Proverbs 3

1 My son, do not forget my teaching,But let your heart keep my commandments;

2 For length of days and years of life And peace they will add to you.

3 Do not let kindness and truth leave you;Bind them around your neck, Write them on the tablet of your heart.

4 So you will find favor and good repute in the sight of God and man.

5 Trust in the LORD with all your heartAnd do not lean on your own understanding.

6 In all your ways acknowledge Him,And He will make your paths straight.

  Reflection.   Our world is so full of anxieties.  Of worry.  Of what will come of tomorrow.  Of what we will be and where we will go.   How often do we lose our gaze on the Lord?  Saint Padre Pio would say ” Pray, hope, and don’t worry. Worry is useless.  God is merciful and will answer your prayer.”   How often, particularly in these times of our materialistic world do we not concentrate on our Savior and His will?  How often do we not take time to read scripture, pray, and go to Mass and be with the Lord, every day? Do we fail to live a Christ-o-centric life?  I have been through many trials as of late, excruciating emotional pain, and feelings of helplessness and fear.  When we get to these feelings, it is very easy for the evil one to attack us, because we are vulnerable, and ripe for sin.  We must find solace in our prayer life, in our brothers and sisters in Christ.  In our love for one and other. Many a pastor has said in Mass, ” A Family that prays together, stays together.”  In the Gospel, from Mark 3, 31-35 Christ preaches:

31 Now his mother and his brothers arrived and, standing outside, sent in a message asking for him.

32 A crowd was sitting round him at the time the message was passed to him, ‘Look, your mother and brothers and sisters are outside asking for you.’

33 He replied, ‘Who are my mother and my brothers?’

34 And looking at those sitting in a circle round him, he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers.

35 Anyone who does the will of God, that person is my brother and sister and mother.

We fail to realize that we are all one family in Christ. That our prayers and intercessions for each other are all equally as valuable in Him whom sacrificed Himself so that we may be free from sin. Turn away from the worry of all, and follow the will of God. Let His will be your guide through your prayers, and His wisdom. Be not afraid of tomorrow, or the mistakes of your past. All roads in life are treacherous, but do we not see that He as our savior, and as our creator has made this road? Do we not see that he has given us free will to make the decisions that we have made, but ultimately, he has also given us the will to follow in His own will? It is through this very reflection that we begin to realize that we need to understand what Christ’s love truly is. Agape. From Greek meaning “brotherly love through charity, through the love of God for man, and the love of man for God.” We must come to understand that it is through charity and good works for those of us around us, that we can understand and love ourselves. It is through understanding the love of ourselves, that we can love one another. It is through the love of God, and through Christ’s sacrifice because He loves us, that the formula is complete. WE are all family, if we all choose his Will. And we are all love, if we choose to accept His.

I remember a time not long ago, when I wanted to just “check-out” of reality, through wine and beer. I just wanted to numb my senses for a bit. Not wanting to be in the present, nor the past- not wanting to understand the now. I just wanted it all to go away. But through each sip, came more hurt. Through each feeling of hurt, came more sadness, and through each feeling of sadness came a feeling of desertion and abandonment. Sin had taken over, and my willingness to not care had begun. Life, even as I saw it, with the blessings that I did have- in a good job, a wonderful house, supportive friends, and most importantly two BEAUTIFUL children- did not matter. The pain had hardened my heart, and the regret, and the sorrow had taken over. As this began to happen, so did the feeling to want to continue to “check-out”. But then, it occurred to me in scripture as I listened on EWTN to the Father’s homily from Matthew 27, 33-34:

33 And when they came to a place called Golgotha, which means Place of a Skull, 34 they gave Him wine to drink mixed with gall; and after tasting it, He was unwilling to drink.

Here was the Son of God.  Divine but yet very human. Tortured beyond comprehension, on the footsteps of death, crucified.  Offered up what in today’s terms would be a narcotic to ease pain- and yet he still refuses.  He went through the complete and utter experience of the weight of man’s sin, the weight of man’s torture and cruelty- for me.  For us.  So that we all can be saved.  So that we all may live; and live with his eternal love.  He embraced his suffering and the full weight of it all, as human as you and I, for the love of us- for me.

Brothers and Sisters in Christ.  There is no greater gift than Christ in our lives. There is no greater gift than the choice of free will.  There is no greater gift that surrendering our will, to His will. For His plan for us.  Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Do not lean on your own understanding. There is no greater love, than the love I have for you and for the family I have with you.  May the peace of Christ be always with you, and may your gaze may always be on Him. God Bless You. – CJA

“Do not look forward to the mishaps of this life with anxiety, but await them with perfect confidence so that when they do occur, God, to whom you belong, will deliver you from them. He has kept you up to the present; remain securely in the hand of His providence, and He will help you in all situations. When you cannot walk, He will carry you. Do not think about what will happen tomorrow, for the same eternal Father who takes care of you today will look out for you tomorrow and always.” – Saint Francis de Sales