Posts Tagged ‘Loving God’

Do You Love God?

Thursday, September 8th, 2016

Thursday of 23rd Week in Ordinary Time

Nativity of Blessed Virgin Mary

Romans 8: 28-30Mt 1: 18-23

By Deacon Larry Brockman

Do you love God?    Most of us would say “yes”, we do love God;  but if you’re honest, there’s a twinge of something in the back of your mind, a doubt almost.  Because when you come right down to it, loving God is something that is hard to verbalize and visualize.

You can love your spouse, your parents, your children, and other people partly because you can visualize them.  They are there in flesh and blood to hug, to share and to reciprocate affection and love.  You can feel it and visualize it.  But loving God is different, isn’t it?  You can say you love God when you pray, and for most of us, the response from God is mostly silent, or subtle at best.

Paul speaks eloquently of the Love of God this morning.  He says that:  “We know that all things work for good for those who love God who are called according to His purpose”.  So very simply, we show that we love God by accepting the call God has given us; and the proof that we are truly loving God will be that God assures that all things will work for good when we do that.  Loving God shows results by fulfilling God’s plan.  And that “good” is something that we can see; it’s like the hug we receive from our loved ones.

Of course the “good” that Paul is talking about is an ultimate good, the good that God intends.  That doesn’t always match the “good” that people seek on their own.  So, one has to be particularly discerning about the good we sense.  Some of us have special talents- artistic or technical or sporting or any number of other skills.  When we use those talents and skills the way they were intended, we feel good inside- a validation that things are working for good.  Many of you do things for other people- caring for the sick, helping those in need; teaching; and a whole host of other things.  They make us feel good as well; and that is an expression of the good that God intends.

This morning we are celebrating the birth of the Blessed Mother.  And our Gospel speaks of the prophecy God made to Mary using the Angel Gabriel through the eyes of her husband Joseph, who received validation of that prophecy when an angel of the Lord appeared to him and gave him the same message as Mary about the baby Jesus.

Both Mary and Joseph accepted God’s will for them; they married under less than ideal circumstances; and parented the child Jesus because it was God’s will for them.  Joseph did not divorce Mary but accepted her as his wife; Mary accepted that the child inside her was God’s child.  They both lived their lives by parenting Jesus in the best way they knew how.  They were called to a relatively straightforward, yet important task.

It’s something most of us have done or will do as well-  marry under less than an ideal situation, and parent children.  It is an awesome responsibility to parent any child-  they are a fantastic gift to any family.  But that is also what most of us have or will do.

My point is that neither Mary nor Joseph was asked to do anything tremendously extraordinary in life.  They didn’t invent the i- phone; they didn’t lead an army to victory; they didn’t write a best seller; they didn’t break any world sporting records.  They just parented the child Jesus, accepting the trials and tribulations of everyday life along the way.  For some of us, we may not be called to do extraordinary things in this life either.  But that’s OK, it is only necessary that we follow the calling we do have.  And all things will work for good when we do that.

Now the good that Mary and Joseph worked was not the good that the world expected.  The Messiah that the Jews expected was a King, someone in the image of a David or Solomon.  That isn’t what Jesus became; and yet, Mary knew.  Mary knew that Jesus was special; and all things were working for good through Him.  In the same way, we will know when things truly work for the good of God.  We will see it in our children and their lives.

Of course, like God and his children, we have to let go of our children at some point because they have free will, and are open to choose to follow God’s will for them or not.  But no matter what they do, we will still always love them.  It’s like the Love we are supposed to have for God- with our whole mind, our whole heart, and our whole soul, isn’t it.

Do you love God that way?

The Heavenly Church- the New Jerusalem

Sunday, May 1st, 2016

Sixth Sunday of Easter

Acts 15: 12, 22-29; Rev 21: 20-24. 22-23; John 14: 23-29

By Deacon Larry Brockman

 

The common theme in today’s scriptures is the Church.

First we have a description of a Church with divisions among the participants.  Some people were saying that the most important thing to maintain membership in the Church is following all the rules.  And the rules they advocated were the rules they brought with them from their Jewish heritage.  They were do’s and don’ts and detailed ritual rules.  Follow the rules and you are “in”; break the rules and you are “out”.  Others were saying that the rules have changed by virtue of Jesus and the opening of the Church to the Gentiles.  What is important is following the Gospel that Jesus taught, a rule of love and openness to all people.

So, Paul and Barnabas return to Jerusalem and get a reading from the Church leaders of the time on which interpretation is correct. Should the Church carryover the old Mosaic law with Jesus teaching added to it; or should the rules be changed to emphasize the teachings of Jesus and an openness to all?  Notice that the feedback from Jerusalem includes a unanimous vote from the leaders, but it also includes the “decision of the Holy Spirit”.  This is kind of like the first Papal Action, because the decision of the Apostles is validated by the Holy Spirit. God has spoken!

And the decision is to abandon the detailed rituals such as circumcision and strict dietary laws in favor of what is reasonable for ritual practice supplemented with the teachings of Jesus on internalization of the Gospel message.  The ritual practice that Jesus left- the breaking of the bread and the opening of the word of God, were adopted.  But make no mistake about it.  The concept of the “Church” was validated.  We all need to belong to a Church to strengthen our faith and worship God communally.

This point is validated by the second reading from Revelation, which describes how the Church will ultimately evolve into the Kingdom of God.  Most Bible scholars agree that the New Jerusalem described in the book of Revelation is the new Church, the heavenly one.  It has three gates on each of four sides because it is universal, accepting all peoples from all regions of the earth.  It has high walls to protect all of the members and provide a safe haven from any harm.  And, there is no need for a temple or lights because of the presence of God forever, who provides heavenly light and is the center of all worship.

It is the objective of all of us to be part of that Church, one where we are in the presence of God continuously for ever and ever, and one where we share that presence with all of our loved ones communally, and participate in God’s Glory.  That is what is known as the Communion of Saints.

Just how do we guarantee that we will gain entrance to that Church?  Well, Jesus tells us very plainly in the Gospel:  “Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him.”  So, all of us must love God and keep His word to dwell with him.

But then Jesus goes on to tell the disciples that even though he will be leaving this world in his human form, he will not abandon us; rather, he will send:  “The Advocate, the Holy Spirit that the Father will send in my name—  He will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you.”  So, the Spirit will guide us on how we should interpret and implement Jesus teaching.

Every so often in the history of the Church the Church has gone through reformation and revision.  I think Pope Francis is reminding us today that we need to go back to our roots, kind of like the Early Churches went back to Jerusalem for a reading from those who were Jesus’ contemporaries.  Francis’ exhortation on the Family talks about maintaining all of the traditional teachings of the Church on family matters, including marriage and divorce; homosexuality; abortion and birth control.  But Francis is reminding us that our attitude towards all of God’s people must be one of love, forgiveness, and mercy.  Francis wants all of us to exhibit these properties rather than emphasize rules and regulations.  That’s why he has called on the Church leaders to use proper discernment in all of their pastoral decisions.

We need to welcome sinners as Jesus welcomed sinners and convert them by our love, not by our rule of law because we want all to join us in the heavenly Church, the New Jerusalem

On Loving God

Thursday, May 10th, 2012

Thursday of 5th Week of Easter

Acts 15: 7-21; John 15: 9-11

By Deacon Larry Brockman

 

“Remain in my Love”.  That is Jesus’ advice to us.  And how do we do that- by keeping Jesus’ commandments to us: loving God first, and our neighbor as ourselves.  After all, that was his primary commandment. 

  

But Jesus also told the Apostles that whatever they bound on earth would be bound in heaven.  And so Jesus gave the authority to the Church to define right and wrong a little more explicitly.   We are bound to listen to what Holy Mother the Church has to say about faith and morals.  So “remaining in my love” is simple in concept, but yet, difficult in practice.  Or is it that we make it more difficult than it is?

   

When we were very young our parents were everything to us.  We wanted their love more than anything else.  And especially with our Mom’s, we were recipients of unconditional love.  We soon learned that such love was most lavishly displayed when we did what our parents commanded us to do, or didn’t do what they wanted us not to do, as the case might dictate.  At first, we didn’t question their authority or their commandments.  Whatever they said was what we would do.  But then, as we grew older, we began to question.  Some of us even dared to know better than our parents!  And like all good parents, they let us go.  And so, there came a time when we found ourselves out on our own, replicating the same cycle of parent and child, soon to be idolized by our own children.  And when they idolized us, we often reflected on how brilliant our own parents really were after all.

   

Isn’t that similar to how our relationship goes with Jesus?  When we first learn about God, we don’t question his commandments.  But the more we learn; the more we begin to question.  And there comes a time in our relationship with God, after we learn to think for ourselves, that we even dare to second guess what God has revealed as his law through Holy Mother the Church.  Sometimes I hear that sentiment quite explicitly.  “Well, I know what the Church teaches, but I don’t believe that”  Really. 

  

You see, there is a difference.  Because unlike the relationship we have with our children, we do not ever achieve parity with God.  God remains so far above us that we cannot appreciate the depth of the separation.  True, He is an intimate God who sent His only son among us.  But, His ways are not our ways, and we don’t understand why things are the way they are.  That’s why He left the Apostles and the Church for us; to teach us the truth so that we could believe.  And by believing, we mean accepting on faith what the Church teaches.

   

For all those who believe and keep His commandments; for all those who remain in Jesus love, the reward is clear.  Our joy will be complete.  It is that simple.