Loving God and Others, Despite Distractions and Noise

[The following is a guest post from Beth O'Neill, parishioner at Catholic Church of the Incarnation and a Minister to the Sick.]

How do we serve God in a world with so much noise and so many distractions?  Life makes so many demands.  There is always somewhere to be or someone who needs us.  Most people, like me, are spread too thin.  The noise and distractions only make this worse, because they allow us to find excuses not to be present with God.  If you step away from all the noise and distractions that surround us, you will find that the one who loves us the most is there waiting for us to trust in Him.  God is there to take care of everything for us.  But, we have to be willing to let ourselves be loved by Him.  We must find ways to be present with God, to invest time in our friendship with Christ, and to follow Him.  How do we do that?

Allow me to provide a couple of examples from my own life.  Both examples are possible because I travel quite a bit for my career.  On many days, I am not able to go to daily Mass as I would like.  Yet, I desire deeply to invest in my friendship with Jesus, and my commitment to Him, in a tangible way.  In a particular way, I have felt called to pray for the physical and spiritual healing of souls.

With spiritual direction and encouragement from a pastor, I began serving in the Ministry to the Sick.  Each time I carry the Eucharist to a sick person, I imagine that I bring Jesus’ heart into their homes, hospitals, and nursing, hospice, and rehab facilities.  Further, I imagine that each person I visit is Jesus.  He lives in the hearts of each one of us.  I need to visit Jesus, and the people who wait need a visit from the Lord, too.  They receive healing, and I do as well.  I am always encouraged by the deep faith and love of Christ that I encounter during these visits.  It never fails that I feel Christ’s promise welling up in my heart: “Whenever two or three are gathered in my Name, there I am in their midst.” (Matt. 18:20).

Another amazing way that I am free to serve Christ and love my neighbor is my intercessory prayer for the people around me in airplanes, hotels, or even football stadiums.  I pray that Jesus will place me where He needs me most, next to the people who need prayers.  Since I am often on an airplane or in a hotel, I pray for everyone around me, wherever that may lead.  I offer prayers for their intentions, for their conversion, for the graces they need most in this life, for their illnesses, addictions, forgiveness of sins, and for their families.  I try not to complicate things, and I try to see that He has placed me exactly where I need to be.  I simply try to make God more present by my prayers, words, or actions.

These may seem like small works and acts of faith, and they may not involve much time or physical effort.  However, they bring me closer to Christ.  Very often, I am humbled by those whom I visit and I often pray that I can love Him and love my neighbor more.  It never fails: I find that in serving Jesus and others, He is there serving and consoling me.  It is in these moments when I pray, “Jesus, please hide me in your wounds.”  When I relate to my Lord in this way, it is simple to find ways to serve and share my faith with others.  My heart becomes bigger and He fills what would otherwise be empty.  My life is transformed forever because of this service that I offer to my Lord and my fellow neighbors!

All of this sounds simple, but it isn’t.  It takes daily effort to fulfill my commitment and sustain my relationship with Christ.  Although I fail from time to time, I only seek to live out the mission of love commanded by Christ and His Church.  I desire to bring His light into the world.  Without His grace and guidance to sustain my effort, I find myself weak and lost.

The gifts that I receive by practicing my faith in this way are abundant.  Being able to love God and serve Him through my neighbor is an amazing freedom.  I am so thankful for the freedom that I have to practice my faith openly and authentically as a member of the Holy Catholic Church.  Yet that freedom will be lost if Americans, like you and me, take it for granted.  I encourage all to pray, fast, and act to protect religious freedom so that we all are able to receive from Christ’s love and pass on that love to others.

So, let us step away from all the noise and distractions that surround us by investing time in our friendship with Jesus.  Let us seek to remain united with Jesus in all things.  Let us make Him visible to those we meet, and let us rely on His comfort and protection.  Let us love Him and allow ourselves to be loved by Him.  Nothing else will bring us happiness, and nothing else will bring peace into this world.

His plan is grander than we can comprehend, but it’s also very simple.  Nike’s slogan says “Just do it.”  If God had one for us, I believe it would be “Just Love.”  Just love Him and love your neighbor.  When you do, you will find simple ways to serve Jesus and share your faith with others. Jesus, hide us in your wounds so that you can be bigger in our lives.

To Overcome Isolation: The Parish Respect Life Ministry

[The following is a guest post by Traci Porzel, parishioner at Catholic Church of the Incarnation and  coordinator of the parish's Respect Life Committee.]

Two years ago, as I began to grow in my faith and develop a deeper prayer life, I discerned the call to serve in the parish’s Respect Life Committee.  Questions and issues related to the respect of human life have always held a special place in my heart and in my prayers.  Nonetheless, it was not an easy thing to discern or decide.  My family and I have only been in our parish for a few short years, and I am a mother to three children under the age of five.  With so little time, energy, and ministry leadership experience, I didn’t feel ready or able to lead anything.

God had different plans, however, and He led me to reflect on a quote by Edmund Burke: “All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.”  I began to ask myself, “If not me, then who?”  I knew that it was not enough to hold my faith and my passion for the protection of life quietly at home.  It became much clearer to me that Catholics are called to live out the faith through works of mercy in the world (see James 2).  God led me to accept the call to serve in a tangible way, not just through private piety.

Once I committed, there was another obstacle.  Because of my passion, I was tempted to try to boil the ocean, so to speak.  Yet, because of my limited resources, I would not be able to do all that I wanted or intended.  So I had to make prayer the foundation of my engagement in this ministry.  The Respect Life Committee continually prays that the Holy Spirit and our Blessed Mother guide our efforts, focusing them where they desire.

The Spirit has led us to engage in 40 Days for Life as a primary event for this ministry.  40 Days for Life is a bi-annual worldwide campaign of prayer and fasting to end abortion.  Each spring and fall, at the largest local abortion clinic (and at home), people pray, fast, and minister to women and children who are in crisis pregnancies.  For those, like me, who engage in this ministry season after season, it is always inspiring when we hear uplifting stories in which the mother had a change of heart and saved the life of her child.  It is also extremely powerful when women who are recovering from abortions express regret for their choice, and begin to pray with the 40 Days campaign for other women and babies.

Each woman has a unique situation that has brought her to consider abortion, but there are some common threads in every story.  Many women have little or no support from family or community.  Having a baby probably seems impossible because no one tells the women that choosing life is a reasonable option.  They become isolated.  The presence of people who pray for and support these women demonstrates that there is another choice, the choice of life.  Some women can and will choose to walk in a different direction (literally away from the clinic doors), when they see that someone will support them and listen to their stories.  Therefore, this ministry seeks to end isolation as much as anything else.  When people feel loved and in community, they don’t choose abortion.

The 40 Days for Life prayer vigil also serves the broader community.  We pray for the employees of the clinics.  If the employees desire to leave that industry, there are related ministries that assist them.  We help the local crisis pregnancy centers with their resource needs, and we always refer women to them who would otherwise choose abortion.  We serve people who pass by on the streets by raising awareness and answering questions about abortion with good, accurate information.  Finally, we serve others in the pro-life community.  We share time and resources, and we encourage each other with stories of hope.  Because, without hope and in isolation, people can easily become discouraged and give up on this ministry.

The 40 Days for Life ministry has transformed the pro-life movement, especially in the United States.  In a culture that is very argumentative and divisive (especially in the media news outlets), pro-life activities and presentations can be grossly misunderstood.  However, this ministry answers the Church’s call to break down barriers, to forget distractions of finger-pointing, and serve the women and children of our society who are really hurting.  This ministry involves people praying, not protesting.  It paints a picture of life, not death.  It is coordinated by people who truly love others and seek to engage them instead of being judgmental or hateful.  This movement focuses on reducing the demand for abortion by offering love and support to women in difficult situations so that they do not mistakenly believe their only option is to kill their unborn child.

Without a doubt, this ministry is founded on religious freedom, the freedom that every human being has to seek, know, love, and serve God.  This freedom is not limited to worship inside a sanctuary, but it includes the freedom to speak in public about things of faith; to pray in public with people of similar beliefs; to act in a way that exhibits the faith we hold in our hearts, including the Respect Life ministry and the 40 Days for Life vigil.  In our own age, it is becoming more difficult to minister without restriction.  Violations of religious freedom will make it more difficult to provide hope to women entering abortion clinics, and it will prevent us from sharing Christ’s love as our Lord requires of His disciples.