Joy

And Jesus said to them, ‘Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?
Mt.9:15

The immediate effect of having Jesus with us? Joy.

I tell my adult children, four of whom are married, "Sorry kids, the best wedding I've been to is when I married your mum." When I think of our wedding day I see a joyful celebration. We had our reception in a marquee, pretty radical in 1979. There were coloured lights and bunting strung everywhere. People were happy for us and cheering us on. 

Here's a photo of me and my gorgeous bride that day...

Jesus relating to me in the Church as a groom to a bride can't help bring similar emotions.  No wonder being Christian brings with it joy and joy in abundance. 

Pope Francis said joy is the air Christians breathe, that it's a gift not a purchase and that it brings a deep peace that only God can provide.

I'm reminded to breathe deep of that joy today and share it with others. Yes, the joy of the Lord is my strength.

Questioning Thomas

Thomas replied, ‘My Lord and my God!’
Jn.20:28

Thomas' questioning doubts led him to make one of the great proclamations of faith, "My Lord and my God."

I always think of Thomas not as doubting but more as questioning. "Lord, how can we know the way?" Jn.14:5 

Questioning Thomas never gave up on Jesus when he missed seeing Jesus' resurrected presence the first time. Thomas was still with the Church one week later. 

This tells me it's not only OK to question faith, it's healthy. However, I need to remember there's two spiritual players influencing my questions. The devil wants me to believe my doubts and doubt my beliefs. Jesus invites me to believe my beliefs and doubt my doubts. 

Being a convert, wrestling with questions is no strange occupation for me. Like Thomas, I've found the best place to be when questioning faith is within the loving arms of Mother Church. She guides me to where I'm meant to be, always.

Saint Thomas the Apostle, please pray for me

Take Heart My Son

And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.’ 
Mt.9:2

Faith of the friends carrying the paralytic resulted in his spiritual and physical restoration.

Faith is oxygen to Jesus. I am encouraged by this verse to keep up my intercessory prayers. My prayer list is on a spreadsheet currently with 309 rows. 246 of those rows flag prayers that have been answered. 63 prayers to go.

Some of these prayers have been waiting for an answer for sixteen years. These are the knotty ones I hand over to Mumma Mary, Undoer of Knots. Take heart my son...

Hail, Mary, full of grace,
the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners,
now and at the hour of our death.

Seek Good

Seek good and not evil so that you may live, and that the Lord, God of Hosts, may really be with you as you claim he is.
Am.5:14

Seeking the good brings an immediate benefit. Life!

I claim to have the God of Hosts with me. Really? Then what good am I doing?

It seems any act of good, large or small, draws God into my life. And when God is in my life I am fully alive.

This morning my daughter needed help getting children ready for school. I must confess to a begrudging yes to that. However, my small act of "goodness" did help. They have just trundled off to school fairly painlessly and are happy. God must be smiling.

Seeking good usually means putting someone else first and me second. I'm not a natural at this, so the more practice the better.

Holy Spirit, help me develop my "seeking good" muscle so the God of Hosts may really be with me.

Desperation

‘Save us, Lord; we are perishing.’ And he said to them, ‘Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?’ 
Mt.8:25-27

The boat was being swamped so the disciples turned to their only hope, Jesus.

This passage is usually used to exemplify lack of faith. And indeed Jesus does rebuke the disciples for this. However, I can't help but see it as an example of what a tiny bit of desperate faith can achieve. 

I'm reminded of Corrie Ten Boom's desperate prayer while being dragged out of their home by the Nazis. "Jesus help!"

When storms threaten to overwhelm me, I'm afraid and I'm desperate. It's a human response to danger. In such situations I want my knee-jerk reaction to that of the disciples in the sinking boat, to turn to Jesus and cry out, "Lord save me!"

Jesus, calmer of storms, I place my trust in you.

Humility and Faith

Sir, I am not worthy to have you under my roof; just give the word...
Mt.8:8

The Centurion displays two virtues that motivate Jesus. Humility and faith.

Humility and faith are like oxygen to Jesus. When they are present, miracles happen. 

How do I gain these virtues? Well, first off, they are gifts. But secondly and perhaps more importantly, they are gifts to be exercised in order to be received. 

Humility is just a word, until I am humble. Faith likewise, until I act in it.

Jesus, I struggle with humility, I struggle with faith. Holy Spirit, give me courage to exercise these gifts today so mountains may be moved.

He Touched Him

Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him and said, ‘Of course I want to! Be cured!’
Mt.8:3

He touched him. Oh the beauty of that moment!

My natural inclination when faced with a "leaper" (read homeless, addict, mental illness, poverty, burdened) is to withdraw. I try to fight this and move in the opposite spirit. 

Recently we had a man walk into Sunday Mass dressed roughly, a woollen cap on and dark sunglasses. He sat in the very front pew, always empty of course. Fighting my prejudices, I went over and sat next to him, saying "Welcome brother." It was soon apparent he had mental health issues but I could still converse with him.

After Mass, over a cup of tea,  he said, "Thank you for talking with me." I felt humbled. If only he knew my heart. 

He's been back a couple of times since. He's teaching me a lot. 

Jesus, help me see the oppressed as you see them.