Snowball

Friends of Faith:

This thought is like a snowball which keeps getting bigger and deeper and more encompassing, with a realization that it is central to our Christian purpose.

Love = subordination = subject to the mission = service: All which hopefully makes us holier and brings us closer to God. And God is love. And this is the circle that is a growing snowball which cannot be denied. Reference the following 3 readings:

"Brothers and sisters: Put on, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if one has a grievance against another; as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do. And over all these put on love, that is, the bond of perfection.
And let the peace of Christ control your hearts, the peace into which you were also called in one body.
And be thankful.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, as in all wisdom you teach and admonish one another, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs  with gratitude in your hearts to God.
And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. 
Wives, be subordinate to your husbands, as is proper in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives, and avoid any bitterness toward them. Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is pleasing to the Lord.
Fathers, do not provoke your children, so they may not become discouraged.” Col 3: 12-21

“Be subordinate to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives should be subordinate to their husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is head of his wife just as Christ is head of the church, he himself the savior of the body. As the church is subordinate to Christ, so wives should be subordinate to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ loved the church and handed himself over for her to sanctify her, cleansing her by the bath of water with the word, that he might present to himself the church in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. So [also] husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one hates his own flesh but rather nourishes and cherishes it, even as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. “For this reason a man shall leave [his] father and [his] mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This is a great mystery, but I speak in reference to Christ and the church. In any case, each one of you should love his wife as himself, and the wife should respect her husband.” Eph 5: 21-33

“For if I do not have love, I have nothing….. Love is patient, love is kind… but the greatest of these is love.” 1 Cor 13: 1-13

I cannot deny a single word of these three readings about love, subordination, subjection, and submission (being under the mission of Christ, led by my husband, serving each other—be it family or friend or even enemy.)  

Each reading boldly leads to the definition of love – to service for one another and most importantly for service to God. They lead me to Jesus, the cross and the Church. They lead me to see Jesus’ example of teaching us how to be and how to do love – to be a selfless sacrifice for another. And they lead me by reminding me that no matter what I give up for the honor of serving Him, I should be willing to do it – nothing, NO Thing, NO event, should be greater than God.

It pains me when I hear or even say: I’ll take care of ‘person’s name’ later; or ‘husbands or child’s name’ will wait till later; or I didn’t make it to mass on Sunday because ‘event or happening’ was during that time.

So, no matter where I go with the thought – about doing something good or succumbing to the bad, the concept grows and shows me how big God really is and how central to my life God is and has become. I can’t escape Him no matter where I run, what I think or where my heart turns –not that I want to, but only to further make me realize how important He is to the creation of happiness, holiness, peacefulness and joy – all of which I crave with every fiber of my being.

I realize quite loudly that without God, there is nothing; without God, I am nothing; without God, I can do nothing; and WITH God, everything IS better, greater and has a larger purpose. And that is because I am not putting myself first. I am subjecting myself to God, to my husband and to others the way God intended and the way God created us.

The cardinal rule: Love one another as God has loved us – is bigger, is bolder, than anything on earth we can imagine. And while it is normal to take this “out” to the homeless, the impoverished, even our enemies we should not forget that this starts first and foremost in our homes with our spouses, our families and our Church family. Many times, loving, being subject to, and serving those closest to us, is more difficult than taking it out into the world.

O loving Father, May I always be reminded of your generous love in the gift of your son, Jesus. Thank you for the mercy you have bestowed on me when I fail to reflect your generous love to others. And give me the grace to be strong in you by reflecting your light to others in their darkness. Amen.

Snowball love. Be generous, be a servant, and be subject to God’s mighty power.

Blessings,

Charlotte

Being Good is Not Enough

Friends of Faith:

As I heard yesterday in the homily, “to be able to say I am a good or a kind person may not be enough because God is calling us to be great and to be holy.” God is calling us to love. Love is an action and greatness usually flows from an action.

It’s like saying “I’m trying” to diet, exercise or write a Monday morning reflection. Or I’ve thought of you. Until I actually do what I’m trying, or called you or said a prayer for you, simply thinking was probably not enough. Quite honestly I’ve done nothing until I take some action because until I do no one (myself or another) has become greater or better off by my action or known my thought.

Take my example about writing – until I put it on paper (and share it) I’ve done nothing for anyone else. And while my internal thoughts may be good, unless I share those thoughts with someone then I am not held accountable. I have not shared my faith or helped anyone grow closer to God. It’s like lighting a lamp and putting it under a bushel basket where no one can see it. (Mt 5:15)

This is the same for me as is that list of things in my head that I want or hope to get done today – they are probably not going to get finished unless they are written on a “sticky note” or a “to do” list of goals.

I may be a good or kind person that does nothing “evil.” But if I never do anything for another person, if I never serve another person and if I put my own wants and desires before the real needs of those around me, then I might just be a very selfish person with no regard for what Jesus did on the cross when He suffered and died for me.

It’s like saying I thought about sending a card to someone who lost a family member; it’s like saying I thought about making my husband’s favorite meal; it’s like saying I thought about going to church. If all I did was think about it, I really did nothing. It doesn’t necessarily make me bad, it just doesn’t make me great. And it doesn’t make a memory or anything that will last (no card to look at again, no meal to say thank you for and to tell someone else about, no shared relationship or conversation that makes me smile well after the action is gone.) “Do this in memory of me.”

God calls us to be great, to love and to find joy. So to say “we’re a good person or a kind person or a happy person” may simply not be enough. God deserves our very best, not just what is comfortable, easy or happens to happen. Greatness is about deliberately choosing our actions to be the best we can be.

“I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.” Jn 13: 34

God didn’t send Jesus here JUST to teach us, to pray, to fast or even to perform miracles. God sent Jesus  here so that He could teach us to live through love AND to die unselfishly for that same great love. And without dying Jesus could not rise which in turn shows us the ultimate glory of God, the holiness which abounds with the Resurrection to eternal life.

Each of these choices were deliberate. Each of these choices helped us to see Jesus’ greatness. Just living a good and kind life wasn’t enough for him. He chose to do much more – he chose to give His entire self for us.

Jesus showed us what we are to become. Jesus showed us what was great and holy. And He showed us this by not taking the easy way out and taking himself down off the cross. Jesus did nothing wrong, so He was good. It was His choice to do more in his goodness – to let us see and know greatness.

And if we think about the lives of the saints (those who the Church has proclaimed holy and great) they too drastically changed their lives through their faith, they sacrificed their time and their opportunities for their faith. And many have died (become martyrs) rather than deny Jesus’ presence in their lives and on earth.

Can I become a better person? Am I willing to change to become great, to do something that has a greater purpose? Am I willing to sacrifice by giving to others when it would be easier to sit back and let someone else do it for me? Am I proclaiming the truth even when the truth is countercultural (or may even be opposite what a government says is “legal”)?

How did I help someone else and do what is right? What more could I be doing to show love to others who are in need—physically, emotionally or spiritually? Am I doing my best to become great and holy?  It’s probably not enough to just say I believe or that I’m a good and kind person – there may be more that I am being called to do with the gifts and talents that God has blessed me with.

BE GREAT, Love!! BE HOLY, sacrifice!! BE MEMORABLE, In truth!!

Blessings,

Charlotte

Love and Trust Near

Women of Faith:

Be bold, be humble. Speak the truth about love.

Why is it that we are so ready to believe something created by humans, yet are so fearful of speaking and believing the truth created by God?

Were you disgusted or did you believe what you saw depicted as love, and as “normal,” in the multi-million dollar ads on TV during the Super Bowl? Will you be as ready to stand up and advertise real love and real truth?

“Amen, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own native place.” Lk 4: 24

(CNA/EWTN News) ‘Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday asked Christians to proclaim God’s love with “boldness, humility and coherence” like Jesus.

“Let us ask the Lord to give each of us a spirit of courage and wisdom, so that in our words and actions, we may proclaim the saving truth of God’s love with boldness, humility and coherence,” said Pope Benedict.
“Jesus did not come to seek the consent of men, but to give testimony to the truth. The true prophet does not obey anyone other than God and places himself at the service of truth, ready to pay in person.”
He noted that “it is true that Jesus is the prophet of love, but love has its own truth. Love and truth are “two names for the same reality” and “two names of God.”
“Love does not boast, it is not puffed up with pride, it is not disrespectful, it does not seek its own interests and does not get angry. It does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice over wrongdoings but rejoices with the truth,” he said. (1 Cor 13: 4-6)
The Pope said that to believe in God is to “give up prejudices and accept the concrete face in which he has revealed himself, the man Jesus of Nazareth. This way also leads to recognize him and serve him in others.”
He talked about the Sunday reading in which Jesus reads a passage of the Old Testament at a synagogue. Jesus said that “no prophet is accepted in his own country” and named two miracles performed by the prophets Elijah and Elisha.
Pope Benedict said Jesus’ words “showed that sometimes there is more faith outside of Israel.”
“At that point the reaction was unanimous as all rose to hunt him down and to try to throw him off a cliff, but he calmly passes through the angry people and leaves,” said Pope Benedict.
“Why did Jesus want to cause this failure?” he asked.
“But this is precisely the point: Jesus did not come to seek the consent of men, but to give testimony to the truth.”’ (CNA/EWTN News)

It is often easier to hear the “prophets of afar.” It is often easier to listen to the social and cultural media ads by giving them greater authority, by allowing them to distance me from living my Christian beliefs and values, and by enticing me to believe that I can judge and live by my own standards. Instead I should be listening to, responding to and speaking about the message that Jesus brought to us through his life of sacrifice and death on the cross.

Instead of “hearing” those God has placed nearest to me to help guide me: my spouse and faith filled friends, instead, sometimes, it can seem easier to choose to throw Him (them) off the cliff and believe in the media, the culture, so that I can remain “socially” acceptable.

In faith, however, I know the nearness of the truth within myself—the natural and born again truth, thru Christian baptism in water and the Spirit, which He created within my heart and soul for all eternity.

Jesus is “that native place,” the voice of truth and love.  He is present to offer me hope.  

By trusting in the real truth, by accepting His forgiveness, and by responding to those around me in charity and love, with patience and kindness, then my eternal reward will be far greater than anything temporary offered to me here on earth.

Heavenly Father, I will sing of YOUR salvation. You are so very near. Help me to speak YOUR truth. Help me to sacrifice me, for You! Guide me to avoid the temptations of following that which is far from Your path by being more aware of Your love which is so near. Give me the faith to speak up for the far richer gifts of heavenly reward while denying and avoiding the temptations of the temporary richness of this world.  Amen.

Jesus doesn’t need our consent. He is VERY near and only needs us to follow.

Will you accept the love and truth that is Christ near you?

Be blessed by seeing AND accepting Christ,

Charlotte