Do What You Can

It does not take much to do good, to relieve suffering or to show love.

Consider the example of Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta.

When she moved to India to serve the poorest of the poor, she had nothing. She had no master plan or endowment to start her order. Rather she simply walked the streets, feeding the hungry and caring for the sick with whatever resources she could muster. She gave the little she had and through her generosity and holiness she touched many hearts and changed many lives.

One day she was out walking the streets when she came upon a homeless man dying in the gutter. With the help of some men, she had him brought to her home. There she washed him, prepared a small meal for him and prayed. For three hours she did nothing but sit with him.  He looked up at her and said, “My whole life I have been treated like an animal, now I will die like an angel.” She was not able to give him much - just her time and her love - yet it gave dignity to a man in his final hours on earth so that, instead of dying in the streets he could die in the arms of a saint.

When we read through the gospels, we discover that Jesus never turns away those in need. Whether they have a question, whether they need healing or whether they are hungry, He gives them what He has and it never fails to satisfy. Today’s story about the multiplication of the loaves and fish is a case in point. The five barley loaves and two fish would not have been enough to feed the apostles, never mind a throng of five thousand men. Yet Jesus refuses to keep the food to Himself. Rather He took it, blessed it and gave it away. That small act of generosity was enough to satisfy a hungry mass of people with plenty left over.

How often do we have the opportunity to help someone but look the other way because we are afraid that we do not have enough resources, enough talents or enough time to do any good? How often do we cling so jealously to the little we have that we cannot open our hands to give to those who have even less than we do?

It is a spiritual law that God uses those who have the least ability to do His work. We often say, “If you want to get something done, ask a busy person.” Well, when God wants to get something done, He asks a poor person. By choosing those who are weak, deprived and even sinful, our Heavenly Father makes it clear that it is He who is at work. Otherwise we might chalk the good deeds up to the cleverness or resourcefulness of those who do them rather than the God who makes all things possible.

God wants to do great things in our families, in our parish and in our community. He wants to feed the hungry, He wants to console the suffering and He wants to change hardened hearts. But He needs us to help Him. He needs us to give even when we think we have too little, to work even when we feel exhausted and to open our mouths even when we think we have nothing to say. We need to take risks as Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta did by ministering to those dying on the streets and as the boy in the gospel did who gave His basket of food to Jesus. When we do that, when we step outside our comfort zone in faith, God will take care of the rest.

What is God calling me to give? Where does He want to send me to find the hungry and the suffering? Who needs to hear me witness about my faith? What would it take for me to really surrender my time, treasure and talents to His service? Those are all questions we should bring to prayer every day so that God’s healing and saving work may be accomplished through us.

We gather here today like the crowd in the gospel. We have seen the signs of His presence in our lives. We have heard His word, and He will feed us with the bread of life. Simple gifts of bread and wine will be brought to this altar. We will take it, bless it and distribute it and all of us will have our fill. There will even be some left over which we will keep in the tabernacle to take to the sick who could not be with us today. In this Eucharist, Jesus gives us everything He has - His very body. When we leave this place, can we do the same so that the blessings of this Mass may be multiplied throughout our society and throughout our world?

Spiritual Poverty

There are many different types of poverty and different causes for it.

The type of poverty that we are most familiar with is material poverty.  It is the heart-wrenching destitution of those who do not have enough food to feed their families or do not have adequate shelter. We see it not only in the third world, but also in the developed countries in the form of homelessness, unemployment and lack of adequate health care. Sadly, with all the advances of science and the growth in wealth in so much of the world, we have not been able to eradicate so much of the needless suffering of our fellow human beings.

As painful as material poverty is, there is another type of need that we experience in our world  today. It is spiritual poverty. In many ways, this is a hidden type of poverty. It can take place in rich countries as well as in poor ones. It can afflict those who live in wealthy suburbs as well as those living in slums.

When Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta came to the United States, she remarked that she had never seen so much spiritual poverty. Though she dealt with starvation and sickness on a daily basis in the streets of one of the world’s poorest cities, she saw a different kind of poverty in America. It was the loneliness of those who did not know their neighbors. It was the exhaustion of those who drove themselves to earn more and more at the expense of their families. It was the boredom and aimlessness of youth who bought into the lie that the only purpose for their existence was to experience more and more pleasure. No amount of food, technology or government spending could alleviate that type of poverty which is so pervasive in our modern societies.

Though material poverty is difficult to remedy, there is a cure for the spiritual poverty we suffer from. It is Jesus. Spiritual poverty is nothing else but the lack of God in our life. Our souls were created to be in relationship with our Heavenly Father. Nothing else can take the place of that deep need within us. Jesus was sent by the Father to reveal His love and restore our relationship with Him which had been broken through sin.

Saint Paul in the second reading explains that, before Jesus, there was a wall of enmity between us and God. It was a wall built up by human hatred, greed and pride. It served as a prison which we built brick by brick through our ignorance, fear and wickedness. At the same time, the God we longed for was on the other side of that wall. We could not knock it down on our own or climb over it. Through the cross, Jesus was able to destroy it and reunite us with our Heavenly Father. As Saint Paul explains, “...through him we...have access in one Spirit to the Father.”

If we are feeling lonely, if we are burdened with the weight of our sins, if we are exhausted from trying to live up to the world’s expectations, we need simply turn to Jesus for peace and refreshment. If we have lost our way in life, if we can see no purpose for our existence, if there is no joy in our hearts, Jesus can point out the way to a fuller life. If we feel isolated, unable to connect with others and uncomfortable in our own skin, the answer is Jesus who reveals to us that we are loved through and through by an Almighty God who created us and knows us.

In today’s gospel, Jesus takes pity on the crowd that had gathered to see Him. They were poor, tired and suffering people who needed a word of consolation. Though He and His disciples were worn out and had not even had the chance to eat, He could not help but reach out to them with the love of His Father.

Jesus never turns His back on us when we are suffering. Whatever type of poverty we may be experiencing, we can bring it to Him and expect that He will see us through it. Sometimes we feel that in a world with so many people, God could not possibly know or be concerned with our needs. But nothing could be further from the truth. He is an All-Powerful God. There are no limits to His knowledge and His power. He knows each of us better than we know ourselves and He loves us more than we love ourselves. No matter what, we can turn to Him and expect to receive an answer. It might not be the answer we want, but it will be exactly what we need.

The Voice Of The Shepherd

A short Italian man, Enrico, worked as a janitor in one of the office buildings in the city of Rome, Italy. To pass the time as he washed windows, painted walls or cleaned out office rooms, he would hum the most beautiful melodies. One of the office workers approached him out of curiosity to ask where he learned to sing such melodious songs. He explained that as a boy he lived in one of the small towns in the hills surrounding Rome. His father owned some sheep and he would help bring them out to pasture. To let the sheep know that someone was close by keeping an eye on them, he and his father would hum the songs. If they ever got distracted and stopped humming, the sheep would get excited, stop eating and begin to panic. Once they began humming the songs again, the sheep would settle down and feel secure. They needed to hear the humming to know that their shepherd was nearby and that they were safe.

The author of the twenty-third psalm which we prayed together after the first reading loved to think of God as a shepherd. God was always close to him providing him with all he needed and comforting him. Because God was always by his side, he felt that nothing could make him afraid. As he writes: "Even though I walk in the dark valley I fear no evil; for you are at my side." Just as the sheep could graze in peace knowing their shepherd was nearby, so the sacred author of this psalm felt that God was so close to him and so protective of him that he could live in peace, confident that all would be well.

So much in life can make us panic. There are so many bills to be paid, but only so much money. There is so much work to be done, but only so much time and energy. The obligations and demands of being a parent, a student or a priest can seem overwhelming and impossible.  But within the roar of our daily activities a gently humming can be heard if we slow down long enough to notice it. Our God is always at our side giving us what we need to make it through the day. The Lord is our shepherd; there is nothing we shall want.

Do we face the difficulties of life with the confidence that God is close by? No matter how busy our schedules may be, do we take time aside to pray as Jesus and the apostles tried to do in today's gospel and listen for the voice of our shepherd? Do we trust God to lead us in paths that are right and to provide for our needs and the needs of our family?

Jesus is still among us as our shepherd. Though we can no longer see and touch him, he is very much in control of our lives leading us and protecting us. His Holy Spirit, which we received at our baptism, speaks to our hearts and assures us that he is close by. The Holy Spirit is the voice of God humming within us giving us joy and confidence as we face the challenges of life in the 21st century. We simply need to make the time each day to step out of our routine and listen for that gentle voice in the silence.

Not only does Jesus shepherd us individually through the Holy Spirit, he also leads us as a community of faith through the gift of the priesthood. When the priest baptizes, it is the Good Shepherd, Jesus, bringing another sheep into his flock. Through the ministry of priests, Jesus leads us to a rich pasture by feeding us his very body and blood in the Eucharist. Jesus seeks us out when we are lost and heals our wounds when we approach the priest in the sacrament of Penance. Through the gift of the priesthood, Jesus is really present among us meeting our deepest need for friendship with God.

There is no doubt that each of us has been blessed by the ministry of priests. They most likely have been with us both at our happiest and at our saddest times. They are among the most gifted and generous men we know. Most importantly, they have given their lives in service of the gospel to bring Jesus to us. They are good shepherds whose life and ministry bring us face to face with the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ.

We should make a special effort to remember priests in our prayers. Like each of us, they face many difficulties. They often see people at the very worst day of their lives, when they are sick or dying or have suffered a tragedy. They are willing to rush out in the middle of the night to be with a family whose house has caught on fire. They are expected to have words of wisdom and consolation whenever we are confused or anxious. We expect much of our priests, and it can often leave them discouraged and exhausted. It is not only important for us to pray for them at all times but to let them know that we love and appreciate them by saying a kind word to them after Mass or even dropping a thank you note in the mail from time to time. When we do so, we are also honoring the Good Shepherd, Jesus, whose life and ministry is still active among us because of the dedication of these special men.

We Are All Called To Holiness

You are uniquely talented. You have gifts and abilities unlike anyone else. There are people whom only you can reach. There are things that only you can do. Only you can do what God has planned for you to do.

When we hear today’s gospel, we can be tempted to think that it doesn’t apply to us. Jesus can’t be asking us to drive out demons and heal the sick. He can’t mean that we should be preaching the gospel in the city streets. We can be tempted to think that today’s gospel has meaning only for nuns, deacons or priests. However, nothing can be further from the truth. Jesus is speaking to each one of us. He wants all of us to be holy and to bring His love to others. No one gets a pass from the duty to live the gospel and to bring the good news to others.

This year, Pope Francis wrote a document called Gaudete et Exsultate on the call to holiness in today’s world. The Holy Father makes it clear that holiness is something that God offers to every single person. He writes:

                        To be holy does not require being a bishop, a priest or a religious.

We are frequently tempted to think that holiness is only for those

who can withdraw from ordinary affairs to spend much time in prayer.

That is not the case. We are all called to be holy by living our lives with

 love and by bearing witness in everything we do, wherever we find ourselves.

Are you called to the consecrated life? Be holy by living out your commitment with joy. Are you married? Be holy by caring for your husband or wife as Christ does for the Church. Do you work for a living? Be holy by laboring with integrity and skill in the service of your brothers and sisters. Are you a parent or grandparent? Be holy by patiently teaching the little ones how to follow Jesus. Are you in a position of authority? Be holy by working for the common good and renouncing personal gain. (GE 14)

To be holy and serve the gospel, then, does not always require that we go to Africa or Calcutta. It does not always mean renouncing our possessions and living in poverty. It does mean that, no matter where we may find ourselves, we are committed to bringing Jesus to others.  It also means that we trust God to work through us even though we are weak and sinful. It is really trust and reliance on God that characterizes people of holiness more than any other personal qualities, talents or accomplishments.

Pope Francis goes on to write that that are five signs of holiness in today’s world. They are:  Perseverance, patience and meekness; Joy and a sense of humor; Boldness and passion; Community; and Constant Prayer. Let’s take a look at each of those signs so that we can learn how to practice them in our own lives and so grow closer to the holiness that God is calling us to.

The first sign is perseverance, patience and meekness. Persons of holiness are grounded in God’s love for them and so are able to endure difficulties with patience. I see this so often in our catechists who strive to teach teenagers about God’s love even though they seem so indifferent to it. These catechists are not looking for recognition but simply want to witness to Jesus. They do so with confidence that, even though they are not immediately seeing any results, the Holy Spirit is planting seeds in the hearts of these young people that will one day bear fruit. Holy people keep focused on Jesus and so are able to persevere even when they see little or no results.

The second sign of holiness is joy and a sense of humor. People who are holy see the good in everything. They know that hard times come and go but that God’s love for them remains constant. I see this so often in parishioners I visit in the hospital and the nursing home. Despite their physical pain and loneliness, they still manage to smile and laugh. I see it also in young people who, in today’s world, are under so much pressure but find so much joy in being together. Because holy people believe that the world was created by a good and loving God, they are cheerful and serene no matter what life might throw at them.

The third sign of holiness is boldness and passion. Throughout the gospels, Jesus tells His disciples, “Do not be afraid”. Saint John tells us that “perfect love casts out fear” (1 Jn 4:18). I see this boldness in our parents who confront the evils in society for the sake of their children. They want young people to grow up in a world better than the one they had and so are willing to stand up to any bully and work against any oppressive system, even at the cost of their safety. People of holiness are also people of courage who face their fears for the sake of those they love.

The fourth sign is that holiness is lived in community. It is interesting that many great saints had a best friend who was also a saint. We think of Saint Francis and Saint Clare and Saint John of the Cross and Saint Teresa of Avila. People of holiness are also good friends who love unconditionally and do not hold a grudge. The mark of holy people is that they love one another. We are drawn to holy people because of that love. Therefore, holy people seek out other holy people to inspire and motivate each other.

The fifth sign of holiness is constant prayer. Holiness is nothing other than friendship with Jesus and we nurture that friendship through prayer. To be holy also means that we radiate God’s love in everything we do. Unless we are experiencing and learning about God’s love through prayer, then we will have nothing to give to others. Holy people have strong prayer lives which give them inspiration and energy to serve others.

Pope Francis goes on to write: “Do not be afraid of holiness.It will take away none of your energy, vitality or joy. On the contrary, you will become what the Father had in mind when he created you and you will be faithful to your deepest self” (GE 32). Holiness is attainable for all of us despite our weakness and sinfulness through the grace of our baptism. If we ask for God’s help and commit ourselves to serving others, we will begin to experience the signs of holiness active in our lives. In so doing, we will be fulfilling the purpose of our lives and giving glory to God who created us to be holy.

What's Your Excuse?

 Her name was Olga Bejano Dominguez. From the age of 23, after a series of illnesses and a heart attack, she was left unable to see, speak, move or breathe without the assistance of a machine. Faced with loneliness and despair, she decided to give her life to God and find in her faith a reason to keep on living with hope. With the help of a nurse, she wrote four books about her experiences and insights which became best sellers throughout her native Spain. Upon her death in December of 2008, her mother said that at least four people were inspired to not commit suicide because of her daughter's writings. Most people would have considered Olga's life over the minute she lost use of her eyes, voice and limbs. And yet she saw her life as only just beginning. God called her at the moment she seemed most weak and unable to serve him and used her to inspire others with the hope that all things are possible with him. 

His name was Amos, a poor shepherd from the town of Tekoa, south of Jerusalem. Though uneducated, he was called by God to speak his word at the royal temple of Bethel. Because of its prestige, Bethel was the home of the most educated priests of Israel. King Jeroboam, who was ruling over Israel at the time, had at his beck and call any number of prophets willing to tell him whatever he wanted to hear. And yet God called a simple shepherd to warn the king that Israel was headed for sure destruction if they did not return to the pure worship of the Lord who had given them the Promised Land. The priests and prophets of King Jeroboam's court would look down their noses at Amos asking him by what right he dared speak to the king. They told him to go somewhere else to find work as a prophet. Yet Amos continued to speak out recognizing that it was not by his own authority that he was speaking but by command of the God of hosts. Despite his lack of credentials, Amos is the first prophet of the Old Testament to have a book named after him. Amos trusted not in his own knowledge and ability, but in the power of God, and God used him to bring his word to the most powerful people of the day. 

Their names were Peter, Andrew, Matthew, Thomas, Philip, Bartholomew, John, James, Simon, Jude, James, son of Alphaeus, and Judas Iscariot. They were simple fishermen, tax collectors and political radicals. Unlike the scribes and Pharisees of the day, they held no prestige and could make no claim to being experts in the Law. Yet Jesus chose them to be the ones to bring his teaching to the people of Israel. In today's gospel, he sends them out with nothing except the clothes on their backs. Despite their lack of education and resources, they are able to cast out demons and heal the sick - miracles which the Pharisees and scribes were never able to perform. Jesus chose simple men for the great task of preaching repentance to the nations. He made them the foundation of the Church he would build which he promised would last through all ages. We stand here today as witnesses to their success through the power of the Holy Spirit. 

What is your name? What do you do? How is God calling you? What is keeping you from saying "yes" to God's call? 

Each of us has been called by God for a task which only we can perform. Each of us is irreplaceable in the sight of God. Saint Paul tells us in the second reading that we were chosen by him even before the world began. No one else in the history of the universe can do what God is calling us to do. 

Are we afraid that we do not have enough education? Are we afraid that we do not have enough resources? Are we afraid that we do not have enough talent? 

Certainly, most of us have an advantage over Olga Bejano Dominguez. She could not see, speak, move or even breathe. Yet she was able to spread God's word of hope throughout Spain. What excuses could we make when faced with her example of courage and perseverance? 

We most certainly have more education and resources than the prophet Amos and the apostles did. Yet their words continue to inspire us over the centuries. Can we honestly say that we are ill-equipped to spread God's word when we consider the obstacles which they faced? 

There is only one resource that is necessary to accomplish God's will - faith. That is why Jesus sends the apostles out with nothing except their clothes, sandals and a walking stick. They already carried within themselves all that they needed to preach the gospel of repentance. We were given that faith at our baptism and it is continually being nourished by Scripture and by the sacraments. No amount of talent or education can take the place of what simple faith is able to accomplish in our lives and in our world. Each of us already carries within us what allowed Olga Bejano Dominguez to overcome her disabilities and what compelled Amos and the apostles to spread God's word with boldness.  

Whoever we are, whatever we are and wherever we are, we are each called to witness to the power and love of our Almighty God. It does not require lofty rhetoric or complicated philosophical arguments. It does not require wealth or prestige. It only requires of us simple faith to believe that God has placed people in our lives for a reason and that he will give us whatever we need to bring his word into the lives of those we live with, work with or bump into in the course of our everyday lives. God has called each of us here today to hear this challenging message and is sending each of us from here as messengers of his good news. Can anything hold us back when God himself is our strength? 

The New Evangelization

Since Pentecost, Christians have been spreading the good news of Jesus’ death and resurrection throughout the world.

It first began with the pagan world of the Roman Empire. Christianity then spread to the barbarian peoples of Northern Europe. Missionaries brought the gospel to Asia and Africa. When the New World of the Americas was discovered, men and women of faith went out to establish churches and schools bringing the message of salvation in Jesus Christ.

In all these cases, Christians brought the good news to people who had never heard about Jesus. Sometimes these missionaries were persecuted and put to death. However, in time, Christianity took root and began to flourish. Now, by the grace of God, there are Christian churches in just about every country in the world and there are only a few places where the gospel has never been preached.

We call this work of bringing the gospel to people “evangelization”. It is the effort to answer Jesus’ call to “make disciples of all nations and baptize them….” It requires us to teach the world about the person of Jesus Christ and all He did to save us.  It also involves the work of helping people and society as a whole to put into practice the message of Jesus.

Today, especially in our society, we find ourselves in a very different situation than those first missionaries of the gospel. We have succeeded in baptizing a large number of people. They may have even been taught the faith and received their first communion and confirmation. However, they are failing to live by the faith they were taught. In fact, many of them have rejected that faith. They have heard the message of Jesus and have not been convinced.

In many ways, the situation we face today is much like the one that Jesus encounters in today’s gospel. The people of Nazareth believe they know who Jesus is. He is simply a carpenter and the son of Mary. Saint Mark tells us that they “took offense at him.” Because of their lack of faith, Jesus could not do any miracles for them.

In the same way, we live in a society that believes it already knows Jesus. They don’t think there is anything new we could possibly tell them that they haven’t already heard. They might still call themselves Catholics, but they have stopped practicing their faith. When they hear us speak about Jesus, they might not outright reject the message but they are indifferent to it. To them, the good news is old news.

This reality weighed very heavily on Pope Saint John Paul II. He reflected on it in his encyclical, The Mission of the Redeemer in 1990. In it he said that what is needed today is a “new evangelization”. That is, we must bring the gospel of Jesus Christ in fresh and challenging ways to people who have already been baptized so that can begin to put their faith into practice. We must re-propose the gospel message to people in a way that helps them to realize that there is more to Jesus Christ than they think and engage them in wanting to learn more.

How do we do that?

First, we must be putting the message of Jesus Christ to practice in our own lives. The fact is that many people have grown indifferent to Christianity because they haven’t seen many examples of good and faithful Christians. If we are not in love with Jesus and showing it by the way we live, how can we expect to get others excited about the Christian message? On the other hand, if we are generous, joyful and kind, others will want to know our secret. Then they will be open to hearing that Jesus is the reason for our hope.

Secondly, we must speak about Jesus and His message with confidence. The gospel runs contrary to the world’s values. We can often feel intimidated in telling people what we believe because it runs against what others believe. We fear that we will be called bigots or fanatics. Make no mistake, the devil uses that fear to keep us from sharing our faith with others. The reality is that there is power in the name of Jesus. When we speak about the gospel, the Holy Spirit takes over not only giving us the right words but making the person listening to us more receptive to what we have to say. Therefore, we should never be afraid to speak up whenever we have an opportunity to share our faith. The Holy Spirit will help us.

We can also speak boldly and with confidence because Jesus’ message is true. It meets the deepest longing of the human heart. There is nothing that the world can offer that compares to what God offers us in Jesus Christ.  People are suffering because they lack meaning and have no sense of purpose. Just as we would give bread to a starving person, we should bring Jesus to people who are starving for hope. And just as no starving person would turn away good food, so people who have fallen into despair will not turn us away if we can offer them hope in Jesus Christ.

Finally, we must be patient. It takes time for the truth to sink in and really change a person’s heart. No matter how true our words are and how well we may put them, people need time to think about and make sense of the gospel of Jesus. The important thing is that people believe that we want what is best for them and that we are always there for them when they need us. If we are humble and kind, then they will feel comfortable bringing their questions to us and, by God’s grace, it will begin to make sense to them.

Pope Saint John Paul II in a message to the people of the Americas wrote, “... it is more necessary than ever for all the faithful to move from a faith of habit...to a faith which is conscious and personally lived. The renewal of faith will always be the best way to lead others to the Truth that is Christ" 

If our world is to be transformed, then we must ourselves be transformed by the word of God and then bring that word boldly to everyone we meet. It is the only hope for a world that, frankly, is going mad. In the end, only God can change minds and hearts. Therefore, let us ask Him to help us to overcome our fear and to use us to bring His Son to others. Let us also ask for a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit on our world so that Jesus can be truly known. That will make all the difference.

Obstacles To Faith

When Maria Grazia’s mother died, she felt lost. She had been the one to care for her mother throughout her illness and now that she was gone she did not know what to do with herself. Then she read in her parish bulletin that the soup kitchen on Lampedusa, the small Mediterranean island she lives on, needed a volunteer cook. At first, she didn’t think she was qualified to take on the job. However, she thought about how much she loved to cook and how many times she would serve as many as fifty of her family members who would show up to Sunday dinner at her mother’s house. So, she decided to show up and volunteer.

At first, the soup kitchen would provide about thirty meals every day to the needy people of Lampedusa. In 1998, the situation changed when the island became the center for North African migrants fleeing violence and oppression in their home countries. Several hundred people began to show up at the soup kitchen every day. The workers talked about limiting the meals to only thirty persons but Maria Grazia refused to turn anyone away. Relying on the food that was donated by parishioners at a local church and her own ingenuity, they have managed to not turn away a single hungry person.

Talking to the BBC about her volunteer work, she explained how she had to overcome several obstacles in order to serve the poor. First, she thought that she had nothing to offer others. She was just one, small person who knew how to cook. Then she had to come to trust that God would always provide for them no matter how many people showed up at the soup kitchen each day. So far, God has not let her down.

In today’s gospel, Jesus shows up at His hometown of Nazareth. At the time that He lived there with Mary and Joseph, Nazareth was a small town of barely one hundred people. Everyone knew each other. Nothing happened there without the whole town finding out about it. Everyone there knew Jesus and His family very well from the time He was a baby on up through adulthood. Or, at least, they thought they knew Him. They just could not believe that God would choose an ordinary man from Nazareth to be the Messiah. In fact, the gospel tells us that they were offended by Him. We can just imagine the people saying to themselves, “Who does He think He is? He is no better than we are!”

Jesus knew them very well too. As the Son of God, He knew them better than they knew themselves. Yet, Saint Mark tells us that He was amazed at their lack of faith. He went back to Nazareth because He expected them to embrace Him and believe. He expected to bring hope and healing to them as He had to so many other people in the area. However, they could not get past the idea that God does not use small people from small places. They could not get past their preconceived notions of who Jesus was. And so, because of their lack of faith, Jesus could not perform any miracles there.

In our day, we suffer from a very different type of lack of faith. We believe in Jesus. We proclaim Him as the Son of God and Messiah. However, like the people of Nazareth and like Maria Grazia we have obstacles that keep Jesus from doing great things in and through us.

First of all, we believe that we are too small and insignificant to be used by God. We think that we do not have enough to offer and cannot make a difference. So we choose to keep our faith to ourselves, to not risk helping others when we have the opportunity. We mind our own business rather than allowing God to work through us. In our minds, we think we are being humble but what we are really doing is telling God that He is not powerful enough to use us. Because we do not act, because we do not speak out, Jesus is not able to perform any mighty deeds through us.

However, God put each of us here for a reason. There are people that only we can help. We have insights and ideas that can make a difference in the lives of those around us. Simple words of encouragement can give others confidence and hope. Simple acts of kindness can convince the strangers who cross our path that they are not alone. For God to do great things in us, we do not need unique talents or limitless resources. We simply have to let go of our fears and allow God to inspire us with kind words and thoughtful gestures. If we allow God to use us everyday in small ways, we will have the confidence and courage to do His will when we are called upon to do great things

Secondly, we fear that God will not provide for us. We fear that if we take on a responsibility, He will not give us what we need to see it through. This was one of Maria Grazia’s fears when she started working in the soup kitchen. However, not a day has gone by when she has not had enough food for the hundreds of hungry people who turn to her. We can believe as well that, if God has given us a mission, He will also provide us with everything we need to do it. We might not get what we need until the very last minute, but it will arrive right on time.

God wants to do great things in and through us. No matter how small and insignificant we may seem, God wants to use us to bring hope and healing to others. No matter how limited our resources may seem, God wants us to trust Him to give us what we need to make a difference. When we take the risk to reach out to someone who needs our help, to speak out when we see an injustice or to simply hold the hand of someone who is hurting, we will begin to see miracles take place. If we are not willing to take a risk, then we do not really have faith and God cannot use us. However, if we can trust God enough to risk our comfort, our reputation and maybe even our safety to help another person, we will see great things which we can then tell others about so that they too can allow God to use them.

Reaching Out For Healing

A young girl was terminally ill with cancer and close to death. Her mother sat by her bedside crying and pleading with God to perform a miracle and heal her daughter.    

After several weeks, the cancer ran its course and the young girl died.

The mother, in her grief, was angry at God for not answering her prayer for her daughter. Eventually, she sought comfort by talking to the deacon in her parish. She asked him, "Why didn't God heal my daughter?" The deacon, at first, felt at a loss as to what answer to give this woman who was in so much pain. As she cried, he put his head down and said a silent prayer to the Holy Spirit to help him give her a word of comfort. Finally, the deacon raised his head and said to the mother, "Your daughter is healed now." At those words, the mother stopped crying and looked out the window to think about what he had said. She thanked him and left with the comforting thought that her daughter was now in God's hands safe from all harm.

Each of us at one time or another has been faced with a desperate situation and have begged God for a miracle. It might have been for a loved one who was sick or in trouble. It might have been for ourselves. But chances are that the miracle we asked for didn't take place. We might have been left wondering why God didn't seem to answer us. We probably thought that miracles were just something that happened in Jesus' time and not in modern times. Or we may have wondered if we had too little faith to ask so much of God. It could be that most of us have given up on asking for or expecting miracles. And so gospel stories like today's in which Jesus raises a little girl from the dead sometimes hold little meaning for us.

It is true that Jesus did perform many miracles while he walked the earth. He healed the sick, he drove out demons, he turned water into wine, he walked on the water, and he raised the dead. They were all powerful works demonstrating his mastery over nature, over sin and over death. Those mighty deeds proved to all who witnessed them that Jesus was no ordinary preacher but the Son of God. Nonetheless, no matter how marvelous his show of power was, Jesus always told those who were healed by him that the miracle was the easy part. What was truly amazing was not the healing, but the faith in the heart of the person who asked for his help. What impressed Jesus more than anything else was the simple faith he encountered in the people he met. And it was because of it that he was moved to perform mighty acts of power and compassion on their behalf.

It is important for us to remember that everyone whom Jesus healed and raised from the dead eventually got sick again and died. The healing was only temporary. What was permanent was the faith in the heart of those who were touched by him. That faith leads to the ultimate healing - everlasting life with God in heaven. We must never lose sight of the fact that any answers to our prayers which we receive during our lives on earth are only partial solutions. Problems and difficulties come and go. We probably don't remember today what we were asking God for last week. What endures - what has lasting value - is our relationship with God. And that relationship is based on faith - the faith that God loves us, that he has power over whatever trials we are facing, and that he can make all things work for our good and for our salvation.

All this being said, we must never stop going to Jesus for help whenever we are faced with problems. Those difficulties are an opportunity for us to exercise our faith. By bringing our concerns to our heavenly Father we grow in the trust that he does love and care for us. And our eyes are opened to the way in which he is acting in our lives already making our faith grow and perfecting the gifts of his grace within us. Faith is not only about getting God to do something for us. It is also about being able to recognize how God is answering our prayers in ways we could never imagine. And that is the real miracle.

Miracles do continue to happen in our day. By the power of faith, people experience healings that defy medical explanations. In those cases, it served God's glory to show forth his power in a virtually undeniable way so that others could be brought to faith in him. For most of us, however, God will work in subtle and hidden ways. It will go unnoticed at first or seem like a coincidence, but it will eventually be made clear to us that it was Almighty God who was working to bring us the healing we needed. We should witness to how God has worked in our lives in small ways with as much joy and wonder as we would if he had worked in miraculous ways. What is most important is not the mighty deed but the mighty faith alive in our hearts unlocking God's power for the salvation of the world.