Jn 16:23b-28 The Spirit of Asking

Jn 16:23b-28 The Spirit of Asking

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“Amen, amen, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you.”

What is the one prayer that God always answers with a yes? Lord, do whatever you want with me! It is the most powerful prayer because it is a prayer that bends my Will to His, and releases to the soul a tremendous rush of love, confidence and generosity. It is the prayer that allows me to most imitatively follow the Lord in his words and actions.

“Father, not as I will but as you will.” Now, all we have to do is ask.

I am reminded of a letter written by Mother Teresa outlining the rule her nuns would follow. Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit she set out to answer specific questions the Bishop asked. The responses are beautiful, striking and amusing. She writes, “Today after much prayer, I shall try with His help to answer your questions.”

What exactly and in detail do you want to do? Our Lord wants Indian Nuns, victims of His love, who would be so united to Him as to radiate His love on souls – who would lead Indian lives, dress like them, and be His light, His fire of love amongst the poor, the sick, the dying, the beggars and the little street children…To be united to Him completely, we need be poor – free from all.

What kind of people would you recruit? They must be able to put their hands to any kind of work however repugnant to human nature…If girls with high qualifications desire to enter, they may come but that will not make them whatsoever different.

Where would be the center of your work? In the slums and the streets of Calcutta and as the Missionaries of Charity increase all the big towns of India.

The possibilities of success? Our Lord says: “Do not fear. I shall be with you always…trust me lovingly, trust me blindly…” I don’t know what the success will be, but if the Missionaries of Charity have brought joy to one unhappy home, made one innocent child from the street keep pure for Jesus; one dying person die in peace with God – don’t you think, Your Grace, it would be worth while offering everything for just that one because that one would bring great joy to the Heart of Jesus.

How would the Sisters support themselves? We shall need very little as we intend with the grace of God to keep absolute Poverty in detail, and we shall not have buildings of our own…The sisters will do all the house work so they will need no servants. For the rest, or rather for all, I trust Him! He will be with us and when He is there we shall need for nothing…If we have Our Lord in the midst of us – with daily Mass and Holy Communion, I fear nothing for the Sisters nor myself. He will look after us. But without Him I cannot be, I am helpless.

At the end of an extensive discussion on June 14^th, 1947, Fathe Van Exem, her spiritual director, gave her an entirely unexpected reply: he ordered her to “drop it [the whole endeavor] for all eternity” if neither he nor the archbishop mentioned it further. Later that day he related to Archbishop Perier in a letter the strategy he had taken:

“She is to leave the whole work to me and to Your Grace…I allowed her a little more penance and much more abnegation, but I doubt whether she can practice more than she does. She has not refused anything to Our Lord.”

The rest, we know, is history - God's history. She asked and went through great trials and tribulations, and in the end, she received. The trials, battles, disappointments, refusals, and tears were absolutely necessary for the work itself would be forever the same!

Have you ever asked the Holy Spirit for something so different, so unselfish, so important, so profound and so meaningful as the above? “Until now you have not asked anything in my name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.”

Jn 16:20-23 The Spirit of Joy

Jn 16:20-23 The Spirit of Joy

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“Amen. Amen, I say to you, you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices; you will grieve, but your grief will become joy.”

In Sacred Scripture the word happiness is almost never used. I remember reading long ago happiness rather than blessed for the Beatitudes and it was quickly removed in a later edition. There is a huge difference between the two: happiness may be pursued but joy comes as a surprise. Happiness is of man’s doing. Joy comes from the Holy Spirit.

Yesterday I celebrated a funeral Mass for a woman who had been married for forty-six years. Her husband and two children were in the front row and in pain at the loss of their beloved mother. She was young, only sixty-five years old. What do you say? What can anyone say? At times like these, we can only turn to the Lord and to His Word. Is it possible that the grief we experience today will one day turn to joy?The Apostles could no longer bear to hear Christ speak. He had so much more to tell them but his words were like daggers in their hearts. All the Lord’s men felt anxiety, fear and sadness at what the Lord was telling them. He would be leaving them; taken away and would not be returning to them until the appropriate moment. Why does this have to happen? Why do bad things have to happen to good people, even to the Lord? Today’s responsorial psalm reminds us: “God is King of all the earth!” (Ps 47:8a)

The Lord directs life and death; our take off and our landing; our arrival and our departure. He is the King, the Master of the Universe and of my life. He is King of the gigantic and of the tiny; the insignificant and the significant; the coincidence and the planned. We are here because He wants us here now, today. We will be gone, when our time has arrived – not a day longer or shorter.

I have found tremendous joy in thinking about all the people that have come and gone in my life. Think of all the people - past or present, dead or alive - that inspired you, pushed you and maybe even embarrassed you to get the best out of you! Life is so similar to the sea. We have high moments like tidal waves, thrilling and chilling. We have low moments like low tide or like the calm before the tsunami! Like the sea, we are constantly preparing for the next moment. We seem to get up and get out of bed only when we have to. If it were not for exams, we would learn less. Tough times lead to tough decisions that lead to heart felt decisions and amazing results!

The Lord will be with his friends, always. We will all meet again someday. As the Lord’s followers begin the life of an Apostle, they will continuously return to the Lord. When they have to make a tough decision in their life, they will remember what the Lord said. When they have to bear the burdens of a life dedicated to Him, they will return in the Spirit to Him and do what He did.

He will not be far from them in mind, body and soul. “No one will take your joy away from me. On that day you will not question me about anything.”

Let us prepare for this day. Let us not question the Lord in anything. He loves us. He died for us. He will come again for us. No one, as hard as they try, will ever be able to take this joy away from us that comes to us from the one who gave it all for us.

The Lord taught us that joy cannot be pursued, it can only be given. Come Holy Spirit and fill the hearts of your faithful people with joy. Amen.

Mt 28:16-20 I Am With You Always

Mt 28:16-20 I Am With You Always

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“Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always until the end of the age.”

These words, recorded in the Gospel of St. Matthew, are the final words of our Lord. They are a reminder of who we are called to be (disciples), of what we are called to do (make disciples) and who called us in the first place (I am with you always).

There were only Eleven back then. Today, there are over one billion. Not all with the same enthusiasm or zeal as the first Eleven, but many observing what the Lord commanded: Love of God and love of neighbor.

“I will be with you till the end of the age.” How comforting these words are. They are the inspiration in every marriage ceremony, “I will be with you till the end of my life” or “till death do us part.” These words bind a couple together, allowing the two to become one, an imperfect reflection of the Holy Trinity, that eventually, nine months later, is completed with the arrival of a third person. I will be with you till the end of the age is extremely comforting. I am not alone. I have never been alone. I have always been loved. I have always been with Him.

I still remember the fear I felt in my heart just moments after telling my boss I was quitting work so as to enter the seminary. Nothing could bring me peace, not even prayer. But I knew in my heart I had been called, and I knew in my heart I would have no peace if I did not do this. And yet, the fear still held on to me. When I returned to my office and packed my belongings, I picked up a Christian Bible that had been left (I guess for me) by my retired co-worker. At that moment I remembered something that St. Augustine and Thomas Merton had done during their discernment process. They picked up their Bible, closed their eyes, asked the Lord what He wanted from them, opened the Bible and placed their finger on the opened page. Then they opened their eyes and looked to see what God’s Will was for them. It worked for them; I was hoping it would work for me. I said my prayer, opened the Bible and opened my eyes. The page was nearly empty. My finger had fallen upon the Gospel of Matthew, his last Chapter, and the second to last verse. “Go, therefore…and baptize…and I am with you always until the end of the age.” The fear was gone. I closed the Bible and continued to pack. I never spoke about it to anyone. Who would fully understand this miracle that had taken place just for me?

Of course my life has never been the same again. I have met so many people ever since I left my career, my possessions, my country, my home and family. I have baptized and put to rest so many souls. I have feed more than five thousand people with the Blessed Sacrament, the Bread of Life. Through the Sacrament of Reconciliation the Lord has forgiven more sins through me than through the Apostles! It is true what Jesus said, You will do more than I did. Of course it is always through Him, in Him and with Him.

I am with you always is our guarantee in life. It is our guarantee in marriage. It is our guarantee in the priesthood. It is the only guarantee that makes life worth living.

Now go and make disciples; complete the picture! Allow the two to become one and the three coming to perfection.

I am with you always means there is work that must be completed.

Jn 16:12-15 The Spirit of Truth

Jn 16:12-15 The Spirit of Truth

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Most of us would like to believe that the cause of evil is ignorance. We were taught to believe that racism, discrimination, bullying, and other social ills can all be eliminated through education. This is a philosophical argument to a spiritual reality that continues to be a real and ongoing problem, even as we finish the first decade of the twenty-first century.

Working with our youth, I can honestly say that the problem is not that they don’t know any better. The problem is that they could care less.

I doubt that many of you listen to African-American rappers. But if you do, you will hear them frequently refer to themselves by the n-word. If a student witnesses another getting bullied, chances are it is because they are videotaping it for a future Youtube presentation.

The new philosophy, gaining momentum and ground, isn’t necessarily spoken but it is written all over our face! “Who cares if it’s right or wrong, good or bad? What difference does it make?” It makes all the difference in this world and in the next. The consequences can be seen on the nightly news as more young people implode and explode into fits of anger, suicide and terror.

The debates I get into these days have less to do with education and more to do with attitude. St. Paul gave a stunning performance at the Areopagus (cf. Acts 17:22) and was laughed out of the Assembly! But as history would point out, he would have the last laugh. The ancients created their own myths – their own gods, temples, cult and code of conduct. They knew it too, and eventually it met its fate, its demise. Myths pass away. What is human always passes away. But what is divine remains.

And what is divine? “I have much to tell you, but you cannot bear it now.” What is it that we cannot bear to hear? What is the Spirit of Truth leading us to? The answer is shocking: to pray for and to forgive our enemies. It is not something we want to hear. What is better than a dead Usama Bin Laden? A converted Usama Bin Laden. It’s hard to hear. We don’t like to hear this. We prefer to pray for the victims of crime but never for the criminals. Well, who needs our prayers the most, the victims or the criminals? Both, but the eternal salvation of the criminal is at risk, a very high risk of being lost.

I knew that there was a reason why I was constantly getting delayed in getting this meditation out today. I just met with a woman from the parish who knows what it means to suffer. A few years ago she was introduced to the Divine Mercy Chaplet. She was been drawn to it ever since. It occupies her mind, her heart and her actions. But she did not know what to do with it. She noticed that the day we got Usama Bin Laden coincided with Divine Mercy Sunday and the beatification of John Paul II. It appears as though coincidences increase with those who pray. She asked me what I thought, what she should do? While she spoke I was inspired to tell her to start a Divine Mercy Prayer Group, enlist her friends to pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet once a week, and to find in the newspapers the names of criminals they should pray for.

This, I told her, would be very pleasing to the Lord because I know it is not happening enough. How often do we hear in our Sunday petitions to pray for those who abuse, commit abortions and other horrible crimes? It is not politically correct I guess. But the Lord was never politically correct. When the Spirit of Truth comes, he will guide us to all truth.

Let us pray for those who need our prayers. Let us pray, with the Holy Spirit, for the conversion of sinners. They often make the greatest of Saints!

Jn 16:5-11 Come Holy Spirit

Jn 16:5-11 Come Holy Spirit

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“I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go. For if I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you…And when he comes he will convict the world in regard to sin and righteousness.”

Come Holy Spirit and fill our hearts with your son’s heart. Enlighten our hearts with Christ’s sacred heart. Unite this world with your word and bring your children into the fullness of the faith. Come Holy Spirit and renew the face of the earth.

The days are fast approaching. The moment is at hand. The Good Shepherd will soon fill the hearts of his faithful flock. He will not leave them orphans. The Holy Spirit, the Advocate, the Lord’s heart, will come and guide the Apostles feet and enflame their tongues. The Holy Spirit will protect them from condemnation. They will serve the Lord with the angels and all the Saints, now and forever. They will receive their just reward: Paradise! They will shame those who shame God. How? With their love and humility. He will do the same for us if we serve the same for Him.

“Brothers and sisters: Let love be sincere; hate what is evil, hold on to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; anticipate one another in showing honor. Do not grow slack in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, endure in affliction, persevere in prayer. Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Have the same regard for one another; do not be haughty but associate with the lowly; do not be wise in your own estimation.” (Rom 12:9-16)

Gloria Bentivegna of New York City, a devout Roman Catholic, would occasionally play the “Lotto Tree”. Her atheist son, Sal, age 28, told her to, “ask your God for a million dollars.” Of course Gloria, following the Catholic faith, and staying true to her faith, refused to ask God for such a thing. So Sal, jokingly and sarcastically prayed out aloud saying, “God, I don’t know if you’re real or not but if you are there, please let my mother win a million dollars.” Then he added, “If Jesus wants me to believe in him, that’s what he’ll do.”

The following day Gloria bought a Lottery ticket from her Church’s charity auction. As she unscratched the card, Sal was left stunned, speechless, and breathless when she won a million dollars! Realizing that the odds of his mother winning were, well, one-in-a-million (better odds than those for life on earth), Salvatore has come to his senses through reason and become a believer! “I cannot shrug off that Jesus had a hand in it.”

Walter Beals from Asheville, North Carolina, wrote “How nice. Across the globe, starving children with genuine, honest, desperate prayers, and God decides to use his power to ironically answer the mock prayers of some privileged, glutinous, supposed atheist – in order to win that atheists devotion.” Of course, Walter is being sarcastic too. His heart has not yet been moved to understand what the Holy Spirit has revealed to most of us. The Lord provides the miracles we cannot do. He expects us to provide the miracles that we can do. We can easily put an end to poverty and war if we would live the Commandments, and with just the first two: Love God and love your neighbor as yourself! How simple! He later wrote, “Two hands working can do more than a thousand clasped in prayer” – author unknown. Really? The Church is so balanced in its approach. She would say that we need both. To end poverty we need to put our hands to work. To end war we should put them together and not clasp at anything other than prayer.

Life is so less complicated with Christ Jesus our Lord!

Jn 14:15-21 Delightful People

Jn 14:15-21 Delightful People

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“The Lord takes delight in his people.”

The Lord loves people. He is a social God. He loves to interact with his people, especially his holy people, the saints, who are delightful people. What makes someone delightful or pleasing to be around with? What makes someone the apple of God’s eye?

Holy and Human. In today’s first reading, we read what St. Luke experienced at a very personal level. His information is not second hand. In fact, he is writing in first person plural. “We set sail from Troas…We spent some time in that city…We sat and spoke with the women who had gathered there…” (Acts 16:11-15). These are the intimate experiences of a disciple of the Lord. The good, the bad and the ugly moments of the disciples are recorded throughout the Gospels. Their doubts and fears, joys and tribulations are made known for our sake; so that we never lose hope or confidence in what is good, right and holy. And at times we can. We know we can. And so did the Apostles. They knew, and so they did not even spare the giants. We know that Paul and Barnabas had a rough relationship. Both were human and yet both are Saints. We know that Paul had some rough words for Peter. And yet, both men are Saints. Why are they delightful in God's eyes? Because they both rose above their petty and insignificant quarrels for God’s greater glory. They did not waste a single second conniving and contracting or gossiping and murmuring against one another. Rather, they separated and no longer talked directly with each other. They prayed for each other and for the other’s mission, and they were both very successful. When will we come to realize that all Christians share a common enemy and that our divisions and quarrels among one another only strengthens and embellishes the ugly grip and strangle hold of the devil on humanity? Do we not realize that the greatest scandal, in Christ’s eyes, is division? Today, the Lord invites his people to be united against Satan. May we fight him and not each other.

Disciplined in Emotions. Up and down, left and right. So many of us have our mood swings. The Lord loves a surprise, but even better than a surprise is a consistent person. The Lord loves a consistent follower who is faithful in the good times and bad. The faithful remained the same, faithful, regardless of the fact that they were thrown out of the synagogues and temple area, and regardless of the fact that they were killed in God's name! Followers of Christ remain the same, just like their Lord, regardless of persecution, for the Lord is the same yesterday, today and forever! Are we surprised that we are called to be the same? Do our emotions place demands on others? Do I change with the seasons or with friends? Am I loving today and very hurtful tomorrow? And so, like the wind, too often we are loved today and hated tomorrow or praised today and prowled tomorrow. I am who I am not because of my past circumstances or because of others. I am who I am because of who lives in me. Is it Christ or is it the other? “Let the faithful exult in glory; let them sing for joy upon their couches. Let the high praises of God be in their throats. This is the glory of all his faithful.” (Ps. 149:5-6a,9b)

Today is Memorial Day in the United States of America. Today we recognize the young men and women who sacrificed their lives for our beloved nation. They dedicated a good portion of their time on earth in serving our nation. They dedicated their youthfulness in bringing peace around the world. They were human and made mistakes. But they were more than willing to sacrifice their lives for each other and for the ideals enshrined in our Constitution.

I think we can do better as Christian soldiers, fighting for Christ, united with one another in battle and conquering our pride and sin through humility and love. Many souls are waiting for a new spring time offensive! Let us give them what they seek: unity, peace and most of all, Christ.

Jn 14:15-21 In God We Place Our Trust

Jn 14:15-21 In God We Place Our Trust

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There are a lot of things to be afraid of, like flying, but we should never be afraid of being asked to give a reason for our faith.

Most of my friends know that I do not like to fly. I don’t think it is because we are 30,000 ft above the ground and if we have an accident, well, that’s probably the end of it. I don’t think it's for any logical reason that I fear flying. It is much more dangerous to get in your car and drive down Interstate 635 then it is to get into a plane. This fear is something I have lived with for a while and it has gotten a lot better over the years. But I do remember one incident that was not at all amusing. I was flying to Westchester County airport and as we were landing the winds picked up quite a bit. The plane appeared to be out of control – the wings were flapping up and down and plane was swaying back and forth. Just as we were about to touch the ground, the pilot suddenly pulled the plane up, as if we were taking off. The landing had been aborted.

To a passenger nearby I calmly said, “Ok…not a problem...” To myself, I said, “Is this pilot crazy!? He’s gonna get us all killed!” I took out my hidden rosary and explained to the passenger next to me that it was just about the hour that I usually pray my rosary…and that it had nothing to do with our plane nearly crash landing! He just nodded. I’m sure he didn’t buy that at all.

Once again, the pilot approached the runway and this time the turbulence was worse than before. Just as we were about to land, he aborted for the second time. By now my heart was racing. I was thinking of all my sins and said an Act of Contrition. For the first time, it became very apparent that I was not the only one concerned. An African-American passenger a few rows behind me began to pray quietly but loud enough for everyone to hear. She kept saying over and over again, and with a certain cadence, “Jesus…Jesus…Jesus…Jesus…” I have to be honest and say that that didn’t help me at all.

Mind you, the pilot, throughout the entire time, said NOTHING. It was probably better that way. Finally, after circling the airport, the plane, for the third time, approached the runway and this time it landed. I cannot remember if we began to applaud, but I sure felt like it.

Now, on the opposite side of the aisle, there was a young boy who, throughout the entire time, did not look scared at all. He was about eleven or twelve. Afterwards, I said to him, “Pretty scary.” He said, “Ah…not really…I knew we were going to land.” I said to him, “How did you know.” He looked at me with a big smile and said, “My dad’s the pilot.”

What does all this have to do with today’s Gospel? God is in control of everything! He is the pilot. Why do I believe in God? Because life is absolutely unique, amazing and beautiful. It is lovely! And because of it, death is an unwelcomed guest. If death were natural, we would not complain at all. We would be filled with joy for that moment. We would treat it like everything else. But death, like sin, is an intruder, and we fight it to avoid it! Why do I believe in the Christian God? Because our God revealed himself through the Love of his life: Jesus Christ, who became the love of our life. Jesus Christ is the supreme revelation of God! We know two things about God: God is Love and God is a Father. Is there anyone or anything greater than love, than God? Love and Father are unique names for God. No other religion refers to God as Love or as a Father. Love is given depth through sacrifice. Christ sacrificed it all for us. Love is best defined by giving. Chirst gave it all! Love is most appreciated by the way it forgives. Christ forgave us all. Can we think of anyone superior to Jesus, to His Love? Christ gave it all for us as he forgave all of us. For this reason, Jesus is Lord and God. Why do I believe in the Catholic Church? Because the Eucharist is the most sublime/humble act from our Supreme God of his supreme Love for us? After all, is not love the two becoming one, the consummation of one by the other? We are so envious! We would love to love like that! We would all love to be a eucharistic gift for another – to be so intimate, out of love, with the love of our life. The Eucharist is the ultimate giving of self and the only way in which Christ’s words ring true: “I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father and you are in me and I in you.”

All the earth can cry out to God with joy. (Ps. 66:1) We can all be confident in Him, through Him and with Him.

End the day well today. Give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope, but do it with gentleness and reverence, keeping your conscience clear. (1 Pt 3:15-18)