Lent - Once Was Blind - Now I See

"Do not judge from his appearance or from his lofty stature, 

because I have rejected him.

Not as man sees does God see, 

because man sees the appearance 

but the LORD looks into the heart."

Our readings this Sunday are all about vision. First, we read about David being anointed the king of Israel.  One at a time Jesse's sons came before the prophet and while each of them made a splendid appearance, none of them was the one God had in mind. Finally, they called the youngest one in from the field.  David had been out tending the sheep. When David appeared before the prophet, God made it known that this was His chosen one and David was promptly anointed king of Israel. 

Our Gospel reading is the one about the man born blind and how Jesus made a paste of clay, rubbed it on the man's eyes and sent him to wash and the man born blind could see! 

God's vision is perfect. He does not look at the exterior of a person. He reads what is in their heart. How often do we judge others using our myopic human vision?  Often times our judgment is clouded by our prejudices. We have to learn to see others as God sees them. God loves every one of his children without exception.  When we apply our judgment we should err on the side of charity.  There is a story I read once about Brother Bernard who lives in a monastery. Whenever someone criticized someone else in his presence he would answer:

"Wouldn't it be funny if he is closer to God than we are?"

Destiny

Okay, Lorne Green was great on Bonanza but I have to say that as a singer he probably not make it on "The Voice."  But aside from entertainment value I chose this song to introduce the topic of destiny.  Please note that I do not agree with the principles put forth in this song.  For me the principle it espouses sounds too much like John Calvin to me.  But aside from that I do have to agree that we have a destiny but it is not set in stone as Lorne would have us believe. 

In the distant past God decided he would like Michael The Lesser to be born.  He loved the very idea of Michael and when the time was right He moved His hand and I was conceived.  After a stay in the womb, in my case only seven months, I was born kicking and crying into the world. I was a tiny thing and the fourth attempt my mother had at having a child, the other three ended in two miscarriages and one still birth. I survived two months in an incubator at Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago and was brought home on Christmas Eve in nine-teen hundred and fifty two.  

I have seen sixty-two summers in my life and I am not sure if I will see another because we are never sure we are going to even take another breath, it is not guaranteed.  As I have gone through life I have come to forks in the road and have made conscious decisions as to which road to take. Sometimes my choice was good, in my eyes anyway, other times things didn't turn out so good.  But no matter which road I took, no matter the results of my decisions, I was propelled towards my ultimate destiny. 

As a human being I have an ultimate destiny but unlike Mr. Calvin says it is not written in stone.  This is because I have been given free will to choose my destiny.  I can live a life worthy of the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross and my ultimate destiny will be heaven.  I can live a life of unrepentant dissolution, caring only for myself and my ultimate destiny will be hell. The point I am trying to make here is that our destiny, unlike the destiny portrayed in the song, is in our hands. We make the choices in life in accordance with the free will that God gave us.  He does not want puppets to be with Him in heaven, He wants people who have decided that they want His friendship.  

So, what do you think of destiny?  Is it something that is written in granite and can never be changed?  Or is it something that we can design as a sculptor changes a square piece of marble and through work and dedication changes it into a beautiful statue? 

CONVERT A CATHOLIC challenge is still open. I am inviting my Protestant brothers and sisters to prove to me that I should abandon the Catholic Church and join their denomination.  33,000 different versions of the truth against the Catholic Church...what are you waiting for?  The challenge has been made.  Click on the link below to send me an email.

Michael, my denomination has got it all together - you just gotta join it and here is why 

 (Click Here)

I Want to See...

What is it you want Jesus asked --- the bling beggar said "I want to see."

I remember in June the sun would stay up until 8:30 PM and then after June 21, the longest day of the year, darkness started creeping in. Each day the sun lost out the darkness a minute or two earlier each day.  Now as we approach the end of October night comes earlier and the darkness is begging to hold sway for longer hours of our day. Eventually on December 21 it will be at its most powerful and the things around us will be in the darkness longer than on any night of the year. 

 In the world we live in there is much darkness and by this I mean of the spiritual kind.  I remember when I was a kid on Saturday afternoon there would be three priests hearing confessions and there would be a waiting line.  I am a happy member in a very vibrant, active, and spiritual parish. The people I've met are solid Christians. Our ministries that assist the poor are robustly supported by the parish in both time and treasure.  The parish is a good example of what a parish should be, caring, spiritual, and proud to practice the temporal works of mercy. 

All of this being said and believe me, I am not judging others, I am wondering if a type of spiritual darkness is creeping into the Church members. Today, one priest hears all of the confessions in one hour on Saturday afternoon. You just do not see people taking advantage of the sacrament of reconciliation as much as before. Is it people are not sinning?  I think it is more likely that we are loosing sight of what sin is and how it can creep into your life.  

The sacrament of reconciliation is a wonderful sacrament.  It gives you a chance to admit where you have "missed the mark" for that is what sin is, missing the mark.  You might say that you know you sin and you and Jesus are great friends and you confess directly to Him and he forgives you.  That is a great first step but that is not how Jesus set it up. We are told in the Bible to confess our sins and when Jesus institutes the sacrament of confession he tells the apostles "whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven, whose sins you hold bound, they are held bound."  How are the apostles supposed to decide which sins to forgive if they are not confessed to them?

The act of confessing is preceded by examining ones conscience.  Before you examine your conscience you need to ask the Holy Spirit to give you light to see your sins clearly for we all have some sorts of spiritual blindness.  But, I hear you say, my sins are small. Well, that may be true but look at whom you have sinned against, God Himself!  If you want to see just how serious God considers sin, just look at a crucifix and meditate on the pain and suffering that Jesus went through for you.

There is none so blind as one who will not see. Ask and you will receive, seek and you fill find, knock and the door shall be opened for you.  Don't be afraid to ask the Holy Spirit what your sins are. He already knows.  Don't be afraid to confess to a priest, he takes the place of Christ and reconciles you to God and to the Church. The priest has heard it all, you're not that much different than the person next in line. 

Thank you Matthew Kelly who has inspired me to write the above. His website is here:  http://dynamiccatholic.com/

I encourage you my friends to think carefully about the state of your soul as it relates to the absolute goodness of God.  I encourage you to go frequently to confession and receive not only forgiveness but grace to avoid sinning in the future.  Jesus has given us this great gift and we need to use it. 

If you are a non-Catholic and have any questions about the faith, I would be pleased to answer them for you.  I stress the word ANY because nothing is secret or hidden in the Church that was founded by Jesus Christ.  Send your email to michaeljspoula@outlook.com

Genuine questions will be answered, hate mail, attempts to "convert" me will be deleted.  I want to be a font of information for those who have questions about the Church, so so not be shy.  God Bless.