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Reflections for Feb. 18-24, 2019
Monday, Feb. 18, 2019-Hands of Christ
We are all familiar with the Body of Christ as an image of the Church. The Body of Christ has long been a topic I love, as I think about what it means to actually be the Body of Christ and give clarity to how we are all connected and individually valued for our part.
The first image that comes to mind for me is always the hands. I think of how Jesus’ hands were healing hands. He placed his hands on the sick and the blind and they were healed. He held the loaves and fishes in his hands and he fed his people. Jesus’ hands prayed and loved. In our Sacraments the hands play a significant role as well—the power of touch is used in Anointing of the Sick, Confirmation and Holy Orders.
Our hands have power to serve and to heal. When we look around our world we see that so many people are using their hands to serve others. Oh, what great power we have to do the work of charity that serves those who are in greatest need.
If I am the Hands of Christ, how am I using them to serve today?
Erin Gallawa
Tuesday, Feb. 19,2 019-Feet of Christ
When I think of the Feet of Christ, I think of his travels. I imagine how far he traveled by foot—to all the towns and places that he delivered his gospel message. After the Resurrection, we have the travels of Paul. Paul’s journeys took him all over the ancient world to share the Gospel as well. I have been immensely lucky to travel to many places in the world—to Europe and Mexico and Central America. I have worshipped in Catholic churches in Spanish, Italian and French. But these are all Christian countries where God’s word has already been spoken. I walked into churches where his word was already The Word.
Jesus carried his message to his own Jewish people, but then he inspired Paul to walk into the Gentile world and share the good news there too. When I walk out of my Catholic community, do I bring the Gospel with me? To be the feet of Christ means that we must take the Gospel out of our comfort zone to the people who need it.
If I am the Feet of Christ, how am I using them to carry his message today?
Erin Gallawa
Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2019-Eyes of Christ
My daughter Grace recently started taking an art class. I had concerns because she was younger than the other kids. Her art doesn’t always turn out like I expect it to turn out. Grace hasn’t reached a point in development yet where she necessarily knows how to edit. I found myself anxious for how she would be received by others. But my fears were completely unfounded.
After the first class the teacher sent me a text that completely stopped me in my tracks. In this text I realized that this teacher truly saw my daughter—for her joy, her delight and her mystery. I felt like Grace had been truly seen by her. In my role as a mother, I often desperately want others to see what I see in my kids, knowing that I can’t control that. I felt so completely at peace for my daughter to be seen and to be known by this woman. Isn’t that what we all want for ourselves and those we love? To be known and loved for who we are? I imagine this is how God sees all of us.
If I am the Eyes of Christ, am I using them to truly see others?
Erin Gallawa
Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019-Heart of Christ
As a child and adolescent, I felt that my birthday was all about me. Since becoming a mother, the day of my birth feels like a day for loving others.
On my birthday, I think first about my own mom. I wonder how she felt at the moment that she first became a mother. I can imagine that now because after having my own kids, I know how that day transformed me. I remember that in the hours after giving birth I forgave my mom for the petty things that I had held against her. I remember the way my heart felt nothing but love for a woman who simply tried her best to do what was right for me. In the moment I became a mom I knew that every decision I would make for my daughters would be out of love, whether they agreed or not.
When I think of “heart” I think of the love of Jesus. I think of a man who loved you and me so immensely that he gave up his life. As a mother, I can finally relate to this level of love, for so deep is my love for my daughters that I know I could sacrifice myself to save them.
But this is the call of all Christian love—not just for my children, but to all my neighbors near and far. That our love for each other be bigger than our differences and our grudges, that our love grow and not shrink. We are called to carry his heart—his love—to all people.
Am I loving everyone with the Heart of Christ?
Erin Gallawa
Friday, Feb. 22, 2019-Mouth of Christ
There are many great orators who inspire us through their manner of speech. Through intonation, timbre and word choice, they ignite feelings in us that motivate us to act! But when Moses was chosen by God in the book of Exodus, he protested that he could not speak: “If you please, my Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor now that you have spoken to your servant; but I am slow of speech and tongue” (Ex 4:10). God did not accept this protest! “I will assist you in speaking and teach you what you are to say” (Ex 4:12). How many of us are afraid to speak the good news because we don’t think we know the right thing to say?
I tend to think of Jesus as being gentle. But when we read the Gospels, we that see that while his message was filled with love, his voice was strong and demanding. He left no room for an interpretation of his expectations. God does not require us to have any special gift of speech, he simply asks us to use the voice he has given us.
If I am the Mouth of Christ, do my words speak His good news?
Erin Gallawa
Saturday, Feb. 23, 2019-Ears of Christ
I am a terrible listener. I can hear just fine, but I don’t always listen. Luckily, I have a few friends who have taught me so much about listening through their actions. They do not interrupt. They do not respond with their words. When I have rambled and ranted and can speak no more, they wait another moment before they speak. And then their next words are often a question, not an opinion or advice.
To truly be heard by someone is a great gift. We are blessed to have prayer that we may speak to God and be heard by Him. But sometimes we need a person to speak to, a person in our life who will simply listen to our words. In our personal lives and in the world around us, there are those who are desperate to use their voice and to have someone listen. Listen to the voices of the children, the words of the marginalized, to the needs of the poor. Let us hear without judgement the words of those around us.
If I am the Ears of Christ, do I truly listen?
Erin Gallawa
Sunday, Feb. 24, 2019-The Body of Christ
But if we are the body
Why aren't His arms reaching?
Why aren't His hands healing?
Why aren't His words teaching?
And if we are the body
Why aren't His feet going?
Why is His love not showing them there is a way?
For all that I love the Body of Christ as an image of the church, hearing this song by the Casting Crowns called “If We Are The Body” has changed the way I feel about my part in the Body. I still love and appreciate it for our connectedness and for recognizing our individual giftedness. But it has also become a challenge. When I remember that we are the Body of Christ, I am reminded that it means I must do something. Jesus did not use his body for recreation, he used his body to serve. His hands healed, his words spoke Truth. He carried the Gospel to the Jews and the Gentiles, he sat at tables with sinners and tax collectors. When I rise each morning, do I rise with the intention to use my body for the purpose of serving God?
To be the Body of Christ is to be His presence here today. It means that I must continue living his mission through my own actions, however great or small. For whatever part of the body that I represent on any given day, I must use it to glorify God and carry out Christ’s work.
Do my actions reflect my role in the Body of Christ?
Erin Gallawa
Reflections for Feb. 11-17, 2019
Monday, Feb. 11, 2019-WHEREVER YOU GO
Twenty-five years ago, I read a book that has influenced my life immensely: Wherever You Go, There You Are. Its author, Dr. John Kabat-Zinn, founded the Mindfulness Stress Reduction Clinic at UMass Medical Center, thereby pioneering (in 20th-century Western medicine) the use of meditation to help people alter their physical and emotional pain. He is one among many who, since the 1960s, brought to Western society the ancient mind/body practices from Buddhist and Hindu thought.
The book’s message to me is that I cannot run away from the person I am. Merely changing my physical location, no matter how many miles I might travel, will not alter my innermost Self. Only a determined effort in searching my soul, examining and changing my mindset, attitudes, and ways of dealing with everyday life will make a difference in the “me” I live in.
In the Judeo-Christian tradition, we’ve also acknowledged this “new” way to transform ourselves. Pope Paul VI suggested this “prayer without words” during Vatican II, thus renewing a tradition practiced early on by the Desert Fathers and Mothers. Prophets and psalmists long before them contemplated God in silence and were rewarded with His wisdom to change their lives.
While our frantic, busy, noisy world is increasingly difficult to shut out, I can still go to a quiet place within myself to experience God’s calming, nurturing love; to hear His voice, and to let Him guide me.
Barbara Stricklin
Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2019-IF TODAY YOU HEAR HIS VOICE
Father Thomas Keating (1923-2018), founder of Contemplative Outreach, tells us that the chief thing that separates us from God Is the thought that we’re separated from Him; we have trouble believing that the Trinity is always within us. At our recent Parish Mission, Father Wiesner reminded us once again, that we receive the Spirit within us at our Baptism. The Spirit never leaves us; never goes AWOL, so to speak. How is it that we forget this?
For myself, I believe the problem is that I’ve always thought of God as “out there” or “up there”; yet, 1 Corinthians 3:17 tells me, “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?” It’s a concept I have to really struggle with because I don’t feel worthy, but God doesn’t even suggest that I should or could ever earn it; it’s His free gift.
Father Keating asserted that God’s first language is silence, so I need to clear the busyness out of my head through Centering Prayer so that I can hear God speaking.
My task this week is to practice this discipline and to repeat a “sacred word” of my choosing when other random thoughts crowd in. In this way I hope that I can begin to develop the ability to discern God in me, to hear His voice in my new-found silence.
Barbara Stricklin
Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2019-ARE YOU BLIND???
Some people don’t see what’s in front of them because they’re busy looking past it. Some people are taught to pay attention to certain aspects of it, but not others. Still others have physical challenges: blurry vision, astigmatism, cataracts, etc.
I readily identify with the last group. I was the freaky little girl in the late 1940s who wore glasses; a rarity in those days. My eyes have needed correction throughout my life. I remember attending a football game with Randy early in our relationship. I had never been a sports fan, and I wanted to learn.
“How do you know what to watch during the game?” I asked.
“You just follow the ball,” he replied.
Pause. Pause.
“You can see the ball??” I was incredulous!
I’m told that, in a similar way, our Church before Vatican II told Catholics to pay attention to the Ten Commandments, the lists of mortal and venial sins, the memorized prayers, and the rules. Again, I thought of Father Wiesner’s reminder that Jesus called us “to follow Him,” and Father recommended using the lists of the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy as guides to our own Examination of Conscience; that is, look at the positives of good behavior rather than at avoiding the negatives of sinful behavior. AHA!
Imagine: 54 years as a Catholic convert, and I didn’t really know where to look for the ball! It will be a pleasure to look forward to living with this consciously proactive, positive attitude.
Barbara Stricklin
Thursday, Feb. 14, 2019-OPENING MINDS
We are about to lose yet another of the profound influences from the Buddhist tradition: Thich Nhat Hanh, aged 92, has returned to his native Viet Nam to await his “transition” from earthly existence.
The Zen master was banished as a traitor by the South Vietnamese government in the ‘60s because he refused to condone the war against communism. He is sometimes called “the father of mindfulness” in the West; he taught at Columbia and Princeton universities. He met Pope Paul VI; addressed Parliaments abroad; was nominated for the Nobel Prize by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
He taught that we don’t need to live alone on a mountain top to benefit from Buddhist wisdom. We need only to be aware of our breath, stay in the present moment, and enjoy the everyday miracles we have been given. Kindness and compassion are his message.
In this I think he sounds very much like our own Teacher, Jesus. Both of them are about including everyone, shutting out no one. The “us against them” mentality doesn’t exist for either of them. They both tell us to stop worrying about what might happen; “Consider the lilies of the field.” Neither of them has a set of rules that we must never break for fear of punishment. Both advocate generosity and forgiveness.
Sometimes other traditions have something universal to tell us . . . .
Barbara Stricklin
Friday, Feb. 15, 2019-TURN, TURN, TURN
I believe that God made me for change; I grow visibly on the outside, and I need to grow internally, as well. It is clear from the Gospels that Jesus did not revere people or teachings that were rigid; on the contrary, he took accepted Jewish teachings and turned them upside down. “You have heard it said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemies,’ but I say to you ‘Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”
He disturbed the status quo by telling parables, such as the Prodigal Son, in which people gave radically unexpected responses. He ate with “unclean” sinners and tax collectors, and he conversed with a Samaritan woman. He believed that outer cleanliness (such as ritual washing) was as nothing compared to becoming clean inside. He wanted then, as now an inner transformation to take place in us.
The hymn “Eye Has Not Seen” contains the line, “. . . Spirit of love, come give me the mind of Jesus . . . “. Repeating some of those words during Centering Prayer can be a path for me to receive “the Wisdom of God” that I seek to in order to grow in the way that Jesus models for me.
Barbara Stricklin
Saturday, Feb. 16, 2019-THIS OR THAT
I suppose it’s an evolutionary characteristic to see reality as either “this” or “that.” Although the Israelites and other advanced societies wrote 6000 and more years ago, primitive man had no written alphabet. It was imperative that his brain be able to differentiate between what was harmful and what was beneficial. He viewed people that way, too: they are either of my people or not; one of Us or one of Them. How tragically disappointing that we “civilized” people haven’t gotten past that tribalism! We still often think with a dualistic mind: it’s either “this” or “that.” The poet John Keats called it “negative capability”: the ability to hold two opposites at once.
Unfortunately, that kind of thinking is all too human; often I have a very hard time imagining that a thing can be both this and that. I can’t easily conceive that God can be “out there” as well as “in here” inside me. I have to concentrate hard to allow a paradox to exist: Jesus is God and Man. The Host is bread and the Body of Christ. I am a sinner and saved.
But maybe the most crucial paradox for me to resolve in myself is that I believe I am a Christian, but I fail to open myself to strangers. I find it hard to pray for my enemies and for those who do violence to innocents. I have a lot to work on.
Barbara Stricklin
Sunday, Feb. 17, 2019-THE MIND OF JESUS
Regarding reading and interpreting scripture, Father Richard Rohr wrote that St. Thomas Aquinas said, “Whatever is received is received according to the manner of the receiver.” We have a similar saying, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” meaning that each of us sees the same thing in our own individual way according to our level of understanding, our preferences, experience, and maturity.
Having been raised to be compliant, to put others first, and not to argue, I became a very young person with no self-confidence and no backbone. I responded to 1 Corinthians 4-7 “Love is patient . . . bears all, endures all . . .” with self-pity and resentment: why do I have to endure in silence?
Many years of experience have allowed me to “grow in wisdom” so I can respond quite differently now. I see the gentle Jesus in my mind, smiling at me and leading me to greater understanding and patience. I can recognize the struggles that others have and respond kindly. I can have empathy for young people who are finding their way in the world without telling them “what they ought to do.” I can be a generous spirit, yet still stand up for myself. I thank God for leading me here.
Barbara Stricklin