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Belief in More than Ourselves

What are the reasons for your belief or unbelief in God?

On a recent cruise vacation, my wife and I visited the Island of Gozo, part of Malta, where we toured the Ggantija Temples dating back to 3600 BC. This makes them older than the pyramids of Egypt and Stonehenge in England. Eighteen hundred years before Abraham, these ancient ruins reveal the human heart attempting to acknowledge a cause, force, or person larger than itself to explain our existence.

God created us with a desire to seek him. It is part of our DNA. Intuitively, we know that there is something more than ourselves to explain all that we observe in the world in which we live.

The Book of Hebrews captures well what has happened and God’s intention. “In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.” (Heb1:1-3)

God demonstrated his great love for us by becoming one of us in the person of Jesus, in order to bring his presence into the world in a very visible way at a specific time in history. Jesus demonstrated his great love for us by sacrificing his life to free us from the grip of sin and Satan’s power over the world. By the resurrection of Jesus, God confirmed the saving nature and power of that sacrifice.

In contrast to the people of the ancient world, we are blessed to have the benefit of God’s revelation through the prophets, scripture, the words of Jesus and the teaching of the Church over many centuries.

God’s plan for creation is to dwell in us, his human creatures, through his son, Jesus Christ, so that we, with the power of the Holy Spirit, can partner with God in bringing his presence to the people and circumstances of our lives.

God never stops reaching out to us. Like the Father of the prodigal son, he is always waiting to receive us. (Luke 15:11-32) Even when we have turned away from him, he is still seeking us. Like the shepherd who leaves the ninety-nine in search of the one lost sheep, God never stops loving us. (Luke 15:1-11)

We are incomplete without God in our life. No matter the knowledge we have gained, the success we have achieved, the fame we have experienced, the wealth we have accumulated, the friends we have made, we are not complete and will not be satisfied until we ask the God of all creation to dwell in us.

Forgive me, Lord, for my sins and excluding you from the core of my life. Come, dwell in my heart.

“Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near.” (Is. 55:6)

A Surprising Outcome with the Lord’s Prayer

Cut to the Heart

Holding Up Our Leaders

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How do you support people in leadership – bosses, community and government leaders, pastors, etc.?

The Book of Exodus reports that when the Amalekites attacked the Israelites in the desert at Rephidim, Moses stood on top of a hill with his arms raised and the staff of God in his hands. As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but when he lowered his hands the Amalekites gained in the fight. So Aaron and Hur had Moses sit on a rock and they held up his hands until sunset, and the Israelites won the battle. (Exodus 17:8-16)

A number of years ago in my morning prayer time, I found myself praying for my boss who headed up the legal department of the marketing and refining operations for a large international oil company employing several hundred lawyers. He was an exacting boss, but a good person with great integrity.

While praying, I received the thought, “Why are you limiting your prayers just for your direct boss – why not his boss and the entire management team including the CEO and board of directors? Pray for wisdom, integrity and love in how they oversee the operations of the company. Your prayers can impact areas and operations of the company far beyond your immediate responsibilities and sphere of influence.”

At the time, this was a new revelation to me. As Christians in the workplace, we have the opportunity through prayer to impact more than just the confines of our particular job or position. We can intercede for God’s grace to impact even our bosses and the decisions they make. We may not always see the direct results of our prayers, but we should never underestimate the power and influence they bring to the workplace.

Praying for our leaders is a way for us to hold up their hands in the battle they face in doing their jobs with righteousness, integrity and excellence.

All kinds of leaders need our prayers. Pastors and spiritual leaders are in particular need of our prayer support. One of the first statements Pope Francis made after his election as he greeted the throngs in St. Peter’s Square was the request for people to pray for him. He continues to repeat this request to nearly every individual and group he meets.

Governmental leaders also need our prayer support. Their positions make them especially vulnerable to temptations involving pride and corruption. Regardless of my respective politics, I regularly pray for the president’s protection, righteousness, wisdom and humility. Remember the words of Jeremiah to the exiles in Babylon, “Work for the good of the country to which I have exiled you; pray to Yahweh on its behalf, since on its welfare yours depends.” (Jeremiah 29:7 JB)

Like Aaron and Hur, let us support the hands of our bosses, pastors, and leaders in community and government with our ongoing intercession and prayer.

Battling Temptation

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How do you fight temptation? The Gospel of Luke reports that Jesus, filled with the Holy Spirit, was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. (Luke 4:1-2)

If Jesus, who shared our humanity, needed the Holy Spirit to resist the temptations of the devil, how much more do we? Certainly, our fallen humanity makes us subject to all kinds of temptations. The list is lengthy. St. Paul says, “The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies and the like.” (Galatians 5:19-21)

Other sins are more subtle, such as checking our faith at the door of our workplace, not taking time to listen to someone who is hurting or failing to be kind and respectful in our relationships. These sins of omission can be just as destructive to others and us as the more obvious sins of commission.

There was a time in my life when I let my work and career take precedence over my wife and family, but fortunately I was invited by a priest and a group of nuns to be prayed with for the release of the power of the Holy Spirit. Experiencing the presence of the Holy Spirit in a more personal and real way opened my eyes to both the sins of omission and commission. The Spirit gave me an entirely new perspective in how God was calling me to love and serve him through my family, work and ministry.

Experiencing the fullness and presence of the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential to resisting the devil’s many temptations.

We all have different propensities to sin, but Jesus came to forgive and free us from our sins through the power of the Holy Spirit. I can personally testify that Jesus can set you free of a nagging, persistent sin. Ask Jesus with all your heart to take a sin from you, and he will do so!

Last week I received word that one of the nuns who had prayed with me years ago had died on Christmas Eve. Her name was Sister Pauline Cinquini of the Sisters of Charity, part of the St. Elizabeth Ann Seaton House of Prayer in Scarsdale, New York. She was truly a woman of God, using her gifts of love, teaching and music to bring the renewal of the Holy Spirit to countless people for more than forty years.

I will never forget her reassuring words of God’s love and forgiveness on an October evening years ago that, together with the power of the Holy Spirit, changed the course of my life forever. I know she is in the presence of the Father, and as Paul says in 1 Cor. 1:9, we have not heard, seen or conceived what God has prepared for her.

By Jesus’ example in the desert, let us fervently seek the Holy Spirit in order to resist the temptations of the devil.

“They Have No Wine”

God Answers Intercessory Prayer

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Did Stephen’s intercessory prayer at the time of his stoning have an impact on Paul’s conversion?

The Book of Acts reports that while Stephen was being stoned, he fell to his knees and prayed, “Lord do not hold this sin against them.” (Acts 7:60) Watching on approvingly was a young Pharisee named Saul, later to become St. Paul. Is it possible that Stephen’s intercessory prayer impacted Paul’s heart and opened the door to God seeing in Paul the potential to be God’s spokesman to the Gentiles?

While we can’t be certain of the answer to this question, at the same time we should never underestimate the impact of intercessory prayer. We know that a similar prayer by Jesus from the cross had an impact on the centurion who oversaw Jesus’ Crucifixion. In Luke 23:47, we read, “The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, ‘Surely this was a righteous man.’”

When it comes to intercessory prayer, we can easily make the mistake of thinking, “Who am I that God should listen to me and change the order of nature or human life.” Yet, Jesus urges us to “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened for you.” (Mt. 7:7) He offers the parable of the persistent widow to show how we “should always pray and not give up.” (Luke 7:7)

Long before our three daughters were married, my wife prayed for each of them to meet and marry a good Christian man. She offered the same intercessory prayer for our son to meet and marry a Christian woman. This prayer was answered for each of them, and today all four of them along with their spouses are raising Christian families that have blessed us with many grandchildren.

Last summer we spent a week at the beach with all 24 of us under one roof. Over the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, we were able to be with each of the families. With my wife’s initial prayers and our ongoing intercession over the years, we can echo the words of John’s gospel, “From the fullness of his grace we have received one blessing after another.” (John 1:16)

Inside my Bible I keep a yellow sheet of paper with numerous people’s names that need prayer for healing, discernment, guidance, protection and conversion. Some of the people don’t even know that I am praying for them. Others I have lost contact with, but I keep praying. I don’t need to know the outcomes. We never know when perhaps another St. Paul might be the result.

No Room in the Inn for Jesus

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How ironic! Jesus experienced rejection even before he was born. “She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.” (Luke 2:7) There was no room for Jesus in the inn, so Mary and Joseph had to settle for a cave that was used as a stable for animals.

While these circumstances may have served God’s purpose in taking on our humanity in the humblest of settings, you have to wonder what the innkeeper might have done had he known who Mary and Joseph were and what was about to happen.

We should not be too harsh in judging the innkeeper, for how often have we failed to make room for Jesus in our lives? There have been times in my life when I made more room for my career than I did for Jesus. There have been other times, when, like the innkeeper, I did not recognize Jesus in a colleague looking for someone to talk to or the street person looking for help on the streets of New York.

Let me share a story to illustrate, and I apologize that it will extend the usual length of this blog.

When we lived in New York and I was commuting on the trains into Manhattan each day, I would sometimes attend daily mass at St. Matthews just a half block east of Grand Central station. Since my train did not arrive until 7:32 and mass started at 7:30, I would always be rushing to get there by the time of the first reading. One day as I was rushing to get into the church, there was a man standing on the church steps who asked me to help him, but because I was so programed to get into the church by the time of the first reading, I ran right by him.

As I sat down in the pew, I thought to myself, “What did I just do?” Here someone was asking me to help him and I ran right by him, ignoring his request so I could get into the church at a given time. I was just like the innkeeper. I had no room or time for this guy.

I committed to myself that if he was still there when I walked out, I would see what he needed. When I came out of the church, he was no longer on the steps, but leaning over the front bumper of a car on the street, vomiting. “No way,” I thought, and started to walk across the street through a revolving door of a building that would take me to my building.

But the Spirit kept me in that revolving door and back around I went to exit where I entered to check out this guy one more time. I walked over to him and said, “Pretty sick, uh?” He was too sick to speak. He just nodded his head. I asked if he wanted some breakfast and we went into a little diner next to the church.

It turns out that his name was Richard. He had been a trumpet player for a band, but lost his job, started drinking, got rolled, beat up, and lost everything he had. After connecting him up with the Salvation Army, I saw him about a week later. He was all cleaned up with new clothes and suitcase. He said he was going to Hartford, Ct., which was his home. I congratulated him and was delighted to see what had happened.

Then a couple of days later, there he was again, all beat up, his clothes torn, looking awful. I asked Richard, “What happened?” He couldn’t say. He just looked at me with his hollow eyes and shook his head. I told him to meet me at 10 o’clock, at 43d & Lexington; that I was going to buy him a train ticket to Hartford and put him on the train. I bought him the ticket, went to 43^rd and Lexington, but Richard never showed up and I never saw him again.

The good news is that God never ceases to give us opportunities to make room for him through his son, Jesus. He is always inviting us to open the door of our hearts so he can reproduce himself in us through the power of the Holy Spirit. He is always inviting us to love, to forgive, to serve — to build his Kingdom on this earth in the daily circumstances of our lives.

So let us ask ourselves, am I making room for Jesus today in how I relate to the people in my life — my spouse, my children, school friends, work colleagues and the stranger for whom there is no room in the inn?

Why We Celebrate Christmas*

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After hearing the Christmas story over and over, year after year, we might be tempted to take it for granted. Yet, if we think about it, God’s willingness to become one of us is the greatest act of humility and love in all of human history. “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” John 1:14

Here we have God, the Father, creator of all that exists; creator of the millions of galaxies and billions of stars whose distance is measured in light years; this God who created the atom and molecule whose size is measured in nanometers – that’s one billionth of a meter; this God who created the human being with a body, soul, spirit and mind, became one of his created in order to free each of us from our sins and the world from its bondage to sin – to reconcile us to him and to one another.

Father William Barry, in his book, A Friendship Like No Other, says, “God took humanity seriously enough to become one of us, and we do God no service if we downplay what God has done in becoming human.”

God in Jesus was a real human being, born of Mary in the humblest of circumstances, in a cave used as a stable with animals nearby. He had to be toilet trained, learn a language, be raised by real parents, work out his vocation and discern the will of the Father just as we do. His family was forced into exile to Egypt to escape the sword of Herod. After assuming his public ministry, the leaders of his own religion handed him over to the Romans to die a horrible death. God is no stranger to suffering, persecution and injustice. God in Jesus knows what human life is like from the inside. His desire for friendship and to dwell with us and in us knows no bounds.

A cobbler does not become a shoe; a cabinet maker does not become a cabinet; but God the Father, creator of all that exists, became one of us. Little wonder that history’s calendar is measured in terms of before and after this event.

Let us celebrate the birth of Jesus for what it is – the greatest act of humility and love in all of history!

* Reposted from Christmas, 2014

Unlikely Heralds

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Are we following the example of the shepherds in telling people about Jesus?

The Gospel of Luke reports that at the time of Jesus’ birth, shepherds nearby were told by an angel that a Savior, the long awaited Messiah, was born. They were told where they could find him and how they would recognize him — in Bethlehem, tightly wrapped in strips of cloth and lying in an animal’s feeding trough.

God chose shepherds, one of the humblest of occupations at the time, to be the news media of the day to spread the word about God becoming one of us.

“When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.” (Luke 2: 17-18)

We can only imagine the reaction of Mary and Joseph to having some complete strangers visit them and share a story that confirmed what they, too, had been told by an angel – that the son born to Mary was the son of God, Savior and Messiah.

The news of a savior of the world being born is of course pretty amazing. The good news the Shepherds first proclaimed 2000 years ago is just as important to the world today as it was then. A savior has been born! The creator has become one of his created! An anointed one has come to reconcile God and mankind, and be an example in reconciling each of us to one another. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, this savior offers to dwell in us and enable us to be and bring his presence to the people and circumstances in our lives.

Like the shepherds, we may consider ourselves unlikely heralds that Jesus is still present in the world today, but he is present to all who accept his offer to dwell in them. We have the same opportunity as the shepherds to spread the word about Jesus in what we have seen, heard, and experienced.

Over the past year, I have been participating in a Christian ministry to the local jail. The venue of the jail has certainly taken me outside my comfort zone. But last month I found myself sharing about how in between the first and second coming of Jesus, there is a third coming – when we invite Jesus to come and reside in our hearts. Sharing how Jesus changed my life prompted three of the inmates to share how Jesus had changed their lives. This was remarkable because inmates are very cautious about sharing anything personal in front of one another.

As with the shepherds, I was an unlikely herald in the venue of a jail, but telling others about Jesus is part of God’s plan for us. All who hear will be “amazed!”

Christ In Life And Work

by Bill Dalgetty