Christ our King

 

 

 

 

I discovered a wonderful song reading the Divine Office in Advent 2011 (sorry it took so long to post but it also seems appropriate to the feast of Christ the King, 2012! As I recall I was struck by the Old Testament reading about Hannah at the time....) The song "Lift up your heads ye mighty gates" was written in 1642, by George Weiszel, sings the praise of Jesus, King of Kings:

 

 

Lift up your heads, ye mighty gates;

Behold the King of glory waits;

The King of kings is drawing near;

The Savior of the world is here!

 

A Helper just He comes to thee,

His chariot is humility,

His kingly crown is holiness,

His scepter, pity in distress.

 

O blest the land, the city blest,

Where Christ the Ruler is confessed!

O happy hearts and happy homes

To whom this King in triumph comes!

 

Fling wide the portals of your heart;

Make it a temple, set apart

From earthly use for heaven's employ,

Adorned with prayer and love and joy.

Redeemer, come with us abide;

Our hearts to Thee we open wide;

Let us Thy inner presence feel;

Thy grace an love in us reveal.

 

Thy Holy Spirit lead us on

Until our glorious goal is won;

Eternal praise, eternal fame

Be offered, Savior, to Thy Name!

 

 

I suppose the poet in me loves the way it all rhymes from line to line, yet the serious side sees the truth of the words.  As I read and pondered for this blog, given the current state of affairs here in the U. S., I realize the deeper truth of proclaiming Christ the King lies in each of us.  Will we be willing to open the portals of our heart; and make it a temple, set apart; from the earthly use for heaven's employ?  Last year in advent, I pondered readings on Hannah and how she came to open her portals for the Lord.

 

The first line is interesting:   Lift up your heads, ye mighty gates....not sure if gates have heads on them but my head (or thoughts) can sure act like a barrier to recognizing the presence of God and acting as his servant here on earth.  I find that too much self centered thinking closes the gate to thoughts of God.  At times it seems my mind is full of endless negative possibilities, my prayer life dries up and my whole being droops with the weight of what ifs and how comes.  Next comes the tears of anger and regret.  To me the story of Hannah exemplifies this fed up state.  In 1 Sam 1:10-11, Hannah bitterly prayed to the Lord, weeping copiously, then she made a vow, promising:  Ok, Lord of hosts, if you look with pity on the misery of your handmaid, if you remember me and do no forget me, if you give your handmaid a male child....(I fill in the blank here with my latest petition!)  Sometimes I'm at the bottom of the pit and I'm just wailing out my frustration, lack of confidence, loss of patience and hope (or whatever!) from that seemingly endless pit of worry.

 

Why is it that we must reach rock bottom in order to call out to God for help? I suppose there's only one way to turn in the dark and that's toward the light.  Yes, contemplating the King of Kings helps me as I remember His promise to always be with us, to always love us despite our miserable condition.  He is always waiting for us to just gaze in His directtion, to reach out and make that agonziing effort to turn from the darkness and realize, the Savior of the world is here!

 

Once my eyes focus on the Savior I begin to recognize my Helper, the one who humbly enters our world; whose gentleness and love draws me up from the deep pit of self pity and despair.  His promise of presence halts my downward plunge.  He is waiting for us in the tabernacle at adoration. His healing touch comes through my child's laugh or a hug from those wise, older ladies at daily mass.  His presence heals us through reading scripture, praying and listening to homilies.  The ulitimate touch of the Eucharist provides the sweet balm of healing and love.  God loves us so much, if only we would gaze frequently on His most loving form on the cross, with his wounds of healing and sacrifice, we can be renewed.

 

In fact, I'd really like to know what's behind the saying, by His stripes we are healed (Isaiah 53:5), because this works.  God first revealed such healing to Moses while on the desert exodus from Egypt.  The people grumbled on the Exodus as their patience worn thin by lack of the basic neccessities.  They didn't like the food, the water or the situation.  Then the Lord sent serpents which bit the people and many died.  What a forsaken position they were in, but within their horrible state they realized their sin in complaining, so they asked Moses to intercede with God.  The Lord instruct Moses to fashion a serpent on a pole, then everyone who had been bitten would look upon the lifted up serpent and recover.  (Number 21:8-9)  Similarly in John 3:14-16, Jesus tried explaining himself to Nicodemus:  And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.  For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but have eternal life....So simple an act of faith can heal if we only we look to him with belief and trust!

 

When the bitterness of life has bitten us and we have nowhere to turn, we finally look to the Lord.  Hannah, in her shameful childless state, cried with deep sorrow and misery (1 Sam 1:15-16) pouring out her heart to the Lord.  Here Hannah flung open the portals of her heart, as she brought her unhappy state to the Lord for healing.  Pain and suffering bring us low, to the realization we just can't do it alone; that we can do nothing without Christ.  It would appear our willingness to offer these unsolvable problems to the Lord is the first step in being made anew.  Old Testament writings confirm this:  For God searches out the abyss and penetrates the heart; their secrets he understands (Sirach 42:18).  He creates a new heart and renews our steadfast spirit.  He restores the gladness of salvation and upholds our willing spirit (Psalm 51: 12, 14)  A renewed Hannah, can then set her temple apart for heaven's employ, promising her child would be given to the Lord for all of his days.  She leaves the temple refreshed and regenerated, and so adorned with prayer and love and joy, fulfills her promises when the Lord answered her prayer.  St Paul summarizes it well in Philippians 4:6-7, Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make you requests known to God.  Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.  Just Give It Up to Jesus!!!

 

I love the thought of being "in Christ Jesus!"  This must be the abiding in Him part of the poem:  Redeemer, come, with us abide; Our hearts to Thee we open wide; Let us Thy inner presence feel; Thy grace and love in us reveal.  Certainly, the abiding in Christ is a key element in a keeping an even keel in life, and I'm just now investigating its truth.  At first thought, I'd resented the fact that God had control over everything, like goodness--why does God have all the stock in that?  The only thing I had was my sin and my will to choose.  It appears that God offers us so much more when He is in control, when he is King of our lives.  We have that share of His life and love, given through the gifts of the Holy Spirit. We can experience true peace, love and hope not just for ourselves but within the greater community.  This must be the part of the poem where, O blest the land, the city blest, where Christ the Ruler is confessed!  O happy hearts and happy homes to whom this King in triumph comes!  To ponder God is like looking out at the ocean--a beautiful, deep and unending mystery, yet living His life within His domain brings benefits most people seek with great passion.

 

In summary, this quaint old fashioned song is the answer to story of our life!  The poem reveals our  Redeemer who is just waiting around for us, knocking at our gate.  We need to lift up our head, shake open our mighty barriers to recognize Him.  He's humble, holy and will show up in our time of need, but we have to be willing.  The promise of blessing, happy hearts and homes comes to those who confess his Lordship in life.  With our repentance and turn to our Lord for leadership, we can confidently open the portals of our heart, so he can remove the junk and replace it with grace and love.  In turn, we adorn our temple with prayer, love and joy, setting worldly cares aside and let heaven set up residence inside. (oops I'm starting to rhyme!)  The Holy Spirit leads the effort, where we journey with patient endurance doing heaven's work of love.  Finally, when we (the abiding parties and I or you) get to the goal, we'll be singing eternally, praising and worshiping our Lord for eternity!  Sounds like a wonderful plan to me!  I think this is the whole concept of Christ the King in a nutshell (or a song!)

 

Many blessings for a rich Feast of Christ the King

and a wish for you to open the gates of your heart

so the love and peace of Christ may be yours forever! 

 

Janet Goodwin         

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 



Let Your Joy Shine!

 The readings for this Sunday, the Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary time, are pretty dramatic.  They are leading us to the end of the liturgical year, and so we look the the end of time, and to the return of Christ the King, which is next Sunday's celebration.

In those days, I Daniel, heard this work of the Lord: "At that time there shall arise Michael, the great prince, guardian of your people;  it shall be a time unsurpassed in distress since nations began until that time.  At that time your people shall escape, everyone who is found written in the book .
"Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake; some shall live forever, others shall be an everlasting horror and disgrace.
"But the wise shall shine brightly like the splendor of the firmament and those who lead the many to justice shall be like the stars forever."  Daniel 12;1-3

Are you prepared for times of great distress and upheaval?  No..... in spite of a my disappointment in the election and the Mayan 2012 prediction of the end of the time, I am not prophesying the end of the world.  I keep in mind always the final words of today's Gospel:  "But of that day or hour, no one knows."  However,  since we do not know the day and hour, or even our individual day and hour, we must always have our faith and hope fixed on Jesus, who shows up the path of life through the dark valleys we will encounter.  Because He has forged the way through death.  In fact, though these readings bring to mind the ultimate futility of this world, reminding us of our present darkness and our looming doom, the Church is calling us to rejoice!  When that time does come our King is coming to gather us to Himself!

Therefore my heart is glad, my soul rejoices; my body also dwell secure, for you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, nor let your devout one see the pit.  You will show me the path to life, abounding joy in your presence.  Psalm 16: 9-11

As I read, prayed and re-read these readings a person kept emerging in my mind.  The saint Maximilian Kolbe.  I think of him because he died in Auschwitz with a group of others chosen to be starved to death in a horrible underground bunker.  It was a punishment inflicted on prisoners of Auschwitz whenever one of them escaped.  Designed to be produce a distress unsurpassed so that prisoners would be very motivated to prevent any other escape attempts.  But with Maximilian Kolbe in that  bunker, instead of the usual loud and horrifying suffering and pleas for help, they were led in singing hymns and prayers.  Maximilian encouraged them by giving them hope in the eternal inheritance of Christ our Lord, and in the everlasting beauty of their heavenly mother Mary.  He brought the joy of heaven into that awful place, and like a star shining brightly he lead those poor souls to justice.  That is what the Lord will do for each of us if we pray for the faith to hold fast to Him. 

It takes a profound joy, rooted in faith to be a light in the dark.  We need to be realistic about our passing  world, and we need to transmit the joy of our confidence in our Savior, who through His sacrifice leads the way through desolation and despair.  In His presence there is abounding joy, contagious and overflowing to those who wish to receive it. This joy does not mean you will be immune to suffering; I am not suggesting for one minute that the pain and suffering of Maximilian and the others was any less horrible than it had been for others, but faith in the eternal joy of heaven allowed them to endure in their suffering with a abiding hope and an inspiring courage.  This faith means that in suffering, and times of distress you can be a light to others.  Pray always for an increase of faith in Him, and love for all you meet, so that your joy can shine like the stars.

Oh, and here is another person that radiated the joy of the Lord, this is an admittedly light-hearted video that I found while reading Simcha Fisher's blog over at National Catholic Register. All of my friends have agreed, that like Simcha, first they hated it, thinking it a flippant video of our beloved Pope, then they loved it, because it overflows with the love of Christ and the joy of Blessed John Paul II!  

Peace and grace to all of you!  

Heidi

Election Day is Here!

All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord; All the families of nations will bow low before him. For kingship belongs to the Lord, the ruler over nations. All who sleep in the earth will bow low before God; All who have gone down into the dust will kneel in homage. And I will live for the Lord; my descendants will serve you. The generation to will be told of the Lord, that they may proclaim to a people yet unborn the deliverance you have brought.Psalm 22:28-32

Election day is here!  Don't forget to bring you faith with you to the polls! Please remember the vital importance of religious liberty which is seriously threatened!  I have included some links in this post that may be of interest to you as we prepare to go to the polls tomorrow.

A message from Archbishop Lucas

Public Witness and Catholic Citizenship, by Archbishop Chaput

Video of Religious Liberty by Archbishop Lori (there are many good videos in this link, so check them out!)

USCCB page on religious freedom

USCCB's First American Freedom

Democracy and the Gospel of Christ  by, William Doino Jr. First Things blog: On The Square

And finally a YouTube link to an short video on what is at stake in this election:

Jesus is our Lord and our King!  Above all else, it is in Him alone in whom we place our trust for our final hope, there is no elected official who can usher in the Kingdom of Heaven; that can only be accomplished through Him!

May God's grace and peace accompany you to the polling places today!

Heidi

Bastions of Faith

To daily mass, to worship the Lord they come, the elderly, some with gnarly hands, clicking canes, rattling walkers, shuffling feet, swaying unnaturally because of worn out hips and knees. 

To daily mass they come, to worship the Lord, an occasional young mother with her shiny faced, bright eyed little ones. 

Nothing will come between them and their Lord. 

First they worship God at daily mass, then in spiritual love they greet each other with smiles talking about aches and pains, or the weather, or seeking prayers for those in need. In the same spirit those who can no longer drive are sometimes given rides to church by those who can, and after the worship service some will gather at the nearest coffee house for more fellowship. Overlooked, but by God and possibly their pastor, these bastions of faith are ideal examples of this Sunday’s gospel reading. 

^28 One of the scribes, when he came forward and heard them disputing and saw how well he had answered them, asked him, “Which is the first of all the commandments?”
^29 Jesus replied, “The first is this: ‘Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone!
^30 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’
^31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
^32 The scribe said to him, “Well said, teacher. You are right in saying, ‘He is One and there is no other than he.’
^33 And ‘to love him with all your heart, with all your understanding, with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself’ is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
^34 And when Jesus saw that (he) answered with understanding, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And no one dared to ask him any more questions.
- Mark 12:28b-34 (NAB) 

The Pharisees, Herodians, and scribes had been asking Jesus trick questions in the hope of getting Him to respond with something they could officially charge Him with, but at this point the score was Jesus – 4, Pharisees and Herodians – 0. The scribe in verse 28 seeing how well Jesus had answered them, and decided on a different approach – test Jesus’ knowledge and understanding of scripture.

What began as something of a test concluded in verse 32 and 33 with the scribe’s observation of, “Well said, teacher. You are right in saying, ‘He is One and there is no other than he.’
^And ‘to love him with all your heart, with all your understanding, with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself’ is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”, and in verse 34 with Jesus responding, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”

The scribe acknowledged the wisdom of Jesus’ answer, and Jesus acknowledged the scribe’s true grasp of the commandments. Imagine the great joy of our God when His people worship Him with all their heart, understanding, and strength, and love their neighbors as themselves, and do not simply offer burnt offerings and sacrifices as obligated by Church law.

 

The Sass Master in Mordor: A Meditation on Evil

One of the most terrifying insights into evil that I have ever read was in C. S. Lewis' second book of his space trilogy, Perelandra.  In this book the hero, a man named Ransom, was charged with protecting an un-fallen planet and its inhabitants from suffering a fate like that of Earth's. He finds himself engaged in a battle of wits with the Evil One, who has possessed the body of the arrogant and deluded Professor Weston.  This un-man (as Lewis names it) is trying to tempt the Lady who inhabits this paradise to break the one rule that has been given her by Maledil (Jesus/God).  The demonic corpse beguiles the woman with many subtle temptations to vanity and to envy.  His preternatural intellect and cunning are slowly winning, but every once and a while the woman (and Ransom) need to rest.  When the demon is "off-duty" with only Ransom for company what we see is something quite different from the sly subtlety of  his temptation of the Lady of Perelandra.

"He (Ransom) had full opportunity to learn the falsity of the maxim that the Prince of Darkness is a gentleman....It was not like dealing with wicked politicians at all: It was much more like being set to guard an imbecile, or a monkey, or a nasty child.  What          had staggered and disgusted him when it first began saying "Ransom.....Ransom....."  continued to disgust him every day and every hour.  It showed plenty of subtlety and intelligence when talking to the Lady; but Ransom soon perceived that it regarded intelligence simply and solely as a weapon.....Thought was for it a device necessary to certain ends, but thought in itself did not interest it." Perelandra; Scribner 1972; pg. 110

In fact, Ransom had to endure long hours of this Un-man amusing itself by mutilating animals and plants, or performing juvenile obscenities with the body it inhabited, and endlessly, pointlessly repeating his name over and over again: "Ransom, Ransom, Ransom" When Ransom would respond it would say "nothing".

I bring this up because on Tuesday I took the Sass Master (aka Sophia) and her two year old brother to participate in our parish's day to keep the vigil for 40 Days For Life at a local Planned Parenthood facility. I told her we were going to Mordor (yes, I have just gone from Lewis to Tolkien).  Mordor is a place where the goodness of creation is corrupted and manipulated to such an extent that it becomes hell to everyone  It is a place where identity is based solely on material productivity and therefore everyone loses their authentic and God given human identity (along with their God given human rights). Here human freedom is cast off for enslaving licentiousness under the watch of a despotic eye whose main strategy is to cut you off from your true identity and from any hope in anything beyond the breath and vapors of this world. But, I digress.

 I am being so dramatic because the world around me seems so sleepy on this subject, and the temptation to despair every time I engage in this battle is growing; a creeping awareness that in the face of powers and principalities, who am I?  The cunning of our enemy is formidable - to lull us into the sleepy complacency that abortion is simply a medical option for those who are in hard situations, relieving us, the larger community, of the burden of having to provide assistance for both a mother and a baby.  Or, if a person has a more awakened sense of charity , the enemy will corrupt the ideal of fighting for human rights, cynically diminishing our idea of what is a worthwhile human life to expend our resources on.  As a result we have impassioned people, who in the name of defending human rights, perversely end up on a slippery slope to despotism, placing the right to life on the shifting sands of the ever elusive concept of who is human enough to warrant the effort to defend said rights.  Yet, when we undermine the right to life, we undermine all our rights, and give the powers-that-be in a given time way to much authority over determining whose rights they will defend and uphold.

This battle is difficult to engage. But, engage we must, with prayer and endurance.  We who stand for the right to life to be firmly and decisively placed at the moment of conception will stand our ground.  We have truth and science on our side.  They have lies and distortions.  Do you know what I often discover when we firmly stand our ground in the face of evil?  That evil at it's core is tedious and infantile, and when it cannot dissuade you through cunning, it will simply provoke it's minions to taunting or obscene displays of profanity and silly, juvenile acts.  Hence the description of evil, and how banal and utilitarian it really is by C.S.Lewis, is truly insightful.

So it should not surprise anyone, that while our group received a good deal of encouraging thumbs up, there were others who shouted out curses at us (along with the profane gestures) or who menacingly watched us as they repeatedly (and at a distance) circled the block we were on. But most silly, and disturbing, of all was the actions of an elderly man.  He had approached my friend Angie earlier.  She was holding a sign showing a baby in the 6th month of fetal development.  Apparently he wanted to know what we were doing.  He began to ask her what her sign said, and Angie cheerfully turned around to show him the picture.  As soon as he saw it he stopped talking mid sentence, grunted "OH" turned around and left.  Angie looked back at me, we both shrugged (Angie, who has a much more generous heart than me, actually smiled and said "I'm not sure what that was about.").  But that old guy had more to reveal to us about the depth of his soul.

As an elderly couple, who were taking our place, were busy getting set up and Angie and I were preparing to leave, a shabby pickup quickly drove up in the parking lot we had our backs to. I was holding the Sass Master, and she was resting her head on my shoulder, her face toward the parking lot while her brother was securely strapped in his stroller, when I felt a splash on my neck and Sophia jumped.  I turned around to see this old man with a spray bottle full of what I believe was water -  shooting it at us cackling the whole way!  Sophia was hit square in the face, (otherwise no one would have noticed because he was spraying us from behind and we were all covered in coats and long sleeves, as it was a bit cold out).

Was he defending the "right to choose"?  Was he just a weak-minded coward who gets his jollies pranking woman, children and the elderly?  What point was he making to spray a four year old girl in the face?  (My dear friend Angie - who only noticed what happened because of Sophia's startled yelp -  in her completely un-cynical and gracious heart thought that possibly he was spraying holy water on us....yeah, old men often bless a group by sneaking behind them to spray them cackling as they speed off).  In reality, C.S.Lewis sums up his actions, and the cause that provoked them perfectly, and also the actions of many other groups that stand against Truth:

"If the attack had been of some more violent kind it might have been easier to resist.  What chilled and almost cowed him was the union of malice and something nearly childish....Indeed, no imagined horror could have surpassed the sense which grew within him as the slow hours passed, that this creature was by all human standards inside out- it's heart on the surface and its shallowness at the heart.  On the surface great designs and an antagonism to Heaven which involved the fate of the worlds:  but deep within, when every veil had been pierced, ...nothing but a black puerility, an aimless empty spitefulness content to sate itself with the tiniest cruelties, as love does not disdain the smallest kindness." (Perelandra; pg106)

Actually, it was Angie's gracious remark that provided the best defense against this man's darkness.  How can his malicious intent stand when your target is so willing to shrug it off?  How can darkness prevail when you are with someone so focused on the light?

So what to do from here?  Stand our ground, fight the good fight and put on the armor of God (to which my fellow blogger, Joze, suggested that we add goggles to) and as Saint Paul wrote from his prison cell:

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence and if the is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
Keep on doing what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me. Then the God of peace will be with you."  Philippians 4:8-9

And so we will!  The Sass Master (who -  true to her sassy nickname -  was completely unruffled by the incident and quickly concluded that since we were in Mordor that man must have been an orc) is ready, and so am I!  But with goggles!

Peace and Grace!

Heidi

Bartimaeus

 "As Jesus was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a sizable crowd, Batimaeus, a blind man, the son of Timaeus, sat by the roadside begging.  On hearing that it was Jesus of Nazareth he began to cry out and say, 'Jesus, son of David, have pity on me,' And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent.  But he kept calling out all the more, 'Son of David, have pity on me.'  Jesus stopped and said, 'Call him.'  So they called the blind man, saying to him, 'Take courage; get up, Jesus is calling you.'  He threw aside his cloak, sprang up, and came to Jesus,  Jesus said to him in reply, 'What do you want me to do for you?'  The blind man replied to him, 'Master, I want to see.'  Jesus told him, 'Go your way; your faith has saved you.'  Immediately he received his sight and followed him on the way."

Oh to have the faith of good Bartimaeus!  To persist in seeking Jesus, not merely a great teacher, or wonder worker, but to have the insight to know who Jesus is and the humility to cry out to Him:  "Jesus, son of David,  have pity on me. "  To continue to cry out, even as the crowd rebukes and shushes him.  When Jesus does call him, before Bartimaeus even comes to him, he casts off his cloak!  Sister Anne Shields in her  podcast on this Sunday's readings remarked that a cloak was an especially important  item of clothing, it was warmth and shelter from the elements...and it was all the more important for a blind beggar, who once he had cast off that cloak in that sizable crowd and got to meet Jesus, how would he ever find it again?  But that did not matter to Bartimaeus, he was single-hearted in his quest to meet Jesus and then to follow Him.
  

 I am sure his humble poverty and desperate situation help focus his mind and heart on the Lord.  Yet,  in our time and culture, the spiritual situation of so many around us is no less desperate.   Do you believe that Jesus is more than just a great teacher and preacher?  Are you following the crowd of our time?  A crowd  of followers who base their faith on the abstract concept that the Lord is an example of a supremely good man, but, are blind to the authentic power of the Lord.  A crowd that may well have many good committees to belong to and charities to serve, yet neglects a deep, profound and personal relationship with Jesus, who though He is the Son of David, responds to the cries for mercy from His followers in profoundly personal ways.   Do you believe that this Jesus was crucified for you, and was raised for you?  Is He your personal Lord and Savior?  What cloaks your sight, what stifles your love for Him?

Just before I entered RCIA  I was once mildly rebuked by a cradle Catholic - and one who was thought to be very devoted to the faith and in particular to social justice.  I was rebuked for using an admittedly protestant phrase in describing Our Lord.  I said He was our personal Lord and Savior.  She responded, rejecting the idea that He was our personal Lord and Savior.  She felt that to claim Jesus in such an individual way was selfish!  I remember quickly backing down from the comment, feeling rather idiotic, as if I had just mumbled some strange fundamentalist mumbo jumbo.  I was shushed,  and I was not as courageous as Bartimaeus.  This friend of mine was a cradle Catholic, and who was I to presume that she did not know how to practice her faith?    

That casual conversation really disoriented me!  I became Catholic, but I was really blinded to His presence in so many ways!  Much of this was due to my own weakness,  my need to follow the crowd so I did not look like some naive fool took precedence..(.although in retrospect a stronger formation in the Catholic faith would have gone a long way to redirecting my faltering footsteps - thankfully this has since changed a great deal).  I faithfully went to Mass, but my heart I cloaked, only what I could understand with my mind was allowed in, only what could be rationally explained was real, the rest of the stuff was more or less quaint traditions.  Jesus kept slipping farther and farther in to the background.

Until one day, I was confronted with my lack of faith in Jesus.  A longing for someone greater became an acute pain.  My blindness was revealed, and I cried out to Him, to Jesus the Son of God in prayer.  I reached out to Him, even though so many respected people around me diminished His divinity and rationalized His resurrection.  Only He had the words of eternal life, only He could save me.  I needed Jesus, the Son of David, the Messiah, the Son of the Living God, to have mercy on me.  When Jesus responded to me,  when I once again knew that He was not just an abstract concept or a construct of the early Church, but that He was my Lord, He was my Master, He was my Lover....He was everything, and without Him I was hopelessly nothing, I was able to cast off that cloak that kept my heart away from my faith.

 I am Bartimaeus, and I suspect, so are you!  Because faith in Jesus is a relationship with Him!  It is heart and mind fully devoted to Him.  If you say you have faith, but your relationship with Him is more of a cold concept  than a passionate love, you need to cry out to Him as Bartimaeus did.  Do not fear the crowds rebuking you!  Reach out to Him! Cast off that cloak that keeps you from Him and let Him give you sight to see Him in the Eucharist, In the Scriptures, in your neighbor!  Show them the way, because there is nothing selfish about this personal relationship with the Lord!  Because of Bartimaeus' faith  and courageous persistence  other eyes were opened!

This is the year of faith!  Let us all cry out: "Son of David have pity on me!  I want to see!"

Peace and Grace to all of you!

God's Love in Nature

Lovely leaves in fall



Nature’s own secret is

A deep and passionate love.

Discover it in a shape,

On the ground or above.

 




A love cloud floating by in summer

 

Hear God’s own language: 

A whispering song, 

Or a fiery yell

His unending Love

For all of Nature to Tell.

Poetry and Photos

by Janet Goodwin

 

Bleeding hearts in spring

 

 

 

        The heart is happiest when it beats for others.

Anonymous