Falling In Love

Quote of the Day

“Nothing is more practical than
finding God, than
falling in Love
in a quite absolute, final way.

What you are in love with,
what seizes your imagination, will affect everything.
It will decide
what will get you out of bed in the morning,
what you do with your evenings,
how you spend your weekends,
what you read, whom you know,
what breaks your heart,
and what amazes you with joy and gratitude.

Fall in Love, stay in love,
and it will decide everything.”

--Pedro Arrupe SJ (1907-91)
28th Superior General of the Society of Jesu

Healing

I am filled with so many mixed emotions today.  In some ways I believe that this time can bring a great deal of closure and healing from the past.  At the same time, the future is unknown, it could be more of the same.


I turn this "turning" over to the Lord and to the intercession of our Blessed Mother.  May this be a time of new beginnings and joy for all affected.  May the hand of God guide and bless our future.


Amen.

True Freedom From The Burdens of Life

What is burdening you today?  What is weighing you down?  What has become so overwhelming you just can’t cope?  Maybe it’s not your burden.  Maybe you’re carrying the burden of someone else.  How is that robbing you of your joy?  How has it eatin’ away your peace?  Do you see the possibility of a change for the better in the near future?  Would you like to see a change for the better?

Jesus says in the scripture today, “Come to me all you who are weary and find life burdensome and I will refresh you.  Take my yoke upon your shoulders and learn from me for I am meek and humble of heart.”  Do you believe this?  Have you really tried to turn the burden in your life over to Jesus?  Are you willing to give up the control you have on these burdens and allow the Lord to carry them for you?

Perhaps you are willing but don’t know how!  So let me give you a bit of help.  Take a moment.  Find that quiet place in your house, free from all distractions.  If that’s impossible, come and sit before the Blessed Sacrament.  Close your eyes and imagine Jesus standing before you.  Whoever or whatever is the burden, place it before His feet.  Let Him know you want to be free of this and you need His help.  (The key here is to give up all control of this burden...once you give it to Jesus, you cannot take it back).  You see this is the way we become FREE!  But every time we start to take it back, God will freely give it back.  Is that what you want? 

True freedom means giving up control and learning to not be a victim of our own struggles.  Let’s pray for one another that we can rely more on Christ and less on ourselves.  In this way we can be free of our burdens and take on the yoke of Christ, which is easy and light!

Weeds Among The Wheat

Did you ever notice how easily it is to overlook the weeds among the wheat, or any vegetation for that matter?  The parable of the weeds among the wheat, I believe is precisely the point Jesus is trying to point out to us.  How often do we overlook the weeds?

Jesus speaks to His disciples about the “weeds among the wheat.”  Often times weeds can be overlooked.  Just take a good look in a garden.  There are so many things blooming, it can often be difficult to distinguish the weeds from the flowers.  In fact, some weeds even disguise themselves with little blossoms or  little flowers on them confusing most amateur gardeners.  Such weeds can be more destructive to the real beautiful flowers and vegetation in any garden.

Using this analogy, could we not say the same for some people?  How many disguise themselves each day as holy, humble, good people and yet they are out there gossiping, cheating, telling lies, not to mention any number of commandments they might be breaking.  What about those persons who may work for a company or the Church or government or some other organization who you think can be trusted because of the position they hold, only to find out they may in fact be some of the destructive weeds choking those who are really trying to do their best and make a difference.

First of all, we need to make sure we’re not “weeds.”  And if we are, we need to do some serious praying to begin some serious changing.  Secondly, we need to be more aware of others.  Do we surround ourselves with people who hold the same values we do or do we merely “go with the flow.”  Good wheat stands out and can produce abundantly to feed the many!

“Good soil is a heart reserved for God that produces abundant love.”

“Good soil is a heart reserved for God that produces abundant love.”   I’m not sure who first spoke these words, but I have come to know they are true.

In the Gospel regarding the parable of the sower and the seed, the Church invites us to take a soil sample of our hearts.  In the Gospel, Jesus presents to us four types of soil on which the seed scattered by God, God’s own Word, falls. And each of us needs to ask, in light of Jesus’ words and in His real presence here at Mass, what type of soil am I?

Two things are absolutely crucial in farming: good seed and good soil. In the Gospel the seed Jesus talks about is God’s Word, heard in Sacred Scripture and in prayer, and ultimately Jesus, the Word Made Flesh, capable of living in us through grace. Therefore we know there is no problem with the seed. The seed is perfect.

Our heart is the soil.  It must be open to accepting the Word of God (the seed) and be nurtured to produce good fruit (which is love).  Some times our heart, like any soil, needs some added things to keep it good and ready to receive the good seed.  Like the farmer who uses water, nutrients and the like, we have the Eucharist and the sacraments as well as daily prayer to keep our heart reserved for God.

Today, let us not only evaluate the condition of our heart but make it a more fitting dwelling place for God.   Let us use every possible means to provide the “good soil” for God’s Word to take root and flourish in action.   Then our love will be abundant and evident in our words and deeds!