New Life

When the Lord saw her he felt sorry for her. ‘Do not cry’ he said. 
Lk.7:13

Jesus' compassion for the widow of Nain gives new life to her son. Death hasn't the final say.

I wonder if Jesus saw his own mother when looking at the distress of the widow of Nain. No husband. Son dead. If so, there is a message here. 

New life awaits on the other side of death. And the author of that new life is Jesus. This indeed is good news.

Jesus, give your heart so I may speak new life into those I meet today.
Saint Monica, please pray for me.

Authentic Me

Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You who are like whitewashed tombs that look handsome on the outside, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of corruption.
Mt.23:27

Hypocrisy is rotten corruption dressed up. No matter how pretty, it still stinks.

What's the opposite of hypocrisy? Authenticity. Honesty is a virtue worth pursuing. I recently addressed a room full of men. It was a testimony of the good, the bad and the ugly of my life. I was thanked by numerous men afterwards, not for being a shining, saintly example. No, I was thanked for being honest.

Authentic honesty invites a similar response. Afterwards some men shared with me dark areas they were struggling with. There is something very healing in bringing darkness out into the light. Shame is replaced by hope.

Of hypocrisy, deliver me oh Lord.

Inexhaustible Comfort and Sure Hope

Such inexhaustible comfort and such sure hope.
2Th.2:16

Paul exhorts the Thessalonian Church to not be disturbed or deceived by false teaching. A sure sign of genuine good news is comfort and hope.

These are troubled times. False prophets manipulate portents to promote their own agendas. 

What is to be my response? Press further into Jesus and proclaim further out his Good News.

What does that look like? Inexhaustible comfort and sure hope.

Jesus, help me be the bearer  of inexhaustible comfort and sure hope to those I meet today.

You Know Lord

‘Son of man, can these bones live?’ I said, ‘You know, Lord.’ 
Ex.37:3

God shows Ezekiel the valley of dry bones and asks a question only God can answer. Ezekiel gives the only honest answer. "You know Lord."

God knows all. I don't. God is God. I'm not. There's a great reassurance in acknowledging that God is God. There are questions that are too great for me. My only response can be, "You alone know, Lord."

Jesus, I place my trust in you.

New Heart, New Spirit

I shall give you a new heart, and put a new spirit in you; I shall remove the heart of stone from your bodies and give you a heart of flesh.
Ez.36:26

God promises a cleansing that gives a new, soft heart and a new spirit.

The inference is that I need regular cleansing. My heart and my spirit get tarnished and hardened. 

What dirties my spirit and hardens my heart? Selfishness, pride, judgement, lust. 

Time for confession.

When All Is Made New

 ...when all is made new...
Mt.19:28

This age has a beginning, and what we often forget, an end.

A new age is coming. We had a glimpse of this on the Feast of the Assumption did we not? Mary's assumption into heaven, body and soul, tells us heaven is going to be a fully human experience... but even better!

When all is made new the first will be last, the poor made rich, death will be defeated, no more sickness and pain. 

Fantasy? Jesus doesn't seem to think so. Neither do I.

Maranatha! Come Lord Jesus!

Simplicity

Let the little children alone, and do not stop them coming to me; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.
Mt.19:14

Jesus recognises that childlikeness opens the door to faith.

My entry into faith was greatly assisted by my children, without them realising it. As they were being taught and were receiving the sacraments of initiation, their questions were my unspoken questions. 

I secretly started playing their children's Christian music on my Walkman (remember those?). I wasn't ready for meat. I needed milk.

Tomorrow I'm leading Children's Liturgy at Mass. In trimming down the Gospel message to something a five year old can understand, time and again I find I'm speaking to myself.

Thank God for inspired writers and theologians, but sometimes I find it all "so much straw", to quote Saint Thomas Aquinas. The Gospel is actually very simple and I receive it best in simplicity.

Jesus, I come to you as a little child. Please lay your hands and bless me.