Give Me Your Gifts

Give me your gifts and lift me up, oh Holy Spirit, my advocate promised to me by Christ himself. I am often cast down, defeated, and broken; often blind and insensitive even to those I love; often caught up foolishly in that which is passing away before my eyes. Spirit of truth, when this road is long and weary and I am fearful and tired, lift me up on your eagle wings so that I may not fail utterly those whom you have given me in this life to influence, to help and to support. Give me your wisdom at every stage of my journey that I may know that you alone make all things new and good an beautiful. Then I shall be a blessing to others and cease to be an obstacle to them and a burden to myself.

-Fr. Benedict Groeschel

Justice and Mercy

"We have always struggled to understand how God can be just as well as merciful. Indeed, the mystery of God is that he can be both to the highest degree. But we cannot. God's mercy does not make him less just. His justice does not make him less merciful. But we have to struggle to prevent mercy from becoming lack of justice, and justice lack of mercy."
Henri Nouwen

"Humbled. Humbled."

I ran into this article today about wide receiver Steve Johnson's dropped pass in overtime against my Pittsburgh Steelers.

While I think it's pretty unreasonable to blame God for a dropped pass, the article makes a very interesting point:

It was a stark change for the Kentucky grad who had grabbed three touchdowns in his team's 49-31 win over Cincinnati last week.

But perhaps it was God punishing him for having too much pride in that game?

I don't agree with the statement, but it does get one thinking...

I don't believe God punishes us for having too much pride.
In fact, I don't believe God punishes us at all as long as we walk this earth.
Any "punishment" that we may experience is a result of our own actions made out of the free will that God grants us. Any punishment that we may merit is either washed in the Precious Blood of Jesus Christ, or carried out upon our death (it's hot there). That's for God to decide when and how he chooses.

However, I do believe that God gives us the chance to be humble. And out of our own free will, we can choose to accept or decline the opportunity. We can decline even when we think we want to accept (this happens to me a lot) or accept even when we think we want to decline. Maybe that's what this wide receiver experienced. Regardless, his response was far from humble. When we're humbled, we should respond with thanks...Though realistically that may take some time. Hopefully with time he will come to praise God for this experience of humility, and learn to thank Him for the gifts and blessings that have made him so successful. That's what's so great about being humbled.

This brings to mind a prayer that I'm afraid to pray:

The Litany of Humility
O Jesus! meek and humble of heart, Hear me.
From the desire of being esteemed,
Deliver me, Jesus.

From the desire of being loved...
From the desire of being extolled ...
From the desire of being honored ...
From the desire of being praised ...
From the desire of being preferred to others...
From the desire of being consulted ...
From the desire of being approved ...
From the fear of being humiliated ...
From the fear of being despised...
From the fear of suffering rebukes ...
From the fear of being calumniated ...
From the fear of being forgotten ...
From the fear of being ridiculed ...
From the fear of being wronged ...
From the fear of being suspected ...

That others may be loved more than I,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

That others may be esteemed more than I ...
That, in the opinion of the world,
others may increase and I may decrease ...
That others may be chosen and I set aside ...
That others may be praised and I unnoticed ...
That others may be preferred to me in everything...
That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should…

Love's Revelation

omneshonesetgloriaeest.blogspot.com

To love another, you must love Christ first,
because only from Christ can true love flow.
Realize that the love you share is fleeting,
but His love is eternal.

You will be selfish.
You will be unkind.
You will disappoint.
You are man.

But do not despair.
Seek Him.

He is selfless.
He is kind.
He satisfies.
He is Christ.

The reason you love is to
reveal Him to the one you love.
To secure her salvation,
bask her in His glory forever.

Seek first the kingdom of God,
and all these things shall be added unto you.
Matthew 6:33

The Love of Your Life!

A friend of mine recently posted on her Facebook this quote from Nicholas Sparks:

"A guy out there was meant to be the love of your life, your best friend, your soul mate, the one you can tell your dreams to. Send you flowers when you least expect it. He’ll call to say goodnight or just cause he is missing you. He’ll look in your eyes and tell you, you’re the most beautiful girl in the world, and for the first time in your life, you’ll believe it."

It got me thinking...

She dreams of knowing this man's name.

She wants to meet him right this minute.

But she does.

And she can.

His name is Jesus,

and she can meet him right in her own heart.

Jesus is the love of your life.

He is your best friend.

He is your soul mate.

You can tell him your dreams,

and he will help you attain them.

He sends you graces when you least expect them.

He'll come to you in the night,

bring comfort to you when you are alone.

He misses you when you separate yourself from him.

Come to know him,

and he will show you that you are the most beautiful person in the world.
And for the first time in your life,

you'll truly believe it.

Jesus is the love of your life.

Any other love is just a physical manifestation of his infinite, divine love for you.

Once you have it, nothing will ever separate you from it.

Not even death.

Children

omneshonesetgloriaeest.blogspot.com

Our life as Catholic Christians is like a child learning to walk.

First, a child will stand up, support themselves with their hands on a table, and enjoy their newfound height. As soon as the child stands up, the parents begin encouraging the child to walk toward them. After some time, the child will reluctantly release his grip on the table and begin to walk toward his father or mother. Invariably, the child will fall down. How does the mother or father react to this fall? Do they yell at their child angrily,
"You're terrible! How dare you fall! You are a terrible child because you fell!"
No! The father will proudly pick up his child and tell him, "Try again!"
After many falls and much encouragement and help from his father, the child will finally walk.

Such is our relationship with God the Father. When we fall, God does not shake his head in disgust and get angry at us! He instead picks us up, brushes us off, and tells us to try again. He is proud of us for trying, knowing that we will eventually walk to him.

Never forget that God is our father. Our REAL father. He will never abandon us when we fall.

"For I was hungry and you gave me food..."

omneshonesetgloriaeest.blogspot.com

On the way home from campus this afternoon, I stopped at the bank to drain more money out of my bank account. As I approached the building, I passed by a young lady standing up against the wall. She wore a lot of makeup, wearing a gray t-shirt that was a little too large for her thin frame. Her long brown hair descended to her shoulders in a rather unkempt manner, adding to her "rough" appearance.

As I passed by her on the sidewalk, she spoke up.

"Can you help me out with a few dollars?"

I stopped and looked at her.

"I need to get a hotel room for the night."

Rather reflexively, I lied, "Hey, I'm a college student, if I had the money, I'd give it to you; sadly, I don't."

She pressed me no further, and I walked away.

I have plenty of money in my bank account.

Later on the drive home, I began to ponder my decision. Why did I choose not to help? Her rough appearance had led me to believe that she must be abusing substances, and I certainly wouldn't want to contribute anything toward a destructive habit.

But Matthew 25:35 kept running through me head:

"For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me..."

I hoped she didn't notice the two crosses that hung from my neck. I hoped she didn't think:

Another Christian refusing to help me.

I judged upon her upon her appearance. But it's not my responsibility to judge. It's my responsibility to love and to be charitable...To welcome a stranger.

But I didn't and I wasn't.

I failed at being a Christian.

If I were fully confident she wasn't going to use the money on a destructive habit, I would have given willingly...But that's a moot point.

I judged instead of loved.

And that is unbecoming of the crosses around my neck.