A Relational Trinity

My friend, Javier, recently told me that “people tend to become like the ‘God’ they worship”. For example, when people believed in ‘warrior’ gods, they tended to become warriors themselves.  So, what kind of God do we worship? Our God is a ‘relational God’… Father, Son and Holy Spirit existing in a Trinity of relationships.

Think about this.  In the Genesis story, God creates human beings like Himself…relational.  Not only does God want a relationship with Adam and Eve.  He also wants Adam and Eve to have a relationship with each other and with everything else that He made. 

Take 3 minutes to remember some key moments in your life.  Would those moments be so wonderful if you had no one with whom to share them? 

Can afterlife be anything but relational as well? It was also created by our relational God.

I want to see my loved ones on the other side of life.  But I also hope to relate with people I’ve never met, but have admired for a long time. For example, I would love to meet Dorothy Day, Pope John XXIII, and Damien of Molokai.

Who would you like to meet in your afterlife?  I’d love to hear your answers.

                                                           Cell-Phone Baskets

Last year a Grandparent told me about a new rule in her house when grandchildren come to visit.  They have to put their cell-phones in a basket near the front door.  They get them back when they leave.

 

The point is that grandparents want to talk to their grandchildren. After the initial shock of having to do this, the grandchildren apparently comply without too much fuss. 

It turns out that this rule can have a positive mental health effect on the grandchildren. 

The General Social Survey has discovered that the number of Americans with no close friends has tripled since 1985.  Loneliness is on the rise.  And technology, cell-phones and internet use is a contributing factor to loneliness.  And, amazingly, it is generation Z (18-22 years of age) who comprise the loneliest generation of adults.

Technology is good for many things.  But it can’t replace person-to-person or face-to-face conversations with people we love.  Most Facebook friends don’t cut the mustard!

Do you ever look at texts or check messages in the middle of conversations with people you love? I confess that sometimes I do.   I think I have to change that. 

                       

                                              Pro-Life…A Seamless Garment

Being Pro-life is being against abortion and much more.

Pope Francis in his Apostolic Exhortation on Holiness says: "Our defense of the innocent unborn, needs to be clear, firm, and passionate, for at stake is the dignity of a human life, which is always sacred and demands love for each person, regardless of his or her stage of development.  Equally sacred, however, are the lives of the poor, those already born, the destitute, the abandoned and underprivileged…the victims of human trafficking, etc.”    

In that same letter he says: "We often hear it said that…the situation of migrants, for example, is a lesser issue.  Some Catholics consider it a secondary issue compared with "grave" bioethical questions.  That a politician, looking for votes, might say such a thing is understandable, but not a Christian, for whom the only proper attitude is to stand in the shoes of those brothers and sisters of ours who risk their lives to offer a future to their children..."

20 years ago Cardinal Bernadin called for 'a consistent ethic of life' which he named ‘a seamless garment’.  Question: What does it mean for you to be Pro-Life? 

*The quotes from Pope Francis are from Paragraphs 101 and 102 of his letter on Holiness.

                                                      “I Call You Friends” - 2

                                                                (John 15:15)

 

Most Fridays Fr. Javier Guativa and I bounce ideas off each other for our weekend homily. We start by looking for a common theme.  Last week we found it in Jesus’ calling us ‘friends’.  So we developed a list of characteristics of good friendships. Here are some of them.    

Good friends want the best for us.  Good friends enjoy each other’s company. They are people we can count on.  Good friends accept us as we are and forgive our mistakes.  They also bring us joy.  Good friends laugh a lot and good-naturedly tease each other.

Most of those descriptions apply to our friendships with Jesus, except the one about laughing and good-natured teasing. But…maybe that should fit too.     

So I tested it out.  The next day in an imaginative contemplation, I asked Jesus what He sees in me that makes Him laugh or smile.  In about 3 seconds I knew the answer. He laughs every time I give a Culver’s card away at mass for the right answer to a homily question!  It makes me smile just thinking about it.  And that adds a new dimension to our friendship.

So I’ll make it a regular part of my prayer…realizing that every day I probably do or say something that makes Jesus smile or laugh.

Take 5 minutes and ask Jesus what he sees in you that makes Him laugh or smile!

                                             I Call You Friends (John 15:15) 

Jesus calls His disciples ‘friends’ in the middle of His speech at the last supper.  They included Peter, Thomas, Judas and the Beloved disciple. And Mary Magdalene, Lazarus, Martha, and unnamed others were probably there too.  And some of them betrayed Jesus and ran away when He needed friends the most. 

But Jesus didn’t pressure them.  He even washed all their feet.

Their acts of abandonment and betrayal surely hurt Jesus.  But He understood loved them.  He knew about human nature and our tendencies and lapses in being the people God wants us to be.

What His disciples didn’t understand was that Jesus would love them no matter what.  He’d always offer them second chances.  That’s a real friend!

Name one of your closest friends.  Recall the history of that friendship.  What do you treasure most about him/her?  Have you needed some second chances?

How long have you seen Jesus as your friend? Name some stages in the growth of that friendship. Think of the last time you needed a second chance from Him.