It is important to recall from time to time the importance of our baptism. Baptism removes spiritual blindness – if we’ve been baptized, we have received the gift of faith. Having blindness removed is one thing, using the eyes of our heart requires the willingness to see God, to see things from his perspective, and to look at reality with wisdom. Sometimes, especially at the beginning of our journey of faith, we may doubt that our Baptism actually did anything – we could have the impression that we are still blind. It is quite possible and even normal to go through periods of dryness and/or confusion. Sometimes the clarity we want is not the clarity we need. Sometimes the key to spiritual growth is not learning something new or gaining some new insight – sometimes it is simply continuing to trust God even when we can’t see that he’s doing anything or that our trust is paying off. We are always looking for results, something to measure, some kind of discernible progress. The spiritual life is not something we can measure, it is a relationship with someone who is invisible and loves us beyond measure. Friendship is like that: we don’t become friends with people in order to become better or progress in life, although that certainly can happen. Friendship deepens with the sharing of life – God would like us to share life with Him and listen to what He has to say.
Saint Mary Magdalene
Saint Mary Magdalene is one of the most powerful witnesses in the whole history of the Church. There are several reasons for this: first, she fell completely into grave sin and wallowed in the depravity of impurity and vice; second, she became enamored of Jesus and sought our His teaching and His mercy; third, her mind and heart remained fixed on Him even during the uncertain period between his death and resurrection; fourth, the conversion of her life and her devotion to Jesus put her on a mission to spread the Gospel far and wide.
Tuesday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time
God never holds in contempt or despises what He created. Sin and wrongdoing are not part of his creation, though his rational creatures are allowed to pervert and disrupt the good order he created. Even when what was created good turns to evil, God continues to love and seeks to save. The family is something good, and an organization willed by the Creator. When Jesus talks about who his true family members are, he is not suggesting we destroy the natural order he himself established within a household. What he is saying, however, is that something good can become bad if we make it more essential than the Word of God. Think about how essential family bonds are for human life. What Jesus is saying is that the relationship we have with our Heavenly Father is even more essential. The human family is a foundation for our life to the extent that it encourages and allows us to consider all others brothers and sisters. It grounds us well if it opens our hearts to the Father’s will.