33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time C Malachi 3: 19-20; 2 Thessalonians 3: 7-12; Luke 21: 5-19
As we approach the end of the Church year next Sunday on the feast of Christ the King and then await the first Sunday of Advent the following Sunday it is good to ask some questions basic of which is: What am I afraid of? Today’s readings focus in on the end-times. This can bring much consternation. What is the end of the world going to be like? When will it happen? So many movies, TV programs deal with this and somehow a ‘savior’ comes on the scene to ‘save the day.’ Do I ever look at Jesus and see that He is our Savior? Jesus has lived this, preached this, died to show this and rose from the dead to prove this. Jesus is my Savior sent by God to keep me and each person on track to our final goal: living with God forever in heavenly eternity. Am I looking at Jesus’ teaching and life to see how I am to prepare for the end of my days and the end of eternity? Do I look on these events knowing that Jesus told each of us that we are His friends? Do I hear Him say that I am loved, redeemed even in spite of my sinfulness? Am I allowing myself to be overwhelmed by the predictions: what is happening to our world, it’s evil and conniving…is there no hope for our future? We turn to our readings telling us to trust in the Lord, follow His directions and know that each person is loved and graced by God to receive all the help that is needed.
Malachi is the last book of the Old Testament. He paints a picture of life of the Jewish community after there return for years and years of ‘slavery’ in Babylon. The author gives very sharp criticism to the priests and rulers of the people. Because of this, he never signed his name to these prophecies rather using the word ‘Malachi’ which means messenger. The priests and leaders had dishonored God by their pagan sacrifices. They had allowed intermarriages. It seemed that the wicked were leading blessed lives because they not only were prospering but seemed to escape any punishment for their evil ways. ‘Malachi’ asked the question: Where is the God of justice?’ He tells us in todays first passage that “the day is coming," the day of the Lord. But first the forerunner must come who prepares by prescribing repentance and true worship. The Gospel writers point out that John the Baptist is the forerunner who announces “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” (Matthew 3:2) Matthew tells how Jesus ushers this in as He began His Galilean ministry, “From that time on, Jesus began to speak and say, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’” Even though Malachi is preaching ‘doom and gloom,’ he concludes that the justice of God will shine like the rays of the sun and bring blessings for the faithful ones who lived their lives faithfully. “But for you, who fear (respect) my name, there will arise the sun of justice with its healing rays.” So how am I to live as I await these predicted days? Paul shares what is to be done in his letter to the Thessalonians.
Paul is telling the believers in Thessalonica that they had read Malachi and assumed that the ‘day of the Lord’ had already arrived so they had just stopped working. Why work if the end of it all was coming. Their lives had become messy, cluttered in disarray. “We hear that some are conducting themselves among you in a disorderly way, by not keeping busy but minding the business of others.” Paul suggests that when he was with them he lived the true life of a Christian so they should imitate his example. “…in toil and drudgery, night and day we worked, so as not to burden any of you…rather we wanted to present ourselves as a model for you, so that you might imitate us.” People of faith are to help others, forgive others, care for others and live as Jesus. Am I doing this? Do people leave our presence realizing that they have been touched by a person who is God’s like? Am I what I say I am? Do people see Jesus is me?
Today’s Gospel reading is Luke’s reflection on Mark’s chapter 13 that emphasizes the tremendous urgency of preparing for the final days. But there is a huge difference in the two. Mark was convinced that the end time and Jesus’s second coming had already happened and because of this there was a great urgency to react and be prepared. When Luke wrote today’s Gospel many years later, Jerusalem had been destroyed by the Romans but Jesus’ second coming had not come. As a result Luke is not as concerned in the urgency of living but of how people should be living each day: have a plan; know that God is with you and God loves you. Luke is writing in preparation for the destruction that has already come but this will not bring about the final end. He tells us how Jesus is warning his audience not to be deceived by what they see around them: wars and natural catastrophes. People are taking advantage of ‘bad times’ by predicting they know what this means and they have insight and revelations form God that these are indicators of what will happen. Jesus says “See that you not be deceived, for many will come in MY NAME, saying, ‘I am he,’ and ‘the time has come.’ Do not follow them?…By your perseverance you will secure your lives.” The earth is a strange place. Every different section of the world has natural disasters that occur after a pattern: snow in the North, heat in the South, tornados in the Central, earthquakes in the West. There seems to be no end to these famines, diseases and wars. These are signs from nature and from distorted humanity. I can so easily be the predictor of evil, or signs from God. Luke is telling each of us that we must find ways to encourage people not to be afraid and to focus on those things over which we have some influence. Living the Word has a beautiful summation paragraph today: “If we are busy about God’s business known throughout prophets like Malachi, or God’s Son, Jesus Christ, or preachers like Paul, we may still experience opposition, but we will not be destroyed. We will work until the Lord returns, whether at the end of all time or the end of our time on earth. We will be an example for those who experience injustice oppression, fear, or doubt. Busy about God’s business, the Son of Justice will heal our hurts, calm our fears, and set the world on fire with the healing warmth of God’s everlasting love. Make your bodies busy by imitating Jesus Christ.”
So I reflect on: • What thoughts and feelings of today’s reading about ‘end-times’ evoke in me? • How can I be busy about God’s business today? • I reflect on Proverbs 3: 5-6: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, on your own intelligence rely not; in all your ways be mindful of Him, and He will make straight your paths.” • When I come before the judgment seat of God at my death, what do I think God will ask of me? To what standards will I be held? • The gospel challenges me to rely on Jesus’ grace and power. How do I feel about this? Where does it frighten me? Does it give me hope? Why?
Sacred Space 2019 states: “It is remarkable that Jesus’ prophecy is being fulfilled in our own time. The level of unrest among people and even innate itself is frightening. The Christian message of ‘love your neighbor as yourself’ stands out in complete contrast to this scene. The little we can do is not in vain. Pope Francis has highlighted the need for compassion in our dealings with one another. We can see this intervention by Pope Francis as coming from Jesus when He said in the text above, ‘I will give you words and wisdom that none of your opponents can withstand or contradict.”
Saturday, November 16, 2019
Saturday, November 9, 2019
November 10, 2019
32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time C 2 Maccabees 7: 1-2, 9-14; 2 Thessalonians 2: 16 - 3:5; Luke 20: 27-38
Do I understand what faces me after death? Do I believe that God has described the place as being heaven and that God intends that every person has a place in heaven? Do I accept this? Do I believe that heaven is for the nice people that I believe are there and hell for the rotten people? Am I too simplistic with these thoughts? Do I want heaven to be an end of all my pain and sufferings or do I want it to be filled with the source of life and love? Am I afraid of what lies after life ends because I don’t know what awaits me?
Paul’s letter to the Romans chapter 8: 38-39 tells us: “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life,, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Msgr. Chet Michael felt that J.B. Phillips The New Testament in Modern English translated Paul’s letters most accurately. His translation of the above passage states: “I have become absolutely convinced that neither death nor life, neither messenger of Heaven nor monarch of earth, neither what happens today nor what may happen tomorrow, neither a power from on high nor a power from below, nor anything else in God’s whole world has any power to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord!”
Do I realize that this is God’s promise to each person? Do I realize that Jesus’ entire life tells us that God’s love is forever, specific and individualized for each person because everyone is special to God? The readings today zero in on these subjects telling us that the teachings of Jesus about the reign of God can be distorted even by well-intentioned Christian believers. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that the ‘coming Reign of God will be a kingdom of love, peace, and justice. Justice is defined as a virtue whereby one respects the rights of all persons living in harmony and equity with all.’ Jesus lived this reign and showed us how to do this. Heaven is its total forever fulfillment.
We look at the readings today starting with Maccabees. Today’s remarkable astounding passage shows a God-less ruler is bent on breaking the faith of true believers in God. A mother and her seven sons are given a terrible ultimatum to either choose to violate the dietary laws of their Jewish faith or choose to die. First they were tortured unmercifully (read the full passage in Chapter 7). Not only were they unwavering in their faith but they gave testimony to their total belief and love of God. All were horribly put to death and the last one proclaiming her love by dying was the mother. Their testimony challenged the earthly king because of his thirst for power. All power comes from God, the King of the Universe who has the power to raise all life to eternal life. The fourth son adds a warning that the wicked persecutors will not enjoy the resurrection to new life. I’m reminded of ISIS and its atrocities in one incident when three boys maybe ten or eleven where beheaded. As they died they said that they would not deny their faith in Jesus. Is my faith that precious and important to me?
Paul tells the Thessalonians that “…our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting encouragement and good hope through His grace, encourage your hearts and strengthen them in every good deed and word.” In this way people will see God’s glory. Paul Claudel, a spiritual writer,
has a wonderful passage says that ‘Jesus did not come to take away our suffering but to fill it with His presence. Paul also assures the people that the Lord’s second coming will happen. No one knows the time it will happen. But everyone must be ready for it by living the life of faith, hope and constant love. God will give everyone the strength needed to remain faithful . How am I doing in this? The scriptures remind us constantly and Jesus in His parables remind us not to slacken in our daily living of love. Am I taking the easy way encouraged always by the devil?
Today’s Gospel Jesus is addressing a different group, the Sadducees. They are mentioned so infrequently that we are not exactly clear who they are. They seem to be a very conservative aristocratic group closely associated with the Temple. They totally disagree with the Pharisees who believed in the resurrection of the dead; death is not the end. The Sadducees maintained very strict adherence to the Law which assured their purity. Today they attempted to embarrass Jesus by posting an impossible situation based on their own ignorance of bible teachings. Deuteronomy 25:5-10 states how a childless widow is to be protected by her husband’s oldest brother so that a male heir might be produced. So at the Resurrection of the dead they didn’t believe in whose wife the woman would be if seven brothers married her and there were no children? Resurrection is not where a person receives his or her life back. Jesus points out that the great patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are all referred to as belonging to the God of the living. Jesus’ example says that the rules governing our earthly behavior will become irrelevant when we experience resurrected life. Again, we see this in Paul’s letter to the Romans: “…eye has not seen nor ear heard…” Death is about life with God when God will be everything to us. Sunday Homily Helps offers three reflections: • “Our faith says that death brings an engagement with God whose face-to-face presence will be so to speak, ‘heaven’ — when God will be everything to us. • If God becomes, at death, our all in all,’ it would seem odd for someone who is experiencing God directly to say, ‘this is pretty good, but I can’t wait to get my husband/wife back.’ • The Paradox that Christian faith presents is that only through death can we experience the ultimate encounter with the living God, whose presence is eternal life.” • What would it take for me to have the courage of the three young boys? Of the seven brothers? Of the mother? • How do I stay focused on Christ each day to find strength and hope? • When it comes to heaven, we cannot understand we can only imagine. • When life is good, it is easy and my faith seems very strong. When life is filled with pain, suffering, even persecution and death I waver and am afraid. Lord it is only You who can fill me with Your grace.
Sacred Space 2019 states: “By answering the exaggerated story of the Sadducees, who did not believe the resurrection, Jesus points out that the resurrected state is a new creation by which we are sharing in the divine life of God. It is different from our present life but a continuation nonetheless of our personalities, as molded by our present life. To believe in your own personal resurrection is a wonderful gift in this life. It gives meaning to all that makes up your life. It is expressed also in our prayers that we offer for the repose of the souls of all those who have gone before us, which we emphasize during this month of November.”
Do I understand what faces me after death? Do I believe that God has described the place as being heaven and that God intends that every person has a place in heaven? Do I accept this? Do I believe that heaven is for the nice people that I believe are there and hell for the rotten people? Am I too simplistic with these thoughts? Do I want heaven to be an end of all my pain and sufferings or do I want it to be filled with the source of life and love? Am I afraid of what lies after life ends because I don’t know what awaits me?
Paul’s letter to the Romans chapter 8: 38-39 tells us: “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life,, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Msgr. Chet Michael felt that J.B. Phillips The New Testament in Modern English translated Paul’s letters most accurately. His translation of the above passage states: “I have become absolutely convinced that neither death nor life, neither messenger of Heaven nor monarch of earth, neither what happens today nor what may happen tomorrow, neither a power from on high nor a power from below, nor anything else in God’s whole world has any power to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord!”
Do I realize that this is God’s promise to each person? Do I realize that Jesus’ entire life tells us that God’s love is forever, specific and individualized for each person because everyone is special to God? The readings today zero in on these subjects telling us that the teachings of Jesus about the reign of God can be distorted even by well-intentioned Christian believers. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that the ‘coming Reign of God will be a kingdom of love, peace, and justice. Justice is defined as a virtue whereby one respects the rights of all persons living in harmony and equity with all.’ Jesus lived this reign and showed us how to do this. Heaven is its total forever fulfillment.
We look at the readings today starting with Maccabees. Today’s remarkable astounding passage shows a God-less ruler is bent on breaking the faith of true believers in God. A mother and her seven sons are given a terrible ultimatum to either choose to violate the dietary laws of their Jewish faith or choose to die. First they were tortured unmercifully (read the full passage in Chapter 7). Not only were they unwavering in their faith but they gave testimony to their total belief and love of God. All were horribly put to death and the last one proclaiming her love by dying was the mother. Their testimony challenged the earthly king because of his thirst for power. All power comes from God, the King of the Universe who has the power to raise all life to eternal life. The fourth son adds a warning that the wicked persecutors will not enjoy the resurrection to new life. I’m reminded of ISIS and its atrocities in one incident when three boys maybe ten or eleven where beheaded. As they died they said that they would not deny their faith in Jesus. Is my faith that precious and important to me?
Paul tells the Thessalonians that “…our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting encouragement and good hope through His grace, encourage your hearts and strengthen them in every good deed and word.” In this way people will see God’s glory. Paul Claudel, a spiritual writer,
has a wonderful passage says that ‘Jesus did not come to take away our suffering but to fill it with His presence. Paul also assures the people that the Lord’s second coming will happen. No one knows the time it will happen. But everyone must be ready for it by living the life of faith, hope and constant love. God will give everyone the strength needed to remain faithful . How am I doing in this? The scriptures remind us constantly and Jesus in His parables remind us not to slacken in our daily living of love. Am I taking the easy way encouraged always by the devil?
Today’s Gospel Jesus is addressing a different group, the Sadducees. They are mentioned so infrequently that we are not exactly clear who they are. They seem to be a very conservative aristocratic group closely associated with the Temple. They totally disagree with the Pharisees who believed in the resurrection of the dead; death is not the end. The Sadducees maintained very strict adherence to the Law which assured their purity. Today they attempted to embarrass Jesus by posting an impossible situation based on their own ignorance of bible teachings. Deuteronomy 25:5-10 states how a childless widow is to be protected by her husband’s oldest brother so that a male heir might be produced. So at the Resurrection of the dead they didn’t believe in whose wife the woman would be if seven brothers married her and there were no children? Resurrection is not where a person receives his or her life back. Jesus points out that the great patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are all referred to as belonging to the God of the living. Jesus’ example says that the rules governing our earthly behavior will become irrelevant when we experience resurrected life. Again, we see this in Paul’s letter to the Romans: “…eye has not seen nor ear heard…” Death is about life with God when God will be everything to us. Sunday Homily Helps offers three reflections: • “Our faith says that death brings an engagement with God whose face-to-face presence will be so to speak, ‘heaven’ — when God will be everything to us. • If God becomes, at death, our all in all,’ it would seem odd for someone who is experiencing God directly to say, ‘this is pretty good, but I can’t wait to get my husband/wife back.’ • The Paradox that Christian faith presents is that only through death can we experience the ultimate encounter with the living God, whose presence is eternal life.” • What would it take for me to have the courage of the three young boys? Of the seven brothers? Of the mother? • How do I stay focused on Christ each day to find strength and hope? • When it comes to heaven, we cannot understand we can only imagine. • When life is good, it is easy and my faith seems very strong. When life is filled with pain, suffering, even persecution and death I waver and am afraid. Lord it is only You who can fill me with Your grace.
Sacred Space 2019 states: “By answering the exaggerated story of the Sadducees, who did not believe the resurrection, Jesus points out that the resurrected state is a new creation by which we are sharing in the divine life of God. It is different from our present life but a continuation nonetheless of our personalities, as molded by our present life. To believe in your own personal resurrection is a wonderful gift in this life. It gives meaning to all that makes up your life. It is expressed also in our prayers that we offer for the repose of the souls of all those who have gone before us, which we emphasize during this month of November.”
Saturday, November 2, 2019
November 3, 2019
31st Sunday in Ordinary Time C Wisdom 11:22 - 12:2; 2 Thessalonians 1:11 - 2:2; Luke 19: 1-10
How does God feel about me? How do I feel about myself? Do they agree? I easily get a swelled head and prize my gifts higher than they are worth. I can easily put myself down. I can carry this image of myself before God that is based on fear of my sins and do not take into consideration God’s mercy. My former spiritual director who is now with the Lord would say ‘What is God best at?’ and then he would respond definitively, ‘His mercy’ So often we take an unrealistic view of ourselves which is contradicted by today’s readings. I have also heard colleagues say that some people’s sins are so great that they do not deserve God’s mercy. I wonder why they have a problem with God’s mercy, tenderness and forgiveness that are seen all throughout the pages of Scripture? Maybe this originates from the fact that all people struggle with forgiving people who have hurt them. The honest reflection that comes back to me is am I praying for those who hurt me, even hate me? Am I praying for people who are hurting, abusing, killing others in word or in deed? Why not? Do they not need my prayers as I do when I hurt others? We look at today’s readings to set us on the right track with the Good News Jesus constantly proclaimed that God loves all.
What is God like? Today’s passage gives a refreshing and detailed description of God’s mercy. It comes from God’s power, “But You have mercy on all, because You can do all things; and You overlook people’s sins that they may repent.” What a wonderful sentence; each line today holds a powerful reflection point into how God feels about me; when I’m at my best or at my worst. God is unlike earthly kings who act out of cruelty or with the threat of death to those who oppose them. God is not afraid of being conquered or overthrown. Rather God’s motivation is one of love for every bit of His creation. “For You love all things that are and loathe nothing You have made… O Lord and lover of souls.” The author shares how the world would cease to exist if God did not continually sustain it with His care and love. So what does God do when people, you and me, sin? He puts “reminders” into our heads and souls of His love so that we can abandon our wickedness and believe in Him and love as He needs us to love. The author gives God a unique title “lover of souls," What a wonderful way to describe our God who is constantly offering the opportunity for sinners to repent, reform their lives and make progress in their love for God and His creatures and creation. How am I doing?
Paul is sharing with the community at Thessalonica an example for everyone: that he is praying for them as we should pray for everyone, even those who are difficult. Paul tells them that God has chosen them. This is a special calling and they are not to be upset by the second coming of the Lord. God’s grace is constantly with us and is there to help us in any difficulty. God is not to be feared. Even at the end of our lives. If we have lived and loved as Jesus showed us, we are on the pathway to everlasting happiness. The Thessalonian Christians were alarmed since there was a false report that this second coming had arrived and they missed it. Paul states emphatically that no one knows when that coming will take place. The goal of every person is to continually live lives of love and be ready for this time of the Lord.
The story of Zacchaeus is a wonderful story which is filled with so many ‘hidden’ messages that are rich in meditation material. First of all the name Zacchaeus means ‘clean’. The Jewish people regarded tax collectors as anything but clean. Their profession was known for graft, dishonesty and crimes against the poor. But if we read this story carefully, the opposite is true. Now Zacchaeus really wanted to see Jesus, Luke doesn’t tell us why. Yet he was so determined, and he was short, he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see what Jesus looked like. This must have been quite a sight for this rich man to do such an embarrassing thing, but Zacchaeus didn’t see it in this way. Another interesting point, is that Jesus saw Zacchaeus first and tells him to come down because Jesus is staying at his house that day. The people had to be deeply confused. They knew that because of his occupation he was a sinner and worked for Rome and the Temple and why would Jesus support this ‘bad person’? But they are wrong. How often do we make judgments at first encounters and later realize it was ‘we’ who were wrong. Then we hear a true confession that the people observing certainly didn’t know: Zacchaeus boldly declares that he gives half of his possessions to the poor and if he has cheated anyone, he repays this four times over. The people were so set on condemning Zacchaeus because of their own prejudiced opinions they were not open to the truth. (Special note: the verbs are in the present tense, not in the future as they are frequently translated) Throughout the story we are called to reflect on seeing and not seeing. How often I am sightless by what I assume is right or what I want to be right while I am actually blind. Those who are accused of being blind actually see the truth. The last line of the story sets the major theme: “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost.” Zacchaeus was the recipient…each one of us is invited to receive the same love, mercy and forgiveness.
Some reflective points: • Do I accept or resist the description of God provided in Wisdom? Why? • When has awareness of God’s mercy changed me in a significant way? • We are completely known by God. God knows us intimately and thoroughly and loves us all the time. Do I believe this? • God knows all our struggles and brokenness and limitations better than we do and God loves us and helps us. Am I listening? • God knows that our weaknesses are not the whole story because God knows what we are capable of doing. Do I ask God for help or do I feel I can handle it myself? • At our Baptism, God calls each one to holiness, that we are on a sacred journey of being a saint. Do I give God access to those hidden parts of my struggle? • Are we willing to follow Jesus with our whole lives as Zacchaeus did even if some people don’t understand or mock me for my choices to love as Jesus did?
Sacred Space 2019 states: “Prayer helps us to strike up a deep relationship with Jesus, and He calls us by name. Life is never the same again after Jesus enters your house and builds up a friendship that is far more valuable than you could ever ask or imagine. Today, will you welcome His presence? Jesus accepts and praises Zacchaeus’s efforts to repair the damage he has done. He seems happy enough that he was giving one half of his money to the poor and did not ask him to give it all up. I ask Jesus to help me believe He accepts my poor efforts, as He proclaims that I too am a child of Abraham.”
How does God feel about me? How do I feel about myself? Do they agree? I easily get a swelled head and prize my gifts higher than they are worth. I can easily put myself down. I can carry this image of myself before God that is based on fear of my sins and do not take into consideration God’s mercy. My former spiritual director who is now with the Lord would say ‘What is God best at?’ and then he would respond definitively, ‘His mercy’ So often we take an unrealistic view of ourselves which is contradicted by today’s readings. I have also heard colleagues say that some people’s sins are so great that they do not deserve God’s mercy. I wonder why they have a problem with God’s mercy, tenderness and forgiveness that are seen all throughout the pages of Scripture? Maybe this originates from the fact that all people struggle with forgiving people who have hurt them. The honest reflection that comes back to me is am I praying for those who hurt me, even hate me? Am I praying for people who are hurting, abusing, killing others in word or in deed? Why not? Do they not need my prayers as I do when I hurt others? We look at today’s readings to set us on the right track with the Good News Jesus constantly proclaimed that God loves all.
What is God like? Today’s passage gives a refreshing and detailed description of God’s mercy. It comes from God’s power, “But You have mercy on all, because You can do all things; and You overlook people’s sins that they may repent.” What a wonderful sentence; each line today holds a powerful reflection point into how God feels about me; when I’m at my best or at my worst. God is unlike earthly kings who act out of cruelty or with the threat of death to those who oppose them. God is not afraid of being conquered or overthrown. Rather God’s motivation is one of love for every bit of His creation. “For You love all things that are and loathe nothing You have made… O Lord and lover of souls.” The author shares how the world would cease to exist if God did not continually sustain it with His care and love. So what does God do when people, you and me, sin? He puts “reminders” into our heads and souls of His love so that we can abandon our wickedness and believe in Him and love as He needs us to love. The author gives God a unique title “lover of souls," What a wonderful way to describe our God who is constantly offering the opportunity for sinners to repent, reform their lives and make progress in their love for God and His creatures and creation. How am I doing?
Paul is sharing with the community at Thessalonica an example for everyone: that he is praying for them as we should pray for everyone, even those who are difficult. Paul tells them that God has chosen them. This is a special calling and they are not to be upset by the second coming of the Lord. God’s grace is constantly with us and is there to help us in any difficulty. God is not to be feared. Even at the end of our lives. If we have lived and loved as Jesus showed us, we are on the pathway to everlasting happiness. The Thessalonian Christians were alarmed since there was a false report that this second coming had arrived and they missed it. Paul states emphatically that no one knows when that coming will take place. The goal of every person is to continually live lives of love and be ready for this time of the Lord.
The story of Zacchaeus is a wonderful story which is filled with so many ‘hidden’ messages that are rich in meditation material. First of all the name Zacchaeus means ‘clean’. The Jewish people regarded tax collectors as anything but clean. Their profession was known for graft, dishonesty and crimes against the poor. But if we read this story carefully, the opposite is true. Now Zacchaeus really wanted to see Jesus, Luke doesn’t tell us why. Yet he was so determined, and he was short, he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see what Jesus looked like. This must have been quite a sight for this rich man to do such an embarrassing thing, but Zacchaeus didn’t see it in this way. Another interesting point, is that Jesus saw Zacchaeus first and tells him to come down because Jesus is staying at his house that day. The people had to be deeply confused. They knew that because of his occupation he was a sinner and worked for Rome and the Temple and why would Jesus support this ‘bad person’? But they are wrong. How often do we make judgments at first encounters and later realize it was ‘we’ who were wrong. Then we hear a true confession that the people observing certainly didn’t know: Zacchaeus boldly declares that he gives half of his possessions to the poor and if he has cheated anyone, he repays this four times over. The people were so set on condemning Zacchaeus because of their own prejudiced opinions they were not open to the truth. (Special note: the verbs are in the present tense, not in the future as they are frequently translated) Throughout the story we are called to reflect on seeing and not seeing. How often I am sightless by what I assume is right or what I want to be right while I am actually blind. Those who are accused of being blind actually see the truth. The last line of the story sets the major theme: “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost.” Zacchaeus was the recipient…each one of us is invited to receive the same love, mercy and forgiveness.
Some reflective points: • Do I accept or resist the description of God provided in Wisdom? Why? • When has awareness of God’s mercy changed me in a significant way? • We are completely known by God. God knows us intimately and thoroughly and loves us all the time. Do I believe this? • God knows all our struggles and brokenness and limitations better than we do and God loves us and helps us. Am I listening? • God knows that our weaknesses are not the whole story because God knows what we are capable of doing. Do I ask God for help or do I feel I can handle it myself? • At our Baptism, God calls each one to holiness, that we are on a sacred journey of being a saint. Do I give God access to those hidden parts of my struggle? • Are we willing to follow Jesus with our whole lives as Zacchaeus did even if some people don’t understand or mock me for my choices to love as Jesus did?
Sacred Space 2019 states: “Prayer helps us to strike up a deep relationship with Jesus, and He calls us by name. Life is never the same again after Jesus enters your house and builds up a friendship that is far more valuable than you could ever ask or imagine. Today, will you welcome His presence? Jesus accepts and praises Zacchaeus’s efforts to repair the damage he has done. He seems happy enough that he was giving one half of his money to the poor and did not ask him to give it all up. I ask Jesus to help me believe He accepts my poor efforts, as He proclaims that I too am a child of Abraham.”
Saturday, October 26, 2019
October 27, 2019
30th Sunday in Ordinary Time C Sirach 35: 12-14, 16-18; 2 Timothy 4: 6-8, 16-18; Luke 18: 9-14
My dad would use a variety of sayings/quotes and I have no idea if they were his own or from another not-so famous person or famous person. I preface them by saying: ‘my dad used to say.’ One that fits in with today’s readings is ‘…one might say to you, ‘I use to be proud but now I don’t have any faults.’ I certainly have seen this attitude. Probably it has found its way in me too.
We will be ‘celebrating Halloween’ this week. Now it is restricted and protected in all areas, I hope, so that our little ones can have fun and get dressed up while parents try to control their input of sweets. The idea of disguising who one is goes back to even before Jesus’ time. Actors would put on masks to ‘pretend’ to be someone else. The Greek word for hypocrite means actor. The actors would wear large masks to mark which character they were playing. This word became extended to any person who was wearing a figurative mask and pretending to be someone or something they were not. The history of Halloween goes back to a pagan festival called Samhain. The word halloween comes from All Hallows Eve and means hallowed evening. Hundreds of years ago, people dressed up as saints and went door to door in costumes and trick-or-treating.
Today’s readings asks us to dig deeper into ourselves and see if we are the people God intended us to be or are we being who we’re not. The New American Bible tells us that “Sirach was a sage who lived in Jerusalem, was thoroughly imbued with love for the law, the priesthood, the temple and divine worship. As a wise and experienced observer of life he addressed himself to his contemporaries with the motive of helping them to maintain religious faith and integrity through study of the holy books, and through tradition.” Today he is showing us the difference between God’s justice and the justice of mortals. In the human world justice can be distorted by personal agendas. Bribes can change a verdict. Personal opinions can hide a valid decision. This is not God’s way. God plays no favorites. Wealth has no sway nor does sympathy for the poor. But those who are weak, oppressed, homeless, widowed, in pain and need receive God’s love and support. Am I mindful of the needy? Do I look only to myself and my own needs? Is my world centered on me?
Paul is elderly and in prison. He is pondering his future and looking at his past. He is confident of his life living in Christ. Even though it seems that all have abandoned him and no-one was there to defend him in court and no one to champion his cause, God strengthened him. He was “rescued from the lion’s mouth” meaning that God saved him from death in the Roman arena. God is with Him every minute as God is with each one of us every minute. Paul tells us that we should treat others as God does. We are to be people of justice and love that attend to the needs of all and seeks their good. We must be conscious of the needs of people who come into our lives and not oblivious of them. We are not fake actors in a play. We are living the real drama of life. This can be sad or happy, uplifting or disastrous, messy and ugly or made beautiful by seeing the good done to those in need. Am I an actor or am I a participant? Do I watch and stay aloof or do I get my hands dirty and be a lover?
The very first verse of the gospel tells us that Jesus is addressing those who are convinced of their own righteousness and who despise everyone else. ‘I am right, I do not do wrong. Come and see the great me. I take care of numero uno, me alone. Jesus sets up the contrast between a Pharisee and a tax collector. His purpose: to show that what appears acceptable from a human point of view is quite different from God’s perspective. The Pharisee is the first to speak and he immediately separates himself from the ‘rest of the world’. Those others are greedy, dishonest and adulterous. He doesn’t do those things, the tax collector certainly does. He continues to show how great he is in his own eyes by his charity and fasting. He doesn’t make himself attractive to others, he doesn’t want to…I like myself just the way I am. To top it off, he doesn’t even notice what he is doing and how he is judging. The tax collector now speaks. He doesn’t like the person he has been, he just asks God to be merciful. TAKE NOTE. How often when we sin, especially those sins that come powerfully when we are weak and troubled, just bring us to our knees. In our great agony and need we beg God’s forgiveness, Lord please help me I’ve fallen so low AGAIN. Jesus is telling us He’s with us with His care, mercy and forgiveness. The Tax collector trusted in God, the Pharisee only in himself.
The Pharisee was probably telling the truth, other than his opening line. He may have very well avoided greed and adultery. He no doubt fasted twice a week and paid tithes on all his possessions. He was afraid really because he just wanted to make sure that God knew all he had done. What he had failed to do was notice the people in need who crossed his path. Does he realize God’s sees others differently and much more accurately? Sunday Homily Helps for today gives us a reflection stating that we tend to hold back because we fear God might ask too much of us. It states: • “A stingy love can protect us from that possibility. God has received quite enough from us, we may tell ourselves. • Genuine love is always honest. It never enables someone else’s false image of himself or herself. • Has stingy love ever made anyone a saint? • This Friday we celebrate the feast of All Saints. Which of them is recognized as a saint because she or he prayed as the Pharisee did in today’s Gospel? • In today’s first reading, we hear, ‘The prayer of the lowly pierces the clouds.’ What matters is not social status but radical honesty. • In today’s second reading, St. Paul says, “I have kept the faith.’ Even so, his conversion was not complete until he drew his last breath. New challenges always await faithful disciples of Jesus.” I also look at: • How I describe the quality of humility? Does this mean I am weak? Does it mean I should put others before myself? • Being REAL means modeling the humility of Jesus in my life… HOW AM I DOING? • Am I being real to the person I am called to be or am I living make-believe?
Sacred Space 2019 states: “In what ways am I tempted to ‘regard others with contempt’? Sharing gossip about someone I don’t like? Posting criticism or sarcasm about individuals or groups of people on social media? I pray for wisdom to see my own heart and its deceptions. How easy it is to measure our goodness by the things we do and not by what fills our heart. I ask for the grace of a pure heart.”
My dad would use a variety of sayings/quotes and I have no idea if they were his own or from another not-so famous person or famous person. I preface them by saying: ‘my dad used to say.’ One that fits in with today’s readings is ‘…one might say to you, ‘I use to be proud but now I don’t have any faults.’ I certainly have seen this attitude. Probably it has found its way in me too.
We will be ‘celebrating Halloween’ this week. Now it is restricted and protected in all areas, I hope, so that our little ones can have fun and get dressed up while parents try to control their input of sweets. The idea of disguising who one is goes back to even before Jesus’ time. Actors would put on masks to ‘pretend’ to be someone else. The Greek word for hypocrite means actor. The actors would wear large masks to mark which character they were playing. This word became extended to any person who was wearing a figurative mask and pretending to be someone or something they were not. The history of Halloween goes back to a pagan festival called Samhain. The word halloween comes from All Hallows Eve and means hallowed evening. Hundreds of years ago, people dressed up as saints and went door to door in costumes and trick-or-treating.
Today’s readings asks us to dig deeper into ourselves and see if we are the people God intended us to be or are we being who we’re not. The New American Bible tells us that “Sirach was a sage who lived in Jerusalem, was thoroughly imbued with love for the law, the priesthood, the temple and divine worship. As a wise and experienced observer of life he addressed himself to his contemporaries with the motive of helping them to maintain religious faith and integrity through study of the holy books, and through tradition.” Today he is showing us the difference between God’s justice and the justice of mortals. In the human world justice can be distorted by personal agendas. Bribes can change a verdict. Personal opinions can hide a valid decision. This is not God’s way. God plays no favorites. Wealth has no sway nor does sympathy for the poor. But those who are weak, oppressed, homeless, widowed, in pain and need receive God’s love and support. Am I mindful of the needy? Do I look only to myself and my own needs? Is my world centered on me?
Paul is elderly and in prison. He is pondering his future and looking at his past. He is confident of his life living in Christ. Even though it seems that all have abandoned him and no-one was there to defend him in court and no one to champion his cause, God strengthened him. He was “rescued from the lion’s mouth” meaning that God saved him from death in the Roman arena. God is with Him every minute as God is with each one of us every minute. Paul tells us that we should treat others as God does. We are to be people of justice and love that attend to the needs of all and seeks their good. We must be conscious of the needs of people who come into our lives and not oblivious of them. We are not fake actors in a play. We are living the real drama of life. This can be sad or happy, uplifting or disastrous, messy and ugly or made beautiful by seeing the good done to those in need. Am I an actor or am I a participant? Do I watch and stay aloof or do I get my hands dirty and be a lover?
The very first verse of the gospel tells us that Jesus is addressing those who are convinced of their own righteousness and who despise everyone else. ‘I am right, I do not do wrong. Come and see the great me. I take care of numero uno, me alone. Jesus sets up the contrast between a Pharisee and a tax collector. His purpose: to show that what appears acceptable from a human point of view is quite different from God’s perspective. The Pharisee is the first to speak and he immediately separates himself from the ‘rest of the world’. Those others are greedy, dishonest and adulterous. He doesn’t do those things, the tax collector certainly does. He continues to show how great he is in his own eyes by his charity and fasting. He doesn’t make himself attractive to others, he doesn’t want to…I like myself just the way I am. To top it off, he doesn’t even notice what he is doing and how he is judging. The tax collector now speaks. He doesn’t like the person he has been, he just asks God to be merciful. TAKE NOTE. How often when we sin, especially those sins that come powerfully when we are weak and troubled, just bring us to our knees. In our great agony and need we beg God’s forgiveness, Lord please help me I’ve fallen so low AGAIN. Jesus is telling us He’s with us with His care, mercy and forgiveness. The Tax collector trusted in God, the Pharisee only in himself.
The Pharisee was probably telling the truth, other than his opening line. He may have very well avoided greed and adultery. He no doubt fasted twice a week and paid tithes on all his possessions. He was afraid really because he just wanted to make sure that God knew all he had done. What he had failed to do was notice the people in need who crossed his path. Does he realize God’s sees others differently and much more accurately? Sunday Homily Helps for today gives us a reflection stating that we tend to hold back because we fear God might ask too much of us. It states: • “A stingy love can protect us from that possibility. God has received quite enough from us, we may tell ourselves. • Genuine love is always honest. It never enables someone else’s false image of himself or herself. • Has stingy love ever made anyone a saint? • This Friday we celebrate the feast of All Saints. Which of them is recognized as a saint because she or he prayed as the Pharisee did in today’s Gospel? • In today’s first reading, we hear, ‘The prayer of the lowly pierces the clouds.’ What matters is not social status but radical honesty. • In today’s second reading, St. Paul says, “I have kept the faith.’ Even so, his conversion was not complete until he drew his last breath. New challenges always await faithful disciples of Jesus.” I also look at: • How I describe the quality of humility? Does this mean I am weak? Does it mean I should put others before myself? • Being REAL means modeling the humility of Jesus in my life… HOW AM I DOING? • Am I being real to the person I am called to be or am I living make-believe?
Sacred Space 2019 states: “In what ways am I tempted to ‘regard others with contempt’? Sharing gossip about someone I don’t like? Posting criticism or sarcasm about individuals or groups of people on social media? I pray for wisdom to see my own heart and its deceptions. How easy it is to measure our goodness by the things we do and not by what fills our heart. I ask for the grace of a pure heart.”
Saturday, October 19, 2019
October 20, 2019
29th Sunday in Ordinary Time C Exodus 17: 8-13; 2 Timothy 3: 14-4:2; Luke 18: 1-8
What is my prayer life like? Am I satisfied with it? I tell people who come to me that the way they are praying right now is the right way for them to be praying. But do I listen to my own advice? I find myself trying to ‘dicker’ with my approach to prayer. I have a tendency to add prayers, but the question is do I ever eliminate some prayers? I can keep on adding and adding, which means more time spent in ‘saying words’ which takes away from me being still before the Lord. Is this healthy? Could it be the devil is distracting me away from quiet prayer? Jesus is telling me today to “pray always.” How can I possibly do this with my hectic schedule? Perhaps it’s a good idea to take time and revisit what prayer means to me…this is the content of todays scripture passages.
Exodus continues the Israelites journey to Mt. Sinai where God enters a covenant with them: ‘I will be your God, you will be My people.’ They have already experienced God’s love and care and will continue to do so. But they have to learn how to rely upon God and not themselves. The age old temptation from the devil that is somehow emblazoned in their minds and mine, ‘I do what I want to do because I want to do it.’ Moses is teaching them that if they want to make any spiritual progress they have to remain faithful to the Lord. God continues to take care of them and today God is protecting them on the battlefield. King Amalek wants to conquer this riffraff group and make a name for himself. The battle proceeds. Moses has used his ‘famous miracle staff’, today he holds it up so the soldiers can see it. As long as they can do this they are successful in battle, but it is hard holding it up. When Moses rests his arms, his soldiers are losing. Aaron and Hur come and hold up his arms. The Israelites are victorious. They make a vow to the Lord to continue to ‘be His people’ and be loyal and faithful to their God.
Paul is urging Timothy to remember what he has learned and discovered about God. God has always been in his life. From infancy we have known stories from and the purpose of the Sacred Scriptures. This is God’s encounter down through the ages of God’s plan for all to be united in love and that all will experience this love forever in heaven. “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful…” Do I take time to read and reflect on it or do I consider it ‘old stuff’ and don’t spend time to receive insight from their faith stories? Do I realize that placing myself in a Scripture scene makes God’s presence alive in me?
Next we come to the Gospel and Jesus’ parable on the necessity to pray all the time “without becoming weary.” Luke was a gentile and writing to the gentile community. They do not have a history of prayer in the Christian sense, since they never knew Jesus and more than likely never saw Him but just heard stories about Him. Today’s first story is about the corrupt judge who doesn’t care about anyone but himself. The widow is persistent and won’t give in. The judge is just plain tired of her and wants to get rid of her so he decides in her favor. This has nothing to do with the rule of law. The point is that God just will not abandon any of His people. He is always present and views each of His people special, important and loved. He doesn’t ever give up on us; do I give up on God? Pray and leave the rest to God.
When we look at our prayers we’re asking God to grant or give or make something possible. This is called a prayer of petition because I’m asking something for myself. Intercessory prayer is when we’re praying for someone else. When things are going well, all is fine but when disruptions happen we wonder where God is…why isn’t He listening…doesn’t He care about me…when will He answer?
These prayers are ‘me’ talking…do I give God a chance to talk? Do I realize that the purpose of prayer is to deepen my relationship with God who has always loved me? Not only that, but there isn’t anything that I can do that will change God’s attitude of love for me. So prayer is a way to discover this loving God who is in love with me. Do I still sin…yes…does God forgive me…yes if I ask…what is God best at…His mercy. I am a loved, forgiven, redeemed sinner. What a beautiful way to start this deepened relationship with God.
Prayer is more than what I was taught as a youth. I ‘spoke to God’…’now I lay me down to sleep’…I pray for mommy, daddy…and a whole list of people. I felt that the more people I prayed for could delay my going to bed. I knew that God listened. I remember praying to get a pony…that never happened. I prayed for a new bike…that came. What image was being placed in my mind about God…maybe that He could do anything for me…and it all depended on what I wanted? If this was so, was I really able to listen to God or have a relationship? My prayer life was stifled. Msgr. Stephen Rossetti in his wonderful book, Fire on the Earth, Daily Living in the Kingdom of God tells this wonderful story. “After a worship service an older woman said that she is constantly aware of God’s presence; it is almost palpable. When I asked her what it felt like, she said, ‘Well it is hard to describe. I have a great sense of peace. I can feel that God is with me. At times, this presence becomes so strong, I am filled with joy and people tell me that my face seems to radiate His presence.’ ‘Has it changed your perspective of the world?’ I asked her. ‘Yes,’ she responded, ‘it is as if the world has a new dimension to it, a deeper dimension. I did not realize it before, but my vision of the world used to be two dimensional —flat. Now, everything is intense and alive. All creation sparkles with life!’“ This peace is all around and within me unless I turn it away or overthrow it. This woman had a great awareness of God. She knew God is present. He is and He cares. God isn’t hidden, He’s present all the time. Look around at the beauties in creation…in people…in love that is showered upon you and people in dire need. These ‘faith’ stories abound all over all the time. Prayer is finding that quite space in my heart and sharing my love and my life with this God who is always ‘crazy in love me all the time.’ And, as Msgr Chet Michael said all the time: “Gratitude, gratitude, gratitude…and more gratitude.”
So I reflect on: • Am I consistently persistent in prayer? Give examples to this… • How do I respond when God seems absent or my prayer seems useless? • Do I realize that God will always answer my prayer? When I don’t receive an answer in the way I want, do I search to discover how God is answering me? • How can I learn to trust God more? Is trust part of persistence?
Sacred Space 2019 states: “‘Will not God grant justice to His chosen ones who cry to Him day and night?’ I join those crying for justice, bringing to my prayer some situation of deep-seated conflict or injustice I know well. The persistence of my prayer indicates the depth of my need. Even if I find myself asking for what I need or desire. I take time to see how God may already be offering me some answer.”
What is my prayer life like? Am I satisfied with it? I tell people who come to me that the way they are praying right now is the right way for them to be praying. But do I listen to my own advice? I find myself trying to ‘dicker’ with my approach to prayer. I have a tendency to add prayers, but the question is do I ever eliminate some prayers? I can keep on adding and adding, which means more time spent in ‘saying words’ which takes away from me being still before the Lord. Is this healthy? Could it be the devil is distracting me away from quiet prayer? Jesus is telling me today to “pray always.” How can I possibly do this with my hectic schedule? Perhaps it’s a good idea to take time and revisit what prayer means to me…this is the content of todays scripture passages.
Exodus continues the Israelites journey to Mt. Sinai where God enters a covenant with them: ‘I will be your God, you will be My people.’ They have already experienced God’s love and care and will continue to do so. But they have to learn how to rely upon God and not themselves. The age old temptation from the devil that is somehow emblazoned in their minds and mine, ‘I do what I want to do because I want to do it.’ Moses is teaching them that if they want to make any spiritual progress they have to remain faithful to the Lord. God continues to take care of them and today God is protecting them on the battlefield. King Amalek wants to conquer this riffraff group and make a name for himself. The battle proceeds. Moses has used his ‘famous miracle staff’, today he holds it up so the soldiers can see it. As long as they can do this they are successful in battle, but it is hard holding it up. When Moses rests his arms, his soldiers are losing. Aaron and Hur come and hold up his arms. The Israelites are victorious. They make a vow to the Lord to continue to ‘be His people’ and be loyal and faithful to their God.
Paul is urging Timothy to remember what he has learned and discovered about God. God has always been in his life. From infancy we have known stories from and the purpose of the Sacred Scriptures. This is God’s encounter down through the ages of God’s plan for all to be united in love and that all will experience this love forever in heaven. “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful…” Do I take time to read and reflect on it or do I consider it ‘old stuff’ and don’t spend time to receive insight from their faith stories? Do I realize that placing myself in a Scripture scene makes God’s presence alive in me?
Next we come to the Gospel and Jesus’ parable on the necessity to pray all the time “without becoming weary.” Luke was a gentile and writing to the gentile community. They do not have a history of prayer in the Christian sense, since they never knew Jesus and more than likely never saw Him but just heard stories about Him. Today’s first story is about the corrupt judge who doesn’t care about anyone but himself. The widow is persistent and won’t give in. The judge is just plain tired of her and wants to get rid of her so he decides in her favor. This has nothing to do with the rule of law. The point is that God just will not abandon any of His people. He is always present and views each of His people special, important and loved. He doesn’t ever give up on us; do I give up on God? Pray and leave the rest to God.
When we look at our prayers we’re asking God to grant or give or make something possible. This is called a prayer of petition because I’m asking something for myself. Intercessory prayer is when we’re praying for someone else. When things are going well, all is fine but when disruptions happen we wonder where God is…why isn’t He listening…doesn’t He care about me…when will He answer?
These prayers are ‘me’ talking…do I give God a chance to talk? Do I realize that the purpose of prayer is to deepen my relationship with God who has always loved me? Not only that, but there isn’t anything that I can do that will change God’s attitude of love for me. So prayer is a way to discover this loving God who is in love with me. Do I still sin…yes…does God forgive me…yes if I ask…what is God best at…His mercy. I am a loved, forgiven, redeemed sinner. What a beautiful way to start this deepened relationship with God.
Prayer is more than what I was taught as a youth. I ‘spoke to God’…’now I lay me down to sleep’…I pray for mommy, daddy…and a whole list of people. I felt that the more people I prayed for could delay my going to bed. I knew that God listened. I remember praying to get a pony…that never happened. I prayed for a new bike…that came. What image was being placed in my mind about God…maybe that He could do anything for me…and it all depended on what I wanted? If this was so, was I really able to listen to God or have a relationship? My prayer life was stifled. Msgr. Stephen Rossetti in his wonderful book, Fire on the Earth, Daily Living in the Kingdom of God tells this wonderful story. “After a worship service an older woman said that she is constantly aware of God’s presence; it is almost palpable. When I asked her what it felt like, she said, ‘Well it is hard to describe. I have a great sense of peace. I can feel that God is with me. At times, this presence becomes so strong, I am filled with joy and people tell me that my face seems to radiate His presence.’ ‘Has it changed your perspective of the world?’ I asked her. ‘Yes,’ she responded, ‘it is as if the world has a new dimension to it, a deeper dimension. I did not realize it before, but my vision of the world used to be two dimensional —flat. Now, everything is intense and alive. All creation sparkles with life!’“ This peace is all around and within me unless I turn it away or overthrow it. This woman had a great awareness of God. She knew God is present. He is and He cares. God isn’t hidden, He’s present all the time. Look around at the beauties in creation…in people…in love that is showered upon you and people in dire need. These ‘faith’ stories abound all over all the time. Prayer is finding that quite space in my heart and sharing my love and my life with this God who is always ‘crazy in love me all the time.’ And, as Msgr Chet Michael said all the time: “Gratitude, gratitude, gratitude…and more gratitude.”
So I reflect on: • Am I consistently persistent in prayer? Give examples to this… • How do I respond when God seems absent or my prayer seems useless? • Do I realize that God will always answer my prayer? When I don’t receive an answer in the way I want, do I search to discover how God is answering me? • How can I learn to trust God more? Is trust part of persistence?
Sacred Space 2019 states: “‘Will not God grant justice to His chosen ones who cry to Him day and night?’ I join those crying for justice, bringing to my prayer some situation of deep-seated conflict or injustice I know well. The persistence of my prayer indicates the depth of my need. Even if I find myself asking for what I need or desire. I take time to see how God may already be offering me some answer.”
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