The Blessed Virgin Mary Wants to Help Us to Love Her Son!

I have been thinking a lot lately about my relationship with the Blessed Virgin Mary. What I have been thinking about is how Our Savior came to us through her. She is a created being- a human – like us (except Holy and without sin), and Jesus chose her as the gateway through which he reached out to us. So it only makes sense that we accept her invitation to take her hand and reach back to Him. Jesus is the Name above All Names and the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one gets to Heaven except through Him.Among the “cloud of witnesses” that is in Heaven, no one is closer to Jesus than his mother, the Queen of Heaven.

Imagine on earth if you didn’t know the President or the King (obviously far less important than the Creator of the Universe) – but you knew their mother and she loved you and you loved her. Wouldn’t that be awesome? Who better than someone’s mother to help us to know their child? Mary knew Jesus on earth better than any other person, and she nurtured Him as only a mother can. We have this incredible opportunity to give everything to her and have her help us take it to Jesus!

At my church there is a lovely outdoor garden, called Saint Mary’s Garden. Today was a lovely spring-like day in New York City and I was sitting in the garden before mass. There is a statue of the Blessed Mother at the end of the garden and she is elevated, as if perhaps being assumed into Heaven. Her feet are about 4 feet off the ground. As I was sitting there, an elderly man walked up to the statue and made the sign of the cross. He then leaned over and kissed each of her feet, in an act so touching and humble and filled with love. I know someone reading this might say “we aren’t supposed to pray to statues”- and I am quite sure that nothing in his action was at all idolizing this piece of metal in the middle of Manhattan. But you could almost see that this man’s heart was filled with love for his mother in heaven- and just as we might kiss the picture of someone who we are in love with, he kissed this image.

What I realized in all of this thinking about Mary being our gracious help in bringing our prayers to Jesus, was that I really need to make sure that I am giving everything I have to her. Every concern, every asset, every single bit of my life- it goes to her so that she can help me to give everything to Jesus. Once I started thinking like this I realized that there are places that I continue to hold onto- worries that I feel I need to fix myself, or things that I don’t want to give up. I am now making a daily practice of asking my Blessed Mother in Heaven to show me the things that I have not given to her to take with me to Jesus, and in doing this I can see the worries evaporating. I can also see real resolution of issues- which isn’t surprising at all. We can remember at the wedding at Cana when Mary asked Jesus to turn the water into wine, and He instructed the people there to do as she said. Our Mother is there for the entire world to show us the Way to Jesus!

Bless Your Marriage!

I recently had my marriage blessed in the Catholic Church. It seems like a wildly overdue event given that I have been married for 15 years, and a Catholic for 14. Here is the short story on how it happened…

When I was 21 I was not a Catholic (I was baptized in the church but that was where it stopped). I probably identified loosely as an agnostic at the time, but that actually implies more thought than I had actually given to matters of faith. God wasn’t on my radar, but fortunately I- like all of us- are never off of His. I was married in my home by an Episcopal minister. It was a nice and sincere ceremony. We were divorced 12 years later. It was all very sad, and a familiar story to many. During those 12 years, however, I had become a Christian (of the Baptist variety)- and I also had two wonderful boys. These are the very best things that came from those years of my life, without question.

About 7 years later I remarried – this time by a Justice of the Peace, in a small ceremony on a rainy day in Jersey City, NJ. The wonderful man I married was a cradle Catholic. After our first child was born, it was clear to me that having parents of different faith traditions was sub-optimal, so after my baby’s baptism I began to pursue my own Confirmation. It is important to mention that before I got married the second time, I had a co-worker who was a devout Catholic who was very persistent in telling me that I needed to become a Catholic. He bought books for me that talked about why Protestants needed to come back to the “one true faith”- which I did read, in part because dating a Catholic I was interested- but also had significant reservations about being Catholic.

When I finally started Confirmation classes, I asked the priest about my marital state – being divorced, being remarried by a Justice of the Peace, etc. He told me not to worry about it but I got the distinct impression that there was also a message of “don’t mention the details of your marital state too openly”. That should have been my first clue. In retrospect, I think he knew that the process of getting our marriage properly blessed would be a project, and he was concerned that adding that work on top of the Confirmation may scare me away. He may have been right about that. So I filed the topic away and became confirmed.

In the earlier days of being a Catholic I was sort of grudging (at least in my head) about the whole experience. I found the music uninspiring and the preaching lacking in inspiration. It is a common challenge when a person goes from the “entertainment” variety of religion to the somber and holy experience of the mass- to not quite “get it” at first. I certainly didn’t. But then things started to change. I think it is a bit like school in that if you are passive about learning you don’t get much out of it, but if you go into a class and try to squeeze all you can get out of it, it comes alive. So mass started to come alive for me as I began to realize that I was really engaging with Jesus!

I started to read Catholic literature (turns out the catechism is incredibly well written and a good read!) and watch Catholic TV. So lo and behold one day I was watching EWTN and there was my priest on TV talking about how divorced people and people not married in the church aren’t able to participate in the Eucharist! I realize I should have known this but it really hit me very hard- so I quickly made an appointment to see my priest and he confirmed that we did indeed need to have our marriage “convalidated”, or blessed, in the church.

It took us about 5 months to get all of the paperwork done, go through the classes and complete the process. But in the end- it was done! It was a small but extremely touching ceremony- which created a union that includes my husband, myself and Jesus! Wow! If anyone is reading this and wondering if it is worth going through this process, I can’t say enough about how much joy it has brought to my life. It may seem like an insurmountable hassle, but you will be so glad that you did it!!

Bless Your Marriage!

Goal Setting in My Catholic Walk

Over the course of my career, I have spent a lot of time on goal setting and working to achieve very specific business and personal growth objectives. What I find fascinating, the more I read about the lives of the saints, is how different God’s ways are from our ways.

I was pondering this in church last night – and what I was really thinking about was “what is the goal” for me in my spiritual growth. To become a saint, for sure- but as all of us business types know, a goal needs to be “SMART”- that is specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound. So I would need to come up with something more concrete- in other words, what are the steps that one takes to become a saint? There are the things that we all know to do as Catholics- go to church, participate in the sacraments, pray without ceasing (easy to say, hard to do), participate in acts of charity and so on- but the answer involves more than that.

What I realized were a few things:

Mother Angelica often talked about how she never had a business plan, although what she accomplished from a business perspective was incredible. She said she didn’t need a plan, because God had the plan. What she needed was the faith to step out into the unknown on a daily basis and trust that God would do with her what he intended. This is the direct opposite of the plans that we feverishly make in most areas of our lives. It takes a lot of faith to live life this way- but it seems to me it is a glimpse into what we need to do – and at the risk of reducing it to a bumper sticker, it sounds a bit like “Let go, Let God”. For goal oriented list makers, that can be a challenge.
When you look at the lives of the saints, they are all so wildly different. They come from all corners of the globe and many started in lives that looked exceedingly average- or even really worldly and hedonistic. Apparently heaven is filled with all kinds – which should give us all a great deal of hope! But it was also clear that they weren’t plotting on so much how to be saints, they were more responding naturally to the love that they understood Jesus gave them, and they were drawn closer and closer to Him. That is also the point- that you can’t really love someone who you don’t spend time with or who comes as an after thought after the “important” matters of the day are addressed. Spending more time in prayer, in church, in God’s word- we aren’t doing Him any favors in doing that. The desire to spend time with Him clearly needs to come from a place of love on our part. In Raymond Arroyo’s awesome book about Mother Angelica’s life “Mother Angelica: The Remarkable Story of a Nun, Her Nerve, and a Network of Miracles” he talks about how even in her old age, when she received the Eucharist she would have a look of love on her face as though she was in the presence of her deepest love- because she was!
All the saints were “do-ers” -whether in prayer, or in sacrifice, or in charity there was action that they were taking- but it wasn’t always what they had planned out. Mother Cabrini dreamed of being a missionary in China, but God had other plans, and she ended up in the US instead- a change that she accepted as God’s will. How often do we fight for what we want rather than what God’s perfect plan has for us? We want to “do”- but so often it is on our terms. In Mark chapter 10 we see the story of the rich young man who is so eager to follow Jesus- up until Jesus tells him he needs to give away all of his money. Unfortunately that wasn’t part of the man’s plan and he walks away. What is it in our lives that we are being called to give up to follow Him?

So what I concluded is that SMART goals may work in business, but in matters of faith it is much simpler and more difficult. As lived out in the lives of Mother Angelica and all the saints, the call is to wake up every morning and put our life and our day in God’s hands. To make Him the complete focus, to be in His presence as much as possible so as to be able to hear what we are called to do – and then to simply do it.

In Preparation for Lent

Only a few more days guys! I know for me the process of figuring out what to “do” for Lent this year hasn’t been easy. To figure it out I have done, among other things, the following:

Watched Father Mike’s video on how to select something purposeful to give up for Lent- which will aid in spiritual growth.
I read a few things (like this, this and this) on Lent and forgiveness (spoiler alert- this is what I need to focus on!)- and there are tons more articles like that out there!
I have prayed about what are the things that I might be too attached to in my life that could be getting in the way of my spiritual growth.

I have come to the conclusion that it isn’t really about finding the “perfect” Lenten sacrifice, as much as it is to do whatever I do in the spirit of sacrifice and thanksgiving.

Here is what I have come up with, and I would love to share what you are going to do!

I am going to give up caffeine. Giving up something that artificially gives me energy will hopefully remind me every day how much I need Jesus. Caffeine withdrawal headaches? Hopefully can be a sacrifice that I can offer up to tie me more closely to His suffering and can also be an offering- for purification of my soul, souls in purgatory- you get the idea.
Giving up meat. This is to remind me that I am incredibly blessed with so many things that I don’t appreciate on a daily basis. Imagine in most times and places in the history of humanity being able to eat meat for every meal- it would be hard for kings of old to even imagine. Yet, here I am in a world where I take it for granted. I am praying that this thought process will extend beyond meat and help me to focus on gratitude more broadly.
Staying off of social media (with the exception of posting the blogs and responding to direct messages). The idea here is to not mindlessly scroll, to stay away from binging on unhealthy news, and to stop wasting time on what is an unnecessary distraction. Guarding what goes into my mind, heart and soul and instead focusing on things above- that’s the point.
Adding in at least one additional mass every week at a minimum. It is an incredible gift to be in the Real Presence of Jesus -so this is hardly a sacrifice- but it is not something I do regularly so the idea is to develop a good habit.

I am praying that all of you find this time of Lent a season of reflection and renewal. The Church needs us to pray fervently now more than ever, so it is my hope that this Lent we will all be stirred to lift up our clergy, our brothers and sisters in Christ and all believers for a greater purification.

Would Jesus “Spit Me Out”?

One of the most challenging verses in the Bible is Revelations 3:16 “but since you are neither hot nor cold, but only lukewarm, I will spit you out of My mouth”. We live in a world that rewards moderation- and in many things being temperate is a huge virtue. However we are told here that being in the middle of the road when it comes to our zeal for Christ will cause us to be tossed out by our Lord – so harsh sounding- but why would this be the case, and what do we do about it?

Every day we encounter Catholics or Christians who consider themselves “cultural Christians”- in other words, their parents took them to church, or their ethnicity is typically Catholic – or some other reason that they may “feel” nominally Christian but aren’t practicing. Clearly from this verse, that would fall into the “lukewarm” bucket. We are clearly called to make Jesus our priority, have our growth in holiness as our primary goal, and center our lives around the sacraments. Not necessarily popular in 2019- all the more reason to take it seriously and reflect on how we could be as “hot” as we can be in our daily lives.

To me one of the biggest things that pushes us (or at times I have found tempts me into being tepid) is focusing on this world rather than the next. In this life, what matters? My health, my children’s well being, financial stability, job satisfaction, enjoyment – and so much more. None of these things are at all bad in isolation, but when any of these things become the focus, my eyes turn from the cross and to myself.

In contrast if I am able to fix my eyes on Jesus and “set my mind on things above”, I can accept vacillations in my health, knowing that this earthly body is a temporary home. I can accept that my children, being fallen creatures like me, will have the ups and downs that we all have as we struggle with our sinful natures and the sin of the world- and I can turn to prayer rather than to my own “abilities” to fix things. Financial stability, job satisfaction and temporal enjoyments can be appreciated when they are there and not mourned when they aren’t when I have my heart firmly fixed on the promises of heaven. In the moments when I can get my mind and heart wrapped around the desire for sanctification I can say “thank you Jesus” for the trials, and the opportunities to grow closer to Him as I offer the challenges in sacrifice.

St Faustina was given an intention to pray for the lukewarm on the last day of the Novena given to her by Jesus. He said “these souls cause Me more suffering than any others; it was from these souls that My soul felt the most revulsion in the Garden of Olives. It was on their account that I said “My Father, if it is possible let this cup pass me by”. The last hope for them is to flee to My mercy”. Pretty sobering to think that our indifference caused our Lord to suffer the most.

One of the things that I have always found a bit confusing about this verse in Revelations, however, is why would it be better to be cold (i.e. completely unaware and disinterested in Jesus) than lukewarm. I think the answer is that being “lukewarm” you have deluded yourself into thinking “I am a good person” and that is enough. If you are “cold”-with no faith or no relationship with the Lord, then you may be more open to seeking and knowing that there is a missing piece. Perhaps also more receptive when the inevitable hard times hit to a different way to live a life. Perhaps the worst thing for any of us is feeling comfortable that we are “all good” with where we are spiritually, and in that leaving us feeling that we no longer need to strive.

I think the other part of it is that once we have been given the gift of faith, we are obliged to do something with it. We don’t know what we don’t know- so if someone has never heard the Gospel, they can’t be held accountable to know it. If someone, however, went to church as a child and has heard the Good News- and then basically ignores it in their life, they are inevitably held to a higher standard.

Let’s encourage each other to be as “hot” as we can – to grow in holiness and sanctification, and to fix our eyes upon Jesus, so as not to be “spit out”!

Misunderstandings I Had About Being Catholic

I was baptized as a Catholic when I was a few days old…but I didn’t receive First Communion or Confirmation until I was in my 40’s. Many of our lives take these detours on our journey of faith. Before being in full communion with the Church, I became a Christian Protestant in my 20’s. I am eternally grateful to the wonderful friends, pastors and others in that phase of my life who helped me to know Jesus, love his Word, and have a thirst to keep seeking His face.

For quite a number of years when I was a Protestant, I harbored very negative views of Catholicism. Many of these views were taught to me by very well meaning people- who genuinely believed they were telling me the truth. It was only when I reached a certain level of spiritual awareness that I was able to see for myself – that these were not “truths” about the church, but were rather misguided misunderstandings. Among these were the following:

Catholics pray to saints. I was told that Catholics are in violation of the Commandment to have no other God’s before me, because they worshipped saints. What I learned is that the saints are wonderful, holy examples of people- people like us, with flaws and real lives- who we can look up to. We don’t pray to them, but rather we ask them to pray for us – because we know from Hebrews 12:1 that we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses (the saints!) – who are cheering us on and are there to help us grow in holiness.
Catholics worship the Virgin Mary. This was probably the biggest stumbling block I had to becoming a Catholic. Every where I saw statues of the Blessed Mother it seemed to me undeniable that Catholics had created another God. I took quite a lot of time to really try to understand this – and what I found was that Jesus loved his mother very much- and that she was a human being, and not a God at all. I learned that she was the Ark of the New Covenant, but perhaps as important, Jesus’ first miracle at Cana came at the request of His mother. Someone needed something (in this case, wine) and went to her to ask for help- and she went to her son, and He obliged her request. Why would we not follow this example?
Catholics worship graven images. Obviously another biblical “no no” as the Golden Calf showed us with Moses and Aaron. The difference with Catholics and statues or images is that no one is worshipping the images. Jesus was an actual person, and having statues to remind us of His passion and other important events in His life helps our mind to focus. Likewise with statues of Mary and all the saints where they are more like having family photos hanging in your home.
Catholics don’t read the Bible. So this one is patently false- and the entire Catholic Mass, and most Catholic prayers are lifted verbatim from the Bible. Most priests strongly encourage their parishioners to read the Bible. The difference is that when there are questions about interpretation (which there inevitably are) it is the Catholic Church who helps us to understand the meaning. Some people may find this off putting – but I wonder why it is worse to have people who have devoted their lives to studying scripture- and who are standing on the shoulders of others who came before them for the centuries leading up to Jesus, than to have some individual come up with their interpretation. The downside of each person coming up with their own interpretation is that you get thousands of different interpretations – which is essentially what you find when you look at the cornucopia of beliefs that exist across the spectrum of Protestant religions.
Catholics believe that the Eucharist is actually the living presence of Christ. In retrospect I can’t imagine why I found this hard to believe. Jesus made it very clear in John 6:53 that we must eat his body and drink his blood to be His followers. What is surprising is that people who believe that the scriptures are the sole source of knowledge of Jesus would pick this part to veer off and say that we need to read this as symbolic. For a God who can create the Universe, it doesn’t seem that much of a stretch to believe that He can create a miracle in each Mass and actually be present in the Eucharist. And so He is.

I am grateful to be a part of the one, holy, Catholic Church. I am hopeful that my experiences – as someone who had no faith at all, someone who experienced being a Protestant, and now as a Catholic- I am better able to relate to people who are somewhere along that spectrum in their journey. There is only one goal – for all of us (whether we know it or not) – and that is to achieve holiness and to join with the saints in heaven!

People Can Be Jerks- How to Reflect Christ When We Really Don’t Feel Like It

One of the things that can be really hard is living life as an integrated Catholic. What I mean by that, is that we can fall into the trap of having our prayer time, or our church time, or our bible reading time be really fulfilling and focused on Jesus – but are we bringing that into the “real life” parts of our days? The goal of growing in holiness…and ultimately the goal of being in heaven…requires that we live out the messages of Christ in the hard parts of our life. Even atheists are nice to people who are nice to them- that isn’t hard.

Some things that can be hard:

Not responding with a harsh word when someone is rude, angry or disrespectful. I once read that the secret to happy marriage can be found on scars on the tongues of the spouses- in other words, biting your tongue rather than speaking in anger, frustration or defensiveness is a necessary element to harmony. This is true in work relationships and friendships as much as it is in marriage.

Not thinking rude thoughts about people in your head. This is one that I am working on right now, but wow is it a hard habit to fix! I have tried to be conscious of how often I think something negative, unflattering or derogatory about someone- and it is way more often than I care to admit! If someone is walking really slowly down the street in front of me, I may not say anything but in my head I can be seething. The meanness that can fester in our heads needs to stop because it ultimately it pollutes not only our relationships but it also poisons our own souls. What I have found helpful is to recognize when I am doing it, stop the thought, and pray for that person. Also realizing that I have no idea why the person is doing what they are doing (maybe they are ill? maybe they have a challenge in walking? maybe they are having a hard day? maybe they are stopping to smell the flowers and I should too? maybe they just feel like walking slowly which isn’t a crime!)

A recent challenge (this is a business one but I can imagine it happens in other places too) is to respond well when someone is lying to you or trying to deceive you. The first reaction (at least for me) is to be angry that someone is trying to pull a fast one. I do think that it is important to remember that being a Christian does not mean being a doormat- so we don’t have to let people run over us or steal from us. Having said that, I do think that it is important to remember that we are all sinners, and I am certainly not perfect. The balance I am trying to find is to let the person know that I know they are lying to me, but to do that without anger. People are flawed. People are broken. There are a million reasons why someone feels like they can’t be honest – but there is still no excuse for sin. As with all of these examples the sequence that seems to work best for me is to recognize that I am thinking bad thoughts about someone and stop it. The next step is to pray for them and to pray for the right response.

Many years ago I had these words, which are credited to Mother Theresa, taped to my computer at work. They will be familiar to many of you. They helped me then, and they help me now. Hopefully they will be helpful to someone reading this too:

People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies. Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you. Be honest and sincere anyway.

What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight. Create anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, will often be forgotten. Do good anyway.

Give the best you have, and it will never be enough. Give your best anyway.

In the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.

Wishing all who read this a blessed day, and the strength to reflect Christ to others in every circumstance!

Preparing for Lent

I know it is few weeks away, but I really have lent on the brain these days. I am looking forward to this time that feels set aside for purification. I feel like I need it. So because of that I find myself reading a lot about what practices people adopt during Lent – and what people give up.

One of the things that keeps coming to me is Matthew 15:11 It is not what enters one’s mouth that defiles that person; but what comes out of the mouth is what defiles one

This is a big one for me – because the thing that I stumble with most often is what comes out of my mouth. No matter how often I confess that I have gossiped- invariably I do it again. No matter how often I say that I have been impatient with someone in my family and I ask forgiveness for a short-tempered word- I do it again. I find that the people closest to me say things that I am offended by (and I react defenesively)- and what I have noticed lately is that I am offended because the truth hurts. Someone very close to me told me the other day that I was a hypocrite because I said something that was judgmental against a friend- and yet I say the rosary every day. How much might I be causing them to doubt their faith because of my bad example? So my feelings were hurt at being called a hypocrite- but why do I need to say a critical word against a friend? Recognizing that there is hypocrisy- and being genuinely repentant- is the first step in stamping it out.

Because of these struggles with my mouth, I am not going to wait until Lent to fix this- but I also know that I, like all of us, am a fallen creature, prone to sin and weakness. What I also know is that the Lord promised to be “our refuge and our strength, an ever present help in times of need”. One of my favorite scripture versus is Philippians 4:13 – I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

What I know is that if I had to rely on my own strength and abilities I would be in despair right about now. My desire and my goal is to be holy and I am trying, but the flesh is weak. Knowing that Jesus is here with me, and that He sent His Holy Spirit to guide and strengthen me, means I don’t need to rely on my own strength. We know that “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.

But this all puts in perspective the Lenten season – and how the whole point of giving things up or adding in new practices is to grow in holiness. Whatever we do it is to help us increase in purification and to grow closer to our Lord. One of the greatest gifts we have been given is the gift of reconciliation- the ability to confess our sins and have God forgive them. We don’t need to wait for Lent to give up gossip, or to be more kind. We don’t need to wait for Lent to go to confession and be genuinely repentant. We – and in particular I – can start today by asking for the Holy Spirit to help me hold my tongue. We have a “great cloud of witnesses” in Heaven who are cheering us on, and we can ask all of these saints to pray for us- with the most Holy Mother of God always there as our heavenly mother, ready to help us and wrap us in her love. We don’t need to wait for Lent to benefit from all of these blessings!

It Looks Bleak, But There is Always Hope

This week has been a particularly bad one for news relating to Christians and the hate that fills the US today. Three news stories in particular made my heart ache:

The legislative change in NY state that now allows for abortions up until the moment of birth. Although there is no medical reason for the protection of mothers to allow this, and yes – there are other states that have the same incomprehensibly evil legislation- it is sad beyond words that anyone could think this is ok. It was almost unbelievable to see the Governor of NY and some legislators gleefully celebrating the holocaust of babies- and even requiring skyscrapers in Manhattan shining pink lights to “celebrate”. How could this be anything other than satanic?
The coverage of the March for Life in DC, which the media generally loves to ignore, quickly turned to coverage of a smirking Catholic school teen, standing motionless while being accosted by radical, hateful adults. The press quickly jumped onto the narrative that the student and his classmates were racist, exploiting their “privilege” and were the perpetrators of aggression. Once the smoke cleared on the story and it was clear that the students were the victims in this exchange, what also became clear was that the hatred that was heaped on these students by the media and Hollywood liberals and others was largely because they are Catholic Christians and Pro Life= currently two of the most despised things to be in America.
The Vice President’s wife, Karen Pence, came under fire for working at a Christian school, which upholds traditional Christian values in their missions statement. The whole point of having private schools, whether Christian, Jewish, Muslim, other regions or no religion at all- is that the school is private and can teach the beliefs on which they were founded. This really hit home for me, as my youngest son attends a wonderful Christian school that teaches not only top notch academics, but also reinforces in every way possible the Christian values that we hold dear. It is awesome to see such a wonderful, kind and caring group of young people as those who are his classmates. The school also has fully 50% of students on scholarship- so it is not a “privileged” group of rich kids, and in fact it is an incredibly diverse school in every way except for religion – because it is a Christian school. Seeing #exposechristianschools trending on Twitter – not in the way it should be (as in, “show the world how awesome Christian schools can be!”) but rather to make it seem like there is something to be ashamed about in having religions values, made me wonder what country I live in.

The thing is this- Christian persecution in the world in the 20th, and now 21st Century is far more acute a problem than it was in the prior 19 centuries. Specifically, the estimates of Christian martyrdom from year AD33 to AD1900 was about 14 million, but from 1901 to the present is about 26 million. We don’t really focus on all this much in the US- because we have had a pretty cushy existence, and the protection of all religious liberties have been protected in this country like no other.

However, as our country continues to embrace the celebration of self above all else, the Judeo-Christian values on which this country was founded are increasingly under attack. As Christians we have to expect that in our lifetime we will be called to stand up and be counted- the days of comfort are quickly coming to an end. Being on the sidelines is no longer an option.

What does this mean?

We need to pray for our country, for our fellow citizens, and in particular for those who hate us. Following in the example of Jesus we know we need to love our enemies. The more enemies we have, the more we have the opportunity to show them love.
We need to recognize that we will be hated- but Jesus already told us this in Matthew 10:22 and Mark 13:13. The good news is that we have a promise from Him also that He is with us, now and in eternity. We can offer our suffering as a sacrifice. This life isn’t about comfort, pleasure or “me, myself and I” as our culture claims it to be. Quite the opposite.
One thing that I sometimes worry about (even though I know that I should not worry- and I do pray for peace in my heart) is that when I am called to stand up and speak up for Jesus – and it could cost me (it certainly cost many millions of people before me with their lives!)- that I won’t know what to say. What gives me comfort is Luke 12:12 where we are promised that the Holy Spirit will give us the words we need at that time.

We must guard against hate, we must guard against fear. I wonder sometimes why we live in New York City, which often feels like a modern day Sodom and Gomorrah where only the most patient God could restrain Himself from having it sent up in a ball of fire. But I trust that as Christians our job is to be salt and light where we are planted- and so we stay here. Our hope is not on this world, but on the next. Sometimes it may seem like we are a tiny grain of sand- but we can encourage one another, and keep the faith- we only need it to be as big as a mustard seed!

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