theROCK

Relationships

How do our relationships with others also reflect our relationship with God?
As I pondered this question, my mind went to the work that goes into maintaining relationships. When people matter, we work to stay connected to them. I think about my family and my friendships. I am intentional about connecting with them. I have a reminder in my phone to call my mom so that I don't take her for granted. My brothers and I have a date with our families on the calendar every month so that we don't neglect each other. My husband and I make plans with our close friends frequently so that we don't lose touch. I make it a point to visit every classroom every day. If I miss this, I am disappointed in myself. Clearly, these relationships are all important to me so I put the energy in. If I understand this question correctly, the energy that I put into these relationships should be equal to the energy I put into my relationship with God.

I would have to say that my relationships with others is a reflection of my relationship with God. I connect with Him daily and sometimes more than once. If I do fall short, I am disappointed in myself and quickly make up for it. I learned early on that God always has time for me, He died for me, how bold am I not to even give Him a moment of my day in gratitude. He is the reason for my living. He is the reason for all that I have. I owe it to Him to pay a visit, give a call, spend some time. How about you?

Living for the Lord

"None of us lives for oneself, and no one dies for oneself. For if we live, we live for the Lord, and we die for the Lord; so then whether we live or die, we are the Lord's."

I cannot think of a more fitting scriptural reading as we honor the diaconate gifts given to us in the ordination of Kurt Peot and the farewell to Deacon Jim Matthias. both are great gifts to us and our larger church. Before I go further, I ask you to keep both of them in your prayers. Which brings me to the idea of prayers themselves. We often are told to pray for one another, we pray for those who are sick in the community, we pray for the "poor souls" in purgatory, we pray for the unborn.

Prayer is our communication thread with God and all the community of saints. Recently, I have emphasized we must see the world with one eye on earth and one in heaven. It is the only way our fractured society will  ever heal. With that in mind, we have those who specifically dedicated themselves to be examples of "living for the Lord." Let us remember that ordained deacons serve in a special way, as heralds of the gospel: to bring good news to the sick and poor, to preach words of life to our family of faith. When we join with them in prayer, we too are living for the Lord and with the Lord.

When a deacon is ordained, he is ordained to serve. What this means is that a deacon is willing to open his heart to those who he serves. This is a calling, this is a gift. We at St. Dominic Catholic Parish have been graced not only with many deacon vocations, but with men of extraordinary character and willingness to serve. May God bless our deacons and all deacons of our archdiocese.

Catholic Hall of Fame

Over the past months, we have been doing reflections on the readings of the day. I found that when it was my turn to write, the day frequently fell on the feast day of a Saint. I always tried to include something about that Saint before getting into the reading or the reflection. I have to admit, I enjoyed finding out about each Saint. Their stories are rich in faith and inspiration. Often the story includes a change of heart and/or direction that changes ordinary sinners into extraordinary servants of God.

We are blessed to have so many Saints represented in the stained glass windows surrounding our church. We don’t worship saints - we admire them for their witness and virtue. It’s like our Catholic Hall of Fame. We keep pictures of our family members - even some who are no longer with us. We have images of saints to remind us of their testimony as to how Jesus Christ changed their lives.

People receiving the sacrament of Confirmation are still asked to adopt a new name, usually a saint or biblical character. It gives them another patron saint as protector and also a guide. We don’t pray to the saints but we can ask the saints to pray with us and for us. We might ask our fellow Christians to pray with/for us. Why not ask those Christians already in heaven?

Saints are amazing examples of God’s ability to transform the ordinary into the extraordinary. Saints are living examples of how God’s love and grace are available to all who are willing to accept it. We are all called to be saints, and we have hundreds of examples to show us the way.