Which thief are you?

There is a portrait in our adoration chapel entitled, "Night at Golgotha."  In the portrait, they have just taken Jesus down from the cross and are carrying Him to the tomb.  The two thieves remain hanging on thier crosses.

Jesus has borne His cross and He has left it - but has He?  Does He still not carry that cross and suffer His wounds because we continue to sin and often refuse to carry our own crosses? 

My eyes are drawn to the thieves.  They earned their fate, they were not innocent. 

We are those thieves.  There is no denying it.  But which?

Which thief are you?  The "good" thief who humbles himself and admits his guilt and goes to our Lord?  Or the other thief? The thief who ridicules holiness?  He doesn't just deny Jesus, and thus the Holy Spirit, he mocks our Lord.

Is our world so different today?  Has anything changed over the last 2000 years?

I meditate on the portrait and notice light peaking through the clouds and that light shines down on our Lord, and even, it seems, on the frontside of one of the thieves.  He is allowed  in the light now, he has been forgiven.  In fact, that very day he will find himself in paradise.  Jesus promised.

But not the other.  He made his choice to deny Christ.

Today everyone screams about their rights; especially their right to choose.  They're right.  God has given free will - to each and every one of us.  We have the right to choose, because God gives us that right.

We can choose to be the "good" thief - admit our sins, repent and ask forgiveness and mercy and live in the light or we can choose not to.  It's our choice.

People say God is good and He loves us - He is absolute good and He does love us.  I've heard people justify their lifestyles by saying God would never send them to hell.  Again, they are right, He doesn't send us to hell.  He allows us to choose with our own free will where we will spend eternity.

The two thieves remain on their crosses, just as we ought, until death comes.  What comes after death for us is determined by what came before death.

Make a choice.

Do you mock holiness or embrace humility?

Do you live in the world or of the world?

You think they're annoying??

You know all those annoying habits our loved ones and many others in our lives have?  


Your spouse squeezes the toothpaste tube in the center or leaves the car on empty? 


The kids fight with one another, change their clothes a hundred times a day.


Your mom calls everyday and just wants to know what you're having for dinner.


Your friend stops by and wonders why you can't break free to go for coffee (completely oblivious to the small children running around the house screaming).


The person in the grocery store stops right in the middle of the aisle, blocking people in both directions from getting by.


Someone asks you if all the kids with you are actually yours.


The kid behind you at the red light wants to share his idea of music with everyone in a 1 mile radius.


The old woman in the pew in front of you keeps turning and looking disdainfully at you and your cooing, adorable baby.


Your neighbor starts his day early by mowing the lawn at 6:00 a.m.


The children leave dirty dishes in the sink instead of putting them in the dishwasher.


Your sister says she'd love to help with dad, but she's just sooooo busy and "you don't mind, do you?"


The person in front of you has a "planned parenthood" bumper sticker on their car (what is WRONG with them??).


For some reason you are the only one who shows up to clean the church, even though 6 others signed up.


The lady in the bathroom stall next to you was talking on her cell phone and you thought she was talking to you and kept answering her and she got mad at YOU for interrupting her.


And on and on and on and on and on.........SIGH!


Why can't everyone be more like me?  Loving, considerate, always thinking of others....you know.....perfect!


Hmmmm....perfect.  Well, maybe not perfect. 


Perhaps there might be one or two things I do that might annoy someone (who isn't as patient as I am).


I wonder what I do to annoy others.  


Do I yell at the kids?  Do I always treat others nicely?  Do I return phone calls or e-mails and respond to others in my life in a timely manner?  Do I help others or make excuses?  


Do I??? ______________________________________ (fill in the blank)
Do I??? ______________________________________ (fill in the blank)
Do I??? ______________________________________ (fill in the blank)
Do I??? ______________________________________ (fill in the blank)
Do I??? ______________________________________ (fill in the blank)


Here's what you can do the next time someone annoys you:


1)  Offer a prayer for them - after all, we never know what someone else is going through and it shows great charity to pray for our "enemies".
2)  Forgive them, after you offer your prayer put the incident out of your mind, don't let it simmer inside of you.
3)  Ask God to reveal your faults to you so you can confess them, change them or whatever other action needs to be taken.  Then ask Him to help you.
4)  Praise God for the work He is undertaking in you.
5)  Learn to laugh.  Laughter is much better than anger and frustration.  If you need help laughing, give me a call!!  :)

Putting together random thoughts...

Did you ever hear something or think of something and it made you think of something else that might have some connection to that thought?   Sometimes if you get enough of those random thoughts or sayings, they begin to form one whole thought in your mind; kind of like connecting the individual dots and coming up with a bigger picture.  That happened for me recently.  I'll tell you the "random" thoughts first so it'll make a little more sense.

#1  Brother Andre of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal visited our parish last fall and attended our Homeschooling Mass one morning and spoke to the children afterward.  He told them about the rosary he wears on the rope around his waist and the symbolism that holds for him.  He likes to have a big rosary, he said, because to him, it is like holding Mother Mary's hand.  What a beautiful thought.

#2  For the last few years I have slept with my rosary in hand.  Sometimes I fall asleep praying the rosary, other times, when I am too tired to pray, I just take comfort in knowing our heavenly Mother is close to me.

#3  I see people who have their rosaries in hand during Mass.  It is beautiful to see their devotion to our Lady, but I always hope they are not praying the rosary during Mass.  The Mass is the greatest prayer we can offer, so praying the rosary - which is also a beautiful prayer - during Mass, would take away from the Mass and Mother Mary would never want our attention turned from her Son to her.  The rosary is not supposed to take us to Mary, except in that it leads us closer to her glorious Son.

While I have been in Kansas City I've been visiting different churches for Mass.  Last night I had the pleasure of visiting St. Patrick's Oratory for the 6:00 p.m. Latin Mass.  I love the Latin Mass, though I understand scarcely one word of it.  That, coupled with the fact that I didn't have a Mass guide, led to my eyes wandering a bit.  There was a beautiful statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus directly in front of me, which of course reminds me of my home parish, and just to the left of the altar, a beautiful statue of the Blessed Mother.

I don't know how long I stared at that statue of Mother Mary, long enough for the random thoughts above to shoot through my head and click into place.  Mother Mary was there for the sacrifice of her Son and she is there every time and every where Mass is celebrated.  If we allow her, she takes us by the hand and leads us to her beautiful Son. 

So the next time you see me at Mass, don't be surprised to find my rosary in my hand - it's Mother Mary's hand, guiding me through the sacrifice of the Mass, closer to her Son.