Construction Zone

I went by the church earlier for some adoration time. Our church is in the middle of a large renovation project. It looks very obvious that it is an add-on. I went on into our temporary chapel and sat before my Lord in the tabernacle.

There was a lot of noise from outside because of the construction. My thoughts went to the construction and then to my faith journey. Was my faith just an add-on? Is it something that I wear that just doesn't look quite right? Am I still the same 48 year old building on the inside?

I prayed on this for a while. 

I could hear all of the commotion going on outside. I wondered how many people were working on the church. I thought about the hundreds of hands that had and were working on the church. How many hands has God used in my life to renovate me? Who was He using to work on me now? The person who challenged me to go to adoration more frequently, to attend daily mass and pray the rosary. Sure, it is those people. It is also my family, friends, co-workers and classmates. 

I felt better realizing all the hands that were helping me along the way. But, was anything really changing on the inside. I got up to go back to work. On the way out, I ran into my pastor and he offered to take me inside of the church to see the renovations from the inside. I was amazed at how much had already been done. I could see all of the great changes that were going on inside. 

While it hurts a bit to have someone point out where you may be falling short, it is just those times that if we approach it with humility can yield some of the greatest renovations in our hearts. My heart feels better.

Crosses

The last couple of weeks have been pretty crazy. Classes, a totaled car, and a break in. This weekend we celebrated the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross. I went to mass with my daughter at Our Lady of Grace. The priest gave a marvelous homily about cross and if we really believed in the cross then it should be a game changer. It should make everything we do be seen through different eyes.

At the end of mass, he invited all to come up who had brought crosses to have them blessed. I looked at my daughter and thought, well we didn't bring any crosses to be blessed. Then it hit me. We had not brought any physical crosses to be blessed but we most certainly had brought crosses. I mean we definitely had them. It's not like we could have left these crosses outside the door of the church. We carry them wherever we go. So, she and I prayed that we might offer our crosses right there at the feet of Jesus.

Any Way The Wind Blows

I have been quiet for a while on purpose. But I felt very inspired today to share my experience from a few nights ago.

I went running a few nights ago. It was hot and i did not feel much like running. However, while I was trudging along, I felt a slight breeze that swept over me giving me strength to keep going. I immediately thought about how the Holy Spirit is like that. I ran along just enjoying my thoughts on the holy Spirit and started thinking about the wind, how sometimes it is soft and sometimes hurricane force and all places in-between. The holy Spirit is like that too. Paul certainly felt the Spirit like a hurricane being knocked off of his horse. Sometimes, He is like that still soft whisper that Elijah heard. I have experienced both and have come to appreciate both. It is pretty easy when God speaks to you like a hurricane and it left no doubt for Paul. I think more often though, God speaks to us in a whisper. I pray that we can all spend the time in quiet to hear God in the still soft whisper.

Is That All You Got...Give Me Something Hard

Why do we think that effort must be equal to reward? That is certainly what we are taught in today's society. We think God will require great sacrifice or devotion from us in return for miracles. Why do we keep putting limitations on God? He have a knack of limiting God according to our weaknesses.

Sometimes, all God wants from us is something simple. A simple act of obedience. A willingness to submit to the authority of God. Many examples exist in both the Old and New Testaments. Take the following passage from 2 Kings 5:

Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go, wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored and you shall be clean.” 11 But Naaman became angry and went away, saying, “I thought that for me he would surely come out, and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and would wave his hand over the spot, and cure the leprosy![f] 12 Are not Abana[g] and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them, and be clean?” He turned and went away in a rage. 13 But his servants approached and said to him, “Father, if the prophet had commanded you to do something difficult, would you not have done it? How much more, when all he said to you was, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” 14 So he went down and immersed himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; his flesh was restored like the flesh of a young boy, and he was clean.

 How often are we like Naaman? How often have I refused a gift from God? Whatever he is asking of you may be as simple as turning off a light. 

I am reminded of a story about a little girl about 7 years old. She had a pretty toy pearl necklace. it was her most prized possession in the world. One day her Dad came in, at bedtime, and asked her to give him the necklace. She refused and he walked away. This continued for a couple more nights. Finally, on the fourth night when he came in, he could see that she had tears in her eyes. As he approached her bed, she held out her hand. In her hand was the toy necklace. He accepted it from her and then handed her a little box. She opened the box and inside was a real pearl necklace.

Our heavenly Father is waiting to give us great things too. Things greater than we can imagine but we have to be willing to let go of what is holding us back.