Month: August 2020

Today’s Gospel is one of the most well-known Gospel stories we have. We are told that, in order to inherit the Kingdom of Heaven we must become like a child.

Children are not jaded, cynical, or critical of themselves or others. They do not hold grudges. They reserve judgment because their only experience of the world is their own. Children wave and smile at complete strangers because to them, everyone is a friend. Children trust and do not worry.

Is it any wonder that Christ wants us to be like children? They have utter purity of heart. “Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God.”

I desire deeply to see God in everything, but the cloud of “adulthood” makes that difficult. I am slow to trust others. I have unintended prejudices towards other cultures, races, disabilities. I worry almost all the time. With adulthood comes more freedom; but that freedom is a double-edged sword that brings along with it negativity, stress, and apathy. It causes me to be critical in my thoughts and actions toward others without first approaching their shortcomings with compassion.

We slowly let go of the purity of our hearts along the road to adulthood, causing us to lose our ability to see God in all things.

For all intents and purposes, I am one of the ninety-nine—a safe, comfortable sheep following the Shepherd, nourished within the sheepfold of the Church. I have not gone “astray” from the Church, but I catch myself judging the one that has. Like the brother of the Prodigal Son, I wonder why I am not the one being commended for staying faithful. Yet where does this false piety and need for justification leave me? It causes me to forget the times when I have been the 1 who needed rescuing. It depletes my ability to feel empathy towards the painful experiences of my fellow brothers and sisters. It creates an even deeper divide between them and me that was never supposed to be there in the first place.

You see, the shepherd who goes after the 1 does not abandon the 99. He is not saying that they don’t matter, that they aren’t as important to him, that their lives don’t bring value. He is intimately in-tune with the immediate needs of his flock. Right now, the 99 are okay. They don’t need him as urgently.

It is the same in our world today. As Christians, we too are called to go out and seek the lost. With our baptism comes the commission to comfort the afflicted and respond in humility and kindness to the needs of others. The word compassion comes from the combination of two Latin words. Com = with. Passion = suffer. Com-passion. To suffer together with.

Right now, our discriminated brothers and sisters need us to fight for their rights in human solidarity. Our immunocompromised and elderly brothers and sisters need us to protect them by wearing a mask and staying home when asked to. Our poor children caught in sex-trafficking need us to recognize their cries for help and do something. This Christian call to arms is by no means comfortable or easy, but it is absolutely necessary and utterly vital to our Christian mission.

As I contemplate the Good Shepherd’s heart, I am filled with awe, gratitude, and relief that He would do the same for me as He does for that one missing sheep. He will never forget me or give up on me. When I find myself lost, He never stops ardently pursuing me, and rejoices to welcome me home. Until then, I’ll do my part to keep the 100 sheep united.

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A colleague and I were discussing the age-old dilemma of finding new people to step up and share leadership in an organization. It doesn’t matter what type of organization you are in, the same people seem to make sure that birthdays are remembered, bake sales happen, and holiday functions get planned. We were realizing how even though it seems counter intuitive, sometimes, you just have to let go in order to have things start anew. Sometimes there has to be a vacuum, something has to not happen for people to become conscious again of how much these little events build community and bring us closer together. 

“Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit.” 

(I don’t know about you, but I have “Circle of Life” from The Lion King playing in my head right now.)

There is a cycle to all the things of this world, a time to sow and a time to reap. We tend to focus on the sowing and the reaping we do on a daily basis. The first reading today reminds us of “the one who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food.” It is so easy to get so caught up in making things happen, that we forget the source of those things. We talk about providing for our families and getting what we need, as if it all relied only on our own efforts. Of course, we work to be able to fulfill our obligations and take care of our families but the source of all we have really comes from God. The food we make, we may grow it, but we don’t make it grow. When we use our talents to produce goods to sell or share, we always start with raw material that comes only from the Creator. 

We see the same thing socially, whether it is in our parishes, schools, families, workplaces or other groups. There is a cycle to events and happenings and sometimes the worst thing we can do is try to stop the cycle to continue something that we think is serving a need, but has outlived its purpose. By experiencing the ebb and flow of events, happenings, and even people in our life, we can reflect and come to truly value those things which are ultimately most valuable. We can step back from the things of creation and refocus on the Creator who calls all things into being. 

“Whoever serves me, must follow me, and where I am, there also my servant will be. The Father will honor whoever serves me.” 

My prayer for you today, is to allow the natural ebb and flow of nature, the transitions of daylight and darkness, of sowing and reaping to help whatever grain of wheat you are still holding tight to fall so that it may bear fruit and bring you closer to the one we serve, no matter what the season. 

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Ask any one of my friends – I’m a worrier. Maybe it’s a direct result of growing up with ever-changing Ohio weather and heartbreaking Cleveland sports that I tend to assume the worst in any given situation.

As a direct result of being a worrier, trust in God is always something I’m working on and something people (ex: the priests in my life) are always telling me to do.

Seriously, one recent Friday evening at the parish, I was lamenting a rainy weather forecast while inquiring about a backup plan for an outdoor First Communion group photo when both my pastor and my DRE told me, “Trust in the Lord, it won’t rain tomorrow morning.” And guess what? They were right. While it wasn’t exactly sunny, it did not rain on that beautiful, grace-filled morning.

Now, trusting in the Lord certainly applies in bigger situations than just a simple weather forecast (who can trust meteorologists anyways?), but since that one small instance, it’s been something particularly on my heart, in one way or another. Then I read this weekend’s Gospel passage and it all just hit me.

If we trust in the Lord, with Him working through us, we can do miraculous things. Peter calls out to Jesus who is walking on the water, Jesus tells him to come and so Peter walks on water too. It’s as simple as that.

One thing is key here, I believe – we must cry out to Jesus. Peter didn’t step out on the water on a whim, thinking he’d be able to walk over to Jesus. He called out to Jesus first and then trusted in Jesus’ answer, His command to “come.” And so Peter went – he succeeded in walking on water. I think we always forget about this part at the expense of what follows.

Peter’s trust in the Lord waned at the sight and strength of the fierce wind. That’s when he started sinking into the water, not because of the wind or the waves or the storm but because he stumbled in his trust. But what does Peter do when he’s in trouble? He cries out to the Lord for help and Jesus extends his hand to save him.

How many times do the storms in our lives overtake our life of faith and our trust in the Lord? My guess is far too many. Yet God is there in those dark moments, in the messiness and in the struggles. We can trust that He will be there and we can trust that He will answer our pleas, much like Jesus responded when Peter cried out to Him.

Try to live in the light of Jesus, not in the darkness of fear. And, yes, I’ll try to listen to my own advice too.

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The first thing I noticed about today’s First Reading was that I had no idea that Habakkuk was even a book in the Bible. The second and more important thing I noticed was how, upon a more reflective reading, it shook me to my core. The image I chose for today’s reading is a perfect portrayal of my reaction to today’s first reading.

It hit me in my soul.

Maybe it’s the Book of Habakkuk that’s got me feeling poetic, but the following words rang true in the same way echoing church bells make everyone pause for a moment.

LORD, you have appointed them for judgment,

O Rock, you have set them in place to punish!

Why, then, do you gaze on the faithless in silence

while the wicked devour those more just than themselves?

(Habakkuk 1:12,13b)

Oof. These last few months have been so much turmoil and confusion on all fronts that it leaves one wondering why our rock, our Lord, seemingly stays silent.

However, this passage is not meant to be read alone and taken out of context. In fact, I went on to read the entire book of Habakkuk (it’s only three chapters) because Habakkuk’s laments are all about questioning God about why he does not stop evildoers. God then responds to Habakkuk with His own reasons, explanations, and a hopeful prophecy. One of these explanations is that while God may allow imperfect people and corrupt situations to occur, they exist to bloom goodness for His people.

What does this mean?

It means that God allows injustices because they can lead to change and something better.

It means that the bad will pass, good can come of it, and as the last lines of the Book of Habakkuk say, although there is bad in the world, “I will rejoice in the LORD and exult in my saving God” (Habakkuk 3:18).

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If you’re interested in learning more about the Book of Habakkuk, watch this neat video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPMaRqGJPUU. It’s surprisingly relevant!

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