For Whom am I?

Whooping Crane, Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, TX

So often in life, we waste time asking ourselves: ‘Who am I?’ You can keep asking, ‘Who am I?’ for the rest of your lives. But the real question is: ‘For whom am I?’.  Of course, you are for God. But he has decided that you should also be for others, and he has given you many qualities, inclinations, gifts and charisms that are not for you, but to share with those around you.  ~ Pope Francis, par 286, CHRISTUS VIVIT

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Husbands Love your Wives

Male and female Cardinals, Goose Island State Park, TX

Have you ever seen a husband or wife care for their sick spouse, knowing that the only thing that their loved one can give them is an opportunity to love unselfishly?  When you see this type of love it is possibly as close as you may ever get to seeing our Lord Jesus Christ on this side of heaven.  This is perhaps why our Lord holds marriage so sacred.  God, the one who is a perfect relationship of love, created man and woman in his own image to reflect his love, to share in his love.

 Are you seeking that type of love?  If so, ask our Lord Jesus Christ for the grace of agape, unconditional, love.  Begin reading the bible with prayer asking for the strength to love like Jesus did.  Get strength from the sacraments.  Begin looking at the lives of the many Saints whose lives reflected the way Christ loves us.

 I pray that my marriage and all marriages will begin to love as Christ loves. 

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Christ is Alive!

Black-bellied whistling ducks, near Goose Island State Park, TX

Happy Easter! “Christ is alive! He is our hope, and in a wonderful way he brings youth to our world, and everything he touches becomes young, new, full of life.”  ~ Pope Francis, CHRISTUS VIVIT, par. 1

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Love and Nails

Mountains as seen from Trail Ridge Road, Rocky Mountain National Park with image of crucifix from Family Mission Company chapel, Abbeville, LA 

*page 6, “No Greater Love”, Dr. Edward Sri

God is love (see 1 John 4:8, 16).   John used the Greek word agape to describe God’s love.  Agape is the type of unconditional love that persists regardless of circumstance, the type of love that expects nothing in return.  Agape love animates Jesus’s every action.   Does agape love animate your every action?

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Lord, Why Me?

Royal Terns, Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, Texas

Cancer, illness, loss of family and friends, addiction, poverty and loneliness are just a few of the many challenging circumstances we might find ourselves in while living in this beautiful, yet broken world.  At times like these we sometimes might look up to heaven and ask “Lord, why me?”  The answers are not easy and often go beyond the “why”.  For the Christian the answer is always found through trusting in Jesus. 

 I have found the following bible verses helpful during challenging times.  I hope they are helpful for those of you that might be asking “Lord, why me?”.

We know that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.  Romans 8:28. 

 At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, but then face to face. At present I know partially; then I shall know fully, as I am fully known.  So faith, hope, love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:12, 13

 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in his great mercy gave us a new birth to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you who by the power of God are safeguarded through faith, to a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the final time. In this you rejoice, although now for a little while you may have to suffer through various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that is perishable even though tested by fire, may prove to be for praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 1: 3-7

God has a plan for those who love him.  We might not know his plan, we may never know his plan in this life, but if we trust in his love for us and we love God and neighbor; we can have the firm hope that when we see our Lord in heaven we will understand the why and understand the beauty of his love.  

 May our Lord’s peace be with you.

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Humility

Brown Pelican, Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, Texas

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Accompaniment

Caspian Terns, Royal Terns and Laughing Gulls – Mustang Island, Texas

We live in a world of division.  Each side seems to hate each other.  Often the things that divide one-side against the other are NOT insignificant, but let us follow Jesus’s lead…….

 Jesus, the Son of God, God’s very Word made flesh, came down from heaven to accompany us in our life here on this beautiful planet.  I don’t care how good we think we are, we are not in any way close to his glory.  Yet he joined us.  He became fully man.  He accompanied us and still accompanies us today.  Why?  To lead us to heaven, to make us like him, to be a part of his family so we can live eternally surrounded and filled with his love.

 Jesus demonstrated the practice of accompaniment throughout his life.   How was Jesus able to accompany people that might be practicing the most deplorable of sins?  Perhaps he, being God, looked into their hearts?  Perhaps he saw them kissing their son, their spouse or their mother at the end of the day?  Perhaps it was because he saw them dancing and singing joyfully at the start of a new day? Perhaps he saw them giving money to a stranger, a prisoner, a widow in need? Somehow, someway, Jesus saw the good and the potential of each person, each person that he had made in his own image and likeness.  Jesus did not give up on them.  And he does not give up on you or me today.

 Accompaniment to Jesus, was not a way to water down the truth, he always lead people to the truth but his method was and continues to be; to meet people where they are and lead them to the truth.  The beauty of this method for us is we are not always set firmly on the truth and in encountering others we might also be lead closer to the truth.  Often when people are accompanying each other, both are brought closer to the truth, closer to God, closer to Jesus.

 Accompaniment for the Christian requires many things but it begins with grace, then faith, and then a listening to the Holy Spirit.  Often this listening to the Holy Spirit is done by listening to the Holy Spirit talking to you through the other. 

 Let us today challenge ourselves to accompany the other instead of accusing the other.  We must remember that the people that Jesus confronted the most were those that only pointed fingers and were unwilling to accompany the other (see the many accounts of Jesus challenging the Pharisees and Scribes).  

 Accompaniment is hard, it is challenging.  I believe it starts in sharing the things we have in common, the things we love and then embracing them in each other.  Then, perhaps, we can begin to venture into the areas of disagreement.  At the end of the day we may still disagree but we pray; that with God’s help, we will meet again on another day, seeing the beauty in each other a bit clearer than we did the previous day.

 May God bless you during this Lenten season.

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God is Color Blind

Red-breasted Grosbeak, High Island, TX

This month we celebrate the lives of two African Christian saints that were martyred in the year 203 A.D.  Both were young mothers when they were executed in the public games in the amphitheater at Carthage in the Roman province of Africa.  Their names are Saint Perpetua and Saint Felicity.  They were killed for refusing to deny Christ.  As St. Perpetua wrote in her diary, “I cannot call myself by any other name than what I am—a Christian.”

 God is color blind when it comes to human skin color; but regretfully, humans are not.  We should take time to thank and reflect upon the great contributions to Christianity that came from, and continue to come from, the African continent.  Great is perhaps too small of a word when it comes to the tremendous spiritual and theological insight that have come from the people living on this continent. 

 Saint Augustine, one of the greatest Christian theologians and perhaps minds of all times, was an African.  St. Augustine is just one of many early Christians that contributed so greatly to Christ’s church.  Today this deep tradition continues with the deeply spiritual and theological insights provided by the people of this continent.  For example, just look at the books by Cardinal Sarah such as “The Power of Silence” or “God or Nothing”. 

Regretfully, the African continent continues to have many Christians that are being martyred for their beliefs. May Saints Perpetua and Saint Felicity join us, in our prayers to God, that all may be allowed to practice their faith with religious freedom.  Amen

 Additional information on the lives of Saints Perpetua and Felicity can be found at https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saints-perpetua-and-felicity/

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Following Jesus

Sunset, Olympia, Washington

When Christ selected his closest followers they left everything behind.  Initially, they may have followed him because they thought he would free their nation from foreign rule, or perhaps they thought they would get a seat of power in this new kingdom he was going to establish. 

However; as time went on they began to realize who he was, what his kingdom would be like, and what following him might be like.  It was on Christ’s final trip to Jerusalem before his passion, after the bread of life discourse, that many of his followers left him.  It was then that Jesus looked at his twelve apostles and said, “Do you also want to leave?” Simon Peter answered him, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.”  (John 6: 67-69)

We must periodically ask ourselves: Are we willing to follow Jesus to the end?  Are we willing to leave everything behind to follow him?

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Seeing Beyond

View of Sangre de Cristo Mountains from Bosque del Oso State Wildlife area, Colorado

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Stand Together

Bull Elk, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado

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e

The Bridge between Heaven and Earth

Frisco, Colorado

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Freedom

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher perched on barbed-wire fence, Bulverde, TX

What takes away your freedom? Ask God for the grace to understand what enslaves you and to seek his assistance to become truly free.

God give me the grace to be truly free,

to see and know the Truth,

to see myself, the world and others in light of the Truth,

to allow you to change me in accordance with the Truth.

John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way and the truth and the life. 

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Bless the Lord, my Soul!

Sunset, Wet Mountains, Pueblo West, Colorado

3000 years ago a young boy looked out at the night sky as he kept his father’s sheep, 

he looked at the mountains and the deserts and the valleys,

he saw rain and draught,

he saw lion and hare,

and in all things he saw the Lord God.

 

Psalm 104 is a great meditation for all who love God and this beautiful world He created.

http://www.usccb.org/bible/psalms/104

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Very Small but So Very Important

Great Egret chick emerging from egg with parent watching, High Island, TX

What a beautiful mystery, that the One that created matter, space, energy and time would adopt us as His children so that we could cry out to Him, “Abba, Father”. (see Romans 8:15)

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In the Presence of Your Love

Axis deer surround by wild flowers, Spring Branch, TX

Happy New Year!  As we reflect on the year behind and look forward to the year ahead, let us examine the times when we walked closely with our God and the times when we may have walked away from his presence.  Let us resolve to walk closer with our Lord Jesus Christ in the year to come. 

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Merry Christmas

Sunrise Galveston, TX with background mosaic from Basilica of our Lady of the Rosary, Lourdes, France

God grant us the grace…

to hear the cooing of the baby in the manger,

to see Mary softly kiss his cheeks,

to see the joy on Joseph’s face,

to understand that God became man to show us “The Way”,

to live as Christians according to “The Way”.

Merry Christmas everyone, the Lord has come.

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Search and Examine

Green-winged teal, Galveston, TX

A self-examination of conscious is a long held Christian tradition for growth in the spiritual life.  You see it in the bible many times.  St. Paul, in particular; recommends an examination of conscious (see 1 Cor 11:28, 2 Cor 13:5, 1 Cor 11:31, Gal 6:4).  My favorite examination of conscious in the bible; however, is the one told by Jesus in the story of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15 11-32).  The Prodigal Son is cleaning the stalls of pigs.  For a first century Jew, who by law avoided all pork, this must have been a rock bottom point in his life.  At this point the son examines his life, understands his errors and returns to his father to be embraced and loved.    As we prepare ourselves for Christmas let us examine our conscious and run to the embrace of our Heavenly Father.

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Feathers and Wings

Painted Bunting, Pedernales Falls State Park, Texas

St. Francis was said to have talked to animals, but wasn’t this mystic and saint really talking to us?  If birds have an obligation to praise the Creator, how much more should we?  As we prepare for Christmas let us praise the Creator that has made us in his image and has revealed to us, through the life of his son, our true vocation, to seek and love what is true and good (see CCC 1701-1715). 

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I try to make each photo new and fresh in my blog, but when I read this quote of St. Francis I could not help but use this photo of a Painted Bunting that is quite similar to a photo I put in an earlier post.  I figure no one can ever get enough of a Painted Bunting.

Prepare our Hearts

Cow Moose, Rocky Mountain National Park

As we begin this Advent Season let us ask the Holy Spirit to prepare our hearts for the birth of Jesus, the only begotten son of God.  Come Holy Spirit, Come.