Readings at Daily Mass on Tuesday of the 11th Week of Ordinary Time
“So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48)
Life is busy. I often feel busy; you often feel busy; most of us are simply trying to catch our breath from a busy Monday. Hmmmmm.
Ponder for a second ...
- “There is more to life than increasing its speed.” (Gandhi)
- “Most people are so busy knocking themselves out trying to do everything they think they should do, they never get around to what they want to do.” (Kathleen Winsor)
- “The feeling of being hurried is not usually the result of living a full life and having no time. It is on the contrary born of a vague fear that we are wasting our life. When we do not do the one thing we ought to do, we have no time for anything else- we are the busiest people in the world.” (Eric Hoffer)
When Jesus invites us to be perfect, He is inviting us to have Him as our standard of forgiveness and mercy. God is love, perfect love; God is mercy, perfect mercy. Life can feel so busy we can project onto God our own limitations and harridness. Thus, it's so easy for us to feel busy, stretched, and short with others that we erroneously feel that God is also busy, stretched, and short with us. Because of our limitations we find it difficult to really forgive and show unbridled mercy to others who have hurt us. When we do so, we then struggle to interiorly experience God's unbridled mercy in our lives. Therefore, many of carry skeletons in our closet, closing our heart to God every time we close a chapter of our life. And ... then we just get busier ... hoping the activity in the frenzied pace can bring us “peace.”
Whew. “There is more to life than increasing its speed.”
God is love, perfect love; God is mercy, perfect mercy. He first wants to bring that to you. Then, once you and I actually experience God's perfect mercy it will be easier for us to do the same with others.
What about you? Do you feel busy ... too busy? Why are you so busy ... really? Are there chapters of your life you've “moved on” from? Is that door closed? If so, is it closed to God? Do you really believe that God is perfect? If so, do you really believe that His mercy is perfect for you?
© Fr. Mark Toups, 2013
Today @ IPF:
The 169 seminarians in the Seminarians Summer Program are in two classes.
In their first class, 502: Celibacy and Sexuality, the men will learn how to respond in a healthy way when they experience desolation within their celibacy. In their second class, 503: Spirituality of Diocesan Priesthood, the men will learn more about their identity as a celibate spouse and how it connects to the spirituality of a diocesan priest.
Back in Eaux-maha today. Tons of purple and gold here! Dad flew up yesterday, he is with me on campus ... we're gonna have a great week together! Geaux Tigers!
Today's Quote from B16:
“God excludes no one, neither the poor nor the rich. God does not let himself be conditioned by our human prejudices, but sees in everyone a soul to save and is especially attracted to those who are judged as lost and who think themselves so. Jesus Christ, the Incarnation of God, has demonstrated this immense mercy, which takes nothing away from the gravity of sin, but aims always at saving the sinner, at offering him the possibility of redemption, of starting again from the beginning, of converting.”
― Anngelus Address, Saint Peter's Square, October 31, 2010
