Returned Gift

~~~ Genesis 22:1B-19 ~~~ Psalm 115 ~~~ Matthew 9:1-8 ~~~

Abraham was faithful to God; 

when God called to him he answered.

God asked him to make the ultimate sacrifice.

God asked Abraham to sacrifice his beloved son, Isaac.

When he sent Hagar away he put her son onto her back.

Hagar carried life on her back out into the wilderness.

Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering

and laid it on his son Isaac’s shoulders,

When Abraham went out to the place where God said

he placed the dead wood on his son's back.

Abraham did not yet know what God would say when they arrived.

Perhaps Abraham was expecting to teach his son

how to make a sacrifice to the Lord.

God has other plans.

It is doubtful that Abraham would have chosen

to sacrifice Isaac on the mountain that day.

Abraham and Isaac engage in meaningful conversation

 as they go on their three day journey. 

Abraham talks to Isaac about the importance 

of being faithful to God.

He again tells him the story of how God had Blessed 

him with a son in his old age.

Abraham speaks with a heavy heart

for he knows why he and his son

 are heading to the place chosen by God.

Imagine how heavy was the heart of Abraham knowing

God told him to sacrifice his own son.

I do not know if I could be that obedient.

Abraham was prevented from killing his son

just as he drew up the knife.

God took him all the way to the brink of sacrificing 

his son before he intervened.

Abraham passed the test...

Abraham answered God's unasked question...

'do you love me?'

If you love God,

what are you willing to give up?

Abraham was willing to give back 

to God the gift of his son.

The temptation could have been to ignore God's request...

to happily live out his remaining years

with Isaac.

What gifts have you returned to God lately?

There is a freedom through giving 

our gifts back to God.

God accepts our gifts making 

them perfect in his love.

I will walk in the presence of the Lord, in the land of the living.

Blessings of life saved for you.

~~~Peace~~~

Responding Appropriately

~~~ Hosea 6:1-6 ~~~ Psalm 51 ~~~ Luke 18:9-14 ~~~

My sacrifice, O God, is a contrite spirit;
a heart contrite and humbled...

A sacrifice is the act of giving up something
 that you want to keep especially to get or do something else.
A sacrifice is a loss or something you give up,
usually for the sake of a better cause.

We can make sacrifices for many different reasons.
But often we gain something in return for the sacrifice.
Parents routinely make sacrifices so their
children can have a better life.

We sacrifice our selfish ways, our prideful thoughts and actions
so that we may have this closer relationship with God.
We would be nothing without him and yet we find ways to ignore him.
We find ways to close him out of our lives.
It happens before we even realize he is missing.
Do you ever feel as if you have replaced God
with something else in your life?
This exactly what happens when we sin;
we replace God with what we want
 to do instead of listening to him.

For it is love that I desire, not sacrifice,
and knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

More than anything else God wants us to love him.
We can make one sacrifice after another,
 but God simply wants us to love him.
The best way to love God more is to get to know him better.
The best way to get to know God better is to spend
more quality time with him.

But the tax collector stood off at a distance
and would not even raise his eyes to heaven
but beat his breast and prayed,
‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner.’

The tax collector came to the temple
with his heart already in the state of repentance.
He came, not to brag about who he was or what he had done;
he came to seek God's mercy.
He came to spend more time with God.
He came to learn how to love God more
in response to his mercy.

During Lent there is great emphasis on our being repentant,
but every Mass begins with a penitential rite.
We begin the celebration of his death...
of our salvation with repentance.
We call to mind how God has loved us
and how we have failed to respond. 

This is how we fall into sin,
 we do not respond appropriately to God's love for us.

If we could consistently love God in return as much as he loves us
then how could we step into a life sin?

Perhaps we can never love God enough.
Loving him with our whole mind, body,
and soul may not be possible.

Just maybe loving our neighbor as ourselves
bolsters our ability to love God more.

The more time you spend with God
the better you will be at responding appropriately.

We are Blessed not by what we sacrifice,
but rather by how much we can love.

I invite you to take time this weekend to consider
how well you have responded to his love.
For it is love that he desires above all.
Peace.

Just a Basket Among the Reeds

~~~ Our Lady of Mount Carmel ~~~

 

~~~ Exodus 2:1-15a ~~~ Psalm 69 ~~~ Matthew 11:20-24 ~~~

 

Carmel is a place where Elijah lived in service to the Lord.

This feast of Our Lady was instituted for the Carmelites in the fourteenth century.

It honors the day in 1251 when the Blessed Mother gave the brown scapular to Saint Simon Stock.

This brown scapular symbolizes our relationship with the Blessed Mother of Carmel

entrusting ourselves into her protection.

 

I have a special affection for Our Lady of Mount Carmel

since that was the name of my parish

and where I went to school growing up.

 

 

Today's reading from Exodus is the beautiful story of the baby Moses.

It is a story of the far reaching providential care of God.

It is a story of sacrifice on behalf of a mother who loved her son.

She was willing to give him up in order to save his life.

It is a story of sibling love...Miriam protects her little brother.

It is a beautiful story of adoption.

The Pharaoh's daughter took in this male baby knowing

he was of Hebrew parents. 

This is a story of creativity...Moses was carefully placed in a basket

among the reeds where the young princess would come to bathe.

 

It is a story of love...

 

It is hard to picture Moses as a baby

 because we usually see him portrayed as the old man

 receiving the stone tablets from God.

God had plans for Moses from the moment he was born.

In spite of the fact that he was male and should have been killed

 like so many others his age,

God protects him.

 

This is a story of bravery...it took much courage for

the sister of Moses to approach the daughter.

She risked her own life to save her brother's life.

Her actions were also able to bring much happiness to their mother.

Miriam offers to recruit a 'nursing mother' to care for the baby.

 

This is a story of how a helpless infant floating in a basket

affected a young princess who was the 'enemy'.

 

Noticing the basket among the reeds, she sent her handmaid to fetch it.
On opening it, she looked, and lo, there was a baby boy, crying!
She was moved with pity for him and said,
“It is one of the Hebrews’ children.”

 

Moses, as we know, becomes one of the key figures of the Old Testament.

He is the leader of the people out of the desert.

Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt...he gave them manna from heaven...

he provided water from the rock...and so much more.

Moses cooperated with God in good times and in discouraging times.

 

Working for God is no guarantee for an easy life.

Just look at the life of Moses. 

Moses lived a long life; God had lots for him to accomplish.

Tomorrow we hear more of the incredible story of Moses.

 

Blessings today...

the next time you look at an infant remember that God does indeed

have plans for this one little life.

What is Enough?

~~~ Sirach 35:1-12 ~~~ Psalm 50 ~~ Mark 10:28-31 ~~~

 

Peter began to say to Jesus,
‘We have given up everything and followed you.”

 

For most of us this is a difficult verse to reflect upon.

We gloss over it quickly because we are picky about what we are willing to give up.

 

The idea of giving up everything is overwhelming and scary.

 

Peter and the others did give up pretty much everything.

They left their fishing business.

They left their homes.

They left their families.

 

They followed Jesus and he was always on the move.

Jesus never really set down roots in one place.

He was a missionary and they joined him.

 

How do you know how much is enough to give up?

Is it really something to be measured?

Is it possible to measure how much someone is giving up?

 

Everything for one may not be much for another.

 

Some believe giving from their wealth is sufficient;

but I wonder if that is truly giving anything up.

 

Some give up all of their material belongings to enter religious life;

but I wonder if that is truly necessary.

 

Where is the happy medium?

Where is the middle?

 

It may have been necessary for Peter and the others to give up everything 

to follow Jesus,

they had a great task before them.

 

 

So where does that leave us today?

I think what you give up can only be determined

by the person making the sacrifice.

 

If what you give up is imposed upon you then your attitude

 may deteriorate into something

far less then Jesus intended.

 

If you do not have the right spirit of the heart in what you sacrifice,

is it a sacrifice at all?

 

Was Peter just whining?

Did he just want to make Jesus aware of the sacrifice they had made?

 

Jesus says whatever you give up you

will get a hundred times more in return...

...and eternal life in the age to come...

 

Honestly it makes me a little uncomfortable to reflect on exactly

what I am 'giving up' to follow Jesus.

 

I may never be able to truthfully determine if it is enough.

I may never be able to admit just how selfish I really am.

 

All I can do is make the decision daily to follow Jesus accepting

what that decision encompasses.

I place my trust in where he leads me.

I pray to have the strength needed to sacrifice what is asked of me.

Perhaps I should consider adding a day of fasting each week to my prayer life.

Giving up food for a day pales in comparison

to what some have given up.

 

'...Appear not before the LORD empty-handed...'

How Can We Know God

~~~ Hosea 6:1-6 ~~~ Psalm 51 ~~~ Luke 18: 9-14 ~~~

'It is love that I desire, not sacrifice.

And knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.'

Seek the knowledge of God through His word...

read the scriptures daily.

The Bible contains the living word of God.

You are Loved.

Only One Can Reign in Your Heart

~~~ Hebrews 9: 15, 24-28 ~~~ Psalm 98 ~~~ Mark 3: 22-30 ~~~

 

Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous deeds.

 

The mighty one has indeed done marvelous deeds for us.

Through the pouring out of his own blood and not that of a sacrificial animal

he completed the offering once and for all.

His one single perfect sacrifice expiated the sins of the whole world for all ages.

No human before him had been capable of this sacrifice.

He was fulfilling the will of the one who sent him.

He was not going through the sacrificial ritual;

he was the sacrifice.

 

The scribes were puzzled by what Jesus was accomplishing through his powers.

They were perhaps a little jealous as well.

Whenever you are jealous of someone you try to make light of anything

that they do that you want to be able to do too.

 

This is one such example...

the scribes decide that because Jesus can cast out demons,

which they connect with evil, he must be aligned with evil as well.

Obviously Satan would not listen to anyone other than one of his own kind.

 

Way back in the Garden of Eden Satan obviously thought that he had the upper hand.

He believed that we humans were going to be easily swayed to join him in his evil ways.

To some extent he was correct, but then Jesus came and things began to change.

 

Satan needed someone greater and stronger to overcome his wickedness.

Someone more powerful did indeed come in the person of Jesus.

Jesus knew who Satan was all too well.

 

"How can Satan drive out Satan?
If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.
And if a house is divided against itself,
that house will not be able to stand.
And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided,
he cannot stand;
that is the end of him..."

 

You can either pledge your allegiance to God or Satan.

The two cannot simultaneously reign in your heart.

You cannot decide one day to be on the side of evil and the next the side of good.

But we are weak human beings and the temptations presented before us require

us to be ever vigilant.

This is not always easily accomplished it is a constant battle.

 

 

Today we join the Dominicans in honoring Saint Thomas Aquinas, doctor of the church.

He was one of the most important Medieval philosophers and theologians.

 

The Summa Theologica is his most well known writing.

You might look it up later.

 

A few quotes from St. Thomas...

 

The things that we love tell us what we are.

 

How can we live in harmony?

First we need to know we are all madly in love with the same God.

 

 Love takes up where knowledge leaves off.

 

To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary.

To one without faith, no explanation is possible.

 

Wonder is the desire for knowledge.

 

Grant me, O Lord my God,
a mind to know you,
a heart to seek you,
wisdom to find you,
conduct pleasing to you,
faithful perseverance in waiting for you,
and a hope of finally embracing you.
Amen.

 

Saint Thomas Aquinas, pray for us.

Ave Maria

The Immaculate Heart of Mary

~~~ Isaiah 61: 9-11 ~~~ Luke 2: 41-51 ~~~

~~~1 Samuel 2~~~

"My heart exults in the Lord, my Savior."

Mary, the first person of our kind that is human to love Jesus.

Mary consented for her young body to become the dwelling place for her Lord.

Mary nourished and protected Jesus before he was fully formed as a human within her body. As a mother I can confirm that during those nine months of pregnancy you form a close bond with your yet unborn child.

Mary's heart was already filled with love for her baby, Jesus, before she even got to feel him move or see his beautiful face.At the time of her Immaculate Conception her heart was filled with light and unbelievable joy.

She already had the love of scripture in her heart.

Now she would become a living part of the holy words of scripture.

I wonder. Did she ponder that at all?

Artists depict Mary's heart with flames of fire bursting from the top,

a sword piercing completely through from on side to the other,

and wreath of roses encircling her heart.

Imagine bringing your baby to church for Baptism and being told that you would be given great sorrows that would pierce you heart. I think I would be shocked and maybe even leave in disbelief. No mother holding her infant would want to be told the sadness that the future held.

"Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart."

Luke 2:19

She kept more in her heart than we can even imagine. His early years as a young child, Jesus, must have brought her great happiness. She could hold him in her arms and kiss him sweetly. She could sing him soothing lullabies as he drifted off to sleep.

She could look into his eyes and say, "I love you."

I think we tend to take for granted how normal the early life of Jesus was and

how close his relationship with Mary, his mother, must have been.

Mary loved Jesus with all of her mind, body, heart, and soul.

She more than anyone else knows what it means to have both a joyful and

a sorrowful heart. She experienced the greatest joy in surrendering

to God's will with her "Yes".

She experienced the greatest sadness as the soldiers placed the lifeless body

of her son into her arms at the foot of the cross.

Mary has a heart buring with love.

Mary has a heart pierced with the sword of sadness.

Mary has a heart adorned with the beauty of roses.

At least for today, honor Mary for all that she carried in her heart.

She was the container, but Jesus was the precious cargo.

Her great love allowed a greater love to walk this earth.

We love you, Mary and we thank you for your sacrifice.

Questions of Sacrifice

Genesis 22:1-2, 9a, 10-13, 15-18 ~~ Psalm 116 ~~ Rom. 8:1b-34 ~~ Mark 9: 2-10

Sacrifice

It is good that we are here!

What are you willing to sacrifice? What are you able to sacrifice? Is sacrifice a personal decision? Or is sacrifice a chosen state of mind?

Sometimes we think we are making a sacrifice when in reality we are not.

Is giving up television for lent really a sacrifice?

Maybe not when you think about Abraham willing to sacrifice his son Isaac.In the Old Testament they were required to sacrifice animals as part of their religious practices. Blood shed and terminating a life was common and acceptable then.

 I think of the those who lost their lives during the Holocaust. Did they chose to sacrifice their lives? Is 'paying the price' an essential part of sacrifice?

The price for our salvation was the life of Jesus. Those killed in action in our military sacrificed their lives for our freedom. 'Precious in the eyes of the Lord is the death of his faithful ones'. Was that part of the deal when they signed on the dotted line?

Is giving up television for lent really a sacrifice?
If we practice small sacrifices does that prepare us for greater sacrifices? I think it is the greater deeper love that prepares us for greater sacrifices.

Our religious heritage is rich with the sacrifices made by those holy men and women whom we call martyrs. Some of them took the opportunity to come forward and offer their life in exchange for anothers life.

Paul writes, "If God is for us, who can be against us?"

There is no greater love than to give one's life for another.

The magnificent vision of the Transfiguration was God revealing the Glory of the ultimate sacrifice Jesus, his beloved son, was making for us. Jesus sacrificed his divinity to take on our human flesh. He did in any was lose his divinity through this act. It was just less evident to those who were not ready to see clearly.

We can only bow down in appreciation for this ultimate sacrifice made for us.
The Ultimate Gift!

Prehaps our greatest sacrifice is to step out of the way;
  allowing God to create us for himself.
Are you willing to sacrifice yourself for God?
I will take this question into my prayer time.

Will you join me?