Author: Debra Weldon

Last weekend, Fr. Carl Joseph OP made a comment that Jesus came to restore our humanity.  I had just finished watching the Divergent trilogy, which also contained a concept of restoring humanity, and I immediately saw the stark contrast.   

For those of you who haven’t seen the movie or read the books, the concept in the final part of the series goes like this:

The story is set in a post nuclear war scenario. The people of Chicago believed themselves to be the only survivors.  However, as the story progressed, the audience learned that other people lived outside of Chicago and that many of the people who lived in the generations leading up to the nuclear war chose to be genetically enhanced. There was a belief that genetic enhancements caused the loss of humanity, which resulted in the nuclear war. The isolated citizens of Chicago were actually an experiment, an attempt to regain humanity by trying to purify broken DNA. The divergents were those who were moving towards pure DNA. However, by the end of the series, it became evident that even those who were considered pure were not humane, either. 

While we are not yet (to my knowledge) at a place of genetic enhancements, we still live in a broken world, and it was into this broken world that Jesus was born with the mission of restoring our humanity by metaphorically perfecting our DNA.  In addition to restoring us to right relationship with the Father, he did this by showing us how to live a humane life, and he gave us the ability to live that life in grace.  As we learn to follow his example of selfless living, we regain our humanity by living the way we were created to live.  As we become more and more fully incorporated into the body of Christ, the more we metaphorically share in his pure DNA. The result of this sharing is that our lives become less and less broken, and we become more and more divergent.

Spend some time with the Holy Spirit looking at the way you are living your life. Do your choices look more like that of the average person who contributes to the brokenness of this world, or are you moving in a direction, with the help of grace, of becoming divergent and living a life in Christ?  Ask him to show you how you can better cooperate with grace in order to live a less broken life.  As you close your time of prayer, thank him for showing you the way of becoming pure by living a divergent life.

In Him,

dw 

Advent is a season of hope, but what is hope?  From a secular perspective, it is something like a wish. “I hope for this or that.” There is no real expectation that one will receive this or that. It is just a wish.  

This understanding of hope is not the same thing as scriptural hope, which in its most basic sense, is trust in God and his promises.  In fact, when I look at scripture, I see a key theme – God is trustworthy, even when his people are not.  While his ways are not our ways [Mark 8:33], and it may not always look like he is faithful, as we continue to read scripture, we see his promises fulfilled. 

What is God’s promise?  To protect us from harm? No.  To give us prosperity if we are faithful? No.  I would say his promise is to love us always, and, if we let him, to conform us to him in love.  I propose this is an important perspective because eternity is a life spent with God who is love [1 Jn 4:8].  

More traditionally, Jesus promised to be with us until the end of time [Mt 28:20]. No matter how alone we feel, we are not alone. Nothing can separate us from his love [Rom 8:38].  God tells us that he knit us in our mother’s womb [Ps 139:13], and we can trust that our lives will not end in emptiness. We have purpose in him, with him, and through him. What an important message for all those living without hope in our time! 

What we know from his promises is that our existence is rooted not so much in this world, but in an eternity of living love with our creator. What we know is that no matter how much we want this world to be perfect it isn’t; however, even in its imperfection, all things work to the glory of God [Rom 8:28]. All things, no matter how evil in appearance, work to shape us and to conform us to Christ’s body, if we let it. If we let him. 

Even in all of this, it is important to know that hope is something that is instilled in us by the power of the Holy Spirit [Ro 15:13]. It is a gift from God.  It is a grace.  We do our part by choosing to believe that he stands by his promises, and he bolsters and strengthens that decision within us.  Even in hope, we are not alone. 

In closing, I want to share something I recently heard. God, who is outside of time and space, fulfilled his promises completely at the moment of creation. Thus, we are not waiting for him to fulfill his promises. We are waiting to experience this fulfillment in our time and space.  I don’t know about you, but relying on a God who’s promises have been fulfilled is way more encouraging than waiting on God to do what he promised to do. God has already worked everything that will ever happen to his glory, and his glory is the fulfillment of his promises. Now, that is something we can trust in. 

Spend some time with the Holy Spirit considering hope. Does your hope look more like a wish that things work out, or do you have a firm belief that God is always faithful. As you pray about this, be open to seeing areas in your life that look a little less hopeful, areas where you need to put in some work.  If such things become visible to you, invite him in to heal those areas of your life.  If events have impacted your trust in God, ask him to show you how these experiences worked to his glory or to otherwise reshape your perspective, and to heal the wounds created thereby. Ask him to bolster your hope in him. Thank him for the gift of hope, for his faithfulness, and for all that he has done to perfect you in his love. 

In Him,

dw 

“May the God of hope fill [each of] you [this Christmas] with all joy and peace … by the power of the holy Spirit” [Ro 15:13].

The word glory has been jumping out at me from my readings for about a week now. When I read “God is man’s glory” this morning, I realized it was time to find out why. [Irenaeus, Against Heresies].

I have come to understand that not knowing the various nuances of the meaning of words frequently limits my quest for Truth.  Thus, the “why” was likely rooted in the question – “What is glory?”  I started with a basic dictionary.  A redacted definition from Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary tells us that the word glory means: “praise, honor, or distinction extended by common consent: renown; worshipful praise, honor, and thanksgiving; a distinguished quality or asset; great beauty and splendor; something marked by beauty or resplendence.” Then I consulted a theological dictionary to better understand how this word is used in the Bible.^⁠1

With this information, the next question became, “how is God man’s glory”?  When we stop to consider that all of our talents and the like come from him, we realize that we cannot have personal glory without acknowledging that the basis of such glory comes from God.  

If one cannot have personal glory without God, then God is the only being worthy of true renown. Despite this, God chooses to share his glory with us; with the beings he created.  I don’t know about you, but this is mind-blowing.  I have a hard time practicing humility by not taking credit for things.  How can the all-powerful God share his glory with me when I wouldn’t do the same for him?  Yet, he does. 

How does he share his glory with me?  The answer starts with the incarnation.  The God of all glory became man.  He entered into our broken world to reveal himself to us.  Paul says Jesus emptied himself, and became man. [Philippians 2:7]. He left all of his glory behind. While here, he taught us about a life of dying to self [Mark 8:34], a process by which we, too, are emptied.  He taught us about the Holy Spirit, and how to receive him in baptism. In baptism, we receive God’s very self. 

When we, with the help of the Holy Spirit, empty ourselves of all that is not of God, we become vessels that receive “God’s action and all his wisdom and power.”  [Irenaeus, Against Heresies]. Through this process, we become more and more united to Christ, who was the revelation of God’s glory in the world. We become more and more Christ-like, and carry his glory into the world.  

Thus, the more we empty ourselves of what is not of God, the more glorious we become, and the more we can share that glory with the world around us.  This, in my opinion, is what Jesus meant when he came to give us the fullness of life. [John 10:10].  This life with God is the means by which we truly live. For one who struggles between existing and living, I find this incredibly good news, and I hope you do, too.  

Spend some time with the Holy Spirit talking about your own glory.  Does it stem from what you view as your own attributes or from his creative power in forming you and/or in his very presence flowing into the world through you?  Ask him how you can cooperate with him to heal any attachments to your personal glory so you can become more a part of him. Ask him how you can better reflect his glory to the world. Close your time of prayer thanking Jesus for emptying himself and for teaching us to do the same. Then, thank him for the Holy Spirit who lives in you [or wants to live in you] by baptism, and for all that this salvific duo does and has done for you. 

In Him,

dw 

¹ Sachs, John R., S.J.  “Glory.” The New Dictionary of Theology. Edited by Joseph A. Komonchak, Mary Collins, and Dermot A. Lane, (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2000), 417–420.

The ancient Israelites always entertain me, and at the same time, they act as a mirror to my soul.  In Ex 16:1-3, we find them in the Desert of Sin a few weeks after their exodus, their escape from slavery in Egypt. Their supplies were running out, and the “whole of Israel” grumbled against their leaders.  They complained, “[i]f only we had died at the LORD’s hand in the land of Egypt, as we sat by our kettles of meat and ate our fill of bread! But you have led us into this wilderness to make this whole assembly die of famine!” Ex 16:3. 

Of course, I was intrigued by the idea that when the Israelites arrived at the Desert of Sin, they started sinning.  I had to look into the history of the desert to see why it was call the Desert of Sin. However, everything I read said that it was just the name of the desert, and was not tied to the concept of sin as we know it. Still, it is amusing. 

As an American who treasures my freedom, I was flabbergasted to hear them wish that they were once again in Egypt. They just witnessed the might of God as he struck down the Egyptians, parted the waters of the Red Sea, and delivered them from slavery, and all they could talk about was the comforts of Egypt.  They would rather be slaves than free men.  

While their story astounded me, I was even more astounded when I turned the light of their situation onto my own life. I found that I was not so different.  Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection purchased eternal life for me, and this includes the freedom to choose the greater good over the objects of my passions and desires.  Thus, it is even more astounding that I, too, sit in a metaphorical desert of sin and complain.  I want creature comforts!  I want tasty food, no matter how unhealthy! I want all of the gadgets that sound like they will make my life better.   I want success and prestige! I want … I want… I want!!  Not being able to resist these wants is a form of slavery. 

Luckily, God in his goodness knows how little and weak we are, and how difficult it is to avoid the allurements of this world.  Thus, he sent his Son to set us free. He then placed his Spirit within us, and in this same Spirit we have the freedom to choose God over everything else.  

Unfortunately, it is easier to sit in our own desert of sin and complain.  It is easier to continue the insanity of choosing more and more earthly goods thinking that they will somehow satisfy our longing.  However, when we exercise the freedom we inherited in Christ, we find our modern day equivalent of manna and quail in the desert. We find the quenching springs of the waters of Meribah and Masssah.  All we need to do is call on God, and allow his grace to guide us past our worldly desires. 

Spend some time with the Holy Spirit pondering your own life. Are you living in the Desert of Sin or in the grace received in Baptism?  Likely, your answer is sometimes one, and sometimes the other. Talk to him about how you can better live in grace, and ask him to lead you out of the desert of slavery and to nourish you on your journey home. 

In Him,

dw 

This morning, I find myself pondering anew the idea of being the temple of God. It is so easy to find God in nature, in a beautiful sunrise or sunset, and in images of majestic mountain ranges and sparkling bodies of water. It seems more difficult to say that I find God within me. Let me walk you through the idea from my personal experience.  

There is a part of me that spends time building up my ego to hide the fact that without God, I am nothing.  A part of me desires to have an identity and a sense of worth as an individual.  There is this thought process that says he made me, he gave me life, and I get to live it how I want. Yes, he gave me that right, but he has a preference that I live it a different way, a more fulfilling way.  

At the same time, there is a part of me that knows I am a sinner, and this part of me feels unworthy of the gift of God’s presence within me.  No amount of building up my ego can erase the truth of the sinfulness that lurks behind the facade; the image that I project externally.  

Neither of these “parts of me” wants to think that a God who is holy, holy, holy lives in me. He has made his home in me.  By baptism, I am his temple.  I am a place where God resides and where I can and should go to worship him.  Still, it is something I resist, and maybe some of you are like me. 

In addition to the comments above, I think it is also hard to worship the God within because there are consequences to doing so.  Ezekiel tells us that God will place his Spirit within us to help us live his covenant.  Other parts of Scripture build on this understanding by teaching us that the Holy Spirit will lead us to the fullness of life, which is life in the Spirit who conforms us to the crucified and risen Lord. Unfortunately, he does this, in part, through our suffering.  The consequences of meeting the God within means suffering and letting go of all that is not of Him. 

This really struck me in a recently read passage from a book where God told the author, “if I could bring you to myself without suffering, I would.” (He and I by Gabrielle Bossis). If we are to become all we were made to be, we have to leave behind all that is not of him, and this hurts. 

Thus, it is easier to pray to an external God in gratitude for the wonderful things of this world and to ask for the things we want and think we need than it is to pray to the One who dwells within and wants to perfect us in Christ through our sufferings.   

I don’t know about you, but I have yet to read of anyone who found true and lasting joy and fulfillment in this life without the power of the Holy Spirit, which required a personal relationship with him.  Those relationships always included an aspect of worshiping and communing with the God who lived within.  It required them to meet him in the chamber of their hearts at the core of their being, which allowed him to teach them who they were in Christ and how they were made, and we can see how all of this helped them attain true happiness in this world by being conformed to the crucified Christ. While this process hurts, it is a core part of finding true fulfillment and purpose. 

Spend some time with the Holy Spirit living within you.  Ask him to teach you how to adore and worship him properly. Ask him how you can cooperate with his efforts to reform you into the highest and best version of yourself, and how you can live life with him, in him, and through him.  Thank him for living within your currently imperfect temple and for all the work the two of you will do in order to remodel your temple into what it was supposed to be. 

In Him,

dw 

Scripture tells us that all of Jerusalem and the surrounding countryside went to the Jordan to see John the Baptist.  There they saw a man in camel hair clothing. Mark 1:5-6. These people came, acknowledged their sins, and were baptized. 

From my visit to the Jordan, I recall many reeds on the shorelines; reeds that were so thick it would have been hard to get to the river had people not cut a path through it. Beyond the reeds was a muddy river.   Using my imagination, I now picture John baptizing people in the muddy water.  People are entering into muddy water to become clean.  This baptism that John himself declares inferior to that of the one coming after him, likely takes place in muddy water. 

Jesus, a man without sin now enters the scene. He chooses to be baptized.  He approaches John, and goes into the water. He allows John to dip him in the dirty water.  What a bizarre image! The one who has no need of cleansing goes into the muddy water.   As I imagined this scene and pondered what it meant, my mind’s eye saw the mud dissipate; the water became clean. In the first instance, sinful people entered the dirty water as an imperfect way of seeking salvation.  In the instance of Jesus, the perfectly clean entered the dirty water and made the water clean. Because of this, sinners can now enter the baptismal waters and emerge perfectly cleansed.

Sadly, none of us live this purified life perfectly.  Scripture tells us that all of us are sinners. Rm 3:23. However, all of us would likely benefit from spending some time pondering what happened at the Jordan on that day, and how that event opened the way for us to live up to our commitments to God. Ezekiel 36:27 sheds light on this issue. The Israelites were unable to live up to their commitments under the Covenant.  God promised to send the Holy Spirit to help us walk in the covenant.  Thus, baptism is what helps us live our lives in the clean waters of salvation. 

Spend some time with the Holy Spirit pondering your own baptism and its effects.  Ask him to show you how you are living this purified life, and where you need grace to help metaphorically remove the mud from your life in the Spirit.  Ask him to show you how you can better cooperate with him in this on-going process of perfectly living our covenantal life in him.  Thank him for the transformation he is working within you, and ask him how you might more fully cooperate with his sanctifying grace. 

In Him,

dw 

As I make my way through the Book of Genesis, I am amazed at all of the deceit and cunning that goes on in the lives of Jesus’ ancestors.  For instance, in the story of Jacob and Laban, his uncle and father-in-law, there are several stories of deceit.  Laban makes a pact with Jacob for the hand of his youngest daughter in marriage. Jacob works seven years in fulfillment of that pact, and Laban tricks him into marrying the oldest daughter.  

Later on, Jacob makes a pact with Laban for livestock.  He asks that in exchange for his efforts with the livestock, he receive all of the inferior spotted and striped animals.  Then, he proceeds to use tactics so that the herd breeds spotted and striped animals.   In the end, Jacob ends up fleeing with Laban’s daughters and grandchildren.  Laban chases after him, and thanks to God’s intervention, they end up making peace instead of war.   

How typical of humans to try and control their situation to get the most out of things; to get what they think is best for them.  We often do these things from a perspective of wanting the good.  We rationalize and justify our behaviors. However, when we do these things, evil enters the world. We see this in Jacob’s story.  His love for Rachel, the youngest daughter, to whom he is eventually married, leaves poor Leah, the eldest, longing for his love.  In fact, several of her sons receive names that speak to her hope that the birth of a son would finally earn  her husband’s love.  While Laban wanted a good husband for Leah, she suffered greatly because of his subterfuge.  

Scripture tells us to trust God for our needs.  It tells us that he will provide. He may not provide on our time or before we experience great discomfort in our lacking what we think we need.  Still, God is always faithful, even when our situation ends in death or discomfort.  His provision is for our eternal salvation, and not for our creature comforts here on earth. He wants good things for us, but his view of good things doesn’t always match our view.  His view is much broader than our own.  

As I pondered this, I started to imagine life as a struggle, a struggle like the one Jacob had on the shore of the river.  As we wrestle with our desires in the presence of God, we, like Jacob, might find many blessings, despite the pain and discomfort we experience in the process of learning to trust in him.  We might find ourselves curbing our desires, which can be equated to Jesus’ mandate for disciples to carry crosses and die to self, and thereby avoid releasing some evil into the world around us. We might find ourselves trusting God enough to put the needs of others before our own, and find ourselves the source of blessings in the life of others. 

Spend some time with the Holy Spirit analyzing your own life in light of this message.  Are you fighting for the things you want and need or are you wrestling with God for the blessings that come with living within his provision? If you struggle to trust him because he doesn’t always do things our way, ask him to teach you how to trust in him, and to want only what he wants for you.  Then, spend some time thanking him for all the blessings you have received and all those you helped him bestow on others. 

In Him,

dw 

This morning, I woke up thanking God for life and for another day to learn to love Him more.  This is a habit I have been working towards, and it was wonderful that it just happened without thinking about it.  I started smiling, and thinking how many people might think it odd that God wants us to thank and praise Him. Scripture tells us to work towards humility, yet God desires our thanks and praise. Some might say that this is a bit hypocritical. 

I suppose it can seem hypocritical, but God doesn’t want thanks and praise for His own benefit, but for ours.  Jesus came to bring us fullness of life, and fullness of life is rooted in right relationship with God.  Thus, to live the fullness of life, we must recognize Him for who He is.  We must treat Him as He deserves to be treated.  We must remember that He gives us more than we could ever endeavor to give him. 

We can see some aspects of this in parent / child relationships.  It doesn’t make sense to a child that he or she must be respectful to a parent or follow the parent’s instructions.  Hopefully, as the child grows, he or she will realize how these things prepared him or her for the “real world.”  Hopefully, the parent wasn’t teaching the child things for the parent’s glory, but we are a world full of sinners. I am sure such things happen. However, such things cannot happen with God who is without sin.  

The truth is, God has no need of praise. In fact, He has no need of us at all.  Unlike every other creation story in history, God didn’t create us to be His slaves. He made us to participate in His glory; in His greatness.  In order to achieve this, we have to have right relationship with Him. We have to work each day to practice right living. We must invite the Holy Spirit into our weaknesses and ask Him to teach us His ways. We need to learn to detach from worldly things so that we can more fully live a life with Him and in Him.  We need to thank Him and praise Him for our lives, and always remember that everything we have and are (except sin) is because of Him.   His ways are beyond us. Thus, it shouldn’t surprise us when we do what he asks, even if it is nonsensical, and find ourselves more content, happy, and fulfilled. 

Spend some time with the Holy Spirit asking Him to lead you to a greater place of gratitude. Ask Him to show you His love and His truth. Ask Him what steps you can take today to live more fully the life He intended for you.  Then, thank and praise Him for the life He has given you. 

In Him,

dw 

This morning, I was studying Genesis chapters 3-4.  A podcaster said – the serpent didn’t try to convince them that God didn’t exist. His statement was intended to cause them to doubt God’s trustworthiness.  The serpent told them, “God doesn’t want you to be like him.”  He implied, “God is keeping something from you.”  

In response, Eve looked at the tree of good and evil, and she saw that the tree was good food. I am sure it was good food. God created all things good, even this tree. He never said the tree was evil. He just said, don’t eat of its fruit.  However, she desired the goodness of wisdom, and reached for the fruit of the tree.  She reached for a created thing, and replaced God, who is all wisdom, with the fruit of a tree. 

As I pondered why God might have instructed them to avoid the fruit of this tree, something occurred to me.  By eating the fruit of this tree, humanity took to themselves the ability to define moral ethics; they became the arbiters of good and evil.  For instance, Cain thought it was morally acceptable to offer God a menial offering, and then, in his jealousy, decided it was ok to kill his brother, who offered acceptable sacrifice.  Cain’s son, Lamech, likewise killed for things as insignificant as a young man bruising him.  The catch was – Cain then feared the moral code of others who might likewise kill him.  God in his kindness, blessed him with protection. 

I started thinking how complicated life is. How hard it can be to choose between two things. How complicated the variety of moral codes in the world, and trying to balance between one’s own code while trying not to infringe upon someone else’s.  We try to avoid being impacted by the moral code of others, and unfortunately lack the blessing of protection granted to Cain. 

All of this led me to think – maybe God wanted his people to trust that he had their best interest at heart.  Maybe following God’s knowledge of good and evil is a good way of keeping things simple, instead of struggling with making good decisions on our own. In fact, if we were to choose his moral code, we would leave evil out of creation. We would improve the world around us.  We would live the way he designed us to live, and life, in theory, would be much better. 

All of this sounds good, but it isn’t easy. We long for our way to be right. We long to act upon our desires. We struggle because God’s ways are beyond us, and they often don’t make much sense.  We want a world without evil, but we don’t want to do what it takes to get evil out of the world. We don’t want to follow God’s simple plan of existence. Even if some of us choose his plan, those who don’t are still living their own code of conduct. Evil would still abound in the world. Humans would still die. So, what is the point? 

When we look at the lives of the saints, we see that those who conformed their decisions to his plan, found peace and joy even when there was strife in the world around them. They found amazing goodness even when they suffered.  In addition, Scripture tells us that those who do things his way, receive a blessing similar to the one given Cain. While we will still lose our current lives, we know there is a next life where we will live eternally with God. This is a blessing far superior to the one given to Cain. 

Spend some time with the Holy Spirit looking at your own moral choices. How do they affect your life? Do they bring lasting or temporary joy? Do your choices complicate your life or simplify thing for you? Ask him how you can live your life more in line with his moral code.  Ask him for the grace to choose the greatest good, which is life in union with God for all eternity. Then offer him a sacrifice of praise for all that he has done for you.  

In Him, 

dw 

It has been a bit of a struggle the last week or so.  My beloved Onyx (cat) has been diagnosed with Lymphoma, and he started showing more signs than just losing weight.  He has been a valued companion through the last 14 years, and I am going to miss him when the time comes.  

Last week, when he barely ate anything for a couple of days, I found myself praying prayers of gratitude. It isn’t that this is a strange thing for me. My point is that it was inspired. I didn’t think about it. It just happened.  As I pondered this, I realized something important.  Gratitude is an important tool in spiritual warfare.

The Devil has a tendency to get into our head with his lies.  We start wondering why God allows things to happen. We ask God for things, and we sometimes get confused and even angry when we do not receive the desired outcome.  

Gratitude is a great way to chase the Devil’s lies out of our heads, and it is a great way to find peace and joy in all things good and bad.  This doesn’t mean that we do not grieve or feel the pain or confusion in our circumstances.  No. We still feel.  The difference is the trust in knowing that all things work to the good for those who believe. Or, as one of my favorite spiritual theologians would say, remembering that God has an art of bringing good out of evil.  

God only allows things to happen if they work towards his greater plan.  God uses the good, the bad, and the ugly to shape and mold us into Christ. He uses all of these things to conform us to himself so that we may be in loving union with him for all eternity.  His ways are beyond us. His ways often make no sense, and when it does make sense, it is often only in hindsight that we can see the beauty of what he has done.  

Bad things happen, but if we trust that God will use everything that comes our way for the betterment of creation, then we can suffer through it with joy and peace.  If we listen to the lies of the Devil, we will lose that sense of joy and peace, but God can work in us even then.  Still, if we know that he will use every situation for our good, then we can be grateful, even for the evil that comes our way.  

Spend some time with the Holy Spirit being grateful for life, and all that comes from living. Thank him for the good, the bad, and the ugly, and ask him to show you where he is working to perfect you in the image of Christ.  Ask him how the crosses you are carrying can bring about good.  Ask him to help you trust that all things work to the good, and to bless you with peace and joy in times of tribulation.  Ask him to help you keep your focus on him, and to close your ears to any lies that are disturbing your peace and joy. 

In Him,

dw