Category: Spirituality

“…couldn’t you watch with me for one hour?”-Matthew 26, WEBBE

I think one of the most painful things that often happen to a person undergoing a difficult period in life is the feeling of being alone. Just when one needs a person who can listen, no one is there. Just when one looks for comfort and consolation, there is no shoulder to lean on to. It’s as though the whole world has walked away and turned its back on you.

Why is it that people turn away just when you need them most?

Perhaps some people feel uncomfortable in the company of a loved one who is hurting. Perhaps it feels painful to just be there and feel powerless in helping a friend or a family in need.

But what they must realize is that their mere presence is already a big help to someone who is suffering. Just having someone who can bear to see you cry is a source of strength and hope.

“…couldn’t you watch with me for one hour?” Jesus asked His friends when they kept on sleeping instead of praying and staying with Him before His passion and crucifixion.

Jesus knows just how much it hurts to suffer and have no one. He understands the desolation of those who have been deserted by their closest friends just when they needed them the most.

If you are undergoing a dark time in your life right now, and if you feel you have no one to lean on to, try Jesus. In your darkest and most painful hour, let Him keep watch with you. Let Him stay with you.

Your problems may not immediately go away, but you will have the comfort of knowing He is there. You’d have the solace of knowing that you are not alone.

When we think about our lives and all the things that could go wrong, we’d never run out of things to worry about.

We can worry about our health and the health of our loved ones. We can worry about being fired from our jobs or about failing in our business. We can worry about not having enough to meet our obligations and to provide for the needs of our family. We can worry about losing the people we love.

In all these things, however, let us remember that God is with us. He knows our needs and He cares about us much more than we could ever realize.

What is the good of worrying when we can instead learn to trust?

Instead of spending our time in fear, let us spend it in working hard and in loving other people. Let us spend time praying so that we may never forget that we are not alone.

God is our only refuge. He is our only hope. And what wonderful hope we have in Jesus!

“Therefore I tell you, don’t be anxious for your life, what you will eat, nor yet for your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they don’t sow, they don’t reap, they have no warehouse or barn, and God feeds them. How much more valuable are you than birds! Which of you by being anxious can add a cubit to his height? If then you aren’t able to do even the least things, why are you anxious about the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow. They don’t toil, neither do they spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if this is how God clothes the grass in the field, which today exists and tomorrow is cast into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith?

“Don’t seek what you will eat or what you will drink; neither be anxious. For the nations of the world seek after all of these things, but your Father knows that you need these things. But seek God’s Kingdom, and all these things will be added to you.” — Luke 12:22–31, WEBBE

I have recently wanted to spend the first moments of the day praying and finding inspiration from God. Honestly, I don’t know my next step in my career and this year is truly venturing into the unknown. While I must continue to search for a way to increase my income, I know that there is no better way to seek God’s will than by praying and spending time reflecting upon Him.

This is not my first attempt to spend a regular time in prayer each day. With prayer, I am not only referring to praying the rosary and other prayers I usually pray throughout the day. I am not only referring to reading the Bible. With prayer, I would like to refer to an extra time to get in touch with Him, to listen to Him and to speak to Him as I would speak to a beloved Friend.

It isn’t easy. There are a lot of distractions. Even the good work that we do can keep us from spending time with Him. Once I open my computer, I may just start by looking at my emails for the day, but sooner or later, I’d browsing the internet for other things until I’ve lost the chance to spend those first moments in prayer.
But we have to begin somewhere, and I felt that even 15 minutes is a good point to start. And that’s when I remembered the hourglass I have, which is timed just for that number of minutes.

I’ve decided that I would use it to just spend 15 minutes in quietness and in waiting. Even when I feel no inspiration. Even when I find no words to say. I would just sit still and spend 15 minutes at the start of the day as I ready myself for prayer.

If you have an hourglass like that and if you also want to spend this year growing closer with God, maybe you can use that hourglass to spend some time in silence and in prayer. You may feel a bit of struggle at first. You may not immediately feel that what you are doing is going anywhere. But stay still. Let that time pass and do what you can to simply await the grace of God.

I don’t know how You look like, Lord. I haven’t seen Your face. I cannot tell the color of your eyes. I cannot imagine the shape of your lips. Is your skin tanned by the sun? Is your hair black like mine?

Artists have tried to draw You. They tried to paint a picture of Your face. Through many generations, icons and paintings tried to show your glory and your humanity. But none can truly show Your beauty to me.

Many times I’ve felt like a blind person. Yet even a blind woman can touch her beloved’s face. She can trace the contours of her loved one’s countenance. She can feel the warmth of his hands.

But where do I even begin to imagine You? Where do I start to look for clues?

Ah, perhaps I should begin by watching those who are like You. In the face of the holy ones, maybe I could find someone who looks like You.

Through years of searching I’ve realized that this is so. And it doesn’t matter whether they’re tall or small. I care no more whether their eyes be brown or blue. For in every face where I see love, I know I’d see the likes of You.

It’s the first day of the year, and it is also the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God. How wonderful it is that at the very start of the year, we could spend it with Mary, our loving mother! With Mary, we begin with humility and trust as we venture into the unknown. With Mary, we can be led to Jesus, and with Jesus, no matter how dim the future may appear to us, we can have peace and hope.

Watching the online mass this morning, I was able to reflect upon the Holy Eucharist, and how Jesus has allowed Himself to be as a small bread for us all. To appear so simple and lowly as a piece of biscuit. Quiet and small and yet giving sustenance to His children.

I may never be able to fully comprehend this mystery. How Jesus can become this little bread that we can all share. In the same way, I’ve had this reflection in the form of a question: Which is harder? For a person to become bread? Or for a God to come down from heaven and become a person? Both things have happened, and both mysteries leave us blessed with the thought of God’s humility and compassion.

Today, in a feast we celebrate in honor of Mary, the Mother of God, I was led into this reflection about Jesus her Son. And such is what always happens. Mary does not come to exalt herself but to lead us to Jesus. Always to Jesus.

“They came with haste and found both Mary and Joseph, and the baby was lying in the feeding trough. When they saw it, they publicised widely the saying which was spoken to them about this child. All who heard it wondered at the things which were spoken to them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these sayings, pondering them in her heart.” – Luke 2:16-19, WEBBE

“We never give more honour to Jesus than when we honour his Mother, and we honour her simply and solely to honour him all the more perfectly. We go to her only as a way leading to the goal we seek – Jesus, her Son.” -Saint Louis Marie de Montfort