that we are indebted to God for all that we have received? In all truth we have an obligation to God that requires some sort of “repayment”? If we answer yes, then how do we go about doing this? How can we ever repay God for all that he has done for us? Fortunately we Catholics have many ways of doing this. We can say the Rosary or a Novena or we can sit silently before the Blessed Sacrament. We can go live in a monastery or in a Catholic Worker house. We can read the Liturgy of the Hours or Lectio Divina or even volunteer at a soup kitchen or at Hospice. We can protest the injustice in our world caused by war, poverty, and hunger by working with people who suffer from those conditions.

We Catholics have many ways to show our love for God with the thought that we are trying to repay him for the love he has shown to us. And if we look to Psalm 116 we will see that it asks the very same question, “How can I repay the Lord for all the good done for me”. Then the Psalm goes on to give us this answer…. “I will lift up the cup of salvation…. I will offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving and call upon the name of the Lord.” The Psalmist points to the one way that seems the most fitting to thank God for the many blessings given us and that is by our coming to Mass and actively participating in the Liturgy. There we give God the perfect gift, the most worthy sacrifice possible and one of his own choosing – Jesus himself. And, when the Mass has ended, we are sent out to engage the world bringing God’s love, mercy, and compassion to everyone we meet. This, I believe, is a most fitting response to the bountiful blessings that come to us from the hand of God.

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom

Yes Lord

Deacon Tom Writes,

“Yes Lord”

Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

We know that we will never be able to understand or experience the totality of the Divine Being. Yet, God calls us to know Him in an intimate and personal way and desires that we make an effort to form a dynamic relationship with Him during our earthly journey. The Book of Psalms encourages us to seek God by praying, “Make known to me your ways, LORD; teach me your paths (Psalm 25:4). When God made us in His image and likeness, He gave us some powerful tools to help us steward His creation. First, he created us as “rational beings” able to think for ourselves, observe the world surrounding us, question the wisdom and power behind all that is, and ultimately discover the maker of the universe from whom all things came into being. In addition to this gift of reason God gave us “Free Will”. By infusing the power to choose our destiny, God ultimately gave us the poser to accept or refuse His love as we see fit.   

It’s important to know that God intended this gift to contribute to our well-being and happiness as we faced the challenges and hardships encountered during our earthly pilgrimage. When we use our Free Will to pursue things that are of the Kingdom, we enrich ourselves with God’s graces and, at the same time, we give Him the honor and glory that He deserves as creator and the One who sustains all of existence. But it is our choice! This gift, freely given, however, means that we can also use it to our own detriment leaving us alienated from God and lacking the grace to endure the misfortunes of life. It is in considering the ultimate power of this precious gift that we gain insight into God’s profound love for us and His desire that we come to experience the depth of that love.

Today’s gospel is a story that demonstrates our ability to exercise that intimate gift to reject God and turn our backs on Him. We are free to say no to the very invitation we have from God to be united with Him throughout eternity. In our ignorant use of that precious gift, we can, and often do, reject His invitation and go our own separate way. ““No” God, I’ll do it my way”. (Thank you, Frankie♫♫.)

We will never be able to understand God. But we do have many ways we can come to know of His great love for us. The Free Will He has given to us is one of the most powerful signs of that love. The ultimate gift, of course, would be that He sent His own Son into the world to save us from the evil consequences we suffer from our poor judgment in exercising that Free Will.

Let us give God the honor and glory that is due our loving Creator by participating at the banquet of life to which we have been invited and for which we are properly prepared and join in the chorus along with all those who have accepted this gracious invitation...

            “♫♫ Yes Lord, Yes Lord, Yes Yes Lord ♫♫”

Enjoy the Day!

Deacon Tom

Image credit “Yes, Lord”  Darrell Evans

God Be In My Head

"God Be In My Head ”

Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

The gospel for today sets the stage for Jesus’ death. The parable of the wicked tenants who kill the servants sent to collect the rent and then the vineyard owner’s son foreshadow the events that will soon claim Jesus’ life. The message Jesus is conveying is that God’s plans will not be stifled by those of man. His being rejected by the Jewish authorities allows a furthering of God’s Kingdom. For… “The stone rejected by the builders will become the cornerstone”. God’s plan of salvation is mysteriously broadened so that others may join in the task of bringing about that bountiful harvest the Kingdom of God will produce.

Jesus showed us by word and example how to live fruitful lives. As His disciples it is necessary to engage in meaningful reflection about the quality of our spiritual lives. A question we might ask ourselves is, “How do we know if we are bearing fruit for the kingdom?” One way to fathom this out is to set aside a few minutes at the end of the day and review our day’s activities from a spiritual perspective. This is one of the many contributions handed down to us from St. Ignatius in his Spiritual Exercises. It goes like this: 

1)  Give thanks to God for all that we have.

2)  Ask God for the grace to know our sins and to avoid them in the future.

3)  Reflect on the events of the day to see where we served God or where we have neglected Him.

4)  Ask God to pardon our faults.

5)  Ask God for the grace to be more like Him.

If we are to form a habit of this simple yet humbling practice, we are sure to grow spiritually and that growth will produce a harvest worthy of the kingdom.

As we grow in the love of God, we are able to surrender our thoughts and desires to Him and allow Him to fill us with His thoughts and desires as was captured in this prayer from the middle-ages:

God be in my head and in my understanding; 


God be in my eyes and in my looking; 


God be in my mouth and in my speaking;


God be in my heart and in my thinking; 


God be at my end and at my departing.


Amen

May God open our minds and hearts and bless the work of our hands so that we can advance His Kingdom in our time.

Enjoy the day!

Tom

Image - https://commons.wikimedia.org / Montréal God resting after creation. jpg

"The Sounds of Silence”

Deacon Tom Writes,

“The Sounds of Silence”

Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

We said goodbye to Summer just last week. The arrival of Fall is usually a time to catch our breath. Vacations have ended; the kids are back to school. We welcome this brief silence before we gear back up for the holidays. Maybe we can craft a new vision for ourselves in the few silent days that Autumn takes root. But this year, for those living in the Caribbean, Eastern Texas, the Florida Peninsula, the Southern coastal United State, there was no quiet time, no chance to reflect on the change of seasons, no chance to catch a breath before things ratchet up again.  

Hurricanes Harvey and Marie and the devastating earthquake in Mexico have taken away any chance for their victims to ponder the change of seasons or to enjoy any quiet time they be accustomed to having this time of year. Key West and Southern Florida were pummeled; many of the islands in the Caribbean were leveled. Parts of Mexico brutally shaken, Puerto Rico was devastated. Nature herself imposed an eerie and unwelcomed silence upon millions of people. No lights or hot water, drinking water, no computers, cell phones or WII, no XBox, no gas, food spoiling in the refrigerator / freezer; no time for silent reflection of any kind. It will take months to return to normal, and, many suggest that there is a new “normal” to which people will have to adjust. In the matter of several hours millions of people were tossed back to bygone days when silence was the natural order of things.

So many people have lost everything they have worked all their lives to obtain. Yet, if the truth be known, they may have been robbed of something I believe is equally important. They have lost that little bit of silence that nature affords those who seek her. Silence i an essential ingredient for spiritual growth. Just like plants need light and water to take root and grow, we need silence if we are to grow spiritually. The language of God is silence and it is in silence that we hear the voice of God. Yet, we live in a society where there is a cacophony of sound surrounding us constantly and making it difficult, if not impossible, to hear the voice of God within. To balance this din we need to find some quiet space to process the events of our lives and find out where God is working in them, or where He is absent. We need some reflection time to let the words of Scripture from the weekend reverberate within us so that the Word of God can come alive in our hearts, take root in us so that we may become living witnesses to the truth that we profess.  

Jesus told the Chief Priests and the elders that, “tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you!” That’s certainly no way to make friends and influence people. Yet, His message is poignantly clear: gaining access to the kingdom of God requires a complete turnabout in our lives. And how could that ever happen if we are not spending quality time, alone and in silence, struggling with our sinfulness, wrestling with those character defects that gnaw at us, or seeking to soften our hardness of heart.

We don’t need another hurricane to come through and leave us in the dark, fearful and unable to enter into the silence of our hearts.  We can make a voluntary choice to unplug ourselves from the noise and din of this world while we pray for those who have lost so much and wait for God to come and fill the silence  in our lives.

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom

Food For Thought

Deacon Tom Writes,

“Food For Thought”

Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

Most of us tend to dismiss the story we hear in today’s gospel. We don’t like its message; it rubs us the wrong way; it’s contrary to the way we were brought up and our sense of “fairness”. We rationalize that the person who puts in an 8-hour day should earn more than the person who shows up on the job an hour before quitting time. I confess that I would feel cheated if that happened to me. How about you?  Can you blame those who worked all day if they began to protest or for harboring a grudge against the landowner?

“God’s ways” are not “our ways” are they? We know that in our heads. We know that God has a different way of seeing things. In today’s reading we see this element of justice from God’s viewpoint. We are a work-oriented society in America today. I say that grossly aware of the many unemployed and chronic under-employment that we are experiencing. Work is essential to our economic survival and our personal identity. No work equals not only no money but also no identity. And once chronic unemployment sets in, one begins to suffer the degradation of the human spirit, which is a fully unjust condition.

Today we read about a landowner who continues to send workers into the field throughout the day. They work, and if you have ever worked on a harvest, you know they worked hard!  At the end of the day they must provide for their family. An hour’s wage isn’t going to provide adequately for the family. The landowner knows this… and so how does the landowner act?  With justice and compassion; He pays the going daily wage to each and every worker regardless of the number of hours they spent under the sun.

Unjust? What if tomorrow you weren’t hired until 3 o’clock in the afternoon? What if you were the recipient of this landowner generosity…. his sense of justice? Would your attitude change if you were able to provide for your family in good times and lean times? 

Jesus teaches us in many ways that we have to rethink our attitudes in how we treat one another. God’s way is the best way to build and sustain a just society, one where everyone shares fairly in the work and rewards of labor. We see that intention and opportunity are as important as pure productivity in the kingdom of which Jesus laid the foundation.

We see God in today’s scripture as one whose generosity is beyond our comprehension. We know from our knowledge of scripture that God is good to everyone, that “he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust (MT 5:45).” This is an amazing thought! For Jesus constantly challenges us to imitate Him and see things the way that God sees them and to act accordingly… with justice, mercy, and compassion.

Please keep all the victims of the recent natural disasters in your prayers.

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom

Forgiveness

Deacon Tom Writes,

Forgiveness

Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

There is no shortage of media reports of the civil wars and violence that inflame our world. So many of our brothers and sisters endure unimaginable suffering inflicted by others who share a different ideology, suffer from a delusion that they are the only ones who “know God’s Will” while inflicting much suffering on the innocent or who believe in their own superiority and divine mandate to dominate and suppress others. How are people able to forgive those who have brought such pain and suffering into their lives? How can anyone put their life back together after such traumatic suffering without resorting to the ancient custom of revenge and retaliation toward those who have caused their suffering?  

The people of South Africa and Ireland seemed to have met with some success in ending the violence.  In the case of South Africa ending apartheid, the legalized segregation of the population into black and white, was crucial in stopping the brutality.  In the case of Ireland, years of economic domination gave way in the late 1980’s to a period of economic growth and stability that has been a significant factor helping build a bridge to a new era of peace and cooperation between former adversaries. 

In these two examples where ancient rivalries have yielded to a day of peace, there is another dynamic at work that draws its inspiration from the Triumph of the Cross. The spirit of forgiveness and reconciliation that emanates from Christ’s salvific action is beginning to take root. If you look at Christ as the victim who represents all the victims who have ever suffered throughout time, before Him and after Him, then we can see in His death that there is no need for further victims.  The message of the cross is this:  NO MORE VICTIMS. 

This message has been slow to take root, but as fragile as that root may be, it is showing signs of life.  For we could not experience the reconciliations that have happened in Ireland or in South Africa and in other places where former adversaries now live side by side, unless we understand that our spiritual destiny is tied up with that of our torturers, “unless each of your forgives your brother from your heart”.  We are called to love others as God loves us.  This is the only way we will have a future.  If we are not able to get beyond the violence, the violence will consume us.  For Christians, violence stops at the cross. 

This is the real Triumph of the Cross: that we are learning how to forgive others as Jesus did.  May God give us the courage, strength, and wisdom to forgive also.

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom  

Love In Action

Deacon Tom Writes,

Love in Action

Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

There is a very wise saying that cautions, “Before you tell someone what you’re going to do, tell them what you have done”. In other words, it is experience that counts more than talk!

It’s no different on the spiritual plain. The essence of spiritual life is action. There must be growth in the form of a deeper understanding of self and God, of movement in the form of a change of heart that gradually becomes less self-absorbed and more concerned about the well-being of others; of activity in the form of service to the “least of my brothers and sisters” (Mt 25:45). St. Paul writes to the Romans that keeping the law means obedience to the commandments to do no harm by not murdering, not committing adultery, not stealing, etc. But these and “whatever other commandments there may be”  (Rom 13:9) are all housed together within the framework of the great commandment, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Mk 12:31) which encapsulates the entirety of the law.

If love is the ultimate sign of the depth of our faith and the fulfillment of the law, if love shows our willingness to put others before self, then one of the mantras of our contemporary society is appropriate for us…. more is better in spiritual matters. The difference, between God’s way and the way of the world, of course, is that there are no negative side effects to loving without limit. Actually, it is our spiritual goal: to grow in love each and every day.

Love in action is what Christ demands of His disciples. We are expected not only to be the messengers of His words, but also doers of His works. This is what it means, to deny oneself and take up the cross daily and follow Him (Lk 9:23). This is the difficult work of discipleship. Christian love demands that we love when love is needed, not just when we feel in the mood. These times call for an outpouring of self-sacrificing love, the love Jesus poured out on us. There are so many people in need in Texas, in Syria, in far away places and around the corner. The need is overwhelming, not just for financial assistance but for a spiritual response also, through our prayers and sacrifices. We are “One body in Christ” (Rom 12:5) St Paul reminds us. In the Spirit of that unity, may we reach out to our brothers and sisters in needs so that we too may, “Rejoice in hope, endure in affliction, persevere in prayer”. (Rom 12:12)

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom