Sow what?

Posted on by MSFriend

Sow what? This past Saturday’s mass readings (1 Cor. 15:35-37, 42-49 and Luke 8:4-15) got me thinking about gardening and the amazing miracle that happens every time we plant the seed of a dead plant. How something which seemed to be dead actually grows into something new and beautiful. The cycle continues every year. Depending on the season, things die and are reborn and each year, the same plant or tree grows bigger, healthier and more beautiful.

The same holds true for us. The difference is, unlike plants, we were created with an intellect and a will. You see, God works all these miracles in nature and nature doesn’t really have a choice, does it? But we do! We were given the choice to participate in God’s plan or not. Unfortunately, we grow so attached to who we are that we fail or refuse to change, but just as in nature God works miracles and continues to make things better, so too with us. God always has better plans for us – better than we have for ourselves. God wants to work in our lives and He wants us to participate and co-create with Him. All we have to do is say yes, let our old habits, ways and routines die so that a new and refreshed and more beautiful us can sprout. That’s not to say that things in our lives won’t get messy or ugly or dry (think of what a seed looks like before it is reborn). However, we hold on to hope – the Christian hope that NEVER disappoints.

One last thing: it’s called a life “cycle” for a reason. Heck, I’d venture to say it’s a “vicious cycle.” Life is about ups and downs, changes and redirections, growth and transformation. Every day we “die” a little – we move from vice to virtue one baby step at a time. On this side of heaven we never arrive, but we continue the journey, hopefully giving God permission to work and continuing to grow, change and blossom into something new and beautiful each hour, each day, each week and each year.

This week, let’s consider all the ways we say no to God. Can we try to muster up enough humility to imagine ourselves as a creature without an intellect and will and allow God’s will to be done. Can we imagine ourselves as a dried up seed whose life and rebirth depends on God, because it actually does! God bless you!

Pray always!

Posted on by MSFriend

I recently began re-listening to a talk I recorded during one of my retreats. It was a talk on the power of prayer by Fr. Bill Casey. I’ll post one of his talks on the subject here. For whatever reason, after listening to the recording, I got to thinking about Christian platitudes. I began thinking about the power of prayer and whether I truly believed in it. That led to thinking about other things I say as a Catholic Christian.

Christian platitudes are defined as overused, cliche phrases meant to offer comfort or quick answers, but they often dismiss deep pain. We use them on ourselves and others – at least I know I do. Some examples are: Let go and let God; offer it up; just trust; prayer changes things; everything happens for a reason……….and the list goes on. I got to thinking about the “often dismiss deep pain” part of platitudes and realized there’s more to just believing what we say when we say them and it’s a part I’ve been missing all along, the feeling part. While it’s okay to “let go and let God” can we also just hold on to our situations long enough to allow ourselves to FEEL what we need to feel – the pain, the anger, the regret, the guilt, the lament – and THEN give it to God? When we are tempted to have an answer for someone who’s grieving or hurting, can we be ok with just being present to them and just hugging them, instead of trying to come up with an answer or trying to make them feel better when we know nothing will at the moment?

Sometimes I get so caught up in the “warrior” mentality that I don’t allow myself to feel whatever emotion is about to well up and I’m less empathic toward others. In that mindset, it’s so easy to deflect a responsibility to grow closer to God and neighbor. There’s a spirit of self-reliance instead of total dependence. This week let’s challenge ourselves to look deeper into the platitudes we often use. Are they helping us grow in deeper relationship with God and our neighbor? Sometimes what seems like a good thing can be holding us back from something better! Think total dependence and deeper union. Think humble servant instead of spiritual warrior. God bless you!