This title of this blog is a Latin phrase that translates,
“All is Gift.” It has become a personal motto for me and the
title of this blog. It carries great meaning for me and has meant
different things for me at different times of my life. I first came
up with the phrase for my solemn profession in 2000. At that time it
referred to the great joy I was feeling to make my perpetual vows
with the Friars Minor. A double fulfilling; the fulfilling of God's
promise to me and my promise to God. At the time I knew it meant a
great deal more for me. Since that time the idea that all is gift
has come to reflect God's history or providence in my life. It is a
witness to the fact that God has been present to me at all times,
especially in difficult and mournful times. I believe that God does
not send sorrow, pain and suffering. As it says in the Gospel of
Matthew (Mt 7:9)
”Is there a man among you who would
hand his son a stone when he asked for bread?...If you who are evil,
know how to give your children what it good, how much more will your
Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him!”
Pain is inevitable but suffering is
optional. Pain cannot be avoided in this life but suffering is
something I choose. We will have sickness and death, loss and grief.
A part of living is occasionally losing. Part of joy is sorrow and a
part of peace is conflict. One cannot have one without the other.
Granted life, joy and peace is preferred to loss, sorrow and
conflict. I can hold on to life has hard as I can but eventually my
life will be over, regardless of what I may try to prevent it. No one
has yet come up with a way to defeat death, except Jesus. Which is
my point in Omnes Donum Est. God is always present to turn my loss
into life. When this earthly life is ended God is ready to show me
eternal life, in which there is no fear or sorrow again. But God's
gift is even more present than a future life in heaven. After all,
we are still here on this earth and our pain is still present, all
around us as it seems sometimes. How does God gift us in our present
pain?
I believe that the answer lies in God's
readiness to come to our aid. He wants to be of assistance to help us
transform pain into joy. At daily prayers we pray, “Lord come to
our aid.” Paul tells us,
“We know that by turning everything
to their good God co-operates with all those who love him” (Romans
8:28)
Through faith God turns everything to
our good. We must, however, have faith and ask for help. We may not
know what to ask for except to ease our pain. That is enough. The
Spirit knows what we cannot express or what we cannot know to
express. That is enough. That is all God needs from us to believe
that he turns all things to good for those who believe in him. I am
sure that most or even all of you have been through some very
difficult times in your life. At the time of a trial I have asked
myself, “How am I going to get through this?” And it was true, I
did not know at the time. Yet, I continued to believe in the love of
God for me. I have asked God, “Why did you let this happen?” I
did not at the time connect God with help. It was only after a time
that I saw God's action in my life by looking back at the past. How
I managed to get thorough some hard times was by the loving presence
of God and my final cry of, “HELP” when all other prayers
seemingly went unanswered , this prayer was heard. I see that now.
For a long time I sought answers to questions that could not be
answered.
God gave us, a result of Adam's fall
from grace, free will. Our grief and suffering is sometimes our own
fault, sometimes it is inflicted upon us from others. Either way, a
loving God does not send pain. A loving God cries with us in our
pain. A loving God stands ready to lead us through our sorrow. God
knows us because of the pain and death of his Son, Jesus Christ. It
is because of Jesus God knows how to help. It is because of Jesus we
have a God with flesh and who knows what all fleshy beings
experience, our joys and pains. So cast your cares upon Jesus
because he knows our troubles and is ever ready to be there for us.
I look back on my life and I see how
some truly marvelous things have happened as a result of God acting
in my life. My father died when I was 8. It was hard growing up
without a father. It was not common at that time to be a single
parent family. So there was nobody for me to relate to who had a
similar circumstance. I felt very much alone. Things became more
difficult over the next four years, with abuse and poverty as
additional factors along with my grief. I continued to go to church
and receive the sacraments again not realizing the connection between
the ease of my pain and the benefit of my prayers and belief. As an
adult, I see now that through my simple faith, God kept me going and
growing. I look back and I see that the person I am today is a direct
result of the pain I went through. The suffering I went through was
because I did not trust in God to take care of me, to come to my aid,
to ease my pain.
So whatever problem or difficulty you
are facing this Lent. Turn your face toward Jesus for he knows what
is going on within you. He knows the pain and as you gaze upon his
tortured body know that there is help, there is solace, there is a
remedy. He will soothe anxiety and provide answers for tor the
perplexed. There is help in Jesus for those who believe in him and
his love and that All is Gift.
Remembering gives birth to belief and
when I trust in my belief I have faith. I look back to help me
understand and accept the present which in turns moves me with trust
and faith into the future. God's time works for those who can see,
for those who feel the rain and remember. There is goodness in
floods, there is a benefit in hurricanes. Snow covers the ground and
readies the earth to accept the new birth of spring as the dry and
dusty earth drinks in the new rain. All is Gift, all from God is
good. We must have eyes to see and a memory to see where we have been
in order to see where we are going.
I presented this reflection to the Novices here in Uganda. At the end I olayed a song, I Rember, I Believe by a called Sweet Honey in the Rock. Here is a link to that song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUAbHhlOYhE. Enjoy OED
