I AM...

3/20/2013 
A Reading from the Book of John: 

51 Truly, truly, I say to you, if any one keeps my word, he will never see death." 52 The Jews said to him, "Now we know that you have a demon. Abraham died, as did the prophets; and you say, 'If any one keeps my word, he will never taste death.' 53 Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you claim to be?" 54 Jesus answered, "If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing; it is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say that he is your God. 55 But you have not known him; I know him. If I said, I do not know him, I should be a liar like you; but I do know him and I keep his word. 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced that he was to see my day; he saw it and was glad." 57 The Jews then said to him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?" 58 Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am." 59 So they took up stones to throw at him; but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple. 

When God says "I am," I want to continue His thought, in the most unassuming way possible. It's as though I want to ask, didn't you mean to say I am loving, merciful, good, constant, eternal, peace, faithful, eternal, forgiving? Yet, God simply says "I AM."  Well, gee. What does that mean? Let's take it back to Exodus, when "the angel of the Lord appeared to (Moses) in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush." Moses in an attempt to understand what is going on is met by God's  revelation that he is on holy ground (Ex. 3;5). Let us also realize as we strive to encounter the God who is, that we are still on Holy Ground. 

When further prompted by Moses, God says "I am the God of your father," and God lists the lineage of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God highlights not only His faithfulness through the ages but also the centrality of family in passing on our faith. He is knowing and consoling as God explains "I know their suffering and have come to deliver them". He is a God of exodus and freedom. After Moses has encountered the living God, God calls "Come, I will send you." Moses, responds like many of us "but who am I?" God in His gentleness, affirms "I will be with you." How cool is it that the stories of our faith from the early ages still ring true today? How many of us could insert ourselves into this story just changing some details? Yet, we are each an unrepeatable miracle  

So as we are called to imitate Christ in His works, we are called also to imitate Him in his Being. I am (insert your beautiful name here). God wants us to know we are known; we are delighted in; we are loved. "We do a lot of stupid stuff when we forget we are loved." We are called to remember we are eternally His. God wants to give us His love, His blessing, His Body and Blood, His very life; He also gives us the gift of faith to understand and believe that He is who is. We are called to live in the reality that eternity is our home. Let us receive this good gift God wants to give to and strengthen within us for our journey towards Heaven. 

Reading a meditation on this Gospel, the author highlights that Abraham rejoiced. God wants to fulfill his promises so that we may know JoY and blessedness eternally. "The Beatitudes are at the heart of Jesus' preaching. They take up the promises made to the the chosen people since Abraham" (CCC 1716).  They are the paradoxical promises that sustain hope in the midst of tribulations; they proclaim the blessings and rewards already secured, however dimly, for Christ's disciples; they have begun in the lives of the Virgin Mary and all the saints (CCC 1717)." John Paul the Great in his homily from the beatification mass notes Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati was one who lived this blessedness. "The power of the Spirit of Truth, united to Christ, made Pier Giorgio Frassati a modern witness to the hope which springs from the Gospel and to the grace of salvation which works in human hearts...By his example he proclaims that a life lived in Christ's Spirit -the Spirit of the Beatitudes - is 'blessed,' and that only the person who becomes a 'man or woman of the Beatitudes' can succeed in communicating love and peace to others." Let us let God transform us and love us as we are.  

Verso l'alto, 

Kathryn 

Personal favorite: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kww33eLc6Cs

Humbly Dependent

4/25/2013 
Reading 1

1 PT 5:5B-14

Beloved: 

Clothe yourselves with humility

in your dealings with one another, for:

God opposes the proud

but bestows favor on the humble.

So humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God,

that he may exalt you in due time.

Cast all your worries upon him because he cares for you.

Be sober and vigilant.

Your opponent the Devil is prowling around like a roaring lion

looking for someone to devour.

Resist him, steadfast in faith,

knowing that your brothers and sisters throughout the world

undergo the same sufferings.

The God of all grace

who called you to his eternal glory through Christ Jesus

will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you

after you have suffered a little.

To him be dominion forever. Amen.

I write you this briefly through Silvanus,

whom I consider a faithful brother,

exhorting you and testifying that this is the true grace of God.

Remain firm in it.

The chosen one at Babylon sends you greeting, as does Mark, my son.

Greet one another with a loving kiss.

Peace to all of you who are in Christ.

We fear being small and we fear being forgotten. In our supersize nation, bigger is better. We seek our peers’ stamp of approval as we post and like snippets of our days, our hearts, our very lives. In a time where the frequent call is look at me #insertcreativehashtag, today’s first reading affirms Christ’s call to humility, which has always been countercultural. 

Well, I don’t know about you but as an athlete I never trained to be last, nor as a professional do I seek to climb down the proverbial ladder. And yet there is a resting in which we are called to through this virtue of humility, which Christ both extols and embodies. In some ways, humility involves a letting go. We must let go of false notions of ourselves, over or under estimated senses of worth and self-importance. We must let go of our pride. Humility allows us to admit our dependence on God. It teaches us to trust that God is faithful, loving and good. For when we admit our own poverty of spirit, we abandon ourselves to divine Providence, we are freed from anxiety, and  we are prepared to receive the blessedness of the poor. 

May we courageously follow wherever He leads us, trusting that even when we feel hidden, forgotten, or small we are never far from the God who has loved us into existence. May we trust the return of the Prodigal Son for as we turn home there will always be a tender, loving, and merciful Father running to meet us. May we repent of anything that is holding us back from receiving God’s love and may we cast our anxieties and insecurities into the sea of His mercy. Our Lady of Mercy, intercede for us! Mother Mary guide us to love and live like you did. 

“In a world gone astray from God there is no peace, but it also lacks charity, which is true and perfect love...Nothing is more beautiful than love. Indeed, faith and hope will end when we die, whereas love, that is charity, will last for eternity; if anything, I think it will be ben more alive in the next life.” From the Letters of Pier Giorgio Frassati 

Blessed Pier Giorgi Frassati lead us to the heights! 

Verso l’alto, 

Kathryn

Let us see as He sees 

http://www.upworthy.com/2-people-described-the-same-person-to-a-forensic-artist-and-this-is-what-happene?g=3&c=ufb1

Let us LOVE the gift of His humility and simplicity 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2aYdWdC2pU

Let it Be... Great

4/11/2013
Gospel Jn 3:31-36 

The one who comes from above is above all.
The one who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of earthly things.
But the one who comes from heaven is above all.
He testifies to what he has seen and heard,
but no one accepts his testimony.
Whoever does accept his testimony certifies that God is trustworthy.
For the one whom God sent speaks the words of God.
He does not ration his gift of the Spirit.
The Father loves the Son and has given everything over to him.
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life,
but whoever disobeys the Son will not see life,
but the wrath of God remains upon him.

“By His suffering He learned obedience.” If I had taken writing 101, I am sure there is some rule about hooking people in order to have them read what you write that says don’t start with words like suffering and obedience. They aren’t exactly enticing. I’m going out on a limb; hoping you are still reading.

The other day I was meditating on the argument for abortion and realizing the foundation of why some people support this action is related to the inconvenience of new life, the disruption of one's game plan. Some fears are foundational to this being an option many consider and act on. As I was thinking about this, I was struck by the areas in my own life where I have a mentality towards God that reflects a similar fear and some of the areas where I recently felt inconvenienced. (This is not to downplay the intrinsically evil act of abortion as the commandments command us thou shall not kill. Nor is it a sidebar on the beautiful courage and joy that comes from choosing life in the midst of difficult circumstances, though the women I have met who have lived this are truly beautifully courageous).  Rather it is to highlight that God says let you who have not sinned cast the first stone and how like he extended a hand to Mary Magdelene to begin a new, He does the same to us. He invites us to dance.  

To be honest, I’ve been sick for a while and the past week I wasn’t feeling well. There are good days and rough days when living with a chronic illness. This week was rough. As I was thinking about the challenges of this, I had a litany of complaints for God. I was frustrated, angry, inconvenienced at best. To be honest, I was straight up pissed. Realizing the plans I had aren't possible and that the plans I loved aren't His is tough. Yet, it's an opportunity to see with new eyes of faith the love God has and the gentle way He leads.  What areas in your life are you frustrated with? (If we want God to be real with us, we gotta be real with Him).

I realized my frustration resided in wanting my will to be done. I realized I distrusted God’s will, God’s plan. I distrusted His Goodness and the truth that in the midst of difficulty He was and is near. I distrusted this plan was good, never mind possibly better than what I imagined. 

He doesn’t mess up and He doesn’t hold back. God is generous. He doesn’t hold out and say you can have a little of my life within you and then when you are worthy you can have more. ”The Father loves the Son and has given everything over to Him.”  The Father loves the Son and because of this great love He is impelled to give everything over to Him.  He loves us and asks us to come empty handed so that we might receive all that He longs to give us. What areas are you holding back: your career, your dating life, your sex life, your friendships/social life, your schedule, your life plan, your vocation?

We are not only called to receive the love of our Father but we are then called to give as well. We are called to love, like He does. We are called to surrender and to totally give all that we are (present, future, and past) and to trust His grace is sufficient. He asks us to trust that He gives all that we need and that He is a Father who loves with an abundant love.

"The fullest, the most uncompromising form of love consists precisely in self-giving, in making one's inalienable and non-transferable 'I' someone else's property. This is doubly paradoxical: firstly in that it is possible to step outside one's own 'I' in this way, and secondly, in that 'I' far from being destroyed or impaired as a result is enlarged and enriched."  (JP II, Love and Responsibility, pg. 97)

Let us trust that as we surrender to God's love, we are not giving up but rather opening up to encounter and receive more than we could have imagined we longed for. Let us long and trust in God's mercy, which meets every sinner no matter the sin. Let us trust His goodness, His grace, His Providence and His way. Let us trust Mary's example and proclaim "Let it be done unto me." Let us trust her advice to do whatever He tells us.  

Verso l'alto, 

Kathryn 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eof2c5fTcI8