Busy Being Born

...He not busy being born is busy dying.---Bob Dylan, from "It's Alright Ma"

Jesus said, "Ye must be born again of water and Spirit." We are every moment either growing closer to God in Christ Jesus, or, we are moving away from Him. There is no middle ground. We must be "busy being born", crying out to our Lord for mercy and help when the humdrum of life overtakes us. We must expect miracles, and not tie Gods hands with doubt like those who lived in Nazareth. He could do no miracles there because of their lack of faith. Let this no longer be said of us who are busy being born.

wkm

Sacramental

Someone might ask, "Why would a holy man desire baptism?" Listen to the answer: Christ is baptized, not to be made holy by the water, but to make the water holy, and by His cleansing to purify the waters which He touched.---St. Maximus of Turin, bishop

 

Everything with God is sacramental. From the burning bush where, though hidden, He appears and reveals His name to Moses, to the Eucharist where, though hidden, He is truly and really present. From Jesus turning the water into wine, to Jesus changing the bread into His Body, and the wine into His Blood, God uses the very simple things to show us Who He is. God takes the very normal and precious things of life to bring to us the very mysterious and precious things of Heaven. This is how He has always been and will always be. He never changes. His Church is where the Holy Spirit works through these Sacraments. We cannot do this alone. Paul makes it very clear that we must never abandon our meeting together. Those who do such things run the perilous risk of falling away, whether they know they have done so or not.

 

wkm

 

   

Give

 We have a listening group of co-workers (of the Missionaries of Charity) who go to the houses of old people and sit down and let them talk. The elderly tell stories to the co-workers of things that happened 30 years ago. Very old people love to have somebody listen to them. To listen when nobody else wants to listen is a very beautiful thing.  --Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta

There are so many opportunities to love. 2009 could be the year of serving Jesus by going to the forgotten ones. Rest homes, jails, juvenile detention, nursing homes, mental institutions, etc.. We could minister unto the Lord in so may lives this year. We don't have to be a nun to do this, we don't even have to know what to say. Being there will be to many the love of God. It is so easy to bring hope. It's a good thing to give ourselves away, it will change us forever if we do.

wkm

 

Hell

May you never be numbered among those whose house is peaceful, quiet, and free from care; those on whom the Lord's chastisement does not descend; those who live out their days in prosperity, and in the twinkling of an eye will go down to hell.--St. Raymond of Penyafort, Priest, 13th century

 

We do not think enough of the reality of hell. Jesus would not had suffered and died for us if there was no hell. Very often today we are given the impression that everyone will go to heaven. Many say that if God is a good God He won't let anyone spend eternity in hell. This is a very shallow understanding of God and free will, not scriptural at all. Jesus spoke as much about the reality of hell as He did anything else. Hell is a choice we make, not God. When those nails were being driven into his very human hands, this was for our salvation and sanctification. If hell was not a reality, He would not have had to defeat death by dying. Read Matthew 25 and you will find a very important message from Jesus about hell.

The hard times we all go through have a purpose. Our Father is working in us for our good. Man, it's hard to see this when we are going through them!! We easily become angry, despondent, depressed, afraid, etc... He knows how we feel, He experienced every emotion we possibly could, so let us try and remember this the next time the storms come. God demands perfection, holiness, and purity in all of us. We can't see God without these virtues, and we cannot attain them on our own, we must press in to Jesus. We must offer ourselves each morning to our Lord. We must stand with Mary at the foot of the cross, fixing our eyes on Jesus when we find ourselves on our own Golgotha. And then, we must try our best to smile at our Beloved. I find that daily Mass and praying the rosary help me a great deal in this journey. I need all the help I can get! Please pray for me.

 

wkm

 

 

Piety

The divine power of Christ has freely bestowed on us everything necessary for a life of genuine piety...----St. Peter, from his second letter, chapter 1:3-4

 

This raises the question, are we genuinely pious? Pious means devout. A true pious person cares about the things of God. They are not prideful or full of themselves, they are like little children, and they sincerely care for others. 

 

wkm

 

St. Peter crucified in Rome, upside down.

Mary

Remember, O Most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thy intercession was left unaided.--The Memorare

 

Sadly, from the late 16th century on, much of the "reformed" Christian world slowly lost the long held devotion to Mary. Before the reformation, for 1500 years, the Mother of God was vital to all who called upon Jesus. Even the reformers themselves had deep devotions to Mary. But because of heresy, horrible teaching, wrong ideas, and ignorance...a large percentage of believers today do not know their Mother in the faith. No one who truly understands Mary's role in Salvation History does anything with this knowledge except strive to love Jesus with more passion and sincerity. Her role is to bring people to Jesus, to help us all love Him with a perfect and humble love, like children. It is that simple. Any other idea or opinion is not the true teaching of the catechism of the Church. Catholics do not worship Mary, we honor her, and we ask her help in saying yes to the Father in all things, just as she did. She has always held this high place and filled this role in the Church of her Son. The very first Church communities in the east and west honored the Mother Of God by naming their churches after her. In honoring her, they were humbly pleasing the Son. To seek the mother's help in knowing the Son is the best way to know Him. Any mother will tell you this. The early Church Fathers saw Mary as the symbol of the Church. The Virgin who births the family of God in Christ Jesus, the Mother of all the faithful. To understand her and to love her is to better know Jesus.  I must say this, my relationship with Jesus has grown immensely, and with great depth and beauty, since I began to know and understand Mary. It is all about Jesus. She exists to bring Him to us all. Even in saying this, we realize this is why we all exist as His "brothers and sisters", to bring Him to those around us.

 

wkm

 

 

Virgin and Child. Wall painting from the catacombs, Rome (4th century).

A Big Smile

Let us accept whatever He gives and gives whatever He takes with a big smile.---Mother Teresa

 

This is sounds so simple. The early Church Fathers explained a Saint this way, "a friend of God". Sounds so easy. Mother Teresa's smile became one of the most talked about aspects of her life. And now, as we read her letters about her struggle with a never ending "Dark night of the Soul", we have a new appreciation for her smile. She was a friend of God. Even though her desire to feel His presence and know His nearness were taken from her by Jesus, she learned to smile at Him for it. She willed herself, by grace, to never say no to Jesus. A friend is defined by Jesus as  someone who, "lays down their life for others." The poor became to Mother Teresa Jesus personified. She ministered to Him in every soul she cared for. She is only one example of this great journey of friendship. Starting all the way back to Augustine, we see these smiles at God in the face of confusion, loneliness, dark nights, fear, and silence. There is so much we will face this year that will confuse us. We will be tempted to look to things to give us assurance when God hides from us. He hides so that we might cry out more for Him. We learn to die to self in these dungeons. This is so important to growing our friendship with Him. Our desire for Him must grow to a fever pitch that even seems strange to our own way of thinking. He must become to us a Lover Whom we desire more than life itself, even though He wounds us.( Song of Solomon) Our souls won't rest until they rest in Him, whether we feel Him, get the answer we want, or understand a dang thing we are going through. So let us ask Mother Teresa to teach us to smile at Jesus today.

 

wkm