His Word Today: No chains

Good morning everyone,

All mothers know that if their children are in danger, they will do anything in their power to bring them back to safety.  To varying degrees, this willingness to put ourselves on the line is also true for everyone: depending on the degree to which we love the person who is in danger.

Saint Paul wrote to his beloved disciple Timothy speaking about Jesus in this way.  Beloved, he says, remember Jesus Christ ... such is my gospel, for which I am suffering even to the point of chains, like a criminal (2 Tim 2:8-9).  Paul's conversion was dramatic, but he had come to understand that Jesus is willing to go to any length in order to save his beloved children.  Paul came to understand this truth because his love for and commitment to Jesus had been nurtured through the example he found in the apostles and in other disciples of Jesus, to the point where he could endure even prison because he knew that the word of God is not chained; it is free, active, at work in the hearts of all believers and even in the hearts of those who doubt it's power.

Have you known people who are so committed to their faith that they would willingly suffer rather than deny it?  What about you?  Has your faith been strengthened through the example of others?  Do you take time to listen for the still small voice of Jesus who is always ready to instruct your heart?  Have you discovered the wisdom that comes from His words ... they are not chained, they are free and they continually invite us to discover the joy of being his disciples.

Have a great day.

His Word Today: Accentuate the positive

Good morning everyone,

A wise person once told me that the most effective way to help others to improve is to accentuate the positive.  This principle works for teachers - of all disciplines - who choose to focus on what their students do well and it works in all cases where mentors and pupils walk side by side.

The same was the case when Saint Paul wrote to his apostle Timothy, pointing out to him at the very beginning of his letter that he was grateful to God ... as I remember you constantly in my prayer, night and day (2 Tim 1:3).  From this point of departure, Paul shared some practical advice about how Timothy and his companions could set about living their faith.  This is what we all must do.

Be aware today (if you can) of the people who look to you for guidance and wisdom.  Be attentive to the ways in which you encourage them to recognize within themselves the successes they have achieved.  In light of those successes, it seems as though even their most challenging situations tend to improve, and the world around us is that much of a better place.

Have a great day.

His Word Today: Saint Boniface

Good morning everyone,

Saint Peter reminds us today that we await new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells (2 Peter 3:13).  This is the hope that we strive to proclaim through our words and actions every day.

Today, the Church celebrates one example of a holy man who did just that: Saint Boniface, lived in the 7th and the early part of the 8th century.  It is believed that from an early age, Boniface, who was given the Christian name of Winfrid (or Winifred) when he was born, was educated in a monastery somewhere near to present-day Exeter (England) and was later instructed by the Benedictines at another monastery not far from Winchester.

Winfrid became a priest at the age of 30 and later wrote a Latin grammar (known as the Ars grammatica).  Following the death of Wynburth of Nursling - around the year 716 - Winfrid was invited to succeed him but he declined the invitation and soon afterward set out on a missionary expedition to Frisia (along the border of present day Netherlands and north-western Germany).

Winfrid's first efforts at evangelization around Utrecht were frustrated by a war that was being fought so he returned to his monastery in Nursling but returned to the continent the following year and went directly to Rome where Pope Gregory II gave him the name Boniface and appointed him as a missionary Bishop for Germania.  He was therefore appointed as Bishop for a territory that - at the time - had no Church organization.  In fact, it was he who first determined the structures of dioceses within the territory of that land.

In 754, Boniface returned to Frisia along with a group of others.  There he baptized a great number of people and summoned a general meeting for the purposes of celebrating Confirmation which was to take place at Dokkum.  Those who came to meet him though, were not his converts but rather a group of armed robbers who killed the aged Archbishop - he was 79 years old.

Today, let us ask Saint Boniface to intercede for us, to help us to be zealous ambassadors for Christ, never shrinking from opportunities to share the joy of our faith with those we meet.

Have a great day.

His Word Today: Precious faith

Good morning everyone,

When we love someone, we want immediately to give them gifts, the most precious of gifts.  The same is true of our God.  We are so beloved by Him that He has given us the most precious gift he can give; we call this gift grace.  Grace is more precious in His eyes than any tangible treasure.  By means of this grace, we have also received everything that makes for life and devotion so that we may come to share in His divine nature (2 Peter 1:3-4).

It seems beyond our comprehension even to try to grasp all that our God has given us.  How can we ever repay Him for such generosity?  Saint Peter tells us that we can begin by doing our very best to make every effort to supplement our faith with virtue, virtue with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with devotion, devotion with mutual affection, mutual affection with love (2 Peter 1:5-7).

All this sounds like a very tall order indeed.  Luckily for us, God is not only the giver of these gifts; He will also help us to bring them to fulfillment.

Have a great day.

Food for the journey

During these first two weeks that follow the celebration of Pentecost, we celebrate two truths that are central to our faith.  Last weekend, we focused on the Trinity and this weekend we turn our attention to the most precious gift that our God has given us: his own Body and Blood.

Today’s first reading, taken from the Book of Exodus, reminds us that God has made covenants with his beloved people since the time of Abraham and Moses.  The Israelite people, our ancestors in faith, were instructed in the ways of God (cf Ex 24:3), just as we are instructed from week to week so that we can grow in his wisdom.  It was the custom of the time to offer burnt offerings and sacrifices to God as a sign of our worship (cf Ex 24:5) and the blood taken from the animals who were sacrificed would permanently mark the altars and the people as a pledge of their willingness to be faithful to the established covenants (cf Ex 24:6, 8).

Remembering this chapter in our history, we still refer to the elements of the sacrifice we witness upon this altar as the Body and Blood of Christ.  We believe that through the invocation of the Spirit and the words of consecration, simple gifts of bread and wine are transformed permanently into divine gifts of Christ’s Body and Blood.  Every time that we gather to celebrate this sacred meal, we are participating in the meal that he shared with the apostles in the Upper Room, when he took a loaf of bread ... blessed it, broke it and gave it to them, saying to them: take, this is my Body (Mk 14:22).  The Blood of the sacrifice that Moses spoke of is also present, but now it is present in the form of wine that is transformed when the priest repeats the words Jesus spoke to his disciples: This is my Blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many (Mk 14:24).

Once bread and wine are consecrated in this way, we believe that they are no longer mere earthly elements, but rather the gifts of our God given to nourish the hearts and souls of his beloved children.  We do not need to gorge ourselves on this special food, as we might at a Christmas or Thanksgiving banquet.  Instead, just a little taste is enough to fill us with the divine food that we require for our journey in faith.  In an age when so many are obsessed with eating healthily, receiving this special food is one way that we can eat for the sake of spiritual health.

Having been strengthened by this nourishment, and with the assurance that we are never alone, but rather that Christ who offered himself without blemish (Heb 9:14) is present with us at every step of this journey, we are sent out into the world week after week so that we can put our faith into action.  Each day, Jesus uses our hands to reach out and to touch the hearts of those who are in need.  He uses our feet to walk in this world alongside those who are lonely, disheartened and in need of encouragement.  Our ears he uses to listen attentively to the pleas of those who have no one else to listen as they share the adventures and challenges they face.  Nourished with his Body and Blood, Christ looks compassionately through our eyes upon those who are distanced and alone, and he uses our hearts to communicate his deep abiding love.

His Word Today: About prayer

Good morning everyone,

Even for the most disciplined among us, spending time in prayer can sometimes be a challenge. There are constant temptations and our minds (which thirst for peace and quiet, yet at the same time seem to battle against idleness) appear not to allow us to enter into the stillness that we seek.

Saint Jude offers a few words of advice:  Beloved, remember the words spoken beforehand by the Apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Build yourselves up in your most holy faith; pray in the Holy Spirit.  Keep yourselves in the love of God and wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life (Jude 20-21).

If we seek daily even to merely be aware of the love God has for us, and if we set our minds and hearts on waiting expectantly for an awareness of the Lord's mercy, we will soon find our experience of prayer is infinitely enriched.

Have a great day.

His Word Today: Saint Justin

Good morning everyone,

Today, the first letter of Peter reminds us: do not be surprised that a trial of fire is occurring among you (1 Peter 4:12).  Trials by fire have been the test faced by many who have come before us, including many of the Saints.

One example can be found in the life of Saint Justin, whose liturgical Memorial is observed today.  Justin was born around the year 100 A.D into a pagan family. Justin himself stated that his initial studies left him unsatisfied due to their failure to provide a belief system that would provide enough inspiration for him.  Some time later, he chanced upon an older man who engaged him in a dialogue about God and spoke about the testimony of the prophets as being more reliable than the reasoning of philosophers.

Moved by the man's argument, Justin renounced both his former religious faith and his philosophical background, and chose instead to re-dedicate his life to the service of the Divine.  His newfound convictions were only bolstered by the ascetic lives of the early Christians and the heroic examples of the martyrs whose piety convinced him of the moral and spiritual superiority of the Christian doctrine.  As a result, he decided to travel throughout the land spreading his knowledge of Christianity as the true philosophy.  

His travels took him to Rome where he started his own school in philosophy.  During the reign of the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius, Justin was denounced to the authorities, tried along with six of his companions and beheaded.  Though the precise year of his death is uncertain, it can be reasonably dated between 162 and 168 A.D.

The experience of Christian martyrs, including Justin shows us that many have endured trials for the sake of their faith, so why should it be any different for us?  Choosing to be a disciple of Jesus, we must be prepared to accept not only the joy that is his promise but also the ridicule and judgement of those who may not comprehend the reasons for our faith.

Have a great day, and pray for the intercession of Saint Justin today.