First Comes Desire

"It is God who makes you not only wish but also carry out what pleases Him." - Philippians 2:13

I attended a Divine Mercy Holy Hour tonight and after the service, the priest asked my friend if he wanted to be a priest. My friend smiled at him not knowing how to respond politely. For most of us, the thought of being a nun or a priest is out of the question, but God will never call you to do anything you don't have a desire to do first. This is how it is with all things in our lives. When I started to look for God and find ways to serve Him, I had the desire for it first, before I ever did anything about it.

So many of you might feel in your heart that there is something you want to do for the Lord and don't know where to start. Maybe you want to read during Mass, maybe you want to volunteer to help the poor or at a soup kitchen, or maybe you want to teach religion classes to children studying for their First Communion or Confirmation. Whatever you feel in your heart you want to do, God wants you to do as well. Pray about it, ask God to show you the path and lead you in what to do next. In this way you'll see that whatever road God leads you on, He'll lead you with love and never out of obligation.

Today's Prayer:
Lord, You know the desires of my heart. I want to follow You and serve You. Give me the desire to work for Your Kingdom and let me follow what You have put in my heart. In Jesus' Name we pray, amen.

The Conversion of Saint Paul

"As he traveled along and was approaching Damascus, a light from the sky suddenly flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, 'Saul, Saul! Why do you persecute me?' And he asked, 'Who are you, Lord?' The voice replied, 'I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.'" - Acts 9:3-5

The interesting thing about Paul before his encounter with Jesus is that he was acting out of zeal for his Jewish faith. Paul thought he was doing the right thing and doing it for God's kingdom. In the same way, I'm sure each of us has our righteous inclinations about certain things and if we don't examine ourselves carefully under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, those attitudes we hold on to might be pulling us into sin without us realizing it. There really are many aspects to a Spiritual life that can be damaging instead of constructive. For example, someone may become prideful of having a close relationship with God and look down upon other sinners. But our Lord is a merciful God and I believe that when our heart is in trying to do God's will, He'll open our eyes to our mistakes. In the case of Paul, his passion for his law and religion blinded him from seeing the harm he was causing. Because so many new Christians suffered at his hands, it was Jesus that was being persecuted along with them, just like we persecute Jesus when we believe ourselves to be righteous and act upon our misguided beliefs. However, what the enemy intends for our harm, God uses for our good, and in order to stop Paul dead in his tracks from arresting more Christians, Jesus Himself appeared before him with such intensity that Paul was knocked from his horse and onto the ground. As you know, Paul went on to bring the news of Jesus to all the pagan nations outside of Jerusalem, demonstrating that God can take the worst parts of us, like Paul with his zeal for arresting Christians, and use that for the glory of His Kingdom. But before that happens, expect the bumps in the road that will knock us down. Expect obstacles allowed by God that will leave us completely disoriented. All these things are necesary for a true conversion and to be a true instrument of God's power.

Today's Prayer:
Lord Jesus, knock me down if there are things I am blind to that are leading me to sin. Strip away all pride and ego and leave me with a humble heart that only seeks to work for Your kingdom. In Jesus' Name we pray, amen.

Human Sexuality

"God said, 'Let there be light;' and there was light. God said, 'Let us make man in our image, to our likeness.'" - Genesis 1:3,26

When God spoke the words "let there be light," He spoke into them all of His power. This wasn't just a bright light, but a fire of energy that burst forth to set all creation into motion. The same fire, power, and energy was put into us when we were created in God's image. The Lord, who put all of His passion into creation, also put that fire and passion into us. We are made in God's image in the sense that we have an incredible ability to love and love passionately. The central place this love is revealed is through our sexuality. It is the source of creation. From this fire we were created and we too create new life from it.

A lot of times many people are ashamed of their sexuality or feel a need to hide it, thinking that some how God does not approve of sexual feelings or desires, when it was God that put that passion into each and every one of us. It's the drive we have within us to go out to love and be loved. In being like God, we have the need for intimacy, for affection, for touch, for real love. This is a good thing and a gift from God. But it's a gift that needs to be taken care of. I'm learning in ministry classes that from the time a baby is born, it is already a sexual being and that from birth we all go through a cycle of psycho-sexual maturation with various stages all the years of our lives. Sometimes along that journey, traumas can occur that affect our sexual development. We become hurt because of rejection, abuse, guilt, shame or a number of things that lock us in a stage of development for a while and we never grow to reach the full, sexual life God intended for us. Many times people abuse sexuality and take freedom to mean purely genital pleasure, not the fullness and depth God intended through love. When we learn that sexuality is a gift to be valued, and as mature persons share that love and intimacy with a partner who is our equal, God is in that union. It is holy and pleasing to the Lord.

Today's Prayer:
Lord God, thank You for the gift of sexuality. Through it, You teach us how to love and give ourselves in love to another as You have done for us. Help guide us Lord so that we don't abuse the gift, but use it as You please so that we can have life in abundance. In Your Name we pray, amen.