Ephphatha!

27 Wednesday Mar 2024

Posted by Jerry Robinson in Evangelization

Tags

Catholic, Curing of the Deaf/Mute, Ephphatha, Evangelization, Faith, Grace, Holy Saturday, Holy Spirit, Is 50:4-5, Mk 7:31-37, Prayer, RCIA

This Saturday morning, Easter Saturday, I will have the pleasure of leading eighteen adults and youths in the final rites before they are baptized and enter into full communion with the Church that evening at the Easter Vigil Mass. One of those rites is the Ephphatha Rite, the opening of the ears and mouth of the Elect to help them more clearly hear and proclaim the Word of God. The Rite is based on the curing of the deaf and mute man in Mark’s Gospel (Mk 7:31-37).

Saturday will be exactly eleven years to the day since I received this rite, the day I was baptized and became a Catholic Christian. A remembrance of this came back to me this morning as I read today’s first reading:

The Lord God has given me a well-trained tongue, that I might know how to answer the weary a word that will awaken them. Morning after morning he wakens my ear to hear as disciples do; the Lord God opened my ear, I did not refuse, did not turn away. – Is 50:4-5

More happened that day than my conversion becoming official. God truly opened my ears and my tongue as well as allowing the words to flow from my brain through my hand to pen or computer keys. I was never one to journal or record my thoughts on paper, in fact, I abhorred writing, was terrible with grammar and punctuation, and, most of all, didn’t dare say anything about a belief with which someone else might contend. Yet, within two weeks, I began writing articles on this blog as a means to evangelize and lead others to a better understanding of their faith in hopes that they would grow closer to Jesus. Now, eleven years and 300 blog posts later, I still feel the call.

On March 30, 2013, I would have said you were crazy if you’d prophesied the future and said I would retire, go back to school to become a certified Catholic Spiritual Mentor mentoring dozens of men, and eventually be re-employed as Director of Evangelization and Adult Faith Formation within our parish. Miracles happen, and, with God, all things are possible.

“Good and gracious God, by Your grace, You joined me with holy people who accompanied me on this journey ever since I chose to follow You. Through them, You taught me how to pray, how to converse with You, how to tell You what is on my heart, how to listen to Your promptings, and, especially, how to help others do the same so that their interior lives can flourish. You opened my ears and loosened my tongue so that others may hear Your Word. I give You thanks every day that when I heard Your calling, ‘I did not refuse, did not turn away.’ Amen.”

(Ephphatha! was first published on the blog Reflections of a Lay Catholic)

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Faith is Personal…but Should Never Be Private

26 Tuesday Mar 2024

Posted by Jerry Robinson in Evangelization

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

Catholicism, Confirmation, Evangelization, Friendship, Holy Spirit, Prayer, Virtue

Jesus Sends the Apostles – Duccio di Buoninsegna, c.1300

We all know people who claim to believe in God but then won’t talk about it. They clam up and say their faith is personal…end of discussion. They are right, one’s faith is, and should be, personal. But Jesus never intended for it to be private. He tells us in the Gospels to go and be disciples. How can we evangelize if we keep our faith private?

The most common excuse for keeping one’s faith private may be that the basics were never learned well enough in the first place to share it with, or defend it before, others. One can easily deflect blame onto one’s teachers or parents, but to remain in this state is to succumb to the deadly vice of sloth, which is a laziness or a lack of love for the ways of God. The virtue opposing sloth is diligence, which may simply mean spending a little time each day learning more about one’s faith through daily prayer, reading scripture or other Catholic publications, or listening to Catholic television, radio, or podcasts, all of which can help us increase our understanding of our faith.

Another is our failure to fully understand and accept the graces we received at our Confirmation. The infusion of the Holy Spirit supernaturally strengthened the virtue of fortitude within us, enabling us to share in the mission of Jesus Christ to spread and defend our faith. Like a child who receives affirmation from a parent over a good behavior continues to improve in that behavior, we, too, simply have to believe we already possess what we need.

And, finally, the exigencies of modern life can make us forget that we need other people. Jesus didn’t live as a hermit. He gathered family and friends with whom He shared life. St. Paul urged the Corinthians to not live their faith privately but in community with one another. Like an ember that falls away from a fire and dies out, we can grow cold if we don’t stay close to others who are on fire with their faith, and others can grow cold if we don’t bring our fire to them.

To effectively evangelize, we can’t be passive. We have to actively learn, strengthen our relationship with Jesus through prayer and study, and build friendships with those whose fires need stoking.

“Lord Jesus, I pray for the grace to love You more dearly, and to exercise the grace which You’ve already bestowed on me in my Confirmation to bear fruit for Your Kingdom. Amen.”

(Faith is Personal…but Should Never be Private was first published on the blog Reflections of a Lay Catholic)

Road Trip Reflections: Once in a Lifetime Grace

19 Tuesday Mar 2024

Posted by Jerry Robinson in Grace

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Dad, Death, Faith, Family, Father, Grace, Grief, Hope, Love, Road Trips, Trust

I returned home Monday night from what seemed like a twelve day road trip. Actually, it was two 16 hour roundtrips nearly back to back. Neither was one I looked forward to taking. The first was to be with my mother and siblings at my father’s bedside as he lay dying, and the second was to return for his funeral.

Dad was 91 going on 19. His physical body was ravaged from too many years of dialysis after kidney failure, but his mind was still sharp as ever, and his sense of humor intact in spite of his suffering. After being in a coma for most of a week, he awoke long enough to respond to a nurse when asked how he was feeling that morning, “Okay, I guess, but I’m not ready to go dancing yet.” I think those were the last words he said before passing two days later.

I had an eight hour return trip home after he passed, and on the way it occurred to me that, amidst the sadness of dad passing, we also received many graces that come only once in a lifetime.

It’s a rare occurrence that my brother, two sisters and I get together. We were all able to make it there and hold vigil before dad died. We stayed with mom at the hospital, told stories and relived old memories of good times with dad. There was a love present in that room that we probably hadn’t experienced in quite some time.

I sensed an unsettling grace in my silent gratitude for all that dad did for his family, especially the sacrifices he made which were not always convenient or understood by us kids – gratitude that should have been expressed many times but never was.

Between us all, there were dozens and dozens of friends and a few remaining relatives praying for us and for dad. Speaking for myself, I felt the outpouring of overwhelming love from each of them.

There was grace in the realization that God is in control, not us, and that one day we, too, will pass away. This grace is a gift from God that gives me power and strengthens my desire to live a faith-filled virtuous life so that I will be ready for that day.

I found grace in knowing that my grieving was a result of the love I have for my dad, and that, with God, nothing is wasted – my grief, offered up with trust, is being put to good use.

And, there was comfort and grace in the hope that dad is now with the only One in the universe Who loves him more than we do.

Returning to my home town for the funeral also brought more graces. I saw a few relatives I hadn’t seen in decades who came to comfort mom, and old classmates of my sib’s and I, who stopped by to offer their condolences.

Dad was a U.S. Air Force veteran from the early fifties, and he chose to be buried in the Missouri Veterans Cemetery. He received an honor guard farewell complete with rifles fired, and taps played beautifully by a disabled vet. Two Air Force airmen removed the flag covering dad’s casket and, after folding it perfectly, presented it to my mother with the words, “On behalf of the President of the United States….”. There was a flash of humorous irony in this as dad was a life-long, die-hard Republican and was probably rolling over in his coffin at that moment thinking about the current President. But, in the next moment I found some grace in the thought that he might be, at that very moment, being saluted by President Dwight Eisenhower under whom he served as a United States Air Force Technical Sergeant.

Off you go into the wild blue yonder…Rest in peace, Dad. I will love you always. Save me a place up there!

“Good and gracious, God, thank You for the gift of a loving father and for the virtuous example he demonstrated to his family. Thank You for the graces that came from being with him in his final days, graces that came through family and friends, and from remembrances of loving moments shared together with him. Amen.”

(Road Trip Reflections: Once in a Lifetime Grace was first published on the blog Reflections of a Lay Catholic)

Relationship vs. Religion

09 Saturday Mar 2024

Posted by Jerry Robinson in Evangelization

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Catholicism, christianity, Evangelization, Evangelizing, Faith, Friendship, Jesus, Mental Prayer, Prayer, Relationships, Religion

In many previous posts I’ve mentioned the need to develop a close personal relationship with Jesus through prayer, especially mental prayer or mediation, in order to make our evangelizing authentic. In prayer, we spend time with Jesus, we converse, and we build a friendship with Him that becomes so exciting that we want to introduce Him and share Him with others!

As Catholics, we are fortunate to be able to claim two thousand years of tradition in our lineage. We are the original Church, instituted by Christ Himself, and built on the rock of Peter. We have thousands of saints to whom we can look as role models: men and women who performed incredible acts of charity, who evangelized savage cultures at the risk of losing their lives, and who staunchly defended their faith and were martyred. Our faith is deep, and we have a plethora of books, magazines, podcasts, television, videos, and speakers to help us learn and go deeper into the finer details of Catholicism. It’s all good and exciting stuff and we can easily get lost in it. So lost, in fact, that we can begin to think that our religion, our Catholicity, is first and foremost. And, when we do, Jesus gets relegated to the back seat. Our excitement about Catholicism becomes a hinderance to actually promoting Jesus.

If we read the Gospels closely, we see the popularity of Jesus. People heard of his miracles, and they flocked to Him. They were cured of sickness and demons, and, as they told more people about Him, more and more people followed Him everywhere He went. During Jesus’ public ministry, His disciples didn’t tell people to come join them in a new religion. The term Christianity was not coined until a few decades later. Rather, they simply invited them to encounter Jesus. People got excited about Jesus and not some new religion.

If we’re not careful, we can fall into the trap of thinking we are evangelizing when, instead, we are selling Catholicism rather than sharing our love for Jesus, and hoping that an interest in Him will ensue. We have it backwards. We ought to follow the example of the Apostles and invite people to meet Jesus. Once they find and get excited about Him, then we can introduce them to the beauty and truth of our Catholic faith.

How do I know this? Because it worked on me.

“Dear Jesus, thank You for Your love, for drawing me closer to You each day. I love You, and in our friendship, Your love overflows so that I may offer it to others who may not know You…yet. Amen.”

(Relationship vs. Religion was first published on the blog Reflections of a Lay Catholic)