A Morning Reflection – Spring Cleaning

My marvelous Mom who went home to God last summer left behind a cabin in the mountains of North Georgia.  A few weeks ago, my wife and I made the eleven hour journey to reclaim the cabin that was Mom’s summer home for many years.  My parents purchased the cabin property on a mountain creek before they retired.  Dad named it “Bit O’ Heaven”.  It was the last place on earth he saw in this life.  Mom spent her summers there anyway for a dozen years.  When Mom closed the cabin for the winter in the fall of 2008, no one but the Lord knew she would never return to this place she loved so much.

No one had been there for three winters when my wife and I pulled into the down-hill driveway on a cool early spring evening.  The trees were still bare and the whole yard looked so strange and a bit eerie.  We had only seen the place in the summer when everything is fully grown.  The house and the yard were in need of a huge deep cleansing before anyone could hope to live there and share more of the many good times the Cyr family has enjoyed there for so many years.  That cleansing is why we were there.  After two and a half long tiring days of thorough loving care, the cabin is again ready for inhabitants.  Three winter’s worth of dust, cobwebs, leaves and branches have been cleared away.  It was a very deep and complete spring cleaning.

During all the sweeping, wiping and raking, the Lord reminded me that it is the same with our souls. This time of Lent when we prepare in prayer, fasting and giving to celebrate His sacrifice and victory over sin and death is the time to do our spiritual spring cleaning.  He reminded me that we should be cleaning regularly, daily really, and keeping short accounts with God because He is coming for us soon.  If we do not tend to our souls, then the cobwebs form in the corners and the dust settles on the empty surfaces of our souls.  Dead branches and leaves fall from the trees and clutter our spiritual path.  Then the cleansing of our souls becomes difficult and time-consuming work taking time away from the fun of praising and serving our savior.

So my brothers and sisters, let us examine our consciences each evening and turn to our merciful loving savior in confession.  Let us keep the cobwebs away.

A Morning Reflection – Birthday Dream

A few weeks ago I celebrated my birthday.  It was on a Sunday and two of my three college-aged children were able to make it home for the weekend to help me celebrate.   This was the first birthday I have celebrated without my Mom.   She passed away in June after a valiant 16-month battle with cancer.  Mom always sent me a card with a check in it for my birthday and best of all she always called me on my birthday.  Of course this year, for the first time ever, none of that happened.   It was actually a couple of days later before I realized how much I missed hearing from Mom on my birthday.

Several weeks later,  my wife and I went to Gainseville to visit our daughter for a few hours.  She was receiving an award and we had dinner with her.  We spent the night in an Ocala hotel.   I usually do not sleep well in hotels no matter how comfortable they may be.   On this night I was awakened in the middle of the night fully aware that I had just been dreaming.   In the dream,  I was at an outdoor gathering of many people.  There was food and live music.   I picked up a stem of grapes and was eating them one by one,  when I realized the music group was singing “Happy Birthday” to me.  When they were done,  I went over to thank them.  I walked down the line thanking them each and shaking their hands.  I realized they were people I knew.  One lady in a blue hat took my out-stretched hand and gently kissed it.   When she looked up at me,  I realized it was my Mom!!!  She looked like she did when she had cancer.  The hat was exactly like one she wore after her hair fell out from the chemo treatments.

I believe this dream was a birthday present from the Lord and my Mom.  I knew it from the moment I woke up.  In those few seconds after I awoke,  it felt like this had really just happened. The church teaches us about the communion of saints.  That night the Lord allowed my Mom and I to escape the reality of physical death just long enough for her to tell me “Happy Birthday”.

Nothing is impossible with God.  He speaks to us all the time in so many different ways.  Listen for Him my brothers and sisters.  He is speaking to you.  He is telling you that you are loved more than you could ever imagine.

A Morning Reflection – Trimming

Trimming
May 9, 2010

The weather in Florida is warm again, not quite really hot yet, but very warm and that means the grass is growing again. This has forced me out into the yard again which I have not tended to for several months. Of course that means I found quite a bit of trimming which needed to be done. I cut the grass (and weeds) but this was the easy part. Then there was all the grass that was growing into the places we don’t want it to be like over the sidewalk and into the landscaped areas where our plants are.

So, one recent Saturday, I set out to do the trimming and make everything look nice and neat again. I was working on the rose garden outside our bedroom window, cutting back the grass that was growing over the landscape timbers and taking root in the bed of river rocks where the roses are planted when that small still voice pointed out to me that this job would not be so hard if I had tended to it regularly during the winter months. While finishing the slicing of the grass and applying weed killer spray, I thought, “Yes, you are so right”. However, I continued to contemplate how my prayer life lately has slipped back from where it had been before.

What came to me beyond the yard work was that our souls are like this garden. If we don’t tend to them regularly, all kinds of unwanted things begin to creep in and take root. However, we possess the ultimate weed killer. Jesus is dwelling in us and He helps us to remove these unwanted things taking root in us. We must tend to the garden of our souls daily with quiet time for prayer, reading of His word and reflection upon what He has done for us. Only then can we fully appreciate the beauty of the flowers He has planted in our garden.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the beautiful flowers the Lord has planted in the gardens of our families. God bless our Mothers!!!

A Morning Reflection – Made In Heaven

Made In Heaven
September 7, 2009

Have you ever made anything? Think about it for a while. Sure you have. Something you made with your own hands, a meal you prepared, a paper you wrote, a challenging task you completed. If you are anything like me you were probably amazed at what you were able to do.

I am an electrical engineer by trade. I design circuit boards. At my company it is a team effort. This year I was blessed to be the primary designer of a circuit board for one of our customers. It is work I had not had in a while so I was even more grateful to be able to do it than usual. Anyway, it takes months of effort to get to the point where you actually have a board in your hands to test. When I finally got to see the first fully assembled board, I was pretty excited. What I had been working on for months was no longer just a plan, but now it was a reality. I could hold this thing I created in my hands and look upon it with my own eyes.

Okay, so yes, I am a nerd. I was able to do what I did by the grace of God through the gifts He has given me. Yes, I looked upon this object with some pride and amazement for what we were able to do. This past weekend was my birthday and I was contemplating Psalm 139 which describes how God has made each of us, crafted us in our mother’s womb and knows us better than we know ourselves. He is with us everywhere.

Then it came to me that God looks upon me and each one of us in the same kind of way we look upon the things that we create here on earth. He created us and He sees the good in us that He created and looks upon us with fondness and maybe even amazement at what He has done. Wow!!!

So remember my brothers and sisters that you are special and there is none other like you. You are a one of a kind creation made by the Creator of all things to live forever. So, have a great day!!!

A Morning Reflection – Love is Absurd

Love Is Absurd
June 14, 2009

Lately I have been contemplating a lyric from a song written and sung by one of my favorite performers, Matt Maher. The song is generally praising God because He loves everyone. One of the lines says “that’s why love is so absurd”. My first reaction to hearing that the first time was “Huh?” What do you mean “Love is so absurd”? How about “Love is patient” or “Love is kind”. “Love is absurd” is not in that famous chapter of Corinthians by Paul. However, upon further reflection, I have come to love this lyric because it is oh so true.

Love takes a week off from work, but instead of taking a cruise or going skiing or sight-seeing, it helps out with Vacation Bible School at church, or it goes on a mission trip to Ecuador or New Orleans or Pahokee. Love uses that vacation time to accompany a group of Boy Scouts to summer camp or a group of teenagers to youth camp. Love is so absurd!

Love drives her husband, who can not drive himself, 450 miles one day so that he can spend the next day with his suddenly ill mom in the hospital. Then the day after that, Love drives her husband 450 miles back home so on the next day he can support his son with raising money for his community service project for Boy Scouts. Then two weeks later, Love does it all over again so her husband can visit his ailing mom again. Love is so absurd!

Love, upon learning that a good friend is having serious marital problems, puts aside everything that is going on in his life and makes a full day’s journey to spend the weekend with that friend, even though there is no money in the budget for such a trip and he and his wife have to bring along three children under the age of 5. Love is so absurd!

Love puts aside practically everything in her own life and takes on the job of full time care for her cancer stricken mother-in-law. Love fully supports his mom in her care giving task even though it means mom is not as available as she usually is. Love is so absurd!

Love spends every evening that is not already committed to volunteering at church visiting and praying with a friend who is seriously ill in the hospital. Love is so absurd!

Love devotes almost all of its resources of time, energy and money to the care and education of its children and when it is not doing that, it is volunteering at church to help the children of others. There are countless numbers of parents doing this every day. Love is so absurd!

Love, having all power and authority in heaven and on the earth, willingly subjects itself to public humiliation and torture. Love allows itself to be ridiculed, spat upon, cursed, stripped naked and beaten to within a breath of His life. During all this, Love utters not a single word. After all that, Love willingly climbs upon a wooden cross and allows itself to be nailed to that cross by the hands and the feet. Love does not drink even the drugged wine which would have dulled the pain. Love dies on the cross under the weight of every sin ever committed by any human soul in all of time. Yes, indeed, Love is so absurd!!!

The Bible tells us that God is Love. So my brothers and sisters in Love, remember that when you love someone, it may be absurd, but you have allowed yourself to be a vessel of the Lord God Almighty. There is no greater act than to love, for without Love all that we do amounts to nothing. With Love, even the most simple action can amount to everything.

A Morning Reflection – Ripples of Love

Ripples of Love
Thursday May 7, 2009

I am a very blessed man. I write this as I sit in my Mom’s hospital room. She has cancer. We found out about two months ago. This week she is experiencing complications after her second chemo treatment. We are expecting her to be released to go home today.

I am only here because of the love of many people. Mom lives in Perry, Georgia which is a seven-hour drive from where I live. I wasn’t supposed to visit now, but of course Mom wasn’t supposed to be in the hospital. My brother called to keep us informed on how Mom is doing and told us she had been admitted to the hospital. My wife was supposed to come up here today anyway to help our son Christopher move home from college for the summer. His college is only about 30 miles from where Mom lives. My wife thought to move up the schedule by a day so I can be here today and back home on Saturday to support our youngest son Matthew for his car wash to raise money for his Eagle Scout project. I go to my boss at work (and my friend) and give him the update on Mom and tell him I am thinking I should go visit. He asks when that would be and I say tomorrow. We are behind schedule on an important project which has a lot of potential future business riding on it. So he says to me Go, what you are doing for your mom is more important than what we are doing here. My co-worker friends who I am leaving my work to do ­ very tedious work at this point too ­ smile and wish me well and pray with me for Moms healing and our safe travels. Friends of ours from church offer to house and feed our two teen-agers Matthew and Jennifer for us while we are gone. The neighbors volunteer to feed our cats and bring in the mail while we are gone and many people offer their prayer support.

My simple decision to visit Mom has rippled into the lives of many people. This is the Body of Christ in action. The children of God ­ love itself ­ responding in love to the needs of their brother in Christ. So the next time you hear about how Christ lives in you, remember the ripples of love which are the evidence of that very truth. Your simple actions to help a friend bring Christs presence to reality in their life. Thank you my brothers and sisters for being Jesus hands and feet for me. He is risen. He is risen indeed!

A Morning Reflection – Suffering

Suffering
March 21, 2009

Two days ago I found out that my Mom has cancer. Her prognosis is good. The doctors believe we caught it early. However, she is probably headed for chemotherapy which I am told is not an easy road to travel. Yesterday, I found out that a good friend of mine, another Catholic father active in the church needs open heart surgery to replace an artificial heart valve that is wearing out after ten years. He is about the same age as I am. He told me his problem is from a birth defect. I am legally blind also from a birth defect. I don’t see well enough to drive or play most sports. My mom is a widow living without her best friend for 13 years. At church I have met many widows living without their best friend after decades of living together. Recently, a wonderful family in our church lost their son in a tragic car accident. I could go on and on with more stories. Everyone has a story of suffering.

Today I rode my bike to the barber shop for a haircut. I have not ridden in quite some time, but the barber shop is not far, only about a mile and a half. After my haircut, I took the long way home, maybe two and half miles at most in an effort to exercise a little. I found out how badly I am out of shape. When I got home, my heart was racing and I felt like I might faint. Nothing that a little rest and some water did not fix.

While I was resting and recovering from my bike ride, feeling my heart pounding and sipping some water, I was thinking about my Mom and my friend. I was reminded of a scripture (I think it is in Acts somewhere) that says we must endure many hardships before we can enter into the kingdom of heaven. Suffering is a part of the human condition. We live with it all the time. We turn to God and He comforts us and gives us the strength to continue.

What is so amazing is that God became man. The all powerful everlasting God, the creator of all things, including each one of us, came down from heaven and became one of us in every way but sin. He lived as a human being for 33 years. Then He gave up His life for us suffering in the process the most humiliating and painful death any person has ever experienced. He suffered more than any of us will ever understand. Jesus understands and knows all that we suffer. As we suffer we are united with Jesus in His suffering. He is there with us. He knows. He experienced it. He felt it. He feels it again with us.

So my friends as you go about your day, whatever you are suffering remember that God knows, He understands, He is right there with you and He loves you more than we could ever know.

A Morning Reflection – Calling Home

Calling Home
March 1, 2009

I am now the father of two college kids ever since last August when my daughter started at the University of Florida. My oldest son is now a Junior at Mercer University in Macon, Georgia. I miss them both being around the house and particularly at dinner time. Dinner was the one time of the day we would all be together as a family and be able to share with each other our experiences of the day. I tell my kids to call us any time. We want to be fully available to them. Of course, I would prefer they not call at 10:30 in the evening but sometimes they do. I try not to complain because I do want to hear from them so much.

Anyway, being a freshmen in her first few months living away from home, my daughter calls home often. Sometimes she needs help with something or just a little advice or suggestions on how to handle some situations. Many times it is just to share with us, her parents, some troubling or exciting experience of the day. My favorites are when she calls and says she just wants to talk because she has not talked with me in awhile. I really enjoy these times of sharing about the experiences of our lives and usually I just enjoy hearing about her feelings and thoughts. I always enjoy hearing from her, even when she is upset and not knowing what to do, but especially when she is happy and just wanting to talk with me. It brings me back to our family dinners in my mind hearing about the things of the day that affected my children.

Our Father in heaven is the same only in a more perfect way. He is anxious to hear from us, waiting for us to call home and let Him know how we are doing, what we are feeling and who we are concerned for. He is always glad to hear from us no matter the time of the day, where we are or what we are doing. He wants to hear about our day, our joys, our sorrows, our hopes and our fears. He wants us to call to Him and be with Him. He longs to be with us so much that He lives in our hearts in His Holy Spirit. He also gave us Himself in the Holy Eucharist; always available to share in a meal with us while we chat.

So my brothers and sisters, call your dad today, your earthly dad if you can and especially your heavenly Father who is waiting anxiously for your call ready to listen to all you have to tell Him.

A Morning Reflection – Celebration

Celebration
May 24, 2008

A week ago today, my daughter Jennifer graduated from high school. It was an awesome day for me filled with pride and joy. I am very proud of my daughter. She works very hard and deserves all the accolades she receives. She wanted a party to celebrate with her family and friends, so as part of her graduation present, her mom and I gave her a party. The party took place in the afternoon following the graduation ceremony in the morning. The party came out beautifully and I felt like I was walking on air the whole time. I felt so joyous because I was able to watch my daughter celebrate a much anticipated accomplishment with her friends and family. She was happy and that was most important to me.

I was so joyous because this amazing day was only possible through the grace of our awesome God acting through His people, the church. The Body of Christ was alive and active for this event. My borther and his family drove 400 miles on Friday evening to be with us on Saturday and then had to turn around and drive 400 miles back home on Sunday. Both of his sons gave up events of their own to be here. My mom and grandfather also drove down to celebrate with us. Our friends the Smith family, Peggy, Mark, Breanna and Justin, came out to the park where the party was held and set up all the decorations for us while we were still at the graduation ceremony. Other friends, George and Erma Kobosko helped prepare all the food and deliver it out to the park and set it all up. Jordanna picked up the cake and balloons for us while we were watching Jennifer graduate and delivered them to the party. Our son , Matthew recruited his band to play at the party in response to Jennifer’s request. Mike, Nick, Kevin, Dom and Matthew entertained us with their music for several hours. Actually, they were the last to leave. Many of Jennifer’s friends from the youth group at church came to celebrate with her and they even stayed long after she had to leave to attend Project Graduation. We had several family friends and neighbors come celebrate with us also. There were people from 9 years old to 92 years old at this event. It was an absolutley amazing day. The accomplishments of one young person brought all these people together to celebrate.

Sometime after everything had settled down it occurred to me that the Lord wants us to celebrate together, to mourn together, to just be together. We were made to love God and to love one another. I sure felt loved on this day!!! Someday, Jesus will bring all of us together to celebrate His accomplishments – His sacrifice for us. We will all join into the wedding feast of the Lamb as Jesus claims us, His church, as His bride. The party for Jennifer was a prelude to an even greater celebration in the next life. We don’t have to wait for the next life though. We can participate in another preldue of this great celebration every time we participate in the Mass and meet intimately with the Lord in the Eucharist.

Thank you my brothers and sisters for allowing me to share my joy with you. May you have a great day and may you share your joy with your friends and most especially with our Lord!!!