Know - Grow - Go

The Bible lists nine “fruits of the Holy Spirit” (Gal 5:22-23): love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. These “fruits” are the result of the presence of the Holy Spirit in one’s life. By the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, our behaviors change and our lives change as a result, regardless of the situations we find ourselves in. If you desire to have that Spirit more alive and active or just want to go deeper and be renewed, try praying the following: Come Holy Spirit. Come into my heart. Open my mind. Clear away my distractions. Renew my life. Renew my faith. Renew my passion. Renew my behavior. Turn my pride into humility. Change my anxiety into peace. Change my sorrow to joy. Move my heart to love as you love. Come Holy Spirit. Set my heart on fire for love of you. Enkindle my desire for Christ. Move my heart for needs of others. Open my mind to your Scriptures. Inspire me to serve others. Come Holy Spirit. Sanctify me. Strengthen my will. Purify my conscience. Transform my mind. Come Holy Spirit and make me new. Amen.

Theologians urge caution about literally thinking of heaven as being "up," rather than an experience beyond our understanding of space and time. That said, we naturally find ourselves looking "up" when we lift our eyes toward heaven. Our calling is to strike a balance: always keeping our faith strong by looking "up" while always keeping our feet on the ground to do God's will here on earth.

We don’t all look the same way, think the same way, or vote the same way - and yet, here we are, gathered together by God’s love around this Table. All of us have someone in our life, even if we disagree with them or they make us uncomfortable, who needs encouragement, a simple hello, an invitation to go for a walk. Find that person; notice them; gather them in. Be their connection with the love of Christ. You can read the full transcript and watch a recording of Admiral McRaven's commencement speech (referenced in Dcn. Brett's homily) at bit.ly/McRaven2014.

God wants us to be close to us, accompanying us wherever we go, through thick and thin. Jesus said he is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. When we receive Holy Communion, we receive Christ - which means the Eucharist is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. This is the way we follow Him who is the way.

God, our Good Shepherd, has made us for Him. He's tuned our lives to resonate to his voice. If you feel as though God is not speaking to you, your life may be out of tune. We're a bit like a radio, in that way - God is always speaking to us, but we need to set our hearts and minds - indeed, our very lives - on the right channel.

All of us wrestle with the temptation to keep people, situations and even organizations in small, familiar boxes that we can understand, and maybe even control. And when they no longer fit in those boxes – when they change or grow or undergo conversion – it’s easy for us to not see it – or, worse, to resist it, not letting them change and grow. In doing so, we blind ourselves to the possibility that God is doing something new, and we become a hindrance rather than a help to God’s plan. This week, sit with these questions: Someone once said, “The only predictable thing about God is that He’s unpredictable.” Where is this predictably unpredictable God working in your life, rocking your boat - and how can you learn to trust Him and enjoy the ride?

We all experience doubts; it's part of being human. How we handle our doubt is the key: doubts can diminish faith, but they can also be the catalyst to increase faith. But how do we move forward and have faith beyond our doubts? Fr. Bill suggests the following three things:

No matter how deep your darkness gets, no matter how deep you feel buried by your sins, Jesus loves you and wants to dig you out. Jesus’ Resurrection proves that he is more than capable to rescue you. He desires that each one of us would be with him in heaven for eternity. That is not just good news - it’s the greatest news ever. Watch the original footage of the tree well rescue that Fr. Bill talks about in his homily (contains occasional use of strong language).

Because of Jesus’ cross, because of where he’s gone on the cross, there is now no sin, no illness, no misfortune, no cruelty, no pain, no suffering – no matter how deep or dark or lonely – where God has not already gone, and now stands there watching for us, waiting to lift us up. Dear friends, we were lost – but now we are found.

A new commandment was given to us and demonstrated in the life of Jesus: we are to reorient our hearts and minds to serve and not be served. Will you encounter strange people? Yes. Will the process be messy? Yes. Will you more closely live out the commandment to love as Jesus loved? Yes.

Through Christ's suffering and death, he bound himself to us - to our own suffering. As you move through difficult times, take solace in the knowledge that God is near to you, intimately close, regardless if you can feel Him or not. It is in His Passion and Death on the cross that He can bring you through your own passion and death into eternal life - for there is no resurrection without the cross.

Sometimes, like Lazarus, the Lord leaves us in the tomb for His own mysterious reasons. Rather than just lifting us out of our darkness, God asks us to remain and delays answering our pleas because Heaven’s timeline is different from ours. In these times, there are things we can do to weather the storm: keep your eyes on the Lord, take solace in scripture, and lean on those who love you. When we're waiting in the tomb for God to act, we don't have to wait alone.

By giving God the glory and thanking him in good times and in bad, we humble ourselves and recognize that are not in charge. No matter what befalls us or the sins we commit, God is always there wanting to restore our sight and inviting us to reconcile with him. And, by exposing the darkness of sin in our lives, the light in each of us becomes more visible to those around us.

Our ultimate thirst and yearning is for God, who wants to pour his love into our hearts. Lent is a time to ask what we are filling our hearts with and how we are pouring ourselves out for others. Are we filling our hearts with murky, dirt-laden water; with soft drinks that are best enjoyed sparingly; or clear, pure water that begets more life when we share it? Jesus is the source of this life-giving water. May we drink deeply of his love and pour it out to others.

While the Sacrament of Reconciliation (a.k.a., Confession) is one of Fr. Bill's favorites, that's not the case for most people. Fr. Bill walks through some of the questions and fears surrounding this healing sacrament to explain its importance and show how we can experience a Transfiguration through it.

Lent is a time to retune the ears of our heart. That’s really the point of our fasting, prayer, and sacrifice: they’re invitations to weaken the ego with its incessant demands, to refocus our gaze back to God, and to hear Him say once more to us, “You are my beloved child. I know your heart. I know what’s best for you. I have plans for you. Come back to Me." You don’t have to have your act together. You don’t need to hide anything. You don’t need to pretend your life is something that it’s not. Come as you are, warts and all. Find one thing to do this Lent and let God have your attention, even if it's just for 10 minutes a day. You might be surprised by what He says.

Lent gives us a special time to be keenly aware of our sins and our own selfishness. Jesus' challenge in the Gospel is not to stop doing righteous deeds or prayer altogether, but to do them for the good of others and the glory of God regardless if they will be seen or not by others. As you begin your Lenten journey and practice, measure it against the standard of how it will be good for others, not just yourself.

Living the commandment to love our enemies is probably the hardest thing we can do. Simply put, we cannot do this without the supernatural grace of God. Remember that "love" is not the same as “like.” Loving someone is willing good for the other, while liking someone is a much more subjective thing. You don’t have to like everyone, but you must love them. This commandment is not a suggestion. It’s just the hardest thing to do. So, let us pray for the supernatural grace to love our enemies. Period.

The vocation to marriage calls an individual to imitate God’s love by dedicating oneself to service for their spouse and to be open to the children conceived from their love. In this covenant of love, husbands and wives strive to live out the promise to love as God loves in a particular way, by giving of each other without condition. Through the highs and lows, the ecstasies and crucibles of marriage, each spouse’s vocation is to help the other become more of what God desires for them.

Humility is knowing who we are as God has created us; knowing our true place in life, not more and not less. We are meant to recognize our God-given talents and tend those gifts to the best of our ability, not for the sake of ourselves but for God and others. To be ultimately motivated for our own sake is arrogance, empty, and vain. Our struggle is that we are prone to slip into the two extremes: “I’m pond scum” and “not worthy to be alive” or “I am the greatest” and “I know more about things than anyone else.” A truly faithful, humble life is one that gives ourselves away, to forget out our narcissistic ideations, and simply serve others without ulterior motives.