Walking with John XXIII - Lord, Make Me A Peacemaker

We cannot have true peace without trust in each other.  Peace in our hearts is a necessary tool to create peace in our world.  St. Francis of Assisi knew this and the innocence of his love for all was his gift of peacefulness toward all.

We live in terrible times, is a phrase echoed down through history and the more we have tried to be peacemakers, using man's tools, the worse things have become in our world.  We aren't meant to keep peace by ensuring a balance of armaments. We are meant to create and keep peace by keeping Christ, the great Peacemaker, the one who confirmed and made complete, the message of the ancient prophets.

We are all God's children.  His son's great gift of peace is meant to be shared by us all, believers and non-believers, alike. 

In John 14:27, Jesus makes clear that the peace He gives us is not the same as the peace the world gives  God's peace is strong and everlasting.  We have seen many peaces come and go in the world but the Peace of Christ never passes and with that peace, we have unity with others.  We recognize our oneness with and responsibility to and for each other.  We have peace and love, undivided from each other.

Dear God,

Make me an instrument of your love, mercy, forgiveness and openness to your Will.

Make me a keeper of peace within myself and I might share that peace with others.

Give me the words to encourage respect for all and a willing heart to help those who cannot help themselves.

Help me to share the knowledge that helping through our own efforts is preferred to mandating help as an enforcement placed upon others.

Help us to understand that by each offering what one can do for the least of us, we can create a world of peace and unity.

Help us to understand, it isn't necessarily the poverty of the body that suffers more but rather a poverty of the spirit that spreads hate, fear, and violence in the world,  Amen

Walking with Pope St. John XXIII - Lord, May Your Will be Done

The Will of God, for me, is to do His work.  We are each called whether in great ways or small, to do His Will.  Even Jesus acknowledged that he was sent to do the Father's Will, not just his own (John 6:30)

To follow His Will is to love. How imperfect our love and actions are when we stumble in our efforts.  But, we are human; how could we not stumble?  Fear, the great weapon of Satan, is always there waiting to block our efforts to serve.  Prayer, only prayer and communion with He who loves us without restriction can help us to overcome and defeat Fear.

When we feed on the food of God (John 4:34) we consume the food which is His Love and Will.  Our work, however small, is complete and completed when we do the work in God's name.

A recent viewing of the movie "Of Gods and Men" is the perfect illustration of men called to serve in a way that might end in their deaths.  They struggled with their personal fears privately, with each other, and they prayed, at times desperately.  They had no way of knowing their fate but they suspected and then accepted the Will of God.  With acceptance came peace.  They trusted in His love to sustain them as they continued to obey His Will and serve.

Not all of us will  be called to martyrdom but each act of service teaches us more of love and God's Will for us.  And, we are strengthened.  With this strength, we are enabled to follow in Jesus' footsteps to the knee of God, the Father of us all.

In the words of John XXIII, from his diary in 1947, we read, " . . . liv(ing) in continual obedience gives me courage and dispels my fears".

Dear Father,

Help me to greet each day without fear and with the expectation that you will show me opportunities to serve others in your name.  Amen.

Walking with Pope St. John XXIII - Increasing Goodness within Myself

Only one man, in the entire history of the world, has obeyed  every commandment of goodness found in the Old Testament.  God and his son are the only good and we are called to be good as they are -   Romans 8:28 and Luke 6:31.

We are told (John 6:38) that Christ was sent by His Father to do His Will.  Doing the Will of God is not easy and even Christ suffered and asked for His cup of suffering to pass Him by (Matt 26:39).  His humanity begged to be released from this final act that would renew man to salvation.  But, knowing He was called to die for our sake, He did so.  His glorious resurrection put His followers and all of humanity on a firm path to God and salvation.  Serving Him helps us, then, to work out our own salvation (Matt 7:21).

As I read Pope Francis' book, The Way of Humility, I am overwhelmed by the depth and breadth of true humility.  His words, so simple and direct, flow against our world today, pushing like hardening sap.  If Jesus can humble Himself before His destiny of physical death (Phil 2:7-8) how much easier it should be for me to bear my call to humbleness before God.  I am not being asked to die physically (not at this moment in any event) but I am  being asked to die to myself.  If we are to follow Christ fully, we need to ask ourselves what cross it is we are meant to bear for His sake.  In recognizing our own cross, we are more fully prepared to serve, in all humility, others, in His name.

Serving is no chore done out of duty or obligation.  We may feel duty and obligation but, done in love, there is no effort.  In fact, the act itself is so freeing that communion with God can only increase. Obeying a call to serve and love are the same thing but the road to that union of service and love can offer up unexpected roadblocks.

The road to a practice of good acts through service and love is fertile ground for Satan's minions - Doubt, Rear, Revulsion, Shame, and Embarrassment.  The struggle through these barriers to goodness and into the light of God's waiting love and companionship is a deeply personal road, a steep climb out of a dark pit that is always waiting there for us.  Holding to the hem of His robe, I cling to His love to stay on the path of doing His Will.

Pope St. John XXIII's motto was "Obedience and Peace".  There is no clearer road for me to follow.  The dark minions are held at bey as I look up to Him and ask His Will for me.  Once known, once answered, peace in His love becomes my shelter.  My sight becomes clear. My heart opens to receive His Grace.