The Most Meaningful Christmas Gift

Last night I attended a second Christmas Mass at Sacred Heart Parish with my daughter, Laura, who played the organ there. Our whole family had already attended an earlier Mass at another parish. After Mass I was approaching the crib to say a prayer when my pastor and friend, Fr. Tom, approached me. He asked if I would be around for a few minutes. He said he had something to give me. I told him I was going to pray at the crib. After a few minutes of prayer, he returned and held out his hand as if to put something in mine, and said, "Merry Christmas." I opened mine and accepted his gift. It was a key; the key to my own parish church, where years ago I had gone many, many times at all hours of the day and night to pray by myself in front of the Blessed Sacrament. I had spent countless hours there in deep union with my God in contemplative prayer, unaware at the time, that this was the type of prayer that I was experiencing. All I know is that I would unite with God so completely, that I wouldn't know where I was or that as many as eight hours during the middle of the night had passed. For God would have me so enveloped in His love that I would be lost in His divine embrace. I would speak with Him, cry with Him, listen to Him, just be with Him and share love with Him. It was a time in my life when union with God was simple and easy and it lifted my spirits so that nothing on earth could stand between my God and me. Nothing could distract me; nothig would worry me; nothing would hold power over me except God's own love. It was a time of great spiritual growth and a time I will always hold special in my heart; a time I have longed for many times over. At one difficult time in my life a different pastor had taken the key from me and told me that because I was only a volunteer youth minister, not a paid employee, I was no longer entitled to a church key. This broke my heart and I pleaded with him to reconsider since I so loved my time alone in prayer in the church, sitting behind the altar in front of the tabernacle, lost in my silence with God. But, he insisted in my giving the key back. Now, some five or six years later, at a time in my life when I so need this private time with my Lord in that most holy of spots, Fr. Tom gave me the most meaningful of gifts, the key. I think that I might have spoken a few times during the past few years to Fr. Tom my desire to once again have access to the church at all times, so that I could renew my intimate times alone with Jesus as I had spent them before. Praise God that I have a pastor/friend that understands this strong desire of mine. I am sure the Holy Spirit whispered this idea into his heart.

A Surprising Phone Call

This evening I received a very surprising phone call. It was from a religious brother who had worked at the Catholic high school where all of my children attended school. He has been gone from there for more than seven years. While he was there, he and I had clashed on more than one occasion because he was extremely liberal and I ascribe to the more conservative, orthodox views when it comes to the Catholic faith. More than once, he had hurt my very character. After catching up on my family and on what he was currently doing, he finished with the following, in this abbreviated form. "Now to get down to the real reason for my call. I am calling to apologize. I have been bothered for years for the way I treated you while I was at the Catholic high school. I know we differed in opinion on more than one occasion. You always treated me with love and respect and kindly. But, I know that I did not treat you in that manner. I did not treat you with respect. I was not kind to you. I am sorry for the way I treated you for all those years and I am asking for you to accept my apology. I should have done this and called you a long time ago. But, I've been thinking about this a lot lately and asking myself what I was waiting for, so I decided to pick up the phone and make the call. Will you accept my apology?" I was taken aback by his humility, because this was not the man I remembered from years gone by, who had been so confident in his ways; so sure that he had the answers and that I was always wrong. I told him I was very honored to have him call me and that I would be glad to forgive him, although I said I hadn't given a lot of thought to holding anything against him all those years. I had already forgiven him for any hurts from long ago. It was a lesson for me in asking for the mercy of God and for forgiveness from my brothers and sisters whom I had hurt. It is never too late to ask for forgiveness if we realize we have hurt someone. Just like it is never too late to ask God to forgive us. What a wonderful gift of forgiveness he received right before Christmas. Praise God.

Priests

Almighty God has instilled in my heart a very great love for His holy priests. I have always had a desire to pray for them and most recently, in the past few years, even more so, a desire to sacrifice for them, for their holiness. I feel that in these times of difficulties within the Church, they are special targets of the evil one. Satan loves to tempt them and to manipulate their minds; to lure them away from keeping their focus always on Jesus. He knows their weaknesses, for he studies them. Once he discovers their weaknesses, it is precisely there that he tries to put a wedge between priests and God. These chosen ones are our ladders to God, for they are the ones who bring us the sacraments. It is the hands of the priests that absolve us from our sins. It is those beautiful hands that when they say the words of consecration, and they lift the host and the chalice, they are not only the priest, but the victim as well. The elements change from common bread and wine into the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Then those holy hands actually place the Eucharist upon our unworthy tongues as we receive our spiritual food. These hands bless us so many times. They offer us the sacrament of the sick and in the absence of the bishop, bring the Holy Spirit to us in the sacrament of confirmation. This is just to name a few. Yet, we so often criticize our priests. How can we dare to criticize those that are handpicked by God Himself, placed under the protection of Mary herself? They are human, just as we are human. Do we not also sin? Today in Mass I practically melted as I observed and listened to the priest slowly and so beautifully pronounce the words of consecration. I saw Jesus offering Himself to the Father. I was so moved. I was overwhelmed with the power of the priesthood. I was once again incredibly thankful for the gift bestowed upon us by the Father; the gift of His son, Jesus, given to us in perpetuity, through the means of the Eucharistic meal that we receive each and every time we approach the altar at Mass. How do we deserve this precious gift? We couldn't possibly deserve this gift. Yet, God so loved us that He gave us His only begotten Son, knowing full well that we would have Him with us for all eternity. How awesome. How unbelieveable. I never cease to be amazed at my God and His great love for us. Thank you, God, for your love for us and for the gift of the priesthood. I thank you, too, for my friends that are priests Michael, Antonio and Fr. Tom. It is a great honor to have three such holy men for friends.

The Scribes and the Pharisees

Do you ever wonder why Jesus so often rebuked the scribes and the pharisees? We find it again and again in scripture where He warned them and actually reprimanded them. They were the outstanding religious leaders of the time. They were the ones who were to be looked upon for advice; they wore the robes; they stood on the street corners and prayed; they fasted in public; they were supposedly the models of what the others were to do to honor God. Yet, He rebuked them because they wore their spirituality on the outside, doing it only for the recognition they would receive. They wanted the people to see them praying and fasting. It was all a show. Do we sometimes act like the scribes and pharisees? Do we wear our religiosity on the outside, looking for the recognition we can receive? Or do we secretly wear it in our hearts, for God alone to see, constantly striving to actually "be" like Jesus in every way we can? Do we brag about how many prayers we say, or how many times we go to church, or how much we materially "give" to others? Or do we silently make an effort to love all others, seeking to bring happiness and joy to all those around us, no matter their race, religion, social status or the way they look physically? Do we reach out to the poor, the handicapped, the elderly? Do we speak kindly to all people, even if we are repulsed by them? Or do we criticize and laugh at others, hurting their feelings. Does this make us feel big and powerful? Let us strive to be more like Jesus and less like the scribes and pharisees. Let us always work for our heavenly rewards and bypass the earthly rewards which merely pass away when we leave this world. God bless.

The Time of Advent

Advent is the time during which we once again ready our hearts for the coming of the Lord on Christmas morn. But, how do we ready our hearts, when the world is telling us to spend the time on worldy things? We have to quiet ourselves and take time out to sit with Jesus. We need to focus on Him, if possible, by spending time with the Blessed Sacrament in Eucharistic adoration, just opening our hearts to Him and listening to what He is saying to us. Sometimes I sit before Jesus and offer words of love and praise to my Eucharistic King. Other times I whisper words of thanksgiving and in my mind try to think of all the things that I need to thank God for; both the good and the difficult things in my life, because they are all part of His plan for my spiritual formation. Other times I read Scripture and let Him speak to me through this means, and I know immediately if there is a lesson or a word in there meant for my own use. Still other times I just sit and look at Jesus, hoping that my gaze will be enough. I think eager expectation is the best way to describe the attitude we must take as we anticipate the coming of the Lord on Christmas day, when we will again rejoice in the Incarnation. There would be no Resurrection without the Incarnation, so let us ready for the celebration of this great and holy feast, just a few short weeks away.

A New Beginning

Since I am no longer a guest on the Journey With Friends blog, I have decided to begin my own blog where I will publish my spiritual thoughts, prayers and insights for those who may be interested. I also plan to keep people updated periodically on the story of Karim, which continues in my life, even though he is in Lebanon and I am in the U.S. Karim was a gift from God to me and will always remain a part of my family. He is very much loved by my family, as are we by Karim. My friends in Lebanon will keep me updated, and I will pass that information on to you, who might wish to know of his progress periodically. He is back home and being cared for by his family, but for those who came to know and love him in Michigan, he remains a loving concern. I thank you all for your heartfelt continued prayers and your interest in his life as he continues on in Lebanon. God bless you all for caring. Please feel free to comment and ask questions any time and I will try to get answers and respond whenever I can. Liz

God's True Love

I am beginning to let go of that which kept me bound. It no longer has the same effect on me, although I still feel its pull somewhat. I mourn its loss. Yet, I realize that my true joy is not to be found in humanity. My true joy lies only in the triune God - Father, Son and Holy Spirit. He beckons me and calls my name. He is offering me the love and consolation that I so earnestly desire. I realize now that humans cannot possibly provide this for me. Only God in His mercy and infinite love can offer and does offer this to me. And He expects nothing in return. He gives this love freely and most generously. How can he not? It was He who wrote my very name on the palm of His hand from all eternity. It was He whose thought of me and love for me willed me into being. If I were not always on His mind, I would have ceased to exist. Ahhh, this God of mine is incomparable! I must rejoice in knowing how much I am loved by Him. It is truly a wonder to me!