Where to Go from Here?

The Sixth Sunday of Easter
(May 16-17)

Today's Word:
Acts 10:25-48 (Peter and Cornelius: "God shows no partiality...in every nation, whoever fears God and acts in righteousness is acceptable to him")
Psalm 98:1-4 (The Lord has revealed to the nations his saving power)
1 John 4:7-10 (Let us love one another, as love is of God)
John 15:9-17 ("As the Father loves me, so I also love you")

Also:
Philippians 3:1-11 (Paul of Tarsus: "All the things I once thought were so important are now gone from my life")

Okay, I blew it. I stumbled. I ran out of concepts. I ran out of my past. I was uncertain about what to say about the future, as I am not one given to speculation.

The Catholic lectionary has sputtered a bit; dwelling on John 15 for four days straight. Yes, it's an important one. From it are drawn a couple of great contemporary songs - Michael W. Smith's Friends (Are Friends Forever) and Israel Houghton's I Am A Friend of God. In The Great Adventure, Steven Curtis Chapman writes: The love of God will take us far beyond our wildest dreams. And it does; it really does.

Having said this, though, reality slapped me in the face last week as I recommitted myself to the ideals of the vows I took upon ordination. Of late, I have come to understand the nature of my son's autism; how it is possible he was stricken by it and how all three of us have struggled to understand and overcome it. I asked: If (my son) has trouble dealing with the barrage of stimuli before him, how can he relate to God, whom he cannot see?

Perhaps my son is teaching me here. He's been rather resilient through all of this. His joys continually outweigh his suffering. He may experience God in such a way that exudes his resilience.

I also see in my son an aspect to the depth of God's love. He is a warm and outgoing person, and would hug anyone and everyone if given the opportunity. To attempt to explain to him that not everyone is comfortable anticipates the words of Jesus hitting me through my son's sparkling eyes, saying: And just what is wrong with wanting to share my joy so openly and freely?

The first accomplishment of the early church was to break out of being a subset of Judaism. It took courage for Peter to admit being human and yet yield to a higher authority through guidance by the Holy Spirit. Paul of Tarsus was an orthodox Jew before his conversion, yet by the time he wrote to the church he helped establish in Caesarea Philippi he had come to this realization:

"Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant—dog dung. I've dumped it all in the trash so that I could embrace Christ and be embraced by him. I didn't want some petty, inferior brand of righteousness that comes from keeping a list of rules when I could get the robust kind that comes from trusting Christ—God's righteousness." (Philippians 3:8-9, The Message by Eugene H. Peterson)

Breaking away from keeping a list of rules. That seems to be the way things are running for me. Bearing witness to Christ, rather than being open and free, had somehow become locked in a set of well-meaning rules. At the time of Christ, the "Law" of which he spoke had no less than 613 specific edicts. All of them in some way were derivatives of the Ten Commandments. Jesus comes along and says that the whole of the Law and the exhortations of the prophets before him boiled down to two commandments: Love God above all things, and love your neighbor as yourself. In John 15 and in his first epistle, this is boiled down to three words: Love one another.

Love is what matters, it is what lasts. Paul of Tarsus wrote that it is the greatest of the three things that last, coupled with faith and hope. It is only in these three virtues, with the emphasis on love, that answers are found; solutions are implemented; obstacles are overcome. How that love is expressed? That is where we're left to our own ingenuity and decisions. At this point the manner of expression is as individual as the fingerprints on our hands.

"My beloved friends, let us continue to love each other since love comes from God. Everyone who loves is born of God and experiences a relationship with God. The person who refuses to love doesn't know the first thing about God, because God is love—so you can't know him if you don't love. This is how God showed his love for us: God sent his only Son into the world so we might live through him. This is the kind of love we are talking about—not that we once upon a time loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to clear away the damage done to our relationship with God." (1 John 4:7-10, The Message)

Love conquered all. Love conquers all. And Love will conquer all that we do to divide and separate us.

For the Moms

Today's Word:
Acts 13:44-52 (After drawing much attention, Jewish leaders have Paul and Barnabas expelled from Antioch)
Psalm 98:1-4 (All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God)
John 14:7-14 ("I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me")

Today I'd like to honor all the women out there who are moms (there's no such thing as "have been" in the profession of motherhood).

I came to understand many years ago about how special mothers are. My understanding is not complete; nor will it be as long as my spirit inhabits this body; but it's a very deep thing. I used to share this with couples of newborns who were to be baptized. I'm not sure they understood it then; I hope that over the years that they might remember and have a 'light bulb' revelation of sorts.

Mothers are martyrs of sorts. In giving birth to others, a mother gives a part of her own life away.

Moms are acutely aware of having to make sacrifices. They do so more than most of us realize. Some will not admit to this, saying that it is an act of love. Ah, there's the rub - most sacrifices are acts of love.

As a man I barely qualify to speak of the great love of which Moms have the capacity to cultivate and share. It is too soon hit upon by family unwittingly taking unfair advantage, as if it were an endless spring of fresh water or a bottomless cup of coffee. It's true that Moms have an unfathomable level of endurance; still, it's not without limit, yet the rest of us continually push it.

In almost all my observations, Moms really do know best. Even when they're wrong, they're right.

While there are many Moms who like being pampered on their special days, there are just as many who eschew it. Moms are conscious of adversities 24/7/365 - even when it comes to something as simple as taking her out to dinner. (At least all those in my life are that way.)

Even as they grow older and the fragility of their lives becomes more obvious and prevalent, Moms are a resilient group of people. They are our first nurturers, our first teachers, and our first friends.

There is no good way to express gratitude, appreciation, thanks, or even love to someone who gives so much - and keeps giving every day of her life, in spite of her own condition.

I do know, however, that a Mom's love is more precious than just about anything else.

Dynamics

Today's Word:
Exodus 32:7-14 (The Israelites fabricate a golden calf idol; God intends to take vengeance; Moses intercedes)
Psalm 106:19-23 (Remember us, O Lord; we are your people)
John 5:31-47 ("Since you don't believe what Moses wrote, how will you believe what I say?")

One thing you can say about the world we live in: There is no place in it for anything stagnant.

I mean that. Just about everything goes through changes, even slight ones. And if something meant to change doesn't, it goes through the ultimate change: destruction and death. Don't read too much into the last part of that right now. It's important, but I don't want to dwell in what most people see as a negative at the moment. Even God and the Church are what the latter calls "changing, yet changeless." (How's that for an oxymoron?)

My wife and I had been married eight years at the time I decided to enter ministry formation and ultimately, the diaconate. In all that time we did not have children, and not because we weren't trying. When we were first married, we were both working, doing our best to make ends meet and still enjoy life. I always believed that if it were meant for us to have children, God would provide. My wife shared that basic belief; but her practices led to more action.

Over the next three years, the dearest person in my life took me on a journey to understand that part of the dynamic of life. Over that period of time, the origins of a personal paradigm shift would take place. One life definitely came and went. Another is thought to have done so. I could have also lost my wife. But we kept praying, each in our own way. All those prayers were answered. In two days our son celebrates seventeen trips around the Wheel of Life; the two of us becoming one of him. While I can remember life before him (even fondly at times), I cannot and will not picture life without him; just as I can't and won't picture life without my sweetheart, my wife. Even death in its many forms (and I have come to witness many a virtual death - no, I'm not talking the type you see in video games) cannot separate me from either of them; nor will it separate me from God.

If I could have thought to ask for one more thing back then, it should have been for a better sense of foresight. That might have prompted a different response to the lessons I was about to learn, one way or another. Still, learning those lessons, even as hard as I did, has taught me more about patience and compassion than I ever imagined. It has also served to reinforce the spiritual maxim related by Paul of Tarsus: that there are three things that last, faith, hope, and love; and the greatest of these is love.

A Prayer

Today's Word:
Esther "C":12, 14-16, 23-25 (Queen Esther's prayer for guidance)
Psalm 138:1-2ab, 2cde-3, 7c-8 (On the day I called for help, Lord, You answered me)
Matthew 7:7-12 (Ask and you shall receive...; Do unto others as you would have them do unto you)

(NOTE: The passage from the book of Esther is found only in the Apocrypha. To read it online, go to www.usccb.org/nab/readings/030509.shtml.)


Lord God,
You are present to all who call upon you with sincerity of heart.
Help me to remember that you are also present in every living thing.
Help me to be compassionate, and not just practical;
as your compassion goes beyond all practicality.

Guide me in setting my true priorities,
not what I think they should be.
Let me not dwell on the past or any other insignificance,
other than to let me learn and grow from my errors in thought and action.

Help me to reflect an image of your perfect love,
as you have given me such an image to live beside me in this life.

Let me see You in those eyes,
that I might better participate in my life's vocation.

Let not the meditations of my mind, my heart, and my soul
take me away from the joy you make present through my family;
rather, may it serve You in giving myself totally
to those entrusted to my love and care.

As Jesus offered Himself out of love,
may I do so in the way meaningful to my station in life.
In His name I pray; Help me, O Lord my God.

...Amen.