Glitter Glue with Jesus

 

BATAVIA NEWS published November 16, 2023

NORTH JAVA — Holy Family Parish in North Java has made great strides to achieve a new look in its Sunday School room as it continues its community outreach efforts.

Renee Bagwell took over as the Sunday School teacher at Holy Family last year in December. As she approaches one year of teaching Sunday School at the Polish National Catholic Church parish, there are now about 14 children who attend the class, ranging from 4 to 12 years old.

“It is going amazingly well,” said Bagwell regarding her first year of teaching. “I had some trepidation about volunteering to do it because of the importance of the role but since I can easily harness my inner 9-year-old who still loves stickers, glitter, crayons and googly eyes, it has been fun and rewarding.

“It helps that the children are amazingly well behaved and love the interaction,” she continued. “There have been some learnings on my part from mishaps that luckily the parents have not come after me for with pitchforks and torches, like using washable markers to decorate Styrofoam cups to hold Mother’s Day flowers, which resulted in very colorful palms when carrying the cup back into church to present to the moms.”

Bagwell wanted to create a more inviting environment for children to learn in, so she did just that.

“Sunday School is about helping raise kids to be good humans, with empathy, understanding and integrity. Most importantly, Sunday School has to be fun, so that they want to come,” said Bagwell.

Holy Family Parish at 4316 Rt. 98, North Java welcomes residents with open arms during Sunday Mass each week at 10 a.m. Children are encouraged to attend Mass and Sunday School at the parish.

After Fr. Cory gives absolution and the starting prayer, the children and teacher go to the front of the church for a blessing and then head to the schoolhouse for Sunday School. Bagwell wants children to get the most out of the class each week.

“Kids love colorful spaces, fun activities and glitter glue,” said Bagwell. “The parents may not be as big of fans of the glitter, but they are a fan of the updated Sunday School room.”

Since becoming the Sunday School teacher, Bagwell has implemented some changes including making the program more fun and interactive with less use of booklets. Though there is no formal Sunday School held during the summer, Bagwell still tries to get the children together during Mass to spend time on the playground or work on some projects at the picnic table.

In September, Bagwell and her helper, Ron Eddy, spent a week transforming the Sunday School room from drab and dreary paint colors into a colorful and fun space for learning.

“The wainscot under the windows and chalkboard were painted a pastel rainbow scheme,” Bagwell said. “Besides the cheerful colors, the rainbow also ties into the lesson of Noah’s Ark when after the great flood, God placed the rainbow in the sky to remind us of his promise to never flood the whole world again. The walls were painted sky blue with inspirational quotes placed throughout the space, along with a few small stickers hiding here and there that kids have fun looking for, such as a mouse reading a book or a fairy playing with butterflies.

“To finish the room, the 66 books of the Bible were painted around two sides of the room perimeter with handmade stencils,” she said.

In addition to Sunday School, Holy Family also offers religious education from 10:40 to 11 a.m. starting in April that continues for eight to 10 weeks depending on how well the children learn the material.

The opportunity is available to children 7 or older to achieve their First Communion. Last year, according to Bagwell, seven children achieved their First Communion.

“My main hope is that during these highly charged times they [children] learn that God loves absolutely everyone, even those who you fundamentally disagree with,” Bagwell said. “I want them to learn empathy, patience, understanding and to be grateful for what they have and not so worried about what they don’t have.”

In addition to the changes to the Sunday School room, the church also rents out the schoolhouse for events. There is also an outside pavilion and playground use patron to rent and utilize for birthday parties.

For more information about Holy Family, visit its Facebook page at www.facebook.com/HolyFamilyPNCC or on its website at holyfamilyncchurch.org.

The church also hosts a Sunday Social on the first and third Sunday of each month. All are welcome.

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends at Holy Family in North Java. Miss your smiles, compassion and love for God. Spread the word on Facebook that Holy Family welcomes all God’s children with open arms to enjoy the glitter glue and fun. Fr. Matt & Spinach

 

Can You Help Maggie?

 

“This is Maggie, can you bring me some water…”

Susan, my spouse, received this voicemail from our next door neighbor on Saturday that broke my heart.

 

 “This is Maggie, can you bring me some water…” Sadly, Maggie lives in East Bethany where currently over fifty homes have gone without water during this summer because their wells have run dry.

 

Maggie’s well went dry five weeks ago. She hired a water pump contractor who delivered 1500 gallons of water into her well. He returned several times to repair her plugged water pump. However, last week he returned again and told Maggie: “there’s no more water in your well and you need to dig a new well.”

 

Maggie’s neighbors in Bethany have trucked 1500 gallons of water in pouches for the past six months and they will need to do this throughout the winter months. Maggie is a frail senior living on social security and SSI with no truck, no ablebodied relatives, no Genesee County grant assistance, and no water.

 

Susan brings ten gallons of water in milk jugs every third day so she can boil water to wash dishes, cook food, bathe and drink.

 

Maggie signed a contract with a well digger who heard her plight and he said: “we can’t let that lady be without water.

 

Tragically, Maggie has three choices. Move out of her home, get her neighbor to bring her water or dig a new well. In reality, due to the drought conditions in the GLOW area, there is no guarantee that her land has any more water. But she told Fr. Matt, “I want to die at home.”

So Maggie made her decision to stay in her home and signed the well digger contract last week with estimate over $10,000 depending how deep they have to go to find water again.

 

Maggie’s home was built in 1945 and she has lived in this home all her life. Her father hand dug the well that has provided water until a month ago. Prayers are needed that they find clean and drinkable water.

 

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends who find themselves in desperate situations, no water, no job, no health and look to You for courage and strength. Give this lady and all her neighbors good drinkable water again. Let me know if you have any thoughts on how you or your church can help Maggie.

 

 

 

 

All Puffed Out

I received a kind invitation to offer a blessing prayer for Holy Family’s newly remodeled school of religion classroom. Renee worked to refurbished the classroom into cheerful, happy place where children come to learn how much God loves them. So, I brought along my puppet Spinach and together we shared the following lesson based on this Sunday’s gospel story.

“Everyone who makes himself great will be made humble. But the person who makes himself humble will be made great.” Luke 14:11 

 

 

This morning I have a balloon with me actually their teacher had bought ten balloons in the shape of different animals. A balloon is a simple toy, but it brings a lot of pleasure to people of all ages. There are so many things you can do with a balloon.

You can use balloons for decorations at a party or you can bat them around in the air like a ball. If you have a long, skinny balloon, you can even make it into the shape of an animal. Yes, a balloon can bring a lot of happiness, but it can bring sadness and disappointment too. If a you pop the balloon, the sudden noise can make you scared and cry.

You and I are sometimes are like a balloon. We sometimes get all puffed up and think we’re better than other people. We start blowing up the balloons.

Sometimes we may think we’re better than other people and we expect everyone else to think so too. (The kids blow into their balloons). Maybe we think we’re smarter than the other kids in our class. ( The kids blow more air into their balloons). Or maybe we think no one is as good as us in sports (They keep blowing more air). Or perhaps we think we are a better singer than anyone (They keep blowing). Sooner or later, if we keep getting puffed up by thinking we’re better than others, something will happen to burst our balloon. Some of the balloons began to deflate and some pop!!!

"Everyone who makes himself great will be made humble. But the person who makes himself humble will be made great.” Luke 14:11 

 

 

Jesus teaches us not to be too proud and think we’re better than other people. Jesus says we are to be humble and realize that when we are good at something, it is because it is God blessing us with special gifts.

From now on, when you see a balloon, I hope it will remind you that we should not become too puffed up and think we’re better than other people.

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine friends especially the children, who have come to learn how much you love them. Help us be humble and not think we are better than other people. Remind us that whatever abilities we have are a gift from you and that you are the one who deserves the praise!

 

A Tribute to Rosemary

 

In Matthew’s Gospel, the Pharisees ask Jesus yet another “test” question: “Which commandment in the law is the greatest?”  Jesus answers without a moment’s hesitation: “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all our mind.’  This is the greatest and first commandment.  And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”

 

Love God.  Love your neighbor.  On these two commandments hang everything else that matters in this world.  Period.

 

May I take a moment here to point out what Jesus doesn’t say in response to the Pharisees’ question?  Remember, at this point in the story, Jesus’s crucifixion is just days away.  Death is literally breathing down his neck, and he is rapidly running out of opportunities to communicate the heart of his message.  But when he is asked what matters most in a life of faith, Jesus doesn’t say, “Believe the right things.”  He doesn’t say, “Maintain personal and doctrinal purity.”  He doesn’t say, “Worship like this or attend a church like that.”  He doesn’t even say, “Read your Bible,” or “Pray every day,” or “Preach the Gospel to every living creature.”  He says, “Love.”  That’s it.  Love God and love your neighbor.

 

Okay.  But what does it mean to do this?  How are we to love?  This is where, I fear, our overuse, misuse, and even abuse of the word “love” gets us into trouble.  We claim to “love” many things.  We “love” our favorite celebrities, movies, bands, and television shows.  We “love” going on vacation, or reading a well-crafted novel, or watching the Buffalo Bills play football.  We “love” chocolate or bacon or sushi or spicy chicken wings. 

 

The invitation to love comes from our God who first and foremost wants our love — not our fear, penitence, or piety.  And we have a God who wants every one of God’s children to also feel loved.  By us.  Not shamed.  Not punished.  Not chastised.  Not judged.  But loved.

 

For several months, I have had the humble privilege of visiting and praying with Rosemary in the hospital. She is a beautiful witness of love for her devoted spouse Ted, her children and grandchildren. Ted shared that two weeks ago, a long lost goddaughter who we haven’t heard from in ten plus years heard about Rosemary’s plight from their daughter on Facebook and she hopped on a plane in Florida and flew in on Saturday morning.  His daughter picked her up at the airport and brought her to see Rosemary in the ICU. She brought a collage of photos of how much we were a part of her life as she grew up, a very emotional reunion.  She and our daughter talked and laughed for four hours with Rosemary.  Rosemary’s condition on that Saturday was transformed with joy and hope.  Ted could hardly believe it she was on a high on Sunday as well and their doctor was astounded as well. The goddaughter flew out back to Florida on Sunday. Ted shared that God works in strange ways…

 

So here is a beautiful example of what is it that we are commanded to do?  I believe the call is to follow in the footsteps of the one who stood in the presence of his accusers and enemies, and declared love the be-all and end-all.  The call is to weep with those who weep.  To laugh with those who laugh.  To touch the untouchables, feed the hungry, welcome the children, release the captives, forgive the sinners, confront the oppressors, comfort the oppressed, wash each other’s feet, hold each other close, and tell each other the truth.  The call is to guide each other home.

 

In remembrance of Rosemary who I had the privilege visiting in her home,  listening to her stories about her children and praying with her in the ICU, let me share this blessing prayer. 

 

The world now is too dangerous and too beautiful 
for anything but love.
May your eyes be so blessed you see God in everyone.
Your ears, so you hear the cry of the poor.
May your hands be so blessed
that everything you touch is a sacrament.
Your lips, so you speak nothing but the truth with love.
May your feet be so blessed you run to those who need you.
And may your heart be so opened, so set on fire,
that your love, your love, changes everything.
And may the blessing of the God who created you, loves you,
and sustains you, be with you now and always.

May it be so.

 

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends and especially for the gift of Rosemary's faith, courage and her love of God and neighbor. To know Rosemary’s touch, her smile and joyful heart is a gift that guides us home close to the heart of God. May she rest in your tender loving arms and bring comfort to her beloved Ted, her children, family and friends.

 

Being Blessed by my Unchurch Friends

 

As Christians, we need to both bless our good “unchurch” friends and let ourselves be blessed by them. I am not comfortable with the term “unchurch” a reference to folks who no longer attend Mass on Sunday. However, when I research the internet, the labels include jargon like atheist, dechurched, or worse pagan. 

 

I have friends who aren’t professed agnostics or atheists, but they don’t exactly fit the description of a practicing Christian either. They rarely go to church, mostly disregard church teachings, pray only when in crisis, and are basically too immersed in life here-and-now to think much about God, church, and eternity.

 

But, even so, I love them dearly because they radiate life, sometimes in ways that shame me. There’s something about them that’s very right, inspiring even. They are volunteer firefighters, a grandparent providing legal custody of their grandchildren, or caregivers to elderly neighbors and family. Their presence brings positive energy, goodness, love, intelligence, humor, and sunshine into a room. 

 

Don’t get this wrong: this is not to imply that those who do go to church and try to follow the church’s rules are hypocrites and immature, while those who don’t go to church and make their own rules are the real Christians. No. There’s nothing enlightened about people drifting away from the church, thinking they are beyond church, living outside its rules, or believing that a passionate focus on this life justifies a neglect of the other world. That’s a fault in wisdom and maturity. 

 

However, the wonderful energy that we see, and should bless, in the many good persons we know who no longer go to church with us is precisely that, wonderful energy, not depth. But it’s on the right side of things, on the side of life. It’s wonderful, it helps bring God into a room, and it should be blessed. 

 

And that’s why, as Christians, we need to both bless our good “unchurch” friends and let ourselves be blessed by them. God is the ultimate author of all that’s good, whether that goodness, sunlight, energy, color, and warmth is seen inside a church building or outside of it. 

 

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends, bless my unchurch friends, at their energy, their generosity, their warmth, what they bring into a room, and my heart lifts and I believe in God more deeply. God also made their sunshine and their warmth. They don’t go to church, and our faith community sadly misses their energy and spirit, but they’re on the side of life and that implicit faith, is a challenge for me to remain too on the right side of things.

 

 

No Water, Again!!!

 

What’s its like? The Kingdom of Heaven is like the king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. The Kingdom of Heaven is like a wedding banquet. The king’s guests refused to come I mean the king was furious. Can’t blame him if it’s like most of the weddings I’ve seen that have a lot invested in a caterer, reception, musicians, a priest, florist, invitations so he sent more servants to go out and invite more people. Look we’ve the best calf come on down and they still refused to come now they had their excuses, they had good ones. They had to plow their fields, one had to attend a business, finally the king sends his servants into the street corners to invite anybody they could find and invites everybody.

 

Now his son’s wedding hall is teaming with people of all kinds. The king enters the gala and he sees one person not wearing wedding clothes and he asked a startling question. How did you get here without a wedding garment? He doesn’t ask who invited him or who let him in. Rather, he focused on what the guy’s wearing and he has him thrown out into the darkness.

Question, is God a snob just because the poor guy didn’t have the right clothes to wear to the wedding? However, keep in mind what a person wears for the wedding banquet is the sum total of what we have done with our lives. In his letter to the Colossians, Paul says: “As God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience. Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.” (3:12-15)

 

 

What Jesus is getting at in his parable is we wear the clothes of our acts and deeds for everyone to see. In other words, a cup of cold water means the difference between heaven and hell.

 

On Sunday afternoon, Maggie our neighbor called for help to install a new shower faucet. Once connected, I turned on the faucet and no water came out. Maggie had a vendor come twice to her home to check the water in her well. She paid $500 for two  service calls and she has no water again. 

 

The wedding garment we might be wearing may be quite stinky from helping our neighbor repair a dry well, or maybe ragged tagged caregiving a dementia mother, or a little shrunken letting the kids have extra money for a class trip, but remember as they finished mocking Jesus at the cross they took the robe off him and placed his own clothing back on him to lead him on the road to the cross probably so he wouldn’t get their robes stained with blood as he carries the cross.

 

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends that we accept the invitation to your banquet that means we want Jesus blood on our clothes because when we give a cup of water to our neighbor, it’s like Jesus blood touching our sin stained earthly garments and they become whiter then snow and that means they are the perfect clothes to wear to His heavenly banquet table. Next Sunday, you have an invitation from Jesus to attend a banquet, you need to RSVP. What will you wear? What deeds will you perform this week that show Jesus you are most welcomed at his banquet.

 

 

Making Choices

Jesus tells this story about two brothers who are asked to do something.  Their dad asks them to go take care of his vineyard.  One says no, feels bad and then decides to go.  The other says yes and then decides not to.  Jesus uses this story to get to a bigger issue.  He is worried about the religious experts and their salvation.  Because after this story, he refers to the fact that prostitutes and tax collectors who when they heard the word of God preached from John the Baptist, they made a radical change in their life. They had a conversion of heart.

The religious experts didn’t. They were collecting money for the government – they were helping the enemy Romans in suppressing their own people and basically stealing from their own people by charging a little bit extra that they could pocket themselves. Not very Christ-like behavior.

So Jesus is worried that a great tragedy is unfolding.  That if the religious leaders continue to choose to be blind to His presence, if they continue to be deaf to His words, they’re making a terrible choice that can result in a tragedy – them missing being a part of the Kingdom of Heaven.

You and I need to constantly be reminded that the call to repentance, the call to conversion, the call to turn away from sin is something we need to hear over and over because the devil is not going to cease trying to tempt us.  There’s never going to be a time where we have completely overcome them.  Jesus knows that – it’s why this parable is somewhat comforting, because neither son really acts appropriately.  The correct response to the father’s command should have been “Yes Father” in word and in action.  But His example isn’t that ideal.  He holds up the example of the son who said “No” to the Father’s request but then changed his mind and went.   Which highlights the fact that Jesus doesn’t ever use examples of people who never stray, who never doubt or question when he’s teaching. In fact it’s quite the opposite – The gospels are filled with examples of people who struggle, who disappoint, who fall away. And consistently, Jesus rejoices in the moment of conversion, holds up as an example the time when the person realizes they’ve messed up and turn back to him.

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends, there are choices and decisions we are confronted with every day that will either bring us closer or further away from the Lord.  Wherever we find ourselves right now, the importance of being both people of word and action is essential. Our Loving Father constantly is calling out to us… looking at us, His sons and daughters, seeing the great potential that is possible within each of us… Longing for us to hear that truth, and come back to Him, come back to His vineyard.

 

Thank Goodness

 

My good friend Denny volunteered his son, an electrician, to repair Maggie’s kitchen light that has been flickering for three months and driving her bonkers. It took me three months to find an electrician, but Cory had the repair completed in 20 minutes. When Maggie asked how much, he kindly nodded no thanks that he was glad to help. A nice God moment.

 

However, let’s be honest there are times when Jesus is outrageous when he teaches that everybody gets to receive the treasure of the kingdom and the blessings of grace no matter how much they have done.

 

Denny is a farmer and this week he will be harvesting his corn crops with the help of his sons and neighbors. He asked me to come and take photos of the harvest. This reminds me of another farmer who needed some help at harvest time. So he goes to the labor pool to the marketplace where the labor is gathered and he hires people for a normal day’s wage which today would be about a $100. Later he needs some more help so he goes back and he hires some more people. He does this several times throughout the day all the way till almost sundown and there’s not one hint that he’s going to pay everybody the same amount.

 

The people who worked all day, the people who worked eight hours the people who worked four hours the people who worked only an hour. Some worked in the blazing sun all day got the exact same pay as Johnny come lately. It wasn’t only unfair, what’s worse is there is no explanation why and it just drives me crazy.

 

It reminded me way back to 9/11 and the years afterward when Osama Bin Laden became a household name and so it took a lot of guts that day when the man who was teaching the children decided to teach the kids about Jesus’s greatest commandment to love your neighbor as yourself. That’s always a tough lesson because a lot of us really don’t want to love but the man’s example was even harder Osama Bin Laden. He asked the kids that day in church the whole world hates this man do you think God loves him? Everyone in church squirmed in their seats thinking of sons and daughters overseas at war yet somehow I think the teacher understood best of all God sends His reign on the just and the unjust.

 

According to the Scripture God is kind to the wicked and even to the ungrateful. God can act however He wishes. He’s free to love however He desires whether we deserve it or not, whether we like it or approve it or not. God is God and we are not. Frankly Jesus sounds a little outrageous even offensive doesn’t he and you know what, “thank goodness.”

 

Thank goodness that God is not just a God who gives us what we deserve but is also a God of grace. Thank goodness that no matter how much we may think that we’ve somehow earned God’s blessings and gifts the fact remains that we don’t. No one in this world is perfect only God is and everyone of us has regularly missed the mark in our lives. We may think that somehow that we’ve earned God’s favor but as soon as anyone thinks she’s worthy it’s good to remember no matter how good you are there’s always someone better no matter how much you have done. There’s always someone who has done more. None of us matches the holiness and perfection of God.

 

I thought I gave a lot to God until I saw the widow hobble up to the offering plate and give her last coin to invest in the kingdom of God. I thought I worked pretty hard for God until I read about a fellow who led a group of two million whiny complainers through the wilderness for 40 years and then Moses didn’t get to enter the Promised land. I thought I knew what suffering was and until I looked at the body of Jesus my savior, My Lord hanging on the cross bleeding, asphyxiated being pulled apart all the way to death no matter how much you do there’s always someone who has done more. So I say thank goodness, thank goodness we don’t get what we deserve or what we have earned instead verse 12 tells us that we have all been made equal thank goodness that God offers the same grace to the faithful elderly lady who attended Mass every Sunday for 63 consecutive years as He does to the thief gasping for his last breath as he welcomes Christ just moments before dying on the cross right next to him the ultimate holy moment of all. Thank goodness.

 

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Frineds who are thankful to God for we deserve nothing but we have been given everything. Jesus is outrageous and for that I say, thank goodness.

God's Love Isn't a Reward

 

God’s blessings go out lavishly to those who don’t seem to deserve them.

There comes a point in life when our major spiritual struggle is no longer with the fact that we are weak and desperately in need of God’s forgiveness, but rather with the opposite, with the fact that God’s grace and forgiveness is overly-lavish, unmerited, and especially that it goes out so indiscriminately. 

 

God’s lavish love and forgiveness apply equally to those who have worked hard and to those who haven’t, to those who have been faithful for a long time and to those who jumped on-board at the last minute, to those who have had to bear the heat of the day and to those who didn’t, to those who did their duty and to those who lived selfishly. 

 

God’s love isn’t a reward for being good, doing our duty, resisting temptation, bearing the heat of the day in fidelity, saying our prayers, remaining pure, or offering worship, good and important though these are. God loves us because God is love and God cannot fail to love and cannot be discriminating in love. God’s love, as scripture says, shines on the good and bad alike. 

 

That’s nice to know when we need forgiveness and unmerited love, but it’s hard to accept when forgiveness and love are given to those whom we deem less worthy of it, to those who didn’t seem to do their duty. It’s not easy to accept the fact that God’s love does not discriminate, especially when God’s blessings go out lavishly to those who don’t seem to deserve them.

 

I have been a priest for over 46 years, and if someone asked me “If you had your priesthood to do over again, would you do anything differently?” My answer would be “Yes.” “I’d would encourage my superiors to be easier on people. We need to risk the mercy and forgiveness of God more.” 

 

As I get older I’m finding it harder and harder to accept the ways of God. Now that I’m old I’m struggling with all kinds of bitterness and doubt. That’s natural, I guess. But what upsets me is that I look around me and I see all kinds of people, young people and others, who’ve never been faithful, who’ve lived selfish lives, and they’re full of faith and are speaking in tongues! I’ve been faithful and I’m full of anger and doubt. Tell me, is that fair?”

 

In the end, we need to forgive God and that might be the hardest forgiveness of all. It’s hard to accept that God loves everyone equally—even our enemies, even those who hate us, even those who don’t work as hard as we do, even those who reject duty for selfishness, and even those who give in to all the temptations we resist. Although deep down we know that God has been more than fair with us, God’s lavish generosity to others is something which we find hard to accept.

 

Like the workers in the Parable of the Vineyard who toiled the whole day and then saw those who had worked just one hour get the same wage as theirs, we often let God’s generosity to others warp both our joy and our eyesight.

 

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends that we are grateful that God’s grace is amazing. Our struggle with God’s mercy points us in the right direction. May we again pray: Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner and merciful to all my neighbors too and really mean it!

 

Forgiveness is Hard

 

 

I’m not a good forgiver. There’s something inside me that likes to cling to old wounds and injuries. There’s a part of me that just has a hard time of letting go, but I really want to become one. And I discovered that for most of us that’s really hard to do.

 

Sunday’s gospel reading is a tough one we like to avoid for it challenges us to be a good forgiver. Challenge number one, it somebody bullies you, humiliates you, or worse abuses you, you go to them and tell them to stop. It may be the hardest thing you have ever done and sometimes it becomes a holy moment and sometimes anything but.

 

The second step is if that failed, take the leaders with you so you have witnesses and third if that still does not work tell it to the whole church. You want to make this thing right if at all possible.

 

Sadly, if it’s still not resolved let the person who has harmed you be treated like a tax collector or gentile, in other words “shun them.” However to shun,  does not mean punishment rather it’s intended to be a hopeful discipline. We take this step in the hope that the person who has hurt us will miss being a part of the community, our family, so much that they will repent, that they will return and apologize, make amends and restore themselves with the community.

 

We want you here not out there, we want this correction to actually be a holy moment because as Christians we are more about restoring than we are about punishing. We are more about healing than we are about revenging. We are more about loving than we are about hanging on to the grudges and nursing old wounds.

 

Remember when it comes to forgiveness remember how Jesus teaches us to pray in the Our Father: “forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.”

Help me to be right with you O Lord and with the people around me it’s important because if I can’t love other people how can I possibly love you Lord.

 

Jesus teaches us to forgive seventy times seven that 490 times hoping to restore, to heal, to reconcile in other words love knows no limits. On the cross as people ridiculed, mock and gambled away his clothes, the soldier who won his garment playing craps overheard Jesus last words: “Father forgive them, they know not what they do.

 

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends, have mercy on us sinners. Forgiveness is hard. Help us to forgive the people who harm us just as we hope to be forgiven by them and by you. Help us truly to be a person of peace, to seek healing, to pursue love. Lord Jesus have mercy on me, a sinner.

 

 

 

You Can Do Better

 

Mom called her son who was priest to come over for Sunday afternoon dinner. She was making lasagna his favorite. When she brought the tray out, took the aluminum foil off the top. he took a look and blurted out – “What’s that?

 

Mom very simply responded “Lasagna” – “But – What happened to it?” At which point his dad was trying to stop himself from laughing. His mother, now holding a knife in her hand just said “Nothing…nothing happened to it” “But why does it look like that?” It kind of looked like a flat tire… Angrily slicing it and serving it, she said “Just shut up and eat it…it’s good – just try it”

 

Denying there was anything wrong or different about it, he went over to the garbage – which she tried to block me from doing… and found an empty box what was labeled “No boil lasagna.”

 

He knew there was something wrong but this was no way near as good what his mom normally makes.

 

The reality is that none of us likes to hear “You can do better…” 

If it’s just some random person who offers unsolicited criticism we might respond: “Who asked you, Jerk???” But if it comes from a teacher, a coach, our mom, or a really good friend – that’s quite a different thing, isn’t it? In those instances, we realize it’s coming from someone who cares about us, who knows us, and probably knows – we’re capable of much more than whatever it is we’ve offered. 

 

How about us? We know all too well how difficult, how challenging it is to follow Jesus Christ, follow his teachings ourselves. We struggle, we’re tempted, we fail and fall. Sometimes multiple times a day (an hour?) But hopefully what makes it possible for us to dare to come before the is that in spite of those struggles and failures, we have experienced, we’ve come to know and believe in the immense love and mercy of God for us. God never tires of forgiving us, it is we who get tired of asking for forgiveness. Jesus casting his light into our darkness isn’t meant to hurt or embarrass us. It’s to help become the best person we can be.

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends that we do not get discouraged when the recipe does not rise, or our efforts fail to please. Instead of getting mad at our spouse or friend, give us the  humility to understand that Jesus is telling us we’re worth the time, worth the concern… He knows us, knows how capable we are – the potential we hold. He knows we can do better.