The Wonder of Faith Working Through Love

The many harsh difficulties of Deacon Michael’s childhood did not make him bitter. His heart overflowed with love. Even a silly movie on TV could make Deacon Michael tear up to hear words of love spoken by the characters.

He knew what it was to suffer and it gave him a soft heart for others. He knew what it was to love, and he projected his love into the hearts of all he met. His grandchildren will always say when they speak of him, “He had a big heart!” “He really loved us!”

His love was the concrete expression of his faith, tempered in suffering and available to all.

written by Laura Weston, widow of Deacon Michael

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It is very disconcerting sometimes, this alleluia verse, "The word of God is living and effective.  Able to discern the reflections and thoughts of the heart."

Now, I'm a convert, as I have told you before.  I can't tell you exactly why, but I believe this stuff.  I really do.  The more I learn about Jesus Christ and His Church, I believe it more and more.

Then I look at the reality of who I am.  Now, under whatever standard they use in the United States, I am not wealthy, I'm well-to-do.  By the standard of the world, I am rich.  I have burdens upon me.  You know, the wealthy getting through the eye of the needle.  They're talking about me!  I mean its just, pure and simple, they're talking about each and every one of us.  We are rich compared to the rest of the world.  How do we deal with it?  How do we make our faith be real?

And I only can articulate it from the perspective of me, because its a very subjective thing.  And, like yesterday.  I'm staying in bed because I was lazy.  I knew that there would be a bunch of crazy people who would show up, but I stayed in bed.  Now I am going, "Laura, you're not supposed to be a temptation like that."  And she'll say, "And you're not supposed to succumb."  And guess who's right?  She is.  I succumb.

I go to Mass.  I come to this communion service.  And I see people.  You know, I've said it, described it many ways.  There are some saints in this room.  I don't know who you are yet.  Looking forward to meeting you if I can ever make it to heaven out of Purgatory.  Meet you and go, "See, I remember, you used to listen to me."  I go to Mass on Sunday and its the same thing, all these wonderful people.  I get people to come up to me and talk to me in their time of need and it is just, its absolutely wonderful.

And then I look at these things, and you know, St. Paul saying, talking to the Galatians, you've got your faith and then you get all wrapped up in everything else.  And then he says to them: “For Jesus Christ, neither circumcision, nor uncircumcision, count for anything, but only faith working through love.”  That's the only thing that's important. 

Oh, I get to wear my pretty dress, I get to stand in front of people making a fool of myself, talking and giving them my ideas.  I get to play with their children, talk to their children, talk to them.  I get to see old people.  They're wonderful.  I told you about this before: sometimes I'll be distributing Communion, the Blood of Christ, and I'm watching, I'm watching these old women especially, coming up and all that can pass through my mind, especially the older ones, well it doesn't matter, all of them, they're there, they're old, they're slow, whatever.  They've got their canes.  It doesn't matter their condition.  What comes to my mind is how beautiful they must have been back when.  And how beautiful they are now because of the reality of who they are: a child of Christ.  And I just go, that…, and I am just looking at them and I'm going that, that is just a wonderful thing.  You see an old man who is walking slowly and who is crippled, and you go, "Wow, look at that young man who was a strong, dynamic father, husband, worker, whatever, believer in Christ, how wonderful it is."

And look at the reality of what they are now.  How wonderful it is.  And I look and go, "Am I getting wrapped up in the superficial?  Am I like the Pharisees?  You’ve to wash it in a particular way, you have to do this thing because this is the way it works.  Or am I living my life in the reality.  The reality that Jesus says, "Did not the maker of the outside also make the inside?  But as to what is in, give alms and behold, everything will be clean for you."

Am I living my life of love of neighbor?  That's what he is talking about.  Do I actually spend my life, I mean, I could think about, unfortunately I'm one of these people, I could think about all of the things that I don't do.  I guess the people say, "Well, how much time do you do this and this?"  "Yeah you know, okay.  That's just what I do.  It's not a big deal.  But look at all the things that I don't do."

And we need to be aware, in our lives, I'm changing it from just me, I'm bringing you guys into it, we need to be aware in our lives that as followers of Christ it is incumbent upon us, it is demanded of us, not asked of us, it is demanded of us to love our neighbor.  To give of ourselves to our neighbor.  To make ourselves servants to all.  Especially the clergy.  We are to make ourselves a servant to all. 

To give alms. To give love. More importantly, to give of ourselves.  Because it is in that giving, as St. Francis says, that we receive.  It is when we take ourselves and empty ourselves of, "Oh, I am so important!" and empty ourselves for others, that we find ourselves closest to Christ.  That we find ourselves on the path of sanctity.  That find ourselves on the path to spend all eternity with God in heaven.

And that is difficult.  It is not easy, and here I am talking about myself.  It isn't easy.  To just say, "I'm tired.”  I’m going to talk about myself yesterday morning. “I’m tired. I just spent all that time talking to all those people and I'm really tired."  And then all the other problems of being a father and everything else like that.  And so when my wife says, "It's raining a whole bunch."  And I think, "Yeah, big deal."  "The roads will be bad."  "No, I can pick out every path that I can stay away from low water places.  I've been driving like that for years and years."  "You ought to stay home."  "Oh yeah, I really should.  Will you snuggle up?"  And she snuggles up and I go back to bed.

What am I to do?  What I should do, or what I want to do?  Should I give of myself for others?  Do I do it to the denigration of my wife and not give her the attention that she needs.  How do we balance it?  But I think that the very core of the balancing comes first with the recognition of who we are.  And the recognition of who we are is that through Our Lord Jesus Christ we are called to love our neighbor, and to have that become the reality of our existence.  Once we live with that as our core, then the reality follows.  There may be some bumps, ups and downs, and some obstacles that we have to go around, but we need to make it the very core of our existence. What Jesus says, is that "But as to what is written within - give alms and behold everything will be clean for you."

October 16, 2018