Blog Archives

Where Do Our Gifts Come From?

9/30/2015

By InPhonic Customer Service / InPhonic [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

At time the disciples approached Jesus and said, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" He called a child over, placed it in their midst, and said, "Amen, I say to you, unless you urn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven." - Matthew 18:1-5

Ask a child, "Who usually drives you to sports practice or your friend's house or to the movies?" And they'll reply, "Mom or Dad."

Ask them where they get their clothes and toys. And they'll reply, "My Mom or Dad bought them for me."

Youngsters know they receive all this from their parents. Even if they don't always seem grateful, they know it for sure.

But when we grow up, we begin to think otherwise.

We think that the things we possess are all our own because we earned them. We forget that they came from God. we can cling to our "stuff". We don't share because we think our stuff is all ours.

We receive the sunshine and gentle rain and life itself and food and so many good gifts every day - and maybe never once thank God for all of them.

That is what Jesus was getting at in this Gospel passage. Everything comes from God and belongs to God.

The person who realizes that everything comes form God (the way little children realize that they get everything from their parents) - will be great in the Kingdom of God.

- Little Burgundy Book, Diocese of Saginaw

Charity and the Vatican

9/30/2015

"You cannot proclaim that god is good without showing it."
- Archbishop Paul Cordes, Pontifical Council Cor Unum

Perhaps one of the lesser known offices at Vatican City is the Pontifical Council Cor Unum.

Yet despite its relative anonymity, the council is responsible for charitable giving in the name of the pope and the Catholic Church.

In addition to humanitarian and relief giving, the council also administers two foundations, both begun by Pope John Paul II:

The Populorum Progressio Foundation, which aids farmworkers and the indigenous people in Latin America and the Caribbean;
The Foundation for the Sahel, which aids projects to combat drought and the expanding desert conditions in Africa. Pope John Paul II established this foundation in 1990, following his first papal visit to Africa.

- Little Burgundy Book, Diocese of Saginaw

Are You Trapped?

9/29/2015

By Böhringer Friedrich. [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY-SA 3.0 at (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/at/deed.en)], via Wikimedia Commons

Jesus said to the disciples, "... Amen, I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."
- Matthew 17:20

Jesus came to bring freedom. As he says in today's Gospel passage: "If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move."

"Nothing will be impossible for you."

Sometimes the gospel may feel confining. Actually, it's just the opposite. Jesus isn't a shepherd who confines the sheep in a pen. He is the good shepherd who calls the sheep out of a pen into wide-open, green pastures.

Without realizing it, we can get trapped in our schedules, our activities, our possessions - penned in like sheep.

We need to "un-attach" ourselves from our schedules, activities, possessions, so that we can experience a refreshing sense of freedom. It's like the feeling we get when we clean a closet, the garage, the basement, our desks ... and keep it clean.

Consistently to give "off the top" brings that same sense of uncluttered life, a sense of pace and freedom.

Talk to the Lord about it. Hear him say: "Nothing will be impossible for you."

- Little Burgundy Book, Diocese of Saginaw

The Power of Children

9/29/2015

"Never underestimate what children can do. Little steps, taken over the years, on a daily basis, show the power of children."
- Theresa Kielberger, Craig's mother

In 1995, a headline in the Toronto Star caught the attention of 12-year-old Craig Kielberger. The story told about another 12-year-old boy who lived in Pakistan and who had been sold into child labor at age four. The boy had been murdered in Pakistan, after publicly speaking out about child labor.

Craig didn't know what "child labor" meant. He wasn't even sure where Pakistan was. But he knew about being 12 years old ... and he couldn't imagine living a life of forced labor and danger.

And he wanted to help. Craig might not have money but he did have family and friends. He soon enlisted them to join his fight against child labor.

Today, Kielberger's international program "Feed the Children" focuses on educational opportunities for kids around the world. It has built more than 450 school, delivered more than 202,5000 school and health kits to children, and provided health care center and community funding to help more than 505,000 people worldwide.

His work with Feed the Children has given Kielberger "a gift," he says. "When I was in Thailand, I saw a street girl with an orange. She automatically took it and split with her friend - no question about the matter."

What did that teach him? "God works through us."

- Little Burgundy Book, Diocese of Saginaw

You can find more information about Feed the Children here.

Going for Greatness

9/28/2015

"What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father's glory, and then he will repay everyone according to his conduct."
- Matthew 16:26-27

There is a virtue in our tradition called magnanimity. It comes from two Latin words: Magna, which means great, and anima, which means soul. Greatness of soul.

Magnanimity is the quality which enables us to think grand thoughts, to have within us the sense that we are called to greatness, and not to shy away from great things .... even when they are difficult.

Because we are daughters and sons of God and made in the image of God, we are called to greatness, to magnanimous life, largeness of soul.

It's so hard to go for the greatness. You don't always get a lot of support when you reach for something beyond the ordinary. People tell you to take it easy, not to push yourself too hard.

But every time we come to Eucharist and place ourselves on the altar in the symbols of bread and wine, we join with the Lord in his giving of himself to greatness. He said, "Father, you can have it all. I lift it up to you."

We join with that. We know that in the Father's hands, a life lived as God calls us to live it is a life of true greatness.

Are you willing to go for greatness in your life?

- Little Burgundy Book, Diocese of Saginaw

St. Francis of Assisi

9/28/2015

"Remember that when you leave this earth, you take nothing that you have received - only what you have been given: A full heart enriched by honest service, love, sacrifice and courage."
- St. Francis of Assisi

When Francis of Assisi, the son of a prosperous merchant, renounced his wealth in the 13th Century in order to follow Jesus, he found joy in a simpler life-style.

He emphasized poverty, relying on God's providence rather than on worldly goods. By living on alms, Francis believed he as imitating the life of Jesus, Mary and the Apostles. he and his brothers worked or begged for what they needed to live, and any surplus was given to the poor.

In 1979, Pope John Paul II named St. Francis of Assisi as patron of ecology, calling the saint "an example of genuine and deep respect for the integrity of creation."

On October 27, 1986, Assisi became the "Peace Capital" of the world when Pope John Paul asked that a truce among nations be held that day. The pope met with religious leaders of the world to pray for peace. The day evolved into the World Day of Peace, which is celebrated each year.

- Little Burgundy Book, Diocese of Saginaw

Loving My neighbor

9/27/2015

One of the Pharisees tested Jesus by asking, "Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?" Jesus said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself." - Matthew 22:35-37

The commandments that Jesus quoted (to love God and to love you neighbor) were part of the Old Testament.

In Old Testament times (and in the time of Jesus), belonging to a group meant everything. People didn't have the networks that we're used to today (a national government, police force) or the support (healthy insurance, welfare) that we depend on today. You belonged to a tribe or a particular town and it meant everything. These people were your extended family. They were the ones who looked after you ... and the ones you looked after.

That's what the word "love" meant most of all: Accepting your connection to a certain, wider group of people. To love was to recognize and maintain the ties that bound you together, and say, "I will help you, care about you, protect you." That's what Jesus mean when he said, "Love your neighbor as yourself."

It puts "love of neighbor" within reach. You can't conjure up affection for everyone in the world.

But what you can do is recognize and accept the connection you have with them.

And it's within reach. You can do it today.

- Little Burgundy Book, Diocese of Saginaw

St. Vincent de Paul Society

9/27/2015

"I do not say we should go out indiscriminately and take on everything, but rather those things God lets us know he wants of us. We belong to God, and not to ourselves. If God increases our work, he adds to our strength."
- St. Vincent de Paul

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul was founded in 1833 by Frederic Ozanam. It was named for a saint who served the sick and poor nearly 200 years earlier.

As a young priest, Vincent de Paul was captured by Turkish pirates and sold into slavery in Tunisia. Upon his release, he returned to Paris, where his duties included serving as a chaplain to imprisoned galley-slaves.

He helped found the Congregation of the Mission (the Vincentians) and the Daughters of Charity, whose mission is to aid the poor and the sick.

The first St. Vincent de Paul Society in the United States was founded at the Basilica of St. Louis in the city of St. Louis, Missouri, in 1845.

- Little Burgundy Book, Diocese of Saginaw

Give God Your Concerns

9/26/2015

Jesus said to his disciples, "... give them some food yourselves." But they said to him, "Five loaves and two fish are all we have here." Then he said to them, "Bring them here to me."
- Matthew 14:16-18

The food that fed the great crowd was the food that the disciples had with them.

It wasn't as though Jesus made bread come down from heaven, or fish sprout from the grass.

Jesus took the food the disciples had with the, and somehow, in God's power, that was the food that fed everybody.

Sometimes I feel like the disciples must have felt that day.

There are so many demands on us ... so many things coming at us. We don't have enough money. We don't have enough time. We don't have enough patience. We don't have enough goodness.

Jesus say, "Bring those demands, those concerns, those worries here to me."

At Mass, we bring the bread and the wine (which stand for our whole life) and we put them on the altar and in God's hands.

And it's enough.

We can make it through the day.

- Little Burgundy Book, Diocese of Saginaw

The Gift of Time

9/26/2015

According to the Corporation for National Community Service, from August 2006 to August 2007, volunteer activities to help the Gulf region devastated by Hurricane Katrina included:

More than 20,000 college students spent their spring break as volunteers.
Lutheran Disaster Services volunteers rebuilt, repaired or cleaned 9,2220 homes.
Mobile Episcopal Relief and Development served meals to 1,8000 a month.

In addition, in the first year after the hurricane, Catholic Charities received more than $160 million in donations and other funding which brought food, shelter and other necessities to more than one million people.

In the two years following Katrina, more than 1.1 million Americans volunteered to help with the rebuilding efforts.

The dollar value of a volunteer hour in 2007 was estimated to be $19.51. In 1980, that volunteer hour was $7.46.

- Little Burgundy Book, Diocese of Saginaw