"We Are Christ For One Another"

In Sunday's Homily, our priest spoke about a major goal of ours as Catholics: for everyone to go to Heaven. 

Jesus Christ made the ultimate sacrifice of love when He laid down His life for us on the cross, in order that we might achieve salvation. However, there are many who willfully reject this loving gift, or otherwise take it for granted. Further, even the most devout Catholic is not without sin; none of us are perfect. We unfortunately all make mistakes and do things we shouldn't from time to time. As such, we must continually work to make sure that Jesus's beautiful gift has not been in vain. We must, as yesterday's Recessional hymn says, be "Christ for one another". Let us examine some of the songs lyrics.

We are called, we are chosen

We are Christ for one another

We are promised to tomorrow

While we are for Him today

We are sign, we are wonder

We are sower, we are seed

We are harvest, we are hunger

We are question, we are creed

Then where can we stand justified?

In what can we believe?

In no one else but Christ who suffered

Nothing more than Christ who rose

Who was justice for the poor

Who was rage against the night

Who was hope for peaceful people

Who was light

This song emphasizes that Jesus lived a life of loving and helping others, as particularly exemplified by His death and Resurrection. We are in turn called, the song explains, to live now in a Christlike way. We are called to light the way for others, bring about justice, and fight against the darkness of evil. We are called to help others, even if it means sacrifice or even suffering on our part.

As we have discussed in a previous post, sometimes showing love for someone involves some degree of sacrifice. We may have to give up our free time, money, or other resources to help someone in need. Perhaps there was something else we had planned on doing with our time, or something we had hoped to buy with that extra spending money; however, we are called to put the needs of others ahead of our own, so sometimes we have to do without. However, when we truly love someone and genuinely want to help, it doesn't really feel like doing without, does it?

It is not too difficult to find ways to help those around us. But how can we "be Christ" for those whom we have never met? How can we help people in other parts of the world, and even those who have gone before us?

I am currently reading a wonderful book about Mary's apparitions in Fatima, Portugal in 1917. It is entitled "Fatima For Today: The Urgent Marian Message of Hope", by Fr. Andrew Apostoli. One of the predominant themes in the book, as derived from Mary's words during those apparitions, is that we are called to make self-sacrifices, in order to make reparations for sins that have offended the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and at the same time, to work towards the conversion and salvation of souls. 

The book explains that when we make any loving sacrifice, be it big or small, we can offer it up to God in prayer. When we make acts of love, especially if they are difficult in some way for us, we can ask God to accept them as a sign of love for Him and for humanity.

The same can be done in times when we must endure physical or emotional suffering. We can lovingly offer up our pain to God, and ask Him to help us get through it with the grace of the Holy Spirit.

With fervent prayer and reverent reflection, we can begin to see our times of difficulty as opportunities to help others and show love for God, which in turn can potentially make them seem less unpleasant. This is not an easy task, to be sure, and not a change of perspective that can happen immediately. However, God is there to help! We can pray to God for greater strength, clarity, insight, patience, and perseverance, and have faith that that which we ask for genuinely, lovingly, and unselfishly, He will grant us.

Let us consider, then, the many ways in which we can be "Christ for one another" in the coming days, months, and years. I would love to hear your thoughts on the subject - feel free to leave a comment! It would be great to get a discussion going.

May God bless you today and always!

Karen

"Lift Up Your Hearts to the Lord"

A predominant theme in this past week's readings is that of willingly and gladly surrendering oneself to God. In the First Reading (Isaiah 6.1-2, 3-8) we were given a wonderful example of this. When Isaiah hears God ask, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?", he replies "Here am I; send me!"

Further, in the Gospel (Luke 5.1-11), we heard of the Apostles' efforts in their fishing boats. After a long time without success, Jesus helped them catch an abundance of fish. More importantly, however, Jesus told them, "from now on, you will be catching people", and to "not be afraid" about this challenge.

Between these two readings were the Psalm, which encouraged us to sing the praises of the Lord, and the Second Reading, in which we heard of the importance of spreading the Good News of God's love and Jesus's sacrifice on the cross for us. We can see, then, that spreading the Word of God is very much a part of our call as Catholics, and that we are to do so with great joy and positivity.

In keeping with these themes, my choir sang "Lift Up Your Hearts" as our processional hymn. It is an upbeat song that is a great way to start off the Mass. Here are some of the words:

Lift up your hearts to the Lord

Praise God's gracious mercy

Sing out your joy to the Lord

Whose love is enduring

Shout with joy to the Lord, all the Earth

Praise the glory of His name

Say to God, "How wondrous your works!

How glorious your name!"

We are indeed called to propagate the faith and spread the Good News of God's love for us. In order to do so to the best of our ability, there are a few things we can do first within ourselves. Recall that in a previous post, we discussed that before we "renew the face of the earth", we should first try to "renew the depths of our hearts", thus better equipping ourselves to truly and completely do God's will.

One major thing, as has been discussed in several blog posts already, is to cultivate greater gratitude, which in turn cultivates greater joy and peace. As the above song says, let us contemplate God's many wondrous works! Let us spend time reflecting on and rejoicing in the many wonderful works God has done in our lives, and the many beautiful gifts - spiritual, physical, and social - that He has given to us. When we can fully recognize and appreciate our many blessings, our hearts become lighter, stronger, and more prepared to passionately spread this joy and gratitude with others.

Also, one very important and significant way to "lift up our hearts" and "sing out our joy" is to strive to participate more actively and meaningfully in the Mass. 

It is a psychological principle that when we have done something many, many times and are thus completely familiar with how to do it, the process becomes automatic. When something is automatic, it can also be rather mindless - that is, we can do it without thinking about it. For example, when you have been driving for a while, you no longer need to think about which pedal is the gas and which is the brake; your foot just "knows" where to go. Similarly, we all likely sang our national anthem day in and day out when we were in school. Being so routinized, we could sing the words without having to think much about them. 

The same thing can happen in Mass. Other than in special seasons, such as Lent, the songs and especially the spoken responses are, for the most part, very much the same week after week, year after year. We become very familiar with the words that are to be said, and as a result, it can be easy for their recitation to be done with mindless automaticity. This is a problem I used to have. I would say the responses and prayers but at the same time, be thinking about what I was going to make for lunch, or homework I had to complete, and so on. Spiritual reading, prayer, and mindful practice have helped me to not do this anymore. Of course, I am not perfect, and I do slip up once in a while, but I work very hard to stay focused on what I am singing or saying to the best of my ability.

Let us all commit ourselves to being more mindful of what we are really saying when we recite the Holy Holy, Memorial Acclamation, and so on. Really, truly try to reflect on the words and their surface and latent meanings. The same thing goes when we are singing along with the hymns.

When we more fully comprehend and embrace what we are saying or singing at Mass, we can truly "shout with joy" and express that conviction by speaking and singing in a loud, clear, passionate voice. Our hearts and spirits can be invigorated, and we will get so much more out of the Mass. Then, we are better prepared to go out into the world and share what we have learned and experienced with others.

On a different note, we were all likely quite shocked and perhaps upset at the news of the Pope's resignation. Let us "lift up our hearts" in fervent prayer to the Lord for the Pope and for the positive future of our Church! 

May God bless you, today and always!

Karen

"I Trust in Him, and Have No Fear"

Courage. Strength. Faith. These three values go very much hand in hand, and their significance was a major theme of this past Sunday's readings. In the First Reading, we heard that though the path down which we travel may be full of roadblocks and resistance, we must be brave and persist, and cultivate strength of heart, soul, and will. In the Gospel, we witnessed Jesus personify this concept. Jesus knew that many did not believe that He was the true Son of God and our Saviour, and some were very forceful in their opposition to His goals and teachings. However, Jesus never backed down; He always persisted in spreading the loving Word of God, gently and humbly, yet also strongly and authoritatively.

Yes, we will all encounter some form of difficulty or resistance when we strive to do good and to spread the will and Word of God. We may face doubters, disbelief, and perhaps even ridicule. But, we are called to be strong, and we can derive this strength from our faith in the goodness of God. He will protect us, and He will not lead us astray. From any darkness, He will bring us light! From any coldness, He will bring us warmth. From any harm, He will bring us healing.

Let us strive to take courage in that knowledge!

In keeping with this theme, we sang two fun and uplifting hymns as our Processional and Recessional hymns: Blest Be the Lord and Yahweh. Here are some wonderful excerpts from each song.

Blest Be the Lord

Blest be the Lord, blest be the Lord

The God of mercy, the God who saves

I shall not fear

The dark of night

Nor the arrow that flies by day

I need not shrink before the terrors of the night

Nor stand alone before the light of day

No harm shall come to me, no arrow strike me down

No evil settle in my soul

Yahweh

Yahweh is the God of my salvation

I trust in Him, and have no fear

I sing of the joy which His love gives to me

And I draw deeply from the springs of His great kindness

Open our eyes to the wonder of this moment

The beginning of another day

As you can see, both songs not only extol the virtue of finding strength in one's faith in God, but also take it a step further and suggest that even in difficult times, we can find ways to cultivate joy and gratitude. This concept has been quite prevalent in my blog posts of late, and I think it is quite important and helpful to keep in mind, especially in tough times.

Now then, what we are called to do with our faith-inspired strength and courage?

We have been given many suggestions in the Liturgies of the previous two Sundays.

On January 20, we were encouraged to be "moved by the Spirit" - to let the Holy Spirit abound in our hearts and be inspired by it to take action to help others.

That Sunday, we sang Everyone Moved By the Spirit. Here are the two short verses from this song.

Come, O Spirit of Jesus

Come in the power of His name

Renew the depths of our hearts

Come, O Spirit of Jesus

Send forth the power of Your love

Renew the face of the earth

I think that the ordering of these two verses is significant. Before we can 'renew the face of the earth', we must first renew our own hearts! 

Through prayer, reflection, reading, and positive social interaction with others, we can continuously learn and grow and find ourselves more spiritually invigorated. We can find ourselves feeling closer to God, more attuned to His loving direction, and more ready to do His will. When this happens, we are better equipped to go out into the world and make a positive difference for others in a genuine and meaningful way.

On January 27th, we were given further suggestions and explanations as to what we can do. We were told that we have all been given unique gifts of the Holy Spirit; no one is exactly the same, and therefore, no one has exactly the same path to walk throughout life. We are called to discern what our special gifts are, to develop them as much as possible, and then use them to the fullest for the service of others.

The song You Have Anointed Me gave us some good suggestions for ways to help others. Here are the lyrics to this lovely song.

To bring glad tidings to the lowly, to heal the broken heart

You have anointed me

To proclaim liberty to captives, release to prisoners

You have anointed me

Your spirit, O God, is upon me

You have anointed me

To announce a year of favour, to comfort those who mourn

You have anointed me

To give to them the oil of gladness, and share a mantle of joy

You have anointed me

Your spirit, O God, is upon me

You have anointed me

As you can see, there are many, many different ways to use our God-given gifts to help others. Those mentioned above are just a few suggestions.

To reiterate the main theme for this week, using these gifts may not always be easy. We may encounter a variety of challenges and difficulties along the way. However, we can take solace in the knowledge that God is always there at our side, helping us along the way. Let us pray to God to grant us what I have come to think of as the 3 Ps: Patience, Perseverance, and Positivity. If we can cultivate these three virtues, I believe we can find true strength to accomplish an unlimited amount of wonderful things.

I would love to hear your ideas for ways we can be moved by the spirit and spread the love of God to others! Please feel free to leave some comments and get a discussion started.

God bless you, today and always!

Karen