Month: March 2022

Most Fully Human

Author: Beth Zanotelli, Family Life Coordinator for the Diocese of Palm Beach

As we journey closer to Easter, many people are preparing to enter the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil.  They are preparing to receive the Sacraments of Initiation beginning with Baptism.  As with infants and children who are baptized, we the faithful, are called to accompany each other and especially our children who are newly baptized.  We are called to welcome them into the fullness of our parish communities.  It is the faithful who are to help them to know and understand the commission passed on to them at their baptism and to gradually shift themselves from, simply being the receivers to becoming joyful givers and doers!    We are called to help each other become the person God created us to be. 

In St. John Paul II’s Gaudium et Spes, he reminds us that the Church teaches, that we are most fully human when we give ourselves to others and when we receive from others (Gaudium et Spes 24:3).  In the Theology of the Body, we learn that God gave us bodies so that we can understand ourselves more deeply.  Our bodies teach us truth.  Our bodies can give us warning signs. Perhaps we need more sleep or need to drink more water.  It is important that we respond in a right way from the start.  We need to practice patience and learn self-mastery from a young age to guide us as we mature and grow.

When we live our lives as a gift, that is, when we sacrifice for others and live as we were created by God, we are most fully human. When we live as we are created, male and female, we learn how to live a life that fulfills God’s purpose for us – we will be happy and fulfilled.  When God created us, he made us male and female, in His image and likeness.  God created us in His image of love. God’s creation of man and woman is very good! Today let us live God’s plan, let us restore what is broken, and let us find out the truth about who we are and what we are called to be, people who receive and give love through our bodies and our bodily actions!  Let us be most fully human.

Here’s what the scriptures have to say…

Ephesians 2:10 – For we are His handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for the good works that God has prepared in advance, that we should live in them.

Wisdom 13:5 – For from the greatness and the beauty of created things their original author, by analogy, is seen.

1 Peter 3:3-4 – Your adornment should not be an external one:  braiding the hair, wearing gold jewelry, or dressing in fine clothes, but rather the hidden character of the heart, expressed in the imperishable beauty of gently and calm disposition, which is precious in the sight of God.

Changes

Author: Beth Zanotelli, Family Life Coordinator for the Diocese of Palm Beach

There are many twists and turns in our journey of life.  Often these twists and turns lead us into places and situations we didn’t anticipate, and we must adjust our life or make changes.  Some changes make us better, they are joyful, and we can see the beauty of God at work in our life.  Some changes are difficult, and they force us to be strong, they draw us out of ourselves to experience life in way we have never seen.  God is always at work in our lives, even when it may be a more difficult to see the beauty. Some changes challenge us to rise to an occasion, and in the end, we are somehow different.  If we follow God’s plan and if we follow the Truth of the Gospel, we will be changed for the better.  God’s plan for us is more than what we settle for in our everyday journey.  We are made for more. 

As we begin Lent, we enter another special time of reflection.  Let us pray that the Lord will show us changes that we need to make and reveal ways that we could love like Him, forgive like Him, serve like Him, and give like Him.  Remember that each time we encounter Christ in the Eucharist we are changed.  As we encounter Christ in the Eucharist, draw near to Him, and allow him to bring a twist or turn to your journey of life.  In our 40 days of Lent, let us allow ourselves to encounter Christ, to rise to an occasion, to help someone else, to be strong and to be forever changed.

Here’s what the Scriptures have to say…

Isaiah 64:7 – O Lord, you are our father; we are the clay and you the potter:  we are all the work of your hands.

Romans 12:9-21– Let love be sincere; hate what is evil, hold on to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; anticipate one another in showing honor.  Do not grow slack in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.  Rejoice in hope, endure in affliction, persevere in prayer.  Contribute to the needs of the holy ones, exercise hospitality.  Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse them.  Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.  Have the same regard for one another; do not be haughty but associate with the lowly; do not be wise in your own estimation.  Do not repay anyone evil for evil; be concerned for what is noble in the sight of all.  If possible, on your part, live at peace with all.  Beloved, do not look for revenge but leave room for the wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance in mine, I will repay says the Lord.”  Rather, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by doing so doing you will heap burning coals upon his head.”  Do not be conquered by evil but conquer evil with good.

John 15: 1-5 – “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower.  He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and every one that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit.  You are already pruned because of the word that I spoke to you.  Remain in me, as I remain in you.  Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me.  I am the vine; you are the branches.  Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing.