Widow of Nain - Sunday reading reflection

The Gospel for this Sunday tells the story of Jesus encountering the widow from Nain.  The encounter was  bitterly painful.  We hear that Jesus took pity on the woman when he saw her.  Pity, not in the present condescending understanding of the word but in its original meaning.  Jesus sympathized with her because he too was suffering from her pain.  

It was deep pain.  As a widow, she had already lost her husband.  Her son was her only son.  Now, he was dead.  Without family to support her, she risked losing her future.  Having lost the two men in life she loved, her past was lost.  Jesus, though not the first or the last one to raise someone from the dead, as the Bible clearly shows us, walks up, touches the coffin and simply says, "Young man, arise."  And he does.

This man was given a second chance at life because of Jesus' mercy.  So too, the widow was given a second chance at life at a time when all seemed lost.  We are all given second chances in life because the of mercy of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.  But it is also to remember that no matter how many chances at life we get, we'll eventually die- just as the widow did; just as her son did; and just as Jesus himself would do.  So what are we to do with the life we're given while we have it?

Remember the words from the Gospel of John.  "I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly." (10:10) One day you will die.  While you still have life, a life Jesus wants for you to have in abundance, how will you live it- unto your death?

Solemnity of the Sacred Heart - Tomorrow's reading reflection

Jesus asks a question in today's Gospel that cannot be answered today as it was answered in his day.  "What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them would not leave the ninety-nine in the desert and go after the lost one until he finds it?"  Most would have left the ninety-nine, where there was safety in numbers, sheep being social animals, to search out the panic-stricken lost sheep.  Can we say that with assurance today?  Do the majority of us seek out the lost?

It seems like the answer, in most cases, is no.  Easier to stay with the ninety-nine.  There is safety for us there too, we think.  We mourn the loss of the one, legitimately, and pray for them.  We shake our heads and say, "But for the grace of God...."  True enough.  But Jesus doesn't just mourn the loss of the one.  He sets the example for us, to risk going out in search of the lost one.  It may be already dead.  It may not want to return.  It may have been attacked and badly harmed.  It doesn't matter.  Jesus still goes out after it.  Will you?

Vocation Directors- Listen up!

If you're a vocation director and don't think making pilgrimages is important for young adults, then watch this video!  Many young adults have been touched by God on pilgrimages and answered calls to the priesthood and religious life.  Forget you billboards and book a pilgrimage. (lol)  Just sayin'.

Benedict XVI helps us see what is not seen - Daily reading reflection

The Gospel today again points to Jewish leaders of the time trying to trap Jesus.  Jesus says to them, 

“Are you not misled
because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God?
When they rise from the dead,
they neither marry nor are given in marriage,
but they are like the angels in heaven.
As for the dead being raised,
have you not read in the Book of Moses,
in the passage about the bush, how God told him,
I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac,
and the God of Jacob?
He is not God of the dead but of the living.
You are greatly misled.”

It made me think about all the incredible pilgrimage site throughout the world.  We can see and touch the places where Jesus and the saints lived.  But we can no longer see them.  When we return from pilgrimage and the spiritual high that we experienced begins to wear off with the normal burdens of life, what then?  We continue to see Jesus and the saints present in the Eucharist and in the effects of their presence.  

The problem for the Sadducees was that they were grounded too much in what they saw.  They didn't necessarily believe in the resurrection, which they could not see.  That made me think of an answer our Pope-Emeritus, Benedict XVI gave to a first communicant in a catechesis back in 2005.  I have provided that exchange below.  The girl's name was Andrea.  And the former Holy Father shows that, though very intellectual, he can break-it-on-down for even an 8 year-old.

In preparing me for my First Communion day, my catechist told me that Jesus is present in the Eucharist. But how? I can't see him! (Andrea)

No, we cannot see him, but there are many things that we do not see but they exist and are essential. For example: we do not see our reason, yet we have reason. We do not see our intelligence and we have it. In a word: we do not see our soul and yet it exists and we see its effects, because we can speak, think and make decisions, etc. Nor do we see an electric current, for example, yet we see that it exists; we see this microphone, that it is working, and we see lights. Therefore, we do not see the very deepest things, those that really sustain life and the world, but we can see and feel their effects. This is also true for electricity; we do not see the electric current but we see the light.

So it is with the Risen Lord: we do not see him with our eyes but we see that wherever Jesus is, people change, they improve. A greater capacity for peace, for reconciliation, etc., is created. Therefore, we do not see the Lord himself but we see the effects of the Lord: so we can understand that Jesus is present. And as I said, it is precisely the invisible things that are the most profound, the most important. So let us go to meet this invisible but powerful Lord who helps us to live well.

CATECHETICAL MEETING OF THE HOLY FATHER

WITH CHILDREN WHO HAD RECEIVED 

THEIR FIRST COMMUNION DURING THE YEAR

Saturday, 15 October 2005

Application: When doubting God's existence or the Real Presence, what effects can you see around you that cannot be explained simply by what is seen?  For me it's when I see "coincidences".  I know better.  As the Pope before the Pope-Emeritus said, there are no coincidences with God.

Repay unto Caesar - Reading reflection for the day

"Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar."  

We're reminded of that by Jesus in the Gospel today.  Ironically, he catches the Pharisees and Herodians in their intended trap for him and asks them whose image is stamped on the coin.  But here's another twist.  The stamp bore Caesar's image.  Whose image do you bear?  With whose image were you stamped?  

The Old Testament tells us we are created in God's image.  "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness." (Gen 1:26-27)  The New Testament tells us "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God?" (1 Cor 6:19)

Application: "Repay to God what belongs to God."  Why?  Because, "You are not your own; you were bought with a price." (1 Cor 6:19b-20)  

How will you make a free gift of yourself to others today?

Sad news from Jerusalem

Frequently, major media in the U.S. carry stories about anti-semitic graffiti.  Rarely do anti-Christian stories make the news.  Often it takes a church-burning to get it on the back page, if there's room.

Well, the case held true again this past week.  On Friday morning, the sad news became public when vandals attacked Dormition Abbey, a popular Christian pilgrimage destination for those making pilgrimages to the Holy Land.  Not only was the Abbey spray painted but the tires on nearby cars were also slashed.  Our friends at terrasanctablog.org reported the vandalism.

Unidentified vandals daubed anti-Christian graffiti on the walls of the Basilica of the Dormition overnight on Thursday and damaged two cars parked nearby. The problem of offensive graffiti is becoming an emergency. In mid-May two ministers put forward a motion to change the legal standing of these so-called “price-tag” attacks as “acts of terrorism”.

Sad news, truly, for those struggling so hard for a Christian existence in the Holy Land.

The website for The Basilica of the Dormition, or Dormition Abbey, a Benedictine community on Mount Zion since 1906 can be found here.