Perfectly Imperfect

Perfectly Imperfect

Nick Vujicic has travelled to more than forty countries spreading a message of hope and love to millions of people. He has gone to prisons, hospitals, Churches, and schools with his inspiring message, a message that has helped to change countless lives (See his website, http://www.lifewithoutlimbs.org/about-life-without-limbs/). He is the founder of Life Without Limbs Ministry.  Nick was born with a medical condition that has left him without arms or legs. Nick Vujicic has travelled to around the world without arms or legs, spreading a message of hope and love.  He has taken what the world might call a limitation and has turned it into a purpose-driven life; AND He glorifies God through it by spreading the love of Jesus throughout the world!  This is the work of God using “an imperfection” to fulfill His Will in one of His willing children.  He wants to do the same with us!

I’m sure that each of us has in some point in our lives dwelt on our own inadequacies and imperfections.  I’m sure we’ve allowed them to prevent us from doing great things with our lives or allowed them to make us doubt we could.  I know I do. God doesn’t worry about this.  All He really wants from us is to love Him, our families, and our neighbors and for our actions to be motivated by this love. His Love can turn what little things we might do into great things as long as we’ve put great love into them.  The Mass readings from this past Sunday tell us that God has in fact made room for our imperfections in His plan for our lives.  To quote St. Francis DeSales, “Do no lose courage in considering your own imperfections.”

The Gospel reading is from the Parable of the Weeds among the Wheat.  When the land owner is asked by the workers about whether to pull the weeds that surround the wheat in the garden, he responds, “No, if you pull up the weeds you might uproot the wheat along with them.”  This response represents the gentleness of God and His willingness to work with our imperfections (especially our sins) to bring forth great fruits in our lives.  A verse from Sunday’s first reading reassures us of this: “For your might is the source of justice; your mastery over all things makes you lenient to all.”  He is patient with us and does not worry about anything that we might be lacking because His grace makes up a hundredfold for it. 

In addition to His patience, God gives us everything we need to do His Will.  Prayer is our way of reaching Him when we need help.  It is also His way of revealing His Will to us.  He responds to prayer through the Holy Spirit.  Sunday’s second reading says, “The Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes with inexpressible groanings.” God knows we need His help to be faithful to Him and helps us through the Holy Spirit.  He also uses another important source of whom I am reminded in Sunday’s Gospel reading.  It reads, “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed with three measures of wheat flour until the whole batch was leavened.”  This woman reminds me of the Blessed Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus.  She is the spouse of the Holy Spirit and is therefore a very important source of assistance in our lives.  While she is not the source of salvation like God (who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), she is very close to Jesus and through her great prayers helps us come closer to Him.  She helps guide us in His ways and points us to her Son.  As any mother would hold her child, Mary holds her Son in her heart and it is from there that she brought Him into the world.  This fact is the inspiration for the name of this blog.  We can and should ask for her prayers in helping us to remain faithful to her Son and better imitate His life. 

            Yes, we all have shortcomings, limitations, and weaknesses.  They are no match for the power of God’s grace and I think this means that we don’t have to worry about them as much.  This sounds much easier than it is to practice it. I still struggle to practice it.  This is one reason I wrote this post.  I hope we can work together to overcome this belief by praying for one another and helping each other to remember this whenever possible.  I would like to close this post with a quote from Nick Vujicic:   “…{F}or God took my life, one that others might disregard as not having any significance and He has filled me with His purpose and showed me His plans to use me to move hearts and lives toward Him.”  By working for it a little every day we can come to know His purpose and with the help of His grace we can fulfill it! Our limitations and imperfections are no match for Him! 

A Special Mission!

We all have a unique role to play in spreading God’s Kingdom on earth.  Each one of us has received from God a unique combination of talents, experiences, sufferings, and relationships. He has prepared each of us for a special mission—a mission that no one else has.  Each of us is very dear to Him and He holds us close to His Most Sacred Heart.  He loves us as His precious children. As we are told in today’s readings, particularly in the Gospel, He has given us what we need to carry out our mission, but He wants us to prepare our hearts for it and lay down the roots that will connect us to Him. To use the language from today’s Gospel reading, He plants a seed in our hearts and we must prepare them in such a way that will enable Him to bring forth a good fruit.  We must do some work and show Him that we are ready for our mission.

Today’s readings offer guidance to help us open our hearts to the seed that He wants to plant.  First we must clear away stuff in our lives that can inhibit the growth of the seed.   We have to identify what prevents us from having a relationship with Him, whether it is a particular attachment, distraction, sin or fear.  It is good to think about things in our lives and discern whether they bring us to a closer relationship with Him or lead us away.  Jesus says in today’s Gospel, “But the seed sown on rich soil is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.”  When we fill our lives with sin and distractions and such, the “soil” in our hearts cannot be rich and fertile but is instead cluttered with “weeds.”  Clearing away the weeds is the beginning of our “yes” to God.

Once we clear out the clutter in our hearts, we need to put out strong roots in the soil that will keep us connected to Him.  We do this by remaining close to Him in prayer and directing our thoughts and actions to Him.  The voice of God tells us in the first reading, “Just as from the heavens the rain and snow come down and do not return there till they have watered the earth, making it fertile and fruitful, giving seed to the one who sows and bread to the one who eats…”“His Word and His Will remain in our hearts until His purpose for our lives is brought to fruition.  If we call to mind everyday His love and grace He will always reveal His Will to us and give us the strength to remain faithful to it.  Calling to mind His Love for us everyday will ensure that we will have an abundance of the “bread” and “seed” spoken of in today’s first reading.

Once we have cleared out the clutter and strengthened the roots that connect our hearts to Him, we must build a fence around the soil so that nothing can destroy the Lord’s planted seed and the roots we’ve extended.  Three things come to mind when I think of this fence that we must build around our hearts: virtue, patience, and perseverance.  The same stuff that we cleared out before we extended our roots is the same stuff that we must keep outside of our fence.  The fence must be grounded in virtue so that it will not collapse.  We must be steadfast in our commitment to lead a good and holy life and willing to reject whatever can destroy our relationship with God.  We must desire to always do what is good and reject evil, even when life gets tough.  Because this is no easy task, we can always ask God for the grace of perseverance.  St. Paul, in today’s second reading, reminds us that God wants to shower us with His grace and glory and to one day share in that glory for eternity.  He writes, “For creation awaits with eager expectation the revelation of the children of God…” He writes about suffering, saying that He counts it as nothing compared with the glory that God wants to reveal to us.  Suffering is a particularly strong weed that can wreak havoc on our hearts.  We fight its harmful effects with patience and perseverance in our faith lives.  He wants us to keep focused on Him and not the things of this world. 

Let us remember today that we are not alone in any of our life experiences.  We have a Good God who loves us dearly and desires nothing bad to happen to us.  We also have each other. We should help one another to carry out our missions in this life.  We should ask God to help us by giving us guidance and strength to remain faithful to our missions.  When we think we don’t have the strength to do what He asks, we should ask Him to fulfill this work in us.  In other words, give Him the reins.  He wants us to make His glory known to all people, but doesn’t want to do it alone.  He wants us to work with Him.  Are you ready for the challenge? 

Come Together. Right now. Over ME!

I recently came across this sobering statistic: There have been seventy-four school shootings since a young man opened fire on Sandy Hook Elementary.  74.  The shooting at Sandy Hook occurred on December 14, 2012.  There have been seventy-four school shootings in less than two years—seventy-four too many!  This number sticks in my mind today as I reflect on the shooting at Sandy Hook, as well as the more recent ones in Oregon and Fairfax County, Virginia, and at the University of California-Santa Barbara.  You might think that post is about gun control.  It isn’t.  I think there’s amore important discussion that we need to have—one everyone can agree on, despite different opinions on gun control.

            Our world is filled with brokenness. So many hearts are weighed down by pain, suffering, worry, trial, and struggle.  So many minds are flooded with thoughts of self-worthlessness and inadequacy.  So many souls are inhibited by empty hearts.  I am certain that the lives of those impacted by these shootings are burdened by these feelings, and I believe similar feelings led the perpetrators to carry them out.  How should we respond to such atrocities? Let me tell you how the people of Newtown responded to the Sandy Hook shooting.  Almost immediately after hearing of the shooting, two priests from a nearby Church rushed to school to be with the children and their families.  Later that evening the town of Newtown gathered together for a vigil and Mass to remember the lives lost too soon.  They gathered together!  Feeling, I’m sure, not much else than a sense of emptiness, the members of a town torn by unspeakable violence reached out to each other with love. 

            There’s a great power in gatherings such as this.  Grief can be so heavy that gathering with other hurting individuals must be so hard, yet we hear of vigils after acts of violence and terror.  When our grief is heaviest we feel the need to reach out to each other. I believe this same behavior is what we need to stop future violent acts from occurring.  We can never know what someone might be contemplating in response to the burdens in his or her heart.  A simple smile to acknowledge their presence, a hello, or maybe a hug for a visibly upset person might be what is needed to lift those burdens.  I believe this kind of outreach can stop gun violence better than any law, regulation, or punishment ever could.  This is because they have the ability to change people’s hearts before they resort to violence to cope with their pain.

            This may be a lot harder than it sounds.  Maybe we just don’t have the time or the energy to reach out.  Maybe fear prevents us from doing so because we don’t know what the other person might do to us.  I understand—this isn’t easy!  If that’s how you feel, let me share with you two quotes from St. Therese of Lisieux: 1) So that is all Jesus wants from us, He does not need our accomplishments, only our love.  He thirsts for our love.” and 2) “One single act of love will make us know Jesus better… It will bring us closer to Him for all eternity.”  If we are to make the world a better place, all that is absolutely necessary is one act of love.  All that is needed is to stop a potential, violent incident is one sincere act of love.  Love brings us closer to God, who alone can end all suffering.  We need to share His love with one another.  First, however, we need to come closer to one another! 

            One of the most common types of gatherings throughout history has been to share a meal.  Today Catholics celebrate Corpus Christi, a day where we celebrate in a special the most wonderful meal given to us by God, the Eucharist, and the gift of Christ’s real presence in it.  This Meal, instituted by Christ, brings us into a beautiful relationship with Lord, bringing us closer to life with him in heaven.  Christ reminds us of this in today’s Gospel with these wonderful words: Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and I will raise him on the last day.”   “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.” The Eucharist unites us to God the Father through the Sacrifice of the Son.  It also unites us to each other.  It takes each of us—as culturally, socially, politically, and economically diverse as we are—and calls us together, reminding us of our true identity: children of God the Father.  St. Paul’s words in today’s second reading speak to this when he writes, “Because the loaf of bread is one, we, though many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf.”  Like our earthly food is meant to sustain our physical bodies so that we can carry out our daily activities, this spiritual food is meant to sustain us in our spiritual growth and strengthen us in our trials.   

The Eucharist gives us the strength to face difficult life circumstances.  Recall these words of Moses to the Israelites from today’s first reading: “Remember how for forty years now how the Lord, your God, has directed all your journeying in the desert so as to test you by affliction and find out whether or not it was your intention to keep his commandments.”  In the midst of even the heaviest of trials God is with us, guiding our hearts; comforting us in our sorrows; leading us to a deeper relationship with Him; and preparing us to one day enter into His Kingdom.  The Eucharist gives us the strength—the fortitude—to face life’s trials with courage and hope by filling our hearts with God’s grace.  We can then fight through the trial and conquer it.  When we feel we have no fight left in us, we can turn the battle over to the Lord, who will never lose.  By the grace of the Eucharist we can also carry God’s love to others who are facing their own trials, and right behind Christ Jesus, we can help them wage war and conquer their trials.

In the light of the recent shootings and all other violence the world has seen and will see in the future, let us come together as God’s children, despite our differences and our brokenness, to share His love with one another.  Let us go to the Lord, receive the nourishment He has to offer us, and then stretch out our arms to each other in a warm embrace so that we can fight violence with the most powerful “weapon” in the history of humanity: the love of Jesus!

Readings from Corpus Christi Sunday

Jesus wants a personal relationship with each of us!

There’s a video trending on social media that claims that all these smart devices we own are isolating us from each other.  Have you seen this video? Imagine this scene at your dinner table: Joey can’t keep his eyes of his text messages.   Samantha has her eyes glued to her Facebook newsfeed in her iPhone.  Dad is constantly checking and responding to work emails on his blackberry.  Maybe you’re the wife/mother who has just made an elaborate meal and you’re frustrated because dinnertime is the best time for a good family conversation but it feels like no one else is actually there for it!

We all have probably felt lonely at sometime in our lives, smart device or no smart device.  We feel like tiny little islands with vast oceans in between us. Loneliness hurts.  It makes life seem unimportant and trivial, like nobody wants to be in our company. It can make these lyrics from the band Kutless’ song “Sea of Faces” ring true: “I see the city lights all around me.  Everyone's obscure.  Ten million people each with their problems.  Why should anyone care?”  Read the next lyric in the song, however, and you will hear a different tune (no pun intended): “And in Your eyes I can see: I am not just a man, vastly lost in this world; lost in a Sea of Faces.”  So, maybe there is someone out there who sees us as not just some person but someone special.  Yes, that Person is Jesus.  Today’s Mass readings remind us that He wants to have a special relationship with us. 

In today’s Gospel passage we read: “The gatekeeper opens [the gate] for him and the sheep hear his voice, as the shepherd calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.”   Right after today’s reading selection Jesus tells us that He is in fact the Good Shepherd, so when you put that together with today’s reading, you find that this Good Shepherd “calls his own sheep by name.”  If Jesus calls his sheep by name He must value each of them and His relationship with each. His willingness alone to give up His life for each is more than enough indication of how much He values this relationship.  He wants a personal relationship with each of us.

Now, let’s look at the first reading.  St. Peter, in the company of the other apostles, is speaking to the people of Jerusalem about Christ and preaching His message of repentance and conversion.  Now, at this point the Man for whom they had dedicated their lives is no longer living on earth in body.  Because of this maybe the apostles felt a sense of loneliness themselves; still though they pushed on spreading His message wherever they went.  This to me is a sign that He was still with them, even though they couldn’t see Him.  I think they must’ve been sustained by these words that St. Peter shares in today’s reading: “’For the promise is made to you and to your children, and to all those far off, whomever the Lord our God will call.’”  What promise, you might ask?  Jesus tells us in today’s Gospel: “I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.”  Jesus wants to form with each of us a real, lasting friendship!  He wants to transform and enrich our lives on earth so that we may one day enjoy eternal life with Him!

Loneliness can cause us to wander in life reaching out to temporal things (i.e. all of the smart devices that were addressed in the beginning of this post).  These things can make us feel happy for only a short period of time.  Jesus is among us, however, hiding in our hearts waiting for us to respond to His Love.  In today’s second reading we are reminded just how much He loves us and to the extent He went to demonstrate it.  We are encouraged to cease our wandering and return back to Him.  His love brings eternal happiness.

So, in summary, Jesus cares about each of us immensely and wants us to get to know Him.  He wants to pour out His Love on us and be with us throughout our lives.  I have created this blog to help you and myself to deepen our relationship with Him.  I will share the Words of Jesus from each Sunday’s Gospel and a motivational message that seems to pour out from His words.  His Mother, Mary, has a special role in His work in our lives.  After all she gave us her Son. She loves us immensely too.  This blog as a way for me to share the words and wisdom of Jesus that comes to us through the heart of His loving Mother with a hug.  Please feel free to let me know your thoughts via comments.  I look forward to getting to know Jesus with you! Let us pray for one another!

Today's readings