Cozies 4 Chemo - Our Lady of Good Counsel

4 | The Good Counsel Courier Vol. 4 | Issue 3 | June 21, 2012www.olgcnj.orgThe Scanlon FamilyBishop O’Connell joins Deacon John & Sue following ordination.Deacon John ScanlonContinued from page 1the way. You know, when your children are young, you try to set a goodexample and teach them to be considerate of others. But at some point,my boys went beyond what I taught them, and they now set an examplethat I try to follow. Maybe that’s the cycle of life or something, but mysons each make me so very proud.And lastly, but most of all, I would like to thank my beautiful wifeSue. Sue has been my moral compass, my rock now for over 35 years.Of course, Sue might want me to add that we met as infants. In ourbedroom, there is a sampler which Sue stitched for our 10th anniversary,with the verse from 1 Corinthians, “Love beareth all things, believeth allthings, hopeth all things, endureth all things.” That’s how Sue’s love is,and she models Christ to me every day.So I am so very blessed. But giving your first homily as a Deacon canbe a little nerve-wracking, so I was a little anxious when I first looked uptoday’s Gospel reading. Would it be one of those difficult to understandGospels, maybe Jesus cursing the fig tree, or would it be one wherewe hear how difficult it is to get to heaven? But, to my relief, I foundthat today’s Gospel is about Jesus, speaking about God’s love for us, onMother’s day. How much more blessed can I be?And so in today’s Gospel, Jesus does tell us about love. Many kindsof love, actually: the Father’s love for Him, Jesus’ love for us, our lovefor God and our love for each other. There are so many phrases fromthis short reading that stay with us, it’s almost like a highlight reel for theGospel of John. And it reveals so much to us about God’s love.And what better example of God’s love can we have than our mothers?A mother is there to encourage our first footsteps, hug away our tears,share our joys, and show us the right path. She is the very soul of God’slove for us. So, whether your mother is still living or has passed on, let’sall remember the love our mom gave us, and thank God for her.We spend our whole lives trying to understand God’s love for us.Human love we can get our arms around, eventually. But God’s love,unconditional eternal love, is hard for us to understand, as human beings.In His great love for us, God is actually seeking each of us, individually.It took me a while to understand that. When we pray, most of us saywe’re trying to talk to God, but the absolutely amazing thing is that Godis actually speaking to us. Today we heard, “It was not you who choseme, but I who chose you.” God doesn’t just look down from heaven andsmile at us. He seeks each of us out, personally. In the very first bookof the Bible, after Adam and Eve taste the fruit of the forbidden tree andhide themselves, God walks into the garden and He asks “Where areyou?” Even at the beginning of creation, God was seeking us, calling usto Himself.Have you ever experienced that call from God? I think most of ushave. But how do we respond? There was once a mentally challengedman who lived near a Church. Every Sunday morning, he saw manycars trying to get in and out of the Church parking lot, and there wouldbe traffic jams. Now, the man wanted to help, and he had seen policeofficers directing traffic. He saw that sometimes they waved their hand tomove cars on, and sometimes they held up their hand to stop traffic. Sothe man decided to help direct traffic one Sunday morning. He stood inthe road by the Church parking lot and, using both hands, he motioned towave cars on and hold them up at the same time. Of course, people werevery confused and the traffic situation at the Church was worse than ever,but isn’t that how we sometimes respond to God’s call? We want to inviteGod into our lives, to wave Him in so to speak, but we’re afraid to let Himget too close, so we hold God at arm’s length because we still want tostay in control. It is our life, after all. So we often hold back a little.But we have to ask ourselves why. Because, when we do surrender toGod’s seeking love, what happens? Jesus tells us right in today’s Gospel.He tells us that when we remain in His love, His joy is in us, and our joyis complete. In today’s world, some people deny God because they saythat religious beliefs limit their freedom. In reality, as Jesus tells us, theexact opposite is true: surrendering to God’s love is the only way we canbe free and find the peace that only He can give. As St. Augustine said,“You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless untilthey rest in You.”So, the next time we hear God’s call, that little whisper in our mindor heart, maybe we can all try to hold back a little less, and give incompletely to God’s seeking love. God bless you.