Renewed Vision

Happy Easter to all!

I have had a recent encounter with a cardinal I would like to share. 

Around the time Passiontide began, I was startled one morning by a loud repetitive thud against our bedroom window. Right by my side of the bed. 

It was a confused cardinal flying into the window.

cardinal outside our window

He did this over and over again. 

After reading up on this I learned there are species of birds who do this upon seeing their reflection in a window or mirror.

They interpret their own reflection as an intruder of their territory and attack. This is especially common during nesting season.

Well as you know there are no coincidences, only God occurrences.

This bird encounter at my window began as I was nearing the end of a healing and deliverance.

The Holy Spirit was bringing to my mind an important spiritual concept I learned over the past year:

Forgiveness, and directing one’s anger towards the right entity.

As I was dialoguing with The Lord about a challenge in a relationship I was having, I started hearing the bird against the glass. 

 Thud, thud…

I took this as a cue to examine where I have been directing my anger. 

A cardinal attacks what he believes to be a threat, but it is a misperception.

He consumes time and energy fighting the wrong enemy. The fight can be vicious and he can acquire injury in the process.

This pattern continues as long as he continues to see the same reflection.

There are a variety of remedies which can help to stop the pattern, such as closing the blinds or hanging pictures in the window to deter. All of these have the goal of removing the reflection.    

And so it is also with us. 

Our perceptions of others or ourselves can be twisted.  We can sin in judgement or anger against others and end up fighting the wrong entity.

The enemy of our souls, Satan, seeks to influence our thinking so we will view others or even ourselves as an adversary. 

When he is able to influence our thinking in this way, we spend a great deal of time and energy being angry with others instead of with the one who is a true threat to our dominion.

This can be very destructive in our relationships, especially with close loved ones such as our spouses, children, family members. 

This is also a very large problem in our world right now. Even the most well-meaning Christian can experience ungodly anger towards others. The evil deeds exposed in social media and news headlines can stir up anger. 

It is very important in our times to guard one’s heart and to redirect anger and hatred towards the right entity who is behind the evil deeds: Satan and his kingdom. 

Saint Paul tells us:  

“For our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens.” Ephesians 6:12

This is hatred that is justified and holy. 

Something must change our perception of others and ourselves, so we will not sin in our anger. 

The Holy Spirit, our advocate and guide, is the agent of change. He can transform our hearts, our vision, our reflection, with His gift of wisdom. This enables us to see those around us and ourselves through the eyes of God. This opens us up to walk in forgiveness.

Recently I sat down to walk through a forgiveness prayer of myself. And then there was my friend flying at the window, the thumping bird. 

Thud, thud…

As I prayed, this was a great reminder of the danger in seeing ourselves as an adversary. It is very important to walk in forgiveness of ourselves. Many times we do not realize it, but we are living in that old expression in which we are “our own worst enemy”.

This Easter season as we celebrate Christ risen in us and look forward to the Feast of Pentecost, let us pray to be risen to a new way of thinking. For The Holy Spirit to renew our minds and correct our vision. 

“Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Romans 12:2

May you be renewed and blessed this season!

 

In our Midst

Alleluia, He is risen!

I hope you are enjoying a Blessed Easter week. 

Through this week’s Gospel readings I have again this year been led to reflect on Mary Magdalene’s encounter with the Risen Lord.

“But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. They said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping?’ She said to them, ‘Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.’ Saying this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? Whom do you seek?’ Supposing him to be a gardener, she said to him, ‘Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Mary.’ She turned and said to him in Hebrew, ‘Rabboni!'(which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, ‘Do not hold me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brethren and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” John 20: 11-17

“But Mary stood outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb” John 20:11

Where are you Lord?

This is a question I ask when I am caught up in a difficult moment. 

And it becomes easy to dwell on what I perceive to be His absence.

The angels in the tomb and the Risen Lord both pose the same question to Mary:

“why are you weeping?”

And Jesus takes it a step further in asking : “whom do you seek?”

 Both times she laments about The Lord having been taken away, her concern being about where He is not.

Very often Jesus comes to us in disguise.

Sometimes He is disguised to us because we are expecting Him to be present in a different way.

Every night before bed I pray an Examen prayer, part of which I recall the ways God has been present in the day. Recently I began to notice a pattern in which most of the moments I was recalling were times of prayer, adoration or within the Holy Sacrifice of The Mass.

What about the numerous other minutes of the day?

Where is The Lord in my least favorite household duties or the difficult moments of child rearing? In my spouse or challenges in homeschooling ?

I recently brought this to The Lord for understanding, and this Easter week he took me to this story of Mary Magdalene.

It can be difficult to recognize the face of Jesus when we are caught up in situations that can distress us. 

And our distress can distract us from seeing Him as who He is, or where He is. 

Mary Magdalene and the other disciples were kept from knowing who the risen Lord was while caught up in grief, weeping.

There are many events in our lives that can distract us from knowing He is near, based on how we respond interiorly. 

The events in the world last year are an example of this, as so many of us experienced the shock of our churches being closed and life as we knew it being shut down. I wrote about this last Easter during the quarantine:  Our Alleluia – Breath of God (wordpress.com).

It was a time in which we were challenged to feel God’s presence during distress. He was disguised, but present to us in other ways.

On a personel level it can be a challenge to see His face in those closest to us, especially in moments of distress.

We can be caught up in the pains , unable to recognize Him in the person. 

“Whenever I meet someone in need, it is really Jesus in His most distressing disguise.” Mother Teresa

In the past week after some difficult child-rearing moments  I had been praying about, I got an image in my mind of Jesus sitting on our carpeted stairs with His head hanging down in sadness.

I then remembered this was the spot I had placed a child for a time out consequence.

Ouch..

Although the time out was needed, I felt The Lord was showing me that my approach to this child needed softening. 

This was a convicting moment, as up until this time I had great difficulty seeing Jesus in my children when they misbehave. 

Rabboni!

Jesus is in our children. Our spouse, the mail man, the store clerk, the co-worker. Those relationships in which we can experience moments of grief. Weeping. 

“Truly I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.” Matthew 25: 40

Pray for the grace to recognize Him in the people around you and pray for the people.

It can also be difficult to recognize Him in others if we do not first recognize Him in ourselves.

We must see ourselves as His beloved, as worthy, and then we are able to see this in others. This comes from a deep, personal relationship with Him.

It was only when Jesus called Mary Magdalene by name that she was then able to recognize Him. 

“Jesus said to her,’Mary.’ She turned and said to him in Hebrew,’Rabboni!'”

Our eyes are most opened to Him when we know how much we are loved by Him and when we understand who we are in Him.

I wrote about this in the last post: Love you more – Breath of God (wordpress.com), how much we are loved despite our sinfulness.

As we move forward into the Easter Season, I challenge you to seek The Lord in the most unlikely situations and people. And to deepen your relationship with Him. 

May you encounter The Risen Lord deeply and be blessed!