deacon's corner

What Lies Within

05. September 2012 · Write a comment · Categories: Reflections

It is the interior that defines who we are

From where does evil spring? Why is there evil in the world? Why does God allow evil to exist? Why do bad things happen to good people? These are questions that have been asked since man first came into being and will surely continue to be asked until the end of time.

Surrender All To God

29. August 2012 · Write a comment · Categories: Reflections

Trust in God completely

A dear friend recently asked if I could explain what it meant to “surrender all to God.”

The word surrender is derived from the Greek word “paradidomi” which means to yield up, transmit, or entrust. Surrendering all to God means to yield upward, to place all our worries in His hands and to let go. It requires that you transmit or tell Him exactly what you are surrendering. Surrendering all to God’s will requires that you trust Him completely, accepting that He will always look out for your best interests. The hard part is the letting go, entrusting God with your life.

Use It or Lose It

23. August 2012 · Write a comment · Categories: Reflections

Use well what has been given to you

Each of us has been granted two lives, one mortal and the other immortal, granted to us as gifts by our Creator. Our physical human life exists but briefly in the eternity that is God; our ethereal soul exists forever. We cannot exist without the grace and love of God; we cannot create our own lives, we cannot achieve immortality on our own.

Who Is The Greatest

15. August 2012 · Write a comment · Categories: Reflections

Unless you turn and become like children

Recently a friend of mine was recounting his experiences while on a mission to serve the poor in Peru. He was struck by the generosity of the people who, while having so little of their own, were always attempting to give some of what they did have, to others. Without wealth or power, they gave of themselves, with great joy and humility.

Are You Listening?

08. August 2012 · Write a comment · Categories: Reflections

Turning a blind eye and a deaf ear

I have always been fascinated with books and the stories held within them. When I am reading I become immersed in the tale and the world around me disappears. All too often my mother, who was a writer and a great lover of books herself, would suddenly jar me away from my fantasy saying “I know you can hear me, but you aren’t listening.”

Silence Is Golden

01. August 2012 · Write a comment · Categories: Reflections

Listen and you will hear His voice

Undoubtedly most of us have either heard or used the phrase “Silence is Golden” at some point in our life. This is actually the final refrain of an old Swiss inscription “Sprecfien ist silbern, Schweigen ist golden” which in English translates to “Speech is silver, Silence is golden.” The 19^th century poet Thomas Carlyle once wrote that “Silence is the element in which great things fashion themselves together; that at length they may emerge, full-formed and majestic, into the daylight of Life, which they are thenceforth to rule.”

Mystery and Miracle

25. July 2012 · Write a comment · Categories: Reflections

Accepting the unknowable

A number of years ago a poll revealed that nearly two-thirds of American Catholics believed that the consecrated bread and wine were “symbolic reminders” rather than the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. That the overwhelming majority of Catholics have dismissed such a basic tenet of our faith is clearly something we must seriously consider and reflect upon.

At the Center

18. July 2012 · Write a comment · Categories: Reflections

Who is the center of your life?

In his homily last weekend Father Bruce Lamb described the reaction of two different athletes upon making a spectacular play: the first thumped his/her chest in visible recognition of personal greatness, the second pointed a finger toward the heavens in acknowledgement of the true source of his/her athletic gifts. The first sees he or she as being the center of the universe with all relationships in orbit around him or her (including God.) The second knows that God is the center; our lives and our gifts come from Him, without Him we are nothing. As Father Bruce put it, “Not something, not anything…without Jesus Christ we are nothing.”

God Is Present, Love is Present

11. July 2012 · Write a comment · Categories: Reflections

Making ourselves present to God

Have you ever questioned the purpose of prayer; ever wondered whether God was listening? Perhaps we are missing the point, unaware of the true nature of our presence with God. We don’t pray for God to become present in our lives because God is present, always and everywhere. We pray so that we become present to God.

To Follow Jesus

02. July 2012 · Write a comment · Categories: Reflections

requires more than words, it requires action

Each of us has been called by God for a special purpose in life — a vocation. Jesus asks each of us to follow him without any expectation of reward here on earth. What form our discipleship takes is unique and specific to the gifts we each have been given by God.