Heart to Heart: Faith Seasons Podcast

from Matthew 10:17-22
Be on your guard with respect to others. They will haul you into court; they will flog you… You will be brought to trial before rulers and kings…  When they hand you over, do not worry about what you will say or how you will say it.  When the hour comes, you will be given what you are to say…The Spirit of your Father will be speaking in you. ...

As we begin the Octave of Christmas, we continue to celebrate Jesus’ coming.  Yet, the happiness of Christmas seems to stand in stark contrast with the stoning of Stephen, the first Christian martyr.  The words of Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel today remind us that Jesus’ birth cannot be somehow separate from His death and resurrection.  Neither can our birth by baptism be separated from our death and resurrection in Jesus.

After Jesus’ resurrection and the sending of the Holy Spirit, the Apostles needed more help to serve the growing early Christian community.  Disputes began to arise between the Greek-speaking Jews and the Hebraic Jews about fair food distribution to their widows.  The Greek-speaking Jews felt their widows were not being treated as well as the others.  Stephen was highly respected as a man of faith and fairness.  An added benefit was that he spoke Greek.  So, the Apostles asked Stephen to be one of seven deacons to distribute food and other necessities to those in need. 

Stephen had many talents, though, and he not only served food, but he preached in the synagogues of the Greek-speaking Jews.  There, he spoke powerfully and worked miracles among the people.  The prominent members of these synagogues argued with him.  Stephen engaged in their debates and showed all the truth of his teachings.

Unfortunately, winning the debates humiliated those who had challenged Stephen.  So, the leaders of the synagogues made up lies, saying Stephen had showed contempt for God and a lack of respect for Moses.  Such blasphemy was considered a serious crime, a crime that would have to go to trial before the supreme court of the Jewish elders, the Sanhedrin.

Angry members of the synagogues dragged Stephen before the Sanhedrin for trial.  There, they accused him of preaching against the Temple and the Law of Moses.  Stephen must have remembered Jesus’ words in today’s Gospel because he did not get upset.  He gave a long speech to the Sanhedrin, carefully outlining his understanding of the history of Israel.  Speaking of Abraham, the patriarchs, and Moses, he explained how the Chosen People disobeyed God and needed the Messiah. He showed how Jesus came to fulfill the Law, not to destroy it.

Stephen bravely told those before him how they were, by falsely accusing him, doing what their ancestors had done by persecuting the prophets.  He warned them that they were not listening to the Holy Spirit, and he reminded them that they even killed the Messiah who came to save them. 

Stephen’s words angered the crowd who began to throw stones at him.  Stephen looked up to heaven and cried out, “Look!  I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God!”  As he died, he asked the Lord to receive his spirit and forgive those who stoned him. 

We will suffer in following Jesus, but Christmas reminds us that He lives among us to give us everything we need to stay faithful in the moments, days, or years ahead.

Today's Ornament of Grace is St. Stephen, the Martyr.

OBSERVING THE BEAUTIFUL ORNAMENTS

Who are some people who have spoken ill of you?  Have you forgiven them?

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Isaiah 52:7-10
How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings glad tidings, announcing peace, bearing good news, announcing salvation, and saying to Zion, “Your God is King!” Hark!  Your watchmen raise a cry, together they shout for joy, for they see directly, before their eyes, the Lord restoring Zion… The Lord has bared his holy arm in the sight of all the nations; all the ends of the earth will behold the salvation of our God.

Today, we celebrate Jesus’ birth as God made flesh and what that means for us and for all creation. May we offer everyone around us a hearty greeting of “Peace be with you,” for the Prince of Peace has come and dwells with us!

The first reading for Christmas Day was written long before the birth of Jesus by a prophet called to bring hope to God’s chosen ones. The people of Judah had been defeated by a pagan king who destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem.  Many Judaeans were slaughtered, and those who didn’t die were sent into exile in Babylon. Suffering as slaves in a strange land, God’s people wondered if they had been abandoned. So, the prophet reminds the people that God will never forget His people. In fact, in today’s reading, we hear a shout for joy that God has won the battle (through King Cyrus of Persia) and redeemed his people from captivity.

Even more, God did not just save Jerusalem, but Isaiah states all the ends of the earth, all nations everywhere, have been redeemed. How beautiful, the prophet says, is this good news of peace and salvation! It is a cosmic victory, a victory for everyone and every part of God’s creation. 

While we have not had to serve as slaves in Babylon, God has sent his son to rescue us from all that might enslave us. If we idolize anything but God, we are enslaved.  We can be enslaved to food or drink. We can be held captive by a desire for money or fame. But today, we are called to put everything under the Lordship of Jesus. For we are called to freedom. The message is one of peace and salvation. It is not just peace from outright war but from all reasons for war. Jesus dwelling among us means the peace is limitless because He is God made flesh and God is limitless.  

Jesus, as God, bursts through all barriers. He comes from heaven to earth, embracing all of creation and all people everywhere. We no longer have to be afraid to move out of our fears and isolation to reach out to our brothers and sisters. We can see the sacred earth with new eyes and the universe with wonder.  

On this Christmas Day, we may be aware of battles going on around us and within us, but we do not have to fear. God, in Jesus, has the power to save us. God, in sending His Son Jesus, showed us He wants us all to be triumphant. Let us sing with all the angels, “Peace on earth and good will toward all!” Let us live this song of love joyfully every day of our lives. Let us never forget for a second that God dwells with us because Jesus loves us without any limits, infinitely.

Jesus, Prince of Peace, is today’s Ornament of Grace.

How can you tell you really believe God became flesh and dwells with us?

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from Luke 1:26-30
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David.  The virgin’s name was Mary.  Upon arriving, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, O highly favored daughter!  The Lord is with you.  Blessed are you among women.” ...

Blessed Mary lived in an obscure Galilean village, and yet God chose her to change history for all time. ... When she heard his voice through the angel, she listened. Though not understanding all that would unfold in her life, Mary trusted.  We know she acted courageously in saying yes to God’s call.

Many years later, another woman listened to God every day and acted courageously. While not called to be the Mother of Jesus, Corrie ten Boom – like all of us – was called to give witness to God’s love and give birth to Jesus in the hearts of many.

Born in Haarlem, Netherlands, in  1892, Corrie was the youngest of four children born to a watchmaker.  She took care of the house while her elder sister Betsie worked alongside her father in the shop below their home.  When Betsie became ill for a time, Corrie was sent to work in the shop.  Corrie loved learning the trade and was gifted with financial organizational abilities. ...

In the ten Boom Dutch Christian home, Corrie and Betsie listened to their father’s daily reading of Scripture and took it to heart.  The family actively served their community, helping those in need and bringing up many foster children.  ... This prepared them for a time when even greater courage would be required, a faithfulness that required total trust in God.  

... The Nazis invaded the Netherlands in 1940.  Gradually, the Gestapo rounded up the Jewish people, sending them to concentration camps where they were put to death.  Corrie, Betsie and their father managed to get ration cards for their Jewish brothers and sisters since food was scarce.  At the same time, they began to hide Jews in their home ... and probably saved around 800 Jews from death during this time.

The home was raided in February,1944, and the ten Booms imprisoned.  Mr. ten Boom died soon afterward, but Corrie and Betsie were sent to Ravensbruck Camp in Germany. A Bible they had smuggled in was a source of comfort to them.  They prayed with their fellow prisoners, bringing many to Jesus through their kindness and compassion.  Betsie died of illness and starvation in May.  Due to a clerical error, Corrie was released less than two weeks after Betsie’s death.  

Corrie spent the rest of her life telling people of God’s forgiving love and practicing it until she died in 1983.  That was not always easy.  After giving a talk in a church basement about God’s forgiving love, she saw a former guard from Ravensbruck.  Her blood seemed to freeze, she said, and she could see the prison room with this guard’s crop swinging from his belt.  He had been cruel.  Then he reached out his hand and told her he had become a Christian and believed God had forgiven him but wanted to hear Corrie say it to him. She asked Jesus to help her move her hand to take his; she asked Jesus to supply the feeling she did not have at that moment.  Then it came, and she cried out as she took his hand in hers, “Brother, I forgive you!”

Corrie ten Boom is today’s Ornament of Grace.

OBSERVING THE BEAUTIFUL ORNAMENTS

How does daily prayer help you practice daily acts of selflessness while preparing you for any future trials?

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Malachi 3:1-2
Lo, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me; and suddenly there will come to the temple the Lord whom you seek, and the messenger of the covenant whom you desire. Yes, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. But who will endure the day of his coming?  And who can stand when he appears? For he is like the refiner’s fire, or like the fuller’s lye. 

In today’s reading, Malachi was giving the suffering Israelites hope for the future and foretelling the coming of John the Baptist. However, he was warning them as well because they were asking God for justice, not mercy. They wanted to prosper like their neighbors who were not worshiping the one God. But they were not being honest with God. So, asking God for justice in this case might bring them the refiner’s fire or the fuller’s lye so that they would remember to ask for mercy. One person in our world today did not demand justice for wrong done to him; rather, he asked mercy on the sinner and showed God’s merciful love.

When September 11, 2001, rocked the United States, some people wanted what they called justice.  In fact, it was really revenge on people who had not even done a crime. This caused many innocent individuals to suffer.  One of these was Raisuddin Bhuiyan, known as Rais who was a Bangladeshi American working in Dallas, Texas. After 9/11, Mark Stroman decided to get revenge by killing people he thought were Muslims. On September 15, he killed a Pakistani immigrant. Less than a week later, Stroman came into Rais’s store with a double-barreled shotgun. Assuming he was going to be robbed, Rais began gathering money from the register to give the man. Stroman asked him, “Where are you from?” Before Rais could answer, Stroman shot him in the face. Someone in the store called 911, and Rais rushed to the barbershop next door for help. Then on October 4, Stroman killed an Indian immigrant, before he was finally captured. From prison Stroman sent a letter brimming with hate to a friend, admitting the killings were revenge for 9/11.  

Rais went through numerous surgeries. The doctors were able to save his eye but not his vision. Also, he had 35 pellets lodged on the right side of his face. Rais lost his job, his home, his money, and his sense of security. Then, in 2009, he made a pilgrimage to Mecca and experienced a transformation.  He realized that Stroman, now on death row, was a man like himself and forgave him. He even went further and worked with the legal system and the Islamic Community to try to save Stroman from execution. While he was unsuccessful in that cause even though working to the end, he certainly made a difference in Mark Stroman’s life. They had been reconciled years earlier, but hours before the execution, Rais and Mark spoke on the phone. Rais said, “I forgive you and do not hate you.” Mark responded, “Thank you… You touched my heart!  I would never have expected this.” Rais said, “You touched mine too.”

Rais Bhuiyan started a movement called “World Without Hate” to stop hate crimes by educating people and by working with Amnesty International. Both men faced the refiner’s fire. The love shown by Rais Bhuiyan is like God’s mercy: life-giving forever.

Rais Bhuiyan is today’s Ornament of Grace.

OBSERVING THE BEAUTIFUL ORNAMENTS

Have you ever demanded justice from God for what has happened in your life? How is that different from loving mercy?

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1 Samuel 1:24-28
Once Samuel was weaned, Hannah presented him at the temple in Shiloh…Hannah approached Eli and said: “Pardon, my lord! As you live, I am the woman who stood near you here, praying to the Lord. I prayed for this child, and the Lord granted my request. Now I, in turn, give him to the Lord; as long as he lives, he shall be dedicated to the Lord.”

Samuel, dedicated to the Lord by his parents as shown in today’s reading, changed the course of Israel’s history by anointing Saul as the first king. Louis Braille, dedicated to the Lord by his parents at Baptism, changed the course of many lives by developing a system of touch reading for the blind.

Born in a small French town, Louis Braille was not unlike children everywhere who try to imitate their parents. He saw his father working as a leatherer. So, the three-year-old picked up an awl to do the same. Unfortunately for little Louis, the awl unexpectedly bounced back from the leather and hit him in the eye. The hole in his eye became infected and extremely painful.  In the early 1800’s, there was no effective treatment, and the infection spread to the other eye as well. By the time he was just five, little Louis was completely blind.

But God had gifted Louis with a bright mind, a beautiful sense of music, and a caring father. His father taught him to move safely but independently using a cane. He was devout and learned to play the organ. He used this gift in many churches in France. He also won a scholarship to one of the only schools in the world at that time for blind youth. It was in Paris. There he learned a system of reading using raised letters. His father made Louis a set of thick leather letters that he could trace to write home. The young twelve-year-old realized using such a system to produce books was more than cumbersome. Few books for the blind were available. He had become familiar with a system of dots and dashes used by soldiers to communicate silently in the dark, but it was complicated.

After three years, Louis Braille developed a simpler system for the blind, not unlike the system of dots and dashes but far less complicated. Ironically, Louis used an awl to impress the letters, mathematical symbols, and musical notations into paper. It could be accessible to all. He did this because of his caring nature, believing the blind should be able to communicate on an equal footing with those who could see. What an amazing vision for a 15-year-old boy! 

By twenty-four, Braille was a full professor at the Institute for the Blind in Paris and remained in that position until his death from tuberculosis at age forty-three. His system was not accepted widely in his day. After his death, however, it took hold and is used to this day, even with the advent of electronic devices. Look on public bathroom signs or elevator panels or public signs of any kind. When you see this code which has been a blessing to countless people, you can remember a man whose loss of sight led him to find a way to help others. Yes, Louis Braille was dedicated to the Lord at his Baptism, and he practiced his faith all his life. It was that faith and using the gifts God gave him that changed for the better the lives of so many.

Louis Braille is today’s Ornament of Grace.

OBSERVING THE BEAUTIFUL ORNAMENTS

How did Louis use the many gifts God gave him to uplift and encourage others instead of wallowing in self-pity?

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Song of Songs 2:8-12
Hark!  My lover - here he comes springing across the mountains, leaping across the hills.  My lover is like a gazelle or a young stag…My lover speaks; he says to me, “Arise my beloved, my beautiful one, and come!  For see, the winter is past, the rains are over and gone.  The flowers appear on the earth…” 

Louis Martin wanted to be a monk but was turned away because he had not learned Latin. Marie-Azelie Guerin wanted to be a nun but was denied entrance due to respiratory trouble and recurring headaches. God had other plans for the young handsome watchmaker and the pretty lacemaker. Zelie was passing Louis on a bridge one night and heard a holy inner voice telling her that this was the man God wanted her to marry.  Zelie’s aunt was able to introduce them in 1858. Both prayerful people, they fell deeply in love, and were married three months later. They lived in Alencon, France.

Zelie became so successful in lacemaking that Louis gave up his trade as a watchmaker and became a partner with his beloved wife in her business. It was unusual in their time for the husband to give up his trade to take on the business of his wife, but they made it work. Together they had nine children, but their love was not without great suffering. Only five daughters lived beyond infancy. The Martins lost two little boys before they saw their first birthday, and two girls died in 1870, one who was five and one who was just seven weeks old.  

While the Martin family did not have money worries, they chose to live a simple lifestyle. They helped the poor and prayed together as a family every day. Zelie’s letters reveal what great joy both she and Louis found in their daughters. Still, they also show what sorrow they felt when losing a child. She wrote to her sister-in-law, “When I closed the eyes of my dear little children and buried them, I felt sorrow through and through… People said to me, ‘It would have been better never to have had them.’ I couldn’t stand such language. My children were not lost forever; life is short and full of miseries, and we shall find our little ones again up above.” Zelie and Louis trusted God’s plan always.

The youngest Martin child is probably the best known. She is St. Therese of the Child Jesus, also known as The Little Flower or St. Therese of Lisieux. The latter name applies because when Therese was only four years old, her mother died of breast cancer. Louis then sold the lacemaking business and the home in Alencon and moved the family to Lisieux. He did this so that one of Zelie’s sisters could help care for his girls. He loved Alencon and had many friends there, but he always put the needs of his children first. From Lisieux, one by one, his five daughters chose to enter religious life.  

In his final years, Louis developed dementia and was placed in a caring asylum. He saw, in his lucid moments, the humiliation of his disease as a blessing, bringing him closer to the Lord. He never stopped praying and placing his life in God’s loving hands. 

In 2015, Pope Francis canonized Zelie and Louis together, saying, “The holy spouses Louis Martin and Marie-Azelie Guerin practiced Christian service in the family, creating day by day an environment of faith and love which nurtured the vocations of their daughters, among whom was Saint Therese of the Child Jesus.”

Sts. Louis Martin and Marie-Azelie Guerin Martin are today’s Ornaments of Grace.

OBSERVING THE BEAUTIFUL ORNAMENTS

How can you, by example, help to teach children about the love of Jesus for them?

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Isaiah 7:10-14
Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz: Ask for a sign from the Lord, your God; let it be deep as the nether world, or high as the sky!  But Ahaz answered: “I will not ask!  I will not tempt the Lord.” Then he said: Listen, O house of David!  Is it not enough for you to weary men; must you also weary my God? Therefore, the Lord himself will give you this sign: the virgin shall be with child, and bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel.                                                                              
Born to shepherds in the Sardinian Region, an island to the west of Italy, Maria Sagheddu recognized the sign given by a loving God as Immanuel, God with us! 

Maria’s father and one brother died in 1919 when she was only five; two more brothers died in childhood.  Such grief surely brought little Maria to an early understanding of how quickly life on earth can pass.  Though excelling in school, she had to leave after an elementary education to help her mother care for the other children and the home. 

Maria’s sister, Giovanni Antonia, just a year younger, was her closest sibling in every way.  In 1932, Giovanni died at age 17.  After that, Maria’s devotion to the Lord grew.  She began to teach religion to children and teens. She also reached out to help elderly people in the area in any way she could.  These good works seemed to spur Maria to spend more time in prayer and study.  

Soon, she felt called to religious life.  With the help of her Jesuit confessor, she entered the Trappist Convent near Rome and received the name Maria Gabriella.  Making her vows on the Feast of Christ the King in 1937, she entered wholeheartedly into the Trappist way of life and learned much about the need for ecumenism, a closer relationship among all Christian churches. She suffered from bouts of anxiety, but abandoned herself completely into the hands of God and found relief.  The Sisters found her trusting, humble, cheerful, and always ready to do the most tiring jobs happily.

Maria Gabriella gave thanks to God for allowing her to be at one with Him through her vowed life.  Still, she longed for all Christians to grow in understanding of one another and to develop a relationship with one another in Jesus. In January, 1938, during a time of special prayer for Christian unity, Maria offered herself as a spiritual sacrifice so that all might be one. This sacrifice, in God’s plan, was not only to be spiritual but physical as well.  By May of the same year, doctors told her she had incurable tuberculosis.  After suffering with the disease for over a year, Maria peacefully gave herself to the Lord and died on April 23, 1939.  It was Good Shepherd Sunday, and the Gospel proclaimed “… and there will be one fold and one shepherd.”

During her very short life of 25 years, her love for unity had been welcomed by the Anglican Church and other believers as well.  After her death, vocations flocked to her religious community.  St. Pope John Paul II referred to Maria Gabriella in his encyclical That They May Be One as an example to follow: someone who realized it is our duty at all times, everywhere, to pray and work for unity. The Pope beatified her on January 25, 1983.  

OBSERVING THE BEAUTIFUL ORNAMENTS

How can you work for greater unity among all Christian faiths?

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from Luke 1:5-25
Then, when Zechariah’s time of priestly service was over, he went home.  Afterward, his wife Elizabeth conceived.  She went into seclusion for five months, saying: “In these days, the Lord is acting on my behalf; he has seen fit to remove my reproach among men.”

Born in 1870 to Lutheran parents in Sweden, Elisabeth Hesselblad was the fifth of thirteen children. By the time she was sixteen, she had to go to work to help support the family. Emigrating to the United States in 1888, she studied nursing in New York City and provided home health care to many of the poor. Some of those she served were Catholic, and they influenced Elisabeth profoundly.

Elisabeth gave herself to prayer and study, wanting to know and follow the Lord’s plans for her. So, it was with joy on the Feast of the Assumption, 1902, that she embraced the Catholic faith. Later, reflecting on her conversion, she wrote: “In an instant the love of God was poured over me. I understood that I could respond to that love only through sacrifice and a love prepared to suffer for His glory and for the Church. Without hesitation I offered Him my life, and my will to follow Him on the Way of the Cross.”

A short time after her conversion, Elisabeth left for Europe where she made a pilgrimage to Rome. There she visited the house of Bridget of Sweden, then a Carmelite Monastery. She wanted to join the Carmelites in Rome, but her health was not good due to her care for the sick poor in New York City. The Order felt the life would be too difficult for her, but they welcomed her as a guest on probation. Elisabeth fell critically ill there, so she could not join the Carmelites. Still, feeling called to religious life, she asked the Pope to allow her to make vows under the Rule of the Order St. Bridget had founded. She professed her vows to her Jesuit spiritual director in 1906.

Elisabeth, knowing the Order was strong in Sweden prior to the Protestant Reformation, wanted to bring it back to life. She was unsuccessful in that attempt but proposed a new Order dedicated to care of the sick. By the end of 1911, three women had joined her to pray and work. The Order grew, and Elisabeth continued caring for the sick poor. In 1928 the Carmelites left their Monastery in Rome, and Elisabeth’s new Order of Bridgettines moved in, establishing a foundation in Rome.

During World War II, the convent in Rome was a place where she, as Superior, hid twelve Jews fleeing the holocaust. The Germans occupied Italy in 1943, sending many Jews to Auschwitz. This particular family of Jews roamed the countryside for some months but eventually returned to Rome. Friends suggested they take refuge in the Bridgettine Monastery. Elisabeth and her community welcomed them, risking their lives. The Jews were able to hide in the monastery until they could safely leave after the liberation of Italy in 1944, a period of six months. Like nursing the sick, Elisabeth offered her life for all her brothers and sisters.

Elisabeth became quite ill on April 23, 1957. She raised her hands to bless her sisters saying, “Go to heaven with hands full of love and virtues.” She received the sacraments and died early the next morning. Pope Francis canonized her in 2016.

Today's Ornament of Grace is St. Elisabeth Hesselblad.

OBSERVING THE BEAUTIFUL ORNAMENTS

How can we reach out and provide safety for the poor, the sick, and those whom society has cast aside?

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Jeremiah 23:5-6
Behold the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will raise up a righteous shoot to David; as king he shall reign and govern wisely, he shall do what is just and right in the land. In his days Judah shall be saved, Israel shall dwell in security. This is the name they give him: “The Lord our justice.”

In today’s first reading, we hear the prophet Jeremiah speaking to the Israelites who were scattered and in exile. Not only will their king one day be both wise and good, but he will bring peace. Even more, he promises to share his justice with all the people. While the people were in such pain at the time of this prophet, it’s likely that most could not even fathom, let alone believe, this message. But the message was carried forward by those who could believe and hope – from generation to generation. St. Jude, not to be confused with the Judas who betrayed Jesus, was one who hoped, believed, and spread the news of Jesus around the world.

St. Jude, sometimes called Thaddeus (which means sweetness or gentleness), was the son of Mary of Clopas, a cousin of the Virgin Mary and therefore a relative of Jesus. But it was more than genes that held Jude close to Jesus. He is one of the twelve apostles who left everything to follow Jesus. He was present at Pentecost when the Holy Spirit descended on those gathered in the upper room. From there, he bravely spread the Gospel in Samaria, Syria, Judea, Idumaeia (part of Israel and Jordan today), and Libya (northern Africa bordering the Mediterranean Sea). He also brought the Good News to areas today known as Iraq, Kuwait, and Turkey. As with most of the apostles, Jude was martyred.

So, while not much else is known about St. Jude, we do know he was a faithful follower of Jesus even in dire situations. He trusted in God’s promises, and he understood that God poured out on us the justice he promised, promised even long ago in the time of Jeremiah. That justice means our sins are forgiven, that God acts wisely and compassionately for us in all things, and that he will bring us to the land of peace.

The last letter in the New Testament, just before the Book of Revelation, is a short epistle attributed by some scholars to St. Jude. Maybe he is best known as the Saint of Impossible Cases, but that is because he is truly an apostle of faith and hope. Faith in God’s promises is what makes miracles possible, and hope helps us realize that even if things are difficult here on earth, a better home awaits us in heaven.

St. Jude’s letter teaches us this way: “But you, beloved, grow strong in your holy faith through prayer in the Holy Spirit. Persevere in God’s love, and welcome the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ which leads to life eternal… There is one who can protect you from a fall and make you stand unblemished and exultant in the presence of his glory…”

St. Jude is today’s Ornament of Grace.

OBSERVING THE BEAUTIFUL ORNAMENTS

Why do you think St. Jude or other saints in heaven are happy to intercede for us when we call upon them?

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Philippians 4:4-7
Rejoice in the Lord always! I say it again: Rejoice! Everyone should see how unselfish you are. The Lord is near. Dismiss all anxiety from your minds. Present your needs to God in every form of prayer and in petitions full of gratitude. Then God’s own peace, which is beyond all understanding, will stand guard over your hearts and minds, in Christ Jesus.

By the third Sunday of Advent, we are often in the throes of Christmas pain. Pain? Well, maybe there are last-minute gifts we have not yet found. We might be disappointed because people we were hoping to join us on the Feast itself will not be able to come. Perhaps we think we should be saints because we have worked hard to listen to the Holy Spirit this Advent season. Maybe someone we love is sick or we are thinking of those who have died and will not be part of our usual festivities this year. Yes, pain. Then out comes the priest to say Mass in his pink, happy vestments. A pretty party-pink candle is being lit, and we might feel just a little more blue. When the lector reads today’s second reading, we ask “How? How can I rejoice always? Really??”

St. Paul, who is generally considered the author of the words of today’s reading, suffered greatly. Yet he knew the great peace and joy that comes to those who live for the Lord. Saul, born between 5 BC and 5 AD, was raised in a well-educated, pious Jewish family in Tarsus. Tarsus was one of the largest trade centers on the Mediterranean Sea in Asia Minor. He felt it his duty to persecute and kill Christians, including St. Stephen, you might recall. He felt this way since the new followers of Jesus seemed to have deserted the faith he had been taught to live and die for. But around 36 AD, he was on the road to Damascus when he experienced a vision of Jesus. Jesus said to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” Saul asked, “Who are you?” Then he heard, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.” The encounter left Saul blind for three days, so he had to be led into Damascus. There, he spent his time in prayer and penance. Jesus sent Ananias to restore Saul’s sight, and Saul – now Paul – was baptized.

St. Paul then spent the rest of his life preaching the Good News of Jesus. During this time, he had to keep journeying long distances. Robbers threatened travelers. Paul was beaten with rods. Three times he was shipwrecked and spent a night and day in the sea. He was thrown into jail. His message was often rejected. Sometimes those who did accept the message of faith lost their interest and fell away. Even some of his close friends deserted him. So, when he tells us to rejoice in the Lord always, to dismiss anxiety from our minds, and to pray with grateful hearts, St. Paul is not speaking as someone who had no reason to be anxious or sad or upset. Rather, he is speaking to us as someone who has chosen to put all his trust in the Lord. He is speaking as someone who, by putting his life in the hands of the Lord, knows a peace that is beyond human understanding. He holds out this truth to us, and we can choose joy and peace no matter what difficulties we face daily. Yes, light the joyful pink candle!

St. Paul is today’s Ornament of Grace.

OBSERVING THE BEAUTIFUL ORNAMENTS

Have you ever experienced great peace in the midst of suffering? How do you explain that?

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