Remember back when we were kids and mom or dad would say “alright, bedtime”, or “One more time on the slide and it’s time to go.” And we would say, “Awwwhhh, mom/dad, do we have to??!!” That’s how things worked back then. There were things you had to do and things you didn’t have to do. You had to brush your teeth, do your homework, wash up before dinner, clean your room, pick up your clothes, and be home on time.

We had to do these things…..yes, because our parents said so….but more importantly, because they were good things to do. They made life liveable and more enjoyable. They were good for us. We see that now. We didn’t back then. That’s why these good things were backed by the authority of our parents “because I said so”. As adults we do these things on our own now (that’s a sign of being an adult). We do them because we know they are good to do.

So what about Mass on Sunday? A child would ask…”do we have to go?” And the Church (our mother in the faith) says… “if you need to ask, the answer is yes, you have to go.” “Why?”, the child asks. “Because the Lord said so.”, the Church responds. The third Commandment says it — “Remember to keep holy the Lord’s Day”. Jesus said, “Do this in memory of me.” Like any good parent, God only asks these things because they are good for us.

My hope for us is that by now we see the wonder and privilege it is to worship the Lord on Sunday. Why do we go to mass on Sundays?

An adult answer might be: “Because……

• I want to show God that I love Him.
• I need to thank God for the goodness I have received this week.
• My life is hard and I need God to help me. We talk about this (God and me) at Mass.
• Oftentimes I get something I didn’t know I needed.
• I believe in the Eucharist. This is the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. God becomes my food.
• I need the people gathered with me on Sunday to experience more fully what it means to be members of the Body of Christ.
• It sets my whole week in the right direction.
• I get lost without Mass on Sunday.
• I’m all alone without this experience once a week.
• Sunday is the day Jesus rose from the dead.

Now I have hope of eternal life. I just have to pause and think about this on Sunday.

Going to mass is only the beginning of “keeping holy the Lord’s Day”. Sometimes we need to look at how we live our Sundays of the week. Do we make them special days of peace, family, rest and recreation? A real spiritual renewal and re-orientation toward God can happen on such a Sunday.

Why not try this? Set aside next Sunday – – all day. Plan only those things that will bring rest and relaxation and participation in the Sunday Mass..

God loves you always,

Fr. Tim

There was a beautiful “Prayer at The Foot of The Altar” at the beginning of mass some years ago. Translated from Latin it says, “I will go to the altar of God.” And the response of the altar server was, “To God, who restores the joy of my youth.”

There’s a lot in that phrase. 1. What is the joy of my youth? 2. What happened to it that it has to be restored? And 3, why do I have to go to God to get it back?

1. Think back. What were the times that best captured the unique happiness you had as a kid? I think of Christmas morning (just before the presents were opened). Something new always got us right? The first snow, a new ball glove, a doll, new shoes, a bike or a sled (wow!). Maybe it was a trip to a cool new place (Niagara Falls was amazing as a kid).

What defines “the joy of youth”? How is it different from middle age joy? I think it has something to do with the fact that there is nothing to temper it. A child has no accu- mulation of disappointing moments or fears of being tricked or laughed at. Happiness (like tears) comes quickly and sharply with no filters.

And one other thing (the best thing actually) . . . joy (in a young person’s head) will last forever. There’s been little experience of life’s hurts. So there has yet to develop that callus we all acquire to deaden feelings and expectations of happiness. Remember summer as a kid? It’s going to last forever!

2. Remember the youthful joy of Adam and Eve when they beheld each other for the first time? “At last!!” Adam cried out. Such joy they had in the Garden.

Contrast that with the British rock band, The Who. They sang “We Won’t Get Fooled Again” as the anthem of a disaffected generation. The Stones proceeded them with “Can’t Get No Satisfaction”.

This is life after Adam and Eve ate the apple. We cover up, we hide our feelings, sarcasm becomes the adult form of humor. Being “on guard” is how we live now because “we won’t get fooled again”. And on guard we should be . . . there’s tough things out there.

3. So how does God, and only God, restore the joy of our youth? Quite simply God has provided the remedy for the dashed hopes of the human heart. The remedy does not turn us back into children hoping for a new pony. It points us to the original plan, the one we lost so long ago.

God redirects our longing toward Him. All the false joys and counterfeit happiness fades away in the intense light of what God has promised us in the gift of His Son Jesus Christ. Hear what St. Paul (the former cynic known as Saul) says of this new thing that God has done.

“We have peace now with God through our Lord Jesus Christ . . . and we boast in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we boast of our afflictions, knowing that they produce endurance, and endurance proven character, and proven character, hope.”

Paul goes on . . . “And this hope does not disappoint, be- cause the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.” Romans 5:5

It is this Hope that restores the joy of our youth. It made Paul say elsewhere, “nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Rm 8:38

So the joy of our youth is restored. That’s right children; we’re going to be with God in His Kingdom . . . forever and ever. Yay!!!

Spread the good news.

Fr. Tim

Do you remember some of the things you used to do over and over as a kid? Little, personal and sometimes quirky activities that you’d do when things got boring or you started getting nervous?

My sister Maureen would suck her thumb . . . till she was about 12 actually. My buddy Terry used to bite his finger nails. My father and I battled cigarettes for years (I still struggle!). We call repeated actions habits; we do them without thinking. They relieve tension or anxiety.
They bring a mild pleasure or placebo effect.

Some habits are healthy and benefit people whenever they do them.

“That’s a good habit to get into,” we say. (Brush your teeth/eat your vegetables.) Other repeated actions can hurt us or others. These are bad habits. Some are bad (e.g. Lying) because the act itself is bad. We call these “sinful habits”. Others are bad because they go too far (“Too much” of anything is a bad habit) or not far enough (sloth, or carelessness) in doing the right thing.

So . . . what’s the point? It’s simple. Get in the habit of doing good things. How? Repetition. Doing something again and again will bring a certain ease of performance. A good thing, once rather hard to perform (choosing not to gossip) can, with repetition, become easier.

Our friends in the Fellowship tell us to “work the program” (doing the things that lead to sobriety/honest living). Don’t feel like it? That’s okay – – – “fake it till you make it.” Feelings will follow.

Our bodies themselves bear witness to this. Sit-ups/push-ups (yuk!) become easier with repetition. Fitness experts call this the “training effect” – – – ease in physical performance.

It’s really no different for our spiritual lives. Repetition makes for habit. Habit makes for virtue (an abiding strength). Virtue leads to happiness. Want to be happy? Keep on doing good. Simple, eh?

Let’s take matters of sexuality. I don’t think anyone of us is immune to the “sinful habit” that can develop in our thoughts or actions as we confront lustful images or impulses that exist within us and around us.

Our eyes (windows to the soul) by nature “want to see” . . . everything. And here’s the problem – some things ought not to be seen. “Impure” thoughts or glances really are “stealing” what doesn’t belong to you. It’s an invasion of privacy.

There is an old habit encouraged by spiritual directors and confessors as “custody of the eyes”. It refers to a mental readiness to turn away from seeing things that go beyond the intimacy we are permitted to have with that person. Repeated ways of acting we call “modest”, (the way we dress, speak, and look at one another), become habits leading to the virtue of “chastity” or “purity”.

The point here is to make clear these virtuous states don’t “just happen”. In fact, when left to nature, the opposite happens. Lust grows, not purity. Lies, not truth. Selfishness, not generosity. It’s part of our fallen human nature that this tendency exists.

It can only be remedied by “habits of love”, actions of reverence for others and ourselves motivated by the knowledge of who we are . . . God’s beloved children. By ourselves we can’t do this. But God’s grace is there to guide and strengthen us.

Every one of us; God’s Children – no exceptions. Bless your heart.

Fr. Tim

PS. A great habit? Morning prayer.

Can you remember what you had for dinner last Thursday? If I sat for a minute to look at my calendar and what I did that day, I might come close (though no guarantees) to remembering what it was I ate.

This doesn’t disturb me in the least. What I do know is that “I ate”. And it must have been quite sufficient be- cause I don’t remember any headache or weakness that happens when I don’t.

All this points to the fact that food serves a purpose . . . it keeps life strong. Remember that saying? “We eat to live. We don’t live to eat.” It’s enough to know we did eat and it did what food is supposed to do.

Now, if we are quite content to eat and later to forget what or where we ate, it seems we have more important things to be about, right? Like life.

So when we think of the meal we had at Mass last Sunday, what do we remember? Not much I bet. Certainly not the food we ate. The bread is flat and tasteless. (I can’t remember a single host I ever ate at Mass!) The cup of wine is no special vintage. Maybe we remember a thought or a prayer we prayed at the time, but probably not. Life has moved on and, as always, there are new issues or concerns that linger.

Why should we expect Mass to be any different than any other meal we eat and forget? Life has moved on and, as always, there are new issues or concerns that have our attention.

Is that okay? I mean this is no ordinary food we’re eating! It’s the Body and Blood of the Lord. Shouldn’t we remember each and every time we receive our Lord in Holy Communion? The simple answer is NO.

Why? Because the purpose of the Eucharist is to strength- en our union with Christ so that we GO FORTH into the world to bring his good news to others. And we deliver the news of Christ’s life by BEING that life for others, by laying our lives down as God asks each of us in our particular circumstances.

What if Jesus, after having eaten The Last Supper with his apostles, invited the boys to the drawing room for brandy and cigars?! “What a great meal Jesus. The lamb was just right. I’m stuffed!”

No. Rather . . . “They went forth . . .” Jesus changed the history of the world the next day by laying down his life in obedience to his Father’s will. (“Man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” MT. 4:4)

Think if Jesus and the boys had stayed in the upper room that night. Let’s say they skipped the Crucifixion. What good would that meal have been? Just another forgettable Passover.

That meal, the first Eucharist, became the source of grace for all Christian life to follow. That is what the Eucharist needs to be for us at Holy Trinity. It is a strengthening of our union and life with Christ first and foremost . . . but then . . . we must “go forth to love and serve.”

Without our going into the world in the name of Christ, we are not doing what the Eucharist was meant to do in us.

One last thought. Just like that meal you had last week did what food is supposed to do in you, so the Mass and its spiritual food will accomplish its purpose in us. It’s a sure thing.

If we let it.

Fr. Tim

I’ve often wondered what it would be like to have a child. To have given life and existence to another human being. To know that dancing, singing, laughing, crying person there is my child, born from me, my flesh made theirs.

What does that do to you? I really don’t know. I leave it to you mother, to you father, to describe the wonder, joy, and fear(?) a child can bring. A phrase best describing one’s child? . . . “My Love”.

What I do know is what it’s like being someone’s child. It’s a bond unlike any other human relationship. Ultimately, a child looks upon a mother or father as the “Source of Life”. Good parent or bad parent, forever they are honored as the one who gave us life. In a real sense I owe them everything.

(I wonder if the marriage bond runs as deep as parent and child.).

But guess what? The relation of parent and child ain’t nothin compared to our relationship with God. Don’t be offended mom and dad, but your gift to your child of life in the body, as good as it is, ain’t nothin compared to what God has done in letting us be called Children of God.

Do you remember the day Jesus was preaching in a crowded synagogue and was told that his mother Mary was outside and wanted to see him? (Read Mt. 12:46-50). Remember what he said? “Who is my mother?”!!! (My dad would have smacked me for that as a kid.) “How dare you say that Jesus!”, says a mother’s heart. “I’m your mother.”

We don’t get it. There is a new personal relationship in the world – — deeper than all the others – – deeper than parent/child, deeper than husband /wife. It is our relationship with God the Father because of our union with His Son Jesus Christ.

“Who is my mother?” Jesus asks. “These are my mother and brothers, (pointing to his disciples) whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother, my sister, and my mother.”

Whaaaat?! Yes. It blows the mind. St. John’s letter can hardly contain the excitement. “See what love the Father has bestowed on us in letting us be called Children of God. Yet that is what we are! We are God’s children now. What we shall later become has not yet been revealed. When it is revealed we shall become like him, for we will see him as he is.”(1 Jn. 3:1)

Let’s be clear here. It’s not because we deserve the status of God’s Children. In fact it is not natural that we be that. Its supernatural. God has “adopted” us. We’re like a branch grafted onto the vine of Christ.

Why do we have this wonderful privilege while an- gels look on us with amazement? It’s because that’s the way God’s love works. It’s totally God’s initiative, certainly nothing that we earned or deserved. The small and insignificant become his choice as his children. Amazing Grace!!

So back to Mary and Jesus . . . Jesus is saying, “Mom, look, all these are your children . . . because of me.” And to us he says, as he did to John (Jn. 19:27), “There is your mother.” God’s Family . . . all are welcome.

Hope you are well. Say your prayers.

Fr. Tim

How do you begin to talk about a person who has been referred to as a ghost? A Holy Ghost for sure, but a ghost.

First of all the title Holy Ghost comes from the Latin “Sancto Spiritu”. For hundreds of years a person living without a body was referred to as a ghost”. (Remember Dicken’s “The Ghost of Christmas Past”?)

Recent translations, fearing association with “goblins” and the “occult” translate this person as the “Holy Spirit”.

Who is the Holy Spirit? It is a person. A person who is the fullness of God yet one who has always been God with two other persons . . . the Father and the Son. The three are forever One God but each has a unique “modality” or special operating manner.

Traditionally the divine division of labor looks like this: God the Father is Creator of heaven and earth. God the Son is the perfect expression or “Word” of the Father. (The Word became flesh). God the Holy Spirit is the love that has always existed between the Father and Son. He is the Sanctifier. God in the Trinity is Creator, Redeemer, Sanctifier. (More about this next week!)

Sooo . . . the Holy Spirit . . . is God’s “inner love” for His Son and Son for Father.

This “inner love of God” is “poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit.” Rm. 5:5 Increasingly God loves us with the same love he has for His Divine Son. (Hear Jesus’s words to his Father from last Sunday, “and I have given them the glory you gave me . . . so that the world may know . . . that you (Father) loved them even as you loved me. I will make it known that the love with which you loved me may be in them and I in them” Jn. 17:24-26

So what is this love of the Holy Spirit like? Well as you can imagine, it’s different that our natural loves.

It’s different than, “I love the smell of lavender” or “I love Paris in the springtime” or even “I love Rock and Roll.” It’s more than a feeling; it’s God’s inner life.

It looks like Jesus. But Jesus isn’t here. Yes he is. His person is here in the Holy Spirit. Not just a memory, or a dream or a “best wish”, the Holy Spirit makes present the love of God the Father and the Son.

But what does it do? Where do I look to see it? How can I touch it? Here are some signs of the presence of the Holy Spirit. (Read Galatians 5:22, 23). They are called the “Fruits of the Holy Spirit”. In other words the Holy Spirit makes these things happen and they witness to his presence.

Love: “Whoever lives in love, lives in God.” 1 Jn. 4:16

Joy: “I have told you these things so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.” Jn. 15:11

Peace: “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give you. Not as the world gives peace.” Jn. 14:27

Patience, Kindness, Gentleness: Doesn’t life change in a Godly way when these are present? (I could really use these. Load me up Holy Spirit!)

Freedom: “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” 2 Cor. 3:17

Courage, Generosity, Self Control: Don’t tell me you don’t need some help here! Come Holy Spirit!

Anyway, that’s what God wants to give us when He sends us the Holy Spirit. These virtues are part of God’s own inner life. We become sharers in His Divine Life. And how long will he give us this life?

How’s FOREVER sound?

Fr. Tim

May 22 is the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity. It is the patronal name of our parish. Soooooo . . . . . . Let’s take a road trip!! In the church we call it a pilgrimage (Webster defines: “a journey made by a pilgrim to a holy place or shrine.”)

Where shall we go? Well consider this. Pope Francis has declared this an Extraordinary Holy Year of Mercy. All kinds of neat things happen in a Holy Year. It’s sort of like going to your Grandmother’s for Thanksgiving. She opens up the “good stuff”. The silver setting, the best china and glassware, the spotless linen table cloth. She makes it special.

The Church (our mother by baptism) opens up her spiritual treasure box. During the Year of Mercy there are special prayers, religious practices, which bring graces granted to us through her mission of sanctifying God’s people. (“I will give you the Keys to the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you declare bound on earth will be bound in Heaven.” Mt. 16:19)

One of those religious practices is The Holy Door. Whenever the Church celebrates a Holy Year, she opens a huge bronze door at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Normally kept closed, this open door invites pilgrims from around the world to enter the holy place that is the center of the Catholic Church . . . St. Peter’s.

Well we’re NOT going to Rome, okay. But the same graces of pilgrimage and the Holy Door are here in Rochester. The Church orders that there be a Holy Door in every diocese in the world. That means us munchkins in Webster can make a Holy Year Road Trip…er…I mean Pilgrimage.

Where is this Holy Door? It is the front door of Sacred Heart Cathedral. Here’s the plan. After the 10:30 mass on May 22 (around 11:45), we’ll meet in the north field parking lot and caravan west on Rt. 104 to Lake Avenue and Flower City Park, where sits the Cathedral. (Don’t worry. We’ll have a map for everybody.) Can you drive by yourself and meet us there? Of course.

So we’ll gather in their parking lot and walk through the doors together. Prayers and a brief reflection will follow in the cathedral. There will be a docent there to give us a tour of the new renovations. (It’s quite beautiful. Fr. John was in charge of the total renovation when he was cathedral rector).

Following the tour everyone is free to continue their own road trip (visit the Maplewood Rose Garden? Eastman House? The zoo? Strong Museum of Play? Lunch somewhere?) Bring your children. Remember May 22. More to follow.

God bless you mom.

Fr. Tim

Heritage Night?
Are you coming?

It’s something new we’re trying this year. Food from around the world. National favorites prepared by our many ethnic parishioners. Come and sample special homemade ethnic dishes. Come see costumed dancers. Come tell your ancestor’s story of coming to America.

Bring your own special cultural dish.

If you were God and you chose to be born a human being, how would you have done it? Find a list of choices below and see how your preferences compare with God’s. (Remember, you are God, the whole world is yours.)

1. When would you come to earth? Probably around this time, right? At least a time in history with electricity and light and indoor plumbing and TV of course! Wrong!! God came 2000 yrs. ago not long after the Bronze Age. People were just learning farming and writing.

2. Where would you be born? Let’s see . . . Paris? New York? Hawaii? Some exotic and beautiful place probably. Wrong!! God was born in a backward little town called Bethlehem next to the largest desert in the world.

3. Who would be your family? Your blood? Some famous stock of Roman or Greek or Egyptian nobility? Wrong!! Your blood is Jewish, a minor tribal grouping of people who were slaves for most of their history.

4. What would your financial situation be? I mean really … God is rich. Right? God, as man, would have the material world at his fingertips. What comfort would not be yours while on earth? Wrong!! He was born in a stable. His parents had to stretch to make the simplest of payments. The bible says he literally had no home.

5. Who would your friends and associates be? The educated, the executives, the cultured and high class, the religious for sure. Wrong!! He hung with the working class. Fishermen, carpenters. He ate with the outcasts: extortionists (tax collectors), prostitutes, lepers.

6. Who would you have close to you? Your wife? Your cabinet? Cleopatra? The Queen of Sheeba? The Harvard Board of Directors? Wrong!! You never marry (“What’s wrong with that boy?”). Your Board of Directors prove to be traitors and cowards.

7. What would be your greatest achievement? To be universally acclaimed as King of all the world? To have every people and nation bow to your smallest command? Wrong!! Your greatest achievement will be your death – – – naked and nailed to a cross – – – and then your Resurrection.

I think you begin to see how differently God chose to live his life from the way you and I would. That’s because we don’t get it. We think the purpose of life is to enjoy, to be fulfilled, to be happy in the ways this world can deliver. And as lovely as they are, we must be careful. We can get blinded by the shiny, sparkly things and begin to think that having them is why I’m here on earth.

To correct this Jesus came to show us what God the Father had in mind when he made us humans. How we are to be a Light to the World, not a sponge. We are a seed that dies to itself so it can give life a hundred fold. We are a branch united to God’s Vine (Christ) that receives his very life into us. (Read Mt. 5:13 – – The Beatitudes for the new key to happiness.)

And here’s the point . . . if we miss this we miss every- thing . . . “apart from me you can do nothing.” Jn. 15:5 Like a branch separated from the vine, we wither over time. That’s because we’re living life apart from our source – God.

What wondrous love God is! The small, the humble, the gentle, reveal His infinite power. This power of love has overcome the world. J. 16:33

It’s still Easter!!

Fr. Tim

Some things in life happen automatically. No need to study or practice. Your heart beats 72 times a minute without one thought from you. Your lungs fill over and over every minute, your stomach knows just what to do with those eggs you had for breakfast.

There are other things that happen only when someone teaches us. Walking, speaking (“say Mom-ma.”), riding a bike, writing your name; all require someone to show us how it’s done.

And then there are the really important things that if we fail to learn them, we can end up living lonely, selfish, mean little lives. Things like manners, respect, hard work, loyalty, honesty, generosity, etc. These things don’t come naturally. We have to learn them.

This is the job of parents and family; to teach the things that humans must learn to live good lives. Yet, like never before, the family is under many pressures that afflict its ability to pass on these values. Absent fathers, crippling poverty, time away from family (working two and three jobs), the retreat into the internet and social media, all contribute to weakening the learning atmosphere in the family.

Add to this the fact that dysfunction can increase generation by generation. Someone who was never taught patience or forgiveness or respect for others is not likely to give those lessons to their children. You can’t give what you don’t have. And so crude or careless behavior becomes the norm.

So what are we to do? Some choose to throw their hands up and condemn a “world gone crazy”. Some attempt to retreat from the world to live “private lives” untouched by society and its troubles. These are attractive options.

Pope Francis points us in a different direction. He calls on people of Christian Faith to “go out to the fringes” of our society.

To walk with people who do not know the hope we have; who don’t know the love of God given to us in Christ. He encourages us not to fear the darkness of other people’s lives; but at the same time we ought never doubt the light we carry by our union with Jesus.

Francis uses graphic images to convey what happens when we walk with those who are lost. He says we begin to smell like them. I think he means we start to recognize that we share in the same imperfections as our neighbor. (It’s sort of like getting a “Brooklyn” accent when you’ve spent some time there. Howyadoin?!”) He tells of a church, the Bride of Christ, who has “dirty feet” from walking the muddy paths of people lost and searching.

What does this mean on a practical level?

++ It means first of all – – – don’t be afraid. Christ has won the victory over sin and darkness. Seek him daily in prayer.

++ It means never give up. Your efforts for goodness and truth have Christ as their guarantor. It may mean we suffer the sufferings of Christ but so too will we rejoice (here or there) in his victory (Romans 8:17).

++ It means participate in the political deliberations and debates in our country and local community in an informed and helpful way.

++ It means educating ourselves and voicing our opinions about public schooling, social help for the poor, aid to families in need.

++ It means listening to the whisper of God in your conscience and doing what you are able, by God’s grace, at that moment.

++ Don’t go racing around trying to save the world. Jesus has already done that. Trust God to keep you in the moment he wants for you. Life and its opportunities to bring Christ’s light will come to you. Pray to be ready.

++ It means do your part. The rest is up to God. (They say Pope John XXIII retired for the night, telling God, “It’s your Church; I’m going to bed.”)

Finally Spring!! Yay!

Fr. Tim

Ever feel like your life is a mystery? Like coming to a clearing in the forest, we pause to ask ourselves some basic questions. Questions like: What am I doing? Why am I doing it? Is this the way I should be spending my life? Does it matter what I end up doing with my life? What’s my purpose? Why am I here?

These are the hard questions facing each of us as we begin our adult lives. They can be a little scary as they make us look over the vast horizons of time and mortality. It takes courage.

In fact, many choose not to ask these questions in their youth, preferring instead the quick satisfactions of entertainment/sports/clubbing/beer! What happens later can be a felt disappointment in life, the vague feeling that some- how I missed my flight!

So how does one find “IT”? Your purpose? Many times it finds you. Your likes and dislikes, your talents and abilities can help you make the decisions that will shape your life. I’ve always felt you had found your purpose when what you love to do, is what the world needs real bad.

It may not be any one “job” that has your name on it. In fact, your job is most likely not your “purpose”. Jobs often provide the earthly necessities we need to carry out our purpose. Someone sells cars, not because God made them car salesmen, but it is a way to live their call from God – – – – to be a husband, father, friend in need.

Our “purpose” comes down to one thing: you were made to love. Not to make money, not to be most popular, not to have the coolest stuff, not to have more fun than anyone else. You were created by God to give your life up for God and neighbor.

That’s where we get confused . . . we think “to love” has some sort of soft music playing in the background as we visit pretty people who enjoy our company!

No!!! Love is HARD!! It’s giving your life up FOR someone or something. (many times without thanks or appreciation). But here’s the wonderful surprise that happens. When I live my life in this way, (FOR others) I kick into action “My Purpose”, my reason for “being me” on this earth at this time.

Guess what happens then? Happiness. Jesus said it in Mt. 10, “Whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.” You’ve got to lose it to find it! To lose your life in love and service is the key to happiness and a purposeful life.

There is much more to say here about finding “it”, but let
me finish for now with a few pointers:

— God has given each of us natural likes and dislikes/ interests and disinterests. Start with your likes, your pas- sion; what path might you follow to allow you to follow your love? It may be as simple as wanting to make people happy. What a great vocation.

— What do friends say you do well? Is there a message there for you?

— Is your love and giving focused more on some one person (future spouse?) or are you more energized with some “work” or social concern to which you dedicate yourself? (the dedicated single life).

— God has a plan for you. How do we know? Because He made YOU, not someone else. You are God’s unique idea. So ask God to show you. “Lord, show me what you want me to do with my life.” Or, “Help me to want what your will is for me.”

–Jesus has promised: you WILL find it —- if you ask, seek and knock (Mt. 7:7).

Blessings to you everyday.

Fr. Tim