Yesterday it was windy here in central Florida.  I don’t mean breezy, it was almost impossible for me to open my car door and get into my vehicle, it was hard for me to walk against the gale force to cross Orange Ave.  There have been people like that in my life who literally bowled me over with their zealous love of God.  They wanted to evangelize for God and did so with their whole strength.  My reaction, I am sorry to admit was like my reaction to the gale winds… I closed up and held tight to my stuff and fought against their perceived assault… 

In reading and study, I have married this command with the commandments that Jesus gave… Love God and Love neighbor as yourself.  Great theologians, like St Thomas Aquinas have agreed that if the zeal for the Lord is combined with LOVE… Charity will draw more followers to Jesus than all the strong arm tactics in the world.  People are drawn to those who exude love through their pores rather than spouting it through a loudspeaker. 

If my external actions instead of being blustery are the simple tasks of a servant, I will model Christ and draw men and women to God.  Love is patient, kind,  humble and forgiving… Love is not about me but about thee!  If I live my life, other centered I will be accomplish what God has put me on this earth to do! 

Lord let my strength be to endure not to blow indiscriminately, breaking down rather than building up.  Let me illustrate Your compassion so that people will know You by meeting me.

One of my favorite adages is “ONE DAY AT A TIME”.  Breaking down what I have to deal with to bite size pieces and compartmentalizing my concerns has helped me to keep moving when fear was about to immobilize me.  FEAR can be False Enemies Appearing Real but there are many actual things in life which reduce me to a puddle of tears and distress.  I have lost loved ones and dealt with illness, job loss and divorce.  God was my salvation and my deliverer in all of these things that come at me from the outside.  What immobilizes me is what comes from the inside… Doubts, Self-pity or lack of confidence.  Failure is not an option….  I expect myself to be perfect and when I am not, I have no patience with my weakness. 

God has helped me to love myself out of these recriminations.  I want so much to create myself anew in His image and that is outside my power to accomplish without His guiding hand.  I have learned that the hardships and situations where I am feeling out of control is when I learn to trust HIM.  It is not that I put myself in these situations, willingly…  But when I am in over my head, He lets me know, He is there.  God has to test me in order to open my eyes to the areas where I need correction and direction.  Unless I realize I am on the wrong road… I will continue!  The farther entrenched in a path… the harder it is to change momentum and direction.  By praying daily, seeking His word in Scripture, He opens my mind to new directions that are more in line with HIS will instead of my own. 

Lord, thank you for your gracious gift of Yourself.  I am blessed and grateful for Your willingness to uphold me with Your Righteous Right Hand. 

Saints Titus and Timothy are honored today.  St Paul entrusted them with large responsibility in continuing his ministry.  This direction to Titus epitomizes his challenge to each of them and to me.  Seemingly, impossible to contemplate that in ALL respects that anyone could be a model of good works.  Even Timothy and Titus were human.  I am sure when Titus opened the scroll that contained this letter and came across these words… he would have had the same sinking feeling that I do.  How can I possibly be a model of good works…. ALWAYS?! 

Paul had high standards.  He knew human nature and realized that if the bar was set low or high, people would attempt to reach it.  Today the self-help saying is, Reach for the Moon, so if you miss, you will have hit the stars.  I believe Paul understood that Titus would give his all to be a model for the folks of Crete, ministering to them daily as Timothy did later in Ephesus.  When I think of a model, I remember the cars and planes my brothers built when I was a girl.  They were perfect replicas of the real thing.  A smaller rendition that served to remind my brothers of the actual vehicle.  Seeing that tiny perfection… and in many cases creating it from a box or kit, planted seeds for future desires to fly, to drive or to experience the real thing. 

Today, modeling good works, is really not much different that it was for Titus and Timothy.  Feeding the hungry, housing the homeless, being attentive to the lonely, ministering to the sick, praying for those who are suffering… putting on Christ is the challenge for me.  Taking time out to recreate in tiny replica the HOLY goodness of Jesus.  St Paul, told his followers to be models for others of the good works that would inspire others to be like Jesus.  Even if I can only do a small act of mercy today… it will affect someone.  It will better the body of Christ, because we are all connected.  If I am 1:43 scale model of Christ that is better than not at all. 

Lord help me to accept your call to be a “practicing” Christian.  Someone who recognizes the behaviors that You wish to see alive and well here on earth.  Help me to be a model of good work today and always. 

Today is the feast day of the Conversion of St Paul.  Being a devout Jew, he would have prayed the book of Jeremiah.  I know Paul often made references to his previous life and the sinfulness of persecuting the followers of “The Way”.  He literally saw “The Light” on the road to Damascus and was a changed man.  He cooperated with the “PLANS” that the Lord had for him. 

I know that I have not always cooperated.  That is why I am encouraged by this verse because of the word PLANS!  If God only had  A PLAN, and I sinfully ignored this plan… I would be lost forever.   Instead God has plans.  I have often joked that I move from Plan A to Plan B, then keep moving through the alphabet…  God has multiple Plans too.  If I mess up and don’t take the path that is best for me, He has a Plan B as well.  That is a true blessing and inspires me to get up when I fall, dust myself off and ask the Lord what is the next step.  I like Paul have been knocked off my horse.  Blinded by the Light. God can get my attention anytime but he does not choose dramatic intervention unless I am too stubborn or too “BUSY”.    Those times of 2 x 4 love as I call it… stopped me in my tracks and sat me in my chair, a hospital bed or in the unemployment line.  I endeavor each day through Scripture reading and quiet prayer  to avoid the need for more extreme measures. 

Today , Lord, I am so grateful for the PLANS  You have to prosper me, to give me hope and a future.  Help me to listen and seek these PLANS and not my own. 

If I really trust my heart to lead me, will I do what God has designed for me?  Sometimes it seems like it is natural to follow my heart to do what is right.  Other times my sinful nature seems to be in control… pushing me toward selfishness, laziness or indifference.  I visualize the two figures of angels… one fallen in red or black and the other in white on opposing shoulders whispering in my ears.  The war that is raging is not between my guardian angel and the devil but my own conscience. 

Understanding of God’s law and direction for His children comes from reading His Scripture and immersing myself in church tradition.  I learned a new card game, States, the other day.  Once I knew the rules it was so much easier to play.  I can never win at the game of life without being committed to the rules.  If I decide to play by the rules, it is much easier to know what my next move can and should be.  Direction is part of any successful life.  How much easier it is to be happy when I know what the rules are and choose to obey them. 

The Lord loves a cheerful giver… Being a child of God is not just abiding by the rules but loving the game.  It is my call as a child of God to embrace the opportunity each day to serve the people who God has placed in my life.  To rejoice in the talents He has entrusted to me and work to multiply them so that I can return them to Him. 

Lord as I play today the game of life, let me be cheerful whether I win or lose.  Let me return to You the ante that You have advanced me in this round.  For all that I am, and all that I have comes from YOU! 

I sat behind a baby at church recently.  He was probably less than a year and aped everything I did.  I waved, he waved.  I blew a kiss, he blew a kiss, I sang, he sang.  It is the way of little ones to mimic those around them.  Is it any wonder then, that children today love their video games and spend hours playing with their electronics.  They mimic what they see being done by those around them.  If the example set for them was different, they would be different. 

Today my church is declaring a day of prayer for all the babies that have been killed through abortion.  It makes me so sad to think this is the example we are setting for our children to follow.  Roe vs Wade set a precedent that people have copied for decades… not valuing human life.  Some stark differences to the abortion mentality pop into my mind when our whole country watched as engineers worked diligently to free Baby Jessica from a hole in the ground; when the whole world watched for 70 days as Chilean miners were freed from an underground tomb.  In both cases a comparison could be drawn to the uterus or canal of a woman and the lives suspended there in the balance.  Gargantuan efforts were made to save those lives!  How can the difference not be recognized?  Life is Life.   Jesus asked us to love and accept the little children as they are special gifts of God’s love and providence. 

Today, I pray for the change of heart that will make all life be viewed as sacred.  I pray for that help and peace to be given to the women who chose abortion.  Help us all Lord to be imitators of You! 

The only way that I can be sure I won’t fail is by NOT doing anything.  The funny thing about that, in my book is the epitome of failure.  God has given me so many chances to learn another way to do something because the way I originally chose, did not work.  Thomas Edison’s famous line was that he had not failed, he just knew 10,000 ways that did not work.  Another friend told me that his dad said when skiing the only way you improve is by falling!!! 

I do not look for ways to fail.  But when I come up against the wrong way, the lesson is in how I respond to my weakness.  If I am willing to trust God and ask Him for help, the potential for the best results come through my weakness not my strength.  I am a sinner.  I make mistakes and find myself wondering which way to turn… by admitting my lack of direction… and asking God for His divine directions, I will find an even better solution. 

If everything worked the first time, my life would certainly be easier BUT I would think it was all because of my own wisdom, strength or acumen.  When things get dicey, I ask God for help.  I admire the ball players who thank God for the good days and their wins.  They are admitting that they did their best BUT without the focus on God, things could have gone much differently. 

Lord help me to always remember that Your grace is sufficient for me and that I must rely on and acknowledge Your power to fuel my days. 

Doubt can spring up at the most unusual times.  Things can be going along great, and instead of being happy and joy filled… I become anxious and look for the shoe to drop.  Guess it goes back to living a tenuous life as a child.  Widowed mother with 5 children, the only thing we could really count on was change. 

As an adult believer, I have become aware of my tendency to be wary and when worry or concerns start to crowd out my joy… I read the Psalms.  David had a way of putting things into the lowest common denominator.  Be happy and sing while you can.  He shares that when things are scary, pray and own the situation if the fault lies with me.  The Lord will provide the comfort in bad times and expects me to savor the good days, the mountaintop minutes for what they are… Gifts from on high…  A glimpse at eternity.

I have come to realize that I am NOT in charge of what happens outside of myself.  I can barely control my own emotions.  When life interrupts my day, I pay particular attention to the lesson that God may have for me in the moment.  There is an opportunity for me to learn or maybe to teach in all circumstances.  My pastor last Sunday asked us all to be evangelists this week, to invite as Jesus did.  This might be the biggest challenge for any Catholic.  Doubt that we know enough, fear that we will say something wrong, stops most from reaching out and sharing the good news.  I only have to have Faith the size of a mustard seed and God will do the rest. 

Lord, let me put aside doubt and put my trust in You! 

I am a big proponent of self-help books and tapes.  Hearing and heeding advice of others who have been there and done that, helps me put things in perspective.  I believe that the Bible is the best self-help book around.  It does not give a top ten list or the to do list to be rich and famous.  Instead it gives me a constant reminder that Jesus has given me all the tools I need to achieve what HE has designed me for.  My job is to discern what that work is and to ask His help to do it. 

Peter reminds me that I can be near-sighted if I become blind to God’s work in my life.  This can manifest itself in FEAR.  Allowing False Enemies Appearing Real to be a barrier to all that God wants me to do.  Twelve Israelites were sent as scouts into the promised land.  Only two saw the possibilities, the other ten saw giants blocking their path.  This FEAR and near-sightedness cost the Israelites another 40 years in the desert.  I know I have cost myself years of pain because of my own inability to see clearly and attack in faith rather than being overcome and holding back.  God has great things in store for me…

I pray daily for the qualities that I need to be God’s servant… God has given me a job to do, I must trust that He has empowered me with the tools to get it accomplished. 

Thank you Lord for giving me a mission.  Plant in me the desire to do Your will and the willingness to use the qualities You have given me. Never allow me to be overcome with FEAR that will prevent me from walking in Your Light…       

When it comes to hardness of heart… the Pharisees are not the only ones who Jesus can be angry with.  I will stand before Jesus on judgment day, convicted of being stony in my dealings with some of God’s children.  Unable to look past my own opinion or let go of ‘My way or the Highway’ control.  Jesus performed miracles and the Pharisees were critical because He did these wonders on the Sabbath…unable to look beyond their own preconceived notion of what the “right” way is. 

I have learned a great deal from the writings of Father Jean-Pierre De Caussade, SJ.  He has a wonderful teaching on “hardness of heart” that I have found quite profound. 

The whole of spirituality can be expressed in abridged form in this maxim: we should abandon ourselves purely and entirely to God’s design, and thus, with a complete self-forgetfulness, be eternally busied with loving and obeying HIM, without all these fears, reflections, twistings and turnings and disquietudes which sometimes result from the care of our own salvation and perfection.  Since God offers to manage our affairs for us, let us once and for all hand them over to His infinite wisdom in order to occupy ourselves only with Himself and what belongs to Him. 

Lord, help me to be like the man with the withered hand, cured and grateful… proclaiming Your goodness and holding onto the fact that You are my Savior.  Help me to turn over to YOU my life, relinquishing control, instead of being critical of my surroundings and Your timing.  Today all things are done in YOUR perfect Time.