Adapted from Mike Dooley and the “Message From the Universe”, Most Rev. Dianne Sullivan

Reading from Wisdom Literature

If it’s not yet obvious to you by now, the real reason for life and living, is that each of us may know love and happiness. Each of us is granted a divine heritage and sacred destiny. Each of us is an answer to life’s prayer. The first light at the dawn of eternity, saw us and knew us to be the beloved of God. Through each of us, God knows God’s own depth and height, reveling in the seas of blessed emotion.

Each of us is a pioneer into illusion, an adventurer into the unknown, and a lifter of veils. We are courageous, heroic, and applauded by legions in the unseen.

To give beyond reason, to care beyond hope, to love without limit; to reach, stretch, and dream, in spite of our fears, these are the hallmarks of divinity – badges of honor. May we wear them with pride.

Your light has illuminated darkened paths, your gaze has lifted broken spirits, and already your life has changed the course of history. May God celebrate each of us.

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Most Rev Dianne Sullivan
2/05/2017

John 1: 1-3
“There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.” .

There was a man sent from God whose name was Gandhi. He came as a man of peace to free his country from British rule and oppression. He led his people to the Indian Ocean to protest tax on salt. He was a Hindu but proclaimed himself the brother of all, a man for all people.
He understood that to be a light for others he needed to be a light within himself. He lived the change he sought to see in the world.

There was a woman sent from God whose name was Dorothy Day. She came as woman of service to feed the hungry and lift the poor. She lived among her people in New York with an appetite for goodness, a social activist invested in people. She wrote, “The greatest challenge of the day is: how to bring about a revolution of the heart, a revolution which has to start with each of us.” “We have all known the long loneliness,” she wrote “and we learned that the only solution is love and that love comes with community.’

There was a man sent from God whose name was Martin. He came as a man of vision, unafraid to challenge the rules of injustice, segregation, marching for freedom, the civil liberties for all. “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Martin had “a dream that his four little children would one day live in a nation where they would not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”

There was a child sent from God whose name was Rachel Beckwith. She was a child of nine years full of wisdom and compassion well beyond her age, who longed for clean water for people of poor countries. She raised nearly $300 for her ninth birthday but her life was cut short by a tragic highway accident. Now there is a foundation in her name providing fresh clean water, pumps and irrigation to developing- countries. Hundreds of thousands of dollars have been raised in Rachel’s name.

There was a man sent from God who waited anxiously in an airport for his wife and two daughters flying from Jordon. There was a woman sent from God who waited in her hijab and prayer rug to pray to Allah for her Muslim family and friends, for their safety.

There is a woman named Ruth, Eona and, Maude: and there is Anne and Johnny May, Gladys, Hazel and Jean, Susan and Linda, Emily, Megan and Kelli all sent from God to be a light in the darkness, a sign of hope no matter where their lives have taken them.
There is a man named Dick, and Roger, Bill and John, all sent by God, Thomas too.
They are the strength for others, the backbone for leaning, the loyal men of commitment. They bring the light of stamina and perseverance, to others.

Salt of the earth is about decency. Light is about guidance and showing the way.

When my daughter was just a child she sometimes would become discouraged or afraid to confront new challenges. I told her these were little hills ahead of her that could be climbed. If she refused to meet the challenge and climb the hill the next hill would be steeper. Little by little she learned to climb those hills and then the mountains of adulthood. Today she has climbed every mountain put in front of her and she has become my light.

To be light for each other means we are listening; we are present; we are open minded and open hearted; we are willing to care; we are willing to give of ourselves; we love and we act from love. We try our best. And when we fail we learn and start again.

To be light means we are willing to enter the darkness and take a step in faith, not knowing where it will take us. This is after all a journey of certain uncertainty.

Letting your light shine takes courage and risks.

Marianne Williamson, author and spiritual teacher wrote, “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our Light not our Darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people will not feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; Gandhi; Dorothy Day; Martin Luther King Jr.; Rachel Beckwith; it’s in everyone. And as we let our light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

We are all meant to shine.
Amen

by Deacon Jean Gilberte
2/25/17

In the first paragraph of the gospel of Matthew, Jesus tells us NOT TO WORRY. Then he goes on to tell us that ‘God knows all that we need.’ Do we trust that God will provide for what we do need? I think that is our biggest question. Do we trust God to know what is best for us?

There are people who worry very little and some worry quite a lot. There are even people who worry about everything. There are also some of us who are worried because they don’t worry when something happens. Is there anyone in this room who does not worry? Is there anyone who is willing to say out loud what they are worried about with no judgment from anyone?

If you are one who worries, please don’t put yourself down for it. Paul, in the first reading, said to not past judgment on ourselves.

In the work that I do (I am a healing practitioner….when asked, I do Reiki for people who are in need). I noticed that people who come to see me because they are not feeling well are often stressed by some form of worry. Worrying creates exhaustion in people. Just last week, I slipped from trusting God and became worried. Of course, my blood pressure went up immediately. So what did I do at that moment?
I sat down and asked God to help me to let go. I took some deep breaths, and every time I let the air out, I let my body relax. After around ten minutes, my blood pressure went back down. Jesus knew 2 thousand years ago that worrying was not healthy. Can you imagine how long that is, and we still haven’t learned how to let go and relax.

God wants us to flourish like the lilies or the flowers that will soon start to grow as spring is approaching. I have rose bushes by my front walkway. God provides the water and the sun and I make sure that good energy surrounds my home. These roses grow so big and they flower from early spring until December. This is without my watering during the summer and without any fertilizer. God really does provide for them.

I was one who grew up doubting myself. About 25 years ago, my youngest son encouraged me to take art class because he was taking the class. He was very wise at a young age and saw some potential in me that I did not see. I didn’t want to because I was afraid I would embarrass myself by doing what I knew and that was drawing stick people. I eventually did take the class. The first painting I did shocked me because it was beautiful. I didn’t know how it happened but it did.

At the time, my mom’s wish was to have a painting of the Trinity (God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit.) I promised her I would paint it for her. My art teacher agreed that she would guide me so I decided to try. A few months into the painting, my teacher informed me that she was moving to California. I was upset that the painting for my mom was not even a quarter done. I brought the unfinished canvas home and placed it on my easel and there it stayed for 2 months because I was afraid that I would find out that I really wasn’t good at painting. My mom would ask about the painting and her birthday was coming up. One night, I prayed to God to please help me to give my mom the painting she so desired as she was such a prayerful woman. I sat at my easel with 5 paint brushes in my hand and I asked, maybe pleaded for my Angels to help me finish the picture as I did not know how to paint people. Somehow my hands just painted non stop. I finished that painting early that morning. My mom cried when I gave it her. My dad now has it hanging on the wall by his bed. Because I fully trusted and let go of the fears around painting, my mother received her gift; somehow at that moment with the paint brushes in my hands, I knew God was going to help me.

Now when I have moments of doubt, I remember how God is always with me as God is always with each and everyone of us. I hope all of us remember how important we are to God no matter what we we’ve done in the past. Please trust in God’s never ending love for us. Remember what Jesus said, “Do not worry.” God knows all about our needs and we need to trust that it will be done.

2/19/2017
by Kathy Christianson

Good morning everyone.
When I was preparing for the readings and homily for today, I chuckled when I saw the Gospel assigned to today. I think the Lord gave me this opportunity to speak about Love because I am working so hard to be consist in Love and Forgiveness.

You all know that I am studying to become a Deacon in this wonderful church (which is one of my greatest honors). In my studies, I have come to know and believe to be true that the way to freedom, the path to happiness and the road to a life fulfilled is through love.

My confession to you is that I resisted this knowledge. I have gone through my years with the belief of an ‘eye for an eye’ or you hurt me and I will hurt you back. If I was hurt, I would stay in the sorrow.

Then, through my relationship with Deacon Jean, I have learned that when I feel I have been wronged, I have come to understand that the things I can only control in these matters is myself. I can control my feelings and my reactions. I came to realize that staying in sorrow only left me in darkness – constantly think about the injustice, maybe plotting a way to “get even”. And I mean constantly – waking and trying to sleep. It was not a good feeling.

I learned from Deacon Jean and through my readings, specific steps that can be taken when we feel we have been wronged. We can:

• Feel the hurt feelings and then let them go. Letting go in this case means not thinking about them again

• If the person who I feel wronged me keeps popping up into my head, I can bless this person. I surround them with Light and Love and then I let them go. If they come into my head 1,000 times, then I do this 1,000 times until what they did goes away. And it will go away.

• The way that works well for me is to go into gratitude. I start listing off things and people that I am grateful for. You can’t be angry or hurt and be in gratitude at the same time.

• We can not harbor a grudge. Instead, pray for that person – that they find happiness and peace. This will leave us with our own sense of peace because we don’t go to the dark place where grudges live.

• I work hard at not talking ill of others. I hear my mother whispering in my ear, “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” My mother lived by this life lesson and she was very good at it.

• Who are we to sit in judgment of others – what we think others should do or what they shouldn’t have done? I have a brother, the youngest in our family. He has mental health issues and has made choices in his life that have hurt a lot of people. By praying very hard on this, for a long time, I have finally been able to separate him, the brother I love, from his choices. I have not forgotten his choices but I love him.

This is loving your “neighbor” but also loving yourself. By consistently coming from a place of love, we are happy. We are not weighed down with anger, resentment or revenge. This in turn makes us healthy in body, mind and spirit. Science today has proven that there is a direct connection between our thoughts and actions and our health. Living in negativity – not coming from a place of love – causes the body to break down in the way of disease

I have come to believe that this is why Jesus came here. He came to teach us This Way of living with each other. That each person we see whether it be our significant others, our family, friends, community or even strangers among us are all part of God and should be treated with love, kindness and respect.

And sometimes this is a really hard thing to do when someone is being a bully, saying mean things about people or groups of people. When someone is making fun of someone else, like someone with a physical disability. We still need to find a good in that person – look beyond their words and actions and seek the goodness of their heart. Not an easy thing to do…but it’s doable.

I have come to believe that while all this work is hard, sometimes really hard, the more we try, the more we practice, the easier it comes. It becomes a way of life.

Love is The Way. Love will Conquer All.

Always