At the rate charges and counter-charges are being hurled daily in the world of politics, one starts to wonder if those who are so corrupted by wealth and power ever stop to think that they are not immortal, that all these earthly perks and privileges are merely temporary, and that in time, they will leave this world and everything else they had previously worshipped and acquired by whatever means?
The Gospel for the last Sunday of September set the tone for spiritual reminders for us all, especially the abusive and the corrupt.
Lazarus was a poor man, covered with sores, who waited for scraps to fall from the table of the rich man. In the end, Lazarus rested in the bosom of Abraham while the rich man begged for Lazarus's finger dipped in water to cool his tongue. The rich man, like many of those with wealth and power in our country and elsewhere, did not even seem to "see" Lazarus and the poor.
Philippine Archbishop Tagle could not contain his tears when he asked if the abusive ever saw the poor before their eyes. Like the rich man in the September 29th Gospel who feasted every day, the abusive and corrupt do not seem to see beyond their present greed and power.
October started off with St. Therese of the Child Jesus reminding all that "without love, deeds, even the most brilliant, count as nothing." We are reminded to be forever childlike in our faith, to be completely free of fear and worry and just and to be in full trust and faith that all will be well, because God will always provide and best care for us all.
To assist us in our journey through our secular and spiritual world, October 2 reminds us all about our guardian angels who are always at our side, to guide and guard us through each day.
St. Francis of Assisi, whose feast we remember every 4th day of October, renounced his life of wealth and comfort to serve the Lord and he was so happy to have found in God, the true meaning of love and joy.
His feast day this year is made more memorable because Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the 266th and current Pope of the Catholic Church, chose to be the first Pope to name himself after the humble, simple St. Francis. We have and we continue to witness the humility of this Pope and we continue to see him remind us all to put God's love and mercy in our lives. How? This prayer, attributed to St. Francis, reminds us how to live our lives daily:
"Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace, Where there is hatred, let me sow love; Where there is injury, pardon; Where there is doubt, faith; Where there is despair, hope; Where there is darkness, light; And where there is sadness, joy."
" O Divine Master, Grant that I may not so much seek, To be consoled as to console; To be understood, as to understand; To be loved, as to love; For it is in giving that we receive, It is in pardoning that we are pardoned, And it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life. Amen."
Then, on Monday, October 7, we will celebrate the Feast of our Mama Mary of the Holy Rosary. "The family that prays together, stays together. The people that pray together stay together."
Why do we pray the rosary? What can praying the rosary do for us?
For one, praying the rosary is a tribute to God's great love for us - He allowed a human being, a woman, to be part of His redemptive love to restore all and be reunited with Him through His Son, Jesus Christ. Mama Mary's complete, childlike surrender of her will to God's will, allowed for all of us to be saved and redeemed, allowed us all to be part of God's circle of love and care.
The decades of the Rosary serve to remind us about this whole story of love and redemption - how God gave His only Son because of His great love for us, how Mama Mary gave up her will and her life of ease and comfort so that God's love can spread to all and more.
The Rosary reminds us how the divine and human can meet - in love and in complete trust and surrender.
And to stay in love, to completely trust and surrender our will to God, to worship God, not mammon, are October's spiritual reminders for us all.
May those who have ears, listen; and those who have hearts, love.
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Email: cherryb_ thefreeman@yahoo.com