Yesterday, the Third Sunday of Lent, I used Barbara E. Reid's "The Word" column in the March 9, 2009 edition of America magazine, as a source of material for my homily. She asked about gifts, about what one gives to the One who has everything. My response was “love,” giving several examples of how that gift that stays alive, generating more giving, each time it gives to another. Reid used an explanation of “two prongs” to apply the Ten Commandments to God, first of all, and secondly to the care of other people. I furthered these two prongs by thinking out loud about Jesus’ response in Chapter 12 of Mark’s gospel, when he is asked which is the greatest commandment. His response: loving God above all else, and loving your neighbor as yourself.

After Mass, as I was speaking with people, a couple, at whose marriage I had the honor of being celebrant, approached me with beaming smiles on their faces. As I began to greet them they interrupted me, saying “Father, we are with child.” Their sharing of their happiness, was their way of letting me share in their love of God, each other, and their newly conceived child. They gifted me with their news and let me share in their love, an example of Christ’s love, and God’s wisdom, in action. This is Love begetting love which is being passed to others and will not stop affecting others for generations unending. What greater power and wisdom is there?
Fr. Jim Retzner OSA, BCC
jim.retzner@gmail.com

He looks like the homeless man/woman who shows up in our emergency room daily to receive clothing, food and the respect he/she does not receive on the street. The beauty of this is the love and care with which each of them is treated.

Providence Hospital, Washington, DC
Sr. Elaine Jordan
srelaine@provhosp.org

I was perusing your recent March 16th email and joyfully found myself reconnected to a former advisor from my time in seminary...Fr. Robin Ryan. Your referencing his talk on The Mystery of God and Human Suffering was just the impetus I needed to pause and re-consider the courses and conversations I had with him and the role he played in my calling to lay ministry.

As I looked at the link you offered to his notes and took a moment to consider the questions he poses for personal reflection. I began to consider just a few of the sacred encounters I have been priveledged to experience as I visited the sick and suffering. When I returned from my memories I found myself looking at your Executive Director's Reflection and my eye caught the question you offer that reads, "Is His power in our humble awareness of our limitations while being humanly vulnerable with them, tenderly taking time rather than moving on?," and I think, for me, you hit the nail right on the head and express my heart in your words.

William Sweeney
William.Sweeney@caritaschristi.org

The power & wisdom of God surprises me in synchronous ways when I am embraced by a peaceful sunset at the end of a full day, when I find myself involved in a situation in which another views me as an "angel sent by God", or when a dear one has been that angel for me at a time of need.

Maureen Bausch
Saint Elizabeth Regional Medical Center
Lincoln, NE
mkbausch@windstream.net

If you would, close your eyes and imagine you're standing in a line next to a building. It's northern Illinois and the air is cold. There are about five people ahead of you and the line grows behind you. You look at those around you. A woman with a cane and shopping basket is near by, a mother holding her baby all bundled up is behind you. Some are speaking a language you are not familiar with, some look like they haven't shaven in many days, some have tattered clothing. All are like you waiting. Those in front appear to be getting anxious as it nears 3 PM. A door opens and you are welcomed inside.

You walk in the basement of the old school where you can hear the children running about upstairs. A gentleman welcomes you and guides you to the appropriate line. At the tables are volunteers who again welcome you. You are given a number to await your turn and there are clothes on racks for the taking as well as a table filled with bibles, prayer books, magazines, cook books, coupons,and an occasional children's toy.

You now sit among those you were waiting outside with and share your story. Your number is called and you are again welcomed by another volunteer who will assist you in receiving your groceries. After you make your selections there is another person who welcomes you and starts to bag your groceries while you gather a couple loaves of bread. As you're ready to head out, a bagger notices that you're head is hung low. He asks, "first time here?" You answer yes. He asks, "May I have your name?" Robert you say. "Robert, would you like me to pray for you?" Please.

When I read your question: What does Christ the power and wisdom of God look like? I couldn't but help think about our St Vincent DePaul food pantry. What I thought about were the people who come seeking assistance and we provide what we can in that area due to some good benefactors. However, as we pray prior to opening the door, "Lord, let us be a reflection of you in all we do and all we say." What does Christ the power and wisdom f God look like...it looks like everyone out there that welcomes God's children and shares God's love.

Blessings, skip dalle molle
ernestjohn@aol.com

What Does Christ the Power and Wisdom of God Look Like?

The heart of Christianity is the incarnation. “God so loved the world that he gave us his only begotten Son, so that whoever believes in him may not perish, but may have eternal life.” (Jn 3.16) The Son of God is the Word that became human and dwelt among us. Jesus Christ is the power and wisdom of God in his divinity and in his humanity. The teachings of Jesus, as reflected in the Beatitudes and his parables, show a divine wisdom that is not like any human wisdom. The death of Jesus Christ on the cross, in a sense the death of God on a cross, is indeed folly to human wisdom. But God, being God, can change pain, suffering and death into victory over sin, selfishness and death. The intention of the one who suffers matters. Human suffering today, can be joined with the suffering of Jesus Christ and have a redemptive effect. Mother Teresa of Calcutta said that love that suffers is redemptive love.
Those who give care to the sick and dying in the name of Jesus Christ, share in the healing ministry of Jesus. Those who show compassion and a willingness to share the pain of those who suffer, share in the redemptive pain of Jesus Christ. The wisdom that is hiding in suffering is hard to see at the moment. Maybe over time and after a period of healing takes place, the one who suffered sees the hand of God’s wisdom. Yet, trusting in God in the midst of sickness, suffering and death itself is a form of wisdom that does not come from this world. The pain is real. The “why?” is real. Redemption is also real, if it is in the mind and heart of those who suffer. We bring Christ Jesus to the sick and we find Christ Jesus in the sick. We give and we receive. We bless and we are blessed. We cry when they cry, we rejoice when they rejoice. We are the Body of Christ and this is the continuation of the incarnation, which is the heart of Christianity.
The power and wisdom of God looks like Christ crucified and raised from the dead. It looks like those who have their whole lives turned around by God. It looks like the prayer of the chaplain by the bed of a sick person. It looks like the prayer of a minister at a funeral service. It looks like a congregation celebrating Easter after it celebrates Good Friday. It looks like loving eyes, looking back at you. The wisdom and power of God is an experience of mystery, more than it is knowledge. It is an unknowable knowing in the midst of living and dying. It is love personified in Jesus Christ and the Body of Christ.

Deacon Evan G. Wittig
March 19, 2009
Evan.wittig@christushealth.org
CPE Student with Mary Davis, San Antonio