Instruments of the Doer

“O LORD,

you mete out peace to us,

for it is you who have accomplished all we have done.”

Isaiah 26:12

Have you ever had the experience of “Wow, I don’t know where that came from?” or “I don’t know what came over me when I did that or said that?” There are times in our lives when we experience an encounter that we perhaps never thought capable or possible. Oftentimes people credit their adrenaline rush. But I dare suggest it was rather the power of the Holy Spirit. “Do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say. You will be given at that moment what you are to say” (Mt. 10:19). God always supplies. In His Providence, God always has our back. The question we must ask ourselves is if we trust Him.

Everything that has come to be God either caused it or permitted it. Even when it seems like it was done by us, it was God. We were the instruments through which God worked His creating, healing, and saving powers. But we must allow God to work through us, and most of the time that’s all we need to do. Just say “Yes” to God and He will give you all the graces that is needed to tackle whatever is presented to you. “…for it is You who have accomplished all we have done.” We may have worked it with our hands and intellect, but it was God who started it and accomplished it. How lucky and honored are we to have a part of this extraordinary work. May we ask God for the grace to allow Him to work through us more and more each day, beginning today.

Knowing the Father

“No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.”

Matthew 11:27

When asked “Why did God make you,” the Baltimore Catechism teaches, “to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him forever in the next.” Before we can serve Him or love Him, we need to know God. But how? Through prayer. Not just the prayers we learned to memorize, but rather conversing with God. Speaking with Him, sitting with Him, sharing with Him everything that is on your heart, and listening to Him. It is only in conversation and in spending time with the Lord will you come to know Him, and in knowing Him and how much He loves you, you will come to love Him. And this “belovedness” or being loved by the Father will only increase in you the desire to love Him more so that everything that is important to Him is important to you. This then moves us to service.

When we come to know God we will come to love Him and serve Him. And in knowing, loving, and serving the Father, we know, love, and serve the Son for the Father and the Son are one. With this relationship of love there is no hardship or suffering in this life that we will not be able to overcome. May we come to know the Father today and by doing so be known by Him, our peace and our joy.

St. Bonaventure, pray for us!

Firm in Our Faith

“Unless your faith is firm

you shall not be firm!”

Isaiah 7:9b

Memorial of St. Kateri Tekakwitha, Virgin

Today we celebrate St. Kateri Tekakwitha, the first Native American to be canonized a saint by the Church. As a little child, Kateri had scars from contracting smallpox and has always been self-conscious about that so she would often cover her face. Kateri converted to Catholicism when she was 19 and took a vow of chastity, professing Jesus as her only spouse. Her family and friends did not agree with her decisions, but Kateri stood firm in her faith. Because of this and fear of persecution, Kateri moved to a more Christian-friendly community. A short five years later she died at the age of 24 from illness.

Despite opposition from her family and friends, Kateri stayed strong in her resolve to follow Christ and to remain chaste for her Spouse. Though she needed to flee to avoid persecution, her faith remained strong. The Prophet Isaiah tells us that the Lord reminds us that unless our faith is firm, we will not be firm. Who we are and how we live that out is rooted in our faith – not faith in ourselves but faith in the One who calls us beloved. If we know who we are and who and where we are from then we will be able to endure all things. If our faith in God is strong then we will be strong for our strength comes from Him. So today may we come to recognize and go to the One who loves us and calls us His own so that we may be the faithful witnesses and disciples we are called to be.   

St. Kateri Tekakwitha, pray for us!