Johnnie’s Drumstick!

One day I went to visit a friend with his family. My friend has two kids, a girl 8 and a boy 4. We were in the living room chatting while his wife and daughter were fixing dinner in the kitchen. Our discussion was interrupted with an outburst of sobbing and inconsolable cacophony coming from Johnnie’s playroom. We ran in, afraid that Johnnie had come to some harm. It was not easy for Johnnie to tell us what had gone wrong, so great was his distress and so deep his sorrow. Johnnie’s dad began to examine his son carefully. Thank goodness, there was no blood anywhere. Finally Johnnie was calm enough to tell us what had happened. He had lost one of his drumsticks. You see Johnnie had a mini band set bought for him by his dad. Johnnie just loved to play his set, especially the drums. Just sitting there in his playroom and hitting those drums gave him as much joy as getting soaked in a pool on a hot afternoon. The sense of fulfillment and pleasure on his little face as he plays his drums could only be equated with someone winning a lottery. Johnnie’s drums brought him so much joy that he would just sleep in his playroom or with his drum sticks resting peacefully and comfortably on his chest as he sleeps in his room. You can imagine the agony, the distress and sheer loss that enveloped Johnnie as he searched everywhere for his drumstick. Jesus Christ had the best way to describe Johnnie’s world: Where your treasure is there is your heart.

We had to help search for Johnnie’s drumstick. Luckily, the missing drumstick was right there under the drums. As soon as Johnnie got his drumstick back peace returned to the house but then the actual noise began with Johnnie demonstrating his playing skills. He was a happy man again.

At first it was difficult to imagine that the loss of a drumstick could bring so much sadness to the usually boisterously happy four year old. His world had almost come to an end without his drumstick. To me it was just a drumstick, but to Johnnie it was a treasure. He had to find it if we were to have peace.

What is your drumstick? Everyone has misplaced something of great value in the past or even now. How miserable we have been while we searched for our missing item. When we have found our missing item, it brought us a great joy that we felt like celebrating it. This reminds us of the parables of the lost coin, the lost sheep and the lost son as recorded in Luke’s Gospel chapter 15.

I know some other person who is very particular about his drumsticks. His name is God, his son is Jesus Christ and his assistant is the Holy Spirit. He sees all of us as his drumsticks. He reminds us of how much he loves us and how sad he would be if one of us were lost.  His Son tells us “ And this is the will of God, that I should not lose even one of all those he has given me, but that I should raise it on the last day”, Jn. 6:39. In verse in 37 he tells us, “all that the Father gives me will come to me, I will never turn away anyone who comes to me.” In Isaiah 49:15-16 God demonstrates his love for us even more. He asks, “Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb? Even should she forget, I will never forget you. See, upon the palms of my hands I have written your name.” Jeremiah 31:3 reiterates how much we mean to God, “I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself.” Yes we are the drumsticks of God and his plans for us are to lead us to greener pastures. He says to us through the mouth of Jeremiah 29:11-14, “For I know well the plans I have in mind for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare, not for woe! Plans to give you a future full of hope. When you call me, when you go to pray to me, I will listen to you. When you look for me, you will find me. Yes, when you seek me with all your heart, you will find me with you, says the Lord, and I will change your lot; I will gather you together from all the nations and all the places to which I have banished you, says the Lord, and bring you back to the place from which I have exiled you.”

Just like Johnnie was happy and contented after he had found his drumstick so is God. When we have sinned and found our way back to God our father, and repented of our sins, God rejoices over us just as Johnnie rejoiced over his drumstick that was lost but then found. Listen to Jesus as he talks about one of his father’s drumsticks that was lost but found: “I tell you, in just the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance” Lk. 15:7. 

Still on the Books of the Bible

Was anyone able to read any portion of the book of James? May be no one tried. Not to worry. Let us look at the book of Prophet Malachi as it describes the kind of sacrifice that is acceptable to God. This book also talks about giving tithe to God as one of the acceptable sacrifices that we must offer our God. What is your sacrifice? What if God is not happy with what we offer Him? Then we must change the way we present ourselves to our Heavenly Father. Please read this short book, with only three chapters and pray that your sacrifice may be pleasing to God. 

Follow me through some Books of the Bible:

We often wonder how we could ever have the time to read through the books of the Bible. This is not a very difficult task if you take it one day at a time. For those who like reading my blog post I want to make it easy for you to achieve this simple task. So pick up your bible and be prepared to open it up and read. Remember what the acronym BIBLE stands for: It means Basic Instruction Before Leaving Earth.

Now let us start with the simple book of them all – the book of James. The letter of James is fondly called the Universal Epistle. This means that James did not target any one person in particular; he has something for everyone. There are only five chapters in this book. You can read it as a novel or as one of the books of the bible. Please spend some time with our brother James and you will be glad you did. Pay particular attention to chapters 2 & 3. Have a happy read!

My House shall be called a house of prayer!

Thinking about where we have been, where we are now and where we are heading can provide a somber period of reflection for us vis-a-vis our relationship with God. The popular saying, ‘If it aint broke don’t fix it’ rings true for those us who find fault with everything and want to fix it all including the way we behave in the house of God. In this post I want to reflect briefly on our way of being in God’s house.

In Isaiah 56:1 we read these sacred words: “Thus says the Lord: observe what is right, do what is just; for my salvation is about to come, my justice, about to be revealed.” The prophet, speaking for God, called the children of Israel to do the one thing that is seemingly easy, observe, and see the right thing and do just that. He also exhorts them to do what is just. Here is where the problem lies with us. We know from observation what should be done in our Church and in our community to make sure that everyone enjoys the enormous wealth that God our heavenly father has blessed the universe with. But do we do it? Oh no!

Let us observe for a while our way of being in God’s house. When I was young, I was taught that when I entered a Church and observed the sanctuary lamp burning, that meant that Christ was present in the tabernacle, that I should genuflect, that is go down on one knee. I was also told to bow my head in prayer and to be quiet. On passing the church, I was taught that I should bow my head and bless myself. This, I was told was because God was always present in his house. I was also taught that it was a good practice to stop by in Church during the day for a short visit to the Blessed Sacrament. On Sundays I had to wake up and get ready for Mass, I was to eat nothing till I returned from Mass. My Sunday best was to have been washed and ironed on Saturday so that I would look neat and tidy in Church. This too was a good practice. Now can you imagine what is happening in our church? Sometimes when I enter some of our Churches I often have the feeling that I am at a theater waiting to watch a film. There is so much noise that it makes praying difficult if not impossible. And yet we read in the same chapter quoted above, in verses 4-7 these eternal words: “For thus says the Lord: To the eunuchs who observe my Sabbaths and choose what pleases me and hold fast to my covenant, I will give, in my house and within my walls, a monument and a name. Better than sons and daughters; and eternal, imperishable name will I give them. And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, ministering to him, Loving the name of the Lord, and becoming his servants - all who keep the Sabbath free from profanation and hold to my covenant, they, I will bring to my holy mountain and make joyful in my house of prayer. Their holocausts and sacrifices will be acceptable on my altar for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.” Now that is the Word of God, powerful and invincible.

In Matthew 21:12-13, we read of how Christ went into the temple and “drove out all those engaged in selling and buying there. He overturned the tables of the money- changers and the seats of those who were selling doves. And he said to them, “it is written: ‘My house shall be a house of prayer,’ but you are making it a den of thieves.” With the amount of buying and selling that goes on in our churches how do you think Christ would feel if he were to come in to worship with us today? I am sure he will repeat what he did many years ago, overturn our tables and drive us out of his church.

The Church is the one place designated for the exclusive use for praising God and his name. If our president or governor were to visit us, we would do everything in our power to be available and I am sure we would comport ourselves appropriately in their presence. Why can’t we do the same for God who is above and beyond any earthly king and queen? Why do we turn our Churches into social gathering places instead of places for prayer and worship? Matthew once again warns us, “Do not give what is holy to dogs, or throw your pearls before swine, lest they trample them underfoot, and turn and tear you to pieces.” ‘Familiarity’, they say, ‘breeds contempt’, this should not be so with things pertaining to God. If we are to receive blessings from God, we must conduct ourselves accordingly and give him the homage, adoration and honor due him in his house. That is not too much to ask. I think.

Hell Exists and You May go there!

In the last post the discussion was ‘who can separate us from the love Christ.’ The reflection was simple we are the only ones who can separate us from the love of Christ, due to our choices. The other day I was visiting with a priest friend in his parish and as he showed me around the rectory, my attention was directed to one of the books on the reception table. On opening the book, my eye captured the title of one of the chapters in the book. Yes, the title was: Hell Exists and you may go there. This is interesting because most pastors no longer preach hell these days. I remember a story I heard once about a young boy who sat by his mother in Church listening to the pastor preach on how difficult it was to go to heaven. The boy was so exasperated with the pastor. He then whispered to his mother and asked if there was an alternative to going to heaven? A very interesting question I would admit! If there was an alternative, what might it be? Hell? I suppose so. Now if hell were to be the alternative, wouldn’t it be an interesting one? After all, the road to hell is decorated and paved with good intentions.

When I was a young lad I heard the pastors preach about hell and how hot the fire of hell would be very regularly. Now-a-days one would hardly hear any preaching that mentions hell. But how do we know that there is hell? A simple question to answer: Jesus tells us time and time again that there will be judgment at the end time and that there will be hell. Let us listen attentively to the word of the Master as he talks about judgment and hell in Matthew 25: 31- 46: “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne, and all the nations will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I   was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.’ Then the righteous will answer him and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?’ And the king will say to them in reply, Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, a stranger and you gave me no welcome, naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for me. Then they will answer and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minster to your needs?’ He will answer them, ‘Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.’ “And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” There you hear it. From the aforementioned, it seems to me that the problem is simple: it is the sin of neglecting to do what we should have done to ease the burden of others that may likely send us to hell. Isn’t it true that whatever God has given us is not meant for us to keep for ourselves alone but that we should share with those who are not as blessed as we are? We will be punished precisely for not sharing our gifts, our blessings and our talents with others.

Now consider the case of the Rich Man and Lazarus as recorded in Luke 16:19-31. Here the Rich Man was sent to hell not because of what he did wrong but for what he omitted. In Matthew 25 quoted above, the sin of the people who did not care was the sin of commission while the sin of the Rich Man was the sin of omission. The rich man did not take notice of Lazarus; he went about his business as if Lazarus did not exist. He was more concerned with his sumptuous feasting and merrymaking.  Again to our question, how do we know that hell exists, hear what the Rich Man said to Abraham in verse 24: “Father Abraham, have pity on me. Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am suffering torment in these flames.” Abraham did not hesitate in reminding the Rich Man of why he was suffering in hell. In verse 25 Abraham replied the Rich Man, “My child, remember that you received what was good during your lifetime while Lazarus likewise received what was bad; but now he is comforted here, whereas you are tormented.” This is what we call rubbing it in. Anyone who thought that hell did not exit should think twice. Hell, like I said in the previous post, is ultimately a life without God. Once we live our lives with God, it would be easy to notice our brothers and sisters, created in the image and likeness of God, hence, whatever blessing we received from God should be equally shared with all.

If we are to avoid going to hell, then we are to live as if we are citizens of Heaven. We are not to necessarily think that we must be rich before we begin to share, if we reason this way, we will never share anything with anyone. Sharing means reciprocating the generosity of God. It seems to me that we will be judged on the last day on how much we loved God and others. Since we know that hell exits let us do whatever is in our power to void making a journey towards there. We are citizens of Heaven; hence, let our journey be heaven bound. Please if you want to go to heaven, notice the people God has put on the journey with you. Do not ignore them, do not neglect them; do not forget them. Plan with them in mind, share with them your blessings, care for them in their needs and be rest assured that the place prepared for you since the beginning of the world will be yours when the time comes to take possession of it. Good luck!

What will separate us from the Love of Christ?

This is a simple but difficult question posed by our brother Paul in Romans 8:35. From the explanation given as you read the remaining part of this chapter, it seems obvious that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ. You will be correct to assume that this would be the case especially when you read earlier in verse 28 of the same chapter, “We know that all things work for good for those who love God.” The phrase to note here is “For those who love God.” Going back to the title of this post, “What will separate us from the love of Christ?” The answer would be predicated on the fact that nothing can separate those who love God from the love of Christ.

I dare say that the only person who can separate you from the love of Christ is yourself. Life has taught us that it is not every one who loves God; there are those who call themselves atheist. Christ himself attested to the fact that, “Not those who call me Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of God” (Mat. 7:21). In Luke 6:46 Christ posses this interesting question, “Why do you call me, Lord, Lord, and not do what I say?” Yet God has blessed us with the gift of free will. This act of the will is to enable us to choose to do what is right.

Every day we are faced with choices and decisions. Every decision that we make is capable of bringing us closer to our redemption or away from it. Unfortunately we do not always choose the good. Though our intellect and will are well able and capable of directing us towards the good, our choice is, more often that not, directed towards something that will satisfy our immediate yearnings and aspirations. Some of our yearnings are only seemingly good but not the good. Our ultimate good and the object of our aspiration is to behold the beatific vision of God. St. Augustine put it explicitly well when he observed, O God you have made us for yourself, our hearts cannot be at rest until they rest on God.  Paul himself experienced this dilemma in his life. He says in Romans 7:14-24, “We know that the law is spiritual; but I am carnal, sold into slavery to sin. What I do, I do not understand. For I do not do what I want, but I do what I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I concur that the law is good. So now it is not longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that good does not dwell in me, that is, in my flesh. The willing is ready at hand, but doing the good in not. For I do not do the good I want, but I do the evil I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. So, then, I discover the principle that when I want to do right, evil is at hand. For I take delight in the law of God, in my inner self, but I see in my members another principle at war with the law of my mind, taking me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Miserable one that I am! Who will deliver me from this mortal body?”

Here then is the problem of the modern Christian: doing the right and avoiding the wrong; choosing to live for Christ and shunning the enticement of the evil one. This is anything but easy! Just look around you, everything you see, everything you hear is urging you to satisfy yourself, to shun sacrifice, to flee from work and be engaged in leisure seeking trip, avoid prayer, penance and mortification and take life easy, after all, God understands. How right was John in his first letter chapter 2:15-17 for warning us thus, “Do not love the world or the things of the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, sensual lust, enticement for the eyes, and pretentious life, is not from the Father but is from the world. Yet the world and its enticement are passing away. But whoever does the will of God remains forever.”  

If we do not want to be separated from the love of Christ, then we have to constantly chose Christ and make right decisions. Hell means a life without God. The decision to go to hell may not be intentionally made at one time but a continuous pushing out of God from our lives. The simply decision to do the right and to shun evil could be a step in the right direction.