Pause for Prayer: TUESDAY 1/20

I know so many folks who are losing hope:  finding it more and more difficult to trust that all is not lost, that things will turn around, that better days are coming, that help is on the way, that the Lord is at their side, that all is in God's hands and that all things shall be well...

 

So for these friends, I'm posting this prayer - with the hope they'll make it their own 

and find in their faith the hope they need today...

When I'm lost in the dark, Lord,

    give me hope of a new day's dawn...

In the midst of my distress,
    give me hope for serenity... 

When I feel trapped in my past,

    give me hope for all that's ahead...

 

When sadness overwhelms me,

    give me hope for the peace you promise...

When I'm lost in my confusion,

    give me hope for understanding...

When I'm feeling all alone,

    give me hope for real companionship...

When I'm lost in doubt and fear,

    give me hope and trust in faith...

When I fear there's no one there,

    give me hope for someone's helping hand...

When I'm at my weakest point, Lord,

    give me hope for strength and courage...

 

When war and terror threaten

    give me  hope for peace around the world... 

When it seems there's simply no way out,

    give me grace to hope for hope...

And when I'm feeling hopeless 
    help me find my hope in you, Lord,

         the source of all and every hope...

 

Amen. 

 

I Set My Hope by Matt Papa 

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When this life of trials tests my faith 

I set my hope on Jesus 

When the questions come and doubts remain 

I set my hope on Jesus 

For the deepest wounds that time won’t heal 

There’s a joy that runs still deeper 

There’s a truth that’s more than all I feel 

I set my hope on Jesus   

 

I set my hope on Jesus 

My rock, my only trust 

Who set His heart upon me first 

I set my hope on Jesus 

 

Though I falter in this war with sin 

I set my hope on Jesus 

When I fail the fight and sink within 

I set my hope on Jesus 

Though the shame would drown me in its sea 

And I dread the waves of justice 

I will cast my life on Calvary 

I set my hope on Jesus  

 

Though the world call me to leave my Lord 

I set my hope on Jesus 

Though it offer all its vain rewards 

I set my hope on Jesus 

Though this heart of mine is prone to stray 

Give me grace enough to finish ’

Till I worship on that final day 

I set my hope on Jesus 

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NIGHT PRAYER: Martin Luther King, Jr Day

 

On this Martin Luther King Day, 

    let's pray in the very words of the man we honor...

Most gracious and all wise God, 

   before whose face the generations rise and fall;

        Thou in whom we live, and move, and have our being:

We thank thee 

    for all of thy good and gracious gifts, 

    for life and for health; 

    for food and for raiment; 

    for the beauties of nature and human nature. 

 

We come before thee 

    painfully aware of our inadequacies and shortcomings. 

 

We realize that we stand surrounded 

    with the mountains of love 

and we deliberately dwell 

    in the valley of hate. 

 

We stand amid the forces of truth 

    and deliberately lie. 

 

We are forever offered the high road 

    and yet we choose to travel the low road. 

 

For these sins O God forgive us. 

Break the spell of that which blinds our minds. 

Purify our hearts that we may see thee. 

 

O God in these turbulent days 

    when fear and doubt are mounting high 

give us broad visions, penetrating eyes, 

    and the power of endurance. 

 

Help us to work with renewed vigor 

    for a warless world, 

    for a better distribution of wealth 

    and for a brother/sisterhood that transcends race or color.

 

 In the name and spirit of Jesus we pray. 

 

Amen.  

 

Shed a Little Light by James Taylor

 - performed by The Maccabeats / Naturally 7     

 

If a video doesn't appear below, click here!

 

 

Let us turn our thoughts today
To Martin Luther King
And recognize that there are ties between us
All men and women living on the Earth
Ties of hope and love
Sister and brotherhood

 

That we are bound together
In our desire to see the world
Become a place in which our children
Can grow free and strong

 

We are bound together by the task
That stands before us
And the road that lies ahead
We are bound, and we are bound

 

There's a feeling like the clenching of a fist
There's a hunger in the center of the chest
There's a passage through the darkness and the mist
And though the body sleeps
The heart will never rest

 

Shed a little light, oh Lord
So that we can see, oh yeah
Just a little light, oh Lord.
Want to stand it on up
Stand it on up, oh Lord
Want to walk it on down 

Shed a little light, oh Lord 

 

Can't get no light from a dollar bill
(Don't see me no light from a dollar bill)
Don't give me no light from a TV screen, oh no, no
When I open my eyes, I want to drink my fill
From the well on the hill
I know you know what I mean

 

Shed a little light, oh Lord
So that we can see, oh yeah
Just a little light, oh Lord
Want to stand it on up
Stand it on up, oh Lord
Want to walk it on down

Shed a little light, oh Lord 

So we can see

 

And there's a feeling like the clenching of a fist
There is a hunger in the center of the chest, oh no
There is a passage through the darkness and the mist
And though the body sleeps
The heart will never rest

 

Let us turn our thoughts today
To Martin Luther King
And recognize that there are ties between us
All men and women living on the Earth
Ties of hope and love
Sister and brotherhood

   

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Three American cardinals speak out

Cardinals Cupich, McElroy and Tobin

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Three American cardinals (the archbishops of Chicago, Washington, and Newark) have issued a statement on charting a moral vision for American foreign policy.  Those who have been disappointed in the virtual silence of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops - and in the recent  statement from Bishop Robert Barron who sits on President Trump's Religious Liberty Commission - will be more than grateful for the vision these three cardinals propose.

 

Charting A Moral Vision 

   of American Foreign Policy

 

In 2026, the United States has entered into the most profound and searing debate about the moral foundation for America’s actions in the world since the end of the Cold War. The events in Venezuela, Ukraine and Greenland have raised basic questions about the use of military force and the meaning of peace. The sovereign rights of nations to self-determination appear all too fragile in a world of ever greater conflagrations. The balancing of national interest with the common good is being framed within starkly polarized terms. Our country’s moral role in confronting evil around the world, sustaining the right to life and human dignity, and supporting religious liberty are all under examination. And the building of just and sustainable peace, so crucial to humanity’s well-being now and in the future, is being reduced to partisan categories that encourage polarization and destructive policies. 

 

For all of these reasons, the contribution of Pope Leo in outlining a truly moral foundation for international relations to the Vatican diplomatic corps this month has provided us an enduring ethical compass for establishing the pathway for American foreign policy in the coming years. He stated: 

In our time, the weakness of multilateralism is a particular cause for concern at the international level. A diplomacy that promotes dialogue and seeks consensus among all parties is being replaced by a diplomacy based on force, by either individuals or groups of allies. War is back in vogue and a zeal for war is spreading. The principle established after the Second World War, which prohibited nations from using force to violate the borders of others, has been completely undermined. Peace is no longer sought as a gift and desirable good in itself, or in pursuit of “the establishment of the ordered universe willed by God with a more perfect form of justice among men and women.” Instead, peace is sought through weapons as a condition for asserting one’s own dominion.  

Pope Leo also reiterates Catholic teaching that “the protection of the right to life constitutes the indispensable foundation for every other human right” and that abortion and euthanasia are destructive of that right. He points to the need for international aid to safeguard the most central elements of human dignity, which are under assault because of the movement by wealthy nations to reduce or eliminate their contributions to humanitarian foreign assistance programs. Finally, the Holy Father points to the increasing violations of conscience and religious freedom in the name of an ideological or religious purity that crushes freedom itself. 

 

As pastors and citizens, we embrace this vision for the establishment of a genuinely moral foreign policy for our nation. We seek to build a truly just and lasting peace, that peace which Jesus proclaimed in the Gospel. We renounce war as an instrument for narrow national interests and proclaim that military action must be seen only as a last resort in extreme situations, not a normal instrument of national policy. We seek a foreign policy that respects and advances the right to human life, religious liberty, and the enhancement of human dignity throughout the world, especially through economic assistance. 

 

Our nation’s debate on the moral foundation for American policy is beset by polarization, partisanship, and narrow economic and social interests. Pope Leo has given us the prism through which to raise it to a much higher level. We will preach, teach, and advocate in the coming months to make that higher level possible. 

 

 Signed: 

Cardinal Blase J. Cupich, Archbishop of Chicago
Cardinal Robert W. McElroy, Archbishop of Washington
Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, C.Ss.R., Archbishop of Newark

 

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Monday Morning Offering: MLK Day

Morning Coffee: George Mendoza

A song to accompany today's Monday Morning Offering...

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We Shall Overcome by the 

   Morehouse College Glee Club 

  

By the power of your saving love, Lord,
help our nation overcome 
the bias that divides us, 
the bigotry bred by mistrust
and the pain that comes of prejudice...

Let us never for a moment 

pretend to love you - and at the same time

ignore, mistreat or abandon 

    our neighbors, brothers and sisters all, near and far,     

    one family, children of one Father,            

    one in Christ our brother,

    blessed by our diversity, yours in our humanity...

In the depths of our hearts, Lord, 

help us overcome 

    our racism, our prejudice and partiality,

    our bias and our bigotry,

    our narrow-minded thinking

    and all the ways we rush to judgment...

 

Help us overcome 

    our pride, our self-importance,

    our undeserved privileges and rights,

    our denial of what's fact, what's true,

    our careless disregard of others' pain and plight...

And, Lord, help us overcome the thought

    that we're above all this,

the temptation to believe

    that no such faults are ours...

 

Help us overcome 

    and move beyond the status quo

    and all that keeps us from real change;

free us from inertia's grip

    paralyzing progress  

    and keeping things the way they've always been... 

 

Help us overcome, Lord,

    what discriminates and segregates,

    separates and divides us,

    what keeps us from being one nation,

        indivisible, under your reign, 

        with liberty and equal justice - for all...

That's what we pray this morning, Lord,

and that's all we have to offer you:

    our plea that you help us do

        what we have not accomplished ourselves,

        what we cannot do on our own,

        what we cannot do apart from you

            and your blessing, your strength 

                and your grace...

 

Amen.

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Do you need to find peace in the midst of all that's going on?

Here's a video (above) of my homily for Sunday, January 18 and here's the gospel text I preached on - and the text of my homily follows.  I know that some folks skip the video and read the text - but if you want to hear the musical element in my homily, please take a look at the video!  (If a video doesn't appear above, click here!)

///////////////////////////// 

Well, if you're paying attention and have a halfway decent memory, you'll recall that last week's gospel also featured John the Baptist – and - what transpired when Jesus approached him at the Jordan River - and - how the Holy Spirit descended on him in the form of a dove.

 

Two weeks in a row - the same story. Seems early in the season to me for a rerun!

 

I was struggling on how to preach on this (since I already preached on John last week) until I was in my book group on Friday - and we were discussing all the discord and the turmoil in the news these days. And a friend at the table said, "I need a way to find peace in the midst of all of this."  I need a way to find peace in the midst of all this…

 

And as soon as he said that - I felt as if the Holy Spirit came down on ME - not in the form of a dove!

 

And I knew for certain what I was called to preach this weekend.

 

When I read or listen to the news these days, I find myself increasingly more troubled, confused, angry, exasperated, disappointed, hurt and helpless.   And it’s precisely then - in the midst of all that - that I need to look up and see John the Baptist, and Jesus approaching him, and I need to hear John announcing:

"Hey, everybody - look! Here comes Jesus - the Lamb of God. He's coming to take away the sin of the world. He's coming to relieve you of your troubles, anger, confusion, exasperation, your disappointment and hurt. He's coming to be the strength you look for when you feel so powerless.”

If I call myself a Christian- and I do.

If I name myself as one who follows Jesus - and I do.

If I believe that Jesus forgives MY sin - and - has the strength and power to take away the trouble, anger, confusion, exasperation, disappointment, and hurt that MY sin dumps in the laps, in the lives, in the hearts of those who feel powerless over MY words and deeds  --- then I might also look to Jesus, I might behold him (as John tells us). I might look to Jesus, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world in which I live.

 

Now, is all that little more than pious fluff?  Or does it have some real meaning, some nitty gritty IM-plications and APPlications - for my life and for yours?

 

Well, the answer to that question is this: John's announcement about Jesus is either everything or it's nothing. It's either true or it's false. It's either everything in my daily life and yours, or it's nothing – it’s pious fluff.

 

I'm not suggesting here - or more importantly, the gospel is not suggesting here - that if we believe in Jesus, then all our problems will go away. We don't believe that.

But we do believe is that the deepest peace we will ever know in the midst of this broken world - will be the peace we find in Jesus - while we are living in this broken world.

 

We believe that the deepest peace we will ever know will be found not in the present administration, nor in its alternative - but in Jesus.

 

We believe that the deepest peace we will ever know will be found not in the Constitution of the United States of America - but in Jesus.

 

We believe that the deepest peace we will ever know will be found not in any decisions of the Supreme Court - but in Jesus.

 

We believe that the deepest peace we will ever know will be found not in our trouble, anger, confusion, exasperation, disappointment and hurt. No, not there - but in Jesus.

 

Of course, finding our deepest peace in Jesus in no way relieves us of our responsibility, of our call as Christians to work for, to protect and defend, to ensure those civil laws and structures that guarantee and safeguard the dignity and rights of every human being on the face of the earth - without exception.

 

But while engaged in the struggle to achieve all of that - we Christians find our deepest peace, our ultimate peace, the peace we seek - only in Jesus -who is our peace and who is the way to the peace for which you and I hunger and thirst.

 

So, when we read or listen to the news these days and find ourselves feeling increasingly troubled, confused, angry, exasperated, disappointed, and hurt, and helpless - it's precisely then - in the midst of all of that - that we need to look up and see John the Baptist, and Jesus approaching him, and hear John announcing:

Hey, everybody, look! Here comes Jesus, the Lamb of God! He's coming to take away the sin of the world. He's coming to relieve us of our troubles, anger, and confusion, our exasperation, disappointment, and hurt. He's coming to be the strength we seek when, in our helplessness, we feel powerless. He’s coming with grace and peace from God, for all who call upon his name.

And that's why we pray, every time we come to Mass, just before communion:

Deliver us, Lord, from every evil. Graciously grant peace in our days that by the help of your mercy, we may be always free from sin and safe from all distress - as we await the blessed hope, the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ - who is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. 

Or we could sing the same prayer…

 

In the morning when I rise

In the morning when I rise

In the morning, when I rise

Give me Jesus!

 

Give me Jesus, Give me Jesus!

You may have all this world

Give me Jesus…

 

Oh, and when the road is rough

Oh, and when my spirit's down

O and when I'm losing hope

Give me Jesus!

 

Yes, and when I come to die.

Oh, and when I come to die

Yes, and when I come to die

Give me Jesus!

 

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NIGHT PRAYER: Sunday 1/18

On Sundays, Night Prayer will focus on an element from the day's celebration of Mass. Tonight our prayer begins with Saint Paul's call for us all to be holy!

Lord, you call me to be (gulp) holy!

 

Truth be told - that kinda scares me

because one thing I know is how unholy

my thoughts and words and deeds can be...

 

But holy is the goal you set for me, Lord,

    holy is the path you call me to walk

        and holy is the life for which I was created...

Daunting - to say the least!

 

So I'm relieved to know, Lord, 

you don't call me to the holiness of 

    Saint Paul or Joan of Arc,

    or Francis of Assisi or Katherine Drexel,

    or Oscar Romero  or Maria Goretti

    or Maximilian Kolbe or Teresa of Calcutta...

 

You called each of them

    in their own times, circumstances and struggles,

with their own 

    abilities, talents and personalities,

in spite of their own 

    faults, weaknesses and limitations,

and through

   the  seeds you planted in their hearts

    and the words you whispered in their prayer,

you opened them to your Spirit

    moving deep within their souls

    in ways unique, personal and individual...

    

You don't call me to be Paul or Joan, Oscar or Teresa:

but you do call me to be me 

    (insert you own name here!)

and you call me

    in my own times, circumstances and struggles,

    with my own abilities, talents and personality,

    in spite of all my faults, weaknesses and limitations...

 

You call me to be holy, Lord,

    through the seeds of faith you plant in my heart

    and the words you whisper in my prayer,

opening me to your Spirit

    moving deep in my soul...

 

In ways unique and personal to me as an individual

    you call me to be - holy...

 

May all the saints intercede for me, Lord

  and help me see 

     how you're calling me to holiness...

Help me respond to your call in thought, word and deed

    in my life, 

    through my story, 

    on my  journey,

as I make my way to holiness

    and  home to you, 

        to your love and to your peace...

 

Protect me, Lord, while I'm awake 

    and watch over me while I sleep

that awake, I may keep watch with you

    and asleep, rest in your peace...

Amen.

 

Take Time To Be Holy 

    by William Dunn Longstaff 

performed by 

    the Mormon Tabernacle Choir 

 

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Take time to be holy, speak oft with thy Lord;  

Abide in him always, and feed on his Word.  

Make friends of God’s children, help those who are weak, 

Forgetting in nothing his blessing to seek.  

 

Take time to be holy, the world rushes on;  

Spend much time in secret, with Jesus alone. 

 By looking to Jesus, like him thou shalt be;  

Thy friends in thy conduct his likeness shall see.  

 

Take time to be holy, let him be thy Guide;  

And run not before him, whatever betide. 

 In joy or in sorrow, still follow the Lord,  

And, looking to Jesus, still trust in His Word.  

 

Take time to be holy, be calm in thy soul, 

Each thought and each motive beneath his control.  

Thus led by his Spirit to fountains of love,  

Thou soon shalt be fitted for service above.

 

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