Beatitudes – To Hunger and Thirst

 The information provided in this series ont he Beatitudes is based on Scripture and articles published in “The Rosary Light & Life” Newsletter. This newsletter is publised through the Rosary Confraternity. If you pray the rosary regulary, please consider visiting the Rosary Confraternity website to learn more about it. [www.rosarycenter.org]

“Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.”

In the first three Beatitudes we see a relationship between ourselves and things of this world. The Poor in Spirit is the reality that we must not focus on this world, but we must also develop ourselves spiritually to prepare us for an encounter with Christ. When we learned about those that Mourn, we see the pain and suffering of sin. This pain and sufferring is in us, and in the Body of Christ that we interact with. Finally, the Meek are those that have the ability to self govern themselves and not take what they want from this world without need or necessity. We see that the Meek do not demonstrate power over others for self gain, or self identification. 

Each of these Beatitudes requires that we reflect on what we need in this life, and what we want. We can see that goods that are a product of this world [sex, power, money] may have imense immediate appeal, but they do not create lasting satisfaction. Only God can fully satisfy us through the joy of his grace and love. God is so immense that He fills our infinite longing. God then becomes the only true possession that is not subjected to the threat of loss by our actions in this world. 

In these next Beatitudes we see how hunger and thirst for righteousness, mercy, and confront us with the moral choices we make in our relationship with God. St. Tomas Aquinas described the second happiness as the happiness of “activity”. This “activity” is our active participation in the life of others, in the Mass, and in the presence of God in our lives. 

Justice

In many ways justice is something we learn at a young age. If we have siblings we learn it more quickly, because we often express the disire to have fair treatment. 

From this we have developed two types of justice in our mental reasoning. The first is justice between ourselves and others [our neighbor]. The second is the justice that exists between God and ourselves. 

When we often think of justice with others we think of righting a wrong done towards us. The person that cuts us off while driving, the person that cheated us out of money, the person that is the cause of a car accident, the thief that takes, and the person that offends us. These are all situations that we imagine, when we think of justice. Justice becomes the act of retribution, and the “just judgement” given for the offense. 

This segues into our view of judgement and God. Often when we think of judgement we imagine the Book of Revolations and the final days of judgement. If we are bible savy we might think of Matthew 25 where Jesus puts the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. We might even spend time trying to hope and imagine that we are one of the sheep that get into heaven. 

God is a just and merciful God. We may sometimes do things that might be sinful, or things that we don’t think “are too bad” because we trust that God will be merciful. Instead we use the mercy of God as justification for our actions. We abuse the mercy of God for our own will and pleasure in this world. 

We can now see how these two forms of justice are self-centered, and even selfish. In the first, we concern ourselves for what the other person did to us. In the second, we focus on the forgiveness of God and His mercy to “Let us off the hook.”

The harder task is the abandonment of self-centered thought. We cannot truly grow in the virtue of justice unless we look outward instead of inward. We must see that real justice is in how we treat others. Not in the way that they treat us. Crucifixion was not a tool employed by Jesus to gain a seat at the right hand of God. He accepted crucifixion selflessly for the forgiveness of our sins. He was blameless, but took our blame to achieve the possibility of our salvation. This is authentic justice. The selfless act for the better of others.

Prayer

In previous articles we have explored differences in technique of prayer and the purpose of prayer. We have discovered that prayer should not resort to petitions [pleas for our needs] alone. When our prayer life is only filled with petition we pray selfishly and only pray to ask for more. 

“Prayer is nothing else than union with God… in this intimate union God and the soul are like two pieces of wax moulded into one; they cannot any more be separated. In our life of prayer we become like God by surrendering our wills to God’s and allowing ourselves to do as God commands us.” -St. John Vianney 

By releasing our intent on ourselves we can open ourselves to God’s will for us. The act of opening ourselves up, trusting in God to help us, and leaving things in God’s hands are part of the virtue of Justice. 

We act and live doing for God, instead of what God does for us. 

Sometimes we can get angry with God. Sometimes people leave the Church because they think that God hates them, or that God does bad things to people. When we allow ourselves to fall into this thought we stray away from true Justice. We stray away from acting for God and focus on the current trials in our lives as if they were intently for us. True justice happens when we face difficulties and we do not lose hope, faith, or site of God in our life. It is then that God reveals himself to us and protects us. 

Conclusion

When we start to learn what true justice is we build a hunger and thirst for it. We learn that God is offering so much for each of us, but waits for our fulfillment of the needs of others. When we strive for others, God’s grace and blessings overflow into us. This becomes the meaning of Justice, and the meaning we should focus on.

Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman explains the Justice of God, to whom He says, “anyone who drinks the water I shall give will never be thirsty again.” For each of us, that does the will of God, will never hunger and thirst again.

Beatitudes, Poverty of Spirit

The information provided in this series on the Beatitudes is based on Scripture and articles published in “The Rosary Light & Life” Newsletter. The publication of this newsletter is through the Rosary Confraternity. If you pray the rosary regularly, please consider visiting the Rosary Confraternity website to learn more about it. [www.rosarycenter.org]

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

The journey to explore the Beatitudes starts with the spirit. What does this mean? How does it apply to me, today?

First, we should examine what “Poor in Spirit” means. We might mistakenly consider that Jesus is talking about the poor. Jesus looked after the poor and asked us to do the same.

Instead, Jesus is referring to our spiritual condition, or the poverty of our spirituality. This holds true today more than ever. The growing lack of interest in the Sacraments. The falling number of people that attend Mass. These are examples of our outward spirituality, the way in which we express our spirituality in our life.

There is also an inward spirituality that grows through our relationship with God. There are some people today that say they are “Spiritual” people. They might say that God is everywhere, or that we just need to be good people. While these statements are not entirely false, they do not render us a path to closeness with God. A closeness that can only be grow through the Sacraments and Spiritual Development.

By saying, “Poor in spirit” Jesus identifies our spiritual poverty. We must each recognize our own individual need for God. In order to do this we each need to be humble.

In humility we come to understand our place in the relationship with God. Through that understanding we find a God filled with so much love for us that He offers us grace. We can continue to grow and realize that God gives all the gifts and blessings in our lives.

Humility allows us to recognize the graces offered to us from God. It allows us to see our frailty and our reliance on God.

Without humility and a dry spirit we are no longer open to the true Word of God. We isolate ourselves from God’s words, and even if we attend Mass and hear the readings they can lose flavor for us.

Through this emptiness we can look to satisfy it by seeking happiness in this world. These forms of happiness may please for a moment, but it quickly fades. Then there is a growing need to find more happiness. We constantly seek something to make us whole, but the cup within our hearts has a crack from sin and drains that happiness. It becomes a task that never completes.

This is the primary difference between happiness and joy. The joy that God brings to us fills the cracks in our cup. It gives happiness that does not quickly drain away. With our cups filled we can focus on other areas of our life, no longer trying to fill a need that cannot be filled.

The most basic form of Spiritual Growth does not need any direction. It comes from inside us. It is the earnest desire to sit and talk with God through prayer. Prayer should not feel like a choir, or an obligation, but instead should be a deep interest within our heart to talk with God and grow closer to Him.

Prayers becomes the start to our spiritual journey and through it we will come to know God.

In conclusion, how does being poor in spirit give a person the kingdom of God? It happens through conversion. A conversion of the spirit. We recognize in our spiritual poverty that we are lacking God, we recognize that we focus on the sin of Pride instead of humility. We realize that we seek limited happiness in this world to fill us with temporary happiness. Through that realization, we seek God in prayer and attempt to become Rich in Spirit. Then the kingdom of God will not seem so far away. We will begin to experience it here, in this world, with God all around us.

Reflection -9/4 Reading

Today’s reading is from 1 Cor 2:10-16

Brothers and sisters:
The Spirit scrutinizes everything, even the depths of God.
Among men, who knows what pertains to the man
except his spirit that is within?
Similarly, no one knows what pertains to God except the Spirit of God.
We have not received the spirit of the world
but the Spirit who is from God,
so that we may understand the things freely given us by God.
And we speak about them not with words taught by human wisdom,
but with words taught by the Spirit,
describing spiritual realities in spiritual terms.

Now the natural man does not accept what pertains to the Spirit of God,
for to him it is foolishness, and he cannot understand it,
because it is judged spiritually.
The one who is spiritual, however, can judge everything
but is not subject to judgment by anyone.

For “who has known the mind of the Lord, so as to counsel him?”
But we have the mind of Christ.

Many times in life we may be tempted to cry out, “Why have you forsaken me Oh God!” We feel despair and lost. We can feel as if God is no longer with us.

Often times we have heard the saying, “Prayer is a relationship with God.” Many hear this saying and few will understand. In my own prayer life I can say without a doubt the truth to this statement. I can think back on my own life and wonder why I never listened to this before.

My prayer life started with the most simple prayer, “God I have no clue what to say.” From that moment a journey began. A spiritual journey that taught me to pray, but more importantly to recognize God.

Another moment in my life came into perspective. How long have I lived in darkness? How long have I lived not seeing God’s holy presence before me at all times. Once my eyes were opened I could see that I was blind. I did not know that I was blind, because I had never clearly seen.

This new knowledge brought with it an understanding. This understanding is that I cannot explain to anyone else how to see. I cannot teach the blind to hear [I know, blind-hear]. No one that has not already made the discovery will understand. Just as I was blind and deaf, they too will be blind and deaf. They will hear the words and they will chose to ignore them.

There will be many excuses. Some may say that is interesting and then forget about it. Others may claim that it is nonsense, or just say I am another person pushing my beliefs.

So many people want to see God, to hear God, to even just to feel His presence in their life. They want it, but they do nothing to seek it.

The simple answer to this problem is prayer. Spiritual growth does not happen without prayer. Spiritual growth is what is needed to see and recognize God in our lives. In this respect, it is truly a relationship with God. As we pray more, we get to know God more. In time we start to see God in our lives around us. As the reading today states, we think and understand with our spirit, which is close [relationship] to God.

The most simple solution is often the most correct one. In this case it is a solution that has been before us all the time. We just chose to ignore it.

As it says in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” We are told to pray without ceasing. To find opportunities for prayer in our daily life.

With prayer we grow to see God, and Christ in others.

Gospel Reflection – The Transfiguration

And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart by themselves; and he was transfigured before them, and his garments became glistening, intensely white, as no fuller on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses; and they were talking to Jesus. And Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is well that we are here; let us make three booths, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” For he did not know what to say, for the were exceedingly afraid. And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.” And suddenly looking around they no longer saw any one with them but Jesus only. And as they were coming down the mountain, the charged them to tell no one what they had seen, until the Son of man should have risen from the dead. So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what the rising from the dead meant. [Mk 9:2-10]

This story has always impressed on my the vision of seeing Jesus in His divinity, in His glory. Jesus reveals Himself to the three apostles, and Peter asks Jesus to build tents.

There is, as always, a biblical purpose for Peter to ask about the tents. It reflects back to the time of Moses and the first temples, made from tents. This would have been understood to people hearing this story at the time of Jesus.

Let’s forget that for a moment and think about how this relates to US today. I do not make tents, and it would not be apparent to me to think to make one. The meaning of the tent is lost in the generation of today.

What does have meaning today? Well we can ask ourselves some very simple questions:

• Have we ever met with someone, and that person said something, or did something that saved us some trouble?
• Have we taken an exam at school, knowing we did not really understand the material; and got a grade so much higher than we expected, or deserved.
• Have we had a moment of clarity where something that was so confusing to us suddenly came clear?
• Have we ever met someone by complete chance and had that person change our lives? If you are married, the answer is simple. The chances of meeting the person we marry is so small. We have to both be in the exact same place, at the same time, cross paths, and be in a place in our lives where we are open to a relationship. How many other people that we may have met, where these conditions did not happen. We did not date them, or marry that person.
• Had a diagnosis that was terminal, then had it disappear.
• Had a diagnosis and the illness goes into remission.
• Been healed from illness? That moment after a long difficult cold where we can finally breath normally.
• Unexpectedly gotten a raise, a job, a job offer, an interview?
• Nearly had a car accident, or nearly killed in a vehicle accident.
• What about the moments we missed and that we did not realize where important. Like some of the people that we hear about. They turn left instead of right, and it saves their life. They never know about it, or hear about it.
• Have we ever had someone that was with us when we just really needed someone there with us.
• Have we ever felt alone and desperate when we have lost a loved one?
• Felt so desperate, and alone, that we feel lost and have no where to turn?
• Thought about a friend, loved one, or relative and suddenly they called?

All of these situations have a commonality. Some are good, some are bad, some we may say are luck, some we may say are ordinary and have nothing special about them.

In each case, Jesus is transfigured before us in His divinity. He is calling out to us. He is lending a hand. But we miss it entirely. We are blind to the transfiguration. We fail to thank God for those things in our lives that were not within our control.

The spouse, the cure, the grade, the accident missed, the job, the home, the food, the clothing, the child, this very life. All of it a gift from God.

We get so wrapped up into the ME. The Ego, and the self centered world we live in. The world where, “I got better”, “I met my wife, or won her heart”, “I survived an accident”, “I beat cancer”, “I created a child”, “I landed a job”, “I was lucky”, “I have a great friend”, “It’s my body”, “I had the help of a friend”, or maybe “I deserve it”.

All of that stuff is meaningless because it excludes God. It denies God’s existence and part in our lives.

We can call ourselves Catholic, or even Christian. If we do not see God in any of these situations of our lives then we are not only blind but, we are lying to ourselves. We have no faith, and no salvation if we deny God.

Jesus is standing before us in His divinity, transfigured. Do we want to stand there afraid? Do we take credit for the situation? Instead we can thank God, and thank Jesus for being there when we needed Him. Thank Him for all the gifts we do not deserve from our actions, but that He gives us out of Love. A Love that we should return to Him and not magnify on ourselves.

I would argue that the story of the transfiguration is a reminder to us all. Jesus is standing before us all. He reveals His true divine nature to show us that He is present. Think about that for just a moment. He reveals His true divine presence. Not the earthly one. This is a miraculous experience. Something that might leave us like Peter, unsure what to do or think. Something so incredible that we cannot look away from it.

Jesus did all this just to get our attention. To tell us, I am here. Though we may not see His physical presence, there is nothing that can keep His divine presence from our lives.

Let us pray, Lord Jesus You were transfigured before the three apostles and revealed to them Your divine presence. Do not let us be blind to the light that shines so brightly in our lives, emanating from your glory. Help us to be more aware of Your presence in our lives and the lives of others. Let us not hold to ourselves the stories of the gifts given to us by Your grace. Instead, help us to find the words so that we can glorify You with a thankfulness that makes us witnesses of You in the world around us. 

We ask this and all things in the name of Jesus Chris. Amen.

Mother Mary, Immaculata, pray for us.

Fasting – Part 1 – Theology

DISCLAIMER! – Before attempting any form of fasting please seek the advice of a medical doctor. Fasting may not be a safe spiritual exercise for all people. 

I started this to be one blog post. It ended up to be very long. I thought it would be better to release this as part of a series in preparation for Lent. Fasting is something that I have a passion for, and that has become an important part of my spiritual life. I am sharing some of my research and interest in this topic, which I have gathered over several years.

Not long ago I had the opportunity to write a thesis on the Christian practice of fasting. This blog post is a result of my research and experience in practice.

Theology

Fasting is a practice that Jesus called all Christians to, but we will concentrate on Catholics.

During the time of Jesus, the only people that might wander into a desert to fast would be prophets. John the baptist did that very thing. He went into the wilderness (desert) to fast and prepare himself for his ministry work.

Jesus was also led to go into the dessert and exercise a devotion to fasting, prayer, and contemplation. This would strengthen him and prepare him for his ministry road.

In the early church people would fast and give up doing something that was sinful. The hope was that by giving it up, they could brake a habit that separated them from God. After the fast was over they would continue the practice indefinitely.

The Catechism of the church teaches that the Holy Spirit gives us fruit. These Fruits are Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-control.

Self-control does not indicate in any way that we become possessed by the Holy Spirit. That would be a violation of our own free will. Self-control is more the opposite of possession. It is the ability for a person to make a reasonable, moral decision, without the influence of desire.

The Catechism also states that the Holy Spirit is the spirit of truth, inspiration, and revelation. The Holy Spirit can inspire us, led us. It is up to our own mind to listen to the call of the Holy Spirit and follow.

Jesus made a self-conscious decision to enter the desert and prepare himself for his ministry. A fasting to prepare for a great task would have been a custom of the Jewish people and has roots in scripture.

In the Gospel story of the temptation of Jesus, Matthew makes the connection of going into the desert to the time of Exodus. The time when Moses led the people into the desert. This connection to Exodus plays an important role in the temptations of Jesus and the message that Matthew is presenting to the Jewish people.

We each have a natural instinct to be in harmony with things that are absolute moral obligations. This sense of obligation to love is something characterized as a duty. This moral obligation is at the heart of all things good and evil. This nature of good and evil leads many away from, or towards, temptation and sin. It is the heart of our concupiscence.

By our very nature of concupiscence we are inclined towards those things that have intent, or nature, of being evil. Perhaps, a better term than evil, is sin which separates of us from the graces of God.

Our obligation to love and serve is particularly important, because anything that serves love is good, and anything that does not is bad. Fasting is good, if the intent of the fast is out of love of God. Fasting is bad if the intent of the fast is personal gain, popularity, or to diet. Not that dieting is a bad thing. If we lie and say that we fast for God, but internally are committed to losing weight, then the act is a lie and thus not out of Love.

These are important aspects to understand about fasting and temptation. When we fast with the intentions to love and server God, it is good and will increase our spiritual relationship with Him. Through Fasting we train our minds, spirit, and body to withstand temptation and help to create a conscience that can make good moral decisions.

Benefits

From fasting we can obtain some rewards:

• Spiritual Growth
• Receive Guidance from God
• Receive Grace from God
• Increase our Faith life
• Strengthen our resistance to evil and temptation
• Inspiration of the Holy Spirit
• Physical well being
• Strengthen our ability for coping with Crisis

Spiritual Dangers

As with anything that can bring benefit, there are also dangers in fasting. These dangers we must always be aware of and try to avoid.

• Ritualism – fasting becomes a habit and not about God, or our relationship with God.
• Asceticism – using a discipline, or punishment on ourselves as a religious practice.
• False Fast – a hunger strike, or other act that brings attention to our act of fasting, or a cause.
• Hypocrisy – As Jesus says, to bring attention to ourself or our act of fasting is hypocrisy.
• Selfishness – an act of fasting that does not have a spiritual intent but personal interest. This selfish act lacks prayer and spiritual development.
• Extremism – the use of fasting to an extreme. Prolonged periods of fasting, or regular daily, or weekly fasting.
• Psychic Rapture – Daniel fasted and experienced moments of bliss. This can happen to anyone on a true fast intended for God. The danger is that this blissful moment is really intense. It absorbs our mind and heart because we want to feel that presence again. That desire to return to that state of mind becomes an obsession and alters the intent of fasting. In many cases, when this happens the rapture is never felt again, and the person runs the risk of physical harm trying to achieve it.
• Condemning others – to place judgement on others for not sharing our own practice of fasting. To judge others harshly for not fasting the way we believe it should be done.

Physical Dangers

Above are mentioned the spiritual dangers of fasting, but let us also realize the very real presence of a physical danger.

Prolonged periods of fasting drains the body of needed resources. After about three days without water the body will shutdown and the person could die.

After about three days with plenty of fluids and without food, the body will enter into a state of ketosis. In this state the body starts to eat into the fat reserves and muscle tissue to survive. After about 40-50 days without food the body will begin to eat the organs. Once that process starts the person will slowly die.

Do not be lured by the myth that we can lose a ton of weight by fasting, or starving ourselves. There may be some weight loss. However, almost all the weight lost initially, through fasting, will be from bodily waist. The body can reserve up to twenty pounds of body waist. Once that bodily waist is removed, we will have the impression that we lost a lot of weight.

Once we start to eat regular again that body weight will return. The body will process the food and will start to store waist again. During prolonged fasting I have lost as much as 30 – 60 pounds. In every case, I have gained almost all the weight back.

Remember that fasting is not about weight loss. The fasting we are talking about is meant for communion with God. To offer our own suffering for the forgiveness of our sins, the sins of others, or another worthy spiritual exercise.

DISCLAIMER! – Before attempting any form of fasting please seek the advice of a medical doctor. Fasting may not be a safe spiritual exercise for all people. 

Summary

In this blog post we have learned about the nature of fasting. We learned that fasting is a practice identified in the bible.

We also learned that our act of fasting must always originate from our Love of God. It must always be a selfless act.

We also learned that through fasting we can gain spiritual strength. We also learned that in-spite of the strengths, there are dangers. These dangers are both spiritual and physical.

I hope that this information was of interest. If there is something I missed let me know. If there are questions please ask. I could have added a lot more information, but I wanted it to be a reasonable length for the readers.

Thanks for reading. May God shine a light on the path before you and may all roads lead to Jesus.

Preparation for Lent

It has been some time since my last post. Now that we are approaching Lent, I wanted to share some thoughts.

Lent is a time of reflection. It is a time of self evaluation. We are given the opportunity to evaluate our current spiritual relationship with God and others and make some course corrections.

We will all faulted and struggle to maintain our relationship with God. Our concupiscence makes life difficult to refrain from sin.

Concupiscence is an interesting word. If you look it up, most dictionaries, and even on-line references, will tell you that this is a sexual desire. That is not correct in the Catholic meaning. Concupiscence is an affect, or defect, in our soul that causes us to sin. It is something that is the result of original sin. It basically means that as a human, we will always sin because naturally our concupiscence will push us to make sinful choices.

We recognize that being flawed does not remove us from the graces of God. It also does not remove our chances for heaven. We do need to be vigilant of our actions and make efforts to strengthen ourselves against our concupiscence. This is where the season of Lent helps us.

It is no question that regular practice of anything makes us better at doing it. If we play the guitar once a year, we might maintain a small amount of skill learned. If we have never played guitar we will not be able to learn practicing once a year. On the other side, if we practice daily, we can learn a new instrument, or become really great.

As Christians we need to strive to become great Christians. God and Jesus have given us a trinitarian formula for doing this. I have spoken about it before in another blog post. Jesus asks us to live life through prayer, alms, and fasting. We should practice these three virtues all year, even daily. Like playing an instrument, we become good through constant practice. Lent provides us a more immediate need to practice them.

Prayer

We cannot grow close to God without prayer. Imagine a marriage where only one spouse speaks to the other, or the children once a year. That would not be a strong relationship. God wants us to include him in our daily lives, we answer this by praying as often as we can.

Prayers can be as simple as, “Thank you God.” A pray can be recited prayer that is read. A prayer can be more immediate and said from our heart.

Prayer leads us to God. We can experience the presence of God, Jesus, or Mary through the act of prayer. Look at the lives of the Saints. How many of them had conversations with Jesus, or Mary. In most of these examples there was prayer involved. We cannot know the presence of God in our lives if we do not pray.

Many people are seeking God. Many wonder if he exists, or if God hears their prayer. We cannot know what God wants of us, if we do not pray. Those that live in confusion, or doubt, do not have strong prayer lives.

Alms

Giving alms is a gift to those less fortunate. It can be a monetary gift, or a gift of our own time. Sometimes people just need to be around another person. Their lives are so lonely that they need friendship. If we help anyone, stranger or family, we give alms.

Giving alms allows us to express love to our fellow humans. This love is what Jesus wanted from us when he said, “Love one another as I have loved you.” Each of us should desire to imitate Christ. Giving alms allows us to do that by expressing Love to one another.

Fasting

Fasting is a complicated and sometimes dangerous expression of faith. Most people cringe at the thought of fasting. This is due to our own self preservation. We want to stay away from things that might bring us harm and discomfort.

When a person chooses to fast, they do so because they want to express some love for God. We fast for reconciliation, or for an answer to our prayer. Reconciliation is an act of love through our desire to reconcile for sins. Fasting is offered as a sacrifice to God in answer to a petition.

Out of our act of Love for God, we are given strength through the Holy Spirit. This strength reinforces our ability to resist temptation. It strengthens our resilience against concupiscence. Regular practice of Fasting can give us new found strength against the powers of sin.

Before Lent I would encourage everyone to try and find someway to exercise each of these three virtues of prayer, alms, and fasting. I know that when I do them during Lent, I feel much closer to God. We all want to be closer to God. These will help, and they will help us to be greater Christians.

Gospel Reflection – 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time

It has been a while since I have published a reflection on the Gospel reading. I wanted to put this reflection out there before the weekend. This will allow people to read it, and reflect on it, before Sunday.

This week the Gospel comes from Matthew [22:15-21]

The Pharisees went off and plotted how they might entrap Jesus in speech.
They sent their disciples to him, with the Herodians, saying,
“Teacher, we know that you are a truthful man and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth.
And you are not concerned with anyone’s opinion, for you do not regard a person’s status.
Tell us, then, what is your opinion:
Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?”
Knowing their malice, Jesus said, “Why are you testing me, you hypocrites?
Show me the coin that pays the census tax.”
Then they handed him the Roman coin.
He said to them, “Whose image is this and whose inscription?” They replied, “Caesar’s.”
At that he said to them, “Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.

Let us first look at the common use and understanding of this Gospel passage. Jesus knows that the Pharisees are testing him and trying to trick him. If he speaks against Caesar, he can be arrested. Also, if he speaks with favor for the exchange of money, and of the tax collection, than he speaks against the Church.

Jesus very carefully responds by placing the Pharisees on the spot. He has a coin brought to him.

The coins in this time would have a stamp of Caesar on the coin. Many areas would have coins stamped with the rulers face, or bust, on them. This signified who was the ruling authority, and who secured the value of the coin being traded. With this understanding we can see many meanings behind the use of a coin.

Jesus takes the coin, knowing this information, and states that the coin belongs to Caesar (because it has his face on it). Jesus says give it back to the owner.

Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to [the] poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” [Mt 19:21]

In a way Jesus is saying that God does not use coin, or monetary exchange.

God does not care about wealth and it is not needed in heaven. Caesar may use coins, because Caesar is a ruler on earth, but God is the ruler of All.

No one can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. [Mt 7:24]

There is also the foreshadow that exists in this Gospel reading. Not a common perspective of the reading, but one that holds some merit. This Gospel reading is another foreshadow of the Paschal Mystery. The Mystery of Christ’s suffering, crucifixion, death, and resurrection.

Jesus says to them, “Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.”

Jesus belonged to God. Jesus was divine. Money does not matter in heaven, but divinity means a lot. It is praised, and given worship.

If Jesus is the payment to God, what is being bought? Well my friends this is one of our fundamental beliefs. Jesus came to earth to become human so that he could suffer for all of us.

Yet it was our infirmities that he bore, our sufferings that he endured, While we thought of him as stricken, as one smitten by God and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our offenses, crushed for our sins, Upon him was the chastisement that makes us whole, by his stripes we were healed.
We had all gone astray like sheep, each following his own way;
But the LORD laid upon him the guilt of us all.
Though he was harshly treated, he submitted and opened not his mouth;
Like a lamb led to the slaughter or a sheep before the shearers, he was silent and opened not his mouth.
Oppressed and condemned, he was taken away, and who would have thought any more of his destiny?
When he was cut off from the land of the living, and smitten for the sin of his people,
A grave was assigned him among the wicked and burial place with evildoers,
Though he had done no wrong nor spoken any falsehood. [Isaiah 53: 4-9]

We know that Jesus paid the price, and the penalty for our sins. Through His sacrifice we were brought into forgiveness with God the Father. We, all of us, paid to God what belonged to God. We paid it, a divine payment, for our sins.

We brought the pain and suffering to Jesus through our sins. It was because of our sins that God chose His Son for this sacrifice.

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. [Jn 3:16]

We can be sure that the price was paid.

Pay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what belongs to God.

One may give you comfort here in this life. The other for eternal life. Which do you hold more valuable? We cannot serve both.

Let us pray to the Mother Mary for guidance. May She guide us by her intercession to the foot of the cross. So that we may each have an opportunity to know the pain we caused, and to beg forgiveness. Amen.

The Trinitarian formula for Christian Life

We often want to know, or question, if we will make it to Heaven. It is a question that keeps us on our toes, for those of us that believe in Heaven.

Today I want to share with you The Trinitarian Formula for Christian Life. It is a simple formula. It is one that is discussed numerous times in the Catholic Church. It is a formula that is given to us in the Bible and instituted by Christ.

I say that it is instituted by Christ, not because He created it, but that He completed it. The formula was incomplete before Christ. Christ completes the formula and make redemption possible for everyone.

The formula is this:

Prayer + Fasting + Alms

As Catholics, we have all heard this passage from the bible. The passage that we should pray, fast, and give alms. The book of Matthew, chapter 6, teaches us not to be hypocrites that we should do things for God, and not for the self.

There is another part of this instruction that is not so apparent. The hidden meaning in this teaching is that these three things bring us closer to God and closer to redemption.

Prayer

We are all taught to pray from a young age. Prayer is so very important to our spiritual life, and our relationship with God.

The Prosper of Aquitaine even states “Lex Orandi Lex Credendi“. The word Lex means Law of. The word Orandi means Prayer, and Credendi means belief, or believing. The translation is, How we pray shapes our faith, and our faith shapes our prayer.

This tells us that without a good prayer life, our faith suffers. It grows weaker. This is a great tactic of the Devil. He tries to interrupt our prayer life. He does not want us to pray, because through prayer we grow closer to God the Father. The closer we are to the Father, the harder it is for us to sin.

It is taught in our catechism that prayer is a dialog with the Father. When we pray, we pray to God, and we often pray to the Father. Just as we might have talked to our own father in real life, we go to talk to our Father in Heaven.

Fasting

Many people skip over this, or do not take it seriously. Fasting is so very important to our salvation and redemption. Without fasting we cannot be strengthened, or receive special graces from God. That does not mean that we will not receive any Grace, just special graces.

Some may ask, well how can that be?

We are asked to fast on Fridays during the year, and we fast on Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, and Fridays during Lent. There are different levels of Fasting, but first lets state what it is.

Fasting is the act where we voluntarily deprive ourselves of what is permitted and pleasing to us.

This must be something that is difficult to do, and not trivial. Remember that fasting is an effort of growing stronger. If we only do trivial things then we have trivial growth.

When we fast we place ourselves in a state of suffering. It is through this sacrifice that we make a willing conscientious choice to do so for God. As a result of this sacrifice we are given grace by the Holy Spirit.

We are tempted to cheat, or to shorten our own suffering. If we call on the Holy Spirit he will guide us, and give us the strength to face the challenge. It is through this suffering and strengthening that we build our defenses against temptation. We become stronger to resist the Devil.

Fasting is often understood to be food. On Fridays we are asked to give up meat, and if meat is not possible then we are asked to sacrifice something else. Many people forget that second part and then do not fast from anything. They might only fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, but those days are meant for another type of fasting, which is called abstaining. When we abstain we do not partake in food during the day. We may have a small meal, but we should not eat until we are full.

Fasting can also be to abstain from something we enjoy. It might be coffee, tea, soft drinks, television, junk food, and many others. Abstaining and fasting does NOT mean to pray more. We should do that anyway. Doing more positive things is great, and can be done to strengthen us during our suffering. However, reading the bible and praying should never replace the suffering of fasting, because it is through this suffering that we find the Holy Spirit.

Alms

Giving Alms is another topic that gets the eyes rolling. Everyone automatically assumes it means money. Giving Alms means simply to give to the poor. That might mean money, food, objects we do not use anymore, or even our time.

When we help our neighbor, we are giving alms. When we do something for another person and it inconveniences us, we are giving alms. When we show compassion to another person that is suffering, or struggling, we are giving alms.

Jesus told us that of all the laws in the bible the greatest was Love. When we give alms we express our brotherly love for one another and we are doing Christ’s work. We grow closer to Jesus through our expressions of love.

Giving alms is something that we should all be jumping to do. We all want to be closer to Jesus, to know Him, and to serve Him. We can do this through Alms.

We each can give what we have. That might be money, it might be time, it might just be a helping hand.

If you have not served in a soup kitchen, or a food pantry, I would highly recommend it. There is a real warmth and presence of Christ when we give our time to help the hungry and the poor.

Conclusion

There we have it. We have the Trinitarian formula for Christian Life given to us through Christ. The remarkable thing about this formula is that it is a trinitarian formula.

A Trinitarian Formula is based in the Holy Trinity. The Holy Trinity is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Here for our own redemption we have Prayer (Father), Fasting (The Holy Spirit), and Alms (The son). We must practice each one of them to know and serve God (the Trinity). When we go easy, or skip on one of them, we weaken our relationship with God.

Let us each pray for one another, but especially for the poor. May those without shelter find a home. May those without food find a person with an extended hand willing to share. May those who suffer know the Holy Spirit and be strengthened in their will by the graces of God. Let us ask all of this in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

My ways are not your ways…

I was recently hiking in the Tantra Mountains. While hiking I decided to take a break and pray.

I mentioned previously that I pray the Liturgy of the Hours. This is the Prayer of the Catholic Church. Voices from all over the globe in prayer together for the same purpose.

On this particular occasion, I was going to pray the daytime prayers.

The Liturgy of the Hours is organized to be like a prayer service. There is some singing, Psalms, readings, responsoral Psalm, there may be a Canticle Prayer (similar to the creed), intercessions, and a closing prayer.

During the daytime prayers there is no Canticle, or intercessions. The prayers are organized into a 4 week cycle. You do not pick what you want at random. The idea is that everyone is praying the same, so there is a schedule to follow along with the season of the Church.

As I was sitting there praying, these two passages were the readings for that particular day.

Isaiah 55:8-9

My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord.
As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are my ways above your ways and my thoughts above your thoughts.
God of power and might, who is your equal? Faithfulness surrounds you on every side.

1 Samuel 16:76

Not as man sees does God see, because man sees the appearance, but the Lord looks into the heart.
O God, search my heart, and know me.
Lead me along the path to endless life.

As I sat and read these passages I could not help but stop and take in the view of my surroundings. To stop and thank God.

The beauty of the mountains. The clean air. And this very clear message from God.

The mountains are a metaphor. It demonstrates that no matter how high above the earth we might try to climb, God is always above us. Looking down on us, and watching. Much like it is for us to look down from the mountain. To see the villages below, too small to even see the people or vehicles driving around. God still sees all of them. What our vision is limited to, God is limitless. His ways are not our ways, our limitations are not His.

Looking around at the green landscapes, the blue skies, and calm atmosphere; we see the beauty of nature. We see with our eyes and not our hearts. Very often people make judgements of others based on skin, beauty, language, social status, or birthplace (to only name a few). God ignores all of them and looks at the heart.

The words of man are important, but his actions are even more important. God will always look at the actions of people, what comes from their heart, and not their lips.

If we want to see peace in our time, we must live in peace, give peace, and share in peace.

We cannot scream injustice, and commit injustice, for God is the ultimate judge. Look to the eternal place and not on this life. When we will be judged and given eternal peace, joy and happiness that is based on our commitment to Gods word, and our actions to demonstrate that we understand and follow them.

The mountains were beautiful, but instead of looking outward we must often look inward. Are we living life, giving life, sharing life, with all people in the way we want it for ourselves. The mountains were not created for any one particular person, or people. Life is given to all freely from God with no prejudice.

It was a wonderful day. God shared something more beautiful with me than just what my eyes saw around me. In that gift comes the responsibility to share it with others.

I hope and pray that others may find the beauty in this message. My offer to share God’s gift with others.

May God bless you, and lead each of you on the path He has chosen. The path that is not followed by our eyes, but our heart.

Gospel Reflection – 6/25

Today’s Gospel is from the Book of Matthew [10:26-33]

Jesus said to the Twelve:
“Fear no one.
Nothing is concealed that will not be revealed,
nor secret that will not be known.
What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light;
what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops.
And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul;
rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy
both soul and body in Gehenna.
Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin?
Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father’s knowledge.
Even all the hairs of your head are counted.
So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
Everyone who acknowledges me before others
I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father.
But whoever denies me before others,
I will deny before my heavenly Father.”

Be fearful of the Devil and his minions in Hell. They can destroy the body and soul of all.

Fear of the Devil and his minions is not the same as it used to be. More people are less afraid of God and more afraid of loss to their “Freedom”, or upsetting their neighbor.

Hell, was not created for Humans. It was not a place that was intended for our punishment. We see in Matthew [25:41], “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels”

The devil and his friends were Angels that rebelled because of jealousy over God’s love for us Humans. As a punishment, they were banned to a place that would be removed from the presence of God for all eternity.

Going to Hell is not just the fear of a painful place, filled with the eternal fire. It is being put in a place with beings that have an eternity of hate for humans. Who wanted to see humans destroyed. Being closed in a place with these creatures for all eternity with no hope of God’s intervention. Our body and soul are going to face an eternity of punishment by the Devil.

For me that is a terrifying thing. To think that I would be trapped in the cage with a starving tiger, or lion. Then to be reborn each day new to be torn apart again, because there is no death in eternity.

I think that for some people there will be a major realization. We live our lives in the presence of God from the start of our existence. It is like a fish born in water. They know no other life. The water is so natural that the fish does not think of it.

Many people in life do not think about the presence of God. For those people that reject God and end up in Hell, they will feel an emptiness. That emptiness will become clear to them as the presence of God that was in their Earthly life. The presence, they never took time to acknowledge, now becomes clearly missing. The natural becomes unnatural for all eternity, and an eternity of discomfort. When the person becomes intimately aware that the presence they ignored is gone, and the greater presence of God in Heaven will never be known.

Many of us deny God. We may not always outwardly speak it. We may not speak openly against God, although some do.

Jesus speaks of another denial. The denial that we do in the secret of our hearts and minds. Those denials that we do almost naturally.

The denial that we go to church, as if it were a check-box for the week. Denying God in our daily lives. He does not only exist in Church.

The denial that we claim to be Christian, but we have hatred for others. Other people that are also a part of Christ and therefore, we deny Jesus by denying others. 

The denial that we claim to be Christian, but we make exceptions for money, work, concerts, sports games, and any other thing in this world that brings us immediate pleasure. We deny Jesus because we place material happiness higher than Eternal Happiness. 

We deny Jesus when we do not pray. Psalm 119:164 states, “Seven times a day do I praise thee, Because of thy righteous ordinances.” Jesus was witness (an example) of this when he prayed seven times a day. He instructed the Apostles to pray seven times a Day. The Catholic church still practices the seven prayers a day in the Liturgy of the Hours. The Liturgy of the Hours is the prayer of the Church where countless people pray the same prayers together, in different places. “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” [Mat 18:20]

We deny God when we do not offer thanks, for all his generous gifts. How angry do we become when we give a gift and it is not accepted, or treated badly. Yet, we do not even take time to thank God who gives us gifts everyday.

As Jesus said, “Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father’s knowledge.”

We may deny him in our hearts, but God knows our hearts better than we know them. He can see into them, better than we can ourselves. As much as we Deny God, we Deny that we ourselves have done wrong even more.

Let us give praise to God in all that we do. Live with integrity!

Stand for your Christian values in the face of those that would deny them. Be a witness (an example) of what Jesus taught.

Pray in public! Try it, it is really invigorating. Do not give into the fear of what people will say, that is the devil talking. Pray unceasing, and without fear.

We have Christ at our side and with him, evil has already lost. He is our savior, and he will always stand to fight for us. Will we do the same for him, or will we deny Him?

May God Bless you on your Journey of Faith. Let us pray for our denial, and the denial of others. May God give us the grace to stay true to his word.