Married Love

How do we love Father? How do we love Jesus the Son? How do we love the Holy Spirit, the Helper? John says we love because He first loved us. But what happens to this love? Does it change and mature into a deep married love or does it remain a mercenary love? Do we ever go beyond loving the Beloved not for what He gives us, but simply for His sake alone? A mercenary love is always a part of our experience. We need His help always and when He gives us grace we fall on our knees and thank Him for what He has given us, this is life. But what if a husband only loved his wife when she met some kind of need? This would not be the love that would hold them together for long. But when a man and woman grow through the years and find the company alone of the other as peace and joy, this is married love. This is a love that gives for the sake of the other as other. This is where we must strive to be with our Beloved! This comes through the mystery of grace and our will, saying the same thing the Virgin Mary said to Gabriel, "Let it be done unto me according to Your will." 

 

Jesus, my Beloved, help me to love You the way you deserve to be loved!

 

wkm

Come in Lord!

Deeper into God is where we are called to go. Into His endless ocean
of Mercy He bids us to dive heart first. This is His cry to everyone
who believes. We are never there. We have never made it. We are not
static in our faith and in our knowing the Other. St. Augustine, when
He came to God, cried out, "Late have I come to Thee Oh Lord!" St.
John of the Cross called Jesus his Beloved. We must each know this
Beloved and with passion we must dig dig dig into this treasure that
is His Church. There are so many rooms where grace is found. There are
so many moments to adore our Beloved! And this always begins with the
cross, and His never ending knock upon the door of our soul. Come in
Lord!

wkm

My Beloved

In the light of dawn standing in the southern mist
I hear what must be angels
chanting a song of bliss

a bliss full of longing for a moment to come
and the wonder in their voices
is ancient, deep, and long

Creation joins in and I feel the hills moan
and my soul joins in with a song
everything knows

Come Lord
we're waiting
Don't delay
Come Lord
we're fainting
to see Your face

so give us strength once again
to pray and love through another day
until we hear You say

I Am here
to wipe your tears away
so cry no more

My beloved
My beloved
My beloved!

wkm
Birmingham Alabama
8/5/08

Without our suffering...

Without our suffering, our work would just be social work, very good and helpful, but it would not be the work of Jesus Christ, not part of the redemption. Jesus wanted to help us by sharing our life, our loneliness, our agony and death....We are allowed to do the same: all the desolation of the poor people, not only their material poverty, but their spiritual destitution, must be redeemed and we must have our share in it. Pray thus when you find it hard, – "I wish to live in this world which is so far from God, which is turned so much from the light of Jesus, to help them - to take upon me some of their suffering."

Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta

Bread

Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Bethlehem means, "House of Bread".

Jesus was laid in a manger. A manger is a feeding trough for sheep.

Jesus called his followers sheep. He called Himself and His apostles shepherds. He told Peter to "feed My sheep".

Jesus told the crowd that He was the Bread of life, that His flesh was "real food" and His blood "real drink".

Jesus told the crowds that Moses gave them bread that parishes, but the Bread He gives is His imperishable body, and whoever eats His body has eternal life. Whoever does not eat His body and drink His blood "has not life." This was the only moment where followers turned away from Him saying "who can take this teaching?" Jesus let them leave, He did not stop them with an explanation. John 6:66

Jesus told the disciples in the Upper Room to "take and eat" to "Do this in remembrance of Me.", His last command, and the pinnacle of His earthly teaching.

Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

 

wkm

 

 

making haste!

Luke tells us about Mary making haste to help Elizabeth who was also with child. Here is an incredible moment that reaches out to us 2000 years later. Elizabeth was carrying the prophet John the Baptiser. Mary was carrying God become man. How is it that Mary rushes to help her older cousin? It seems that Elizabeth should have been the one making haste to help Mary. But even in this we find our Lord inspiring His own blessed mother to serve instead of waiting to be served. Luke says she stayed until Elizabeth gave birth. When Jesus is birthed within us, we can't help but serve! This is what Mary's example always teaches, to make haste, taking Jesus to those around us, to help them! And more to it, here we see a another beautiful teaching, we see ourselves in the womb of Elizabeth, prophets waiting to be born. At our baptism we are anointed with the oil of king, priest, and prophet. Mary still makes haste to all who carry this call, still inspired by her Son and King, to help with the birth of more prophets who will point the world to Jesus. How many in the Church never hear the call to serve the King? How many prophets never wake up to the joyful lonely calling of saying to every one who will listen, "Behold!, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world!"? 

 

wkm

the adorable heart of our Lord

We must endeavor to the utmost of our power to enter into the adorable Heart of our Lord by making ourselves very little and humbly confessing our nothingness, thus losing sight of self entirely.

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque