Claretian Teaching Ministry

The next time you feel that GOD can’t use you,

just remember:

Noah was a drunk

Abraham was too old

Isaac was a daydreamer

Jacob was a liar

Leah was ugly

Joseph was abused

Moses had a stuttering problem

Gideon as afraid

Samson had long hair and was a womanizer

Rahab was a prostitute

Jeremiah and Timothy were too young

David had and affair and was murderer

Elijah was suicidal

Isaiah preached naked

Jonah ran from God

Naomi was a widow

Job went bankrupt

Peter denied Christ

The Disciples fell asleep while praying

Martha worried about everything

The Samaritan woman was divorced, more than once

Zaccheus was too small

Paul was too religious

Timothy had an ulcer, AND

Lazarus was dead!

Remember, Jesus helped them all!!!

Now! No more excuses!

God can use you to your full potential.

Besides, God seeks not your ability, but your availability.

The third-century bishop and martyr, St. Felix of Nola, trying to escape his persecutors, hid in a cave. Immediately a spider wove its gossamer web across the small opening, giving the appearance to his prying pursuers that the cave had not been recently occupied. When the saintly bishop later stepped out into the sunlight, he exclaimed insightfully, “Where God is, a spider’s web is a wall; where he is not, a wall is but a spider’s web.”

Where does a fragile butterfly stay during stormy days and tempestuous nights? While rivers are surging and mountain oaks are torn from their roots, the dainty butterfly can be found clinging to the underside of a broad leaf, safe and dry. That’s reminiscent of Psalm 57:1: “Be merciful to me, 0 God, be merciful to me, for in you my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge, until the destroying storms pass by.” That’s a good prayer for insecure souls.

Animal experts who specialize in hibernation studies have found that the safer the den, the sounder the sleep. (Burglar alarm companies might find that principle useful as a sales blurb.) This bit of trivia is reminiscent of the words from Job 5:24: “You shall know that your tent is safe,” or perhaps the words of David in Psalm 4:8 “I will both lie down and sleep in peace; for you alone, 0 LORD, make me lie down in safety.” For the insecure person, in dread of terrorism, disease, accidents, and a host of other things, a good prayer for cultivating trust in God is Psalm 56:3-4: “When I am afraid, I put my trust in you …. What can flesh do to me?”

All of us, especially insecure souls, need to remind ourselves to reactivate frequently our trust in the loving God who is watching over us day and night. Any time you need a scriptural meditation on this great reality, open your Bible to Psalm 139 and read it prayerfully. You’ll breathe a lot easier, I assure you. 

Fr. John Hampsch, “Pathways of Trust”

A telephone was installed in the White House in 1870, but not on the president’s desk. For fifty-one years, the presidents of the most advanced country in the world had to go out into the hall to use the single White House phone. The can opener was invented half a century after the tin can was invented. The neon sign was invented in France in 1910, but it wasn’t known in America until 1923, when its first appearance stopped traffic in Los Angeles. Modern technology may be amazing, but at times its progress has been glacially slow.

We marvel at our awesomely rapid technological progress today, as we take for granted the availability of even handheld global-reaching mobile videophones that operate via satellite and were undreamed of only a few years ago. However, progress hasn’t always been that brisk.

Like technology, our lives in general, and our spiritual growth in particular, may have spurts of progress with periods of stagnation, like sporadically congested freeway traffic. Yet we always expect to reach our destination, regardless of long or short periods of retardation in our progress.

Sometimes our progress seems to be retarded because our visibility is limited, when the Lord hides from us his long-range plans. It is especially at these interludes of confusion that our trust in his guidance is challenged. In air travel we trust the pilot or navigator to get us to our destination, even while we fly through blinding clouds or through the darkness of night. God is a very experienced pilot, and we have no choice but to trust him to make our progress sure, even if we have to fly through air turbulence while progressing.

At times, we ourselves are forced to navigate through unnerving situations, as when we drive a car through a fog bank. Our trust is even more challenged as a motorist in such a situation than as a passenger in a plane. The road signs are there, but can’t be seen easily. When life’s road signs are not easily visible in the fog, we must trust that the Lord will lift the fog in time for us to see the road signs that will direct us to what he wants us to do with our lives. As we keep moving forward, the signs will be seen more clearly, and we can then peer through the fog bank for the next road sign without anxiety.

Trust enables us to be lovingly and actively open to God in his constant, ever-loving desire to improve us, in and through all of life’s vicissitudes. When we learn to trust we learn to accept ourselves as small acorns, knowing that we will grow. We must keep in mind that spiritual growth, even when it is slow, is still progress. We are tiny acorns that are designed by the Creator to survive drought and battering storms until we reach the full status of mighty oaks; in order to do so, all that is required is that we keep our ground-that is, stay rooted in Christ. 

Fr. John Hampsch, “Pathways of Trust“

St. Alphonsus Liguori was known for his unconventional statements. He once remarked, “In building, we need not act as worldly people do. They first procure money, and then proceed to build. But we do the opposite. We begin to build and then as we go along we trust divine Providence to provide what is necessary.” Of course, anyone who uses that approach without having a trust in God that is exceptional and rock solid will soon become bankrupt.

 St. Frances Xavier Cabrini once remarked, “I have started community houses with no more than prayer and the price of a loaf of bread, for with him who comforts and supports me, I can do anything.” Her astonishing outreach in helping the poor is regarded today as legendary, as was her trust in the Lord.

 If we have little, we can trust God to prosper us, as long as our basic desire is to help others. In effect, this is the basic principle of stewardship, which Paul explains in 2 Corinthians 9:6-10, namely, God will give you much so that you can give away much: The point is this: the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work. As it is written, “He scatters abroad, he gives to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.” He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way for your great generosity, which will produce thanksgiving to God through us. (emphasis mine)

A common misquotation from Scripture states that “money is the root of all evil.” Paul does not say that money is the root of all evil, but rather that “love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” (1 Tm 6: 10, emphasis mine). Love of money is the sin of avarice. The opposite is the virtue of generosity. “How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help?” (1 Jn 3:17). By trusting God, you can afford to be generous. Trusting him to supply your needs in order to supply others’ needs is simply trusting him to trust you as his emissary to share his wealth. 

Fr. John Hampsch, “Pathways of Trust“ 

   In a town where gambling was illegal, two judges were arrested for violating that ordinance. They each agreed to preside at the other’s trial. The first judge found his confrere guilty and gave him a fine of $100. Then they exchanged places as judge and defendant. The second judge also declared the other one guilty, but fined him $200, Of course, the defendant indignantly claimed that the decision was unfair, since they were equal partners in the violation. In explaining the apparent inequity, the second judge replied, “I decided on a heavier fine, since there’s too much of this illegal gambling going on in this town; this is the second case like this presented to this court today!”

   No one gets through this life without being victimized by injustices in one form or another, and “when they fall victim, they shall receive [only] a little help” (Dn 11:34), Not all injustices come from unjust judges like the one in Jesus’ parable of Luke 18; most come from commonplace sources. Arrows of injustice are aimed at us from, among others, bankers charging hidden fees; clerks refusing refunds; shoplifters that cause inflated prices; con men; prejudiced teachers who underscore students; bosses who promote favored employees; unscrupulous auto mechanics, plumbers, or appliance repairmen; pilfering maids; duplicitous salespersons; lawyers or doctors who gouge exorbitant fees from clients or patients; inheritance-usurping relatives; burglars; reputation-corroding neighborhood gossips; and cheating spouses who shatter a marriage,

   All of these, of course will have to give an exacting account of their actions to the God of justice, but that’s their problem, not ours. “[But he who] trusts in the Lord…through the steadfast love of the Most High he shall not be moved” (Ps 21:7, 14), Hence, our problem as victims of injustice is striving to keep ourselves continually immersed in that “steadfast love [that] surrounds those who trust in the LORD” (Ps 32:10),

   This means learning to depend on the Lord as David did when persecuted by Saul: “The LORD is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts; so I am helped, and my heart exults” (Ps 28:7). Being persecuted brought David to the brink of utter desperation: “Preserve my life, for I am devoted to you; save your servant who trusts in you, You are my God” (Ps 86:2)

   From such a great expert in trusting we can learn that either our loving God will restore our rights or he will give us the strength to sustain the hardship resulting from the adversity, as he applies it to the glory of God and our welfare: “No good thing does the Lord withhold from those who walk uprightly” (Ps 84:11).

Fr. John Hampsch, cmf – “Pathways of Trust”

  A woman asked her friend how she could stay so calm in the midst of heavy pressures in her nerve-racking job. The answer was as simple as it was profound: ”I’m too blessed to be stressed.”

The Age of Anxiety. That’s the label often attached to the turbulent, war-ravaged, terrorist-threatened time in which we live and try to survive. The experience of a deep inner peace is a rarity in our age. Even when peace of mind is attained, still peace of soul is fleeting-the supernatural peace that Jesus promised (Jn 14:27): “My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.” This is what Paul refers to: “The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:7).

The ever-deepening turmoil provides a gargantuan challenge for us in seeking to cultivate an exquisitely refined faith in our Creator. This requires us to recognize that Jesus is the Alpha and Omega-”the pioneer and perfecter of our faith” (Heb 12:2). When our faith has become a truly finished or perfected faith, it becomes an imperturbable trusting conviction that God alone will have the last word on the entire world and world events. That will not occur “until the time of universal restoration that God announced long ago,” as Peter proclaimed in a sermon (Acts 3:21). Until that “Day of the Lord,” we must at least try to make sense out of the chaos that shatters our ailing world.

Bertrand Russell, in a humanistic revision of the scriptural pericope “Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,” said, “To consider fear is the beginning of wisdom.” If his revision was correct, however, he didn’t say how to conquer fear. His commentators felt compelled to complete this unanswered inquiry by conjecturing that to conquer fear and attain its opposite—inner tranquility—is a matter of exercising a kind of faith that relies on a controlling Power greater than oneself. In Christian theology that is simply referred to as trust in God.

John H. Hampsch, cmf – from Pathways of Trust

I think it was Confucius who said, “Happiness does not consist in having what you want, but in wanting what you have.”

One frequent cause of disappointment, especially in our prayers of petition, is that God does not give us what we want, but what we need. “Your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things” (Mt 6:32). In such a case, we are disappointed because our priorities may be misplaced and our value system inverted.

Occasionally we should ask ourselves what our priorities really are. To help us refocus, Jesus advises: “Strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Mt 6:33). Attaining this holiness (”righteousness”) should leave us immune to disappointment, because when we have God and his love (manifested by his beneficence toward us), we have everything we need, spiritually. The answers to our physical needs come as an unfailing bonus.

The Israelites, during the great exodus, yearning for the luxurious pots of meat they had enjoyed in Egypt (see Ex 16:3), were disappointed because only their needs and not their wants were fulfilled. Yet they were miraculously fed for forty years by the daily bread of heaven-sent manna and life-sustaining water from a rock (see Dt 8:15-16), along with honey and oil also from a rock (see Dt 32:13), and even their clothing was miraculous preserved for forty years in the desert environment (see Dt 8:4). These are the same three needs-Jesus refers to in Matthew’s gospel (6:31, 33): “Do not worry, saying ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear? .. all these things will be given to you.” If our spiritual aspirations are prioritized-seeking first holiness and the kingship of God-then all else will be provided; but we must continually seek first his kingdom and his righteousness.

Our spiritual needs come before, not instead of, our physical needs. Thus, really trusting in God’s promised provisions for our life-needs, with spiritual goals at the top of our shopping list, will immunize us against any disappointment. When our wants are subordinate to our needs, especially our spiritual needs, the art of trusting God without disappointment is the inevitable result, and the reward that awaits us is equally inevitable. It is the one that Paul was allowed to preview: “No eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the human heart conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Cor 2:9).

Fr. John Hampsch, CMF “Pathways of Trust”

An aspiring composer asked orchestra, conductor Victor Herbert to review and play one of his amateur compositions. Seeing that it lacked merit, Herbert turned it down. Miffed, the composer retorted sardonically, “I thought you encouraged home talent.”

“I do,” rejoined Herbert, “but some home talent I encourage to stay at home.”

Life would be heavenly if there were no discouragement, but only encouragement. The closest we can come to that state here is to become saturated with the power of the truism stated by Paul, quoting Isaiah (Rom 10:11): “No one who believes in him will be put to shame.”

Some qualities are truly worth extolling, as Paul urged the Philippians (4:8): “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable … any excellence … anything worthy of praise.” God is certainly worthy of praise, having all these qualities, but as applied to him, we don’t think of praise as encouragement (except with the exuberant teen rally, “Go, go, go, God; Three cheers for God!”)

Our encouragement of other humans should, of course, be enveloped in God’s love: “Any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy” (Phil 2: 1) comes ultimately from “the God of steadfastness and encouragement” (Rom 15:5). It is our duty and privilege to disseminate this God-spawned encouragement, even daily (see Heb 3:13), to “encourage one another and build up each other” (1 Thes 5:11), as exemplified by such champions of encouragement and affirmation as the Cyprian Levite, Barnabas, nicknamed “son of encouragement” (Acts 4:36; see also 11:23). We are called to be transmitters of God’s support, consolation, and comforting presence to others (see 2 Cor 1:4).

Yet here’s the rub: We can’t transmit meaningfully what we have not received meaningfully. We must learn to receive God’s loving support appreciatively to convey it to others appreciatively. The power and influence of your compliment to another will be far deeper if your own soul throbs with the loving affirmation of the Lord, ”I’m so proud of you, my child, for your efforts!”

True trust in the Lord, among its other purposes, provides a reliance on him to recognize our noble efforts-and also to dissolve our less noble defects-making us ever more buoyed up by his supporting mercy and love.

Fr. John Hampsch, CMF “Pathways of Trust”

A quaint and ancient Welsh proverb states, “Three things give hardy strength: sleeping on hairy mattresses, breathing cold air, and eating dry food.” Today, in our more knowledgeable age, adherence to that proverb would have very few devotees; we would find a more convincing source of “hardy strength” in a daily workout at the local gym. St. Paul would agree, although he would tack on to the advice a simple corollary:

“While physical training is of some value, godliness is valuable in every way, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come” (1 Tm 4:8). He allocates to physical prowess a limited motive, and to spiritual prowess, analogously, a spiritual motive: “Athletes exercise self-control in all things; they do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable one” (1 Cor 9:25).

For those seeking spiritual strength, the advice of St. Philip Neri is inspiring for the aspiring soul: “Cast yourself into the arms of God; be very sure that if he wants anything of you, he will fit you for the work and find for you the necessary strength to accomplish it.” His very phrase, “cast yourself … ” shows that he sees a relationship between trust and strength. Trust is depending on God’s strength more than our own when we endure pain, fatigue, rejection, hardship, and toil. The strength we absorb from him is derived from the same strength -enables him to make all things subject to himself (Phil 3:21).

The soul that trustingly casts itself with reckless abandon me arms of God in times of trouble and tribulation, when supernatural strength is demanded, is a soul that understands and experiences what Paul expressed so emphatically: “I can do all things through him who strengthens me” (Phil4:13).

Fr. John Hampsch “Pathways of Trust”

While engaged in my hobby of bookstore browsing, a book of phrases caught my attention because it gave a humorous twist to biblical phrases. One phrase that evoked a chuckle was, “O ye of little faith,” with its definition: “Those who look both ways before crossing a one-way street.”

 I’m sure that taking extra precautions in a dangerous world is not a bad idea. Yet some situations do not allow us to see all sides of a situation, even when some hidden views are God’s design for us. If you were allowed to see only the backside of an exquisite tapestry, it wouldn’t look very beautiful; you would see a hodgepodge of colored thread without anything to inspire artistic appreciation. It’s only when the tapestry is viewed from the front side, as intended, that the beauty of its delicate detail can be appreciated.

 The Divine Weaver is in the process of making a gorgeous tapestry of the thread of your life. Every one of your acts of kindness, courtesy, humility, patience, or prayer is a thread woven into this splendid objet d’art. It can be seen and marveled at from heaven’s point of view-the front side. You will see it that way only later, however, when you cross the threshold of eternity. For now, your appreciation of this piece of work is simply a trusting belief that the Weaver is at work on something surprisingly magnificent.

 This distortion of our present view of spiritual realities is perhaps simply part of God’s plan to make heaven’s “surprise party” more exciting. It is his way of testing our belief as we trust the Lord to keep a “scorecard”-”the Lamb’s book of life” (Rv 21:27)-recording everything we have done in life to further God’s glory by our acts of virtue. Hebrews 6:10 reminds us that “God is not unjust; he will not overlook your work and the love that you showed for his sake in serving the saints, as you still do.” Your belief system must include a confident trust that he’s planning something beautiful to show you about yourself. Trust him to do this, as his holy Word promises, and get ready to enjoy eternally a magnificent work of art!

Fr. John Hampsch “Pathways of Trust”