God’s presence

get in te zone

Get In The Zone

get in te zone

4th Sunday of Lent

Deacon Tom Vert

Preached: March 14, 2021

“Help me Lord to get into the zone!”

Now I am sure that most of us have heard of this concept of being “in the zone”.

In sports it is the athlete who is in the zone and everything seems to click.

Golfers talk about when they are putting on the green that the hole seems the size of a bucket and they can see the path along the grass so easily.

Basketball players say that during a free throw they only see the basket and it is huge and the rhythm of the throw is so easy it goes in every time.

And for hockey players, I remember one goalie who was in the zone in the playoffs described the hockey puck was as large as a volleyball and he could see it coming “from miles away”.

This concept of being “in the zone” is one I think we are all familiar with and is in some ways I would argue what Christ is talking about to Nicodemus, and to us, in the gospel today.

Jesus says to Nicodemus one of the most famous lines of the gospel “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but have eternal life.”

Now traditionally, we interpret the words “eternal life” as our next life in heaven.  We think Jesus is telling us that if we believe than we get to go to heaven as our reward.

But is this really what Jesus is telling Nicodemus and us?

As is the case many times in the scriptures, the translation of the Greek words here are not as good in English.

The Greek word used is “aionios” which means everlasting, it means never ending, but the word is in the present tense also, not just after our death.

It means the unending presence of God, now and in the future, as we live with God side by side each day as our companion.

This really changes the impact in our lives as it means that we can experience, be in His presence, or we can be “in the zone” with God each and every day right here and right now!

Being in the spiritual zone with God is not only possible, but it is promised.

And I think we all know this don’t we?

There are times in our lives if we look back that we feel God’s presence and closeness in a special way, and we know in our hearts that He is there.

This may be on a retreat weekend when we have shut out the outside world and can feel a special nearness in those moments, but it is also in the hustle and bustle of live isn’t it?

Sometimes we may be feeling a bit lonely or down, and suddenly a friend or relative calls or drops by and says, “for some reason I was thinking of you”?  And God’s presence is felt!

We could wake up one morning and say, I really feel the need to bake for this person, or to make a lasagna for that friend.  And when we drop it off it creates so much joy…and God’s presence is felt.

Josie Lombardi who teaches some of our seminarians in Toronto had this to say this week about coincidences and God’s presence: “Doing God’s will means doing the right thing at the right time and in the right way.”

I would say that she is right and when we do this, we are in the spiritual zone!

When you have love in your heart and are taking care of an elderly mother of father, you are in the zone.

When you have compassion and sit with a child to help with homework after online classes that can be hard to interpret, you are in the zone.

When you take the vaccine, despite being skeptical because you know that it will make our society and neighbours safer, you are in the zone.

However, if you are like me, then sometimes we aren’t in the zone.  Sometimes we are tired, we are disconnected, we are self-reliant, and we can’t feel God’s presence in our lives.

Sometimes we are like the Israelites in the first reading who don’t even realize how far they have strayed until they are in Babylon singing the psalm today of how far they feel from God.

It is very natural to feel this way, and the important thing is to recognize it as soon as possible so we can return to the Father.

We know from the 2nd reading of what was written to the Ephesians and to us that God is rich in mercy…and we are brought close to him by His grace and His love as a gift of God.  It is not something we earn but a love we accept.

And so how do we get back into the zone when we have fallen away?  When we have lost our way after one week, or one month, or one year or even many years?

We follow Christ’s example when he also needed strength.  How many times do we hear in the New Testament “Jesus went off to pray” or “after he was praying”?

Prayer is the tool that God has given us to open our hearts, turn to Him once again in humility and ask to be brought back into His arms.

Like the prodigal son story, the Father is already running to us with open arms as soon as we turn our heads and move toward Him.

I have learned as you probably already know, that when I am self-reliant it is easier to move off the path, but with a strong prayer life, and knowing that God is breaking down the barriers for us, is making every hill low and every valley straight, we can be confident to hear His message and mission for us.

So, this week, I ask you to do this…in one of your prayers to God, in the silence of your heart say these eight words “Help me Lord to get into the zone!”

 

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hide-and-seek

Hide And Seek Is Easier Than You Think!

hide-and-seek

2nd Sunday of Easter

Deacon Tom Vert

Preached: April 19, 2020

“Hide and seek is easier than you think!”

I think all of us can remember being children and playing hide and seek either with our family or friends.

I remember playing in my neighbourhood with my brothers and sister and the local neighbourhood kids.  We had rules that you had to stay within our one block and no backyards.

If you followed a fairly systematic plan (spoken like a future engineer), hide and seek was easier than you would think as you found all the key hiding spots.

I was thinking of today’s readings and hide and seek popped into my head.

We hear in today’s readings Christ saying to the disciples in the upper room “Peace be with you”.

And when I think of peace, I think many times for myself and maybe for you, it seems so elusive in this world of ours.  How do we find peace with cell phones, 24-hour news, the internet, work lives that expect answers day and night, children to be raised, elderly parents to take care of, etc.

At times it seems so overwhelming and as hard to find as a small child hidden behind an evergreen bush.

We should clarify that when Christ says “peace be with you” it is not a frivolous greeting but a powerful statement that has been used in the Middle East by both Christians, Jewish followers and Arabs for thousands of years.

It means, “May God give you every good thing including prosperity, well-being, health, completeness and safety”.

The disciples would have remembered at that moment what Christ said to them at the last supper: “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you…do not let your hearts be troubled, do not let them be afraid”

This promise of total peace is what Jesus told them and he tells us.  It is not just a feeling of calmness, but instead a feeling of closeness and security.  Psalm 131 tells us that we are like a baby sleeping in its mother’s arms, and I think that is a beautiful image of what peace truly is.

Christ tells them this just after the resurrection in order to convey the message that St. Paul has in the 2nd reading: a new birth, a living hope, an inheritance of salvation, the promise of eternal life.  This gives us the ability to know that we have a place in heaven reserved for us, with Christ himself as the one who has prepared it.

I remember my own father telling me once close to the end of his life “I don’t know why people are afraid to die…what kind of faith do they really have?”  It is a little tough, like my dad, but his point was that we hear every Easter how Christ destroyed death and opened the gates to heaven for us…we should be grateful and not afraid of how life will play out.

So intellectually, we may understand that we are supposed to have peace with this great promise, but how do we really attain peace in the here and now as the world speeds ahead?

I tried to reflect back on times in my own life when I truly felt peace:

  • At the top of the Andes mountains with my two daughters looking across ice capped mountains
  • When I would nap on the couch with one of the girls also sleeping on my chest
  • At prayer in a quiet chapel at St. Augustine’s seminary
  • On a walk in the Irish woods with my wife with only the birds to hear our footsteps

I thought about what is common in all these experiences that can help myself and all of us find peace more often and I came up with 4 things:

  1. Every time it was quiet without the distraction of noise
  2. Every time God’s presence was there, with him in prayer or with his creation, or with the people he has put into my life
  3. Each time I was fully present, I wasn’t thinking about past issues, my own weaknesses/faults or things that I had to resolve; and I wasn’t planning the future, but I was truly present in the place I was seeing, hearing, feeling each moment
  4. And finally, each time, I had an overwhelming feeling of gratitude. If I knew the words, I would have recited today’s psalm “thanks to the Lord, for he is good, and his love is everlasting”

We will have to suffer trials as St. Paul tells us and we are experiencing right now with the coronavirus, however, if we rest in God’s arms and give him our burdens and worries, the distance to peace is not that far.

So, this week, one piece of homework…pick one day where you can carve out 10 minutes.

Find a place that is quiet (could be inside or outside), say a prayer to God for Him to help you be fully present and block out all past thoughts or future worries.   Feel God’s presence through nature (a flower or a tree), or with a family member holding you, and thank Him for all the times He is with you on your journey and you don’t even know.

Remember, “hide and seek” is easier than you think.

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