Blessing of Animals

Let's face it: not all pets are as pious and prayerful as the pup in this picture! So that's why, each year, it's customary to bless animals around October 4, the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi. Why on St. Francis Day?

Many of the stories that surround the life of St Francis deal with his love for animals. Perhaps the most famous incident that illustrates the Saint’s humility towards nature is recounted in the 'Fioretti' (The Little Flowers), a collection of legends and folk-lore that sprang up after the saint’s death. It is said that one day while Francis was traveling with some companions they happened upon a place in the road where birds filled the trees on either side. Francis told his companions to “wait for me while I go to preach to my sisters the birds.” The birds surrounded him, drawn by the power of his voice, and not one of them flew away. Francis spoke to them: "My sister birds, you owe much to God, and you must always and in everyplace give praise to Him; for He has given you freedom to wing through the sky and He has clothed you… for the Creator loves you greatly and He blesses you abundantly. Therefore… always seek to praise God."

Another legend from the Fioretti tells us that in the city of Gubbio , where Francis lived for some time, there was a wolf “terrifying and ferocious, who devoured men as well as animals.” Francis had compassion upon the townsfolk, and went up into the hills to find the wolf. Soon fear of the animal had caused all his companions to flee, but the saint pressed on and when he found the wolf he made the sign of the cross and commanded the wolf to come to him and hurt no one...Then Francis led the wolf into the town, and surrounded by startled citizens he made a pact between them and the wolf... In this manner Gubbio was freed from the menace of the predator...

These legends exemplify the Franciscan mode of charity and poverty as well as the saint's love of the natural world. Part of his appreciation of the environment is expressed in his Canticle of the Sun, a poem... which expresses a love and appreciation of Brother Sun, Sister Moon, Mother Earth, Brother Fire and all of God's creations personified in their fundamental forms. In "Canticle of the Creatures," he wrote: "All praise to you, O Lord, for all these brother and sister creatures." - Wikipedia

So, if your...

needs a little holy help,
look for and participate in a
BLESSING OF THE ANIMALS
near you!

(In Concord, MA - Sunday, October 2 at 2:00 p.m.
at The Emerson Umbrella)

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What would Jesus say?

H/T to NED



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Ain't this the truth?

H/T to RC

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Two videos for Rosh Hashanah

Image: Wallpapers

Here's some more help for understanding the Jewish New Year!

One video for New Year's fun and instruction:



And another video with a message:



H/T to JC for the link to the Bamboo video!


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L'shanah tovah tikatev v'taihatem! Rosh Hashanah

The title of this post translates:

A good and sweet year to you,
may you be written and sealed for a good year!

Rosh Hashanah has begun (At sundown, Wednesday, September 28, 2011)

For background on this celebration of the Jewish New Year, take a look at Judaism 101.

A Happy New Year to our Jewish neighbors!

Rosh Hashanah in a Nutshell

• Ten Most Important Things to Know About Rosh Hashanah
• Ten Step Guide to Celebrating Rosh Hashanah
• Rosh Hashanah Glossary
• Rosh Hashana Prayers and Torah Readings
• About Shofar
• About Tashlich
• Rosh Hashanah Food Customs
• Rosh Hashanah Recipes

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What needs to change in the Church?

Words on change have already been posted here this week.  Here's a snip from the pope's last speech before leaving Germany this past week, including some thoughts on change and a word of wisdom from Blessed Mother Teresa (emphasis added):

For some decades now we have been experiencing a decline in religious practice and we have been seeing substantial numbers of the baptized drifting away from church life. This prompts the question: should the Church not change? Must she not adapt her offices and structures to the present day, in order to reach the searching and doubting people of today? Blessed Mother Teresa was once asked what in her opinion was the first thing that would have to change in the Church. Her answer was: you and I.

Two things are clear from this brief story. On the one hand Mother Teresa wants to tell her interviewer: the Church is not just other people, not just the hierarchy, the Pope and the bishops: we are all the Church, we the baptized. And on the other hand her starting-point is this: yes, there are grounds for change. There is a need for change. Every Christian and the community of the faithful are constantly called to change.

What should this change look like in practice? Are we talking about the kind of renewal that a householder might carry out when reordering or repainting his home? Or are we talking about a corrective, designed to bring us back on course and help us to make our way more swiftly and more directly? Certainly these and other elements play a part. As far as the Church in concerned, though, the basic motive for change is the apostolic mission of the disciples and the Church herself.

 Read the whole text here, thanks to Rocco!

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Coming this very Sunday to a church near you: greed, truth, betrayal, honor, murder, justice!

Image source

The first lesson this Sunday, from Isaiah, paints a pastoral vineyard scene followed by the disappointment of the owner when the crop fails.  Another vineyard, in the gospel, is home to jealousy, greed, intrigue, betrayal and murder. There's quite a contrast in the second reading which offers us what's true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, gracious and worthy of praise.   There's symbolism at every turn here and reading over these texts before you hear them at Mass will be very helpful.


So plan now to put aside some time to read this Sunday's scriptures and background material on them.

Got kids? There's help for them, too, and giving them a "tease" of what they'll be hearing at Mass might just be the thing to prime them for more listening and less fidgeting during the liturgy of the Word.

(The image above shows us a typical watchtower from a vineyard. During harvest time, the vineyard owner might camp in the tower with his family, keeping an eye out for those who might steal from him.)


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Monday Morning Offering - 162

Image: George Mendoza

(I adapted a Monday Morning Offering from last year to use in yesterday's homily and now have adapted that homiletic version for today's MMO)


Good morning, good God!

Some things need changing in my life, Lord,
and I wish these changes would happen over night
but change comes slowly -
perhaps because I come slowly to change...

I offer you my need to change, Lord,
my need to be changed, my need to be open
to the changes you would make in me
and in my life...

I offer you my need to be fine-tuned, Lord,
lest the strings of my life sound flat
or worse, sharp, in the hearts and ears
of those who hear me...

I offer you my need to be changed
from the inside out, Lord,
from the core of who I am:
for my heart to be adjusted
to loving and being loved;
for my mind to be synced
with your word and your wisdom...

I offer you my need to be stretched, Lord,
to be the person you made me to be,
to be satisfied with nothing less
than becoming the person
you call me to be...

So many things in my life need changing, Lord:
heal and mend whatever’s torn, wounded and broken...

Open my eyes, Lord,
to see your hands at work in my life
helping me to change, every day...

Open my ears to hear your voice guiding me
through the changes I need to make...

Open my mouth, Lord,
to pray, to ask for your help
with the changes I most need to make...

Open my hands
to work for the changes that will lift others up…

Open my heart, Lord,
to your Spirit shaping, shifting, changing me from within...

Open my life, Lord,
and bring to harvest all you've planted
and everything you nurture
within me...

Change me, Lord:
empty and humble my heart
for the sake of all whose paths cross mine:
      help me serve those in need,
      cheer those who sorrow,
      comfort those who grieve,
      stand with those who are alone,
      and rejoice with those whose hearts are glad…

Accept my prayer and desire to change, Lord:
help me through this day
and through the week ahead...

Amen.


(Click here for an archive of Monday Morning Offerings)



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Change our hearts, Lord!

Homily for the 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time

(Scriptures for today's Mass)

Audio for homily



Before preaching on this gospel text
I think it’s only fair
that I make a statement of full disclosure:
           I am the second son! 

No doubt about it!

I usually have the best of intentions.
I generally want to do the right thing.
I plan to do the right thing.
I say I'm going to do the right thing.
I’m very good at reassuring myself that I am, indeed,
going to DO what I know I should do.
I tell the Lord I’m going to do what I know he wants me to do.

But then, I put it off:
whatever it is I wanted to do, needed to do -
I put off doing it.

I avoid it.
I get busy.
I get too busy.
I get too busy doing other things:
sometimes other good things
and sometimes other not so good things.

And sometimes I put off doing whatever it was long enough
that I end up forgetting what it was I wanted to do,
what I planned to do,
what I promised the Lord I’d do.

Like the second son in the gospel story,
I say, “YES! I’ll do that. “
But I don’t follow through.

And I repeat this failure over and over again.

- I tell myself I’m going to eat more healthful food.
But I don’t.

- I tell myself I’m going to exercise more.
  (Actually, I tell myself I'm going to exercise!)
But I don’t.

- I tell myself I’m going to pray more.
But I don’t.
 
- I’ve got some habits I want to put an end to.
And I don’t.

- I promise to be more generous with my time, my money, my talents.
But I’m not.

- I’ve got character flaws I resolve to work on.
But then I don’t.

And I don’t think I’m the only one here with this problem.

It’s a problem as old as the parables of Jesus.

We want to do the right thing… but we don’t.
We want to change… but we don’t.
We want to do more than just say “I will!” … but we don’t.

What can break this vicious circle?
What might get us at least to the level of the first son
who said he wasn’t going to do what was asked of him --
but then had a change of heart - and followed through?

The clue to an answer is in the second scripture today.
Recall these words:

Have in you the same attitude
that is also in Christ Jesus…
who emptied himself… who humbled himself…

Might we pray to empty ourselves of our false promises
and invite the Lord to come in
and make the changes we seem unable to make on our own?

Would you pray for that with me?

This morning?

If it helps, close your eyes…

Let us pray…


Lord, some things in my life need changing
and I wish these changes would happen over night
but change comes slowly to me -
perhaps because I come slowly to change...


Help me change, Lord.
Open me to the changes I want to make,
to the changes you want me to make in my life…


Change me from the inside out, Lord,
reset my heart and adjust it to loving and being loved;
let my mind be in sync with your word and wisdom...


Stretch me, Lord,
to be the person you call me to be;
stretch me until I’m satisfied with nothing less
than being the person you created me to be...


Open my eyes, Lord,
to see your hands at work in my life
helping me to change, every day...


Open my ears to hear your voice guiding me
through the changes I need to make...


Open my mouth, Lord,
to pray, to ask for your help
with the changes I most need to make...


Open my hands
to work for the change that will lift others up…


Open my heart, Lord,
to your Spirit shaping, shifting, changing me from within...


So many things in my life need changing, Lord:
heal and mend whatever’s torn, wounded and broken...


Change me, Lord:
open, empty and humble my heart
for the sake of all whose paths cross mine:
help me serve those in need,
cheer those who sorrow,
comfort those who grieve,
stand with those who are alone,
and rejoice with those whose hearts are glad…


You emptied yourself, Lord,
you humbled yourself on the Cross,
becoming obedient even to the point of death.


We come now to your table, Lord,
where your Spirit changes our gifts of bread and wine,
and makes of them your Body and Blood in the Eucharist.


Change us, too, Lord,
and make of us the people you call us to be.

Amen.






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Word for the Weekend: September 25

Image from the San Francisco Sentinel


God's ways are not fair!


If that's what you think or if you've ever thought that,  the Lord responds to your complaint in this weekend's first reading from scripture. And then Jesus adds another illustration of how God weighs things in the balance of justice.

Take a look at the scriptures and some commentary on them and see if you agree...


Got kids? What's their take on justice?  How will they react and respond when they here what Jesus says in the gospel this Sunday?  Here are some hints for helping young ones prepare to hear the Lord's Word at Mass this weekend.


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A morning prayer

Image: StuartWesley

It occurs to me that Fr. James Martin's "Evening Prayer," which I posted last night, could be easily adapted as a "Morning Prayer."

I know it's going to be my morning prayer, today...

Morning Prayer

Will you accept the opportunity to change today?

Or will you reject the possibility of growth?

Will you cling to your old ways of doing things,
out of pride or stubbornness or fear,
or will you let God show you a new way?

Give thanks to God for the invitation for daily conversion,
even if you don't fully accept the invitation,
and ask for the grace to be open
to let go of all that keeps you from growing in love.


- adapted from Fr. James Martin's "Evening Prayer"


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An evening prayer

Evening prayer

Did you accept the opportunity to change today?

Or did you reject the possibility of growth?

Did you cling to your old ways of doing things,
out of pride or stubbornness or fear,
or did you let God show you a new way?

Give thanks to God for the invitation for daily conversion,
even if you don't fully accept the invitation,
and ask for the grace to be open
to let go of all that keeps you from growing in love.


- Fr. James Martin



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Ordinary / Ordinal / Extraordinary

I received a message from a reader who is concerned that I may have misled you with my use of the word "ordinary" in the previous post, so a clarification may be in order.

As I noted in a post last year, the word ordinary in the title Ordinary Time refers to numbering of Sundays outside the major cycles of the Advent-Christmas and Lent-Easter seasons. A more precise, if somewhat clumsy, rendering of the titles of these Sundays would be along the lines of "The Twenty-fifth of the Counted Sundays."

In my more recent post I distinguished this past Sunday's Masses as "ordinary" in that no special "rites, events or commemorations" were celebrated or noted.  I also noted that it's good for us to remember that "something truly out of the ordinary happens every Sunday at Mass when the Lord speaks to us in his own words and invites us to share at his table the life of the sacrifice he offered once for all."

It's a word with ambiguous usage and can easily mislead us when used in ecclesial venues.

I'm grateful for a reader's reminder that on the church calendar, "ordinary" means "ordinal."


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An extraordinary Sunday in Ordinary Time

Photo by Dupont Media World

Haven't felt quite right for a couple of days and so I've not been very active here on this page.  But I'm feeling better this evening and wanted to jot down a few thoughts lingering in my mind and heart since Sunday.

On occasion, and this past weekend was such a time, some folks on the way out of church after Mass will mention that for some reason, often one they can't quite find the words for, they had a particularly deep experience of prayer at the liturgy just celebrated. 

It often comes out as, "That was the best Mass, Father!"  or "Something about Mass today really got to me, Father..."  or "Thanks, Father, I really needed that today and it was just what I needed."  This past weekend's liturgy was as ordinary as the 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time might be.  No special rites or events, no special commemorations... simply Mass on the Lord's Day.  But the Spirit touched a number of people to the point where they were moved to say something.  And I wonder at such times, "How many weren't at all able to bring to speech how our prayer had moved them that day?"

Of course, carefully prepared liturgy, even of the "ordinary" variety, including good music, effective lectors and the graceful service of many ministers all contribute to making even the "ordinary" something extraordinary.

I just know it brings great joy to a pastor's heart when he hears such comments from those leaving church and walking out into the week ahead.

Priests have the same experience.  It is, always, a grace and blessing to celebrate the Eucharist with the people of the parish on the Lord's Day but for priests, too, there are times when the Spirit's presence and touch is more palpably felt than at other times and when that happens in the ordinary times, it's truly a gift from God.

I hope that the folks who spoke to me and my pastoral associate at the church doors on the weekend will take the time to share the same with others and especially with those who don't come to Mass regularly.  It's good for folks who've drifted away to receive such simple, personal reminders that something truly out of the ordinary happens every Sunday at Mass when the Lord speaks to us in his own words and invites us to share at his table the life of the sacrifice he offered once for all.



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Chipping a new beginning

A while back I recommended Max Lindenman's blog, Diary of a Wimpy Catholic.  A link to the same can always be found on my sidebar.

Not at all in the wimpy category, Lindenman's writing is always worth the read.  Yesterday he put up a truly remarkable post, one with which I believe most of us will identify in a variety of ways. Max begins:

My Higher Power must be pleased. I just returned from my first AA meeting in possession of a “24-hour chip” — an object that looks like an outsized arcade token, stamped with Reinhold Niebuhr’s Serenity Prayer. I’m told that if it melts in my mouth, then I can have a drink.

You'll want to read the rest here.


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Monday Morning Offering - 161

Image: George Mendoza

(The press of parish life in September and yesterday's gospel prompted me to go back a few years and share this prayer again...)

Good morning, good God!

Just a few days ago, Lord,
in response to something oh-so-small,
I found myself ready to sputter and spill
my quick-temper  --
but before a word left my lips,
your Spirit gave me pause
and I realized how often, how quickly,
how easily I can think
it's all about
me...

I'm embarrassed to say that, Lord,
but I know it's true...

Accept my embarrassment as a contrite heart
and give me a heart like yours,
slow to anger and quick to kindness...

I'm grateful for that moment's grace, Lord,
keeping me in check,
and I regret the times I've missed your Spirit's nudge
prompting me to "count to ten"
to spare those in my path my foolish fuming...

So this morning I offer for your healing, Lord,
my snarl, my growl, my defenses aprowl
protecting  my way of seeing and and my way of doing
whatever's at hand...

With your Spirit's power,
tame my temper, Lord,
and temper my rash response...

Let your Spirit be the gatekeeper at my lips,
keeping careful watch
on all my words and ways...

With your Spirit's patience,
take hold of my heart, Lord:
tame, heal, shape and mold me
as the person you call me to be...

And when others snap and snarl
give me an understanding heart, Lord:
remind me of how great's my need
for your mercy and your grace...

Accept my morning offering, Lord:
give me peace and help me share it
today and through the week ahead...

Amen.

(Click here for an archive of Monday Morning Offerings)



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At the end of the day, mercy for all who seek it...

Workers in the Vineyard by Nelle Bube

Homily for the Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Scriptures for today's Mass

Audio for homily 

Why do the good die young?
Why does anyone young die?
Why do scoundrels live long lives?
Why do the innocent suffer?
Why do thieves prosper?

Why does a just, loving, all-powerful God allow these things to happen?
Couldn’t God, shouldn’t God do something about this?

Have you ever found yourself frustrated, disappointed, even angry:
- that God doesn’t always think the same way we do?
- that God doesn’t always do what we
hope, imagine and presume God ought to do?

Apparently, the prophet Isaiah was right:
God’s thoughts and ways are very different than our own.
Sometimes, even when our thoughts and deeds are really very good,
it can seem that God is working from a different set of plans.

We know that the Lord is a champion of justice, fairness and equity:
the whole bible testifies to this -- well, most of the bible!
Then comes a parable like the one we just heard
where nothing seems just, fair or equitable,
where things seem just the opposite!

What’s the Lord thinking here?
What’s his “way” here?

Why the apparent injustice to those who worked all day?

Could be that God sees a much bigger picture here than we do.
- God’s perspective is widely and deeply panoramic,
while ours can be narrow and self-focused.
- God’s way here is scandalously generous
while ours can tend toward the selfish and self-serving.
- God’s time is measured here not in the shifts of a work day
but in the unending eons of eternity.
- What God pays out here can’t be counted in the coin of a daily wage:
such payment, such peace is priceless;
it can’t be earned, only gratefully received
from the One who freely gives it.

The Lord sees from a different perspective
and indeed is working from a different set of plans here.
But the Lord’s purpose is not to confuse us,
much less to keep us from seeing as he sees.

To the contrary!
 
The Lord is revealing to us here what we can’t see,
what we might not even dare imagine:
that his mercy is pure gift to us, given freely and generously
to any and all who come to receive it.

The story in the parable is designed to turn us on our heads
so that we might begin to see how limited is our perspective.

One lesson of this parable for each of us is this:
“It’s not all about me.”

“It’s not all about me” and what I’ve done and what I deserve.
“It’s not all about me” in comparison to others
who’ve done less or more than I have.
“It’s all about God” and God’s generosity to me and to everyone
who comes, at any hour, for mercy.

If this parable topples our notions of bargaining with God for grace,
our self-constructed merit systems for currying God’s favor,
and our tendency to judge others by our own standards
-- then the parable has done its work.

The truth is, we don’t know why the good die young
and we don’t know why the young die.
We don’t know why scoundrels live long lives,
or why the innocent suffer while thieves prosper.

Nor do we know why a just, loving, all-powerful God
allows these things to happen.

But we do know that at the end of the day
our scandalously generous God will be ready to offer mercy
to all who come with hearts open receive it.

Should this surprise any of us who gather every week
under the outstretched arms of Jesus?
He gave himself for us with a scandalous disregard for his own comfort
so that the poor might be filled with good gifts,
that the abused might have their innocence restored,
that the suffering might find relief,
that the dead, young and old, might have life again,
and that the wicked might find mercy when they come to seek it.

Ponder the depths of the Lord’s overflowing grace,
Jesus, whose life, whose Body and Blood are offered as food
to nourish our hearts’ deepest hungers.

From his sacrifice flows mercy without end
for all who come to the altar,
whatever the hour,
when, by grace,
they hear their Lord calling them at day’s end.


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As the seasons change...

Photo by Mark Penta

The last few days have brought not a frost but the first real chill we've had in these parts for many months.  There's been some discussion at the staff lunch table about this change in clime.  Some are thrilled to find themselves on fall's doorstep and others are hanging on to every warm day, unwilling to let the summer go.  (I'm in the latter group!)

But this season of seasons changing has its beauty, without a doubt.  Mark Penta shot the scene above on his iPhone while walking by Horn Pond in Woburn, MA.  Mark's also the artist who did my caricature, now on the sidebar here.

There's no denying the golden beauty Mark's artist's eye captured here, opening even a summer-lover's heart to autumn days...


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Whose way are we walking?

Have you ever thought God is unfair?  unjust?

The scriptures this weekend engage just such thoughts.

Before you hear these texts at Mass on Sunday (or Saturday evening), take some time to read them over and look at some brief commentary on them.  And if you're bringing children to Mass with you, they'll benefit preparing to hear the Word, too.

All of this in links at this earlier post!


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A smart phone Christmas card!

H/T to Deacon Greg for this photo which captures more than a thousand words!


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Interfaith Prayer Breakfast: Let us pray...

I was invited to offer the invocation at an interfaith prayer breakfast this morning, part of a series of events at Trinitarian Congregational Church in Concord, in commemoration of 9/11.


Let us pray...

In the quiet sanctuaries of our hearts,
let each of us name and come before the One
we call Holy…

Gracious God, source of all that is good,
font of every good gift,
grant us the healing of nations
that brings forth justice
and welcomes peace
that the peoples of your world
might rejoice and grow and live as one…

Well-spring of all that is truly human,
heal our hearts of all that stands in the way
of our coming together to shelter and feed,
to clothe and care for one another:
let none go without while others have too much…

Depths of all wisdom,
give us healing words to speak to one another;
give us courage to announce to all
what is true, what is just and what is good:
counsel us to seek the truth
and to recognize it when we find it…

Font of all that is pure,
heal and cleanse whatever soils our dreams and desires,
our imaginations and creative spirits:
with beauty and integrity shape and form
our thoughts, our hopes, our plans
and let that light which is yours alone
shine in us, through us and among us…

Creator of every good gift,
restore our relationship with the world you have made,
with the earth on which we walk,
the air we breathe, the water we drink,
and with all that lives and grows and moves
around and above us:
forgive our poor stewardship
and make us faithful guardians
of your garden…

Unfailing source of courage and strength,
heal what keeps us from loving and working with one another
in our families, in our neighborhoods,
in our cities and towns,
and in our faith communities:
help us come together
despite our differences
and teach us to learn from one another
through our differences…

Bless our gathering this morning
and the spirit we share at these tables,
may this food, the harvest you’ve given us,
nourish each and all of us
for the work of healing that leads to peace…

We praise you, we bless you, we thank you
and we call you Holy!

Amen.


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Word for the Weekend: September 18

Photo by AP


Time to sit down with the scriptures and begin to prepare for celebrating the Lord's Day this weekend, the 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time. Spend some time with the texts and background material on them and invite your kids to do the same.

This Sunday's familiar gospel story challenges American sensitivities about fairness and justice but the greater challenge in the parable comes from God's generous desire to open his kingdom to all.

The photo above shoes a contemporary scene of workers going into the vineyard... If you were in that photo, would you be heading out to work at dawn, at 9:00 in the morning, at noon, or at 3:00 or 5:00 in the afternoon?

And what how would you expect to be compensated?

And if you were not the laborer but, rather, the master of the vineyard, what would your pay scale be?

What kind of master do we hope the Lord will be for us?

How do we follow Jesus in this regard?


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After Apple Picking

Image: InnAtClearwaterPond

It's the season for apple-picking, a treat New Englanders might take for granted. Apple picking comes at summer's end, as fall begins and nature prepares for her great winter sleep.

Children of all ages love to pick, collect and take home the apples for baking and cooking and just plain good eating. Of course, there are shadows of meaning in this season that the truly young might miss as the days grow shorter.

Robert Frost, poet laureate of New England, wrote of the mysteries of this season. His words follow below and you can listen to Frost reading this poem here.

After Apple Picking

My long two-pointed ladder's sticking through a tree

Toward heaven still,
And there's a barrel that I didn't fill
Beside it, and there may be two or three
Apples I didn't pick upon some bough.
But I am done with apple-picking now.
Essence of winter sleep is on the night,
The scent of apples: I am drowsing off.
I cannot rub the strangeness from my sight
I got from looking through a pane of glass
I skimmed this morning from the drinking trough
And held against the world of hoary grass.
It melted, and I let it fall and break.
But I was well
Upon my way to sleep before it fell,
And I could tell
What form my dreaming was about to take.
Magnified apples appear and disappear,
Stem end and blossom end,
And every fleck of russet showing clear.
My instep arch not only keeps the ache,
It keeps the pressure of a ladder-round.
I feel the ladder sway as the boughs bend.
And I keep hearing from the cellar bin
The rumbling sound
Of load on load of apples coming in.
For I have had too much
Of apple-picking: I am overtired
Of the great harvest I myself desired.
There were ten thousand thousand fruit to touch,
Cherish in hand, let down, and not let fall.
For all
That struck the earth,
No matter if not bruised or spiked with stubble,
Went surely to the cider-apple heap
As of no worth.
One can see what will trouble
This sleep of mine, whatever sleep it is.
Were he not gone,
The woodchuck could say whether it's like his
Long sleep, as I describe its coming on,
Or just some human sleep.

- Robert Frost



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Monday Morning Offering - 160

Image: George Mendoza

Good morning, good God!

The quiet days of summer are gone, Lord,
and parish life is almost in full swing!
Even if I'm not ready for it all,
the rush and quickening pace pick me up
and sweep me along, head long,
into a new "year" of programs and prayer...

I offer you praise, Lord, for the life all around me:
the people, the work, the schedules, the events,
the coming and goings, the new beginnings
and the opportunities all of this offers me...

I offer you praise, Lord,
for all the ways your hand stirs in my life,
prodding, inviting, pushing, pulling,
tugging at my sleeve to draw me out of myself
and into the pulsing body of your presence
in the people who cross my paths every day,
all day long...

I offer you praise, Lord,
for the gifts that are mine and for all the gifts
of those with whom I work and for all the ways
you mix and match our gifts and talents,
our inspirations, ideas and insights
as day by day, through the work of our hands,
you build the kingdom of your presence
and strengthen the reign of your peace among us...

I offer you praise, Lord,
for the grace and growth of working together
with sisters and brothers whose energy and excitement
charge me with new life, with hope,
with reason to put one foot ahead of another and,
step by step, to make my way through days and nights
and weeks and months, year by year,
growing in the life of your Church and in the joy
of being members of your Body, alive and well,
even when times are dark and difficult...

I offer you praise, Lord,
for the ways in which you make of us all
so much more than even the sum of us might be,
how you multiply our efforts in our sharing in the work
you've entrusted to our care...

Help me, Lord, when I'm tempted to withdraw,
when I'm tired and ready to call it quits,
when I'm weary and not sure if I can go on:
give me your Spirit to ignite the spark of your life within me;
give me others to draw me into the fields of your harvest;
give me strength to keep going when the going gets tough;
give me grace to trust that in everything I do
your hand is there to guide and guard me...

And when my selfish and careless ways wound those at my side,
help me see the harm I've done
and help me heal the hurt I've caused:
make me an instrument of your peace, Lord,
and open me to the healing peace that others offer me...

All this I offer you, Lord, as summer ends
and a "new year" begins in parish life:
accept my morning offering this day
and through all the weeks and months ahead...

Amen.

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Prayer and Song at Mass on 9/11

In my parish we remembered the tenth anniversary of 9/11 in simple ways.

Of course, the readings of the day for the 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A, offered rich texts in which to ground our celebration and prayer.  We prayed the collects from the Mass for Peace and Justice and Eucharistic Prayer for Reconciliation II.  One petition related to the events of 9/11 was added to the Intercessions.  The only musical choice made with reference to the day was our closing song, This Is My Song.  Our pew books offer verses 1, 2 and 5 of those below.

Tune: FINLANDIA, Jean Sibelius (1899)
Vv. 1-2: Lloyd Stone (1912-1992)
Vv. 3-5: George Harkness

This is my song, O God of all the nations,
a song of peace for lands afar and mine;
this is my home, the country where my heart is;
here are my hopes, my dreams, my holy shrine:
but other hearts in other lands are beating
with hopes and dreams as true and high as mine.

My country's skies are bluer than the ocean,
and sunlight beams on cloverleaf and pine;
but other lands have sunlight too, and clover,
and skies are everywhere as blue as mine:
O hear my song, thou God of all the nations,
a song of peace for their land and for mine.

This is my song, O God of all the nations,
a prayer that peace transcends in every place;
and yet I pray for my beloved country --
the reassurance of continued grace:
Lord, help us find our oneness in the Savior,
in spite of differences of age and race.

May truth and freedom come to every nation;
may peace abound where strife has raged so long;
that each may seek to love and build together,
a world united, righting every wrong;
a world united in its love for freedom,
proclaiming peace together in one song.

This is my prayer, O Lord of all earth's kingdoms,
thy kingdom come, on earth, thy will be done;
let Christ be lifted up 'til all shall serve him,
and hearts united, learn to live as one:
O hear my prayer, thou God of all the nations,
myself I give thee -- let thy will be done.



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Reflecting on forgiveness on 9/11

Note: On any Sunday, the same scriptures are read and preached in every Catholic church around the world. These readings are on a three year cycle: what you hear on any Sunday you heard three years before and will hear again three years hence. By grace and not design, then, the tenth anniversary of 9/11 fell on the 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A - and thus, the scriptures for this day...

Homily for the 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time - 9/11/11
(Scriptures for today's Mass)

Audio for homily



It was a beautiful, bright-skyed September morning
and as I left Our Lady’s church after Mass,
Ann Gallagher stopped me and told me
a plane had flown into the World Trade Center.

On the way back to the rectory,
I remember thinking that the news was probably exaggerated,
that some small aircraft, off its flight plan,
might have nearly clipped the Tower
but certainly hadn’t flown into it.

Confronted with tragedy,
the mind and spirit will often rush to recalculate the facts
in an effort to make them fit a more comfortable framework,
a more acceptable reality.

But the news and Ann’s report of it were accurate,
even if incomplete:
not one but two planes in New York;
and another in Shanksville and another in Arlington.

The most painful moments in our lives
are often those that bring us to God.

When our eyes can’t believe what they see,
and our ears can't believe what they hear;
when our souls are too small to hold the grief that fills them,
when our hearts are too angry for any peace to enter;
when no recalculation of the facts
can stand up to the tragedy before us,
we often turn to the Lord:
hoping that through his eyes
we might see something different, something brighter;
that in his arms
our hurt and grief might find healing;
that in his heart
we might savor some moments of longed for peace.

But often enough, in just such times,
the Lord calls us to a further recalculation.

He doesn’t ask us to reimagine our reality
but rather, to recalculate our response to it.

As he does in the scriptures today.

The Word today addresses the minds and hearts
of people who are unjustifiably wronged,
angry, hurt, grieving, wrathful and vengeful.

The Lord knows well what they’ve suffered
and yet he calls them to recalculate
not their reality - but their response to it.

He tells them,
Let go your anger and hate -- don’t hold on to them.
Vengeance is mine to take, says the Lord -- not yours.
Forgive those who have treated you unjustly. Forgive them!
If you want your heart healed, don’t feed it with anger.
If you want to be forgiven - - pardon those who have offended you.

Hard sayings, indeed.
And our first response might be to try to soften the hard saying.

I don’t think God means that in THIS situation!
But yes, in every situation God is ready to forgive
and calls on us to be merciful, too.

Some things just can’t be forgiven!
Not so.
All wrongs, and therefore any wrong, can be forgiven,
even the most heinous.

I can’t accept the evil that was done!
Of course not - we should never accept evil.
The Lord doesn’t ask us to condone or accept any wrong-doing,
but the Lord does ask us to accept, to forgive
the neighbor who wronged us,
just as the Lord accepts and forgives us
when we offend him.

How will the Lord’s Word today help us recalculate our response
when someone wrongs us?

Let me suggest,
it’s probably best not to start by trying to love Al Queda
or the 19 terrorists who executed the horror of 9/11.

Better to start closer to home - although this might be more difficult.

I need to learn to forgive the family member or neighbor,
the friend or colleague or schoolmate
who wronged me, hurt me, betrayed me,
cheated me, abandoned me...

I need to find a place in my heart
for someone I’ve kicked out of my heart,
even a place for those who've kicked me out of their hearts.

I need to find compassion and understanding
for those who have hurt me,
just the kind of compassion and understanding I hope to find
when I’ve hurt someone else.

I need to find a place in my heart to forgive
as I have been forgiven.

I need to learn
that when I forgive someone who has offended me,
the first person who is freed of the burden of the offense
-- is me.
I let it go.

It’s easy to believe that the greater the wrong done to us,
the more leeway is ours for anger and vengeance.
But the Lord calls us to a much higher standard.
The greater the harm done,
the greater the love the Lord calls us to offer.
And the standard for such love is the Cross of Jesus
on which the most Innocent of all laid down his life
for all of us, sinners.

As he gave himself for us on the Cross,
so he gives himself to us at this table,
on the altar of the Eucharist,
where, from his heart, he forgives us, his brothers and sisters,
and calls us to forgive one another.


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