Monday Musings
(If God used Balaam’s donkey to get that prophet’s attention, I guess he can use me to get yours. May these periodic Monday Musings generate fruitful discussion and faithful change.)
The "New Evangelization" Must Begin With Us and In Our Homes
This letter might be a good place for the conversation to begin or to start anew:
For far too much time now, God
has put it in my heart that I should write this letter. I kept putting it off - that has become my
specialty. Not a good thing to do.
Fortunately, our God is patient and
persistent. Even I can eventually catch on
and do what He asks! There is much that
I have to share, but today I will be brief (maybe not quite as you would like) and
to the point.
Ready? I love you! I hope this is not startling news
to any of you. But I may never have clearly
told you why. It is simple - because God
loved you enough to create you in His image and then to give each of you to me
to love, cherish, teach and return to Him.
Just as we can reject Him, each of you could have easily rejected me. But none of you did. Each of you has chosen to love me – warts and
all, good and bad – even at times when you may have had legitimate questions as
to why you should. No words can ever
adequately express the enormity of what the gift of your love means to me. You
see - each of you have loved me in the very same way that God loves you.
Life here on this earth is but a
temporary journey during which we have many questions. The trials and struggles of our daily
existence can sometimes weigh us down so heavily that we become despondent and
wonder why our heavenly Father allows us to struggle so or permits such evil in
this world. Just as you have on occasion
not understood what or why I may have asked you to do or not do something, it
is okay to have the same feeling about God.
Talk to Him! Ask Him for answers to the questions and concerns you find most troubling and upsetting. There are answers He will give you if you will humble yourself to ask them and if you are willing to put aside your opinion until after you have read authentic explanations of what He actually teaches and why, not what others mistakenly say He taught.
I certainly do not know
everything (despite persistent vicious rumors to the contrary). No one does. I believe God has allowed me to stay here
among you so that I might finish the job He gave me and either accurately
answer your questions on His behalf or refer you directly to someone or some
resource that will honestly and reliably do so.
There is no other human being on
earth that loves you more than I. At times I
will disappoint you, but I will never ever mislead you about what God expects
of us. I am not asking you to blindly accept everything that I tell you. But I pray that your love for me will cause
you to give thoughtful consideration to, and not lightly dismiss, what advice I
may be moved to share with you from time to time. Too many times, I have been
afraid and cowardly to do so. Such fear
and cowardice is offensive to God and deprives you of what an earthly husband
and father must provide to those he loves.
If I am to be at spiritual peace here and with Him at the end of this
life, I must cast aside that fear.
Please never become upset with me
when I share with you what is in my heart. I have no choice. God requires me to do so, even though there
will be times when what I have to say may initially make you feel
uncomfortable. I am not judging you. I
am simply loving you by obeying Him and sharing His Truth. Ultimately, you
remain free to accept or reject that advice, just as you are free to respond or
reject the graces that God offers you each day.
I will never love you any less than I do now. With God’s grace I will love you more and
more each day. But you honor Him and me
when you love us enough to thoughtfully think about what we share – since all
that you and I do or fail to do here on this earth has eternal consequences.
On the same token, you must continue to persistently (but
lovingly) point out the many times that my actions are inconsistent with what I
profess to believe or what I have tried to pass on to you as the Truth. Since Blessed John Paul II felt it necessary to
go to confession every day, I suspect that you will have many, many opportunities
to help me out in that regard. If we love each other in this way, God will lead
each of us to Him, we will find satisfaction in our earthly lives, and we will
be together eternally - and isn’t that what this life is really all about?
More than four
years ago in a time of crisis and uncertainty,
you let me know how much you loved
me. Your
words profoundly touched my
heart then and continue to
remind me today how
immensely God has blessed me.
Let me love
you as I ought and for however long I will
be here with you. But keep me and all whom
you love
honest.
Please do me and
yourselves another favor. Every now
and
then, reflect on the following Truths:
“God
made you.”
“He
loves you.”
“God
wishes to spend eternity with you.”
"Until then, He desires to physically unite Himself with you now, every time you receive Him,
Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity, in Holy Communion."
“You must live your life for Him.”
“You can not do anything of eternal value by yourself! You need Him
and His graces.”
One more thing
- Would you begin each day with at least this little prayer:
“Lord, help me to live and love like You.”
Offered with all the love
an imperfect man can muster.
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