Listen to Him Matt :17 1-9

"This is my son, in whom I am well pleased, listen to Him".  It funny when I read this passage I put myself in Peter's place.  He is running around trying to do the right thing, he wants to build tents.  That is what we so often do, we want to do something, anything for God to "win"Himover or to impress those around us.  We don't listen to Him.

The next thing Jesus says is to "Rise, and do not be afraid".  If we are with Him we should not be afraid to do His will.  We need to do two things, listen and don't be afraid.  We listen by making quiet time to be with the Lord and not talking.  We also listen by being alert at all times to the pro tings God sends us.  It could be a series of events through a day that lets us know that God wants us to do a task for Him.  It can be the stranger you see walking down the street crying who needs your help.  We have to lrelax and listen, don't get so caught up in doing something that we do our own will and. It His.

Rise and do not be afraid.  Rise, I love that.  He will help us rise if we are not afraid to do His will.  We have to be sure it is His will, or we will be building the tents.  If God never asks you to do something outside your comfort zone, you may not be listening.  For can we rise if we stay where we are?

Repent!

Repent is something we think of being yelled at us by some fire and brimstone preacher, but in reality it is a call of mercy and a reminder.  In the readings for Mass today God reminds us that it is never too late to repent and that we all need to repent continuously everyday of our lives.

None of us is so Holy that we can forget repentance.  We all get angry, we all say foolish things, and we all fail in a hundred different ways each day.  God understands this and only asks that we repent of our failings, turn back to Him, and try to not sin in the future.  He is so loving and He truly loves and understands us.

He wants us, he so wants us that no matter what we have done and how we have lived our lives up to this moment He desires us still and wants to give us His mercy, all we have to do is ask for it.  Repent, turn to Him and do our best to sin no more.

He also reminds us that no matter how righteously we have lived us to this moment, if we reject Him he gives us our freedom and allows us to walk away from Him.  If we reject Him, turn away from Him and do evil, we are lost.

Repent, believe in the Gospel on a daily basis and times a minute by minute basis.  He wants us and will welcome you home.

Reach out to those who are suffering

Being Pro-life to encompasses many things.  It doesn't mean just being anti-abortion but truly being Pre-life to me means just that, making life better, not just preventing untimely death.  Making life better, being there for those who are in pain, who need to know someone cares if they are alive or not, is being pro-life because you never know whose life you will save.

I am thinking of this because a lovely man I worked with but had lost touch with, committed suicide last week.   He was one of those people who was so loving but had issues fitting in and in I think accepting himself that life was a real struggle for him.  I kills me to think that people treated him unkindly.  I met another man over the weekend who was so down on himself he seemed unable to see the beautiful work he did.  Everyday people around you are struggling with their own personal hell.  Little things you do can make that better, a thank you card for the church secretary, taking cookies to an elderly neighbor, sometimes just really looking someone in face and giving them a compliment.

Spreading a joy and not adding to the pain of those around you will make you happier too.  That love you spread will be returned to a hundred fold by Our Lord.  Ask him today for the gift of seeing others and knowing how to help them in their pain.  Loving those who are different will open your heart to love all that much more and compassion will lighten your own pain.

A Sign of Jonah

We live pretty comfortable lives.  I imagine that if you are reading this you are better off than 90% of the rest of the world.  The people of Nineveh were also living a comfortable life, unaware that they needed to repent.

We look at others, Muslims, the poor, and other groups and say to ourselves those people!  They need to repent, not me, I don't do those things.  We all need to repent, and only God knows for sure which of us is the greatest sinner.  Concentrate on your own conversion, if that is real, others will follow you.  Ask yourself these questions, have I by my faith, ever inspired some on to become a believer?  Has anyone ever noticed something in me asked me wher my peace comes from?  Do people ever avoid me because of my faith?  How many times a day do I examine my own conscience, how often do I judge others?  This is your sign of Jonah, repent! And God will relent.

Finding he time to do God's will

My Lord, my God, my Savior, my King, what do you want me to do for You?  Speak to my heart and tell me what You want of me in these troubled times.  Help me Oh Lord to desire only to do Your will, to listen to what You tell me to do, and to have the strength and courage to do what You ask of me.  Dear Lord, help me to give of my time unselfishly.  I want to serve You.  I want to do Your will in the world.  Whisper in my ear what You ask of me and grant me the grace and courage to respond wholeheartedly, Yes.

During this time of Lent sometimes what God asks us to give up is our time.  It takes time out of our day to do the things He asks us to do.  It takes time to call you Legislators, it takes time to volunteer in a food pantry, it takes time to do the little things people ask us to do for them or that we know they would like.  It takes time to add prayer to our lives so we know God's will for us.  Maybe time is the real thing we should give to our Beloved for Lent.

Only by taking the time to pray and to truly listen to God can we do His will.  Remember we want to do His will, not our will or the will of others we want to impress disguised as His will.  Only through prayer will we find His will for us and then only if we abandon our will to follow Him.  If we can not give Him our time, how can we give Him our lives?

Awake

Once we wake up to the injustice in the world, what do we do?  Hopefully we are aware of the prejudices we all harbor in our hearts for those who are not like us on the surface.  We have to start there be we can't wait until all of that nonsense is removed from our own hearts before we start working to make the world a better place.  Reach out to groups that are already doing something if you can, don't try to reinvent the wheel.  But start.

Facebook is not the same as really doing something.  Marching and calling on your legislature is doing something.  Getting out the vote and voting yourself is doing something.  Start, Lent is a good time to do so.

Lenten fasting and Isaiah 58:1-9

Wow!  Today's reading spells out what we must do when we fast.  It isn't enough to give up chocolate or meat during lent.  We have to set free the oppressed, share our bread with the hungry, clothe the naked and not turn our back on them.

How often to do sit at home and pat ourselves on the back saying how good am I, I am doing XY and Z for Lent God will surely bless me.  And what do we want?  We want God to make our lives easier.  God says our fasting isn't fasting if we don't take care of the marginalized.  Not only do we have to take care of them, we have to stand up for them.  Only then will our prayers be answered.

We can not make a better life for ourselves on the backs of others.  We have to welcome the oppressed and help the poor.  We can't kick them out of our country with the idea that we will save ourselves.  God hears the cry of the poor.  Their prayers will be answered.