Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Come after Me, and I will make you Fishers of Men!

Homily for the 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B)

READINGS:
First Reading: Jonah 3:1-5, 10
Responsorial Psalm: Ps. 25:4-5, 6-7, 8-9
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 7:29-31
Gospel: Mark 1:24-20

FOCUS: Jesus wants to make all of us into “fishers of men,” people draw others into God’s kingdom.
FUNCTION: Act as a “fisher of men” and bring others to follow the Lord. 

          I have a lot of admiration for people who really know how to fish…because I don’t.  I mean, I REALLY don’t.  It’s so bad, embarrassing, really.  But I guess I’ll tell you about it, anyway.    

          I attach the bobber to my line, put a worm on the end of my hook, and cast my line into the water.  And then I wait, and I wait, and then I wait some more.  Sometimes, I think I’ve got a bite and so I try to hook my fish and I reel it in, only to find out it’s only seaweed or some other useless thing.  Darn.  Epic failure.  So I cast my line again, hoping that I might actually catch a fish this time.  Finally, I feel a tug on the line and so I try to hook the fish and reel it in, only to realize that the darn fish got my worm but I didn’t get the fish! 

          And it’s like this over and over again.  No wonder I don’t do much fishing!  I’m no good at it!  Now you can understand why I admire people who really know how to fish!  It’s tough…or at least it is for me!

          But thanks be to God that we’re not called to be actual fishermen!  I’m sure that the Lord’s disciples – Simon Peter, Andrew, James, and John – all had more luck as actual fishermen than I usually have.  And knowing that these men were fishermen by trade, when Jesus called them to follow Him, He did something really interesting.  He called them to do something different but also somewhat the same.  He said to them, “Come after Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” 
      
Jesus’ invitation basically acknowledged that, while fishing is important and provides food for people to eat, it’s not as important as working to bring people into God’s heavenly kingdom.  Of course, Jesus wasn’t as interested in catching fish as He was in “catching people” – fishing for men and women – and saving the immortal souls of the people the world. 

          We need to understand the importance of the first words of Jesus’ public ministry so that we might also understand His mission and the mission of His disciples.  When Jesus began his ministry, He said, “This is the time of fulfillment.  The kingdom of God is at hand.  Repent, and believe in the gospel.”  With those first words, Jesus was both inaugurating and announcing a new era – a time of prophetic fulfillment – a time in which the kingdom of God would now be made known to Israel and to the world.  And the best response to this new era would be to repent of past sins and believe in the gospel message: the good news that God wished to announce to the whole world through Christ and His disciples.

          In calling Simon and his brother, Andrew, and James and his brother John, Jesus was recruiting disciples who could follow after Him and participate with Him in the work of announcing and making present the kingdom of God.  There was a strong sense of urgency about it all.  Jesus had said that this was the time of fulfillment, the time for the coming of the kingdom of God.

          And the kingdom of God needed heralds.  These two sets of brothers were chosen by Christ the Lord to be the first of the kingdom’s heralds, announcing the good news of God’s salvation to Israel and the world.  And Jesus would make them  “fishers of men,” men who would “catch” people for God’s kingdom, so that the people of Israel and the world could come to the knowledge of truth and enter into God’s promised salvation.

          Simon and Andrew, James and John – and others as well – all heeded the Lord’s invitation and became, truly, “fishers of men” – heralds of the kingdom – men who helped to advance the message of God’s salvation.  But the invitation was not meant to end with them.  It was extended to others as well.  And now Christ’s message has reached our ears: “Come after Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”  In all honesty, it’s the most exciting work on the face of God’s green earth – to work for the advancement of God’s kingdom, to labor for the proclamation of the gospel, and to pour out one’s life for the salvation of others.

          And this great job wasn’t given only to the Lord’s first disciples – or to their successors, the bishops – or to the bishops’ helpers, the priests and deacons.  Neither was this great job given solely to the men and women of religious life – those who decided to follow Christ the Lord through “the evangelical counsels” of poverty, chastity, and obedience.  No, it was given to all of Christ’s faithful – to all those who had received new birth in Christ through the saving waters of baptism, to all those who had received the sacred mysteries of the Lord’s Body and Blood, to all those who had heard the message of the gospel and believed.  This great job was given to ALL Christians, not just a few. 

          To all of us gathered here today, Christ says, “Come after Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”  There is a great urgency for us to be about this work of bringing others into the kingdom of God.  Many threats have risen up in the world and now endanger the eternal salvation of the people who practice them.         

          The New Age movement, for instance, is experiencing a great resurgence, drawing people into dangerous spiritual practices such as consulting fortune tellers, tarot card readers, mediums, astrologers, and psychics, just to name a few.  Involvement in these practices were condemned by God as early as the time of Moses as a violation of the first of the Ten Commandments, “I am the Lord your God; you shall have no other gods before Me.”  Involvement in these things continues to grow because people have either not heard, or not fully heard, the gospel of Jesus Christ, the gospel of salvation.

          And since today is January 22nd – the 39th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision, Roe V. Wade, which nationally legalized abortion – it’s important for us to realize that there are currently a great many assaults on the dignity and sanctity of human life, through the threats of abortion, euthanasia, eugenics, human cloning, embryonic stem-cell research, in-vitro fertilization, and many others.  These various threats to the dignity and sanctity of human life continue to grow because people have not heard the Gospel of Life.

          These are only two examples of why we need to be about the work of advancing the kingdom of God.  Jesus wants to make us fishers of men!  Through our efforts, He wants people to be saved and inherit the promise of eternal life.  How can people be saved if there’s no one to preach? 

          We must be like Jonah in the first reading.  If we don’t tell people that, because of the way they’re living they’re headed to perdition, then they will surely be destroyed.  And we’d be culpable for their destruction, just as Jonah, to some degree, would have been culpable for the destruction of the people of Nineveh if he failed to proclaim to them God’s message of repentance.

          Jesus now says to all of us gathered here, “Come after Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”  And so let us respond like the first disciples, or like Jonah, and go forth from here to announce the good news of the kingdom, all for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.                                                

Monday, January 23, 2012

January 23rd- Quote from Pope Benedict XVI


Dear friends,

As you already know, today is January 23rd - the day of the March for Life in Washington, D.C. and the day we remember with sadness the 39th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision, Roe V. Wade - and a day of penance for violations to the dignity of the human person committed through acts of abortion and of prayer for the full restoration of the legal guarantee of the right to life.  In light of this important day, I'd like to share with you this quote (found below) from His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI.  I have this quote on a prayer card in my Daily Roman Missal; it is a good reminder of the (unfortunately vast!) difference between how people view life and how God views life.     

On this day of penance, let us pray for the advancement of a true Culture of Life so that, one day - within our own lifetime - we may see the downfall of the present Culture of Death.  And let us also pray for the conversion of all pro-choice advocates, that they might defend the dignity of both pregnant women and their preborn children.  In this way, may Our Lord Jesus Christ - the King of Life - reign within our hearts, our cities, our states, our nation, and all over the face of God's green earth.  

And so, without further delay, this very appropriate quote from His Holiness, the Successor of St. Peter, Pope Benedict XVI:

"And only where God is seen does life truly begin.  
Only when we meet the living God in Christ
do we know what life is.
We are not some casual and meaningless product of evolution.
Each of us is the result of a thought of God.
Each of us is willed,
each of us is loved,
each of us is necessary.  
There is nothing more beautiful than to be surprised by the Gospel,
by the encounter with Christ.  
There is nothing more beautiful 
than to know Him
and to speak to others of our friendship with Him."   

May each of us be absolutely convinced in heart and mind of the absolute sanctity and dignity of each and every human life - no matter the circumstances under the child was conceived - no matter the circumstances into which the child might be born - no matter the circumstances under which the child might be raised.  All of those factors are extraneous.  What is at issue is the sanctity and dignity of each and every human life.  And so let us strive to be ardently pro-life across the board, consistently, that we may bear ever more effective witness to the Gospel of Life. 

God's blessings,
Fr. Diehm

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Keep the Faith, but Don't Keep it to Yourself!

Homily for the 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B)

READINGS:

First Reading: 1 Samuel 3:3b-10, 19
Responsorial Psalm: Ps. 40:2, 4, 7-8, 8-9, 10
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 6:13c-15a, 17-20
Gospel: John 1:35-42


FOCUS: Being a disciple of Jesus means following Him and helping others to do the same.
FUNCTION: Invite a friend to come with you to Church; share your faith about Jesus. 

          Operation Andrew is a program here in the Archdiocese of Dubuque aimed at helping young men answer God’s call to discern a vocation to the priesthood.  What usually happens is a priest picks out a young man or two from the local community who he thinks could make a good priest and then invites him (or them) to the Operation Andrew dinner.  Priests and candidates then eat and pray together as well as discuss questions the candidates might have about the vocation to the priesthood.  It’s a chance for young men to get an “inside view” of the priesthood directly from parish priests themselves and gain a glimpse into the dynamics of priestly life and ministry.

          The program takes its name from the Gospel we just heard, especially the part where it said, “Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was one of the two who heard John and followed Jesus.  He first found his own brother Simon and told him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ – which is translated Christ.  Then he brought him to Jesus.”  The goal, then, of the Operation Andrew program is that a priest acts like Andrew in helping a young man to meet Christ. 

          Personally, I am very thankful that a priest also invited me to attend the Operation Andrew dinner so that I could gain some insight into priestly life and ministry.  That experience, among others, helped me say “yes” to God and begin my seminary discernment about a vocation to the priesthood.  If it weren’t for that “Andrew-like” priest and others like him, I might not be here today.  I am very thankful that they brought me to the Lord, so that I could say “yes” to this beautiful vocation to the priesthood. 

          Sometimes it’s the invitation that makes all the difference.  Think about it.  You probably know a few “Andrews” in your own life.  These are the people who, because they introduced you to someone or something, have made a positive impact on your life.  You would not be who you are today if it were not for them having introduced you to this person or thing that made such a difference.  It’s probably pretty rewarding for them to know how much they impacted your life.  Now consider how rewarding it’d be for you if you did the same for someone else.  And the good news is you can!

          In fact, it’s what Jesus told us to do.  At the end of Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus said, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.  And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age” (Matthew 28:18b-20).  As members of His Church, Jesus gives us that as our mission in the world. 

          As disciples of Christ the Lord, we’ve been called to go out into the world and make more disciples.  And although we don’t always live it very well, we are a missionary Church.  That means that we’re called to go out and help bring other people to Christ, just as Andrew brought his brother Simon to Christ.  We must not shrink away from such a mission in fear!  And why not?  Because we want people to be saved, to come to the knowledge and love of God, and ultimately, to enter the joy of heaven through faith in Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior!  God wills that all people be saved, but He wants to use us to reach out to them.

          This is sometimes a tough pill to swallow, especially for us as Catholics.  Here in America, we have been socialized to think that religion is a private matter.  You know the two things we’re told not to talk about with others: politics and religion.  But actually, politics and religion (and religion especially!) are among the most necessary things to talk about. 

          In some sense, yes, religion is a private matter.  And no one should ever be forced to believe in something or to belong to a certain religion against their will; that’s clearly contrary to the spirit of the Gospel.  But I think we need to get over this tendency to think of religion as a private matter insofar as we’re told it shouldn’t be talked about.  It should be talked about and shared.  There’s a great quote I noticed recently on the bottom of an e-mail; it said, “Keep the faith, but don’t keep it to yourself.  What a great motto!  Our Christian faith (and the message of our Christian faith) is meant to be shared, to be given away and proclaimed joyfully to others, so that others around us might also experience the joy of knowing Christ.

          So what does that mean in practice?  Well, it means reaching out to people around you who are fallen-away Catholics and inviting them to join you for Sunday Mass; it means not being afraid to talk about your faith with people who ask you why you’re Catholic.  It means sharing your faith with your children and friends and family; it means living according to the spirit of the Gospel and being loving and forgiving toward others (especially the difficult people around you). 

          It means witnessing to your friends when they engage in gossip that’s malicious and hurtful; it means helping your children to make faith a priority by coming to Mass on Sunday morning instead of going to the soccer game.  It means standing up for what’s true and right in matters of faith and morals; it means witnessing to friends about how certain behaviors might not be the best for them, for instance,  when they drink too much or want to live together before marriage.  And it means acting like a Christian....like Christ….to others who so urgently need to hear the good news of the Gospel.

          Keep the faith, but don’t keep it to yourself!”  St. Andrew the Apostle gives us such a good example of this in the Gospel.  Dear friends, there are many people in today’s world who are desperately looking for Jesus the Messiah, for fulfillment, peace, and hope.  If we have found Him….and we have found Him….here in this Mass….here in the Eucharist….we should reach out to others who are still searching for him (and who maybe don’t even know they’re searching for Him) and bring them to Jesus.  They’d be so grateful to us, just as I’m so grateful to those priests who reached out to me and invited me to consider a vocation to the priesthood.  What a beautiful gift we could give to others if they came to faith in Christ because of our invitation, because of our witness!

          Dear friends, it is our destiny….indeed, it is our mission….to be like Andrew to the people around us.  God is calling us to make a difference in the lives of others by introducing them and bringing them to Christ!  So many lives could be changed if we reached out to those around us.  Through our efforts as Christians, so many people around us could find faith in place of disbelief, hope in place of despair, and love in place of selfishness….all because of an encounter with Christ.  And all we have to do is bring them to Jesus.                                                                 

               

Sunday, January 8, 2012

A Lively Faith - Our Gift to the Lord (Epiphany Homily)

Homily for the Feast of the Epiphany of the Lord (January 8th, 2012)

READINGS:
First Reading: Isaiah 60:1-6
Responsorial Psalm: Ps. 72:1-2, 7-8, 10-11, 12-13
Second Reading: Ephesians 3:2-3a, 5-6
Gospel: Matthew 2:1-12


FOCUS: Let us offer to Jesus the gift of a lively faith that reaches out to others in love.
FUNCTION: Practice the Catholic faith in thanksgiving to God for the gift of Jesus. 


           There’s a rich history around gift-giving during the Christmas season.  Some of it is connected to the tradition surrounding Saint Nicholas, a 4th century Greek bishop of the city of Myra in Lycia (part of modern-day Turkey), whose feast day we celebrate every December 6th.  Saint Nicholas was known as a secret gift-giver, doing such things as putting coins in the shoes of those who left them out for him.  No doubt, that’s why people still put their shoes out for Saint Nicholas to fill with gifts on December 5th, the night before his feast day. 


          And certainly some of the history around the gift-giving that happens during the Christmas season comes to us from the feast we celebrate today: the Epiphany of the Lord.  Today, we honor the coming of the Magi from the east to do adore the new-born Jesus.  They came bearing sacred gifts, fit for royalty: gold for one who would be a king; frankincense for one who would be a priest; and myrrh, for one who would offer His life as a sacrifice.  These gifts are rich with cultural, social, and religious significance.  They speak depths to us about the identity of who this new-born baby, the Son of Mary, really is.  It was only fitting that the new-born Son of God should be adored by the Magi, who were also supposedly Kings, rulers of the gentiles.  This “Epiphany of the Lord” is really a Divine revelation of God’s promised salvation to the gentiles in the form of a little Child – the Child Jesus – poor and meek, humble and lowly.    


          Several passages from the Old Testament foretold this sacred event.  Speaking in reference to Jerusalem, the first reading told us that “…the riches of the sea shall be emptied out before you, the wealth of the nations shall be brought to you.  Caravans of camels shall fill you, dromedaries from Midian and Ephah; all from Sheba shall come bearing gold and frankincense, and proclaiming the praises of the Lord.”  What a prediction!


          And the psalm mentioned that “The kings of Tarshish and the Isles shall offer gifts; the kings of Arabia and Seba shall bring tribute.  All kings shall pay him homage, all nations shall serve him.”  And of course the second reading gave us the meaning of all these things: “…the gentiles are coheirs, members of the same body, and copartners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.”  The message of the Epiphany is this: God’s promised salvation is not exclusionary; it is open to all people, to Jews and gentiles alike.  No wonder, then, the Magi from the east brought their gifts before the feet of the new-born Jesus!  God’s gift of Jesus was not an exclusive gift; it was meant to be received by all people.


          While we’re on the subject of gift-giving, we might think about what gift we want to lay before the feet of the new-born Lord Jesus.  What gift do we have to offer to the new-born Christ child?  What offering might we bring before His feet?  The Magi offered gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.  Those are fine gifts, and they say a lot about both the faith of the Magi and the identity of Jesus.  But they are probably not the best gifts to offer to God’s promised Savior.  So what would make a better gift?  I’d like to propose this: we should offer the Savior the gift of a lively faith that reaches out to others in love.


          That’s the kind of gift that will really put a smile on Jesus’ face.  Jesus doesn’t need gold, frankincense, and myrrh.  He is God: all that’s in the world belongs to Him.  But what does not belong to Him – what belongs uniquely to us – is the gift of our faith and how we chose to put it into action.  The only worthy gift that we can give to Him is the same gift which He first gave to us.


          Think about it this way: if you gave your loved one a brand-new car, the best response from that person would be for them to put that car to good use.  If the car only sat in the driveway for your loved one to admire from afar, you’d probably wonder what was wrong.  After all, cars are made to be driven, not just admired!  If your loved one only admired the car and never drove it, you’d probably think they didn’t really like it or care for it that much.


          The same thing is true of our faith!  We have this great gift of faith that sometimes, for whatever reason, we prefer to admire from afar rather than put into action.  This Christmas, God has given us the best gift that we could ever ask for: the gift of a Savior – the gift of Jesus Christ.  And God has also given us this gift of our Christian faith.  The best thing to do with it is put it to good use!  We must not let our faith just sit on a shelf and collect dust.  We must not come here to Mass and simply go through the motions.  We must not live in the world practically indistinguishable from atheists.


          The best gift that we can offer the Lord on this Feast of the Epiphany is a lively faith that reaches out to others in love.  That’s the best response we can make to God for giving us the gift of a Savior.  If we profess to be Christian, but are Christian in name only, then our faith is a sham and we are no better than liars.  Faith that is living is a faith that uses the gift that God has given; living faith then becomes our offering to God, in thanksgiving for what He has given us.


          And so living faith, for instance, means avoiding tendencies towards gossip in ourselves and/or gently correcting the same tendencies in others; it means appropriately coming to the aid of people who ask for our help; it means actively contributing to the needs of the parish so that the parish can continue to shine forth the light of Christ to others.  Living faith means standing up for that which is morally good; it means being steadfastly opposed to those things which are morally evil; it means making prayer a priority in the home and wherever; it means only supporting those public policies that are consistent with our Christian values.  Living faith means reaching out to others – our family and our friends – in a spirit of Christian charity and service; and it means proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world by our words, and most importantly, by our actions.    


          That’s what we can offer the Lord on this Feast of the Epiphany!  That’s the gift that means so much more than gold, frankincense, or myrrh.  And, oddly enough, that’s exactly what the Lord asks of us and that’s what the world most desperately needs in our day.  Saint Catherine of Sienna, great Dominican mystic and Doctor of the Church, once said, “If you are what you should be, you will set the whole world on fire!  And even though we’re Catholics and not Evangelicals, our response should be a rousing “Amen!  Yes!  Let it be!  The world is in need of our active witness to Christ by living intentionally in the world as Christians.  If we do that, there’s no telling how many lives could be changed.      


          So what do you think?  Does this any of this sound possible?  It may be difficult, but it’s definitely doable.  So let’s allow our Christian faith to be a lively faith that reaches out to others in love; let’s allow that to be the gift we offer the new-born Jesus on this Feast of the Epiphany.                                                           

Thursday, January 5, 2012

The Blessed Virgin Mary, Our Model for Spiritual Growth

Homily for the Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God (January 1st, 2012)

READINGS:
First Reading: Numbers 6:22-27
Responsorial Psalm: Ps. 67:2-3, 5, 6, 8
Second Reading: Galatians 4:4-7
Gospel: Luke 2:16-21

FOCUS: Mary teaches us about how to respond to God’s vocation in our lives. 
FUNCTION: Imitate Mary’s contemplative example of prayer to achieve spiritual growth.


The Blessed Virgin Mary, Our Model for Spiritual Growth


          Well, we’ve made it!  2011 is (nearly) over and we now stand on the threshold of 2012, a whole new calendar year: a year of new opportunities and possibilities, a year to make better choices than we did last year, a year to celebrate the hope that we have for the future.  For so many people (and for so many of us), a new year brings with it new hope.  Many people choose to make a “New Year’s Resolutions.”  Some might say, “This year, I’m going to eat more healthy food,” or “This year, I want to exercise more and stay in better shape,” or “This year, I want to devote more time to prayer and works of charity,” or “This year, I’m going to try harder to get along with the difficult people in my life.”  Certainly there are many more resolutions that people might make.  And some people might even make more than one if they’re feeling ambitious and motivated.    


          How about a simple show of hands?  Alright, raise your hand if you’ve already come up with a New Year’s Resolution.  OK, very nice.  Some of us have a New Year’s Resolution in mind, and some of us are still thinking.  It’s easy to find plenty of articles and stories and tips online about making New Year’s Resolutions.  But since we’re all here in Church on New Year’s Day, let’s consider what the Church proposes for how we should celebrate the New Year, because there’s a lot of wisdom to be gained from the Church’s perspective.     


          The first thing we should notice is that, every January 1st, the Church celebrates the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God.  It’s the same every year: January 1st will always be the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God.  In this way, the Church tells us at the beginning of every year, “Do you want to celebrate the New Year appropriately?  Look to Mary!  Do you want to make a change in your life this year?  Look to Mary!  Do you want to become a better, more virtuous person this year?  Look to Mary! 


          But why do we or should we look to Mary so often?  Why does the Church celebrate so many Marian feast days over the course of the year?  Why does the Church always hold up Mary as the model for us to imitate?  It’s because she always…without fail…leads us to Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior!  And since the Church celebrates the Solemnity of Christmas with an octave (a single celebration extended over a period of eight days), it’s only fitting that on the eighth day we should honor the Mother of Jesus our Savior: Mary, the Virgin of Nazareth, the “handmaid of the Lord” that God the Father chose and blessed, among all women, to be the mother of His only-begotten Son.


          And so here on the threshold of 2012, we look to Mary for our inspiration and our model as we move forward into the New Year.  Here’s one New Year’s Resolution we might consider making in regard to our faith: “This year, I will focus on how I can continue to grow in the spiritual life.”  And what a beautiful example and model of continual spiritual growth we have in Mary, the Mother of God!


          The Gospel for today gives us one simple sentence…one simple verse so worthy of our consideration and imitation: “And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.”  In this one simple verse, we gain a small glimpse into the interior, spiritual life of Mary, the Mother of God.  At her deepest core, Mary was a contemplative.  She wasn’t someone who just went through life without thinking and reflecting on things.  No, just the opposite: throughout her life, she constantly reflected on what God was doing both in and through her and in and through her only Son, Jesus of Nazareth, the One destined to be the world’s Savior and Redeemer.  Mary had a deep and rich interior prayer life.  It was there, in the inner recesses of her Immaculate Heart, that she treasured what God was doing in the world and reflected on how God was active in her life.


          We might call this kind of prayer “theological reflection,” a discipline that involves a concentrated examination of life, through prayer, to see and understand how God is at work.  God is living and moving and active in the world, and if our prayer is going to be fruitful and if we want to grow spiritually, we need to be able to see and understand how God is at work in our lives.  Theological reflection is really a matter of living our lives with eyes of faith. 


          So we might ask ourselves: do we make seeing and understanding how God is at work in our lives a priority?  Are we on the lookout for God’s activity?  Are we looking at our lives with eyes of faith?  How we answer those questions will determine to what extent our spiritual lives grow in 2012.  Mary’s example gives us a kind of “game plan” for spiritual growth in the New Year.


          Let me detail for you some elements of that game plan.  First, we have to be in relationship with God through prayer to see how God is at work in our lives.  Offering a brief prayer to God in the morning (or sometime near the beginning of our day) is a good practice: “God, please give me eyes to see You today.  Help me to be mindful of the ways in which You are at work in the midst of my daily life.”  Secondly, we have to go through our day believing and trusting that God is always present to us: while paying bills, while doing dishes, while taking care of kids, while working in the office, while working outside, while we eat, and so on.           

Third, we have to allow ourselves to be present to God.  This also involves prayer, and spending at least some time during the day for silence and reflection, allowing our hearts and minds to be present to God who is present to us.  And fourth, we might conclude with the “examen of consciousness,” a prayer developed by St. Ignatius of Loyola as a way to find God in all things and to cooperate more fully with His grace.  It’s a practical examination of the day where we prayerfully examine the ways in which we either responded or failed to respond to God’s grace in our lives.  A simple search online would allow you to find out more information about the “examen of consciousness” prayer. 


          Doing these very practical things could make a big difference for our spiritual growth in 2012.  Not only that, it could also help us live our vocation more fully or help us understand what vocation God is calling us to.  Mary, the Mother of God, gives us a beautiful example of responding graciously to the vocation that God has planned for us.  And since we’re beginning the Vocations Crucifix Program this weekend in the parishes of our Spires of Faith cluster, now is an excellent time to follow Mary’s example of prayer so that we, too, might respond more fully (or for the first time) to our God-given vocation.


          And so as we stand here on the threshold of 2012, let us pray to Holy Mary, the Mother of God, that she might help us grow in our spiritual lives, find God in the midst of daily life, and truly live our vocation, as together we pray:


          “Hail, Mary….”