Tag: faith

The Power of Adoption

Every human being has a remarkable ability. It is the capacity to adopt. I have always been impressed by the fact that Saint Joseph adopted Jesus. He did not know exactly what was going on, he only knew that this child was not his own, not of his blood. He did not get angry, he did not blame Mary, he simply followed the word of the angel:

“Before Mary and Joseph lived together, she was found with child through the holy Spirit. Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly. Such was his intention when, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. (…).” When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home. He had no relations with her until she bore a son, and he named him Jesus.” Mt 1:24-2:5

At God’s word, Joseph agreed to take in the little child. What a selfless act! To say: Although you are not my child, I will make you my child in the name of another, through my decision, with my strength, with my potential. I now call you my child and treat you as if you were my own. For men, it is important to have children of their own, to see themselves in their own flesh and blood. But they are also capable of freely accepting someone else’s child. In a sense, they have to do so anyway. For even their own child did not grow in their own body; when they see it for the first time, they must accept it as their own. The same is true for women: even though the child grows in their own body, women report that they still have to make an active decision that this is now their child. Ultimately, all children are not ours, they are God’s children, whom we are to adopt.

Adoption is a very human act. It truly reflects God’s love. For not only do we accept God’s children, but He also accepts us as His children. As St. Paul says: “In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will – to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.” Eph 1:5-6

If we live out this talent, if we take in those who would otherwise be lost and left without a father or mother, the world would be a more humane place.

God, I thank you for the example of Saint Joseph. He took a leap of faith, left his comfort zone, and took in a stranger. In doing so, he fulfilled your plan. Let me be just as selfless. Let me be a father or mother to all who need one. And I thank you for the privilege of being your child!

Without hope – what will the end look like ?

I recently met a woman in her early 60s who shared with me her concerns about political developments and the future. In view of the uncertainties of our time, her conclusion was: enjoy every day, make as much of it as you can while you are healthy, invest in your health and take each day as it comes. Then we talked about aging and the fact that as we get old, we may need care and assistance, some day. Two factors cloud this prospect: demographics – at least in some countries. Who will take care of us? There will be many more old people than young ones. We cannot expect our children to take care of us if they can at all. The other factor is certainly money: care will become more expensive, and our lives will be longer compared to previous generations. And then the woman said something to me that shocked me: if necessary, one would have to give dying a helping hand. I have heard this argument more often recently. There are countries where euthanasia has become more accepted and common, for example in Switzerland and the Netherlands. As much as life is endangered at the beginning, so it is now at its end.

If life is just consuming, enjoying, making the most of our days, one consequently will stop it when this objective cannot be fulfilled anymore. As I listened to this woman, I wondered how I would react in such a situation. There are already phases of suffering or pain in earlier years that, seen from this perspective, would not be worth living. What helped me during these phases? Prayer. The Eucharist. The conversation with God, to whom I can entrust all my thoughts and feelings. People who walk with me and hope with me. I wonder how this life can be bearable without faith, especially in difficult days. To be honest, I am not free of concerns about the future, but I hope that God, who gave me this life, will take care of me. With His help, I and we will find ways to live a dignified life until the day it ends. I realized once again how precious our faith is and how it changes our outlook on life.

Lord, let your angels be near all old people. Let them be cared for. Bless their lives, even when they no longer seem to have any meaning. Let us stand with respect for the suffering that an old person must endure. Who understood Your suffering on the cross when you were going through it, Lord? No one. And did it make sense in the end? More than make sense. My Lord, take away my fear. Let me never give up hope, for my life, for this world. Your future is not dark. Let me enjoy each day gratefully, with you. It is all grace.

I Put My Trust In You

In God we trust, I trust in God… how quickly are we ready to say that? Do we really mean it? To be honest, sometimes trust comes naturally to me, but other times, however, I have difficulty trusting. There are often good reasons not to trust–bad experiences, hurts of the past, knowledge of things and people, realism.

Better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in mortals. (Psalm 118:18)

Sometimes I find myself weak in trusting God. It is not because of God, it is because I trust rather myself, even more–my own intelligence, my experience, the things that give me security. Only when those things are taken away from me, do I realize what trusting God really means. One day, I came across this Psalm verse:

I put my trust in you. (Psalm 55:24)

The slight difference here is that I put my trust in God, which means, I do something. Trusting becomes an activity. I like that. I can do something for it. I am not condemned either to trust and to believe or to not have that trust at all. It is my decision whether I trust or not.

Well, how can I do it? Putting something somewhere means to give it out of my hands and leaving control to somebody else. I give my trust away, to Him. My trust now lies on Him, with Him. This little move makes trusting more concrete and lively for me. When I am distrustful, I try to take all my confidence and place it into God’s hands. We don’t know if God will do exactly what we want him to do, but He will never disappoint our trust. He will never misuse our trust. He will never fool us.

Lord, let me put my trust in you. You are great. You are merciful. You love me. I know you invite me to trust you, in little daily things as well as in the big things of my life. Strengthen my trust in you.

The Armor of Light

A friend recently shared with me the difficulties he has at work—toxic atmosphere, disrespect of rules, bullying, and filthy relationships—and he was wondering how to deal with it. As we were talking, St. Paul came to mind with his expression “armor of light” (Rom 13:12). In the letter to the Ephesians, he explains:

“Finally, draw your strength from the Lord and from his mighty power. Put on the armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the tactics of the devil. For our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens. (…) So stand fast with your loins girded in truth, clothed with righteousness as a breastplate, and your feet shod in readiness for the gospel of peace. In all circumstances, hold faith as a shield, to quench all flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” (6:10-17)

 When we think of weapons, we usually don’t think of truth, righteousness, faith, salvation, and the word of God. What different kind of weapons! If we fight with the weapons of darkness, the situation will continue to be dark. Wounds on all sides will increase; grief and wish for revenge will grow. Instead, if we fight back with the weapons of light, light will come onto the scene. We are not supposed to not defend ourselves, because it is evil that we encounter. The question is how we defend ourselves.

“Let us then throw off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.” Rom 13:12

 This is the other way to respond to difficult situations, a way that really helps us to exit the spiral of negativity and violence. Faith, truth, and the word of God is what make us truly strong. This is what protects us. Faith is powerful.

Lord, let me learn to use the weapons of light. I yearn for light and peace. Let me stick with my faith, especially in difficult situations. Let me meditate your word so as to be ready to respond. Let me not be afraid to follow the truth. Let me pursue righteousness. And let me believe that you are the salvation, that you have saved us, that you have already won the battle! On earth as it is in heaven. Amen.

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If You Can!

You seldom see Jesus emotional. There might be some projection on my part when I read this story, however, one little sentence caught my attention recently during the liturgy. In the gospel of Mark, we see Jesus a little annoyed. (Mk 9:14-29) The disciples were not able to drive out a demon and they were discussing why.  “O faithless generation, how long will I be with you? How long will I endure you? Bring him to me, ” Jesus exclaims. We see Jesus often full of patience, tenderness, and mercy, and reminding us not to judge. But, here, he disqualifies the disciples and the whole generation recklessly. He cannot stand them anymore. He is tired of them. Rather, he is tired of their lack of faith.

When he talks with the father about his sick son, the father says: “But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us”. Jesus responds: “‘If you can!’” as if to say, what a question. What a stupid question! How can one doubt the power of God and his power to heal? Jesus just does not get it. With these slightly sarcastic words “If you can,” in this terrifying moment for the father, I am reminded of the greatness and power of God. Sometimes we forget how great He is. And, thus, we cannot believe in him. His greatness, instead, is able to trigger our faith. This is what Jesus wants to do here. He does not reply: I am sorry, that you cannot believe yet. I am so sorry, see, faith is a journey, you will get there finally, don’t worry. No, he says: I worry, that you don’t see how great God is. And he adds: “Everything is possible to one who has faith.” With this, he reminds us that we are able to connect with God’s greatness in faith. Then the boy’s father cries out, “I do believe, help my unbelief!” This confrontational therapy helped the father to reactivate his strength: Sure, I believe. And if there is anything lacking in my faith, God – you are great enough, complete it! And, well, Jesus heals the boy.

My Lord and my God, let me never think too small of you. Let me admire and acknowledge your greatness and might. Your power will pull me up. Your mercy will take care of my weakness. Let me not further annoy you. Let me trust that you CAN DO IT. How could you not?  Confront me when necessary. Heal me. Heal all those who are entrusted to my care. You can do it. Lord, help my unbelief.

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