He must increase; I must decrease

 

"He must increase; I must decrease." (John 3:30)

Today we have a guest blogger from Arlene B. Muller. Arlene B. Muller, OSF, is a Professed Secular Franciscan, lector & Extraordinary Minister at St. Pancras Church, Member of St. Margaret's Choir, and Itinerant Speech/language Therapist.

Today, August 29, the Church commemorates the martyrdom of St. John the Baptist. John the Baptist, who courageously reprimanded King Herod for Herod's taking his brother's wife, incurred the queen's wrath, and the queen took advantage of Herod's drunkenness, lust, and desire for the respect of his guests to get her daughter to be the persuasive force behind Herod's reluctant acquiescence to behead the courageous martyr who pierced his conscience.

On the surface it would appear that Christians living in middle class America in the 21st century would have nothing in common with the ascetic prophet and martyr John the Baptist. Certainly his lifestyle is in sharp contrast with mine. He lived outdoors in the desert, while I live in a comfortable apartment. He ate locusts and wild honey, neither of which appeal to me at all, while I enjoy meals at diners and restaurants and nonfat green tea lattes. His clothing was rough and minimalist, providing little else but modesty and protection from the elements, while I shop in catalogs for reasonably priced, modest, comfortable & color-coordinated clothing.

But in reading in Saint of the Day their description of John the Baptist's efforts to fulfill his calling--the calling the LORD gave him to point others not to himself but to the LORD JESUS CHRIST--I felt the same tug at my heart that I have felt in praying the words of the CANTICLE OF ZECHARIAH: "You, my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the LORD to prepare His way, to give His people knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins. ." (See Luke 1:68-79).

Although our lifestyles and the circumstances of our lives may be in sharp contrast to those of the ascetic prophet and martyr John the Baptist, there is a similarity in our calling. As Christians filled with the Holy Spirit we are all called to be witnesses for the LORD JESUS CHRIST in whatever environment, occupation, vocation and station in life to which the LORD has brought us. Although we don't go before the LORD historically, as St. John did, we should always be ready to "prepare His way" and to be one of the people the LORD uses to draw others to Himself in our homes, workplaces, schools, marketplaces and even public transportation by the way we live our lives, 

relate to others and in our words, both indirectly and sometimes directly. In the words attributed to St. Francis of Assisi, we are called to "Preach the Gospel always and, when necessary, use words".

The challenge for us Christians in middle class America in the 21st century that St. John the Baptist presents to us, perhaps even more than in any other time in history, is not necessarily to adopt his lifestyle of radical asceticism (although a few may share that calling) but, at least for me (a woman who likes affirmation, approval and positive attention) to try to emulate his selfless humility and to be reminded and to acknowledge that WE are NOT the center of the universe but our TRIUNE GOD IS, ESPECIALLY IN THE PERSON OF JESUS CHRIST.  As we strive to do good and to try to live out God's will and calling on our lives, let us remember that what we do is NOT for the purpose of pointing to ourselves, but to be like St. John the Baptist in pointing to JESUS CHRIST, our LORD and SAVIOR. May we always be inspired and challenged by the confession of St. John the Baptist: "He must increase; I must decrease." (John 3:30).

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my Savior!

 

Every year on August 15^th the Church commemorates the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into heaven. In the Eastern Church this feast is called the Dormition (falling asleep) of Theotokos (Mother of God).

The Catholic Church teaches as dogma that the Virgin Mary “having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory.” This was declared as dogma by Pope Pius XII on November 1^st, 1950. Since it was declared as dogma, we, as Catholics, are required to believe this as a truth revealed by God.

As Lay Carmelites we turn to Mary as our mother and sister. We are called to live out our lives in imitation of how she lived out her life. She was always open to doing the Holy Will of God.
In the Gospel of St. Luke, we hear of the angel Gabriel approaching Mary and telling her that she will be the Mother of the Messiah. Since she was not yet married, and as yet had not any marital relations, she was confused as to how this will happen. Gabriel’s response was, “Behold, you will conceive inyour womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great andwill be called Son of the Most High” (Luke 1:31-32). Her response, after being explained that the Holy Spirit will descend upon her, was her fiat (yes): “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” (Luke 1:38) Mary was open to God’s will, even if this would mean problems or difficulties in her life. She fully accepted God’s Will, with all it’s challenges in following it.

Then, after learning that her elderly cousin, Elizabeth, was pregnant with John the Baptist, she went to give her help and support to Elizabeth. Once Elizabeth said, “…how does this happen to me,that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” (Luke 1:43), Mary responded with the beautiful Magnificat, “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spiritrejoices in God my savior…” (Luke 1:46-47)

Mary’s whole life was that of being open to the will of God through contemplation, and then taking what she heard brought it to others. We can learn from Our Lady. Through praying and mediating daily on the Liturgy of the Hours, and by attending Mass Sunday (and if possible daily), we can bring what we hear through scripture to those in our lives.

Let us daily pray, “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord.”

Forgive Us Our Sins

The Scripture readings for the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time can be found at http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/072819.cfm
In the gospel reading for today we hear Our Lord teach the disciples how to pray, using the words of the Lord's prayer, or, otherwise known as the "Our Father."

The disciples see the close relationship Jesus has with his Father, and the peace that He has once He's finished praying to the Father. They want that peace which can only come through union with God the Father.

The beautiful words of the Our Father teach us how to live our lives in union with God and with one another. First, the prayer starts off by recognizing that God is Holy: "Father, hallowed be your name..." Luke 11:2 By saying this, we acknowledge that God is Holy. Then it goes on to pray about relationship with others: "...forgive us our sins for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us..." Luke 11:4 This is the challenge that Our Lord is giving us: to not only love and serve God, but to be able to be forgiving to others as we expect God to be forgiving to us. This is really hard to follow and wrap our minds around.

We all have people in our lives that have hurt us. Whether it's a spouse, parents, brothers or sisters, co-workers, friends, we all have people that have hurt us. There are people that we are alienated from as a result of the hurt or wrong that they did to us. These are people that we find very difficult to forgive. But the Lord is expecting us to forgive them as we expect to be forgiven for the things we may have done.

On a practical level, though, I think that God realizes our human nature. He does expect us to forgive, but he also doesn't expect us to remain in relationships that will continually hurt us or ruin our peace of mind and tranquility. So it's okay to keep your distance from those that have hurt you in the past. But we have to let go of the hurt and forgive them and pray for them. It's okay to forgive and pray for those people that hurt you FROM A DISTANCE. To me, this is avoiding the "near occasion of sin." If being near someone that upsets me causes me to sin and to wish harm on them, it's best to keep your distance, and to pray for them and to forgive them for the hurt they have caused you.

Let us pray to God that we may have Him always at the center of all we do, and to be able to forgive others as He is forgiving to us.

Praise be Jesus Christ now and forever.

My chalice you will indeed drink!

Scripture readings for today can be found at http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/072519.cfm

Today we commemorate the feast of St. James the Greater, son of Zebedee. He and his brother John are famous for their zeal in wanting to sit at the left and right of the Lord when Jesus comes into His glory. This causes jealously among the other disciples.

Jesus points out to them that as His followers we are not to worry about personal gain. Jesus tells them, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and the great ones make their authority over them felt. But it shall not be so among you." (Matthew 20:25) Jesus then goes on to say, "But it shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave. (Matthew: 20:26-27)

As followers of Jesus Christ, we are all called to serve others. We are to see Jesus Christ in those people in our lives that we come into contact with everyday, whether it's our family members, our co-workers, or those people we come into contact with during our day to day existence. We are not worry about who's more important, but rather be concerned about serving all in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. By doing so we are bringing the love of Christ to those who most need it. Is it easy? No! That's where we share in the suffering of Christ. People may not be as open to Christ as we are. But that's where we share in the chalice of Christ! People may misunderstand our motives for serving them, but that shouldn't deter us from serving them in the name of Jesus Christ.

We are to remember what Jesus tells us, "Just so, the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:28)

I Will Be Wth You

 



Today we have a guest blogger, Arlene Muller. Arlene B. Muller, OSF, is a Professed Secular Franciscan, lector & Extraordinary Minister at St. Pancras Church, Member of St. Margaret's Choir, and Itinerant Speech/language Therapist.

The scripture readings can be found at http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/071719.cfm

In today's first reading from Exodus Moses encounters the LORD for the first time in the burning bush & receives the call from God to go to Pharaoh & lead the Israelites out of Egypt.

Moses immediately questions God, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh & lead the children out of Egypt?" And God responds "I will be with you...."

God did not answer Moses in what I would consider the expected way. I think Moses, like me and, I would assume, like most people, was looking for God to tell him what talent or ability or skill or experience, etc., would QUALIFY him to do this mission & give him some affirmation to give him confidence in himself, like "I've seen that you are a good leader". I think that in a similar situation I would look for affirmation of the qualities God or anyone else would see in me to give me confidence in my ability to do whatever job it mission it is.

Instead God's response was "I will be with you." Of course, what we need most of all in our lives, especially in a mission, & especially in a difficult, challenging mission, usually something we either have never done before or something similar to what we have tried to do before but failed, is God's Presence with us to help us. And Scripture is full of examples of God promising to be with us, usually with an admonition not to be afraid. (Some have suggested 365 examples, one for each day of the year.)

Here God is telling us that He has not necessarily called us because of something in us and that it is not because of something in us that qualifies us that will make us successful in performing what He has called us to do. Rather, it is His PRESENCE with us, always helping us, always guiding us, and always giving us what we need when we ask Him and rely on Him, that will cause us to complete the mission He gave us to His satisfaction.

Here is a reminder--a humbling and trust-building reminder that God usually does not call the qualified, but instead He qualifies the called. Whether it is leading the people out of Egypt, obeying God's call to a vocation to the priesthood, diaconate, consecrated religious life, marriage and parenthood, the celibate single life, a particular career or ministry, or caring for an elderly parent, when we obey God and trust Him to be with us to help us, even though it may be very difficult at times, He can and will enable & empower us to accomplish things we would never have imagined.

Today's Gospel confirms this, because in Matthew 11:25-27 we hear Our LORD JESUS giving thanks to the Father for revealing to the childlike what He has hidden from the wise and learned. So what God looks for in us has less to do with our ability and more to do with our availability. May the LORD help us to grow in our ability to trust and rely in Him more than in ourselves.

The Good Samaritan

The readings for Sunday, July 14th, 2019, the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time, can be found at http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/071419.cfm

The gospel reading assigned for the 15th Sunday in Ordinary time is probably one of the most famous ones in scripture. It's of the Good Samaritan. Our Lord was challenged by a scholar of the law with the question, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" (Luke 10:25). Jesus throws it right back to him and asks, “What is written in the law? How do you read it?” (Luke 10:26). The scholar rightly answers with,  “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” (Luke 10:27). Jesus indicates that this is the correct answer. But the scholar, wanting to prove himself, asks, "Who is my neighbor." That's when our Lord tells of the Good Samaritan.

How does this story of the Good Samaritan apply in this day and age? The Samaritans were hated by the Jews. We have in our own time those people that seem different to us and makes us feel uncomfortable with. Foreigners that we feel don't belong here. People fleeing their homes for whatever reason to seek peace in our country.

I was challenged recently about my strong feelings on how immigrants should be entering our country. I'm in favor of doing it through legal means and following the laws of the United States. I still feel that way, but my challenge is this: how do we respect the immigration laws of the United States while at the same time showing mercy and compassion to those who feel they have no other way of getting to the United States but through illegal means? How can we show compassion to them while at the same time respect the laws of the United States? That's my struggle.

Let's pray for the people of the United States who deserve safe and stable borders, and for those who want to come to the United States to be able to find the way to get here in a way that's good for them and beneficial to the well being of the United States.

The cross of our Lord Jesus Christ

The scripture readings for today can be found at http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/070719.cfm

In today's gospel reading we hear of Jesus sending out the 72 disciples to share the good news of God's love and salvation. Jesus gives some pretty challenging instructions: "Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals; and greet no one along the way. " (Luke 10:4) This challenges the disciples to have complete trust that God will take care of them during their travels in spreading and sharing the Good News.

What challenges do we have in sharing the Good News of the Gospel? We, like the disciples in today's Gospel, are commissioned to bring the Good News to those in our lives. We are to bring the love of God to those in our families and those we work with. There will be people that will be open to the Good News of God's love for them. And then there are those who reject this message. In either event, be joyful in those that accept God into their lives, and pray for those who may reject God for whatever reasons they may have. Trust that God will work through all we do to share His love with others.

Let us, with St. Paul, say "May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ..." (Galatians 6:14).