Musing on some vacation moments

Sunset, Kalmus Beach, Hyannis: Photo by CP

In another 24 hours my vacation will be over and I'll be back at home in Concord.  Time, then, to look back over these days away and muse upon them.

As I'd hoped, my vacation days have been quiet, lazy, relaxing, refreshing and beautifully uneventful.

Aside from an interruption of hurricane proportions, the weather has been just what one might have ordered if the Divine Meteorologist was given to taking orders on the climate.

Three "moments" of this time stand out for me.  One was already the subject of my Monday Morning Offering a week ago: the gift, the delight of fresh basil.

Another "moment" came in the hours without power on Sunday as Irene skirted the Cape.  I'll write about that in a day or two.

The third "moment" has stretched over my whole time here.  Upon arriving I went shopping for some new poetry to read and came across Ballistics, a collection of poems by Billy Collins.  Collins was Poet Laureate of the United States from 2001 to 2003 and Poet Laureate of New York State from 2004 to 2006.  He was, however, a new poet for me and I've returned to his book any number of times these past couple of weeks.

Collins is a delight to read.  His writing is thoroughly unassuming and on account of that, wholly inviting of the reader to enter into the work with him.  That experience, the one these poems, this poet, offers the reader is likely better had than explained.

In not taking himself too seriously, Collins befriends the reader who ends up a sort of co-conspirator in the work.  He's a magician with the simplest of words and the trick is how he allows the reader to "see how it's done" without at all making a fuss about the secret, or keeping it, or giving it away.

Some of these poems concern poetry and in some sense, all of these poems are concerned with poetry.   And reading through this book I found myself thinking again and again, these poems are not as simple as they seem, and yes... these poems are as simple as they seem.  As I said, all of this is an experience to be had rather than explained.

I've been looking for one poem from this book to share with you, that you might taste the experience Collins offers.  No one poem suffices for this task but if this piece whets your appetite, I'll be pleased:

A Dog on His Master

As young as I look
I am growing older faster than he,
seven to one
is the ratio they tend to say.

Whatever the number,
I will pass him one day
and take the lead
the way I do on our walks in the woods.

And if this ever manages
to cross his mind,
it would be the sweetest
shadow I have ever cast on snow or grass.

- Billy Collins in Ballistics


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Prayer: Sending positive energy?

Image source

It's not unusual for folks on FaceBook to post news of the difficulties, illness or passing of family members and friends.  We benefit from how quickly we learn of the needs, distress and grief of others and the opportunity to respond immediately.

What's catching my attention is how people respond.

Given the nature of FaceBook, my responses (on a public post) are usually brief, something along the lines of:

Sorry to hear things are so difficult: be assured of my prayers!

-or-

Be sure that John, all of you, and those caring for him are in my prayers!

-or-

My heart goes out to you in your loss...

Be sure that Mary is in my prayers as she passes from this life to God...

But I notice a variety of other kinds of response on these same posts:

Good thoughts coming your way!

-or-

Positive vibes for John and for his speedy return to health!

-or-
 Sending you a heartful of sympathy...

Am I mistaken or do such phrases belie a reluctance to offer prayers or to connect the moment's difficulties with the divine?

I don't write to be critical of what others are saying but simply wondering what's coming to speech here and what's behind it.

Is this a politically correct effort not to presume upon the faith of the original poster?  Is it an effort to support without invoking anything religious?  Are these writers folks who no longer believe in God or in prayer but who want to reach out (up?) into that sphere where something good might be had, might be wished, might be passed on?

Again, this isn't a critique - I'm just wondering aloud...

Have you noticed the same?

In fact, I even found a page for those who don't offer prayers on FaceBook!

How about you?

Do you offer your prayers to those in need - and articulate your desire to somehow bring this to the Lord?

In the same way...  When someone posts on FaceBook some news of a happy, joyful event, I often reply with the simple phrase, Praise God from whom all blessings flow!  Perhaps even more than in posts about bad news, I see that my faith-based statement sticks out even more, standing apart from other congratulatory phrasing.

And yet, something one often sees on FaceBook is the simple exclamation:  O.M.G.

Go figure!

And, what do you figure here?  How do you respond online to good news and bad news?  And what are your thoughts about promising prayer and praising God on FaceBook?

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Word for the Weekend: September 4

Image source: BTB

Time to sit down with the Word and begin to read, study and pray over it!

Strong texts this weekend with strong sayings.

Read the texts and background materials to prepare for Mass this Sunday.

Got kids? Here are some hints to help them prepare to actually listen to the scriptures this weekend!


In this week's readings...

The prophet Ezekiel reminds us that the Lord gives us all fair warning on the rules of the game of life. (Have we read the rules?  Do we play by them?  Whose rules do we follow?)

St. Paul lists some of those rules but reminds us that every law finds its ultimate source and meaning in the command that we love one another.   (It's too easy to say that Jesus and Paul said these simple things in simpler times and so they no longer are to be taken at face value.  It's taking what's simple at face value that is the scripture's, and the Lord's, challenge to us.)

And Matthew gives us the protocol for handling situations when we offend one another by breaking the rules.  (How do we live by this protocol in our families? our neighborhoods? in our parishes?  at our jobs? in the world?)


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Monday Morning Offering - 158

Image: George Mendoza

NOTE: Last week I forgot to post my MMO.  Last night, Irene stole my power and only now, at the excellent Michael's Bakery in Hyannis, am I able to post today's prayer.   These words may seem somewhat premature --Labor Day is not the end of warm days nor the real beginning of fall.  Still, in American culture and in the clime of the northern hemisphere, so many things begin to change with the first Monday in September.


Good morning, good God!

As the sun sets a little sooner every evening,
Labor Day's horizon eclipsing these august days,
I'm wondering, Lord:
why must good times come to an end?
The good times can seem to come so seldom -
and then, they’re gone...

And as wonderful as memories are,
they are, well, memories...

Why, Lord, must the good days come to an end?
Why are memories not enough?
Why is the fall-filtered beauty of light and leaves
not enough today
to help me let go summer’s warmth
and pace and peace?

Of seasons there are four, they say,
but yet a hundred seasons more
just in my one life alone, Lord:
seasons of presence, seasons of pain;
seasons of sadness, seasons of gain;
seasons of sunlight, seasons of rain;
seasons of comfort, seasons of strain;
seasons of planting, seasons of grain;
seasons of waiting and waiting for seasons
to break the seasons’ chain…

So many seasons, Lord…

And letting go of summer is not easy…

I should be grateful for autumn:
your gentle preparation
of everyone and everything
for the dying winter will surely bring…

Still, letting go of summer is not easy...

You know the seasons better than I, Lord,
and no season changes
'round me or in me
but that you first know
how those changes
will change me...

Be with me, Lord,
in all the seasons of my life
and be with me in between the seasons,
when moving from one to the next
is itself a season to bear…

Help me let go of what is slipping away...
Take my offered heart
and open me to what is new and changing
in the weeks and months ahead…

Make me gentle with how the seasons change
in the hearts of those around me,
in those whose paths cross mine today...

I offer you my seasoned heart, Lord:
you are the source of all the strength I need
to live this day and every day this week
edging towards Labor Day
and a season's new beginning...
Be my guide and walk with me, Lord,
through this summer-fall season’s change…

Amen.



Every Season by Nicole Nordeman Every evening sky, an invitation To trace the patterned stars And early in July, a celebration For freedom that is ours And I notice You In children’s games In those who watch them from the shade Every drop of sun is full of fun and wonder You are summer... And even when the trees have just surrendered To the harvest time Forfeiting their leaves in late September And sending us inside Still I notice You when change begins And I am braced for colder winds I will offer thanks for what has been and was to come You are autumn... And everything in time and under heaven Finally falls asleep Wrapped in blankets white, all creation Shivers underneath And still I notice you When branches crack And in my breath on frosted glass Even now in death, You open doors for life to enter You are winter... And everything that’s new has bravely surfaced Teaching us to breathe What was frozen through is newly purposed Turning all things green So it is with You And how You make me new With every season’s change And so it will be As You are re-creating me Summer, autumn, winter, spring... Tweet   Subscribe to A Concord Pastor Comments 

Hurricane / Mass / What to do / Kate and Will

Image: CLC

How's that for a subject line?  You'll need to read the whole post to make sense of it!

Time for my weekly last-minute reminder to take a look at the scriptures for tomorrow as the best way to prepare to celebrate the Lord's Day!

And if the hurricane keeps you away from Sunday Mass, beginning your prayer at home with the day's Word is a great starting place.

An earlier post will link you to the scriptures, brief commentary on them and hints for helping your children prepare to hear the Word, too.

I'm on vacation so I won't be preaching this weekend.  If I were, I'd take this meaty text from Romans as the starting point for my homily:

I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God,
to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice,
holy and pleasing to God, your spiritual worship.
Do not conform yourselves to this age
but be transformed by the renewal of your mind,
that you may discern what is the will of God,
what is good and pleasing and perfect.  (Romans 12:1-2)

I didn't pay much attention to, let alone watch, the most recent royal nuptials but Todd at Catholic Sensibility notes that this text was one of the scriptures at Kate and Will's wedding!

Todd also points out, wisely, that if the hurricane should keep us from worshiping with our faith community, spending time in prayer with the day's scriptures would be the place to begin.  Consider inviting family and neighbors to join you!

Some starting points for reflection:
- how do the physical and spiritual come together in my worship of God?
- how do I identify "this age?"  how do I conform to it?
- how does my mind need to be transformed? changed? morphed?
- what is God's "good, pleasing and perfect" will for my life?
- how do I discern God's will in my life?  do I try to know God's will for me? do I follow God's will when I believe I've discerned it?

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John Allen's take on Boston listing accused priests

NCR's John Allen offers his take on Boston's Cardinal Sean O'Malley's decision to publish a list of priests accused of the sexual abuse of minors.  Anticipating a wide variety of response to this move, Allen sets the questions in a larger ecclesial context and suggests some implications for the wider Church.




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Hurricane Irene: for what are we preparing?

Image: Keesler AFB

I'm away on vacation, at the shore, and if the Hurricane Irene makes it this far north still wielding a decent punch,  I may have a front row seat for a stormy seaside show.

I hope and pray that Irene harms no one and does little damage to people's homes and properties - and I'm sure you join me in that prayer.

Against the backdrop of all the pre-hurricane hype, it's clear that news of a big storm sparks a lot of folks to get prepared: to stock up, board up, and look up into the skies in anticipation of what's coming up the eastern seaboard.  Everyone wants to be ready to withstand what's on the way and to survive it - to come out on the other side hale and hearty.

Makes me think of the gospel we preach and how the whole of ministry is, in many ways, in anticipation of God's coming, again, at a time we don't know and, we've been told, at a time we least expect.

Imagine...  

Folks are stocking up on food and drink lest they go hungry in a storm that will, if it reaches us, pass us by in a day's time.   What other kinds of nourishment do we need to supplement our spiritual hunger in preparation for what's ahead of all of us?

People will board up their windows lest the storm crash through into their homes.  How do we safeguard our hearts against the blasts and blows that hit us in our day to day lives - even on sunny days?

Folks will buy batteries and candles to make sure they have light if the power goes out.  How are we keeping the light, the flame of faith alive in our hearts and our homes lest the threatening darkness overcome our capacity to see and discern what's true from what's false, what's pure from what's tainted, what's real from what's fake?

And people will worry and talk about the tribulations and trials we might face this weekend.  How often, how freely, do we speak of our concern for that day, whenever it might come, when each of us will stand before the Lord and in the light of his presence have our lives weighed in the balance of mercy and justice?

I don't write any of this to scare anyone.  There's a fair amount of good common sense in being prepared for bad weather - it just might save us danger and harm.  And there's a fair amount of good common sense in being prepared for the day when the goodness of God dawns again and opens itself before each of us, inviting those who are prepared to claim the place the Lord has prepared for us in his kingdom since before the beginning of time.

The words keep watch and prepare and store up are all found in the scriptures - but not one of them refers to a hurricane...

As we prepare for this weekend and a storm that might reach us, let's take some time to look at how well prepared we are to meet the Lord whose coming is certain -- even if the day and the hour of his arrival are not yet ours to know.



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Boston Archdiocese publishes list of accused priests

Today (Thursday, August 25) the Archdiocese of Boston published, for the first time and in one place, the names of priests accused of sexual abuse of minors. You can find all the information here. That link will lead you to: a lengthy letter from Cardinal Sean O'Malley regarding the publication of the names; the categories of clerics listed in the publication; a search box from which one can trace a priest by name, by the parishes in which he served and by the cities/towns in which he served; and an open letter to survivors of abuse and an open letter to the priests of the Archdiocese of Boston.

Some claim that this is a step forward.

Others have claimed that it is, at best, a half-step forward.

And certainly this is another sad, even if necessary chapter in a very tragic story.

Let us pray and work for those who have been abused.

Let us pray and work for priests who have abused children entrusted to their care in ministry.

Let us pray and work for priests who have been falsely accused.

And let us pray for all priests and the people they serve in these very difficult times.



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On not getting taken to the cleaners, while at the cleaners!

The Clothesline in Hyannis

When I'm on vacation on the Cape, I usually make at least one stop at the Clothesline Laundromat in Hyannis to refresh my supply of clean clothes.  A great feature of this laundromat is that it's also a WIFI site so I can blog and surf (the net!) while washing and drying my clothes.  Well, yesterday was laundry day.

I went from the beach to The Clothesline and then with everything all washed, dried, folded and hung, I left around 5:00 p.m.  It wasn't until after 8:00 p.m. when I was getting ready to go out for dinner that I realized I was missing my money clip with my cash and license and credit/ATM cards.  I recalled purchasing some Tide and Cling Free at The Clothesline and removing my cash from the clip to pay for those items.  The cash was still in my pocket - but the clip was AWOL.  My first guess was that the clip fell out of my pocket either while I was on my laptop or after I returned to my car.  Sadly, a thorough search of my car came up clip-less.

A quick ride to The Clothesline found the place already closed for the day.  Fortunately, I had cash in hand for dinner and went out to eat.  But my dinner was clouded by thoughts of my missing license and cards and the prospect that I might spend a good deal of a vacation day on the phone and online cancelling cards and seeking new ones.  And I was worried about how fast I'd get replacement cards.

I set my alarm for 6:30 a.m. so I could be at The Clothesline when they opened at 7:00 a.m.  When I walked in I went right to the service desk and asked if anyone had turned in a money clip the day before.  The clerk looked around and then reached under the counter and produced my money clip -- with license and cards all present and accounted for!

Unfortunately, the clerk didn't know who had returned it, "Just another customer," she said.  But that wasn't "just another customer" in my book.  He or she was an unknown neighbor who strengthened my trust that there are good people everywhere.

And that's how I didn't get taken to the cleaners, while at the cleaners! I'm pleased to share this story with you - and especially it's happy conclusion!

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Job well done, Steve!

Of course, I don't know Steve Jobs.

But I do know that his Apple products have been an important part of my ministry since first I touched a computer keyboard back in 1990. My first computer was an Apple and every one since has been an Apple.  And no, I can't imagine ever having anything but an Apple product on my desk (or slung over my shoulder in a bag!).

This page comes to you from a MacBook Pro and I often pick up your comments on my iPhone.

I'm one of those confirmed, intransigent Apple fans - we're incorrigible!

So, Steve has decided to step down as CEO of Apple.  I've read that he's got good people in place and that he'll continue to consult on the development of Apple products.  And that's good news.

I wish him well and especially do I pray for his good health.

Thanks, Steve!


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Word for the Weekend: August 28

Photo: Greg Marinovich/AP

Time to sit, still, for at least a few minutes to look over the scriptures for the Lord's Day this weekend, the 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time.

The scriptures and background material on them are, as always, easily accessible at the St. Louis University Sunday Liturgy site.

Got kids? We won't leave them out as we prepare for worship. Check out the Sadlier page for age-appropriate materials to help your young ones get ready to hear the Word at Mass this weekend.

Ever felt duped by God? So did the prophet Jeremiah - and he says just that in this Sunday's first lesson.

St. Paul, writing to the Romans and to us, urges us not to conform ourselves to the present age... tough words - and tougher to understand in each succeeding age. What in our own age is not deserving of our conformity?

Do you find yourself carrying a cross? Is it getting heavy?  Jesus has something to say about that in the gospel for this Sunday.

Strong words in this Sunday's readings: prepare to hear them!

You'll be amazed the difference it will make on Sunday if you sit with these scriptures for even 10 minutes this week..

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Back to School Prayers for September 2011

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UPDATED for 2015! Click here!

A warm welcome to readers searching for "Back to School Prayers" and landing here on ConcordPastor's page!


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Many students, teachers and school personnel have already returned to their classrooms and within a couple of weeks summer vacation will be history for all as a new school year begins.

Here are some prayers I hope you'll find helpful.

The first three are from my keyboard, the last two from Diana Macalintal, Director of the Office of Worship for the San Jose, CA diocese and author of the blog, Work of the People:

• A Student's Prayer
• A Parent's Prayer for Students
• A Teacher's Prayer
• A Parent's Prayer When a Daughter Leaves Home
• A Parent's Prayer When a Son Leaves Home

You might think of praying the Student's Prayer with your children on the first day of school. Some families pray these words every Monday morning as a new school week begins. And the prayers for parents? Well, I know some moms and dads who pray those words just about every day!

In addition to backpacks and lunch kits, the refrigerator door makes a good home for these texts. In my parish we have the Student's Prayer printed as a bookmark which we distribute at Mass along with a blessing for students and school personnel at the beginning of the new academic year.

Parents, grandparents, godparents and aunts and uncles: share these prayers with the ones you love and with anyone you think would benefit from them.

Parish personnel: please feel to copy and use these prayers. Diana and I ask only that you include the credit line as indicated after each prayer below.

+ + +

A Student's Prayer

Dear God,
Help me remember that you’re always by my side
at school and all day long.
Help me be the best student I can be,
using all the gifts and talents you’ve given me.
Help me study well and often
– especially when I don’t feel like studying at all!
Help me finish all my homework – on time.
Help me listen to my teachers and coaches.
Help me play fair and play safely,
Help me be honest when I’m tempted to cheat.
Help me always tell the truth.
Help me be kind to everyone at school
and to treat others as I’d want them to treat me.
Help me make good friends
and help me be a good friend to others.
Help me know how I can help others
and to ask for help when I need it myself.
Help me love and respect, trust and appreciate my parents
- and to be honest with them.
Help me remember that you’re with me always, Lord,
and that you’ll never leave my side.
Amen.

ConcordPastor.blogspot. com

+ + +

A Parents' Prayer for Students

Dear Lord,
As my children leave for school,
I pray that you will keep them in your care.
Send your Spirit to open their minds
to all that is true and beautiful and good.
Help them to see the gifts and talents
you have given them and to use them well.
Help them to grow in knowledge and wisdom.
Help them to be kind to others
and lead others be kind to them.
Give their teachers patience and understanding
and help them teach what is just and true.
Send your angels to guide and guard my children
and to keep them from all harm.
Open their young hearts to your presence
and enfold them in your peace and protection.
Hold them in the palm of your hand
and bring them home safely at day's end.
Amen.
ConcordPastor.blogspot.com

+ + +

A Teacher's Prayer

Dear God,
A new school year is about to begin
and my classroom door will soon open
to the students you've assigned to my care...
Open my mind and heart to each of them
and especially to the ones
who will challenge me the most...
Help me challenge my students, all of them,
to study, to learn, to grow in knowledge
and even a little wisdom...
Help me remember, Lord,
how young my students are:
give me patience to help them grow up
and insight to know the help they need...
Help me to understand that sometimes
my students may not understand me:
may I be clear in the things I say and do,
and in how I say and do them…
My students don't know the burdens and worries
my heart brings to the classroom,
so help me remember, Lord,
how anxious and heavy my students' hearts may be...
Keep me from favoring any particular students, Lord,
except for those who most need my help...
Let my decisions in the classroom
be fair and just, honest and true...
Send your Spirit to fill me with gifts
of knowledge and understanding, counsel and wisdom…
Lord, open my mind and heart to my students' parents,
especially those who will challenge me the most...
Help me challenge parents to challenge their children
to study, to learn and to grow...
Help me to teach as you would, Lord:
help me be understanding when I need to be firm,
gentle in all things,
and patient until the last bell rings…

A new school year is about to begin, Lord,
and I wonder,
what will you teach me today?

Amen.
ConcordPastor.blogspot.com

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Many mothers and fathers are sending sons and daughters away to college. For both parents and children, this rite of passage is often moistened with tears and burdened by aching hearts. Here's Diana Macalintal's Empty Nester's Prayer in two versions: one for a daughter, one for a son.

+ + +

A Parent’s Prayer When A Daughter Leaves Home

Gracious God, you blessed me with the gift of my child
and entrusted me with her care.
Now she leaves this home and begins a new life apart from me.
Surround her with good people and watch over her each day.
And let her know that I will always be near
whenever she may need me.
Heal any hurts we may harbor with each other
and forgive our failings
as we learn to be in a new kind of relationship with each other.
And when the sight of her empty room
pierces my heart with sadness,
may I find comfort in knowing that my child is your child too,
filled with your grace and sheltered by your love.
Amen.
© 2009 Diana Macalintal: TeamRCIA.com

+ + +

A Parent’s Prayer When A Son Leaves Home

Gracious God, you blessed me with the gift of my child
and entrusted me with his care.
Now he leaves this home and begins a new life apart from me.
Surround him with good people and watch over him each day.
And let him know that I will always be near
whenever he may need me.
Heal any hurts we may harbor with each other
and forgive our failings
as we learn to be in a new kind of relationship with each other.
And when the sight of his empty room
pierces my heart with sadness,
may I find comfort in knowing that my child is your child too,
filled with your grace and sheltered by your love.
Amen.
© 2009 Diana Macalintal: TeamRCIA.com



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Finding God in the great outdoors

Image: AnimalCentral

Although I don't have a cat (and have never lived with one), I know that felines come in two kinds: indoor cats and outdoor cats.

My time on vacation has taught me that I'm something of a human version of an indoor cat.  My life is largely lived indoors.  My work is done mostly indoors. In fact, I generally go outdoors only to get to another indoor location somewhere else.

I don't think this is a good thing and my experience on vacation is confirming this intuition. 

I'm grateful for this time away and for some beautiful weather that's drawing me outdoors, especially to the shore and its sunshine and breezes - all of which can be had in great supply this week.

If I look back to the beginning, I see that it was God who created the outdoors and humankind who, later, fashioned the indoors.  And for many ancient peoples, "indoors" was little more than a tent - with only a woven wall between them and the outdoors.

I guess there's good reason that folks speak of "the great outdoors" and that's because God created it and can so easily be found there...

Kalmus Beach, Hyannis: TeamBrenda

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Monday-Night-Into-Tuesday Morning Offering

Image: George Mendoza

Good evening and good morning, good God...

Well, Lord, I'm really on vacation!

I've reached the point
where the days no longer have names
- at least not names I pay attention to...

Here it is, late Monday night
and but for the messages of some faithful readers
I might have missed a Monday morning offering altogether!

(Thank you, Lord, for faithful readers!)

What shall I offer this Monday, Lord?
I shall offer you a gift from your own hand:
the fresh basil on my caprese salad at dinner tonight...

I saw the chef cut the leaves from a potted plant
so I knew the basil would be special, but --
but my imagination, even my tongue had forgotten
the difference between the absolute truth of fresh basil
and the garnished lies told by shredded imitations
of the real thing...

I offer you Monday evening thanks
for the taste of joy fresh basil brings
from your hand to my lips
and for the way it teases and tickles my tongue,
inviting me to savor the flavors it offers,
reminding me that even in the smallest ways
you delight in delighting me...

Open my eyes and ears, Lord,
open my nose and taste and touch
to all the ways you want to please me
in these waning summer days...

Let me miss nothing you offer my senses:
help me find all your gifts
while they're still fresh and in season
and ripe for reminding how you desire
to appear before me, sound in my heart,
waft by my soul, touch me with peace
and grace my tongue
that I might taste
and see how good you are...

For fresh basil, Lord,
and for your happy salad epiphany,
I give you thanks and praise this night
and in the morning yet to come
and through the days of the week ahead...

Amen.



(Click here for an archive of Monday Morning Offerings)


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To love the Church, to love the whole Church!

I posted the lengthy quote from the pope's homily at the closing Mass of World Youth Day 2011 because I believe it poses something critically important for all of us to consider.  Let me be a bit more specific about that with this follow-up on the previous post.


"I ask you, dear friends, to love the Church..." So said the pope to the world's Catholic youth - and to all of us, too, young and old and even very old.  These are important words for us to consider in any age but certainly in our own when it's apparent that many people in the Church do not, in fact, love the Church.  Many people have left the Church and perhaps an equal or greater number, maintaining some active level of Church membership, are quite articulate about their dislike, their disgust, their disdain for the Church.

Of course, as is so often the case, the word Church is used in a variety of ways by an equal variety of folks.  Some do not love the institution we call the Church.  Some are disgusted by Church administrators.  Others reject the authority of the Church and still others refuse to accept the Church as teacher, as arbiter of truth.  It's curious that some who love their local parish and pastor still speak freely of their disdain for the Church while others who reject the local pastor and the parish life he leads, loudly profess their love for the Church.  Who is the Church here?  Where is the Church?  What is the Church?

I think it's fair to assume that when Benedict XVI pleads with us to love the Church he's pleading with us to love the whole Church and not just the parts, players and proclamations that please us the most.  Certainly the pope is calling on us to love one another and the whole Church by the measure of Jesus' love for us. And the measure of Christ's love for us is nothing less than the Cross.

It was St. John who cautioned us that if we fail to love our neighbor whom we do see, how can we claim to love God whom we have not seen?

No one (not Christ, not the scriptures, not the pope) calls us to love the sins of others but each of us is called to love those who sin, even those who sin against us. 

No one (not Christ, not the scriptures, not the pope) calls us to overlook or accept the harm inflicted by others' failings but each of us is called to love those who have failed, to care for those who have been harmed and to change whatever has or might or will enable the same harm to be done again.

Each of us (the pope; all bishops priests and deacons; and every one of God's sons and daughters) is called to be holy, today and everyday.  Each of us, without exception or exemption is called to love God above all things and to love our neighbor as ourselves.

Our loving the Church cannot be be excised from the commandment that we love our neighbor anymore than anymore than we can excise any individual from the category of neighbor - as defined by Christ.

If we are to love the Church or if we are to love the Church more than we have, we will need to change and as we change, the Church changes.  That means we will need to let go some things that many of us hold very close.

Our mistrust of one another will never yield the fruit of healing for which the Church so sorely hungers.  Our fear will never find the truth the Church is charged to uncover, to live and to preach.  Our suspicion will never harvest the growth for which the Church so dearly yearns.  Letting go mistrust, fear and suspicion on all sides is the shriving asked of us all that we might be open to how and where and when God's Spirit will move to make us more and more one in Christ, to make us more and more his Body, to make us more and more his Church.

The pope pleaded with the young people in Madrid, "I ask you, dear friends, to love the Church which brought you to birth in the faith, which helped you to grow in the knowledge of Christ and which led you to discover the beauty of his love."

There is but one Lord, one faith, one baptism and one Church - through which we have been born again and in which we have been helped to grow in the knowledge of Christ  and to discover the beauty of his love.  If we cling to anyone else but Christ, to anything less than our shared faith, we have begun already to lose our grasp of what we treasure so deeply.

As the young pilgrims return to their native lands I'm sure they are pondering what the pope said to them.  Let's ponder and pray with our young people.  Let each of us look again at our love for the church as well as our disdain, disgust or disagreement with the Church.  Let's look deeply into ourselves, deep into the Church's history and deep into the future and those who will inherit the legacy of faith, the gifts and burdens we will leave behind. 

What does each of us need to do to embrace and love the Church more than we have - not for its own sake, but for Christ's and for our own?


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From World Youth Day, something for all of us...

I hadn't intended to post on World Youth Day because so many other sites and blogs are covering it so fully and so well.  But the following, from the pope's homily at the closing Mass, is certainly something for the whole Church, not just its youth, to ponder:

Dear young friends, as the Successor of Peter, let me urge you to strengthen this faith which has been handed down to us from the time of the Apostles. Make Christ, the Son of God, the centre of your life. But let me also remind you that following Jesus in faith means walking at his side in the communion of the Church. We cannot follow Jesus on our own. Anyone who would be tempted to do so "on his own", or to approach the life of faith with kind of individualism so prevalent today, will risk never truly encountering Jesus, or will end up following a counterfeit Jesus.

Having faith means drawing support from the faith of your brothers and sisters, even as your own faith serves as a support for the faith of others. I ask you, dear friends, to love the Church which brought you to birth in the faith, which helped you to grow in the knowledge of Christ and which led you to discover the beauty of his love. Growing in friendship with Christ necessarily means recognizing the importance of joyful participation in the life of your parishes, communities and movements, as well as the celebration of Sunday Mass, frequent reception of the sacrament of Reconciliation, and the cultivation of personal prayer and meditation on God’s word.

Friendship with Jesus will also lead you to bear witness to the faith wherever you are, even when it meets with rejection or indifference. We cannot encounter Christ and not want to make him known to others. So do not keep Christ to yourselves! Share with others the joy of your faith. The world needs the witness of your faith, it surely needs God. I think that the presence here of so many young people, coming from all over the world, is a wonderful proof of the fruitfulness of Christ’s command to the Church: "Go into all the world and proclaim the Gospel to the whole creation" (Mk 16:15). You too have been given the extraordinary task of being disciples and missionaries of Christ in other lands and countries filled with young people who are looking for something greater and, because their heart tells them that more authentic values do exist, they do not let themselves be seduced by the empty promises of a lifestyle which has no room for God. 

Rocco has the complete text over at Whispers.

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Keys of the Kingdom

Image: RareDevice

I'm on vacation this weekend and won't be preaching but perhaps this post from three years ago might still be of value today.


All God's children got - KEYS!

In the gospel for today's Mass, Jesus tells Peter,

I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven.
Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven;
and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

The Church reads these verses in a very particular way with a unique reference to Peter, his ministry, the ministry of his successors and the authority of the Church.

But there are ways in which everyone of us carries in our pockets and purses keys that can unlock the grace of the kingdom of heaven in our everyday lives.

Sometimes we use those keys freely and sometimes we withhold them.

Sometimes we open and free the lives of others and sometimes we allow other to remain locked up, locked in, locked out.

Sometimes we're afraid to use the keys we hold and sometimes we've forget that we hold them.

Sometimes we don't trust the keys that are ours and sometimes we may be frightened by the freedom our keys might open for ourselves and for others.

Sometimes, sadly, we refuse to believe that we hold such keys. Nonetheless, the life of each one of us is a key to grace for those around us and for our own hearts. God leaves none of us without keys to unlock our own freedom and that of those around us.

The Spirit gives and knows where all the keys are and constantly beckons us to use them, to open and share the grace Christ won for us when he unlocked the gates of Paradise.

Think of the keys we hold to unlock the shackles of poverty... the leg irons of war...

Think of the keys we hold to open the prisons of homelessness... the cells of injustice...

For whom do you and I hold the key for freeing and incarcerated heart... and imprisoned spirit...

Who waits for the freedom that might come of the keys I've been given? that you've been given?

What in my own heart waits for the freedom that might come of the keys I hold?

What keys to my heart are in the Lord's hand? Dare I ask him to open me up to his grace and love?

I'm reminded of a prayer I wrote some years ago when I was volunteering at the Essex County House of Correction in Middleton. This is a prayer I shared with inmates there and with those who have worked in other prisons. But you don't need to be behind bars to understand or pray these words. The keys to our heart's freedom are given by the Lord to us all. Living the Christian life includes trying those keys until we learn what they open and where they need to be used.

May the keys Christ has given us unlock the freedom for which our hearts long and for which they were made...

A Prayer For Freedom In My Heart

Give me freedom in my heart, Lord,
when I feel locked up, locked in and locked down.

Give me freedom in my heart, Lord,
when I am walled in by loneliness.

Give me freedom in my heart , Lord,
when I feel imprisoned by my past.

Give me freedom in my heart, Lord,
when anxiety holds me a prisoner of fear.

Give me freedom in my heart, Lord,
when I am confined by days and nights
that pass too slowly.

Give me freedom in my heart, Lord,
so that I can accept your word,
your forgiveness, your peace and your love.

Give me freedom in my heart, Lord,
so that I can share with others
what you have given me.
 



Give me freedom in my heart, Lord,
that I might open, as I can,
the hearts of those around me.

Give me freedom in my heart, Lord,
so that I can become the person
you made me to be.

Give me freedom in my heart, Lord,
so that I can thank and praise you
for all you have given me
and for all you promise me.

Amen.

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On a warm August evening

Image source

August

Late August night,
I'm dozing in bed —

crickets sturdily cheeping —
elm nodding its head —

suddenly, flare!
glaring swath —

star, plummeting —
singed path.


If only some giant
had tossed that huge ball

through galaxy air —
if it hadn't fallen

and snuffed itself out
blazing along its arc,

but lay safe, nestled
in a glove in the dark

(a fireproof mitt:
thick clouds, congealed) —

the fielder pivoting
at the edge of the field. . .

- by Elise Partridge in the collection, Fielder's Choice


 




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Don't forget your keys to Sunday's scriptures!

Image: AwakenedBride

Have you spent some time yet with the scriptures you'll hear proclaimed at Mass this weekend?

Even just a few minutes of your time will open and prepare you to hear what the Lord will speak to us this Sunday...

For these texts and commentary on them - and for tips to help your kids prepare to hear the Word - check this earlier post.


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I thank God for a warm, summer's day...

Image: MacJams

I thank God
for something as simple as a warm summer's day
and for time,
plenty of time,
to sit in the sun, at the shore,
soaking in the warmth of the heart
of the solar system, hoping
that as the sun seeped into my body
so the very heat of God's presence might permeate
the marrow of my soul...

And I thank God
for the constant, gentle breezes
sweeping over bared flesh,
spiriting me to prayer,
reminding me of God's gentle approach...

I thank God
for Yo Yo Ma, as if he were sitting by my car
parked hard by the shore's edge,
playing Bach's unaccompanied cello suites:
the digital mystery of dashboard music
floating over Kalmus Beach just for me --
and for any passersby...

I thank God
for the cello's voice sounding as much within
as around me,
drawing me deeper into my heart's destinations,
where without the strings' Siren voice
I would not dare to tread...

The bow's sound on strings drawing me
down the canyons of my soul:
a sure-footed beast, burdened with my heart,
bearing me on a journey I'd dare not make alone...

Or those same strings on eagle's wings
might swoop and lift me from sheltered heights
to dangered depths where I might meet you, Lord,
and there, sins seen and fears faced,
soar aloft healed, forgiven, and saved...

I thank you God
for something as simple as a warm afternoon
and time,
plenty of time, to sit at the shore
and soak in the heat of your presence,
the warmth of your love and the surety
that even as the sun burns in August skies,
so, always, are you with me...


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Preach always: when necessary, use words...

The title of this post is a quotation usually attributed to St. Francis whose legacy is the motivation for The Gubbio Project, highlighted in the previous post.

There are several fine statements in the combox there but one, from Kelley, is a testimony to faith born of the Church's hospitality to the homeless, of the gospel preached in deeds more than words.  It's worth your time, right here.


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Sacred Sleep

Now, here's something I've never seen before - at least not in a Roman Catholic Church.  In the photo above those are people sleeping in church pews -- and no one is preaching at the moment!

I found a link in a combox over at the America blog, In All Things, that led me to The Gubbio Project at St. Boniface Roman Catholic Church in the Tenderloin district of San Francisco.  St. Boniface opens its doors to the homeless for "sacred sleep," Monday through Friday, from 7:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.

(Here's a short history and sketch of what The Gubbio project offers.)

I came across this link in a respose to Sidney Callahan's post on the value of reintroducing external markers (e.g., meatless Fridays) into Catholic culture.  Her position raises some good questions and the combox picks up the theme.

Catholic culture...  I was born in 1947 so I remember what that was.  But I wonder what, today, might be counted as the external and internals markers of Catholic life.

Seems to me that The Gubbio Project has it just about right.

Watch the video!



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Prayer for My Child's Surgery

Image: Way of Prayer

Here's another prayer from Alden Solovy that many might find helpful. It's likely that most of us know someone in our own family or circle of friends who might benefit from these words. (For newcomers: Alden is of the Jewish faith and follows the custom of not printing G-d's name in full.)

For My Child’s Surgery

G-d of health and healing,
I surrender my daughter /son to the physician’s hand,
The surgeon’s knife,
The nurse’s care,
Placing her / his body in the cradle of others,
Just as I pray for you to hold her / his soul with Your loving hands.

Bless her / his surgeon with a steady hand,
Keen vision and a passion for healing.
Bless her / his caregivers with wisdom and skill,
With compassion, focus and dedication.
Bless our family with ease and comfort,
Energy and endurance, tranquility and peace.

Source of life,
Bring Your healing power to my daughter / son
_______________ (child’s name in Hebrew or your native tongue).
Remove her / his pain,
Relieve her / his distress,
And cure her / his body, mind and spirit.
Bless her / him with strength, courage and hope
So that she / he may know life and health,
Joy and love.
And grant her / him a full and speedy recovery.

Blessed are You, G-d of mystery,
Source health and healing.

© 2011 Alden Solovy and To Bend Light. All rights reserved.


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