Pause for Prayer: TUESDAY 7/21

Be my strength, Lord, 
   when I'm weak and tired, 
       when I'm listless and drowsy:
    be the strength in my arms

        that keeps me true to my work;
    be the strength in my will

        when I want to to sleep;
    be the strength in my soul 

        when self-pity has got me;
    be the strength in my spirit 

        when I just don't care...

Be my fortress, Lord,
   when I'm besieged on every side, 
   when it seems I've no place left to go,
   when I need a place that's safe from harm, 
   when I look for shelter for my heart...
 

Be my fortress, Lord, protecting me 

    from what and whom I fear;
be my fortress, Lord, a place to go 

    when I'm not sure where home is;
be my fortress, Lord, my trusty shield

    lest harm should touch my soul;
be my fortress, Lord, and hold me close

    in your strong and saving arms...

Deliver me, Lord, 

    from my faults and sins and failings;

deliver me, Lord, 

    from thoughts, words and deeds

        from feelings and desires 
that have no business being 

    in my mind, my heart, my life...
deliver me, Lord, 

    from anyone and anything 
that fails to bring me closer

    to your way, your word, your wisdom...

Deliver me, Lord, 

    from possessions that possess me,
from all the things, the toys and stuff
    that eat my time and waste my mind, 

that drain my soul of spirit
    and bring no good at all

        to me or to my neighbor...

Help me know how weak I am, Lord,

    that I might know much I need

your strength, your help and mercy 

    to lift me up and hold me up

        and help me to move on...

 

Help me know how vulnerable I am

    that I might know how much I need

your shelter, shade and refuge

    a haven for my healing...

  

Help me know how lost I am 

    that I might know how much I need

your light to show the way,

    your word to teach me truth,

        and your Spirit's grace to fill me..

 
I love you, Lord:

   my strength, 
      my fortress, 

         my deliverer... 

Quiet, hush and still my anxious heart 

    that I might know again and yet again:

        you are my God,

        you're by my side,

        you have my back, 

        you are my all in all... 

 

 Amen. 

 

I love this simple, engaging song, beautifully sung 

here acappella and I hope it stays with me all day...

 

You Are My All In All by Dennis Jernigan

   performed by Hallal Music 

 

If the widget below does not appear, click here!  

 

 

 

You are my strength when I am weak
You are the treasure that I seek
You are my all in all

 
Seeking You as a precious jewel
Lord, to give up I'd be a fool
You are my all in all

 

        Jesus, Lamb of God
        Worthy is Your name
        Jesus, Lamb of God
        Worthy is Your name

 

Taking my sin, my cross, my shame
Rising again I bless Your name
You are my all in all

 
When I fall down You pick me up
When I am dry You fill my cup
You are my all in all

 

        Jesus, Lamb of God
        Worthy is Your name
        Jesus, Lamb of God
        Worthy is Your name

 

You are my strength when I am weak
You are the treasure that I seek
You are my all in all

 
Seeking You as a precious jewel
Lord, to give up I'd be a fool
You are my all in all

 

Jesus, Lamb of God
Worthy is Your name
Jesus, Lamb of God
Worthy is Your name

Tweet   

SUBSCRIBE HERE!

  

“Acts that diminish or disregard the dignity of any person or group of people should never be normalized in our society."

Then God said: 

   "What have you done? 

        Your brother's blood 

            cries out to me from the ground!"

Genesis 4:1-16 

Responding to the recent killings of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo  and  Johan Sebastián Duran Guerrero  Durán at the hands of ICE agents, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has issued the following:

WASHINGTON - In light of several recent immigration enforcement encounters resulting in the loss of life, Bishop Daniel E. Garcia, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Subcommittee for the Promotion of Racial Justice and Reconciliation, and Bishop Brendan J. Cahill, chairman of the Committee on Migration, issued the following pastoral reflection:  

“As Catholics, we believe that all persons are created in the image and likeness of God and, therefore, grieve all situations where human life is brought to an unnatural end. This is a core teaching of our faith and one we can never grow weary of proclaiming as disciples of Our Lord Jesus Christ. 

“As the bishops of the United States affirmed last November, ‘We are disturbed when we see among our people a climate of fear and anxiety around questions of profiling and immigration enforcement.’ Racial profiling in particular not only violates God-given dignity* but also inflicts profound harm on individuals, families, and communities by fostering fear, eroding trust, and increasing the risk of unjust and even tragic outcomes. Our pastoral concerns are distinct from what the civil law itself may permit. 

“Acts that diminish or disregard the dignity of any person or group of people should never be normalized in our society. The dehumanization of immigrants, regardless of their legal status, is one such example of this; the vilification of law enforcement officers is yet another.

“We continue to affirm the legitimate role of civil authorities to implement the law in a humane manner and with respect for fundamental human rights, including the rights to life and due process. The power of the state must always be exercised within the limits of the moral law. To that end, we call for accountability, transparency, and justice, which require that meaningful reforms be made to our immigration system. 

“We join in praying for the souls of those killed and for their families, for our nation, and for all those entrusted with the duties of public service. We pray for an end to dehumanizing rhetoric, racial prejudice, and violence and for a renewed commitment to recognizing the inherent dignity of every person as a child of God. We plead for the intercession of Mary, Our Mother, who is the model of perfect faith in times of grief, hardship, and uncertainty.”

Tweet   

SUBSCRIBE HERE!

  

NIGHT PRAYER: Sunday 7/19

On Sundays, Night Prayer takes its lead from some element of the day's liturgy.  This prayer comes from the first line of today's first reading at Mass: There is no God besides you who have the care of all... In this space every evening, we entrust ourselves to God who watches over us, has the care of us all, all day long and through the night.  Let's pray for those who have a rough night ahead of them...

I pray for a good night’s sleep, Lord, 

and I pray for those whose sleep tonight will be stolen 

by the fury and sounds of war,

by the noise of city nights 

with its sirens, shouting and gunshots...

I pray for those who this night, Lord, 

will put their lives on the line 

for their nation and for the world

and for their families and friends

who worry for them 

 - and all of us in their debt...

 

I pray for those whose poverty, Lord, 

leaves them in harm’s way this night,

who have no rooftop over their heads,

no shelter from weather and violence,

who go to bed hungry and thirsty,

who will try to sleep but have no bed... 

 

I pray for those in flight, Lord,

who are on the road and pursued,

who are seeking a promised land, 

who've left their native countries,

seeking safety, refuge and hope...

 

And I pray for those, Lord, haunted this night

by memories, thoughts and fears,

by nightmares, dreams and insomnia;

those who need reassurance, 

healing and calm,

the comfort and consolation

of knowing that you're by their side... 

 

Over all of us, Lord, 

spread your mantle of grace

and save us from every evil;

grant us peace in our own day

- don't hold back - 

the peace we so desperately pray and need, 

the lasting peace only you can give...

 

Protect us, Lord while we're awake

    and watch over us while we sleep

that awake, we might keep watch with you

    and asleep, rest in your peace...

Amen.

 

Stay With Us by Taize

 

If you have a candle you can safely light,

tonight would be a good time to do that...

 

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

 

Stay with us, O Lord Jesus Christ,

    night will soon fall

Then stay with, O Lord Jesus Christ

    Light in our darkness

Tweet   

SUBSCRIBE HERE!

  

Homily for July 19

The enemy is planting weeds in our wheat fields!  So says Jesus in the gospel -  and nothing has changed!  Give a listen to my homily and I'll show you where I see the enemy's hand at work today.  Here's a video of my homily based on the parable from today's gospel.  (If the video doesn't appear, click here!)  You'll find the text of my homily below.

 

Weeds!

Where I come from in Massachusetts, the weeds folks deal with there are crab grass, dandelions, white clover, and cooping Charlie. A quick Google search tells me that here in Colorado, you contend with bindweed, kosher, Canada, thistle, and cheese weed.

Jesus isn't talking about any of those weeds at all. But he is referencing a particular weed. In the original Greek (in which Matthew's gospel was written) Jesus speaks in this parable of a weed called ZIZANIA. Zizania..

And here's a fun fact about Zizania: especially in its early stages of growth, Zazania looks just like – wheat! Aha! Now we can more easily understand why the farmer in the parable was slow to pull up the weeds, or as he put it, “If you pull up the weeds, you might pull up the wheat along with them.”

Now, we're talking here about weeds in a parable preached by Jesus and found in Matthew's gospel. This is not the Old Farmer's Almanac. Jesus is comparing here the life-giving seed of faith that he plants - with the invasive and destructive seeds, the enemy sows.

And this isn't just some kind of old pious agricultural metaphor. The enemy is still very much around, and the enemy is still planting seeds for weeds - in our hearts. In our backyards. In our society, in our culture, in our nation, and around the world. Invasive weeds of destruction, and they have more than sprouted - they are growing tall. And just like in the parable, what sprouts from the weeds planted by the enemy, can often look very much like what shoots up from the seeds, planted by Jesus.

The wheat and the weeds in our lives are growing alongside each other. And it's often not easy to tell the difference between them. But we try, don't we? We're trying to sort out the weeds from the wheat when we look around and try to figure out: 

    What's right and what's wrong?

    What's good, what’s evil? 

    What’s true, what’s false?

    What's honorable, what's corrupt?

    What's just, what's unjust?

    What's impartial, what's prejudiced?

    What's loving, what's hateful?

    What's of God - and what is not of God?

    What yields life - and what chokes it off?

In spite of the fact that we all live in the same field, that we're all looking at the same crop - and that in our heart of hearts, we all desire, we all look forward to the same harvest --- where some see wheat, others see weeds…  and where some see weeds, others see wheat.

Because of this, we live in these fields of confusion and the strife it yields. Because of this, ALL of us need to be, should be, must be 

careful, not reckless,

    prudent, not impulsive,

    tranquil, not hot headed,

    wise, not foolish,

    deliberate, not hasty,

    generous, not selfish,

    objective, not biased,

    peaceable, not aggressive

    cautious, not headstrong,

    humble, not proud

as we walk through the fields of our daily lives, we need to be all those things. 

 

As we walk through those fields where the crops of our philosophies and politics, our positions and our polemics are growing and being nurtured by the winds of change - and by our own prejudices, our unquestioned presuppositions and our desire for self -preservation.

 

In the gospel here, the Lord cautions all of us to take care - lest we rashly, prematurely pull up what might be 

    the wheat 

        that becomes the bread

            that feeds and sustains us and gives us life.

Today's gospel calls us not only to accountability for how WE deal with the weeds the ENEMY has planted - but also to be, ourSELVES, sowers of good seed – us - sowers of good seed who take care not to ADD to the weeds that choke the harvest of truth and justice in the world.

Today's scripture reminds me of a prayer by a friend of mine, a Jewish spiritual writer. His name is Alden Solovy. Alden's prayer is titled Planting Seeds. And it goes like this.

Every act is a seed:

(every thought, word, and deed of ours is a seed*)

    every laugh,

    every smile,

    every song,

    every dance.

 

Every outstretched arm and every open heart:

    a seed of holiness,

    a seed of redemption,

    a seed of grace.

 

Every act is a seed.

(every thought, word, and deed of ours is a seed*)

    every frown,

    every angry word,

    every dislike,

    every disdain,

    every closed fist.

 

And every hardened heart

    is a seed of loneliness,

    a seed of isolation,

    a seed of despair.

 

Oh, how many seeds have I planted, O God?

How many seeds that hurt

    and how many seeds that heal?

 

And how many seeds have I yet to plant?

Will they be seeds that hurt

    or seeds that heal?

 

O God of the ages,

    grant me the discernment and the skill

to plant seeds of wonder and awe

    in my life and in the world.

 

Let me be a source of wholeness,

    let me be a source of thanksgiving

so that my life yields a garden of blessings

    in service to your holy name.

 

• I interpolated this line for the purpose of this homily.

 

///////////////////////////////////////

 

Our minds and hearts, our words and deeds, - our politics and our positions

- are - the seed bags, from which we sow ourselves in the fields in which we live, in the lives of those around us, in the world in which we live.

 

Now, if your seed bag is anything like mine, it contains seeds for a harvest of goodness, and justice, and truth - AND - and it holds, my seed bag holds seeds for the weeds of destruction, and discord, and division.

 

My bag holds the seeds of my goodwill, my best intentions, and my desire to live, as I know God calls me to live. But my seed bag also holds the seeds of anger. and selfishness and pride.

 

Jesus calls each of us to take great care in what we sow, lest we plant weeds that choke and cut short the growth and life of all around us.

 

Jesus himself allowed himself to be a seed - the seed that falls to the ground and dies - that others (that we) might have life. He allowed himself to be SOWN, to be buried in the earth, that he might rise and raise up a harvest of God's grace and peace and life for us - and for us to share with others.

 

The fruitful harvest of the Lord's dying and rising is what he will share with us at the altar this afternoon in the Eucharist:

    the harvest of wheat, become bread,

        become his body for us.

    the harvest of grapes become wine,

        become his blood for us.

 

May the seeds of truth the gospel plants in our minds and hearts today, yield a garden of grace, a crop of blessings, and the harvest the Lord desires.

 

Tweet   

SUBSCRIBE HERE!

Pause for Prayer: SUNDAY 7/19

Image source

Here's a very fine prayer from the work of Ted Loder...

 

Gather Me To Be With You

 

O God, 

    gather me now to be with you    

        as you are with me:     

    soothe my tiredness;
    quiet my fretfulness;
    curb my aimlessness;
    receive my compulsiveness;
    let me rest easy for a moment.

 

O Lord, 

    release me from the fears and guilt 

        which grip me so tightly,
    from the expectations and opinions 

        which I so tightly grip,
    that I may be open to receiving,
        to learning something refreshingly different.

O God, 

    gather me to be with you 

        as you are with me.
Forgive me 

    for claiming so much for myself
        that I leave no room for gratitude;
    for confusing exercises in self-importance
        with acceptance of self-worth;
    for complaining so much of my burdens 

        that I become a burden;
    for competing against others so insidiously
        that I stifle celebrating them 

            and receiving your blessing through their gifts.

 

O God, 

    gather me to be with you 

        as you are with me.
Keep me in touch with myself,
    with my needs,
    my anxieties,
    my angers,
    my pains,
    my corruptions,
that I may claim them as my own
    rather than blame them on someone else.

O Lord, 

    deepen my wounds into wisdom,
    shape my weakness into compassion;
    gentle my envy into enjoyment,
    my fear into trust,
    my guilt into honesty,
    my accusing finger into tickling ones.

 

O God, 

    gather me to be with you 

        as you are with me.

- Ted Loder in Guerrillas of Grace

Tweet   

SUBSCRIBE HERE!

  

Concord Pastor is 19 years old today!

The page you're reading began 19 years ago today.

It was a rainy day in July - and it was my day off.  I had often thought about writing a blog but had always thought the task would reach beyond my technical savvy. But on this rainy day, I decided to search online and in less than half an hour I discovered how easy the process was - and within a couple hours I published my first post.   

My first post was titled, Let's see how this goes...  I had no idea, no way of knowing that 19 years later this page would still be going!  There was no graphic to head that entry because at that point I had no idea how to post one. Three days later I had "mastered" the simple cut-and-paste process of posting graphics and videos.

Over the years, the content of my blog has slowly changed and now anchored by a daily Pause for Prayer and Night Prayer.  Regular readers know that I post a variety of other items as well but in the main, everything connects to prayer, spirituality, scripture and faith - and how these relate to, impact, comfort and challenge us in our daily lives and our life-long journey home to God.

Nearly two decades ago I wrote, Let's see how this goes... Nineteen years later, after 13,889 posts and 9,447,591 views, I'm pleased and grateful to say that this has gone well! Compared to other Catholic blogs, these numbers aren't amazing - but for me, they represent years of doing something I love, for people I love, for people who appreciate and share the spirituality of this page. 

As a priest now retired from assigned ministry, I am grateful every day (and evening) for this opportunity to serve my virtual parish here at A Concord Pastor Comments.  Writing this blog gives structure to my days, keeps me attentive to my own prayer life, gives me a sense of purpose and affords me the joy of continuing to serve God's people.

I often wonder what I might be doing with my time at this point in my life if I didn't have this blog to tend to - but then I realize it's probably best not to even consider the possibilities!

Without you, my readers, my companions on this journey, I would be lost.  Your faithfulness and your response confirm my hope that this work is indeed the Lord's and is the fruit of the Holy Spirit.  And I'm grateful to God for the gifts he's given me to keep this page going for so long...

On this 19th anniversary of my blog 

I thank God for the the tools I've been given 

for doing this work: 

wonder, wits, wisdom, words and witness 

- even if not always in that order!)

 

And I thank God for you, my readers: 

aliased, named, or anonymous... 

commenting, "liking," sharing or silent... 

you're solidly more than half of a work 

that brings me more joy than you know...

 

Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

 

Amen!  Alleulia! Amen! 

Tweet   

SUBSCRIBE HERE!

  

NIGHT PRAYER: Friday 7/17

You set up mountains by your might.
You still the roaring of the seas,
   the roaring of the waves,
      the tumult of the peoples...   -Psalm 65

Lord, the scriptures tell me how powerful you are:
    you put the mountains in their place,
        with only a word you quiet the ocean's roar;
    and at your glance
        the sea's roiling waves grow calm...
    you speak peace in your people's hearts
          and still the turmoil and tumult of nations...

Be powerful in my life, Lord,
    when I'm too weak and too small to do on my own 
        what you ask and require of me,
    what my responsibilities demand of me
    and all that I want and need to do
         to become the person you made me to be...

Will you move the mountains in my way?
Will you put them in their place?  

   clear a path for me to make my way?

   a valley safe, through heights and peaks 

         that loom so dark above me?

By your own might, Lord,
    you built the mountains:
       let them not stand a barrier between us...

With but a word 

   will you quiet the ocean tempest

      that roars through my mind and my thoughts?
Will you hush the rush 

    of all the noise distracting me     

        from prayer, from peace,

            from your presence by my side?

With only a glance will you calm the waves 

    that rock my boat and threaten my life's voyage? 
Will you smooth the seas capsizing my craft
   and reach out your hand 

      to pull me up from the depths?

Will you still the turmoil 

   that troubles my mind and heart,
   that shakes my confidence in you, 

      in others -- in myself?

 
Will you speak your peace deep within my soul
   and give me grace to trust in your strong arm?

Will you show your power in my life, Lord?
Will you move, powerfully, deep within me?
Will you open my eyes and help me see  
   where you are, how you move, what you do?

When I come to prayer, Lord, let me find:
    the safe path you map for me to walk;  

    the peaceful word you speak to soothe my soul;
    the calm and peace your presence always brings...

In the stillness of this night Lord,     

    give me a taste of the peace you offer,

    a hunger for your word and truth
    and a thirst for your holy wisdom...

 

Protect me, Lord, while I'm awake

    and watch over me while I sleep

that awake, I might keep watch with you

    and asleep, rest in your peace...

 

Amen. 

 

God Turn It Around by Jon Reddick

 

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

 

 

I'm praying God come 

And turn this thing around 

God, turn it around 

God, turn it around 

God, turn it around 

 

I’m calling on the name 

that changes everything 

God, turn it around 

God, turn it around 

God, turn it around 

 

All of my hope 

Is in the name 

The name of Jesus 

 

Breakthrough will come 

Come in the name 

The name of Jesus 

 

God, turn it around 

God, turn it around 

He is up to something 

He is up to something 

 

God is doing something right now 

He is healing someone 

He is saving someone 

God is doing something right now 

He is moving mountains 

Making a way for someone 

God is doing something right now 

God is doing something

Tweet   

SUBSCRIBE HERE!