Tag: discernment

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Good Shepherd Sunday

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Mass Readings for the Fourth Sunday of Easter
First Reading: Acts 13:14, 43-52
Psalm: Psalm 100:1-3, 5
Second Reading: Revelation 7:9, 14B-17
Gospel: John 10:27-30

Happy Mother’s Day to all our friends and family around the world who celebrate mothers today.

The fourth Sunday of Easter which is known as “Good Shepherd Sunday,” is also the “World Day of Prayer for Vocations.” As always, you can find the links to today’s readings as well as some excellent resources for vocations and discernment in the notes section and also on our website, www.deaconrudysnotes.org https://www.deaconrudysnotes.org/. Today, we remember in a special way all our bishops and our priests. But the challenge of the Scripture today applies to all in leadership roles over God’s flock, the Church.

First, who is the Church? John tells us today in Revelations Chapter 7, verse 9, that the Church is the “great multitude”. God swore to Abraham his descendants would be too numerous to count. And in the Church, as John sees, this promise is fulfilled.<1>

That’s an awesome image, right? But it can also be an overwhelming image too. I think its very easy to get lost in a big crowd and feel completely alone. Have you ever felt that way? My brothers and sisters, I have good news! Jesus tells us that he is our Shepherd and he will watch over us, so we are never alone. In today’s Responsorial Psalm, Psalm 100, verse 3, reminds us, “Know the Lord is God, he made us, we belong to him, we are his people, the flock he shepherds.”

Indeed, in today’s Gospel, John Chapter 10, verse 27, Jesus says, “My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” How does that work, exactly? How does he speak to me? Well, I think that in order to hear his voice, we need to stop talking! Right? How many of us in our prayers do all the talking and never pause for a second for the Holy Spirit to respond? I think if we listen, we can hear him speak to us at every Mass, through the Bible, through our pastors, through our parents, through our friends, through the events of our lives, and through his creation all around us. C.S. Lewis reminds us that, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, He speaks to us in our consciences, and He shouts to us in our pain!”

How many of us, I wonder, miss out on the hearing God’s voice or the angels’ song because we won’t quiet our minds or we can’t set aside the pressures of life that we often place upon ourselves? How can we ever really discern God’s will if we don’t hear his voice – if we don’t stop, drop and roll, as the Life Teen ministry suggests, follow the links at the bottom of this podcast notes for more information about that.

But God’s voice is not only for us. That’s why we, as disciples, are challenged to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ, just like Paul and Barnabas in today’s second reading from Acts Chapter 13. They “were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit” and continued to preach to the Gentiles who welcomed them with delight (v. 48).

Our challenge is to become good shepherds and good sheep, good leaders and good followers.

Everyone who is entrusted with the care of others is a shepherd. So, our pastors, parents, teachers, doctors, nurses, government officials, etc. are all shepherds. We become good shepherds by loving those entrusted to us, praying for them, spending our time and talents for their benefit protecting them from physical and spiritual dangers. Parents must be especially careful of their duties to give their children good example through the way we live our Christian lives.

We are called to be good sheep – not passive, blind and dumb creatures – no! We are called to be actively good sheep. As sheep we are called to be part of the community – our local parish. There we hear and follow the voice of the shepherd through homilies, Bible classes, pastoral counseling, spiritual direction and advice. We receive from our pastors spiritual food by regular participation in the Holy Mass, by receiving the Sacraments, and by attending prayer services, renewal programs, and missions. We cooperate with our pastors by giving them positive suggestions for the good of the parish, by encouraging them in their duties, by lovingly offering them constructive criticism when they misstep, and by praying for them. We also should cooperate with our fellow parishioners in the activities of various councils, ministries and parish associations.

Together we are a good herd – a good church – when we continue the ministry of salvation begun by Jesus – when we reach out to the margins and share the Good News. God gives us Faith through Baptism, and then he strengthens that Faith in Confirmation. He supplies food for the journey in the Holy Eucharist and in His Divine Word through Scripture. He sanctifies our society through good and holy marriages and through the priesthood, diaconate and consecrated life. May we foster a spirit of vocations in our families so that our children know they have options to serve the community as priests, deacons and consecrated religious brothers and sisters.

Our readings today offer us both comfort and challenge. The comforting message is that we are in the hands of the Good Shepherd. The challenge is that pastors and lay people alike should be good shepherds to those entrusted to their care.

Homework! I ask you to reflect on the following questions. I encourage you over the next week to pause at least once a day and consider these questions through your prayer and meditation:

  1. In what ways am I a good shepherd and in what ways must I improve?
  2. In what ways am I a good sheep and how can I be a better, more active part of the community?
  3. And our bonus challenge today is: May we pray for those discerning God’s call to the priesthood, diaconate and consecrated life.

Do you got it? Do you get it? Good! May Almighty God bless you Father, Son and Holy Spirit. +Amen!

Notes
<1> Compare Revelation 7:9; with Genesis 15:5.

Resources

  1. World Day of Prayer for Vocations https://www.worlddayofprayerforvocations.com/
  2. Pope France Message for the 2019 World Day of Vocations
    http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/vocations/documents/papa-francesco_20190131_56-messaggio-giornata-mondiale-vocazioni.html
  3. USCCB World Day of Prayer for Vocations http://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/vocations/world-day-of-prayer-for-vocations.cfm
  4. USCCB Discernment Tools http://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/vocations/discernment-tools.cfm
  5. 3 Steps for Discernment by Life Teen: Stop, Drop and Roll https://lifeteen.com/blog/discernment-in-3-easy-steps/
  6. Fr. Mike Schmitz 4 Helpful Rules for Discernment https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ne8n-1ATd1s&vl=en
  7. Bishop Robert Barron How Should I Discern the Priesthood? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdxYHfExkfo
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14 Our Gifts

Photo of stained glass window of a dove symbolizing the Holy Spirit

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2nd Sunday ordinary time

Mass Readings
Reading 1 – Isaiah 62:1-5
Psalm – Psalm 96:1-2, 2-3, 7-8, 9-10
Reading 2 – 1 Corinthians 12:4-11
Gospel – John 2:1-11

Today we’re going to talk about the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time. In today’s Gospel, we hear the familiar story about the Wedding Feast at Cana. In the Gospel, they’re running out of wine. Mary, noticing the situation, goes to Jesus. Now this is really important because it underscores our understanding of who Mary is. What does she do? Mary, the first disciple, intercedes-she asks Jesus for help. Then she turns to the servants and tells them to do whatever he asks. This is important because of some of the questions and comments I receive. We Catholics do not worship Mary. We do not believe Mary has power on her own. Mary cannot save us. Only Jesus can save us. But Mary can help us. Why? But we believe we’re a community. We believe in the communion of saints – a community of disciples. So just like we can ask each other for prayers, we can ask our deceased family and friends for their intercessory prayers and we can ask Mary and the saints for their intercessory prayers.

Is this effective? Yes! But Jesus doesn’t simply provide some wine. No! the Gospel says that Jesus provided the best wine! God loves us so much that he will lavish us with his grace – with His blessings – with His gifts. That’s what we find the first reading today. In Isaiah 62, we hear that the Lord delights in you.

St. Paul tells us today in Corinthians that we as disciples of Jesus have gifts. Some receive very particular gifts. But these gifts are not for own sake. Our gifts are meant to be shared with the community. Now, another way of looking at this Gospel is that Jesus shares His gift with the community. So we too are called to follow Jesus’ example and share our gifts.

Ok, so how do I know what gifts and talents I have and how do I know God’s will for my life? Understanding ourselves, our gifts and our call is a process we call discernment. There are many ways to do this, and we usually hear about discernment at moments of change in our lives, but Pope Francis in his book, Rejoice and Be Glad, tells us we need to know if something comes from the Holy Spirit. Discernment itself is a gift that we should nurture over the course of our lives. Here is just very quick summary of what that process looks like: prayer, reflection, reading and good counsel.<1>

If we’re trying to understand our gifts, then we need to be attentive and reflective, that is to say, we need to try to understand through prayer and reflection what our gifts and talents are and how God might be asking us to use them. Part of this process includes seeking input from the people around you, like your family and friends, your spiritual director, or other staff or volunteers at your parish who know you. You see, our gifts will bear fruit and sometimes it takes looking at ourselves through the eyes of another person to help us see them.

Discernment is not just for the young and just for moments of big change in our lives. We should nurture discernment throughout our lives. Pope Benedict gives us a great example of discernment. In discerning it was time for him to retire, he taught us that where and how God calls us today might change down the road. Being open to God‘s will for our life means we need to have the courage to make adjustments in our lives from time to time.

By developing a better understanding of our talents and gifts, we are in a better position to share our gifts with the community. That’s what Scripture asks us to do. We need to go out in to the world, to be what Pope Francis calls missionary disciples sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ, or as our psalmist says today, to proclaim His marvelous deeds to all the nations.

Homework! Inspired by the Eucharist and the Word of God proclaimed, let’s work on the following this week:

  1. Spend a few minutes in quiet this week and ask yourself what signs of God do you recognize in your life?
  2. How can you improve how you share your gifts with others at your current stage in life?
  3. Bonus homework: read about the fruits of the Holy Spirit in Galatians Chapter 5.<2>

I think by doing our homework this week we might develop a better sense of our call as missionary disciples. May each of us come to know the grace and peace of our Lord, Jesus Christ. In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. +Amen!

<1> Francis. Rejoice and Be Glad: Gaudete Et Exsultate; Apostolic Exhortation. Washington, DC: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2018.
<2> Galatians 5:22

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08 Our Lady of Guadalupe Episode 3

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Hello and welcome back to this series on Our Lady of Guadalupe. In episode 1, we reflected on the religious dimension of this feast. In episode 2, we recounted the story of Our Lady of Guadalupe. In this third and final episode in this series, we’ll look at some of the cultural and political dimensions of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Now, in Episode 2 we reviewed the story of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Her political and cultural significance begins with that story. This is an important story about the apparition of Mary because this time there’s proof: Juan Diego’s tilma upon which is the miraculous image of Our Lady.

The image of Our Lady on Juan Diego’s tilma is brown-skinned. Why is this important? Well, it had only been around 10 years since Spain had conquered central Mexico. The Aztec people were devastated. But the image of a brown-skinned Mary reached out to the indigenous people in way that nothing else could. Also the image of Our Lady is standing in front of the sun and on the moon. These were symbols the Aztecs worshipped, but Mary’s image sends a message they can move beyond these symbols of their ancient faith and embrace the one true God. So Mary is the penultimate disciple.

But Mary didn’t just appear to Juan Diego. She asked him to tell the bishop – to work with the bishop to build a church. Of course God would come to a poor indigenous person. Throughout the Bible, God chose the unlikeliest of people for missions, like Moses who spoke with a stutter. Mary then is a symbol of unity trying to bring together the Spanish conquerors and the indigenous people to build a church where all people could come together as a community and worship God. So Mary inspires unity.

Mary is also seen wearing a sash high above her belly. This is an indication of pregnancy. So this is one of the only images depicting Mary pregnant with Jesus. All of these symbols: the sun, the stars, the moon, the southern cross, the placement of her hands indicating a gesture of offering, all reached out to the indigenous people in a way nothing else could. Millions were convinced by the apparition and joined the church.
Now this is important because what’s going on in Europe at this time? The Protestant Reformation is spreading and many are leaving the church. This was a period of great upheaval in the Christian world, but here in the West, Mary is reaching out to include non-Europeans into the church.

Over time her image became a great source of nationalism for the Mexican people. When the Mexican war of independence from Spain began in 1810, Father Miguel Hidalgo rallying cry was “Long live the Virgen of Guadalupe!” One hundred years later during the Mexican revolution, Emiliano Zapata and other fighters carried her image into battle, despite the fact that the revolution was anti-clerical and anti-Church. Her image was used in the United States by Cesar Chavez during the Mexican-American civil rights movement in the 1960s and more recently by immigrants’ rights advocates.
But now the image of Our Lady has been so widely commercialized that she transcends religion. Her image has appeared on all sorts of things from tattoos to candles, calendars, and even TV in a soap opera and a cartoon! But her image is being adopted by people who are specifically anti-church and call themselves Guadalupanos. The term expresses anti-establishment sentiment. Even the former president of Mexico Felipe Calderon said, “We’re all Guadalupanos!”

Some of these more commercialized representations may have strayed far from the faith and perhaps are even more secular than religious. But they have a way of uniting people during a time when that seems completely impossible. Perhaps this is an expression of discipleship too – reaching out to disparate people who can’t seem to agree on anything and uniting them around one symbol might be away of sparking curiosity. Who is she and why is she important? These sorts of questions might lead people into an encounter with the true purpose of the symbol of Our Lady of Guadalupe: it’s not about Mary, but her son, Jesus Christ. So don’t get your feathers too ruffled by commercialism. It might be part of a great plan.

Well, that’s it for today. I hope you enjoyed this brief description of some of the non-religious dimensions of Our Lady of Guadalupe. You can find a copy of today’s podcast and other helpful information on the website, www.deaconrudysnotes.org. The link will appear in the notes on your podcast player, but here’s the link just in case, here it is again: www.deaconrudysnotes.org.

Through the intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe, may we all come to know and to love Jesus Christ. In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. +Amen!