Thank You

By Christopher Ziegler

Learning to accept your love for me
Has required a leap of faith.
I cannot see why I am precious to you.

My whole life you guarded me
As a mother guards her child.
I was a thankless brat.

When I was broken you embraced me
And held me in your arms.
So I came to feel I was in your debt
And wanted to repay you.

But you wanted more.

You told me you wanted all of me—
To give myself to you completely.

I did not believe in a love like that
So you allowed me to walk away.
But immediately miseries crept into me
And I withered inside.

How can I merit your love? I feel vile.

My soul cleaves to the darkness.

Yet you were still chasing after my heart.

I open myself to you and your love pours into me.
You flood my body with waves of joy.
Your love is better than anything I ever wanted.
Your words, soft and earnest, give wisdom.
My heart swells with tenderness.

Author Christopher Ziegler 

I cannot see why I am precious to you.
All I want to do is thank you—thank you.

Mary, Mediatrix of All Graces from God 

Did you enjoy this poem? Chris has written another about Mary: The Hardest Thing

Here's another poem on Mary: The Hands of the HandMaid: God Rocking in the Cradle

Ascension: Christ's Journey into Heaven

Sermon by Rev. John Paul Shea

Ascension of the Lord, May 17, 2015

Saints Peter and Paul Parish, Tucson, AZ

Today we celebrate the wonderful feast of the Ascension of Our Lord where we celebrate Christ’s journey into heaven.

As we reflect on today’s celebration, we look at  our journey as Christians. The Ascension of Our Lord shows us that our lives here on Earth are temporary. We are only passing through, and our destiny is to live eternally with God in heaven.

In today’s first reading (Acts 1:1-11), we hear that after the Resurrection, Our Lord presented himself alive to His disciples by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days. Our Lord teaches and tells them to remain there until they receive the power of the Holy Spirit.

Then, as Our Lord is being taken up, we hear that two angels appear in the sky! They say, “Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven.” In other words, these angels are saying, “Get busy! Don’t just sit here! Go to work! Go out and proclaim the Gospel!

Our Lord wanted His disciples to focus on the most important part -- proclaiming the message of  salvation! This proclamation continues with each new generation of disciples. It has been handed onto our Church for the salvation of souls until Our Lord returns at the end of time.

My brothers and sisters, today’s feast is about preparing our hearts and souls for eternal life. Through His Ascension, Our Lord has become our bridge between heaven and earth. He came to establish His kingdom on earth and has given us His church so that we can prepare our hearts and souls for when He comes again at the final resurrection.

But if we want to live in the Resurrection, our Lord tells us that we must begin now. We can’t expect to live with Our Lord for eternity if we use our minds and bodies for what is not holy  today. This is why our Lord came to earth and established His Church -- the Voice of God in the world today. He calls his children to conversion. Listen. 

At His Ascension, Our Lord commands His disciples to “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.” 

Notice that Our Lord does not simply tell us to be baptized. He tells us that we must also believe. Baptism gives us grace and makes us members of our Lord’s flock. But, if we do not truly believe, then we  condemn ourselves. 

It is when we believe that our hearts are changed, that we that we live for God and not for the world. 

Saint Paul says in today’s second reading (Ephesians 1:17-23), “May the eyes of your hearts be enlightened, that you may know what is the hope that belongs to his call, what are the riches of glory in his inheritance among the holy ones, and what is the surpassing greatness of his for us who believe.” 

Today’s feast calls us to look at the big picture. The world we live in today is passing away. Our Lord therefore calls us to set our

hearts on greater things. He wants us to focus on what is eternal. Our Lord has come to set up His kingdom on Earth, and He calls us to prepare our hearts for this Kingdom today.

The Catholic Church sees the Resurrection and Ascension of Our Lord as end-time events. Through his life, death, resurrection, and ascension, Jesus has initiated the kingdom of God. He has brought His kingdom into the world. But, His kingdom is not yet fuflilled. The kingdom of God was inaugurated in Christ, but creation doesn’t yet fully participate in it. Full participation in the kingdom of God will come at the second coming of Christ and the final resurrection of our bodies. 

We are now in the time that the Church calls, eschatological tension. It is a tension between the old age and the new age. We began the new age at Jesus’ Resurrection and Ascension, but the old age continues until Our Lord returns. This is why there are so many struggles in our world today. And, as we come closer to the end of the age, this tension is becoming more intense.
 
At the time of Jesus there were only about 2 to 3 hundred million people on the Earth. Today we have nearly seven billion. We not only have more people, but we are experiencing a rapid increase in technology unlike we've ever seen before in modern history. Yet, even with all this technology, we do not have true peace. As a world society, we are not happy because we have turned away from the laws of God. 

We are destroying our communities through war, violence and terrorism. We are destroying our families through contraception, sterilization, abortion and divorce. We are destroying our purity through pornography,

homosexuality, promiscuity, lust and abuse. We are destroying cultures through selfishness and disregard for the poor. We are destroying our environment through greed, overdevelopment and pollution. 

My brothers and sisters, because our world has turned its back on God, we are destroying the very life that God gave us! But Our Lord wants to give us a new life, not only in the life to come but even right now today, if only we believe in Him and change our lives accordingly. 

Let us not focus our attention on a world that is passing away. Let us focus our hearts on the Ascension of Our Lord so that our hearts and souls will be lifted toward the greater meaning of life which is eternal salvation.

Don't miss Fr. Shea's sermon from last week:
Love One Another as I Have Loved You

Love One Another as I Have Loved You

Sermon by Rev. John Paul Shea

Sixth Sunday of Easter, May 10, 2015

Saints Peter and Paul Parish, Tucson, AZ

“This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.”

(John 15:12) 

Today’s Gospel (John 15:9-17) teaches us about our call as Christians. 

Last week, we heard about the vine and the branches from the passage before the scene in today's Gospel.

Our Lord was reminding His disciples that their entire ministry of discipleship is completely dependent upon Him, and He was explaining their need to allow Him to prune in them whatever is not good and holy.

Now He is reminding them that if they are to bear fruit, then they must follow Our Lord’s example of love. They must love one another for Christ’s sake and according to His example.

My brothers and sisters, today’s message of

Ordination of
Fr. John Paul Shea

love encompasses the fullness of all the commandments of Our Lord.

We are reminded, however, that true love is not about fuzzy feelings. True love is not simply affection.

Christ’s example of love to His disciples was a love that was self-abandoning and self-sacrificing. Jesus shows us that love is a commitment. True love seeks the best for the other person.

In today’s Gospel, Our Lord says, “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one’s friends.”

Our Lord gave us the most perfect example of greater love by dying on the cross, and He expects us, His disciples, to follow in His

footsteps by laying down our lives for one another, each in our own way and within our own circumstances. Our Lord laid down His life for us out of pure love, and He calls us to imitate His example by laying aside our own desires. Seek the good regardless of cost. Love -- not for our selfish sake -- but for God's. 

Our world does not know  true love because our world has strayed from God. This is why there is so much sex and gratification exploited in all areas of our culture and society.

Our culture teaches us not the way of love, but of selfishness. Our society says, do not give. Take! Do not sacrifice. Enjoy!

Today’s second reading from 1 John 4:7-10 says, “Everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God. Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love.”

So many persons in our culture today do not know God because they do not know what true love is. Instead of a culture of love, we have turned to death. People and relationships have become disposable. We are becoming a manufactured society. That is why we are having so many problems.

So much immorality around us… So many kids from broken homes… So many persons who are addicted to drugs or sex or pornography … So many who do not love themselves because they do not know how precious they are….

When God is removed from society, then true love is removed. Persons are viewed as a commodity, whereas we are really God's children. Sex becomes an object of lust instead of a gift of love.

But, God does not want this. He does not want His children to live for our death culture and hedonistic society. He is calling us to live for Him, to live in Truth. 

Jesus tells His disciples, “It was not you who

chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain.”

My brothers and sisters, we have been chosen! Each one of us! We would not be

here at Mass today if we were not hand-picked children of Our Lord.

The question we must ask ourselves is, “How are we responding to our Lord’s call? How are we accepting His commandment to love in our daily lives?

Each one of us has a different vocation in life. Some of are priests. Some are married. Some  are mothers. Some are fathers. Some are single. We have different jobs and occupations. We have different interests, but there is one commandment that Our Lord requires of each one of us. Our Lord commands each one of us to live in His love.

As we receive our Lord in the Holy Eucharist today, let us come to know the depth of our Lord’s love in our lives. And let us strive to follow His example of true love by loving one another as He has loved us.