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Speak Over Doubt

22/5/2020

A Reflection on the Gospel for May 24th, 2020:
The Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord

Matthew 28.16-20

The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted.

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Pause. Pray.

And then read more...

Doubt is used as a verb to describe both feeling uncertain and to be afraid. Uncertainty and fear. For many, including myself, this is a season of doubt. With so many unknowns in our world right now, it can be so easy to fall into a pattern of unsureness, having doubt in oneself and maybe even doubt in God. Experiencing doubt often leaves you feeling indecisive, pessimistic, and without motivation. I often find myself feeling guilty for my doubt. Being consumed by uncertainty can produce sentiments of feeling “stuck” that may reach all corners of your life. God certainly does not desire these feelings for us. Our loving Father wants nothing more than for us to thrive in sureness and joy. But, fortunately for us, He is also an understanding Father. He knows that doubt is a normal human emotion and He does not condemn us for it.

In fact, during one of the most important messages that Jesus gave, He surrounded Himself with doubters. This Sunday’s gospel, The Great Commission, is for everyone. Jesus invites all people to receive His message. Although it is okay to have doubts, it is important to know that we are still called by the Lord to live out His purpose for us each day. No matter where you are in your faith, you should always share your faith with others. Never let the shame of your doubts get in the way of loving others as the Lord would. Each and every person's testimony is valuable and impactful, whether they have doubts or not. Jesus does not simply call the most faithful and most convicted, but He calls every single one of us into His mission.

Doubt should not silence us. Rather, it should be used to exemplify that every person can have a relationship with God, as He is with us always. Your voice always has power when you use it for the Lord. And in turn, practicing sharing with others will only strengthen your faith. Gathering together is so important. In times of doubt, I find myself wary of gathering with others or to share my faith. But, these experiences only end up reinforcing my love for God, and the knowledge that He loves me too. As Church, we can be so instrumental in helping to strengthen each other's faith by experiencing those times of worshipping together and sharing, despite our faults and doubts (everyone has them!).

Let us pray that we may have the courage to overcome our doubts, and that we not refrain from sharing God’s goodness while we maneuver our way through uncertainty. Amen.

Megan Noye

Photo by Philippine FITAMANT on Unsplash

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Finding Margalo

21/5/2020

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A Reflection on the Second Reading for May 24th, 2020:
The Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord

Ephesians 1.17-23

Brothers and sisters: I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power.

God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come.

And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the Church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

Pause. Pray.

And then read more...

I just finished reading E. B. White’s Stuart Little with my children.

Stuart Little’s connotations have fascinated and evaded the adult mind for decades. At the time of its writing, critics called it bizarre and questionable literature for children. Now, for many a book study, Stuart is thought to be a metaphor for the reality that often pervades our human desire for the ideal.

Stuart, a young mouse (is he really a mouse?!?), arrives at the home of his human family and makes the best of his size and circumstances, despite his “mousey” limitations. He meets Margalo the bird, and loves her deeply. Faced with danger, Margalo migrates without notice. Stuart is heartbroken and embarks on a never-ending journey to find her.

We are left wondering, but I would argue, whether or not he finds her is irrelevant. She invokes deeply in Stuart that which is unattainable — the satisfaction of pure, unfettered, relational love. Unfulfilled and wanting, Stuart awkwardly navigates his delusive wandering. Along the way, he wavers between finding Margalo and finding a substitute to replace her. Both are subjects of misplaced hope.

There is a Margalo equivalent for each of us.

I hope isolation is over soon. I hope I find someone to marry. I hope the church is renewed. I hope I can beat cancer. I hope my kids turn out okay...

… I hope I find Margalo.

“Day by day, man experiences many greater or lesser hopes that keep us going. But these are not enough without the great hope, which must surpass everything else. This great hope can only be God, who encompasses the whole of reality and who can bestow upon us what we, by ourselves, cannot attain.” Pope Benedict XVI, Spe Salvi, 31.

We need greater and lesser hopes to help us move forward in life. Yet even if these hopes are fulfilled, reality will inevitably show us they are not the whole ideal we desire. In Ephesians, Paul’s prayer is that we “may know what is the hope to which he has called” us. What follows is a description of this glorious inheritance, this blessed assurance of God’s immeasurable greatness and power for we who believe. It is the power of God that anticipates our final satisfaction with Him in Heaven, and it is attainable and possible through Jesus Christ.

True hope is virtue and gift. It puts smaller hopes in their proper place. It re-orients the heart and mind to the pure, unfettered, relational love God wants to pour into us for eternity.

Let us pray:
God, regardless of my circumstances, sustain me with your Greatest Hope. You have promised me glorious inheritance. Only You can satisfy.

Michelynne Gomez

Photo by Katerina Kerdi on Unsplash

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Clap Your Hands

20/5/2020

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A Reflection on the Psalm for May 24th, 2020:
The Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord

Psalm 47

R. God has gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet.

Clap your hands, all you peoples; shout to God with loud songs of joy. For the Lord, the Most High, is awesome, a great king over all the earth.

R. God has gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet.

God has gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet. Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises.

R. God has gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet.

For God is the king of all the earth; sing praises with a Psalm. God is king over the nations; God sits on his holy throne.

R. God has gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet.

Pause. Pray.

And then read more...

"Clap your hands all you peoples" (Psalm 47:1)

When I think about clapping my hands, I immediately think about joy. I clap when someone has done or said something that excites me: my child has taken his first step or my friend got a job that she really needed. Or maybe I strongly agree with what I am seeing or hearing, like when the speaker at a conference says something that resonates with me. Sometimes it’s a natural instinct, and most times the clapping of hands is accompanied by a smile, an expression of great joy.

There are also times when I clap my hands just because everyone else is clapping. Sometimes clapping can even annoy me, especially when it goes on too long. If I strongly disagree with something, I sit with my arms folded and refuse to clap. Clapping, or lack thereof, has the power to convey strong emotion.

“Clap your hands all you peoples:
Shout to God with loud songs of joy.
For the Lord, the Most High, is awesome... ” (Psalm 47:1-2)

The emotion that the psalmist is trying to convey here is the awe-struck feeling we can have in God’s presence. “Sing praises with a psalm”, he says, “God is King over the nations.” (Psalm 47:7-8)

This is a good reason to clap my hands. It’s a good reason to shout for joy.

This Sunday is the feast of the Ascension of the Lord, the day we celebrate that, “Jesus Christ, the head of the Church, precedes us into the Father's glorious kingdom so that we, the members of his Body, may live in the hope of one day being with him forever.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church 666)

This is also a good reason to clap my hands. In fact there are so many good reasons I should be constantly clapping!

So why aren’t I? If I’m honest, I’d say that sometimes it’s easy to get caught up in the day to day routine of my life and forget all the reasons I have to be joyful. It’s easy to grow complacent and forget what my life was like before I took a radical step towards Jesus. It’s easy to take God’s promises for granted. It’s easy just to sit with my arms folded.

My prayer today is that we can remember all the good things that God has done for us. I pray that as we go about our day we will be awestruck by all the blessings we have been given. I pray that we will have many reasons to clap our hands today and that we won’t be afraid to do just that.

Maxine Brown

Photo by Jen Theodore on Unsplash

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Actively Awaiting

19/5/2020

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A Reflection on the First Reading for May 24th, 2020:
The Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord

Acts 1.1-11

In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning until the day when he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the Apostles whom he had chosen. After his suffering he presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.

While staying with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. “This,” he said, “is what you have heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” He replied, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

Pause. Pray.

And then read more...

"... wait there for the promise of the Father."

Wait. To be on guard, to anticipate, to watch patiently. Awake, attentive, and lively. I am tragically impatient, prone to distraction — yet I am asked to remain, focused. I want to rush ahead, to make assumptions, to fill in the blanks and lift the veil off the unknown. It is uncomfortable, but I am listening.

There. In a location, in space and time. Maybe where I perceive chaos and uncertainty. Where my trust is tested.

For. There is a purpose to my waiting. A great reason for the order, and something to look forward to.

The. One, certain thing.

Promise. The declaration, assurance, pledge of some good. Something that will certainly be done or kept. Grounds for hope.

Of. The relationship between the part (promise) and the whole.

The. One particular person.

Father. God the Father, who created me in love and for love. The Father who keeps His promises, who is trustworthy. My protector, deliverer, and the One who knows me intimately and completely.

Christ repeats these words to us today, because the Father’s promise is not only for the first apostles. We too are called to wait, now and at many moments throughout our lives, for the Holy Spirit. He himself is the Promise and He will come and move in powerful ways.

We may think we are familiar with waiting now, amid this pandemic. Waiting for restrictions to be lifted, stores to reopen, jobs to be restored, for things to go “back to normal”. But I find myself asking God, how do you want me to wait? I have the sense that the waiting He invites me to is active, not passive, and that the Person I am waiting for does not want me to live a normal life. Even in this turbulent time, perhaps especially now, He prepares a gift for us and desires to move in the hiddenness of our hearts. We may not know how He will do it yet, but we do have a “when”. The Feast of Pentecost is fast approaching, and two Sundays from now God promises to refresh and renew the Church again. In the rest of this month of May, let us ask the Father to prepare our hearts for His promise and for us to receive the Holy Spirit – taking Mary as our model in this her month.

Our Lady of Perpetual Help, please teach us to receive and intercede for us as we wait.

Kendra L.

Photo by Joanna Kosinska on Unsplash

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Speak Over Doubt

A Reflection on the Gospel for May 24th, 2020:The Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord

Finding Margalo

A Reflection on the Second Reading for May 24th, 2020:The Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord

Clap Your Hands

A Reflection on the Psalm for May 24th, 2020:The Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord

Actively Awaiting

A Reflection on the First Reading for May 24th, 2020:The Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord

Archives

A Reflection on the Gospel for May 24th, 2020:
The Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord

A Reflection on the Second Reading for May 24th, 2020:
The Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord

A Reflection on the Psalm for May 24th, 2020:
The Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord

A Reflection on the First Reading for May 24th, 2020:
The Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord