Random thoughts

Wednesday, October 26, 2016

Some Random Thoughts today from earlier homilies I have given.

If you died today, what would you want us to do here at your funeral? Would you want us to talk about the cookies you baked, and to read sentimental Hallmark poems that claim you are already in heaven, just as you see in virtually every funeral portrayed on television and in movies, or would you want us to pray that you be cleansed of your sins and carried home to heaven on the wings of angels as we offer God the only sacrifice which can cleanse you--the body and blood of Jesus Christ? 

And finally, children of God, know that all the trials and all the sufferings and yes, even all the failures of your life have one and only one purpose and meaning in the world: that, united with the sufferings of your God, they will lead you back to Him, and they will lead you to heaven.

What you come to believe and to understand, what you regard as real, has a tremendous effect on the way you live your life, on your attitudes and opinions and how you deal with the controversial issues of life and the difficulties and threats that are a part of human existence. 

The person of faith, the person who has learned true humility, the person who clings to Jesus and seeks God's way doesn't question this, doesn't demand that God work things out according to human expectations. No. When we are in touch with the gift of faith that God has planted within us, rather we bow before the mystery. 

If you have faith, thank God for it today. When you have faith, life is so much richer. When you have faith, life is so much less threatening. When you have faith, even the tragic and the unjust things that happen are easier to bear. When you have faith, the question "Why me," as painful as it is, presses towards an answer that brings comfort and hope.   

Think of Peter walking on the water towards Jesus. As long as he kept his eyes on Jesus he was fine. As soon as he became distracted by the wind and the waves, his fears got the better of him and he began to sink.  When we keep our eyes and our hearts and our minds fixed on Jesus, we can walk above the things in life that threaten to engulf us. When we cry out to God, “Save me, O God, for my foes are stronger than I,”  (Ps 18:18) then we are given strength which comes from God’s grace, strength which He plants deep within us. And even if we get overwhelmed at times like Peter did when crossing the water, if we call out to the Lord Save me, O God for the waters have risen up to my neck, (Ps 69:1) it is not too late. He will lift us up again. He will bring us to safety.

We don’t always have freedom over the circumstance of our lives. But we always have the freedom to choose what to do in those circumstances.

Some of us have lost our freedom because we have chosen to let some sin take over our lives.

He was sent to proclaim liberty to captives and release to prisoners---to those shut in prisons that others have built for them, or perhaps in prisons of their own making; those who have lost their personal freedom because of some sin or vice or unfortunate circumstance; those who are suffering because of their own misdeeds; those who feel trapped, stifled, inhibited, shut away, alienated; those who feel cut off from the life of faith; those who are lonely, abandoned, miserable.