It's Simple...Yet Not Always Easy

In recent weeks, I have preached about the importance of quiet time to hear the voice of God, the need to trust that God desires us to hear His Word, and the need for us to surrender daily our will and lives into God’s care and to follow His Word.

When I speak or write it, it sounds easy. Yet I know that some days it can be difficult to practice it. What do we do on the difficult days? I can share from my own experiences.

Firstly, I admit to God, to another, and to myself that it is difficult on a particular day to be silent, to listen, or to surrender. There is no sense in pretending that it is otherwise. Admitting it helps one to realize the need to ask for the grace to practice silence, listening, and surrendering. The difficulty can stem from external circumstances that grab our attention as well as internal distractions that draw us out of the present moment.

Secondly, I remind myself that it is foolish for me to put on God my timeline for Him to “fix”, resolve, or remove my difficulties before I pray. How easy it is for any one of us to forget that we are the created ones. One’s difficulties can be the very “stuff” of our prayer to discover God’s voice. It can also be a moment for us to grow deeper in trust that God knows us and will give to us all that we need for that day.

Finally, I just do it; I strive to practice silence, listening, and surrendering. For me, on the difficult days, it confronts my ego to do things perfectly. Yet this is the time when I need to trust that my human efforts are about progress. Perfection will need to wait another day.

Our life as followers of Jesus, as Christians, is a daily journey that we make together. It is true that some days appear easier than others to listen to the voice of God and to surrender our will and lives. However, what does not change is God’s willingness and desire to stand with us regardless of ease or difficulties. As Scripture reminds us we are God’s People, and He is our God.

And what a gift it is to belong to the Christian community. For it is here that we are nourished with the Bread of Life, strengthened by the witness of others, and grow closer into the image and likeness of our God.

I pray that all of us have a peaceful week of silence, listening, and surrendering.

Fr. John

Ascension Thursday

Yesterday, the people who work at the various parishes in the diocese gathered for our annual "Ministerium Day." The theme was What on Earth is Discipleship? The speaker was a priest from Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. His talk was very good, and reminded us that our mission as disciples comes from God. God's mission for us is to be followers of Christ who strive to reach our fullest potential. Christ came to enhance our basic human capacity.

In the process of striving to live out God's mission our ego might take over; "I know what God wants me to do!" And we move ahead without checking with God to make sure this is what he is calling us to do. A good reminder that we need to always stay connected with God even when the temptation is there to move the mission in our own direction.

Sometimes, we limit ourselves in the way we live out our call to be a part of God's mission. The speaker yesterday shared with us a Prayer of Sir Francis Drake titled Disturb Us, Lord:

Disturb us, Lord, when We are too well pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we have dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when
With the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst
For the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision
Of the new Heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wider seas
Where storms will show your mastery;
Where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.
We ask You to push back
The horizons of our hopes;
And to push into the future
In strength, courage, hope, and love.

Our Lord had to ascend to heaven to return to God so that the Holy Spirit could come and move us more deeply into the mission that Christ began here on earth. We are called to be witnesses to that mission, to be faithful to our call as mission-ers of the Good News. We are reminded that we are limited in our vision and must turn to God to move us beyond the ways that we limit ourselves and others. God has the wider vision, not us. We need to be disturbed by God so that we don't become complacent, hard-hearted, hopeless.

May the ascension of our Lord make room in our hearts for a wider and deeper love for God and others that moves us into a future filled with hope, life and love. May we always strive, with the help of God, to live our lives to our fullest potential!

Fr. Mark