I am writing this before dawn on Inauguration Day. If our parish is a reflection of the general population, half of you are happy and half of you are disappointed. At times like these, I encourage everyone to shift their gaze heavenward. Do not look to the men and women who sit in seats of government. Look to God who sits upon the throne of power.

Our lives are not dictated by the congress, or the senate, or even the president. As Christians, our lives are guided and fulfilled by the presence of God. Think of the first Christians who lived under the Roman Empire. They were unimpressed by an Emperor who declared himself to be a god. They intimately knew the True God. They lived their lives fully, in peace and love. All was joy for them. Even when called to martyrdom, they rejoiced to share in Christ’s sufferings.

During this time, Saint Paul offers us an admonition.

I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. 1 Timothy 2:1-2

In the Book of Common Prayer, the first prayer listed is a prayer for those in government.

MOST gracious God, we humbly pray the people of these United States and especially for those in civil government; that you would be pleased to direct and prosper all their consultations:

• to the advancement of your glory
• the good of your Church
• the safety, honor, and welfare of your people

that all things may be so ordered and settled by their endeavors, upon the best and most solid foundations, that peace and happiness, truth and justice, religion and goodness, may be established among us for all generations. These and all other necessities, for them, for us, and your whole Church, we humbly beg in the Name and mediation of Jesus Christ, our most blessed Lord and Savior. Amen

This past weekend we celebrated the feast day of Our Lady of Hope. If you are unfamiliar with the story, Our Lady an apparition in Pontmain France in which the Blessed Mother appeared to children in order to bring the Franco-Prussian War to an end. Her words to the children were, “Keep praying. God will hear you in time. My son always allows himself to be moved with compassion.” On that very night, the general of the Prussian army halted his advance saying, “We can go no further. There is an invisible Madonna blocking the way.” What that story teaches us is this: Victory does not go to the strong. It goes to the one who prays.

As our nation moves into a new administration, we should pray earnestly for all those in authority, not that they should listen to our opinion and follow our agenda, but that we would be able to live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. It is not the job of our government to make things better for us. Rather it is our job to lead our culture into godliness and dignity.

Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14

We are an Alleluia people, and Alleluia is our song.

Alleluia is the song of Easter. We silence the Alleluia during Lent as we prepare for Christ’s Passion. And we proclaim it loudly and often when we celebrate the Resurrection throughout the Easter season. But what exactly is Alleluia? Where does it come from? What does it mean? And how should be best proclaim it?

Alleluia (sometimes spelled “Halleluiah”) is a Hebrew word usually translated, “Praise the Lord.” However, its roots go even deeper than the Hebrew language itself. It is an onomatopoeic expression of ululation. Ululation is that high pitched trill made by a coordinated chorus of vocal cords, tongue, teeth, and uvula. It is practiced by a number of tribes in Africa and the Middle East. Even though I have spent time in the Middle East, I have only heard the sound on movies, usually used to celebrate a tribal victory or rescue from certain death. It is a sound of rejoicing. It is both exciting and penetrating.

Alleluia is a word of excitement and unrestrained joy. It is a word to express the thrill victory and of being saved from certain death. That is why it is the Easter word. In the Resurrection, Christ wins the victory and saves all of us, in fact all of mankind, from certain and eternal death. We become sharers in His victory as we look forward to our own resurrection on the last day. And so, we rejoice in exultant praise, “Alleluia.”

Too often, we say it because it is the liturgy beginning and ending of the Gospel proclamation as a sort of bookend. We say it with little more enthusiasm than the period that preceded it and follows it. But saying or even shouting the Alleluia is not what Christ calls us to do. He calls us to live it.

In the Book of Common Prayer, there is a beautiful prayer of thanksgiving that includes the line, “We show forth your praise, not only with our lips, but in our lives; by giving up ourselves to your service, and by walking before you in holiness and righteousness all our days.”

Alleluia is our song of praise. But it is not just something we say or sing. It so permeates who we are that it affects the way we live.

We are an Alleluia people and Alleluia is our song.

In both daily and Sunday Masses, worshippers are called upon to make a confession of sin. This is called the Confiteor. In the Roman Missal it occurs in the introductory rites. In the Ordinariate service, following the Eastern tradition, it is said by the priest and servers before the service with a Confession of Sin for the congregation following the homily.

The Confiteor is an act of self-purification before approaching the Altar of the Lord. The tradition goes back to Moses who required ritual purification before serving in the Tabernacle or the Temple. It is echoed in the New Testament, “Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts.” James 4:8

The Confiteor is begun by a call to confession and a moment of silence for self-examination. It is sometimes difficult for worshippers to shed all the stress of getting to church on time to pause and reflect on their lives and mentally bring their sins to God. A silent utterance of the Jesus Prayer, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, Have Mercy on me a sinner.” May be helpful to foster an attitude of repentance.

First, we confess six categories of sins.

• Thoughts of ill will against God, our neighbors, or against ourselves.
• Failure to be thoughtful of the commandments of God or the needs of others.
• Unkind words spoken against others. Passing malicious rumors. Speaking injurious lies.
• Failing to speak words of praise to God. Failing to speak well of others in need of encouragement.
• Overtly committing sins against God or our neighbor.
• Failing to act in such a way that glorifies God. Failing to perform deeds of service to our neighbors in need.

We compress all this into a simple statement. “in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done and in what I have failed to do.”

We then take full responsibility for our sins. Mea culpa. Through my fault. Our sins are not the fault of our parent’s shortcomings, misguided teachers, or sinful priests & bishops. Our sins are through our own fault alone.

Finally, we profess our confidence in God’s forgiveness. “My Almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins and bring us to everlasting life.” This is not an absolution as in sacramental confession, but a proclamation of trust. For the Scripture promises, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9

Psalm 27 ¹ The psalm of David before he was anointed.

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the protector of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

² While the wicked draw near against me, to eat my flesh.

My enemies that trouble me, have lost their strength and fallen.  

³ If armies in camp should stand together against me, my heart shall not fear.

If a battle should rise up against me, in this will I be confident.

 ⁴ One thing I have asked of the Lord, this will I seek after;

That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.

That I may see the delight of the Lord, and may visit his temple.  

⁵ For he has hidden me in his tabernacle; in the day of evils.

He has protected me in the secret place of his tabernacle.

 ⁶ He has exalted me upon a rock, and now he has lifted up my head above my enemies.

I have gone round, and have offered up in his tabernacle a sacrifice of jubilation,

I will sing and recite a psalm to the Lord.

⁷ Hear, O Lord, my voice, with which I have cried to you.

Have mercy on me and hear me.

⁸ My heart has said to you, “My face has sought you.”

Your face, O Lord, will I still seek.

⁹ Turn not away your face from me.

Decline not in your wrath from your servant.

Be my helper. Do not abandon me.

Do not you despise me, O God my Saviour.

¹⁰ For my father and my mother have left me,

But the Lord has taken me up.

¹¹ Teach me, O Lord, how to walk in your way.

Guide me in the right path, because of my enemies.

¹² Do not hand me over to the will of those that trouble me.

For unjust witnesses have risen up against me.

My enemies spread malicious lies to harm me.

¹³ I believe I will see the good things of the Lord

In the land of the living.

¹⁴ Wait for the Lord,

Be stouthearted, and let your heart take courage.

Wait you for the Lord.

As I said I want to reflect once again on the psalm on the Psalter of the day. So this Psalm which is actually not a very long song. Still, we have just a little bit of it in the lectionary, and that’s okay because the lectionary is going to reflect on something that relates to the readings. We’ll talk about that in just a minute. In me Septuagint version of the Psalms, that being the translation of the Old Testament from Hebrew into Greek, which was the most common and popular version of the Bible read and in Jesus’ time, there’s a note at the very beginning of this Psalm that says that this song was written before David was anointed king.

Well, that’s an interesting timing for the dating of the psalm, because before David was anointed he very young. Although it was there was still years before he actually took the throne. But he was anointed when he was just a shepherd boy. But he was a shepherd boy who had known his share of trouble. And as a shepherd boy he would sit there as he watched over his sheep and cared for his sheep. He used to play on his on his lute or his harp and he would sing. He would create songs to the Lord. So I see this Psalm as being one that is a kind of like a journal. It is very likely this psalm was begun at this time when David was caring for his sheep as a young man, but yet later in his life he would add verses to it so you can actually see a progression in David’s life from being the simple shepherd boy to being on the run from Saul. And finally having to deal with the affairs of state as king.

You can see this progression taking place. I can really see these first six verses as part of David as a shepherd boy here’s a shepherd boy who had faced trouble. He was a shepherd boy who had killed a lion and killed a bear who had come to kill his sheep. They would have killed David himself. David says that the enemies be they people or animals, seeking to take his life. But he said the Lord was his helper. “with the Lord, whom shall I fear. The Lord is my light and my salvation. David had a very keen understanding of God’s presence in his life and of God taking care of him. The Lord is my light the Lord is my salvation, whom shall I fear? What shall I fear? Shall I be afraid of the lion? Afraid of the bear? And you can almost see the musings of a young child. Even if there’s an army coming against me, I will have no need to be afraid.

Perhaps David didn’t realize how prophetic that was going to be in his life. He learned at a very young age to trust in God – to know that God would protect him. God would give him strength. God would give him courage to face whatever came before him, be it a lion, a bear, or even an army. God would give him victory. There in these first few verses, which according to my interpretation would come from early in David’s life, he talks about his visit to the house of God, which at this time is the tabernacle at Beth-El. David longs to be in the tabernacle. He longs to pray.

Now many of us remember how in our earlier lives the feelings of God would stir within us. I don’t know how many people I have talked to who relate to me the stirrings of God that affected them when they were young. Maybe they’re active Catholics. Or maybe they’re inactive Catholics. Maybe they’d given up on the church. But often they make this comment, “I was an altar boy and even thought about becoming a priest.” Or, “when I was young woman about12 I thought I was going to grow up to be a nun. I just so appreciated my teachers. They were wonderful, and I thought I’m going to grow up to be a nun.”

You see in many of our lives we have these inner stirrings of the Holy Spirit within us when we’re young, before we get so distracted by puberty and by adulthood. When we start thinking about other things, and start wanting to accumulate stuff. We get a job. We get a car. You know we get an apartment or a house. All the world, all the stuff of the world begins to distract us. It’s not that the things of the world are evil. Are bad in and of themselves, but we can’t let them distract us. Now it’s very likely that David’s own life got distracted. When he was Saul’s general, and he was being triumphant and praised, but the troubles in his life – I think the troubles in his life were key to keeping his focus on God being his light and his salvation. On God being his source. Because when after being the King’s son-in-law, he became a brigand. He became an outlaw, living in a cave. Often when we have nothing else left in life, those of the times when we seek God. And we call on God.

Indeed, I think David, because he faced so much trouble in his life, that he did call on God often. He learned to know God. But he had a longing to seek the face of God. Now it’s interesting, he says the doesn’t seek desires. Instead he seeks the face of God. “come says my heart come says my heart seek his face your face Lord do I seek.”

Now one of the peculiarities of Hebrew is that an imperative verb specifies whether it is speaking to one person or to many people. And even though David is praying this alone the imperative verb is in the plural. So it’s not just David who is being called to seek the face of God. It’s all people, all of us are called to seek his face. And that’s exactly what we do in adoration. We seek Christ in his Eucharistic face. We gaze upon the face of Christ. And even though adoration is a time of silence, that’s when God speaks to us. I mentioned we’re going to go back to the readings, and in fact that was Elijah’s experience when he was in the cave. He knew God wanted to speak to him. Sometimes in our lives we know God wants to speak to us. We don’t know how, and we tried all these things to make God talk to us. Yet we can’t hear him. Elijah, in fact he went out and he saw the wind. And he saw the earthquake. And he saw the fire. But he couldn’t hear God. He couldn’t find God in any of those things. We look at all kinds of distractions in our life. We can’t find God in any of them. But then, in most common translation, that still, small voice, the whisper of silence. Simon and Garfunkel got it right when they use coined that phrase, the sound of silence. That whisper of silence is how God speaks. I got quoted Thomas Keating not long ago when I said, “God speaks in silence, and everything else is a bad translation.”

And that’s what we do when we come to adoration in silence. We gaze upon the face of Christ. Christ’s Eucharistic face. And in that gaze, as in the gaze of two lovers, nothing has to be said. It just is that communication of love. The communication of sureness, of a surety that Christ is with us as we gaze upon his Eucharistic face and allow our Lord to minister within our spirits. We don’t necessarily hear in our minds, but we are built up and encouraged and made strong in that time. As we spend more and more time in adoration, we begin to notice that a change is happening in our souls. We have greater confidence. We have greater certainty in life, because God has spoken into our spirits as we gazed upon his face.

As this psalm comes to an end, David speaks as a man who is completely forsaken. He says “even if my mother and father forsake me, O Lord you will take me in.” I will belong to the Lord. I will go to the tabernacle of God, the tent of God, to the tabernacle of God, and there I will seek your face. You will receive me, and in the strength that he gets from that encounter, he says. “be strong. Be courageous. And wait for the Lord.

David waited many years between his anointing to be king and him actually taking the throne. In those years God strengthened him. Taught him. In one place David says The Lord has trained my hands for war. God made David strong to be the king that God needed him to be. As David waited for the Lord to fulfill his purpose, and that purpose was fulfilled David when became a strong King. But the strong King ad David was also there to speak prophetically of the King of Kings, the son of David, who wants to come to be our true strength, and to be the face that we seek in his Eucharist.

Heavenly father we give you thanks that we were able to come to you to seek your face. Give us strength to wait on you. And as we wait on you give us strength. We know you will fulfill your purpose in this life for us. And sometimes we may feel forsaken, but you will always take us in. Sometimes we seem to be at a loss for words, but in silence we wait and gaze upon your face. Lord, give us strength to always seek you and to always wait for you. Amen.

Psalm 98 ¹ A psalm for David himself.

Sing you to the Lord a new song,

Because he has done wonderful things.

His right hand has formed salvation for him,

And his arm is holy.

² The Lord has made known his salvation,

He has revealed his justice in the sight of the Gentiles.  

³ He has remembered his mercy and his truth

Toward the house of Israel.

All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.  

⁴ Sing joyfully to God, all the earth;

Make melody, rejoice and sing.  

⁵ Sing praise to the Lord on the harp,

On the harp, and with the voice of a psalm,

⁶ with long trumpets, and sound of of the horn.

Make a joyful noise before the Lord our king,

⁷ let the sea be moved with all its fullness,

Even to the world’s end and all who live there.

⁸ The rivers shall clap their hands,

The mountains shall rejoice together

⁹ at the presence of the Lord,

Because he comes to judge the earth.

He shall judge the world with justice,

And the people with equity.

As I’ve been doing in these last few days I will be reflecting on the Psalm of the day, which is Psalm 98. As we’re going through this the Psalter and learning from these beautiful hymns

Book of praise was the hymn book really of ancient Israel This Psalm starts off with a familiar phrase very familiar to us and that is “Sing to the Lord a new song. Now that’s an interesting phrase. We see this a lot. It occurs many times in scriptures, not just in the Psalms but also in the book of Revelation and in other places. What does that mean? What is the new song?

The new song is a symphony in three movements.

The first movement is obviously a song of praise. It is a song that reflects on what God has done. Even now, in this particular Psalm, we see that this psalmist says you have saved us through your mighty arm because it’s a reflection upon what God has done. Many times, you see sing to the Lord or new song and the psalmist will go through the whole history of God’s interaction with Israel. In the Book of Revelation, the new song is mentioned regarding the 144,000 that are before the throne of God, representing the believers of all time and all places. They are singing a new song to the Lord, and no one knows the song but them, because it’s their personal song. It’s the song of their own relationship with God. They sing of what God has done for them in their lives. So, the first movement of a new song is a reflection upon what God has done for us

The second movement is a meditation on what God is doing for us today. It’s easy to see God as someone who acted in the past. Jesus healed many, and the Apostles proclaimed the Gospel, taking it to the ends of the earth. But what is God doing for us today? What is God is doing in us today? How is he transforming us? How is he making us more into the likeness of Christ today? How is he shaping our hearts? How is he increasing our love? Our compassion? Our patience? Sing to the Lord a new song. Reflect on what God has done for us in the past, but also meditate on what God is doing in us and for us today

The third movement is that hope of what God is going to do for us in the future. God is bringing us bringing ultimate salvation as we were all brought into what the church refers to as the beatific vision. That’s a fancy theological term for when we will see God face to face. And when we see him, we will be made like him. And that’s the beatific vision, that blessed vision of us seeing God and being transformed in his very presence. In this particular Psalm, the psalmist goes on to talk about how God has revealed himself to the nations. God is bringing about his justice in the earth. Those are prophetic statements that God is going to bring to fulfillment in the future. He brings those to fulfillment first in Christ – in his passion, in his resurrection and ascension, and in the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. It’s there that God pours reveals himself reveals his justice to the world. All the nations were gathered there in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost when God revealed his justice. And what is his justice? It is the Holy Spirit of love. We as Catholics talk a lot about justice. We have justice ministries. We talk about justice in the earth. And what is justice? It’s the love of God. Justice flows from the realization that God loves all humanity. And he loves all humanity through us.

As the introduction to the gospel today calls us to “love one another as I have loved you.” And he longs to love the world through us. He has made his salvation known.

Another couple of quick reflections upon this psalm. I love the reference to instruments: the harp the trumpet and the horn. In the Greek translation of the Psalms knows as he Septuagint, which was used actually more than the Hebrew version of the Psalms at the time of Christ, the word there for harp is guitarra, from which of course which we get the word ‘guitar’. So, the psalmist is saying let’s praise the Lord with the guitar. I know that in the Second Vatican Council in the Constitution on Liturgy said that the organ was the proper instrument for liturgical worship. Well, okay. That’s fine. But for thousands of years it was the guitar that was the proper instrument for liturgical worship. Long before the organ was ever invented. And the psalmist says praise the Lord with the guitar with the horn and with the trumpet. Then we can bring all instruments to praise God in fact there are a few verses to this song that aren’t in the lectionary and I want to mention those here, because they’re really very beautiful and very wonderful.

In these last verses “Let the sea and what fills it resound. Let the rivers clap their hands. Let the mountains shout with them for joy in the presence of the Lord who comes who comes to govern the earth.” This reflection upon all of nature all of creation praising God with the various sounds that nature makes. With the Thunder of the oceans and the wind howling through the mountains and the rivers lapping water over rocks. The psalmist likens these to shouts of joy and clapping of hands, singing of songs. All of nature, everything that creation does is to praise God. That’s pretty awesome.

I want to again go back to reflect the new song. Reflect on what God has done for you. Meditate on what God is doing in and for you right now. And hope for what God will ultimately fulfill in your life.

Let us go to God now in prayer.

Heavenly Father,

We give you thanks and praise that you have gathered us here. Help us Lord. Give us hearts to sing that new song: as we reflect upon what you have done for us, as you inspire us in this very day in guidance, and as Lord we hope that you will be bringing us to that beatific vision – to that time when we will see you face to face and be transformed in your mercy. Let the new song be on our lips this entire day and every day forward

Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

We pray to the

Lord Heavenly Father we pray for all

Recently I read a prayer that states that God is more ready to hear than we are to pray, and more willing to give than we are deserving to ask. Sometimes I think that we are so bad at loving that we are nearly incapable of understanding how God loves us.

We naturally act from selfish motives. We even love from selfish motives. “I love you because you make me happy. Because you take good care of me. Because you do what I want you to do.” We naturally give with conditions. “I will give this to you if you promise to take good care of it. If you act truly grateful. If you use it the way I want you to.” We seek relationships on our terms. “I’ll spend time with you if you pay attention to me. If you don’t talk too much. If you respond the way I want you to.”

God is not like us. He loves unconditionally, gives freely, and is always with us, whether we are paying attention to him or not. We get so distracted by our jobs, our recreations, and the worldly cares and concerns that buffet us from all sides, that we neglect to take time to share our hearts with God who truly loves and cares for us. No wonder we find ourselves stressed and overwhelmed. And when we do pray we tend to tell God what we think he should do, instead of listen to him to learn what he wants us to do. No wonder we find ourselves disappointed with him. But when we come to God in simple trust and thanksgiving, we discover the wonder of living in the presence of God, walking in the will of God, and enjoying his grace and provision in our daily life and vocation.

“O cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall nourish thee.” (Psalm 55:22)

When I was in graduate school at the University of Dallas, I used to ride my bicycle to school. To avoid heavily trafficked streets, I would take shortcuts using drainage ditches and storm culverts. Once I noticed a large rock ahead of me that I wanted to avoid. I focused on the rock, telling myself, “Be sure and miss that rock.” Of course, I hit the rock and took a tumble.

We are naturally drawn to that which we focus on. When our life has trouble, we have choices. If we focus on the trouble, we will naturally be drawn deeper into the problem. Even small problems can become insurmountable if we dwell on our burden. But, if we focus on Jesus who overcame death, we find peace and strength to overcome our problems. Often, I find that when I stop fretting about troubles and look to Jesus for help, an inspiration will come that helps me out of my troubles.

Everyone I know has burdens. They may be in the form of health challenges, physical limitations, financial issues, relationship struggles, or even addiction. Our burdens can seem overwhelming. But Jesus carried our burdens to the cross. Give your burden to Jesus. Let him nourish you.

Cast all your anxieties on him, for he cares about you. 1 Peter 5:7

From my point of view, God is the light that illuminates the darkness, even if it does not dissolve it, and a spark of divine light is within each of us. ~ Pope Francis

“In the beginning,” the author of Genesis tells us, “the universe was completely empty and without form.” Into this primordial darkness, God spoke existence into being by imparting himself into the empty void. “Let there be light.” All things in the universe emanate from the energy that is the issue of God. And so this vast space made up of countless galaxies, stars, and planets was born. And God said, “It is good.”

God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all. ~ St. John the Divine (1 John 1:5)

This creation epic, which found its way into our Bible, stands in sharp contrast with all other creation stories on two key counts.

First, the Biblical narrative proposes that nothing existed before the universe except God. “You precede all times that are past, and survive all future times.” ~ St. Augustine (Confessions Book 11, Chapter 11) What we now think of as the pre-creation singularity existing in “no-time and no-space” is referred to in Scripture as “the primordial darkness and void.” We might consider this void to be as absolute emptiness. God spoke light into existence, and its radiation expanded creating space and all that exists in the material world.

Pagan mythologies all presume the universe existed before it was created. The earth diver plunged into the eternal sea and returned with primordial mud from which the world was created. The giant beast was slain from whose entrails the world was created. In every case, the world was created from something that was already there.

Second, the Biblical creation narrative demonstrates that time has a beginning, which implies it will eventually have an end. The pagan understanding of time is that it is eternally cyclical. Everything is always repeating itself in the ever-turning wheel of time.

As long ago as 1225, the first attempt to explain the origin of the universe as an explosion that crystallized matter into stars and planets appeared in Catholic theologian Robert Grosseteste’s book De Luce (On Light). That theory was expanded in 1927 by Catholic priest, Monsignor Georges Lemaitre, to describe an expanding universe from what he termed “a primordial atom.” Two years later, astronomer Edwin Hubble provided astronomical observations that supported Fr. Lemaitre’s theory of the expansion of the universe and formulated what would be known as Hubble’s Law. The Catholic understanding of the Biblical account of creation became generally accepted by science.

Currently, science unanimously sides with a Biblical understanding of creation and time. Ever since Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson of Bell Labs accidentally discovered universal cosmic background radiation, the big bang theory has been the prevailing explanation of the origin of the universe. The theory has been through several modifications over the last 50 years, but four key elements are well established.

1. Space was non-existent before the big bang (“primordial darkness and void”)
2. The universe and time began together at a single point transforming no-place and no-time into time and space. (“Let there be light.”)
3. The universe is expanding.
4. The universe and time will dissipate and end in icy coldness.

So the universe has its beginning in God, exists in the sight of God, will fulfill God’s purpose for it, and, then, die. While the immensity and duration of the universe is beyond human comprehension, this is the natural order of all things. The universe is not eternal. It was born, and is moving towards its destiny and its end. And so we clearly understand that the universe is not God. The universe is the issue of God, and God is revealed in and through it.

No Dualism

Another common misconception in virtually all religions is that the world consists of two opposing forces. Good battles evil. Right battles wrong. Spirit battles flesh. The world to come battles this present age. While you can certainly find elements of this attitude in Scripture, Christianity by definition is not dualistic.

In fact, an early form of this dualism, called Gnosticism, was one of the first heresies the Christian Church had to deal with. Immediately following the life of Jesus, the Christian Church was firmly rooted in the Hebrew Scripture and tradition. However, as Christianity spread into the Greek world, Greek philosophies began to influence Christian thought. Gnosticism, a heresy that portrayed the spirit as good and the flesh as evil began to have an impact. Among other errors, the Gnostics taught that Jesus was a spirit being. God was too holy to defame himself with flesh. Hence, St. John in his letters to all Christians warns of the presence of “antichrists” and states “There are many deceivers in this world. They do not acknowledge that Jesus Christ came in the flesh. This is the lie of the antichrist.” (2 John 1:7)

God created the world and declared it “good.” God loved the world so much that he gave us his son. Jesus is God incarnate. God made flesh. The eternal dignified the temporal. Spirit dignified flesh. The world to come is among you in this present age.

When we become Christians, we do not cease to be creatures of flesh and become creatures of spirit. However, we are called to transfer our affections from darkness and the works of darkness into light and the works of God. But we should not think of darkness as some evil power that is out to devour us. Darkness is simply the void that was dissipated with God spoke light in to existence.

There is no substance in darkness. It is only the illusion created by the shadow you cast when you turn your back on the light. By the Word of God, the universe moved from non-existence into full existence – and so do we. To put it another way, there is only God. Whatever is not God is void, destruction, and darkness. “But,” you ask, “What about the devil? Doesn’t the devil have power to destroy us? ” The devil is a liar and the father of lies. The liar has no power. But you have power. You were created in the image of God. However, you can give your power to the liar if you believe his lie.

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

Imagine you awaken in a dark room. There is a light switch near you, but you choose not to turn it on for whatever reason. Perhaps you are afraid the light will hurt your eyes. So you stumble in the darkness and stub your toe. It hurts. Darkness, though it has no substance, can have a real and detrimental effect on you. But it is not in control. You are in control. You can choose to turn on the light.

Walking in the Light

“Christ is the true light that enlightens everyone who comes into the world.” ~ St. John the Divine (John 1:9)

There is one true light and one enlightenment. There is one true spirituality that all people instinctively know. Over time, that inner knowledge became clouded by man-made externals such as philosophies, concepts, rituals, and disciplines. These externals seek to capture and express some aspect of the inner truth that lies within each of us. Unfortunately, most people tend to live in the external, not the internal, so they confuse an external (philosophy, concept, ritual, or discipline) with the truth. An external is really meant to be a signpost to the truth. The tendency to confuse external signs with truth has caused divisions and animosities among the people of God. Those divisions deny that essence of God, which is unity. To break free from that trap, we do necessarily need to abandon all externals that give understanding and comfort to so many. However, we do need recognize the externals for what they are.

Imagine someone is taking a journey from Chicago to New York City. Somewhere in Pennsylvania, they see a sign that reads “New York City – 348 miles.” They are excited to see the sign and pull over to stop. They pitch a small tent and say to themselves, “I have arrived.” Passersby find this curious and ask them, “What are you doing here on the side of the road?” The camper replies, “I was searching for New York City and saw the sign. Join me and we can enjoy New York City together.” Soon dozens of tents are pitched around the sign. The people sing, dance, and enjoy great fellowship. Eventually one traveler comes by who says, “This isn’t New York City. It is just a sign.” But they say, “No. Read the words.” The wise traveler tells them, “They are just words. Words are not the reality. They are meant to direct you to the reality. You must continue on your journey.” Soon the angry campers brand him as a heretic and denounce him. “You are not a true believer.”

When the Church first began, the earliest Christians practiced the “daily breaking of bread, fellowship, the apostolic teaching, and the liturgy.” (Acts 2:42) That liturgy was recited in Aramaic, the language of Jesus and the apostles. Later, when St. Paul ministered among Greek communities in Greece and Asia Minor, he introduced a liturgy in Greek. In Rome, few early Christians spoke either Greek or Aramaic, so the liturgy was translated into Latin. When the Bible was translated into Latin, it was referred to as the Vulgate, or Vulgar Bible, vulgar meaning the language of the household slave. As time went on, Latin became viewed as the privileged language of Western Christianity.

In the fifteenth century Portuguese missionaries came across a group of Christians in India, whose community had been founded by St. Thomas the Apostle. They were confused by the strange language these Indian Christians used in their liturgy. Actually, they were speaking a form of Aramaic referred to as Syro-Chaldean. In other words, they were celebrating the liturgy handed down to them by St. Thomas the Apostle. Sadly, the Portuguese considered them heretics because they would not celebrate the mass in Latin. The external was more important to them than the rich tradition handed down by the apostle. It took almost 500 years for the Roman Catholic Church to accept the Indian Christians as full members of the Catholic Church and not require them to change their liturgical language to Latin.

Personally, I am a Catholic. I love the Catholic Church. To me, there is no substitute for its beauty, its historicity, and its spirituality. However, as a Catholic I must be careful not to pitch my tent under the beautiful Catholic road sign and mistake its wonderful tradition as a relationship with God. I know many Protestants who love God with all their heart and enjoy his daily presence. I also know Protestants who have substituted a Bible road sign for a relationship with God. And, I know both Protestants and Catholics who delude themselves by giving homage to a self-generated image of God for their own self-validation. One of the reasons I love being Catholic is that the Catholic Church recognizes the validity of faith of all people of good will, even “those whose faith is known to God alone.” (Roman Missal, Eucharistic Prayer IV)

I know people who have rejected all forms of institutional religion in favor of a purely private spirituality. I understand the profound and well-deserved disappointment with organized religion. I appreciate the urge to renounce and separate from it. However, we should not forget that it was these very religious institutions, Catholic and Protestant, which have led the way in education, health care, and humanitarian aid for centuries. What would the world look like without the Red Cross, Catholic Charities, World Vision, and so many others? Who would lead us without such luminaries as Saint Francis and Mother Teresa?

There is no substitute for a personal spirituality. We all must grow in our own personal relationship with God. Yet, if we want our personal faith to have an impact beyond that of our own lives, we must also embrace a corporate element in our spirituality.

The darkness is passing away. The true light is already shining. ~ St. John the Divine (1 John 2:8)

The world is divided into so many religions and each religion is divided into so many factions because people have mistaken signs designed to lead us to God with the true reality of God. All people have certain spiritual instincts. Deep inside we know the truth. But most ignore the still small voice deep down inside and listen to the loud shouts of selfish materialism all around us. This usually raises the question, “Do all roads lead to heaven?” Unfortunately, the easiest roads lead us into our own personal hell of unsatisfied desires and self-doubt. Still, God is knowable by all who truly seek him. For us to know God, we need to ignore the shouts and listen instead to the still small voice. For us to continue on our journey to God, we need to listen to the Word that lives in each of us.

“The Church is the place where humanity must rediscover its unity and salvation. The Church is “the world reconciled.” She is that ark which “in the full sail of the Lord’s cross, by the breath of the Holy Spirit, navigates safely in this world.”” Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 845

Our spirits instinctively know God for they are the breath of God. God breathed spirit into Adam and into each of us. Our joy is to develop the ability to listen to the spiritual instinct that God breathed into each of us in order to lead us to him.

In my spiritual reading recently, I went back to revisit The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection, a Carmelite lay brother (1614-1691). In this series of his reflections and letters, Brother Lawrence describes his spiritual walk in God’s perpetual presence. He talked with God constantly throughout the day as if God were always standing right beside him. His book is very short, and free versions are available online. You can read the entire volume in about an hour, and it really only makes one point. But that point is the fulcrum on which the spiritual life balances.

“We ought to act with GOD in the greatest simplicity, speaking to Him frankly and plainly, and imploring His assistance in our affairs, just as they happen.” “We should feed and nourish our souls with thoughts of GOD; which give us great joy in being devoted to Him.” And we should, “make the love of GOD the purpose of all our actions, … seeking Him only, and nothing else, not even His gifts.”

This, of course, is exactly what Jesus promised, “Surely, I am with you always.” (Matthew 28:20) Jesus is always present with us. We often get so distracted by the cares and concerns of our daily lives that we forget he is there. Brother Lawrence had trained himself to be constantly aware of Christ’s presence through imagination and conversation, and so he lived in perpetual peace and joy.

After my recent re-read of the book, I reflected on the idea of viewing Jesus as my best friend forever – my BFF. It is nothing but joy to be constantly with my best friend, to share my daily experiences, to discuss my concerns with him, and to seek his assistance in all my troubles.

Unfortunately, we can sometimes take our lives to places where we don’t want Jesus to be present. Of course, we cannot leave him behind. We can only forget that he is there, and deal with the shame later. Isn’t It better to keep constant awareness of our best friend’s presence and experience his joy and comfort?

“Many find the Christian life burdensome because they get stuck on doing penances and repeating various exercises but neglect the love of God which is the sole purpose of the Christian life. Our only business is to love and delight ourselves in GOD.”

Your best friend is with you wherever you go – forever. Take advantage of his presence and enjoy all he is for you.