Well--Being

 The Spiritual Waiting Room

Well-Being

Peaceful Gentle

Embracing Healing Loving

Inwardly Folded in Divine

Joy

(photo and poem by Kathy McNamara)

Scripture: Deuteronomy 10:12 to 13 and 19

Now Israel, what does the Lord ask of you? Respect God and follow God's paths. Love God and serve God with your whole heart and your whole being. Keep the commandments for your own well-being. Love the immigrant for you were immigrants in the land of Egypt.

(scripture adapted by John J. Mcnamara)

Reflection 

God comes to us for our own well-being: what an amazing thought! How often do we search for that very well-being. We hunger for that interior peace and calm in the midst of so many daily challenges: will I get COVID-19; will I lose my job; how will my children do at school today; is it safe to go into that store?

God comes to us with that gentle voice and says: I want you to be well. I want to protect you. I will be with you. Be not afraid.

What God asks of us is very simple and very clear: follow the ways of God. Be loving towards others. Serve God by caring for those among us who are most in need. Reach out to the stranger, the one who has lost her way.

Embrace others the way God is embracing you each moment of your life. Kathy took that picture on a beautiful day. We both felt embraced by the warmth of the sun and the beauty of the sunflower. As it bent toward the sun, we could both feel the loving power of God's healing embrace.

God calls us to reach out to the immigrant and God reminds the Jewish People that they were immigrants when they went to Egypt during the famine. Sometimes we can forget where we came from, what our ancestors went through, and the obstacles that had to be overcome. 

I always think of my grandmother who came to America from Ireland when she was sixteen years old. Nana came with all of her possessions in an old suitcase that looked so bad that her sister who met her at Ellis Island threw it into the garbage when Nana wasn't looking. 

She worked hard and made a good life for her and her children in America. She overcame the suspicion and discrimination that people face from those who find it hard to welcome a person who looks or sounds different from them. 

God tells us that all those differences don't mean a thing. God wants our well-being and enfolds us in Divine Love.

God is not concerned about the country we come from because we are all created to be brothers and sisters. God invites all of us to live a life of JOY!

1.  What does the Lord ask of you?

2. How do you find interior peace and well-being?

3. Why is it hard for us to welcome those who are so different from us?   

Priesthood

 The Spiritual Waiting Room

Priesthood

Call     Covenant

Bestowing     Anointing     Ministering

Ordained For God's People

Chosen

(poem by Kathy McNamara)

Scripture: Sirach 45: 6 to 7, 15

God honored Aaron, the brother of Moses, from the tribe of Levi. His office was made permanent and he was given the priesthood to serve the people. He was given special dignity and crowned with great majesty. Aaron was ordained by Moses who anointed him with holy oil. God made a lasting covenant with him and his family. It was an agreement that was to be as permanent as the heavens. Aaron would serve God as a priest and share blessing with the people in God's name.

(scripture adapted by John J. McNamara)

Reflection

In our reading from Sirach Aaron receives a call from God. He is honored to serve the people as a priest.

We see the special dignity that Aaron is given as he responds to this call. He did not know all the implications of this call or exactly what would be involved but he trusted God and he knew that God would be with him as he discovered all that would come from saying "Yes" to God.

His priesthood was conferred on him by his brother, Moses. As a sign that Aaron would be "set apart", he was anointed with oil. The symbol of the oil was a sign that he would be strengthened for the task ahead.

As Aaron was honored by being called by God, all of us are honored by our call to serve. We are tasked with the ministry of reaching out to those who need us.

Some are called to the ordained priesthood. Others are called to the priesthood of the faithful. 

The common element is a response to the call from God. It is a call to serve others.

In the priesthood we all have a realization that we have been blessed by God. We realize how much God has given us. We are grateful.

Sirach tells us that as priests we "share a blessing". We thank God for all who have shared the blessing of priesthood with us through their loving service.

In our picture this week Kathy and I were at the ordination of a fine young man we got to know. He was being ordained as a deacon and a few months later as a priest. 

He responded to God's call just as Aaron did and all of us are trying to do. It is a covenant with God. We agree to serve others and God agrees to honor and bless us with a Love that lasts forever.

Enjoy your call to priesthood! 

1. How has God called you to serve?

2. What is the difference between the ordained priesthood and the priesthood of the faithful?

3. What do they share in common?

4.How has God blessed you?

 

Justice

 The Spiritual Waiting Room

Justice

God's Heart

Believing      Adhering     Honoring

I, TheLord, Love Justice

Caritas

(photo and poem by Kathy McNamara)

Scripture: Isaiah 61: 8 to 9

I, the Lord, love justice. I hate robbery and evil acts. I will make sure that they get their reward. I will make an eternal agreement with them---a covenant that will have no end. Their children will be well known throughout all the people of the earth. All who look upon them will say: "These are the children that the Lord has blessed."

(scripture adapted by John J. McNamara)

Reflection

The prophet Isaiah lets us know exactly what the Lord loves. He is just so direct. No equivocating or subtlety. 

Justice. That is what the Lord wants. 

The Lord doesn't just want our praise. The Lord doesn't need it without our working for justice. Do we really think that our praise and our worship can add anything to the majesty of the Almighty?

No way. The Lord wants us to be just, to be fair to one another, to make sure that we are not taking advantage of anyone.

Isaiah gives some specifics. He tells us that God hates robbery and evil acts. God particularly dislikes the robbery that takes from the poor, the robbery of exploitation. 

The covenant that Isaiah speaks about is an agreement that is eternal. It is a covenant that is based on justice. 

God is saying that we will be treated with justice by God if we treat others in a just way. Justice is our reward. 

We see this in our own lives.  Many times it seems like we are facing a lot of obstacles when we try to advocate for a positive change to bring about a more equitable society. 

We think of those who have been working for an end to hunger or for racial justice or for the elimination of nuclear weapons. Many have been working for years to achieve justice in these areas and have not seen as  much progress as they would have hoped for. 

The Lord tells them through Isaiah what their reward will be: they will be blessed with God"s grace. 

Those who work for fairness look not for a human reward but they look to the Lord.

Kathy's photo comes from a sign she saw while attending a demonstration for peace. Those who were there have been advocating for peace for many years. They know how important it is to do this work even when the results are not always obvious to our eyes.

1. Why does the Lord want justice?

2.  Why does Isaiah specifically mention that God hates robbery?

3. How can we deal with the frustration that comes when we work for justice and do not see the results we had hoped for?

 

Star

The Spiritual Waiting Room 

Star

Life-Giving     Luminary

Guiding     Radiating     Glorifying

Your Light Has Come

Epiphany

(photo and poem by Kathy McNamara)

Scripture: Isaiah 60: 1 to 3

Rise up in glory, Jerusalem! Your light has come, the power of the Lord radiates upon you. See, darkness is over all the world, and thick clouds clothe the people; but upon you the Lord shines, and his strength dwells in you. Nations shall walk by your light, and leaders by your brilliant radiance.

Reflection

Isaiah is calling us to experience glory---like the glory we see as we look up at the stars at night. That sounds so good. We always talk about the "glory days". We think of a time when things were good. Everything was going well and we felt uplifted and full of joy.

We live in glory because, as Isaiah tells us, God's Light has come to us. That Light comes to us each time we recognize Jesus around us.

We always think of Jesus as having come to us many years ago. We remember His birth and His life when He walked among us. 

We think of His death and His resurrection. Unfortunately we can think that Jesus is a figure of the past.

Jesus, however, told us that He would be with us all days till the end of the world. He will never leave us alone. He will always be with us.

The Light is with us! The question we ask is "Where is Jesus now?"

We think of those people we meet who bring the Light of Jesus to us every day by their acts of kindness and compassion. I was reading about Dale Bartlomeo recently.

Dale was driving to visit his parents when he noticed a car on fire. He pulled over and saw that the driver of the car was pinned under the dashboard.

He was able to get the man out of the car and help him. His training as a volunteer fire fighter kicked right in.

The Light that Isaiah speaks about was there that day through Dale's efforts. We all have opportunities to bring that Light of Jesus into our world.

Isaiah does not see the world through rose colored glasses. He speaks about the darkness in the world. He knows well that we have to fight against evil.

Yet we are not alone in that fight. The radiant Light is with us to help us and to give us direction.

Kathy's photo this week is a screen shot from the Christmas Tree at the Vatican. The brilliant star shows us the power of Light to overcome the darkness and the evil.

The Light has come.

It shows us the way!

1. What are the "glory days" that you remember the most?

2. When has the Light came into your life?

3. What helps you overcome the darkness that you have encountered?

4. What do you think of when you see the star on top of the Christmas Tree?