Surprise like no other

Maybe it was an element of surprise, for this poor old man. “Now, Master, you may let your servant go, in peace, according to your word”. It took the eyes of an old man and the faith of an old woman to recognize that the Lord was in their presence.  These two had been waiting, they had been preparing for His coming, and the world had waited and prepared for hundreds of years. Surprise, and maybe amazement for them both.

I don’t know if there will be an element of surprise for us today, or anytime soon, but, Like Simeon and Anna, we need to prepare ourselves for an encounter with the Lord. 

Jesus has many ways of surprising us, and there are many ways to encounter Jesus in our lives.  Every creature we meet, every person we speak to, everyone who is around is an encounter with. As we all know, the Holy Spirit works in mysterious ways.

The poor and helpless, the sick and dying, and those in prison, hospitals and the homebound; our co-workers, both holy and unholy people, Jesus is in every one of those souls. Maybe that can be an element of surprise for us.

Jesus is always waiting for us in his temple, every one of his brothers and sisters. He is in the Eucharist, waiting for us to embrace him and hold him close to our hearts.  His love, stronger than any sin we may commit – will purify us.  Then like Simeon, we will be filled with his grace and peace.  Like Anna, we will give thanks to God.

Yes, preparation is the key, for the element of surprise may not be today, may not be in our meeting of a homeless person, may not be in the Scripture verse we read, but our element of surprise, may be that day we are judged by our Lord.  

Blessed to All

How blessed and pure she was, sinless in God’s eyes.  There can be no room for sin when you are “full of grace”. “And all generations will call me Blessed”, she cries with joy to her cousin Elizabeth. Yes, all will call her blessed.

 A beautiful woman who said “Yes” for all mankind, and then with that trust and humility in her God, lived a life as the Mother of the Savior of the world.  “And Mary kept all these things reflecting on them in her heart”

Saint Alphonsus Liguori says, that the most holy Virgin saw her Son in the crib of Bethlehem, and believed Him the Creator of the world.

She saw Him born and believed Him eternal, she saw Him poor and in need of food, and believed Him the Lord of the universe. She heard Him weep, and believed Him the joy of Paradise.

 And yes, she saw Him in death, despised and crucified, and, although faith wavered in others, Mary remained firm in the belief that He was God. Yes "Mary stood, supported by her faith."

Her faith is the pillar of strength that when we imitate her, becomes our strength as well. And that strength provides the stepping stones to receive all the other virtues of our Blessed Mother, that model of perfection.

So many times, God asks each of us to "cast out into the deep", enter the unknown, just like He did with Mary. These are challenges, and these challenges, when accepted, imitate Mary’s trust, Mary’s unshakable faith, moving us forward knowing that He is with us every step of our journey.

Mary carried Jesus within her body, the first Tabernacle.  Our own body and soul, when prepared, can receive Jesus as the Living Waters, needed to refresh and nourish us for our journey.  

Today, let us thank God for all He has done in our lives and for all that He has blessed us with, and for that he will wants to do if we allow him to live in our heart.

Mary, our Blessed Mother, Queen of Heaven and earth, pray for us to be imitators of your virtues.

I think it smells like bacon

It’s large puffy white clouds. It has the smell of lavender, or the fresh scent of clothes hanging in the day time sun. You can see forever. You are with all your love ones. These are some of the answers I get when I ask kids, “What is heaven like”.

I suppose I look at it a bit differently. It’s when everything just seems to be working the way it should, the body, the mind, and the spirit. And a true taste of heaven is family. Just this past summer, my wife and I went camping with some of our children and grandchildren.  It was the first time in over twenty years and we went hard core; in a tent, on an air mattress, and in a sleeping bag.

But, what a beautiful experience, to wake up to the smell of fresh coffee brewing on a camp fire. It doesn’t get any better than that. That is, until the aroma of hickory cured bacon fills the entire camp ground as it sizzles on that same open fire. I know not all will agree, but to me “That moment was a taste of heaven”

And, I really believe God gives us those moments, blessings from heaven, to help us reflect on his generosity.  And, to thank him for all the wonderful gifts he provides.

Just this very day is another gift from our Lord. It is this very day that Jesus tells us. "You must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect". Yes, every day is a gift to be used wisely, to prepare and to be thankful.

God gives us all an allotted time on this earth, a definite time in which we are to achieve His divine plan for our souls.

No, we don’t know when Jesus will come, so we live each day in hope. As St. Paul has said “if we hope for what we do not see we wait with endurance”.

What will heaven be like? Who really knows? But, I’ll bet it’s worth living for.

Deep Waters

Sometimes the closest people in our lives can have the biggest influence on our goals, both positive or negative.  We all want advice, but the best advice is supportive but yet provides us with direction.

This story I heard somewhere is powerful and enlightening. There was a famous composer and pianist who was scheduled to play in a concert hall. A huge event with black tuxedos and long evening dresses for the high society of this city.

There too, was a mother, who wanted so much for her nine year old son to learn how to play classical piano, but she couldn’t get her son to practice on a regular basis. She thought, that if her son could hear this composer play, it would interest him in wanting to spend more time at the piano.

As the mother began to engage in conversation with some of the other woman there in the hall, her son became quite restless and when he saw no one was looking took the opportunity to tour the hall. This venture brought him up to the stage, and to the very piano that the great composer would be playing in just a few short minutes.

So, he sat down, made himself comfortable and started to play chopsticks which brought the attention of the crowd to the little boy on the stage. They were annoyed, and began shouting. “Get that boy off the stage, who’d bring a kid that young in here, where’s his mother”.

Backstage the composer overheard the sounds coming from his piano, as well as the comments from the audience and grabbed his coat and rushed towards the stage.

He knew what was happening. Without a word of announcement, he stooped over and behind the boy, reached around both sides and began to play chopsticks along with the boy. As the two of them played the composer kept whispering in the boy’s ear, “Keep going, don’t quit, keep playing, you can do it”.

They played for fifteen minutes, just the two of them and nothing else mattered. Yes, it was that encouragement that pushed the boy forward and he passed the test of faith in himself.

We are all tested in life, our personal life and our spiritual life. But if we first, reflect on our goals with the help of God, then we act with faith that God is with us, we will pass the test of life. As God himself tells us, “When we go through deep waters, I will be with you”

This Doctor makes house calls

Remember the old saying, “Is there a doctor in the house”? It’s usually said by someone after seeing another person become ill or in an accident. And, I’m sure we all can agree, doctors rarely make house calls any longer.

But in many of our readings in Scripture, Jesus is the doctor in the house and one who makes house calls. And the most powerful doctor you’ll ever find.

The Gospels can be full of surprises and in one particular Gospel it is a demon, possessing the body of a man, who reveals who Jesus is to us and he says, “I know who you are, you are the Holy One from God”. It is a demon who understands the almighty power of Jesus. And our Lord responds with authority, “Quiet, come out of him. The Doctor is at work, the healing is beginning, the man is saved.

We need to examine how we personally look at Jesus and his power. The doctor of our soul. His power can save our lives?  His power can heal us.  With this power, we will feel the love and the embrace of the one who forgives us. And with that forgiveness, a new life begins.

Yes, evil is here in this world and uncleaned spirits roam the earth. We are in the thick of a battle called spiritual warfare, but we must believe that God is more powerful than any evil. And, it is He, who has the power to heal any soul that calls out to him.

He thrives on house calls, so invite Jesus to make your heart his home. Make Jesus your spiritual doctor.

Knocking on my door

Teach us how to pray, the Apostles asked. And Jesus did. Jesus prayed before every miracle, before every decision, and he taught his followers how to pray.

The power of prayer and the love of the Father for us, his adopted children is our true faith. And what a spectacular prayer Jesus has given us to pray. It is a prayer to honor God the Father, to thank him for everything he has ever given us. It is a prayer asking for guidance, deliverance and forgiveness.

The Bible tells us to pray always and Jesus tells us to go into our hearts, our inner rooms, close the door and pray. But, we need to be persistent in prayer, pray as often as we can with a heart focused on God.  

Jesus told us something else. He said, “knock and the door will be open to you” He said, “seek and you will find, and ask and it will be given to you”. Yes, we knock, we seek and we will find the Kingdom of God, but only through persistence.

God says knock, he doesn’t say tap, God says seek, he doesn’t say peek, God says ask, he doesn’t say wish. When we pray, we believe, we surrender, and we put our prayer in God’s hands. Praise God always.

 each us how to pray, the Apostles asked. And Jesus did. Jesus prayed before every miracle, before every decision, and he taught his followers how to pray.

The power of prayer and the love of the Father for us, his adopted children is our true faith. And what a spectacular prayer Jesus has given us to pray. It is a prayer to honor God the Father, to thank him for everything he has ever given us. It is a prayer asking for guidance, deliverance and forgiveness.

The Bible tells us to pray always and Jesus tells us to go into our hearts, our inner rooms, close the door and pray. But, we need to be persistent in prayer, pray as often as we can with a heart focused on God.  

Jesus told us something else. He said, “knock and it will be given to you” He said, “seek and you will find, and ask and it will be given to you”. Yes, we knock, we seek and we will find the Kingdom of God, but only through persistence.

God says knock, he doesn’t say tap, God says seek, he doesn’t say peek, God says ask, he doesn’t say wish. When we pray, we believe, we surrender, and we put our prayer in God’s hands. Praise God always.

He never forgets our name

There is place I know where you can go and everybody knows your name. It is on Beacon Street in Boston at a place called Cheers. Yes, it’s nice when everyone knows your name. That’s not always the case when you are in a grocery store.

How many, when you are in the supermarket or a department store, and ready to go down an aisle, see someone further down you know, but can’t remember their name.
So, how many would avoid that aisle, and hope to come back to it later?  Then the rest of the time shopping, you’re mentally going through the alphabet searching for their name, just in case you do run into them at the checkout counter.

It gets worst the older you get, people whose names you forgot are in every aisle. I end up just going around the perimeter of the store.
Or how embarrassing if you are with a friend or your spouse and you run into that same person in the aisle whose name you forget and have to introduce them.  You wish you were in Cheers.
Today, Jesus is introduced to the world by John. But, not by his name, Jesus, but, the Lamb of God. It’s not that John forgot his name.

He says, “Behold, there he is, the Lamb of God!” John uses that image, which is so rich, the Lamb of God. We are familiar with those images of animals.
Think of sports teams: The Chicago Bulls! The Philadelphia Eagles! The Seattle Sea Hawks.
Countries and nations love animal images as well. Some are majestic and full of spirit. For us it’s The bald eagle!

But for Russia, it's the bear; for China, it's the dragon. These are fierce images. So many of these animals are eloquent, some ferocious, some even aggressive.
And, then we have Jesus. The Lamb of God, a gentle lamb. No sports team, no country would want to be known as the Lambs.  That’s not frightening, it’s not fierce, it certainly doesn’t intimidate.
No, a lamb is gentle. A lamb is meek. And when John uses that image, he evokes, the story of Exodus.

The Israelites are slaves and they're instructed to slaughter the lamb and smear the blood on their door posts, so that when the Angel of death passes by, their children would be saved. Saved by the blood of the Lamb

Yes, John introduces Jesus to the world, for everybody to know his name. And now, Jesus enters the world to begin his ministry, and John, the precursor, the forerunner, the voice, the one introducing the Savior of the World must decrease.

With the words, “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world”, John the Baptist fulfilled his mission, the reason for his very existence, and, how his heart must have overflowed with joy and, gratitude, as he meets his God.

For now, the world was to see Jesus, no longer as an ordinary man, but the Lamb of God and even the Son of God.
Who are you Jesus? For there is shear wonder in hearing the phrase, “The Lamb of God”. You are the Lamb, the Savior who takes away the sins of the world. It becomes one of the most precious titles of Christ.

Every time we reflect on that wonder, we realize the love, the sacrifice, the suffering, and the triumph of Jesus and the Cross – For us!
He was introduced to us on the Jordan River, taking our sins and cleansing us through those waters, nailing those sins to the Cross, so we can live.

For Jesus is the lamb, that is led to the slaughter, the gentle and humble lamb, yet so strong and majestic, destined to lead the flock of God, by delivering them from their enemies. We are the sheep of his flock.
John made the world know his name – one whom he had not recognized before, but whom God truly revealed to him at last. Yes, John, the cousin of Jesus, knew who Jesus was, but didn’t know what Jesus was.

And then suddenly the Father, through the Spirit revealed to John, that Jesus was none other than the Son of God. John, like us was searching for the truth.
That is our search as we ask ourselves, “Who are you Lord in my life and who am I in your life”.
Call it divine revelation and like John the Baptist, we too can receive divine revelation that will stir our hearts.

The same Spirit who empowered Jesus and opened John’s mind dwells within us ever since our own baptism.
Yes, we search for the answer as to why we exist, and Jesus as always provides the answer.
Today we find it in the beautiful responsorial Psalm, “Here am I Lord, I come to do your will”. That is why we exist.

God knows us by name. He tells us in Scripture, “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, before you were born, I set you apart”.
And, then God takes it to the next level, “For I know well the plans I have for you, plans for you to prosper and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future”.  

Reading Scripture we get to know more than his name, we begin to believe in that name, the Majestic, yet gentle loving Lamb of God. But, it’s only when we know and love that name that God tells us:
“Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.  You will search for me and find me when you seek me with all your heart”.

Yes, it’s always nice to be at a place where everybody knows your name. But, if we follow the will of God, and the plans he has for us. then we will someday find another place filled with joy, where everybody knows your name and that is heaven.