God Speaks to Us Through Our Senses – How to be Holy- Peace is Possible – We are Disciples Following Christ

Vincentian Day of Prayer and Fast – Tuesday, July 19, 2016

God Speaks to Us Through Our Senses – Sometimes you hear a voice.  No! You are not crazy. If we can see God in all things around us, then if we become silent we should hear Him, too. Finding God in all things—is a conviction that lies at the core of Ignatian spirituality. Does God really speak to us through a blue sky, through the sound of laughter, through the taste of dinner? I think we can all answer “Yes.”  I love Ignation Spirituality.  We have an Ignation Spiritual Director and you never tire of his reflections.  It just seems to make you want more.  You don’t turn your back on the created world to find meaning and purpose; rather, God reveals himself to us through the very concrete stuff of our lives, through our bodies, through the things we experience with our senses. Faith is about living life, in its entire messy, topsy turvy splendor, and doing so with the awareness that God is present throughout it all. It’s about recognizing that God speaks to us through our senses and we can live a richer, more joyful faith if we train ourselves to listen. ”Some days you will be the light for others, and some days you will need some light from them. As long as there is light, there is hope and there is a way. Look for the light, and listen quietly for the message.  To you it will seem like a loud gong, but in reality the sound is for you alone.  However, you cannot keep it to yourself; you must share both the light and the sounds with others.  Sometimes you share it by your service.  When you reach out your hand to help others in God’s mercy, this is a resounding gift to the one you are serving.  Make no mistake they hear it.  We share our faith by living the Gospel, words are not needed.

How to be Holy – Jesus taught us to be Holy in the Sermon on the Mount.  God comforts us and supports us in our efforts to detach from the world and become more like Him. “When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to Him, and He began to teach them.” Matthew 5-7.  He taught us the Beatitudes and we became beatitude people.  We serve and bless the poor and those who mourn; we try to comfort and support them.  Many of those we serve are meek.  It truly takes courage to phone and ask for help.  They hunger and thirst and often want to be seen and recognized as a child of God.  We pray they are filled with mercy. On our list of visits are the pure in heart.  They pray and wonder what went wrong.  We are there to help them make it right again.  We serve the peacemakers and are the peacemakers and all of us are children of God.  We will all see heaven. Yes sometimes we are insulted, even by our friends and mean things are directed at us.  Many disciples of Jesus were persecuted and they persevered.  Our road is much easier as we go out to serve the poor and lonely.  We bring them food, but most importantly we bring them the gift of God’s love in our treatment of them and we always pray for them before and after the visit, and sometimes during the visit silently in our hearts.  When we serve the poor, lonely and suffering we serve Jesus.  He calls us and He is in each person we serve.

Peace is Possible – As an expression of his support for the campaign, Pope Francis issued a video message in which he states: “While the people suffer, incredible quantities of money are being spent to supply weapons to fighters. And some of the countries supplying these arms are also among those that talk of peace. How can you believe in someone who caresses you with the right hand and strikes you with the left hand?” If you continue with the Sermon on the Mount, you know we are called to be peacemakers.  We are humble servants to those in need.  We are the salt bringing the light to those we serve.  We must always preserve the salt and ensure the light is not hidden or burned out.  We pray and live peace; therefore there is no room for judgement or disgust.  We pray, we serve and God receives the joy of our accomplishments because He is always with us. So the Sermon on the Mount continues to teach us on laws.  The best law we follow is God’s law.  We do not break laws of the land either, but God’s law rules.  We love our neighbors as ourselves and we forgive our enemies and love them greatly through prayer. We of course give freely to those in need all the time.  We stay away from being righteous in front of others and give freely of our love, leaving the credit to God. We must be true disciples and never judge.  We seek and knock and when the door opens we serve.  These are our friends; they need to feel the peace within us.  If we are at peace with others, we will make a difference and it will spread one stone at a time.  If we are true to our calling our reward will be in heaven.

We are Disciples Following Christ – To begin reflect on these questions.  It helps if you place yourself in a quiet place and pray first. 1. Where is Jesus to be found?  2. How do we have personal contact with Jesus?  3. Do I really seek to see Jesus in those we serve?  4.  Am I, like Jesus when serving those in need?  5.  Do I accept change?  Read the mission statement and see if you can spot any more questions to ask yourself.  Memorize the mission statement and live it. Be on this journey with our leaders.  “I welcome you to join us on this journey. Let’s walk it together with Jesus, Vincent, Louise, Frederic and Rosalie and our newest and very special member, Pope Francis.  The Society of Saint Vincent de Paul was founded by a group of students who adopted Saint Vincent de Paul as their patron saint with their desire being to emulate both Vincent and Jesus in their service to the Poor.  The mission of the Society is to live the Gospel message by serving Christ in the poor with love, respect, justice and joy. Our values are to see Christ in anyone who suffers come together as a family, have personal contact with the Poor help in all possible ways

Blessings Lynn