Jesus quotes Isaiah the prophet, recalling the need for the Lord to be at the center of our hearts. Once God is at the center, everything else we say and do fits into proper perspective.
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Tag Archives: Inspiration
6th Sunday of the Year: How suffering affects our relationships
Study: Reflect on wounded relationships in your life. What needs to be done to bring them healing?
Pray: Ask the Lord for the grace to bring healing to the relationships in your life, especially where suffering has caused misunderstanding or fear has led to doubt and uncertainty.
Serve: Are there people in your life that are struggling in their relationships? How can you be a bridge that fosters unity and reconciliation?
Mass Readings – 6th Sunday of the Year
Last week I focused on the personal nature of suffering. When we are in pain, when we hurt, we can easily focus on ourselves. This is not necessarily a bad thing; suffering can help us confront reality and strive for healing and wholeness. In our suffering we are aware of blessings that we may have taken for granted – our sight can become sharper as we realize the gifts that have been lavished upon us.
There is another dimension of suffering, however. Suffering commonly affects relationships; when one person suffers, it is often the case that others suffer as well. Consider the following:
- Physical suffering can keep us from human touch/contact
- Intellectual distress can cause us to lash out in doubt and misunderstanding
- Emotional anguish can prevent us from connecting with others because of fear and anger
- Spiritual suffering can obscure our values and beliefs with God and others
There are countless examples, but the point is clear – the pain and anguish a person suffers can directly affect relationships with God and one another. Suffering can become an obstacle that blocks us from the very persons who can bring healing and relief. Often the greatest wound from suffering is isolation: in our weakness we withdraw from the very people who can help us the most.
The 1st Reading, Responsorial Psalm, and Gospel today reveal both the obstacles of suffering and the bridges that God makes possible through healing grace. In the face of suffering the Lord comes, not just to bring healing to a person, but healing to the relationships among persons. God longs not only to renew our lives but the lives around us as well. Where suffering brings isolation the Lord brings unity – drawing us together in reconciliation and love.
This communal aspect of suffering thus begs two questions for our consideration:
- Is suffering affecting relationships in my life right now?
- How can I invite the Lord to bring healing/reconciliation?
When the Jesus healed the leper in the Gospel today, he did more than give the man back his health – he gave back his relationships as well. The man (formerly cut off from human society) is now restored to his family, his friendships, and his participation in the community. His life has been restored.
As we look to our own encounters with suffering we keep an eye to the ways in which our relationships are harmed/healed. May we call upon the grace of Christ to touch our lives, and bless the lives of those around us.
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Note: This post was originally published on February 9, 2015.
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Monday Conversation: What will you do for Lent? Catholic Inspiration
The season of Lent offers a powerful opportunity for conversion, spiritual growth, and developing our relationships with the Lord and one another. However, I also know that this season has a way of sneaking up on us. Life moves fast, and we can get caught up in any number of tasks – missing the necessary preparation and perspective to get the most out of these 40 Days.
As a guide, I suggest starting with the “Fruits of the Spirit” that St. Paul writes about in his letter to the Galatians (5:22-23). They are:
- Love
- Joy
- Peace
- Patience
- Kindness
- Goodness
- Faithfulness
- Gentleness
- Self-Control
First, do we see these in our lives? Are there people, situations, interactions, locations (home, work, school, community) where we see consistent evidence of their presence? If so, then how can we help them flourish and grow? How can we create more opportunities to allow the Spirit to work in our lives?
Second, are these absent in our lives? Or worse, are their opposites present? Is hatred, despair, turmoil, and the like alive in our hearts? If so, how can we make the necessary changes to allow the Spirit into our lives?
Now here’s how this gets practical. It is often customary during Lent to “do” something or “give up” something for these 40 days. How about this…
- “Do” something that fosters the Fruits of the Spirit in my life.
- “Give up” something that is in conflict with the Fruits of the Spirit.
Where do we look? Try this for starters…
- WHAT we do – the Activity
- WHO we do it with – the People
- WHERE we do it – the Location
“Doing” can include any number of things:
- Helping a neighbor, family member or friend – in a spirit of kindness and gentleness
- Drawing near to people who are spiritually good – who make us more loving and peaceful
- Spending time on activities that help us use God’s talents in a good and holy way
- Concentrating our efforts on opportunities where we know that God is present
- Being in locations and situations that foster a strong and healthy life
“Giving up” can look like this:
- Is there anything destructive, harmful, unholy, or evil that needs to be removed?
- Are there people who are leading us to harm or destruction?
- Are there locations, situations, or circumstances that are unholy for us?
Using the “Fruits of the Spirit” as a measurement, we can quickly reveal the pattern of our lives. If it is spiritually fruitful, then we can strengthen this. If it is spiritually destructive, then perhaps this season of Lent gives us an opportunity to give it up and start directing our lives in better ways.
Furthermore, Lent has classic opportunities for Study, Prayer, and Service:
Study: Scripture, the Catechism, a Devotional, Spiritual Reading
Prayer: Mass, Confession, Rosary, Scripture, Devotions, Stations of the Cross
Service: at home, the neighborhood, the community, the Church
God keeps inviting, keeps forgiving, and keeps extending grace and mercy to all who seek it. Now is the time to get ready for a powerful Lent – where we turn to Jesus and allow His grace to transform our hearts. Give serious thought to what you can do to make this season special, and open your to heart to Jesus Christ.
What will you do? What will you give up? Make it a great Lent!
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Note: This post was originally published on February 26, 2014.
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5th Sunday of the Year: We focus on our faith in the midst of suffering. Catholic Inspiration
Suffering, for all its challenges and burdens, is a part of human life. How do we face it? How do we find the strength and wisdom to keep going? When we bring our faith in Jesus Christ into the center of our lives we find the courage and conviction to continue on as the Lord guides us through this life to the life to come.
Mass Readings – Sunday of the 5th Week of the Year
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Daily Mass: Do you need to rest? Catholic lnspiration
Jesus invites the disciples to rest after they return from their mission. It’s a good reminder that there is always more work than we can possibly accomplish; our task is to make sure that we balance our lives with the rest we need so that we can keep serving the Lord.
Mass Readings – Saturday of the 4th Week of the Year
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The Presentation of the Lord. Catholic Inspiration
Mary and Joseph present Jesus in the Temple according the law of Moses where Simeon and Anna rejoice to see the savior of the world. Today’s feast invites us to look for the Lord in our lives and respond with a vibrant faith.
Mass Readings – The Presentation of the Lord
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Daily Mass: The Lord sends you! Catholic Inspiration
Just as Jesus sends the Twelve Apostles with his authority, so also the Lord sends us – empowered with his grace – to continue his mission in the world. We do it together; we trust in God; we are attentive to each opportunity; we let Christ work through us!
Mass Readings – Thursday of the 4th Week of the Year
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Daily Mass: Jesus encounters hometown hardships. Catholic Inspiration
Jesus returns home with his disciples, but the people – limited by their thinking – cannot see him by the light of his ministry. The Lord’s rejection reminds us that we, too, have a community of our own…and we can either build it up or tear it down.
Mass Readings – Wednesday of the 4th Week of the Year (St. John Bosco)
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Daily Mass: Christ is the source of our healing. Catholic Inspiration
Jesus heals two people in the Gospel today, revealing his power as the Son of God. As his disciples we continue the Lord’s healing work as we draw strength from Christ…the source of our healing.
Mass Readings – Tuesday of the 4th Week of the Year
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Photo Credit: The Passion of the Christ, 2004.
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5th Sunday of the Year: Confronting the reality of human suffering
Study: Reflect upon an experience of suffering. How did your faith help you face it?
Pray: Are you or someone you know facing pain or loss? Pray that God gives the grace needed to face it.
Serve: Walking with others on their journey of anguish demands time and attention. Are you being called now to assist someone in need?
Mass Readings – 5th Sunday of the Year
Let’s take a look at these readings:
- 1st Reading – Job speaks from his anguish and misery.
- Psalm – “Praise the Lord, who heals the brokenhearted.”
- 2nd Reading – Paul states his need to preach the Gospel.
- Gospel – Jesus heals the sick and preaches to the people.
On the surface of these readings we see the obvious – there are times when we encounter suffering. Whether it’s body, mind, heart or soul…most people on more than one occasion are brought low by pain, struggle or loss.
What’s more, there is no “spin” in the Bible. Instead, we repeatedly see in the Scriptures a raw look at the challenges people face without trying to explain away the hardship. It’s almost as if the Word of God seeks to remind us that the journey of life often stops in places of anguish.
We might be tempted to ask the Lord why. We might try to find reasons why a good and almighty God allows it. Such a reaction is normal and typical.
Here’s the problem. Many of the hardships of life have no easy answers or simple explanations. Much of life is a mystery, and many things will not be explained until the day we stand before the Lord when all is revealed.
Suffering by itself serves no purpose, yet we often recognize that there are many times we “suffer” for something greater:
- The athlete who suffers in practice to perform in competition
- The student who suffers in study to perform academically
- The employee who suffers with work to complete a challenging project
- The friend who suffers for a loved one to bring help and comfort
- The parent who suffers for a child to show compassion and care
You get the point. We often embrace suffering because we recognize that there is meaning and purpose in much that is difficult, challenging and hard.
But what about when we don’t understand? One of the most helpful questions I have ever found in the face of suffering is this:
How does my faith help me face this?
For remember, when our lives are focused on the Lord all things – even suffering – fit into a proper perspective. Christ’s suffering on the Cross breaks the bonds of sin and death; Christ’s resurrection shows us that there is something far beyond the realm of pain and loss.
As Jesus healed and preached Good News we call upon our faith to help us face the difficulties of life with strength. Perhaps we will not know why suffering happens, but God will give us the grace to learn how we will face it.
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Catholic Inspiration – Podcast Archives of Homilies & Talks- Daily Mass: Christ offers us rest from our labors and burdens
- Daily Mass: The crucial call to reconcile
- Daily Mass: Christ fulfills the law and the prophets
- Daily Mass: Christ calls us to be salt and light
- Daily Mass: The Beatitudes
- Study, Pray, Serve: 11th Sunday of the Year
- Corpus Christi: The Body and Blood of Christ nourishes our lives
- Daily Mass: Sacrifices reveal the depth of our love in Christ
- Daily Mass: Jesus Christ is Lord!
- Daily Mass: We love God and one another
Three Great Things 