Vocations Newsletter

Brothers and sisters: You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light.”~ Ephesians 5:8“Dear Friend,St. Paul says we should live as children of light. I think that’s really good advice.You have to admit: we just don’t do well in the dark. We hurt ourselves… we bump into things… we get lost. Today’s reading tells us what we know in our hearts: that by welcoming the light of Christ into our lives, we leave the darkness behind. For us that means relationship problems, disappointments, the setbacks and the hurts. In Christ we can see as the blind man in today’s readings was able to see. Jesus anointed his eyes with clay and then told him to go and wash in the pool of Siloam. At once his eyes were opened and he gave praise.This parable is a great lesson. Once we realize the power of Christ’s message, we not only see the light. We become the light.We’re now less than a month away from Holy Week and Easter Sunday. Think how you can be the light of Christ for someone close to you: a parent or sibling, a spouse, a child, a friend,…
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“If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.”~ Psalm 95:7Friend,This is hard work. It’s the third week of Lent and what we started with every good intention is starting to feel weighty—maybe even burdensome. What exactly did we start anyway?Listen to the reading today from Exodus. The Israelites said the same thing to Moses when they left Egypt: “Why did you make us leave, only to die of thirst in the desert?” Worried for his people, Moses prayed with all his might; then he followed God’s command. He struck a rock and water flowed.How does that apply to me, you ask?We know what God wants for us: joy in giving witness to the compassion of Our Lord and, one day, a welcome home with the gift of eternal life. I understand… sometimes we feel like we’re stuck in a personal desert without a lifeline. This is where prayer helps—and sharing our feelings with people we know who are on the same journey.The halfway mark of Lent is a good time to ask ourselves what really matters. If we want change and transformation, what are we willing to do to deepen our relationship with God? Only you can answer…
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The second week of Lent… and transformation is definitely the message of today’s Gospel. Are you up to the challenge?In the company of his disciples—Peter, James and John his brother—Jesus revealed his divinity. At that moment, Matthew says “his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light.” What Jesus is telling us by example is that we can be changed, too.Lent is the time for a quiet transformation of our spiritual lives, a time to shine our light and proclaim through prayer and good works salvation in Christ. The best way I know to be transformed is to give ourselves over to God so that each day we are a new creation, reflecting in some way an expression of infinite love and endless compassion.With the words of a humble missioner, let’s ask God to transform us today. Here’s a suggestion: Stop for a moment and think about the things in your life that may be going in the wrong direction. Pick just one thing you want to change, and place your intentions in God’s hands. Pray over it. Then be open to the Spirit and let yourself be transformed.Friend, we can be comforted knowing that the…
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“Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness; in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense. Thoroughly wash me from my guilt and of my sin cleanse me.”Psalm Chapter 51, verses 3-4Friend,Today is the first Sunday of Lent… and as some poets might say, the first day of the rest of our lives. Time to get on with the work of personal reckoning—acknowledging our sins and shortcomings, and seeking forgiveness. But it’s work of the most rewarding kind.Because we are missioners, each of us has a great desire to connect with God and be renewed in the compassion of Our Lord. So the first thing we can do in our Lenten journey is acknowledge our limitations. Even our flaws. And definitely our sins. Lent gives us the mental space to do that—and the comfort of knowing that the faithful person next door—and believers all over the world—are seeking a deeper relationship with God, too.When we take these first few steps toward renewal, the world changes. We change! We don’t just seek forgiveness. We give it as well and that’s when healing replaces pain. Take a minute now to think how it would feel to be free of…
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