Trust in the Lord

Reflections for February 1st, 2015, the 4th Sunday in Ordinary time. Scripture readings can be found at http://usccb.org/bible/readings/020115.cfm.

Anxiety is one of the most common uncomfortable experiences we have to deal with. It is an unpleasant state of inner turmoil that drains our energy, makes us irritable, puts us on edge, disrupts sleep, and negatively affects our mood. According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America 40 million adults in the United States age 18 and older suffer from anxiety disorders. That's 18% of the U.S. population who cope with feelings of nervousness, worry, unease of stress - usually about an imminent event or something with an uncertain outcome. Often, anxiety disorders are accompanied by depression and regular doses of Xanax, Valium, or Prozac.

Thomas Merton said, "Anxiety is the mark of spiritual insecurity." Because today's second reading begins with the words "I want you to be free from anxieties," (1 Corinthians 7:32), it behooves us to sit up and pay attention.

Paul tells us that the cause of stress and anxiety is division within ourselves. Stress means that we are at odds with ourselves regarding a major or minor life issue. We should not live by double standards. We should never compromise our principles. These things tear us apart and cause anxiety.

Paul is encouraging us to put the Lord in the center of all we do. We are to trust in the Lord in all that happens in our lives. In all that occurs to us in life (whether married or single) we are to consider how Jesus would handle a person, a problem, condition, or project you might face in everyday life. We make our decisions based how we think Jesus would respond. You may recall the phrase a few years back, "WWJD", "What would Jesus do?" We should respond by how we think Jesus would respond.

Stress and anxiety occurs when we leave Jesus out of our lives and all we do. The single-hearted devotion to our Lord, Jesus Christ, recommended by St. Paul, can help end the confusion, provide a focus for us, and help us to know the mind and heart of Christ.

In one of my favorite quotes from St. Theresa of Avila, we hear, "Let nothing trouble you. Let nothing frighten you. Everything passes. God never changes. Patience obtains all. Whoever has God wants nothing. God alone is enough."

Put Jesus in the center of your life and in the center of all you do, and you will be free from anxiety, and have that peace that can only come from God.

Praise be Jesus Christ, now and forever.

St. John Bosco

Today is the feast of St. John Bosco. The assigned reading in today's Office of Readings is beautiful and I wanted to share it with you. Feel free to add your comments and reflections on it as well.

From a letter by Saint John Bosco, priest
(Epistolario, Torino, 1959, 4, 201-203)

I have always labored out of love

First of all, if we wish to appear concerned about the true happiness of our foster children and if we would move them to fulfill their duties, you must never forget that you are taking the place of the parents of these beloved young people. I have always labored lovingly for them, and carried out my priestly duties with zeal. And the whole Salesian society has done this with me.

My sons, in my long experience very often I had to be convinced of this great truth. It is easier to become angry than to restrain oneself, and to threaten a boy than to persuade him. Yes, indeed, it is more fitting to be persistent in punishing our own impatience and pride than to correct the boys. We must be firm but kind, and be patient with them.

I give you as a model the charity of Paul which he showed to his new converts. They often reduced him to tears and entreaties when he found them lacking docility and even opposing his loving efforts.

See that no one finds you motivated by impetuosity or wilfulness. It is difficult to keep calm when administering punishment, but this must be done if we are to keep ourselves from showing off our authority or spilling out our anger.

Let us regard those boys over whom we have some authority as our own sons. Let us place ourselves in their service. Let us be ashamed to assume an attitude of superiority. Let us not rule over them except for the purpose of serving them better.

This was the method that Jesus used with the apostles. He put up with their ignorance and roughness and even their infidelity. He treated sinners with a kindness and affection that caused some to be shocked, others to be scandalized, and still others to hope for God’s mercy. And so he bade us to be gentle and humble of heart.

They are our sons, and so in correcting their mistakes we must lay aside all anger and restrain it so firmly that it is extinguished entirely.

There must be no hostility in our minds, no contempt in our eyes, no insult on our lips. We must use mercy for the present and have hope for the future, as is fitting for true fathers who are eager for real correction and improvement.

In serious matters it is better to beg God humbly than to send forth a flood of words that will only offend the listeners and have no effect on those who are guilty.

Saint Angela Merici, Virgin

Today is the feast of Saint Angela Merici, virgin. She was born in 1470 in Desenzano in the territory of Lombardy. She was a member of the Third Order of Saint Francis. She instructed young girls in the works of charity. Then in 1535, under the patronage of Saint Ursula, she founded a congregation of women who instructed poor girls in the Christian life. Saint Angela died in 1540.

Following is the reading assigned for the Office of Readings that I wanted to share with you. Feel free to add your comments in reaction to her writings.

From the Spiritual Testament by Saint Angela Merici, virgin

He has disposed all things pleasantly

Mothers and sisters most dear to me in Christ: in the first place strive with all your power and zeal to be open. With the help of God, try to receive such good counsel that, led solely by the love of God and an eagerness to save souls, you may fulfil your charge.

Only if the responsibilities committed to you are rooted firmly in this twofold charity will they bear beneficial and saving fruit. As our Saviour says: A good tree is not able to produce bad fruit.

He says: A good tree, that is, a good heart as well as a soul inflamed with charity, can do nothing but good and holy works. For this reason Saint Augustine said: Love, and do what you will, namely, possess love and charity and then do what you will. It is as if he had said: Charity is not able to sin.

I also beg you to be concerned about every one of your daughters. Bear them, so to speak, engraved upon your heart – not merely their names, but their conditions and states, whatever they may be. This will not be difficult for you if you embrace them with a living love.

Mothers of children, even if they have a thousand, carry each and every one fixed in their hearts, and because of the strength of their love they do not forget any of them. In fact, it seems that the more children they have the more their love and care for each one is increased. Surely those who are mothers in spirit can and must act all the more in the same way, because spiritual love is more powerful than the love that comes from a blood relationship.

Therefore, mothers most dear to me, if you love these your daughters with a living and unaffected charity, it will be impossible for you not to have each and every one of them engraved upon your memory and in your mind.

I beg you again, strive to draw them by love, modesty, charity, and not by pride and harshness. Be sincerely kind to every one according to the words of our Lord: Learn of me, for I am meek and humble of heart. Thus you are imitating God, of whom it is said: He has disposed all things pleasantly. And again Jesus said: My yoke is easy and my burden is light.

You also ought to exercise pleasantness toward all, taking great care especially that what you have commanded may never be done by reason of force. For God has given free will to everyone, and therefore he forces no one but only indicates, calls, persuades. Sometimes, however, something will have to be done with a stronger command, yet in a suitable manner and according to the state and necessities of individuals; but then also we should be impelled only by charity and zeal for souls.

Behold the Lamb of God

The readings for today, the 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, can be found at http://usccb.org/bible/readings/011815.cfm

What does it mean for the Church, for us, today to be disciples of Jesus the Lamb of God? Pope Francis says it so eloquently: "It means putting innocence in the place of malice, love in the place of force, humility in the place of pride, service in the place of prestige. It is good work!" Being disciples of the Lamb means that we must not live like a "city under siege," but like a city on a hill, welcoming and in solidarity. It means being open, proposing the gospel to everyone, testifying with our life that following Jesus makes us freer and more joyful. We Christians must put innocence in place of malice, love in the place of force, humility in the place of pride, and service in the place of prestige.

In our readings from Samuel and the Gospel of John, we hear how God calls his people to do His will of bringing the good news to others. As followers of Christ, we are called to proclaim: "We have found the Messiah!" And like Samuel and John, we are called to speak the message of God to others that will change their lives!

The people we are called to share the message of God's love with are those that are already in our lives. We don't need to go traveling to mission territories to share the gospel, but are called to share the message of God with our neighbors, our friends, or our acquaintances at church and all those in our lives. Christ calls us to have actions and words that loudly proclaim that we have found the Messiah! We have to not only "talk the talk", but "walk the walk".

Part of living out the gospel and proclaiming the Messiah to others, we must first look inward. Christ is calling us away from our self-contentedness to that of concern for those around us. Hearing Jesus, who is the way, the truth and the life, we are called to walk in a new direction. To that of following the Messiah.

When the first disciples heard the Lamb of God, they experienced a true epiphany; they found the Messiah. None of them could contain their excitement in hearing the words of Jesus!

We, like the first disciples, receive a specific call from the Lord to follow and service the Lord in a particular manner. Some are called to ordained ministry. Some are called to the married state to raise children. Some to the single state. In whatever situation we find ourselves, we are called to proclaim the Gospel and to point out the Messiah to others. We all have a vocation, a specific call from the Lord to follow him in a particular way. We all encounter Christ in a truly personal way. We may not recognize the call at first as something extraordinary. It will be only in time that we can recognize the call of God in our lives.

Let us always be open to the way God works in our lives and how he is calling us to share our faith in the Lamb of God with others. We are to be like John the Baptist and point others to Christ, "Behold the Lamb of God!"

Praise be Jesus Christ, now and forever!

Baptism of the Lord

Today's scripture readings can be found at http://usccb.org/bible/readings/011115.cfm

Let me be the last to wish you a Merry Christmas - sort of! "Merry Last Day of the Liturgical Christmas Season" would be more accurate. It might appear that today's feast of the baptism of the Lord has little to do with Christmas or even little to do with Jesus, since strictly speaking he didn't need to be baptized at all. But if it appears that way, we should remember that appearances are often deceiving.

The baptism of Jesus by John in the Jordan River had great significance for Jesus himself, for the readers of Mark's Gospel, and has great significance for us today.

There was always a tension in the early believers of Christ as to whether or not Jesus was truly divine and as truly, completely human. Those who stressed his Divinity tended to water down his humanity. They knew Jesus, like us, got tired, hungry, and thirsty. But then they wondered if these things took away from his Divinity.

The answer would be, "No, they don't!" Those things are part of being human. Pope Saint John Paul II said in a general audience, "We repeat with the New Testament, with the creed, and with Vatican Council II that Jesus Christ has truly been made one of us, like us in all things except sin."

Hence his baptism was not a mechanical gesture that he realized was unnecessary but was willing to go through for the sake of appearances. His vision of the heavens torn open, the Spirit descending upon him like a dove, and his Father's voice had to have been a profound, deeply affirming experience.

Just after this baptism by John, Jesus goes into the desert for what we might call today a period of discernment. The more clearly he saw what he needed to do, the more the devil tried to tempt him away from his mission.

A question may arise in our minds, though, as to what the meaning of Jesus' baptism is for us today? After all, Jesus had nothing to repent of, nothing to be saved from. The answer itself can be found in the question itself. St. Paul helps us find that answer by saying, "For our sake he made him to be sin who did not know sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him." (2 Corinthians 5:21)

Saint John Paul II realized the importance of the baptism of Jesus when he created the new mysteries of Light for the rosary. The first of these mysteries was the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan.

In reflecting on the baptism of Jesus, we need to reflect on our own baptism and the gift of salvation that Christ gave us in His church and in his sacraments.

Praise be Jesus Christ, now and forever!

The Twelve Days of Christmas

The scripture readings for the Feast of Epiphany can be found at http://usccb.org/bible/readings/010415.cfm



There’s a popular song during Christmas time that I’m sure you’re familiar with. It’s “The Twelve Days of Christmas.” This song refers to the time between Christmas Day (December 25th) and the Feast of the Epiphany (January 6th). If you count those days, you will get the number twelve. The Catholic Church normally transfers this feast to the Sunday closest to January 6th. This year Epiphany will be celebrated on January 4th.



Epiphany is the feast that commemorates the visit of the Magi, found in the gospel of Matthew, chapter 2, vs 1-12. After an audience with King Herod, the Wise Men found Mary & Joseph with the Child Jesus: “and on entering the house they saw the child with Mary his mother. They prostrated themselves and did him homage. Then they opened their treasures and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.” (Matthew 2:11)



The song “The Twelve Days of Christmas” was written with many symbols that can be applied to our Catholic Christian Faith. A few that comes to mind is as follows: The partridge in a pear tree is Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, whose birthday we celebrate on December 25. The two turtle doves refer to the two testaments of the bible: the Old and New. The four calling birds refer to the four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The Eleven Pipers piping refers to the 11 apostles that remained faithful to Jesus.



Christmas, and the twelve days that lead up to Epiphany, calls us to always to search out Jesus in our lives. The Magi traveled a great distance to find the Christ Child. We as Catholics don’t have to travel as far as the Magi. We can find Jesus in each Catholic Church we enter. Jesus is in the tabernacle waiting for us to make him part of our lives.

Let’s make it a New Year’s Resolution to keep Jesus as the center of our lives throughout the coming year of 2015.



Praise be Jesus Christ, now and forever.

Mary, Mother of God

The Scripture readings for today can be found at http://usccb.org/bible/readings/010115.cfm

Michelangelo's "Pieta" provided the centerpiece of the Vatican Pavilion at the 1965 New York World's Fair. Spectators viewed the famous statue from a moving walkway in a darkened room. The crowds spontaneously grew silent as the white marble gleamed under spotlights, and Gregorian chant was heard in the background. Why did visitors go silent? What did they see? They saw the one whose feast we are celebrating today: Mary, the Holy Mother, showing her Son to the world.

In showing Jesus to us, Mary shows us ourselves. We are the Body of Christ. Pope Francis is asking us to acknowledge this. He asks us to include those suffering from various kinds of slavery in our Christmas thoughts and New Year's resolutions. They are our brothers and sisters. We must see them as such and try to get the rest of the world to have the same vision.

On this Octave Day of Christmas, the gospel for today turns our attention to the scene at Bethlehem: Mary, Joseph, the infant Jesus, angels, and shepherds. In our Christian tradition, however, we see in the wood of the manger a foreshadowing of the wood of the wood of the cross. This little child who we adore will grow up, have a brief public life, and be crucified. His mother's soul will be pierced with a sword of sorrow.

Today, Pope Francis asks us to reflect upon the many forms of slavery that still exist in our "modern" world. He calls our attention to migrants, prostitution, exploitation of workers and others, enslavement of women and children. Individuals and groups profit from these sinful situations.

In opposition to slavery, Catholic teaching proclaims the inviolable dignity of every human person without discrimination. ALL human beings are brothers and sisters.

We are to reject inequality that allows enslavement. We are to act inclusively and generously, so that those enslaved can be set free. Then we shall have the blessing that brings peace.

In examining our own attitudes we need to ask ourselves if we consider ourselves in solidarity with those on the outskirts of society. Are our hearts open to those who may not have as many blessings as we have?

We all need to work towards peace in the world, which is more than the absence of war. We need to create a society in which all are truly free and equal. This means promoting liberty and justice for all, not only a few.

In our second reading from St. Paul's letter to the Galatians we read, "When the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to ransom those under the law,so that we might receive adoption as sons." (Galatians 4:4) The gift of the Spirit, by which we cry "Abba" (Galatians 4:6), is not intended for an elite group, but for everyone! We are to work to that end, so that there are "slaves no more, but only brothers and sisters." (Galatians 4:7) May our communion in the one Bread bring us closer to becoming one Body of Christ. And may Mary, our Mother and Queen of Peace, help us accomplish this.