Lent - Day Twenty Four - The Proud and The Humble

Gospel	Luke 18:9-14 ©

The tax collector, not the Pharisee, went home justified.

Jesus spoke the following parable to some people who prided themselves on being virtuous and despised everyone else: ‘Two men went up to the Temple to pray, one a Pharisee, the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood there and said this prayer to himself, “I thank you, God, that I am not grasping, unjust, adulterous like the rest of mankind, and particularly that I am not like this tax collector here. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes on all I get.” The tax collector stood some distance away, not daring even to raise his eyes to heaven; but he beat his breast and said, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.” This man, I tell you, went home again at rights with God; the other did not. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the man who humbles himself will be exalted.’

It is hard for me to put into words just how hot the desert can be.  The sun is unrelenting in its attention to you. You do not really sweat because as soon as your body forms the sweat it evaporates without effect. The sand gets into everything.  If you have the slightest hole in a sack at the end of the day besides what you yourself placed in the sack you will find sand.  We use the sand to clean our dishes - it does that very well.  It is a little known fact that Saudi Arabia imports camels and sand from Australia.  I know, its like the Eskimos importing ice cubes.  But it is true. Don't tell Benjamin, my camel but camel meat is a staple in Saudi Arabia and the world's largest herd of wild camels happens to be in Australia.  As far as importing sand, the sand from down under possesses special qualities that the Saharan sand does not have and it is used for sandblasting.  Again I have to see if you want beachfront property but do not like the noise of the ocean, this horrible but beautiful desert is the place to come.  Here you find your place in the scheme of things. Spending hours in the hot sun with your only view being the ass of the camel in front of you gives you time to reflect on who you are. The Master said it best.  First, he read the story of the Pharisee and the tax collector praying in the temple. Then he went on and said:

"So, brothers, we have two men in the temple.  Being in the temple is a good thing, a laudable thing.  It is an action that pleases the Father.  But in our case, one of the men is filled with pride and tells the Father just how much he does for Him and how he cannot be compared to the miserable sinner behind him.  The Pharisee made a good beginning in coming to the temple but the lost it when he spoke with such pride of all the things he had quote, done for God unquote."

"What made him think that God had any need of his fasting or tithing or refraining from unseemly conduct?  Fasting and other works of self-mortification are not for God.  He takes no pleasure in the suffering of His people, but He does commend them for their efforts to subjugate their bodies and minds to God's will.  The actions of the Pharisee were useless because of the pride he took in completing it.  He thought that the mere actions made him better than others while that was far from the truth.  Mind you, the Father still loved the Pharisee but the Pharisee loved himself and admired himself more than he loved and admired the Father."

"The tax collector, now what can we say about him? He had a more humble view of himself and knew his life needed many changes to become a whole man, that is to say, "Holy."  He entered the temple for some reason.  Tax collectors did not spend a whole lot of time in the temple.  They spent their time collecting money and going to parties. So, our man, for some reason, felt compelled to come to the temple.  Perhaps he had a change of heart and was wanting to repent. We don't know what inspired him to come on this day but when he came he knew his place. He remained far off, in the back of the temple and he would not even raise his eyes.  He poured out his soul to the Father with the simple words, "God be merciful to me a sinner.""

"Every person has dignity.  Every person from the Queen of England to an untouchable privy cleaner in New Delhi is dignified by the fact that the Father loves him with an unquenchable love that cannot be described with human language. But the one truth that all of us have to learn is that the sum total of a man is what God sees him as, nothing more or nothing less. God's vision of you is true and He sees all down to the depths of the farthest reaches of your soul. So, remember that God can say "I AM" and only He has the right to say "You are."

Lent Day Nineteen - A Ha-boob , A Lady, And a camel

Gospel	Luke 1:26-38 ©

'I am the handmaid of the Lord'

The angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the House of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. He went in and said to her, ‘Hail Mary, full of grace, The Lord is with you.’ She was deeply disturbed by these words and asked herself what this greeting could mean, but the angel said to her, ‘Mary, do not be afraid; you have won God’s favor. Listen! You are to conceive and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David; he will rule over the House of Jacob forever and his reign will have no end.’ Mary said to the angel, ‘But how can this come about, since I am a virgin?’ ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you’ the angel answered ‘and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow. And so the child will be holy and will be called Son of God. Know this too: your kinswoman Elizabeth has, in her old age, herself conceived a son, and she whom people called barren is now in her sixth month, for nothing is impossible to God.’ ‘I am the handmaid of the Lord,’ said Mary ‘let what you have said be done to me.’ And the angel left her.

We were lucky today.  Before dawn today a great wind came up and one of the things even seasoned desert travelers fear came up a sandstorm!  My first thought was of Benjamin, I rose and began to dress quickly so I could do something to help the camel that I was in charge of.  I was just getting ready to leave when Uriah, our leader, stopped me and asked where I thought I was going.  I told him that I was going to help Benjamin and find a safe place for him to weather the storm.  Uriah almost died laughing when he heard this.  He said. "You idiot, the camel is happier than you are right now.  If we had to we could load up and march on.  The camel is perfectly adapted to whatever this cursed desert can throw at him.  His hooves are large so he has no trouble walking in the soft sand and his eyes are protected by his eyelashes.  If you go out there, you will take the chance of breathing in the sand into your lungs and perhaps somewhere down the line get an infection.  No, sit and meditate and enjoy this brief respite.  It will be over soon and I will be all over you to get that stinking camel loaded so we can make up the time we are wasting because of this ha-boob, which is a word that means sandstorm."  He walked away still laughing over my ignorance.  It gave me pause though to think about how the camel received everything he could need from God to live in the space allotted to him.  He was perfectly adapted.  

Today is the Feast of the Annunciation when God sent the Angel Gabriel to a young girl named Mary and with her consent, the Savior was sent on His way to become a man and to save us from our sins.  

May Mary, the Mother of God forgive me, but she like the camel is perfectly adapted to her role in the story of salvation.  She, by a favor granted by God, was born without original sin. This was a necessary thing that God did because the mother of God could have no connection with evil, not even the stain of original sin.  So, while we were drawn out of the pit of sin by the work of Jesus, God, drawing on the benefits of the sacrificial death of Jesus beforehand, He caused Mary to be carried over the pit of sin that the rest of us all fell into.  So God saved Mary and was her needed savior. 

While the winds were howling I broke out my Bible and read the account of the Annunciation.  I was struck by one phrase and that was "Hail Mary, full of grace."  The angel did not bring a supply of grace to Mary, he recognized that her soul was filled with it.  When something is filled, you cannot fit in anymore.  The angel Gabriel simply was greeting the woman and saying what was in his view. 

How do we know that Mary was full of grace?  That is simple, she was humble and selfless and immediately took on the work that God had asked her to do. She could have refused without any consequences what-so-ever but she didn't because her whole heart was turned to God and refusing God anything would not be something she would want to do.  She was, like the camel, forgive me gentle mother, adapted to her role.  

Today, I believe her to be physically in heaven and always beside her Son.  I pity those who take little notice of her because they miss the opportunity to receive graces from Jesus through her.  Jesus loves His mother so much that He cannot refuse her anything.  For her part, her eyes are on the hands of her master, her Son, and the spiritual mother of us all. 

The haboob came to an end and Uriah was as good as his word. He was all over us to get the camp struck and us on the move.  I could imagine John Wayne playing his part if this were a movie because one of his favorite sayings in the morning was, "Let's get a move on.  We're burning daylight."  And so I put my back into breaking camp and loading the camels, breakfast will happen at lunchtime today.  Another day which would pass like so many others.  Funny, isn't it?  I now have a greater love for the Blessed Mother because of a camel named Benjamin. 

Lent - Day Twelve - Between Heaven And Earth

BETWEEN HEAVEN AND EARTH

Second reading Philippians 3:17-4:1 © Our homeland is in heaven, and from heaven comes Christ to transfigure us My brothers, be united in following my rule of life. Take as your models everybody who is already doing this and study them as you used to study us. I have told you often, and I repeat it today with tears, there are many who are behaving as the enemies of the cross of Christ. They are destined to be lost. They make foods into their god and they are proudest of something they ought to think shameful; the things they think important are earthly things. For us, our homeland is in heaven, and from heaven comes the savior we are waiting for, the Lord Jesus Christ, and he will transfigure these wretched bodies of ours into copies of his glorious body. He will do that by the same power with which he can subdue the whole universe. So then, my brothers and dear friends, do not give way but remain faithful in the Lord. I miss you very much, dear friends; you are my joy and my crown. This morning we almost had a tragedy and it was just the luck of the Irish that kept it from happening.  One of the brothers whose turn it was to make breakfast started the fire which had gone out during the night.  He went over to the bag which held the cooking utensils and noticed that it had not been sealed properly the night before.  He opened it and reached in and got the coffee pot and the pot used for making cereal.  As was his custom he grabbed a towel and was going to dust the inside of the pot but something made him look inside it first.  Inside was one of the deserts most fearsome creatures, a deathstalker scorpion had taken up residence there during the night my companion was just inches away from getting what could be a lethal injection of the neurotoxin that this delightful desert creature uses to kill its prey.  The tiny beast was ready and willing to dispense a jolt of his special elixir but to his credit, the man holding the pot did not panic.  Instead, he went to the edge of camp and catapulted the creature out of the pot as hard as he could.  The little guy had an experience most deathstalkers do not receive, the experience of flight!  Now, in spite of the colorful name of this creature, death to a healthy human, while not unheard of, is unlikely if they are stung by this scorpion.  From what victims say it is not an act of mercy to survive the sting as the potent venom causes great pain.  Children and the elderly are most vulnerable but it is considered a medical emergency if you are stung by one of these and in our present situation, medical help and the antivenom that is required is so far away that any dying that the victim would be doing would be done by the time any help could arrive.  So it was on this cheery note that our day began and in our morning prayers, we thanked God that our friend was spared the agony of a sting from this scorpion. After breakfast, as usual, we broke camp but it took a bit longer because we were carefully checking to make sure that the little fella hadn't brought any friends of his own.  No other examples of this miniature death machine were found and as the sun rose above the horizon, we began our trek.  While walking today, I began thinking of death but not death itself with all of the pains that might be attached to it but rather what happens after death. Physically, once the blood stops pumping your body begins it's the journey back into the elements that it is made of.  Tissues break down and in no time the only thing left of bodies that are not specially embalmed such as the Egyptians of old will be our bones.  And years from now, even those bones will return to dust.  All that was "me" will be gone.  The flesh that I work so hard to keep animated, the brain that fuels my thoughts and emotions will be no more.  Yet, through this all, I survive not as a memory on a tombstone with a date of birth and date of death and if I were rich enough some clever saying to mark my time on earth. What will remain of me is any of the good that I accomplished.  My mark will not be a long obituary story nor a small death notice.  My mark will be the seeds of love I planted while I, a body and a soul, walked and talked on this earth.  My soul will be in heaven.  I will be next to those I love and those that love me and we will glorify God together in songs of worship and praise.   This reward, this new life after death is as certain as gravity and as we are counter-culture people, our ways will receive persecution for "forward thinking" men and women who only can see what is in front of them and who take no notice of God, His laws, and His rewards.  They will be furious when we point out that their way of life is contrary to the Word of God.  They will tell us to follow our God in our own way and to leave them alone.  If that was only possible.  They do not live and let live as they want us to do, they pursue through the rule of law to make their rights to sinful things the law of the land.  They will do all that they can to enforce their rights while limiting ours.  But these people who are the most pitiful creature on earth are the enemies of Christ and the Cross. They existed at the time of Christ, at the time of the early Church, at the time of the great revolt of the Protestants, and exist until today.  Our Church is built on rock and in spite of the scandals of the moment it will survive and thrive because Jesus said so.  Paul tells us that our real homeland is in heaven.  We cannot keep silent about this because God wants a bountiful harvest and wants as many as possible to join Him in the never-ending feast. So, stir up your spirit, gird your loins and announce the Good News by the way you live and by the people you love.

Lent - Dodging The Stone Throwers

Monday's readings were about justice and judgment.  We have as our Old Testament story a tale that could have been ripped from today's Six O'clock News report.  Susanna was a beautiful girl. Two dirty old men, politicians who held the power of life and death over the people of Israel, fell madly in lust with her.  They waited until all of her servants had left the garden and the entered and closed the door so no one could see what was going on.  They then made her an offer that she could not refuse. They told her that she had to make horizontal hokey pokey with them or else they would accuse her of adultery, which of course, carried the death penalty.  She had been brought up to be a follower of the Law of Moses and she told them that she would rather die than to offend the Lord. Sure enough, they accused her of adultery and the crowd descended on her and was dragging her away to stone her.  Daniel yelled for them to stop and he said it was not right to execute a person without proof.  He proceeded to grill the two politicians, separately and got to the truth of the matter. The two old lecherous politicians got what the Law of Moses prescribed, they received the penalty they attempted to railroad Susanna into and were led away for execution.  

Our Gospel story is of the woman caught in adultery.  This woman was caught in the arms of her lover and righteous indignation infected the crowd.  I always thought it took two to play the game, so I wonder where the offending man was hiding.  Anyway, this all too human woman was being dragged out to meet the fate spelled out for those that committed this offense.  Those that were out to get Jesus saw a way to trap Him into saying something that they could use against Him.  They dragged the woman before Jesus and asked Him what should they do?  They pointed out that the Law of Moses specifies death to be the award for this offense.  

Now, Jesus was in a pickle here. If he said that she should be killed, He would have a hand in her death and all the talk about love, mercy, and forgiveness would sound like so much prattle. On the other hand, if He said to forgive her, well, then He is running counter to the Law of Moses and therefore would be proving Himself to be a charlatan and a fake. Jesus did not rush to judgment.  He bent down and started writing in the dust.  The suspense started to build.  His enemies thought that they had Him now!  He looked up from what he was doing and told them that the one that was without sin should cast the first stone.  He bent back down and continued scribbling in the dirt.  One by one, starting with the elders of the temple, they turned and walked away.    Soon, it was just Jesus and the woman, alone. He stood her up and asked her where her accusers went?  She told them they were all gone. Then Jesus smiled at the woman and told her to leave and to commit this sin no more.  He had given her the forgiveness of God.

What great parables these two stories are. In both we see the power of the law and the law being tempered by God's mercy. Susanna was saved because she put not offending God at the top of her list of things to do while the woman caught in adultery was saved from her sins by the direct action of the mercy of God.  Jesus did not gloss over her sin, rather, He made her confront it head on and deal with it but in the end, mercy triumphed over justice.

We live today in a time of mercy. Our Lord has announced through Sister Faustina that mercy is available to those that want it.  The gentle hand of God calls us to His side.  He wants us to tell Him what we need the most in our life. For me, I need His friendship and I need His forgiveness.  I am not the twenty-something kid that ran roughshod over his laws.  I grew a large crop of wild oats. As a Catholic, I have an opportunity to receive this forgiveness in the sacrament of confession. In this sacrament, we do not gloss over the symptoms of our illness.  We get straight to the point and through the priest acting in persona Christi, we receive the forgiveness of God and of His Church. 

If you haven't been to confession recently, think about going before we celebrate the joyous feast of Easter. If you go to confession often, make this one special. Pretend that you haven't been to confession in a while and spend some time making a full examination of your conscience.  Bring it all to Jesus.  Lay the burden down, it is too heavy for you to carry. Remember, today is the day of mercy. I do not mean to scare you but when Jesus comes, he will bring justice with Him.  

Better mercy today than justice tomorrow. 

Lent - Did the undertaker give a refund?

The story of the raising of Lazarus in this week's Gospel is a familiar tale to all Christians. Remember that Lazarus was in the grave for four days. A four-day-old corpse was dead indeed! Jesus had heard of his friend’s plight well before the tragedy of death struck Lazarus down. Yet, Jesus did nothing, he allowed his friend to die. He then went to the sisters and they professed faith that God would do anything Jesus asked him to. It was a touching demonstration of faith and yet when Jesus ordered the rock to be removed from the tomb Martha showed how little faith she really had when she said, “He has been dead four days, surely there will be a stench.” Then, when the rock was rolled away, Jesus commanded Lazarus to “Come Out.” And out he came, all wrapped up in his burial ensemble. His friends, filled with wonder and awe, untied him and he went home. 

How do you think Lazarus felt? Had he been to heaven? Was he happy to be back on earth? The Gospel is silent on this but if it was me and I was called back from the bliss of heaven, I would be ticked off, to say the least!  But here is a question.  How do we know that Lazarus was really dead?  After all, he was a friend of Jesus.  Perhaps he was just feigning death to make it appear Jesus brought him back to life. Well, that is a nice conspiracy theory but it does not work.  Lazarus would have laid completely still and without movement as his body was washed and wrapped for burial.  He would have had to make it appear that he was not breathing.  He could not have done these things convincingly. A more burning question would be, did Martha and Mary demand a refund from the undertaker?

Today let us compare the raising of Lazarus to our own Baptism. Before we were baptized, we were enemies of God. When we were drowned in the Baptismal font we died to our original nature and became an adopted child of God. But is that enough, just to be a child of God? We were brought to life like Lazarus by our baptism. This was an action of God, and like Lazarus, we are called to “Come Out” and take up our duties as the son or daughter of the Great King. Those duties are simple and at the same time profound, they are to “Love one another as I have loved you.” Like Lazarus, we have to depend on our friends to remove the bindings that hold us back from being a full partner in the redemptive work of God. That is why Christians get together. We get together to worship God, of course, but we also get together to help one another. Will we truly open our hearts to let Jesus in or like Martha will we say, “Surely there will be a stench!

Lent - Giving It All - St. Damien of Molokai

St. Damien of Molokai

Sacrifice is a large component of what Lent is all about.  Some of us give up something that is dear to our heart for the forty days as a sacrifice to discipline ourselves.  This is a good thing to do.  Some people are called to do more and they give all that there is to give.  Such was the man we now call St. Damien of Molokai.  In previous times leprosy was considered highly contagious and incurable.  Modern science has found that about five percent of the world is predisposed to the disease. Back in the 1800's, however, those afflicted were removed from society and strictly quarantined.  Damien was sent to Hawaii by his order and there he was ordained a priest. The authorities built a leper colony on Molokai and Damien volunteered to work there with the lepers. 

When he arrived on Molokai, he found a colony beset with problems.  There was a lot of alcoholism and lawlessness ruled the land. He immediately began to get things organized and he began to serve his flock of sick men, women, and children.  The authorities thought that they had performed a magnificent work by setting aside the land that the leper colony was on. They felt all warm and fuzzy inside because of their act of charity. They then proceeded to forget the people that were sent there.  Damien fought for his congregation.  He fought for medicines and better food.  His work was not appreciated so much by the authorities and some even spread lurid stories about the young priest.  Damien continued his battle day by day.  He embraced his flock and tenderly cared for them.  One day, he stepped into a pot of boiling water. He felt no pain. It was a sign that he had contracted the dreaded disease.  He continued his work with love and devotion. At mass that day he began his sermon with the words, "We lepers..."   He died on April 15, 1889. 

Damien was a man who gave all he had to give. He is an example to us all of what a Christian should be. He was given work to do and he did his job each day with the attitude that he was serving Christ.  

Not all of us have the privilege of giving up our life for our ministry but we are all called to live a life of ministry.  Our ministry may be raising our family or caring for a sick spouse or being there for someone who is lonely.  Whatever we are called to do, we are called to do it with the same determination of St. Damien the Leper.  We should minister with love and remember no matter what the face of the person we are ministering to looks like, it is the face of Christ. 

Lent - Broken Hearts Mended Here

The LORD is close to the brokenhearted;

and those who are crushed in spirit he saves.

There is no pain greater than a broken heart. When something touches us so deeply, to our innermost core, the pain can be more debilitating than a physical injury.  Break a leg, and in a matter of weeks, it is healed.  Break a heart, and the injury can last for the rest of your life! 

The hardest part about dealing with a broken heart, at least for me, is the feeling that no one understands the pain you are going through. Even your best friend may tell you to "toughen up and work through it."  The advice is well-meaning but hard to implement. 

We all have suffered a broken heart at one time or another in our lives. Each of us has felt that pain that turns into an ache that does not want to go away.  Some of us embark on a regimen of self-treatment. We look for answers in drugs or alcohol.  Some of us try to heal ourselves by trying to forget by keeping permanently busy in mind and body so we do not have to think about it. This works right up until the time we stop for a moment to rest. It is then that all of the bad feelings come flooding back in.  To deal with a broken heart by doing nothing at all is perhaps the most dangerous thing you can do.  A broken heart never mends through inaction.  

There is a sure cure for a broken heart. To cure a broken heart in the quickest amount of time possible you have to lay the burden down and ask someone stronger to pick it up for you.  There is only one person that can do this astounding feat.  This person is, of course, the Lord.  He is no stranger to a broken heart.  He knows what it is to be disappointed in those he loves.  He knows what it feels like to give His all, only to be rejected by us as we walk away.  I believe that the physical pain of the cross was not as bad as the thoughts that must of went through the mind of Jesus as he hung there. In the Garden, the previous night he sweated blood. So, if you ever need a friend who knows what a broken heart feels like, turn to Jesus, turn to God.  In Him, you will find a friend forever.  In Him, you will find healing for the hurts of life, especially the hurts that break your heart. It will take time but after all, it is better to walk the road of pain with a willing companion.  That willing companion is Jesus who will heal your broken heart. 

Lent - Risking It All

Today, believe it or not, marks nine months from Christmas!  It is also the day we celebrate the Solemnity of the Annunciation.  This is an exciting feast day for all Christians, although many of those in Protestant denominations fail to see the full significance of it. The Angel Gabriel came to a young girl in a small, out of the way, insignificant town, and told her that she had found favor with the Lord. He uses these words, "Hail Mary, full of grace..."  With these words, the angel announced that Mary was full of grace.  When something is full, you cannot fit any more into it. The angel goes on to announce that Mary will be the mother of the Messiah. For her part, Mary, full of grace, with her heart fully turned to God, accepts.  Her "Yes" is the beginning of the life of Jesus on earth. No sooner had she given her consent, when inside of her Jesus began to take on human nature. 

Today we do not grasp the danger she put herself in. Today, our morals are more, shall we say relaxed.  In our world, nothing is thought of pregnancy before marriage.  I am not saying this to judge anyone, it is just a fact. In the time of the Messiah, there was a long courtship period when the couple was said to be betrothed to one another, in effect they were man and wife in the eyes of the law. This period would be used by the husband to prepare a home for his bride. The man and woman had the rights to sleep together but the normal thing was to wait until the wedding. 

From the moment of Mary's "Yes," she was pregnant. What did she do? She left to visit Elizabeth and stayed there three months, coming back three months along in her pregnancy.  She told Joseph and he must have almost died because the one he loved appeared to have been unfaithful. He could go to the priests and denounce her or he could pay to have her transported elsewhere to have her child. If he told the priests there would have been a quick examination of Mary and when found to be pregnant she would have been condemned to death by stoning.  Joseph was a man full of love for Mary and he resolved to have her sent away to have the child. He later was filled in by God in a dream and he took her into his home and they were man and wife.  Both of them risked everything but they also took God at His word and the story of our salvation and God's infinite love for his wayward children moved forward. 

Each of us is here on earth because there is a mission that we have to complete. This mission cannot be done by another.  We may be asked to take a risk for the Kingdom. The question is simply; "Are you ready?"  So many of our brothers and sisters have been asked to shed blood for the faith in the middle east where Christianity took up root and prospered from the earliest time. These modern-day martyrs risked their all in the name of God and His Son, Jesus.

So, like Mary and Joseph, are you ready to turn your world upside down if God asks you to do something?  Do you want to remain safe and secure or are you a risk taker for the Kingdom?

Lent - Fish Sticks and Cheese

"If only my people would hear me,

and Israel walk in my ways,

I would feed them with the best of wheat,

and with honey from the rock, I would fill them."

Let's travel once again back in time to that bastion of learning, Saint Joseph and Saint Ann School deep in the heart of Brighton Park in the City of Chicago.  Lent at SJSA was a test of strength.  We all, kids and sisters alike, had to "give up something for Lent."  For kids, what could you give up?  Adults could give up cigarettes, I am not saying that the nuns smoked, but who knows? Us kids, almost everyone, boy or girl, gave up candy.  I hated the idea of giving up candy for forty whole days.  What I wanted to give up were the fish sticks and the lump of cheese that they fed us on Fridays in the SJSA Lunch Room.  Friday fare was the same the whole year round because we as Catholics were not allowed to eat meat on Friday, it was a church law.  So every week at lunch the fish sticks would be cooked up. If I were a fish and I tasted like these fish sticks, I would certainly be embarrassed.  I mean really to live my whole life as a fish, to fulfill my destiny and end up tasting like bait?  Oh, the shame of it.  To round out the platter we got a dollop of mashed potatoes and a lump of official US of A Government cheese which we called "The Rock."  This cheese was so dry that you had to use most of your half a pint of milk to get it to go down.  I thought it would be better if I gave up lunch on Friday.  Sister Emerita said that we could not give up something we hated.  So I gave up candy just like everyone else. 

Lent is the time when we are to turn back to the Lord.  "Giving up" is a good discipline.  It is good to say "no" to you body once in a while but perhaps a review of how we are living our life, where we are missing the mark would be better.  Then, once we see ourselves as we really are, we can view our lives more realistically, more like God sees us.  We can use this self-knowledge to turn around, to repent, to being anew.  Lent is a word that simply means spring.  Spring is a time when nature awakes from the sleep of winter. Lent, for us, can be a time when we do the same.  

Lent - I've Never Been Good At Math

Peter approached Jesus and asked him,

"Lord, if my brother sins against me,

how often must I forgive him?

As many as seven times?"

Jesus answered, "I say to you, not seven times 

but seventy-seven times."

Okay, I will  admit it, I've never been good at math.  It all started around 1960 or 1961 when my alma mater, St. Joseph and St. Anne School decided to teach it's inmates, I mean students, "The New Math."  Even today when I think about The New Math I shake my head and wonder why humans have a tendency to want to fix things that ain't broke.  Back then I was considered stupid by the good Sisters of Saint Joseph and the transition from arithmetic to The New Math seemed to prove them correct in their assumption. In first and second grades, after my father gave up trying to help his dope of a son and my mother took over trying to help me understand math.  She was able to make wonderful progress.  Through her tutelage  I was able to master the art of adding and subtracting which included the concept of borrowing. Then, without warning came The New Math and everything went to hell in a handbasket.  In the modern world given the same circumstances, I would be recognized as having a learning disability and modern techniques would be used to help me understand what to my mind was gibberish. Sister Emerita, if you are out there somewhere, none of my employers over the last forty-something years has asked me to subtract two negative numbers, just saying.  Today I can add, subtract, multiply, and divide with the rest of humanity.  

In today's Gospel, we are told to forgive our brother seventy-seven times. That is a number I can wrap my hands around.  On a number line, it is seventy-seven places to the right of zero, it is not a prime number, it is odd, and only twenty-three places on the number line from one-hundred.  But, Jesus is not giving us a math lesson here. He is giving us a life lesson.  Peter is being generous and asks if he should forgive a person seven times.  That was a lot back then where the law was still an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.  Peter may have been trying to score some points with Jesus by appearing generous.  Jesus wasn't having any of it.  I can imagine Him turning to Peter and saying ""I say to you, not seven times 

but seventy-seven times." 

The number seven, of course, is "God's Number" it is a number of the day that God rested from His work of creation when He saw that all of what He made was very good.  What Jesus is telling us to do, is to forgive an infinite amount of times. We are to strive to be perfect as our Heavenly Father is perfect.  We are to forgive as many times as the Father forgives us.  We can throw sand in the face of God every day of our life and repent just before we die and be forgiven. There is no circumstance in life that precludes forgiveness.  I know, I know, it is hard to forgive what he did, what she said, what they did.  We are called to forgive and to bring ourselves the peace that forgiveness of those who offend us will bring here on earth.  It is not easy to be a Christian.  It is not easy to forgive.  But we must imitate Christ who, from the cross, said, "Father forgive them, they know not what they are doing."   If Jesus can do that from the Cross, can we not do it as well as safe on the ground, eating an apple, we watch Him die?

Second Sunday of Lent - Hardship and Triumph

Paul writes in his Second Letter to Timothy 

Beloved:

Paul writes in his Second Letter to Timothy 

Beloved:

Bear your share of hardship for the gospel

with the strength that comes from God.

He saved us and called us to a holy life,

not according to our works

but according to his own design

and the grace bestowed on us in Christ Jesus before time began,

but now made manifest 

through the appearance of our savior Christ Jesus,

who destroyed death and brought life and immortality

to light through the gospel.

Hardships and suffering for being a Catholic in the United States of America actually do exist. Fundamentalist Evangelicals of the Jack Chick, the "Christian" that produces those hateful little comic books that spread nonsense about the Church and Lorraine Boettner who published an error-filled tome with the clever name "Roman Catholicism" form the sources of Anti-Catholic Thought in America which allows the prejudiced to trot out those antiquated lies about the Catholic Church  that have been their stock in trade for years. 

In the 1960's the world marveled as a Roman Catholic was elected president of the United States.  The fear for the "Old Time Religion" boys was that Kennedy was going to invite Pope John XXIII to move into the White House and dictate policy. We know that this did not happen. 

In prior years Catholics were kept from certain jobs and were considered second-class citizens. Even today when Christians, in general, are looked down upon by the liberal left wingers and proponents of abortion and so-called gay rights, Roman Catholics seem to receive especially harsh treatment. It is a fact that at one time most of the mainline Protestant churches were aligned with the Catholic Church in its stand against abortion and even birth control. Today, some of these same denominations now see no issue with birth control and abortion as a matter of choice. Some denominations have admitted gay clergy, and see nothing wrong with same-sex marriage which is an affront to the Law of God. The problem is that these denominations have abandoned doctrine based on the law of God for doctrine based on popular vote. The Catholic Church stands alone in maintaining the pure doctrine from Apostolic times until today. Yet, it is quipped that Anti-Catholicism is the last allowable prejudice in America. 

I don't want to make it seem like it is too bad for American Catholics because it isn't.  Today, while there is certainly still an undercurrent of prejudice against Catholics, it is a war of words and as the old cliché states, "Sticks and stones can break my bones but words will never hurt me."  We are still free in the USA to practice our religion as we see fit and no one can stop us. In the rest of the world, not so much. 

In parts of the world Muslim fundamentalists, spouting a strange interpretation of Islam are carrying on genocide against any group that does not believe exactly as they do. This includes Catholics, Protestants, Orthodox and oddly enough Muslims who believe differently. For the Catholics in the middle east, the luxury of attending mass has been taken away from practicing Catholics as over three-hundred-thousand Christians, including many  Catholics, have been chased from their homes by ISIS.  The passage from Paul was written for these refugees.  These martyrs were peaceful people. They were people just like you and me. They had their homes, their families, their dreams. They also had Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and it is in His name that they suffer. Children have seen their fathers killed, some of them crucified in imitation of our Lord.  Mothers and fathers have buried their children who have been killed by ISIS because they professed the name of Jesus.  Please pray for the people chased from their homes and those that have been the victims of genocide in the war-torn middle east. 

God weeps when people of any religion kills in His name. We must remember that we know how this story will end.  The Transfiguration of Jesus prefigures His return to earth to bring His children to glory. God is Love and on this Sunday we heard the words of God approving of his Son, Jesus when he said, "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him."   I think we should do as God suggests.   

Lent Day 10 - How To Be Like God!

Jesus said to his disciples:

"You have heard that it was said,

You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.

But I say to you, love your enemies,

and pray for those who persecute you,

that you may be children of your heavenly Father,

for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good,

and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust.

For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have?

Do not the tax collectors do the same?

And if you greet your brothers and sisters only,

what is unusual about that?

Do not the pagans do the same?

So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect."

Jesus does a whole lot more than to give us instructions in our reading today.  He describes God. Here is what God does for all of His People. 

• He loves those that persecute Him.
• He blesses his enemies.
• He allows the sun to rise on the bad and the good.
• He cares for His enemies. 

What Jesus is asking us to do is to be like God and do the things He does.  We already know that in order for us to be forgiven, we need to forgive. To forgive someone that has done us harm, or even great harm, is very hard for us to do.  I believe that it is possible to forgive even the most grievous injuries if we but take it a step at a time. To begin the process we should pray for the person that has offended us.  We should ask God to bless them every day and in every way. It will NOT be enough to pray for them just once. In most cases, multiple prayers will need to be sent to our Father and we will need to be receptive to the grace He sends us. Eventually, the ice in our heart will begin to melt and we will be able to begin to entertain the thought of forgiving the offender. It may take years for spring to appear in our heart but we should keep up the offensive and God's grace like a gentle spring rain will help melt away years of resentment and hurt.  When you forgive someone, do you have to tell them?  In a perfect world, it would be a good idea to mend the broken relationship.  Here, again, we have to evaluate the situation. Would contact with the other party be beneficial or would it just open up wounds that have scabbed over?  The important part is that you grant them a complete pardon for any wrongs committed against you from the day of their birth to the current day.  You release all claim to revenge and reboot the relationship, the later you can do at the very least in your heart and then later, when you think it is the time approach the person and offer an olive branch. The final step after forgiving is forgetting.  Jesus not only forgives our sins, He forgets them.  We must do the same.  Forgiveness is not something that you give and hold over the head of your adversary.  If you keep reminding someone that you forgave them, well, that means you really haven't. 

Is every offense against us forgivable? The hard answer is yes, This is because our Father in heaven has forgiven every offense we have ever committed against Him.  I heard a speaker one time tell a story about how once when someone cut him off in traffic he got red in the face, spitting mad, and uttered every obscenity he could think of against the man.  That was bad enough. He then said, what if the same thing happened and the offender was his mother and he uttered all of this graphic language at her? The offense would be greater because one's mother is a person of more dignity than a stranger. It is the same with God.  When we offend Him, we are offending the highest dignity that there is. What does God do for us?  We confess He forgives, He forgets. 

The last line of today's reading assigns us our task; "So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect."  Saint Francis of Assisi, at the end of his life, said this to his brothers; "Brothers, let us begin now, for until now, we have done nothing."  

  

Lent - Day 9 - The "F" Word

Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar,

and there recall that your brother

has anything against you,

leave your gift there at the altar,

go first and be reconciled with your brother,

and then come and offer your gift.

There is not a whole lot that I can add to this reading.  Jesus kind of says it all.  Forgiveness is more important to the second person of the Holy Trinity than worship. What makes forgiveness hard is that sometimes, we have to swallow our pride and make the first step.  It is even harder when you are actually on the "right" side of the argument.  

Jesus tells us that our relationship with God and with our fellow creatures occupy the level!  How can this be?  Well, our Baptism made us adopted sons and daughters in the household of God.  We in effect are princes and princesses.  We are called to be ambassadors for our Father's Kingdom.

When Adam and Eve sinned against God in the Garden of Eden, God did not wait for Adam and Eve to appear.  He knew that there had been a sin committed and He went looking for Adam and Eve, He did not wait until they came to Him.  

So, for us, we are called to imitate our Father.  We are called to make the first step.  Are you ready to do this?

Lent Day 5 - Carrying A Heavy Load

"If you forgive men their transgressions,

your heavenly Father will forgive you.

But if you do not forgive men,

neither will your Father forgive your transgressions."

You cannot say that we were not warned.  How many people are there on this earth that are carrying a heavy load of hatred on their backs? The saddest part of being burdened with hate is simply it is a burden that no one will help you carry.  It is yours, and yours alone to trudge around with. It affects your health, it affects your mental health, it does no one any good but you still carry it. 

Read the scripture passage again. Read it slowly, let it sink into your very soul. Forgiving someone is not just a suggestion from Jesus, it is a command. Let me tell you about something that happened to me.  This is a true story.

My mother worked for a doctor. As part of her employee benefits, she was to receive free medical care.  One day she showed a growth on her shoulder to the doctor. The doctor though nothing of it and gave her some ointment to put on it.  after four months of this "treatment" it was no better.  My mother visited with another doctor friend and showed him the growth.  He immediately put her into the hospital where the cancer was removed.  She received treatments and scans showed that she appeared to be cancer free.  Them, about six months later the scans revealed the cancer was back in the form of a very aggressive form of lung cancer. Mom was scheduled for surgery and her children were there and she was sent off to the operating room knowing that she was loved.  The surgeon did the best he could and the surgery bought Mom about a year he said.  Four days later my mother lapsed into a coma, she had given up.  She died with her children around her. At the funeral I noticed two women sitting alone and I went up to them and thanked them for coming.  My sister came up to me afterwards and told me that one of the ladies, she pointed out which one, was the doctor that cared so very little that she could not be bothered to properly treat my mother.  At that moment my heart filled with hate for this so-called doctor.  We buried my mother and I went into depression.  I did not recognize it as depression.  I lost interest in things.  I was a great reader and kept reading the same books over and over. I quit taking care of the little things in life and felt sad all of the time.  Had that doctor come before me during this time, I think that I would have been capable of killing her and believing that I had done the world a favor.  The hate had possession of my soul.  Going to work every day I passed a Catholic Church.  It was my habit to make the sign of the cross when I passed a church because I knew that inside those walls was the Holy Eucharist, the very Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ.  One day i had followed my custom when I heard a voice inside me telling me to forgive that doctor.  I broke, then and there, with tears in my eyes I forgave that doctor.  At that very moment, the cloud I was living under disbursed, the depression left me and I was able to take up life again.  There was one lasting effect that I carry with me to this very day.  I cannot hate anymore. I have forgiven the woman that killed my mother. What more could you do to me that would be worse? 

I think that the important part of this story is that forgiving did much more for me than it did for the person I forgave.  It gave me my life back.  Besides, the person who was the object of my hate did not even know it. So, forgiveness will bring much more to you.  It will bring peace to your soul.  Mind you, I would not invite this woman to lunch, but I also would wish her no harm and I prayed that God would bless her.  Was this hard to do?  Well, it took me six months of misery and pain to do it, so it was not the easiest thing I have ever done. But the peace it brought to me was a gift from God

Do not forget that for a Christian, forgiving is not optional, it is required.  We cannot enter heaven with hate on our soul.  Heaven is a place of great joy and happiness and discord is not allowed there.  Imagine if I met this doctor in heaven and still had hate in my heart for her.  Hate cannot exist in heaven for God is Love.

First Sunday of Lent - Waiting For The Right Moment

At that time Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert

to be tempted by the devil.

He fasted for forty days and forty nights,

and afterward, he was hungry.

Today's Gospel reading is the familiar story of Jesus being tempted by the devil in the desert.  I want to talk about the very beginning of this story because I believe it tells us something very important about our enemy, the devil. 

I think that the Holy Spirit proved Himself to be a master of understatement here. After fasting for forty days and forty nights we are informed that Jesus was hungry.  Do you think so?  

The devil is not a stupid being.  He did not approach Jesus at the start of the forty-day fast. At the start of the fast, he knew that we human beings are at our strongest and would be capable of easily casting him off.  No, he waited until the end of the fast to tempt Jesus. The devil knew that was when he had the best chance of being victorious. Jesus, for His part, resists the temptations and the devil trudges off in defeat to await another opportunity. 

As it was for Jesus, so too is it for us. The devil is unlikely to put on a major campaign at the start of our Lenten observances.  He knows human beings are very enthusiastic at the start of a spiritual journey such as Lent.  No, he will wait until we have walked the road for a time.  Then, he will point out very softly how long the road is.  He will put into our head the question, "Does this road always have to go uphill?"  He makes our hunger sharper and our thirst drier as he tells us, "You are not built for this."  He shows how other people are happy and carefree as they stray from the path of Jesus.  Some of us will fall, some of us will stop our Lenten observance and join the crowd that cares nothing for spiritual things. Some of us will fall and we will call upon Jesus to help us. Jesus will help you arise and carry on.  Jesus is with us in every step of our journey during these forty days of Lent.  He will see to it that although our legs are tired and our arms are weary and we feel too weak to continue, that we will have the strength to continue.  Keep Him at your side and you will not fail. 

SINCE WE REMEMBER THE RESURRECTION ON SUNDAY, SUNDAY'S ARE NOT COUNTED AMONG THE FORTY DAYS OF LENT. YOU MAY IF YOU WANT TO, RELAX YOUR OBSERVANCE TODAY.

Lent - Day 4 -The Tax Man

Jesus saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the customs post.

He said to him, "Follow me."

And leaving everything behind, he got up and followed him.

Then Levi gave a great banquet for him in his house,

and a large crowd of tax collectors

and others were at table with them.

The Pharisees and their scribes complained to his disciples, saying,

"Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?"

Jesus said to them in reply,

"Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do.

I have not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners."

It was not cool to be a tax collector in the time of Jesus. But why is that?  Back in the time that Jesus was alive and on the earth with us, the tax collector was seen as a collaborator with the hated Romans.  The Romans did not have their own men collect taxes from the local population.  They hired locals to collect the taxes for them.  They paid the local citizen to collect the Emperor's money and paid a small salary to the person willing to do this job.  The Emperor wanted X amount from the people in the province.  Just like today, people kept wads of cash lying around waiting for the government to claim it, not!  The citizen of Israel hated giving their money to the Romans because they were occupying the nation.  In spite of all of the good things that the Romans did, such as bring water to Jerusalem, paving roads and other things, the Jews were not happy paying their hard earned money out to the Romans.  Further, the tax man, when he accepted the job, agreed to supply a certain amount of taxes to Caesar and anything above and beyond that was theirs to keep.  Levi, or as we know him better, Matthew, was a very successful tax man indeed.  How do we know this?  Well, he had the funds to throw a lavish party and to invite every form of riff-raff that served as his closest friends.  We see that even at this early moment in the ministry of Jesus that He was being watched by the Pharisees who took umbrage with Jesus because He was spending time with sinners.  He rightfully says that He does so because the healthy have no need of a doctor but the sick do. 

Let's focus on the calling of Matthew. Jesus was fully aware of the fact that Matthew was a tax collector. Matthew had been chosen to be one of the closest followers of Jesus and later would be called an apostle.  What is surprising is that Matthew did not hesitate, he left everything to follow Jesus.  He was a rich man and I am sure that when he tendered his resignation the Romans were surprised indeed. 

Matthew left all he had to follow Jesus.  He gave up a life where there was no doubt that he would have the comfort of friends, a life where he did not have to worry about what he was going to eat, drink, or what he was going to wear, all to follow the Jesus fellow. What he received in return was a life where nothing would be assured.  This was how strong the message of Jesus was to Matthew. He gave up the things of this world for those of the next. 

Jesus has come into your life this lent and has issued a special call.  He says, "Follow Me."  He calls each of us to step out of our comfort zone and to walk with Him.  As in the case of Matthew, there will be a cost.  Leaving the warmth of our little cocoon and to venture outside in the cold world will make you uncomfortable. But the wonders you will see, the lives that you touch, will make it all worth while.  |Heed the call of Jeus as He calls you with those two words, "Follow Me.:"

Lent Day 3 - Sin and the gnashing of Teeth

Psalm 51

Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;

in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense.

Thoroughly wash me from my guilt

and of my sin cleanse me.

R. A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.

For I acknowledge my offense,

and my sin is before me always:

"Against you only have I sinned,

and done what is evil in your sight."

R. A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.

For you are not pleased with sacrifices;

should I offer a burnt offering, you would not accept it.

My sacrifice, O God, is a contrite spirit;

a heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.

R. A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.

Whatever happened to sin?  Do we sin anymore?  I don't think that we sin any less!  Sin has disappeared from our conscious thought and escapes our attention.  When I was a boy, my sins were always before my eyes,  This was because I was in the charge of God's most cherished employees, the Sisters of St. Joseph.  They made sure that we, meaning the boys in the class, were always aware of our sins. Oh, sometimes a girl would be caught doing something wrong, but it just was not in their nature to go against sister's wishes. Once in sixth grade, I had sinned most grievously.  I pointed out to sister that she had picked only her favorites for speaking parts in the class play.   Sister Margaret Jean was not one to suffer such brashness and insubordination quietly.  I guess that she turned her other cheek for some things and not for others.  I was quickly and efficiently dealt with.  She just about flew over to where I was standing, you never, ever, spoke to a sister while your butt was in contact with a chair.  She grabbed me and placed me out in the hall facing the wall.  Then for next several weeks, while the other kids went to practice her play, I got to stand in the hallway facing the wall until they came back.  The finishing touch, meant to put me in my place, was that she gave me a "D" in school spirit on my report card.  To show you how rare that was, it was once thought that to get a "D" in school spirit, you had to be caught with bottles of gasoline with rags stuck in the necks and a lighted match in hand ready to burn down the school.  Going against the "Teacher's Pet" system was almost as serious.

A sin of any type comes between God and us.  If you think of the punishment of the rebellious angels was when St. Michael, my patron saint, by the way, swept them from heaven into hell, the major part of their punishment was forever being unable to see God.  There was a barrier placed between them and God.  This barrier caused great sorrow.When we sin, we too create a barrier between us and God.  If we sin in a minor way the barrier is not total.  If we commit a major act of rebellion the wall we build shields us from the Face of God.  If we die with this wall in place, our choice becomes permanent and God will honor our choice to be without Him in eternity.  A preacher once was preaching about sin and hell and he yelled out, "And there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth!" A voice of an old lady in the back of the church piped up and said, "But pastor, I don't have any teeth."  Without missing a beat the pastor replied, "Teeth will be provided !" 

I might be dead wrong about this but I think we have lost or sense of sin. In the olden days, especially during Lent, the lines at the confessionals were long.  Today, not so much.  I got myself in trouble on the Catholic Answers forum once.  I mentioned in a reply to another member's question that I thought the sacrament of confession was underused by Catholics today.  I was given a "major violation" and was told that it was none of my business if someone went to confession or not.  The self-righteous moderator missed the whole point of what I was saying.  I no longer participate in Catholic Answers forum because of this but my contention still is that the sacrament of penance is underused today.

Lent is a time to clean up the cobwebs that have gathered in our soul. But confessing to a priest, can't I go directly to God and ask for forgiveness?  Of course, you can and it is a brilliant first step. But the way Christ wants us to do it is to confess to Him through the priest who is acting in persona Christi. You see, sin is not a private matter between you and God.  We are all part of the Body of Christ and any sin, no matter how private, hurts the Body and needs to be healed. But, you say, "It's been years since I last went!"  So what? Mention that to your confessor and he will be even more gentle with you because he knows how hard this is for you.  Oh, the act of confession was never meant to be easy.  It is a very humbling experience to be in confession and to give voice to what God already knows.  Getting it out on the table is the first step in getting your imperfection healed.  Do not be afraid of seeing who you really are.  Remember, what we are is how God sees us and he sees us, imperfect as we are, and loves us anyway.  Whisper to God and listen for His reply.  His reply to you, the prodigal son or daughter, will always be, "I love you, welcome home!" 

Lent Day 2 - Take Up Your Cross

Jesus said to his disciples:

"The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected

by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes,

and be killed and on the third day be raised."

Then he said to all,

"If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself

and take up his cross daily and follow me.

For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,

but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.

What profit is there for one to gain the whole world

yet lose or forfeit himself?"

It is not a question of whether or not we are going to have to carry a cross in life, no that is not the question at all.  The question is s how are we going to react to the cross or crosses we are given to carry? No man or woman has gone through life without a cross to bear. In this world that we live in a cross, pain and suffering are things to be avoided at all costs. Mind you, I am not a person who would volunteer to wear a hair shirt, or put rocks in my shoes, or kneel on rock salt while saying my prayers. But I can see the value in suffering if it comes to us.  All too often we waste the pain and outrages that happen in life.  We do not have to go looking for suffering, but when it comes we should not waste it.  We should offer it up to God in reparation for our sins and the sins of others. Jesus tells us that if we reject the crosses we are given, we only win in the short term.  

Taking up our crosses can take many different forms.  Matthew Kelly gives this illustration.  You open the refrigerator and see the last can of soda.  Your body says, "Yes, Yes! Grab it, I want that." To discipline your body you tell it, "No. We will have water."  This saying "no" to yourself is a good way to discipline yourself.  This is a cross that you pick up voluntarily.  

But what about those crosses that come unbidden?  What do we do about those?  You receive a diagnosis of a chronic, life-changing disease, or you watch a loved one in great suffering but you are unable to do anything for them, what do we do about these crosses? We accept them of course.  We do as St. Paul tells us to do and we join them to the sufferings of Jesus on the cross.  We bear what we can bear patiently and ask the Lord to help us to bear what we seemingly cannot.  Suffering of any sort reminds us that we are but a creature and allows us to rely on God for the strength to come through it all.  We remember, we have a God that has been through great and tragic suffering.  Jesus, in his early life, suffered the death of his father Joseph.  He consoled his mother on her loss.  Jesus felt the pain of betrayal when Judas Iscariot gave him up in the garden and again when Peter denied Him.  Jesus suffered a brutal beating at the hands of the Romans and was nailed to a cross and felt the loneliness of death.  He has been there and he defeated all of these things including death. 

Finally, remember that Jesus will help you bear any cross that is given to you. Be open to the help he sends through others.  Be patient and know that He is God.