NEW LIFE

HAPPY EASTER!!!

Jesus Christ rose from the dead on the first Easter.  Wow!   But the Bible does not say that Jesus was resuscitated and therefore brought back to life.  Jesus’ new life is different from that of Lazarus, whom Jesus raised from the dead, so that Lazarus could go on living with his sisters, Martha and Mary, as before his death, in Bethany.  Lazarus would have to die again some day.

What is this business of Jesus being raised from the dead?  Jesus apparently had the same body as before, because the disciples recognized Him when He appeared to them.  After the Resurrection, Jesus was definitely alive; He even ate some breakfast with His own.    He did not seem to be confined within space.  He could go through walls when He wanted to be with someone.

Death no longer has dominion in this world.  Am I ever glad about that!  It sure is a mystery as to what exactly lies beyond our dying.  What I do know is that Jesus, the Son of God -- this wonderful, loving Savior -- will be there to receive me.  Alleluia!!

WHO GETS TO BE A SAINT

Hello, on this bright, blustery day!

I think I know why religious communities of Catholic Sisters and Brothers are not receiving many new members these days.   Forty-some years ago it was clarified by church authorities in a world-wide Council that THE CALL TO HOLINESS IS UNIVERSAL.

Before that time I had had a big argument with my brother.  He told me that “You Sisters can be Saints, but we lay people can’t.”  I remember telling him, no, that we are equal in that matter.  But he wouldn’t listen to me.  For whatever reason, he was convinced that his way of life could never bring him to that intimate relationship with God.

Nowadays many know better:  God is in reach of all of us and we can all be Saints – no matter our calling in life.  Hey!  I don’t have to be a Sister or a Brother to reach that noble goal. 

I am eagerly anticipating meeting my brother on the other side of the pearly gates where he has gone fully living in God’s love.

Suffering

How can God allow such terrible suffering as we see in Japan or which may hit us in the future?  I believe that, as far as suffering caused by nature is concerned, God created the universe to evolve, and allows this evolution to take its course.  When it’s time for the continental plates to move, they move, and the consequences may be grave for those people who have built their homes there.  In general, we cannot fault people for mistakes made as to where they live, because many times it is not known when nature will strike destruction for humans.  We are part of nature.  At the same time, we live with the special light God has given us in Christ.  Our response to the tragedies brought on by nature is to alleviate the suffering by the self-giving love of Christ in and through us. Our call is to do all we can as God’s instruments for God’s presence of love in the world.

BEAUTY AND PROBLEMS

I wrote my last blog on the morning of the earthquake in Japan, before I knew that it had happened.  I mentioned my impatience with the length of the winter here in Minnesota and the frequent appearance of snow, how beauty and problems come in pairs.  After seeing the images of the ravages of the earthquake and the tsunami, I said to myself, “Rose Mae, how insipid you must appear in your blog – talking about the inconveniences of winter and the beauty of a snowflake when hundreds of thousands of people are suffering terribly and many people have died in Japan!”

Yet I see it again:  the terrible ravages of nature on one hand, and the beauty of the Japanese people on the other hand.  Beauty and suffering, together in one glimpse.  May God grant healing, relief and blessings for our suffering, beautiful sisters and brothers!  I am very sorry I cannot be there.

God Bless Us

The snow is melting!  How can something be so beautiful and yet be so troublesome?  When more and more of that white stuff appeared, I definitely felt impatient and I had to do very little of the shoveling!  A lot of other people did some back-breaking work all winter – and then, of course, there were those who did the snow plowing through the night or during the early morning hours.  It does seem that beauty and problems come in pairs with each other.  May God bless all of us as we face each new day (or night!).

Spoon or Soup

Hello, out there!  Have you ever had the experience of being in a room or other space and, not seeing anything nor hearing anything, were able to sense that someone else was present?   That is how it is with God for me:  can’t see God, can’t hear God, but there is a great Personal Presence everywhere that I know is there.

Recently I listened to a talk by Edward Hays in which he gave the analogy of the use of a spoon used to carry soup to the mouth.  Which would you rather be – the spoon, or the soup?   Edward said that many of us “religious” people are like the spoon, able to feed the nutritious stuff about God, and forgetting that it is the soup itself in which people are interested.  Hey! It’s difficult to be the soup. 

To know God’s active presence and to live accordingly takes the gift of Faith.  I know that I had nothing to do with the fact that I have this gift.  I do know that a personal response of love on my part helps in the relationship.  It helps to sense that great Personal Presence that is everywhere.

Death

Death is most likely the most important moment of our life, outside of the fact that we were born.

Moments in nature can be prepared for.   Giving birth is a natural process and we have discovered ways that a woman and her husband can prepare for the giving of birth, to make it easier. . . .   I am discovering that death, too, can be prepared for.  People who have had a “near-death experience” can tell us some of the first things to expect when dying.  I am a neophyte in this.  I have not thought about the natural process of dying, so I am embarking on a research venture, asking God to lead me.  Do you know anything about this?

Sisters Marguerite Barbein and Leonette Bursch have just died.  I will pray to them to help me in this venture.