Tag: Deanna Bartalini

Many years ago, I heard a priest speak about God as the God of the present. He tells Moses, “I AM.” Not that he was or will be, but I AM. As in, now, the present. When I read both the First Reading and the Gospel, I am struck by how we are told to live now in this present moment, and the future (specifically heaven) will take care of itself. 

Of course, we do need to behave now in certain ways, following the Commandments, living out the Beatitudes, and Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy. We cannot behave as if God does not exist or has no expectations of us. He does exist and there are expectations. 

But sometimes we worry or concern ourselves with things that are beyond our control or above our pay grade rather than focusing on what is right in front of us. As we near the end of the liturgical year, how can you shift your focus from things that have been a burden in your spiritual life out of fear or frustration? This is a reminder; God is the God of the living, and He sent Jesus to us so that we would have lives of abundance and fullness.

Lay your burdens down at the foot of the Cross. Give them over to the One who helps us carry them and can change them. I have seen in my own life that the greatest fruit comes from embracing the trials of my life, surrendering them, and moving with God in the present. The more I concern myself with “what if” the less peace I have in my life. 

This does not mean we avoid planning for or thinking about the future. It means we do so out of prudence, not out of worry or fear. There is a big difference between planning to control all facets of our life to walking with God and being united with His will for us. 

What is God asking of you in this present moment? How can you shift your mind from worrying about the future to trusting Him in the now?

Contact the author

Jesus is coming but we do not know when. And our goal as Christians is not to simply “look busy” but to be about the work that is ours. Many years ago I heard the acronym for ‘busy’ – Being Under Satan’s Yoke. It can be true that our busyness is more about the need to do something to fill our time and look productive rather than focus on what is truly important. 

St. Paul gives us a glimpse into what is important in the First Reading when he tells us we are co-heirs and co-partners, that we have the promise of Jesus Christ and are meant to share His Gospel. What does that mean that we are co-partners? It means we do not walk our faith adventure alone. We walk with a Trinitarian God, Father, Son, and Spirit who are not up there somewhere but right here, with us in our daily life, full of joys and struggles. We walk with all the saints, named and unnamed, who have gone before us. We walk with our fellow believers in our family, friends, and community. We are not meant to go through life alone. We are meant to be in community. And we are meant to serve. 

Just as the servants had a responsibility to their tasks, so do we. Once you heed the call to be a Christian, you respond by doing the will of God. We do the tasks that are in front of us faithfully and with purpose. We have all been asked much and as Jesus tells us, much will be expected of us. This is our reminder, our marching orders, to live responsibly so that when Jesus comes, we are ready. 

Contact the author

I had a slightly cheeky thought when I read today’s Psalm Response, “The just one shall live on your holy mountain, O Lord.” It’s easy to be just living on the Lord’s holy mountain, isn’t it? The readings from Proverbs and Psalm 15 make similar points. They teach us how to treat each other  – with kindness, respect, and peacefulness. It seems counter-cultural and is advice our world needs very much to pay attention to, now. Yet, those words are not recent at all, but from centuries ago, before Jesus was even born. It reminds me that our problems in this world are not as new or unique as we think. 

Is it possible that some of our problems are because of our behavior? Are we hiding our light under the bed? Keep reading, this will make sense, I promise. Do you hide your faith? Are you hesitant about being the person God created you to be in this world and for this world? Your light is your power, your faith, your commitment to Christ. Your light is what you have been given that makes you uniquely you. And the world needs you. 

Often though, showing “me” to the world is frightening. The fear of judgment, of being misunderstood, of seeming like I am too much, makes me pause and turn down the brightness. That is not what Jesus wants. 

When He says, “To anyone who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he seems to have will be taken away,” I don’t think He is talking about money or possessions. If we hide our light, in other words, turn from following Christ because it is easier on us, what we have will be taken from us – our faith will be taken because it will seem as if we have no use for faith. Does that apply to you?

I don’t know. I know that sometimes it applies to me. When I allow doubt and fear to grow bigger than the promises of Jesus and the words of Scripture. When the sacraments seem like a good idea, but require so much effort, so I tell myself I have too much to do so I can’t go to daily Mass or make it to confession. You see, faith requires action. If I don’t act on my faith, what good is having it?

Our call is to be people of faith, letting the light of Christ shine through us for others to see. How that happens is unique to each one of us. How will you allow Christ’s light to shine through you today?

Contact the author

It really is easy to judge others. And often we cloak it as help or worry or wanting what is best for the other person. Why aren’t we to judge others? It’s simple, we are not God. We don’t know the whole story. We don’t have the big picture. We compare ourselves and decide about the other person’s life or motive without ever talking to them. We may even use shame or try to manipulate when we judge. 

We say we are judging because we don’t want the person to sin. But before we go talk to someone about stopping a particular sin, we need to make sure of our motive. The best way to learn if we have the right intention is to ask God. In prayer, ask if you are supposed to do something about the problem you see. And God will let you know if you are to speak. You see, Jesus is telling us not to judge, not because He is unconcerned with sin but because He wants you to be right with God before you do anything. And then, this is the verse that gets to me the most, one of those that always makes me pause and think, “For as you judge, so will you be judged, and the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you.” And that judgment, that measure will come from God. 

I cannot judge others. I am too harsh. When I was growing up, it was the time of ‘Jesus loves you.’ Yes, Jesus loves you, but there is much more to Him. There was rarely talk of sin or punishment. We did not know that God was justice and mercy. All we heard about was love, not even mercy. It was as if we had no need for mercy. Yet, we need all God offers us.

And that is the point Jesus is making in these verses from Matthew. God will judge, with great justice and mercy and love. Jesus wants us to leave the judging to the Father so that we can be free to live as His followers. 

Contact the author

The Letter of James is short and to the point on how we are to behave. There are points made about anger, the word of God and action. However, as I read it, I came to see that it is about listening. And listening well. We are exhorted to be hearers and then act on what we have heard. If we do not, we risk deluding ourselves into thinking we are someone we are not. We also risk leading others astray if they know we call ourselves Catholic without behaving as such.

James reminds us repeatedly to look to the word, learn it and live it. When we immerse ourselves in Scripture, we put on the mind of Christ. Only then can we respond as He does to a world in chaos. Of course, we do this as well as possible given that we are not Jesus but His follower. As people of faith, we can call on Him to help us be better in a world that is in desperate need of healing. Our behavior- how we treat people, speak to others, care for those in need – that is what people notice. It is the doer of the word who reaches out who is helping to heal the world.

As in the Gospel though, sometimes healing comes slowly. And we may lack patience, faith, or trust. The blind man’s friends wanted something good for their friend. Jesus wants our good. Do you wonder why the man’s friends are mentioned? I think it is to remind us that we are meant to have and be community. And it is in community that we need to follow what James tells us to do. 

As you go about your day, think about how you can take the words of the First Reading and put them into practice. “Be doers of the word and not hearers only, deluding yourselves.”

Contact the author

The last line of the Gospel, “all the people were hanging on his words’ (Luke 19:48b) strikes me as a very good way to live. Hanging on the words of Jesus. Jesus cleansing the temple area to make the point that he has the authority to do so. The temple is a place of prayer and worship of God. Once he leans out the temple, he proceeds to teach every day and the people paid attention. Not a little bit of attention, but full attention.

Now think about yourself for a minute. Do you pay that much attention to what Jesus says? Since you are reading a reflection on the daily Gospel, I will say you probably pay more attention than the average person. Let me say this, the people are paying attention to Jesus because he speaks with authority and authenticity unlike the other leaders of the day. I think we have a similar problem in our day. 

The next question is, do you do what Jesus says to do? Are you a Christian who can speak with both authority and authenticity? In my own life, I have taken “live not lukewarm” as my personal mission. I do not always succeed, but I try to be authentic in all that I do and say in my life and ministry. I look at Scripture as a starting point, each day I read the Gospel, listening for the word I can hang onto for the day, the words that help me with a problem or that I can tell another person to help them. Sometimes the words convict me of how I am not doing what Jesus teaches and I am called to repent. Each day, there is the Word, and each day it can help us live out our faith. It is not enough to know; we are called to live out what we know. When we do that, we help bring about the Kingdom right here and now.

So today, go back and read the Gospel again, answer this question, what word of Jesus can you hang onto today?

Contact the author

Do you ever have those days when you wish Jesus would return – now? The world often seems like it is permanently opposite day where right is wrong, up is down and near is far. And in these verses of Luke, we hear another opposite posed to us, with a caveat. If the master returns and the servants are doing as they ought to be doing, they will be waited upon by the master.

Jesus is turning people’s world upside down. He is showing us in this passage that when he comes, life will be different. Indeed, he showed us this in his public ministry, yet many chose not to believe, not to follow him. Jesus turned the world upside down; his passion, death and resurrection allow us to know, love and serve God and one day enter heaven.

Do we allow Jesus to turn our world upside down? That’s a serious question. To me, it means, have I given all to him, have I surrendered? One day, while contemplating Scripture, I wrote, “to know Christ is above all things so that losing all things does not matter.” Okay, not the best grammatical sentence, but when I came across it again, I realized that is a spiritual goal for me. He is above all things, all people – Jesus is the Master. And yet, if we are doing the work we are created to do when Jesus comes, we will be waited on by him. 

When we contemplate what our own vigilant waiting looks like, it helps to remember that whatever we give up for Jesus we receive back more than we can imagine. It may not be here in this world, but it will be given to us when we need it the most. In God’s time. And so now we wait on God’s perfect time, for Jesus to return. We do not know when, but let us keep our eyes on the Lord and our minds, bodies and souls alert in vigilant waiting, out of our great love for God. 

Contact the author