Author: Lana Kaczmarek

Alleluia, alleluia. Mary is taken up to heaven; a chorus of angels exults. Alleluia, alleluia. (Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary)

Starting a garden is a lot of work. But with patience, with perseverance, with the help of God’s grace, it becomes a labor of love.  What a privilege it is to share in the beauty of God’s creation. I love the image of God as the Gardener and we the garden. I contemplate how God cares for us and cultivates the beauty of his creation within us – weeding it, pruning it, watering it. When creation permits God to be its gardener, it remains beautiful, fragrant, fruitful. But when creation rejects God’s grace, the fruit becomes sour, bitter, rotten, distasteful, no good, ugly.  The Master Gardener is ever so patient, merciful and kind.  He recreates; he brings forth a Mystical Rose – so full of grace, so sweet a blossom, without stain, beautiful to the eyes of one’s heart. He calls his sweet rose Mary. Her heart is a beautiful garden of God’s love.  A new Eden where God chooses to dwell.  A place to take in the goodness of his creation and rest in it.  Mary is the new Eve – faithful to God’s Word, obedient to his call, lowly in his sight. Our Beloved Mother is ever so open to allowing God to plant the seed of his love into the soil of her heart. She remains forever attentive to his loving instruction and perpetually receptive to God’s grace as he cultivates the seed of our salvation deep inside of her. The soil in Mary’s heart is good soil, holy soil, responsive soil – ever so vulnerable to God, ever so lowly, so helpless, so defenseless to the grace and the outpouring of God’s Spirit.  She allows God to be God.  She permits God to be the Gardener of her heart. And through the grace of God’s love, she brings forth the Blessed Fruit of her Womb; ever so innocent, ever so beautiful, ever so sweet – what a beautiful flower it is.  Jesus also shows us how to permit God to cultivate the innocence within our own hearts. He shares the grace and benefits of permitting God to till the soil within our own hearts so that his Word may be planted deep within us and the seeds of God’s love can become efficacious in our lives. Let us learn from Jesus – let us learn from Mary to remain open, available, attentive, receptive, and vulnerable to God – the Gardner of our souls. “Blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.” (LK 11:28)

When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all in one place together. And suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were. Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. (ACTS 2:1-4)

A promise is a verbal commitment by one person to another consenting and agreeing to do or not to do something either in the moment or in the future or forever. A promise requires a faithful adherence to the terms and conditions of the agreement. A promise made in God, with God and through God becomes a solemn agreement, a holy vow, a sacred gift, a faithful commitment which unites individuals or groups of individuals into a sacred agreement, into an unbreakable bond with God.  From the beginning, God enters into a loving covenant with creation and humanity. This covenant is meant to be forever as God says, “I will be your God and you shall be my people.” To prove his love, God promised to send his Son to save us from our sins. And after his death and resurrection, Jesus promised to give us the gift of the Holy Spirit to teach us all that he said and did and to make us holy as God has created and called us to his holiness. The Holy Spirit is the breath of God. The wind that breathed new life into humanity. The fresh breeze that breathed new life into us. Saint Basil the Great said the Holy Spirit restores paradise to us. Just as God breathed life into Adam, he breathes new life into us making us a new creation through the waters of baptism, the fresh water made holy by the Spirit then poured into our hearts bringing about newness, holiness, freshness. The Holy Spirit is given to all who are baptized into Jesus Christ. He fills our hearts with the love of God then sets us aflame with the light and fire of his holy love. We tend to think of fire as something destructive. A deadly force that consumes everything in its path. The fire of the Holy Spirit, on the other hand, is something good and necessary for our spiritual life.  Saint John of the Cross compares God’s love to burning a log. He says, little by little the fire makes its way into the heart of the log, penetrating its very existence. It goes deep into the crevices of the log, burning away all its impurities. The fire eventually overtakes the log, consuming it until the log becomes the fire. It becomes something that warms and gives light. It becomes the thing that set it aflame. Like a fire to a log, the Holy Spirit consumes and purifies us and helps us to experience God’s love. Helping us to become the fire of God’s love. Helping us to become the One who has set us ablaze.

Jesus said to his disciples: “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned… So then the Lord Jesus, after he spoke to them, was taken up into heaven and took his seat at the right hand of God. (MK 16:15-16,19)

Scripture tells us in the waters of Baptism the love of God has been poured into our hearts by the grace of the Holy Spirit who dwells in us. It us the Holy Spirit that prays with us and in us. The Holy Spirit cleanses our hearts then fills them with God’s love and his sanctifying grace. Why our hearts? It is a gift of divine beauty, created in the image and likeness of God. It is the place of Holy Communion with God. But our hearts were broken by sin and distorted by pride. We were separated from the love of God. Our hearts needed to be repaired and prepared to once again receive the love of God. Salvation History in itself is a love story about the fall from grace and the raising to new life. It is the Holy Trinity that acts in this Holy Trilogy of love. The mission of God is to mend our hearts and unite them back to the Heart of Father, through the Love of the Son, in the Power of the Holy Spirit. In the first part of the story, God the Father acts. He pursues his children who have evicted themselves from heaven. Why? He wants to forgive them. He wants to tell them how much he loves them. He wants to bring them back home. But like sheep without a shepherd, they are lost, each doing their own thing. So out of love for us, the Father sends his Son to repair and prepare our hearts through the gift of forgiveness in order to fill them with love again. In the second part of the story, it is God the Son who acts. Jesus’ mission is that of love and forgiveness. He is born into humanity, baptized in the Holy Spirit to teach us how to live as children of God. Jesus suffered, was crucified, died, rose again and ascended back to the Father. Then he sent the Holy Spirit to purify our hearts. Without the Holy Spirit, the Resurrection and Ascension would be something that happened only to Jesus. In the third part of the story, it is God the Holy Spirit who is acting. Making all that Jesus said and did come alive in us. Come alive in our hearts. Everything that the Lord suffered and died for us to have – the healings, the blessings, the teachings, the gifts, the graces, now come alive in our hearts. Come alive in us. Isn’t that an amazing story? It is our story. The love of God has been poured into our hearts through the grace of the Holy Spirit. Open your heart to receive God’s love. Open your heart to receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit. “Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love.”

When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” (JN 21:15)

Have you ever experienced the love of God? The love that is totally free, most unmerited and is beyond all telling?  The love that is completely unconditional, undying in nature and meant to be eternal? The love that is wholly sacrificial, without a doubt life changing, is perpetually life giving and is always available to us?  The love that words cannot describe, money cannot buy, people cannot fake, hearts cannot deny, the love that only God can give. You know the kind of love I’m speaking about, don’t you?  That holy love, that pure love, the love that heals as it wounds and makes you cry with joy.  That kind of love that makes you hope for the impossible, makes you a better person, makes you say I love you even to those who can’t love you in return, even to those who may hurt you again, even to those who dislike you. You know that special love that fills your heart with so much warmth that you can’t hide it, the love that helps you see the inner beauty in all things, the love that helps you see Christ, the love that inspires you to see Jesus in all people, the love that challenges you to look beyond the exterior and look into the heart of another. You know that love, right? The love that binds marriages together, builds relationships up, strengthens family ties, forms friendships forever, the love that ends wars and brings everlasting peace. That is the kind of love God has for us. His love cannot be contained, it is meant to be unleashed. It cannot be buried like a talent; it must be shared so it can multiply and grow. God’s love cannot be kept a secret or be kept for oneself because it is always for another. God’s love cannot be taken from you unless you say so. You cannot be separated from God’s love unless you will it so.  But who would want to deny themselves of the most precious gift humanity has ever known or be separated from the one thing that fills us with great joy and eternal peace? God is love and so are we. So beloved child of God, let us love one another as God has loved us. Jesus looks at you, loves you and asks you, “do you love me?” With all your heart tell him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Thank him for loving you so much.

Jesus said to them, “Children, have you caught anything to eat?” They answered him, “No.” So he said to them, “Cast the net over the right side of the boat and you will find something.” So they cast it, and were not able to pull it in because of the number of fish. So the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord.” (JN 21:5-7)

I recall as a child always wanting to be a grown up. A child wants to be older than they actually are. Remember when you said you were five but were barely four? We never said we were six years old. Instead we said we were almost six or six and a half or almost seven but never six. Remember saying, “when I grow up, I’m going to make lots of money, buy a big house and drive a fancy car. When I’m grown up, I can do whatever I want.” As children, we are asked to do grown up things like help around the house, assist the family, earn our keep. It is a good way to learn responsibility. Back then, it sounded so terrible.  It felt like slavery. Funny, today it doesn’t sound too bad, no stressful job, no anxieties, no worries, no responsibilities, no bills, no expenses, no loans, no car payments, no taxes, no headaches, no laundry, free room and board, food, water, shelter and health care, endless summer vacations, after school snacks. It all sounds good to me. It’s interesting that after three years of being with Jesus, learning from Jesus, suffering as grownups the lessons of the Gospel with Jesus, the disciples encounter Christ after the Resurrection and he calls them children. It is not children as in being childish or inexperienced or immature. But children as in being a beloved child of God. Jesus came into this world to suffer our humanity, our adulthood, our need to be grown up, our independence, our self-sufficiency. He showed us through his example. He taught us by his words. Jesus demonstrated how to be a true child of God by the way he lived and by the way he died. A child is simple, dependent, weak, vulnerable, defenseless, happy, always in the sense of awe. Think for a moment how our almighty and all-powerful God humbled himself and took the form of a poor, helpless, vulnerable child. He surrendered his power, his glory, his security, all his heavenly comforts to live as a child in our midst. He surrendered any concerns, all his will, all his independence, all in loving obedience to the Father. Jesus placed all his trust in the Father’s love and in faithful service to the Father’s will. Jesus was and is a good and faithful child and remained a good and faithful child throughout his life and even unto death – death on a cross. “Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.” (MT 18:3)

Now a week later his disciples were again inside and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, although the doors were locked, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.” (JN 20:26-27)

What do you believe in? Will the thing or person you believe in be able to save you or bring you to eternal life? Will they help you obtain eternal peace or eternal glory? Believing can be such a challenge for us especially when something or someone other than God has captured our attention, dominated our time or possessed our heart. We tend to look for hard facts or concrete evidence in order to believe. We believe we need to see something before we can believe in it. We place little trust or emphasis on what we can see or experience through the eyes of faith. Somehow, we make ourselves believe God does not understand our situation or believe God would be okay if we slightly believe what he has told us to be true. When we allow our personal feelings, or opinions, or judgements, or perceived needs to get in the way of our faith, we compromise what we have been taught and believe for something that is more convenient or better suits or meets our needs. We need to be careful living our faith this way. We need to be careful with living our faith based on what we believe should or should not be true rather than what God has told us to believe. We need to be careful with sharing our own personal beliefs as truth especially if they are not grounded in God, sound doctrine or the teachings of the Church. At times, we improvise our faith. We bend the rules or change the Truth in order to suit our needs. We collectively recite the Creed, our profession of faith at Mass. What if you had to prove your faith or were required to sign a document like a creed professing your faith and beliefs? Would you be comfortable in saying you believe in God, that Jesus died for you, that the Sacraments make you holy, that God speaks to you, that God has forgiven you, that God loves you, that we must keep Sunday holy, that we must go to Mass on days of obligation, that God chose life, that lying is a serious offense, that not praying or barely praying is a sin? Do you believe, truly believe, without hesitation or reservation that the bread and wine are truly changed into the Body and Blood of Christ? Do you believe that Jesus is truly and really present in Holy Communion?  Jesus said, “do not be unbelieving, but believe.”

The two recounted what had taken place on the way and how he was made known to them in the breaking of the bread. While they were still speaking about this, he stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” (LK 24:35-36)

I often consider what I want most. What do I really need? What do we all really need to be happy? Surely, we have come to know and experience God’s love for us at one time or another in our life. Even if we don’t experience God’s love every day or perhaps often, we know God’s love saving us each and every day, saving us each and every moment. God has proved his love for us. Even when we feel left out or unloved, we have to know God still loves us, he has forgiven us, he remains with us, he provides for all our needs. Just look an image of the Nativity. Take time to really see how much Christ suffered and was punished in his Passion. Gaze upon the Cross and know how much God loves you. Do not let yourself be deceived – God truly loves you. He really loves you. You are his beloved. Then, if we come to know God’s love saving us each day and have experienced his divine mercy, other than water, food, air and shelter, what do we really need? I think the world is in great need of peace. I know I need it now and always. I long for peace. I really need it. I desire it. I try to remain in God’s peace always. I was inspired once to begin a reflection talk by asking the participants if peace was possible – is peace possible for you? The question took most of us by surprise. Most truly believe that peace is not possible. Peace is impossible for them. I have come to realize that not only is peace possible, but it is necessary. It is the object of a restless soul. Peace is what our hearts long for the most, what our minds truly need. Peace is something we desire, something we long for, something we cannot live without. The challenge for us is to consider peace in divine terms rather than worldly terms. We tend to think of peace as momentary freedom or a brief quiet moment from all the noise, bickering or fighting. We see it as freedom from all worries and cares, freedom from financial burdens, freedom from parental duties, freedom from work responsibilities. Although, these might give us a sense of freedom and momentary peace, we would use the free time in others ways to be imprisoned, to allow other things to possess us, to find other ways to occupy our time, to allow other people and demands to enslave us – rather than to simply rest in God’s presence and be consumed by his peace. May the peace of Christ reign in your hearts this day and remain in your lives forever. God’s peace always.

That very day, the first day of the week, two of Jesus’ disciples were going to a village seven miles from Jerusalem called Emmaus, and they were conversing about all the things that had occurred. And it happened that while they were conversing and debating, Jesus himself drew near and walked with them. (LK 24:13-15)

At times we might feel alone, abandoned, neglected, even forgotten by God. The truth is, God is always with us. He will never abandon us, he will never neglect us, he will never forget us. He never has. He never will. The sad reality is, we more often than not, walk away from Christ. We run from him. We hide from him. We run in the opposite direction because we do not really know him. We do not have an intimate knowledge of the profound love he has for us. We do not understand all he has done for us. We just do not know how to be loved. We do not know how to be loved because we have been hurt so many times – but never by God. Yes, it is true. God has never hurt you. God’s will is our happiness. His desire is to love us. He wants to be with us, but we run in the other direction. We hide from his love. We run so fast and furious, so quick and hurried but we are so slow of heart, so slow to love, so slow to forgive, so slow to forget, so slow to be loved by God. Christ’s journey was toward Jerusalem. He never stopped. He never turned around. He never looked backed. He continually walked the Way of the Cross. He suffered and died and rose from the dead as he promised. He set us free from the bondage of sin and oppression and opened the gates of Heaven so we could truly be free and happy. That is God’s will for us. His desire for you. We must learn to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Jesus who is the way to the Father, the means to our happiness, the journey home. We must go to Jerusalem and not run away from it. We must walk the Way of the Cross. I love how Jesus meets us where we are and then walks with us even when we are heading in the wrong direction. He is ever so patient with us because he loves us, and he truly wants us to reach the Father. Jesus speaks to us constantly and always. Even when we do not hear him. Even when we chose not to listen to him. Even if we remain stubborn to change direction. Jesus still talks to us, he still guides us, he still cares. We may want to look at the Road to Emmaus as a spiritual walk or a spiritual exercise. Think about the times you were led away from God, distracted from your faith journey or strayed from the truth because of the false things you believe about yourself, about God, about your relationship with Christ. If we allow Christ, he will help us when we have lost our way to see that the true way back home is the road that leads to Jerusalem – the Way of the Cross.

On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they put him.” (JN 20:1-2)

When we spend time in silent reflection contemplating the salvific events surrounding our redemption and exploring the depth of Christ’s love for us in his saving Passion, we are drawn into sacred mystery. We are called to remember, to celebrate, to believe. But our thoughts lead us to be shocked, to be shamed, to be scared of what transpired in less than 24 hours. We are afraid to talk about Jesus for this might happen to us. It is shocking and for most Christians difficult to imagine and to think about the horrible events surrounding the Cross and the manner in which Jesus was treated simply because he loved the poor, he healed the sick, he forgave the sinner, he restored the dignity of the broken-hearted and he did this type of “work” on the Sabbath – a day set aside to do good, to give life, to be holy. Jesus died for being kind, for being merciful, for eating with poor sinners and for feeding several thousand of his followers. He died because he said he was the Son of God. Imagine being killed by means of such a horrific death because you said and truly believed you were a child of God. The Passion shocks everyone. It even shocks and surprises those who asked for it. In his death, Jesus is gone but his body remains. His disciples ask and receive permission to take the body down from the Cross so that it can be properly placed in a tomb. Early in the morning, Mary Magdalene comes looking for Jesus to be with him, but she comes to be with him in death. She seeks him in this life. She remains with the past. She remains with Jesus in death and in sorrow, in anguish and in pain, in mourning and in grief. Imagine her joy and the joy of all the disciples to know Jesus is alive, he is risen. He is truly risen. The longing, the desire, the love for Jesus overflows. At times, we can stay stuck in the past with all the hurt and pain, with all the discouragement and disappointments, with all the lies and failures. But Jesus is not there. He is risen. He is here in this moment with you. At times we spend so much time thinking about the future and daydreaming about wealth and how things could be better, how they can be easier but Jesus is not there living in a made up future with unsuccessful expectations and richly imaginations. He is here. He is risen. He is in this current moment. He is here with you and me.

It was now about noon and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon because of an eclipse of the sun. Then the veil of the temple was torn down the middle. Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit”; and when he had said this he breathed his last. (LK 23:44-46)

The readings for a Mass for the Dead or for a Funeral Mass, point us to the profound reality of the suffering love of God that desires nothing more than to transform the unfortunate consequence of sin and disobedience into the gracious and eternal reward of happiness and peace. It is the greatest act of love and mercy the world will ever know. God’s unfathomable divine love revealed to restore life through the sacrificial self-offering and death of his Only Begotten Son on a cross. Eternal life given once more and made possible not through any merit of the suffering creature but only through the gratuitous gift of the suffering of Christ on the Cross. Christ remained vulnerable to the Father and vulnerable to humanity throughout his whole life. From the moment he understood the Father’s plan to the moment it was fulfilled and still today during every Eucharistic Celebration, Jesus’ vulnerability is displayed and manifested in his birth as a child born into extreme poverty and destined for rejection, confrontation and controversy; through his baptism which assumed an innocent, holy man to be a poor, repented sinner in need of salvation; through his temptation in the desert which allowed Satan to taunt and test him as he fasted and prayed; in his Passion where he became so vulnerable, that he allowed sinful humanity to mock, chastise and ridicule him unmercifully then defile, mistreat and destroy his body ever so mercilessly. But in obedience, trust and mercy, he loved us in the beginning, through it all and still today and evermore. Scripture tells us, “The souls of the just are in the hand of God, and no torment shall touch them. They seemed, in the view of the foolish, to be dead; and their passing away was thought an affliction and their going forth from us, utter destruction. But they are in peace.” Jesus remained totally abandoned, entrusted and committed to the Father, to his Divine Will and to his Divine Plan. Without worries, without reservation, without concern, without failing Jesus trustingly and lovingly placed everything in the Father’s hands, including his very self, his life, his spirit, his soul. Imagine being in the hands of God, protected, loved, cared for, resting, without worries and at peace for all eternity.