StWillBlog

Most of us grew up with the understanding that sin was a violation of a commandment, a church rule, or something Jesus said in scripture. As a result, it needed to be confessed and forgiveness received by us in order to continue to grow in the spiritual life.

While this is true, it ignores the reality of intent and seriousness of the sin. But, more importantly, if ignores the fact that sin blinds us to seeing the other good thing we may have done. As such, we often feel bad about ourselves and unworthy, even though we may have done many other good things.

That same blindness prevents us from seeing the actions of the hand of God that would otherwise uplift our spirits and give us hope of His love for us. It can even prevent us from seeing the loving actions of others toward us.

Sin is detrimental to our growth, and we need to double down on receiving forgiveness so we can again enter an appreciation of God’s love as well as the love of others. Since sin blinds us, we may be unaware of its action in our life. Therefore, it is worth adding the practice of a daily five minute review to look for it, lest we continue in our blindness for an indefinite period of time.

Sharing of Grace

The scriptural meaning of grace is favor from God, freely given, and undeserved. God Himself is quoted as saying His Grace is sufficient for us in 2 Cor 12. It helps us respond to His call to become children of God, partakers of the divine nature, and of eternal life.

As Catholics we believe that going to Mass and Communion brings the possibility of grace to us, since they are two of the highest forms of activity ordained by God for our good. Still, we do not earn it, it is freely bestowed on us. It follows that grace flows our way from God to strengthen us and fill us to overflowing with the actual grace to be better people and stronger Christians. Somehow, the world at large might benefit from our attending Mass and receiving Communion since that grace enables us to be better people and treat others better.

Since grace is a gift to us, that we literally possess and often view as pseudo quasi tangible, it follows that we can use it as it is originally intended by God to help us through hardships and make us better, but might we use it to share with others? Would God mind if we see another person in need and desire to share our grace with that person?

Isn’t that the same thing as praying to God to ask Him to help the other person? Isn’t that spiritual alms-giving? It does in effect, add another dimension, it is being willing to diminish our largesse for the sake of the other person. Wouldn’t that generosity make God smile?

Giving away our own grace is surely different than praying for God to help the other person since we are left out of the equation completely. It does not really cost us anything to ask God to supply the need of the other. But, asking God to take some of the grace He has given us and give it to the other is an unselfish act.

Perhaps not as unselfish as it appears. The act of sharing our grace with another does offer us the benefit of taking our eyes inwardly off us and focusing them outwardly on others. That certainly has emotional benefits for us. It gives us a feeling of doing a good thing and adds an element of purpose to our lives.

Then there is the other issue to consider. When we ask God to take a portion of the grace, He has given us and give it to another, we are in fact asking God to take a very small amount of His infinite quantity and give it to the other person. That is hardly asking a lot from God.

Well, better minds than mine have wrestled with these topics so I will not go any farther. For me, I will opt for the benefit of sharing with others any grace God chooses to give me, when I see their need. Since I struggle with an inward-looking selfish nature, the action of sharing with another that gets me to focus outwardly helps me counter that fatal flaw.

Blessings to all in your own struggles!

In the early morning hours when all is quiet, when the sun is peeking up over the horizon, we become aware that there is absolutely a cacophony of silence at work in our soul.

The normal sound of birds greeting the morning sun, have stilled to a very gentle tweeting that resonates within us, gives us a sense of God’s presence speaking to us in quiet whispers.

What Would Jesus Do in Today’s Environment?

Between the Covid 19 virus demands for isolation and the street demonstrations and violence, not only here but throughout the world, there is a pall hanging out there that robs us of any sense of peace. It shakes us and makes us question our values.

Usually that uneasy feeling is not a bad condition. We sometimes pay to go to retreats to deliberately shake us out of our torpor and give us a new view to embrace. If it is a large change, we even have a name for it, a paradigm shift.

Somehow though, this is different. It seems to be coming from many different directions at once. Can we all be wrong? Have we been wrong for so long that we have grown accustomed to it? There is a jumble of voices saying this or that is wrong, while others take the exact opposite position. Why are our authority figures disproportionately quiet?

This is different. It seems to be almost choreographed. How else to explain why it is going on in so many countries at the same time. Perhaps over time we will come to understand and finally make the correct changes in our own lives to adapt to the new normal if, in fact, it is a new normal.

In the meantime, let us do some soul searching and take inventory of our actions and do what we can do to cope with the confusion.

For example, we should be drawing closer to the Lord in prayer. Our prayers should begin with praise of the overall goodness of the Lord even if we do not feel that way right now. Praise brings deliverance, Jonah 2, 10. Praise puts us back in right order with our Creator.

Let us replace some of our current TV news input with God’s word by reading scripture. We can even receive an email from the USCCB.org, by tapping on today’s date on their calendar, and reading the readings for the Mass of the Day. If something in the readings speaks to us, go to our bible, and read more about it.

We can always say a Rosary and expect it to settle our hearts. Many use the Rosary to fall asleep every night. Perhaps, say a decade as we drive our car rather than continuously listening to news on the radio.

As the virus begins to subside, we will be able to return to Church and our Church community and share again the sense of closeness with people we know, love, and trust.

We can always use intercessory prayer for others to move our minds outside of ourselves as we pray for others. Start with the inner most family members and move out on the concentric circles to include friends, acquaintances, and those we do not really know but who seem so unhappy.

If we are familiar with Centering Prayer or Contemplative Prayer, we can use those tools to bring us back to our relationship with the Lord.

These are the times when we are tried to the core of our souls. In spite of the circumstances, God loves us, and nothing can change that fact, as stated so eloquently in the last few verses of Romans 8.

A Visit to the Cathedral

Covid 19 did something nothing else has done.  This grown up good Catholic boy didn’t attend mass today.  I just watched the most moving livestream of morning mass from the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist in Savannah. I was struck with the visual beauty, especially since it was mostly shown from the choir loft, a vantage point I have not seen since I was in a citywide parochial school choir singing at Holy Thursday services and funerals.

I was also struck with what was missing. As we older physicians try to find a way to serve our patients at a distance during this pandemic through the magic of telemedicine, video can only do so much. The smell of the incense and the feel of the organ within the pit of your stomach were missing. And the damp warmth of that old revered building and how even the sound of the choir seems to reverberate more in your bones than in your ears: missing.

Also missing was how one can gain a new perspective in person by just turning your head a bit.  The light coming through the gorgeous stained glass windows changes the colors and the depth of what you see around you based on just that small change of viewing angle.  And at communion time, I couldn’t take the host within me, bringing back memories from childhood sensations of that dry sticky wafer that assured me that the Lord was now truly within me. And, on the way out after mass, not feeling the cool hard sensation of the marble as your knee touched it as you began your exit with genuflection.

Then I noticed things that were missing even with just the visual experience. The baptismal font had no water. There were small clusters of people who share a household, probably. There was about 6 feet between the clusters, something that would not be possible given the usual attendance Sunday at the Cathedral in Savannah. There was no handshake during the expression of peace, in fact no communal expression of peace at all. What was also striking is that several couples kissed anyway after the priest offered his expression of peace, as they had every Sunday. And the priest co-celebrant was within 6 feet of the celebrant as were the altar boys bringing up the book to be read and moving the incense back-and-forth. There was no wiping off, of any of these sacred surfaces.

What have I missed and what are we missing? On my morning hospital rounds when the wild eyed elder who is convinced that she is being held against her will refused to be comforted by words, she seemed to have some peace when I just held her hand. How real is the value of human presence and human touch, with a bit of the Blessed thrown in.  I need to go to mass in person in that Cathedral again.  Soon.

William J. Crump, M.D.  (Deacon George’s brother-in-law)

Eucharistic Service

Gospel: Luke 12, 39-48

Today’s Gospel from Luke continues yesterday’s theme of reminding us to remain vigilant, awaiting the Lord’s return. Only, today the word is not actually ‘vigilant’ it is for us to ‘Be on guard’. That is slightly different. The emphasis is more in the context of being on guard lest a thief break into the house as opposed to us losing something by neglect. Today the emphasis ratchets up a level to where we should be aware of someone actively trying to take it away from us.

Jesus asks the question, “Who is that faithful, farsighted steward whom the master will set over His servants. Then He goes on to answer His own question by describing a conscientious soul who does what he is supposed to do over the long haul. Anyone can talk a good game. Some can actually produce for a short period of time. But, few is the number who can maintain faithful, diligent service on the Lord’s behalf over the long haul. That’s what the Lord is calling us to become. And, He’s calling us to grow into that faithful servant and yet warning us that we will encounter great resistance in the process.

Finally, near the end of today’s Gospel, we hear that verse that scares us all to death: “When much is given a man, much will be required of him. More will be asked of a man to whom much has been entrusted.”

I often think of our priests when I see this verse. They are given the faculty to change bread and wine into the body and blood of Jesus for our sake. Much is given to them. But, by the same token, much is expected of them. They give up a lot to serve us. They are the main purveyor of the grace-filled life that is meant to be our heritage as Catholics.

So, in summary, let us be vigilant to avoid benign neglect; let us be on guard against the ever present pressures that can rob us of our heritage; at the same time let’s remember to pray for our priests who serve us all so faithfully.