I was doing a little "inventory" on my blog and came across this post on a piece by Brother Patrick from All Saints Day last year. Here's a snip of BP's reflection:
The attempt to fill the chasm of who I am with anything, even anything good - books read or published, good works accomplished, income donated, degrees earned - is itself an indication of just how alienated from myself I have in fact become. The measure of that for me is when I find myself in the company of different groups of people: around my students I could feel confident in my knowledge base, while among my classmates I feel somehow more ephemeral, like I am less real around people who know more than I. That may be one way of reading "the Fall" in Genesis 3: the immediacy of my knowledge of my relationship and identity with God gets disrupted with the rise of self-consciousness, of shame and pride, so I feel the need to cover my nakedness with the fig leaves of what I can pat myself on the back for.
...I am no Mother Teresa, which is ok - I'm not called to be her, but to be me, genuinely me, which is harder than it sounds. This mimesis or creation of desires based on other people tells me what I am supposed to desire, what I am supposed to want to be, and it will jerk me around as long as I play the game of trying to produce a mask that is so real that I will forget that it is simply a mask.
And there's more - but you'll need to link over to BP's place for the rest of his All Saints Day reflection.
Image by Ricky Romain: click on the image for a larger version
When you wake up in the morning,
do you love the person whose face you see
when you look in the mirror?
Many of us don’t.
Many of us don’t love the person God made us to be,
don’t love the unique person God loves in each one of us.
And when I don’t love the person I see in myself
I will find it difficult to believe that others would love me,
or even that God loves the person I see in my mirror.
But God loves everything he has made
- as we read in Wisdom this morning:
“Oh God, you love all things that are,
you loathe nothing that you have made…"
That’s how God sees things.
That’s how God sees us: me, you - every one of us.
God loves each of us, made by his hand,
and God loathes none of us whom he has made
for he would not have fashioned what he did not love.
It’s interesting to watch what happens to Zacchaeus in the gospel today.
Although St. Luke doesn’t tell us how Zacchaeus felt about being short,
this tax collector’s height is at the heart of the story.
He wants to get closer, to get a better look at Jesus
but he’s too short -- so he climbs the sycamore.
And as soon as Jesus spots him up in the tree he calls out,
“Zacchaeus, come down!”
And not just “Come down” but rather, “Come down quickly.”
Come down quickly: there's no time to lose!
Jesus wants to meet Zacchaeus right where he is -
at Zacchaeus’ own height, in his shortness.
In fact, Jesus not only says, “Come down quickly!” - he says,
“Come down quickly because today I must stay at your house.”
Jesus wants to meet Zacchaeus just as he is
and just where he is -- right where he lives!
And Zacchaeus lives in a “house” of extortion and cheating the poor.
Zacchaeus isn’t too short for Jesus to love,
nor is he too dishonest, nor too selfish, nor too much a thief,
for Jesus to love.
And right on cue, the people watching begin to grumble about this
because they all know Zacchaeus is a crook!
But Jesus loves him.
Jesus loves not the sinner Zacchaeus has become,
but the man God fashioned him to be,
the man God made him to be.
There is nothing about me and my person,
nothing about you and your person,
not even our worst sins,
that keeps the Lord from loving us.
I might believe I’m too short or too tall, too thin or too fat;
I might believe I’m not quick enough, not smart enough, not wise enough,
not witty, interesting, athletic or strong enough -
but none of that will keep God from loving me.
I might think I don’t pray enough, I’m not good enough, not holy enough;
I might even think I’m a crook --
but none of those things will keep God from loving me.
And when the Lord walks our way, as he does in our prayer this morning,
he’s says to each of us:
“Come down! Quickly! I want to come to your house,
I want to visit you right where you live!
And if your house isn’t clean and neat as a pin,
if it’s not all in order the way you wish it were,
don’t let that keep you from welcoming me!
I want to visit the house of your heart.
I want you to know, to believe that I love you.
Yes, maybe you need to make some changes:
so, I’ll overlook your sins while you put things in order:
little by little we can make the changes together.
Whatever your weaknesses, whatever your sins,
whatever your shortcomings, I’ll help you
because I love you.”
The wider I open the door of my heart to the Lord,
the more freely I can let go of whatever keeps me from him.
Zacchaeus thought he was too short to see the Lord.
What shortcomings in our lives, yours and mine,
keep us from seeing the Lord? meeting him?
getting to know him better?
When we look in the mirror in the morning,
do we see only our shortcomings?
do we see only what we don’t like about ourselves?
Or do we see a person loved and forgiven by God?
In his Word and in the Sacrament of his presence,
Jesus is passing through here this morning
as surely as he passed through Jericho.
None of us needs to climb a tree to see him
and to each of us, Jesus says, as he meets us,
“Come to me, come quickly.
Today I must stay at your house
today I want to rest in the house of your heart.”
Jesus was a tree climber, too.
Zacchaeus climed the sycamore tree to see Jesus,
Jesus climbed the tree of the Cross,
so that we might see just how much he loves us,
each of us...
If we find it difficult to look in the mirror,
then let us look to the Cross.
And if it’s difficult to look to the Cross,
then look to the table where the life of the Cross is ours
in the Bread and Cup of the Lord’s Supper.
Come to the table - come quickly!
This very day, the Lord must stay in the house of your heart.
Communion of Saints by Ira Thomas. (Click for larger view)
The prayers from the liturgy for the Solemnity of All Saints (Monday, November 1) give us not only a good understanding of what this day celebrates but also a fine insight into what we mean when we say we believe in the communion of saints.
The Opening Prayer for All Saints Day: Father, all-powerful and ever-living God, today we rejoice in the holy men and women of every time and place. May their prayers bring us your forgiveness and love.
...the work of your hands is manifest in your saints, the beauty of your truth is reflected in their faith. May we who aspire to have part in their joy be filled with the Holy Spirit that blessed their lives, so that having shared their faith on earth we may also know their peace in your kingdom.
The Prayer Over the Gifts: Lord, receive our gifts in honor of the holy men and women who live with you in glory. May we always be aware of their concern to help and save us.
The Preface for All Saints
Today we keep the festival of Your holy city,
the heavenly Jerusalem, our mother.
Around Your throne the saints,
our brothers and sisters,
sing Your praise for ever.
Their glory fills us with joy,
and their communion with us in Your Church
gives us inspiration and strength
as we hasten on our pilgrimage of faith,
eager to meet them.
With their great company and all the angels
we praise Your glory as we cry out with one voice:
Holy, holy, holy...
The Prayer After Communion Father, holy one, we praise your glory reflected in the saints. May we who share at this table be filled with your love and prepared for the joy of your kingdom.
In addition to affirming an afterlife, these prayers highlight our belief that we continue to be in relationship with those who have gone before us, marked with the sign of faith. It is not only a matter of our honoring the holy lives these brothers and sisters led but also of acknowledging that they who are already with the Lord continue to be concerned for us and our welfare. That the very work of God can be manifest in our lives calls us to the responsibility of living in a way that the love of God be transparent in our deeds and relationships. Finally, our prayer on All Saints Day reminds us that when we share at the altar of the Lord's table we have a foretaste of the banquet the saints share forever in the reign of God.
The church calendar sets aside many days to honor the most famous of saints. November 1 is the day for us to remember and honor those saints whose lives made headlines not in the daily papers but in the hearts of those they served and touched. All of us know such saints in our own lives - some who have gone home to the Lord and some who are still with us.
In some cultures, it's customary to visit cemeteries on the eve of All Saints Day and to light candles at the graves in honor of the dead.
The Saint Anthony Messenger site answers some questions about the origins of the next two days on the Christians calendar. Following are excerpts from the Messengerreport.
When you think of Halloween, what comes to mind? For a lot of people, Halloween has become synonymous with candy, costumes, scary stuff, witches, ghosts and pumpkins. But do you know the Christian connection to the holiday?
The true origins of Halloween lie with the ancient Celtic tribes who lived in Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Brittany. For the Celts, November 1 marked the beginning of a new year and the coming of winter. The night before the new year, they celebrated the festival of Samhain, lord of the dead. During this festival, Celts believed the souls of the dead, including ghosts, goblins and witches, returned to mingle with the living. In order to scare away the evil spirits, people would wear masks and light bonfires.
When the Romans conquered the Celts, they added their own touches to the Samhain festival, such as making centerpieces out of apples and nuts for Pomona, the Roman goddess of the orchards. The Romans also bobbed for apples and drank cider, traditions which may sound familiar to you. But where does the Christian aspect of the holiday come into play? In 835, Pope Gregory IV moved the celebration for all the martyrs (later all saints)from May 13 to November 1. The night before became known as All Hallows' Even or holy evening. Eventually the name was shortened to the current Halloween. On November 2, the Church celebrates All Souls Day.
The purpose of these feasts is to remember those who have died, whether they are officially recognized by the Church as saints or not. It is a celebration of the "communion of saints," which reminds us that the Church is not bound by space or time.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church says that through the communion of saints "a perennial link of charity exists between the faithful who have already reached their heavenly home, those who are expiating their sins in purgatory and those who are still pilgrims on earth. Between them there is, too, an abundant exchange of all good things" (CCC #1475).
Monday, November 1, is the Solemnity of All Saints. Many parishes will sing the Litany of the Saints on this day. The musical setting here is the composition of John Becker. (While the video quality above is not what it might be, the audio is clear.)
Below are the words for this litany. Praying this ahead of time might be helpful in preparing for this feast even if your parish won't be singing the litany. (Note: singing this litany is an addition to, not a required element of the All Saints Day liturgy.)
LITANY OF THE SAINTS John D. Becker
Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy. Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.
1.
Mary and Joseph, pray for us.
Michael and all angels, pray for us.
Anna, Joachim, Elizabeth, pray for us.
Elijah, Moses, John the Baptist, pray for us.
Isaac, Sarah, Abraham, pray for us.
Jacob, Joseph, Samuel, pray for us.
Ruth, David and Solomon, pray for us.
Isaiah, Jeremiah, pray for us. All you holy men and women, pray for us.
2.
Peter, Paul, Andrew, pray for us.
James, John, and all apostles, pray for us.
Mary Magdalene, Veronica, pray for us.
Barnabas, Matthias, pray for us.
Stephen, Philip, and Cornelius, pray for us.
Prisca and Aquila, pray for us.
Timothy and Titus, pray for us.
Linus, Cletus, and Clement,pray for us. All you holy men and women, pray for us.
3.
Lawrence and Chrysogonus, pray for us.
Innocent, and Boniface, pray for us. Hippolytus and Origen, pray for us. Athanasius and Basil, pray for us.
Felicity, Perpetua, pray for us.
Cosmos and Damien, pray for us.
John, Chrysostom, and Justin, pray for us.
Lucy, Agatha, and Agnes, pray for us. All you holy men and women, pray for us.
4.
Jerome and Eusebius, pray for us. Scholastica and Benedict, pray for us.
Ambrose, Monica, Augustine, pray for us.
Martin and Gregory, pray for us.
Clare, Francis, and Dominic, pray for us.
Francis Xavier, Ignatius, pray for us.
Elizabeth and Catherine, pray for us.
Louis and Wenceslaus*, pray for us. All you holy men and women, pray for us.
5.
Lord, be merciful, save your people.
From all evil, save your people.
From every sin, save your people.
From everlasting death, save your people.
By your incarnation, save your people.
By your death and resurrection, save your people.
By your gift of the Spirit, save your people.
Have mercy on us sinners, save your people.
Christ, hear us. Lord Jesus, hear our prayer.
(The following section is not included in the video.) 6.
Lord, give new life, hear our prayer.
To these chosen, hear our prayer.
By the grace of baptism, hear our prayer.
O Jesus, Son of the living God, our prayer.
Send your Spirit, hear our prayer.
In its fullness, hear our prayer.
On your sons and daughters, hear our prayer.
Who believe and profess you, hear our prayer.
Christ, hear us. Lord Jesus, hear our prayer.
*In this recording, Wenceslaus is changed to Matthew.
These earlier posts (here and here) will help you prepare to hear the Word and the story of Zacchaeus, a tax collector from Jericho who was a pretty good tree climber!
There's something different about the sunshine, these fine fall days.
Old Sol, still 'way up there in the sky, assumes an autumnal angle, warming an October glow on branches brushed to beauty: leaves alive in a light no summer's green could ever match.
The light's above -- but I'd swear the leaves all glow from within. In my fantasy, the trees are still warm with sun soaked in from August skies and only now returning heavenward: a psalmody of golden-bronzes, orange-reds and purpled russets.
And can it be that in patches this light rises in praise of its source? Driving down arbored roads it seems the glow is here and there but not everywhere and, well, of course - it's the evergreen backdrop gives the shade for the show of fall's finery.
Your light's above and about us and from every angle shines on us in every season. And your light's within, deep inside to warm us from our depths.
We join in the prayers of trees and leaves and lift to you a psalm of praise for the beauty you are within and all around us.
That's a sycamore above and that tree is in Jericho - but of course, that's not Zacchaeus. But it could be a contemporary Mr. Z, climbing up to get a better view of Jesus passing by below.
Luke's gospel this coming Sunday tells us Zacchaeus scaled the sycamore because he was short and couldn't see over the crowd gathered along the road.
I wonder... what gets in the way of our seeing Jesus more clearly as he passes through our lives?
What are the physical, the emotional, the circumstantial, the spiritual aspects of my life and yours that need to be acknowledged and accepted as we seek to draw closer to Jesus? What changes are ours to make? What trees do we need to climb? What turns do we need to make? What needs to be surrendered to the Lord's healing and mercy?
See how when Zacchaeus climbs the tree - Jesus takes over. He reaches out to him and invites himself to dinner at the Z-man's home.
In meeting Christ Zacchaeus' life is changed - and he makes changes in his life.
So often, it's in accepting what we name as our inadequacies that the door to grace, healing and deeper faith is opened...
Be prepared to hear about Zacchaeus -and more- this weekend...
It's been too long since I've posted a Link of the Day and I'm grateful to Deacon Greg for his leading us to Heather King's blog, Shirt of Flame. (The Deacon's Bench is an excellent source of new links!)
King's page defies easy classification and because my efforts in that direction would cheat the comfortable breadth of what she offers, I'll simply direct you to her profile and this post, and this, and this.
And here's a quote from her most recent post that resonates with my own understanding of prayer in a place deep in my soul.
I have a theory that prayer is the answer to itself. The very fact that we’re praying means we’re already receiving what our hearts long for. To open ourselves to reality. To move away from isolation and toward communion. To die to self-reliance and come alive in wonder and mystery. Acknowledging our vulnerability, we’re in solidarity with every other sick, suffering, broken person in the world. With our heads bowed, our ears are closer to our hearts. On our knees, we’re the same height as children.
Fine writing on aspects of spirituality from a truly sacramental perspective... Shirt of Flame is now added to my blog roll - this one's a keeper.
Zacchaeus being called down from the tree - by William Hole
So, the coming weekend finds us at the Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time - I think I can already smell the greens for the Advent Wreath!
The tale of Zacchaeus, the tax collecting tree climber, is our gospel and once again, the Lord invites himself to the House of Z for dinner. Zacchaeus gives up his practice of extortion and the Book of Wisdom reminds us that the Lord "rebukes offenders, warning them and reminding them of their sins that they might abandon their wickedness and believe..." St. Paul prays that God will make the Thessalonians (and us!) worthy of the calling we have received.
In the gospel it appears that Zacchaeus is looking for Jesus (thus the sycamore ascent) but truly, it's the Lord who's seeking the lost one to rescue him.
How are we lost, you and I? What is lost within us and needs finding? And how is the Lord seeking us out? Update: And, what trees have we recently climbed?
As always, it's important not to let the familiarity of the story lead us to presume we know what it's all about...
The scriptures for Sunday and commentary on them will be found here and if you're bringing children to church with you, check here for hints on helping them prepare to hear the Word.
He spoke to them another parable. "The Kingdom of heaven is like yeast a woman took and mixed with three measures of wheat flour until the whole batch was leavened... " Matthew 13:31-35
Let us pray...
God of kitchen counters,
guide our hands, mixing faith's yeast
with our lives' ingredients... Help us follow your recipe's word,
measuring, kneading everything you call for as we call on you for everything we need...
Leaven us with wisdom, shape us in your image,
bake us in your heart's heat and make us rise:
loaves of love, bread for others...
The same leaves over and over again!
They fall from giving shade above
To make one texture of faded brown
And fit the earth like a leather glove.
Before the leaves can mount again
To fill the trees with another shade,
They must go down past things coming up.
They must go down into the dark decayed.
They must be pierced by flowers and put
Beneath the feet of dancing flowers.
However it is in some other world
I know that this is the way in ours.
St. Paul’s words have stayed with me, Lord,
since hearing them at Mass yesterday morning:
I have competed well, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith…
I wonder...
at the end of my days when, as it was for Paul,
“my departure is at hand” -
will I be able to speak with such confidence?
Perhaps the test
is whether I can speak with Paul’s surety
now, in the midst of my days…
How do I stand against Paul’s words, Lord?
Do I compete well in life’s contest,
the struggle in my heart and soul
between your ways, Lord, and mine?
When my desires pull me in one direction
and your desire for me pulls in another - who wins?
And more importantly, when my desires win,
what do I lose?
I offer you the contest, Lord, and ask you to be my coach, my captain, my trainer and my referee…
Do I stay in the race, Lord?
Do I keep a steady pace on the rough roads
or lag behind the strength and encouragement
you never fail to offer me?
Do I keep my eye on the finish line,
on the prize that awaits:
the crown of your victory
sized for my brow?
I offer you the race, Lord, and pray you’ll pace me with your grace in the lane you’ve marked out for me…
Do I keep the faith, Lord?
Do I hold fast to you, trust you, lean on you -
in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health,
whether convenient or inconvenient?
Do I stand firm when troubles shake me,
trusting the faith that’s brought me safe thus far
will bring me home to you
when “my departure is at hand?”
I offer you my mornings, days and evenings, Lord and pray you’ll strengthen my faith and deepen my trust in you and your love for me…
In times of defeat, Lord, be my strength,
in times of victory be my joy,
in all times be the champion of my heart…
Keep me gently mindful of all who run 'longside me, Lord
and when any fail or fall,
help me lift them to your face…
Amen.
(For an archive of previousMonday Morning Offerings, checkhereor click on the coffee cup on the sidebar...)
We all ask others to pray for us
and we promise our prayers in return...
This night I pray for some special people in my life
and I'm sure you're praying for friends and loved ones in yours...
Like you, I pray for people who have many needs
and I take comfort in knowing that the Lord knows those needs
even before we speak them...
Like you, I pray for family and friends,
for neighbors and parishioners
who have asked for my prayers...
And like you, I pray for people I've never met,
for whom others have asked me to pray...
For some we pray for help, hope and healing...
for others we intercede for patience, forgiveness and reconciliation,
for many we ask for guidance, counsel and understanding...
for others we pray for relief, comfort and consolation...
and for all we ask for serenity, harmony and peace...
We pray for the sick and the dying
and for those who care for them, day by day...
We pray for an end to violence in peoples' homes,
in their streets and among nations...
We pray for the victory of justice and a harvest of peace...
We pray for those who serve and protect us, at home and abroad
and we pray for our enemies and for those who persecute us...
We pray for the healing of the abused and betrayed
and for the restoration of trust and confidence in the Church...
I join you in your prayer tonight and I pray for you...
Please join in my prayer tonight and pray for me...
God, grant me serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference...
The Pharisee and the Tax Collector by Duncan Long, used with permission
Two striking postures, two strikingly different attitudes...
One figure gestures to the other; one figure hides from the other...
One stands in his own light,
the other cowers in the light surrounding him...
One appears to search for God in the skies,
the other finds God in his broken heart...
Two separated figures:
not even the pointing hand bridges the gap between them...
Duncan Long's art might serve to help us explore one of Jesus' best known parables,
the story of the Pharisee and the tax collector who went to the temple to pray...
Which figure best images my own posture, my attitude?
In which light, in whose light do I stand?
Where do I look for my God?
Where does my God find me?
To prepare to hear this coming Sunday's scriptures,
spend some time with the readings and commentary on them at this earlier post.
I posted this two years ago. It's one of my favorite posts and my happening upon some purple mums today brought it to mind...
I must have had a very good summer because I've never mourned a summer's passing as much as I have this one. Over the last couple of years I've noticed I've grown more sensitive to the change of seasons and there's something pleasing about that. Perhaps I'm more attuned to nature and the world around me. Perhaps I'm slowing down enough to notice what I've passed by and rushed through for too many years. Perhaps I'm just getting older and the passing seasons are more telling than in my youth. Some warm days are still in store for New England before the trees are fully dressed in their fall finery but cool nights are already upon us and just today I rode an elevator with a man taking a purple chrysanthemum to his mother. Mums are a sure signofautumn. I exited the elevator on the fifth floor to visit an older couple whose accumulated seasons are many more than mine. In fact, they were married before I was born. As I calculate it, they've passed through nearly 250 seasons as husband and wife: 62 winters, 62 springs, 62 summers and 62 falls... Now has come a season for her to care for him in new ways, as old ways slowly slip away. He has become something of a prisoner in his own body and she has become his cell mate. No crime, no wrong doing here: they are but living out the binding sentence they spoke to each other, the words that yoked them as one: for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part... You would hope and wouldn't you pray that their 62 years of faithful love might end with a glorious spring of warmth and rosebuds and lengthening days... but their days dwindle down in an autumn of bright afternoons, chilled by hints of falling leaves and winter... Still a summer warmth burned in her eyes as she looked at him and I saw in her gaze the strength of all they have shared and the faith that binds them together... When I asked him if she were a good nurse, his whole face answered before his lips said yes... For these two this is agood season, a hard season, yet another season of love... I must have had a very good summer because I've never mourned a summer's passing as much as I have this one. Perhaps I'm slowing down enough to notice what I've passed by and rushed through for too many years. Perhaps I'm just getting older and the passing seasons are more telling than in my youth. And there's something pleasing about that...
If you have an eye on the liturgical calendar and its progress, you know that this coming weekend's 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time brings us within striking distance of the end of the liturgical year on the Solemnity of Christ the King, the 34th Sunday in Ordinary Time. The week after that is Advent 2011 and the beginning of a new liturgical year!
Sunday's gospel from Luke offers us the story of a Pharisee and a tax collector. (When I was a child, this was the tale of the Pharisee and the publican. To refresh your memory of this story and to peruse the day's others scriptures, check here for the texts and commentary on them. (Are you the chauffeur for some young folks this Sunday? Check here for hints on helping boys and girls prepare to hear the Lord's Word.)
The first reading, from Sirach, offers us a collection of sayings on how kindly the Lord looks upon those who are scorned and put down by others. Looks like the Pharisee in the gospel skipped over this portion of Sirach when studying his scriptures!
In the Second Letter to Timothy, our second reading, Paul is at the end of his days and taking account of those who abandoned him and the One who has never forgotten him. Knowing that he has competed well, finished the race and kept the faith, Paul's trust and hope are a model for all of us in our own trials and tribulations.
Shall I write these words yet another time? Yes! The best way to prepare to celebrate Mass on the Lord's Day is to peruse and ponder the scriptures we'll hear on Sunday. Those texts (and commentary on them) are but a click away - what are you waiting for?
None are happier than the 33 miners in Chile and their families
but around the world everyone's rejoicing in their amazing rescue
from what might have been their grave,
a half-mile below the ground.
We prayed at Mass for the miners each weekend
through their 69 days of captivity.
But that’s nothing compared to the miners' prayers
and those of their families and friends
keeping prayerful vigil at the site.
And now everyone is giving thanks to God
for the safe return of these men.
I wonder...
Is that what today’s scriptures are all about?
These readings seem to encourage our persistence in prayer:
our holding each other’s arms aloft
when some among us might grow too weary to pray;
and hounding the Lord until we’ve been heard and satisfied.
Is that what these scriptures are teaching us?
Because all 33 miners were rescued safe and sound,
we have the emotional and spiritual space in which to ask,
“What if they had perished?”
What if the carefully pieced-together rescue machinery had failed?
What if the rescue shaft had collapsed on itself?
What if only half the miners had survived?
Would we then say our prayer had failed?
- that we’d not supported one another faithfully enough?
Would we fear that our prayers had been found wanting by God?
- that we’d failed in our spiritual persistence?
Or might we say that God had failed us?
failed to hear us?
failed to answer us?
The gospel today, given it’s beginning, has a curious ending.
The passage begins with the words, Jesus told his disciples a parable about the necessity for them
to pray always without becoming weary…
That seems clear enough - until the parable ends with Jesus asking: But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?
Faith in what? Faith in whom?
Faith in a God who will answer our prayers as we want, if
- like the widow in the parable,
we badger him long enough with our pleading persistence?
- or if we hold up each other’s arms up long enough
for God to relent, to answer us?
But who among us does not know from personal experience
that God won't easily badgered into doing our bidding,
even in the face of our prayerful persistence and selfless sincerity?
This is not a parable about praying until we get what we want.
It’s a story to teach us that in all times:
in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health,
in want or wealth, for better or for worse -
we need to draw close to the Lord in prayer, always -
and not grow weary of doing so.
What we learn here is this:
the Lord is with us in the joy of the miners being rescued
just as he would have been with us in our sorrow - had they perished.
The relationship here between God and his people
is like the relationship between husbands and wives in good marriages:
spouses cannot promise each other a life without pain
but they can and do promise a faithful, life-long companionship
through good times and bad, in sickness and in health,
in want and in wealth, for better or for worse.
And such companionship, such fidelity is nourished and sustained
by the persistent, untiring “prayer” of their communication,
their sharing with and supporting each other in
the ups and downs of their every-day life together.
And so it is with the Lord and each of us.
Just as shared communication strengthens the marriage bond
so does prayer strengthen our relationship with, our faith in God.
What is asked in both relationships is this:
that we not lose heart, not grow weary, that we trust, in faith,
in good times and in bad,
even when the rescue efforts (as they sometimes do) fail.
Because of who I am and what I do,
people ask me all the time to pray for them - and I do.
(Some folks believe I have a special phone line that goes right to God!)
I pray for what people ask me to pray for - but more than that -
I pray that whatever the answer to their prayer, that in praying
they’ll have deepened and strengthened their faith in God enough
to survive the disappointments as well as to rejoice in the “rescues.”
I pray that the prayers the miners offered for 69 days underground
and the prayers offered by us above ground,
will have drawn us all closer, in faith, to the Lord.
It’s easy to see the impact the miners’ rescue had on their lives.
What will be the impact on our lives of all the prayers we prayed for them?
As we come to the Lord’s Table to pray
may the Eucharist we receive draw us closer, in faith, to the Lord:
our life-long companion, in good times and in bad...
And perhaps you’ve heard:
there’s been another mining disaster, this time in China,
in the city of Yuzhou in the province of Henan.
Last year, over 2,600 miners died in accidents in China -
in just one year...
In yesterday’s sudden “coal and gas outburst,”
some 200 miners made it to the surface
but 21 others have been found dead and 16 yet remain missing.
For them, for their families and for safer working conditions, let us pray…
From his earliest childhood, he was quietly but conspicuously prayerful, an inclination which seemed only to intensify during his hardscrabble years as an itinerant laborer, and when he returned to Canada in 1867, he confessed an interest in formal religious life to his local parish priest, who sent him to a nearby community of Holy Cross brothers with a letter assuring its superior that “I am sending you a saint.”
In addition to welcoming visitors, he served as janitor, launderer, and sacristan, ran errands and provided the students with cheap haircuts. Throughout these years his reputation for humility and kindness grew, as did the numbers of visitors he received. Most of these were poor and sick people, to whom he offered not only his compassion and what material assistance he could provide, but also moral and spiritual advice. Many of his visitors attributed miraculous cures to him, but he would insist, sometimes with annoyance, that any such cures were attributable to the prayers of Saint Joseph.
Eight months ago, the Diocese of Green Bay began airing television commercials for six weeks that invited Catholics to Come Home. This month, the diocese released survey findings that show Mass attendance increased an average of 7.4 percent after the commercials began to air.
In addition, more than 95 percent of parish leaders and parishioners reported that CCH had a positive influence on their lives.
"Probably the biggest, and most pleasant surprise associated with the surveys was the large number of people who actually began talking to other people once these commercials came out," said Kristina DeNeve, director of spirituality and evangelization for the Diocese of Green Bay and coordinator of the CCH initiative. "Over 55 percent of respondents said they talked more about faith matters either in public places or in private with friends and family."
Catholics Come Home will begin in the Archdiocese of Boston in Lent of 2011. (Ash Wednesday in 2011 is March 9.) The page for the Boston effort notes the program include:
• Television commercials that convey an inviting and positive message about living as a Catholic
and
• Parish outreach and welcome by which Catholics reach out with a more personal invitation to friends, neighbors and family members and parishes provide opportunities to help people establish or re-establish a relationship with Jesus Christ in the body of believers that is the Catholic Church.
This sculpture is the top of one branch of a 15 foot high bronze menorah by Benno Elkan in the Knesset in Jerusalem.
If you've taken a look at this weekend's readings you'll recognize it as an image from the battle scene in Sunday's first scripture.
If you haven't looked at these readings, it might help to know that Aaron and Hur aren't holding Moses back here - they're lifting up his arms because he's become too tired to hold them aloft himself.
Why was it important for Moses to keep his arms up?
Check the readings and commentary on them to help you prepare to hear the Lord's Word at Mass this weekend.
With the summer more and more in the distance, the busy life of the academic year and begun-again parish activities wind us up just as nature is slowing down, fading, even dying...
This fine poem might have beauty and power to calm the harried heart, the hurried step...
And, what is more generous than a window?
The Patience of Ordinary Things by Pat Schneider
It is a kind of love, is it not?
How the cup holds the tea,
How the chair stands sturdy and foursquare,
How the floor receives the bottoms of shoes
Or toes. How soles of feet know
Where they're supposed to be.
I've been thinking about the patience
Of ordinary things, how clothes
Wait respectfully in closets
And soap dries quietly in the dish,
And towels drink the wet
From the skin of the back.
And the lovely repetition of stairs.
And what is more generous than a window?
Persistence in prayer - that's the story in the scriptures this Sunday, the 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time. The painting above features Joshua's victory over the Amalekites but don't be fooled by the muscular soldiers in the foreground. The real force here is in Moses' arms, supported by Aaron and Hur - that's them up on the hill, out of the fray, in the background. Want to read more about this in Exodus? Check out this Sunday's readings and commentary on them here. The day's gospel passage (Luke) is tame by comparison. A judge is worn out with the persistent pleading of a widow in court. Check the same link for the rest of the story.
Oh! Bringing children to church with you this weekend? Help them prepare to hear the Word with some hints from this site.
But wait! Persistence won't let go in this weekend's scriptures! Paul reminds Timothy "to be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient."
So, pursue the links above with persistence to prepare to hear the Word this coming Sunday!
Whether "convenient or inconvenient," take some time to ponder and pray over these texts - read and listen for what the Lord is saying to you...
Spent a beautiful afternoon with family in New Hampshire.
We went out for lunch and I was pleased to find this special on the menu: ahi tuna sliced over a Caesar salad - ponzu, wasabi and pickled ginger on the side!
On our return from the restaurant, my aunt pointed out the one, still fresh hydrangea bloom crowning a bush otherwise browned and bruised by fall's early chill... right there by the front door.
With a train of green mocking fading maples all around, this one blossom stands against October, protesting what must surely come while promising what will surely come again...
Let us praise God from whom all blessings come, go and flow...
Click on the bible above to find the readings for the Sixth Sunday of Easter and brief commentary on them.
What's Your Story? Homily for April 21
A Sung Blessing
A prayer for when you're worried, anxious, afraid...
Help for Haiti
Reach out to the people of Haiti with health care, education and community development through Health Equity International (formerly known as the St. Boniface Haiti Foundation).
I was doing a little "inventory" on my blog and came across this post on a piece by Brother Patrick from All Saints Day last year. Here's a snip of BP's reflection:
