God is right here, right now

"Beloved, if God so loved us, we also must love one another. No one has ever seen God. Yet, if we love one another, God remains in us and his love is brought to perfection in us."

1 John 4:7

The love we see manifest in the world is actually the love of God. When people do good things, that is God's love. When people forgive and welcome each other back, that is God's love. When strangers comfort each other, that is God's love. When people share what they have with those who have less, that is God's love. When people rally around and help each other build a barn or clean up from a storm or put on a funeral luncheon, that is God's love. God isn't so mysterious and far away if we humans act with love in our daily doings. The love we muster up and share is really God in action in our world. God isn't far away...God is right here! And we can see God if we just look for the good. Love, heidi

The daily epiphanies

"An epiphany is any moment in time that leads us to a new insight about life in general."

Sr. Joan Chittister, "The Psalms"

So, The Epiphany is over, but An Epiphany can happen to us any day of the year, maybe even multiple times per day. During the visit of the Wise Men, we see smart people seeking something greater. We see grown men humbled before an infant. We see people giving gifts to someone they do not know personally, but somehow, admire. These can all be elements of our own little epiphanies, too. We are gifted with intelligence and education...and yet, we know, deep down, we don't have all the answers. We seek what we do not know or may never fully understand. We KNOW there is stuff we don't know and we seek the answers. We grownups instinctively are drawn to the beauty and innocence of a newborn baby. If there is one thing that can melt our hearts, it is the magnificence of new life. And, finally, deep inside, we have the desire to give and make others happy. This Christmas I found such a special joy in giving a small gift to someone I barely know...the young woman I see everyday at my favorite coffee stop. It was so fun to surprise her with a tiny token of my appreciation for her friendliness each day. So, our daily epiphanies mirror the great Epiphany of the Wise Men in Bethlehem. May we always continue to seek what we do not know, what we recognize is so much greater than us! Love, heidi

Gifts that really give...

"They were overjoyed at seeing the star, and on entering the house they saw the child with Mary his mother..."

Matthew 2:10-11

There are so many beautiful, symbolic elements to the Epiphany story of yesterday's Gospel. Mainly, there are the seekers, the star, the gifts. I remember hearing a homily many years ago from Fr. Mike, when he said that at different times in our lives, we are the seekers and at other times, we are the star. At times we are the ones searching, and, at other times we may guide others to Jesus. Last night's homily talked about what gifts we could possibly give to the Christ Child and that was definitely worth pondering. What can we possibly give to God? The greatest gift we can give to God, and the gift that keeps on giving, of course, is our love. And how do we demonstrate that love for God to God? By our love for others. And how do we demonstrate that? Can we stop a gossipy or snarky comment from actually coming out of our mouths? Can we share the abundance of what we have with those who have little? Can we think of the other guy and what he or she may be going through before snapping to judgment? Can we think kindly of those who may irritate us? Let's think of all of these actions as little gifts, tied up with ribbons and presented to the Infant Jesus. O Come let us adore him, and give him our gifts of being kind to others! Love, heidi

A happy January thought...

"The Father of Jesus is very fond of me."

Brennan Manning, "Reflections for Ragamuffins"

In today's reflection, Brennan Manning tells the story of a priest who goes to Ireland to help an elderly uncle celebrate his eightieth birthday. They take a walk together and watch a beautiful sunrise. His uncle is smiling and the priest asks him why. He responds, "The Father of Jesus is very fond of me." Truer words have never been spoken. Our spirituality can get so complicated! We seem to have to muddle everything in our own heads and make it ten times harder than it really is. Why is that? Does complicating things make them more valid? More impressive? I think if we could spend some time just contemplating the fact that "The Father of Jesus" is so incredibly fond of us, we could simplify things greatly and be able to just bask in God's love instead of trying to earn it, figure it out or justify our own worthiness of it. This frosty January dawn, I am sitting here reveling in this indisputable fact: The Father of Jesus is very fond of me. And you. And isn't that grand? Love, heidi

Child of God

"See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God. Yet so we are."

1 John 3:1

It may be hard for us to grasp the concept of being a child of God. At our New Year's Day mass, the second reading was Galatians 4:4-7 and verse 7 states, "For you are are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son then also an heir..." So our being a child of God gives us an inheritance, not of money or property, but of life! It surely helps us to wrap our heads around being a child of God if we grew up in a loving, nurturing family. I've said before that my parents were a wonderful combination of loving indulgence and kind, yet firm, discipline. That showed me how being a child of God can give me a good, solid foundation in the world. In today's Living Faith reflection on this reading, Sr. Melannie Svoboda gives a wonderful image of how we can realize the "familyship" of all of us in the family of God. She went to a family reunion that was so large everyone wore name-tags describing their particular branch of the family! She suggested we all have a name-tag that states we are a "child of God." I love the idea of us all going around with name-tags that say simply, "Hello! I am a child of God." Today, we may encounter someone difficult. Let's imagine their name-tag and the fact that they are, too, a "child of God!" Love, heidi

An attitude of gratitude

"Fans, for the past two weeks you have been reading about the bad break I got. Yet today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth. I have been in ballparks for seventeen years and have never received anything but kindness and encouragement from you fans."

Lou Gehrig, Yankee Stadium, July 4, 1939

 

Did you make any New Year's resolutions this year? I usually don't get caught up in those really, but I watched a couple of episodes of Ken Burns' documentary, "Baseball," and one absolutely hit me between the eyes. I need to be more grateful. Instead of concentrating on the things that may be missing, I need to be grateful for what is here. The glass is half full, not half empty! It is way too easy to get wrapped around the problems, tragedies, bad stuff and not take enough time to appreciate the good and glorious. So, this brand, new year, I am taking a page out of Lou Gehrig's playbook. I am amazingly blessed with everything I could possibly need in this life! Amen! Alleluia! Love, heidi