Jesus Wants Us to Expect Miracles

Have you ever considered that virtues can be superpowers? 

On Sunday, March 15, you’re invited to our special Lenten workshop (Virtues for Lent) at 11:30 a.m. for some fresh ideas on how to make this year’s Lenten journey a memorable one. We’d love to see you! And Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m., followed by breakfast ~ you’re welcome to join us! 

Yes, we will be open this Sunday and Mass begins at 10am and it will include the Sacrament of Reconciliation followed by our Lenten Retreat.

First, my goal is to practice safety and good health so as a reminder if you have any type of symptoms of coughing, sneezing, fever, nausea, achiness, or any flu-like symptom, stay home. I love you, and I look forward to seeing you after you are in good health.

Second, I will (at least temporarily) modify routines that may threaten to spread disease. For example, during the greeting at the beginning of Mass and at the Greeting of Peace, I encourage people to simply say hello instead of shaking hands or hugging. Last Sunday, I taught sign language and the gesture for “PEACE.” It was a creative way to bring our community together and it brought many smiles not fear into the faces of our people.

Third, I will encourage Communion in the hand and not on the tongue to avoid contact with salvia. We will refrain from dipping the host in the chalice and distributing on the tongue. 

Fourth, the holy water and baptismal fonts are empty. And thanks to Steve and Corey and volunteers our church pews and bathroom are disinfected and safe to use. Join us on Holy Saturday and take-home Easter water. 

The Surgeon General emphasized that we will know a lot more "in a week or two” on how this will play out, and in some places “large public gatherings” such as church services may have to be restricted.

So, for now, let’s do all we can to run from fear and into good health practices that we should all be practicing.

Fifth, next Sunday, March 22, we will celebrate the Sacrament of the Sick.  

The theme will be: "Jesus Wants Us to Expect Miracles!"  Come join us to pray for our gifted scientists and researchers that the Spirit will bring them wisdom to find a vaccine and end this disease and the suffering of the world. Your prayers for healing will make the difference!

Busy is Not Your Friend

Think about busy. Everyone's busy, right? It seems people get busier and busier all the time. Busy is not your friend. It's okay to be busy sometimes. But to be busy, busy, busy, busy all the time—busy is bad in that context. And you know what? It is hard to be a good person, it is hard to grow in virtue, it is hard to live the Christian life when we're busy all the time. I know that from my own experience. I know when I'm super busy, it's really hard for me to be patient with anything or anyone, you know? I get impatient. The busier I get, the more impatient I get. Which means what? The busier I get, the less Christian I become

So, it's time for us just to recognize, okay, busy is not our friend. And then once we realized that we think, okay, we've got to do something about that. Our daily routines are critical in setting us up for success or setting us up for failure, especially our daily routines at the beginning of the day. Because when we do take a few moments to reflect on our day, at the beginning of our day, we realize—okay, hold on a minute—what's the really important stuff I'm going to do today? And what's the stuff that doesn't matter that much? And we're able to prioritize.

Jesus taught that love should be our number one priority. For example, when we fall in love, our priorities change. God is constantly challenging us to love more, he's constantly challenging us to reassess our priorities. 

And so, what I want to challenge you to think about today is your daily priorities, especially those at the beginning of the day. Do they focus you? Do they reinvigorate you? Do they fill you with a sense of hope? Or do the things you fill your early part of the day with burden you, make you feel heavy and hopeless, that sort of thing?

I hope you’re thinking about attending the parish Lenten Retreat next Sunday. My hope is that you are making plans not too be so busy that that you will come and learn how the Spirit is moving you into a routine that will make a difference in your life. If I come to the retreat, my days will be better.  Hopefully, it will be reinvigorating you. Hopefully, when you don't feel like coming, it gives you the courage, the strength, the wisdom to say, "Okay, I don't feel like doing this, but I will have better days when I do it. So, I'm going to force myself. I'm going to make plans and attend this year’s retreat. 

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends that they learn to start their day in your presence, so that the rest of their day will be filled with much happiness and joy.

Something Out of the Box for Lent

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Okay, I'm going to give up chocolate for Lent this year, I'm going to lose five pounds, and then I'm going to gain six and a half pounds back on Easter Sunday.” And millions and millions of people give up chocolate for Lent each year, but why? Because they've always done it? Or why? Because they want to lose weight? Or why? Because our spirituality lacks creativity?

And if you gave up chocolate. that's great. There's nothing wrong with that. But what are you planning to do this Lent that will bring you closer to Jesus.

Let me share some suggestions. 

Give something away—every day.

I have a friend with a very large wardrobe. She decided to give away one article of clothing each day during Lent. It had to be something she really liked and wanted to keep. Maybe it’s not your wardrobe that needs cleaning out, but consider giving something away each day, or each week, during Lent.

Stop complaining—about the weather, that’s number one for Father Matt

What a difference this can makes in our community, in our relationships with one another. We have to find constructive ways to talk about our difficulties, and look for the good in people instead of focusing on any inconvenience we’d experienced.

Spend time in the classroom of silence.

Each day during Lent spend one hour in complete silence, all electronics turned off and that includes your cell phone. Set a timer in your kitchen, then forget about it. Spend the time however you want.  Pray a Rosary, read some Scripture, and then read a little bit of a good spiritual book. Maybe you can’t do an hour, then maybe 10 minutes. But take the time for silence and reflection each day.

Do follow our parish Facebook and Website Pages
Every day during Lent we will post a reflection on the Facebook page and ask for a reply. Also, on our parish website, I will post something for your meditation and you can reply. It’s free and worth your time.

Do an act of love every day.

Our kids returned from their religion lesson this morning and made cupcakes for the volunteers for Charlotte House hospice. They also painted signs to be displayed in the house to bring a smile and comfort to our residents and family members. That’s out of the box thinking. 

Send a kind note to a loved one, do a good deed for a stranger, volunteer, post something inspiring on social media. It doesn’t have to be big—just do something each day.

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends that they spend their time during Lent as an opportunity to be the best version of themselves. Go online on our Facebook page or Parish website page and share what you plan to do for Lent.

The Good We Do Never Dies

The oven at Maggie’s home never worked and her front two burners flamed like a torch. A Sonshine Friend forwarded an email with the message that he had purchased a new oven for Maggie. However, the night before the installation, I was informed that the store does not install ovens that have propane gas. Did I know someone who could install the oven with its propane conversion kit? Now the fun begins…

Beginning at midnight and until eight in the morning, I received five plumber referrals. However, only two out of the five called me back but they were either too booked up or her home was outside their service area. Now comes “the good that never dies.” Enter Harry, a generous and talented Christian man.

He goes on YouTube the night before the delivery to learn how to install the conversion kit. I’m returning from a crisis in Rochester and received a phone call that the delivery truck was at her home, but the men refused to take the old oven away. It was in their contract, but just another hurdle to jump.

Harry arrives and we grab some tools and together drive to Maggie’s rescue. The oven was still wrapped in its box, sadly the delivery men came and left. We unboxed, found the conversion nuts, but of course did not have the correct metric screw driver, so off to Ace Hardware to get some tools.

Next hurdle was the frozen bolts from many years of rust, and Harry pulled with all his strength with my pipe wretch until it broke loose. Some screw cement to make contacts secure, test all burners to be safe and Maggie had her new oven. She simply said after ten years of no working oven “now she could bake a cake.”

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends who make no excuses but make the time to help those in need. Thank you, Harry for being Christ and an inspiration in a time when good deeds never die, and live on forever, for other people, for other places, and for another time.

You're So Sweet

I have come home from the funeral Mass for my dear friend, Jeanette. The image I have of her is sitting on the left side of the chapel in the Neuman Center for Sunday Mass together with best friends at her side, Walter, Anne and Fran.

When a family member, Brockport College colleague, student or neighbor would visit her at her home or the assisted living center, she would be sitting in her chair with tons of paperwork on her bed. Her first words in your direction, “Oh, you are so sweet” it was her gratitude for taking the time to visit and shares stories. Her bed was full of paperwork, she was working on several projects that included scholarship funding for students. She had a passion that students should be given every opportunity to succeed in life and that included getting closer to the Lord. Her passion was a belief that young people need our support and never leave anyone behind. She wished  that each student would grow in mind and spirit in an environment that nourished their intellectual and spiritual life to be the best person they could be.

Jeanette shared that she was grateful for her doctors who kept her going with their medicines and treatments but she told them that she was ready.

This meant that she was at peace with her decision because she had learned from her Lord to mend the wrongs when relationships gone south. Not every wrong can be righted, not every relationship can be healed, but she did her part to convey the mercy and love of her Lord to all her family and friends.

I firmly believe that all who shared fellowship with Jeanette are a better person for in her presence we have walked in the house of our God.

We pray… “Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, for my eyes have seen your salvation.” Luke 2:29-30.

Now before I ended this reflection, I overheard the local wildlife outside having a “yelling” match that sent one kitty up a tree, a very tall tree. Here’s Jeanette smiling and telling me “get that poor thing off the limb before its hurts itself.” So this priest farmer, gets his ladder, but it’s too short. Mind you, Jeannette is having a wonderful time telling the kitty to hold on, “Father Matt will be right up.”  Of course, I climb up the ladder and starts pleading, “please come down Velvie.” Yes, we have personal names for all our wildlife.

 Now I know Jeanette is here because when I pulled the ladder away from the tree, Velvie gingerly starts her way down the tree. Good kitty, and finally she jumps off the last branch, while I’m trying to coax her down into a kitty crate to take her to the vet.

At that precise moment, I heard Jeanette whisper in my ear: “You’re so Sweet.”

How Unlikely Is Your Love?

The best part of Superbowl are the commercials. We taped the game for the commercials and selected our favorite ads. The Doritos commercial featured a horse who shook his head in a gesture that said “no way” when the cowboy turned to him about doing a dance.

Our other winner was a Jeep commercial that featured the comedian Bill Murray running around with his ground hound. At the end of the commercial, Bill speaks to the ground hound and says: “I forget where I parked the car because I was following you.”

Having a sense of humor might be the secret in putting people back in the pews. It contagious that people will come back for the laughter and hear stories about Jesus’ compassionate love. 

For Christmas, I was given a book called “Unlikely Loves”, a collection of stories of animals who crossed the lines between species, to create bonds of love and friendship.

A Great Dane in Canada found an orphaned baby fawn near the house, and took charge of raising it till it was old enough to go back to the forest – but the grown deer came back for tender reunions every now and then.

A homeless dog in Florida found its way to a farm that rehabilitated abused horses, and took one particularly ill and beaten horse into its heart.  Together, they dug a hole under the fence that separated them, so the dog could lie near the horse and guard it, a relationship that lasted till the horse died, and then the dog accompanied the horse to its grave.

Jesus taught not to reject, insult, treat angrily, or murder one other, seems to fly in the face of reality, until we look at our animal examples of the behavior he is calling for, behavior which took place in situations where the humans would not have expected it, encouraged it, or objected to animal aloofness. 

Sadly, common is the hush with which people speak of a divorce, afraid if it were known in the congregation they would endure snubs, frosty looks, suspicion.  Once, before church, a person spouted off about ‘the trouble with the world today is divorce!’  I remember a long-divorced single mom of two, wilting in pain.  I spoke up, “Sometimes a divorce is the best thing to do – and some single moms are doing a fine job with their kids.” 

Divorce, in Jesus’ day, was different in that women had no ability to own homes or earn money, nor could they inherit any. Jesus, chastising men for divorce in the Sermon on the Mount, gave the first cup of eternal life to a woman who had had five husbands.  And Jesus, in his day, stood protectively within the stoning circle with an adulteress.

Who are we to withhold blessing for love avowed, and who are we to refuse the confession of those whose love has died?

Valentine’s Day brings these questions:
Who do you love?
Who will you let interrupt your life with their needs?
Who will you defend, in grave danger?
How unlikely is your love?

So God Made a Rectory Housekeeper

And on the 9th day, God looked down on his planned paradise in North Java and said, “The pastor needs a caretaker”. So God made a rectory housekeeper. 

God said, “I need somebody willing to get up before dawn and put the coffee on in the rectory, then come over to church to say their morning prayers and return to the rectory and make breakfast for the pastor, work all day, plan meals, make the beds, clean the rooms, answer the door, shop for healthy food and the pastor’s favorite snacks. Then wash the laundry, have dinner ready when father returned from his communion calls, and then go to the lady’s church meeting to plan the next fund drive to make baked goods for the school and leave on the kitchen table a bedtime snack after father returned from another late night parish meeting. So God made a rectory housekeeper.

I need somebody with arms strong enough to keep up with the pastor yet gentle enough to cuddle their newborn baby from her home. Somebody to run for parts for the custodian, help in the fields, move trucks, deliver meals, look the pastor in the eyes and tell him ‘The people love you for all your kindness and the community you built – and mean it”. So God made a rectory housekeeper.

God said, “I need somebody willing to sit up all night with their newborn baby. And raise her right. I need somebody who can use a wrench and know where to find it, doesn’t mind getting dirty, who can remove stains, and keep a house clean. 

God had to have somebody willing to make appointments and change plans and be ready in a minute’s notice and yet would never stop and complain about this way of life. So God made a rectory housekeeper.

God said, “I need somebody strong enough to clean windows, vacuum the rooms, scrub the potties, empty the trash then come over to church to dust the statues and pews and clean linens for Sunday services, and then make more baked goods for the next parish fund drive and pack bags of food for the poor, yet gentle enough to raise kids and bottle feed the newborn kittens and tend to the house, who will drive the car to doctor appointments and pray to God about the weather. It had to be somebody who’d be able to handle her own house and church work and not cut corners. Somebody to seed, weed, feed, breed and wash and dry, cook and clean and remember scheduled events and feed the pastor and stock the cupboards and finish a hard week’s work with a pray on Sunday for her family, her kids and all the people she welcomed in the rectory in gratitude for all the gifts she had received from the Lord.

Somebody who’d held her family together with the soft strong bonds of sharing, a strong faith and love for God, and all her neighbors in North Java, who would laugh and then sigh, and then reply, with smiling eyes, when her kids say they want to spend their life “being kind and generous to all because that’s what a mom does.” So God made a rectory housekeeper.

Sacrifice as a Gift

 

What do we mean when we say that we made a sacrifice? 

Before he died, Walter, my spiritual mentor, wanted to give me a gift. He had three bronze horses that he had purchased years ago and he knew that I loved to ride and care for these creatures. I suggested that perhaps he would prefer to give them to a favorite student or a family member, but he insisted they would have a good home in my care. 

Sacrifice is an old fashion word we rarely hear much from the altar. Yet, it goes on in everyday life. Mom gets her children ready for school that’s a sacrifice. She rides them to their music lessons after school, that’s a sacrifice, she feeds and nurses them when they are sick, that’s a sacrifice. Oh yes, and dad works 80 hours a week, that’s a huge sacrifice. 

To properly receive anything, including life itself, requires that we recognize it precisely as gift, as something undeserved. A gift, by definition, is something that is not deserved but given freely. 

What is our first impulse when we are given a gift? Our instinctual response is: “I can't take this! I don't deserve this!” To Walt I begged, please give your bronze horses to someone else. In essence, that gesture, that healthy instinctual response, is an attempt to give the gift back to its giver. But, of course, the giver refuses to take the gift back and re-gives it to us with the assurance: “But I want you to have this!” When we receive it the second time, it is now more properly ours because, by trying to give it back, we recognized that it was a gift, unmerited, undeserved.

That is the essence of sacrifice: to properly receive anything, including life itself, requires that we recognize it precisely as gift, as something undeserved. And to do that requires sacrifice, a willingness to give some or the entire gift back to its giver.

We see this in the ritual of ancient sacrifice. For example: a farmer would harvest a crop. But, before he or his family would eat a even mouthful of it, he would take some of it (the “first-fruits”) and offer it back to God in the form of a sacrifice, usually by burning it so that that the smoke rising up to the heavens would take some of the crop back to God whom the farmer saw as the real giver of that crop. After sacrificing some of it in this way, the farmer and his family could now enjoy the rest of it without guilt because, by trying to give it back to its author, they made themselves more aware that it was gift. They can now enjoy it without guilt precisely because, through sacrifice, they have acknowledged it as gift.

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends who daily sacrifice their time and energy taking care of their parents, children and neighbors who need their careful attention. Yes, it is a major sacrifice and it can be exhausting. So now, grab a cup of tea and take a break and thank God for the gifts you have to help make someone's life more comfortable, safe and joyful with your help. You are the best of God’s creation.

Jesus Gets in Line With Sinners

On January 17, 2017, while driving home from work, I received a text from Steve, our volunteer custodian, that the rectory had experienced severe water damage. He had trouble getting into the front door, and when he entered, he was shocked to see all the ceiling tiles were floating on the floor. Every room in the house was a foot deep in water including the basement.

In times of darkness, it is easy to despair and throw up our hands towards heaven and scream, “why me, Lord.” This is why it is so important to be reminded that even in times of darkness there is light and that we need to look for it.

I contacted the bishop and shared the news that the rectory has suffered severe damage. He was most sympathetic and shared that the community was responsible to work together to find the best solution for repairs. There were no special funds for this kind of disaster, no experts in the PNCC to help and we could not count on Rome or Scranton to bail us out.

What happened next was a “God moment.” Corey, Harry, Karen, Tina, Brandon and Larry and members of our parish committee immediately contacted the insurance company to begin the restoration process. No one panic, rather, each person rolled up their sleeves to mop the floors, contact the insurance, deigned new plans, tear down the walls, install the furnace, rewire the walls, paint the walls, lay the floors, and do whatever it took for the next three years to give this home a new purpose, a comfort home for the dying. From the darkness of despair came the light of generosity and compassion.

Every one of us has something that we are fighting or facing – whether it’s broken water pipes, or something else that can feel equally as devastating: a loss, a setback, a failure. Whenever we’re in the midst of those dark nights, when we feel completely alone, or overwhelmed… When we think no one understands or cares.

...someone reaches out to you after you’ve experienced a loss;

an unexpected friend stops by to see how you’re doing when you’ve been ill and laid up;

...volunteers from this parish and the community step up to the plate to tear down and rebuild, raise funds, and volunteer to work with residents.

This is Our Lord’s spirit alive and thriving in a community that can change many lives. It is Jesus saying: you’re not alone, you’re noticed, you’re cared for, you matter, and never forget that. You are my daughter and son.

When Jesus came to the river Jordan to be baptized by his cousin John it was not for the forgiveness of his sins. Folks were going out to John the Baptist for his baptism of repentance because they knew how messed up the world was, how messed up their lives were. They knew they themselves had not been “without sin”- doing things they shouldn’t have – not doing things they should.   

Jesus gets in line with the sinners. He enters the waters of repentance that He doesn’t need – but, he wants to be near to meet us in our brokenness, in our guilt and shame. He’s right here with you now in your lowliness. In other words, Jesus is saying: you’re not alone, you’re noticed, you’re cared for, you matter. 

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends who are experiencing some darkness, poor health, poor decisions and embrace the thought that at this moment the light is shining a path in which you hear the Our Lord’s voice, as He looks at each one of you, saying “This is my beloved daughter, This is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased.”

Messes in Our Church

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I was invited by the plant manager after a presentation to 150 employees to stay for lunch. I’m in line and an employee standing next to me shares that his daughter is in high school and wants to go into medicine. She wants to be a doctor. I gave him information where he might want to start his search for subsidies to pay for her college tuition. When I suggest that he needs a second job, like “Uber” to pay her college bills, he shared that his mother lives at home with him and she has kidney disease and needs constant medical care. When he is working, his sister comes and takes care of their mother. I suggest that she might qualify for home care and that this would give him time to earn extra money.

He shared that three years ago he moved up from South Carolina to Buffalo with his girlfriend. She was diagnosed with cancer and they sought help at Roswell Cancer Center. Sadly, she died two years ago. I put my arm on his shoulder and told him that he has been through hell these past three years so where does he get support. He says that he just keeps plodding along with the messes in his life.

Mary and Joseph, were no strangers to messes in life. Besides delivering a newborn away from their home and relatives, now they are literally running for their lives and getting out of town to a foreign country to escape the evil intentions of a jealous and evil ruler.

This morning I had a very strange dream. I imagined a “manure truck” dumping manure on the front steps of our church. I thought that was outrageous and nasty. But then I recalled that during this past week manure trucks were out in the fields dumping their loads getting the fields ready for next season’s planting.

What does all this mean for us?

The messes that families find themselves in is no fairy tale, children’s story, or crazy dream, rather life is serious business.  Not solemn, but definitely serious.  Scripture reflects this seriousness. There is both good and bad around us and in us, in each of us.  People are born and die; some soon after birth, others as children, some as young adults or in middle age, later – some die naturally and others quite unexpectedly or cruelly or badly.

The good news is that God has not abandoned God’s families to their fate. God has not created this mess and then left us to our own devices.  The story of the Holy Family tells us that God surveyed the mess we made of God’s good creation and acted to be with us and to care for us and to lead us in changing the bad fix that humanity is in.

Family messes can produce a harvest of compassion and generosity that can make our faith community grow now and for future generations. Yes, the church has made a big mess, and many people have chosen to stay away from our churches because they have lost respect for the shepherds who failed to protect our children. So like Joseph we get this crazy dream to move away and stay away from the church so that no one gets hurt, so Jesus and our children remain safe from predators, But remember, the angels came back to Joseph in Egypt and in this dream, he is told to get back home. This time not to Bethlehem but to Nazareth. Interesting in Scripture it was foretold that the root of salvation would come from Nazareth.

The good news for us today is that the Messiah came in the person of Jesus, to begin what has been a long and arduous and sometimes seemingly never-ending rescue operation to pull us and all humanity back from the brink of our own annihilation.

So that’s why we need to email, chat, twitter, Facebook, call or meet face to face with folks in your home, relatives and neighbors and invite them to come back to church. Yes, we need to admit frankly that the church, and we are the church, have made a mess of things, but like good farmers we go back into the fields to spread the manure that will make the soil fertile to plant the seed and produce good fruit again. Like good farmers, the word that we need to spread is “Good News” that the Lord’s Jesus thrives in North Java at Holy Family Church.

In the front of our bulletin it says: 

“Whether you are a lifelong Catholic, a member of a different faith, or new to exploring your spirituality, you will find a home at Holy Family. We come together each week to worship and pray, and to celebrate life as we prepare ourselves for the week ahead. We have great music, sermons, and hospitality to lift our spirits and inspire us for the work and relationships we have. Our outreach to the community gives us all a chance to grow and make a difference in the world. We welcome and love one another as God loves us, with open doors, open minds and open hearts.”

The most important, question for us on the feast day of Holy Family is this: “Are we ready to join the Messiah is this work?”

When the Cravings Die?

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For Christmas, I received a basket with wine and chocolates. The wines were very good, but it was chocolate that I was craving. Each morsel was filled with cappuccino and that is my downfall. I love cappuccino. Think of some of your cravings that make you smile. 

Let me share a story about cravings that come from one of best-loved piece of poetry in the world, the 23rd Psalm. Of course, lots of people only hear it read at funerals. 

Now there's a lot more to this psalm than just a funeral ditty, because the 23rd Psalm is about life, and it shows how the Good Shepherd leads us through all the stages of life's journey. 

The first stage is the “green pastures” of childlike faith. The Lord is my shepherd, and I have everything I need. Green pasture means food and comfort. Still waters mean every thirst is quenched. Restored soul means good health: physical health, mental health, spiritual health. This is what we want our children to believe. This is what we teach them. Little prayers for mealtime: "Come, Lord Jesus, be our guest...." Little prayers for bedtime: "Now I lay me down to sleep...." The green pasture of childlike faith, where a child learns that when things go well it is because God is there! So far, so good. 

BUT, we all know that childlike faith cannot last. Every one of us, at some time, has to pass through the shadowy valley of adult anxiety. That childish faith no longer satisfies, and we ask, "Where is God when it hurts?" "Why doesn't God answer my prayer, when I need help so badly?" The shadowy valley of adult anxiety. 

Each of us has to leave the green pasture and walk the valley of shadow. But we don't have to walk it alone. God wants to walk it with us. The shepherd who protects us with a swinging rod. The shepherd with His guiding staff. The shepherd of comfort with a hand to hold. 

If the great truth of childlike faith is that good things happen because God is there, the great discovery of adult faith is that even when things go wrong, God is still there! 

And the image of the psalm changes from shepherd and sheep to a great banquet. Mature faith discovers that God is the surprising host who overwhelms us with grace. 

At the end of our journey, we discover ourselves the guests of honor at a great banquet. We can ask, what have I done to deserve this joy? But there isn't any answer to that question. The joy comes not from what we've done but from what our host is doing. 

I like this part of the psalm the best. Dwelling in the house of the Lord forever means a never-ending buffet, the mother of all potluck dinners, an all-you-can eat gourmet banquet. Chocolate filled with cappuccino and chocolate chip cookies without guilt. And not a lima bean in sight.

Childhood faith discovers that every good thing comes from God. Our adult anxieties are calmed when we discover that God is there even in the dark valleys. And as we near the end of our journey, we realize that all along it has been a love feast, a banquet in our honor, pure undeserved joy.

But anyone who has sat at the banquet table of God is outgrowing those cravings that make us doubt this love. What earthly chocolate chip cookie can compete with the food offered at the altar?  

How do you recognize the Good Shepherd's voice? When the cravings die away. When our need to be impatient, rude or unforgiving dissolves.The Lord is my shepherd, there isn't anything else I want! 

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends that they hear the voice of God calling them to this banquet. Help us with our anxieties. Listen! Do you hear a voice? I think we're being invited to the banquet.

From Darkness into Hope

I am debriefing a group of dedicated teachers who are struggling with the death of a student. This student teen had a complicated medical history and sadly surgery and treatment did not bring him back to their classroom. These passionate educators were disgusted and angry that the medical community had failed to bring their precious young person back into their care.

What is clear is that all of us have dark moments in our lives, times when we feel disappointment with God or even anger at him.

No doubt, we have times when we are challenged by struggles in our lives, when circumstances end up overturning our plans and perhaps even riding roughshod over our dreams.

Perhaps a conflict with someone has created an impenetrable wall between you and that person and you have no idea how to restore the relationship. Perhaps shame or guilt is crippling you or someone you love and the offer of grace seems no more real than a mirage. Perhaps simple loneliness is the ghost that haunts your days.

Perhaps illness stalks you or a loved one and effective treatments are elusive or nonexistent. Or perhaps death has brought an end to their suffering, but deepened your own.

In all those circumstances and many more, we may feel disappointed by a Savior who didn’t live up to our expectations. Admit it, you want Jesus to come and you want Him to come right now. You want clear helpful answers to your questions. You want to be relieved of the burden of waking up every day without knowing what you’re supposed to be doing next. You want to put your hand under the pillow and find the answer there like a quarter from the tooth fairy, but morning after morning all you feel is the empty sheet.

 

Deep down, we secretly hope that if we believe in Jesus, he will use his awe-inspiring, cosmos-shaping powers to make our lives easier. But instead, He calls for us to embrace the bitterness of life and live it more deeply. And instead of easing our suffering, He chose to walk through it with us and teach us how to transform our pain into gateways to healing for ourselves and others.

And so, in answer to the question how do we cope with dark moments that make no sense like, we have to say, He’s the one who opens our eyes and brings us sight when we’re blinded by suspicion, hatred, prejudice or greed.

Jesus is the one who lifts our feet to walk in service to others, to share from our wealth, to reach out in compassion.

Jesus is the one who frees us from our prisons of loneliness, grief and fear.

Jesus is the one who brings good news into our lives even when we doubt God’s presence in our lives. 

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends this Christmas that as we look upon that baby born in the manger, we recognize that He is the Lord God incarnate, the hope of the world, the one who calls us friend, and as you gaze at the babe in the manager, remember He comes to bring us strength, courage and peace in our dark moments. Blessed Christmas, my friends.