One of those things that takes guts

"Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the LORD GOD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation." -- Isaiah 12:2 (RSV)

Forty-three years ago tonight, I made a personal commitment of my life to the Lordship of Jesus. By the grace of God I was raised Catholic and never left the Catholic Church, but on this night at a Christian concert when I was fourteen, I made it my own.

The story actually began several months earlier when my mom and I went to see a movie at my high school. I remember nothing about the movie except that at some point the mother in the film was on a stepladder decorating a Christmas tree when she had a heart attack and pulled the tree over as she fell.

When the movie was over, someone got up front and invited people who wanted to commit their lives to Jesus to come to the front where they would take you to a room to pray with you. Cradle Catholic that I am, I had never seen anything like this before. Thinking, I suppose, that Catholics believe in Jesus so this was a Catholic thing to do, I leaned over to my mom and whispered, "Shouldn't we go forward?" She whispered back, "No, we already have a church." It wasn't really clear to me what that had to do with it, but I wasn't used to arguing with my mom, so I just said, "Oh," and stayed where I was.

I watched as two or three people got out of their seats in the semi-darkened auditorium and walked forward. As I watched them go, I thought, "Wow, that must really take guts." I was not long on guts. In fact, I was probably one of the most fearful young teens in the county, although I did my best to hide it. I'd even been in plays, but being on stage is different. It's a very controlled environment in which you're hiding behind the mask of another person, saying words that are not your own with actions and responses that are all planned out beforehand. It's very different from the real you stepping out in front of a bunch of people and taking a stand.

Fast forward to October 31, 1970. A friend had invited me to a "Scream in the Dark" haunted house, followed by a Christian concert at a high school in Homer, Michigan. It was a very popular event with busloads of kids coming in from all over the county. I wasn't really into anything horror-related, but the band had played for an assembly at my high school (yes, my public high school) earlier in the week, and I had really liked them, so I went.

The concert was almost over when one of the band members got up and started to share. I suddenly realized what was going on and thought -- and this is an exact quote -- "Uh oh. Here comes one of those things that takes guts." Only this time, I wasn't in a darkened auditorium with my mom and a bunch of strangers. I was in a brightly lit gymnasium. In front of 400 of my peers. And in order to get from my place in the bleachers to the room where they wanted us to go, I had to go up to the cross aisle, over to the side aisle, down to the floor, and walk in front of everyone to the corner of the gym that was diagonally opposite from where I was sitting.

I'm still not sure exactly how it happened. One minute I was sitting in the bleachers, glancing around, wondering if the friends I had come with were going to go. The next instant, I'd grabbed my coat and made it to the gym floor, walking as fast as I could with my head down, sure that if I caught anyone's eye, I'd lose my nerve.

I finally made it to the relative safety of the room where I couldn't be seen, although the room quickly became very crowded with other teens who had made their own version of the same journey. By now, though, I no longer cared who saw me. And after they had led us in a prayer committing our lives to Jesus as Lord and I went forward to get the New Testament that they were giving to each person, I didn't care that they could see the tears on my face. I just knew in my heart that I had done what I had wanted to do, what I had to do, despite my fears. And nothing has ever been the same since.

Kindness and truth shall meet

"John had said to Herod, 'It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.' Herodias harbored a grudge against him and wanted to kill him. ... Herod feared John, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man, and kept him in custody. When he heard him speak he was very much perplexed, yet he liked to listen to him." -- Mark 6:18-20 (NAB)

Today is the feast of the Martyrdom of St. John the Baptist. As I listened to the Gospel at Mass today (Mark 6:17-29), I was struck by the fact that, although John was known primarily for his role as the precursor to the Messiah, Jesus, he wasn't ultimately killed because of his witness to Jesus. It isn't clear if Herod at the time that John was arrested even knew who Jesus was, since just a few verses earlier it says that when Herod heard of Jesus, his first reaction was that He was John the Baptist raised from the dead.

No, John the Baptist was persecuted and ultimately killed because of his courageous witness to God's truth regarding sexual morality.

In Herod and Herodias we see two different reactions to John's message, reactions that are common today. Herodias rejected his message; more than that, she resented him so much for even saying it that she wanted to kill him.

On the other hand, Herod knew that John was a righteous and holy man and liked listening to him, despite the fact that John was telling him he needed to repent. So even though John was speaking a hard word to him, he must have been doing it in such a way that Herod wasn't put off, that Herod somehow sensed that John was motivated by a selfless desire to see him made right with God, that is, by love. Perhaps John preached, as his father Zechariah had predicted at his birth, not just repentance, but forgiveness and the tender mercy of God (see Luke 1:76-79). Perhaps it was that same message of repentance combined with mercy that caused so many to come to John to be baptized as a sign of their turning away from their sin.

Dear Lord, teach us how to live holy lives and speak the truth with love as John did, knowing that some, like Herodias, will reject both the message and the messenger, but that others, even if only a few, will hear and turn to You for salvation.

The thin veil

"Then Eli'sha prayed, and said, 'O LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes that he may see.' So the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Eli'sha." -- 2 Kings 6:17 (RSV)

I've experienced another surge of deaths, the most concentrated one yet. In the last six days I've attended four funerals with another one coming next week. Three of them were women in their 90s and one was a woman who had been on dialysis for a long time. The fifth, though, was a 64-year-old man who dropped dead of an apparent heart attack, the second heart attack victim in our parish in a month. At times like this, the veil between this world and the next seems very thin.

I've reflected on the passage above before (Feb. 14, 2012) from the standpoint of spiritual warfare. But there is another aspect of it that is standing out for me right now. When the Lord opened the eyes of Elisha's servant, he saw that he was standing in the midst of a great army, an army which had been there all along.

Again, I am struck by the thought that Heaven is not far away "out there" somewhere. Rather, it is all around us. We are always walking in the presence of the Lord and all His hosts and saints, including those we know who have gone before us. Though they may be blocked from our sight most of the time, we are not blocked from theirs. They see us and, because they are members of the Body of Christ as we are, they love us and fight for us, fight with much greater power than we do, because while we are walking by faith, they are walking by sight.

Of mushrooms and men

"Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you..." -- Matthew 5:44 (RSV)

I have many concerns about the Supreme Court's decision yesterday regarding the Defense of Marriage Act. Rather than list them all here, I simply encourage you to read Justice Scalia's dissent, available at www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/12pdf/12-307_6j37.pdf. But there is one aspect of the decision that particularly disturbs me.

As both Justice Scalia and Chief Justice Roberts in his separate dissent clearly pointed out, the majority characterized those who supported DOMA -- which included President Bill Clinton, majorities of both houses of Congress and millions of Americans -- as acting out of malice. It's one thing to judge someone's actions. To judge someone's motives, however, is to assume that you have a window into that person's heart, mind and soul, a supposed view that is almost always clouded by one's own prejudices and judgments. Let me propose a story that might help clarify this point.

Suppose you were walking in the forest with a friend when you come upon a large patch of wild mushrooms. Your friend, who loves mushrooms, pounces upon them with glee and starts happily munching them and picking them to take home.

You, however, happen to know for certain that these are poisonous mushrooms. They're not poisonous in the same way that Snow White's apple was: one bite and you keel over dead. Rather their poison accumulates in the system over time, eventually leading to sickness and death.

So what would be the loving thing to do in this situation? Would you say, "Well, he doesn't know that they're poisonous, and he likes mushrooms so much, he might be really upset if I tell him, so I'll just let him be"? Of course not! The loving thing to do would be to plead with him to stop eating the mushrooms.

Hopefully your friend would trust you enough to at least pause and ask why you think they're poisonous. But what if he rejected your pleas, told you that you were crazy, or even mean-spirited, because you were trying to deny him the pleasure of eating those wild mushrooms? His negative assessment of your motives would not change the fact that you were actually motivated by a desire for his greater good, that is, by love.

Now let's take the story a little further. Let's say that your friend decides that these mushrooms are so delicious that he's going to spread the word about these great mushrooms to others. In fact, he's going to gather the spores and start raising these mushrooms so as to make them available to others. Soon he's formed an association of wild mushroom lovers who are promoting eating the mushrooms.

Now you're faced with a real dilemma. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of innocent people could start eating those mushrooms, not knowing that they're eating something that will eventually kill them. So would you just throw up your hands, saying, "I tried! It's their problem!" Or would the loving thing to do be to try to protect people from the dangers of eating those mushrooms? I think the answer is clear.

So you form an association to help educate people about the dangers of eating those mushrooms. You even try to get laws passed, making the eating of those mushrooms illegal. All this angers your former friend and his associates who accuse you of acting with malice to restrict their freedom to eat wild mushrooms. "If you don't want to eat them," they say, "then, fine! But leave us alone!"

Meanwhile, some of the wild mushroom eaters are starting to get sick and even die. But rather than consider that maybe there really is a problem with eating the mushrooms, they point to other causes. They even blame the "stress" caused by your "hate speech" toward wild mushroom eaters. They slap you with a lawsuit to get you to stop telling people that the mushrooms are poisonous and shouldn't be eaten, claiming that your hateful speech is causing them great physical and emotional suffering. You're forced to defend yourself not only in the court of law, but also in the court of public opinion, as the public sees you as a bigot acting with malice toward wild mushroom eaters, while all along, your motive was to actually save their lives, even at the cost of great suffering to yourself.

Does my story, especially the last scene, strike you as "over the top"? Then perhaps you haven't heard about the Canadian bishop who was accused of "hate speech" for a 2005 pastoral letter to his diocese on marriage. Or the youth pastor in Canada who was in legal battles for years over an op-ed piece that was published in a local paper. Or the decision by the Canadian Supreme Court last February that a man who distributed flyers regarding the Bible’s prohibitions against homosexuality was guilty of a hate crime.

I suspect that in the months and years ahead, Christians are going to have more opportunities than ever before to say with Jesus on the cross, "Father, forgive them. They don't know what they are doing."

The struggles that lead to new life

"We know that all things work for good for those who love God..." -- Rom. 8:28 (NAB)

On this Easter Saturday, I attended the funeral of a friend's mother, during which she told a story about her mom helping them find caterpillars when they were young so that they could have the awesome experience of watching them go from caterpillar to cocoon to butterfly. It reminded me of another butterfly story I heard once, one that is well-suited to this season in which we move from suffering and death to rising to new life. It's possible that I may have posted it before, but if so, it's worth posting again. :-)

A Monarch (Danaus plexippus) eclosing from a chrysalis. It took about 15 minutes for the Monarch's wings to fully expand. (By Megan McCarty (Own work) [CC-BY-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons)

A boy once saw a butterfly struggling to emerge from its cocoon. He felt pity for it, because it was struggling so hard to break free. To help it out, he got a pair of scissors and carefully snipped away the cocoon, allowing the butterfly to break free. He walked away, very pleased with himself for having helped out the poor struggling creature.

What the boy didn't know was that it is the very process of struggling to break free from its cocoon that helps strengthen a butterfly's wings so it can later fly. By intervening and freeing it from its struggle, the boy had unintentionally doomed the butterfly to a life on the ground.

How easy it is to look at our and others' struggles and see only the pain and suffering. Often, though, those very struggles are the necessary means by which God works grace and blessing and virtue into our lives. Like the training that an athlete undergoes, or the struggles of a butterfly emerging from its cocoon, our sufferings serve a purpose. We may not see or understand the purpose when we're in the midst of the struggles, but we need to believe God's promise that they will indeed work for our good if we love and trust Him.

Watch and pray

"Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation, for the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." -- Matthew 26:41 (RSV); see also Mark 14:38 and Luke 22:40

As I was praying after the Holy Thursday Mass this year, I was particularly struck by Jesus' words to Peter, James and John in the Garden of Gethsemane, possibly because I have this strange sense of being in a "Gethsemane" season myself. No, I'm not suffering agony as Jesus did. Rather, I feel more like the apostles, sensing that something is coming, but not sure what I should do to get ready. I definitely don't want to just fall asleep when I should be preparing, so Jesus' words of instruction are striking me with particular force.

All three synoptic gospels record Jesus saying, "Pray that you may not enter into temptation"; in Luke, he says it twice. Yes, I realize that Biblical scholarship says that the synoptics probably shared the same sources, but I still find the exact repetition striking. What does our Lord mean by this repeated instruction?

In St. Thomas Aquinas' wonderful commentary on Matthew, the Catena Aurea (available online at www.ccel.org/ccel/aquinas/catena1.html), he quotes St. Jerome on this verse:

"It is impossible that the human mind should not be tempted, therefore He says not 'Watch and pray' that ye be not tempted, but 'that ye enter not into temptation,' that is, that temptation vanquish you not. ... This is against those rash persons who think that whatever they believe they can perform. The more confident we are of our zeal, the more mistrustful should we be of the frailty of the flesh."

Earlier, Aquinas cites Origen's comments on the fact that Jesus brought with Him into the Garden Peter, James and John:

"He took with Him the self-confident Peter, and the others, that they might see Him falling on His face and praying, and might learn not to think great things, but little things of themselves, and not to be hasty in promising, but careful in prayer. ...  He who had said above, 'Learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart,' now commendably humbling Himself, falls on His face. But He shews His devotion in His prayer, and as beloved and well-pleasing to His Father, He adds, 'Not as I will, but as thou wilt,' teaching us that we should pray, not that our own will, but that God’s will, should be done."

If Jesus, being God and man, underwent such agony, how much more must I pray for grace to persevere in doing God's will in the face of temptation? As when He washed the apostles' feet, He is again giving us an example. "As I have done, you also must do." Teach me, Lord, to watch and pray.

Benedict XVI Online Photo Album; Adopt a Cardinal!

"God is love." -- I John 4:8

A couple of quick notes (I don't want to stay up as late as I did last night!):

• I just stumbled upon a beautiful online photo album on the Vatican Web site of pictures and quotes from Benedict XVI's time as pope. His wonderful warmth and love really come through these images and words. Check it out at www.vatican.va/bxvi/omaggio/index_en.html. (Click on a corner of the photo album to turn the page.)
  
• Someone passed on a Web site that's encouraging people to adopt a specific cardinal who will be voting in the conclave and pray for that person from now until the new pope is elected. Just go to adoptacardinal.org, click on the "adopt" button, and fill in your name and email address. You will be sent the name of one of the cardinal electors to pray for. What a great way to support with our prayers the cardinal electors as they discern God's will for us!

Your life is not your own

"Amen, amen, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” -- John 21:18 (NAB)

When I listened to the beautiful message given by Pope Benedict in his final Wednesday general audience, one aspect in particular stood out for me.

In his full message, translated into English by the Vatican Radio staff and available on the Vatican Web site, he commented on the fact that the pope is no longer a private person, and that will continue to be true of him as he resigns. He said that he cannot go back to a private life of talks, conferences, etc. Instead, he will continue to serve the Church in prayer, staying at the foot of the Cross with our Crucified Lord.

I was struck by the fact that many would think that what he described as a "private life" of talks, conferences, etc., was actually a very public and active life, while the life of prayer to which he is retiring is the private life. But Pope Benedict seems to understand it differently.

A private life is one in which you are free to "go where you want," as Jesus said to the first pope, St. Peter. A public life, on the other hand, is one in which you "stretch out your hands" and let someone "lead you where you do not want to go."

How accurately Jesus' words described the life of not only St. Peter, but of St. Peter's successor, Pope Benedict XVI.

Passing the papal baton

When King David was old and advanced in years, though they covered him with blankets he could not get warm... -- I Kings 1:1 (NAB)

As I prayed about Pope Benedict's resignation in our Adoration Chapel, a situation recorded in Scripture came to mind. It's something that I blogged about last year when considering Elijah-Elisha pairs in Scripture, so I'll simply summarize it here.

King David's health had declined significantly, yet he had not yet passed the scepter to his son Solomon, the one who the Lord had made clear was to be his successor. David's failure to act almost resulted in a disaster as one of his other sons plotted to seize the throne. Although the parallel is not exact, it shows what can happen when a person who has been given authority by God holds onto that authority beyond the point at which he should pass it to another.

So is the Holy Spirit simply prompting Pope Benedict to pass the baton (or the papal crozier, as the case may be) now in order to avoid some future disaster? Only the Lord knows for sure. But as we consider the actions of the Pope in these days, it is something to keep in mind and prayer, especially as we pray for the next Pope and the Cardinal Electors who will select him.

St. Joseph, Patron of the Universal Church, pray for us!

"And the Lord said, "Who then is the faithful and wise steward, whom his master will set over his household..." -- Luke 12:42 (RSV)

There is a tradition of praying a 30-day novena to St. Joseph before his feast day on March 19. (To say "30-day novena" is a bit of a contradiction in terms since a novena is a nine-day period of prayer, but let's let that go for now. :-)) That 30-day period of prayer would go from today, Feb. 17, through March 18.

I read something this weekend suggesting that, in light of St. Joseph's role as Protector of the Holy Family and Patron of the Universal Church, it would be very timely to pray for the next 30 days for his special intercession for the election of the next pope. That strikes me as a brilliant idea. I'm planning to do it, and I encourage anyone who reads this to do it, too. Even if you see this post long after Feb. 17, just jump on and start praying. Prayer to our Lord through His saints is never wasted!

Almost any prayer or novena to St. Joseph can be adapted to this purpose. There is a traditional 30-day prayer to St. Joseph that you can find on the EWTN Web site. It's beautiful, but somewhat lengthy. A shorter prayer that could be used is the Memorare of St. Joseph:

Remember, O most chaste spouse of the Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who implored your help and sought your intercession was left unassisted.
Full of confidence in your power I fly unto you and beg your protection.
Despise not O Guardian of the Redeemer my humble supplication, but in your bounty, hear and answer me. Amen.

I'm also quite partial to the Litany of St. Joseph. It's lengthy, too, but it's a wonderful statement of his virtues and the place that the Lord has given him in the Church.

St. Joseph, Protector of the Holy Family and Patron of the Universal Church, pray for us and especially for the election of the next pope!

The Pope's resignation

"...though he was in the form of God, [Jesus] did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself..." -- Phil. 2:6-7a (NAB)

I suspect that for Catholics, at least, it will take on the character of other startling events, such as, Where were you when you heard about the Sept. 11 attack? Or for an older generation, where were you when you heard that Kennedy had been shot?

I was in my apartment last Monday morning, getting ready to leave for the 6:45 Mass when the radio announcer at 6 a.m. gave the breaking news: Pope Benedict XVI had resigned.

The first announcement I heard attributed the report to an Italian news agency, and I'll admit that my initial reaction was, That's pretty irresponsible of a major news station to report another rumor about the Pope as if it was true.

The next announcement a few minutes later, though, attributed the news to Vatican officials. I quickly got on my computer and went to a news site that I trust. It, too, was quoting a Vatican source. Pope Benedict had resigned.

Still not positive that it wasn't a rumor run wild, I didn't say anything to my fellow Mass attendees. By the time that I checked the Vatican Web site after Mass, though, the Pope's statement had been translated and posted in several languages. It was true. The Pope had resigned.

I'm glad that I read Pope Benedict's statement before hearing any of the commentary and analysis that filled the airwaves over the next few days. It didn't strike me as the abdication of a shepherd who, having been beaten down by all the crises, was abandoning his sheep to the wolves. Nor did I get the sense that he was now finally going to get around to the life of study and writing that he'd longed for since before his election. His own statement closed with the words, "With regard to myself, I wish to also devotedly serve the Holy Church of God in the future through a life dedicated to prayer."

The comment that I found most helpful was the statement of Bishop Earl Boyea, Bishop of Lansing. 

Pope Benedict has been and remains a very good father to the Catholic communion throughout the world.  He has been a wonderful teacher, shepherd, and man of prayer.  The clearest sign of his care for the Church is this most recent action: his decision to resign the papacy.  His sense that he can no longer be the effective missionary and evangelist has led him, in deep love, to hand this great task given him by Jesus Christ to another. ...

That is what stood out for me: humility and love. This incredibly gifted man, whom Scott Hahn has called the greatest Biblical scholar to serve as pope since Peter, has the humility to recognize that he no longer has the "strength of mind and body" to adequately fulfill his task. And because his great humility is coupled with great love for the Church, he is not trying to hold on to his position if it would be a detriment to the Church he so loves. And so, "having repeatedly examined my conscience before God," he is stepping down.

This is not to say that John Paul the Great was doing a disservice to the Church by staying on even as his health deteriorated. He, too, was doing what he felt the Lord Jesus wanted him to do. He was, among other things, making a statement that was completely in keeping with his life's message about the inherent dignity of the human person, regardless of how weak and frail that person may become.

But Benedict, in a way, is also making a statement that is completely in keeping with his character. The pope whose first encyclical was, to the surprise of many, on the topic of love, is now demonstrating that love in yet another way. 

Dear Pope Benedict, keep us in your prayers.

Inheriting the earth

"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." -- Matthew 5:5 (RSV)

A person who inherits something doesn't get it on his or her own efforts, by earning it in any way. Rather, when you inherit something, you get it by virtue of the relationship that you have, or had, with the deceased. Presumably, the relationship was special enough for you to warrant the deceased giving you something of value. In a way, the depth of the relationship is indicated by the value of that which the deceased gives you.

Again, we're seeing that a key characteristic of the meek is that they have a deep relationship with God, a relationship so deep that their inheritance is the entire earth! Some translations say that they will inherit "the land," which commentators interpret as meaning the greatest gift of all, the Promised Land, the Kingdom of Heaven! But it all hinges on that deep relationship with God, which roots the one beloved by Him and bears the fruit of meekness in all our dealings with others.

Mary of Bethany

"Mary sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak. " -- Luke 10:39 (RSV)

Mary of Bethany is a Scriptural character who is never called meek, but who shows the signs of being a meek person. She appears three times in Scripture (three where she is identified as Mary of Bethany): In Luke 10:38-42 when Jesus visits Martha and Mary; in John 11:1-44, the story of the raising of Lazarus; and in John 12:1-8, where she anoints Jesus.

Interestingly, in two of these three accounts, Mary comes under attack for her actions, first by her sister Martha when she sits at Jesus' feet rather than help with the serving, and then by Judas when she anoints Jesus with oil. In both cases, Jesus comes to her defense.

Like Moses, Mary has a strong, intimate relationship with the One she loves. In her actions, she is not concerned about what others think, but focuses on Jesus. This gives her the freedom to do what her love dictates she should do, without needing to defend herself. And Jesus, in turn, vindicates her.

Meekness

"Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all men that were on the face of the earth." -- Numbers 12:4 (RSV)

Like many Americans, "meek" is one of those words that I have struggled with. "Meekness" is often equated with "weakness," and who wants to be weak?

But Jesus said, "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart." (NAB) Not only did He call Himself "meek," but it's one of the character traits that He explicitly wants us to learn from Him! So I need to try to understand what He's calling me to when He wants me to be meek as He is meek.

I think we get a clue when we look at Moses. In the book of Numbers, he is described as "very meek." Yet Moses is the one who, in anger at the infidelity of the Israelites, threw down and broke the tablets of the Law, then ground the golden calf they had worshiped into powder, threw it on the water, and forced the idolators to drink it. He didn't seem very meek then!

Things become clearer when we look at the passage in Numbers in context. Miriam and Aaron (primarily Miriam) have just spoken against Moses on the pretext of his marriage with a foreigner. They say, "Is it through Moses alone that the LORD has spoken? Has he not spoken through us also?" Moses, despite his God-given role as leader and his incredible relationship with the Lord, does nothing to defend himself. The Scriptures describe him as "very meek."

Is this a sign that meekness means being a doormat, allowing people to walk all over you? I don't think so.

In the very next verse, we see the Lord coming to Moses' defense. He "at once" calls the three of them forward, rebukes Miriam and Aaron, and then departs, leaving Miriam, in punishment, a leper. When Moses intercedes for her, the Lord heals her, but requires her to stay outside the camp for a week in punishment for her sin.

I think this incident gives us a clue that one characteristic of meekness is trusting in God to come to your defense. This, in turn, gives you a firm foundation from which you can operate. You are free to respond to unjust attacks with calm and "the peace that surpasses all understanding," because you can trust in Him to care for you, to vindicate you. Thus meekness is not a position of weakness, but of strength, great strength, the strength that comes from knowing God and having your identity rooted in your relationship with Him.

Forty years

''Forty years I endured that generation. 
I said, 'They are a people whose hearts go astray
  and they do not know my ways.'
So I swore in my anger, 
  'They shall not enter into my rest.' " -- Psalm 95:10-11 (Grail translation)

Every morning I, like millions of other Catholics around the world, pray the Liturgy of the Hours. The most common invitatory psalm as part of the first "hour" of the day is Psalm 95. When I pray this psalm, I shudder as I consider it in light of the 40th anniversary of the Roe vs Wade decision legalizing abortion on demand in the United States.

For most of the last 40 years, the pro-life movement's efforts to end abortion have focused largely on legal and political means. I have long held that such means are important in the same way that a tourniquet is important to a bleeding hemophiliac -- they both buy you time. However, if you never address the underlying problem, the patient, whether the hemophiliac or the society, will eventually die. I fear that our society may quickly be approaching its death bed.

Pro-lifers used to think, and many still do, that if you could just get out the message about the truth of the humanity of the unborn through education, ultrasounds, images of aborted babies; or if you just made arguments based on natural law, people would support legal and other means to save babies from abortion. And we need to keep doing those things because they do change some minds and hearts.

The mounting evidence, however, of 40 years is that those means are not enough. We are seeing the fruits of a culture whose members have ignored or rejected God and His laws. As we have moved further and further from God, our moral foundations have gradually collapsed until now, arguments based on natural law fail to persuade many people on key moral issues such as abortion and same-sex so-called marriage.

Although the tourniquets still need to be applied, we need to deal with the root issues, rather than just trying to manage the symptoms. Through prayer, word and deed, we need to reach out with the saving truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Only the Divine Physician can heal the disease that has not only destroyed 55 million pre-born children since 1973, but is threatening to destroy tens of millions more individuals in our nation, and even our society itself.

All too many don't even realize that they are sick and dying and so are unwilling or unable to come to the Lord themselves. We need to act like the paralytic's friends who brought him to Jesus (Mt. 9:1-8), showing by their loving actions their trust in His power to save.

The first way that we can bring our society to Jesus, the most important way, is through prayer. In addition to our personal and private prayers, I encourage you, if you have not yet done so, to get involved in 40 Days for Life. In less than ten years, this wonderful ministry has spread from a town in Texas to over 480 cities in 15 countries. Through prayer and fasting, over 6,700 babies--that we know of--have been saved from abortion; 75 abortion workers have quit their jobs; and 25 abortion facilities have shut down following local 40 Days for Life campaigns.

God alone can heal the wounds of our society that manifest themselves in the sin of abortion. Let's turn to Him unceasingly, begging Him through prayer and fasting to act in power in our nation and our world. Our society may be dying, but we follow the one, true God, who raises the dead.

Clinging to God

"My soul clings fast to You; Your right hand upholds me."
-- Psalm 63:9 (NAB)

I think in the past when I have considered this psalm, I've envisioned myself with my arms wrapped around Jesus, holding on for dear life. While there's much to be said for clinging to God with "determined determination," as St. Teresa of Jesus liked to say, that image implies that being cared for by God depends a lot on how well the soul clings.

It occurred to me recently that the soul actually clings to God in much the same way that a newborn clings to the finger of its father or mother. The newborn baby's clinging is a reflex while our clinging needs to be more deliberate. However, they're similar in that, in both cases, the one doing the clinging really isn't accomplishing all that much! At best, it's a sign of good will and desire.

It's really up to the parent to hold onto the baby and protect it. And, thanks be to God! We can have confidence that, if we do our little part, our Father God will indeed cling fast to us with His strong right hand and His power to save. For Jesus has promised, "My sheep hear My voice; I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. No one can take them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all, and no one can take them out of the Father’s hand." (John 10:27-29, NAB)

Accept, thank, trust

"Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me..." -- Psalm 23:4 (NAB)

I'm aware of two women in our parish who have been diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's Disease, one in her late 50s and the other in her early 60s. One of them, Myriam, has written, with the help of some friends, an inspiring article that appears in the January 2013 issue of The Word Among Us.

No matter whether you have been personally impacted by this dread disease or not, I encourage you to read the article. You can access it online by clicking here.  In addition to her reflections on the spiritual side of her journey, it also includes some practical suggestions for dealing with memory loss that would be invaluable both for the person directly affected and for his or her caregivers and other loved ones.

Myriam described three steps that the Lord has led her through in dealing with her Alzheimer's: to accept it, to thank Him for it, and to "embrace the journey with trust in God’s love and wisdom." Those same three steps can, by the grace of God, enable us to deal with whatever "valley of the shadow of death" that the Lord may choose to lead us through. For no matter what our circumstances may be, He is always and forever our Good Shepherd.

Mary, Mother of God and our Mother

"May you know always and everywhere the protection of her, through whom you have been found worthy to receive the Author of Life." --from the Solemn Blessing at the end of Mass for the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God

Not too long ago, I heard a priest say that if you meditate on the Blessed Mother holding the Baby Jesus, inevitably you will find her offering to let you hold Him. That was certainly my experience several years ago when I was meditating in prayer on the Madonna and Child.

I don't know what that priest's reaction was, but mine was to panic. "I'll drop Him!" I said to Mary.

I didn't expect what happened next. I sensed Mary in my meditation saying to me, "Don't worry. I'll hold you both." Then as I, in my meditation, took the Baby Jesus into my arms and held Him close, she wrapped her arms around me, with one arm over my shoulders and one arm around Jesus and me together, and drew us both close to herself.

As I've reflected on that image recently, I've thought of how accurately it depicts Mary's role in our lives. She isn't interested in coming between us and Jesus. Just the opposite. She wants to facilitate us drawing close to Jesus, to protect us, and to help us in whatever way we need to come into a more intimate relationship with Him.

Dear Mary, Mother of God and our Mother, please pray for us this year, that with your help and prayers, we may come into the relationship with Jesus that He created us to have with Him. Amen.