Have you ever wondered what it was like to be in that upper room with the disciples after the death of Jesus? What it must have felt like as they huddled together in fear thinking that they could be next to die? All that despair, doubt and confusion that permeated their existence. It most certainly would make them want to cry out, “My Lord and my God.”
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The Epiphany of the Lord has always been a big deal in my household. This Christian feast is traditionally observed on January 6th – which also is my date of birth. Needless to say, I was not particularly thrilled when the church decided to move the observance of Epiphany to the first Sunday of January. Despite that move, I continue to celebrate the traditional Epiphany day on January 6th every year.
In 1967, Paul Newman starred in the prison drama Cool Hand Luke. Luke Jackson (Paul Newman) knows how to win at poker, even with bad cards, by using his smarts and playing it cool. When Luke finds out his mother has died, he plots his escape; when he’s caught, he simply escapes again. Soon, Luke becomes a symbol of hope and resilience to the other men in the prison.
On the Feast of St. Luke, we are indebted to him for so much information about the early Church, but we know so little about him.
He was of Gentile origin, a Greek from the city of Antioch in ancient Syria, and he made his living as a physician, and he was the companion of St. Paul. But Luke is mainly known as the author of the third Gospel and the book of the Acts of the Apostles. It is in these writings that we will find three reasons why he has become a symbol of hope and resilience to all of us.
First, he had a special love for Mary, the mother of Jesus. It is from Luke that we have most of what we know about Mary: her steadfast faith, her child-like trust and obedience to God’s will, her generosity and readiness to serve others, her acceptance of God’s plan, and her pondering prayerfulness.
Second, he focused in on Jesus’ compassion and mercy for those who suffered. As a doctor Luke was very familiar with sickness and suffering. Luke calls us to be aware of the needs of each other, and especially those without the necessities of life, for those who are lost, and for anyone who is sick or suffering.
And third, he had a passion for evangelization. Luke wanted to spend his life spreading the good news about Jesus, both in his writings as well as in his journeys with St. Paul.
May we strive to be more like Cool Hand St. Luke: cool-headed, independent, individualistic spirit that won’t submit to the power of the evil one. May we be a symbol of hope to others by having a deep-seeded faith like Mary, taking care of those who are less fortunate, and spreading the good news about Jesus to everyone.
As you may know, St. Francis started a religious order after his conversion. He and his brothers, known as the Lesser Brothers, lived a life of poverty and the brothers had to go out into the streets to beg for their daily bread. Francis insisted that the Rule of the Lesser Brothers was to live the rigor of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Now the brothers began to complain about their suffering. Francis understood their pain, but he could not understand why they should utter that pain so loudly. That wasn’t the case with Brother Giles.
Brother Giles was all about cheerfulness. He always welcomed humiliation and misunderstanding and rejoiced in it. How totally selfless one must be to remain cheerful.
Brother Giles put that wisdom into words, and these are the words that Francis enjoyed and kept close to his heart:
Then Brother Giles stated that if you possess these three qualities, you cannot be evil:
It’s holy contrition, holy humility, holy charity, holy devotion, and holy joy that makes one holy and good.
That is the secret of living a Christian life, and that is how we will bring the Kingdom of God to our present world.
Based on the book, “Francis: The Journey and the Dream” by Murray Bodo
Merry SaintJohntheBaptistmas! “Wait? What did he say?” Read More
“Whoever receives the one I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.”
Sara was a college senior playing for the championship of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference softball league. In the second inning, she hit her first home run ever. Then, rounding the bases, she realized that she had failed to touch first. So, she turned back. But, through a twist of fate and her knee, she found herself down on the ground with a torn ligament, crawling in agony back to first base. According to the rules, she would have been out if anyone from her team helped her.
That’s when Mallory and her teammate, Liz — from the other team stepped up to help. They carried Sara around the bases, making sure to tap her left foot on each base. Though Mallory and Liz lost the game that day, they clearly accomplished something more important. In a moment that really counted, those young women showed good character. It’s one thing to proclaim the importance of living up to your values. It’s another thing to do it.
Each one of us is a messenger of God. Everything we do reflects upon the one who sent us. Therefore, we all were sent by God and each of us has a mission – to bring about the Kingdom. That is done by sharing fully in Jesus’ own attitude of service.
Whether it’s through regularly attending Mass, committing yourself to volunteer work, or even consciously folding your values into daily life in small ways (e.g. being kind to someone in need), we must practice living our values to make them a part of us.
Service in the gospel is primarily love in action. Love is the desire for the well-being of the other. That love is actualized by service, by the doing of acts for the good of the other.
That is our baptismal calling. That is what we are called to do. And that is how others will know that we are sent by God.
Welcome to 2018! We are now four days into the New Year and we begin the annual tradition or ritual of the New Year’s Resolution. You know what I’m talking about. It’s that list of things that we’re going to do (or not do) in the New Year; and from what I hear, there’s an outcry that people want less, not more: less weight, less stress, less financial worry, less time away from friends, less arguing with family, less health concerns, etc.
I think that we need to demand more in our lives, not less. More time serving those in need, more patience with others, more peace in our hearts, more thankfulness for what we have, more concern for human life, more honesty and integrity, more kindness, more love of neighbor, more compassion and warmth, more reverence for the earth, and more prayer in our lives.
Today we celebrate the feast of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, a woman who was born in the upper class and married into a wealthy family. But when her husband’s business failed and he later died of tuberculosis, Elizabeth realized that she needed more out of life, and was awakened to the things of God – dedicating her life to the service of others.
As we head full-steam into 2018, let us demand more out of life and ourselves. May we be awakened to the things of God instead of the things of the world so that we, like St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, can serve more, care more, and love more each and every day of the coming year.
For some reason, I woke up this morning not praising God, but judging others. You may think that this is difficult because I haven’t even “seen” anyone yet. But for some reason, I was judging these people in my mind. I’m not really sure where this comes from, but this happens far more than I care to admit.
I often get this thought in my head that people don’t fit into the mold that I am trying to put them into. As I sit here writing this, I realize how terrible this action is. I am trying to make these people something they’re not. I am forcing my rules of living onto others, and they don’t even know that I am doing it. I am judging people according to my thoughts and beliefs. I am finally starting to realize when I am doing this, and I try to realign my thoughts as soon as possible. I was not placed on this earth to judge. That is not my job. God will judge – not me! My role is to love and serve the Lord and others each and everyday. I shall not judge because I have many obstacles of my own to overcome. I need to constantly pray for the strength to overcome my weaknesses and become more loving and caring.
It all comes down to realizing that I am not the one who is in charge. It is not about me and it’s certainly not how others should conform to my thoughts, actions and preconceived notions. I will continue to pray for the knowledge and understanding to accept this reality of God being the one who has control of every situation. By placing my life in God’s hands, I will be totally free of thoughts of judgement toward others. I will be able to love others for who they really are, and not what I expect them to be. I will be fully accepting of their gifts and talents and strive to live better because of them.
Help me, Lord, not to judge others – but to serve you with my whole heart. Amen.
Once upon a time there was a little boy named Johnny. Johnny was always coming home late from playing outside.
One day his mom and dad had enough of it. They said, “Listen, Johnny! You never come home in time for supper. Your supper is always getting cold. We always have to warm it up for you, and this has got to stop. The next time you come home late, we’ll give you bread and water. That’s all. No butter, no peanut butter, no jelly; just plain bread and water.”
Well, the very next day Johnny came home late for supper again. He walked into the house and sat down at the supper table. His mom and dad, who had plates with meat and potatoes and vegetables in front of them, didn’t say a thing. They quietly gave Johnny a plate with some bread and a glass of water.
Johnny was crushed. He never thought his mom and dad would do such a thing. How could they? But he was wrong.
Johnny’s father waited for the lesson to sink in. Then, silently, he took his own plate full of meat and potatoes and vegetables, and put it in front of Johnny. Then he took Johnny’s plate and put it in front of himself.
Johnny is now a man. And not long ago someone asked him, “Do you know what God is like?” Johnny said, “I’ve known it all my life. I’ve known it ever since that night when my father switched plates.”
Each of us is called to love and serve God with all of our being and direct our whole lives to God, which includes our actions and choices. As a result, we should view the rest of Jesus’ teachings as helping us to love and come closer to God. We are to show God’s unceasing love for all people, which then enables us to see more fully God’s presence in the world.
If we can love God with our whole being – heart, soul, mind, and strength – everything else in our lives will flow forth from there.
When praying the Liturgy of the Hours recently, I came across a line from the Book of Job that reminded me of something I once heard from my instructor in a communications class that I took during deacon formation. The line read:
“Naked I came forth from my mother’s womb, and naked I shall go back again.”
I remember the teacher telling us that when we die, we will stand naked before the Lord – bearing everything about ourselves. We come into this world with nothing, and we leave this world with nothing. It doesn’t matter how much or how little we possessed while on this earth. It is all about what we’ve done with our time here. Everything we do remains a part of us. So when that day comes and we stand before the Lord naked, are we to be ashamed? Will we try to hide those things about ourselves that we find embarrassing?
We need to live our lives in a way that God desires, not to walk around thinking that we’re better than others, or more deserving or entitled to certain circumstances or behaviors. We need to always be aware of how our words and actions could make or break someone’s day. We need to be on constant watch for the temptations of the evil one who longs to point us in the wrong direction. We need to open ourselves up, to become fully exposed before our Lord and not be ashamed of who we are or what we’ve done. Let us strive to live a life of worthiness: loving everyone as God loves us and making a difference in our world.
© 2024 Deacon Allen Tatara Catholic Speaker. All rights reserved.
