theROCK

Giving Glory to God

As Mass ended last Sunday and we began to sing the final hymn, I thought about what the deacon had just recited as the final words of the service. This one sentence, these nine simple words, are our instructions for the week ahead:

“Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life.”

Those are powerful words and I wanted to really understand them as I walked out the door.

“Go in peace…” We are called to action: leave the church with peace in our hearts so that we can spread that peace wherever we go. That’s not always easy. Egos are very fragile these days, and arguments erupt for no reason at all. It’s happening in our streets, in our neighborhoods, even in our living rooms. If we remember these three words, and we believe these words, then we have a chance to shape the minds and hearts of those around us.

“…glorifying the Lord by your life.” Wow. This is quite a challenge. Not only are we asked to give glory and honor to God, we’re asked to do it through how we live our lives! That means asking a lot of questions:

• Is everything I’m saying giving glory to God?
• Is everything I’m doing giving glory to God?
• Is every decision I make giving glory to God?

This one sentence seems so simple and straight forward. But these simple words carry a great deal of responsibility.

“Freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought.”- Pope John Paul II

Flat Tire on a Frozen Night

It was one of those frozen January nights that zaps a chill through every bone in your body. I was on my way home from work when I made a quick stop at the grocery store. My goal was to run in, grab some lunch items for the week, then head home to my waiting warm house. I dashed through the aisles, paid for my two bags of groceries, then ran to my car. As I started the engine, my auto-headlights popped on…and I immediately saw her.

She stood next the passenger side of her car, a jack in one hand and a tire iron in the other. She was staring at them both, hoping that they would magically reveal instructions on how to use them. Her right front tire was completely flat.

“You should help her,” was the voice I heard in my head. I instantly responded with a litany of excuses: I don’t have proper gloves, this jacket is really thin, I’m wearing dress shoes, I don’t have a hat. I could have kept going, looking for any logical reason not to help this woman. But then I heard another voice in my head: “Do whatever he tells you.” The words of Mary echoed in my brain.

I opened the door and jogged to the car. “Can I help you out?”

Together we discovered how the jack for this vehicle works, finding the notch under the body’s frame to lift the car off the ground. I pried the lug nuts off the tire (after a lot of grunting and moaning). The whole episode took ten minutes. She thanked me with a warm (yet frozen) smile, and we both got into our cars and headed home. I replayed the whole episode in my mind as I drove:

She had told me that she didn’t have anyone to call for help. She just moved to the area, didn’t have AAA, and didn’t even know who to call in the area for things like this. “I know that I should know how to change a tire…somehow I never got around to it. I just said a prayer and asked God to help me figure this out.”

That’s when I was called. And Mary helped me listen. I can list all the excuses in the world not to do something, but there is only one reason to actually do it.

“Do whatever he tells you.”

The Power of Water

It is odorless, tasteless, colorless, and transparent. It provides no calories or organic nutrient. Yet it’s vital for all known forms of life.

Water. There is nothing more important in this world.

The human body is made up of nearly 60% water—there is 75% water in the brain. Water covers 71% of the Earth’s surface. It’s used for cleaning, agriculture, heating, cooling, transportation, recreation, and healing.

We don’t often ponder the importance of water. We don’t consider how significant it is in our lives and our world. In fact, we often times don’t even think about water.

The same can be said about the role of water in our faith.

Think about water in the Bible: Noah and the Ark, Moses and the Red Sea, Jesus and the wedding at Cana, Jesus walking on water…the list goes on.

And now think about water in the Mass. It’s the first thing we encounter when we enter the church. Yet, our gestures often become robotic: we dip our fingers into holy water and we make the sign of the cross. Then we take our place in our seats without second thought.

If we stop and pay attention to our actions, and we listen to words each Sunday, we realize that this water has incredible power.

Each time we dip our fingers into Holy Water, we should be reminded of our baptism and our place in the church.

“Jesus answered, “Amen, amen, I say to you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit.”-John 3:5

The next time you enter the church, take some time to reflect when you dip your fingers in the holy water. Think about what it means. Think about your baptism and your role in the church.

Think about the power of water.