Learning to be Quick to Listen

James 1:21 says, "Therefore, put away all filth and evil excess and humbly welcome the word that has been planted in you and is able to save your souls." Do you have the word of God planted in you? Of course you do but the better question is, are you allowing that word to grow within you? Are you sharing that word of God with others? Are you living that word of God everyday? What is the filth in your life? Filth is a nasty word, it figuratively depicts what it describes. When you hear the word filth, what do you think of? If is very descriptive and can conjure up some very horrible images. But that is the point St. James is trying to make. He urges us to put aside the disgusting things in our lives. He is coaxing us to rid ourselves of the garbage that can drag us into bad habits and sin. Filth in our current world can take on many forms. It might be the television shows we watch. It could be an obsession we have like gambling, porn, or gossip. It could be stealing or lying. ...

The Catholic News Service says that several commonly held assumptions about clergy sexual abuse of minors are actually misperceptions, according to the report released May 18 on a major study of the causes and context of the problem in the United States. The study, released at the headquarters of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in Washington, was conducted by a team of researchers at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice of the City University of New York. "No single psychological, developmental or behavioral characteristic differentiated priests who abused minors from those who did not," the report said. Furthermore, it was found that "the majority of priests who abused were not driven by particular pathologies, and most did not 'specialize' in abuse of particular types of victims." The report said 70 percent of priests referred for abusing a minor "had also had sexual behavior with adults." It often is thought that the sexual abuse cri...

Now that the Space Shuttle Endeavor has lifted off and is scheduled to dock tomorrow with the International Space Station, plans are back on for Pope Benedict XVI to chat with the astronauts. Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, said that the pope’s audiovisual satellite linkup with the space station is scheduled for 1:56 p.m. Rome time Saturday. The conversation originally was scheduled for May 4, but the Endeavor's liftoff was delayed. The papal linkup was organized by the European Space Agency, which has one Italian on the Endeavor and one Italian already on the space station. Both crews will be in the space station when the pope calls. Even though it is in the nature of every human being to seek God, creating the kind of inner state necessary for prayer is difficult, Pope Benedict XVI said. "Prayer is first and foremost a matter of the heart where we experience God's call and our dependence on his help to transcend our limitations and sinfulness," t...

Romans 12 1-3 tells us "I urge you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, your spiritual worship. Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect. For by the grace given to me I tell everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than one ought to think, but to think soberly, each according to the measure of faith that God has apportioned." The issue of modesty in dress for people attending Mass came up recently. It is funny that most of the time it focuses on how women dress rather the lack of respect some men show in their attire. I am of the mind that God really doesn't care what you wear to Mass as long as you are there. I would hate to think that someone isn't attending Mass because they think they don't have something nice to wear. Actually, this mindset is...

The Catechism in 2590 tells us that "prayer is the raising of one's mind and heart to God or the requesting of good things from God." How often have you prayed to God only to remain waiting? Do you think God is not listening? How did you learn how to pray? It was most likely as a child at the side of your parents or grandparents. It may even have been by a priest or nun in school. The point is, most of us are still praying in that child-like way. We still are asking God for created things. Raising one's mind and heart to God means that we are asking for God's will in all things. When you pray, do you ask that God do his will? If you are like most of us, your prayer is more often about your needs and wants. It is about your desires and not the will of God. Now I realize that many of us pray for other people. I spent the last few days in deep prayer asking God to spare a friend's life. I considered it a good thing from God. However, the answer to my and many oth...

Sudden loss, the kind that comes like a thief in the night and steals what is most precious to you, is life altering. I don't think that we as humans are ever fully ready to let go of someone but losing them in a brief second without any warning seems to hurt the most. It doesn't allow us to say goodbye. It doesn't allow us to have the conversations that provide comfort for both people. It does not allow us proper closure. We know there is a purpose to everything. We know that God has a plan in all of this tragic loss. It allows us to process but doesn't make it easy. We should grieve and that includes crying and maybe even wailing. But we must also celebrate that person's life because they were a child of God. Every life is important because our Creator gives it. I am reminded by the beautiful prayer that gives us perspective on living a full life but remembering that the ultimate goal is to live eternally with God in Heaven. Lord, teach me not to hold on to life t...

More than ever, I find myself in the hands of God. This is what I have wanted all my life from my youth. But now there is a difference: the initiative is entirely with God. It is indeed a profound spiritual experience to know and feel my self so totally in God's hands. This beautiful and personal prayer was written by Pedro Arrupe, SJ after he suffered a debilitating stroke. Every time I read it, I find it speaking to me in a different way. Don't we all long for what Fr. Pedro wanted? How comforting to be held in the hands of God. The fact is that God's hands are so large that they can hold all of us at the same time. There is no limit to God despite the attempts by some to define who and what God is and can do. Allowing God to comfort us seems like it would be easy but very often our own actions prohibit it from happening. We usually want to solve the problem ourselves rather than simply turning it over to God to handle. Depend on Him in all things. Seek first the Kingdom ...