I Will Place My Law within Them

“I will place my law within them, and write it upon their hearts; I will be their God, and they shall be my people” (Jer. 31:33). So the Lord spoke to the prophet Jeremiah.

God is speaking to His people, assuring them that He Himself is their teacher. All of us who are taught by God are taught to love one another by the mere fact that God is writing His Word upon our hearts. By means of this implanted Word, we discover the path to newness of life.

As God promised to His Chosen People, He now speaks intimately to each of us, calling us by name; not just any name, but a name known only between us as intimate friends.

The life of faith is not a recital of rules and regulations. The life of faith is entering into an embrace of love that brings us into communion with the Persons of the Trinity. In that embrace, we come to know that we are loved and forgiven.

In this knowledge, we will become Ambassadors of healing and reconciliation for a world scarred with violence and sin. This pardoning mercy flows from the pierced heart of Christ and is freely given to us to be shared with all who are in need of forgiveness.

Having been conformed to Christ in baptism, it is not out job to condemn sinners but to call them back to fullness of life and grace.

The mystery of grace is not that we seek to know God, but rather that we come to realize that we are known by Him.

Acknowledging this love, we can love others with the same all-consuming love. In a world that continues to seek retribution and to fan the flames of hatred, such love is absolutely revolutionary.

The message will not be written on banners or placards, but shall be etched upon the tablets of our hearts. When God pours forth His Spirit upon us, we will not burn the cities of man, but will be consumed by the fire of divine love.

I will close with a few words of Pope Francis, spoken at the prayer vigil in Krakow: “This is no time for denouncing anyone or fighting. We do not want to tear down, we do not want to give insult. We have no desire to conquer hatred with more hatred, violence with more violence, terror with more terror. We are here today because the Lord has called us together. Our response to a world at war has a name: its name is fraternity, its name is brotherhood, its name is communion, and its name is family... Let our best word, our best argument, be our unity in prayer.”

--Father Jerome Machar, OSCO

Self-Made Man? No Way!

You may recall the words spoken by the Prophet Micah that echo sentiments from Ezekiel: “He has shown you, O man, what is good, and what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God” (Mic. 6:8).

These words are hard to take, living in as society that stresses self-realization and self-assertion.

Only if we acknowledge ourselves as sinners in need of God’s mercy can we begin to live a life of mercy and humility in the presence of the Holy One who created us.

When we are reduced to our littleness can we find the freedom we need to think, to pray and to meditate. When I acknowledge that of myself, I am nothing, then I can allow God to be everything.

It is so tempting to identify ourselves with what we have accomplished and to forget that there is nothing we have that we have not received from the hand of God. I wonder if Saint Paul had this in mind when wrote the church in Corinth: “What makes you makes you superior to anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though it were not a gift?” (1 Cor. 4:7)

My brothers and sisters, we are not self-made!

God made us and empowered us to work for His greater glory. We have no reason to be cocky and self-sufficient. All we have, all we do that is good, has been made possible by the grace of God working in us.

God who is the same yesterday, today and forever will provide for our needs and merely asks us to depend on Him and not on ourselves. All we need to do is reach out our empty hands and find the breadth of life.

Jesus promised the apostles that when He returns at the end of time, He will make all things new.

Only those who are willing to forsake the old things will find entrance into the New and Heavenly Jerusalem.

May God give us faith to rest our hope on His promise. Embracing the Master who emptied himself of all glory to redeem us, may we be ready to become poor with the poor Christ. Hearing the voice of the Father may we be ready for every service and sacrifice. He will guide us as we journey home and shine His light on our path. Blessed be God who is ready to give everlasting life to the humble of heart.

--Father Jerome Macher, OSCO

Prayer for Good Humor by Saint Thomas More

Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says,
‘Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion,
   as on the day of testing in the wilderness,
where your ancestors put me to the test,
   though they had seen my works for forty years.
Therefore I was angry with that generation,
and I said, “They always go astray in their hearts,
   and they have not known my ways.”
As in my anger I swore,
   “They will not enter my rest.” ’
Take care, brothers and sisters, that none of you may have an evil, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called ‘today’, so that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partners of Christ, if only we hold our first confidence firm to the end. (Hebrews 3: 7-14)

Prayer for Good Humor, Available from the CFP Holy Angels Gift Shop

            Now that the holidays are over, what excuse do we have for all the hustle and bustle of our lives? What distractions have replaced those of holiday preparation? The author of the letter to the Hebrews seems to be writing to people who have 'tuned out,' or who hear but don't listen. It seems that when the hearing is impaired, the heart tends to grow hard towards God and others. We need to surrender to the movements of grace and open ourselves to the needs of those we encounter along the way. 

Listening demands an act of the will. We need to cut through the chaos and chatter of the world and strive to enter the solitude of our hearts. There, in that secret space, to listen for the voice that speaks in hushed silence. There with our defenses down our hearts can respond to the movements of love. Taking the words of the author of the letter to the Hebrews to heart, let us strive to be present to the One Who is Ever-present and listen to His voice. I will close with the prayer of St. Thomas More that Pope Francis alluded to in his speech to the members of the Curia 

Prayer for Good Humor by St. Thomas More  Grant me, O Lord, good digestion, and also something to digest.  Grant me a healthy body, and the necessary good humor to maintain it.  Grant me a simple soul that knows to treasure all that is good  and that doesn’t frighten easily at the sight of evil,  but rather finds the means to put things back in their place.  Give me a soul that knows not boredom, grumblings, sighs and laments,  nor excess of stress, because of that obstructing thing called “I.”  Grant me, O Lord, a sense of good humor.  Allow me the grace to be able to take a joke to discover in life a bit of joy,  and to be able to share it with others. 

This Prayer is available from the Confraternity of Penitents Holy Angels Gift Shop on this link.

God's Grace Comes on the World through Suffering

As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things. ³⁵When it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, ‘This is a deserted place, and the hour is now very late; ³⁶send them away so that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy something for themselves to eat.’ ³⁷But he answered them, ‘You give them something to eat.’ They said to him, ‘Are we to go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread, and give it to them to eat?’ ³⁸And he said to them, ‘How many loaves have you? Go and see.’ When they had found out, they said, ‘Five, and two fish.’ ³⁹Then he ordered them to get all the people to sit down in groups on the green grass. ⁴⁰So they sat down in groups of hundreds and of fifties. ⁴¹Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and he divided the two fish among them all. ⁴²And all ate and were filled; ⁴³and they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. ⁴⁴Those who had eaten the loaves numbered five thousand men. (Mark 6: 34-44)

I cannot imagine anything more unsatisfying than bread and fish. But these people were satisfied by the bread and fish that they received. 

The message of this Gospel passage is that we need to take what we have and then know and trust that what we have is enough to satisfy God’s people. We think of the banquets served by wealthy kings or government leaders or people who live in huge mansions. Those banquets may fill us up, but the Lord satisfies us with as little as loaves and fishes as long as bring it to him first. What God gives us may not be satisfying in the eyes of the world, but it is satisfying in the eyes of God because it is given in his grace. There is not only enough for ourselves, but God gives us enough to feed the people of God and to satisfy the deepest longings of one’s heart with Christ. 

Caring for others is our job. Jesus said, “You give them something to eat.” Now I am not good at guarding my expressions. People say that you can read me like a book. So you can imagine what my eyes would have been like, what my facial expression would have been like, if I heard Jesus say to me, in front of all of these hungry people, “You give them something to eat.” How was I going to feed them? 

Nevertheless, God wants us to feed others and not look for Him to do everything. It is our job, our task to feed others and not wait for God to rend open the sky and come down and do it for us. It is our job. “You give them something to eat.” God provides us with the means to feed others. 

Think about the penitential lifestyle you are living. Just by living the way you do, the world takes notice and grace is given. Or maybe your penances are so hidden that most people have no clue that you are doing them. But God knows the voluntary penances you are undertaking out of love for Him.

The world need deeply needs grace, and how do we get grace? Through suffering. People are longing for fullness, but they do not understand the value of suffering. Suffering seems to the world to be as unappetizing as bread and fish, but that is suffering in a worldly view. Maybe the crowd did not even understand what had happened or how the bread and fish were multiplied. The world may not know about your penances, but does it matter? You should still rejoice because grace is coming to the world through those penances, through what the world would consider sufferings like fasting and abstinence and all those prayers and that weeding out of your clothing. Little penances that bring grace into this world. God will satisfy His people through this grace.” You give them something to eat” means to offer up your penances for the world so that they will not only help you to grow in grace but so that they will also bring God’s grace down upon others. It is God’s grace that satisfies more than any bread or fish or any other food.

--Father Jacob Meyer, CFP Visitor

Extending Mercy to Sinners

   Saint Paul reminds the members of the church of Ephesus that they have reason to rejoice. Even while they were trapped in their sinful ways, God called them to fullness of life in Christ. This calling is the greatest gift anyone could hope for. It is offered to each of us even before we ask for it. If we cling to Christ we shall never be miserable, but if we separate ourselves from Him, we shall never know true peace. God chose us in Christ to be holy and fully alive in the Spirit before the foundations of the world were made. We were predestined to be adopted children of God through the blood of Christ and the in-dwelling of the Holy Spirit. Because the world has been lulled into insensitivity and driven to the brink of self-destruction, we are obliged declare loudly and clearly the good news of salvation. 

            Because God has shown gracious mercy to us, we can extend mercy to those we meet, offering them a way out of the hell that their habitual sin has created. Through the sacrificial love of the Son, God does not encourage sin, neither does He glibly excuse it away. However, He does conquer the power of sin over us and shows us the path to conversion and holiness. Pope Francis put it this way:  “Frequently, we act as arbiters of grace rather than its facilitators.  But the Church is not a tollhouse; it is the house of the Father, where there is a place for everyone, with all their problems.”  (The Joy of the Gospel, # 47)  

            I do not want to deny the reality of sin. Neither do I wish to ignore the moral teaching of the Church. However, some of us strive so hard to right the wrongs of sin that we forget to show compassion and mercy for sinners. As we seek to proclaim the Good News we must always remember that He who was sinless took to himself our condemnation as sinners so that we might live in the holiness of grace. Through baptism into Christ all people have been given a share of the blessings Christ won for us by His Paschal Sacrifice. These graces are the fruit of a love that allowed the beloved Son to die so that sinful sons and daughters might live. 

         Here’s the rub. In order to share in the spiritual blessings of the kingdom, we must take responsibility for and confess our sins. In his first epistle, Saint John wrote: “If we acknowledge our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from every wrongdoing. If we say, ‘We have not sinned,’ we make Him a liar and His Word is not in us” (1 Jn. 1: 9-10). We need to examine our hearts and then humbly ask that they be recreated. God is the author and giver of all blessings, but He can only forgive those who repent of their sins and choose to live in the fullness of grace in Christ. We are invited to make Christ the source and summit of our lives.  

Through faith we come to believe that God makes forgiveness and grace available to everyone. Through faith we surrender ourselves to the love and will of God who alone can make us whole. We rejoice because Christ has conquered sin and death and freed us from our bondage. To conclude, I would like to read a prayer that Bill Wilson was inspired to include in the Big Book. 

The Third Step Prayer 

God, I offer myself to You-  To build with me  and to do with me as You wilt.  Relieve me of the bondage of self,  that I may better do Your will.  Take away my difficulties,  that victory over them may bear witness  to those I would help of Your Power,  Your Love, and Your Way of life.  May I do Your will always! 

Fr. Jerome Machar, OSCO

The Read to Holiness Is Always Under Construction: Thoughts on Ash Wednesday

But when you fast,

anoint your head and wash your face,
so that you may not appear to be fasting,
except to your Father who is hidden.
And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you.” (Matthew 6: 17-18)

  

I’ve always wondered why the Church uses this reading on Ash Wednesday. Here is the reading, telling us to wash our faces and anoint our heads, and we hear this right before we receive ashes on our foreheads and then go out into the world to be a witness to other people. Here we are, making a big public statement that we are holy Christians who have gone to Mass and receive our ashes on Ash Wednesday. This seems to be in contradiction to the Gospel reading from Matthew.

But there is no contradiction. The ashes are not to be a boast as if to say, “Look, everyone, I got my ashes!” or to say, “Look how holy I am. I’ve been to Mass.” The ashes are to make us look at the intent of the heart.

The Lord asks us for acts of penance as a way of responding to the call to conversion. The ashes are for us to acknowledge the fact that we are made of dust and unto dust we shall return. When signing us with the ashes, the priest may say, “Remember, man, that you are dust and unto dust you shall return.” By my sins, I should certainly be turning back to dust, but the Lord has come to me and will deliver me.

In Scripture, sinners put ashes and dirt on their heads to show that they were repentant of their sins. This was a popular way of proclaiming conversion. “Turn from your sins and believe in the Gospel” is another phrase that a priest may say when placing the ashes on someone’s forehead. Receiving the ashes is a proclamation that we will begin again, that we will start anew, that we will press forward in our conversion. I wear the ashes because, although I deserve death, I am delivered from death by the Lord.

The Church tells us to repent and turn back to God and to believe in the Gospel. Don’t we already believe in the Gospel? If we didn’t believe, would we be at Mass receiving ashes on Ash Wednesday? Our belief in the Gospel does not lead us to a full embracing of the Gospel. If we fully embraced the Gospel, we would be in heaven! Venerable Solanus Casey was often praised for his goodness and even called holy to his face. To these remarks he would say, “Pray for my conversion.” Yes, we believe in the Gospel, but we need a deeper belief. A holy priest is fond of saying, “The road to holiness is always under construction.” So much construction needs to be done. We get in God’s way and He has to clear the path to call us to a deeper conversion.

We have to allow the life of the Gospel to really flow in our lives. Our lives are sometimes like a flooded river that is choked with uprooted trees, branches, and debris. The river drags all of this junk downstream and then it hits a snag on the banks and everything backs up. The debris chokes the flow of the river and blocks it from moving forward. This natural dam needs to be removed in order to release the flow of the river and allow the water to move freely. We must be freed of the junk in our lives so that the grace of God can flow more freely.

God always challenges us to go deeper, to seek deeper. We need a good examination of conscience every day. We need to look deeper into our hearts and explore the seven deadly sins in our lives. Which one needs to be addressed first and conquered? Which sin is blocking the flow of God’s grace in my life? How does it express itself in my life? How can I remove this sin? What is God asking me to do in response to my sin? What corporal or spiritual work of mercy will help me to overcome this major sin in my life?

For example, is sloth blocking my generosity, masquerading as selfishness? Am I unwilling to go out of my way to help someone else? If sloth is blocking the growth of the fruit of generosity, I can overcome that sin by doing spiritual and corporal works of mercy for someone.

What fruits of the Holy Spirit am I lacking in my life? What is blocking the development of those?

Lent is not just about giving up this or that, but by doing it with an eye toward maturing in the grace of God and embracing the Gospel more fully. May God give us the grace to enter Lent t with a desire for true holiness so that by Easter the sin that has blocked God’s mercy and grace in our lives has been removed and we are finally freed to experience God’s blessing.

--Transcribed as best as possible from the Ash Wednesday homily of Father David Engo, Franciscan Brothers Minor