Tag: #spiritual

Let the day begin!

Unfortunately all too often we wake up in the morning and instead of looking forward to seizing the day, we begin to think of our troubles. We think about the heavy burdens the day will hold, the person we had conflict with recently, the worries of an upcoming possible conflict, health and the world.  We often complicate our thoughts even further by judging others and embracing negativity.  At times these thoughts can weigh us down.  We have the, “I have to do” mentality and not the “I get to do” perspective.  Science has proven that stress negatively effects our lives and yet it is the treadmill we hop on and we don’t seem to be able to get off.

Scripture gives us us many teachings on not living in stress. Some believe that not to be true because Jesus said we must pick up our cross daily. They reason that means life is meant to be hard.  While it is true that we must daily pick up our cross, we forget that the cross is love. It is a self-giving love. It is being other oriented. Some crosses are extremely hard, but most of the daily ones are not extreme. They are just our opportunity for us to grow in love. 

In the midst of our days when we judge, complain and think negatively, we forget that St Paul  said, “Be joyful always, pray at all times, be thankful in all circumstances. This is what God wants from you in your life in union with Christ Jesus.” (1Thes 5:16-18). It is much harder to feel stressed if we are grateful. 

Jesus said, “When you pray and ask for something, believe that you have received it, and you will be given whatever you ask for.”  (Mark 11:24)  He didn’t say to worry about the problem. He said to think of the future and not the past when He said to believe it has been answered. Wouldn’t it be much better for the health of our body, mind and soul if we lived in the joy of having received the things we were praying for rather than living in the fear of the present situation and basing a presumed outcome on past experiences?  How often do we pray for one thing and yet contradict our prayers by living in fear because of the past?    

Living in the present fear that one doesn’t have a job, for instance, doesn’t help the situation. It only makes you feel worse.  Living in hope by believing your prayer has already been answered is living the prayer of  hope and “hope does not disappoint” (Rom 5:5). Some may argue that one who acts like this is living in a dreamworld and not reality.  I would argue that Jesus said to live in that world. He say to pray as if we have received, be thankful, have joy, have hope and not to despair. He did not say to live a life with an attitude of whoa is me.  

It is hard to live like this. It means breaking years of bad habits of thinking negatively. We need to strive in trusting in God‘s word when He said, “I alone know the plans I have for you, plans to bring you prosperity and not disaster, plans to bring about the future you hope for.”  (Jeremiah 29:11) We must trust what God said when He went on to further say. “You will call to me. You will come and pray to me, and I will answer you. You will seek me, and you will find me because you will seek me with your heart.”  (Jeremiah 29:12-14).   

With a loving, thankful, believing, hope-filled heart, we can be filled with joy.  These virtues will help us to be less stressed and less stress means a happier and healthier person.  These virtues will also help us to handle the heavier crosses better when it is harder or even impossible to have anything other than great sorrow.  In the midst of the great sorrow, we have a heart that has been formed to be loving,  thankful, believing and hope filled.  That makes a difference in the midst of sorrow.  Perhaps it was that heart that caused Jesus to minister to others and forgive them on the cross. He kept His self-giving attitude of love, believing and hoping for the future He trusted His Father would bring about. He wanted the cross to be lifted from Him, but knew the plans for His future would be answered because He spent His life living that way and knowing the outcome was always filled with His Heavenly Father’s perfect plan of love.  In the midst of His sorrow, His strongly formed heart got Him through and enabled Him to stay focused on His Father’s word.  He knew the crucifixion was not the end of the story.  Resurrection was coming.  Now, in the ordinary times and difficult times, He asks us to do the same.  Can we?

PRAYERFULLY RELECT ON:

Each of the five scripture passages highlighted above.  Talk to Jesus about them.

Reflect on your day.  Did you live in the positive hope for your future or did you live in the negativity and fear of the past?  If you were negative and fearful, think of your discovery not as a defeat, but as a victory because you discovered it.

Try practicing meditation where you simply sit in the presence of God.  Close your eyes and strive to be in a silent atmosphere.  Rest in the quiet moment with God.  When thoughts come in, you will better recognize them if you are ignoring the senses of sight and sound.  All you will have left is your thoughts, which you should push aside so as to simply be with God.  If you strive to practice the presence of God during the day, this meditation practice will help you to become aware of the times you lose His presence during the day.  You will better be able to realize when thoughts enter that are contrary to God…judgment, despair, worry, negativity, etc.  These thoughts separate you from God.  This awareness can help you get back on track as you reject the stress of worry and negativity and stay in the presence of God with all His love and positivity. 

As I look back on my week and review it, it seems that while it was good, it was chaotic.  I couldn’t put it in a box and tie it with a bow. What do I mean by that? I feel like I have been all over the place.  Work has been very busy which leaves me little energy left for my personal life.  The house is a mess, my to-do-list has had to be shorter and I’ve been going to bed late because I have no energy to even get off the couch.  Last night I felt so overwhelmed that we ordered out instead of eating canned chili, which I bought for such times, but then completely forgot about.   I know it is a part of life.  I know it is no big deal, but I know that within that chaotic feeling, God is present and eager for me to learn more about Him and His love for me through it.  As always, however, we have to first know ourselves if we are to know God more.  

In the past I have learned to adjust my expectations during these brief moments in life.  I have learned they pass and setting myself up for failure only increases my frustrations and feelings of being over whelmed.  Cutting back and knowing that this too shall pass seems to work better even though I am feeling the chaos for a bit.  I like order and calm because I feel like I can hear God more. That is understanding and knowing about me, but what about God?

I know God must like order and calm too because He did one thing a day on the first seven days.  He stuck to it until He was finished. He kept it calm. He didn’t dabble one day with water and land and the land and the sun  the next.   He finished one job before He started a new task.  He remained focused. That God handled it this way also shows me that He is in the moment.  By creating man last, He was able to maintain the calm and order while enjoying the moment.  Things definitely got more chaotic once man entered the picture.

God also gave us the 10 Commandments, which show us that God loves order and that all His laws are based on love.  Jesus pointed out that the countless additional regulations people were practicing were given by man, not God. God doesn’t enslave us as the rules had done. The 10 Commandments were broken down into two by Jesus because all the Commandments were basically directives to love God and neighbor.  When we do this, all will be well.  God only asked that we love. Every problem of the world could be solved if we lived by those Commandments and loved those who God charges us to care for.  

Man came and chaos entered, but we know that He still desires calm and order because God never changes. He still desires us to live in the moment just as He modeled.  He still desires that we live by the two laws of love.  Life would be so much calmer if everyone looked to God as our model and only wanted His will.  

In  learning about what I don’t like and how God acts, I’ve learned more about God and that the desires for calm I have are His desires working in me. The question now becomes, in a world where people don’t want God‘s will necessarily, how do I keep calm?  I know I have to cooperate with God and have tried to do just that.  Order is what I try to keep in mind during the crazy times, but now I have learned I have more room to grow.  

For me the hardest times are the unexpected times.  Perhaps as the unpleasant unexpected comes it is as if we are put in the garden of Eden. Not that the unexpected is sinful, but God put Adam and Eve in the order and expected calm, but got chaos. He expected His desires to be fulfilled and they were put on hold. Perhaps all our unpleasant interruptions are the result of original sin. We may have a calm day, but, for instance, if someone gets sick and we need to help, it is a result of original sin because we weren’t originally meant to get sick. If we are annoyed by the change in plans, we are compounding the disruption.  If the unexpected we are experiencing is good, we are experiencing an Annunciation moment.  It seems that in the unexpected, we are either  wrapped up in Eve’s choice or Mary’s Annunciation moment, so to speak.  In Eve moments  we need to fight the temptation to act poorly and act with love just as God did when He made Adam and Eve clothes.  In Annunciation moments we need to trust and say yes just as Mary did.  In both times, when God enters, all interruptions are made good.

I am not suggesting that we can be focused and always take on one job at a time as God did. There are times when that would not be possible, but I do see that God is always calm and in the moment. People came and within that came sin and distraction, but we can do a job, all in, until we can’t. We don’t have to worry about what is ahead if we are stopped.

Did Jesus live like this? Did He embrace order and living in the moment? Did He focus on one job until He could no longer focus on it? Did He meet the interruptions of life with love as God the Father did in the garden of Eden? He definitely did.  He would go to lonely places and the people would find Him and ask for help. Without hesitation He stopped praying.  He would take walks and the sick would stop Him in order to ask for healings. I would say we can see He was in the moment by His ability to have an interruption and not tell people to wait or come back another time.  Jesus embraced the interruptions as if embracing His Father.  He lived the Jewish teachings, practiced the 10 Commandments and even showed us there were basically two loving God and neighbor.  Yes.  Jesus embraced seeking God in the moments as they presented themselves and He embraced order as well.

To be in the moment like that and have all the peace and calm order brings, we have to see God in all things. We have to be willing to stop doing what we are doing, believing we are stopping to be with God. In other words, you must know we are leaving God for God.  We would grasp at such an interruption with love if we could see with our eyes. We would embrace the moment with fervor because we would want to appreciate it in the event it never happened again.  We would know that at this moment the to-do-list may say what we have to do, but if it was stopped for a moment we would be fine because we are choosing God. If we had other things to do after, we would be fine. We would focus on them when the time came, but for now we would know it was not the time.  While we cannot see all this with our eyes, we must see it with the eyes of faith.

If I want to live in the moment and have order and find myself lacking peace, it is because I’m fighting God’s will.  I want a task to be done and yet I can’t because something else must be completed. I then think of what I want. I think of my reward when it’s done. I think about everything else I would like to do and I feel discomfort. I feel the discomfort because I am fighting the presence of God in the moment. I want to find Him elsewhere. I want to leave setting up the land so I can move on to water. I actually want the very thing I don’t want…chaos and not order.  Within every dislike someone may feel, however it may look, is someone not living in the moment. In the dislike they are focusing on self and the way the moment is making them feel.  Of course, we should always dislike evil, but we must discern what that is.  Much of the time what we insist is evil that others are doing is really evil in the form of our pride and self love.  It is about what I, I, I want and not what God wants. 

Each day we should have one thing on the top of our to do list… Spend the day with God. If this is the focus on everything we experience, whether planned or unplanned, we can be at peace knowing we are still with God. We are embracing order because we are with Him. Order brings peace and how we perceive what is before us can bring us God and His peace if we listen to the stirrings of our hearts.  In the stirrings of our hearts, we can find that interruptions are simply opportunities to leave God for God.  

Prayerfully Reflect On:

Loving God and neighbor are our two greatest commandments.  Meditate on Matt 22:37-40.

Sometimes we intend to rest, but people need us.  Meditate on Matt 15:29-32.

Sometimes the interruptions of life come from our possessions breaking destroyed and we cannot see the good in that happening.  Meditate on Luke 5:17-20

Sometimes we are interrupted when we are sleeping.  Meditate on Luke 8:22-25

Sometimes our prayer time is interrupted.  Meditate on Mark 1:35-37.  

Sometimes our will is not God’s will.  Meditate on Mark 8:31-33

What a week! What gives? Have you ever found yourself expressing those sentiments? 

This past week I could surely have said them.  Yet, all in all, it was a great week because through every bump, turn and sudden stop, God was there. In trying to always build on my relationship with Him and looking  for His presence, instead of feeling stressed, I felt wrapped in God’s love. By the end of the week, the message was clear. No matter what, I can have God’s peace beyond all understanding (Phil 4:7) because He will never leave me nor forsake me. (Deut 31:6)

I had been praying for my work to offer a retirement incentive. The rumors were there. Suddenly covid plans changed and I found that I could no longer work remotely. I decided it was time to go. We never know how God will answer our prayers. My elderly mother turned out to be the incentive I was given. I couldn’t risk her health or risk being isolated from her.  While I was certain it was the right thing to do, I was anxious. I wanted to retire within the year, but I didn’t think it would happen so quickly. Working one day and making definitive retirement plans the next is far faster than I ever operate. My greatest worry was finances. Unlike many, I have no husband to rely on for an additional income. I prayed for peace that I was making the right decision. Two days later I was at Mass and the Gospel reading was on the annunciation. The key phrases in that passage that touched me were, “Do not be afraid. God has been gracious to you.   You will give birth to a son. How can this be? I do not have a husband. The Holy Spirit will come upon you.  She is very old.  Mary took off in haste.” (Luke 1:30-39). For me, the translation of these phrases was, “Do not be afraid. It’s time to retire. You do not have a husband, but you have  Me. Go in haste because your elderly mother needs you.” Peace came instantly.

The rest of the week was overflowing with changes, stops and turns. My son came home from California. He helped me during the first two months of Covid. I call him my coach. He helps people to get up and move to accomplish whatever they want. What better person to be with me during the transition. The timing of that change was perfect.  Within two days of being home, his puppy accidentally ripped my dog’s side open while playing. The doctor said it would cost $1000 to heal him. What? I got the thought to be brave (not generally my style) and I said I didn’t have that kind of money. With that, they offered the option of staples instead of stitches  $800 less. Thank you God. Then my car broke down. I was waiting for a huge bill. It was free. It was a faulty part that was put in a year ago and it was still under warranty.

Looking back on my week so I can learn about God‘s love for me is something I always do.  In this week I could clearly see Him showing me that not only was it time to retire so that I could be His love to my mother, but that my fear of finances was unnecessary .  Just as I would always say yes to His desires, He would always take care of me.  That is how relationships work.  He is my Spouse, Father and Friend and I reciprocate as spouse, daughter and friend.  I couldn’t ask for anything better. 

The truth of God always taking care of me is a truth that is there for all of us. I think it is always important to look back on our days and week to see where God is in our lives.  When we make this a practice and are suddenly hit from all sides, tempted to turn in on self and want to ask, “What gives”,  we may already know that the better question is, “Who gives?” and the answer will be God, the One who loves us. That answer comes more easily when we are in a relationship with Him and can then offer back our giving response. 

Without having a relationship and praying for an incentive,  I would have missed that God was in a relationship with me.  I would have missed seeing Him as my Father, Spouse and Friend always willing to help me and answer my prayers.  The incentive was not money, but love. Without a relationship and without looking back, I may have missed Him showing me that I did not need to fear the unexpected costs of life. He would always take care of me by giving me His care and as part of our relationship, He supplied me with all I would need to give back by taking care of my mother and being His love for her.

Relationship is key.  God is in every aspect of our lives and in every surprise, good or bad. He has our back. We just have to take the time to build on the relationship and take the time to take notice.  It is in the building up of the relationship that we will have peace, hope, love of neighbor, confidence and a heart that is always stirred up with love for God.  It is not a stagnant relationship.  It is ever growing and full of love.  That is a great comfort when life offers sudden changes because it is then that we find that He is our rock and anchor in the storm.  It is also then that we can be made aware of the opportunities He is offering us to not only receive His love, but reciprocate it by being able to do for Him by being His hands and His heart in bringing His love to others. When this is the fruit of our relationship, we can hopefully say both God and I when we ask, “Who gives”?

Prayerfully Ponder the Following:

The Annunciation is Mary’s yes to God.  Being pregnant and not married was cause for being stoned to death.  Understandably it could have been a very difficult yes if she didn’t have a relationship with God, but because she did, she could trust that her loving yes to God would be met with His love…relationship.  Meditate on the Annunciation and put yourself in Mary’s position with God asking something of you that you may be fearful of doing.  If there isn’t something that you presently are hesitant about doing, try putting yourself in a past situation in which you said yes to something that took great courage.  It doesn’t matter if you didn’t see God at the time of your decision because it is now an opportunity to look back to see Him and build on your relationship with Him through it. (Luke 1:26-38)

Prayerfully ponder Deut 31:6.  Talk to God about it.  How might your relationship grow from this passage and your talk?  

Prayerfully ponder Phil 4:6-7.  Talk to God about it. What can you learn about relationship through it?

Prayerfully ponder Col 3:23. Talk to God about it.  What can you learn about relationship with God through it? 

Make it a practice to look back on your day and your week to see God’s presence in your life.  What part of your relationship with Him might He be trying to help you grow in?

“The heart is the dwelling-place where I am, where I live; according to the Semitic or Biblical expression, the heart is the place “to which I withdraw.” The heart is our hidden center, beyond the grasp of our reason and of others; only the Spirit of God can fathom the human heart and know it fully. The heart is the place of decision, deeper than our psychic drives. It is the place of truth, where we choose life or death. It is the place of encounter, because as image of God we live in relation: it is the place of covenant.” (Catechism 2563)

The heart is a holy place. It is where we encounter God. It is the place where we encounter our desires. It is where we discover what is important to us because we are honest about what hurts us, what makes us happy and what we hope for. It is the place where we see the truth of our authentic selves if we dare to embrace it with honesty and, at the same time, if we don’t know how we feel, it is the location where the Holy Spirit prays with groans for us because we cannot find the words needed. God is love (1John 4:8) and it is in the heart that we discover God and His love, our love of neighbor and our self love.

Often times we ignore the heart because it seems too painful. That is because we fail to take note that if God is love and the love is painful, God’s love and message resides in the pain for us. Never do we have to be afraid to confront the pain because it is within that pain that we find God.  It is there that He patiently waits for us.

It is sad when we fail to embrace the love that is within, but it is equally sad when we fail to recognize it in another. Often people reveal their hearts to us. When they do, that is a very sacred act. Do we realize that? Do we understand that we are entering holy ground? Do we recognize God and eagerly open our hearts to better understand the love or do we only half listen? Do we step all over the love by listening with only one ear while waiting to break in with our words of wisdom? When we offer those words, are they the result of our honoring the holy heart we are encountering or are we simply attempting to spread what makes us feel good? Are we refreshing the heart of the other or are we satisfying our ego? 

What an amazing opportunity we have to be in the presence of holy love! How sad when we don’t embrace it. When someone opens their heart and allows us to share in it, that is a tremendous gift. They are allowing us to know a part of Jesus and His love that we are not aware of in our own lives. It is a heart that makes itself vulnerable so we can encounter this love. While we can comfort the other with the same comfort and we have been given (2Cor 1:4), the depth of the love they are experiencing is unique to them and we have been offered a gift when we are invited in. 

If we could be aware of the holiness that is within our hearts, we would listen more attentively to our heart and the hearts of others. Then when we finished the encounter of love, we would emerge differently than what we were prior because we had an encounter with God and His heart burning with love gives us a special glow. (Exodus 34:29)

PRAYERFULLY REFLECT ON GOD’S LOVE DWELLING WITHIN BY: 

Prayerfully reflecting on Catechism 2563 as above.

Praying on “God is love.” (1John 4:8)

Praying on “I pray that Christ will make his home in your hearts through faith.” (Eph 3:17)

“Praying on “I pray that you may have your roots and foundation in love, so that you, together with all God’s people, may have the power to understand how broad and long, how high and deep, is Christ’s love. Yes, may you come to know His love – although it can never be fully known—and so be completely filled with the very nature of God.” (Eph 3:17-19)

PRAYERFULLY REFLECTING ON THE IMPORTANCE OF HAVING A LISTENING HEART

“That which you do to the very least of my brothers is that what you’re doing to me.” (Matt 25:40)

“Carry each other‘s burdens and this way you shall fulfill the law of Christ.” (Gal 6:12)

“Remember this my dear friends! Everyone must be quick to listen, but slow to speak and slow to become angry.” (1James 1:19)

“The Lord has given us eyes to see with and ears to listen with.” (Prov 20:12)

God is in our neighbor.  “When Moses went down from Mount Sinai carrying the Ten Commandments, his face was shining because he had been speaking with the Lord; but he did not know it.” (Exodus 34:29)

All of History is a Dramatic Love Story Being Played Out

What a phenomenal gift we have been given! 

We have, not only the gift of life, but the gift of God within us at every moment. We move, breathe, think, reason and function because of this great gift, but that wasn’t enough.  God, in His infinite goodness, wanted us to be united as one and as part of that He gave us the ability to love with His love.  It can only be God’s love that we love with because “God is love” (1John 4:8) and all virtues are bound up in the virtue of love.   Because all virtues are bound together by love, each time we love, we grow in the fruit of all virtues and, therefore, grow in the image and likeness of God.   Each time we love, it is a reminder that we are united to God. Each time we love we are reminded that we are loved so much that He who is love entered our being to be with us always. Each time we love we are reminded of our covenantal relationship with God.  

How do we grow in that covenantal relationship? How do we draw deeply together as one?  Not as a married couple do.  The covenantal love we have can only be made deeper with prayer.

The fruit of our prayer life is shown in our actions.  In understanding that, we can see that all of history, right to the present moment, is the story of God and His union with us. We see the choices we make played out.  We see people who ignore the union clashing with those who embrace it and we can see various levels played out on both sides. All of history is a battle of some sort because there is a battle for our soul and what we see here is a mirror of that spiritual reality. God is a jealous God (Deut 4:24) and all of history is Him fighting for us. The fight didn’t end on Calvary. He continually calls us into a deeper love and if that love is threatened, He fights for us so we can keep our eyes on Him and be with Him for all eternity.  All of history is a dramatic love story being played out.

We all want to be loved unconditionally.  We all want to be first in someone’s life.  We search for it failing to realize that what we long for, we already have.  We often see God as someone who is there to help us when we decide we need Him, but we fail to work on any relationship with Him.  Is that the kind of relationship we would want with others?  One that is only called upon when help is needed? One in which we were always filled with hope that we would be received with unconditional love and not just for what we can do for the other?  If we wouldn’t want to be in that position, why would we place God in it?  The union is there.  The love is present.  You have a story unfolding before your very eyes and it is waiting to become your greatest love story ever told.  

Prayerful Reflections  

It can only be God’s love that we love with because “God is love” (1John 4:8) and all virtues are bound up in the virtue of love.

“God is a jealous God” (Deut 4:24) and all of history is Him fighting for us.

“Prayer is bound up with human history, for it is the relationship with God in historical events.” (Catechism 2568).

How might you look at events in history differently if you saw each event as a story of our union with God being played out?

God, what should I do? Please show me the way! I am so confused! Sound familiar? I think we have all said those words or something to their affect from time to time.  We know deep down, no matter where we are in our walk, that if we chose God’s will, we would be doing the right thing and good would come of it.

Following the will of God is foundational to our faith. It is what identifies us as the children of the Father as children eagerly do the will of their parents. It is what reveals our Christianity because Jesus died so that we may be one family living as the children of the Father. When we are unsure of what to do and want God’s direction, we are reminded that at our very core, we know we are children of the Father and the deepest desires of our heart is to please Him.  While those times of uncertainty may seem very difficult, they are beautiful reminders of what is truly important to our inner most beings…union with God.  Hearing God requires a relationship with Him.  The closer we are to Him, the easier it is to follow His will. The more distracted we are and attached to the world, the harder it is. Scripture illustrates this for us.

As we recall the story of the apostles fishing after the resurrection of Jesus, we remember that they were out all night and didn’t catch any fish.  As morning approached they headed to shore. Now with the sun lighting their way they could see Jesus and He told them to put their nets back in the water. They could hear Him and they did what they were told. As a result, 153 fish entered the net. What looked like a waste of time in regards to fishing turned out to be very profitable.

In that story we often hear that it is because they followed God’s will, that they were successful. We can read stories about the difference between them not hearing God when it was dark and hearing Him when it was light. We know that sometimes the darkness comes from no relationship with God and being far from Him, while at other times the union is so strong that His presence cannot be felt so it seems dark just as it happened to Jesus on the cross.  The light is different, however.  We know the light can only come with prayer and relationship. All those reflections are true, but I think the fish teach us a great deal as well and they are often neglected. 

On one occasion the apostles were on a boat with Jesus and He fell asleep during a storm.  When He awoke, He calmed the storm and the apostles asked who Jesus was that even the wind and the waves OBEYED Him. Even the wind and waves gave their yes. If they could give their immediate yes, we could surmise that the fish gave their yes as well.  All creatures are subject to Him.  We very often say yes, but often it’s very slow. Slow, not because we don’t want to say yes, but because we want to make sure it’s God. Our hearts are in the right place.

The difference between the wind, waves, fish and us is that we have intelligence and with that, reason. That is a gift, but it must be handled with care. On a daily basis we have the revealed thoughts of others coming at us as well as our own thoughts. These thoughts manifest themselves in words and material goods. They show themselves through hearing words and reading them. We see the thoughts that became inventions that we now have in our possession, see others having  or would like to have one day.  Day in and day out, we are receiving thoughts or the fruit of someone else’s thoughts and we try to reason them all out. We try to discern.  

While we can never be like the wind, waves or fish, they teach us what can happen when we tune out of the excess and focus on God alone. There are three practices we can follow that can help us accomplish this.

The first, of course, is prayer. 

We must spend time in prayer. Without it, we cannot learn to recognize God’s voice. We must not just spend time talking to Him.  We must remain quiet and listen as well.

The second way is reading scriptures. 

It is the only way to understand the ways of God. While God is infinite and scripture is only a taste of who God is, without them, we would not even have the taste. While it is good to read the writings of other Christians and saints, we are reading their reflections based on scripture. We are getting a glimpse of their relationship.  Their writings definitely help us grow, but they are no substitute for us going directly to the source for our relationship.

The third way is to be careful of what we expose ourselves to. 

In the 50s and 60s, experiments were done on people in which they were repeatedly given an audio message thousands of times on a looped tape to alter their behavior. God did not alter their behavior. The repeated suggestion did.  Now it seems that we have the television for that.  We can easily fall into the trap of allowing  someone’s thoughts to penetrate are thinking on a daily basis because we understandably want to be informed.  We, however, don’t have to be exposed to that level of influence to see that we are swayed by what we allow in. Have you ever decided to buy a car of a certain color and then suddenly, that color car was all you saw?  By that example, we can easily see how we can go down the wrong path because of a suggestion we continually focus on or are exposed to. How good this gift is when it is used to build a relationship with God.  How bad it is when the enemy uses it to draw us away from Him. The more we expose ourselves to something that is not of God, the harder it is to hear Him.  If you are repeatedly told that water is a threat to your health, you are going to have a hard time believing that water is life-giving. You will even have a hard time excepting it if God is telling you it’s life-giving because you won’t recognize Him. It is important to be mindful of what you open yourself up to.  It is important to fill your mind with what is good so that you are a better able to stay open to hearing God. St. Paul said, “Fill your mind with those things that are good and that deserve praise: things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and honorable. Put into practice what you learned and received from me, both from my words and from my actions. And the God who gives us peace will be with you.”  We fill ourselves up with those positive, uplifting things because God is in them and they keep us open to Him. They are life-giving because all that is of God is life giving.  He is not the source of negative talk that is the opposite of those St. Paul mentioned nor anything sinful. All those do is put up a barrier, making it difficult to hear God.  When our relationship with God is constantly worked on, He becomes the filter by which we process all we hear and we are more aware when it doesn’t sound like Him.  By paying attention to the things of the world with balance and ensuring that God is the filter by which we allow things to enter into our psyche, the world can say to go left, and will be able to hear when God says to go right.

In summary

We have the responsibility to build our relationship up with God and guard against things that make the relationship difficult to grow and, at the same time, difficult to hear and follow His will. We have a choice. Do we want to satisfy the deepest longing of our hearts or leave it empty?  Do we want to be people who spend our time fishing unsuccessfully in the dark or as those who hear the word of God, act on it and find great joy and purpose because of it.

PRAYERFULLY REFLECT ON

Meditate on these scripture passages:

Matthew 8:23-27

John 21:1-13

Pray on those circumstances that you want more than anything to make the choice God knows to be good.  What does that tell you about the deepest yearnings of your heart?  Talk to Jesus about what you discover. 

Are you spending time in prayer so as to build up your relationship with God?  Are you talking to God and then allowing time to sit in the silence so that the depths of your soul can hear Him?

Are you spending time reading scripture?  Are you reading it for knowledge or as a means to grow in your relationship with God?  A good way to use scripture to grow in your relationship is to use it as a source of meditation.

Is there something that has a strong repeated influence on you that might be blocking you from hearing God?  Can you bring a greater balance to the influence? 

Do you try and focus on that which is positive and good?

Meditate on Phil 4:8

Rejection.  It is something we all must go through. It is a part of life and a cross we all must carry from time to time. Jesus had to endure it regularly until it finally reached the intensity of His crucifixion.

St. Paul also dealt with it on a regular basis. In his second letter to the Corinthians, he points out that it is clear to him that Christ is the one who was actually writing the letter. Paul was just a vessel. Of his letter, he said it was, “written not with ink, but with the spirit of the living God, and not on stone tablets, but on the human hearts.”  (2Cor 3:2-3).  Those words remind us of St. Paul also saying, “It is no longer I who lives, but Christ who lives in me.” (Gal 2:20).  Christ  is writing, teaching, suffering and being rejected because He is united to St. Paul. Understanding that can cause our hearts to be stirred up for God when we read that through St. Paul God wrote, “WE have opened our hearts wide. It is not WE who have closed our hearts to you; it is you who have closed your hearts to US. I speak now as though you were my children; show US the same feelings that we have for you. Open your hearts wide.” (2Cor 6:11-13). After citing all the ways they ( God and Paul) had been rejected, they are pleading for the people to love them. Why?  Because they want what’s best for the Corinthians both here and in eternity.

We can learn much by how Jesus and Paul handled rejection.

FIRST LESSON

They were honest with their feelings. Paul wrote about the great sadness he felt. In His life Jesus wept, loved, showed fear and righteous anger. God gave us our feelings for a reason. A great deal of information can be gained by taking the time to recognize them.  We shouldn’t push them aside and attempt to ignore or bury them. The longer we delay, the more they can fester, thus making it harder to heal.  We shouldn’t be quick to act upon our feelings, but we should always be quick to pray about and discern them.  If we bury our feelings, we can never grow in knowing the true authentic self that can come about from discerning them and, as Paul teaches us, from learning about the heart of Jesus.  The more we know Jesus, the more we will always grow in knowing our true, authentic self.

SECOND LESSON

After they looked at their feelings, Jesus and Paul took the focus off self and placed it on the people that rejected them. Jesus focused on us. Paul focused on the Corinthians.  Continuing to focus on self can only bring negative consequences. Feelings such as anger and resentment can grow if we feed our sorrowful heart. By taking the focus off self and onto the other, we can grow in love and mercy. As we try to understand the heart of the one who has wounded us, our hearts begin to soften and thus, we keep the door open to God. This is only possible in prayer. In union with God, who is the only one who can see the heart, our hearts can soften.  “For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks at outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (1Samuel 16:7).  Softening our hearts towards someone who has rejected us may seem too difficult to try, but with God, all things are possible.  The alternative is a closed heart that grows in negative feelings and, thus, closes itself off from hearing God in all areas of their lives.  Is anything really worth that? 

THIRD LESSON

The closer we are to someone, the greater the hurt if we are rejected, but we never lose by loving. God is love. Experiencing great love is experiencing a great union with the one who is love. We should never regret love and if we are rejected and put our focus on the perpetrator of the rejection and not on ourselves, the love can still grow. It is now a deeper love that can grow towards the perpetrator and towards all people in general because it has now taken on a great sacrifice of finding mercy in spite of the pain. We can certainly see this happened with Jesus. We can see it with Paul as well.  In spite of his many rejections, Paul is known as the Apostle of Love. 

Once we deal with the circumstances of our specific rejection, we can focus on three constant truths that we should, in fact, always keep in mind. 

LESSON ONE 

We know we are always loved. Jesus came knowing He would be put to death, but it was worth it to Him because it was the means to make us part of His family. He loved us and that means that no matter what rejection we may have to endure, we are a part of God’s loving family.

LESSON TWO

God never leaves us. Others can leave, but nothing can separate us from God’s love.  “Neither death nor life, neither angels nor other heavenly rulers or powers, neither the present nor the future, neither the world above nor the world below—there is nothing in all creation that will ever be able to separate us from the love of God which is ours through Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39). St. Paul knew that in all that happened, he was not alone. He would never be rejected by God. They were together as one. He knew God’s promise was solid.  “I will never leave you; I will never abandon you.” (Hebrews 13:5)

LESSON THREE

The Holy Trinity loves us so much that They chose to live inside of us always! In that constant companionship we are always given what we need to accomplish God’s will. We know that we “can do all things through Christ who strengthens” us (Phil 4:13). To be able to follow our paths knowing God will accomplish all that is needed through us and that He will never leave us is a great comfort. It only becomes scary and overwhelming when we think we are on our own.  Paul knew this truth and we must know it as well.

Rejection is inevitable. It is what we do with it that can make a tremendous heartache a gift of greater love. “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.” (Psalm 34:18). I hope that the next time you feel rejected, you will consider how Jesus and Paul together dealt with it and hold onto the truth that we are loved so much that God made us a part of His family, never leaves us and because of that constant union, that we can accomplish all things… including the rejection of our neighbors.

Prayerful Reflections

Spend some time reflecting on all the bolded segments and scripture passages.  With each prayerful reflection, talk to God.  Give Him your heart.  Then sit in silence and allow Him to give you His.