“Not as man sees does God see, because man sees the appearance but the LORD looks into the heart.” – 1 Samuel 16:7

Today’s Bible verse is from 1 Samuel. 1 Samuel tells a story of how Samuel the priest is directed by God to visit a man named Jesse in order to anoint one of Jesse’s sons king of Israel. Both Samuel and Jesse thought that one of Jesse’s seven older sons might have been the one chosen by God to become king of Israel. David, Jesse’s eighth and youngest son, was out in the fields tending flocks of goats and sheep when his father presented his older brothers to Samuel. His father thought David would not be considered by Samuel, but God told Samuel not to be moved by the physical appearances of the elder sons, that God does not judge like man judges, by outward appearances. God tells Samuel that He, God, looks into a man’s heart. God wanted David to be king.

When I read the Psalms that David wrote, their beautiful poetry speaks of his wonder and deep love for God. It is always said that David had a heart for God. It is evident in all the phases of David’s life.

When I first started dating my husband, we were both attending college and working in different departments of a supermarket. I did not even know who he was, because the store was big and busy with over a hundred employees. Other employees knew who he was, however, especially the women. Jerry had a deserved reputation for being a heartbreaker (an old-fashioned description that I like better than the new ones around).

I met Jerry at a hastily organized party after work one summer evening. I approached my friend and asked her, “Who is that guy standing over there?” She said, “You mean, you don’t know Jerry Jordan? Everyone knows Jerry Jordan.” “No,” I said. “I have never seen him before. But he has been standing next to me all night, laughing at everything I say.” Truthfully, I was annoyed by his notice. I felt he was cramping my style.

The next time I saw Jerry was almost 8 months later. We were both working a Saturday and he casually said hello. This time, after saying hello, I went to the next aisle and nearly collapsed against the shelves. I was so taken by him. It was as if I had never had that first encounter at the party with him.

We kept our relationship secret for a month or two, but eventually people who worked around us put it together. Jerry had warned me that people might say things that I might find upsetting. He was right, although I didn’t get as upset as you might imagine. People said all kinds of things. Some were well-meaning friends and acquaintances, some were jealous. I was warned with many words that I shouldn’t date Jerry at all. I especially remember one woman coming to me and saying, “You’re seeing Jerry Jordan? I give it three months.”

Sunday’s Gospel reading is found in John’s Gospel, chapter 9. It tells the story of a man who is blind from birth. Jesus heals the man by smearing mud on his eyes, mud that He has made with dirt and His own Saliva. He has made the mud and healed on the Sabbath though, which makes Him vulnerable to the verbal attacks made against Him by the “religious” community, the Pharisees. They are able to call Jesus a sinner because He has performed this healing on the Sabbath, and so it can be seen as work, and thus, a sin. Also, the healed man’s own parents pass the questions of the Pharisees back to their son because they are afraid they will be called followers of Christ. And some people of the town, willingly and unwillingly, cannot even recognize the now healed man, someone who has lived among them his whole life.

The story reveals that intentionally (most Pharisees and some townspeople), unintentionally (other townspeople), and out of fear (the parents of the former blind man), all of these are actually, spiritually, the “blind ones.” The Pharisees view Jesus as a threat to their religious thinking, a man whose power and new perspectives will change minds and hearts about religious laws. Jesus is a danger to their religious system of belief and their way of life. The Pharisees continue to press the healed man to acknowledge that Jesus must be a sinner because He healed on the Sabbath.
“I don’t know whether he is a sinner,” the man replied. “But I know this: I was blind, and now I can see.” The healed man is eventually thrown out of the synagogue.

When I read 1 Samuel and John 9, I think about how human beings are really no different than we were 2000 and more years ago. Many of us still prefer to always think “inside the box.” We make quick and uninformed judgements of people and situations based on outward appearances only. We draw deep lines in the sand, and view people and opinions that are different from ours as ridiculous or even dangerous.

Jesus was viewed as a threat. His healing miracles showed His power, and thus His power gave validity to the challenges He made to the way people think and act. He taught that money and earthly social position were not valued at all in the new kingdom, God’s true kingdom. His teachings were about kindness and self-sacrifice for another’s benefit. Just as in the verse from the Old Testament book 1 Samuel tells, He taught that God did not look at outward appearances, God looks into the heart. Jesus taught that the greatest commandment was to love God with all your heart and mind, and the second greatest was like the first, to love your neighbor.

I asked my husband once what it was about me that made him fall in love with me. I expected an answer that called attention to something in my physical appearance, but his answer was more thoughtful than that. He said “I really liked the way you treated me.”

I think about the woman who gave the relationship Jerry and I had started just three months lasting power. I think she was sincere but looking at outward appearances.

That conversation with her took place in 1979. Jerry and I married in 1987, had 2 children together, and when he died in 2016, we had been married 29 years, together 37 years. Our relationship had many ups and downs; neither of us was a perfect human being.

I am so thankful that God gave me the love that enabled me to see Jerry’s heart, and it was a beautiful heart. I do not elevate myself when I say this. Rather I am grateful and humbled by God’s gift to me of a strong marriage. If I had listened to others, I would not have had the good times and the joy, my wonderful kids.

Lately, life has been a struggle. I know I am blessed, because I am surrounded by family and friends who are always willing to help me. Still, I often feel alone when I face the new challenges of life. Losing my husband has thrown me off balance; it feels like my emotional strength is depleted.

I am fighting through though. I remember that I am not alone. I have family and friends, and most of all, I have Jesus, my Savior who truly is always there, who never leaves my side.

Jesus is not just mine. You have Jesus too.

Dear God,

I praise You alone. Thank You for never leaving my side, even when I can’t see You there, because I am blinded by outward appearances. Please give me the love I need to see the value of others.

In Jesus Precious Name I pray, Amen

“Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him and we will come to him.” – Jonn 14:23

I remember the first time I invited Jerry’s mom to have dinner at my house.

I was just 20 years old, still living home with my Mom and younger siblings. We had a yard in back of our house in the middle of the city where we lived, with a brick patio under a shady grape vine. It was August, so I thought I might make a good impression if I invited Jerry’s mom to an afternoon supper under the leaves.

I can’t recall the menu I decided to serve, but I was young and this was my first time entertaining as an adult, so I am sure the food I served was a strange combination of the exuberant and the exotic. I do remember one recipe I thought I would try to bake. It was something called olive bread. I had never had it before, and I have never had it since. But it sounded like it would compliment the other food I was serving, so I gave it a try.

It was a beautiful August Saturday, and I was so happy to play hostess that day. As we sat there, the bread looked delicious. I sliced it and everyone began to taste it. As I chewed, I realized, with absolute horror, that the bread tasted not at all what I imagined it would taste like. It wasn’t terrible, but it was agonizingly sweet, like cake, not at all like the briny, salty olive bread I thought I would start the meal with. I went back in the house to check the recipe and discovered I had added cups of sugar instead of the small amount called for.

I always remember my future mother-in-law as being a hard person to get to know, but looking back, I can only remember what a gracious guest she was that day. She complimented me on the bread and said that she liked it. I was able to relax then and enjoy the rest of the meal and the afternoon.

My memory of her kindness has made me tear up. Maybe she really did like the bread, as she never said anything she didn’t mean. However, I think she was also touched by my very obvious trying to please her and treat her well and respectfully. And as a mom myself, I think she could see that I had tried to make the entire day wonderful because I loved her son.

When I read today’s verse, this memory came back to me in a rush.

Until I started to love Jesus, I really did not have a full relationship with God. God was far off from the life I lived, distant and hard to know. I tried to please Him with good behavior and life choices, but I would always eventually not measure up in some way to what I thought His expectations were for me.

When I was 32 years old and my life was going in the wrong direction, I started searching in a truthful, meaningful way to know God. I found His Son Jesus. It turned out He had been watching and waiting for me. He already knew my name. In fact, He had always loved me.

As I began to read the Bible and to know more of Jesus, I fell in love with Him. I was only at the beginning of a relationship with Jesus, with all wonderful truths about Him to discover yet. But my heart and my eyes were opened to know God now, to accept His truths. I wanted to follow Jesus, and to keep His word, and I believe, just as Jesus said, because I began to love His Son, the Father honored my willingness by coming as well to stay with me also, to reveal truths about Himself, to help me grow in His Love.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. – John 3:16-17

As I finish writing this post, today is Father’s Day here where I live. We honor fathers who, in love, teach their children and watch over their children. The world needs fathers who are strong and courageous. God recognized that human need when he sent his Son Jesus into this world to grow up in a family with a father named Joseph.

I wish all the wonderful fathers I know a Happy Father’s Day. And I acknowledge the two men who have made a great difference in my life, my Dad and my husband. Thank you for loving me. You are greatly missed.

Prayer for today:

Dear God,

I give You all my praise, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I thank You for this beautiful world You created. I thank You especially today for the blessings in my life of my Dad and my husband. Most of all, I thank You for Your greatest Gift to the world, the Gift of Your Son, Jesus. I pray to always follow His voice, my Shepherd.

In Jesus’ precious Name I pray,

Amen.

• 

• 

“And Joseph too went up from Galilee from the town of Nazareth
to Judea, to the city of David that is called Bethlehem,
because he was of the house and family of David,
to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.
While they were there,
the time came for her to have her child,
and she gave birth to her firstborn son.
She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger,
because there was no room for them in the inn.

Now there were shepherds in that region living in the fields
and keeping the night watch over their flock.
The angel of the Lord appeared to them
and the glory of the Lord shone around them,
and they were struck with great fear.
The angel said to them,
“Do not be afraid;
for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy
that will be for all the people.
For today in the city of David
a savior has been born for you who is Christ and Lord.
And this will be a sign for you:
you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes
and lying in a manger.”
And suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel,
praising God and saying:
“Glory to God in the highest
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”” – Luke 2:4-14

It was Christmas night, 1992.

It was snowing when we left my aunt’s house in Parsippany, New Jersey at the end of our Christmas family gathering.  I was finishing the sixth month of my first pregnancy. My husband Jerry had to work that evening. He delivered contracts and other papers to real estate offices throughout the state of Connecticut. He would be driving his van through the night and into the next morning. I decided to ride along with him. I didn’t want him to be alone on a snowy Christmas night.

I had packed snacks and water for the ride, knowing that most businesses on the route would be closed for the holiday. I had also packed a book that I thought I would read out loud to him as he drove. When I would ride with him, I would always bring something to read to him, books, magazines, trivia questions, things that would make the night seem to go by more quickly, things that would help to keep us awake. The book I brought that night was titled, I believe, “A Book of Angels.” It was filled with stories two or three pages long, stories of miracles, things unexplainable except for the intervention of a loving God, who in these particular instances, seemed to use His angels to do His work here on Earth.

The night seemed sacred as we sped along from sleepy town to sleepy town. The world was hushed and tucked in as the snow fell. For most of the night, the only light as we travelled were the headlights of our van. As we pulled into many small-town, main center squares, we would happen upon live Nativity mangers, the frosted breath of sheep and other farm animals greeting us in the cold winter night air. The animals never seemed surprised or alarmed by our unannounced presence there in their gentle silent night.

I read my husband incredible angel story after angel story. Finally in the night, I finished the last story. As I closed the book, we sat quietly for a while. Then in the stillness, he called my name, and as I looked over, he said, “I love you, Reg.” “Of course,” I said. “I love you too.” “No.” he said, “I mean, I really love you.”

I sit here alone tonight, my husband gone now over three years. In the dark here, I hold up these words, this memory, in my hands, like the most valuable of jewels, more valuable than any diamond, any other Christmas gift he ever gave me.

Tonight, after over twenty-seven years, I have a new thought about this memory. As I am pregnant in my memory, and on a journey with my husband, surrounded by love in our van full of stories of God’s angels, I am reminded of another journey taken by another pregnant woman and her husband more than 2000 years ago, this the most sacred of journeys, a journey made by the most holy of women, Mary, pronounced by the angel Gabriel as full of the grace of God. The child she carries is Jesus, the One and Only Son of God. His birth fulfills the prophecies of the ancient Biblical prophets. His entrance into this world on this Eve is announced by a mighty angel to shepherds in their lonely fields. After the angel proclaims the birth of a Savior, the night is filled with the joyous song of a multitude of angels, singing Glory to God.

I am trying to imagine the extraordinary sound of many angels singing “Glory to God in the Highest.” Sometimes I will hear a choir, and I am struck with such emotion at the beauty as they sing. I can’t begin to know how this wondrous miracle of joy sounded to the half-drowsy shepherds on this night.

I have felt many emotions the past few weeks leading up to Christmas. I can’t pretend that I haven’t felt sadness and even anxiety as the days were counting down. I would have thought that maybe I was on my way to healing after these few years. But the holiday memories cause pain.

Tonight, though, is different. Tonight, as I remember love on a Christmas night 27 years ago, I am thinking of that Night when God, with great Joy, gave the world the Immeasurable Treasure of His Only Son Jesus. I am visualizing Earth, in a cloud of God’s Peace and God’s Love, as He holds up His Son in His Hands, the most valuable Gift He would ever give, and angels are filling the world with the most beautiful song of Joy. As in our van, Earth is surrounded with angels proclaiming God’s Love.

Thank You, God, for the Gift of Your Love, Jesus.

 Amen.

Merry Christmas.

The Mission: All Things Possible with God.
A Guide to explore and express Words
that are the foundations of our faith.
“Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible,
but with God all things are possible.

Please consider the word Hope.
Jeremiah is sometimes called the “weeping prophet”.
When he warned the people of his nation to turn
from their idol worship, back to the living God,
eventually, he had to witness the destruction
of his beloved city and nation.
Yet, in the midst of his pain, in the book of Lamentations 3:24,
he expresses hope,
something that, to non-believers, may seem incomprehensible,
even foolish…

Jesus came to our world of toil and strife
to be God’s awesome gift of hope to us.
He was ridiculed, and persecuted,
and died on a cross for us.
“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son,
that whoever believes in Him shall not perish,
but have eternal life.
For God did not send His Son to condemn the world,
but to save the world through Him.”
– John 3:16-17

Jesus is God’s most loving message hope.
Through Him, we can know the love of God forever.

Your mission,  ____________________:
* Find one, two, or three Bible verses which mention
or point to hope.
If in a group, pick one to share aloud with the group.
(Please include chapter and verse.)
* Staying on topic, and using a general rule of 80 words or less
(or 5 minutes or less), written or spoken:
Explain what one of the hope bible verses means to you.
or  Share an experience or situation you have faced
or face at this moment that required(s) hope.
Godspeed, ________________.

“The grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of God endures forever.” – Isaiah 40:8

Then Peter came to him and asked, “Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?” “No, not seven times,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven!” – Matthew 18:21-22 NLT

Today’s Gospel story is subtitled in the New Living Translation, “The Parable of the Unforgiving Debtor.”

I begin many posts that I don’t publish. I start to write on a topic, usually a Bible verse or many, and several sentences in, I stop writing the post I started and begin another one, or altogether abandon writing that day. There is a growing list of these abandoned drafts that I often imagine I will return to one day, and save or delete after giving them another look. I have found that’s one feature of blog writing that I have really loved over time, being able to give an issue some thought and then being able to put aside that issue; sometimes it seems I am truly finished thinking about that issue once and for all.

But I’m not.

I find that, when I leave a “draft” unfinished, titled or untitled, and it gets added to “the list of the unfinished”, I do go back to many drafts sometime later and look at them again. I open up the post and give it some thought. If it’s been titled and I’ve written many words, I give it even more than average thought. I find I still have some attachment to the words I chose to write that day.

Today, when I read Jesus’ Parable of the Unforgiving Debtor, I think about another list that, over these years of my life, I’ve saved, and open from time to time. It’s that list of the debts I feel I am owed, the ones I have a pile of somewhere, the offenses I feel someone else made against me. I find it is also a list I seem to have an attachment to.

I often think I have done the work I need to do to let an offense go. I think I have totally and absolutely forgiven someone of some wrong I perceived was done to me, but I have found that at times in my life, I open the list again and the offense is often still there, buried maybe, but still there.

How can we truly and finally forgive someone else?

As a Catholic, we have available to us a beautiful sacrament called Reconciliation. When I was a child, I was taught that this sacrament was called Penance, and while penance for our own sins was definitely a part of the process of forgiveness, the name Reconciliation is, for me, much closer to describing the eventual outcome of receiving the sacrament. As an adult, when I have entered the process of Reconciliation, I have confessed my own sins in true sorrow for them, and received God’s Mercy, His Forgiveness, in return. I feel reconciled to God, my Father, my Creator. I have felt a freeing cleansing unlike anything else I have ever felt.

I understand that God gave us this sacrament of forgiveness because of our need for it, our need to be forgiven. ^“Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results”. – James 5:16 (NLT) When we confess our sins, we can experience powerful healing.

But this Bible verse tells us that we need to pray for each other. And today’s Gospel story goes further. Jesus tells his apostle Peter that we should keep forgiving someone who sins against us. Jesus is telling us that the perceived offenses against us will keep coming, “seventy times seven!” (Matthew 18:22). And He is telling us that we need to keep forgiving, “seventy times seven!” (Matthew 18:22).

So , again, I ask myself that question, How? How do I finally forgive another?

What is Jesus’ answer? Keep praying for them.

Jesus did not just give lip service to this command. Jesus did as He Himself told us to do.

As Jesus hung dying on the Cross for all of us, He was ridiculed, mocked and spit on by many who looked on, those whose actions put Him there. Others who loved Him fled, who unfortunately we are more like than we want to believe. As He took His last breaths there, He did not give in to anger and judgement. What did He do in those last moments of His life? He prayed for the ones who nailed Him to the Cross. He asked His Father to forgive them.

“Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.'” – Luke 23:34

Sit quietly for a few minutes. Place yourself there on that hill, watching Jesus dying, and hear His words as He prays for His enemies. He prays for all of us.

I need to keep working at deleting that list. I need to pray and keep praying, for my family and friends, for strangers, for my enemies. And I need to pray for my own sins and ask forgiveness from God for them. I need to ask for the help of Jesus to do this.

What an amazing Savior we have.

Dear God,

Only You are Worthy of my praise. Thank You for Your Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Thank You for Your Blessed Word, which teaches me to continue to pray for all others. Because as I truly forgive and empty myself of anger and judgement, You can fill me with Your Blessed Light, the Lord Jesus Christ, so that I can receive Your Healing and even give Your Light Jesus to others. Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.

In Jesus Precious Name I pray, Amen

The Mission: All Things Possible with God.
A Guide to explore and express Words
that are the foundations of our faith.
“Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible,
but with God all things are possible.'” – Matthew 19:26

Please consider the word Courage.
There are many Old Testament accounts of courage.
Can you name a hero of the Old Testament who showed courage?
Can you tell that story of courage?
What is a component of courage that makes it different from bravery?

Jesus challenged the religious thinking of His time,
a message considered so radical that He gave His life for it.
More than 2000 years later,
do you think Jesus would find human beings
and our societies so changed by His message?
As followers of Jesus Christ,
what is our responsibility to His message?

Your mission, _______________________,
* Find one, two, or three Bible verses which mention
or point to courage.
If in a group, pick one to share aloud with the group.
(Please include chapter and verse.)
* Staying on topic, and using a general rule
of 80 words or less,
(or 5 minutes or less), written or spoken,
Explain what one courage Bible verse means to you.
or   Tell a Bible story that relates to courage.
or   Share an experience or situation you have faced
or face at this moment that required(s) courage.
or   Explain an idea related to courage.
(You are encouraged to use pictures or objects
to help your explanation or tell your story.)
Godspeed, ____________________________. 

“The grass withers and the flowers fall, but
the word of our God endures forever.” – Isaiah 40:8

There are more “words” to follow.
We did this as a group, one “word” a month,
but one “word” a week, especially during Lent,
would be a special way to examine our faith
during this wonderful season.
Developing and sharing our thoughts
about each of the words helped us
bring our spiritual feelings more into focus.

I found the following among my “spiritual” papers. I thought I would publish it here, as an example of what I imagined would come as result of individual exploration of the “The Mission: All Things Possible” study.

Assignment 1: Faith
Psalm 146
Praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord, my soul.
I will praise the Lord all my life;
   I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.

Do not put your trust in princes,
   in human beings, who cannot save.
When their spirit departs, they return to the ground;
   on that very day their plans come to nothing.
Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob,
   whose hope is in the Lord their God.

He is the Maker of heaven and earth,
   the sea, and everything in them –
   He remains faithful forever.

First, the psalm emphasizes who we should have faith in – the Maker of the heavens and the earth, the sea, and everything in them (Psalm 146:6). This may seem like an obvious statement, but as the psalmist writes, we shouldn’t put our trust in anyone beside God (Psalm 146:3-4). The psalm also tells us what we should do to keep our faith strengthened – we should praise the Lord. We should praise the Lord with our souls (Psalm 146:1), not just with our mouths. The praise should be meaningful. We should praise the Lord all of our lives (Psalm146:2). Actually, we should sing praise to God as long as we live (Psalm 146:2). I think when we sing our praise, it is even more beautiful to God, more fragrant, more genuine.

Later in the week, when I went to finish the assignment, I was struck by this verse: “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.” – Hebrews 12:2

This verse reminds me that my faith is a Christian faith. Our faith was “written” for us by Jesus, when He was present as God the Son, with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit, in the beginning; He is the source, the author of our faith, and it was “perfected” by Jesus when He died on the cross and achieved victory over death. Like the psalm, this verse tells me what I need to do to keep strengthening my faith. I need to keep fixing my eyes on Jesus.

In the months that I opened my heart and my life to God, I visited different churches in search of profound religious experience. I visited Marble Collegiate Church in New York City one Sunday in August/ September (I think) 1991 with my brother Tony. Because it was crowded, we had to sit on a bench in a side balcony upstairs. At the end of the service, the pastor, Dr. Arthur Caliandro, asked the congregation to pray the Our Father. I remember the sun streaming through the glass windows in the ceiling as I heard the beginning words of the prayer, “Our Father, …”. It is hard for me to describe the moment, because it was intensely spiritual. I felt that I could visualize the literal, physical words of the prayer, rising up through the church toward the ceiling rafters, through the shining sun, to God, and most profoundly, I thought I could feel God’s pleasure, receiving those beautiful words, “written” for us by His Only Son Jesus the Word, prayed to him in belief, in faith, and even more, in love for Him.

Our seats were near the choir loft, and at the end of the prayer, the church rang out with a song of praise to God.

I think my faith was so strengthened that day, and in those early days of my faith journey, I was so open and childlike in my search, and full of innocent love for God, that He was able to fill me with so much of Himself that I was almost shining. I think that shining faith was a strong witness to other people. I was so in love with God then that being with God was really the only thing that mattered. Since then, God has shown me that there are other things that matter in my life, but actually, if they are not blessings He has given me, they may not be as important as the place I give them in my life. And I know that I have placed things ahead of Him. This is why my faith can fade. As I write this, I am praying that I will always stay open to God, through praise and prayer, and keep my eyes fixed on my Savior Jesus Christ, making Him first, and maybe even Only.

(Sing)

Doxology                                Thomas Ken
Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heav’nly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Do you have a story in your life of faith? Maybe you will share it here, I would love to hear it, and continue my education about God.

I still haven’t really figured out this WordPress thing. I wanted to post this somewhere off on a side column, but I think it comes down to the theme I chose, and I am not changing the look of anything for the moment.

That being said, the following guide was something I put together a few years ago for a prayer group I attend. We used it as a way to touch base in a different way with our spiritual selves. My friends seemed to enjoy it, so I thought I would give it to you.

The Mission: All Things Possible with God. 
A Guide to explore and express Words
that are the foundations of our faith.
“Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible,
but with God all things are possible.'” – Matthew 19:26

First, please consider the word Faith.
How does faith grow or strengthen?
Is faith activated only as a response to a situation or hardship,
or should faith be in use at all the times of our life,
happy or sad, everyday as well as extraordinary?

Saint Ignatius taught that “finding God in all things”
is one key to developing a healthy spirituality.
How can seeing God in all situations,
and recognizing God in the faces of others,
even our enemies, deepen our faith?

Your mission, ____________________________,
* Find one, two, or three Bible verses which mention or point to faith.
If in a group, pick one to share aloud with the group.
(Please include chapter and verse.)
* Staying on topic, and using a general rule of 80 words or less
(or 5 minutes or less), written or spoken:
Explain what one of the faith Bible verses means to you.
or Tell a Bible story that relates to faith.
or Share an experience or personal anecdote related to faith.
or Explain an idea related to faith.
(You are encouraged to use pictures or objects to help your explanation
or tell your story.)
Godspeed, ________________________________.

“The grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of God endures forever.” – Isaiah 40:8 

There are more “words” to follow. We did this as a group, one “word” a month, but one “word” a week, especially during Lent would be a special way to examine our faith during this wonderful season. Developing and sharing our thoughts about each of the words helped us bring our spiritual feelings more into focus.

“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts. – Isaiah 55:8-9 (NLT)

Grateful for these words.

I try hard. I am thinking most of you do as well. I try to live a life that God would approve of. I try to make wise decisions. I try to love. I try.

Everything looks like it’s going the way it’s meant to, the way I think it should, and then, it’s not. I think I am trusting God but when I lay down at night, I realize that anxiety and worry have consumed me that day. I think I am loving, and then I get in my car on the roads here, someone cuts me off or opens their car door just before I am passing them, and I am angry in just a few seconds.

Jesus told us, “But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.” – Matthew 5:43-48 (NLT)

Rather than try, I am thinking my aim should be to remember. Remember the words of Jesus. Remember to love my enemies. And the way to really do this is to pray for them, my enemies.

Many years ago, someone close to me was having great trouble with a co-worker. This co-worker was going after him in personally-motivated public ways, and the man I knew was extremely upset and at a loss for what to do. A group of us listened to his impassioned story, and all of our subsequent words fell with no constructive advice to help resolve things for him.  As he left, you could feel his great emotional pain. I blurted out Jesus’ words, “You know, (name), Jesus said to pray for your enemies.”

I don’t know if he prayed for the co-worker, and I don’t know if the matter was resolved. I do know that the words of Jesus that I repeated were not on the tip of my tongue that day. The words, I felt, were put there at that moment. A week or so later, someone who was there in the group told his wife that those words of mine, “Pray for your enemies.”, were some of the most profound words he had ever heard. I told her, well, of course, because they weren’t my words. They were Jesus’ words.

Jesus knew that when you pray for someone, you are thinking about their needs and you can’t think about someone’s needs without starting to care about them. To love them.

Thankfully, God is so much smarter than me.

When my daughter was in early grammar school, I met the Mom of one of her classmates. When we began to exchange our thoughts about God, I felt an overwhelming desire to share what I had learned to that point about God. I showed her spiritual books I had read and a particular version of the Bible that had taught me to go deeper when I read God’s Word. She did not seem moved by any of my sharing. Although she didn’t know it, the situation began to wear on me, as I really had felt that I needed to share something with her; I just couldn’t figure out what that was. Finally, I realized I had not prayed about the situation. When I prayed about it, I received an answer I had not expected. Keep praying, but get out of the way. It was God that needed to do the talking, not me. My only responsibility in this situation was to keep praying. I felt peace as I let it go.

The Friday before Mother’s Day that year was Spring-warm, sunny and beautiful, and the school was having a plant sale, and all these plants and flowers were going by us as we stood in the circle in the road near the school. We both wanted to go inside to view the flowers but we were rooted there where we stood. I looked at her and realized that the time had come to share a word with her; I still didn’t know what that word was. I told her, “I have to tell you something.” “Oh, what is it?”, she asked. And then I said simply, “God loves you.” “Oh,” she said, “I know.” “No,” I said, “I don’t think you do.”

At that moment, I heard a soft buzzing and I felt a vibration which began at the top of my head and moved slowly down my body, ending with my feet. It was a curtain of peace which enveloped me. I looked at my friend and told her that those words were meant for her, that I didn’t understand it, but that I had a physical confirmation of peace as I told her, and she said she could see it. She said she was happy for me.

A couple of years later, I was watching a Christian show, the 700 club, and a woman was sharing her testimony. When she had given all her sin and sadness to God, she heard a buzzing and felt a vibration in her body that started in her feet and went up her body, she felt, through the top of her head to heaven itself, and she felt profound peace and joy. When I heard that, I thought that we both had been physically touched by God, His Mercy and Grace going up and down through our bodies.

We can not imagine God’s Love for us. He gave His Son Jesus to suffer for us so that we might reconcile with Him. That kind of Love is something we can’t really understand, but He tells us through His Word and His Sacrifice that His Love is truth.

God’s thoughts are not my thoughts, thank God! God’s ways are not my ways, thank God!

Prayer for today:

Dear God, 

I praise You only, Father, Son, Holy Spirit.

Thank You for Loving us. Thank you for sharing Your Thoughts and Ways with us through Your Blessed Word. Thank You for the Love You showed us through the Gift of Your Son and the Gift of Your Holy Spirit.

In the Name of Your Blessed Son Jesus I pray,

Amen

Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. This man was righteous and devout, awaiting the consolation of Israel, and the holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Messiah of the Lord. He came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to perform the custom of the law in regard to him, he took him into his arms and blessed God, saying:

The Catholic church’s heading for today’s readings is Feast of the Presentation of the Lord. In today’s Gospel reading (Luke 2: 22-40), Joseph and Mary bring Jesus to the temple in Jerusalem at the time prescribed for Jewish people by the law of the Lord for a male baby to be circumcised. Simeon, a righteous and devout man and who has been told by the Holy Spirit that he will see the Lord’s Messiah before he dies, enters the temple, led by the Spirit. He holds the baby Jesus in his arms and blesses God. Then he prophesies about Jesus. He blesses Joseph and Mary, “the child’s father and mother”, and he has further prophetic words for Mary. The reading says the parents are amazed by what is said about Jesus.

There is also a woman present in the temple, Anna, who is a prophetess. She has been a widow for a long time, and never leaves the temple, praying and fasting there day and night. She comes forward at that time and gives thanks to God, speaking about the child to everyone who is awaiting the Messiah.

I have so many thoughts rushing over me as I read these Gospel verses of Luke. Perhaps it is because this time of year is always significant for me for so many reasons.

When I was 33, I became pregnant with my son Joseph. I had really never actually entertained the thought of motherhood before that. I grew up in a very liberal state (New Jersey), at a very liberal time (the 1970s and 1980s), and the personhood of women and women’s rights was always being stressed. A woman was supposed to be concerned with choosing and starting a career; early motherhood (becoming a mother in your 20s) was somewhat discouraged. These were the times before a woman having it all, career and motherhood, was not even really thought about.

I admit I wasn’t particularly driven toward having a career. I didn’t have any concrete goals. I was happy to drift along in life, having a good time when I could, plugging along and even excelling otherwise at the jobs I had. I was in a relationship with Jerry, who eventually became my husband. Looking back, that relationship was the primary focus of my life then.

When I was 31, I went to a Billy Graham event at the arena in our area, where I asked Jesus Christ into my heart, into my life. After that, little by little, the way I perceived the world around me began to change. It did not happen over night. I did not instantly become a conservative about social issues. If ever confronted with the issue of abortion, I was confident in my position, which was that although I myself would never choose abortion, I couldn’t force my position on another woman. She had the right to decide what happened to her body.

Then, a woman I met at my job began to talk to me about me becoming pregnant. She placed her hands on my abdomen and prayed for me. She would ask me in the mornings at work if I had “danced” with my husband yet. At the same time, my husband suggested that we could try to become parents too. And so, I gave in to the suggestions, and after trying for a period of time, I became pregnant at 33 years old. Everyone seemed happy. I figured it was the right thing to do next in my life.

But something happened two months into my first trimester. I started to bleed. I had not even had my first pregnancy visit with my obstetrician. I rested until my first appointment, and when I finally saw the doctor in his office, I told him the details and he said he wanted to do a sonogram to see that the pregnancy was “viable” (his words). I of course agreed. He pointed to a flashing light on the sonogram screen and said, “You are indeed pregnant, and this light is your child’s heartbeat. It is strong. Everything looks good.”

I was happy to hear that my pregnancy was healthy, but what hit me so strongly at that moment was the discovery that at two months in the womb, a child had a heart that beat. I had not known that. All of the “women’s rights” voices had never mentioned that. I felt that my eyes were opened. I had never considered before that moment that a child in the womb was a living human being, a heart already beating. I could see then that abortion was wrong. It was ending the life of a human being.

I asked the doctor “But how could this be, doctor? That a baby has a beating heart at two months. Don’t they allow abortions at two months?” He just looked at me, he had no words. Then I said “They should make every woman who wants to have an abortion have a sonogram first, so that she can see this before she decides to do it.” And that is what many pro-life counselors and pray-ers at abortion clinics try to have a woman do before she chooses an abortion – have a sonogram first, giving her all the facts before a woman makes up her mind.

When my son arrived 7 weeks early, on February 1, everyone around us was so happy, especially my husband and I. Our son was born prematurely early and we were not materially ready at home to welcome him, but he was born healthy and he came home two days later, sleeping on a pillow in a basket until we could get a bassinet for him the next day. We named him Joseph, a family name, and I was happy, because the Josephs I knew in the Bible were obedient to God. He brought so much joy at his birth and to this day.

Four years later, my daughter was born. She has been another blessing. When she was 8 years old, she made her First Communion (a very blessed Catholic sacrament) and after the Mass, several women came up to us and asked if they could touch her veil and her face. We were fortunate to attend Mass at that time in a community where many people from the Philippines had settled, and I think they view a child’s First Communion as a very sacred event, and they give and receive blessings through touch. She too has always brought joy.

The point I am trying to make is that my children have always been viewed as a blessing, by their parents, extended families, our church community.

My heart breaks for all those involved in abortion, past and present. The children whose lives were ended. The mothers, most of whom believed the lies they were told – that a baby in the womb is not a life; that, if it is a life, the mother’s life is more valuable; that an unwanted baby’s life is better off terminated than suffering through the possible struggles they may face here. Most of all, people are led to believe that God is not involved in any of this.

In January 2019, the state of New York passed a law that makes abortion legal as performed by just about anyone even remotely considered a part of the medical profession, just about anywhere, at any time during a pregnancy, right up to the moment of birth. This is a tremendously sad moment in the life of human civilization here in United States, just as the Roe vs. Wade decision in January 1973 is a tragic landmark against human rights. What was equally tragic this past January was that, after the bill  was voted through the New York State government, the pro-abortion lawmakers thought it a fitting tribute to “celebrate” the bill’s passage by lighting up the Freedom Tower, which has been built near the spot where the towers of the World Trade Center fell, where so many people had died tragically. Aside from the irony of that place being chosen as a spot for a celebration of a procedure that brings about the death of a human being, it shows at the very least a misunderstanding of this procedure, and at most, a defiant demonstration of political power over the defenseless unborn who don’t have a voice to protest for their own lives. The lighting of the Tower in celebration was arrogant and insane.

When I read the Gospel verses of the presentation of the Lord at the temple, I see the joy that His birth brought to this world. Simeon blessed God, and Anna thanked God for the birth of this baby. The reading in Hebrews 2:28 tells us that Jesus suffered, and Simeon told Mary that a sword would pierce her heart, but she said yes to God’s plan with joy in spite of her reservations, just as Jesus, the Savior of humankind, was obedient, knowing He would suffer for us. The angels rejoiced when Jesus was born. We celebrate His birth at Christmas and all year.

I could not ever imagine the blessings that having my children has brought me. They are a comfort to me. They make me smile and laugh, when smiling and laughing can seem far away. They make me a responsible person, trying for their sake, when many times I would just as soon give up.

My children are human, but they have been a gift to me in my life, and I acknowledge and thank God all the time for them. I wish that every mother of an unwanted pregnancy would see the child they will bring into the world as a gift and a blessing, not a curse or a liability.

Dear God,

I give only You the praise for all the good You have created.

I pray for every person who, in the past, has chosen abortion as a solution to a situation. I pray for every mother or father who is contemplating abortion. I pray that they choose to give life to the child or children they are carrying. I pray for the children of every pregnancy. I pray for the doctors and nurses and administrators and assistants who work in places where abortions are performed, that their eyes would be open to the tragedy of abortion. And I pray for all those people whose see that abortion is wrong and a tragedy, and I pray that they will be unafraid to stand and speak for children in the womb, who are defenseless and voiceless.

In Jesus Precious Name I pray,

Amen