How Great our God Is

I had a wonderful week end in Vero Beach. It was like a mini vacation and certainly I came home renewed in body and soul. I drove up early Saturday morning and had time for an hour of prayer before the marriage ceremony which was so simple and lovely. It was the first time I met the groom but found him super nice and worthy of my dear friend.
After the wedding I went to friends that I used to think of as my sisters' friends but after this week end they are really my friends, too. They could not have been more welcoming and I just had a great time with them. We talked all Saturday afternoon, went out to a special place for dinner and we also had a thunder storm so the ocean was choppy and grey but Sunday morning it was blue and calm and the weather was perfect. After a sumptuous breakfast I left with a delicious lunch packed for me - talk about being spoiled!!! I was going to go to Mass on the way out of Vero Beach and, although a good twenty minutes early, found cars fighting to get into the parking lot. The Holy Spirit inspired me to remember the Church of the Holy Spirit in Lantana so I just kept going, hoping they still had a noon Mass. I arrived there by 11:30 and saw cars leaving the parking lot but others entering. I grabbed a place in the shade and went into the Church where there was a lovely half hour of prayer before the noon Mass. Then I remembered a little park on the waterway where boats also go through to the ocean and so went there to eat my picnic lunch. Home by 3:00 to welcome one of the Provincial Team and then we had an area meeting so it was a lovely day and I am most grateful. It is a joyful Sunday anyway and I was glad to see the pink vestment the priest only wears twice a year: for Gaudete Sunday in Advent and for this Sunday in Lent.
To look at the ocean reminds me of the greatness of God.

Sunday

I am driving home today so I am not writing much in my blog but we can all ask Jesus to cure our blindness. Sometimes we do not see the good in our neighbors; we do not see the little things we can do to please someone; we miss opportunities to do good. Lord, give us light!

One thing that impressed me again about the Sunday Gospel is how Jesus treats the blind man contrasted with the treatment he receives from the Pharisees and others who shunned him as a sinner. Jesus only wants to help him. When, after having his sight restored, the man is still thrown out, it is Jesus who seeks him. Jesus is always searching for those who are outside, those who are shunned, ignored, blamed; Jesus is always the Good Shepherd and seeks those who are lost, wandering away, and then he carries them home with tenderness!

I am reflecting on a question found under the Lenten Reflections for March 24 on our Province webpage. Consider: How does my thirsting for God quench my thirst and hunger for a deeper interior life? What needs to be nurtured now? What has stayed with me is the question: What needs to be nurtured now for a deeper interior life? I think, for me, it is mindfulness. I find myself not living aware of the present moment; my mind wanders, even during Mass. I do things while thinking of other things and then I am really not sensitive to the constant presence of Jesus in my life. Well, I shall no doubt keep thinking of this while I absentmindedly do the next chore.

Jesus is the Light of the World

Tomorrow I drive to Vero Beach for the wedding of a dear friend, former student and colleague. As I will be staying until Sunday with wonderful friends in Vero, I just want to say that I am scheduling ahead and hope the Holy Spirit is inspiring me. There is a wonderful part in The Joy of the Gospel that speaks of the Holy Spirit. I will see if I can find it for tomorrow. Today I am just thinking about next Sunday's Gospel. I want to share this commentary with you: (The Gospel is the Man Born Blind in John's Gospel who is cured by Jesus)

But what is particularly interesting in the context of the Gospel story of the “man born blind” is Jesus’ announcement, “I am the light of the world,” which is found in both the eighth and ninth chapters. The healed man was in physical darkness from birth. The sight Jesus gave him not only allowed him to see the world, but to embrace his healer in faith. More damaging than the man’s organic lack of vision was the spiritual blindness of his neighbors and the Pharisees. They had eyes but could not see the truth. Some of them could not even accept that the cure was real, even though the man said, “I’m the one all right.” The Pharisees first reject the grace of healing under the pretext that it was done on the Sabbath. Surely good cannot come from that. Then they entertain the possibility that the poor fellow was never really blind. Even the testimony of the parents cannot convince them. The Pharisees insist that the man deny the very gift of the sight he has been given and renounce the giver. But since he assures them that Christ must be from God, they expel him from their premises. “You are steeped in sin from your birth, and you are giving us lectures?” When Jesus seeks out the man and receives his profession of faith, he utters the paradox that the sightless see and those who think they see are really in the darkness of sin. The Fourth Gospel’s stark contrast of appearances and reality, true and erroneous opinion, light and darkness, is often seen as a result of Greek and Gnostic influences. But such contrasts are not limited to this Gospel, nor are they a theme of the Greeks alone. We know that in the selection of David as king, the Lord told Samuel not to judge by mere appearances or by any other human standard, for God sees differently than mere humans. Paul calls his Ephesians children of a “light” that produces every kind of goodness, justice, and truth. Christ himself embodies the promise of the psalm: “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?” The story of the blind man does, however, ring a bell for anyone who has ever read “The Myth of the Cave” in Plato’s Republic. There we find a story of all humanity chained in a darkened cave throughout life. These captives can see nothing but flickering images on a wall—shadows, appearances, illusions—which they take for reality. One prisoner, liberated from the chains, makes the arduous crawl upward to the world of the shining sun. When he returns to the cave with his tales of the new-found source of light and the life and warmth it gives, the prisoners think him crazy. They simply deny his experience. It just can’t be. The chains and the amusing images on the wall are reality. Thus his conversion is ridiculed; his invitation is resisted. This is how the Greek Plato describes the intellectual assent of the soul to truth. To contemplate divine life is to find freedom; but it is also to encounter opposition from “the evil state of man, misbehaving in a ridiculous manner, arguing over shadows and images.” Clearly there are parallels between the Platonic myth of the cave and the story of the man born blind. Each figure is given new sight. Each is rejected by the inhabitants of the old world. And even the so-called wise authorities would rather cling to their chains and discuss the shadows than embark on the journey of faith. As opposed to Plato, however, for whom the sun was the absolute form of good, the light the blind man of the gospels saw revealed not merely an unchanging and perfect world of ideas, but the face of the Son of God. In the light of his life, those who have embraced the vision have encountered the ultimate reality: not pure being or absolute form, but an eternal community of persons in relationship. The “I am” indeed gives light and life. Far more wonderfully, our God gives and receives love. The words of the old hymn “Amazing Grace” remind all of is who know that, once blind, we now see: When we’ve been there ten thousand years, Bright shining as the sun, We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise Than when we first begun.

John Kavanaugh, S. J.

Take time to smell the flowers...

We rush around so much to see how much we can get done so then we can stop and do nothing! It is better to take each moment and enjoy it. Some seem to question why I am loving retirement as they cannot imagine themselves without a job. The truth is, retirement does not mean that one does less; it only means that one chooses what and when to do things. I seem to be busy every single day and always have things that I should do and others that I want to do, if I get the time to do them. I enjoy the freedom of putting off work without feeling guilty. What does not get done today, may or may not get done tomorrow. I spend more time on relationships, more time in prayer, more time doing things around the house that I was not home to see about before and now I find I enjoy every minute of the day. I do not watch TV (Downton Abbey excepted) and so have more time to read and I enjoy all kinds of reading.

How is Lent going for you? I have been faithful to the gym and to noon Mass, but cannot say I have done much in the way of writing. Please keep praying for that!

Thoughts on Prayer

Prayer is the expression of our relationship with God, especially with Jesus and Mary and the saints. Because we are unique, our relationship is also unique. There is no one way to pray. I firmly believe that the best way to pray is the way you pray best. You pray as you can, not as you can't. I love this from Thomas Merton: "How does an apple ripen? It just sits in the sun."
I do believe that prayer changes as we change. I do not think and act the same way I did as a child so why would my prayer not change, too? That does not mean that the prayers I said as a child are less valuable, but maybe it is more like a married couple who simplify their conversation as each knows what the other is thinking just by looking at each other and words are not needed. That seems to happen to many with Jesus. He does not need our words but only our presence. And do remember that it is always an amazing grace that Jesus chooses to be with each of us, to sit with us when we pray.

Feast of the Annunciation

I seem to have two pictures today and both can remind me of the Annunciation as I have a great imagination. I am thinking of the Angel coming to Mary and how she so simply was able to say "Be it done unto me according to thy word." I wonder what really happened that made Mary able to say her yes to the most startling message of the Angel Gabriel. It tells me much about Mary and I think this is one mystery of the rosary that we never get tired of meditating on or rather just kneeling with Mary in awe that God has asked her to be the Mother of His Son who is becoming incarnate for love of us!
Let us spend the day with Mary and ask for the grace to always say yes to whatever God asks of us1

Walking with Jesus

Jesus did a great deal of walking. He did not have a car, a bike, a skateboard, or motorcycle; he walked. In Miami I seldom walk except to the car, or around the house, or from a parking lot to the gym or church, etc. Still, I had a spiritual director who advocated having a walking prayer and it has helped me so much. I must confess that I remember to say it more when I am driving in the car so in my case it might be a "driving prayer" but I do like to have an ejaculation that I repeat as I go through the day. It is not always the same and it just seems to come naturally. "Come, Lord Jesus, be with me now;" "Jesus, Jesus, be to me a Jesus"; Sacred Heart of Jesus, I trust in Thee; Love of the Heart of Jesus, inflame my heart. These are some of the walking-driving prayers I use.
One of the most contemplative moments for me has been making my bed early each morning before I begin the hour of meditation that is sacred time. I met a former student on Thursday, a wonderful preacher and pastor that took a post-master's program in Spirituality back in 1988. He told me that he had just been talking about me as he gets up and prays at 4:30 each morning and says that I inspired him to do this. Well, that made my day to know that he has been so faithful to prayer each morning. The above picture leads me into prayer now and I hope you all are making an effort to spend some time with Jesus each day. He waits for us.

Third Sunday of Lent

The Samaritan woman comes to the well and finds Jesus waiting for her. How often we are just doing some routine, daily chore and find that Jesus is waiting for us. He asks us to give him a drink or whatever it is that He has been waiting to ask us. He wants to enter into a real conversation with us and sometimes we are so busy and concerned with our own interests that we do not even realize that Jesus has been waiting for us; He wants to talk with us!
May we find time for a good conversation with Jesus today. Maybe I am being nudged by Jesus to think about what I told Him I was going to do for Lent and how often I would seek His help to keep my resolutions. He knows all that I have done and not done and just wants me to stop, be still, and sit with Him.
As I read in the reflection for this Sunday: "On this mid-Lent day, we the baptized, the candidates, the catechumens, pray to hear, not the call to discipleship, that will come; but first, grace, not as an offered gift but as a simple request to give him a drink, give him what is most us - our emptiness. For that is all he ever waited for and wanted."

Saturday is such a gift

Today is Saturday and we all enjoy Saturday in my community. Some sleep later, many just take time to read, get rid of mail that piles up during the week for those that are at work every week day; I just like the leisure we all feel and then the evening Mass. Tonight there is a concert at the seminary so I hope some of us go. We also have a house-guest which makes the week end special.
Now for something a bit more spiritual. I have been thinking of how Jesus revealed Himself with the Samaritan woman since this is the Gospel for the third Sunday of Lent. He was tired and thirsty and was sitting by the well waiting for this woman to come to draw water. He then asks her for a drink. Since Jewish men would not talk to a woman in public, especially an unknown Samaritan woman, she must have really been startled. However, she comes right back with a retort and so begins a fascinating dialogue between Jesus and this woman who He wants to not only convert but to have her become an evangelizer and go and call others. She seems struck by the fact that, as she tells people, Jesus has "told her all she has done." She knows that she is loved and also that she is known, forgiven, and befriended by one whom she now believes in with all her heart.
As I have often mentioned, as one of my theology professors used to say, "if you want to know the theology of a feast, go to the Preface." There is a special preface for the Third Sunday of Lent and it says:
"For when he asked the Samaritan woman for water to drink,
he had already created the gift of faith within her
and so ardently did he thirst for her faith,
that he kindled in her the fire of divine love."

Let us thank Jesus for the gift of faith and beg Him to kindle in our hearts the fire of His Love that will make us go out and invite others to come to Christ, the one who knows everything we have done and still loves us unconditionally!

Spring Arrives with Welcome

It is really frustrating to write this blog on my I -pad but our computer is saying that we have no network connection and we are so helpless waiting for the man who bought and installed our new computer to return!!

I am rejoicing in the first day of Spring - almost every single day is beautiful in Miami and we have almost perfect temperatures all winter but now the trees have new leaves! We are always green but there is a moment when new life just pushes the old leaves away and the swimming pools are again ready with the sun warming the water so brave souls plunge in- the first swim for many of us since last October or early November. We have been aware of the cold, the ice, the snow, the loss of power, even frostbite that winter has brought to our northern friends. Now we can rejoice as the weather begins to change. Spring fever is spreading both energy and joy! 

Today I read next Sunday's Gospel in parts with my faith-sharing group. It is about Jesus at the well with the Samaritan woman. Is Jesus asking me for a drink or am I asking Him for living water?

Frustration