Reflections on spirituality, life, meaning, and purpose
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Author: Carissa A. Kane
Carissa A. Kanehttps://hopethatfloats.wordpress.comI am passionate about spirituality and the journey to deepen and grow in relationship with God.
My desire to live a life rooted in the Divine, and to journey with others who wish to do so, has grown, as have I, through the joys and sorrows, the struggles, victories and challenges of life.
I feel blessed to be a child of God, wife, mother, writer, spiritual director, and retreat director.
As Lazarus lay with outstretched arm, the rich man, held all within his grip; pursuing his designs, above All, making no matter of Lazarus.
Living well, thinking well of himself, dwelling in the lap of luxury, the rich man, held up by many things, could not see the Beat within his heart.
Rich man? We all do what we will do. Lazarus? Raised up, received his due, dignity and comfort came his way, Abraham by his side in Heaven.
And while things can still be bought and sold, the most important and precious ones, worth their weight in gold, are born of Grace, arriving on the wings of mercy.
Blessed is he who keeps faith forever, secures justice for the oppressed, gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets captives free.
The Lord gives sight to the blind; the Lord raises up those who were bowed down. The Lord loves the just; the Lord protects strangers.
The fatherless and the widow he sustains, but the way of the wicked he thwarts. The Lord shall reign forever; your God, O Zion, through all generations. Alleluia. – Psalm 146:7-10
September 21 is the feast day of St. Matthew, the tax collector turned disciple. It is Matthew’s home at which Jesus and his disciples are having dinner, among, “many tax collectors and sinners” (Mt 9:10), when the following exchange occurs:
The Pharisees saw this and said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” He heard this and said, “Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. Go and learn the meaning of the words, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.” – Matthew 9:11-13
If you were Matthew or a dinner guest at his house and witnessed this exchange between Jesus and the Pharisees, how would you feel, and what would you make of Jesus’s words? How about if you were a Pharisee? A disciple? Envision yourself in the shoes of the different people present or groups represented.
While there can be a wide range of perspectives and experiences in earthly regards, looking beyond that, what do you see or sense as a common bond or thread between them all?
Next, take some time to remember and pray with some of your experiences of compassion, forgiveness, and kindness. What’s it like to reflect on instances in which you received mercy, as well as the ones where you exhibited mercy toward another, as originating from the heart of God, for whom nothing is impossible? Not only that, but also to consider that these instances involved your cooperation with God, through whom anything is possible?
Share with the Lord what’s on your mind and in your heart as you contemplate his words.
In the Gospel for the Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, St. Luke writes:
Jesus said to his disciples: “The person who is trustworthy in very small matters is also trustworthy in great ones; and the person who is dishonest in very small matters is also dishonest in great ones. If, therefore, you are not trustworthy with dishonest wealth, who will trust you with true wealth? If you are not trustworthy with what belongs to another, who will give you what is yours? No servant can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and mammon.” – Luke 16:10-13
Continuing to pray with your experiences of mercy, reflect on God’s grace and the extent to which honesty, trust, and trustworthiness, have helped or aided you toward receiving and extending compassion, kindness, and the benefit of the doubt to yourself and others. Ask the Lord to help you to see clearly your areas of growth, and to gently acknowledge, and commit to cooperation with Grace in, areas in need of conversion.
What wisdom is waiting on you today?
Closing prayer: Hallelujah! Praise, you servants of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord. Blessed be the name of the Lord both now and forever. From the rising of the sun to its setting let the name of the Lord be praised. High above all nations is the Lord; above the heavens his glory. Who is like the Lord our God, enthroned on high, looking down on heaven and earth? He raises the needy from the dust, lifts the poor from the ash heap, Seats them with princes, the princes of the people, Gives the childless wife a home, the joyful mother of children. Hallelujah! – Psalm 113:1-9
“The Holy Scriptures were not given to us that we should enclose them in books, but that we should engrave them upon our hearts.” ― St. John Chrysostom
Praying with the scripture readings for the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (Numbers 21:4b-9; Psalm 78:1b-2, 34-38; Philippians 2:6-11; and John 3:3-17), contemplate what it means to engrave them upon your heart.
In the First Reading, we hear of the Israelites, at wit’s end, upset by their situation in the desert, and making it known to Moses. We also learn of the punishing arrival of saraph serpents, leading to the surmise of many, and the subsequent realization of sin and prayer for relief. Following this, Moses prays for the people to be spared from the serpents, and the Lord replies, “Make a saraph and mount it on a pole, and if any who have been bitten look at it, they will live.” (Numbers 21:8).
What do you make of the notion that to be cured, or to overcome the serpent’s bite, requires looking at the bronze serpent mounted on the pole?
Take some time to consider a situation or area in which your patience is worn thin, or where you have been bitten. What has your reaction or response been? And how might you ask for, and receive, God’s grace to move toward peace and healing—a better way?
The response for the Psalm (Psalm 78:1b-2, 34-38) is, “Do not forget the works of the Lord!” (Ps 78:7b). Like it was in the desert for the Israelites and Moses, it can be tempting for anyone to react or respond out of feelings of discontent or anger, when it feels like needs are not being met or answers are nowhere to be found. This psalm invites us to recall what is true. None of us are without mistakes and missteps along the way. Still though, God is merciful and forgiving. This psalm encourages us to recall and remember the ways that God has been, and is, steadfast toward us.
Think about your experience of God turning something bad into something good?
Throughout the week, in moments with or without concern or upset, pause to acknowledge and give praise to God for God’s faithfulness to you. Allow yourself the space and invite God into it, to help you to see the entire picture, and to remember what is true.
In the Letter of St. Paul to the Philippians (Philippians 2:6-11), it is written:
Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross. Because of this, God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Continuing to pray with the thoughts, feelings, and situations that have come to mind and heart thus far, where might the words emptied, humbled, exalted, and bestowed—the past tense verbs used by St. Paul to describe actions of Jesus and God—be applicable or come into play? Ask the Lord to help you to identify ways that these words operate in your life, and what purpose they might be serving.
Turning to the Gospel passage (John 3:13-17), Jesus is mid-conversation with Nicodemus, a Pharisee who has come to see Jesus in the darkness of night. Nicodemus is trying to understand what Jesus means by, “no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” (Jn 3:3).
What does being born from above mean to you?
For the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, we are reminded of where, and who, we currently are—our place as well as our call—eternal life through Jesus.
In the Gospel passage, Jesus refers to Moses lifting up the bronze serpent in the desert and says, “so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” (Jn 3:14-15). He knows that Nicodemus will be familiar with and understand what has been written in Scripture. However, an earmark of Jesus is to elevate and help us along toward living Scripture. This is what he is trying to do, when he follows up with:
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.” (Jn 3:16-17).
Enter into conversation with Jesus about these two verses, inviting him to elevate and help you along in your journey toward living Scripture, or living it more fully. When your prayer time comes to a close, add the following:
We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you, because by your Cross you have redeemed the world. – St. Francis of Assisi
Dependent on one’s point of view, and from one end of the spectrum, to the long, far away other, the distance between here and there, holds no relevance to the Heart.
For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted. – Luke 14:11
In the Gospel passage for the Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Jesus says to his disciples,
“Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.” – Luke 12:51
It’s not that Jesus wants there to be division, but rather that he knows reality.
One cannot get to peace by holding fast to anything or anyone other than God. And peace, like love, when honest and true, flows through to us by the grace of God, continues with our cooperation, and connects one and all. There’s always an extension onto others.
However, when one looks to differentiate, judge, or draw hard lines, venturing or being led away from grace, the extension gets cut off. For the peace and love of God does not occur in strict isolation, or in a single caste. Similarly, it cannot be had where there is holding back, or where humility lacks.
Take some time to pray with and consider how you experience peace and love. Express to the Lord your thoughts and feelings about the experiences that come to mind.
Next, ask the Lord for guidance and insight as to the ways that what you say and do, and what you don’t say and don’t do, are or can be an extension of the peace and love that has been bestowed to you. Allow yourself time to reflect on this and to hold a conversation with Jesus.
Envision sitting together in a place of quiet solitude. Share with Jesus whatever it is that you need at this moment. Ask Jesus to reveal any blind spots that may be interfering or leading you away from cooperating with God’s grace. What holds you back?
When the conversation reaches its end, picture yourself looking into Jesus’s eyes and feeling his peace radiating throughout you. Your heart is on fire. Jesus smiles gently at you—living faith.
We are living faith, through the choices that we make.
Like the lily In that One pond, Live in service, Remain faithful To creation.
Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if one has a grievance against another; as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do. And over all these put on love, that is, the bond of perfection. – Colossians 3:12-14
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