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in Encouragement, Living the Gospel, Suffering

Miracles of the Cross

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Many of you know one of my favorite saints is Padre Pio. Just recently I finished a book about this fascinating man. He is a modern saint who died in 1968 and many miracles were attributed to him during his life. People would travel from across the globe to seek and beg for his intercession while hundreds of letters arrived each day with the same hope.  

One particular day, after meeting with yet another person asking for his intercession, he turned to the friar standing next to him and said, “Son, you’ve seen everybody asking Padre Pio to help them with this and that. I wish somebody would say, ‘Padre Pio, pray that the Lord might help me to bear the cross.’”  

Each one of us carry crosses we would rather not, and we often wish that these crosses would just go away. I know I do. I have prayed or wished many times for my crosses to be taken away and I am sure you have too. How many times have we wished that a particular coworker would simply leave the company? How many times have we prayed that an illness would just go away? How many times have we begged God to take away a particular weakness we have?  

These are not bad things to pray or wish for, even Jesus prayed that God might take his cross away if it be His Will (Luke 22:42). However, Jesus also prayed that if this cross should not be taken, he would have the grace to carry it well, and carry well he did.  

Padre Pio reminds you and I that sometimes there are crosses we are invited to carry and never get rid of. We can get so caught up in the miracles, the times when the cross is taken away, that perhaps we miss the subtle, more impressive miracles. The miracle of someone who has gone through the worst and whose heart is still able to love, the miracle of seeing a Simon come forth to help carry our cross, the miracle to love those who push our buttons and even hurt us. Maybe these are the miracles to pray for, to pray to God for the miracle to bear our cross well. We may be surprised at just how many miracles we see. 

Posted by Fr. Tim Schumaker
Tags: miracles, crosses, padro pio
in Living the Gospel, Apologetics, Evangelization
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What is Truth?

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Two weeks ago I had an encounter with a couple which had me reflecting upon Pontius Pilate’s question to Jesus, “What is Truth?” I was at a restaurant with some friends when a woman and her husband approached me. They had noticed my collar and felt moved to come over and ask me some questions. These “questions” turned into an hour and a half long conversation. In this conversation they shared their story. They had a Christian background, but now did not identify as any religion. As the woman told me, there were just too many inconsistences and discrepancies in the Bible to be able to know what was true and what was false.

This led them on a crusade for truth that, as the woman admitted, made them so thoroughly confused they had no idea where to turn. Is Jesus really who he says he is? Was he really foretold in the Old Testament or did mankind read too much into the Scripture? How could the Bible be the Word of God if humans had written it? These were some of the questions that plagued her and yet the core of her angst was the very question Pilate asked Jesus 2000 years ago: What is Truth?

I am not going to necessarily answer that question today (sorry), but briefly look at the symptoms of Truth, because what struck me with this couple was what a life looks like without Truth. In my opinion, this couple was not looking for Truth, but rather proof, and oddly enough, this search for proof led them further from Truth.

Truth will always challenge us, but it will never confuse us or make us doubt more. This couple was very lost, they did not even know what they believed and did not believe anymore. Truth does not do this. Truth brings peace, comfort, stability, and a firm foundation. What is my “proof” that Jesus is who he says he is? Well, when I live the life Christ wants me to live, I am more at peace, more at comfort, more stable, and when I do not, my life quickly becomes tossed about in the storm. I may not always be able to explain away every inconsistency or discrepancy, I may not be able to answer every question, but I don’t need to. When living in the Truth there is little reason for proof, it is like asking a wife to prove her love to her husband.

What is Truth? I may not always be able to tell you the answer, but I can show you.

 

Posted by Fr. Tim Schumaker with 2 Comments
Tags: truth
in Living the Gospel, Peace, Evangelization

Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness

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We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.  With this statement our forefathers declared the very purpose of government. This statement and the remainder of the Declaration of Independence would set in motion the great nation in which we live.

Tomorrow we will celebrate the signing of this document and the birth of our nation. There will be parades, fireworks, picnics, cookouts with families and friends celebrating together the birth of this great experiment. My memories of these events date back to the late 50’s and early 60’s. Yes, as my daughter never fails to remind me, I am old. I recall with fondness great parades, large bands, drum majors and majorettes, batons twirling and flags flying. I recall fire engine sirens, huge crowds, fireworks that were weak by today’s standards, and fun with family and friends. The more things change….the more they stay the same.

But this experiment is not over. It is not complete. These unalienable rights have yet to be fully attained. I do not believe they will ever be fully attained this side of heaven and yet strive to attain them we must. We must never tire of bringing the kingdom of God to earth. Today we hear Jesus say, “the harvest is abundant but the laborers are few” and so it is, just as surely today as it was in 1776, as it was in Jesus time, and before. 

Jesus’ solution? Go to all the nations, to all the people, with great haste.  This mission we are sent on is a dangerous one so don’t be dallying about. Go and offer your peace to everyone and to those who return that peace stay with them and teach them about the greatest gift ever given. The gift of those very same rights given to us by a God who loves us so much he became a man, suffered and died at our hands only so we might spend eternity in paradise with him. Spend eternity in that one place where all men are truly equal and love abounds. The one place where we coexist in, no, become a very part of love, which is the Creator.  

Go, live and proclaim God’s peace!

 

Posted by Deacon Kurt Peot
Tags: rights, equality, truths

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