Reflections of a beloved son

“Is it not you alone, O LORD, our God, to whom we look?” Jeremiah 14:22b When things are going smoothly, where do we look to? When things are growing increasingly difficult, who do we turn to? When times of trouble come and hardships arise, who do we ask for help and guidance?  Do we face them or do we hide from them? Do we ignore them and find a distraction? Do we turn to people or do we turn to drugs or alcohol or some other quick fix and temporary comfort? None of those things will bring us the peace and solution we so desperately want and need. We ought to look to the Lord, to God, to Our Father. In our time of desperate need, we must turn and look to God for He alone can give us what we need – not escape from our pain, but – to walk through those dark valleys, to weather those violent storms, and to climb up from the bottomless pit, trusting that all the pain and suffering we come to experience will only bring about good. The good that makes us strong and that enables us to ...

“Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth. I have come to bring not peace but the sword.” Matthew 10:34   What?   Jesus came to bring the sword?   Doesn’t that go against everything that He stands for and is? Why not peace but the sword? The sword that Jesus was referring to is not a sword that cuts people open and kills people for no cause. This sword is the sword of Truth. And the Truth, as we can give witness to today, brings division. There will be people who stand by the Truth and others who say that is not their truth. The reality is that there can only be one truth, and if one thing is really true it cannot be false at the same time. So that “Well maybe that’s your truth but it is not mine” does not work. It’s illogical. If something is true, then it is true no matter how much you dislike or disagree with it. So, Jesus came to bring the sword and not peace because without the sword – without Truth there can be no true, lasting peace. You ...

“Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?’ “Here I am,” I said; “send me!” Isaiah 6:8   Memorial of St. Benedict   Today we celebrate St. Benedict, the Father of Western Monasticism. He strived to be with God. There were too many distractions in the world so he went away to a quiet place to listen to the Voice of God. There is too much noise in our world today that keeps us from hearing and listening to God’s voice. But the reality is that God is calling out to each one of us even if we cannot or do not want to hear it.  God calls us by name and has a unique mission for each one of us – a plan for our lives that will bring us deep joy and lasting peace. God wants this for each one of us. The Lord calls us and invites us to a mission that is uniquely ours, and if and when we answer this call, that joy and peace will get us through even the toughest moments of our lives. So, when the Lord comes to the silence of your h...

“Come to me,  all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28   The Lord ask us to go to Him. In the busyness of our modern world, are we able to find rest and stillness? We are always doing something. Running from this place to the next, always on the move. But there is something special about resting and the peace that comes from it. In the Greek, the word used when Jesus said, “I will give you rest” is “ ἀ να π αύσω ” which can be broken down into the parts “ ανα ” and “ π αυω .”   Ανα can mean in the midst, among, between, and π αυω can mean make cease or desist, but it can also mean to release from sin. So, when we rest, we are really resting in the rest of Jesus Himself, and when we go to Him, not only we will receive rest from the works and burdens of the day, but the rest and peace that comes from the forgiveness of sins.   This rest does not requires us to go to any particular place or pay any amount for a vacation. ...

“I will hear what God proclaims; the LORD–for he proclaims peace to his people.” Psalm 85:9 Today in the United States we celebrate Independence Day, the Fourth of July, celebrating and remembering all those who made freedom and peace and hope possible for a people who were desperate for it. America has been commonly called the land of dreams and a place of opportunities and freedom. However, all this is now at stake. Though we live in a country who boasts of its freedom of religion and speech, we have enslaved ourselves by our indifference and hatred. Some may say, “Well, not me!” Yes, true. But if we are to be truly the “United States of America,” then when one part suffers, we all suffer; when will we stand united and reclaim the name we call ourselves?   The freedom of this country was secured because we boldly proclaimed, “In God we trust.” But this freedom, this peace, and this country is now at risk because we, as a whole, as one, no longer trust or believe in God. True fr...

We sometimes take so much interest in fixing other people’s problems and even in trying to solve the world’s problems. However, the truth to the matter is that we cannot change anyone except ourselves. We may want so much for someone to change their wayward ways, but we can’t change it for them. I think we can see this most clearly with parents and their children who may have gone down a not so good path or siblings who can see the same. Even though we cannot change for them, what we can do is be that role model for them. To do this we must take a good look at ourselves.   We can’t see clearly when there’s a splinter in our eyes. But the harder part is that sometimes we can’t even see the splinters. Do we know they are there but choose to ignore them? Do we simply keep putting eye drops in to ease the pain, but not really doing anything about them? It’s time to remove those splinters. We can’t remove them alone. Even if we try to use the mirror it will be difficult. That’s is w...

We are all on a journey, and we must encourage and support one another. There will be times when we may doubt and question and sometimes, we may even give up and walk the other way. Sometimes guilt and shame will lead us to despair and desperation. Sometimes we may feel that God has abandoned us. Then let us remember the time when Jesus was in the garden praying to His Father asking for the cup to pass him by or when He asked why His God had forsaken Him. Jesus knows our sufferings, pains, worries, and anger because He was fully man like you and me. But He also knows of the joy, peace, hope, and love that none of those things can take away.  The joy and peace that comes from God will enable us to endure those sufferings and times of desperation in our lives. The eternal will always triumph over the temporal. We must stick together and remember that Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” Even when the world tells us there is an easier way, a truer truth, or a better li...

In one of his letters, St. Boniface writes, “ In her voyage across the ocean of this world, the Church is like a great ship being pounded by the waves of life’s different stresses. Our duty is not to abandon ship but to keep her on her course .” At the time of St. Boniface, the missionaries in Germany had a difficult time evangelizing because the pagans were worshipping an oak tree. When St. Boniface arrived, he saw that the tree was in the way, so he cut it down. He got rid of the obstacle that prevented the people from getting closer to God and knowing the Truth. We are told in the Psalms that those who love the law of God will have no stumbling blocks but will rather have great peace. But some may say, well that’s not true. Some devout Christians have difficult lives. True but difficulties are not necessarily stumbling blocks. If we come to see our difficulties as crosses and means of deepening our faith and growing closer to God, then there are no stumbling blocks but only a faith ...

Trials and difficulties in life are inevitable. What we can decide is how we face them. Do we escape and retreat in the face of struggles or do we follow the lead of the Lord in embracing and carrying our crosses? At first we may see our trials and difficulties as annoyances and curses, but if and when we come to embrace them and face them with the Lord they will become blessings. Through our trials, God can give us many graces. We only need to want them and receive them. There will be pain and suffering, yes, but the joys and peace that comes will be greater.

Have you ever woke up feeling well-rested, happy, and saying to yourself, "Today is going to be a great day!."  You get out of bed, brush your teeth, take a refreshing shower, and get dressed.  The coffee is brewing and you feel confident about the day that has begun already.  Then you phone dings and you receive a text.  You receive some news that you really were not hoping to receive.  Suddenly your day is ruined. What could have gone through Joseph's mind when Mary told him that she was pregnant?  Here Joseph was about to get married to the woman he loved and he finds out that she is pregnant with presumably another man's child.  I would have felt angry, betrayed, and hurt.  What would you have done?  In those days, Mary would have been guilty of adultery and who have been punished with death.  Joseph had every right  to tell the church leaders and officials and have her stoned.  But instead he decided to divorce her quiet...

“The brother is not bored. He is alone with God” (103). This line is from Nicolas Diat’s “A Time to Die - Monks on the Threshold of Eternal Life.” The Father comes to meet us in the silence. Being alone is not being bored or lonely. Solitude and loneliness are different. The former is being aware of the presence of God and allowing yourself to rest in Him, but the latter is ignoring it and trying to find peace outside of its source. As we enter this final week of Advent, let us be aware of God’s presence in our hearts, in others, and in the sacraments, and invite others to do the same. For only in Him will we find peace and rest.  God is there - in the stillness of your hearts.  God knows it is difficult to find peace and to find Him in the noise and busyness of the world, and so He comes to meet us in a “light silent sound” (1 Kg. 19:12b). When you feel empty and restless, and cannot seem to find any joy or peace that lasts, call out to God, for then you will be able to exp...

What are some things that strike fear into your heart?  For some it may be the thought of death and for others it may the mere presence of a clown or snake.  For some it may be a resemblance of a traumatic incident.  What does this fear feel like?  For the early church, it was the fear of losing their lives for listening to and believing the One whom the disciples were preaching.  Persecution and death was what stroke fear into the hearts of early believers. We are told that everyone scattered "except the Apostles."  These were the men who walked, ate, lived, and spent every waking hour with Jesus - His closest companions.  Though they did not scatter then, they did scatter once - the moment when the guards with the Jewish leaders came and arrested Jesus.  They scattered then because they were afraid what would happen to them.  If they arrested Jesus, their teacher, what would they do with them?  Their faith and loyalty were tested....

" Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe " were the words Jesus said to Thomas in the locked room (Jn. 20:27). When the other Apostles had told Thomas that Jesus had appeared to them and that He has truly risen from the dead, he did not believe and said that unless he saw Him and touched His wounds for himself he would not believe.  So, Jesus came back and appeared to Thomas.  When Jesus came back to show Thomas that He truly has risen, He laid out everything - He showed him His wounds.  Jesus was basically saying, "Here, look.  Look at the nail marks and my pierced side.  Look.  Touch it.  Feel.  It's me."  I read in a meditation that because Jesus showed us His wounds we can bring our wounds to Him.  At Golgotha, Jesus was stripped of everything - His clothing, His rights, and His dignity.  Jesus gave up everything in order to give us everything...

The gift that the Lord first gives to His disciples after His Resurrection is peace.   " Peace be with you."   This peace is not just the warm, happy feeling that comes when the sun shines on our faces and the gentle breeze breathes on our skin.  This peace is the calming sense that overcomes us, easing troubled hearts and convinces doubtful minds.  The feeling of knowing that all will be well, according to the plan of God.  The knowledge that the victory has already been won.  The hope of eternal life and the "resurrection of the body."  Jesus showed the disciples His wounds, emphasizing that He is flesh (not a ghost) and that He is truly risen.  He then also "opened their minds to understand the Scriptures."  In doing so, He was strengthening and encouraging the disciples, moving them to belief and faith, and instilling hope in their hearts, hope and knowledge that all He had shared with them and all that was foretold about Him in the Scr...