Posted on

Unwashed Hands, Unwashed Hair

Click here for daily readings

One Christmas holiday several years ago, my oldest niece, a college student at the time, brought her boyfriend home to meet my parents, her grandparents. The first morning of their visit, Mark came to the breakfast table with a Kansas State ballcap on his head. He hadn’t had time to take a shower before breakfast and was embarrassed to be seen with “bed head.” Unfortunately, my niece had neglected to tell Mark one of the longstanding rules of my childhood home: No ballcaps in the house, and certainly not at the table.

As we all sat down for breakfast, my father looked over at Mark and said, “No ballcaps at the table.” (And it wasn’t because my father was a KU fan and not a K-State fan!) Mark started to explain that he hadn’t washed his hair when my father interrupted him: “Mark, if you want to be a member of this family, then you will follow our rules.” Mark took off his hat, patted his hair down as best he could, and 27 years and four daughters later, he and my niece are happily married with family rules of their own.

The scribes and Pharisees are enforcers of the law, even though it’s virtually lifeless and stifles true religious devotion and worship. When they see Jesus and his disciples eating without washing their hands they don’t see anything besides a so-called religious law being broken. They don’t see anything but their power and authority being questioned.

My father’s “no ballcap rule” was intended to instill respect. It was meant to sanctify the family meal and our participation in it. It all comes down to the value and need of tradition, which is life-giving vs. mindless obedience to laws, which distance people from God and the faith.

Honoring a well-thought-out rule teaches us obedience. We learn to humbly accept what is being passed on to us so that we may be members of a family…God’s family.

Father Tim S. Hickey is a priest of the Archdiocese of Hartford currently serving as a mission priest in the Catholic Diocese of Dodge City, in his native Kansas. He is pastor of three parishes in rural Western Kansas.

Posted on

Do Whatever He Tells You

Click here for daily readings

Today, the Church celebrates the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, when in 1858, the Blessed Mother appeared to a 14-year-old girl in Lourdes, France. Now, over 160 years later, millions of people travel to the very place where Mary appeared seeking comfort and healing. It has also become a place for renewal of faith and conversion, which is a central part of Mary’s ministry.

She appeared 18 times from February 11 to July 16, 1858 to St. Bernadette, a peasant girl who flunked her catechetics exam. Her message was simple; she sought to heal the sick by the Lord’s Grace and remind us to pray for the conversion of sinners.

In today’s gospel, we hear the story of the Wedding at Cana when Christ performs his first public miracle—turning water into wine after the Blessed Mothers direct intercession when she realizes that there is no wine—a staple of the ancient world. Mary notices that the wine is out and turns to her son for help. She recognizes a need among her children and acts.

Christ responds, “Quid tibi mihi?”— “Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come.” These may seem like disrespectful words coming from Jesus, especially to his mother. But he is speaking to Mary, the New Eve, as the New Adam. In the gospel of John, when Jesus refers to his “hour”, he is referring to Calvary. In essence, he is telling Mary, “Woman, if I do this, we are on the fast track to Calvary. Are you ready for that?”

Mary seeks the servants at the wedding, which can also be translated as slaves—the lowest of all the classes at the wedding. Then we hear the last words from the Blessed Mother recorded in Scripture. “Do whatever he tells you.” It’s a central theme in all of her apparitions—a call to conversion and to know Christ. And how beautiful is it that these are her final recorded words!

They speak perfectly to the role of Mary in our lives. She’s not meant to be a distraction from our worship of Christ, she’s meant to point us to him. She gives advice as a good mother does to ensure that her children are on the correct path.

She especially has the heart for what society may consider the lowliest of all—a small, sickly peasant girl in France and the servants at a wedding who have the blessed opportunity to know the wine came from God himself.

Her message at Lourdes and her final message in Scripture are challenging. They are meant to change hearts, but it is only the humble of hearts who can receive her words and act. How are you embracing the witness of Saint Bernadette and the servants at Cana?  Turn to Mary and pray for her intercession, that you too may call upon the help of the Lord and “do whatever he tells you.”

Hannah Crites is a native to Denver Colorado and graduate of Franciscan University of Steubenville. She has written for numerous publications and blogs including the Chastity Project, Washington Times, Faith & Culture: The Journal of the Augustine Institute, and Franciscan Magazine. She is currently working in content and digital marketing for a small web development and digital marketing agency. Connect with her through Twitter (@hannah_crites) and Facebook. Check out more of what she has written at https://hannhcrites.com/.

Posted on

Our Good Shepherd

Click here for daily readings

Today would have been my grandmother’s 85th birthday. She died 14 years ago when I was 10 but I still miss her fiercely every day.

The first reading comes from the closing verses of Hebrews and it reminded me a lot of her. The Hebrews and, in turn, we are told to “Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have; God is pleased by sacrifices of that kind”. My grandmother was the most selfless person I know. She gave everything of herself: her time, her talent, her treasure. And all of that, even if it didn’t go directly in the collection at Mass, went to serving God and showing His love and compassion to all those she encountered. That is exactly what the first reading is calling us to do–please God with our everyday sacrifices of love and charity.

The first reading also encourages us to follow our leaders: our priests, our religious brothers, and sisters, our deacons, our bishops, our cardinals, our pope. Our leaders’ vocation is to lead the flock and to do so with joy. Our role is to actively seek out our leaders for guidance, for support, for counsel, and for instruction. By doing so, by putting our trust in our leaders to help guide us toward Heaven, we help them live out their own vocation.

The last two verses of the reading are a blessing to people in which the author refers to Christ as the Good Shepherd. Today’s Gospel is the precursor to the multiplication of loaves; Christ shows that He is the Good Shepherd by providing the people spiritual food thereby satisfying their spiritual hunger before He satisfies their physical hunger. He responds to the needs of His flock with compassion and by having compassion for those who were “like sheep without a shepherd”, Christ teaches us how to bring others into the faith and closer to him.

Let us go about this day, and all our days, serving Christ our King fearlessly for, “Even though I walk through the dark valley I fear no evil; for you are at my side.”

Dakota currently lives in Denver, CO is studying for her Master’s in Spanish, and loves her job as an elementary school librarian. She is engaged to the love of her life, Ralph. In her spare time, she reads, goes to breweries, and watches baseball. Dakota’s favorite saints are St. John Paul II (how could it not be?) and St. José Luis Sánchez del Río. She is passionate about her faith and considers herself blessed at any opportunity to share that faith with others. Check out more of her writing at https://dakotaleonard16.blogspot.com.

Posted on

The Veil Between

Click here for daily readings

Praying with today’s readings has me focusing on the letter from the Hebrews. Hospitality, prisoners, the ill-treated, married couples as well as the greedy, the immoral and adulterers–the whole gamut of life, both good and ill, is referenced.

It goes on to say to be content with what we have, ‘I will never forsake you or abandon you.’ This is said 3 other times in the bible; Deut 31:6, Joshua 1:5 and  Mt 28:20. We are told to say with confidence: The Lord is my helper, and I will not be afraid. What can anyone do to me? Here is one of the 365 times the bible tells us not to be afraid, yet I catch myself being anxious and fearful about some aspect of life every day.

It seems these fears, depression, anxiety, and illnesses can act as a veil. It limits our focus or world view to just getting through the current situation affecting me. It can cloud my hope and my ability to feel the love or care being offered by companions, family, and friends.  

Recently, my pastor referred to the veil that separates heaven and earth. He emphasized that the veil dissolves during the liturgy of the Eucharist every single time Mass is offered. He stressed that we can see the Father’s love outpoured in the living sacrifice we receive in the body and blood of His Son.

It struck me that this veil is so similar to that of those affected by illness (mental or physical). Many in society see only the illness, not the person. I think of my family members who struggle with reclusiveness, alcoholism, narcissism, COPD, Lyme disease, cancer, anxiety, and so many other maladies. This veil can keep the truth hidden in each situation, by those directly affected and those who are looking to judge. Similarly, there are many in the world who do not see the Eucharist as Jesus’ physical body and blood. A veil is over their eyes to the truth.

Pope Francis spoke to the youth of the world (WYD 2016 & 2019) about praying the stations of the cross because the stations are not just for our Lenten journey. The following introduction to the Way of the Cross at the Colosseum 2013 begins, “The call to follow Christ is addressed to all, especially to the young and to those who are tried by division, wars or injustice and who fight to be signs of hope and builders of peace in the midst of their brethren.”

We contemplate you, Lord, along this path which you were the first to tread, and after which “you built a bridge to death with your Cross, so that men might pass from the land of death to the land of Life” (Saint Ephraim the Syrian, Homily).

Therefore, join me in placing ourselves before you with love, we present our sufferings to you, we turn our gaze and our heart to your Holy Cross, and strengthened by your promise, we pray: “Blessed be our Redeemer, who has given us life by his death. O Redeemer, realize in us the mystery of your redemption, through your passion, death, and resurrection” (Maronite Liturgy).

Beth is part of the customer service team at Diocesan. She brings a unique depth of experience to the team from her time spent in parish ministries, sales and the service industry over the last 25 yrs. She is a practicing spiritual director as well as a Secular Franciscan (OFS). Beth is quick to offer a laugh, a prayer or smile to all she comes in contact with. Reach her here bprice@diocesan.com.

Posted on

Go to Him

Click here for daily readings

I found something extremely interesting in today’s Gospel. The first line says that Jesus summoned his disciples and then sent them out. A lot of the time, we may feel that we are being asked to live our lives, but feel unprepared.

As someone that loves a good plan, it can be really hard for me when things go wrong. In life, how can you plan for the unplannable? Well, that’s where Mark 6:7 comes in, because we are not just sent out into the world to magically deal with everything. First, we are summoned by Jesus Christ himself.

Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, our God, loves us so deeply that if we were the only people in existence, he would create the world all the same. He would do it all over again if it were just you. This is a God that calls us. We don’t spread the message about Jesus because it’s written in the Bible, we spread the message because we have a love so great that it cannot be contained.

I was recently talking about the song Reckless Love and how it makes me cry every time. When asked why I said that the song made me feel so vulnerable and recognize how much I needed God. Right after I said that they that told me that it’s okay to come when He calls.

So many of us are afraid of asking for help, afraid of admitting we were wrong, or even worse, we feel guilty. That shouldn’t keep us from God. These feelings of pride and guilt are feelings straight from Satan. We don’t need to hide our nakedness from God. In fact, we are summoned to him, just for having these feelings so that he can show us just how wrong we are.

We are loved and we are worth it. This is what God is trying to tell us. If we weren’t worth it, then he wouldn’t have sent his only son to be crucified. He wouldn’t have made Jesus a human, someone we could relate to. I don’t even think that God would have bothered creating Adam, let alone Eve, his companion. But he did. Because you are worth it.

So when you are feeling unworthy and unsuccessful, remember that God is not asking you to face the world alone. He is summoning you with open arms. Go to him.

Haven’t heard Reckless Love? Click here to hear my favorite version. (It’s okay to cry.)

Veronica Alvarado is a born and raised Texan currently living in Michigan. Since graduating from Texas A&M University, Veronica has published various articles in the Catholic Diocese of Austin’s official newspaper, the Catholic Spirit, and other local publications. She now works as the Content Specialist in Diocesan’s Web Department.

Posted on

The Struggle is Real

Click here for daily readings

Trying to write this post, the struggle is real. I’ve sat down to these readings and this Google Doc three, four, five times already and still find myself struggling to find the right words. The. Struggle. Is. Real. Not just when it comes to this reflection, though.

Over the past few months, this saying and other variations of it have slipped their way into my everyday conversation and I know that I’m not alone. When we’re dragging without our coffee, when there’s too much on our plate, when we’re having a bad day, week or month, we admit that we’re struggling with a laugh and a wink. “Don’t worry, I’ll shake it off,” “Things will get better,”  “It’s gotta go up from here” and more. We’re afraid to show weakness, to show the depths of our struggles. I know that’s true for me.

When you find yourself in a situation like the one described above, how do you react? When someone approaches you and admits that they are struggling (even if it’s concealed in a joke), how do you respond?

More often than not, you find yourself relating to the person, even through the joke. Burdens, struggles, challenges, trials, etc. are all a natural part of human life. But how often do you offer your help to those in need? We often shy away, afraid that their problems will become our problems, adding to the burdens that are already present.

It’s the same when it comes to living a Christian life, where sin and struggle go hand in hand. We are ashamed of our sin and so we tend to hide not only from each other but from the Lord Himself. When we hide, Satan uses our shame against us. The king of lies takes our struggles, magnifies them and multiplies them, doing anything he can to keep us away from our God.

As Catholics, we commonly refer to our struggles as “crosses.” The difference is that we know the benefits and blessings that can come from carrying our cross. We look to the ultimate example – Jesus – as His Passion and death which led to the glory of His Resurrection and the salvation of all.

Today’s first reading from the Book of Hebrews gives us encouragement in our battles, advice and a reason to hope for the future. We are told to endure our trials as “discipline” (verse 7) “for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines” (verse 6). Through that discipline “brings the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who are trained by it” (verse 11).

If we can allow the Lord to use our burdens, He can and will do wonderful things with them. Easier said than done, right? Absolutely. Remembering that our burdens don’t just magically disappear, if we allow Jesus to help us carry them, abundant blessings can be poured out in return.

Embrace the struggle, brothers and sisters. Admit that it is real and that we need help.

Erin is a Parma Heights, Ohio, native and a 2016 graduate of Franciscan University of Steubenville. She uses her communication arts degree in a couple of different ways: first, as an Athletic Communications Assistant at Baldwin Wallace University and, secondly, as a youth minister at her home parish of Holy Family Church. Although both of her jobs are on complete opposite spectrums, she truly enjoys being able to span the realm of communications. You can follow her on multiple Twitter accounts – @erinmadden2016 (personal), @bwathletics (work) and @HFVision (youth ministry).

Posted on

Talitha Koum

Click here for daily readings

“He took the child by the hand and said to her, ‘Talitha koum,’ 
which means, ‘Little girl, I say to you, arise!’ The girl, a child of twelve, arose immediately and walked around.”

The Gospel today tells the beautiful, vague, story of someone who may or may not have existed thousands of years ago and was healed from an ailment by medicine but she irrationally attributed it to the power of Jesus, who was just a good person that taught a lot of good things.

How often do we have this mindset when we read powerful verses like those in the readings today? I think because we see so much suffering and pain around us we automatically think that somehow Jesus either didn’t have the power we read about or it has dwindled dramatically due to the passing of time.

But take just a second and think about the past five years of your life. How many things have happened that couldn’t be a coincidence? How many graces and blessings have come out of even seemingly impossible or devastating circumstances? How often have you encountered people or situations which gave you hope when there felt like there was none. This could be as simple as someone paying for your meal in the drive-thru to something dramatic like physical healing.

I don’t think God’s power was exaggerated or has somehow dwindled with time, I just think we have forgotten how to listen for it and see Him work. You turn on the news and hear of the most devastating scenarios imaginable and it’s easy to believe that this is the state of the world. But the good moments that happen every day, the moments that bring hope and joy to the world, go largely unnoticed.

I was in a grocery store the other day and a nice man had some things on the counter and was one dollar short from what he needed to pay for his items. He decided he would have to put his pop back, even though he really wanted it. I told him I would pay the extra. You should have seen the look on his face as he turned to me and said, “Thank you, nice things like this just don’t happen anymore.” My immediate thought was to smile back and agree with him, but in a moment of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, I simply said, “Yeah they do. They just did.”

I don’t tell this story to lift myself up, it was just a dollar. I tell it because it’s a good reminder that our immediate reaction to the negativity in the world is to believe it is all there is. Jesus is still as powerful today as He was thousands of years ago. The question is, do we believe that? I challenge you to ask something great of God today. Reach out in faith and see the power that was witnessed in the Gospel so many years ago by a real crowd, who breathed real air, and had real human experiences. Turning the Gospels into cute little fiction stories does not do justice to the power of God. From all of us here at Diocesan, God Bless!

“You pay God a compliment by asking great things of Him.” St. Teresa of Avila.

Tommy Shultz is a Solutions Evangelist for Diocesan. In that role, he is committed to coaching parishes and dioceses on authentic and effective Catholic communication. Tommy has a heart and a flair for inspiring people to live their faith every day. He has worked in various youth ministry, adult ministry, and diocesan roles. He has been a featured speaker at retreats and events across the country. His mission and drive have been especially inspired by St. John Paul II’s teachings. Tommy is blessed to be able to learn from the numerous parishes he visits and pass that experience on in his presentations. Contact him at tshultz@diocesan.com.

Posted on

What Have You to do with Me?

Click here for daily readings

There are 3 retellings of today’s Gospel;  Matthew 8:28-34, Luke 8:26-39 and today’s reading, Mark 5:1-20. Nothing in the Bible is repeated without a purpose.

Summarizing the three, Jesus leaves Galilee (land of Jews) and crosses the sea to go to the opposite side, Gerasenes (land of pagans or Gentiles). On the way there, even nature itself seems to be preventing Jesus from making this journey and to the relief of his companions, Jesus wakes up and calms the sea with just a simple command. Now he arrives in this foreign territory and his first encounter is with a naked man possessed by demons. The man prostrates himself at Jesus’s feet and the demons ask, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?”

Let’s get this straight. Jesus leaves the Jewish land, taking with him Jewish men who followed Jewish law and goes to a Gentile land, which for devout Jews was a defilement all by itself. Once there, they meet a naked man, which would be shameful for any Jew. This naked man is wandering around the tombs and graves, again this would be a defilement for a Jew AND there are pigs in the area which are considered unclean for the Jews. To top all of this off, on the way there, even the very sea rises up to try and prevent them from making this trip.

Jesus knowingly chooses to take the disciples, not just out of their comfort zone but into places they considered inappropriate for any of God’s chosen people to go. When even the sea attempts to rise up and stop them, Jesus calms the turbulence of the wind and the waves by saying, “Quiet, Be still,” and nature obeys. Jesus steps out into an unclean land, greets an unclean man, and listens to him. The evil spirits within the man, instantly recognize Jesus for who he is and address him as, “Son of the Most High God.” The demons ask that Jesus not send them away but only to the swine feeding on the hillside. Jesus agrees and the evil spirits leave the man, enter the pigs and the pigs go running for the sea and drown. The men responsible for the herds of pigs go running back to town, telling what they have seen.

Somewhat surprisingly, the people from the town don’t come running for restitution or to complain that their herds of pigs are gone. Instead, they just ask Jesus to leave. Today’s reading says, “they beg him to leave their district.”

It is interesting too, that in the Liturgical Calendar, this reading comes on the heels of Epiphany and the Celebration of the Conversion of St. Paul. The three wise men were the first of the Gentiles to worship Jesus and recognize him as King. St. Paul, who by his own words was the most zealous of Jews, following his conversation becomes the Apostle to the Gentiles. In Scripture, between those two events, we have Jesus venturing out to the territories of the Gentiles to cast out demons.

We might paraphrase the demons’ question and ask, “What does this have to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?”

When we say that we follow Jesus, it is sometimes easier to follow the platitudes and to stay within the confines of our comfort zones and be content with being a good person. Jesus shows us here that following him means following him out into the places where we aren’t comfortable, to be with people who our rules label shameful or unclean. The first reading from the letter to Hebrews lists our forefathers who lived lives outside the comfortable norm “in order to obtain a better resurrection.” We can expect that when we too live outside our societal norm, we too may endure mockery and torture. It may even seem that nature herself may rise up and try to stop us. But we follow the One who calms storms with a word. Even the evil we will meet along the way recognizes our God as the Most High and while they do not follow him, they know the Truth when they see it.

After the demons are cast out and Jesus is asked to leave, the man asks Jesus if he can come with him. Instead of taking him along, Jesus sends him back to his family to “announce all that the Lord in his pity has done for you.” As we stretch and through grace begin to live outside ourselves, as we go out to our human family to listen and share what the Lord has done for us, we too will be able to cry with the Psalmist, “ How great is the goodness, O Lord, which you have in store for those who fear you”.

What is waiting for you just outside your comfort zone?

If you catch Sheryl sitting still, you are most likely to find her nose stuck in a book. It may be studying with her husband, Tom as he goes through Diaconate Formation, trying to stay one step ahead of her 5th and 6th-grade students at St Rose of Lima Catholic School or preparing for the teens she serves as Director of Youth Evangelization and Outreach in her parish collaborative. You can reach her through her through www.youthministrynacc.com.

Posted on

Purified in Unity

Click here for daily readings

Growing in faith can be pretty painful sometimes. Actually, it’s mostly painful. It’s not until we are transformed that we see why choosing to suffer with and for Christ is, in fact, the best way to live life.

It’s a lot like the purification of metal, as mentioned in the first reading. But, instead of throwing us into a furnace (with the exception of some saints), we are purified and refined by the Sacred and Immaculate Hearts, which are always depicted with fire.

A priest friend gave me a prayer card for my fiancé and me to say in preparation for our vocation to marriage. It is called “The Unity Prayer”. Pretty appropriate for an engaged couple, right? Here’s how it goes:

May our feet journey together
May our hands gather in unity
May our hearts beat in unison
May our souls be in harmony
May our thoughts be as one
May our ears listen to the silence together
May our glances profoundly penetrate each other
May our lips pray together to gain mercy from the Eternal Father.
Amen.

Spread the effect of grace of thy flame of love over all of humanity.

We say this prayer each night. And on the days when I give her good reason to be mad at me, it isn’t terribly “cute” to be saying this prayer; it’s actually pretty difficult. It requires the humility to choose the other person in spite of whatever good reason we have to be angry at them or even hurt by them.

That humility purifies and unites us.

The same applies for our relationship to God. It requires humility to acknowledge our sin and go to confession. We are being purified by that sacrament. That’s why it’s difficult and can be uncomfortable to make a good confession. But like silver and gold, we are made more beautiful and authentic by the flame of Love Himself.

Be humbled.
Be purified.
Be united to the Divine.

During the week, Matthew Juliano is a mentor for individuals who have developmental and intellectual disabilities. He has started a Youtube Series that explains and raises awareness about the work he does, which can be found HERE. On the weekends, he is a drummer for Full Armor Band. You can find more content by Matt and his band at www.fullarmorband.com.

Posted on

As They Were Able to Understand it- Patience and Trust

Click here for daily readings

Jesus often turns our human understanding on its head, as a reminder that God’s ways are far from our ways, and that reality resides far below superficial appearances. Grownups must become like children, the wealthy and powerful are actually at a disadvantage, those who are poor and mourning are the true heirs to the Kingdom.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus is drawing a distinction between humble beginnings and cosmic conclusions: seeds scattered grow quietly and in hiddenness, over the steady course of time, until the fruit is ready for harvest. Just as the seed grows slowly toward fruitfulness, so the kingdom Jesus came to establish will not come about immediately by dramatic revolutionary activity or throwing off the yoke of the Romans (see Dan 4:10-12 and Ezek 17:22-24 and 31:1-6 for Old Testament use of mighty trees as imagery for powerful kingdoms).

Patience is needed, and deep confidence in God’s mysterious Plan; God’s will is done even when (perhaps especially when) it is vigorously opposed and rejected by many. This serves to assure the persecuted Markan community that, despite the rejection and opposition they are experiencing, the seed sown in and through Jesus is, in fact, growing and mysteriously maturing toward the fullness of the Kingdom.

Have we assimilated this truth into the fabric of our own lives? Just as the Kingdom matures slowly and the grace that gives it growth remains invisible, the maturing grain also represents each person’s growth in holiness. Do we trust that the mustard seed of faith, hope, and love planted in us at our baptism is truly growing toward fruitfulness? Do we become impatient with God’s timing in our lives, over-eager to see ourselves become perfect, or our situations become ideal, or the people around us become what we think they should be? Have we learned the deep truth that God does His best work when we aren’t looking, and His work in us almost always takes place far deeper than our consciousness can reach?

Jesus taught the disciples “as they were able to understand it.” He teaches us the same way. So let us ask for the grace of understanding, of seeing things as God sees them so that we learn to be patient with His timing in the circumstances of our lives.

Kathryn Mulderink, MA, is married to Robert, Station Manager for Holy Family Radio. Together they have seven children (including Deacon Rob and seminarian Luke ;-), and two grandchildren. She is a Secular Discalced Carmelite and has published five books and many articles. Over the last 25 years, she has worked as a teacher, headmistress, catechist, Pastoral Associate, and DRE. Currently, she serves the Church as a writer and voice talent for Catholic Radio, by publishing and speaking, and by collaborating with the diocesan Office of Catechesis, various parishes, and other ministries to lead others to encounter Christ and engage their faith. Her website is https://www.kathryntherese.com/.

Posted on

Persecution- A Price Worth Paying

Click here for daily readings

Three brightly colored threads have woven their way into my spiritual life in this past month.

First thread. Persecution. News reports that Chinese Christians are bracing themselves for persecution. A pastor and 100 members of a Protestant church detained. The words spoken by the pastor jumped out at me: “Persecution is a price worth paying for the Lord.” Another pastor and all 1500 members of his church have been detained, searched and questioned. With their new police records, they will be denied rights to travel, employment, government assistance, etc. In rural areas, the elderly who are dependent on government subsidies have been told to remove Christian symbols from their home or lose the monthly financial assistance they rely on for food and housing.

The letter to the Hebrews which we have been reading over the past couple of weeks was written to a group of Christians who had suffered persecution in the past and who were now threatened with another persecution. Although we experience in the West a growing hatred for Christianity, it is hard for us to imagine what it is like to be forced to choose our faith at the cost of freedoms, providing for our families, and life itself. Yet this is all too real a situation for our Christian brothers and sisters in China…today.

This first thread represents how God is calling me to strengthen my own determination to live with faith.

Second thread. Faith. The letter to the Hebrews is a majestic hymn to Christ who took hold of our humanity in every way, endured every test and temptation so he could help us when we pass through the ordeals of life, made us his brothers and sisters, and became our merciful and faithful High Priest before God. Our ancestors grieved God by their unbelief. The author of Hebrews pleads with his readers not to follow in their stead. He urges them to believe that God’s works have been accomplished in Christ. The gracious work of God supersedes the fallen brokenness of what we see in the world around us. “Continue with courage to hold firmly to our bold confidence and our victorious hope.”

Today much of what we in the West once knew of the classical expression of Christian religious practice has broken down or as Bishop Barron has stated recently, “quietly surrendered to the spirit of the age, devolving into one more form of political correctness.” I feel that this thread of faith is God’s call to me to courage, to bold confidence, and to a steadfast belief in our victorious hope.

Third thread. Creative love. In today’s first reading from the Letter to the Hebrews, the author encourages the Christians who are suffering persecution and struggling with their faith to do two things:

·      Support each other and find creative ways to encourage one another. “We must consider how to rouse one another to love and good works.” There is much fear among people I know today, as family, parish, and cultural realities are becoming more uncertain. People seem bewildered, weighed down. The letter to the Hebrews urges us to look out for each other, to look on each other with the excitement of love, for love is contagious, love can do great things.

·      Come together in your assembly. A time of persecution and weakened faith is not the time to pull away and neglect meeting together. The Greek here implies a person who is extremely discouraged. When we are discouraged, and we have so many reasons to feel disillusioned and heartbroken in our Church today, it is in our meeting together around the table of the Lord that we are held, taught, fed, compassioned and led by him. The art and the gift of invitation is so important if we can extend a helping hand to those whose faith is weak.

Persecution. Faith. Creative Love. I’m not sure if I’d have the courage of the Pastor who said that persecution is a price worth paying. Right now, however, I want to redouble my commitment to encouraging my brothers and sisters in the faith, offering a helping hand, raising the light, affirming the Promise, “and this all the more as you see the day drawing near.”

Kathryn James Hermes, FSP, is the author of the newly released title: Reclaim Regret: How God Heals Life’s Disappointments, by Pauline Books and Media. An author and spiritual mentor, she offers spiritual accompaniment for the contemporary Christian’s journey towards spiritual growth and inner healing. She is the director of My Sisters, where people can find spiritual accompaniment from the Daughters of St. Paul on their journey.

Website: www.touchingthesunrise.com

Public Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/srkathrynhermes/

For monthly spiritual journaling guides, weekly podcasts and over 50 conferences and retreat programs join my Patreon community: https://www.patreon.com/srkathryn.

Posted on

Sow What?

Click here for daily readings

I recently reached the final page of a long, good book. I turned the back cover over and placed it on the coffee table with an overwhelming sense of accomplishment. As I returned it to its place on the bookshelf the following morning, I tried to think of what I
remembered about the book. I realized I didn’t remember anything. I read every word, yet I failed to retain any of the meaning.

There are two ends to which the pursuit of knowledge may lead: the love of knowledge itself, or the application of knowledge as a weapon of love. Neither are bad. One is insufficient.

In his brilliant book Theology for Beginners, the renowned apologist Frank Sheed begs the reader to reread the Gospels, Acts, Paul’s Epistles and eventually the entire Old Testament as well as the rest of the New Testament. Specifically, he says that “…there is
no exhausting their richness” when it comes to chapters fourteen through seventeen of John’s Gospel (Sheed 33). But he cautions the reader to read them as though this was the first time. Most of us know the parable of the Sower like the back of our hands. We
hear it read aloud in mass. We see it in a playful rendering during the musical Godspell. We see drawings of it used as illustrations for children in Religious Education. The tendency is to immediately recognize the parable, and in doing so turn our focus away
because we assume we understand all it has to offer. But Jesus delivered his parables to illustrate truths that increase in their relevance as we move from stage to stage in our lives, just as Shakespeare wrote his plays to be overflowing with relevant truths no matter the time period. However, Shakespeare was a playwright. Jesus is God.

Jesus is the sower.
The seeds are Jesus’ words.
We are the path.
We are the rocky ground.
We are the thorns.
We can be rich soil.

It’s easy to believe we’re rich soil when in reality the majority of us are probably the rocky ground or thorns. We get excited about the Good News of Jesus Christ, but we lack roots. Or we accept the words of Jesus Christ, but we are too concerned with
“worldly anxiety, the lure of riches, and the craving for other things” (Mark 4:19). Look at this parable from the lens of your current stage in life and inhale these words as though for the first time.

Then when it’s your time to bear fruit, don’t keep it all for yourself or it will become rotten. Share it with not only your friends but your enemies as well.

Benjamin serves as the Music Minister at Our Lady Queen of Peace in Branchville, NJ. He teaches Children’s Theatre at the Paper Mill Playhouse and is a Catholic songwriter that has given talks on Confirmation, How to Keep the Faith in College, and The Courage to Choose Life. His album The Start Toward Rivo Torto can be found on SoundCloud and his other talks and music can be found on YouTube.  He can be reached at benjamintyates@gmail.com.