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Posts Tagged ‘Faithfulness’

“Blessed are those who mourn…”

In 06 Scripture & Theology on 2016/08/09 at 12:00 AM

Your neighbor is anyone who has need of you. So, beware of sins of omission for those who mourn particularly those who are not even aware of their loses, but mourn for their loss without even being aware of what ails them. This refers to those we should mourn for because they have not been taught the basics of the faith and now wander in a spiritual wasteland. Or those who have had their beliefs stolen from them by the bad example of others or the rejection of Christian values by modern culture and an atheistic media. Any thing we can do to alleviate those who mourn for whatever reason, we do for God Himself; the object of our charity being Jesus Himself in the person of our neighbor.

If we hurry through life with our needs in first place instead of in second, where they should be, we fail to see the sufferings of others. In order to be compassionate to those who mourn, we must cease to be the center of our own attention; we must forget ourselves and attend to others’ needs. Some who mourn that we might not be aware of include the victims of calumny, defamation and mental persecution.

God often comes to un in unexpected ways, leading us along the path of suffering specifically for our own good. At such times we need to say to ourselves: “If this is your will, Lord, it is mine also.” What we term misfortunes in life (illness, fatigue, pain, financial problems, whatever the source of the evil be) these trials are actually God’s summons to reach out to Him. These calls are for our hearts to detach themselves from ourselves and attache themselves to Christ who visits us at those times with outstretched hands to helps grow interiorly in a union with Him.

Suffering clears the way for grace, for the transforming power of grace to remold our souls as the divine medication of trials rids us of what pollutes our souls. Trials endured with God’s help will result in blessings because it is only through contradictions and obstacles that our souls can be purified. As mourners we cry in our distress to God who views our problems objectively and will come to our aid in a manner suitable to our individual spiritual benefit.

God takes advantage of everyone’s sorrows to bring about good for others. While God permits these trials which purify others, they are for you opportunities for you to be compassionate. Sometimes the destruction the mourners endure are preface to a spiritual revolution; for as they mourn their losses, God re-directs them in unforeseen ways. God ransomed and saves those who mourn, for whatever reason, in ways we cannot image. We must also pray for those who cause evils that they might cease to offend God in our neighbor. Sometimes all we can do for those who mourn is to encourage them to remain steadfast in their trials and give their complete acceptance to God’s permissive will.

Friday is a good day to reflect on the suffering of Christ during His Passion and His suffering today in the thousands of victims of violence, terrorism and the hordes of refugees who mourn the loss of their homeland and way of life. We must ask Our Lady of Sorrows to help us console those who mourn as she would, for she is their mother. We should ask her to strengthen in us the virtue of fortitude to endure our own sufferings. It is at the foot of the Cross that man learns to understand the real nature of the suffering Jesus endured and to unite his suffering to His.

Despite the onslaught of trials, we must remain faithful and prayerful in the supernatural bond of the Communion of the Saints , giving and receiving. As a member of the Mystical Body of Christ, our suffering and those of others are one and the same. Praying for relief and/or endurance for ourselves and others enriches both as we sustain the others and they sustain us in our solidarity of grace.

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“You should walk at God’s pace, not at your own”

In 01 Daily Meditations on 2015/08/28 at 12:00 AM
You say yes, you are determined to follow Christ. All right. Then you should walk at his pace, not at your own. (The Forge, 531)

You want to know on what our faithfulness is founded? I would say, in broad outline, that it is based on loving God, which makes us overcome all kinds of obstacles: selfishness, pride, tiredness, impatience|… A man in love tramples on his own self. He is aware that even when he is loving with all his soul, he isn’t yet loving enough. (The Forge, 532)

In the interior life, as in human love, we have to persevere. You have to meditate often on the same themes, keeping on until you re‑discover an old discovery. “How could I not have seen this so clearly before?” you’ll ask in surprise. Simply because sometimes we’re like stones, that let the water flow over them, without absorbing a drop. That’s why we have to go over the same things again and again ‑‑ because they aren’t the same things ‑‑ if we want to soak up God’s blessings. (The Forge, 540)

God does not let himself be outdone in generosity. Be very sure that he grants faithfulness to those who give themselves to him. (The Forge, 623)

St. Joseph by Fr. Reid

In 05 Homilies by Fr. Reid on 2012/03/16 at 1:00 AM

• This weekend the Church celebrated the feast of one of her greatest saints: St. Joseph! As we consider all the many wonderful examples of faithfulness we find amongst the saints, it’s difficult to imagine anyone more beloved in God’s eyes than good St. Joseph.

• Indeed, St. Joseph holds a very special place in Heaven because He was given the most difficult and important responsibility in human history: the earthly care of the Christ Child and His Immaculate Mother, and he completed this task with perfect fidelity.

• St. Joseph is such a great saint because he trusted the Lord, even when doing so caused him much suffering.

• Think of the pain Joseph must have felt when he could find no shelter for the pregnant Mary in Bethlehem, nor a place for her to deliver the Son of God, thus forcing him to allow the Queen of Heaven to give birth to our Redeemer in a cave.

• Imagine the anguish in Joseph’s heart upon hearing Simeon’s prophecy that Jesus and Mary would be future victims of our sins, or the fear that seized him upon learning that Jesus was in danger from Herod, requiring the Holy Family to flee to Egypt.

• Yet in all of these sufferings, St. Joseph trusted in God’s goodness and providence, even though he may not have understood why such things had to happen, and by trusting in the Lord, St. Joseph was able to help bring about the wonderful events of our salvation.

• Because he trusted much, our Lord has now entrusted St. Joseph with the patronage of the entire universal Church. Not only is St. Joseph the Patron of the Universal Church, but he is also a model for all of us who seek to deepen our trust in the Lord.

• And learning to trust our Lord is supremely important, for without a generous willingness to trust our Lord, we will never grow in the docility and obedience necessary to grow in holiness.

• We must remember that, while our salvation is something we cooperate with and participate in, the actual work of our salvation is done by God.

• Therefore, we must trust our Lord if we hope to be saved by Him, for cooperating in the work of our salvation always requires the pain of dying to one’s self and one’s desires.

• This is why we say with the psalmist today: “Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in You.”

• For the past two weeks I’ve spoken about the necessity of obedience, but our obedience to God must not be blind, nor must it be given begrudgingly. To the contrary, our obedience to God must be rooted in a loving trust in God.

• And we are given a beautiful example of loving trust in the person of Abram, the soon-to-be Abraham: the man we refer to as “our Father in Faith.”

• Abram was a man for whom our Lord had great plans. As our Lord said to him in our first reading: “I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great so that you will be a blessing.”

• Like St. Joseph, Abram’s great virtue was his trust in the Lord. Abram trusted that the Lord would provide him an heir, even though he was old and his wife was sterile.

• Abram even trusted the Lord enough to be willing to kill that beloved heir when our Lord tested him by instructing him to do so. Because of this trust, Abram became Abraham, the father of many nations, and our father in faith.

• Just as our Lord had great plans for Abram, He also has great plans for all of us. While most of us will never be great in the eyes of the world, our Lord does desire that we be great in His eyes by becoming holy.

• As St. Paul tells St. Timothy today, God “saved us and called us to a holy life, not according to our works but according to His own design.” But this holiness can only be achieved if we are willing to conform our lives to Christ, most especially in His suffering.

• It is our trust in God that enables us to bear our “share of hardship for the gospel.” Our trust enables us to see our sufferings with the faith that tells us that our Lord can make us holy through all that we suffer when we unite our sufferings to His.

• Of course trusting in the Lord can be a difficult thing, especially since we cannot see Him, and because it is often difficult to hear Him. Yet during His life on earth, Jesus gave us many proofs of His trustworthiness. Today’s Gospel story is a perfect example.

• Our Gospel today tells us of the familiar yet amazing story of Jesus’ transfiguration before Peter, James and John. In this event these three apostles are given a glimpse of Jesus’ glory and a foreshadowing of His resurrection from the dead.

• In this miraculous event Jesus proves that He is Who He claims to be: the only Son of God. Up to this point in His life, Jesus’ divine glory had been obscured and hidden by his human flesh.

• Although our Lord had worked many miracles that revealed His divine power, never before had Jesus revealed His glory in such a way. And He did this not only to strengthen the faith of the apostles, but to strengthen our faith as well.

• The very beautiful thing about this Gospel story is that, as we allow this mystery of Jesus’ life to strengthen our trust in Him, we, too, are transfigured.

• You see, the more that we trust our Lord, the more docile and obedient we become. The more docile and obedient we become, the more willing we are to bear our share of hardship for the sake of the Gospel.

• And the more we are willing to suffer in this way, the more we are transfigured into a greater likeness to Christ Himself.

• My dear brothers and sisters, how much do you trust our Lord?

• Our blessed Lord has great plans for all of us. He has plans for all of us to become holy and righteous in His sight. But for this to happen, we must trust in His providential care – even when doing so causes us to suffer; especially when doing so causes us to suffer.

• Through the graces of this Mass and through the strengthening from the Eucharist we are about to receive, may all of us grow in our absolute trust in God’s love and mercy for us.

• And by our trust in Him, may all of us be transfigured into a greater likeness of Him.

Copyright 2011 by Reverend Timothy S. Reid

Reverend Reid is pastor of St. Ann’s Catholic  Church in Charlotte, NC

No Greater Love

In 01 Daily Meditations on 2012/02/01 at 9:11 AM

“Since you have been faithful in this very small matter; take charge of ten cities”

Whatever you do, even if you help somebody cross the road, you do it to Jesus. Even giving some­body a glass of water, you do it to Jesus (Mt 25,35). Such a simple little teaching, but it is more and more important. We must not be afraid to proclaim Christ’s love and to love as He loved. In the work we have to do it does not matter how small and humble it may be, make it Christ’s love in action.

However beautiful the work is, be detached from it, even ready to give it up. The work is not yours. The talents God has given you are not yours; they have been given to you for your use, for the glory of God. Be great and use everything in you for the good Master.

What have we to learn? To be meek and humble (Mt 11,29); if we are meek and humble, we will learn to pray. If we learn to pray, we will belong to Jesus. If we belong to Jesus, we will learn to believe, and if we believe we will learn to love, and if we love we will learn to serve.  Mother Teresa

“You should walk at God’s pace, not at your own”

In 01 Daily Meditations on 2011/06/16 at 9:30 AM
You say yes, you are determined to follow Christ. All right. Then you should walk at his pace, not at your own. (The Forge, 531)

You want to know on what our faithfulness is founded? I would say, in broad outline, that it is based on loving God, which makes us overcome all kinds of obstacles: selfishness, pride, tiredness, impatience… A man in love tramples on his own self. He is aware that even when he is loving with all his soul, he isn’t yet loving enough. (The Forge, 532)

In the interior life, as in human love, we have to persevere. You have to meditate often on the same themes, keeping on until you re‑discover an old discovery. “How could I not have seen this so clearly before?” you’ll ask in surprise. Simply because sometimes we’re like stones, that let the water flow over them, without absorbing a drop. That’s why we have to go over the same things again and again ‑‑ because they aren’t the same things ‑‑ if we want to soak up God’s blessings. (The Forge, 540)

God does not let himself be outdone in generosity. Be very sure that he grants faithfulness to those who give themselves to him. (The Forge, 623)