416 N 2nd St, Albemarle, NC, 28001 | (704) 982-2910
If you’ve ever planned to become so holy that you don’t need God’s help anymore, then this video is for you.
Self-reliance is a virtue lauded by modern society in the west. But not only does Jesus warn against it, self-reliance… just… doesn’t even work.
Today, Fr. Mike proposes an alternative that will change your life. Spoiler: it involves relying on someone else.
“Whenever I am weak, then I am strong.” —2 Corinthians 12:10
Jesus began his preaching by giving us the eight Beatitudes. The very first one is “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3). What does it mean to be “poor in spirit”? It simply means “Blessed are those who know their need for God.” They realize they are weak and finite, and they know that God’s love is the infinite source of strength for them each day. If you feel “poor in spirit,” your human soul probably feels empty; maybe that’s good. Maybe now there is room for a deeper relationship with God.
St. Francis of Assisi repeatedly prayed, “Who are you, God, and who am I?” If we make room for this prayer in our poverty of spirit, we make room for the great truth of life: God is love, and we are his beloved. Jesus clearly tells us that God loves us not in spite of our weakness, but because of our weakness. Being “poor in spirit,” we become blessed because our spiritual poverty opens us up to true riches, God’s riches. When you feel poor in spirit, thank God, for you are open at that moment to his mercy, grace, and joy. Yes, the kingdom of heaven is yours!
Lord, help me to realize that my weaknesses are open doors for you. Amen.
—from the book Three Minutes with God: Reflections and Prayers to Encourage, Inspire, and Motivate
by Monsignor Frank Bognanno
“Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has similarly been tested in every way, yet without sin. So let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and to find grace for timely help.” Hebrews 4:14-16
//Catholic Company//
I lean on God but from time to time I feel that I am leaning on air. That happens when I start putting God out there somewhere too far removed from me. When I remember that God dwells in me and in all my brothers and sisters in Christ, then that leaning becomes substantial again and God takes flesh in those around me whom I can see and hear. We are the body of Christ, and he has no other visible body here and now. God is Spirit who has become enfleshed in Jesus and Jesus takes on flesh and bone in us through the same Holy Spirit. When we lean on one another, we are building up the body of Christ. We are strengthening our own weakness by acknowledging that we are only a part of the whole body and that we need all the other members if we are going to function correctly and appreciate our own worth.
— from the book Song of the Sparrow: New Poems and Meditations by Murray Bodo, OFM
//Franciscan Media//
What are the desires of my heart? What do I treasure?
These questions ask more of us than to say what we prefer, want, or need at an immediate level. They ask us to ponder the things we want to want, the desires we wish we had, the treasure we may not value as we should.
When I ask myself what it is that my heart desires, I am always met with “things that show my weakness,” the things Paul chose to boast of in his enigmatic letter to the Corinthians. Paul’s inverted boasting echoes in the psalm where the Lord hears the lowly and the poor. When I look at my life and take stock of what it is that I treasure, I encounter my spiritual lowliness and poverty. I wonder if I am the just one whom the Lord rescues from distress. Do I seek justice to the point of distress? I doubt it. I know I am not Paul. The questions keep coming: Why do the just suffer distress? Why does justice require consolation?
These questions all emerge from pondering what I desire and value. In the Gospel, Jesus unites them, teaching that “where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.” In other words, the answer to the question of what I value or treasure reveals where my heart is. This, in turn, reveals my desire for deeper conversion, a conversion of my own desire.
“Love has triumphed over hatred, life has conquered death, light has dispelled the darkness! Christians, by the grace of Christ, dead and risen, are the seeds of another humanity, in which we seek to live in service to one another, not to be arrogant, but rather respectful and ready to help. This is not weakness, but true strength!… May there echo in your hearts, in your families and communities, the announcement of the Resurrection, along with the warm light of the presence of the Living Jesus: a presence which brightens, comforts, forgives, gladdens. Jesus conquered evil at the root: he is the Door of Salvation, open wide so that each person may find mercy.”—Pope Francis
One of the ironies of the liturgical year is that we often find it easier to enter into the rigorous practices of Lent than to celebrate the joy of Easter and the Risen Lord. We know with our minds this great mystery of our faith. But we don’t always experience that joy in our hearts. It goes so far beyond our human experience that we have nothing to compare to it. At the heart of the story on Easter Sunday is the empty tomb. The stories of the appearances will come later, unfolding the mystery of the resurrection. But the first message to the apostles is that the tomb is empty. Somewhere in the darkness of the Easter Vigil and the pale dawn of Easter Sunday, each of us must confront the empty tomb and discover for ourselves the Risen Christ. Pope Francis reminds us that our joy in the Risen Christ calls us to a quiet love and service, wrapped in the awareness that our life in Christ needs no trumpets or pomp and earthly glory. We have a peace in our hearts that is stronger than death itself. All our hope lies in that promise.
— from the book The Hope of Lent: Daily Reflections from Pope Francis,
by Diane M. Houdek
//Franciscan Media//
“[Saint] Paul understood that the suffering he was going through somehow allowed him to share in Christ’s suffering for the world…In his own life, there was a time when he asked the Lord three times to remove a particular suffering from him (see 2 Corinthians 12:8). The response he received from the Lord was not “Oh, my oversight. That’s right, I took care of all that suffering. You don’t have to do anything.” No, God’s response was, “[Paul], my grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9)…It is completely opposite of the way the world thinks…What looked like the worst thing that ever happened on earth—Christ hanging on a cross, bleeding to death—became the source of salvation for the entire world. The point of weakness became the point of strength; it was transformed into the power over death and Hell. We have to get it through our heads that the kingdom of God is an upside-down kingdom according to the world’s perspective. Weakness confounds the wise. The poor and obscure confound the rich and famous…Whatever you are going through right now, remember that God has a plan for you. He wants to be united to you so closely that it resembles a spousal relationship…your suffering is not inconsequential; it is extremely valuable in the economy of God.”
—Jeff Cavins, When You Suffer
//The Catholic Company//