"The heavens melted at the presence of God" Ps 68

Lord, if even the heavens melt at the presence of Love, what chance do we stand? It is no wonder that even imperfect human love has such power over us. For truly-- if Love is so powerful that it can cross the chasm between Creator and created and unite them, there is NOTHING that it cannot overcome. Most especially between man and wife, who are no longer two, but one!!

"This is the work of God, that you believe in the one He sent" Jn 6:29

It is our pride and self-love that seeks to compare the greatness of one calling over another. The Lord calls each of us to the task for which we were created-- the SAME vocation-- to love our Lord, our God, with all our heart, mind soul. To believe in Jesus. To believe is to obey--for if you truly believe, what else is there for you to do but obey? And this is all out of love and total self-abandonment, for again, if you believe you can do nothing else!!

"Why are you troubled? And why do questions arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself"

Jesus invites us when we are afraid to look at his hands and his feet. We need never be troubled--He has given all, suffered all, that something better may come: new life for us all! Whatever the situation may be that troubles us, all we need do is look to our risen Lord--for even His wounds were redeemed when He broke the chains of death.

When you ask for a grace...

A young man recently asked me: "If you pray for courage, does God give you the grace to be courageous just like that? Or does He give you opportunities to be courageous?"

How insightful!! For yes, God will give us the grace-- but so often He first offers an opportunity to practice that virtue we seek, and when we turn to him in complete trust He will grant us the grace to attain the virtue.

Man the Warrior

We must always remember, women, that men were created to be warriors-- to fight for what they believe in. It would follow then, that we must not expect them to be flexible and readily admit where they are wrong, for how then would they be good warriors? We must with patience and love show them the way to the truth about themselves and their beliefs through our own love and flexibility. We were made to flex and bend to bring forth children and to love all our children equally at all times. We must do the same to give birth to man's sanctity.

Healing Union

At Mass today, the priest spoke of the healing power of the sacraments, and how they heal in many ways-- sometimes it is physical, but it can also be emotional, psychological, and of course always spiritually. Then he spoke of how the sacramental Eucharist heals us interiorly of the damage inflicted by our sins. And I was caught up the beauty and meaning of the communion of persons-- of the depth of power in consummation of marriage. For in marriage, the sexual union of man and wife has this same power! The consummation of love between man and wife has this same power to transform them, heal them from the damage of their sins against each other and unite them once more-- to make up the distance between persons! The Eucharist is God uniting Himself with us on earth, to be with us as much as He can now, to heal us and eliminate that distance and distinction between Himself and His bride until in heaven we can be FULLY united with Him at all times!! The same is true with marriage--that sexual union bridges the distance between them and they are able to be ONE, to be totally the other's, which once in heaven they can be all the time in the communion of saints!

It is so sad when someone removes himself from the Eucharist-- to cut themselves off from the fount of grace--but even more so from the one place we can all experience and receive communion with our Lord!! The one place where we are so tangibly with God, and healed of the rift between us left by the damage of our sins!! Confession takes away our sins and give healing, but to be physically with our Lord in the Eucharist!! It is the same then in marriage-- how sad that so many couples when facing hurt, fights, disagreements or misunderstandings will start sleeping apart from each other, all physical intimacy dies. But then they have cut themselves off from the tangible way God has given us to heal those differences and separation! In a holy marriage, no matter the argument or issue, beneath and behind and all around those negative emotions and frustrations is a love that is a choice. That love MUST be allowed to reign, husband and wife must be able to love each other, and to come together and heal as God meant it. Through completely gifting oneself to the other, transformation and healing can be brought to the wreckage.

We must allow Christ to be crucified.

So often these days there is conflict in Christian communities between "orthodox" and "non-orthodox" Catholics. The tone of these debates is often concerning, because the love of Christ is missing-- whether in its compassion or its truth. Particularly on the orthodox side, there is a deep vein of pride which runs through their arguments-- they feel that they are Christ's body guards, and nothing may be allowed to be thought or done which harms Him.

Let us remember, however, the Gospel:

Matthew 16: 21-23
From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised. Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, "God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you." He turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do." Then Jesus said to his disciples, "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

I believe that if Christ were to witness these prideful men and women "protecting" Him, he would declare "Get behind me, Satan!" For they are denying the power of His crucifixion and resurrection; they are denying the necessary truth that it is through suffering and death that God had redeemed us and brought our hearts to Him. Should they not serve and love their Lord? yes, but as He desires them to-- by denying themselves, taking up their cross, and following Him. By standing at Calvalry at the foot of His cross as Mary and John did, in witness to His love and power. In witness to the truth that He is the Son of God. He does not wish us to use the sword to win His kingdom-- He chooses His suffering, for could He not call upon His Father and be provided with 12 legions of angels?? What need has He of us?

Matthew 26:21-24
And behold, one of those who accompanied Jesus put his hand to his sword, drew it, and struck the high priest's servant, cutting off his ear. Then Jesus said to him, "Put your sword back into its sheath, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Do you think that I cannot call upon my Father and he will not provide me at this moment with more than twelve legions of angels? But then how would the scriptures be fulfilled which say that it must come to pass in this way?"

Truly we must never back down and leave our Lord to be crucified alone-- but He has also made clear that He must be crucified. He is not taking His kingdom by sword, but by sacrificial love. Until we are willing to serve Him-- to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Him in love-- we are an obstacle to Him. We must leave our pride behind.

There are also those who refuse to acknowledge that Christ was crucified. They prefer to worship an empty cross. They choose to believe in a counterfeit love that is not sacrificial, that does not acknowledge that suffering is a part of Christ's path. They enjoy a warm and fuzzy love, embracing all people and all behaviors, professing that Jesus would not care how they worship or what they teach so long as it is with so-called "love". However you cannot worship the cross without His divine body torn and bleeding. You cannot worship Him without acknowledging His teachings or moral issues no matter how unpopular they may be to those who do not understand them. To these, who preach that Jesus not only loves all, but tolerates all, forget the Jesus who threw out the money changers in the temple and the Jesus who told us that a man who looks with lust at a woman is guilty of adultery. They deny that Christ has redeemed and purposed suffering for a higher order and a greater purpose. They run from the foot of the cross, refusing to see Him crucified by the evil that they pretend does not exist. To them too, Christ would say "Get behind me Satan... you are not thinking as God does, but as humans do."