"Be who you are are and be that well"

 

 

Fr. Jim Finnegan, OSFS shared a story about a father and his son [the son was a developmentally delayed young man].  The Dad went to confession and when he was finished, he asked Fr. Finnegan if he would hear his son’s confession, Father Finnegan said yes. 

   

Fr. Finnegan asked the young man, “What did God do for you?”   The young man answered God has given me loving parents, a nice home and friends.

 

Then Fr. Finnegan asked the young man, “What have you done for God?”

His answer was profound, “I be me!”

 

We were created by God to reflect God’s love and care, His forgiveness and mercy to those we meet.  We were created to “Be who you are and be that well.”  [St. Francis de Sales]

 

Take each moment, each action and make it a gift to Our Lord Jesus.  To do this you need to base your life on plan on WISDOM:

 

1. knowledge of self

2. compassion for others                        

3. friendship with God

 

God will take care of everything else.

 

St. Joseph pray for us.

St. Andre Bessette intercede for us.

May God Be Praised!

 

 

 

“A Story of Four Worms”

 

A preacher decided to use a visual demonstration as emphasis for his Sunday sermon.  So, he watered his lawn in the early evening, and then before he turned for the night he went to his back yard with flashlight and carefully selected four worms, [night crawlers to be exact].

 

He placed the Four Worms into Four Separate Jars: The FIRST WORM was put into a container of alcohol.  The SECOND WORM was put into a container of cigarette smoke.  The THIRD WORM was put into a container of chocolate.  The FOURTH WORM was put into a container of good clean soil.

 

What Happened to the Four Worms?  At the conclusion of the sermon, the Minister reported the following results: The FIRST WORM in the jar with alcohol - was DEAD.  The SECOND WORM in the jar with cigarette smoke - was DEAD.  The THIRD WORM in the jar with chocolate - was DEAD.  The FOURTH WORM in the jar of good clean soil - was ALIVE

 

The Minister Asked the Congregation: What can you learn from this demonstration? From the back of the church, came the response: "As long as you drink, smoke, and eat chocolate, you won't have worms!"  For some people that might represent joy, but real JOY, eternal JOY is something different.

 

Real JOY comes from knowing, loving, and following Jesus Christ.  Eleonore Stump wrote, “The union of love is not a feeling, it is a mutual indwelling.”  Jesus reminded us that God wants to dwell in us and wants us to dwell in Him.

 

St. Joseph pray for us.

St. Andre Bessette intercede for us.

May God Be Praised!

 

 

 

Why Do Good?

St. Francis de Sales teaches us, “Let nothing disturb you; Let nothing frighten you.  All things are passing.  God never changes.  Patience obtains all things.  Nothing is wanting to him who possesses God.  Go alone suffices.”

This insight may help you to remember to pray for the strength to follow God’s will, not to change God’s mind, or get God to do what you what, but to pray for the strength to accept what comes your way as from the hand of God.  Thank God for the Good, offer up the hardships and crosses to God; ask Him to bless them and have good come from them.

 

Maybe this story can help us to do good when we can!

The Starfish

A young girl was walking along a beach upon which thousands of starfish had been washed up during a terrible storm.  When she came to a starfish, she would pick it up, and throw it back into the ocean.  People watched her with amusement.  She had been doing this for some time when a man approached her and said, “Little girl, why are you doing this?  I am helping this Starfish.  Look at this beach!  You can’t save all these starfish.  You can’t begin to make a difference!” After reflecting for a few moments, she bent down, picked up another starfish, and hurled it as far as she could into the ocean.  Then she looked up at the man and said, “Well, I made a difference to that one!”  [Adapted from 'The Star Thrower' by Loren C. Eiseley]

 

 

You can make a difference today.  St. Francis de Sales taught us, "Saints are people who do ordinary things, extraordinarily well."  Whatever you do today, do for your love of God and you will do it well.

 

St. Joseph pray for us.

St. Andre Bessette intercede for us.

May God Be Praised!

 

St. Francis de Sales and Dcn. George Kelly

Advice from St. Francis de Sales and Dcn. George Kelly

 

I pray that each one of us shares God's beauty and goodness with every person we meet.  “Those who are learned will be as radiant as the sky in all its beauty; those who instruct the people in goodness will shine like stars for all eternity.  Alleluia!” 

“Do not look forward in fear to the changes and chances of this life; Rather, look to them with full confidence that, as they arise, God, to whom you belong will in His love enable you to profit by them.  He has guided you thus far in life, and He will lead you safely through all trials; and when you cannot stand it, God will bury you in His arms.  Do not fear what may happen tomorrow; the same everlasting Father who cares for you today will take care of you then and every day.  He will either shield you from suffering or will give you unfailing strength to bear it.  Be at peace, then, and put aside all anxious thoughts and imaginations.” Amen.

St. Francis de Sales included in a passage of Letters to Persons of the World: “Let the world turn upside down, let everything be in darkness, in smoke, in uproar—God is with us.”

Here are a few of my thoughts for you to consider, Lord God give us the Grace to become truly Holy and give us the Courage to conform our lives to Your Gospel.  Nourish us always with Your Sacraments, that we may reflect the brightness of Your love to the darkness in our world.  Some say, Jesus is the Greatest Story ever told, I believe that Jesus, True God, and True Man, is the Greatest Truth ever revealed!  Alleluia, Alleluia! 

 

We are not on earth to earn heaven; we are on earth to reflect heaven to those we meet.  As we continue to deal with the COVID 19 Pandemic may we take time to thank God for each other, for the medical personal and all of those on the front lines.  When we are able, once again, to pray in church, shop in a store, go to a movie, etc., may we do each thing we do with a grateful heart.

 

St. Joseph pray for us.

St. Andre Bessette intercede for us.

May God Be Praised!

Reflecting on Suffering

Suffering is a profoundly difficult human problem to deal with, to comprehend!  Why is there suffering if God is all loving, all good and all-powerful?

 

Pope St. John Paul II said, "It is suffering, more than anything else, which clears the way for the grace which transforms human souls. Suffering, more than anything else makes present in the history of humanity the powers of the Redemption."

 

Why does anyone suffer?  Why does God permit suffering?  The truth is I don’t know, but I am very interested in finding out!

 

You and I will not fully understand the why of suffering until we arrive at our eternal reward.  Eugene Kennedy said, “Heartbreak is impossible unless there is great love.  Without love, sorrow and tears would disappear.”

 

But Why?                                        

 

Our loving God and Creator sent us His Son, who showed us how

to handle suffering.  When Jesus suffered, He offered His suffering to God the Father and it was anointed by the Holy Spirit.  You and I are called to do the same and trust me it is not easy.

 

There is no answer to the why of pain and suffering this side of the grave, however one day we will understand, until then follow the path of Jesus and offer your pain and suffering up, ask God to bless it and make good come from it.

 

St. Joseph pray for us.

St. Andre Bessette intercede for us.

May God Be Praised!

Suffering

                                 

“Lord, You know the burden of my sorrow.”  God is faithful and God can be trusted!  Do you believe that?  St. Teresa of Jesus prayed:

“Let nothing trouble you/

Let nothing frighten you

Everything passes/

            God never changes

Patience/ Obtains all

Whoever has God/

            Wants for nothing

God alone is enough.”

In the General Introduction to the Order of Christian Funerals, # 8, “If one member suffers in the body of Christ which is the Church, all the members suffer with that member.”  (1 Cor. 12:26)

For this reason, those who are baptized into Christ and nourished at the same table of the Lord are responsible for one another.  When Christians are sick, their brothers and sisters share a ministry of mutually charity and “do all that they can to help the sick return to health by showing love for the sick, and by celebrating the sacraments with them.”  So too, when a member of Christ’s Body dies, the faithful are called to a ministry of consolation to those who have suffered the loss of one who they love.  Christian consolation is rooted in that hope that comes from faith in the saving death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ….  The Church calls each member of Christ’s Body—priest, deacon, laity—to participate in the ministry of consolation: to care for the dying to pray for the dead, to comfort those who mourn.

Why do we Pray and why is there Suffering?

 

I sent this response to someone who wrote me about suffering and prayer.

Dear_____,

Thank you for your questions, which I think, can be summed up in two. 

1. Why do people suffer, and 2. Why do we pray?

These may appear to be simple questions on the surface, but they are quite profound.  The first thing you want to consider is why you pray?

Do you pray to get what you want?

Do you pray to know what God wants?  

Do you pray to build and strengthen your relationship with God?

I suggest the primary purpose of praying should be to build and strengthen your relationship with God, so you can discover His will for your life and follow it. 

The question about suffering is at its essence a mystery; we can know something about suffering, but not the entire picture. 

A Bishop in Ireland asked a question at Confirmation about the Trinity.  A young lad responded the Trinity is 3 in 1 and 1 in 3.  The Bishop said to him, “I don’t understand” The young lad said, “You not supposed to, it’s a mystery!” 

The best explanation I have found for why we suffer is a story about a Rabbi teaching his students about 400 years before Christ.  He was teaching 4 or 5 of his students just outside their village.  As they looked down on their village, they saw foreign troops invading the village.

They heard the screaming, the yelling and saw the fires.  Finally, the rabbi looked up to heaven and screamed, “If only I were God!”  One of his students asked him, “What would you do differently if you were God.”

The rabbi answered, “I would do nothing differently, but I would understand!”

We don’t understand why there is pain and suffering in the world, but Jesus taught us what to do with our pain and suffering.  Offer it to God, the Father and ask Him to bless it and have good come from it.  It is what we do with our suffering that helps us grow or stumble on our road here.

 

Let me share excerpts from Psalm 18, “I love you, Lord, my strength, my rock, my fortress, my savior.  My God is the rock where I take refuge; my shield, my mighty help, my stronghold.” 

 

St. Francis de Sales gave us this insight, “Let God gather what He has planted in His garden, He takes nothing out of season.”  In God’s season, we find our ultimate hope!  That is the land of the living.

St. Francis de Sales taught us, “Do not look forward to the changes and chances of this life with fear; rather look upon them with strong hope that, as they arise, God, whose child you are, will deliver you from them.”  Begin each day TRUSTING in God, live each moment in that TRUST, and allow

TRUSTING God’s WILL to RUN your life and then you will live as a child of God.  Easy to write, easy to say, but very hard to live.

 

St. Joseph pray for us.

St. Andre Bessette intercede for us.

May God Be Praised!

 

 

 

 

Easter and the Gift of the Eucharist

An atheist was walking through the woods.  He said to himself.  'What majestic trees!'  ‘What powerful rivers!'  'What beautiful animals!'  As he was walking alongside the river, he heard a rustling in the bushes behind him.  He turned to look.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                        

 

He saw a 7-foot grizzly bear charge towards him.  He ran as fast as he could up the path.  He looked over his shoulder and saw that the bear was closing in on him.  He looked over his shoulder again, and the bear was even closer.  He tripped and fell on the ground and rolled over to pick himself up, but the bear was right on top of him, reaching for him with his paw. 

 

 

 

 

 

At that instant moment, the Atheist cried out: 'Oh my God!'  Time

stopped.  The bear froze and the forest was silent.   

A bright light shone upon the man, a voice came out of the sky.  You deny my existence for all these years; teach others I don't exist; you credit creation to cosmic accident.'  'Do you expect me to help you out of this predicament?'  ‘Am I to count you as a believer?’

 

 

 

The atheist looked directly at the light and said: ‘It would be hypocritical of me to suddenly ask you to treat me as a Christian, but perhaps you could make the BEAR a Christian?’  ‘Very well’, said the voice.  The light went out; time resumed.  The sounds of the forest returned.  Then the BEAR brought both of his paws together, bowed his head and said, ‘Lord bless this food, which I received from Your Goodness through Christ Our Lord.  Amen!

 

Each of us has doubts, Thomas the Apostle had doubts, but he did not run away from his doubts, he honestly confronted them and sought answers.  He offered the most profound & explicit statement of faith in the New Testament, ‘My Lord & my God!’ and eventually Thomas died for his faith.

 

Joseph Ratzinger [Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI] in his book, Jesus of Nazareth, Holy Week: From the Entrance into Jerusalem to the Resurrection wrote, “The Christian faith stands or falls with the truth of the testimony that Christ is risen from the dead …. Only if Jesus is risen has anything really new occurred that changes the world and the situation of mankind.” (p. 241-242) He, also, wrote “Jesus’ Resurrection was about breaking out into an entirely new form of life….” (p.244)

 

May our faith, renewed in this season of Easter, be reflected in the lives we lead as disciples of the Risen Lord!  Lives lived for God and for His Kingdom.  The early Christian community lived with Fear, Doubt and Hope – their Hope was in Jesus.  Their Hope was renewed in Jesus Resurrection and strengthened by His gift of Eucharist.  The Eucharist that is the gift of Jesus true God and true man, offers to us in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

 

Jesus’ Resurrection conquered death and our hope is based on that singular event.  In his Gospel, John tells us “… these (signs) are written that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God ….”  Despite our doubts, our failures, our sins we believe, we believe.  After all it is a matter of faith!

 

Today for a few minutes, reflect on the His gift of the Eucharist.

 

St. Joseph pray for us.

St. Andre Bessette intercede for us.

May God Be Blessed!

 

 

Update on Laurie's Progress and Thoughts on my Visit South

 

Thoughts from our Southern Visit

 

Joanne and I were blessed with a lovely visit to our son Brian’s and my sister Kathy’s homes in Georgia and South Carolina.  In John’s Gospel [8:12] we read, "No one who follows Me will ever walk in darkness.”  We had the privilege of spending seven days with our miracle daughter-in-law, Laurie and our miracle son, Brian.  They and their children, Caiden John and Berkleigh are making slow but steady progress physically, spiritually, and emotionally. 

 

COVID prevented us from visiting them in Georgia and made Laurie’s rehabilitation more difficult and placed another burden on our son Brian.  Laurie has resumed her therapies, their children are sometimes in school, sometimes in virtual school and Brian works in his office, at Center Parc Stadium in Atlanta and sometimes from home.  Mass and religious education are currently done remotely, but soon they hope to return, in person, to their parish in Kennesaw.

On their refrigerator is found a prayer card drawn by Bro. Mickey McGrath where the St. Francis de Sales Be at Peace prayer appears, “Do not look forward in fear to the changes in life; rather, look to them with full hope that as they arise, God, whose very own you are, will lead you safely through all things; and when you cannot stand it, God will carry you in His arms.

 

Do not fear what may happen tomorrow; the same understanding Father who cares for you today will take care of you then and every day.

 

He will either shield you from suffering or will give you unfailing strength to bear it. Be at peace and put aside all anxious thoughts and imaginations.”

Brian and Laurie now live that prayer, and TRUST in God today, each today they are given.  Below are two pictures of their family prayer table and the reminder to “Trust in the Lord with all your heart.” [Proverbs 3:5]

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brian places his petitions, like our Holy Father Pope Francis under the Sleeping Statue of St. Joseph.  He will intercede for the Kellys of Kennesaw and for you if you ask him.

 

 

 

 

Fortunately, we were able to spend a few days with my sister and brother-in-law, thank God for his Goodness and his Graces.  Picture here is the sun rise from their home in the foothills of Travelers Rest, S.C.  On the wall in the room, we stayed we found wonderful advice from Bonnie Mohr here are a few excerpts from her poem. “Life is not a race - but indeed a journey. Be honest. Work hard. Be choosy. Say "thank you", "I love you", and "great job" to someone each day. Go to church, take time for prayer…. Love your life and what you've been given, it is not accidental ~ search for your purpose and do it as best you can. Dreaming does matter. It allows you to become that which you aspire to be. Laugh Often. Appreciate the little things in life and enjoy them.  Recognize the special people you've been blessed to know. Live for today, enjoy the moment.”

 

Thank you for your prayers for Laurie, Brian, and their children they help a lot, please continue them.

 

St. Joseph pray for us.

St. Andre Bessette intercede for us.

May God Be Praised!

Sunday April 11, 2021 -The Octave of Easter and Divine Mercy Sunday

 

Homily Cycle B 4/11/2021

Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/041121.cfm

 

Today ends the OCTAVE of Easter, our 8-day celebration!  However, the Easter Season continues until Pentecost, so great a feast, 50 days are needed.  Easter reminds us to be cognizant of the fact that Jesus’ Resurrection is our HOPE.  St. Paul said, “If Christ did not rise from the dead then our faith is in vain!

 

Luke tells us in the Acts “…the apostles bore witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.”  The early Christians viewed the world through the lens of Jesus’s Resurrection.  Do our lives, actions, and attitudes bear witness to our faith in Jesus and His Resurrection?

 

Jesus won the victory over death, so our lives should reflect the joy of Easter.  The Gospel tells us that “… the doors were locked ….” are the doors to our hearts and souls locked from letting God totally in our lives.

 

 

Thomas proclaimed, “Jesus My Lord and My God!”  What fundamental difference does the fact that Jesus is our Lord and our God make in our life our actions and our attitudes?  Thomas proclaimed Jesus’ message and we can proclaim His message by how we live!

 

The Risen Lord showed Thomas His wounds – those wounds exist today in the homeless, jobless, victims of shootings, in the COVID Pandemic and in all the problems we face.  This is Divine Mercy Sunday, and it reminds us that we must bring God’s mercy and love to our families, our friends and our world.

 

Thomas saw God fully revealed in Jesus.  We receive Jesus in the Eucharist, a Mystery to be Believed and to be Lived.  Will we respond, “My Lord and My God”?  Our Amen after Receiving the Eucharist commits us to being a faithful disciple and witness to Jesus Christ.  Nourished by His Eucharist can go forth from here to bring Jesus’ Hope and Love to heal the wounds in our families and in our world! 

 

 

 

Fr. Richard Carton was speaking to a group of 2^nd graders about the Resurrection & a student asked him, “Father, what did Jesus say right after He came out of the grave?”  While Fr. Rich pondered his response, a little girl raised her hand and said “I know what He said, Father!

 

“What did He say?” 

 

“Tah-dah!” 

 

“Tah-dah!”  Probably not. 

 

“Easter is the fulfillment of God’s Promise to humanity.”  (Connections, 04/10/12)

 

In Acts we heard “The community of believers was of one heart and mind….”  That community lived with Fear, Doubt and Hope – their Hope was in Jesus.  That Hope was renewed in Jesus Resurrection and strengthened by His gift of Eucharist.  Jesus’ Resurrection conquered death and our hope is based on that fact.  Jesus said, “Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.”  That’s you and me; the Lord blesses us today and every day.

 

Despite our doubts, our failures, our sins we believe, we believe.  We are an Easter People and Alleluia is our song!  For a few minutes, in silence, reflect on what Jesus’ Resurrection means to you?

 

Saint Joseph, pray for us.

Saint Andre Bessette intercede for us.

May God Be Praised!

My wife and I will be visiting our son and daughter-in-law in Kennesaw, Georgia and my sister and brother-in-law in South Carolina, therefore "The Daily Dose of God" will not be published until Friday, April 23, 2021.  Thank you for your prayers and support of "The Daily Dose of God", you will be in my prayers.