A Word from Fr. Bob
Dear Church Family,
I was struck by the last sentence of the Gospel which says, “He himself understood it (human nature) well.” We see Jesus challenging all of us to have right attitudes toward putting the Lord first and His worship pure without a bunch of money matter things which sometimes we do in raffles and other things in church. The Lord is telling us He understood human nature well. Obviously, He did because He knew we couldn’t keep ourselves always centered on the greatest of all commandments “Love Him and love our neighbor in every way.” We flush that out and are blessed that He gives us directions which are the Ten Commandments listed in the first reading and then purifying the worship that we give to the Lord but especially here all of us need to rely on the Lord to direct us. Sometimes ordinary spiritual writers give us directions. That’s why we keep reading little messages like in the Living Faith magazine that I hope you all have in the Church Family. Church, we need help. I need help. I need God’s guidance. I sometimes need help in the confusion of knowing the Lord and knowing that His total love that He shares with me is so strong and powerful that God is love. When I am loving, I am being Godly in the world. Loving in my prayer life and even in the confusion and loving in the challenges of more than putting up with everybody that comes into my life.
One of the great spiritual writers of the 40’s to the 70’s was Thomas Merton. The pope mentioned him along with Dorothy Day when he came to this country. Thomas Merton was a Trappist monk who did a lot of writing. He wrote in a very human way because his road was rocky as far as trying to get in touch with God. A prayer of his that has become quite famous basically because he is saying, “Lord, I have no idea where I am going”. This particular prayer comes from that theme. Sometimes we are confused but thank God we have directions from the Lord and also directions from a lot of other peoples. Here is Thomas Merton’s prayer, cut it out and maybe keep it, if it reflects you. I think it reflects human nature well. “My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing it. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always, though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.”
Let us pray, “Lord we don’t always know the way and we have a hard time knowing and totally believing that we have been gifted totally with Your love and mercy. All is love, we forget that sometimes Lord and we act only on our human conditions. Please Lord, help us to keep steadfast in knowing and loving You and everybody. Thank You, Lord for your directions and also the direction of spiritual writers that give us many little insights in this great quest of union with You. Amen”.
Love, Fr. Bob
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