Mercy not sacrifice

"If you knew what this meant, I desire mercy, not sacrifice,
you would not have condemned these innocent men.
For the Son of Man is Lord of the sabbath." Matthew 12:6-8

Our Lord desires that we be humble and acknowledge that we are as prone to falling as those around us. He does not want the "sacrifice" of putting up with them, that age-old self-martyrdom that smacks of pride and self-righteousness. He desires instead mercy-- that spark of Love that ignites all it touches with divine fire.

The Son of Man is Lord of the sabbath for it is He who will on this day of rest and openness redeem us to bring about His kingdom on earth. The sabbath was given to us partly to remind us that we cannot do anything of our own power. To claim the greatness to which we are called we can only surrender to God what was His creation in the first place that He may mold it to His heart's content. Through observing the sabbath, we learn faith. It is a faith that contains the trust that God will provide, that God desires to provide, and it contains the humility that realizes no amount of work on our part can bring us to this greatness. It is a gift from Him Who chose to make us in His likeness.

The rest of the humble

"Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
for I am meek and humble of heart;
and you will find rest for yourselves." Matthew 11:29

Pride is the jailer of the heart, never letting it rest or sleep, always prodding with snide remarks and sneers, binding dreams in chains. Pride seeks to place our priorities on money and power; it seeks to have every thought, every action, every relationship, focused on self. How exhausting!! It is no wonder we are so burdened. Jesus teaches us the secret to carrying His yoke: humility. As soon as we place others before ourselves and lay down our lives at the service of our Lord, we find a huge weight lifted. We look up out from ourselves to find the world, His creation, breathing His majesty and love. We see that the world does not revolve around us, does not depend on us to have meaning or sustenance. When we can accept with humility that we are nothing, His voice calls to us through creation: "Talitha koum! For I know well the plans I have in mind for you, plans for your welfare, not for woe! plans to give you a future full of hope." (Mark 5:41; Jeremiah 29:11) and we find rest. Oh how peacefully the humble heart rests!!

"I must go over to look at this remarkable sight..."

"There an angel of the Lord appeared to him in fire flaming out of a bush. As he looked on, he was surprised to see that the bush, though on fire, was not consumed. So Moses decided, 'I must go over to look at this remarkable sight, and see why the bush is not burned.' When the Lord saw him coming over to look at it more closely, God called out to him from the bush, 'Moses! Moses!' He answered, 'Here I am.' God said 'Come no nearer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground...I have witnessed the affliction of my people in Egypt...Therefore I have come down to rescue them." Exodus 3:2-8

You, as a disciple of Christ, are the bush which finds itself spitting fire, surrounded inside and out by flames.

Those who are fellow disciples will draw strength and guiding light from the flame you are bearing to the world. Others who do not know God will pass you by; they may not notice, or they may give you a wide birth. Some will look long enough to realize that this little bush is not consumed by the flames. When a soul decides to give this novelty greater scrutiny, his will moves towards the Lord. When the Lord sees this movement He will call out to the soul by name. If the soul answers, God will reveal the holy ground on which it stands. He will witness to the soul the affliction it has suffered and promise bring to it to a land of milk of honey.

"Prayer is savoring God Himself." --Servant of God, Catherine Doherty

How great is the prayer of communion? To truly savor God? To accept Him on your tongue, to carry Him in your mouth and body? And yet so many chomp and chew as though they were eating a cracker on the run between errands. Let us not be so silly! Savor your Lord. When you take the first bite of an exquisite meal, the explosion of flavor slows your chewing and erases conversation from your mind. How much more so should our Lord Himself have this effect on you? Be present to the mystery and the miracle every Mass.

If you cannot savor something so great as God, how will you ever find life appetizing?

Sealed with the Holy Spirit

"In Him you also, who have heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and have believed in Him, were sealed with the promised Holy spirit, which is the first installment of our inheritance toward redemption as God's possession, to the praise of His glory." Ephesians 1:13-14

Being sealed with the Holy Spirit is only the first installment!? Being temples of the living God, having Him with us always, guiding our thoughts and deeds, is only the beginning? The Holy Spirit-- the very Love that is passed between the Father and the Son-- within us! Can you imagine the greatness that God has destined us for? Can you imagine what awaits?

Love without blemish

"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." Ephesians 1:3-

God has chosen us to be holy and without blemish before even His perfection. And what is it that He has given us that we may achieve such a lofty calling? In love He destined us... With love He destined us to union with Himself and it is in love that we find the key to being adopted daughters and sons of our God. It is through being gifts that we find the meaning of being, through giving our lives that we find our souls. How much more so does this apply to the love between husband and wife? It is through being in love that we can lose our self and give all for the other. Through our sexuality we can find the path to being holy and without blemish. If you think this is a bold claim, something unfathomable, you must remember that He is at every moment blessing us with every spiritual blessing in the heavens-- all we need do is open to Him and our weaknesses become our strengths. It is this pure, passionate love which burns away imperfections.

By Your Side

Lyrics by Tenth Avenue North

Why are you striving these days?
Why are you trying to earn grace?
Why are you crying?
Let me lift up your face-
Just don't turn away

Why are you looking for love?
Why are you still searching as if I'm not enough?
To where will you go, child, tell Me where will you run-
To where will you run?

Cause I'll be by your side wherever you fall
In the dead of night whenever you call
Please don't fight these hands that are holding you,
My hands are holding you.

Look at these hands and My side
I swallowed the grave on that night
When I drank the world's sin
So I could carry you in
And give you life
I wanna give you life
...

Cause I, I love you
I want you to know
That I, I love you, I'll never let you go, no no
...

Here at my side, my hands are holding you