The MARTHA Connection

I must confess that in certain ways I can relate to and appreciate Martha, who is now known as St. Martha, whose feast day is celebrated on July 29. 

On one hand Martha and I could be exact opposites, since she apparently was very concerned with domestic chores and I want as little to do with household chores as possible and would much rather be involved in church activities.  Yet I think I have been termed a "spiritual Martha", because I find it easier and more enjoyable to be involved in working for the LORD than praying. 

What I do relate to and love in Martha is her honesty and her ability to be herself with the LORD and tell Him exactly what she thought and felt.  In this Sunday's Gospel she tells JESUS point-blank, "LORD, if you had been here, my brother would not have died."  It's true.  JESUS COULD have healed Lazarus and prevented his death but chose not to do so, since there was another Plan in place.  Martha is honest enough to tell JESUS the truth and not cover it up with pietistic verbiage. 

She also had great faith, not only to have the freedom to tell the LORD her thoughts and feelings and know that she would not be rejected, but also to believe that JESUS could still do something and that He is the Messiah, in spite of her disappointment.  She was disappointed that JESUS did not do what she wanted Him to do--how often I have felt this way--but she still believed in Him, in Who He is, and what He could do.  She was clearly upset, grieved, frustrated and disappointed, but she did not lose faith or lose heart.  Martha clung to her faith in JESUS in spite of her frustration, grief and disappointment.  YES, her practical nature got a bit in the way--she was hesitant to have the stone moved away from Lazarus' tomb, since she anticipated the stench of a dead body 4 days in the tomb--but when reminded of JESUS' promise, she conceded and cooperated in one of JESUS' greatest miracles--a miracle to be exceeded only by His own resurrection from the dead not long afterwards. 

So let's admit, we gotta love Martha.  In the ungrammatical but popular slogan of the late 1960s/early 1970s we can depend on Martha to "tell it like it is" and be totally transparent with JESUS and to say what many of us might think or feel in our minds and hearts but be afraid to express. 

JESUS loves honest people who are without guile--I think there is a special place in His heart for people like Martha and like Nathaniel (who, when told by Philip that JESUS was the Messiah, responded, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth" but then came to faith when JESUS knew who he was and saw him under the fig tree) and like the apostle Thomas, who voiced his doubts and questions.  Although on an earlier occasion JESUS told Martha that Mary had chosen the better part--sitting at His feet and listening to Him in the position of a disciple rather than being so worried about either the preparations or the clean-up--I think that Martha demonstrates a very special relationship with the LORD JESUS from which we can learn and which we can share.

Message to Governor Andrew Cuomo

GOVERNOR ANDREW CUOMO, I HOPE that what has been circulated on FACEBOOK has been an exaggeration and that your remarks have been misquoted, misconstrued or taken out of context, and I am WILLING TO GIVE YOU THE BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT. What has been circulated is that you consider CONSERVATIVES who are PRO-LIFE and who believe that MARRIAGE IS TO REMAIN DEFINED AS THE UNION OF ONE MAN WITH ONE WOMAN as "EXTREMISTS" who are NOT WELCOME IN NY.
GOVERNOR CUOMO, with all due respect, I am a 60 year old Catholic woman, and I have lived in NY all my life. I consider myself a "PRO LIFE REPUBLICAN, COMPASSIONATE AND SLIGHTLY RIGHT OF CENTER" and I intend to remain that way and to remain living in NY.

A person who believes that EVERY HUMAN BEING FROM THE MOMENT OF CONCEPTION THROUGH NATURAL DEATH--NO EXCEPTIONS--is a person whose life and dignity must be protected and respected is NOT an EXTREMIST. The ONLY EXTREMIST would be the LUNATIC FRINGE WHICH DOES NOT REPRESENT PRO-LIFERS--the rare lunatic persons who have killed abortion doctors or bombed abortion clinics. These LUNATICS are EXTREMISTS not to be welcome. But PRO-LIFERS must be, since we have as much respect for your life as for the lives of the vulnerable unborn, the vulnerable baby in the neo-natal unit, the person with a disability, the person who is elderly, and the person with a chronic, serious or even terminal illness and for all human beings without regard to gender, race, ethnicity of sexual orientation. In fact, what I have just expressed reflects the teaching of the Catholic Church. If you claim to be Catholic, I would suggest that you reconsider the words attributed to you and correct them and, if necessary, your attitude and opinions as well.

A person who believes that GOD ORDAINED MARRIAGE AS THE UNION OF ONE MAN WITH ONE WOMAN and that THIS DEFINITION OF MARRIAGE NEEDS TO BE PROTECTED AND RESPECTED is NOT AN EXTREMIST. The ONLY EXTREMIST would be the LUNATIC FRINGE WHICH DOES NOT REPRESENT US--the lunatic fringe that does physical harm to or bullies or disrespects the personhood and human dignity of a person who is homosexual and those who falsely misrepresent God and Christianity, like the Westboro Baptist Group by falsely claiming that "God hates gays", which is a blasphemous lie. God hates the sin of homosexual behavior but God loves the person who is trapped in the sin of homosexual behavior and struggling with same sex attraction. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches respect for the person who is homosexual and compassion for him/her while ensuring that the sin is defined as sin and as disorder and is not enabled. If you claim to be Catholic, I would suggest you reconsider the words attributed to you, read the words of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and correct those words, your attitude and opinions as well.

GOD LOVES THE UNBORN BABY. GOD LOVES THE WOMAN IN A CRISIS PREGNANCY WHO IS ON THE BRINK OF MAKING THE WORST DECISION OF HER LIFE AND WANTS TO ENSURE THAT SHE IS MADE AWARE OF RESOURCES AND SHELTERS AND LOVING PEOPLE WHO CAN HELP HER TO CHOOSE LIFE, LIKE GOOD COUNSEL HOMES, THE SISTERS OF LIFE, MARY'S MANTLE, BRIDGE TO LIFE, AND FOCUS ON THE FAMILY, AS WELL AS MANY CRISIS PREGNANCY CENTERS. GOD LOVES THE WOMAN WHO HAS MADE THE TRAGIC CHOICE TO HAVE AN ABORTION AND WHO IS NOW SUFFERING IN WAYS FOR WHICH SHE WAS NEVER PREPARED, AND HE LONGS TO SHOW HER MERCY, COMPASSION, FORGIVENESS, HEALING AND RESTORATION. GOD LOVES THE PERSONS STRUGGLING WITH SAME SEX ATTRACTION AND THOSE TRAPPED IN THE SIN OF HOMOSEXUAL BEHAVIOR AND HE LONGS TO SET THEM FREE AND HELP THEM LIVE CHASTE LIVES. GOD EVEN LOVES THE PEOPLE IN THE ABORTION INDUSTRY, MANY OF WHOM WERE DECEIVED INTO BELIEVING THEY WERE HELPING WOMEN, SO MUCH SO THAT HE IS CHANGING THEIR HEARTS AND HAS CALLED ABBY JOHNSON, WHO WAS FORMERLY IN THE ABORTION INDUSTRY BUT IS NOW PRO-LIFE, TO FORM A SPECIAL MINISTRY CALLED "AND THEN THERE WERE NONE" TO HELP PEOPLE LEAVE THE ABORTION INDUSTRY AND START A NEW LIFE.

WHAT I HAVE STATED IS THE TEACHING OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AND SHARED BY MANY NON-CATHOLIC CHRISTIANS AND OTHER PEOPLE OF GOOD WILL AS WELL--MANY OF WHOM ARE YOUR CONSTITUENTS. MOST OF US HAVE BEEN LIVING IN NY A LOT LONGER THAN YOU HAVE BEEN GOVERNOR AND WHO HAVE THE RIGHT TO VOTE YOU OUT OF OFFICE AT THE NEXT ELECTION. I RESPECTFULLY SUGGEST THAT YOU EITHER CLARIFY YOUR STATEMENTS, IF YOU HAVE BEEN MISQUOTED, OR CHANGE YOUR MIND AND ATTITUDES ABOUT PEOPLE WHO ARE COMMITTED TO PRO-LIFE AND PRO-TRADITIONAL MARRIAGE CONVICTIONS--ESPECIALLY IF YOU STILL CHOOSE TO CONSIDER YOURSELF CATHOLIC.

Advent/ Christmas Reflection : 2013

 

 

The more I reflect on life, on the coming of CHRIST in history, on the comings of CHRIST in our lives, on Advent, on Christmas, and on the Second Coming of CHRIST at the end of the world, the more I see that as human beings we tend to think that JESUS comes when we are ready, when we are all prepared, and when we have everything just perfect so that He will be pleased, and "Christmas magic" makes everything all right.

But in reality JESUS came into the world, comes to us in our lives and in each day of our lives, Christmas comes, and He will come again when we are in distress, when we recognize that life and the world around us are in a mess, when we least expect Him and are almost ready to give up hope, and when we need Him the most. 

Martha Stewart was nowhere near the First Christmas.  And BABY JESUS' first place to sleep was not a cradle in Nazareth but in a manger at Bethlehem.  Until the angels heralded His coming to some simple shepherds working the midnight shift, the LORD of LIFE slipped in quietly in a lowly stable or cave in Bethlehem while everyone was preoccupied with the census of the oppressive Roman government. 

So let us not lose heart with our imperfections, the imperfection of this world, and the imperfection of our lives.  Let us not drive ourselves crazy with unrealistic expectations.  Let us, instead, acknowledge the messiness in our hearts, our lives, our homes, and the world around us and be truly poor in spirit, which means that we have come to know our need for God and cry out, "COME, LORD JESUS.  WE DESPERATELY NEED YOU!"

 

© Copyright 2013 by Arlene B. Muller (Arlene Clare Muller, OSF).

THE GIFT OF VOCATION--AND THE SINGLE VOCATION IS A VOCATION, TOO!

For every human being God has created He gives two great commandments: Love God with our whole heart, soul, mind and strength, and Love our neighbors as ourselves. He has endowed every human being with unique personalities, unique temperaments, unique gifts, unique talents, and He calls each to follow the vocation and purpose He has designed for him/her. There is no human life without purpose and there is no human being who is not called to make a positive difference in this world. Part of our life journey is to discover, follow and cultivate our individual vocations, for it is in our vocations and in following the LORD's plan for our lives that each of us will best use what God has given us to fulfill the two greatest commandments and make a positive difference in his world. 

 

Each vocation is different, and the best vocation for an individual is the vocation to which he/she has been called; to do otherwise would be disobedient. Some of us know our individual vocations early, while others seem to stumble on them and eventually embrace them, since God works in mysterious ways, or learn step by step, like following a trail of breadcrumbs, what the LORD wants us to do. The Catholic Church recognizes priesthood, religious life, marriage and the single vocation as valid, legitimate vocations in which God suits each person to best obey the two greatest commandments and use all that God has given us to make a positive difference in this world, and I believe that it is good whenever faith-filled people in a particular vocation come together to support and encourage one another, because people within the same vocation can uniquely support and encourage those who are walking in similar shoes. 

 

In a thread of comments in which I was trying to point out how faithful married Catholics--married deacons and lay married couples who have been married for a long time and have faithfully followed Church teaching and survived all the challenges of marriage and family life with unselfish devotion and sacrificial love--can mentor couples preparing for marriage and reinforce Catholic teaching to other married people with authenticity and be perceived as the most credible witnesses because of the testimony of their lives, someone insisted that I "failed at marriage" because I have chosen the celibate single state in which to love and serve God and love and serve people and make a positive difference in my life. 

 

I have not failed at marriage but I am following my personal choice and what I believe is how God has fashioned me and called me. It is true that some of my reasons for choosing singleness have to do with personal preference and are partially selfish or self-centered, but I believe that I am being faithful in my life of freedom to serve God, the Church and people in this way and that my life is "bearing good fruit". For some "bearing good fruit" is marrying, bearing and raising children who will know, love and serve the LORD. But that is not the only way. 

 

We need a greater respect for ALL the vocations, and the vocation of singleness, whether by specific choice or accepted and embraced at a later point in one's life journey. No vocation is a failure but a gift of God and a means of grace.

'TIS A GIFT TO BE SINGLE

This is what I posted on the FACEBOOK page of FOCUS ON THE FAMILY in response to a two-part program with a single woman in her 40s who is in charge of their publication BOUNDLESS about being a single woman who desires to be married and is actively seeking and waiting on the LORD for a husband.  I am tired of people whining about being single and the implication that one's life is incomplete without a spouse.  I might be a rare "unicorn", but I am very grateful and relieved that God has allowed me to have the privilege of remaining single.  So my response to FOCUS ON THE FAMILY is as follows:

I listened to most of your two part series about singleness and, although I have a lot more to say I will begin with two words, "STOP WHINING!" I would add "STOP WASTING YOUR LIFE PINING FOR A SPOUSE--FIND YOUR PURPOSE IN LIFE--GOD MIGHT VERY WELL BE CALLING YOU TO THE BLESSED PRIVILEGE OF THE SINGLE VOCATION."  How about EMBRACING AND MAKING THE BEST USE OF YOUR TIME AND FREEDOM OF YOUR SINGLE STATE--it might be your vocation, or perhaps God WILL bring that special person into your life and you will marry, BUT MAKE THE BEST, MOST GODLY USE OF THE PRECIOUS TIME IN YOUR LIFE RIGHT NOW!

Although I respect and admire people called to the vocation of marriage who are devoted to the LORD and their spouses and children and are serving God, their families and others well, as my parents have been doing for 63 years and counting, life does not revolve around whether the LORD gives you a spouse or not.  Consider whether God has another purpose for you and don't waste your time!

Perhaps I am somewhat selfish or self-centered, and I am a 60 year old happily celibate single pro-life Catholic Christian feminist who decided even before the feminist movement came into vogue that my life was NOT going to revolve around a man and that my happiness was NOT to depend on having a man in my life, so my perspective is quite different and the LAST thing I would want would be for someone to look for a "match" for me.  I am not anti-men (I respect both men and women and have both male and female friends) or anti-marriage; I believe that marriage between one man and one woman for a lifetime, faithful, committed sacramental union and the bearing, loving, and raising children has been ordained by God and is a SACRAMENT and a VOCATION and a challenging journey requiring a lot of love, commitment, effort, struggle and self-sacrifice.  It is just not a vocation for everyone.  God's will is for SOME to marry but for others to pursue other vocations, and in the Catholic Church we honor celibate priesthood, celibate consecrated religious life in community, marriage, and the celibate single vocation.  YES, I dated somewhat during my life and tried to be open to making the sacrifice of getting married if this was the LORD's will, but in the end I am relieved that the LORD has allowed me to have the blessings and freedom of the celibate single vocation. 

I personally hate housework and believe that if we collected all the time we spend doing it, this time could have been used writing the great American novel or doing something else more significant! So I can live in my "woman cave" with clutter that bothers no one and write my blog or post on FACEBOOK without being responsible for "keeping a nice home".  I am very active in the Church--I am a lector (proclaiming some of the Scriptures at Mass), a Special Minister of Holy Communion (I help distribute Holy Communion at Mass and can bring Holy Communion to people who are unable to get to Mass--currently my 84 year old Mom and 90 year old Dad have had health issues that prevent them from getting there and I can bring them Holy Communion), a choir member and involved in other Catholic music ministries, a professed member of the Secular Franciscan order (the order St. Francis of Assisi founded for lay people), and I have been involved in various prayer groups as well.  Church ministry and community are my LIFEBLOOD and this is where I find joy, fulfillment and purpose.  I have been working with preschoolers with special needs for the past ten years, so I have the privilege of loving and making a positive difference in the lives of young children without the 24/7 responsibility and the mess--I get to go home and go out as I please at the end of the work day.  When the Spirit inspires me I can sit down and write a poem, write a reflection, write a song in my own space, unencumbered and with few, if any, interruptions.  I am also an only child, and now that my parents are aging and starting to need my help and I am doing itinerant speech therapy that allows me to have flexible hours I can be available to spend time with them, cherish them and the time I have left with them, and try to give them some joy and the best quality of life that I can, with God's help.

I know that the majority of people who are single are looking to marry and that I am an exception.  I am rare in that I personally don't find marriage desirable.  But singles need to realize that if we belong to the LORD we do not need a spouse to complete us--we are complete in CHRIST.  And I believe that it was St. Augustine who said that God loves each of us as if there were only one of us.  Of course, I am blessed that my parents are still alive and close to me and that I have the blessing of family, friends, Christian community and ministry.  I have found my place and purpose in life primarily through the Church.  I would encourage ALL single people--whether called to remain single or called to marry in God's time--to find happiness in the LORD, in the Church, and in cultivating and using your God-given gifts and talents to serve God and serve others.  I believe that this is where ultimate happiness lives, whether it is in the context of the home, the workplace, or the Church.  For me the single state provides me with the freedom to use my time and energy making use of my God-given gifts unencumbered by the challenges, conflicts, aggravation, mundane chores, and burdens of the vocation of marriage and demanding a lot less sacrifice.  In whatever vocation God calls us, we are called to love and serve Him and love and serve people and to use our God-given gifts for His purpose and His glory.  For many it is in the vocation of marriage, but it is not for everyone.  For me singleness is a vocation to be embraced and not merely a "holding pattern" to be "endured".

Many of your programs about the single state have been about how to find a mate, perhaps "what to do in the meantime", but none, to the best of my knowledge, have been with people who feel blessed to embrace the single state.  Perhaps you should consider this for your future programming.

(c) Copyright 2013 by Arlene B. Muller (Arlene Clare Muller, OSF)

A REFLECTIVE CRITIQUE OF “EAT, PRAY LOVE” BY A VATICAN II CATHOLIC

              

This weekend I stayed at an inn in North Wales, Pennsylvania where we celebrated a baby shower for my cousin Katie—she and her husband Nick are expecting their first child—a baby girl—in October.  I chose to drive to the inn the day before the shower, stay overnight at this lovely inn, enjoy the accommodations, celebrate the baby shower, and then drive home to Queens, NY.

After a lovely evening meal at an outdoor table, accompanied by piano music (including selections from LES MISERABLES) and a walk around the grounds I went to my room and got settled. The TV didn’t have the INSP network (which I have at home via Verizon Fios), so I couldn’t watch a rerun of THE WALTONS, nor did it have a Catholic or other Christian channel or THE HALLMARK CHANNEL, and the best program I could find was the movie “EAT, PRAY, LOVE” with Julia Roberts (to whom I’d gladly love to donate 10 pounds).  I happened to tune it in when she was enjoying a Thanksgiving meal with a family in Rome, I watched the segment of her time in India, and I turned it off during the segment in Bali, partially because I was tired and needed to sleep and partially because I suspected the film would take a turn that I would not want to see. So this reflective critique is based on the segment of the film I actually watched.

I can understand that the Julia Roberts character (I don’t remember her name—was it Liz?—I remember that a character named Richard in the India segment called her “groceries” since she had a large plate of food in front of her) would experience the joy of eating in Rome, since the reputation of Italian cuisine is well known. But why would she have to leave Rome to go to India to learn to pray? I suspect that this is part of the anti-Catholic and even anti-Christian bias of many in the entertainment industry for which Eastern religions have more appeal.  Here this woman was visiting the headquarters of the Catholic Church, St. Peter’s Basilica, and the place where many martyrs died rather than renounce their faith, and she leaves there to go to India?

I must confess that to a certain extent her character might not learn the secret of prayer in Rome, the bustling city and seat of government of the Church with all its pomp, position, prestige, politics and bureaucracy—hopefully Pope Francis will continue as he started and renew the Church by continuing to rid it of some of its worldly external entrapments and to bring it closer to Gospel simplicity.  But why India?  Why an ashram?  She could have saved herself a lot of travel time and travel cost and gone from Rome, the government head of the Church to the HEART of the Church, which is ASSISI!  There she would have encountered the legacy of St. Francis and St. Clare, who demonstrated the way of love and the way of prayer in the One Who IS the WAY, JESUS CHRIST, and in living the Gospel, and it has been said that the holiness that permeated their lives still permeates the atmosphere of Assisi, where people are still seeking to walk in their footsteps.  Perhaps there she could have found the answer to reviving her struggling marriage in the words of the Peace Prayer attributed to our beloved St. Francis:  “where there is injury, pardon…where there is despair, hope…to understand…to love…it is in giving that we receive…”.

But instead the scene shifts dramatically to her ride in a cab from the airport to an ashram (or whatever) in India to spend time learning to meditate from a guru.  As she rides in her cab, poor beggar children are pawing at her window and she does nothing.  HELLO!  Here this woman is supposedly seeking God or seeking herself or seeking nirvana and she totally disregards JESUS in her midst in His “distressing disguise” of poor children!  One of her first assignments is to scrub the floor.  Believe me; I would not spend my money on airfare to India to scrub floors!!  I pay my CLEANING LADY to scrub my floors!  If she wanted to scrub floors, would it not have made much more sense to find an elderly or infirmed family member, friend or neighbor who needed her floor scrubbed!  At least she would then have been performing an act of charity and humble service for someone who needed her help right where she lived!  And if she really wanted to learn to pray in India, it would have been much better for her to have gone to a convent of the Missionaries of Charity—Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta’s order—because there she could have learned the secret of praying in silence –not to “nothing” but to LOVE INCARNATE, JESUS CHRIST in the Blessed Sacrament, and to encounter Him not only in Eucharistic Adoration but in loving Him by loving service to “the poorest of the poor”. There she could have learned BOTH to PRAY and to LOVE.  And if she was interested in scrubbing floors, I am sure that they would have gladly given her the opportunity! :~ Finding God DOES involve some self-emptying, as those in Eastern religions claim, but what use is self-emptying UNLESS the end result is SELF-GIVING and in being “FILLED with the fullness of God Himself!” (See Ephesians 3:14-21).

Apparently through her prayer exercises and a friendship with a somewhat critical seeker named Richard this woman achieves a certain measure of peace.  She has some flashbacks to her married life—she still loves her husband but sadly concludes “nothing is forever”.  She recognizes the Presence of God within, but although it is good that she realizes that God is within and is not merely Someone requiring performance, she fails to recognize that God only enters where He is invited and welcomed and that God is NOT “us” but One Who lives in us to transform us into the person He created us to become—a unique individual but also a new, unique reflection of JESUS CHRIST.

In her new found peace and happiness she pets an elephant and the scene abruptly switches to Bali, where she meets another kind of teacher who seems to emphasize “balance” and she supposedly learns how to love. Since I had read that she supposedly has an affair in Bali I concluded that this segment was not worth watching.

I still don’t know if the “end result” of the film is that she has “moved on” and will officially end what had been turning into a “loveless marriage”, which would be a likely conclusion of the entertainment industry and too many people in real life—or if she discovers that it is important to invest what she has received from her lessons in eating, praying and loving in giving her marriage a second chance. Since this movie is based on a well-known book which, I believe, is a chronicle of one woman’s life experience, perhaps someday I’ll glance at the final chapter in a local bookstore.  It’s just sad that she did not encounter JESUS CHRIST and help her husband to encounter Him.  If they both had encountered JESUS CHRIST and learned to see Him in each other and put Him in the center of a sacramental marriage, then they could have endured as my parents have been doing for 63 years and counting!

Ultimately the book and film “EAT, PRAY, LOVE” shows me that the world is in desperate need of the Gospel and that we Catholics (as well as other Christians) need to pray and work harder and smarter in the task of evangelization. We already know that "the world" is "off base".  We as Church and as individual Christians are called to evangelize and we see that many people in the world are trying to get their needs--including their SPIRITUAL needs--met in "all the wrong places".  It has been said that "evangelization is one beggar telling/showing another beggar where the bread is." People are spiritually starving without JESUS CHRIST.  We need to find better ways to reach them.  We have to know something about what is going on in their hearts and reach out and give them JESUS.  Obviously we have to do this in a way that never compromises Truth or any of our doctrines or moral principles.  But how do they perceive the Church, Christ and Christians? Do they merely see us as "institution", "rules, regulations and rituals", and "Thou shalt not"?  YES, that

is part of who and what we are, but we are about so much more!  We need to give them JESUS--to show them JESUS--to help them to see JESUS as He really is--LOVE INCARNATE, MERCY INCARNATE, the GOD Who loves us so much that He came to dwell with us and share our lives, to die for our sins, to win victory over sin and death through His cross and resurrection, and the One without Whom our hearts will forever be restless until we find our rest in HIM!

© Copyright 2013 by Arlene B. Muller (Arlene Clare Muller, SFO)

Reflections on Pride vs Delight in What God Does Through Us

I believe that we are truly, genuinely, authentically GRATEFUL to God for what He has done and is doing in our lives and through us, and for the gifts He has given us and for the blessings of the opportunity to use these gifts in the Church and make the best use of these opportunities, then it is NOT PRIDE.  The ways to check pride (of which I need to remind myself) include remembering: (1) There is NOTHING that we have that we have not received from God--gifts are just that: GIFTS from God that He is free to give and take away as HE chooses. (2) The GIFTS we have received from the LORD are given to us FOR THE COMMON GOOD (1 Corinthians 12)--NOT FOR OURSELVES. (3) God can use whatever and whomever He chooses to accomplish whatever good He does. He used a donkey to get a message to Balaam.  So we can share how God has used it and is using us, as long as we remember that it is HE Who gets the glory--we are merely instruments and servants.  Since He could use a donkey, He can use us.

JESUS taught us the WE ARE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD and that we are to LET OUR LIGHTS SHINE SO THAT PEOPLE WILL SEE THE GOOD WE DO AND GIVE GLORY TO GOD. So aspire to do whatever God calls you to do without false humility. Take delight in the gifts God has given you and use them generously for the sake of the Church and wherever He has called you to use them. Just remember that the END is that people GIVE GLORY TO GOD, NOT TO US.

The temptation of pride is the temptation that leads us to believe that we are somehow better than other people and that cause us to go around pointing fingers at other people and claiming to be better than them.  It's a struggle to avoid that kind of pride.  But that is the snare Satan uses with "religious people".  A check on this temptation to pride is the expression, "THERE BUT FOR THE GRACE OF GOD GO I."

© Copyright 2013 by Arlene B. Muller (Arlene Clare Muller, OSF).