Fr. Bill's Weekly Message
for 8/16/98
Dear Parishioners:
Another school year begins. It seems that the
older I get the faster the years go by. THANKS BE TO GOD! If time
went as slow for us, as it does for children, we would never make it. Cares
and troubles would be too much.
Time itself doesn't move faster or slower. Michael
Jordan does not change direction in midair. Many such things are due to
perception, not reality. Much of our modern society decides on perception
not reality.
Major effort is made to give young people self esteem
rather than self respect. The former is a matter of perception, the
latter reality. Much is made of making feel good rather than face the truth.
Many people go to counselors and ask them to help them not feel guilty
even when they are. Many like to cover up the flaws and short comings which
come between husbands and wives.
This simply will never do in the long run. Sooner
or later we will have to face reality. It will be far better for us to
do so today. Each Is responsible for his or her own life. At some point
all of us will take on immortality. It will be the fullness of heaven or
the fullness of hell.
What we will be for eternity is being lived by us
today. It is heaven all the way to heaven because Jesus is the way.
The converse is also true, it's hell all the way to hell. Some people make
a life of living loneliness, selfishness, moving from one pleasure to another.
They know how futile this endeavor is. It is never enough, never enough.
Others, on the other hand, experience daily the reward
of heaven, albeit in a fragmentary form. They know the richness of
love, the strength of truth, the hope of vision, the peace of charity,
the security of letting go, etc. Heaven is not something just for the future.
Jesus tells you and me today that we have the blessing
if we hear the Word of God and keep it (Luke 11:28). To be blest by
God is to be embraced by God, His love, His peace, His goodness, justice,
patience, etc. The blessing frees us from the tyranny of reputation, success,
material possessions. Submission [that hated word] to the Word of God requires
that we do just that, submit.
To submit is to give in, surrender, let another have
control. If we determine that this or that is truly God, then we can
usually allow at least some giving in. The problem, of course, arises when
we realize that God's will often comes to us through other people, wives
to husbands, pastors to congregations, Pope to all Catholics. Now I must
also add that everyone of these carries a reciprocity.
It is very difficult to listen to a spouse, to a parishioner,
to our Holy Father. They often say things we don't like. Yet each of
us must surrender to God's will on a daily basis. If it were easy, there
would be little challenge.
God's will rarely comes on like a thunderclap, more
often than not is as a tiny whisper. Let us all tune our hearts, minds,
and wills to listen for that will. Like all things in life, we have to
pay a price for this. The good news is that the price we pay brings us
the blessing.
God bless,
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