Ask for Eyes as God Sees Us

  

For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected when received with thanksgiving. -- 1 Timothy 4:4 

 

I am still bathing in the experience of celebrating the birth of a new Catholic parish called Divine Mercy in Las Vegas. The faith and enthusiasm of the people and their love for God are an inspiration. Yet, I was sad to learn that some people stay away from receiving Our Lord in Holy Communion because they think they are not worthy.

 

Let me help you with that kind of thinking by saying it is simply not true. Why do I say that because my experience of God is that He is a God of love. It is impossible for God, whose essence is love, to create anything that is not good.

 

Sometimes, our own labels of "good" and "bad" get in the way of our ability to see the goodness of God in its fullness. Paul challenges Timothy, and us, to renegotiate our categories and to simply receive all that God creates with thanksgiving. We believe that God created us and loved us into being.

 

How many times have we heard phrases such as “We are created in God’s image and likeness” or “God doesn’t make junk”? I cannot count the number of times I heard these words! Why then, is this basic principle of our creation so hard to understand about ourselves and about other people?

 

Why is it so hard for us to believe that God is still part of our ongoing creation, that God is awakening goodness in us, that God is calling goodness out of us, and that God is birthing goodness into the world through us?

 

Regretfully, we priests are guilty because we have preached from the pulpit that we are not perfect and therefore sinful and not worthy to come to the altar to receive the God of life. We preach the need for confession and trust in the mercy of God. Forgive us Lord for being so brutal that people stay away from this beautiful sacrament in which you simply want to give us a hug that says “I love you—for you are the best of My creation.”

 

Perhaps, it's life’s events, which at times bring anger, worry, sadness, or tiredness into our hearts, and block our ability to understand that all that God created is good and that includes ourselves. Sometimes, it might be our own sinful choices that block our ability to see our own goodness or the goodness in others. God grant us the serenity to have the courage to accept our weaknesses and yet, come to the communion rail knowing you want to bathe us again in your love.

 

How can we combat our ability to not see God’s goodness at work in ourselves?

 

We can ask for eyes to see as God does, and we can daily review our day, offering prayers of thanksgiving for the gifts of our lives. This simple practice of offering God thanks every day for the gifts of our lives fosters awareness of God’s abundant goodness in all that God creates.

 

For what did I give thanks on Thanksgiving Day.  today. At the top of the list, Divine Mercy where I witnessed lots of smiling faces filled with love of family and love for one another, plus an off key enthusiastic pastor who inspires his people with lots of “Polish smiles.”

 

Next time you come to church, don’t hesitate when Fr. Adam invites you to receive Holy Communion. Come, see and taste the goodness of the Lord, for He sees the good in all of us.

 

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends, and new Friends at Divine Mercy that they come to your altar and receive your scared Body and Blood for you want them to be close to you always. Open our eyes to see that all you create is good.

 

THE DAWN OF A NEW FAITH COMMUNITY

 

Just returned from a “God moment” where Bishop John and myself had the humble privilege of dedicating Fr. Adam’s Divine Mercy Catholic Parish in Las Vegas. Over 400 families from many ethnic groups that include Anglo, Czech, Polish, Italian, Filipino, Japanese, Hawaiian, Chinese came to celebrate and give honor to Jesus and his mother Mary.

 

To express my gratitude to God, I had the opportunity to photograph the sunrise and valleys in this beautiful southwest. I added some inspiration for your prayerful reflection. Kindly, remember Divine Mercy at your Thanksgiving table for they have suffered abuse by their local clergy. This community is a blessing because this is a sacred home where you will find the heart of Jesus. To Fr. Adam, Cleric Dan, Caryn and all your generous volunteers, May the Mother of God protect you and keep you safe. fr. matt

 

FYI, I have two websites that you might want to forward to your Facebook Friends.

Father Matt’s Photography: : http://fathermatt.picfair.com/

Father’s Matt Sonshine reflections: http://fathermatt.blogspot.com/

 

THE DAWN OF A NEW FAITH COMMUNITY

 

 

 FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST’S LOVE FOR ALL PEOPLE

 

 

IN THIS VALLEY, HEARTS SOAR WITH PRAISE TO GOD WHO HAS BROUGHT US TOGETHER

 

 

 OUR FAITH WILL SPREAD THROUGHOUT THE LAND THAT ALL ARE WELCOME TO FIND THE LORD AT DIVINE MERCY

 

 

WE ARE A PEOPLE WITH ONE PURPOSE, TO BRING JESUS HEALING LOVE TO ALL WHO HAVE BEEN PRICKED IN LIFE.

 

 

WE ARE WILLING TO SACRIFICE AND BRING HOPE TO THOSE WHO ARE LOST AND AFRAID.

 

 

WITH JESUS OUR LIGHT LEADING OUR WAY, MAY ALL OUR HEARTS AT DIVINE MERCY BRING JOY AND PEACE TO ALL TO JOIN US IN PRAYER

 

 

THE PEOPLE WHO SAT IN DARKNESS HAVE SEEN A GREAT LIGHT, AND FOR THOSE WHO HAVE SAT IN THE SHADOW OF DEATH, A LIGHT HAS DAWN.

 

 

What is Hope?

 

Nothing like hearing Jesus predicting “the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, stars will be falling from the sky, powers in the heavens will be shaken” when we’re coming to Mass.  Over the centuries, this has been used to inspire fear.  It was (still is) the basis for doomsday preachers who would utilize this text with the ending of it saying that the “day or hour” all of this will finally occur “no one knows…” except God “the Father.”  The point was get right with Jesus before the end times – or else.  

 

I think that for many of us though, we treat these scriptures as something we just have to “get through.”  They don’t seem to resonate.  We hear these predictions which seem so distant and removed.  They haven’t happened yet and in some ways they kind of pale in comparison to so much of what we see going on around us.  We see wildfires raging, tempers and anxieties and tensions and atrocities too numerous to list in the news.  We know of the brokenness in the world, as much as the brokenness in our own lives.

 

And I’m sure that all of us have our own stories of things that anger, upset, unsettle, depress, frighten or fear us.  So much so that we probably couldn’t notice stars falling or whether the sun or moon were out at all.  We come to Mass not to feel worse about things.  Where is the Hope? Maybe the better question is what is Hope?

           

My mentors in life are folks in there 80’s. Why, because they have had many experiences of dark nights. One wisdom senior told me: “I’ve learned the big difference between optimism and hope. Optimism is ‘Annie’ (you know, the annoying kid from the musical with the curly red hair) belting out, ‘The sun’ll come out tomorrow! Bet yer bottom dollar there’ll be sun.’ My old mentor would say: “Good luck, kid. The forecast says snow for the rest of the week.”

 

He continued though – Hope’s different. Hope says, ‘Okay, so it’s gonna snow. We’ll get the job done anyway.’ Hope says, ‘It’s the last inning, and we’re down by three, but let’s go out swinging!’ Unlike optimism, hope knows that quite often nice guys do finish last, but that it’s a helluva lot better to be a nice guy than to be first.”

 

Jesus is our Hope.  In following Him, the one who has endured loneliness, abandonment; the one who was rejected and betrayed; the one who was tortured and killed – In following the one who knows personally every physical, emotional, pain as he experienced life and death on the Cross and then conquers the grave in being risen from the dead, Jesus is our Hope. 

 

So this Gospel story isn’t about inspiring us to obey him out of fear.  Nor is it about patiently enduring suffering and pain knowing that one day things will really get bad (you think these are the end times, wait).  Jesus is reminding us as we endure things that may feel like, may look like the end times – of what is most important.  What is most important is our souls.  That our souls are fixed on the things that are eternal.  That we don’t allow the tribulations, the trials, the struggles to deflect us from those eternal things. 

 

Jesus invites us to let go of the anger, the cynicism, the disillusionment – and when we do , we see the reality that thousands of people every day are moved to be compassionate to people they had never met.  Something resonates in the hearts of strangers to be generous – to be selfless.  They choose Hope.

 

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends who have endured dark times during these past two years. Let our hope be You alone, for You are the love that brings compassion to hurting hearts and the promise of eternal life.

 

How Generous Are You?

 

I had spent the day working with a group of customer service staff, the manager had driven from Charleston, South Carolina to fill in for three months while new staff could be trained. This was the busiest store in the city and these “baristas” were bouncing from counter to counter filling cups of coffee into exotic blends for morning commuters and people in need of their caffeine fix.

 

 

However, at the end of my 12-hour shift listening to their concerns and connecting people with helpful resources, I got into my car to drive home, turned the ignition and heard only a clicking sound. The engine would not start, a dead battery. Yes, I have AAA, but I decided to go back to the store and ask: “does anyone have jumper cables to charge a dead battery?”  Henry, a University of Buffalo student, smiled and said “let me check.” Outside in the dark and cold, he checks his truck and “voila” out comes the cables and he is connecting the cables to positive and negative, I turn the ignition key and “Yes, God there are guardian angels” the engine starts with no problem. That’s generosity and much appreciated by this shepherd.

 

 

There’s another story when, "Jesus sat down opposite the Treasury and watched the multitude putting money into the Treasury." He says, "Many rich people put in large sums and a poor widow came and put in two copper coins which make a penny." Then what happens? It says, "And he called his disciples to him." Check out this widow. Truly, I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all those together who had contributed to the Treasury," and then the lesson, "For they contributed out of their abundance. But she, out of her poverty, has put in everything she had her whole living."

 

 

I think most of us like to be generous. I like to think when I offered Henry some money for his help that was being generous. But the reality is I can be very generous and it absolutely does not impact my lifestyle at all. And I suspect that's true for many of us. We can be very generous and it doesn't impact our lifestyle, and that's what we're seeing here in this reading. We're seeing a woman, widow, doesn't say how old, but what is a widow? A widow is socially vulnerable, she's financially vulnerable. She's vulnerable. There's a great trust that God will provide. 

 

 

I think how I was in a jam, dead, battery, in a strange city, far from home and in need of a jump start and Henry came to my rescue. How generous are we? How generous do we think we are? How generous are we actually? And how do we close the gap and go beyond the gap and live lives of staggering generosity?

 

 

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends that we are often invited to show generosity in many forms. Yes, financially to give to a cause, but another form of generosity is sharing our time, or simply listening to someone fears and concerns and yes, maybe helping someone carry a heavy load. And when we give like that widow may we have the same trust that God will provide.

 

 

 

 

Be Generous

 

 

A young man was searching for a vocation in life and thought about the priesthood. He went to talk to an old parish priest who was loved by his community for his spiritual life. Our young person asked father: “How does a person know if they want to serve God?”  The old friar looked into his eyes and with a loving, tender gaze said: “Are you generous?”

 

This shepherd when given a gift by a parishioner would give it away. If someone dropped off some food at the rectory, he would take it to the shelter. Someone donates some money to be used for a good cause, he would immediately give it to a family struggling to pay their bills.

 

Sometimes generosity not only comes with a check, but with how we spend time with one another. During this pandemic, people are under more stress than ever, from working extra hours to make up for shortages, to making the decision to be vaccinated to keep their neighbor and themselves safe. However, when we have a moment for ourselves, what would be helpful is an empathic ear, someone who knows “how to listen.”

 

This mentor, our best friend, a sister or brother, a buddy is where to whom we pour out our soul, our worries, our fears, the past bumps and bruises that we keep inside until we are ready to explode, or back down on our knees sobbing in tears with all the pain.

 

At that moment, I want you to listen to what God is saying to you. “The Father Loves You. The Father Loves You. The Father Loves You. Be Safe. All Will Be Well.” Then imagine God Our Father holding you in His Arms and saying: “Daddy Loves You.”

 

I listen everyday to the pain of others whose best friend committed suicide and they couldn’t convince their buddy not to go through this. The pain of parents whose young adult child overdosed from drugs. The pain of trying to juggle crazy work schedules, parenting kids and keeping our homes and spouses in check.

 

Exhausted from all the tension of the past two years, no time for church or prayer, let me suggest a simple prayer that takes a few second and listen to His Words: “The Father Loves You… The Father Loves You… The Father Loves You... Be Safe. All Will Be Well.” Then imagine God Our Father holding you in His Arms and saying: “Daddy Loves You.”

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends that they know this “shepherd” loves them all very much. God is listening and knows all your creaks and rattles and at this very moment close your eyes and imagine this. Our Heavenly Father is holding you in His arms and saying very tenderly: “Daddy Loves You…Daddy Loves You…Daddy Loves You…Be safe…All will be well.”

 

 

 

 

 

What Would You Ask For?

 

Jesus is walking down the road and the blind man, Bartimaeus, starts calling out to him. He says, "Jesus, Son of God, have mercy on me." And the people say, "Oh, be quiet." But, he doesn’t pay attention to these naysayers and he just cries out more, "Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me." The people keep telling him to be quiet. Finally, Jesus stops, and He walks over to the blind man, and He says to him, "What do you want me to do for you?” And Bartimaeus says, "Lord open my eyes so that I may see." 

 

 

Think about his answer. When is the last time you came to God and begged God to do something for you that you desperately needed? Most likely during the pandemic, you asked for God’s help more than once. However, sometimes we don't do it? Why, because we're proud. We're arrogant. We're not like Bartimaeus. He is humble. He's not confused about the fact that Jesus can fix his problem. There's no doubt about that whatsoever.

 

 

We talk about faith. We talk about trust. This guy, he had it. He had absolute faith that if he could get to Jesus, Jesus could get the job done. If Jesus showed up in your life today and just got in your face and said, "What do you want me to do for you?" What would you ask him for? 

 

One of the mistakes we make when we read the Bible is that we think of these people as other. We think, "Oh, it must be hard to be blind," when the reality is that we know what it's like to be blind because we all have a spiritual blindness. What is your blindness? What are your blind spots in relationships? What are your blind spots when you're judging other people? What is your spiritual blindness? 

 

 

At a recent funeral luncheon, a family member complimented the service for his brother. He said that he had not been in church for awhile. I simply asked, why not? He answered; “father, honestly, I don’t know.”

 

 

What is your blind spot about not coming to church anymore? Is it fear of getting Covid, or scandals in the church, or neighbors you judge as hypocrites., or hanging onto a few unhealthy habits. In what way are you like Bartimaeus?

 

 

So Bartimaeus is this blind man and everyone tells him to shut up. Be quiet. Leave Jesus alone. But he persists. Do you have that persistence? Sure, we come to God, and we say, "Hey, God, we need this," or cry out to God for this or that, but do we have the persistence to keep coming back and saying, "Help me. Help me figure out why I am so depressed or burnt out. 

 

 

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends that You open our eyes so that we may see the goodness of all people. Help us to let go and drop our prejudice that comes from pride. Give us the grace to open our hearts and welcome all into our community with your love and kindness.

 

Leadership with Jesus

 

It seems obvious, but Jesus knew how to build a team, didn't he? He knew it was going to take a movement to birth the Church and change the world. And that's just what Jesus did. He built a team and he gives us some great leadership lessons here. Let me just point out three. First, great leaders inspire action when they provide a clear common goal. It takes a team. You see it all the time. When I think about my former parish at Holy Family, I had Mary, Marie, and Mary who are the sanctuary floral designers, Cheryl an organist, Chris on bass guitar, Jasmine, Liz, Carol, Sue and Jerry in the choir, Ron bell ringer, Fr. Corey the parish administrator, Fr. Don the webmaster, Rene the caterer, Steve the jack of all trades, Harry the vendor procurer, Rory the council chairperson, Sandy and Tina in finance, Tom and Julie video, our faithful seniors, couples and mom and dads with their kids. 70 people all together with one goal, a marvelous Lord’s Supper experience. For Jesus, the first team he built, he chose just these 12 men, common, uneducated, and ordinary men, according to the Book of Acts. And he invested and he poured into them. They prayed together. They ate together. They traveled together. They learned from him and from each other. 

 

In the gospel, Jesus is sending them out, two by two, for on-the-job training, and he gives them a clear common goal. Here it is. Preach the gospel. He gives them authority. "You're not on your own here, guys. You have my blessing and power." If you're building a team and you want them to work together, a clear common goal. Second, Jesus teaches us that great leaders embrace servant leadership. Jesus emptied himself of his place in heaven to pursue God's plan for you and me. He gives us a critical insight into leadership. It's all about service. 

 

Lesson number three from Jesus. Great leadership is saturated in humility. In other words, it's not about me. When Jesus comes into the world, he tells us all things are possible with God. This movement is about God and it begins with these 12 ordinary guys, members of the team. It's not about them. It's all about God.

 

The key for leadership, the number one key, humility. It's not about the leader. It's about the team. It's all about we. It's not about me. Something even greater here. With Jesus, it's the team plus God. How much gets done when no one cares who gets the credit? They're just trying to reach a goal here. 

 

This weekend is very exciting because it’s about bringing people together to celebrate an important service to the community. 

 

On Friday night, Charlotte Comfort Home will host 300 people at a meat raffle to support the ministry of caring for the dying in Wyoming County. Harry and Donna will lead the volunteers in selling tickets, but more important inviting people to think about coming back to donate two hours a week to serve as volunteers at the Comfort Home. 

 

On Saturday, Holy Mother of the Rosary Cathedral in Lancaster will celebrate their 125^th anniversary as a Polish National Church. The Prime Bishop will dedicate the church and incarnate Fr. Nadeem to serve as rector of this faith community to preach the gospel and invite young families and their children to join this beautiful faith community.

 

On Sunday, Holy Family Parish in North Java will celebrate their Annual Spaghetti Dinner and basket raffle. Karen will coordinate basket and raffles,  Sandy and her kitchen crew of 12 will serve over 300 spaghetti dinners and folks from areas farms will come for their supper to share stories about the past two years in this pandemic.

 

I like to think that when someone might say, 'Where were you during this pandemic?' The voices of a 100,000 will ring out. 'We were deep in the earth tilling the soil with our hands on the tractor raising our crops.” 

 

With tears in their eyes and their resolves stiffened, the people in these parishes and ministry will return to their inglorious task because they know they are playing a role in a noble goal of preserving the love and comfort of God’s love. 

 

The goal is more important than the role. Those are the three things Jesus taught us, a clear common goal, servant leadership, saturated in humility. So, the disciples went out two by two, and they delivered the goods. They preached. They cast out demons. They anointed with oil and they healed the sick. And the results were a mighty and wonderful work. The mission succeeded, and then it grew into a movement that became the Church, the Church that's still here today. There's no other way to explain it. Jesus knew how to build a team. You want to do something great, you're going to need a team.

 

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends and leaders that they embrace the humility and spirit  of Our Lord to bring their team together that reflects the mighty works of our God.

 

The Basement is Flooded

 

 

“The basement is flooded.” Here are four words that bring terror to one’s mind. We just had a record rainfall of three inches of rain in less than an hour. I could see the water gushing out of the drain pipes earlier in the morning during the storm. The sump pump couldn’t handle it all at once.

 

Down I go for damage control. Lucky, we have our “stuff” resting on five-foot plastic shelving. The bottom shelf is about two inches off the concrete floor. While there is water on the floor we have nothing soaking in boxes except for a box that contains furnace filters. So, thank God for wet vacuums as I spend the next three hours soaking up the puddles after the sump pump does its job.

 

Most interesting is what’s placed on those basement shelves. We have my plastic floral collection, you see I enjoy decorating the house each season. Right now, all the pumpkins are scattered throughout the house, then comes the tool section with pliers and screwdrivers. Next, the kitty carriers, for you never know when you spot a stray and that needs to be taken to the shelter to find a new home. Moving on down the line, horse supplies equipment, heirloom china, science school supplies, picnic, garden, paints and in the middle shelving with assorted jams and jellies gifts from parishioners and friends and finally the Breyer Horse collection. Question, why do we hang onto all this stuff?

 

There’s this story about the rich young man from yesterday’s Gospel that is often misunderstood.  Some deliberately will use this as a launching-off point to blast wealth and conclude that money is the root of all evil and that if you want to go to heaven you’ll empty your accounts, give to the poor.  But that’s a gross misunderstanding of this and another way where we, who aren’t wealthy, can sort of exempt ourselves from doing some uncomfortable reflection.  Because wealth, money in itself is not evil.  And the rich young man isn’t evil either. 

 

He recognizes that something is missing.  He’s been following God’s law and the commandments – which anyone of us knows isn’t easy.  He hasn’t done that perfectly. But he knows what is right and what is wrong and when he has failed he repented and asked for God’s mercy. 

 

At some point this young man has seen and heard Jesus speak and act, he’s experienced something in his heart and soul that desires more. Jesus wants him to have it. But he can’t do it.  His wealth was the obstacle. He thought about how much he had wanted the things he had purchased, the wealth he had acquired.  He was remembering what it took to accumulate, the sacrifices that he made for it.  He couldn’t imagine life without it.  He saw the wealth he possessed as a sure thing and tragically – at least at this moment – put more faith and trust in that wealth than in the Lord, who was offering him a peace, a freedom, a joy greater than he had ever experienced.

 

He’s not asking this Rich Young Man to give up his wealth, rather that his wealth has become his god that he will not forsake or make compromises with regards to.

 

What is it for us?  What are the things that have taken up a more exalted position in our life than we ever realized?  What is the show or football game that you cannot even think of missing – but when it comes to Sunday Mass we’re way to casual about things “if something suddenly comes up?”  How many hours overtime are we willing to put into that job without even a second thought but we somehow dismiss waking up 15 minutes early to pray, or to say a Rosary?  How quickly do we blow $20 purchasing something on Amazon but when it comes to offering something for someone in need we become very budget-conscious? 

 

What is the thing (or things) we’re holding onto – that’s become a bit more important than it should be? Why do we have all this stuff in our basements, or attics or garages.

 

Hopefully something is clicking inside of you that says maybe it’s time to just let go. Not because it is something evil in itself – but it reminds us of some attitudes, behaviors, and feelings that we are embarrassed about.  Because Jesus knows us intimately.  He knows us inside and out.   He knows our strengths, our successes, our best moments.  He knows our sins, our failures, our weaknesses, our insecurities, our fears.  He not only knows us, He loves us – that He suffered and died on the cross for me.

 

Lord, I pray for all my Sunshine Friends, you know them. You know them inside and out the best and worst things about us and still You loves us – enough to suffer and die on the cross for you.  May that truth penetrate each of our hearts so that we can truly see who or what may be distracting, obscuring our making You the center of our lives.  May we respond to Your grace that will help loosen whatever it is that we’re gripping onto right now and just let go – so that we cling to

I Am Praying for You

 I’m sitting at my breakfast table, having my morning coffee and cereal and praying for you:

 

Rosalie Fafinski, Henry Fafinski ( our little boy having another heart surgery in Ohio), Steve Biklen  Val Richter, Veronica Faulkner, Mike Casale, Catherine Casale, Cheryl (our faithful hospicenurse in Florida who has to retire due to her poor heart),  Patti, Yvonne, Brad, Anne Marie, Bishop Mack, Fr. Adam, Fr. Nadeem, Rebecca Yaqoob, Joyce, Debby Ruszala, Nathalie & Louis Aillaud, Louis, Denny Meyer family, Dick Reisdorf (Dick went to heaven last week),  Kelli Cavanaugh, Sue Neary, all the children at Mary Cariola, and let’s add Timothy and anyone you forgot to forward prayers.

 

I’m preparing to drive to Rochester this Sunday morning to respond to a critical incident request at an urgent care facility where nurses experienced a traumatic death of a patient.

 

While briefly away with friends in the Adirondacks, I was asked it seemed that I am not retired. My humble response is that God has me launched on a new adventure. My purpose continues to minister to the needs of the poor and suffering. Know that as our paths have crossed in the past whether in a parish, hospital, school or workplace, your life and health are most important to me. I am only a text or cell phone call away, so never hesitate to call or text with an update about yourself, family or friends.

 

This morning’s Sunday Mass prayers will be at my breakfast table, but let me share one photo I took on Tuesday morning that reflects God’s love for you. May I suggest that you take one moment and imagine you are with God who is at your side to hold and embrace your tears and fears and allow him to bathe you in his love and comfort your weary soul.

 

 

 

Lord, I continue to pray for all my Sonshine Friends that you let them know not to be afraid. You come to each of us in our hour of need and to take away our tears and sorrows and pain. Fr. Matt (shepherd)

 

 

Children Are the Future

 

 

Let me share some history. I have served in eight parishes that had a Catholic school. Many times, the principal of the school would be asking me to celebrate a Children’s’ Mass on the First Friday of the month.

 

Each class would file into church with the kindergarten kids sitting in the front pew followed by all the other classes. I would get the kids attention by asking the students to say these words in a whisper: “Wake Up Spinach!”

 

What would happen next was magical. Out of a box would pop up a puppet that was given to me as a gift. A silly looking green creature, who you might think was related to Kermit the Frog. However, together Spinach and I would tell our stories about Jesus. Our kindergarten kids were memorized and even the seventh and eighth graders in the back pews were curious. 

 

Children need our help to learn that there is a God who loves them. How in the world can we expect them to grow up as strong people of faith in this morally confused, spiritually warped culture without the help of caring adults?

Notice when God became flesh, he came as a baby. He came as a child. He could have stepped out of the heavens in some big, bold spark-flying way, coming down the ladder with the keys to heaven. But Jesus came as a baby. And grown-up Jesus had a deep passion for kids. I mean, think about it, when he needed to feed 5000 people, who helped him out? The little boy with the picnic lunch with some bread and fish. When Jesus was in the middle of something, what quickly altered his schedule? A sick child or a child that folks thought had even died. Jesus stopped and he took care of children first.

 

Jesus teaches how valuable each child is. People bring children to Jesus, hoping he'll touch them. The disciples rebuke them and say, "Jesus is busy with the adults. He's got more important things to do." And Jesus says, "Whoa, whoa. If you want to be great, welcome a child.

 

Jesus even gives the kingdom of God to children. He says, "Let the little children come to me. The Kingdom of God belongs to them."

 

Children are special to Jesus. Maybe because we have so much to learn from them. Maybe because children speak the truth. The first graders were
discussing a picture of a family. One little boy in the picture had a different hair color than the other members. One of her students suggested that he was adopted. A little girl said, 'I know all about adoption, I was adopted.' 'What does it mean to be adopted?', asked another child. 'It means', said the girl, 'that you grew in your mommy's heart instead of her tummy!'

 

It just may be that the kingdom belongs to kids because they understand God better than we adults do. And Jesus blesses children. He takes the children in his arms. He lays his hands on them, and He blesses them. In fact, the only time in scripture that Jesus blesses someone is children. He wants what's best for each child right from the start. He wants them to have a solid foundation, not to have to wait till they're adults to try to figure things out.

 

Kids aren't an inconvenience. They deserve more than leftovers from their parents, from the church, and from the world. Consider the basic facts of how you and I develop as human beings. We're made in the image of God. Your moral and spiritual development begins at age 2. You begin learning right from wrong at age 2, and then you progress rapidly from there. By age 9, your moral foundation is set. By age 12, your spiritual identity is largely set. What you believe about God, largely in place.

 

In other words, at 12, the greatest predictor for who you will be, morally and spiritually as an adult, is set. What you create early on in the life of a child is the greatest determiner for how that child will behave as an adult. If you want to help shape the church and the world, the best thing you can do, the most important thing you can do is provide deep, robust spiritual experiences for children ages two through 12.

 

Let me suggest something based on my experience in the classroom teaching our kids about Jesus with the help of my friend Spinach. Introduce your children, your grandchildren, your neighborhood kids to Jesus. Shape, their values when they're young and you will change the world. If you don't do that, the odds are that we will spend the rest of our days doing repair work and damage control.

 

Let’s say you are Uncle Steve or Aunt Marie, Grandpa Ted or Grandma Rosalie and the kids have parents who refer to themselves as secular Catholics. They don't go to church. They have no relationship with the church. And they're not doing anything intentional to shape the spiritual life of their son or daughter. So, you simply take the kids to mass and spend part of your day to build a relationship with them. The real benefit will be the relationship that grows over time between you and this child, who discovers over time that you care and love them enough to inconvenience yourself, spending time in the car laughing with them, talking to them, listening to them, perhaps talking about God at MacDonald’s so that slowly you help build that foundation closer to Jesus.

 

In a way, you are planting seeds of faith in your little one that could ultimately impact their mom and dad’s relationship with Jesus and his church. If you do that, your niece, your nephew, your grandchild is in good hands. Their moral and spiritual foundation are being set in place very well. So, let me just ask you a simple question. How will you shape the faith of a child in your life?

 

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends who have children and grandchildren who need to hear Jesus words of compassion and joy for they are his special treasure. By the way, if you remember sitting in a pew and listening to Spinach telling you a story about Jesus, drop me an email and tell me what you remember. Fr. Matt email address: drmattkawiak@gmail.com

 

 

 

Sunrise in New River Gorge National Park in West Virginia

 

Images for Baby Hayden in Heaven

Waterrock Knob, North Carolina Sunset

 

Soco Falls, Cherokee Indian Reservation, Cherokee, North Carolina

Congaree National Park, South Carolina

Piney Point Pier, Maryland Sunrise

Pray for baby Harden today and her parents

Image of Solomon Island Bridge in Maryland

 

Who Ya Gonna Call?

 

Maggie our next door senior neighbor calls to say that her refrigerator is not working. “Who’ya gonna call” when your appliance is broke? It’s a stretch to find someone willing to do this old fashion grunt repair work. Lucky for this priest who was replacing some light fixtures when he asked the salesperson, Tony, for a referral and Jim came to mind. No clue about this vendor except I was told that he prefers to get a text. So, this “beggar priest” puts out the hook: “senior, food spoiling, refrigerator not working, help!” Luckily, I get this response, “get the make and serial number”. Next day, I get this text message, “I’m in Leroy, be at the house in half an hour.”

I think this must be my guardian angel. 

 

It reminds me that God gives us lots of names to call him by: Yahweh, Abba, Father, Jehovah. And one wonderful Hebrew old Jewish names for God is Rapha. It means Healer. God is your healer. When we need repair, we call on God as Rapha.

 

The gospel of Mark devotes more time to Jesus’ healing than any other gospel. In Mark, Jesus heals a man with an unclean spirit. He heals Peter's mother-in-law. He heals all the sick who came to him. He heals a leper. He heals a paralyzed man. He heals a man with a deformed hand. He heals a man possessed by a legion of demons. He heals a little girl near death. He heals a woman hemorrhaging for years. He heals the sick wherever he went. He heals a Syrophoenician woman's daughter. He heals a deaf man, a blind man, a boy with a spirit, and he heals blind Bartimaeus. In this short gospel that's barely 16 chapters, there are at least 16 stories of healing. Do you think the Gospel writer Mark is trying to teach us something?

In the Gospel story, Jesus heals a man who is deaf and has a speech impediment. As he does that, the people are, "astonished beyond measure.” And they say he has done all things well, Rapha. God is your healer.

 

In a Harvard study, 90% of doctors think faith has a healing effect. Sadly, only 70% of the population thinks that. In other words, more doctors than patients believe in the power of faith. And, Lord, do we need your healing? Sadly, only 61% of the people in our country are vaccinated, yet 100% of the doctors know this will keep you out of our overcrowded ICU units

Lord, we need your healing. As a grief therapist, I am often called to provide grief support to employees whose coworkers have died. I come at a time when hearts are loaded with grief, Lord, we need your healing. For a mind addicted to prescription medication, Lord, we need your healing. For a soul attached to gambling, Lord, we need your healing. For a heart restless in life, seeking purpose, never finding it, Lord, we need your healing. For a relationship broken and torn apart, Lord, we need your healing. For a country divided over the freedom to decide whether to get vaccinated or not, Lord, we need your healing. Say it with me,” Lord, we need your healing.”

How does God heal? Sometimes, God works through miracles. Sometimes God heals through the faith of family and friends like the deaf man brought by his friends who ask Jesus to heal him. He's healed because of them. Their faith. Sometimes God heals through the faith of the people around us. God heals through doctors and medicine. And of course, sometimes God heals through time.

 

Remember that broken refrigerator, Jim has been in appliance repair for over 36 years. He shared that he had three emergency calls today for broken freezers and Maggie was next on his list. This angel shared that in 2020, he survived two heart attacks and his wife is a cancer survivor. But instead of retiring, God blessed him to be a healer of appliances and broken freezers are at the top of his list. While he is exchanging the broken computer board, I am emptying the freezer, defrosting the shelves and drying the parts.

 

No doubt Maggie was grateful to get her food back into the freezer before it spoiled. I was delighted to connect with a man of faith, a healer of appliances who had his share of health problems but who chose to continue to repair the broken appliances that we do not understand nor have a clue how to fix. 

 

However, sometimes despite his best efforts he can’t save the appliance. When I work with someone who's just lost a spouse I know that it's going to take time to heal. Time and prayer for the grief and the pain will possibly be healed. No one fully understands how God heals or God's timing or even all of his ways. We don't always know how. We can't fully explain why. And sometimes God doesn't heal the way we expect. But that doesn't make it any less true. We have faith. If something doesn't work right, if it's broken, you take it to the one who can fix it, right? Jesus is the Great Physician. The one who made you. The one who will make you whole. His name is Healer.

 

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends who need your healing, so in my Masses these past three months, I have prayed for…Cheryl, Patti, Yvonne, Rosalie, Ted, little Henry, Brad, Bishop Mack, Fr. Adam Fr. Nadeem, let’s add our refrigerator repairman Bill, his spouse and think of people you know who need healing and spend a minute in silent prayer. Bring to mind the healing you need and perhaps give yourself a gentle hug and hold yourself for a moment. Invite Jesus’ healing touch in your life. For it's true, God is your healer. He has done all things well and he loves you more than you will ever know.