Love to Banish Fear.

“If, then, you are looking for the way by which you should go, take Christ, because He Himself is the way. ” -St. Thomas Aquinas

To be full of Christ is to be empty of all fear. To love Christ is to be empty of all hatred of others. To trust Christ is to be empty of all pride. We live here, now, as cowards and fools, concerned with ourselves and our  problems. We are callous fighters, lusting blindly over pleasures so small as to be insignificant except to our own minds. We look with fear upon both God and our fellow men, or rather, at anything we cannot ourselves control. We love only that which we can understand. We may claim to love God, but we ignore our brothers and sisters who live in the dark and the cold.

As Christians, it is a tragedy that we live thus. We are called not to love only God, but each other. God is not a person that we can give a hug to, in fact the only way we can really show love to God is to love our neighbors, our enemies, the random people on the street. To stand in the gap, put one foot in heaven and one on earth, and be a bridge for the love of God to cross out into the world. There is no fear here, no doubt. Though this may seem to be a lovely fairytale, we need only ask for the courage to stand, the courage to love, and it will be given.

Just an unreachable dream?

Many of us grew up hearing about David and Goliath, to the point where now it’s just another tale in the league of Cinderella, pretty, but not really considered possible. Well, I can tell you that it is possible, when one is filled with the love of God, to stand before a giant, to walk on water, to ride singing to your execution. There is nothing that can stand against you, no army, no demon, no fear that can possibly prevail against you.

“Psalm 27:1
The LORD is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?”

If you would, please go and listen to Luminate’s new song- Banner of Love. That is our calling, right there. Love is our banner. We have been filled with the Holy Spirit for this purpose. In the words of the mass, “Go forth to love and serve the Lord!”

God’s love is huge enough for all of us to enjoy. It’s so huge that He made an entire universe of stars for us to look at and enjoy. He made our skin to feel the cool winds that He sends. He made all the sweet smelling flowers and the sweet sounds of water and trees. He made the colors on a peacock, the eyelashes that protect our eyes, the lovely curves and shadows of clouds, the taste buds on our tongues, the sweetness of honey, and the savoriness of a juicy steak. He made all this, and more, for the single purpose of making us happy! And even then, He had more to give! He became a human being, suffered the most torturous death ever imaginable, and rose again, all for us! He comes into our hearts every time we pray to Him, and He answers every prayer! He gave us numerous books and many great people to teach us about Him! He gives us friends, family, pets, houses, food, jobs, comfort, and life itself! We owe him everything! The least we could do is spread some of that love around, eh?

Be not afraid. Those three words are repeated dozens of times in the bible. Many people are afraid to love, afraid that to show their faith they will be subject to ridicule and abuse. They add this on to the piles of other things they fear, like snakes or speaking in public. I know, I’ve been there too. It took an awful lot of brownie-surrendering to get me out, and even now I still fall in to the trap of fear sometimes! For the past month, I lost track of my trust because I worried incessantly about how my disease was affecting my future. Thankfully, after a lot of praying and a lovely time in adoration, I managed to get back up and begin to rebuild my faith. This post is for me every bit as much as it is for you!

Mother Theresa said,”“I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love.” Love isn’t something to be feared. Love is something to fall in to, like being hit in the head by one of those big waves at the beach, love should knock you head-over-heels, twisting you around and covering you with light. Fall in love with God first, and before you know even know how, you’ll be loving every person around you, simply because it makes God happy! If you don’t know how to love God, don’t be afraid! God takes even the desire to love Him as loving Him, and He’ll give you that love and that grace until you are overflowing with it!

And, with love as our shield, we can do anything! Cure diseases, walk on water, speak in tongues, set the world on fire with love! We can go from the poorest of slums to the richest of palaces, approach every man, overcome any danger, with the banner of love held high above us! There is no more fear, no more self-doubt. The future is in God’s hands, because there, we know that everything will work out for good. Our pasts have no more hold. What do we care if we are ridiculed or persecuted  It’s only some pride that we lose. We carry something so much greater than simple fame. We cary the all-encompassing love of a God who seeks only to love us and be loved in return! So go out now, love! Love! For the greater glory of God!

Peace, blessings, and most importantly LOVE to all!

-Tani

What’s really important.

As a Church, we Catholics (and heck, Christians in general) are a diverse and argumentative group. We sit and complain all day that the choirs were bad, the priest was facing the wrong way, some bimbo is wearing spagetti straps, and then get upset when opinions clash. But what we fail to see is…

NONE OF IT MATTERS. 

Not a bit. The choir can croak, the priest can stand backwards or forwards, the people can drip out of their clothes. In the end, these are like bug bites compared to the crucifixion of problems that assault our churches today. While we squabble like seagulls fighting over a bagel, the Christian and Catholic communities are being flayed alive about contraception, homosexuality, divorce, and the Eucharist. Christian pastors are portrayed as fuddy-duddies, Catholic priests are pedophiles, Christian families are backward, nuns are evil, and we’re all brainless sheep, a position supported and underscored by all of our fighting.

What really matters is not that we are perfectly up to par on the teachings of our respective Churches. It’s not that we are almost Pharisee-like in our devotion to our rules.

What really matters is that Jesus died for each and every one of us. What really matters is that He loves us more than a universe of words could ever explain. What really matters is that every person finds Him in their own way, and if that’s with praise and worship or chant, with a pastor or a priest, in a church or in a car listening to the radio, that that is how God wants it to be. We have bigger things at stake than just some pride. We are living in a country that does not respect life, does not respect women, does not respect marriage, does not respect religion, and does not respect the holiness of work. Our petty bickering seems pretty small after all that, eh?

We must stand together on these big issues. For the small ones, live as you see fit. Complain if you must, but remember that each person is gloriously different and has come to God in their own way. Each person has a plan and a path that is different than yours. I believe that a Mormon or a Baptist can be every bit as passionate as a Lutheran or a Catholic. We all love God, and God loves ALL OF US.

And that’s what’s really important.

Live with joy, my friends.

Love to all-

-Tani