Archive for November, 2008

The Coming of The King

Sunday, November 23rd, 2008

On August 22, eleven days before my mother died, somehow – I don’t remember how – we came across a song that was Pope John Paul II’s favorite song. It’s called “Lord, When You Came To The Seashore.” It is about the Lord Jesus coming to call a disciple to leave everything for a new life with Him. We both loved it, and I found the lyrics on the internet and printed them out for us. So, we sat in the house and sang the song together.

Now, August 22 is the feast of the Queenship of Mary. The Church celebrates God’s crowning of Mary as Queen of all heaven and earth. By taking her place next to the King, her Son, she left everything to begin a new life with Him.

Several days before my mother died, she started having fits of vomiting. Several times a day, she would sit up in her bed with a pan. When I was around, I would sit with her and bolster her up with my arm behind her.

A few days before she died, I was sitting next to her and she suddenly sat up with another vomit fit. I got the pan and sat next to her, putting my arm behind her to give her support. We both sat, facing the Divine Mercy image, and in between fits of vomiting, she suddenly looked at me and smiled. It took me by complete surprise. All of a sudden, she began singing, “Looooord, when You came to the seashore …” So I joined in with her, sitting on the bed, shoulder to shoulder, swaying left to right, in front of the Divine Mercy image:

“Lord, when You came to the seashore,
You weren’t seeking the wise or the wealthy,
but only asking that I might follow.
O Lord, in my eyes you were gazing,
Kindly smiling, my name you were saying;
All I treasured, I have left on the sand there;
Close to you, I will find other seas.”

“Listen, your watchmen lift up their voice, together they sing for joy; for eye to eye they see the return of the LORD to Zion. Break forth together into singing, you waste places of Jerusalem, for the LORD has comforted his people, he has redeemed Jerusalem. The LORD has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.” (Is 52:8-10)

“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Lo, your king comes to you;
triumphant and victorious is he,
humble and riding on an ass,
on a colt the foal of an ass.” (Zech 9:9)

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Look Under The Surface

Saturday, November 22nd, 2008

I recently went clothes shopping with my father to a nearby department store. It was time for a new set of flannel pajamas for him, and this one store has just about everything. So, we went in and looked for one set of flannel pajamas, size medium.

After a little searching, we came to a small shelf filled with packages of men’s pajamas. It must have been about 6 feet long, and the variety was nothing to write home about. None were flannel. None were his size. It looked like we were off to another store.

As we turned to leave, I paused and thought, I wonder if there’s something underneath. I turned back and bent down to look under the shelf. Surprise – a whole new shelf stacked with men’s pajamas. One of them stood out. I took hold of it and slid it out. It was a nice set of flannel pajamas. Exactly my father’s size.

Wow. I was amazed.

On the surface, there was nothing there – zippo. We had to go deeper than just the surface. We had to look underneath to find the prize. And what a prize it was – exactly what we were looking for, with a happy surprise to boot.

When John the Baptist was baptizing in the Jordan River, everyone was looking for the Messiah. In fact, they wondered if he might be the one. He had on a strange outfit, ate odd food, and spoke a radical message of conversion and baptism. But the Messiah was hidden in the midst of everyone. On the surface there was nothing that set Him apart as the Messiah – zippo.

He was so ordinary on the surface that even after John the Baptist points Him out as the Son of God, nobody does anything. No following, no adoring, no awe. Nothing.

But two people decided to look beyond the surface, to go deeper: “Rabbi, … where do you dwell? He says to them: Come and see. They came and saw where he abode.” (Jn 1:38-39)

And they found exactly what they were looking for, with a happy surprise to boot : “We have found the Messiah.” (Jn 1:41)

If we seek the Lord, we won’t find Him on the display shelf. He is hidden. We have to look under the surface. But if you do, get ready to find exactly what you are looking for – with a happy surprise to boot.

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Delivering Us From Evil

Friday, November 21st, 2008

The prayer of the Our Father is filled with petitions. In the very last petition, we ask our heavenly Father to deliver us from evil. What does this mean?

Yesterday I was at a local library making a phone call near the outside entrance, and while I was waiting, I watched a young man playing with a little girl on the front lawn of the library. A few falls, a few laughs as she chased him around the grass.

There was also a little boy roaming around the grass, but he was all by himself. Now, the library lawn is edged with a small wall, so when he got to the end of the lawn, he couldn’t wander out into the street. But as he walked along the wall, he got to the spot where the wall ends, and where the sidewalk entrance opens out into the public street – with rush-hour traffic.

I thought, “Oh, oh.” But before I got past that a man came dashing out of nowhere to catch him before he even made it off the lawn.

It was his father.

He guided the little one away from danger, back into the lawn, and back into the group.

When He was crucified, Jesus experienced everything a child of God experiences when they’ve wandered off from God and into danger.

That means experienced great mental and physical suffering. We know how great: lashed to the bone and crucified naked in front of everyone, including His own mother – all to make up for everyone else’s offenses.

But it also means He experienced great temptation. How great? One sin, in the middle of hell on earth, and the whole world is lost. He experienced what it’s like to get right up to that spot where the wall ends and the sidewalk rolls an inviting red carpet into rush-hour traffic: “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” (Ps 22:1)

But it also means this:

He experienced the greatest experience imaginable.

He experienced The Resurrection. He experienced His Father’s salvation.

He was delivered.

“You are a hiding place for me, you preserve me from trouble; you encompass me with deliverance. I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.” (Ps 32:7-8)

You may have wandered so far out of God’s presence that you’ve fallen into great suffering and temptation. But remember, your heavenly Father still sees you. He will still preserve you from danger.

He will still deliver you from evil.

Posted in Luminous, Sorrowful, _Glorious | No Comments »