Quiet moments with Jesus

  • Dusk settled over the gardens. Birds swarmed toward their nightly roost. I slowly walked along the paths, oblivious to other people, meditating on the Evening Chant of Vespers. It was quiet and Jesus walked with me. He was in my thoughts. The beauty of the moment touched me.

  • On another occasion, I was sitting in a Cathedral. This also was a quiet time. The sounds of the great organ slowly accelerated into a mighty crescendo, and as slowly as it had begun, the Fugue came to a soft and mesmerizing end. Quiet regained, I was alone with God.

  • One cold January, on retreat at the Trappist Monastery in Kentucky, Gethsemane, we were encouraged to get some fresh air into our lungs. Packed up in a parka, hat and gloves, I walked outside, toward the nearest farm entrance on the other side. A thermometer attached to a barn read 5 degrees (F.), but that only bothered me for a little while. It had snowed the night before and there was a pristine white covering the world around me. Slowly, I prayed the Our Father, with full attention. Jesus was with me, and I felt the cold no more.

  • A similar scene also comes to mind. In the Netherlands, when I was about 10 or 11, I took long bicycle rides on days off. I remember being somewhere south of town in the fields. It had snowed that morning, and there was a mist over the fields that stretched very far. Then I heard a lonely bell, and indeed, a small steeple was visible... the bells rang at the Consecration of Holy Mass - a wonderful custom. I knew Jesus was with us, as He was with me in the Spiritual Communion I whispered.

  • Experiencing a touch of God is often associated with a moment of beauty. Seeing a very elderly person deep in prayer, kneeling erect, not slouching, that too is a moment of beauty. The beauty was that this soul knew Jesus.

  • Then again, children playing in the garden, totally unaware of anything that went on beyond their patch of green. The beauty of true love of God only as a child can love a parent. God is a parent, too.

  • The memory of daily Eucharistic Adoration, is a moment of beauty. In my monastic years, sitting quietly in front Jesus, listening to my Master, as He was present in Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity, the Real Presence... truly a touch of God. A moment of holiness. A moment of quiet, of devotion, of total concentration on He who is beauty itself.

  • I long for quiet time with Jesus. So hard to find. You sit in Church and invariably someone comes over to share his or her day. That's OK, they are lonely too, but the moment of quiet is gone. Charity toward others is more important than my quiet moment. There will be another chance. I hope it is soon.

  • There are various Franciscan practices of withdrawing from the hustle and bustle of ministry. Old, and particularly traditional friaries used to have small houses on the property, hermitages. If we wanted to get away, we'd overnight in one of those places. It was like a mini-retreat. The particular ones I was thinking of had heat, but there were others that did not. Sometimes "roughing it" for a quiet evening with God can be a very beautiful time, but if it is too cold, it becomes a distraction. But Franciscans turn right around and offer these times of distraction for a worthy cause. No time with God is wasted. He is always with us.

  • As young children we're taught to say our prayers before going to bed. You kneel in front of your bed and you tell God you love Him, thank you Lord for the beautiful day, and hey Lord, please help Mom and Dad. Do we still pray like that now that we're 50, 60 or older? Well, errr... no. Either we do not pray before going to bed, or we pray Evening Prayer of the Liturgy of the Hours (particularly as Franciscans) half asleep already... we should have done this a bit earlier. The prayer of an obedient child is worth 100% more than our decrepit attempt at prayer, yet Jesus loves us equally. Another moment of beauty.

  • The elderly priest, obviously arthritic kneels for a long time, at the altar, adoring Jesus Christ at the conclusion of the prayers of the Consecration. The pain on the priests face is replaced by a glow of prayerful attention. That's a very big moment of beauty.

  • A priest in the confessional, who is partially disabled due to a stroke, arises to stand before me, place his hands on my head to give me absolution. That's a gesture that goes further than words and in that, there is much beauty.

  • A toddler still in his mother's arms, in church, gazes around and when he sees someone, gives that person a most holy and innocent smile. Even though the child does not know the receiver of his moment of joy, his smile is a reflection of Jesus Himself.

Be at peace my friend, make time for Jesus so He can visit with you, too.

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The Prayer of Saint Francis in practice
by Fred Schaeffer, SFO

Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace,
Where there is hatred, let me sow love,
Where there is injury, pardon,

Where there is doubt, faith,
Where there is despair, hope,
Where there is darkness, light,
Where there is sadness, joy

O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much
Seek to be consoled as to console,
To be understood as to understand,
To be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive,
Pardoning that we are pardoned,
And dying to self that we are born unto Eternal life. Amen.

The two greatest commandments that contain the whole law of God are, thou shalt love the Lord with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind, and with thy whole strength, and, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.

 

Works of Mercy

CORPORAL   

Feed the Hungry,
Give drink to the thirsty
Clothe the naked
Visit the imprisoned
Shelter the Homeless
Visit the Sick
Bury the Dead.


SPIRITUAL

Admonish the Sinner
Instruct the Ignorant
Counsel the Doubtful
Comfort the Sorrowful
Bear Wrongs Patiently
Forgive All Injuries
Pray for the Living and the Dead.

The prayer of Saint Francis contains everything to make us ready for life. In this day and age of anger and stress, which one sees in the daily news, and in people who are so stressed out that they no longer know what they are doing, there's got to be an alternative. It's so simple. Seek prayer from a Prayer Minister, go to Church. Examine what you can do for others. Feed the hungry, not only with bread but with the Word of Life, with the teachings of Jesus Christ. Give drink to the thirsty. See that forlorn person on the street who lives in rags. Offer him or her a glass of water or something better. Clothe the naked. Empty that wardrobe and give away what you no longer need, to the needy. Visit the imprisoned: that doesn't necessarily mean prisoners but visit the lonely who are imprisoned in their homes because they have no one. And if you can't find anything to talk about, talk about the prayers you think the other might love, too. Shelter the homeless, provided shelter for those who have no home, and that's meant in the worldly as well as in the religious sense: bring those who are away from the Sacraments back to the House of God and to the unity between us. Visit the sick, not just those in your family but all those who need help. Bury the dead... visit with people whose loved ones have passed and offer your support, too.

Admonish the sinner: your prayer and support may bring the sinner back to saving grace. Instruct the Ignorant - share your faith in God with those who know Him not. Counsel the Doubtful - share your faith enthusiasm so that others may feel drawn to Christ. Comfort the sorrowful with your good cheer. Give them a shoulder to cry on. Bear wrongs patiently. Don't fly off the handle. Look at Jesus, He wouldn't get angry, but instead, he would ask what He could do to calm you down. Forgive all those who are injuring you as well as those who desire to injure people around you and pray for everyone including this sinner. Ask Saint Francis for his intercession - he understood what needed to be done while he was still alive. And ask Our Blessed Mother, Immaculately Conceived, the most perfect person in the world next to Jesus-she lived among us and she is at God's elbow. She's our mother and we are her children.

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Seeing God in One Another
by Fred Schaeffer, SFO

It is very sad when people cannot forgive each other. I remember a young man who couldn't get along with his wife anymore. The marriage was fraught with difficulties from the start. They shouldn't have gotten married in the first place. Every time I visited my friend I heard the same sad tale...she did this, and she did that, and she doesn't want to cook anymore, and she isn't keeping the place clean anymore, etc. It became tiresome to listen to him. At some point I asked, "But what are you doing for her? Have you taken her out to dinner recently? Have you told her you love her?" Well, none of the above (He wouldn't admit that right away, it took more "pulling teeth" to get this revelation from his lips). After much talking the real truth came out. He had found a new friend and just didn't come home in the evenings. No wonder his wife wasn't motivated anymore.

What happens very often is that we start judging and blaming others, before cleaning up our own act. And, if this goes on long enough, the verbal sparring turns into hate. When you hate someone, you cannot love God. When God is no longer a part of your life, everything begins to fall apart. It may take time, but the handwriting is on the wall - when you no longer love your spouse and you begin to invent excuses when you know darn well you've been remiss, your life will fall apart, usually beginning with your relationship with Jesus.

Many a marriage has fallen apart in its first year. Engagements are short, marriages are hasty (at best).... because love is like that. It is often foolish. Young people who get married haven't learned yet how to compromise - particularly because in business there often is no compromise. When they get into their first spat, he won't give in to her, and she won't back down (or vice-versa) and the fat is in the fire. And over what? Over a little mishap. How charitable it would have been for one mate to say to the other... oh well, let's not argue over such a little thing. If it makes you happier, let's just do it. Or, do it your way! I'm not saying you have to be a 'doormat' - but if the argument can be defused or avoided and your marriage is at stake, don't fight to the death over an insignificant point. There are seldom any winners and losers like that. Look for God in one another. He's there! But when He is forgotten, when we take matters into our own hands, then watch out.

It is not easy to forgive, but WE MUST FORGIVE. Why? Well, remember that Jesus said, "Love your neighbor as yourself..." - in this context your spouse is one of the neighbors too.... Marriage is not an institution where you do good for everyone except for your wife! And God help those who look upon their spouses as personal slaves and act accordingly...those marriages don't last too long, either. If they do happen to stick together, such a partnership can be a very sad one.

The same is true for people who are not married. I was in a situation once where another person always managed to interrupt a meeting I officiated at. She did that by constantly talking either to herself or to everyone else. I finally had enough and told her to move on. Join some other organization, perhaps. I did this none too kindly, and this situation was festering for a while. I could not get my abruptness out of my mind and subconsciously I began to blame her for my feelings. After a week or two I came to my senses and asked God to forgive me for my lack of charity. I was happy again. See, it doesn't take much to get off track. When we forgive those who irk us and when we then also forgive ourselves, life will go from the extreme back into balance, and you'll become more aware of God's presence in your soul, now and forever.

Peace!

Written September 16, 2002, slightly revised August 11, 2005

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