Another Jesus Sighting...*SIGH.*

People of faith have supernatural experiences all the time. God is Himself supernatural after all. How else would He communicate with us? The experiences of St. Faustina, St. Bernadette, the students of Kibeho, Sister Agnes of Akito, the shepherd children of Fatima and many, many others are mighty demonstrations of the power of Heaven when it wants to get Earth's attention. Each of us who strives to live a devout life could I'm sure talk about varying degrees of supernatural experiences as well, though we hesitate to share our stories with anyone.

Gee, I wonder why?

Just a moment ago--yet again--I heard another Jesus-sighting story. Our local radio station's morning show (that is on against my will since I share an office with two other people) dropped the story in that ever-so-slightly facetious tone only trained media personnel can achieve between another joke about wardrobe malfunction and the traffic report. It will never cease to annoy me how mainstream media will ignore stories of real apparitions and the grave messages that always come with them and then latch onto ridiculous claims of images of Our Lord or Our Lady appearing on things like grilled cheese sandwiches, cloud formations, superstore receipts, pet fur, on building walls...

I hate that matters of faith have been reduced to being the butts of really bad jokes. These bogus stories like we hear on the mainstream media don't help. Some pretty compelling supernatural experiences are targets for second-rate commedians, which is sad, since they're some of the most powerful tools for conversion out there. I've had experiences like these, as have my husband, many of my friends and I'm sure many of you; but I rarely open up to anyone about my experiences. I can just hear the conversation now:

"One afternoon I was sitting on the sofa in prayer and suddenly I heard a voice that I just know was The Lord."

"You hear voices?"

"What? Oh, no. No, of course not, but it wasn't like that--"

"How do you know it wasn't just your imagination?"

"Well I know because I know The Lord."

"Really? How do you "know The Lord"? Does he also appear to on your morning toast?"

"Well no, of course not, but--"

"Do you believe Jesus appears on toast?"

"No, I'm sure He doesn't, but your--"

"What about on a K-mart receipt? You ever see that?"

"Well, no."

"Well then how can you believe you heard Jesus talking to you?"

"Because they're not the same thing at all. The toast is--"

"Oh, no, no, no, they are the same thing. They are the very same thing. People see what they want to see and hear what they want to hear."

"But how can you possibly know that I wanted--"

"Look, it's either your imagination or you're a nut-job religious fanatic, and I'm leaning toward the latter, since you just admitted to me that you hear voices, didn't you?"

Seriously, friends, how do you combat the ignorance of a closed mind and a hard heart? The above is an example of what we've been doing, and as you can see we give them plenty of ammo.

So look at this as an option:

"One afternoon I was sitting on the sofa in prayer and suddenly I heard a voice that I just know was The Lord."

"You hear voices?"

"Do you want to just ridicule me? Because if so, we're done here."

Or how about this one:

"
How do you "know The Lord"? Does he also appear to on your morning toast?"

"Do you want to talk about fake toast stories or do you want to hear this story?"

I've done similar to both of these, and the conversations always ended abruptly. Charity does not mean letting someone kick you in the teeth, and turning the other cheek doesn't mean being a doormat. Faith is not entertainment. It's the ideal upon which we base our entire existence. Look to Christ in the gospels as our model in this. How often during his 3-year ministry up until his arrest did Jesus allow Himself to become the butt of a joke?

NEVER.

Don't you allow it, either.

And if any one will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet as you leave that house or town. Truly, I say to you, it shall be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomor'rah than for that town. Mt. 10:14-15

Why Do We Believe In God?

More Fr. Robert Barron at www.WordOnFire.org

Clinging To Faith

"Do not let your hearts be troubled,” Jesus said. “You have faith in God; have faith also in me. In my Father's house there are many dwelling places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be. Where I am going you know the way.”

Thomas said to him, "Master, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?" Jesus said to him, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:1-6

Some of the most profound ideas regarding spirituality and humanness I have ever read came from Henri J. M. Nouwen. His teachings, which stem from his intensely personal faith, begin with our Lord as "The Beloved", the one who is constantly, relentlessly calling us to Him. Nouwen taught that faith doesn't end with the individual's personal relationship with Christ. A real living faith is expressed outwardly in the life of a living community, the sharing of life's journey to the heart of their God; and in the manifestation of that community in outward expressions of love in ministry, either public or private. He taught that it's not in our strengths, but in our weaknesses that we can truly discover our unity, and that through loving of one another in these weaknesses we are able to know God.

A short book of “spiritual imperatives” to himself titled The Inner Voice Of Love: A Journey Through Anguish To Freedom (Doubleday, 1996), written during a six-month period of intense spiritual darkness, was never intended for publication. In this work, Nouwen explores his own weaknesses, the recesses of his fears, his struggles with faith, and presents them as "a source of consolation to see that light and darkness, hope and despair, love and fear are never very far from each other, and that spiritual freedom often requires a fierce spiritual battle." (from the Introduction, xviii) Sometimes the battle isn't with a demon, but with ourself.

The following excerpt is called Cling To The Promise:

Do not tell everyone your story. You will only end up feeling more rejected. People cannot give you what you long for in your heart. The more you expect from people’s response to your experience of abandonment, the more you will feel exposed to ridicule.

You have to close yourself to the outside world so you can enter your own heart and the heart of God through your pain. God will send to you the people with whom you can share your anguish, who can lead you closer to the true source of love.

God is faithful to God’s promises. Before you die, you will find the acceptance and the love you crave. It will not come in the way you expect. It will not follow your needs and wishes. But it will fill your heart and satisfy your deepest desire. There is nothing to hold on to but this promise. Everything else has been taken away from you. Cling to that naked promise in faith. Your faith will heal you.

The Enduring Story Of Good & Evil

I admit it. I am a Trekker.

Tonight my Trekker husband and I are going to the Midnight showing of the long anticipated film, the latest bearing the legendary name: STAR TREK. (No, we are not wearing our Starfleet uniforms.)

Why am I such a fan?

It’s the premise, right in those iconic voice-overs by Captains James T. Kirk and Jean-Luc Picard leading into the opening theme songs of both Star Trek and Star Trek: The Next Generation: “To boldly go where no man...no one has gone before.” Every week the crew would face a terrible villain, one whose defeat would require imagination, intellect, and perfect cooperation among the crew. Not to mention in many instances a bold leap of faith as they risked their lives to save the day.

The battle of good vs. evil is a plot line enduring all points on the space-time continuum.

It endures because, I think, the battle of good vs. evil is very real, and a part of our every day lives. It doesn’t often entail a fleet of Romulans decloaking off the starboard bow ready to launch a torpedo at you (often? How about never?), but our battles are pretty harrowing at times. I certainly wouldn’t want to endure any one of my battles alone.

God IS with me, and because of God I’m not alone. How blessed I am to have friends, family and His Church. My daily battles with all things evil, no matter how large or small, are won with their help—with their prayers, their friendship, their bold leap of faith for me, and mine in turn for them. When we cooperate with grace, there’s no evil we can’t overcome.

I lift my eyes to the hills,
From where does my help come?
My help comes from The LORD
Who made heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot be moved,
He who keeps you will not slumber,
Behold, he who keeps Israel
Will neither slumber nor sleep.

The LORD is your keeper,
The LORD is your shade;
The sun will not smite you by day,
Nor the moon by night.

The LORD will keep you from all evil,
The LORD will keep your life,
Your goings out and your comings in
From this time forth and forevermore.
Psalm 121

Live long and prosper.

I Believe In God?

We believe in God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen.

-The Nicene Creed

Last week after daily Mass my friend, a young man who is discerning a call to the priesthood, needed to talk. "I've been whining alot lately," he confessed, "and I know it. I keep wondering if I can do it, if I can live that life for sixty or seventy years." He went on, listing his many worries: austerity, celibacy, family... After he expressed his concerns, and after I gave him the motherly hug he needed at that moment, he said to me, "Gina, will you pray with me?"

I immediately started into my little request for him: for a clear, obvious sign that would tell my friend exactly what he needed to hear so he could move forward. More importantly, I now realize, I listened to my friend as he prayed aloud to God: "Dad," he said, "I need your help. I'm confused. I don't know what to do. You always help me, Father. I know you hear me, Dad, sometimes I can't hear you, and I know it's because I'm not listening. And I'm scared, Dad. I'm scared, but I trust you, Father. And I love you."

Dad. Wow.

His prayer went on like this for quite a while, the conversation between a small child crying and his Daddy, comforting him. I held his hand throughout his prayer, and I prayed silently with him, feeling utterly humbled.

My friend helped me to really understand something that I've always kind of known, but wasn't applying to my daily faith: believing that a God exists who does wondrous, miraculous things by merely speaking them, and believing IN this same God are two entirely different things. How often do we--do I--confuse them?

While I was very sincere in my prayer, thinking that I was praying with my whole heart for my friend, I was doing nothing more than telling God that I wanted something, as if he were some genie in a bottle that I summon periodically to perform a little trick for me. In other words, I was merely demonstrating that I believe a God that does signs and wonders exists.

Didn't many of Jesus' followers do this same thing? Even after he fed thousands on a hillside with a few loaves of bread and a couple of fish, many still had to ask him: "What sign can you do, that we may see and believe in you? What can you do?" (Jn 6:30) When he not only withheld the sign, but gave them an answer that they didn't like, didn't many of them turn away from Him? I wonder how many times in my life I've done this very same thing. I wonder if I'm any different from these followers, coming to Jesus to give me a flashy parlor trick so that I can continue to believe.

My friend didn't need a parlor trick. What he needed was compassion, understanding and love. He needed his hand held. He needed the relationship that is BELIEVING IN GOD. He needed to get beyond the signs, and really enter into that relationship with the Living Lord.

In those moments that I shared with my friend, I realized that I need it, too.