Spiritual Yearning-Searching For Community

Are you comfortable in your Christian life? If so, then are you fulfilling what God Commands us to do through His Word as it says in Mathew, "Now someone approached him and said, "Teacher, what good must I do to gain eternal life?"He answered him, "Why do you ask me about the good? There is only One who is good. If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments...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." When the young man heard this statement, he went away sad, for he had many possessions." (Mathew Chapter 19:16-22). When was the last time you truly put yourself out in service of others? None of us should be comfortable with these questions because few of us fulfill what is the Mission of every Catholic. To make known our Faith with a burning but gentle zealousness. We do this not by merely 'preaching' empty words at people who's hearts are far from God or to those who have never known love. How can we preach kindness to the broken hearted or those who's hearts and stomachs are empty? As St Francis of Assisi puts it quite succinctly, "It is no use walking anywhere to preach unless our walking is our preaching." Is your heart filled with a burning desire to help the needy or is it a case of 'I'm ok who cares about the rest'?

During the time of the RCIA many Parishes eagerly anticipate new-comers who wish to learn and then become baptized and confirmed into the Catholic Church the One True Church of which the Apostles speak. Many parishes also have RCIA team members and Sponsors to help and encourage those who are going through this learning process.

At first the Catechumens are welcomed and embraced as they journey together and learn about the depth and richness of the Catholic Faith and its Teachings. This is a special time for all concerned as the Catechumens reach out to the unknown with a willing heart and spirit, and they are encouraged by the RCIA team members who with real warmth and compassion share their faith with love and a spirit of community.

Come Easter and these Catechumens are joyfully baptized and confirmed into the Catholic Church. Then suddenly the meetings stop, the fuzzy warmness disappears as a chill enters the heart. What had happened to community spirit? Many new Catholics soon find themselves sitting in pews on their own as friends and family members remain ensconced within their own safe environment. In many cases is it that the RCIA members have done their duty and now the new Catholics are on their own, literally?

If you are thinking that this does not resemble your parish community then ask yourself how many RCIA members still attend Mass? Or have they left and no-one missed their absence?

Are some of these empty pews due to the fact that in many parishes there are no community projects, no community prayer groups or Bible studies? When God first touches a heart He fills that heart with an unquenchable longing for meaning and a thirst to grow closer to this unknown God who's depths man cannot pierce. So the new Catholic ventures forth to fulfill this unquenchable thirst only to find that many Catholics merely want to 'go through the motions'.

Perhaps it is a case that many Catholics can learn from the newer members of their parish who's love is still fresh. Yet do the Priests and parishioners listen or are they content with the status quo? Have many Catholic parishes turned into a community clubs which has very little to do with Reverent Worship and more like catching up with old friends? Is it a case that many within Catholic parishes treat their faith as if it were a members only elitist club which only the few can join. As St. Anthony of Padua wrote, "Consider every day that you are then for the first time--as it were--beginning; and always act with the same fervor as on the first day you began." Is your faith still a burning passion or a burnt out flame which does not wished to be roused from its slumber? Once again it states in Mathew, "What you do to the least of my brothers, that you do to me" (Mt 25,40). Also the wise words of St. Alberto Hurtado Cruchaga reminds the faithful, "As I leave to return to God, my Father, permit me to confide to you one last desire: that you strive to create a climate of true love and respect for the poor because the poor man is Christ." Often it is a case that those who join our Catholic parishes though not monetarily poor are in need of companionship and acceptance by their fellow Catholics, do they receive this though? Or is the party over.

Next time when you attend Mass look for former RCIA catechumens and see how many still attend Mass. If there are none then how was their absence not noticed? God has noticed, were you blind or simply too busy?

Souls are precious to God they should be equally precious to each of us who have the fullness of Truth.

The challenge is what will you do about those empty pews?

Peace of Christ to you ALL

Copyright © 2006 Marie Smith. All rights reserved.

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Meditation with Catherine Doherty II

"God offers us risk, danger and a strange insecurity that leads to perfect security. His security begins when we start loving God with our whole heart, our whole mind, our whole soul and our neighbor as ourselves. I speak of this so often but it is the only message that can never be overstressed. We must clothe the skeletons of our lives with the flesh of his love, or we shall perish."

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Reflection

We spend copious amounts of money on material things that promises to make us happy. We also spend copious hours getting ready to face the outside world, yet how many hours do we spend with God?

Are we comfortable with God? Or do we shuffle about, twitch and tweak our clothes and finally take a peek at our watch in order to be finished with our allotted time with God? Do you long for Mass or do you long for it be over?

In the answers we give to these questions we will find if we are spiritually anorexic or spiritually mature.

In order to fully love God we must also love those around us and not just the people we deem 'worthy'. On the face of things do we deserve Jesus being Crucified in our place? When we can answer this question we realise that we are also in and of ourselves unworthy of God's Love. Yet God loves us enough to have His Beloved Son die in our place.

Christ was wounded for loves sake, are we equally prepared to bear this smaller wound when our love is rejected by others? Christ did not come to us and teach us how to love safely, He teaches us to love for Love sake alone.

The fiery love of God's holocaust is not for the fainthearted or the lukewarm, it is for the warrior spirit who loves fiercely, yet tenderly. Who speaks the Truth without apology, yet also with gentleness, who loves unto folly for Christ's sake.

At the end it will not be your love for God that will be measured but your love for your neighbor and also, your enemy.

Do you love safely or do you risk all for Love sake alone?

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Meditation

Luke Chapter 6:27-36

"But to you who hear I say, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. To the person who strikes you on one cheek, offer the other one as well, and from the person who takes your cloak, do not withhold even your tunic. Give to everyone who asks of you, and from the one who takes what is yours do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you. For if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do the same. If you lend money to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit (is) that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, and get back the same amount. But rather, love your enemies and do good to them, and lend expecting nothing back; then your reward will be great and you will be children of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as (also) your Father is merciful."

Source

'The Gospel Without Compromise' by Catherine Doherty

Peace of Christ to you ALL

Copyright © 2006 Marie Smith. All rights reserved.

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Spiritual Emptiness-Searching for Belonging

There is an emptiness in the world, a void that lay within the soul of every individual. This is not a feeling. It is real it is present it is the now of every person who is searching for a sense of belonging but to what exactly?


Those who run terror organizations and street gangs know this void exists and try to seduce our youth with a fake sense of belonging. They appeal to the loneliness felt by our youth who's lives are interspersed with a sense of hopelessness and pessimism.


There is also the emptiness of knowledge, especially when many use knowledge as a replacement for meaning. Many psychopaths are geniuses with brilliant intellects yet their hearts are devoid of all love and respect for others. A good education is no substitute for a life full of meaningfulness. Yet many families spend hundreds of thousands of dollars in order that their children will succeed in life, but how exactly do we measure success? Do we measure success by how much money we earn in a year or what titles come after our name whether it be PHD or a BA? If this is the case then how superficial have we made life as if accruements and financial assets were the only thing that matters. No wonder our society is sick.


Our youth do not join violent gangs because they wish to do evil to another person. They join these street gangs because they lack a sense of belonging, they are lost in a multitude of faceless people, in a sea of empty values. No wonder they swim towards that which offers them a home a feeling of being wanted and a longing to be validated. Of course we know that this is a false sense of belonging but our children do not have the maturity to understand this, they simply want to be loved and to love in return. When a childs life is full of emptiness then it is a case that any love will do.


It is also the case that those families who are more prosperous should not feel to safe either when it comes to their children, money is no substitute for parental love. As those youth who were born into more prosperous families wonder into the land of aimless and faceless sexual encounters and become addicted to illicit drugs in an attempt to capture what is missing from their inner lives.


When one teenage mother was asked why she had given birth at such a young age, her response was that she wanted to be loved for herself. As she explained she knew that the boys that she had slept with had failed her. This young girl realized that the boys were simply using her body as an instrument of pleasure and then had discarded her as yesterdays rubbish. Her longing was to be wanted, the best way that she could fulfill this was to have a baby of her own, who she could love unconditionally.


We need only look at who and what is perceived as today's role models. Where the superficial is accepted over and above substance. Our youth esteem the latest Hollywood trends where couples are having children out of wedlock and this is seen as acceptable. Where the gay lifestyle is promoted as normal and sexual experimentation is encouraged by all sectors of the media. Our homes are inundated with TV shows that promotes casual sex with no responsibility or accountability. In these TV shows no-one catches AIDS, or STD's there are no unwanted pregnancies. Adultery is seen as a viable choice as both partners betray the other once again there is no sense of right and wrong only what feels good is important. As that great Saint of the Church, Augustine teaches us with these wise words, "Beauty is indeed a good gift of God; but that the good may not think it a great good, God dispenses it even to the wicked." This great Saint knew all about pleasuring the senses while remaining spiritually empty.


This emptiness also follows us into maturity as many look to outside sources to fill this void that only God can fill. We will never truly understand what love is until we have accepted God into our hearts. Once again St. Augustine wrote, "You were within me, but I was outside, and it was there that I searched for you. In my unloveliness I plunged into the lovely things which you created. You were with me, but I was not with you. Created things kept me from you; yet if they had not been in you they would have not been at all. You called, you shouted, and you broke through my deafness. You flashed, you shone, and you dispelled my blindness. You breathed you fragrance on me; I drew in breath and now I pant for you. I have tasted you, now I hunger and thirst for more. You touched me, and I burned for your peace." We learn here that outside things and transitory pleasures are no replacement for what we truly need and that is God at the centre and core of our lives.


We belong solely to God and when we realise this we also acknowledge the fundamental dignity of the other person. We no longer use other people to gain things for ourselves at the expense of another. When we reach this knowledge we can understand that the only love worth having is the love that we give to others. For the love that we give away was never ours to begin with but has as its source the Triune Spirit. A love that was ready to suffer and die so that we may live.


This is love this is belonging.




Peace of Christ to you ALL


Copyright © 2006 Marie Smith. All rights reserved.



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Meditation with Catherine Doherty

"His call is revolutionary, there is no denying it. If we Christians implemented it, it would change the world in a few months. The gospel is radical, and Christ indeed is the radix, the root from which spring all things. His commandments mean risk, great risk. They imply a lack of that security to which most men cling so tightly."

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Reflection

Do we really know Christ or have we packaged Him to suit our image of what He should be? When we follow an image of Christ we fail to see the radical message He left us to follow. To love without thought of self to give without asking the cost and to love fearlessly with an intensity that scorches our souls without burning it.

Many of us have created a 'comfortable Christ' who must change to suit us rather than have Christ change us to reflect Him. We do not wish to be changed we have become like the friends of Job all to willing to speak FOR God without ever knowing Him.

Are we comfortable with the Christ who called the Pharisees hypocrites and vipers and upended the money tables? Do we recognise the Pharisee within ourselves that merely 'mouths' their faith without teeth. Are we willing to upset the status quo or do we choose instead to follow the crowd in order to be 'agreeable' to just about everyone. Was Christ ever agreeable to the Pharisees? Or did our Lord speak the unvarnished Truth to these men chained by the law rather than embrace the radical love that Jesus was bringing to the world.

Are you a comfortable Christian? Or are you willing to risk all in order to gain everything.

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Meditation

Mathew Chapter 10:32-39

"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. "Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth. I have come to bring not peace but the sword. For I have come to set a man 'against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and one's enemies will be those of his household.' "Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."

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Source

'The Gospel Without Compromise' by Catherine Doherty

Peace of Christ to you ALL

Copyright © 2006 Marie Smith. All rights reserved.

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Pauls Journey Into The Heart of Christ

One of the most revealing writings concerning Saint Paul is contained in his own Second Epistle to Timothy, especially in the 4th chapter of that epistle. When we read Second Timothy, we read the Apostle to the Gentiles being fatherly in his advice and warnings to Timothy whom he calls “my dearly beloved son” (2 Timothy 1:2). In the first chapter he advises him to “stir up the Grace of God” in him through his ordination by Paul, to hold fast to the Gospel, and not to be discouraged in his sufferings.

In the second chapter, Paul encourages Timothy to be diligent in his office, and once again, to be patient in his sufferings. He also warns Timothy of the danger of the delusions of the heretics: “But shun profane and vain babblings: for they grow much towards ungodliness. And their speech spreadeth like a canker: of whom are Hymeneus and Philetus: Who have erred from the truth, saying, that the resurrection is past already, and have subverted the faith of some” (2 Timothy 2:16-18).

In the third chapter, Paul speaks of the character of the heretics in the last days (this chapter is very worth the reading) and exhorts Timothy to steadfastness. He also encourages him in the reading of, and exhorts the value in the Scriptures: “All scripture, inspired of God, is profitable to teach, to reprove, to correct, to instruct in justice, That the man of God may be perfect, furnished to every good work” (2 Timothy 3: 16-17).

In 2 Timothy 4, we are given a glimpse into the human nature of Paul, probably more so than any other apostle with the exception of Saint Peter. He begins by warning Timothy again about the heretics in the last days and charging Timothy before God and Jesus Christ to: “Preach the word: be instant in season, out of season: reprove, entreat, rebuke in all patience and doctrine. For there shall be a time, when they will not endure sound doctrine; but, according to their own desires, they will heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears: And will indeed turn away their hearing from the truth, but will be turned unto fables. But be thou vigilant, labor in all things, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill thy ministry. Be sober” (2 Timothy 4: 2-5).

Then begins in verse 6, what I find to be one of the most touching and poignant aspects of Paul’s final epistle. For starting here and ending with verse 22 we see a Paul who is downcast, yet strong. We see a man who has been abandoned by all of his friends, with the exception of Luke. He has been imprisoned in Rome for the second and last time, and he knows it is the last time he will ever be imprisoned and that this time, his only freedom will be in his death. He mentions how some friends have left for other parts of the Roman Empire, how some do not want to be associated with a criminal to be tried before Rome, and you can sense his hurt at being left, being abandoned, yet he holds no animosity or anger towards them. He speaks of no one standing with him at his trial, yet he was strengthened by God, and saw in his trial the opportunity of preaching the Gospel to those who had not heard it. He asks Timothy to bring Mark with him when he comes to Paul (Mark being the same John Mark, the author of The Gospel According to Saint Mark), and to bring him his cloak and his books and parchments, probably his scrolls of Scripture. You can almost sense his sadness, and probably his bewilderment also, at having been left by those whom he had worked with, he had lived with, he had eaten with, and he had suffered with. Yet he also knows that what awaits him is a “crown of justice”, for he had “fought the good fight”. One cannot help but feel the hurt for this man of God who was abandoned by man. Yet, even in those dark days for Saint Paul, he still clung to, and had faith in, the hope that is Christ Jesus.

Verses 6-22 of 2 Timothy 4 follow:

For I am even now ready to be sacrificed: and the time of my dissolution is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. As to the rest, there is laid up for me a crown of justice, which the Lord the just judge will render to me in that day: and not only to me, but to them also that love his coming. Make haste to come to me quickly. For Demas hath left me, loving this world, and is gone to Thessalonica: Crescens into Galatia, Titus into Dalmatia.

Only Luke is with me. Take Mark, and bring him with thee: for he is profitable to me for the ministry. But Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus. The cloak that I left at Troas, with Carpus, when thou comest, bring with thee, and the books, especially the parchments. Alexander the coppersmith hath done me much evil: the Lord will reward him according to his works: Whom do thou also avoid, for he hath greatly withstood our words.

At my first answer no man stood with me, but all forsook me: may it not be laid to their charge. But the Lord stood by me, and strengthened me, that by me the preaching may be accomplished, and that all the Gentiles may hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. The Lord hath delivered me from every evil work: and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. Salute Prisca and Aquila, and the household of Onesiphorus. Erastus remained at Corinth. And Trophimus I left sick at Miletus.

Make haste to come before winter Eubulus and Pudens, and Linus and Claudia, and all the brethren, salute thee. The Lord Jesus Christ be with thy spirit. Grace be with you. Amen.

Copyright © 2006 Steve Smith. All Rights Reserved.

What Price Salvation?

We like to think that as Catholics we are welcoming in our Parish to all people, yet are we? If a man or woman of ill repute came to our Church would you welcome them with a smile that would melt snow or would your reflection be icingly chilly? If a beggar dressed in rags came into your Church would you sniff and wonder at his audacity to enter YOUR Church and ask what on earth is HE doing amongst the 'saved'?

This begs the question does Salvation come with a price tag that only the elite can pay and the poor are left to themselves as we smugly attend Mass and do all the 'godly' things that Catholics are supposed to perform. Are we miserly with our love and give only to the deserving few and then with a sense of self satisfaction from helping them we can then continue our smug and self righteous existance. Is it a case where the Saved are too safe to Save? Whether we wish to acknowledge this or not our very attitudes may cause another to stumble in their faith journey. When it comes to the Salvation of other souls we too must play our part for if it were not for God none of us would be saved.

God has given us different Gifts but do we use them or do we horde them to ourselves and only give lip service in order to impress those around us with our perceived 'virtues'. A couple did just this and received a reprove from Peter and a Judgment from God as we read in Acts, "A man named Ananias, however, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property. He retained for himself, with his wife's knowledge, some of the purchase price, took the remainder, and put it at the feet of the apostles. But Peter said, "Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart so that you lied to the holy Spirit and retained part of the price of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain yours? And when it was sold, was it not still under your control? Why did you contrive this deed? You have lied not to human beings, but to God." (Acts 1:1-4).

Until we recognise our own poverty and realise how much we owe to our Gracious and giving God we will withhold our love from those who most need it and instead believe ourselves to be the holder and maker of this love. Because a person who refuses to love or expects a receipt for the love given is in the erroneous belief that they are the source of their love, and therefore they can be 'choosy' to whom they give it.

We also see an example of this in the writings of Karen Blixen in her parable of her book 'Babettes Feast'. This woman, Babette was destitute and upon arriving at the spinsters house she observed the unsmiling and rigid legalism of a faith ruled without passion or authentic love. The unsmiling Christians had no joy they had made God into a killjoy, they had become habitual Christians, they gave nothing and so received little in return. Till one day Babette wins a small amount of money, many expected her to spend this money on herself to horde her goods as they had horded their spiritual goods. Babette though had a different idea, what she did astounded all, she spent her money on a wasteful FEAST a sumptuous delight, a transitory moment of bliss. Babette gave all she had to those who needed much more than food. It is the same with God, for the Triune Spirit waits upon us to receive His Gifts when our hands are open. God cannot give a Gift to a closed fist. Babette taught the township the JOY of exuberant giving till the last cent, without counting the cost.

We need to understand when it comes down to the nitty gritty and we had to pay God for our Salvation who amongt us could equal God in Loving without prospect of it being returned. Who could pay God for their own salvation? Who amongst us is that perfect that we equal God? When we place conditions on our love we are indeed taking God's place and have forgotten God's Merciful love when it comes to each of us, for we too were once the unsaved. It took Christ's death on a Cross to undo the sting of death. As the Book of Mathew cautions us to use our talents that has been given to us as Gift from above and to share these Gifts unstintingly for as the Word teaches us, "For to everyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away."

Until we can recognise the face of Christ in those we meet we will remain in spiritual blindness as the spirit of self preservation takes precedence over selfless love. We must also recognise the face of Christ within ourselves lest our God given Gifts and talents lay within us dormant.

When was the last time you connected with someone who is of a lesser social status than yourselves? Not in a lady bountiful way but in a way of respect and esteeming those who most need it. as Blessed Mother Theresa said so eloquently, "Being unwanted, unloved, uncared for, forgotten by everybody, I think that is a much greater hunger, a much greater poverty than the person who has nothing to eat." In these dangerous times it can be impossible to help the homeless or those who are addicted to hard drugs, but does that also mean that those who have been forgotten in nursing homes deserve no love or compassion? The elderly who are trapped in their homes either by fear or by incapacity do they also fall into the 'forgotten I'm too busy for you' box?

There is no worse feeling than to be unneeded, unwanted and unloved. Yet for all those who attend Mass out of habit rather than joy do you not resemble the legalistic people in Babettes feast?

When we come together as a community this community spirit should also be reaching out in true and sincere hospitality to those who need Jesus most. For Jesus came to save the sick. Those who had been tossed aside by their peers as beneath them, Jesus can do little with the self satisfied, for what can you give to the person who presumes to think they have it all? Once again the Word instructs us, "Listen, my beloved brothers. Did not God choose those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom that he promised to those who love him?...What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister has nothing to wear and has no food for the day, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well," but you do not give them the necessities of the body, what good is it? So also faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead."(James 2:5, 16,17).

God created the Church so ALL men can be saved it is man who makes distinctions.

For those who speak FOR God will answer TO God.

Peace of Christ to you ALL

Copyright © 2006 Marie Smith. All rights reserved.

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