Keep the balling rolling!

Hahah! Peace be with you! 

So!

What's your ways of responding to God's love?

How are you responding to the loving touch and compassionate friendship of Jesus? 

What are you doing with the gifts you've received? 

God has healed us, he has helped us through difficult times, and has strengthened us against temptations. When people live in darkness, they don't realize how dark it really is. Good seems bad or harmful, and bad appears to be very good. Opportunities of darkness come to us disguised as benefits. The "good" feelings or thoughts that we get when we cooperate with evil seem to make sense. We trust these feelings as if they are proof that evil is not really evil.

We're followers of Christ, the True Source of Light is saving us from this blindness. Whenever we choose to imitate Jesus, his light, which has been shining within us since our baptism, overcomes the darkness. Whenever we give him the gift of our humility, he gives us the gift of truth and the holiness that comes from living the truth. 

Why do we ever put up with darkness? Even when it's painful or harmful, we tend to stay with what's familiar. We might complain about it, yet we do nothing (or too little) to heal what is wounded or to make whatever change is required. We claim that we want to grow in holiness, yet we return to old, familiar sins; repentance is a momentary idea, not a lifestyle.

Blinded by darkness, we cannot see the damage that we cause with our sins. We cannot see the stumbling stones in our path, and we cannot see that some of those rocks are Jesus himself making us trip to try to turn us in a new direction.

If we seek his help, his "revealing light" shows us the way to forgiveness. He has given us the Sacrament of Reconciliation so that we can be embraced by his love and bathe in the light of his supernatural grace. This grace will empower us to do the uncomfortable work of changing direction to follow Jesus on the path of holiness.

If our lives remain centered on Christ, no matter what pushes against us, we stay balanced and upright. In Christ, we experience peace instead of turmoil, hope instead of despair, and encouragement instead of misery.

When we feel cast off, rejected and uncared for, as if God has hidden himself from us, it's because we're not embracing him in the Christian community that he's given us. Sometimes we say no to receiving and sometimes others say no to giving, and in both cases we feel forsaken, grieved, and cast off. God still loves us, God still cares, but we must prepare the way of the Lord by making ourselves available to his blessings. "My love shall never leave you nor my covenant of peace be shaken," says the Lord, who always has mercy on you.

Let me share a short story with you.

Ahaz had become Judah's king in 732 B.C. When his little kingdom came under attack from fearsome enemies, he devised a plan that totally ignored God. To rescue him and the nation, God spoke to Ahaz through the prophet Isaiah. He warned him that his strategy was going to fail and that it was unnecessary because the enemies would soon be defeated by an even stronger kingdom.

Ahaz chose not to trust him, so God offered to give him proof, any sign of his choosing. But Ahaz didn't want a sign, because if he got it, he'd have to give up his false belief that he was his own highest authority. Rather than letting God be King, he appeased the invaders by closing the Holy Temple and letting them use God's altar for divination, child sacrifice, sexual rites, and spirit channeling. His pride led him deeper and deeper into darkness, and he took with him the whole nation of Judah.

In what ways have we closed the door on God? How are we refusing to listen to God, because we're sure that we know a better way? Which family and friends and co-workers are we taking with us on the road that leads away from God?

Whenever we insist on doing things our way, ignoring God, we're repeating Ahaz's self-worship, which is idolatry. To open the locked doors in our hearts and let God be our King, we must first identify the ways and times in which we try to usurp him.

Heart-breaking loneliness, for example, is a sign that we've locked God out; it's caused by insisting that God's love isn't enough, because we want to get our happiness and love from the people who are not giving it to us.

Unrelenting anger and frustration are signs that we've closed out God, because we're trying to control a situation that's not going well. The lock that keeps this door closed is the false belief that God isn't going to make good come from the problems we're facing.

Angry impatience is a sign that we have shut the door on God's perfect timing.

Confusion is a sign that a closed door is muffling God's voice.

These enemies that block us from living in the fullness of love have, in fact, been defeated by an even stronger kingdom: the kingdom of Jesus Christ. Let him give you the victory!

Give to Jesus the key that opens the door to his love. Take any negative, dissatisfying feeling you have and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal the closed door that it indicates. Then, seeking God's help, work to overcome the idolatrous, closed-door attitude behind it. Watch for the bad feelings to be replaced by the loving reassurances of Jesus.

So are you lifting up all your problems to God? Are you opening your door of heart to God? Are you ready to shatter your heart of stone and welcome God into your heart? Are you going to love God with all your heart, soul and mind? 

Cheers,

Mary Ann Natalia

P/S: So next up, Sun 6pm, Keep the ball rolling