Twofold

 

The Spiritual Waiting Room

Twofold

Greatest   Commandments

Heart   Soul   Mind

Love God Neighbor As Yourself

Wholeheartedly

(Photo and poem by Kathy McNamara)

Scripture:   Matthew 22: 34 to 40

One day when Jesus was teaching, one of the Pharisees who was a scholar of  the Law asked Jesus which Law He thought was the greatest.

Jesus gave him two:

"You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, soul, and mind."

and

"You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

Reflection

Is it complicated to be a follower of Jesus?

Do you have to study for a degree in Theology?

Do you have to memorize the Baltimore Catechism or the Catechism of the Catholic Church?

Do you have to know every verse in the Bible?

Jesus tells us in this passage from Matthew that the answer is simple and twofold. You just have to follow the greatest commandments.

So many people complicate religion unnecessarily. They can throw all sorts of roadblocks in our way to make religion seem like such a burden. They can get all hung up on various laws and regulations. People get turned off and rightly so.

Jesus breaks it down to the three aspects of love:

the heart---the feeling of connection we have with one another;

the mind---directing our thoughts to care for others;

the soul---realizing the spiritual bond we have with all of creation.

It is so easy for us to lose our focus and to get involved in the trivia that surrounds us in our media. Many people are more concerned about the likes they receive from an online post than actually caring for those who are sick, poor, hurting, or in prison.

People will argue for hours about immigration but will not feed or house the immigrants in their community who are hungry and homeless. We get involved with laws and don't follow the greatest commandments. 

The call from Jesus is simple and direct: love God and love our neighbor. 

How do we demonstrate our love for God? Jesus tells us.

Love your neighbor.

We can talk all about how much we love God but our words are utterly meaningless unless we are eagerly doing acts of charity for our sisters and brothers in need.

The talk stops.

The concrete actions are called for.

Those actions must be done repeatedly and wholeheartedly. 

We have the example of Jesus.

Did he hold back?

1. Do you feel it is difficult to be a follower of Jesus?

2. Is religion complicated?

3. Why do some people reduce religion to following laws?

4. When personally have you become distracted by the trivia in our media and lost focus on following the twofold commandments that Jesus has given?

5. What do you see as you contemplate Kathy's photo?

(Scripture adaptation, reflection, and questions by John McNamara)

Conviction

 

The Spiritual Waiting Room

Conviction

Stand Firm

Faith   Labor   Love

You Are God's Chosen

Hope

(Photo and poem by Kathy McNamara)

Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 1:4

St. Paul was writing to his friends in Thessalonica. He had shared the Good News with them and felt very close to them. He was encouraging them to endure in the faith that they had embraced, and he wrote:

Know always, sisters and brothers, that you are loved by God and you are God's chosen.

Reflection

I have always admired people with deep conviction. I think of the saints like St. Francis of Assisi who was convinced that God wanted him to rebuild the Church and devoted his whole life to that conviction.

I think of Mother Frances Cabrini who devoted her life to helping immigrants who were trying to adjust to a new country and were facing discrimination and poverty.

I think of Dorothy Day who was convinced that she was being called to the Catholic Church and sacrificed her relationship with the man she loved when she made that choice.

These three and many others inspire us because they stood firm in the face of much opposition and ridicule. It is amazing that when that opposition and ridicule died down and people saw them standing firm, many others joined them and contributed to and carried on their work.

They were motivated by faith. They felt that God was speaking to them and asking them to follow God's call in a way that was different. They took a stand against their culture. Many considered them weird and strange. Even their fellow lay Catholics and members of the clergy told them that they were wrong and that they should return to a "normal" path.

They did not labor for recognition or acceptance by those in power at the time. They challenged those authorities and pointed them in a different direction---the path of the Gospel. Their labor was for Jesus and not for themselves.

They were in love with Jesus. They talked with Him every day and followed His message. Their love for Jesus grew through their prayer and helped them to overcome the daily obstacles they faced.

That love inspired St. Francis to embrace lepers, Mother Cabrini to establish hospitals for the immigrants who were not accepted at the private hospitals of her day, and Dorothy Day to publish a newspaper featuring articles about the social justice issues of her day and to establish houses of hospitality to feed the hungry.

They felt that God had chosen them for this labor of love. They knew that this would not be an easy path and many of their "friends" questioned them. 

What helped them to persevere? They all had the conviction that God had chosen them for this labor.

The Church had to be rebuilt---it was too complacent and corrupt.

Immigrants had to be helped---Jesus was dwelling in them and with them.

The hungry had to be fed---Jesus was on the bread line with them.

People of conviction like St. Francis, St. Frances Cabrini, and Dorothy Day are signs of hope for us. They remind us that God has a message for each one of us and calls us to a labor of love. God asks us to reach out to those who are hurting, neglected, and forgotten.

God has a message of Hope for them through us:

you are loved!

1. Who are some people of conviction that you admire?

2. What has given you the strength to hold on to your convictions in the face of ridicule and opposition?

3. Are you willing to make sacrifices for your convictions?

4. What are some of your convictions that challenge the culture of today?

5. What do you see as you ponder Kathy's photo?

(Scripture adaptation, reflection, and questions by John McNamara)

Invitation

 

The Spiritual Waiting Room

Invitation

Inclusion/Exclusion

Reject   Comply   Accept

God Will Supply All

Salvation

(Photo and poem by Kathy McNamara)

Scripture:  Philippians 4:19

My God will supply all that you need.

Reflection

Isn't it wonderful to get an invitation to a wedding feast?

Jesus talks about a wedding feast in The Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 22, verses 1 to 14. At this feast many refused to go. They even killed the servants that were bringing the invitations!

Jesus is talking about how we respond to His invitation in this parable. Are we open to responding to His call to follow Him?

The invitation that Jesus gives is for All. Everyone is included and no one is excluded. Jesus wants all people to be at His Wedding Feast. 

He calls us to follow Him so that we can experience how much and how deeply He loves us. We have all had the experience of being left out. We feel sad when we learn that there is a party and all of our friends have been invited but we have been ignored. We wonder why we were excluded. Our feelings are hurt.

There can also be an issue when we give an invitation to a feast that we are having and people do not respond or turn down our invitation. Again our feelings are hurt.

Jesus came (and comes today!) to share Good News with us and to invite all of us to be part of the Kingdom of God. We are free to reject or accept that invitation. We might wonder if we have the courage to comply with the requirements of being part of the Kingdom.

We can respond by saying that we are not the brightest, or the most athletic, or the prettiest, or the most handsome one. We can feel that there are many other people who are more qualified to be part of the Kingdom.

Then we realize, as St. Paul shared in his Letter to the Philippians, that it is not about us and our "qualifications". It is all about God and the depth of the Love that God has for each person. God will supply all that we need.

The invitation that God gives us is an invitation that leads to salvation. This is why God sent Jesus to us. God wanted to give us a little glimpse of how deeply we are loved. 

The root meaning of salvation is health and well being. God wants to heal all those parts of us that are broken and wounded.

I remember a conversation that I had with a friend whose son had committed suicide. We spoke about the goodness in his son and how generous and caring he was. His suicide was a shock. I told him that there are some wounds that we cannot see and that God can only heal. 

Salvation is an invitation to healing.

It is God saying "I will Love you forever."

It is an invitation for all. 

How are you responding to your invitation?

1. How do you feel when you get an invitation to a great feast?

2. Has anyone ever excluded you from an invitation to a party?

3. What are some invitations that Jesus has given you lately?

4. Do you ever feel inadequate to respond to God's invitations?

5. What do you see in Kathy's photo?

(Scripture adaptation, reflection, and questions by John McNamara)

Receive

 

The Spiritual Waiting Room

Receive

God's Peace

Transcends All Understanding

Put It Into Practice

Pray

(Photo and poem by Kathy McNamara)

Scripture: Philippians 4:9

Paul is writing to the community in Philippi and encouraging them to seek peace. He says:

Keep on doing what you have learned from me. Then the God of Peace will dwell with you.

Reflection