Deacon Tom Anthony

Turning to God in a time of need and crisis is a wonderful thing. We must always remember that to enjoy our faith and relationship with God we must unify our suffering to the Crucified Christ. To be a Christian means that we will suffer and be persecuted for our beliefs. We do not fit into the mold of society and what we say and do will, at times, go against the expectations and what is accepted in the world today. We will be ridiculed, insulted, laughed at, and criticized constantly. This can occur either blatantly or subtlety through the media, schools, and other resources at the disposal of those who have refused to embrace the message of Jesus Christ. But there is another part of our relationship with God that can easily be ignored yet can be the most rewarding part. That is the every day relationship formulated by his presence throughout this Creation of his and his presence with us. God is with us always, and because of that, he can be taken for granted.

We are God's children and he loves everyone. There are no favorites in this area. Each of us have been blessed with the Gift of Life and the ability to partake in everything around us. Society constantly threatens to blur this and belittle the importance of this fact. We have been made stewards of his creation here on this earth and have be given the free will to progress forward to partake in its excellence. God wants us to be happy, appreciative, and fulfilled in this experience. Because of our fallen nature there is always the danger that in our living of our life we will be swept up in demands of living while not actually living. Society has created a blueprint of living that is different then that of God's. Subconsciously, Society's Plan can replace God's and we can find ourselves striving to be happy instead of just being happy with God. God does not want us to try to be happy. He just wants us to be happy. He loves us and wants us to know this. Just knowing God loves us and we reacting to this by loving him should bring happiness. We are invited constantly to live our lives while loving him. Everything else has the ability to fall into place after this transformation happens.

Every day the sun rises. We can expect this. It is one of the most basic and natural events that occurs. We have become so used to it that we have placed it in the background of our consciousness. Usually, we will find ourselves getting up and either getting ready for work or preparing for the way. Immediately a wave of thoughts rush through our brain. These thoughts are centered around what we have to do for the day. There is a mental list of obligations, duties, and tasks to complete. A certain routine takes over as we attempt to organize our actions. There is always a level of anxiety involved that revolves around the more challenging aspects of our life. We become robotic. There is work to do and we must accomplish it. Something has already become lost. The sun rose. The sunrise was beautiful, breathtaking, and wonderful. The birds heralded its coming hours before and sang praises to God. The world came alive and we awoke from our slumber. Yet, we failed to smile and thank God for such an enormous gift. A new day had begun and we were a part of it!

We should meditate on the interaction of Mary and Martha with Jesus. Yes, Martha, there will always be work to do. It is unavoidable. There will be demands, work, food to prepare, and things to do. But there is also God. We can do all this work without loving God but what does that bring? It brings more work, more challenges, and more things to do. Take a moment to contemplate. Isn't it always better to do things with someone we love? Doesn't it become easier and more enjoyable doing anything with friends, family, and those we hold so dear in our lives? Isn't it comforting to know that whatever challenges we may face there is someone who loves us and we can run to for help. This person is God. We are encouraged to become like Mary and immerse ourselves in the love of God. Through prayer and acknowledging him we will be able to feel his presence. There is a peacefulness that can surround us with the workings of the Holy Spirit. The door is there. We just have to walk through it.

Paul suffered throughout his ministry. He worked hard to evangelize the faith and bring the Living Word of Our Lord Jesus Christ to so many people. He had a job to do yet he did it with Christ. He welcomed the challenges and celebrated his suffering. We are asked to do the same. Everything we say and everything that we do can be done in the Name of Our Lord Jesus Christ. No job is menial. No task is unimportant. Everything becomes important if it is done with our God. We cannot separate ourselves from God and selectively invite him in when we want him. We must join with him in everything that we do. We must be constantly washing his feet and anointing his head with oil. When we do this, the Sun will rise in a most glorious way.

Deacon Tom