What's Important to You? ------(The HOLY SPIRIT changed me over time)

So What are you Longing for?

9-20-13

Reading  (I Timothy 6: 2-12)

Religion with contentment is a great gain. (1 Timothy 6:6)

Reflection from----- The Word Among Us-----

"Are you content? It's a surprisingly complicated question. We love Jesus, but sometimes we feel unfulfilled. We have heard, "The love of money is the root of all evils" (1 Timothy 6:10), but it isn't always about money. Sure, material things like our possessions, food, or recreation can compete for our love. But the desire for recognition, status, or fame can also make us feel dissatisfied.

SO WHAT ARE YOU LONGING FOR?
Each of us probably has something that feels just out of reach, and we think that if we had it, we would finally be happy. For some of us, it's money or material possessions. For others, it's recognition, popularity, or respect. Whatever it is for you, know that if it becomes a focal point, it can lead you into a trap. We can become envious of those who have what we want. Still yearning for something more, we can stray from the foundation or our faith and mistakenly think that we need Jesus and something else.

Banish this fiction from your mind! All you really NEED is Jesus. He wants to fill and satisfy you. He wants to give you true and lasting contentment. As you learn how to place the things of this world in proper context, you will find yourself receiving more from Jesus.

The best way to find this kind of contentment is to bring your attachments to the Lord and ask him to SET YOU FREE. Remember, you didn't bring anything into this world, and you won't take anything out of it. The only thing that will stand the test of time is knowing who you are in him, and knowing that you have loved and  SERVED OTHERS. Use your possessions to advance these three goals, and you will please the Lord.

Jesus doesn't condemn anyone for having riches. But he does warn people who find their security in riches more than in him. His greatest desire is that our HEARTS be set on things ABOVE, not on earthly matters. This is the best way to keep our money and our possessions in the right perspective. It's also a great way to build the kingdom.

'Lord, help me overcome the attachments that keep me from you. Teach me to fix my affections on you and receive the deep CONTENTMENT of knowing you!'"

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One of my favorite writers is James Martin, SJ------- let me share a couple of thoughts of his on the subject from:   "The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything---- A Spirituality for real Life"

"The more you simplify, the freer you will feel, and be. Possessions cost not only money but time. Consider the time you spend worrying about what you wear. You have to think about it, shop for it, buy it, clean it, repair it, store it, and replace it. The same goes for your house, your car, your furniture, your television, your television, your appliances, your computer, and your other electronic gadgets. the less you decide to buy, the more time you have for the things that matter more.

But How Do I Do It?

Father says: Let me suggest three steps, of increasing difficulty. Then a challenge. In all these things, TRUST THAT GOD WILL HELP YOU ALONG THIS PATH TO FREEDOM, WHICH GOD DESIRES FOR YOU.

First , get rid of whatever you don't need. It's the obvious first step to simplifying. What should you do with all that stuff? Well, once again, the extra coat you're not using doesn't belong to you it belongs to the poor. Call a local church, shelter, or clothing distribution center

Second, distinguish between WANTS AND NEEDS. Is it "nice to have" or "need to have"? Do you "need" a bigger TV or the latest phone or newest computer? Or is it something you want because your friends just bought one or because you've seen it advertised? It's difficult to resist the desire to have what friends have and what the marketers say you need, but again, TURNING THESE THINGS DOWN LEADS TO FREEDOM.------- GO ON A BUYING DIET!

Third, get rid of the things you think you need, but can actually live without.

Finally, here's a challenge: GET TO KNOW THE POOR. That's a difficult for some of us, since we are sometimes trained to ignore them, view them as lazy, or fear them. But finding opportunities to volunteer in the soup kitchen or homeless shelter(and finding appropriate and safe ways for your children to do so as well) will introduce you to the poor of your community. You will soon come to know them not as "the poor," but as individuals with their own stories.

They will have often suffered much, and it may, initially, be hard to be around them, but they can also TEACH YOU A GREAT DEAL ABOUT GRATITUDE, ABOUT PERSEVERANCE, AND ABOUT BEING CLOSE TO GOD."

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Notes:

When I look back over my life, I often recall how the Holy Spirit has lead me through difficult times, always on to something better. I've been in "Formation" for over 70 years and each and every day I am blessed with new insights.  With regards to today's topic I learned exactly 40 years that money was not the answer. You see I grew up very poor, but had a strong desire to "succeed"--- well indeed I did--- but in short order I lost everything a couple of times.

About 25 years ago, in my basement, I prayed to the Holy Spirit to take my drive away for "chasing after money"--- my prayers were answered. Again, about 20 years ago while still making good money I asked the Holy Spirit to help me decide if there was anything I really "needed". The kids were through college and I understood completely the difference between needs and wants. I'd given up wanting anything many years before that---- this time I was praying about needs. Again my answer soon came, I couldn't come up with any true needs. So ,since  I was self-employed, I gradually starting taking more and more time off--- leading to total retirement almost 17 years ago.

Shortly after that I went out to dinner with dear Priest friend of mine, who directed my first Retreat back in High School, Father Maynard  C. Kegler.  He simply asked me, "what are you going to do to give back what you have been BLESSED with?"----- I said YES to the HOLY SPIRIT and have been trying to follow the WILL OF GOD for me ever since. It's been a wonderful JOURNEY!

To be continued.

Amen
Year of Faith
Peace
Granpazach 

Birds of the Bible and my yard

"Thou art my beloved son, in whom I am well Pleased."

From: All the Birds of the Bible    by Alice Parmelee

Quietly making His way through the crowd comes Jesus to be baptized by John. His thirty years of silence are ended. The crowd makes way for Jesus, such is the quality of his person, but His identity remains hidden from the multitude. Quietly He enters the Jordan for the simple rite of baptism. When He steps out of the water and is praying, something unusual happens, the heavens open and the Spirit of God descends "like a Dove" and alights upon Jesus. Then from heaven comes a Voice, saying: "Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."
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From the Catechism of the Catholic Church (701)

The Dove. At the end of the flood, whose symbolism refers to Baptism, a dove released by Noah returns with a fresh olive-tree branch in its beak as a sign that the earth was again habitable. When Christ comes up from the water of his Baptism, the Holy Spirit, in the form of a Dove, comes down upon him and remains with him. The Spirit comes down and remains with the purified hearts of the baptized. In certain churches, the Eucharist is reserved in a metal receptacle in the form of a dove (columbarium) suspended above the altar. Christian iconography traditionally uses a dove to suggest the Spirit.

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Notes:

One of the Fruits of the Holy Spirit is Peace.
Where do you find Peace?
Forty years ago during some hard times, the Holy Spirit opened my eyes and ears to the beauty of Birds in my own back yard. I've been a "Birder" ever since and found PEACE each and every day because of it.

The beautiful stain glass window of St. Francis shows many birds I see and hear every day.
Just to give you an idea-- here's a few from my yard yesterday--- Downy Woodpecker, House Sparrow, Canada Goose, Robin, Blue Jay, White Breasted Nuthatch, Crow, Morning Dove, Hummingbird, Goldfinch, Killdeer, Flicker, Hairy Woodpecker, Red-Bellied Woodpecker, Chickadee, Red-Tailed Hawk, Cardinal, Mallard, Nighthawk, Chimney Swift, Chipping Sparrow, Great Blue Heron, Turkey Vulture, Ring-Billed Gull, and Sandhill Crane.

Turn of the Cable News---- go for a walk and find PEACE in God's Creation all around you.

Amen
Peace
Year of Faith
Grandpazach

GREAT ARE THE WORKS OF THE LORD----- lists

9-18-13

What might I do Today to WITNESS God's LOVE?

From Father Burke Masters-- part of his reflection on Luke 7:31-35

"Today many of us make excuses not to believe in God or Jesus. We don't go to Church because of something that has happened to us. Or we see people who are sinners walking into Church and we decide that we don't want to be a part of hypocrisy. I have heard people say, I don't go to Church because it is full of hypocrites, but that is why we go to Church. We go to learn more about Jesus and to receive the GRACE in order to CHANGE our lives. There is no perfect Church, but we are a people on the JOURNEY toward holiness with the GRACE OF GOD.

Do I have an emptiness in my soul that needs to be filled? Maybe the Lord will not act the way we want Him to, but that is okay. We must trust that the Lord has come to LOVE us, to HEAL us and to SAVE us. Believe me; His plans for us for us are ALWAYS better than our plans for ourselves. TRUST IN HIM BECAUSE HE LOVES YOU!"

Notes:
Early this morning, I came across a list I made about two years ago, that I would like to share with you. It's kind of a snapshot of what was going on during my Journey at the time.

Mission---- Pilgrimage---- Book Group---- Paris-----Switzerland---- Bellarmine Hall----Holy Family Church------Books-----Reunions-----Genealogy---- Nuns---- my Dog-----Flowers-----Birds----50th Anniversary of McHenry County Audubon Society----Advocate Hospital "Care" Seminar(Sam's Group--12 weeks)----my Week in the Hospital----- Log House----Pope Benedict-----Cardinal Burke's Breakfast with McHenry County Catholics----Ministry Formation (Rockford Diocese) ---SVDP Society-----Alden's------SSPP Catholic School----Grand Kids (especially Anna and Hugo)--- Linda Z's---- My Health----and "Leading Like Christ"

All my life I have been a "Goal Setter" and a List Maker. I could write at least one Blog each on all of the topics mentioned above. I firmly TRUST that the Holy Spirit will lead me as I take on the Blogging World.

In Responding to the Word: about today's first reading (1 Timothy 3:14-16)

"Unable to be with them in person, Paul writes to encourage the community to live as Christ's  WITNESSES."
What might I do today to WITNESS to God's love and be a sign of ENCOURAGEMENT to others?

Amen
Year of Faith
Peace
Grandpazach

Ballermine Hall Retreat Center Barrington, Il.

Feast of Saint Robert Bellarmine --Bishop & Doctor of the Church (1542-1621)

9-17-13

Born in Italy, he entered the Jesuits and was ordained in 1570. He became a teacher in Louvain and then professor of Controversial Theology at the Roman College (1576), where he wrote his famous 'Disputations on the Controversies of the Christian Faith against the Heretics of this Age (1586-93), which was appreciated even by Protestants because of its balanced presentation. He helped revise the Latin Bible (Vulgate), prepared two catechisms, directed the Roman College, supervised the Vatican library, and was the pope's theologian. Appointed cardinal (1599) and archbishop of Capua (1602), he was greatly loved as a pastor. May we learn that "Charity is that with which no one is lost and without which no one is saved."

From a treatise ON THE ASCENT OF THE MIND OF GOD  by Saint Robert Bellarmine

"May you consider truly good whatever leads to your goal and truly evil whatever makes you fall away from it.  Prosperity and adversity, wealth and poverty, health and sickness, honors and humiliations, life and death, in the mind of the wise man, are not to be sought for their own sake. But if they contribute to the glory of God and your eternal happiness, then they are good and should be sought. If they detract from this, they are evil and must be avoided.

Prayer

God our Father,
you gave Robert Bellarmine wisdom and goodness
to defend the faith of your Church.
By his prayers
may we always rejoice in the profession of our faith.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

Notes:
I made my first Jesuit Retreat at Bellarmine Hall in Barrington, Il. almost 40 years ago. My most recent one was a 31 Day "Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola in Everyday Life"-- titled My Vacation with God. In between I made retreats on my own, with my wife and with men from our local parishes. ---- I thank John, my neighbor back min the 70's who first told me about Bellarmine Hall.

Here's a few words about the Spiritual Exercises:

"The Spiritual Exercises are activities that we choose to do to help us to BECOME ONE WITH THE GOD WHO CREATED US. Some examples include the work of praying, meditating, journaling, contemplating, drawing, body movement, Scripture reading etc.

 The Exercises are designed in such a way to engage us at every level of our being. They invite us to THINK, to FEEL, to OBSERVE, to REFLECT, and to ACT. They engage our whole person.

The Spiritual Exercises are often compared to physical exercises. Just as physical exercises condition our body, the Spiritual Exercises condition our SOULS, our HEARTS, and our MINDS so that we become ready to RECEIVE the incredible love of Our Creator and God, and then to RETURN that love to him. We are created in LOVE for Love.

Amen