Peace...Pass It On

~~~ Acts: 14:19-28 ~~~ Ps. 145 ~~~ John 14: 27-31a ~~~

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.

Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid."

Wonderful words to read, hear and reflect upon. But in reality I must ask do we really know what it means to have this peace from Jesus?

If you listen to the news reports from around the world you would not be inclined to think of Peace. If you listen to the reports from around our own country Peace would not be in the forefront of your mind.

Jesus wants us to receive his gift of peace, but it challenges us. It challenges us because we must learn to accept this peace in spite of what we may be hearing and seeing. This is a peace coming freely...a peace that surpasses all other peace.

A few weeks ago I was speaking with a young crew member from Russia. He was sharing about his life on the cruise ship. The crew has a difficult schedule they work long hours every day. He spoke about keeping a good attitude and how vital it was to his emotional well being. He had a kind positive manner about himself.

He had decided to make the best of his work environment

no matter what he was asked to do. Each time we got the opportunity to share a few words with him we tried to make him feel appreciated.

If we can just learn to find ways in our life to embrace this peace from Jesus;

we will find ourselves in a better place. It we can gradually become more in tune with this peace, we will see it in more areas of our life.

Peace is not something that we can experience by reading a book.

Peace must be experienced within your soul.

During the Mass when the part comes to extend peace to those around you, make the intention to really let it come from your heart to their heart.

Peace around the world must ultimately be up to each one of us. We must decide to make peace within ourselves a priority before we can extend this peace out to others.

If we cannot have peace without hatred in this world let us remember to always nurture peace within ourselves. I pray that I can always be the one to tip the scale in favor of peace. Not my peace, but peace coming from Jesus.

Do not let your hearts be troubled.

As Julian of Norwich says, 'All will be well'.

Gladness of Heart

~~~ Acts. 14: 5-18 ~~~ Ps. 115 ~~~ John 14: 21-26 ~~~

"The gods have come down to us in human form."

The people of Lystra were confused by Paul's ability to heal...gifted to him through the Holy Spirit. These people were only doing what they thought right and just at the time. even though they were misguided they intended no harm.

Paul and Barnabas immediately  recognized that the people needed

to be evangelized into a new way of thinking.

The disciples educated the people about the living God,

 'who made heaven and earth and sea and all that is in them.'

They go on to proclaim how this living God

'filled them with nourishment and gladness in their hearts.'

Worshipping a golden idol would never have the ability

to fill their hearts with gladness.

Paul and Barnabas were living examples of what it meant to have your heart filled with gladness. They were on fire for the Lord...proclaiming the good news...their healing ability was directly related to their heart full of gladness for the Lord.

when you are filled with gladness for the Lord you want to break out in dance and song. It is not possible to contain true gladness of heart.

Gladness of the heart radiates through your eyes...it is detectable...it is undeniable.

I have witnessed it first hand myself especially

at the end of a retreat weekend experience.

When you love God and he comes to dwell within your very being...gladness of heart keeps you nourished by the Lord.

The Holy Spirit is constantly filling our hearts with gladness for the Lord.

I invite you to share this gladness of heart with those around you...

if not in words then at least in how you look into the face of those you meet today.

Gandhi said, "If you do not find God in the nest person you meet,

it is a waste of time looking further."

Trusting: The Master Gardener Prunes

~~~ Acts 9: 26-31 ~~~ Psalm 22 ~~~ 1John 3:18-24 ~~~ John 15: 1-8 ~~~

"...with the consolation  of the Holy Spirit it (the church) grew in numbers."

The Holy Spirit has been, is, and will continue to breathe life

into the community of believers.

We too are members of this community of believers.

John's letter encourages to show our love through what we do...basically to live a life that reflects the love of God to the best of our ability. If our heart is filled with love we cannot go wrong. If our heart is filled with love

"we have confidence in God and receive from him whatever we ask..."

If our heart is filled with love we want to keep his commandments; it is no longer a chore but rather a delight.

"...the way we know that he remains in us is from the Spirit he gave us."

The Gospel today is a classic, well known passage; the Vine and the Branches.

Jesus was a wonderful teacher. He knew how to take something familiar to his audience and turn it into a spiritual teaching.  

Since this is a well known reading I only want to highlight one point.

"He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit."

Thinking about God as the Master Gardener; having to prune branches from my life causes some anxiety. God sees what is no longer needed in our life when we cannot.

We often find it difficult to let go of those branches that are not bearing fruit.

How long do you wait? The corpse flower does not bloom for years at a time.

It takes a tremendous amount of trust to allow God to prune away the branches that only he knows will not be able to bear fruit.

In order to bear fruit we must remain in him so that he can remain in us through the grace and presence of the Holy Spirit.

Allow the Master Gardener to gently and patiently

prepare you to be bear more fruit in your life.

Shake off the Dust

~~~ Acts 13: 44-52 ~~~ Psalm 98 ~~~ John 14: 7-14 ~~~

"They shook the dust from their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium."

Things were going well...the good news was spreading among the Gentiles...and then the Jews came along and began to incite the prominent women of the city, and stirred up a persecution against Paul and Barnabas. These circumstances caused them to leave...

"They shook the dust from their feet..."

Sometimes when things are negative and you are feeling persecuted the best you can do is move on leaving the problems behind. To me the message of shaking the dust from your feet is to let everything go carry nothing from the past ahead with you.

Free yourself from the unwanted burdens;

 the useless baggage and move on into your future.

If you leave behind even the tiny particles of dust you can begin with a fresh outlook. It often serves no purpose to carry around those things that no longer serve a purpose in your life.

If the dust is gone the slate is also cleared. What is written in the dust can be blown away even if it is on your feet. When we walk we are either walking toward something better or walking away from something no longer satisfying.

Dust is not permanent...dust is not solid...you cannot build upon dust...

When we are faced with disappointments and are hurting we can make the decision to

'shake the dust from our feet' and let it go.

Holding on to 'dust' takes more energy than it is worth.

Next time things start to bug you or get under your skin...

'shake off the dust' and save your energy for better endeavors.

Holding grudges only keeps you feet covered in the dust.

...A Place for You

~~~ Acts of the Apostles 13: 26-33 ~~~ Psalm 2 ~~~John 14: 1-6 ~~~

" Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me.

In my Father's house there are many dwelling places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?"

Each time I read this scripture passage I recall a joke I once heard about St. Peter admitting souls into heaven with the advice to all non Catholics to walk quietly by a certain room because they, the Catholics, did not know anyone else was in heaven.

The visual of the Father having a house with many rooms is so realistic. I can picture a magnificent castle like structure surrounded by clouds and bright soothing light. Joyful music fills the air leading you across to bridge to the open door.

In preparing for house guests we usually prepare the guest bedroom before they arrive. We clean the room, put clean linens on the bed, I have even purchased new linens. We try to make things look and feel inviting for our guests. A few books or magazines, maybe even some fresh flowers. We have a rocking chair in our guest room.

If we go to all of this trouble to make one room beautiful, I can only imagine what Jesus has prepared for us. It is comforting to think we are expected.

We are expected to enter into heaven; we have been shown the way, by Jesus.

Jesus knows when to expect us and our room will be ready to receive us. I cannot think that once we get to heaven we will want to stay in 'our room' though.

We recently took a cruise. The first thing we did after finding our cabin was to go out and explore the rest of the ship. Exploring heaven will be like no other previous exploration. On the ship the promenade deck was like the central meeting place. I expect if there is such a central meeting place in heaven this is where we will be greeted by our loved ones. We might even have the pleasure of meeting those whom we never had the opportunity to meet while on earth.

Have faith in God...Do not let your hearts be troubled.

There is a place just for you...all that you need to be happy will be there...

Your room will be decorated just for you...you will feel at home there...

you will be at peace there...

In this place prepared especially for you by Jesus.

Whatever You Ask in My Name...

~~~1 Corinthians 15:1-8 ~~~ Ps. 19: 2-3,4-5 ~~~ John 14: 6-14 ~~~

Paul is diligent about keeping the facts of the Resurrection of Jesus in the minds and hearts of the Corinthians. In retelling the stories of Jesus appearing after his death, Paul is strengthening the faith of the people. In effect Paul is saying to the people...these things really happened and it will do us well to always remember. It will do us well to keep these stories circulating among us. Our faith will grow and we will be prepared to weather the tough times ahead when doubt intrudes into our hearts.

The psalmist also encourages us to keep the reality alive. "The message goes out to all the world..."

Today's gospel exemplifies the great patience of Jesus. He has been living with his apostles day in and day out for three years now and they still don't get it. Jesus has been telling them I have come to do the Father's will...I am one with the Father...

and finally I am in the Father and the Father is in me.

I think these analogies are most comforting. If we contemplate on Jesus...all that he said and all of his actions recorded in the Bible; then we too can come to know the Father. The Trinity is the beautiful mystery of our faith...three distinct persons yet one in the same.

This is not some illusionist slight of hand trick it is the greatest mystery.

The mysteries of our faith create the wonder and awe that keeps us coming back to the table, remaining in the flock day after day...through good times and bad.

When we believe we are participating in keeping this mystery alive for future believers.

"Amen, amen I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do..."

Whatever you do for the least is done for the honor and glory of God the Father and God the Son inspired by God the Spirit.

Make the intention today to be more conscious of how you are continuing the work of the Trinity.

To me this image captures the image of the Trinity the overlapping blue and brown colors illuminated by the white light of the Spirit.

Live like you believe!

Safe in His Hand

~~~ Acts 11: 19-26 ~~~ Ps. 87:1-3, 4-5, 6-7 ~~~ John 10:22-30 ~~~

Those who belong to Jesus listen to his voice.

Jesus is reprimanding the Jews for not believing even though they had seen the signs.

Jesus promises to watch over his sheep...

promising that no one would ever steal them from his hand.

The shepherd loves and cares for his sheep...they belong to him...they have nothing to fear...they go wherever he leads them...besides still waters and green pastures.

He sees to all of their needs.

Trust in the shepherd and you will have peace within.