I had a pretty amazing weekend, and I'm quite worn out. I feel so blessed to know so many amazing people and have the opportunity to do so many things. About 12 or 13 years back I went through a phase where I wouldn't leave my house. I sat in the house, doing nothing, and liked to complain to anyone who would listen, and God, how dull my life was and how I didn't have any friends.
I particularly liked to be bitter about being romantically lonely, and yet I didn't dare leave my own house nor meet anyone new. Don't get me wrong, I prayed about it plenty, but the longer it went, the more entrenched I became. I basically ended up telling God that I would believe that He had someone for me when He put someone at my door, and I refused to do anything else about it.
I went to the July 4 fireworks show at Roseblatt, and as it was back in the day, I had a pager. However I lost it somewhere on the ground in between the stadium and parking lot. I spent a couple stressful days paging myself, and wondering if I would ever see the thing again. Three or four days later, at 12:30am, I got a call from a young woman who found it. She said she would deliver it, and that her and her friend would bring it right over. Now it can be easily debated whether this was a good idea or not, but it is what happened. They returned the pager, and I thanked them very much.
It was several hours later (yeah, I worked nights at the time) that I realized what had happened. After telling God what to do, and how to do it ... He did. I could practically hear God and all the saints and angels giggling at the joy of the conversion of my bitterness to joy. As I meditated on this, I realized that I didn't have to make it so difficult for God to bring joy in to my life (meaning I'm the difficult one, not God), I could take joy in what was right in front of me.
My friends, difficult times will come to all of us. This being said, opportunities for joy will come to us all too. In fact, more joyful and amazing things will come in to your life than bad ones. You have to be brave enough to go where led, do the best with you have in front of you, have a great attitude, and above all trust God.
Beth, me, Marilou, Frank, Lindsay, Brianne, Kat, Joe, and Frank. It was nice to be back with my friends at Mass after a week off.
Location and Architecture:
Saint Mary's, 3529 Q Street, Omaha. Okay, I admit it, I've driven by Saint Mary's in Omaha, oh about a thousand times, and never gave it much thought. The cross on the front of the church that incorporates a stained glass window is cool, but I actually thought the church itself was closed. Happily I was wrong, the inside of this church is gorgeous. It's got those nooks I love so much, plus paintings, statuary, and the stained glass may be the most interesting I've seen yet, and assuredly the most accessible, since it's at eye level.
Gospel:
"Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy." Matthew 5:7
A few years back, I contemplated on each of the beatitudes for a while. I admit that some seemed difficult as to how to incorporate some of them into my daily life. This one, however seems to me to be incredibly easy to understand.
"I desire mercy, not sacrifice". The sacrifice here is meant to be an altar sacrifice, but I think of it in another way. What or who are you willing to sacrifice to get what you want? It's really easy when things are going well to turn a blind eye to those in need, I mean things are going well for me, right? Or how about when we point the finger at the other guy in order to preserve what we have? We are all too ready to sacrifice another to keep what we have, but Jesus calls us to sacrifice what we have, even our lives, for the good of another.
It's easy to close down our hearts and concentrate on the faults and circumstances of others and not see that they too are just as loved by God as we are. Being merciful is to acknowledge that everyone needs help, mercy is giving the other guy all the breaks you would like to have yourself. Mercy is praying that God brings every one of us to heaven, as we wish to be brought there ourselves.
Prayers:
Please pray for:
The people of Egypt, and other countries in turmoil, that they can experience freedom, social justice, and peace.
Tom who is deployed to Afghanistan, and his wife and two daughters.
Amy and Shannon for protection on their missions.
Kevin as he prepares for his final year of seminary and the priesthood.
Marcus as he has been accepted into seminary and will be discerning the priesthood.
My friend M., who is pregnant, please pray for her and her baby.
Next:
February 6th @ 11:30 St. Matthew the Evangelist, Bellevue, 3605 Looking Glass Drive, Bellevue.
Peace, Eric
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