Washing Feet--What's It All About

 

After a twelve hour plane trip with two flight delays I arrived in Las Vegas to help wash feet at Divine Mercy Church tonight. What’s that all about?

Simply put, we remember when Jesus is with his disciples, it is just before Passover, and what does he do?  He washes their feet. This is not what we would expect a leader, a person of power, a respected person to act. To provide for foot washing was a common act of hospitality.  Travelers walked hot and dusty roads, and the host often offered water to guests so that they could wash their feet.  But the foot washing was generally done by the guests themselves – you washed your own feet.   It was self-service.  Or there might be a servant who would wash the feet of guests.  But here, Jesus combined the roles of host and servant.  He wrapped himself with a towel – taking on the uniform of a servant. 

Peter is outraged, hosts do not wash the feet of guests. Rabbis do not wash the feet of disciples. And if we are honest, we may not be comfortable having our pastor wash our feet. Because come to think of it, we aspire to be a successful, we aspire to at least a certain level of social standing, and that does not mean taking the role of a servant. However for Jesus, leadership means servanthood.

The call to follow Jesus is not a call to glitz and glamor.  It is not a call to fame and fortune.  It is not a call to popularity.  It is not a call to success, as the world defines success.  It is a call to service.  It is a call to love all of God’s children.  It is a call to probably get into some trouble, to probably offend some people somewhere along the line, because we are following One who got into trouble.

At the heart of Christian discipleship is service.  Serving is doing what needs to be done for the sake of others. I will be humbled tonight to be in a church that a few weeks ago was abandoned by their leader and threatened with eviction.

However, tonight I see folks like Deacon Erick, Monica, Sarah, Phil, Mary and many others who give of their time and effort, often in ways that go mostly unseen, to do what needed to be done to keep the doors of your church open.

The call to follow Jesus is a call to serve and all of you have my highest praise and prayers for your outstanding work to keep Divine Mercy a visible sign of Christ’s love for His people. Come now and let Christ wash away your fears and doubts for He loves you just the way you are.

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine friends and new friends at Divine Mercy that you bathe them in your grace and fill their souls with much peace and joy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Lord Has Need of You

 

“The Lord has need of it.” That’s what the disciples are told to say. It’s a simple phrase. “The Lord has need of it.” Think of the money in your purse or your wallet right now. Imagine someone saying, “The Lord has need of it.” Now think of something valuable you own like your truck, or ATV, or stereo. Now imagine hearing, “The Lord has need of it” I confess, I don’t know what I would say, how I would respond.

 

So I think about that donkey owner and I wonder if he had a bad night. I wonder if he was up early, peeking out, hoping against hope that the call wouldn’t come, that what he had been told wouldn’t happen. I imagine a quiet early morning as he looks out and sees the moving shadows the disciples, hopes they are going somewhere else, knows they are not. Finally, they are at his gate; he opens it, they look at each other and say what they’ve been told: “The Lord has need of it.” It’s just the three of them and the animals and he has to make a choice. Right here, right now he has to decide.

 

For all the stories of Holy Week, from this parade Jesus riding on the donkey, to the other parade, the one that goes to Golgotha, are all about people meeting Jesus. You are reflecting on the homily I wrote for Deacon Erick who is celebrating Palm Sunday in Las Vegas. I have been deployed and joining him to lead the Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday services. 

 

Jesus comes to Palm Sunday riding a donkey but more importantly he comes because some disciple had the faith to say when the call came, “Yes, Lord!” as I said yes to my bishop to help the good people of Divine Mercy. 

 

Right here, right now, we are being asked to meet Jesus, to follow him, to go with him throughout this week. We all have schedules to keep, things to do but this is what this story tells us about our time: “The Lord has need of it.” You’ve heard the conversations before the cross: now it’s time for your own conversation. Jesus has come to Jerusalem: has he come to you? Can you hear him say about your own time, your own life, right here, right now, “The Lord has need of it”?

 

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends, especially the people of Divine Mercy who have reopened their doors to welcome their neighbors, strangers and all in need of comfort and hope. The Lord “has need of you” right at this moment to say “yes, Lord, your will be done.” What will you decide, how will you reply?

Jesus Doesn't Do Funerals

 

 On a Sunday in 2015 an airstrike killed over a hundred people near Damascus when Muhammad Rahan failed to return home from the market his family began grieving and started the three days of mourning knowing that he had been lost.

 

On the third day of mourning which was a Tuesday into the home walked Muhammad. His beard and his hair were still covered in dust from the rubble where he had been trapped until he could dig his way out and all of a sudden the family’s weeping turned to shock and then to joy. The Muhammad they thought was dead was alive again.

 

When was the last time you were at a funeral think about that imagine the scene if somebody had walked in opened the coffin and said to the dead person come out and that dead person had gotten up and walked out. Just imagine it would have been complete pandemonium and shock eventually joy.

 

That’s exactly what happens here in the seventh and final sign of Jesus in the Gospel of John. When John wrote the gospel, he structured it around seven signs that Jesus performs. He turns water into wine, he heals the Royal official son, he heals the paralytic at the pool, he feeds five thousand people, he walks on the water, he heals the man born blind and the final one nothing less than a resurrection.

 

In John 11, Jesus raises his friend Lazarus from the dead because Jesus doesn’t do funerals, he only does resurrections. Jesus declares himself the resurrection and as a result the Jewish leaders in the Sanhedrin begin to plan to kill Jesus.

 

The clear theme of this remarkable story of the seventh sign of Jesus is life. Very simply Jesus gives life. That should not surprise us given that all things came into being through him in the first place.

 

So let me ask you. Is there an area in your own life that you would describe as dead. What would that area of your life be a relationship that seemingly has died, an emotional capacity that seemingly has been extinguished. An addiction that has destroyed a part of you or your life or something else

 

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends, that they turn over the dead parts of their lives to You and trust to bring new life that it becomes a remarkable holy moment. Strengthen our faith that we may have life in His name. Abundant Life now and eternal life then in other words Jesus wants your funeral to be a resurrection too.

Jesus Has Raised Divine Mercy from the Dead

 

When Lazarus died, Mary of Bethany must have been heartbroken. You can see why she would have been. She loved her brother Lazarus, and she trusted and loved Jesus. Like everybody else in her community, she knew that Jesus could heal sick people. So when her brother got sick and she knew that Jesus was nearby, she turned to him for help. Then she waited three desperate miserable days. During those days Jesus didn’t come, and Lazarus died.

In this story the Lord knows better than Mary what she herself actually wants.

And so she was devastated. Her beloved brother was dead, and her beloved Jesus seemed to have disregarded her in her time of need.

What the story makes clear, though, is that the Lord can know better than a human person does what she most wants. We are not surprised if the Lord knows better than we do what is good for us, and we generally expect that good to be something we don’t want. But in this story the Lord knows better than Mary what she herself actually wants.

When Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead, Mary has her brother back and is loved by Jesus in a way more deeply fulfilling to her and more glorious than the mere healing of her brother in his sickness would have been.

And here is the thing to notice: Jesus was in the process of giving her what she wanted most even as she was firmly persuaded that she had lost it forever.

The people of Divine Mercy thought their church was dead. Their charismatic leader walked out the door. Like Mary, they trusted him but didn’t get what they wanted when he just left their church.

However, Jesus is about life. Mary gets her brother back from the dead in a way she never dreamed was possible. And this weekend Divine Mercy Polish National Catholic Church whom people thought was dead will reopen its doors.

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends, especially their new pastor, Deacon Erick that you pray for him as he gives new life to this parish. Spread the good news on your Facebook and Twitter accounts that Divine Mercy PNCC is back from the dead, It’s doors will be open this weekend for Masses and Holy Week services. Jesus has raised you up because He is our God of life and you are His divine people. Pick up your cell phone now and call ten people to join you this weekend to celebrate your joy like Mary when she saw her brother Lazarus come out of his grave.

 

 

A Sad True Story -- Dissolved Church

 

The Gospel Reading tells the story of a woman who is worthless by the standards of Jewish society at that time. 

 

Jesus has sent his disciples off for food, and he is sitting at a well when she comes to draw water. There is every reason why he shouldn’t talk to her at all.

What Jew or Samaritan would want to invite her to lunch?

 

First, she is a woman. It is only the disciples’ awe of Jesus that keeps them from asking him what he thought he was doing when they return and find him talking to her without even a chaperone by her. 

 

Secondly, she is a Samaritan. As she herself points out to him, Jews don’t talk to Samaritans. Samaritans are self-made outcasts from the Jewish point of view, and self-respecting Jews stay away from them. 

 

And, thirdly, this Samaritan has the sort of history that makes women pariahs even in their home communities. Jesus knows her status, and he lets her know he does. She has had five husbands—five husbands!—and she is currently living with a man to whom she is not married. Even by the lax standards of our own day, this sort of history would make people look askance at her. In her village she is undoubtedly a shamed person.

 

So, take it all and all, she’s a worthless person, isn’t she? What Jew or Samaritan would want to invite her to lunch?

 

But, you might be thinking, the savior of the world could certainly spare a crumb even for a shamed Samaritan woman. He could preach to her that her sins are forgiven, you might be supposing, or he could offer her some other kind of pastoral help.

 

But he doesn’t, does he? No, he asks her to help him. He opens the conversation with her by asking her to give him a drink.

 

And then look at how this story ends: she brings belief in Jesus to her village, and the villagers come to Jesus because of her. 

 

She isn’t worthless then, is she? No, then she takes her rightful place among the apostles. The evangelization of her village is her accomplishment. 

 

And so when Jesus asks her to care for him, he starts a process that brings her from being worthless to being the apostle to her village. 

 

The remedy of love for human worthlessness is modeled for us here, isn’t it?

 

In the past month, I believe the humble Anglo and Mexican families at Divine Mercy PNCC church in Las Vegas have felt like that Samaritan woman. Their church was “dissolved” in a legal proceeding that denied this faith community from worshipping in their church.

 

Sadly, the good people have been cruelly judged as unworthy because they chose to pray and serve in the Polish National Catholic Church. They were falsely told that the sacraments they had received at this altar were not valid. That is absolutely not true. 

 

Since this terrible scam, Fr Andrew, Fr Matt and Bishop Mack travelled to Las Vegas to encouraged all these beautiful people not to be tempted by the devil “to be discouraged.”

 

Rather, the community celebrated the First Communion of 70 young children with their parents and godparents and told them the story that God loves them very much at Divine Mercy PNCC. Then they celebrated the Confirmation of another 40 young people with their parents and sponsors and told them that the Holy Spirit dwells in our midst to give us the gifts of courage, strength and wisdom during these difficult times. Then, Bishop Mack ordained deacon Erick, the most humble, hard-working, dedicated parishioner to serve as the new pastoral leader of this broken community.

 

By coincidence, this Sunday our brothers and sisters in churches around the country celebrate the Institution of The Polish National Catholic Church. The Polish people in a small Catholic church in Scranton, Pennsylvania were also criticized 125 years ago for standing up for their beliefs. They became a Catholic community that focused their life following the way of Jesus and continue this mission by inviting all nationalities Mexican, Puerto Rican, South American, Polish, German, Irish, Italian to learn what the Samaritan woman discovered when she met Jesus at the well. “No one can make us feel inferior.” In the eyes and heart of God, we are all his brothers and sisters. While Divine Mercy PNCC legally restores its status as a legal entity in Nevada, I firmly believe that deacon Erick will lead this compassionate community back from the dust of prejudice into the light of truth and justice. 

 

The plan is to reopen their doors on Palm Sunday and invite all 1500 people back to church. In the footsteps of the Samaritan woman, I encourage you to take your rightful place among the apostles. The evangelization of her community is her accomplishment and the return of all families to Divine Mercy PNCC will be accomplished by the power and grace of Jesus who sees all the good you have accomplished by your generosity and faith. 

 

Your mantra “don’t get discouraged” and your vision is that you are one family united in Christ bringing His love and comfort to all who have been abused, misunderstood and rejected by the stigma of prejudice and bias.

 

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends who have been victims of abuse.

It was the love of Christ that changed a Samaritan woman with a checkered past into a future saint of the church. Give the parishioners of Divine Mercy PNCC the grace to be agents of transformation in the lives of others.

Follow Divine Mercy PNCC on their new website page: divinemercynv.org

 

 

Transfiguration Moment

 

 

If you could be present at one moment during the life of Jesus which one would you pick? Maybe his birth as you step around the cow and gaze into the manger; or maybe you would be in the crowd when the woman is caught in adultery and see Jesus stare down that angry mob and replace violence with mercy; or maybe take a seat at the table as Jesus offers his disciples the Eucharist for the first time; or maybe you are a brave soul and you want to be at Calvary with Jesus as they nail him to the cross. However, if you ask me, I would pick the Transfiguration.

Peter, James and John are tagging along when Jesus says let’s go take a hike up this mountain. It’s just an ordinary day and then boom it happens. Jesus is transfigured before them and his face shines like the sun, his clothing is white like the brightest laser you’ve ever seen. They are witnessing his divinity and just for a moment there He reveals his supernatural glory. The spiritual world for just a moment invades their regular ordinary work a day life. Then Moses and Elijah show up and they have a conversation and you get to overhear and then boom, a bright cloud appears over them and you hear God’s voice from heaven “this is my son with whom I am well pleased, listen to him,” Peter’s reaction, “Jesus how about we build three booths here, three huts, three tents maybe we bring three winnebagos in so we can just hang out here because Jesus this is fantastic!  I get that same feeling every so often. It overwhelms me and I wish it were more often, but I grateful for those moments when they appear, when the Divine is so close so real, so touchable that everything else just fades away. When the eternal ever so briefly and intensely invades my ordinary work a day life.

Last weekend, I was in Las Vegas helping at Divine Mercy parish preparing the children for their First Communion. I felt the Divine presence when 70 children came to make their First Holy Communion. I loved it when the children greeted my puppet Spinach and they watched as he weaved his story about God’s love for them. We shared that the most important things in life are faith, family and friends. Most important Jesus loves them. But the Divine moment came when one by one they approached the altar with their godparents and they knelt down and they received Holy Communion and I could see their eyes light up. There’s the Transfiguration. No fear, but joy and peace and then they would make the sign of the cross, their godparents gave them their candle and they turned toward the paschal candle to get a light saying they would follow Jesus for the rest of their life.

 

Later after the Mass, the children were escorted to the meditation chapel where Deacon Erick and I presented each child with their First Communion certificate, but as one group was gathering to receive their certificates, I told their religion teacher that this group would make a great childrens’ choir. The teacher turned to the students and instructed them to sing the Our Father in Spanish and the kids sang at the top of their voices.. It was another God moment that I will never forget. This was like the cloud coming over these people and the voice from heaven speaking into our ears. I was transfixed for a moment for God’s Heavenly Glory had broken into this earthly Pacific Standard Time, That was a Holy Moment, that was a Transfiguration moment.

Transfiguration moments are priceless and rare and you can’t predict when they will come. Maybe they will come at a Mass, or a labor room, on a remote mountain taking photos of the Grand Canyon because you are in the grandeur of God. Which moment in the life of Jesus would you most want to be?

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends, the children, their parents, godparents and all the parishioners at Divine Mercy. I pray for a miracle that they will not be evicted from their church. Let us be grateful when the Divine enters our ordinary life and delighted with the promise that Jesus will change our earthly body to conform to his glorified body and the divine will shine bright inside each of us for an eternity.

 

 

Urgent Request to Find Spinach

 

The first children’s homily that Jesus ever taught came at a moment when he finds his disciples arguing about one of those things that do not matter, not in the family of God, anyway. They have been fussing and fighting over which disciple is the greatest.

It is particularly ironic and disappointing that they are arguing about this right after Jesus has told them that as the Messiah he will have to suffer and die for the world, and that as his followers they will need to “deny self and take up a cross” as well. He presents them with a model of complete helplessness and weakness and they respond by contending for positions of power and influence. In other words, “they don't get it.’

Jesus overheard their arguing and called them on it, asking them "what were you talking about?" And they were silent. They couldn't answer him.  

 
I imagine Jesus taking a deep breath, sighing and with a somewhat forced smile, saying, "Come here y’all, sit down, let's talk. Let me see if I can find a better way to explain this to you."

He proceeded to talk about how whoever wants to be first must be last and a servant of everyone. Then, he shared the first children's sermon, complete with an actual child as the object in the object lesson. Jesus reached into the crowd and pulled a child, probably a toddler, into the room. Then he said, “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me, but the one who sent me.”

One of the joys I miss in ministry is taking “Spinach” into the classroom or church on First Friday’s and presenting a “children’s homily.” Spinach is a puppet I received from a teacher to help me share stories about God’s love for his children. A green, odd-looking creature with big loving eyes, the kids “did get it” for they would cheer whenever I brought Spinach along to teach them about Jesus. These kids have grown up with children of their own, and I am amazed that after 40 years some will ask me: “Where’s Spinach?”

 

Now in two weeks, I have been asked to help a parish in need of a priest to celebrate 100 kids First Communion. I have written a wonderful story for the kids and want to bring along Spinach to help me tell the story. BIG PROBLEM. I can’t find Spinach. Really, I thought I had him bundled up with my other stuffed toys, but the bag of toys is missing.

 

A picture of Spinach is posted on this Sonshine and I really need your help. If for some reason he lost way into the Salvation Army toy bid, buy hi let me know ASAP. Or perhaps if you see him on Amazon, let me know and I will adopt him. I really need my buddy to tell these First Communion kids how much Jesus love them. I leave on February 22^nd and urgently need your help. Big prayers to St. Anthony in lost and found, but I checked all my boxes and he has disappeared.

 

“Where are you Spinach?” Fr. Matt needs you again. Call my cell 585-520-8650 if you find him OR email: drmattkawiak@gmail.com

 

No Regrets

 

I finished reading the book entitled “No Regrets” by Allen Hunt and Matthew Kelly. A simple, easy read about a woman who when she turns sixties has a dream about her funeral. At the funeral Mass, her son shares that out of a ten, his mother was a 5 or a 6. This shocking revelation motivated her to reflect on her life and ask herself as she describes the “fourth quarter” of life how does she want to be remembered.

 

In her spiritual journey, she meets a ninety-seven year old mentor who offered his recipe for happiness with all his secret ingredients. Check out his list and take some time to pray and reflect with the Lord “how you want to be remembered.” 

 

The Five Keys to Living and Dying with No Regrets.

 

SAY YES TO GOD

God invites you into a wonderful journey. When you say yes to God’s invitation, you know where you’re going.

 

FOCUS ON A FOURTH QUARTER VIRTUE

Pursue one fourth quarter virtue God has specifically placed in you. The watch it create blossoms in all areas of your life.

 

GIVE. IT. AWAY

The more you give yourself away, the happier you’ll be.

 

FORGIVE.OFTEN.

Bitter and resentful is no way to live. And it’s definitely no way to die.

 

BE OPEN TO LIFE.

Your fourth quarter can be more of a birthing than a dying. Be open to what can be.

 

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends that we take this moment to know that You want use to be at peace with ourselves and experience joy and love.

IF YOU WANT TO SHARE SIMPLY FORWARD AN EMAIL TO MY ATTENTION.

drmattkawiak@gmail.com

Saturated with Love

 

Last Sunday, I had the privilege of returning to my former parish at Holy Family and the gospel was about the beatitudes. You remember them. Blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted, blessed are the meek, blessed are the those who hunger for righteousness, blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy, blessed are the pure of heart, blessed are the peacemakers, blessed are those who are persecuted

 

If you ask me which one is the most important. I say it’s the merciful. If you look at the life of Jesus, I would say it is saturated with mercy. Remember when the kids came to Jesus and he says don’t lead one of these astray or else. No one wanted the kids around.  Jesus had a tender heart where he tells the parable of the workers in the vineyard and the people are outraged where everybody gets paid the same thing and God says you’re going to begrudge me my generosity, you’re going to tell me how to dispense my Mercy. Or when the blind and lame come to him in the temple and he heals them or when the prostitutes and tax collectors get into the kingdom of God before the unrepentant because Jesus has Mercy for All. Or when the sheep and the goats are separated in the great judgment based on who shows Mercy to those who are naked and those who are poor. Jesus was a man saturated with Mercy in everything he did and said.

 

My hunch is in the Beatitudes He’s calling us to be just like him. Not talking about being some kind of superhero, not talking about being the bishop or prime bishop, about being a scholar or a missionary, simply talking about being a Christian, one holy moment at a time.

 

God has shown you great Mercy by all means please share it because Lord knows the world  could use a little Mercy right now.

 

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends who have been wounded by their neighbors, relatives and friends. Give us the graced of humility to show Mercy to anyone who has hurt us. Give us the grace to let go of our anger and resentment and be saturated with Mercy because the world needs a little Mercy right now. 

 

No Ordinary Day

 

When did you experience a day when nothing would be the same again?  One of those milestone moments in your life.   A thing that you can point to as something that definitively altered things for you, your experience, and your routine.  Maybe you thinking back to the first day of school or graduation days.  When you started your first job.  Moved to a new town.  As ordinary, routine as life can be, where days, weeks, months, and years can fly by that seem lost in our memories – there are those days that forever stand out in our hearts and minds, the days when everything changed:  the day you met your future spouse, a wedding day, the day you had a child – my ordination day.

Today, a patient shared that he was celebrating his third month anniversary of sobriety. a life-changing day for him. Well, truth be told, that he has been marking every single day since his quit day back in November that started on his birthday. The day when he became sober.

I am – so proud of him.  It is an incredibly courageous thing and sadly is something that’s more counter-cultural than ever to commit to sobriety.  25 years ago there was a greater push for people to wake up to the harmful effects of alcohol – now we have so-called government leaders gleefully legalizing even more dangerous substances like marijuana…  That helps contribute to all kinds of influences that enable and encourage reckless behavior and is causing higher rates of addiction, to the point that some can’t even imagine going sober for a week.  But this man and countless others bear witness to the possibility of breaking these addictive cycles, the positive shifts and transformations of life it has brought to them that they can all trace to a particular day when their lives changed.

Every year we hear from one of the Gospel writers about how Jesus called his first disciples.  More than likely these men had some encounters and heard Jesus preach a few times before this incident.  Yet there’s something definitive about this particular day where He calls them.  Jesus had just preached saying “Repent, the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”  And then somewhat simply says a few words that invite them to follow Him – and they drop everything and do just that.

This becomes a day where they left behind their livelihoods – leaving their nets.   A day where their lives were completely re-ordered and re-prioritized – leaving their families.  They could have had no idea what each day that followed would look like, the challenges, the trials, and how radical this decisive moment would be.  But they heard His voice, saw His face, and knew they didn’t want to let this opportunity pass them by and become a day they regretted.

How we can, like the disciples, accept the invitation to follow Jesus.  Follow Him by committing to prayer.  Follow Him through my selflessness and sacrificial offerings to others, especially those in need.  Follow Him by letting go of the anger, and the pain and offering forgiveness.  Follow Him, striving to do all those things, knowing that they’re hard, knowing we’re not perfect but that He keeps calling and inviting us to get up, to keep pursuing and striving and trying.  And finding in the process, when we do, that no day will ever be the same.

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends that we accept His invitation to be his disciples. Give us the grace and strength to keep pursuing, to keep striving, to keep trying to be the best disciple that He knows we can be.

 

Patience of a Saint

 

Yes, our medical system is seriously “broke.” Not in losing money, although corporate management would disagree but in getting services. For example, this morning I called my neighbor’s primary office to see if they ordered and faxed a referral last week for a nurse home visit and to start physical therapy. Our neighbor had slipped out of her bed to the floor and could not pick herself up.

 

Thank God, her cell phone was within reach and she called her sister for help who then contacted my spouse and the two ladies got Maggie off the floor and cleaned up her mess.

 

Back to the doctor’s office who reported they had faxed the order for a PT visit, but when I called the home care office if they received the referral and “sure enough:” no orders were received for PT for our neighbor. Now what happened?

 

I contacted the physician’s office and they verified they had fax the order but when I checked their fax number it was not correct. They had a different fax number to forward doctor orders. So “kindly” I asked to resend the request for PT to the correct fax number given to me by the triage nurse. And yes, I will call back later in the day to verify that home care got their orders. Whew! Now that was easy. You got to be kidding.

 

I have the humble privilege of being deployed over twenty times to help folks in Buffalo after the once in a generation blizzard. I have heard their heroic stories saving lives and then sometimes their sorrows that loved ones did not survive. Yes, as we start this new year, we will face many difficulties, but once again the God we pray to wants you to know this morning that your prayers are important and heard and will be answered. Just a little patience and keep on “pedaling” meaning persevere and never lose hope.

 

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends coping with our “broken” medical system. Sometimes we wait for hours for an answer from customer service or have to call multiple times before the appointment is made. Give us strength, courage and hope.

 

 

God Moment Movement

 

A once in a generation blizzard slammed into Buffalo, New York that sadly left many people without electricity in the cold and worse a few people were unable to get home and died. Despite the efforts of our heroic first responders, the blinding snow storm prevented finding people stranded in the storm to save their lives. I had been deployed to help utility workers who found the dead in their cars while repairing the down power lines to restore electricity to homes.

 

Then again there are many stories like Jay who recused people in the storm. He found an empty school that he broke into and brought the stranded survivors inside out of the cold. These survivors bunked on the floor and cooked cafeteria food until they were able to leave the school in safety leaving a note of thanks.

 

For 72 hours, I looked outside the windows of our farm and watched the 60 mile per hour plus winds toss the trees like twigs. Then on Christmas Day, while I was Zooming Mass from my study, we got over a foot of snow dumped on the farm. Not the 70 plus inches at the Buffalo airport, but at the end of the storm we had a new landmark, a large locust tree had been uprooted and it was lying over the driveway hung up on the trees. Thank God there were no electrical wires down or caught up in this tree, but this poised a danger for anyone driving to our home and the tree needed to be brought down. But who was I going to call for help?

 

John was my guardian angel. A retired teacher and expert forester, he checked out the location of the tree and call backed that he had a friend in Elma who cuts trees. My forester feared that we would not be able to save the serviceberry tree at the end of the driveway located near the 40 foot tall locust. He then introduced me to Patrick, whose truck had the sign printed “Timbercat.”  He was the expert.  He started to cut the locust from the bottom, a section at a time, so that the tree stood straight and did not roll to the side. John and Patrick huddled together to share their ideas how to fell the tree without damaging the serviceberry. I offered my two cents, and to my surprise they agreed it made sense to pull in the opposite direction to keep the giant locust from falling on the fragile serviceberry. 

 

 

At one point, John shared that Patrick was a widower after his wife had died a few years ago in her forties to a rare form of cancer. As Patrick was preparing to lasso the tree with his rope and tie down to his truck, I shared my sympathy and prayers. Patrick appreciated the support and shared a message he received from his uncle. His uncle told him that what helps us get through the difficult moments of life are the positive connections you make. That was a God moment. In his moment of agony with the lost of his beloved spouse, he was told that he was not alone and he had friends who would be there for him. 

 

 

2022 has had its share of pain and tragedies, Buffalo with its TOPS shootings, the blizzard of a generation that left many families grieving, and now I met a tree cutter who shared his lost but came to my rescue to make our land safe. In 2023, think about this. When was the last time you praised God for anything? In 2023, let our focus be on praising God for all those moments we have taken for granted. 

 

 

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends that we learn to stay in the moment and ponder where God is calling you to be and do in 2023. By the way, the serviceberry tree still stands tall with no damage. Patrick did a great job in falling the tree away from the serviceberry. Now our driveway is safe, our serviceberry will grow for generations. “Praise God’ for all His goodness.”