Tied Together

Friends of Faith:

“In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” The simplest of prayers. They are said at each Christian baptism (which is why all Christian baptism is recognized by the Church), but yet associated with Catholics when we make the Sign of the Cross.

I often wonder if we realize just how powerful these words are when we use them to bless ourselves; when we invoke the Trinity into our lives; when we tie together our baptism and Christ’s death on the cross: our birth into the Christian life and our redemption into everlasting life. A sign and a signing that we are given life thru Him.

“As followers of Jesus Christ, we are united to his passion death and resurrection. We take the sign of his cross on to our own bodies. This central symbol of our faith becomes the beginning point of our prayer, and its conclusion. It’s how we place boundaries in time and space that say, “Now I’m praying; this time belongs to God.” Our actual words, “In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” reflect this delineation of sacred time and space, and recognize that all we are and all we do is connected to the mystery of the Trinity.

“In addition to beginning and ending prayer, the Sign of the Cross is used at other times as well, for example, when receiving a formal blessing, receiving absolution, and entering a church and blessing oneself with holy water. Generally speaking, it’s appropriate to make the Sign of the Cross any time you hear the words, “In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” (from USCCB, For Your Marriage.org)

This is the one who came through water and blood, Jesus Christ, not by water alone, but by water and blood. The Spirit is the one who testifies, and the Spirit is truth. So there are three that testify, the Spirit, the water, and the blood, and the three are of one accord. If we accept human testimony, the testimony of God is surely greater. Now the testimony of God is this, that he has testified on behalf of his Son. 1 Jn 5: 1-19

Each time I hear this reading I am reminded of a decorative wedding plaque which says: “May our lives be bound together, made stronger when bound together by God, while two can be undone, three cords cannot be easily untangled.”

Three of one accord – Father, Son and Holy Spirit; Husband, Wife and God—our unity made stronger, made lasting, and bound together as one in prayer, thought and deed.

May we prayerfully and thoughtfully make our lives stronger, bound together with Christ in all we do,

Blessings,

Charlotte

www.morningreflection.blogspot.com

Growing Our Identity

Friends of Faith:

Who am I?

When Moses asked this question of God, he answered, “I am, who I am.” Ex 3:14

God’s identity is supreme, it is stripped of anything or anyone else—it is supremely one, He is supremely his own. And God’s desire for us is that we become like him, holy and without blemish, because he formed us in his image and likeness (Gn 1: 26)

Our identity, then, should not be defined by how we see ourselves or how someone else sees us, by what we own or don’t own, or by whom we know or don’t know, but rather only by how God sees us.

Yet in our human nature, all of us try to identify ourselves either by what we do, by what we have or by whom we know or are associated with (I am an accountant, he is the Chicago Cubs pitcher, they are the ones with the child who …., she’s the one that wears the fancy hat or drives the red sports car, they’re the ones with the mansion of a house or a great “man cave,” or they’re the ones who we always see with … at the football game).

And when I lose my ability to be an accountant, when the ball player loses his ability to throw a ball 99 miles an hour, when a child can’t or doesn’t have the desire to achieve all that we thought they should or could, when our car is wrecked or our house is blown over by a tornado, or when our friends move on – who are we then, who do we become without all this stuff, without all that we do, or without someone we thought we could depend on?

“And he spoke to them at length in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow.  And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and birds came and ate it up.  Some fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil.  It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep, and when the sun rose it was scorched, and it withered for lack of roots. Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it. But some seed fell on rich soil and produced fruit, a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.  Whoever has ears ought to hear.” Mt 13: 2-9

This parable isn’t just about what we do, but rather it is about growing our identity in and through our faith, about opening our ears and hearts to listen to God’s word (the seed) to be sure that it falls on rich ground (us.)

God’s word is like pure refreshing water. We can treasure and accept it like a cleansing rain or try to control it and make our own—eroding the soil and his truth, rejecting it as somehow polluted because we believe man’s ways are better than God’s ways.

I am asked to examine where the richness of my faith lies: in rich soil, Him, or choked out by the rocks and weeds of power or greed. I am asked to look for, recognize, and pull out the weeds and rocks in my life by examining and prioritizing Him over the materialism which overtakes the growth of the identity he desires for me.

I desire roots which are firmly planted in the truths of His church, nurtured by prayer and formation, and which will allow me to overcome the peer pressures of an immoral society.

I hope to grow my identity upwards, so that the fruit I am gifted with will become pollen for others by evangelization and the spreading of His good news.   

Heavenly Father, You are the greatest farmer, with seed so rich it fills my every need.  Refresh me with the pure, true and living water of Your Spirit. Help me to weed out the impurities of my life and strip myself of earthly riches, of the rocks and thorns which overshadow the identity you desire. May I bear fruit not of human materialism, but of a love which cares for and serves others. Help me to become more like your “I am,” created anew: holy, pure, humble and grateful to live in this, your heavenly garden. Amen.

Is my soul growing richer in God’s identity each day? Will I bear heavenly fruit?

May we reach out to each other to grow in faith together,
Blessings,
Charlotte

Living Water: A Theology of the Body Lenten Reflection

L I V I N G W A T E R

"The water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life"

Life, good. Death, bad.

Talk about a bottom line....from Genesis to Revelation, its speaks to the core of every commandment, covenant, prophecy, poem, doctrine or story. God is Life and being made in His "image and likeness", we too have been given a choice to share in Life as our inheritance. But that's where it gets sticky...Life is a gift. We must ask for it and then receive it. It can't be grasped, re-engineered or "self-made".

Being human means being in constant need. While Lent is a time for us to return to a keener sense of our true needs (versus the many counterfeits) we also come to a keener sense that our needs - those things that truly give us Life - only come from God. Drink, food, even shelter have their earthly attractions, but in the end none truly satisfy our physical needs. Love, security, identity and peace each have their earthly attractions, but in the end none truly satisfy our spiritual needs. Every earthly attraction has its promise of satisfaction, but it always fades. Invariably, a need returns demanding our attention.

But what has God offered us from "the beginning"? Life. Superabundant Life. If only we would choose Him - as the one source for true satisfaction - He will provide us water from a rock or a well, but really for the greater purpose of drawing out our thirst for Him as the Living Water. He will give us our daily bread from the heavens like any good Father, but with the greater purpose of giving us a hunger for the Living Bread from Heaven. God grants us many kinds of love with each other, but only so we may hear His proposal for an eternal union with Him who is Love - the only Love that satisfies.

Pope Benedict XVI has said we have lost our taste for God. The woman at the well shows us how to restore it: listen for the voice of the Lord right at the place of our needs. Come to the truth of who we are - the good, the bad, and the ugly - and reveal the whole truth of ourselves to Him. Then, He will reveal Himself to us and fill us with "water" that will become in us "a spring of water welling up to eternal life." Only in this spiritual nakedness - without shame - before God, can we enter into this communion with Him.
Life, good. Eternal life, very good.
By Damon Owens, TOB Institute www.tobinstitute.org