Notice the Details

I was aiming for Hannibal Missouri. But four hours of traveling down the center of Illinois was totally boring.  Miles of flat, repetitious scenery!  I needed something to keep me awake. So I started looking for details that would interest me. 

Almost immediately I saw feathers flying out of a huge semi. I sped up and realized that most of the feathers were still connected to chickens! Probably more than 1,000 on board.  I thought of the crucial detail of transporting delicious chicken dinners.

Then I saw a billboard advertising an “Adult Store”. So I prayed for people who are addicted to self-destructive things. I saw a car full of people on a family trip. I prayed for them too. I saw details...until I got lost…which forced me to pay attention to other details!!     

Some people say: “The mass is boring”.  If that happens, try focusing on some details.  For example, I like praying for a release ‘from all anxiety’ after the Lord’s Prayer. And I love the words: “The Lord be with you.” And I like making the cross on my forehead, lips and heart when the gospel is read.  Those little details touch me.

Name some details of mass which help you stay engaged even if it’s a bit boring.

                                               Good Samaritans – We Need Them

The Good Samaritan showed extravagant love to the beaten guy left in a ditch. “He bandaged his wounds…he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn and cared for him.  The next day he gave two days wages to the innkeeper, and said ‘Take care of him and when I return I will repay you whatever more you spend.’” (Lk 10:34-35)  

The Good Samaritan’s overwhelming love is instructive.  It reminds us to be neighbors to others in exactly the same way. 

Good Samaritans come out of the woodwork after big disasters.  Thank God that happens. Flocks of people lined up around the blocks of blood banks the day after the Orlando shootings.  And police officers experienced outpourings of support from the public in light of the officers who were killed in Dallas.  Many good Samaritans.

We need them and we need to be them. 

When have you ‘been in a ditch’ in your life?  Who was a good Samaritan to you? What did he/she do?  Think of someone you really dislike.  Suppose he/she were beaten up and in a ditch.  Could you be a good Samaritan to him/her? Show that person extravagant love?    

                                                          What Is Your Mission in Life? 

Jesus sent 72 disciples on a mission. Here is the mission He gave them: “Cure the sick and say ‘the kingdom of God is at hand for you’”(Luke 10:9)  In other words their mission was: Heal people and tell them that God is with them.

Their mission is directly connected to Jesus’ command to love. But He wants them to specifically show love by dealing with people’s concrete issues and reminding them that God is always in their corner and on their side in life.   

Our overall mission is also to love.  But each of us has unique ways of doing that.   

I recently asked some people to describe their mission. One person said: “It’s to help people and share what I can.” A lady said: “It’s to be a good spouse and raise loving children.” A man told me: “It’s to leave this world better than I found it.” A young woman said: “It is to be joyful!” And here’s my mission: To try to see God in everyone and everything each day.

So here’s the question: In 10 words or less, what is your mission in life? When you have an answer, tell someone else what it is.  Saying it aloud makes it so much more real.

We Are Chosen

Unlike other rabbi’s of His day, Jesus didn’t wait for disciples to come to Him.  Instead, He invited specific people to follow Him.  Consequently, Jesus’ disciples were a very diverse group.  It’s really clear that He picked unlikely people to be His followers.  It’s also clear that He avoided holier-than-thou types.   

So Jesus’ disciples include tax collectors, fishermen and public sinners.  He welcomes people of ill repute and a few whom He’d healed of demonic possession. He even has a follower who was a Samaritan woman with 5 husbands. (John 4:17-18) (Incidentally, Jesus was also the only rabbi of that era who had women disciples.)  

Why did He choose these people? My guess is that Jesus simply loved down-to-earth folk whose lives were messy, but who also had good hearts.

Remember: In Baptism you were also chosen by Christ.    

Why do you think Jesus chooses you?  What does He see in your heart?  What makes you an unlikely follower of His?  

                                                                        Blessings

My father wasn’t the kind of dad who said “I love you.” And I followed suit.  So our conversations were normal everyday kinds of things.  But we didn’t say the things that I thought fathers and sons should say to each other.  And I regretted that.

He had heart trouble.  At one point he was in the hospital and he was scared. And he asked me to shave him…a thing I’d never imagined doing. There was something intimate in doing that for my dad.  So I seized the moment and blurted out the words that were stuck in my throat for many years. “I haven’t said this for a long time, but I love you dad.” 

Dad didn’t/couldn’t say anthing in return.  I was hoping he would.  

A week later I visited him at home. He put his arm around my shoulder and squeezed it...a hug really. And that felt so good.  I knew it was his way of saying “I love you too.” A couple of weeks later he died.  I’m so glad we blessed each other before it was too late.

Blessings can be words or gestures.  Who blesses you and how?  Whom do you bless and in what ways?  Think of someone you’d like to bless this week.

                                              What’s the Picture God Wants You to See?

Two weeks ago I had a horrible dream. I was a passenger in a car that was rounding a curve on a mountain pass.  The tires, on my side of the car, hit loose gravel and we started sliding off the cliff.  My heart was racing when I opened my eyes and realized that I’d been dreaming.  It took me a while to calm down.

Why did I dream that? I think it has to do with my fears/worries as I face the ‘cliff’ of retirement. A part of me is happy to retire, but another part of me fears the unknown. 

It comforted me to write about that dream and to remember that Jesus had fears too.  But the best insight came when I wrote a prayer about this. The concluding line was: “Lord, help me see the picture that you want me to see.”

When I look back at the dream, I realize what I hadn’t noticed.  I hadn’t seen who the driver was. In hindsight, I think it was the Lord. And that’s really the best part of the picture. So, even if I’m going off a cliff…the Lord is with me and everything will be OK.

What is difficult in your life right now?  Ask God to help you see the picture He wants you to see in that difficulty.  What do you think you will see?  

                                                                 A Spiritual Exercise

Control is an issue for me.  Recently it caused me/others grief. So I followed a spiritual exercise that helps me.  Here’s my method:

1. I write down everything I can think of regarding the issue.  It includes a description of my current situation, the problems that my control causes, and the origins of my need to control so much.  I write until I have nothing more to say.   

2. Then I try to recall an incident in Jesus life when He dealt with the same issue. And I write down what comes to me.  So I remember the wedding at Cana.  Jesus doesn’t want to solve the ‘wine’ problem because “His hour had not come.”  But Mary pushes Him into it.  Jesus lets go of control and does what Mary wants. And the most wonderful thing happens.

3. Remembering the Cana story helps me realize that Jesus understands my problem.  He lets go of control and that leads to something unbelievable.  Then I write a prayer.  I thank Jesus for understanding me and ask for His help with my problem. This exercise helps me.      

Are you struggling with an issue in your life right now? Try this exercise.  Maybe it will help.