The Fruits of the Spirit

Someone "bragged" to me the other day that many know him by his "fruits." He used the well-known quotation from Scriptures about some being known by their fruits. (Those would be the ones whom the Father has pruned on the vine who are steeped in the Word and who of course follow the Ten Commandments.) This person is well-known because he is a celebrity. He is a famous singer and sings around the world. His gift of a beautiful voice is definitely a source of honoring God. He also sings on a team of traveling evangelists who head up leadership conferences all over the world. It reminds me of the tele-evangelists of the 70's and 80's.

This individual, when referring to being known for his "fruits," I am sure was referring to the fact that he is famous, receives compliments all the time for his good singing and is known to be part of this evangelization team as well. When we were speaking, he sort of alluded to the fact that I might not be known for "fruits." This individual has also told me that he does not commit actual sin.

While I do not intend to be judgemental, I find this type of attitude in a person, very prideful and dangerous. First of all, no human can claim to be without sin, or this makes a person a god. All people sin, even if it is just in their minds. We all were born with original sin, and although washed away in baptism, concupiscence remains. To be without sin is impossible. Only Jesus and Mary remained without sin. Perhaps as we grow in holiness, we can move toward committing fewer and fewer actual sins, but, sins of ommission and commission are still committed, even if they are small.

Secondly, we have to be very careful of pride. It slips in very sneakily in people. People that are in the public eye often do not see it in themselves. Like the scribes and pharisees, they receive much of their rewards here on earth by the fact that they receive their compliments and praises often from people on earth. It goes to their heads oftentimes without them realizing it. Pride sneaks its ugly head in. It becomes a normal way of thinking. "I'm better than he is..."

And lastly, those of us who try to live humbly and without earthly recognition for the things we do for God, often bear fruit for the Kingdom in small ways. God never said that our fruits had to be huge. Scripture says that the fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, generosity, kindness, patience, etc., as outlined in the Holy Scriptures. The "little" people of the world, those who are poor, unrecognized souls, like the ones Jesus often hung around with in his life on earth, or the ones who were later recognized to be saints, weren't always known for the publicly great things that they did, but, they were known for the "little" great things they did. For example, some merely cared quietly for the poor their entire lives. These types of "fruits" fill God's baskets to overflowing. He often loves the "little" ways even more than the big and flashy ways.

I say, love others and be kind to everyone. Spread a smile, give a hug. Do what Jesus would do.

Jesus is the Way

This morning while in prayer, I recalled a vision I had more than a year ago while I was also in prayer. I thought it worthy to write it down. Life is a journey. It is as if we are in a maze. We come upon many obstacles and sometimes get turned in the wrong direction. We must find the path, the correct road, or the "way," so to speak. Jesus said "I am the way, the truth and the life." What was it He meant by this? He meant that it is only by following Him; by doing what He tells us to do (following the ten commandments, love one another, love God first with our whole beings, be baptized and repent, etc.) that we will find true happiness and thus the way to eternal life with Him in the Kingdom of Heaven. We are already in the Kingdom of God here on earth, for He often proclaimed that the Kingdom of God was at hand.

Jesus is our "way" to the Father. Only through Him do we meet the Father. For He and the Father are one, as He told us so many times. When the apostles asked when they would see the Father, He repeatedly told them that if they have seen Him, they have seen the Father. And the Third Person, the Holy Spirit, would be with them, until the end of time, to open their eyes to even more of the Truth. We must be listening to hear the promptings of the Holy Spirit, and be ready to do as He inspires us to do for the sake of the Kingdom. This is our job on earth. This is our preparation for the Heavenly Kingdom. We must prepare our souls here to be ready for the eternal banquet at which we will celebrate with all the angels and saints who have gone before us, the never-ending Supper of the Lamb, where there will be joy and happiness and continual praise and worship of Him who is the Paschal Lamb who set us free. Our eyes will rest on the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, the Lion of Judah. We will have reached our eternal home; the place prepared for us from the beginning of time; our destiny.

So let us continue down that daily path; eyes focussed only on Jesus. For He will lead us to Paradise, just as God led the Israelites to the Promised Land. And He is our bridge to the Father. Thank you, Lord Jesus.

Five days ago a young man killed his mother and then went to a nearby elementary school, broke into a window, and proceeded to shoot innocent people. Twenty-eight people died; six adults and twenty-two six and seven-year old children, whom he didn't even know. He turned the gun on himself and committed suicide as well. Our whole country is in shock for this senseless violence and murder of innocent human beings, particularly the babies.

I have been especially bothered by this, even brought to tears several times during the repeated newscasts this week showing the devastation of a town preparing the week before Christmas, a supposedly joyful time. Now they mourn. I cannot imagine the pain and agony these people are going through as they put to rest their children, mothers, wives, teachers, friends, sisters, brothers... I heard that the town removed their Christmas lights and their Christmas decorations. They do not feel like celebrating and rejoicing. They have bodies to bury and funerals to attend. They have children to comfort; mothers and fathers to hold tight and just love through this whole ordeal. Sometimes there are no words to say. Time will have to help heal this wound. Our God will have to see them through this and He will have to whisper into many ears that "it will be okay."

I know that I myself questioned, "why, Lord?" But, my faith tells me that I have to give it to God, for He will somehow bring good from it. We may not see the good for years to come, but, somewhere it will come. We have to trust. I do have faith that all of the children are in heaven with Jesus. They will be there on Christmas morn to see Mary holding the Baby Jesus. They will perhaps place a kiss on the cheek of the infant child and will so joyfully sing with the cherubim and seraphim and ALL the choirs of angels to welcome the newborn king. Theirs will be such a joyous Christmas as they've never seen before. This can be a comfort to the grieving. This year their children will spend Christmas in heaven, and what more glorious gift could they receive than the gift of eternal life? They now see the face of God Almighty in all His radiance!!! No more pain, no more agony of life on earth. Only heaven and eternal happiness with Jesus the King!! And we pray the same for all of the adults whose lives were taken. Ours is a merciful God! A wondrous God! A God of love and compassion who made us to dwell in heaven with Him!

And God so loved the world that He gave us His only begotten Son, so that we might be saved from our sins and share with Him eternal life. Jesus gave us on His own, no one forced Him, His life, and He died on a cross, to save us from our sins. He conquered sin and death. He defeated Satan. By His cross and resurrection, we are saved!!

Amazing Love

Tonight I was home by myself and I watched a movie entitled, "Amazing Love, The Story of Hosea." I saw it at the store in the cheap movie bin the other day and picked it up because the description on the back of the movie caught my attention. Sometimes that's the best time to pick up a film, just because it's cheap and it looks like it teaches a lesson.

This movie was actually a story within a story. A youth group went on a camping trip and the youth minister ended up telling the teens the Old Testament story of Hosea. This story parallelled a situation happening within the teen group, so by his expanding on the biblical story, the teens learned a valuable lesson that could be applied to today. It taught them a valuable lesson.

In a nutshell, God told Hosea to marry Gomer, who was known to be a harlot. In spite of his reluctance to trust a woman of this nature, Hosea married her out of obedience and trust in God's instructions to him. Everyone in the area knew of her reputation. At the same time, God was instructing Hosea to be his prophet (messenger) to warn the people that they must turn back to Him and turn their back on their sinful ways or they would be punished severely. They were a rich and haughty people, worshiping false gods and engaging in sinful lifestyles.

They laughed at Hosea's prophesies because they didn't believe him. They were prospering and did not believe his God was "the God" or that He would punish them since they were so rich and well off. In fact, it was the prophet himself, Hosea, who was poor, and whose own wife was the harlot, the sinful one, hurting him. They questioned why he didn't throw his own wife out and leave her. He answered them that he loved her.

He stuck with her, through her lies and deception, her cheating and falsehoods, until she was thrown out by one who was paying for her services and put in the market to be sold. Hosea himself claimed her and took her home with him to love, for he told her she was his alone to love. This was truly a lesson in unconditional love, imaging the love God had for His people who kept turning from Him. Yet, He came through with His warning and did punish the people for their sinfulness. Only Hosea had remained faithful to God.

The youth group was able to use this story as a valuable lesson in their situation, just as we all can apply it to our daily lives. The Word of God rings true for all ages. The Scriptures have all the lessons we need in order to live good and holy lives. If we focus on the Word, we are headed in the right direction. The Word feeds our mind, while the Flesh feeds our body with all we need to sustain our spiritual selves in this world of sin. God's graces flow from this. Would we have chosen to turn our backs on God, or to remain steadfast in spite of how bad everything appeared like Hosea? How much do we trust God?

Another Passes On

Today when I visited the nursing home to bring the gospel and the Eucharist, I was told that my closest friend there, Elizabeth, age 90, passed away yesterday morning. I dreaded the day when I would hear this news. She was so special to me. I loved her very much. As long as I have been coming to minister at the nursing home (8 1/2 years now) Elizabeth has been one of my people I visited. She always had a smile and wanted a kiss when I came in and another when I left. She loved to hear the gospel and remarked how beautiful the Word of God was. She loved receiving holy communion. She was often praying her rosary when I came in. If I asked her to pray for a certain intention of mine, she would. I kept her in my prayers, too.

One time I remarked to her that she should move to the other side of the nursing home where the more coherent patients were. Where she was, was with those whose minds were pretty much gone, or pretty dimented. She right away said, "Oh no. They need me too much right here. I couldn't leave them." I think she thought of herself as the mother to all of the patients on this end. She watched out for them. Her love for them was very strong.

A couple of months before she died, she started to show signs as if she had had a stroke. She was forgetful and acted strangely, asking me to help her over and over again. She would go in and out of these episodes. I knew her time on earth was soon to be over. I made sure to spend a little more time reassuring her and loving her when I made my weekly visits.

God sends people like this into our lives to remind us of how short our life on earth is. He also sends them to us to give us opportunities to love. After all, without love, we have nothing. But, with love, we have everything, for where there is love, there is Jesus. And I found Jesus in Elizabeth. God rest her soul.

Who Am I?

Someone asked me in anger today, "Who are you?" This person tries to control me. He wants to control what I say, what I do, where I sit, everything about me. I keep this all inside. It is very hurtful. It is definitely the cross I bear. I made a promise to God to bear this for Him. I will do it out of love for God because I know God loves this person so much. I will try to love this person as God loves him. I will try to see him with God's eyes.

We must do this with the people we struggle with the most. Sometimes these are our enemies, and Jesus told us to love our enemies. Being a Christian, imitating Christ, is very difficult. He never told us this would be easy. If we could escape to a lonely island somewhere, it would be easy. But, we have to live among people. Jesus told us to love one another as He loves us. It is a struggle. It is living a counter-cultural life sometimes. I need His grace and His strength to get through this each day. If I remain focussed on the Lord Jesus Christ at all times, He will help me bear my burden and make it lighter for me. This is where I will remain; with my Lord.

Last Sunday I went to the nursing home after Mass as usual. When I entered Laura's room I found an empty bed with no sheets on it. Sometimes this happens when the residents are up and about, and the sheets are being changed. But, I had a funny feeling inside that Laura was gone. It was too empty on her side of the room. I finished my rounds and found Bonnie, one of the activities directors, who has always been very helpful and honest with me. I have shared my concerns about Laura with her in the past. I asked her where Laura was and told her I was concerned because it looked so incredibly void in her room. She went to find out.

Nursing home personnel are normally not allowed to tell people where the residents are if they are out of the building in the hospital, or if they have passed away, but, Bonnie knows I am from the church, and she knows how much I care about all the people I visit weekly. She came back to me a few minutes later and told me quietly that Laura had passed away earlier that morning. My feelings had been correct. Somehow I knew Laura had passed into the next life, eternal life.

I stood there quietly pondering this news, a little sad, but, actually glad that she had left this world where she had been trapped in a broken down body for so many years. She had been jailed in a large body covered with bed sores, and she rarely had anyone pay much attention to her. I'm not sure if any family ever visited her. Laura spent most of her time on her side, moving in and out of sleep, barely aware of the world that was going on around her. Often she was left nearly naked behind the curtain in her room because no one came to check on her and see that she was covered. She smelled many times that I visited her, as if her diaper was messed. I am sure that she sat long periods in urine and excriment that no one took the time to change because it was a gross job. And because Laura slept so much, they felt nobody would notice her. But, I noticed.

Laura was sweet. She had the softest skin ever. I would often pat her exposed arms and hands and say sweet things to her; tell her how loved she was by Jesus. I would remind her that even if she felt all alone, that Jesus and Mary were right there with her all the time, loving her and comforting her. I told her to talk to them, for they were waiting for her to speak to them always. I reminded her that she was never alone, and that even if it felt as if no one was visiting her, that her heavenly friends were constant companions to her, and that she should rejoice in that news.

When I offered to read her the gospel, she always jumped at that opportunity. I don't think she was able to read anything to herself for at least a year or two. She was too weak. But, she listened with a smile on her face, and most often remarked how beautiful the gospel was. She appreciated this. And she only turned down the opportunity to receive Jesus in the Eucharist if she wasn't feeling well. I would pray with her and often she would chime in when the familiar prayers were said, like the "Our Father." Laura remained true to her Catholic faith until the end. I am so priviledged to have been used by God as a vessel to bring her the Word and the Eucharist. I thank Jesus for giving me this woman in my life for eight years. What an honor to serve her in this way. The blessings I received from her in return, by her smile and her love will remain with me always. May her soul rest in peace.