Tomorrow is a New Day

Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.


Today marks the end of another chapter in Catholic history. Tomorrow a new one is written. It seems fitting that our Psalm speaks of hope.

Here are some words of reflection on hope from the late Blessed Pope John Paul II.

We cannot live without hope. We have to have some purpose in life, some meaning to our existence. We have to aspire to something. Without hope, we begin to die.
~Youth Teleconference, Los Angeles, 1987 

To become like a little child--with complete trust in the Father and with the meekness taught by the Gospel--is not only an ethical imperative; it is a reason for hope. Even where difficulties are so great as to lead to discouragement and the power of evil so overwhelming as to dishearten, those who can rediscover the simplicity of a child can begin to hope anew.  ~ Message for World Day of Peace, 1996

Hope comes from God, from our belief in God. People of hope are those who believe God created them for a purpose and that he will provide for their needs.
~ Youth Teleconference, Los Angeles, 1987

excerpts from Pope John Paul II, In My Own Words 

We must rely on our faith, believing that God will guide this Church . We are hopeful for a better, brighter future. ~Amen.

Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.

Thank you, God!

Save me, O Lord, in your kindness.

Think back to the last time you found yourself in a difficult moment. What thoughts came to mind? For myself, there seems to be an innate reaction toward an uncomplicated "Help me, God" kind of response. When I'm faced with danger or fear, this prayer or plea comes to mind.

"Save me. Get me out of this. Please God, help me."

Deep down, beyond thought and reason, there is a desire to seek comfort from God. No matter how far I may stray, when faced with something beyond my control, I want God in my life. I want to be saved.

During this time of Lent, I try to remind myself to find God in the joyful moments of life, as well. I want to look at the little miracles around me and have the same kind of immediate response as I do when I am in need.

"Praise God. Thank you, God. What blessings you have given me!"

In what ways do you feel God's presence? Do you recognize his kindness in your daily joys, as well as in your need?

Save me, O Lord, in your kindness.

Writers Write

To the upright I will show the saving power of God.

Writers write. This is the advice given to everyone who has ever dreamed of penning the great American novel. It won't write itself. If you want to achieve great things, you will need to put in the work.

When you think about it, this advice is pretty solid in most aspects of life. Dreaming is only the beginning. That spark of an idea or desire for a craft will only come to fulfillment with training, practice, and good old-fashioned sweat equity.

Now consider how this might apply to your faith. Being a spiritual person takes practice. Think about how you might grow by adding more prayer, spiritual reading, or meditation to your daily life. How would your outlook be different if you made more time to practice acts of charity and love?

It's easy to sit back and say you're not a very religious person. Perhaps you even feel that God isn't a big part of your life. Maybe you are hurt by your current situation and feel God has abandoned you. How might all that change if you actively worked on your faith? Maybe what is needed is a little time and effort on your part?

Take a step back and assess the work you are putting in to your spiritual life. Then decide if it's enough to achieve great things.

Writers write. The prayerful pray. The faithful practice their faith.

To the upright I will show the saving power of God.

I Am Worthy

Lord, do not deal with us according to our sins.


How often do you identify yourself by your mistakes? Do you see your flaws and inadequacies first? It's often like this when we think of our spiritual side. We confront first those things we should do and list easily those we don't do very well.

"I don't give enough of my time to others. I don't attend Mass regularly. I'm not really a very good Catholic. I don't remember all the prayers. It's been forever since I went to confession. I'm not the kind of person the Church wants. I'm not the kind of person God wants."

We look first to our sins. We define ourselves by what we believe we are not. Then we deny ourselves a relationship with God because we have predetermined that we are not worthy.

Today's response is aimed at asking God to not look first at our sins. In truth, it's far more likely that we are the ones allowing our sins to separate us from him. Jesus always welcomed the sinner.

While he was at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat with Jesus and his disciples. "The Pharisees saw this and said to his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?" He heard this and said, "Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. Go and learn the meaning of the words, I desire mercy not sacrifice. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.  ~ Matthew 9:10–13

Are you separating yourself from God? Why do you feel you are not worthy of his love and mercy? He is waiting to welcome you. Do not let your own fears or the judgments of others keep you from him a moment longer.

Lord, do not deal with us according to our sins.

What Do You Want?

The Lord is my shepherd, there is nothing I shall want.

When was the last time you thought about what you wanted? Not a Christmas list kind of want, but a deep, fulfilling, life-changing kind of want. What do you want from life? Consider for a moment . . .

The Psalm today reminds us that God walks with us, even through the most difficult and turbulent times in our lives. But we are also told that there is nothing we shall “want.” God is not a vending machine. He does not dole out material things to a waiting and wanting audience.

However, he does desire to give us what will make us the best, most fulfilled we can be. God wants to help us reach our full potential, be the people we were created to be. In order to do this, we need to be in touch with our needs and our wants.

Spend time today reflecting on what you really want from life. Are you where you imagined you would be? If not, why? What’s holding you back? What are you holding back? What would you change if you could start again?

Now take those dreams and pray over them. Ask God for what you want. Don’t be afraid.

The Lord is my shepherd, there is nothing I shall want. 

The Little Graces

Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me.

I’ve written on more than one occasion about “signal graces,” those little moments when you strongly feel God’s presence in your life.  Sometimes they come in the form of “answered prayers,” but more often than not, they are gifts God gives you that you didn’t know you needed.

For me, it may be the random book I open to find words that spark something I need to write or just something I need to hear. Sometimes it’s the five added minutes caused by traffic that allow me to hear the song on the radio that moves me to tears. Once it was the decision to head for the forest preserve instead of the thrift store while waiting for the end of my son's music lesson.  The choice resulted in discovering a small inlet with a hundred geese on the water and an opportunity to take some amazing and completely unexpected photographs. Each of these moments is pure grace, prayers answered, known and unknown.

Here’s a snippet of the grace I found today. It spoke to my need. Maybe it will speak to yours, as well.

We cannot be what we are not. We can only become the whole of what we are, and learn to accept it, and learn to enjoy being it.

One thing we can do is to begin to go about life differently. Life is not one thing only. No one’s life is totally one-dimensional. We are all a great deal more than the world knows us to be. So when one dimension of life fails to work for us, we can take all of who we are and become what we must some other way. 

We can learn how to treat ourselves with the respect we are struggling to get from others. We ourselves must accept what we are if we want other people to value it, too. Instead of trying to be what we are not, we must become the best, the happiest, of what we are. People are attracted to happiness, not to anger or disdain or resentment or negativity or jealousy. 

It is the ability to spread happiness that moves the world, that gives a person scope, that makes a person desirable, that unsticks me from the obsession on which I’m stuck.
~from Welcome to the Wisdom of the World by Joan Chittister

Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me. 

A Quiet View

Sometimes it's wise to step back from the noise and ponder quietly a peaceful scene. Here are a few to soothe your soul.

Who is Just?

From all their distress, the Lord rescues the just.

Over the past couple of years, my thoughts on “justice” and “the just” have been shaken. Life is like that sometimes, teasing us with absolutes only to remind with cold, hard intensity that humans are human, and humans are flawed. 

So as I read today’s response, something in my gut tightens a bit. Who is this just that God will rescue? One thing I have come to believe, it is not for me to claim righteousness. And frankly, I’ve become quite leery of those who profess their own. Justice is not spoken from a pulpit or pounded from a podium. It is not elected, ordained, or professed.

Justice is quiet. It falls in the tears of those who weep while comforting a friend. It is wiped from the brow of those who feed and clothe the weary and lost. The just are young and old, men and women. They do not seek reward or feel compelled to have their labors recognized or their merits counted.

A thought to leave you with as you contemplate justice and righteousness this Lenten season. . .

From Corrie Ten Boom, a Dutch woman who was imprisoned in a concentration camp at the height of Nazi power, come some powerful words for anyone who has contemplated whether or not they were worthy enough for God’s call.

Jesus called, “Come.” He didn’t say it softly, so that only the people close to Him could hear it. He said it loudly so that they all could hear it, and He is saying it to you too, through the radio, “Come.” 

“Oh,” you may say, “that could be something for others, for my respectable neighbor, who goes to church so regularly and is so decent, but it’s not for me, because I am too sinful. No, I wouldn’t dare to. Oh, no, becoming religious is not for me; I am much too bad for that.” Look, if you say that now, Jesus is precisely what is needed. 

There was only one sort of person whom the Lord Jesus did not accept when He said, “Come.” They are the ones who said to Him, “Yes, here I am, Jesus, and I’m very good and very virtuous.” Some of them were called Pharisees. To them the Lord Jesus said, “Are you very virtuous? Then I am sorry, but I can’t help you.” 

If such a Pharisee were to say, “In other people’s eyes I am virtuous, but there is sin in my heart,” then the Lord Jesus would say, “Then come to me, I’m going to help you.” If you now say, “I am too bad to come to Jesus,” then you are exactly the person he wants to help and is able to help. So just come!       

~Corrie Ten Boom  I Stand at the Door and Knock

From all their distress, the Lord rescues the just.

Reading Spiritually

Your words, Lord, are spirit and life.

I love the written word. A perfectly crafted phrase can evoke laughter, tears, anger, and heartbreak. Throughout history, writing has sparked debate, started wars, ended feuds, mended fences, built bridges, united hearts, and quieted children. Words open our minds and hearts to the truth of who we are and the possibility of whom we might become.

This is especially true when we read the Word of God. Lent is a great opportunity to explore the Bible. Try reading a Psalm a day, or dig into an unfamiliar book of the Old Testament. Don’t feel overwhelmed. Just read a few verses and sit with them awhile. You don’t need to explain them to anyone. This is just between you and God.

Henry Nouwen explains,

Spiritual reading is a discipline to keep us reflecting on our lives as we live them . . . We have to keep asking ourselves: ‘What does it all mean? What is God trying to tell us? How are we called to live in the midst of all this?’ Without such questions our lives become numb and flat.

One other note on reading during Lent…look for God’s word everywhere. He speaks through each of us. It’s just a matter of whether you are able to hear.

A bit more wisdom from Nouwen on this idea

Spiritual reading is not only reading about spiritual people or spiritual things. It is also reading spiritually, that is, in a spiritual way! Reading in a spiritual way is reading with a desire to let God come closer to us.
The great value of spiritual reading is that it helps us to give meaning to our lives…The human person not only wants to live, but also wants to know why to live. 

 ~Henri Nouwen, Here and Now: Living in the Spirit

Be inspired by words.

Your words, Lord are spirit and life.

Turning to God

A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.

How many times have I been less than sincere when making amends for my wrongs or somewhat flip in the way I ask forgiveness? Certainly there are times I can recall going through the prescribed "motions" to just get beyond an argument or debate. Admit defeat, say I am wrong, and move on. Anything to avoid prolonging an uncomfortable situation.

But Psalm 51:19 reads,

"My sacrifice, God, is a broken spirit;
God, do not spurn a broken, humbled heart."

Phoning it in is not enough.

While man despises what is broken, God does not. God is not surprised by our weakness. From Him, we have nothing to hide. How can you open yourself to God this Lent? Have you built walls of insincerity, pretending to be what you are not? Are there problem areas in your life that you have avoided? How might your life be different if you turned these over to God?

A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.

The Courage to Hope

Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.

 

   “Mig, for her part, continued to stare. Looking at the royal family had awakened some deep and slumbering need in her; it was as if a small candle had been lit in her interior, sparked to life by the brilliance of the king and the queen and the princess.
   For the first time in her life, reader, Mig hoped.
   And hope is like love . . . a ridiculous, wonderful, powerful thing.”

Indeed hope is one of the enduring virtues, the perfect gift for us on earth. In times of trial, the mere idea of hope has carried the underdog to victory against insurmountable odds. Through life-threatening illness, hope has lifted the spirits and healed the cells of patients given up to lost cause. Hope is a champion of the tragic and a companion for the depressed. It is the light in the tunnel toward which the dying soul travels and the magnetic pull by which the revived escape back to the living.

Hope is both a noun and a verb, active and passive. It is immeasurably private yet communal by nature. Unique to each heart that swells with it, hope is defined by every person who dares to imagine it.

            “Reader, do you think that it is a terrible thing to hope when there is no reason to hope at all? Or is it (as the soldier said about happiness) something that you might just as well do, since, in the end, it really makes no difference to anyone but you?”
                                                ~excerpts from The Tale of Despereux by Kate DiCamillo

Have courage.  Never give up hope, reader. The Lord will provide, and you will be blessed.

Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.

The First Step

Be merciful, O Lord for we have sinned.

It’s humbling to ask forgiveness. When sincere, you come to that moment only through a heart broken over the pain you have caused another. From that deep place, you truly acknowledge your sin but also come to know God’s love and the many sweet graces that await you.

On Ash Wednesday, we begin an unfolding. This is not always an easy process. In doing so, we expose the hardened places in our hearts along with those that are tender.

Today is the first step.

In a quiet moment, ask for God’s mercy.

There is nothing for which you cannot be forgiven.

Trust that He will comfort your sorrow and tend to your needs.

The first step is yours . . . He is waiting.

Be merciful, O Lord for we have sinned. 

**A Note

When I was a kid, the Responsorial Psalm at Mass always felt like a kind of time out. It was the nice singing part between the readings and before the Gospel and homily. I must admit, in the years since, I've focused on writing reflections for the Gospels and done research to explain historical and archaeological details of both Old and New Testament readings. Yet I still seem to overlook the poetic beauty of the Psalms. For this reason, the inspiration for some of the blogs this Lent will come from the response to the daily Psalm in the Lectionary.

Letting Go of Your Nets

Last Sunday's Gospel ended with the calling of the first disciples. Dropping their nets, Simon (soon to be Peter), James, and John made the choice to start a new life with Christ.

When they brought their boats to the shore
they left everything and followed him. ~ Lk. 5: 11

Many times I've heard this passage associated with the message of sacrifice. How difficult a decision to leave behind one's entire life and all its trappings to follow a simple man who preached an uncommon message. This story does invite us to face our attachments and question the priorities we place upon them. However, what if we consider this scene in a different light?

What if this were not a story of sacrifice, but of freedom? Consider for a moment the life of a fisherman. It is a physically demanding work over which one has very little control. There is no certainty to the size or timing of the catch. In ancient times, the most popular method of fishing was by net. Daily these nets required tending to insure they did not tear. When not on the water, the fishermen spent endless hours meticulously mending and knotting together sections strained by the burden of the catch. The nets became an extension of themselves, holding their hopes, dreams, worries, and burdens while heavily weighted and worn by the unpredictable waters of life. Now imagine those fishermen after their encounter with Jesus. His impact on their hearts was so intense that they were able to let go of those nets and all that was carried inside them. Talk about freedom!

Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. Instead of looking toward this season as one of only sacrifice, think about how it might be an invitation to freedom. Like the disciples, we too are standing on the shore holding tightly to our carefully woven nets. What have we knotted into their fiber? Are they bound tightly to anger, hurt, worry, guilt, pride? How might our lives be forever changed if we had the courage to leave them behind and follow Christ?