May You Prepare For The Unexpected

While back east this summer, at one point when I was in someone's home, my host was gathering some snacks and bottled water to give away.  This individual explained that when bringing such nourishment, sometimes a needy person would not be standing by the side of the road asking for help.  However, not bringing along such sustenance, a homeless person often would be next to the street seeking assistance.  

Those people who are struggling, downtrodden and impoverished cross our paths when we don't expect them.  We find Jesus in those who are poor, in the people who are the least among us.  What we do to those who are the least in our midst, we do to Jesus.*  Jesus shows up when we least expect Him.  May He not come suddenly and find you unprepared.**  

* Matthew 25:40, 45 

* Mark 13:36

Give Some Thought

We're the authors of the stories of our lives.  In the words we use, in what we believe, we decide who we will become.  Our words play crucial roles in our lives.  

While I was back east in June, I happily went to four of my nephew's baseball games.  One of the players on his team said something like, "We haven't gotten blown out yet."  I suggested, "I'd delete that last word."  

One day a chef here was receiving compliments.  That person ventured, "Maybe I do know what I'm doing."  I recommended, "I'd delete that first word."  That person restated, "I do know what I'm doing!"  

We start to believe our own idea of ourselves.  Yet we can write our story so we succeed.  Our success begins with what we believe.  Give some thought to what you believe, since it will determine where you end up.  

On The Way Through The Love Of Our Neighbor

In the last week of June and the first week of July, I went back east to visit my family.  As a monk of the hermitage, I get to visit my family once a year.  However, due to the coronavirus, this visit was delayed.  I hadn't seen my parents in a couple years; it had been more than a couple years since I'd seen my sister, as well as my brother and sister-in-law with my niece and my nephew.  It was wonderful finally to see them again.  

The day I flew out of California, I met up with Karen and Maureen, former co-workers; we worked together when I was a attorney.  It was fun to catch up with them.  They both were raised Catholic, so they understand various aspects of life at the hermitage.  That day I took off from California, I also gladly got to see Susan and Aurora.  We lived together at the Catholic Worker House; they're still Catholic Workers.  

When I was planning the trip, it had seemed like a great idea to leave the hermitage early in the day so I could see friends I hadn't seen in years.  Finally when I was on the redeye flight from San Francisco to New York and was getting almost no sleep, I began to see the consequences of that itinerary.  Again on the subway from JFK to Penn Station, I kept nodding off, immediately waking up after a few seconds.  

Once I got into Penn Station, I happily got a cup of Blue Bottle Coffee.  I was also happy to pop into Magnolia Bakery and get a blueberry muffin.  With a little sustenance, I headed over to the Amtrak ticket counter.  I told the clerk I was booked on the 11:25 a.m. train to Albany.  He asked me where my ticket was.  I'm so used to showing up at an airport and entering my frequent flyer number that I told him I didn't have a ticket.  

He asked me if I had it on my phone.  I pulled out the flip phone I was borrowing from another monk.  He noted, "Well, you won't have it on there."  I admitted, "This isn't even my phone.  I'm borrowing this just so I'd have a phone on this trip."  He asked me, "How can you not have a phone?"  I explained, "I live in an area with no cell phone signal."  He asked, "Where's that?"  I told him, "Big Sur, on the California coast."  

He printed my ticket to Albany to see my brother and his family, and the ticket back to Manhattan.  As I struggled to arrange my coffee, muffin, train tickets, backpack and rolling luggage, he wondered aloud, "How will you manage all that?"  I was able to negotiate it all and navigate my way due to his merciful, kind, caring nature.  Before I walked off, I thanked him for being patient with me amidst my disorganization.  

Seeing God's Love In Each Other

Often our eyes need to be opened.  Sometimes it takes a crisis to get us to see.  A catastrophe can turn our world upside down, but it can also get us turned around back in the right direction.  When we get in a completely different place, we can see things from a fresh perspective.  Then we can recognize the light shining through our neighbor.  Upon such good fortune, we are brought back into right relation with each other.  

Last week other monks and I went on our monthly recreation day excursion.  We enjoyed coffee and pastries at the Big Sur Bakery.  We continued up Highway 1 and stopped in a park.  We set out on the hiking trail we had seen from the bakery.  We gained some elevation; we saw from a new vantage point the relatively new bridge constructed a few years ago when heavy rains destabilized the previous one.  

As we hiked, the other monks recalled how those torrential rains altered their routine.  They had to drive to where the old bridge had been, hike down below Highway 1 and back up to the far side of where the old bridge used to be.  There they would get into another car they kept there while the new bridge was being built, and they would drive that car into town.  

Proceeding into the wilderness on our hike, we saw a helicopter above us, suspecting it was bringing water to fight a fire.  The Willow Fire has burned over 2800 acres and is 19 percent contained.  It has headed north, away from the village of Big Sur; last year the Dolan Fire was further south in Big Sur.  Last year wildfire displaced us; this year it has returned.  Have we learned the lesson being presented to us?  

We're given chances to see anew not just what's happening, but also each other.  If we see rightly, we realize God's temple is not just a church; we too are God's temples, as we heard at Mass last week on the anniversary of the dedication of the hermitage church.  We behave appropriately in churches when we show we reverence Who is being worshipped there.  We respect each other when we recognize each other as God's temples.  

We're brought back in right relation when we see in our neighbors the love God pours into our hearts through the Holy Spirit.*  If we love God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength,** if we love our neighbors as ourselves,*** then we see God's Spirit in each other.  When we fall out of right relation with God and with each other, God invites us back, at times in trials; then we can see supposed misfortune as good fortune.  

* Romans 5:5 

** Deuteronomy 6:5; Deuteronomy 10:12; Matthew 22:37; Mark 12:30; Luke 10:27 

*** Leviticus 19:18; Matthew 22:39; Mark 12:31; Luke 10:27; Romans 13:9; Galatians 5:14 

God Has Us In His Hands

In the last couple of weeks, I've gotten some schooling in moving from the idea to the reality.  A couple of friends of mine have been showing me how to approach adversity.  Truly they are living their faith.  They are putting into practice the words of Jesus that we hear today.  

In today's Gospel, the disciples are on the lake, but Jesus is asleep.  A storm is raging, threatening to sink the boat.  They frantically wake Jesus.  He rebukes the wind and the waves.  He says, "Be quiet and calm."  He tells the disciples they seem to have little faith.*  

I am imagining someone saying to me, "Sure, Martin, you're sitting around talking about faith when you're not going through anything challenging."  I would reply to such an objection, "OK, fine, I'll let those with faith speak who are facing great difficulties right now."   

An old friend I've known for nearly twenty years shared with me last week that his dear brother is in hospice.  At times my friend suddenly breaks into tears.  During this trial, my friend has simply said, "God has us in His hands."  That's not an idea of trust; that's real trust in God.  

Another dear friend, who I've also known for years, just found out he has cancer.  As he struggles with the implications of this serious diagnosis, he has related he is relying on God.  It's not a concept of turning to God.  He is choosing to depend on God amidst this major development.  

Both these friends truly trust God now at these critical junctures because for years they've watered the seeds of faith God planted in them.  Once the storms came, they knew faith isn't just a word.  Faith is the reality of the strength God gives us.  Through faith God empowers us to thrive.  

* Mark 4:35-41 

I'm Not Surprised

We like humor at the hermitage.  A joke that has been told here at the hermitage by multiple people countless times for years, including this month: 

At this one particular monastery which is especially rigorous with its practice of the discipline of silence, the new admittees to the monastery are allowed to speak two words each year.  At the end of this one young monk's first year, he goes to meet with the Prior, the head of the monastery.  

The Prior, welcoming the young monk's words, says, "Yes, my son."  

The young monk says, "Bed hard."  

The prior replies, "Yes, my son, thank you.  You may go."  

At the end of the young monk's second year, he sits down to meet with the Prior.  

The Prior greets him, "Yes, my son."  

The young monk notes, "Food cold."  

The prior responds, "Yes, my son, thank you.  You may go."  

At the end of the young monk's third year, he meets with the Prior.  

"I'm leaving," the young monk announces.  

The Prior retorts, "I'm not surprised!  You've been doing nothing but complaining the last three years!"  

Enjoy The Strawberries

This afternoon I was walking on the sidewalk behind the church here at the hermitage.  I was walking to look for James, the other man in formation here at the hermitage.  We share duties in the Sacristy, sometimes helping to set up for Mass.  I wanted to talk with him about which of us was going to set up for Mass, which was combined with Vespers today.  I was absorbed in these thoughts as I walked along.  

As I went where I thought James might be, Edson, who is one of our cooks, excitedly asked me if I had eaten any strawberries.  I didn't know what he meant.  I asked him.  He explained that in one of the garden plots right behind the church, little strawberries were growing.  He showed me; I saw that each of them was only a quarter of the size of my smallest fingernail.  I picked one and ate it; it was delicious.  

We can be going along wrapped up in our own little world.  Meanwhile, God is gently reaching toward us with presents of delectable delicacies.  If we look carefully, we find God showing us love in what is right next to us.  We pass up the nourishment God wants to give us.  Since God loves us, God doesn't force anything on us, even what is good for us.  God patiently waits for us with love.  When we're ready, we find God's love.  

Know Him And Know The Way

We can spend a lot of time with someone without really hearing that person, or without mulling over what he or she says.  Even after spending so much time with people, we can even miss important truths about others, even about those we love very much.  

Jesus told His disciples where He was going they knew the way.*  He had been teaching them the way through how He lived his life.  He had taught them that unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains a single grain, but if it dies, it yields a rich harvest.**  

Jesus is the grain of wheat.  To yield a rich harvest to the glory of His Father in Heaven, He laid down his life with much love for us.  Jesus showed His disciples that the way is not to remain a single grain, but that the way was to die to oneself so as to live for others.  

Thomas expressed confusion, saying the disciples did not know where He was going, so how could they know the way?*** He took literally Jesus’ word.  Thomas had much reason to look for the figurative given Jesus' style.  In missing His meaning, Thomas missed Jesus.  

Jesus explained He is The Way, The Truth and The Life.****  The Way to the Father is through Jesus.  As we embrace Jesus, we accept the sacrifices we have to make to live in love.  Jesus told Saint Faustina He is love itself;***** The Way to Heaven is through Jesus, by living in love.  

If we know Jesus, we know love.  When we welcome Jesus into our hearts, we welcome love into our hearts.  As we listen to Jesus, to the Word of God, we are led into The Way to God Our Father. If we pay attention to Jesus, we find in Him The Way to eternal life.  

* John 14:4 

** John 12:24 

*** John 14:5 

**** John 14:6 

***** Diary of Saint Faustina, 1074.

Have Life, And To The Full

In today's Gospel, we hear that Jesus came that we might have life, and have it to the full.*  What do we have to do, what's our part, so that we might have life to the full?  

God is inviting us into deeper life in all that happens.  In what we expect, what catches us off guard, what pleases us, what seems distasteful, God will work all of it for our good, if we but love Him.**

In what we find challenging, we might not understand the purpose of the circumstances in which we find ourselves. Here as always God calls us to trust in Him, to go forward in faith in Him.  

Once we've come out of difficult times, we are not merely to feel relief that we are no longer enduring such trials.  Surely we are to be grateful to God that we're through such tribulation.  

Yet upon emerging from such taxing tests, we do well to take stock of what lessons were just being presented to us.  What was God just trying to teach us?  Were we resisting it, or were we embracing it?  

Last week Highway 1 reopened a half dozen miles north of the hermitage, after being closed for three months due to collapse.  The road opens, yet do we find life in the road we've always taken?    

The way in front of us may be closed, or perhaps God is opening up a new way for us, or maybe God is showing us a way that has always been open to us.  What seems like misfortune may be a blessing.  

When the path is cleared, do we want to go back to going the way we used to go?  We may have evolved such that we no longer feel inclined to proceed the way we used to take.  

To the extent we embrace what God is trying to show us, we find true life.  God wants us to have life to the full, yet God leaves it up to us whether we accept the truth of His invitation.  

* John 10:10 

** Romans 8:28 

Recover By Giving, Modestly Use Less, Ask And Receive

Give what you have and forget about the cost.*  In that way cover over what you hope not to do again.**  

You can choose to be less of a consumer.***  Lose in such a way that no one knows.****  

Ask for all that you need.  You'll get it.*****  

* Matthew 6:3 

** Sirach 3:30; Sirach 29:12; Tobit 12:9; Daniel 4:24 

*** Matthew 6:16 

**** Matthew 6:18 

***** Matthew 7:7; Mark 11:24; Luke 11:9 

Let Us Forget Ourselves So We Can Love More

We learn how to love from those who have gone before us.  Mother Teresa said, "It is not how much we do, but how much love we put in the doing."  Saint Teresa of Calcutta continued, "It is not how much we give, but how much love is put in the giving."  At times I've considered what it looks like when much love is put in the giving.  I've also wondered how we know how much love we're putting into what we're giving.  

Recently I realized that the answer to these questions had been given decades ago.  In high school my classmates and I learned about putting love into what one does.  One day we were taught that hungry, vanquished Confederate soldiers were treated kindly by a victor in the Civil War.  Looking at the defeated southerners, the northerner told those under his command, "Get these men food and blankets."   

Love your enemies.*  Do good to those who hate you,** who want to kill you.  If your enemy is hungry, feed him.***  Even when you've just supposedly won a war, tenderly treat the person in front of you, who is in dire need.  See the broken individuals in front of you and treat their wounds, filling them up with what they need.  Love your neighbors**** in such a way so they are sure of your love.  

In history class in high school, we heard of this merciful combatant of the Civil War.  As our United States History teacher, Mr. Bill Street, related the tale of this compassionate member of the Union Army, he conveyed the story with such emotion that his voice broke.  As he told us of the clemency shown to the beaten Confederates, he showed us his profound concern for his fellow humans as he nearly began weeping.  

Mr. Bill Street will weep no more.  Earlier this month he passed away.  As I have remembered him, again came the memory of the compassion shown by the apparent victor in war.  Once again I was struck with how our much beloved history teacher told us that story with love, such that he not only felt deeply as he recounted it, but he went further, sharing his tender feelings with us.  He let us see his vulnerability.  

As we make ourselves more vulnerable, we show more love.  The less concerned we are with how we look, then the less we think unnecessarily about ourselves, and the more we turn our attention to our neighbor.  As we forget ourselves, we put more love into what we give.  Selflessness yields love.  When we die to ourselves, we are born into love as we live for our neighbor.  As we die, we are born into new life.  

* Matthew 5:44; Luke 6:27 

** Luke 6:27 

*** Proverbs 25:21; Romans 12:20 

**** Leviticus 19:18; Matthew 22:39; Mark 12:31; Luke 10:27; Romans 13:9; Galatians 5:14 

Let It Happen To Me As You Have Said

In every moment we are faced with a choice.  Constantly we are being asked to give our assent.  Despite our uncertainty, we can embrace our present circumstances.  

We see an offer to cooperate in the Annunciation we celebrate today.  The angel told Mary that she would become the mother of Jesus.  

Mary felt deeply troubled.*  Not comprehending, she questioned.**  She wanted to understand.  

Inherent in this approach is a desire to know.  Do we truly want to understand?  Do we seek meaning in the challenges we face?  

We might feel bewildered as we are right now.  Our current situation, amidst the coronavirus, might seem incomprehensible.  We can ask why: we can seek to understand.  

We can ask why we are enduring all of these apparent afflictions now.  There is a deeper meaning behind all this; we can seek it.  

Then we all face a choice.  I'm not just talking to Christians.  All of us face this question.  

We all face the decision whether we will cooperate.  Conceptualize it however you would like to see it.  We must decide whether to embrace our current supposed misfortune.  All of us either engage or disengage from it.  

Giving our consent to the duty of the present moment, we grow.  When we make excuses from what is our duty, we wither away.  In the present moment, we find our destiny, toward growth or decay.  

We receive invitations in the present.  The angel said the Holy Spirit will overshadow you.***  Mary then replied, "Let it happen to me as you have said."****  We decide who we are now.  

Mary said yes.  So have many.  In them are models to follow.  We decide who we will imitate.  Choose your model.  Make your choice.  

* Luke 1:29 

**Luke 1:29, 1:34 

*** Luke 1:35

**** Luke 1:38