MAKING DIFFICULT CHOICES

MAKING DIFFICULT CHOICES

BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD.

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

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……

Breathe in all that is of God and from God…all that is true, honest, pure, admirable, noble, decent, virtuous, worthy of praise, good, loving, kind – all that deserves respect..

Breathe out all that is not of God and from God……..

Settle into silence, into peacefulness, into profound silence, into pure joy. Keep listening in quietness, stillness 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.

Now I invite you to consecrate your time and all that come with this moment….in your own way, in humble, simple, may be even inadequate words………..

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

May my mind be clear and spacious like the sky……

May all negative thoughts drift away like the clouds………

May my mind be filled with comfort, ease, serenity, peace……

May my heart be pure, simple, undivided that I may see you……………

May my heart be confident and trusting that I may be safe in you………….

May my heart be hopeful, optimistic and positive that I may be free in you…………

Keep repeating these words in your heart

Thank you for the day……..

Thank you for stillness……………

Thank you for blessing and grace………

Thank you for just being, for me, God.

Be still…..Relax

Five Minutes

Prayerfully Read and Reflect…..

Our last meditation was on “Choosing God’s Way”. We reflected on the choices that great people like Joshua, Zachaeus, Peter and Paul made and how they challenged their people to make similar choices. This meditation is on the many choices that flow from choosing “God’s Way”.

Choosing “God’s Way” frees us to be what God made us to be and wants us to be. This choice however is very demanding because the freedom that comes from choosing God’s Way is always very demanding. True freedom limits us to choose only that which fits our nature, our character. ..the opposite is absence of or lack of true freedom. True freedom is freedom to be……it is the freedom of the children of God.

Moses challenged his people to take God’s word into their hearts, into their soul, into their daily lives. He asked his people to make the fundamental choice: life or death; blessing or curse. To choose life and blessing means that we must accept and obey the law of God and be guided by his wisdom. We must align our will to the will of God (Deuteronomy 11:18, 26-28, 32)

Take a moment and pray….May your will be done!

Paul tried to convince the Christians in Rome that God has justified all people, including the Gentiles in Christ. All are justified by God’s gift of Grace in Jesus and not by any work they have done (Romans 3:21-29). It takes more than obedience to the law to deserve God’s justice. Practice of the law means little, if the inner self does not express real faith.

Be grateful for the gift of God’s Grace in Jesus and learn to live in that Grace!

All are called to the Kingdom of God. However, crying out, “Lord…Lord…” will not give anyone access to the Kingdom (Mathew 7:21, 24-27). Jesus calls for sincerity of purpose. Sincerity of purpose is shown in practice, in the way we live out our purpose.

Fine words are never substitutes for fine deeds. Be sincere in your efforts to live out your faith. There is only one proof of love and that proof is obedience (surrender).

It is not difficult to recite a creed, but to live the Christian life is demanding and challenging and often difficult.

Faith without practice is dead. Love without obedience (surrender) is impossible.

Jesus was once asked whether only a few would be saved (Luke 13:22-30). Behind this question was the belief that only the Jews would be saved and not the gentiles. Jesus responded by telling them that entrance into the kingdom was not automatic…membership in the Jewish community or any faith community did not guarantee entrance into the kingdom. He called them to make difficult choices and make the difficult journey….the door is narrow, he said. He himself was making his way to Jerusalem to face rejection and eventual death.

We are all familiar with expressions like “a narrow escape” , “a tight squeeze” and so on which suggest that we have accomplished something difficult, something that required taking risk, being vulnerable, diligence, vigilance, decisiveness and great precision.

Even as children, some of us had narrow escapes from the bullies in the school, from major accidents on a bike, from major failures in sports, etc. As adults many of us can recall the narrow escapes we had from serious injuries, conflicts with others, major car accidents and so on.

Much more than that, we know how narrow the path forward can be when we face life-altering decisions. We are often confronted with situations where all our options must give way to one choice. No one else can make the decision for us and no one else would suffer the consequences of that decisions. All our choices will come to this narrow “gate” that will define who we are, how we live and even define us into the future. We must walk through the narrow gate and enter the kingdom.

From the beginning of scriptures, we read about great men and women being called to make difficult choices and they in turn called their people to make hard choices. Moses and the prophets and finally Jesus offered people choices between life and death; way of the just and way of the wicked; good and bad; foolishness and wisdom and so on.

Jesus challenges us to make difficult choices, make the difficult journey, walk the path of trials, face testing times, enter through the narrow door………

The way to the kingdom is not easy, but it is just the right way, the way made to fit our needs! We must make difficult choices and be faithful to the choices we make. The choice is ours. Once the choice is made, the question is: is that your final choice? Your final answer to the call?

In the Gospel passage of today (Mathew 21:28-32)we read about a son who said “no” to his father and changed it into an “yes” and another son who said “yes” to his father changed it into a “no”. The final answer made the difference.

Take a moment: think of all the people whose lives once characterized by “no” to God and to God’s goodness and then transformed into a decided “yes”, into a final answer “yes”.

Peter did; Thomas did. Thomas Merton, one of the great mystics of our times moved from “No” to “Yes”. Orphaned at 16, he traveled Europe at 18 maintaining a bohemian lifestyle. A vowed communist at 20, a reporter for New York times at 24 and Trapist monk at 26.

Some of you will remember “Mary Poppins”. As Jane and Michael were being to put to bed, Jane asked Mary, “you will never leave us, will you?” Her brother added, “Will you stay if we promise to be good?” Mary Poppins replied, “That’s a pie-crust promise. Easily made. Easily broken.”

Some of you may remember John Newton’s dramatic conversion during a storm at sea. He was a slave trader. His “yes” to God is memorialized in “Amazing Grace”

Take a moment…….and say, “Yes” to God and Gods’ way!

Fr. Gus Tharappel,msfs