IN THE BEGINNING (11)

IN THE BEGINNING (11)

BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD.

Be in your prayer space, follow the usual steps and settle into silence.

Sit still…..Relax…….Do not rush………

Take a couple of gentle, slow and deep breaths…becoming aware of your breath going in and out… stay focused on this breath of life……

Settle into silence, into peacefulness, into profound silence, into pure joy. Keep listening in such quietness and serenity. Come to that place, that space within, that place of deep silence, solitude, to just being here and now, without having to accomplish something.

Let us begin with a prayer in our heart:

Open my eyes Lord, help me to see your face,

Open my ears Lord, help me to hear your word,

Open my heart Lord, help me to love like you….

Now from the depth of your heart begin to wish your mind well……….

In our last meditation, we met two women, Ruth and Naomi, moving out of a very difficult situation in life, without the security only men could have provided in their culture, returning to a home that seemed to offer a promise…only to find their hope fulfilled far beyond expectations!

Their brave and bold decisions embody and bring about God’s blessings. They have faithfully journeyed with the God of faithfulness and they now stand as witnesses to the God of inclusive, all-embracing and unconquerable love.

This meditation invites you to dwell on the faithfulness of God, to abide in His faithful presence…..

It is often difficult to understand the faithfulness of people. It is much more difficult to understand God’s faithfulness, to believe that God’s love for us is so strong and so unconditional that God is always there in us, for us, with us, around us….always loving us and calling us to love……faithfully present…always PRESENT!

Exodus, Chapter 12, describes God as keeping vigil with people. Our God is always keeping vigil with us, surrounding us with love, compassion, mercy, Grace….God’s faithfulness is a constant loving presence. As we grow in understanding, acceptance and appreciation of God’s steadfast love, we will grow in our own faithfulness………….

The favors of the Lord, I will sing forever;

through all generations, my mouth shall proclaim your faithfulness….(Psalm 89:1)

Give thanks to him; bless his name….his kindness endures forever,

And his faithfulness to all generations……(Psalm 100)

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;

His faithful love (loving kindness) endures forever….(Psalm 136:1)

Your faithful love (loving kindness) is before my eyes,

I walk in your truth……Psalm 26:3)

Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb? Even should she forget, I will never forget you. See upon the palms of my hands I have written your name. (Isaiah 49:15-16)

Though the mountains may go away and the hills be shaken, my faithful love will never leave you……(Is.54:10)

Be grateful for God’s faithfulness in love, mercy, compassion…….

Since God is PRESENT, moment by moment, we could walk barefoot all day. God speaks through the real world. He is in our struggles, our failures and our successes. Don’t limit God. Take off your shoes – walk through the day – make the leap of faith – give God your best.

The DISCIPLINE of appreciating ordinary events and people can help us see life in a new way. This is what ATTENTIVENESS means and attentiveness facilitates AWARENESS. It takes real discipline to “attend to” – take note of – ordinary things. For most of us, it takes deliberate effort to be attentive. Major happenings like birth, moving, promotion, financial loss, death, etc. force themselves on our consciousness. The ordinary realities of life simply pass by – they just go by or we just go by them. Morning comes and evening comes, one day passes.

There were bells on the hill, but I never heard them ringing…

There were birds in the sky, but I never saw them winging..

(Meredith Wilson, The Music Man)

Helen Keller had eyes that were blind and ears deaf from birth, but she has helped countless people see and hear in a different way. Helen says, “The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart.”

Become present to the moment:

1. Relax. Be present to this moment. Be present to yourself. Be present to God.

1. Gently become present to the past 24 hours. Attend to persons, places, situations, events, things, etc. that you encountered this day. Become aware of the feelings and reactions that stir up within you. Attend to them without judgment – not judging whether or not you should feel this way.

1. Be present to the whole day. Be present to yourself. Be present to all you encountered. Become aware of what God is calling forth form you in this moment.

    

2. Make plans to continue this DISCLINE during the coming week.

Fidelity, Obedience, loyalty – great spiritual values – are not values lived out in monasteries and religious houses. They are lived out where we are – where we live and work – where God has placed us.

God is faithful where God is. We are called to be faithful where we are.

“Bloom where you are planted” Says St. Francis De Sales

Let us commit ourselves to be faithful. We may be tired and weary of our duties, responsibilities, daily chores….as a parent, a spouse, a farmer, a priest, a nun, a teacher, a doctor, a lawyer, a welder, a social worker….whatever.

Full of life and energy or tired and weary, let us CHOOSE TO BE FAITHFUL.

Be Faithful to who and what you are, no matter how others behave!

Be Faithful! Be there! Be Still!

Read the following story slowly, reflectively………do not rush……………

A minister, passing through his church in the middle of the day, decided to pause by the altar and see who had come to pray. Just then the back door opened, a man came down the aisle. The minister frowned as he saw that the man had not shaved or cleaned himself he in a while. His shirt was shabby and his coat was worn and frayed. The man knelt, bowed his head, then rose and walked away. In the days that followed, each noon time came, each time he knelt just for a moment, and walked away.

The minister’s suspicions grew, with robbery a main fear. He decided to stop the man and ask him, “What are you doing here?”

The old man said, he worked down the road, lunch was half an hour and lunchtime was his prayer time for finding strength and power. “I stay only moments, see, because the factory is so far away; as I kneel here talking to the Lord, this is kind of what I say:

“I just came again to tell you, Lord, how happy I have been, since we found each other’s friendship and you took away my sin. I don’t know much of how to pray, but I think about you every day. So, Jesus, this is Jim, checking in today..”

The minister feeling foolish, told Jim, that was fine. He told the man he was welcome to come and pray just anytime.

Time to go, Jim smiled, said Thanks and hurried to the door. The minister knelt at the altar – he had never done it before. His cold heart melted, warmed with love, and met with Jesus there. As the tears flowed, in his heart, he repeated old Jim’s prayer:

“I just came again to tell you, Lord, how happy I have been, since we found each other’s friendship and you took away my sin. I don’t know much of how to pray, but I think about you every day. So, Jesus, this is me, checking in today..”

Past noon one day, the minister noticed that old Jim hadn’t come. As more days passed without Jim, he began to worry some.

At the factory, he asked about Jim and learned that he was ill. The hospital staff was worried, but he had given them a thrill. The week that Jim was with them brought changes in the ward. His smiles, a joy that was contagious changed people. The head nurse couldn’t understand why Jim was so glad, when no flowers, calls or cards came, not a visitor he had. The minister stayed by his bed, he voiced the nurse’s concern: No friends came to show they cared!!!

Looking surprised, old Jim spoke up and with a winsome smile; “the nurse is wrong, she couldn’t know, that in here all the while everyday at noon He is here, a dear friend of mine, you see, He sits right down, takes my hand, leans over and says to me:

“I just came again to tell you, Jim, how happy I have been, since we found this friendship and I took away your sin. Always love to hear you pray. I think about you each day. And so Jim, this is Jesus, checking in today.”

Jesus was addressing the crowd and his mother and relatives came to speak with him (Mathew 12:46-50). When someone told Jesus about it, he said, “who is my mother and who are my brothers……whoever does the will of my Father is brother and sister and mother to me”.

Jesus spoke of a new kind of relationship, one that is born of faithfulness, obedience, surrender to the will of the one you love…one that goes far beyond blood relationships. Nothing can break the “blood connection” and yet we know that “blood ties” don’t necessarily create a bond of love or dedication or affection. History has shown that often a man’s enemies were those with whom he had “blood ties”.

Real relationships, true connections, bonds of love are established around shared goals, shared ideals, shared conflicts and pains, shared cause, shared obedience/fidelity…..what the Scriptures call “covenantal bond”.

Jesus calls us to enter into a relationship of love and obedience….an obedience that binds us together as brothers and sisters of Jesus, sons and daughters of the heavenly Father. Our common obedience makes us true brothers and sisters.

Fr. Gus Tharappel,msfs