“He was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole family.” (Acts 16:34)

Long term joy is a precious gift.  There are many things that give us joy for the moment like watching our children win a sporting event, getting a salary increase or promotion in our work or having a get-away weekend with our spouse.  But long-term joy is a gift from God and usually involves a decision to believe in God and seek a relationship with him and his son, Jesus Christ. 

Many years ago, some nuns prayed over me in Briar Cliff Manor, New York to experience the release of the power of the Holy Spirit in my life.  While I had been a practicing Catholic and knew about God, I’m not sure I had experienced having a personal relationship with him.  As a result of those prayers, I felt like I was experiencing the presence of God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit in a way I had never experienced before.  I was bursting with Joy!  Not even driving home in a blinding snowstorm on the hilly roads of upper Westchester County, New York, could deter my joy. 

The above verse describes what happened to a jailer after an earthquake had thrown open the gates of the jail in which Paul and Silas had been imprisoned.  The jailer was about to kill himself, thinking the prisoners had escaped.  Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself!  We are all here.”  The jailer asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”  Paul replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved – you and your household.”  (Acts 16:16-40)

The jailer may have been thinking primarily about his physical life, but Paul was thinking  not only about his physical life but his soul as well – his and his family.  Jesus told us in John’s gospel that if we invited him into our lives to have a relationship with him, his joy would be in us and our joy would be complete. (John 15:11)

Have you invited Jesus to have a relationship with you so you can experience lasting joy?

“For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.” Romans 10:10

The heart that St. Paul is referring to is not our physical heart, but a non-physical aspect of our being related more to our spirit and what makes us the person we are.  Are we patient, kind, loving and other-focused, or are we self-focused, easily angered, with little regard for others. 

As St. Paul notes, faith comes from the heart.  While God also creates us with an intellect that can impact our choices, it is the heart that leads us to God.  “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength.” (Duet. 6:5) There are seventy-seven references to the heart in the concordance of the New International Version of the Bible, and none of them are referring to our physical heart.

Our intellect can help us learn about God, but it is the heart from which we believe in God and act on that belief. 

One evening as I was driving to a meeting I came upon a man who was just hit by a pickup truck as he was pushing a grocery cart across the street.  I immediately pulled into an adjacent parking lot and ran over to him. He asked me if he was going to die.  Without pondering my response, I said, “No, you are not going to die.” 

I put my hand on his shoulder and started praying with him as a crowd began to gather.  The ambulance crew arrived and put him on a stretcher board to take him to a nearby hospital.  Since I didn’t know his name, I was never able to learn whether he lived or died.

In later reflecting on the moment, I wondered whether I should have told him he wasn’t going to die, since I didn’t know the nature of his injuries.  But then I came to realize that I was God’s delegate that evening, the first person on the scene.  My heart prompted me to run to him, respond to his question, and encourage and pray with him.  While I have ignored my heart on occasion, fortunately this evening I listened to it. 

Do you respond to your heart when it prompts you to act?

“I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be hindered.  I have dealt with great things that I do not understand; things too wonderful for me, which I cannot know.” Job: 42:2-3 

Who can know the mind of God?  Job is responding to God’s description of his ways that Job cannot understand in his suffering.

Some of the suffering that people experience is the result of their own choices, but sometimes people endure suffering like Job when their actions have not been the cause.  We look for explanations, but none are forthcoming other than we should trust in God.  We read about the saints of past centuries dealing with the same question.  Their response seems to be similar – trust in the omnipotence of God. 

When I was diagnosed with an advanced and aggressive form of prostate cancer, my wife read about Israel’s King Hezekiah who became ill to the point of death as he prayed for healing.  The Lord’s response was that “I will add fifteen years to your life.” (2 Kings 20:1-11) After surgery, hormone therapy, and radiation for recurrence a few years ago, it has now been 19 years since my initial treatment.  Thank you, Lord!

We praise you Lord, for the blessings and challenges in our lives, even though we don’t always know the “why?” 

Do you argue with God about the challenges in your life or trust in him?

“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land.” (Matthew 5:5)

Meekness is one of those words that is often misunderstood.  While a common understanding of the word may suggest weakness and lack of courage, Jesus’ use of the word in the Beatitudes is exactly the opposite.  He looks at meekness as inner strength in the face of adversity; not showing anger or discouragement when criticized. 

Jacques Philleppe in his book, The Eight Doors to the Kingdom, describes meekness as a divine quality, an attribute of the Holy Spirit’s action in us.  It is an inner strength that resists anger and passion.  It is being kind, tender and benevolent; remaining peaceful and confident. 

My first instinct to criticism is to be defensive, sometimes reacting with anger and emotion.  I have a good friend who serves on the board of a couple of non-profit organizations who has shown remarkable restraint in his quiet response to what has been unjustified criticism of his actions.  He is reflecting Jesus’ use of the word meekness in the Beatitudes.  He will surely inherit the kingdom of God.  In fact, he is living it in the way he acts. 

How do you react to criticism – with meekness of the Beatitudes or with anger and retaliation?

“Then all the people of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them, because they were overcome with fear.” Luke 8:37)

Jesus had just delivered a man called Legion of many demons in the Gerasene region on the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee.  The man had apparently been possessed by many demons for a long time.  He lived among the tombs and even though he was chained hand and foot and kept under guard, he would break the chains and do harm to himself and those around him.  Jesus cast out the demons and sent them into a herd of pigs that rushed down the hillside into the sea and drowned.

When the people from the town saw what had happened, instead of acting with wonder and praise of Jesus, they reacted with fear and asked him to leave.  Because of the presence of swine, they were not likely Jewish. 

While fear can serve to protect our safety, it is often a stumbling block to experiencing God’s action in our lives or our carrying out his will.  Scripture is full of God encouraging us not to be afraid.  Mary, Joseph, Zachariah, and the shepherds were told not to be afraid when  angels appeared to them.  Jesus said, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.  Trust in God; trust also in me.” (John 14:1)   The first words of St. John Paul II after he was elected pope were “Be not afraid!” 

How often do we let fear get in the way of God’s desire for us – listening to a person needing to share a burden, speaking up in a business meeting against a questionable  practice, praying with a friend for healing of an illness,  lovingly confronting a child for misbehavior, helping an elderly neighbor with a household chore, etc.   

Do you let fear interfere with God’s presence and action in your lives?

“Do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” (Luke 10:20)

Jesus sent out the “seventy-two” ahead of him to heal the sick and proclaim the kingdom of God.  The seventy-two returned rejoicing and exclaimed, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.”  Jesus responded by telling them not to rejoice that spirits submit to them, but that they have a relationship with the Father and him. 

We tend to think in terms of doing and accomplishing rather than having been called by Jesus to be in relationship with him and the Father.  Jesus reminds the seventy-two and us not to rejoice in measuring our accomplishments for him, but rather that we have a relationship with God and him. 

For the last few years, I have been coordinating spiritual renewal programs at our parish involving the Alpha Program and the Rescue Project, both of which have a video series with talks and small group discussion serving to introduce people to the Christian message and to renew their Christian walk.  With each program I had to fight the tendency to dwell on how many people attended and were prayed with to experience the renewal of their faith, rather than just thank the Lord for the opportunity to serve him. 

Like the seventy-two, my tendency was to want to measure the “success” of our efforts rather than just rejoicing in the opportunity to work for the Lord and experience the relationship with him flowing from that work. 

Do you seek to measure the success of your work for the Lord, or are you satisfied with just knowing that you are working for him?   

Do you have trouble starting conversations with people you meet?

In the Gospel of John, Jesus and his disciples are traveling through Samaria and stop by Jacob’s well.  While Jesus waits for the disciples to go into a town to get some food, a Samaritan woman comes to draw water.  Though it was not Jewish custom for a man to speak to a woman in public and Jews did not usually engage with Samaritans, Jesus asks her for a drink and starts a conversation. (John 4:1-42)

The conversation leads to Jesus telling her about her life and that she has had five husbands, and that the man she is living with is not her husband.  She acknowledges that he must be a prophet to know these things, but then says that when the Messiah comes, he will explain everything.  Jesus replies, “I who speak to you am he.” (vs. 26) This is one of the few times in scripture that Jesus acknowledges that he is the “Christ.”

The woman leaves her water jar and goes back to the town and tells people, “Come see a man who told me everything I ever did.  Could this be the Christ?  Many of the Samaritans believed in him because of the women’s testimony.” (vs. 39) 

It appears that Jesus was quite intentional in starting a conversation with the woman that led not only to her conversion, but also many in the town who heard her testimony about Jesus.

How often do we miss opportunities to be or bring the Lord’s presence into a person’s life by not starting a conversation?  Maybe it’s just sharing how God’s presence has impacted our lives in various ways?  Sometimes just mentioning a story will plant a seed that may affect some future belief or action toward the Lord.

“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him, but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.” (1 Co. 2:9-10)

What a beautiful promise from God!

As we celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit this coming Sunday on the Feast of Pentecost, let us reflect on the importance of the Holy Spirit in experiencing the fullness of our Christian faith.  The Bible sets out the benefits of the Holy Spirit in both the Old and New Testaments.

In Isaiah 11, the gifts of wisdom, understanding, counsel, strength, knowledge and fear of the Lord are set forth.  In 1 Corinthians 12, St. Paul mentions wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, mighty deeds, prophesy, discernment of spirits, varieties of tongues and interpretation of tongues.  St. Paul goes on to say that we can have the mind of Christ in living out our lives through these gifts of the Holy Spirit. 

Many years ago, my wife and I were prayed with for the release of the power of the Holy Spirit and these gifts of the Spirit.  Over the years I have experienced many of these gifts in action.  I believe God’s wisdom, understanding and counsel have guided me through several life and career decisions that appear to have borne fruit in my faith life, marriage, and family. 

I have experienced a wife that has loved me for 63 years and I her; seen our four married children raise Christian families; watched a child born with Down syndrome light up a room with her smile and hugs; experienced Christian community through our church and the People of Praise Christian Community; enjoyed meaningful work that provided but did not consume; witnessed physical healing in our family by the laying on hands, and experienced an ongoing relationship with Jesus through daily prayer, scripture, and the sacraments.   

Yes, I am still cable of messing up and still do, but I seek the Lord’s forgiveness which he freely gives.   

As we celebrate the feast of Pentecost, let us remember to seek these gifts of the Holy Spirit.  

“This is my commandment: Love one another as I love you.” (John 15:12)  

In business, athletics and other endeavors in life, we often set goals for ourselves that exceed anything we have done before. Whether they include increased sales or production, running faster and longer, improving our grade point average in school or job performance measures at work, we refer to them as stretch goals.

Jesus set a stretch goal for the disciples and us with the above commandment.

How did Jesus love the disciples?  He called them.  He taught them with his words, stories, and example.  He empowered them and sent them out to serve the needs of others by healing, casting out demons and proclaiming that the kingdom of God had arrived.  And in a crowning illustration of love, he freely laid down his life for them and us to reconcile us to the Father and provide a means to overcome sin, death, and Satan’s hold on creation.

He simplified all the commandments into the love of God and neighbor, and said our neighbor is anyone we encounter, even a stranger as in the parable of the Good Samaritan. 

How do we love as Jesus loves?  The opportunities are endless.  The key principle in most situations is to think of others over ourselves.  Some examples might be letting go of career ambitions for the sake of family; accepting that someone else’s idea is better than ours; letting love rather than judgment be our first response to another’s difficulty; or simply stopping and listening.

A few years ago, I participated in a gathering where we were praying with individuals for physical healing, reconciliation of broken relationships, and other needs.  At one point as I was standing to the side of the room observing all that was happening, the words came into my mind, “It’s all about love.”  People were caring for one another, showing mercy, and humbly and faithfully interceding with God to be and bring his presence to bear on others’ needs.  It was a stretch goal, but that did not deter those who were praying. 

Are you called to stretch in your love for a family member, friend or colleague?