Focus on the Father

 

‘Look, all these years I served you and not once did I disobey your orders; yet you never gave me even a young goat to feast on with my friends. But when your son returns…you slaughter the fattened calf.’ His father said to him, ‘My son, you are here with me always; everything I have is yours. But now we must celebrate and rejoice, because your brother was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.’ Luke 15:29-32

I don’t know about you but I can relate more to the son who did not leave home, who was obedient, and did his work diligently and did not squander half of the father’s wealth. Like that son, I most probably would have felt very bad about the big welcome given to the son who left home. 

I have to confess that I sometimes wonder if I will see the big sinners in heaven. Just yesterday my husband and I were discussing how councillors in his hometown corner the market for particular construction materials and earn big money. It is against the law for public officials to have direct or indirect financial interest in any transaction requiring their office's approval and yet this is what is happening all over our country. 

After politicians have stolen millions from our country’s coffers, after they have deprived a majority of our people of a good education, basic healthcare, efficient transportation, and sufficient food supply, will they receive forgiveness from the “ocean of mercy that opened up for the whole world” when Jesus died on the cross? My mind says an adamant NO! But my heart says YES! If they come humbly before the Father, of course He will welcome them with open arms! 

I realize I am self-righteous much like the older son, “caught up in the narrow confines of the ego”. If we are in the right relationship with the Father, we will just be focused on  Him. We will be using all our strength, our passion, our gifts, on being one with Him in His purposes and goals for me and for others. We will desire that all, absolutely all, may receive of the Father’s bountiful mercy and grace. 

Count On It!

 “Here comes that master dreamer!” Genesis 37:19

Joseph’s brothers knew he was special, different, but instead of being drawn to him, they were irritated, jealous of their father’s favor, and wanted to kill him. They stripped Joseph of the multicolored coat their father Israel made, threw him into a cistern and sold him to traders for 20 pieces of silver. 

We are all but too familiar with sibling rivalry and favoritism and the middle child syndrome, but Joseph’s brothers took it to the extreme! Joseph went through so much hardship and trials and challenges, becoming a slave, then ending up in jail for years for doing the right thing. 

All that time, God had a wonderful plan for Joseph. He was walking with Joseph the entire time. He was working behind the scenes. One thing we can learn from Joseph is to trust God! Even if what is happening is totally disappointing, even if people we love fail us and do us wrong, even if circumstances are worrisome, we must BELIEVE that God will make things right.

We should be confident that God has better things in store for us! God will make our dreams come true if we work with Him to make those dreams come true! We should not allow whatever happened in the past to come and haunt our present! We should know that God will RESTORE what the enemy has destroyed and God wants to do a new thing! God is faithful! Count on it! 

Is Lazarus at Our Gate

 “Lying at the rich man’s gate was a poor man named Lazarus covered with sores.” Luke 16:20

Is there a Lazarus at our gate? 

Many of us live our lives with no thought of heaven and hell, angels or devils. We forget about all that, in the busyness, the stress of everyday life. We may get reminded if we go to mass or a prayer meeting, if we’re paying attention, and not allowing our mind to wander around. 

Here we have Jesus telling a story to the Pharisees. There is a very rich man who is UNNAMED. Lying at his door is Lazarus, a poor man covered with sores that the dogs would lick. When Lazarus died, he was carried away by angels to heaven. When the rich man died, he went straight to hell. What was his sin? Jesus did not say he stole, he lied, he cheated, he murdered, he committed adultery. What sent him to hell? The unnamed rich man ignored Lazarus at his doorstep. He went about his life wearing fine garments and eating good food and did not bother to help Lazarus. 

When I ignore the needs of others around me, I am that rich man who is nameless in Jesus’ eyes. In His reckoning, He does not know me, even if the world gives me plenty of awards and citations. Even if I am powerful and rich and famous, Jesus will say, “I do not know you.”

“I never knew you. Depart from Me,” Jesus said clearly in Matthew 7:21-23. “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord’, shall enter the Kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.” Let us make sure Jesus knows our name, by opening our eyes to see the world around us, paying attention to the needs and the cries of the poor, the sick, the hungry, the ones in prison. When we help them, let us make sure to ask their names. After all, Jesus knows and loves them.

The Future

“You do not know what you are asking!” Matthew 20:22

The mother of James and John, two of Jesus’ disciples, asked Jesus that these two sons of hers be given places of honor in His Kingdom. Jesus replied, “You do not know what you are asking!” Mothers always want the best for their children. We plead with God for their good health, safety everywhere they go, friendships that will influence them to go the right path, authentic faith, etc. 

Salome, the mother of James and John, had the unique position of being right there with Jesus and His apostles when He described His death and resurrection. She could not have foreseen that James would be the first of the disciples to be martyred, slain by the sword when Herod Agrippa had started persecuting leaders of the Christians. When James was lead away, his accuser was so moved by his courage that he repented, accepted Jesus and asked to be executed alongside James. 

Salome’s other son John was the only one of the original Twelve who did not die a violent death. He passed away of old age after writing several books of the New Testament. 

We never know what the future holds for us, and for our loved ones. We can only pray that we all finish running the race well. Jesus tells us how: “Whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave. For even I, the Son of Man, came here not to be served but to serve others, and to give my life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:26-28)

The Greatest Among You

 “The greatest among you must be your servant.” Matthew 23:11

Does this make any sense?

How do we grow into having the heart of a servant instead of feeling 'entitled' that we have to be served? One way is remembering that we have a purpose and to concentrate on that. We need to do the next right thing. 

I was impressed with the story of an usher. He is nameless but God knows His name! In November 1934, two young boys came into a tent where a revival meeting was going on. The place was full, so they turned to leave. But an usher saw them, put his big arms around them and said, “I'll find you seats, boys! Follow me!" He led them to two seats with the choir. 

That was the night that one of the boys, Billy Graham, gave his life to Christ, after listening to the preaching of Mordecai Ham. What if the usher was more interested 

in ogling some giggling girls? What if he was daydreaming? What if he was counting the minutes till he could go home?

Saint Paul commanded us: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men . . . It is the Lord Christ you are serving” (Col. 3:23-24).

How many times have I concentrated on myself and what I think I am entitled to, rather than being present in the moment doing the job I am supposed to do? Lord, forgive me. Teach me to be a servant like You! 

Do Not Judge

  

"Stop judging..." Luke 6:37 

God knows I find this very difficult to obey! I'm a person who has a tendency to look at other people's lives and thinks why in the world do they do the wrong thing repeatedly? They are just digging their own hole! At heart I am a busybody, though it pains me to admit it!!! When I see something that needs to be corrected, I will go and talk to the person, even if he is a priest or someone with standing. And then I go to confession and repent for being judgmental and self-righteous!

The best way I know to combat this deplorable propensity of mine is to be always conscious that the person I am judging is someone God loves very much--To see that person through God's eyes, with His compassion, His mercy, His understanding. The same way Jesus looked at the adulterous woman in John Chapter 8. Jesus did not go preaching to her about sin. He loved her. He saw the person she COULD be, and eventually became! 

There is so much pain in everyone's life, and I pray I will always be the one to offer encouragement instead of criticism. I hope I will remember to be the one to offer words of life, of healing, instead of throwing the first stone to destroy someone's self esteem, or confidence. 

God HATES the sins of the tongue. There is much in the Bible about this! But we should always speak good for our own future. 1 Peter 3:10 says, "Whoever wants to embrace life and see his days fill up with good,..say nothing evil or hurtful, cultivate good, run after peace..." (The Message) 

Yes, we reap what we sow!

God Has a Plan

 

“I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” Genesis 12:3

When Abram was 75 years old, he heard God tell him to leave everything that is familiar and go to a land God would show him. Back then, there was no AI, google, no waze, no newspapers even, to give Abram any answers to the many questions that he certainly would have. I am 69 years old as I delight in telling everyone who cares to know, and I cannot imagine uprooting myself and my family to leave my comfortable home, community, and friends, to start anew in a place that God calls me to. 

But Abram's obedience brings blessing not only to himself but to "all families of the earth"! Obedience seems to be the key to unlock God's many promises! Abraham's story can be ours too if we only listen and obey. For each one one of us, God has a dream, a plan, a vision, where we can use up all the talents, gifts and resources He has lavished us with. If we follow Him, He will bring us on adventures that will make us grow and bloom. 

Just as God had a plan, and continues to have a plan for His beloved people Israel, He has a plan for us too, a future full of hope (Jeremiah 29:11). As long as we stay rooted in Him, seeking His will for our lives, and obeying, we will have an identity as His special people.

Father, may we be brave enough to seek Your plan for us. May we embrace all that You have for us. May we overcome any fear we have in the unknown and place our full trust in You. 

Peculiarly His Own

 “You are to be a people peculiarly His own, as He promised you.” Deuteronomy 26:18

Does God have favorites? In 1582, St. Teresa and her companions left Ávila to establish convents in Burgos and Grenada. It was extremely hard going, the rivers were so high and they could not see the road. They decided to leave their carriage and proceed on foot. The current was so strong that St. Teresa lost her footing, and was on the point of being carried away when our Lord helped her. 

“Oh, my Lord!” she exclaimed, with her usual loving familiarity, “when will You cease from scattering obstacles in our path?” “Do not complain, daughter,” the Lord answered her, “for this is how I treat My friends.” “Ah, Lord, it is also on that account that You have so few!” was her reply.

Choosing to follow God is costly. Loving God is a decision to commit our life to Him. The first and greatest commandment is to love Him with all our heart, all our mind, all our soul and all our strength. When we make that choice, we choose good and we choose life. Our life may be difficult and uncomfortable, but the truth is that we can always depend on the promises of God. It will always be worth it to follow God who chose us first to be peculiarly His own.

The Lord’s Way is Not Fair

 "The Lord's way is not fair!" Ezekiel 18:25

I am almost certain that we have accused our parents of being unfair to us at one time or another, so it is no surprise that we have thought that God was unfair in some way. We maybe look at someone and ache to be that person who is richer, more beautiful, thinner, and seems to have no problems. We think, why did he win that car which was supposed to be mine? Why does God not answer my prayers? I've been waiting and praying for so long! 

It says here in Ezekiel that if a wicked man turns from his wicked ways, none of the crimes he committed shall be remembered against him! Not even murder, plunder, drug dealing, sex trafficking, and any other heinous crime! None of them! 

In Matthew 20, Jesus tells a story where laborers in a vineyard are paid the same whether they worked the whole day or got hired in the last hour! Is that fair? In the world we live in, this is definitely not fair! But God's love and our inheritance is immeasurable. Nothing, absolutely NOTHING we can ever do will merit our receiving it. What is not fair, is that God wants to give that to each of us, and sent His Son down here to die for all our sins so we might get that one in a billion chance to get to heaven! If we read the stories in the Bible, we will realize that God longs for us, desires an intimate relationship with us. Jesus bought for us the winning ticket! His one desire is to bring us to heaven! 

Lord, we do not deserve our inheritance in Christ! Thank You for Your love and faithfulness and mercy and generosity and .... So much, Lord! I am overwhelmed! 

Memorial Stones

 

“As a child I used to hear from the books of my forefathers that you, O Lord, always free those who are pleasing to you. Now help me, who am alone and have no one but you, O Lord, my God.” Esther C:14

Queen Esther's prayer in the Book of Esther, part of the Jewish Tanakh, also known in Hebrew as the “Scroll”, is beautiful, but I have one complaint.

“From birth, I have heard among my people that you, O Lord, chose Israel among all nations, as a lasting inheritance, and that you fulfilled all your promises to them," she prayed. Should not she have had personal experiences of God answering her prayers  and keeping His promises? We should all make sure we have a personal relationship with our Father, that we have stories to go back on, to remember, to relish. 

Just as I write in my diary about what happens in my day, I also make sure to put down what I want to remember about my journey with God. I have many scrapbooks of pictures and memorabilia about our travels, and my son’s growing up years. I also make sure I have a scrapbook of my adventures with my Father in heaven. These are like memorial stones, just like the Jews placed when they traveled to their promised land. From the books of Joshua, we know that the Jews left a series of monuments of stones piled up in different locations which would serve as a national reminder of God’s work in their lives. To them, this was a constant sign of Yahweh’s love, that He was working mightily on their behalf. 

How about us? Do we have this personal relationship with God? Do we make sure to remember what He has done for us, and what He has said to us?

God 2.0

 The Word of the Lord came to Jonah saying, “Set out for the great city of Nineveh, and announce to it the message that I will give you.” Jonah 3:1

Many people see the God of the Old Testament as a God of judgment and not a God of love. It is as if God decided He needed a makeover, and that's why Jesus came. Jesus is the meek and mild version, the loving, forgiving God. God 2.0! 

The Book of Jonah is one of the oldest books of the Bible, written in the 8th C AD. The problem of Jonah was that God wanted him to warn the Ninevites, who were fierce enemies of the Israelites, that He was going to judge them. 

The Ninevites were a violent, cruel people, known to torture their enemies. Their King would bring home the severed head of a conquered leader and display it on a pole on the gate of Nineveh to commemorate his victory. There it would stay until it rotted. Sometimes generals of the opposing army would be flayed alive and bled like a lamb. These and many more atrocities made Jonah balk at obeying God. Instead he wanted God to exact revenge upon these wicked people. 

But God insisted that Jonah announce to the Ninevites His message of judgment. When Jonah finally obeyed, the King, that same horrible King and his people, repented and put on sackcloth and sat on ashes. God relented and Jonah complained bitterly. 

“I knew You were a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding with steadfast love. I knew how easily You could cancel Your plans for destroying these people!” (Jonah 4:2) 

Is this the Old Testament God? Yes! The Father calls ALL people to Him, ESPECIALLY the wicked and the seemingly hopeless cases. Sounds exactly like Jesus. After all, they are one and the same God. Full of love and mercy. 

This Lent, let us draw close to Him who forgives any sin, and calls us back to Himself. 

You Make the Simple Wise

 "The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul. The decree of the Lord is trustworthy, giving wisdom to the simple." Psalm 19:8

One of my favorite saints is Saint Joseph of Cupertino. His start in life was highly inauspicious. He was mostly a nuisance to his family and other people in his village. He was simple minded and slow and he could not understand his lessons. His mother tried to get rid of him by apprenticing him to a shoemaker, then to the monks, but he was always rejected.

Finally he became the caretaker of the mule in the Franciscan monastery. After some years, he was asked to study scripture, but there was only one verse in the Bible that he managed to master, “Blessed is the womb that bore you!" (Luke 11:27) When he was being tested for the deaconate, the Bishop opened the Bible to that very passage, and Saint Joseph was able to explain it well! Eventually he became a priest passing his exam by the same grace. 

Indeed we do not need to be smart or articulate to do God's will or become a saint! Lord, thank You that You do not choose the wise, but You make the simple wise by Your Word! 

Feed On The Truth

 

Jesus said in reply, “It is written: Man does not live by bread alone, but on EVERY WORD that comes forth from the mouth of God." Mt.4:4. 

Jesus is quoting from the Book of Deuteronomy, showing us what we should do when the enemy attacks us with his many deceptions. 

“If you are the son of God," the enemy actually taunts Jesus! Just as he taunts us too! 

He hits us where it hurts because he knows insecure people hurt others, can become arrogant, and mean. So next time the devil whispers in your ear, “God does not love you!" , "You are unimportant!", “You are a failure!", we should do as Jesus did! Use the ammunition God gave us- His Word! 

Feed on the truth!

God Has Given Me wings

 Isaiah 58:14 says "I will cause you to ride upon the high places of the earth."

One of my favorite books is “Streams in the Desert", a compilation of quotations, poems, and spiritual inspiration that sustained Mrs. Charles Cowman during her missionary years in Japan and China. It also helped her during the 6 years she nursed her dying husband.

Let me quote from the Feb. 4 meditation: “Those who fly through the air in airships tell us that one of the first rules they learn is to turn their ship toward the wind, and fly against it. The wind lifts the ship up to higher heights. Where did they learn that? They learned it from the birds. If a bird is flying for pleasure, it goes with the wind. But if the bird meets danger, it turns right around and faces the wind, in order that it may rise higher toward the sun.

“Sufferings are God's winds, His contrary winds. They are God's hurricanes, but they take human life and lift it to higher levels and toward God's heavens."

"Be like a bird that, halting in its flight, 

Rests on a bough too slight.

And feeling it give way beneath him sings,

Knowing he hath wings."

Sometimes I feel I am that bird, and the bough beneath me is shaky and weak. But I can sing like a bird, joyfully, knowing if the bough breaks, God has given me wings!

This is the Fasting I Wish

 “This, rather, is the fasting I wish...” Isaiah 58:6

Today’s First Reading and Gospel focuses on fasting, but says nothing about abstaining from food. What kind of fasting pleases the Lord? I would think the popular meme being passed around for Lent would answer that. We should go through it one by one, and see which one hits a sore spot. 

Give up worry—— trust in the Lord.

Give up complaining----focus on gratitude.

Give up pessimism----become an optimist.

Give up harsh judgments----think kind thoughts.

Give up discouragement----be full of hope.

Give up bitterness----turn to forgiveness.

Give up hatred----return good for evil.

Give up negativism----be positive.

Give up anger----be more patient.

Give up pettiness----become mature.

Give up gloom----enjoy the beauty that is all around you.

Give up jealousy----pray for confidence.

Give up gossiping----control your tongue.

Give up sin----turn to virtue.

Give up giving up----hang in there!

Is this not more difficult than giving up a favorite food or past time? There’s more. In Isaiah 58, we learn that the fasting the Lord desires is, releasing those bound unjustly, setting free the oppressed, sharing your bread with the hungry, sheltering the oppressed and homeless, clothing the naked, and not turning your back on your own. This can be overwhelming but Mother Teresa has always taught that we should start with just one. One hungry child, one needy family, one prisoner. We can partner with organizations that already help. Just start and do it. Then we can claim God’s promise: “You shall call, and the Lord will answer, you shall cry for help, and He will say: Here I am!” (Isaiah 58:9a)