Gospel Thought Today: Hear With Your Heart

In nursing school, I could sit in lectures all day learning how to do a physical exam, insert a foley catheter, and start an IV. I could watch videos and demonstrations on correct procedure until I was blue in the face.  But the moment I walked into a patient's room and had to perform, everything heard with my ears seemed to have evaporated from my mind. Then a mentor would step in and assist until I achieved the task at hand.  It took a lot of practice, and eventually, I evolved into a skilled nurse. It became a part of me . . . who I am. In my heart, I will always be a caregiver.

Think about being a Christian. We can read everything we get our hands on from the Bible to the Volumes to the Catechism on a daily basis. We can attend renewals and Mass on Sunday.  We can hear with our ears and see with our eyes,  but struggle sometimes to hear with our heart. Maybe the crabby waitress upset with a small tip was counting on making enough money to pay the bills, or buy diapers for her child. Maybe the rude cashier at the supermarket is going through a painful divorce. Practice what you read in the Volumes. Soon, you will begin to hear with your heart.

In today's Gospel (Matthew 11:11-15), Jesus asks us to sharpen our listening skills:

Jesus said to the crowds: "Amen, I say to you, among those born of women there has been none greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the Kingdom of heaven is greater than he. From the days of John the Baptist until now, the Kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent are taking it by force. All the prophets and the law prophesied up to the time of John. And if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah, the one who is to come. Whoever has ears ought to hear."

In Volume Ten, Jesus requests we answer His Call.  He will concern Himself with the strength we need to do it:

"Dear souls of the Kingdom, you are called to service. You know this. You have heard My call and rested in My anguish. I want to talk to you about your duty. Perhaps you hear My call and feel resistance at what it is I am asking from you. Let me promise you that you will
be given exactly what you need to embrace your portion of this mission. Do not be afraid to stand beside Me as I move into the world through each one of you. Souls will see you with their physical eyes, but they will experience Me. Your fears, your hesitance, have no bearing on how you will perform for Me. Do not worry about your ability when it comes to completing your duty. Do not worry about your lack of strength. It will come from Me. It will flow deeply and completely from Me. Your willingness to serve is all that is required."

Lay apostles, in this Advent season, begin to contemplate your reactions to unhappy or rude people. Try to turn the situation around with a kind word. Was the salesperson at Macy's short with you? Tell her she has beautiful eyes at checkout. Find something positive to say.  You never know when one kind word will change a life.

Thank you, Lord, for teaching me how to hear with my heart. It is so important I take the focus away from myself and look upon others with my heart first. You are the Mentor of mentors!

God bless,
Bonnie

Gospel Thoughts Today: What Child Is This?

Today we honor our Blessed Mother Mary on the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe. In an Advent letter from Anne a lay apostle a few years ago, she said, "Mary was the first Tabernacle and Jesus was happy to be nestled safely in His mother's body." I had never thought of Our Lady as the first Tabernacle! But truly she is! Her love and sacrifice were not only for God but for all of us, even 2,017 years later. So thank Mary today for her "yes" to birth Our Savior. She deserves it. Think about giving birth in a stable, in Bethlehem, in the middle of winter.  I checked online to see what the temperature is this time of year there. High in the 30's. Unthinkable enduring labor in 30-degree weather! Think about the sterile environment babies are born into today. A stable is full of manure, dirt, and mud. Not so sterile for Our King, right? Yet Mary didn't complain. Yes, thank Mary. She is our direct connection to her Son. She is ready and waiting to hear our cries and intercede for us. After all, as my mother always said, what Son doesn't listen to His Mother?

What Child is This? is a beautiful song reminding us of the love of our heavenly Mother:

What child is this, who laid to rest 

On Mary's lap, is sleeping? 

Whom angels greet with anthems sweet, 

While shepherds watch are keeping? 

This, this is Christ the King, 

Whom shepherds guard and angels sing: 

Haste, haste to bring him laud, 

The Babe, the Son of Mary! 

So bring Him incense, gold, and myrrh, 

Come peasant king to own Him, 

The King of kings, salvation brings, 

Let loving hearts enthrone Him. 

Raise, raise the song on high, 

The Virgin sings her lullaby: 

Joy, joy, for Christ, is born, 

The Babe, the Son of Mary!

The Gospel (Luke 1:39-47) below shows the humility of Our Lady:

Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, "Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled."

And Mary said: "My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior."

In Volume Seven, St. Thomas Aquinas describes the priceless love and intercession Our Lady provides her children on earth:

"Dearest brothers and sisters, never underestimate what Jesus can do with a soul who decides for Him. To underestimate what He can do is to limit Him. A soul deciding for Jesus can change the world and that is our goal. We must help Him to change this world. You have been given some ideas of the weapons you have at your disposal. You have Jesus, of course. You have Mary. Many also underestimate the power of our heavenly mother. Be assured that the enemy knows her power. Do not let your heavenly mother be attacked without response. If you witness this, you must speak out for her. This pleases everyone in heaven, but this pleases Jesus in a special way. She is a loyal friend to you and a powerful intercessor. There are many mercies and graces given to your world today which would be absent but for Mary. We love her immeasurably. You will not err if you follow her. She leads to Jesus."

Lay apostles, do you honor Mary, our Blessed Mother? Do you ask for her intercession? She is the direct path to her Son. Honor her. Love her. Pray the Rosary. She is always watching over us as a good mother does her children.

Thank you, Lord, for my heavenly Mother Mary. I know how powerful her intercession is and thankful You allow her to appear to so many visionaries over the centuries. I promise to honor her every chance I get.

God bless,
Bonnie

Gospel Thought Today: Accentuate the Positive

Negativity abounds every time I turn the TV on. It's one of the reasons I rarely watch the news. Now if I were the owner of a television station with news telecasts, here is what I would make mandatory: for every negative piece of news, there was positive to offset it. Think about how that could affect people. Or better yet, MORE positive than negative? There are countless compassionate people making this world a better place, striving to bring hope when hope can be hard to find. There is a song by the beloved Ella Fitzgerald called "Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive" which sums up what we as Christians should be showing the world. Here are some of the lyrics, followed by a YouTube video of Ella singing this uplifting song:

You've got to accentuate the positive

Eliminate the negative

Latch on to the affirmative

Don't mess with Mister In-Between

You've got to spread joy up to the maximum

Bring gloom down to the minimum

Have faith or pandemonium

Liable to walk upon the scene

To illustrate his last remark

Jonah in the whale, Noah in the ark

What did they do

Just when everything looked so dark

Man, they said we better, accentuate the positive

Eliminate the negative

Latch on to the affirmative

Don't mess with Mister In-Between

No, do not mess with Mister In-Between

Do you hear me?

Oh, listen to me children and-a you will hear

About the elininatin' of the negative

And the accent on the positive

And gather 'round me children if you're willin'

And sit tight while I start reviewing'

Today's Gospel (Luke 10:21-24) reminds us of the graces given to followers of Christ:

Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I give you praise, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike. Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.”

Turning to the disciples in private he said, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see.  For I say to you, many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.”

In Anne a lay apostle's book Whispers From the Cross, she directs us to focus on the positive:

"If the world is facing a difficult time, and it seems that we are, then we will need to work very hard to understand God’s power and stop talking about darkness. Is the darkness there? Of course. Only a spiritually blind man would deny this. But we sometimes add to the darkness instead of holding up the light. We can be guilty of doing this by talking incessantly of the darkness with dire threats of impending doom. In most cases, we are speculating. Perhaps we should speculate on how God can rescue us and posit those theories instead of hypothesizing how the enemy will play with us next. Perhaps we will speculate on how the Church will lead us with strength and courage instead of how we will be overcome. Perhaps we could try an exercise and guess how good men will become great men through challenges instead of guessing how men of apparent lesser good will become evil through temptation. May the Lord have mercy on us for being so pessimistic about God’s world and may the Lord enlighten us as to how we bring unity to God’s Church and not division. If we identify that unity is desirable, and indeed necessary for the advancement of the renewal, then we will make a decision to participate in the acquisition of this unity. Jesus loves us so much. He has such tremendous hope placed in each one of us and in each one of the roles we have been assigned."

Lay apostles, what are you focused on today? Life is full of disappointments if you continue to dwell on them. So, let's accentuate the positive . . . stepping away from all the negativity and opening our eyes to the beauty and graces provided by Our Father in heaven. At the least, with every negative thought, quickly think of a positive one to offset it! I'll be working on that right along with you!

Thank you, Lord, for shaking the negative out of my head with Your beautiful words in the Gospel and in Anne's books. Continue to remind me to focus on the positive!

God bless,
Bonnie