Answer Me!

How do you pray?  When I begin to pray, I usually start with “Hey Jesus. How are you?” Then I thank Him and ask Him for the graces and things I need. However, sometimes my prayer can seem to formal. When facing the followers of a foreign god, Elijah wanted to show them that there is only One God, and so he asked them to ask their god to send down fire for the offering. No matter how much they called and asked, no fire came. And so Elijah turned to heaven and asked the Lord to send down fire so that those present would come to know and believe in the One True God. Elijah prayed and said “Answer me, Lord!”  And guess what?  God sent down fire.

Oftentimes we are too “gentle” and “safe” in our prayer.  Like Elijah we ought to be bold in our prayer!  God is all-powerful and all-good! There is NOTHING that He cannot do. Don’t withhold anything from God. He wants to hear it. There is nothing He can’t handle. He wants to hear from you. He created you. He loves you and He wants you to live life to the full.  He wants this so much that He became man and died for you.  More than that, Jesus rose from the dead!  God’s power is in His love. He loves you. Go to Him. Be bold and even say “Answer me, God!”

Opening Our Hearts

When we close our hearts, we are not only closing ourselves off from giving love but also closing ourselves off from receiving love. Our society has twisted our perceptions and confused our judgments. What is true and good our minds have now processed and determined as insufficient and boring. Our minds have taken falsehood for truth and our hearts have been set on things that will not last. We have allowed our hearts to close and harden.

Our hearts were made for love – true love, love that last and that endures hardships and suffering, love that is eternal.  Since what we truly desire then is eternal, it can only come from something eternal, and we know that only God is eternal. So, what we really desire only God can give to us. Jesus told His disciples, “Not as the world gives do I give.” The love and peace that God gives to us is lasting. The world cannot give this kind of love and peace to us.  The Psalmist asks us today, “How long will your hearts be closed, will you love what is futile is seek what is false?” It is time to stop loving what is temporal and changing, but rather desire what is eternal and lasting. It is time to stop settling for worldly lies and comforts, but rather seek the truth that sets us free. It is time to return to the Father. It is time to live more fully alive. Now is the time to open our hearts to love and peace and joy that will last forever, for only then will our hearts be truly at rest.

Seeing God

It is the clean of heart that will see God.  What does that mean?  Have you ever felt so disgusted by someone or something because of what they may have done or said that you couldn’t bear to look at them? I know I have.  Those are the moments when I have failed to see God.  

You see, seeing God and Christ in others has nothing to do with what they do or say, even if it is the most horrendous or disgusting thing. They and we will have to face the appropriate consequences for our actions and words, but if we have failed to see Christ in the other, it is our problem.  “Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God.”  I have failed to see God in the other because of my tainted heart – my pride, my ego, my jealousy, my envy, my attachment to the world. All people are made in the image and likeness of God, and so no matter what someone may say or do, they remain a child of God, they remain a beloved son or daughter of the Father.

Jesus came for the sinners. We are all sinners. There are times when we fail to see Christ in others, and I am sure there are times when others fail to see Christ in us.  Even when others mistreat us, judge us, or hate us, we still must love them and treat them as beloved children of God. We love them not because they earned our love or that we are so worthy that can ought to love them, but because we have been so loved. Being loved is a gift, and gifts are meant to be given. Let us ask the Father to remove the layers of filth that dirty our hearts so that in seeing others as God sees them – as beloved sons and daughters, we may in turn see God.