He chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world

Brothers and sisters: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens, as he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him. In love he destined us for adoption to himself through Jesus Christ, in accord with the favor of his will, for the praise of the glory of his grace that he granted us in the beloved.

In him we were also chosen, destined in accord with the purpose of the One who accomplishes all things according to the intention of his will, so that we might exist for the praise of his glory, we who first hoped in Christ. Eph 1:3-6, 11-12

Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands; break into song; sing praise.

Fiat

The angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary. And coming to her, he said, “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.” But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his Kingdom there will be no end.” But Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?” And the angel said to her in reply, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; for nothing will be impossible for God.” Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her. Lk 1:26-38

The Covenant with Noah

And God said: "This is the sign that I am giving for all ages to come, of the covenant between me and you and every living creature with you: I set my bow in the clouds to serve as a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth, and the bow appears in the clouds, I will recall the covenant I have made between me and you and all living beings, so that the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all mortal beings. As the bow appears in the clouds, I will see it and recall the everlasting covenant that I have established between God and all living beings--all mortal creatures that are on earth." God told Noah: "This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all mortal creatures that are on earth." Genesis 9:12-16

Golden Field and a Covenant

Wisdom of God

"What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
nor the heart of man conceived,
what God has prepared for those who
love him" 1 Corinthians 2:9

Wounded Love

The Lord makes the soul desire Him vehemently by certain delicate means the soul itself does not understand. They proceed from very deep within the interior part of the soul. For often when a person is distracted and even forgetful of God, His majesty will awaken it. His action is as quick as a falling comet. And as clearly as it hears a thunderclap, even though no sound is heard, the soul understands that it was called by God. It feels that it is wounded in the most exquisite way. It knows clearly that the wound is something precious and it would never want to be cured. The wound satisfies it much more than the delightful and painless absorption of the prayer of quiet, a whisper so penetrating that the soul cannot help but hear it.

St. Teresa of Avila

Even Though No Sound Is Heard

This Jesus Challenges Me

"I use force, and He says, Forgive.
I am afraid, and He says, Take heart.
I doubt, and He says, Trust.
I feel anxious, and He says, Be calm.
I desire to be left alone, and He says, Come, follow me.
I make my plans, and He says, Let's go this way.
I want security, and He says to me, You will be persecuted for my sake.
I want to live, and He says, Give your life.
I believe I am a good person, and He says, That's not enough.
I want to be in charge, to give the commands, and He says, Serve, obey.
I want to understand, and He says, Believe.
I want clarity, and He speaks to me in Parables.
I want poetry, and He speaks of Realities.
I want tranquility, and He wants me To be disturbed.
I think of revenge, and He says, Turn the other cheek.
I speak of peace, and He says, I have come to bring a sword.
I want to hide, and He says, Let your light shine.
I seek out the first place, and He says, Sit in the last place.
I want to be seen, and He says, Pray in secret.
I want to hang on, and He says, Let go.
I want to win, and He says, Surrender.
No, I don't understand this Jesus. He provokes me. He confounds me. Like many of His disciples I, too, think I would like to follow a different teacher; one who would be more clear, and who would ask less of me. But it is as true for me as it was for Peter. When Jesus asked the twelve, "Do you also wish to go away?" Simon Peter answered, "Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life."

Vision

The Supremacy of Christ

"It's not just what God has done in Christ, that's absolutely amazing, but listen to what St Paul tells us in Colossians 1:25, 'that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God'. He wants us to know the word of God in it's fullness. That is, 'the mystery which has been hidden for the past ages and generations but now made manifest to his saints'. This is a truth that Abraham didnt know. This is a truth that all the prophets didnt know. There is a mystery hidden for all the ages that has been revealed to us, the Christians, and this is what it is. It's 'Christ in you, the hope of glory.' Christ in us, is the hope of glory. Not what Christ did in history, but what he continues to do in history, through us. It changes the way we live, because it changes who we are. We are no longer ourselves, we are Christians, we are now new creations in Christ. The person who hopes lives differently. We live differently because we understand the end. We can see it by God's grace. We see it in the Apostle's in their lives and the saints. They were transformed by the vision of hope because they knew the Lord was larger than death." That Jesus Christ had conquered death and was going to bring them home to glory.

Easter Vigil 2009

Be Thou My Vision

Be Thou my vision, oh Lord of my heart

Nought be all else to me, save that Thy art

Thou my best thought in the day and the night

Waking or sleeping, Thou presence my light

Riches I need not, nor man's empty praise

Thou mine inheritance through all of my days

Thou and Thou only though first in my heart

High king of heaven my treasure Thou art

In The Light

Perserverence

Therefore, do not throw away your confidence; it will have great recompense. You need endurance to do the will of God and receive what he has promised. "For, after just a brief moment, he who is to come shall come; he shall not delay. But my just one shall live by faith, and if he draws back I take no pleasure in him." We are not among those who draw back and perish, but among those who have faith and will possess life.

Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament

Are You Wrestling with God's Will?

A reading from this weeks scripture. "In the course of that night, however, Jacob arose, took his two wives, with the two maidservants and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. After he had taken them across the stream and had brought over all his possessions, Jacob was left there alone. Then some man wrestled with him until the break of dawn. When the man saw that he could not prevail over him, he struck Jacob's hip at its socket, so that the hip socket was wrenched as they wrestled. The man then said, "Let me go, for it is daybreak." But Jacob said, "I will not let you go until you bless me." "What is your name?" the man asked. He answered, "Jacob." Then the man said, "You shall no longer be spoken of as Jacob, but as Israel, because you have contended with divine and human beings and have prevailed." Jacob then asked him, "Do tell me your name, please." He answered, "Why should you want to know my name?" With that, he bade him farewell. Jacob named the place Peniel, "Because I have seen God face to face," he said, "yet my life has been spared." At sunrise, as he left Penuel, Jacob limped along because of his hip. That is why, to this day, the Israelites do not eat the sciatic muscle that is on the hip socket, inasmuch as Jacob's hip socket was struck at the sciatic muscle."
Genesis 32:23-33

This scripture has special meaning for me because Jacob is setting out on a new course in his life. Crossing a river at night is one of the most difficult of tasks. Then he appears to be separated from his family and wrestles with what appears to be an angel, but it is really a mystery to whom or what he wrestles with. Jacob does overcome the angel in the struggle but he is left with a limp. A deep scare, a battle wound which stays with him the rest of his life as if to remind him of his struggle. He is also given a new name, Isreal, which means, one who struggles with God.

While set out and about on life's journey have you felt that tug or struggle between your will and God's will? I know it's something I think more and more about these days. Sometimes it takes a "wrenching" to get our attention. We may even carry the scare for the rest of our lives to remind us of our struggles. I dont believe that God directly punishes us by inflicting pain or injury on us. But I do believe God allows things to happen or occur in order to bring us around or he may use us for a higher purpose.

"He who believes in the Son has eternal life; he who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God rests upon him." John 3:36

A path along the Way at the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament. The 10 Commandments and the Beatitudes.

2 Cor 12:7-10

Brothers and sisters:That I, Paul, might not become too elated,because of the abundance of the revelations,a thorn in the flesh was given to me, an angel of Satan,to beat me, to keep me from being too elated. Three times I begged the Lord about this, that it might leave me,but he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you,for power is made perfect in weakness." I will rather boast most gladly of my weaknesses,in order that the power of Christ may dwell with me. Therefore, I am content with weaknesses, insults,hardships, persecutions, and constraints,for the sake of Christ;for when I am weak, then I am strong.

Transformation

The closer we are to God the more clearly we see how far we are from holiness. The challenge of humility is that the minute you think "I am so humble" you aren't.

Along The Way

John 3:14-21

Jesus said to Nicodemus: "Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life."
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the verdict, that the light came into the world, but people preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the lightand does not come toward the light, so that his works might not be exposed. But whoever lives the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God.

Conversion of Heart

The human heart is heavy and hardened. God must give man a new heart. Conversion is first of all a work of the grace of God who makes our hearts return to him: "Restore us to thyself, O LORD, that we may be restored!" God gives us the strength to begin anew. It is in discovering the greatness of God's love that our heart is shaken by the horror and weight of sin and begins to fear offending God by sin and being separated from him. The human heart is converted by looking upon him whom our sins have pierced:

Let us fix our eyes on Christ's blood and understand how precious it is to his Father, for, poured out for our salvation, it has brought to the whole world the grace of repentance.

Heavy Heart

Near the Kingdom of God

The word "love" has taken a beating in recent times. We see and hear it everywhere: in the titles of TV series, on postage stamps, even on protest signs. The more we see and hear the word, the more trivial love seems. But when Jesus reminds us, "You shall love the Lord your God", love becomes mysterious and challanging. To fall in love with someone - or even better, to grow in love for someone - is a long process. It involves two people getting to know each other. They begin to reveal to each other what means most to them, secrets they have kept; they are eager to spend time together; they give each other gifts and come to learn what most pleases the other. Now: how do we fall in love with God? How do we grow in love for God? Can we love the Lord our God? Jesus assures us that we can, but it doesn't happen in an instant, with a few words or a few gestures. Loving God is the work of a lifetime: spending time in prayer and meditation; listening for the still small voice; learning to live as God wills, by justice and charity; contemplating the gifts we recieve, the gifts that we easily take for granted. Only then do we grow near to the kingdom of God.

All Aboard!

The Division

God rose up the prophet Elijah and said stop sitting on the fence. If the Lord is God then serve Him. If Baal and the false gods are god then serve them [1 Kg 18:21]. But make up your minds. Get on either one side or the other. Elijah speaking the word of the Lord insisted there be a great division. And when Jesus Christ came into the world, as the Gospel of John tells us, this was the verdict, this was the judgment, and this was the separation. That the light came into the world but the people loved darkness. So you have two sides. I have not come to bring peace, the Lord Jesus said, but division. And he said that division would run right through the family [Matthew 10:34]. The letter to the Hebrews says the division that the word of God brings runs right through the center of our own hearts. The word of God is sharper than a two edged sword dividing the human heart because either we serve the Lord or we don’t [Hebrew 4:12]. So then we come to Matthew 25:31, “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. Before Him will be gathered all the nations, and He will separate”. You can’t be lukewarm. You can’t have it both ways with God. It just doesn’t work. Have we failed to respond to the word of God?

Glory on the Plaza

Job spoke, saying: Is not man's life on earth a drudgery? Are not his days those of hirelings? He is a slave who longs for the shade, a hireling who waits for his wages. So I have been assigned months of misery, and troubled nights have been allotted to me. If in bed I say, "When shall I arise? "then the night drags on; I am filled with restlessness until the dawn. My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle; they come to an end without hope. Remember that my life is like the wind; I shall not see happiness again.
Job 7:1-4, 6-7

Brothers and sisters: If I preach the gospel, this is no reason for me to boast, for an obligation has been imposed on me, and woe to me if I do not preach it! If I do so willingly, I have a recompense, but if unwillingly, then I have been entrusted with a stewardship. What then is my recompense? That, when I preach, I offer the gospel free of charge so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel.
Although I am free in regard to all, I have made myself a slave to all so as to win over as many as possible. To the weak I became weak, to win over the weak. I have become all things to all, to save at least some. All this I do for the sake of the gospel, so that I too may have a share in it.
1 Cor 9:16-19, 22-23

On leaving the synagogue Jesus entered the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John. Simon's mother-in-law lay sick with a fever. They immediately told him about her. He approached, grasped her hand, and helped her up. Then the fever left her and she waited on them.
When it was evening, after sunset, they brought to him all who were ill or possessed by demons. The whole town was gathered at the door. He cured many who were sick with various diseases, and he drove out many demons, not permitting them to speak because they knew him. Rising very early before dawn, he left and went off to a deserted place, where he prayed. Simon and those who were with him pursued him and on finding him said, "Everyone is looking for you. "He told them, "Let us go on to the nearby villages that I may preach there also. For this purpose have I come. "So he went into their synagogues, preaching and driving out demons throughout the whole of Galilee.
Mark 1:29-39

Are you also looking for Jesus? He is here with you already. Open your heart and you will find Him. Don't be afraid to believe, to love, and to trust in the Lord. It is The Way. Jesus knew you before you were conceived. Do you know him? Do you understand? Pause, stand back, and see the big picture. Humble yourself and you will find The Way. What are you waiting for? Don't miss the opportunity!

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be. What came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race; the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
John 1:1-4

John 12: 44-50

And Jesus cried out and said, "He who believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me. And he who sees me sees him who sent me. I have come as light into the world, that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. If any one hears my sayings and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. He who rejects me and does not receive my sayings has a judge; the word that I have spoken will be his judge on the last day. For I have not spoken on my own authority; the Father who sent me has himself given me commandment what to say and what to speak. And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has bidden me."