Month: July 2017 (Page 3 of 3)

The Kingdom needs community!

July 14, 2017 / MSFriend / 0 Comments

Rosary Basilica – France

This week for lectio divina I opened my Bible to 1 Thessalonians 3:1-8. The “word” that stood out was “when we could bear it no longer, we decided to remain alone.”

It seems Paul has had more than he can stand. He and his “crew” are worn out and they need time to recharge. They also need someone else to cover their “mission.” As a result, he sends Timothy to continue to encourage the Thessalonians. By the end of the verse we see how he is reassured. He is reassured because Timothy returns with the news that the faith of the Thessalonians stands firm.

This verse reminds us of the importance of taking time to recharge. For me attending a weekly prayer group, going on retreat and attending Eucharistic Adoration is how I recharge. It is also a reminder that it’s ok to ask others for help in keeping and sharing the faith.

As children of God, there are times when we willingly and effortlessly accept the strength and grace God offers us. Then there are times when we feel like we just don’t have the strength or courage to do it alone and that’s ok too. Even Paul recognized this difficulty. Even he had to take a step back and let others come to his “rescue.” He knew he needed the help of others to strengthen and encourage, not only him, but others in the faith.

Paul says: “so that no one be disturbed in their afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are destined for this.” We are destined for this -affliction and persecution. Paul decided to “remain alone.” He knew he was not going to be able to reflect all that is good, true and beautiful. He didn’t want anyone else to be disturbed by his energy. He also warned that we all are destined to experience the same affliction and persecution.

Affliction and persecution comes to us in many forms. We witness the persecution of Christians throughout the world everyday, we experience it in our own neighborhoods and homes. We are afflicted by the thoughts in our minds. The tempter is constantly putting us to the test. How do we survive it? We remind ourselves that we’re on the most powerful team, the WINNING team! We do it, as Paul did, with the help of others – in community! Paul understood the importance of community. He depended on people in his community to “pick up the slack” – to build him up while allowing him to lay low for a while.

This is why I love being part of a prayer group. We get together every week and we allow the Spirit to move us in ways we just couldn’t do alone. There are times we discuss books, there are times when we read scripture, there are times when we pray the entire time and then there are times when we just need to talk about life and share thoughts. The greatest thing is each member offers a different perspective. We listen, we comfort and we learn from one another. Most importantly, we understand when someone needs to be lifted up – when they can “bear it no longer” – and we do our best to offer encouraging words and assure them of our constant support in prayer! Thank God for our sisters in Christ!

Going to a weekly prayer group meeting for me is like stopping at the gas station to re-fuel. The love, compassion and over all connection with non-judgmental women on the journey brings me joy and energizes me to do the work of God.

No matter how faithful, no matter how holy, we all NEED community for support, for love, for growth! God bless you!

If we REALLY knew our Lord……….

July 6, 2017 / MSFriend / 1 Comment

If we really knew…..

During my morning prayer yesterday, I came across this reflection taken from Way of Perfection by Saint Teresa of Avila. I couldn’t resist sharing. Enjoy!

When asking a favor of some person of importance would anyone be so ill-mannered and thoughtless as not first to consider how best to address him in order to make a good impression and give him no cause for offense? Surely he would think over his petition carefully and his reason for making it, especially if it were for something specific and important as our good Jesus tells us our petitions should be. It seems to me that this point deserves serious attention. My Lord, could you not have included all in one word by saying: “Father, give us whatever is good for us”? After all, to one who understands everything so perfectly, what need is there to say more?

O Eternal Wisdom, between you and your Father that was enough; that was how you prayed in the garden. You expressed your desire and fear but surrendered yourself to his will. But as for us, my Lord, you know that we are less submissive to the will of your Father and need to mention each thing separately in order to stop and think whether it would be good for us, and otherwise not ask for it. You see, the gift our Lord intends for us may be by far the best, but if it is not what we wanted we are quite capable of flinging it back in his face. That is the kind of people we are; ready cash is the only wealth we understand.

Therefore, the good Jesus bids us repeat these words, this prayer for his kingdom to come in us: Hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. See how wise our Master is! But what do we mean when we pray for this kingdom? That is what I am going to consider now, for it is important that we should understand it.

Our good Jesus placed these two petitions side by side because he realized that in our inadequacy we could never fittingly hallow, praise, exalt or glorify this holy name of the eternal Father unless he enabled us to do so by giving us his kingdom here on earth. But since we must know what we are asking for and how important it is to pray for it without ceasing and to do everything in our power to please him who is to give it to us, I should now like to give you my own thoughts on the matter.

Of the many joys that are found in the kingdom of heaven, the greatest seems to me to be the sense of tranquility and well-being that we shall experience when we are free from all concern for earthly things. Glad because others are glad and for ever at peace, we shall have the deep satisfaction of seeing that by all creatures the Lord is honored and praised, and his name blessed. No one ever offends him, for there everyone loves him. Loving him is the soul’s one concern. Indeed it cannot help but love him, for it knows him. Here below our love must necessarily fall short of that perfection and constancy, but even so how different it would be, how much more like heaven, if we really knew our Lord!