Sunday Reflection: June 1, 2008

Words from Deuteronomy used in today's first reading:

"... take these words of mine into your heart and soul.... I sent before you here,m this day, a blessing and a curse: a blessing for obeying the commandments of the Lord, your God .... a curse if you do not obey the commandments of the Lord, your God."

We read so much. We hear so much. Today our minds often are set upon multi-tasking that consideration of how we live our lives is often impossible. How often do you feel drawn to prayer only to realize that even getting a dinner is only a sandwich experience.

Last weekend we initiated the beginning of "summer". Memorial Day, remembering great personal sacrifices of dedicated armed forces, was always the first bookend of a collection of picnics, vacations and more relaxed times.

Perhaps these upcoming days are much more than a vacation time. Perhaps these next three months are a God-given experience for us to reflect on our own faith journeys. Summer freedom is often a time to become a wiser person who builds a house on solid rock.

During his recent visit to the USA, Pope Benedict called upon the American Bishops to make certain that prayer is a mainstay of their usually busy life. He reminded them how much their lives had to be built upon the solid rock of prayer. Our lives, also, need the reinforcement of prayer in our daily life.

As a priest, my life is challenges every day. I cannot image how challenged the life of married couples, especially with children is. And this is not to say that the single life is a bowl of cherries or a roof top place of easy living. We are, all of us forced to encounter rains, floods and winds that seem to overwhelm us.

So, sometime in spiritual reading and prayer -- even a daily Mass when possible -- all make for the building and strengthening of our faith, our relationship with God. Have you thought about how you can use the upcoming summer months to become a person of prayer?

Friday Reflection: Sacred Heart of Jesus 5 30 08

Today in our Church we celebrate the gift of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It is a solemn feast for us. Whence did this feast become a facet of our devotions? Surely most know about Sr. Margaret Mary Alacoque and relate her to this feast. However, this seventeenth century mystic is a second comer to the devotion. Four centuries earlier Saint Gertrude also brought the devotion to the public. The characteristic of St. Gertrude's piety is her devotion to the Sacred Heart, the symbol of that immense charity which urged the Word to take flesh, to institute the Holy Eucharist, to take on Himself our sins, and, dying on the Cross, to offer Himself as a victim and a sacrifice to the Eternal Father (Congregation of Rites, 3 April, 1825).

The devotion to the Sacred Heart seems to make some Catholics uncomfortable. Pictures of a heart, often surrounded by a corona of thorns bring about reactions. And here is an interesting thought for you today: as a priest, this blogger wonders why such symbolic pictures and devotions create upsetness. During the last year I was asked to officiate at several weddings. I was genuinely surprised that there were no reactions to "sights" that I encountered as many bride's maids or matrons came down the aisle almost flaunting their breasts. It was almost a show of mammary nudity. I recall one young "usher" about twelve years old, standing there, open-mouthed staring at one particular woman whose dress -- or the lack of it -- was showing entirely too much of "God's leather to the weather," as a Jesuit friend used to say in such circumstances. Yet, yet. No one said a word of uncomfortableness. Even when I ask older women at the reception if they had seen the "sights" and, if they did, what there reaction was. In every response, "Oh, that's the way they dress now." Sorry, hardly a suitable answer.

The feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is a devotional practice -- probably for very few -- that

can bring us closer to an understanding of the incredible love Jesus has given us in his own suffering. The following are two parts of a lengthier prayer to the Sacred Heart.

Divine Jesus, You have said, "Ask and you shall receive; seek and you shall find; knock and it shall be opened to you." Behold me kneeling at Your feet, filled with a lively faith and confidence in the promises dictated by Your Sacred Heart to Saint Margaret Mary. I come to ask this favor: Mention your request).....Sacred Heart, whatever may be Your decision with regard to my request, I will never stop adoring, loving, praising, and serving You. My Jesus, be pleased to accept this my act of perfect resignation to the decrees of Your adorable Heart, which I sincerely desire may be fulfilled in and by me and all Your creatures forever.

Wednesday Reflection: May 28, 2008

We are back in Ordinary Time -- no great feast, no special Masses, etc. We have returned to the numbered Sundays and weeks of the Church's sometimes confusing calendar to the "ordinary" Catholic. With our focus turned from the great season of Easter and the several major feasts of Jesus and the Holy Spirit, we can take time to look at our lives and our faith.

Last Wednesday during his "ordinary" scheduled audience, Pope Benedict XVI used the occasion to offer us the opportunity to look at one aspect music in our Church. He brought forward the name of an "ancient" that surely 99% of the Roman Catholic world would hear and say "Who's that?"

Romanus was a man known as the "Melodist." Not Methodist, mind you! He was a 5th century Syrian. After studies and ordination to the Diaconate, he moved to Constantinople. There he began to produce his "kontakia." These were metrical hymns that were to be chanted. There are 89 such hymns that have survived the ages until now. These words and musical arrangements give us the opportunity to experience "the rich theological, liturgical and devotional content of the hymnography of that time" (Pope Benedict XVI).

Romanus was an accomplished catechist, the role of most (permanent) Deacons of that time. His major theme in his teaching was "the unity of God's saving plan revealed in Christ.... His hymns, steeped in Scripture, develop the teaching of the early Councils on the divinity of the Son, the mystery of the Incarnation, the person and role of the Holy Spirit, and the dignity of the Virgin Mary."

So, what should we understand about this man and his message to us in our "ordinary" time? Pope Benedict concluded his presentation about Romanus with an answer to our question. "Romanus shows us the power of symbolic communication which, in the liturgy, joins earth to heaven and uses imagery, poetry and song to lift our minds to God’s truth."

These words might help to understand why hymns are so important to our liturgies, so important to our personal devotional life. Each hymn is not simply a way to praise God and honor the saints. Each hymn is a story. Singing the verses, all of them, tells the "whole story."

GOD BLESS YOU!!!

The students at Maryland University seemed to have learned something not taught!!!!

THE SNEEZE
They walked in tandem, each of the ninety-two students filing into the already crowded auditorium. With their rich maroon gowns flowing and the traditional caps, they looked almost as grown up as they felt. Dads swallowed hard behind broad smiles, and Moms freely brushed away tears. This class would NOT pray during the commencements----not by choice, but because of a recent court ruling prohibiting it. They gave inspirational and challenging speeches, but no one mentioned divine guidance and no one asked for blessings on the graduates or their families. One final speech received a standing ovation. ; A solitary student walked proudly to the microphone. He stood still and silent for just a moment, and then it happened. All 92 students, every single one of them, suddenly SNEEZED!!!! The student on stage simply looked at the audience and said, 'GOD BLESS YOU'. And he walked off stage. The audience exploded into applause. T his graduating class had found a unique way to invoke God's blessing on their future with or without the court's approval.
GOD BLESS YOU!!!
This is a true story. It happened at the University of Maryland

Tuesday Reflection: May 27, 2008

Once again the call to be holy is put to us: "Be holy because I am holy." What could these words mean to us today, in our times, in our personal lives?

Just a few days ago, a young fellow spoke to me and in an off-handed way he remarked, "You know, padre, even thinking about being holy is not easy." And after a pause, he said, "As a matter of fact, it is downright frightening."

What a wonderful sense of awareness. I don't recall any line in the gospels or the writings of the prophets where we are told being holy is easy, growing into holiness is a a snap. Let's face it again, it is not easy to be a holy person today. HOWEVER, it is not impossible. Dr. Wayne Dyer's calendar reflection for today is very, very short but powerful: "Let go of your ego's need to be right."

To be holy means that I am willing to let go of the negative power in me. To be holy means that I am willing to take the time to listen to what God is calling me to do. It becomes real, holiness does, when I accept Jesus as the guide that I follow. When I turn my heart over to his call, this is when I begin to be what God wants of me.

So, how open am I to that exhortation to let go of my ego, my desire to define God as I want him to be? If I am continuing to call the shots, there is no way way holiness is going to become rooted in my life. Where do you stand?

Corpus Christi - Memorial Day Weekend Sunday

One of the most valued gifts God gave humankind when he created Adam and Eve was the part of us we call memory, that ability to bring back to mind, even in vivid colors, the past. With memory we can flavor our lives, just as salt or spices give that special taste to the meals we prepare. Memorial Day weekend reminds us of this gift as we recall the great sacrifices men and women of every nation have made to protect safeguard their lands and other allies from an enemy’s invasions.
In our country we should recall early wars that were fought in our own land to guarantee our first taste of freedom. As well we recall the loss of many valuable treasures in the lives of men and women who traveled to distant lands to guarantee that our freedom stood tall and strong. We remember the valiant who continued freedoms march at Bunker Hill, Gettysburg, Belleau Woods, Pearl Harbor and Iwo Jima, Inchon, Hue, Kandakar and many cities in Iraq. These are our heroes who we memorialize this 2008 Memorial Day weekend.
We have to recall these painful moments, these conquests, some losses, where freedom was challenged. If we do not remember these historical moments and the lives sacrificed, we will easily forget what has made us who and what we are as a nation. If we do not recall the sacrifices of our American troops and the parents and siblings who gave their sons, brothers and sisters on so many battlefield altars, we would need more than a Tomb for the Unknown. We would need monuments to Forgotten Treasures who we Americans are.
On the Memorial Day weekend, we Roman Catholics, located around the world, we remember the special gift of one man whose sacrifice on the altar of Mt. Calvary will always be remembered because he gave us himself, his Body and Blood not to be a one time conquest of evil but as a continued Presence for us in the Eucharist, his Body and Blood.
His offering for us and to us is not simply a memory. His sacrifice is presence for us in the bread and wine, through the mystery of sacramental grace, consecrated as his Body and Blood, as sustentation to travel through our bodies, our blood.
Today we remember and live in the mystery that sets us apart from every other religion. We are reminded in this feast day of Corpus Christ as it was named at it beginning that Jesus not only died for us but gave to us the gift of his own Body and Blood in the Eucharist. It is his Real Presence not only in critical moments of need, in times of battle, but forever present to us in the consecrated bread and wine. What was and is should always be remembered and allowed to grow in our hearts and minds: The Body and Blood of Jesus Christ makes sacred mine and yours.

Saturday Reflection: May 24, 2008

The final verse in the first reading of today's liturgy from St. James' letter is a genuine gift for those who believe. Let me include that verse here.

My sisters and brothers,

if anyone among you

should stray from the truth

and someone bring him back,

he should know

that whoever brings back a sinner

from the error of his way

will save his soul from death

and will cover a multitude of sins.

What does it mean to bring back a sinner? Have you ever taken time to consider what that means for people who have been baptized, confirmed and taken the Body and Blood of Christ?

As a priest, my life at times has been an encounter with those who have strayed from the truth. And you who are part of the laity, you most like know well before a priest when a person has strayed. What can or should you do?

More recently the practice would be to pray for that person. Most of us would avoid making a positive effort to bring that person back to God. Most of us would fail in genuine fraternal charity!

James reminds us that "whoever brings back a sinner ... will save his should from death and will cover a multitude of sins." This is genuine charity. This is caring for another person's soul.

Why are we so frightened by the possibility of saving another's soul? Why are we afraid of being able to bring about such a blessing in another person's life?

Friday Reflection: May 23, 2008

James continues his moral teaching about ethical behavior. What he says is truly matter for an examination of one's conscience. Three points (a la Fr. Walter Burghardt!!!): we must not level judgements against others, secondly, when the going gets rough, persevere; and, lastly, "above all, do not swear."

Has anyone experienced a period in time when judgements are as abundant as they are in our times? Perhaps "talk radio" has to look at this ethical behavior. Listen each day for a week to many of the talk radio messages and the no so "hidden agendas" of the hosts! You will either become more judgemental than ever before or, on the more positive side, you will be happy that a week of torture is ended.

Perseverance is a difficult challenge today. We have become a softened people. We have become so accustomed to pushing a button to change a TV station or erase something on the computer screen. Setting up a program for personal betterment is so difficult because "stick-to-it-ness" is so challenging. We need to examine our strength again, our personal discipline. There is where perseverance becomes a reality!

Swearing has become so frequent in many conversations. Few people struggle to maintain an honest language. Who would expect a person of the first century to advise his followers "above all, do not swear"? Even our public TV stations invite watchers to remove language barriers from our efforts to live moral lives!

These three facets of a moral behavior stand as topics we might reflect upon in our lives. Most likely, no one of us has escaped from these three challenges.

Thursday Reflection: May 22, 2008

A Place to Reflect

The readings from today's liturgy are strong reprimands to some of the hearers. James' words could easily be shouted at some in our society today. He was rebuking the wealthy who displayed little concern or respect for workers. Likewise he was not overlooking those who earned much but kept it all to themselves

In the gospel Mark recalls for us a moment when Jesus spoke severe and severing words to his disciples: it is better to go trough life without a complete body if a part of the body is a source of sin.

What is its meaning for us? Most of us are not wealthy. Most of us are in tact. So what should we take from these reading?

We should consider again detachment from so much and attachment to Jesus. A call to give up what breaks us away from Jesus. This is a call to attach ourselves to the love of Jesus Christ. It is a choice! It's our choice to be "salted with fire." This phrase's meaning? Recall two Sundays back: Pentecost ... Come, Holy Spirit, come! Come and kindle in our hearts the fire of your divine love .... Kindle in our hearts the fire of your divine life. A petition to be purified, to be attached to Jesus. Salted to be preserved in the fire of God's love!!!

Wednesday Reflection: May 21, 2008

What an interesting combination of readings offered in today's liturgy. Truly a challenge to thinking "outside the box," the content of the two texts opens up a not so quickly grasped understanding of Jesus' teaching.
Catch the scene in the words of the Jewish-Christian leader, James. In the verses immediately preceding today's suggested verses, James warns his followers about the evil of judging others: "Who are you to judge your neighbor?" he asks. He likens judging others to a kind of arrogance, to a shade of boasting. Such arrogance or boasting is evil he says. Don't forget, he says, we are "like a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes."
Now consider Mark's words in today's gospel reading (9:38-40). Much is said in those three verses. Isn't there a bit of arrogance, a shade of boasting, in the apostle John's words as he grouses about "a man casting out demons in your name." That man obviously was not one of the in-crowd, not one of the disciples who daily walked and learned from Jesus what the kingdom of God was about. John implies that man did not know or accept all that Jesus had been teaching. You can hear John's mind: we don't do it that way! Does that sound familiar? Obviously that man was not of the full mindset that John would demand of full discipleship, of anyone who would attempt to drive out demons! Only the in-crowd was anointed to do such good! (Yes, John is getting it today!!!)
Here is the out of the box consideration: we cannot judge so quickly and categorically. Can we not ask this: Does each part of any totality equal that totality? Is a person who often speeds in violation of the traffic code but who serves the community as a volunteer firefighter, who delivers meals to a home bound senior citizen, who pays taxes regularly, is that person not a good citizen? I s the person who through laziness skips Mass on Sundays when "tired" not a good Catholic? Does living as a good citizen or Catholic mean that there is no lawbreaking or sin in that person's life?
To hear Jesus say "For he that is not against us is for us" challenges the disciples as well as us today. Hear what Jesus is saying. Hear the mercy, the understanding even the forgiveness woven to the words Jesus speaks. The challenge to us today in a church of commandments and laws is to see beyond the comfort, perhaps the arrogance and boasting, beyond the black and white.
Is not Jesus teaching tolerance, understanding and patience?
Now you see what a little rest can do to this blogger!!! Happy to be back for you.

Daily Reflection

The daily reflections will resume on Wednesday of this week. Sorry for the inconvenience. Have to be honest. The stresses and strains of the end of a year and other parish concerns have come home to roost. I and trying to rebuild my strength.

Fr. Jordan

Saturday Reflection: May 17, 2008

OUCH! OUCH! OUCH! James, some would say, tells it like it is!

Our age has trained us in many new ways of learning and understanding. The computer chip and the communications satellites have opened unknown vistas for everyone. Together they have helped individuals around the world to become a community of quite critical individuals. Typing one incorrect key on the keyboard can produce results that damage or destroy hours of intense work. Events and cultural exchanges enter our lives each day through television and radio.

James, at the outset of the third chapter of his instruction to the Jewish Christian community in Jerusalem, must be addressing a serious problem in the community: the wagging tongue. His words seem fitting for our times as well. Is it not a true challenge to see where there is a line between good, helpful, constructive criticism and damaging, hurtful gossiping, guised as something good? Criticism seems to have left respect and admiration as little used ways of human interaction. Whether regarding matters of race, education, religion, family life and on and on, the wagging tongue has resulted in hurt to many ... even to the point in our most recent week: an adult, posing as a teenage boy, viciously attacks a young girl on the Internet ... and ultimately brings about the young lady's suicide.

It may be very easy to point fingers at politicians and truly "sick" individuals. But each of us should consider what we say about others. James offers an interesting picture: a large ship, he notes, even one driven by strong, storm winds, is "steered by a very small rudder, wherever the pilot's inclination wishes." Then he applies the picture to the lives of his hearers. "In the same way the tongue is a small member and yet has great pretensions." The next sentence amplifies his message: "Consider how small a fire can set a huge forest ablaze. The tongue is also a fire."

This is much to take to one's heart. One question, though. What comes from my mouth? "From the same mouth come curses and blessings." Which is the winner?

We are called to grieve our losses. It seems paradoxical,

but healing and dancing begin with

looking squarely

at what causes the pain.

(Henri Nouwen)

What A Lady! Irena Sendler

Doesn't she warm your hearts? This is the photo of an extraordinary woman who was buried yesterday in her native Warsaw, Poland. But what made here different from other senior citizens in the late 90s? Well, quite a significant difference! Irena was a Catholic Social worker who saved 2500 children from the Nazi death march. Putting the little ones in suitcases and other boxes, Irena put them in their transportation boxes to freedom. Irena herself was serious injured by Nazi soldiers who had orders to exterminate this lady who did not like being called a hero. Fortunately another person convinced the soldier not to kill her but simply to physically assault her which he did, leaving her with both legs and arms broken. Check the Whispers In the Loggia link to read much more about this woman who was nominated last year for the Nobel Peace Prize. A tribute to this Catholic social worker was that at her burial prayers were offered by a Rabbi. This lady surely made real the message of James' words in today's liturgy's first reading. She did not live by faith alone. Her life of faith rested on the underpinnings of good works and service. She surely might be someone we can offer prayers to for her inspiration in our own efforts to help others.

Friday Reflection: May 16, 2008

Today's first reading continues our journey through the letter of James. The verses today focus upon a topic that was a point of controversy in the early 16th century between the Church and Martin Luther. The argument for salvation, the Church has always taught, is presented in two phrases: "faith alone" or "faith with works" or in a simple sentence from James: "See how a person is justified by works and not by faith alone."

The challenge for us is to be certain our faith is combined with works of service. This is a case of both having your cake and eating it too. For once they go together, the caking and enjoying it! We'd never know how good Grandma's cakes are unless we eat them. And if we don't eat them, we'd never know what it is that people call a cake.

We cannot have a living faith without our willingness to demonstrate that true faith involves both works and service. To live a life opting for one over the other might be like choosing Jesus the preacher without accepting the Crucifixion. Or, progressing, what is the value of the Crucifixion without the Resurrection?

For just as a body without spirit is dead,

so also faith without works id dead. (James 2:26)

Thursday Reflection: May 15, 2008

Hospitality. How do we treat or welcome others? This is the question James' letter puts before us today. There is a truly challenging sentence for most Americans.

"Listen, my dear brothers (and sisters): it was those whoa re poor according to the world that God chose, to be rich in faith, and to be the heirs to the kingdom which he promised to those who love him" (2:5).

Most of us, if we are honest, are not poor. Most 0f us live with so much more than we ever need. Isn't moving from one home to another proof? More often than our hearts, our desires, are taken over by the ways of our culture, our society. How often does a feeling of "I need that" express more what I would "like to have" than actual need?

We might consider a man, woman or child who is truly in need. Walk the streets of a downtown or center city. There, without fail, the poor are present to us. How does their presence impact you --- even if they do not shake a cup or hold up a sign that asks for your help? Do you see a sister or brother in need? Or, is there a feeling of distrust, disgust or annoyance that grabs your heart and mind?

If you were to come upon a successful CEO, a respectable media or film personality, would you be more open to exchanging a few words? If it were a John McCain, a Hillary Clinton or a Barack Obama, wouldn't you like to have a camera available? Yet, time and again, Jesus called us to the most challenging human activity: love one another, love your neighbor as yourself.

One particular experience that reveals how genuine our live is for others is demonstrated by how we dine together, where the head of the household and the guest(s) are seated. Often the dining table has the traditional "head of the table." That speaks of separation from all of the others seated at the table except for those immediately to the right or left of the "head."

Dining with two Church leaders, I came to a new understanding of genuine hospitality --- the sign of respect for guests and others at the table. The "head" never sat at the traditional "head of the table position. Rather each of these leaders would always sit in a middle position along one side of the table, reserving the position directly opposite for the guest. After a first experience of this seating arrangement, it was clear that the host was allowing others at the table to become more directly involved with both the host and the guest. The guest was offered an equal place at the table with the host. Both were able to speak with all the others at the table equally.

Surely this is not a theological teaching here. Nonetheless it shows the reality of welcome and hospitality that is portrayed in every picture of Jesus with his disciples at the Last Supper. Perhaps that is why the round table makes a dinner so much more meaningful. No partiality is shown. No distinction of presumed "greatness" is shown. At the table we learn we are one.

Let Fr. Nouwen's reflection conclude these thoughts:

Instead of making us feel that we are better,

more precious or valuable

than others,

our awareness of being chosen

opens our eyes

to the chosenness

of others.

Apologies for there being no reflection yesterday. It was "one of those days." Enuf sed!

Tuesday Reflection: May 13, 2008

YOU, TOO, ARE GOD'S BELOVED

We continue the journey through the NT Letter of James. The Wikipedia entry on James, while not particularly noteworthy as food for prayer, does offer some historical insight into who the writer(s) of the letter may have been.

In today's first liturgical reading there is the invitation to consider two realities: temptation and desires. Again we should recall that James is trying to teach the Christian Jewish community in Jerusalem the message Jesus had taught his apostles and disciples.

Who among us does not feel the attack of temptation? Who does not have to deal with desires that are not good for us ... and there is more than moral issues we have to confront today? There are many temptation and desires that populate our days, each day in fact. James' writing encourages his audience to preserve in temptation. Whoever is strong enough to resist is blessed, whoever is "proven" will wear "the crown of life."

James is direct. Temptation does not come from God: "he tempts no one." We cannot blame our failure on God's failure to help us. The truth of the matter is that temptation is the product of our own desires' needs to be fulfilled. Sometimes the desires "conceive and bring forth sin." God would have us be "a kind of firstfruits of his creatures" rather than damage us with sin and the death of our souls.

Fr. Henri Nouwen often stressed that our vocation is to be the "Beloved" of our God. Once we accept that particular vocation for ourselves, once we truly believe that we are the Beloved of God, "We are are faced with the call to become who we are." That is what some philosophers and theologians name the terminus ad quem: the goal of our spiritual journey. So, we overcome the desires, the temptations when we try to become God's Beloved --- when we open ourselves to letting our awareness of God's love for us become a part of all we do, of all we say, and of all we think. And this is no easy task! Fr. Nouwen believed that "the greatest trap in our life is not success, popularity or power, but self-rejection."

James' teaching is to bring his audience to know the love of God, to understand Nouwen's "sacred voice that calls us the Beloved." This is his firstfruits that he invites his audience to become. It is the invitation that is ours today and every day. Know you are the Beloved of God!

Monday Reflection: May 12, 2008

The Letter of James: one of the written witnesses to the faith and life of the early Church will be the verses of the liturgy's first reading for the next two weeks. A point of history is in order. The person who composed the letter, albeit attributed to "James," is not the apostle James. The writer James identifies himself in the first sentence: "a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is it. The letter is a didactic presentation to the Jewish people everywhere from the apparent spiritual leader of the Jewish Christian community living in Jerusalem.

From the outset James encourages and exhorts: seek wisdom, persevere and be strong in faith. Clearly servant James wishes to instill a genuine foundation in the hearts and minds of his audience. Can we not see in James' beginning words how he hopes the Christian community will live in the love of God? Surely he wants God's people to live in the love of God. There is a wonderful quote attributed to Simone Weil in the May Magnificat for today's reflection.

"It is not by the way a man talks about God, but by the way he talks about things of the world that best shows whether his soul has passed through the fire of the love of God."

Is this not an excellent insight for modern society to chew on! Perhaps a question might be: Is this not the attachment we have to God and the graces we have from the Holy Spirit that enables us to see with wisdom the ways that "things of the world" can detach us from truly understanding our God?

Perhaps we can recall an insight that was so strong in the final years of the life of Fr. Henri Nouwen. In seven words he speaks volumes to contemporary people seeking to know themselves, their God and to live in wisdom: the heart is more important than the mind.

St. Bernard, famous abbot, wrote that "There are three ways for wisdom or prudence to abound for you: if you confess your sins, if you give thanks and praise, and if your speech is edifying." Therein lies the challenge for us today!

Pentecost Day: May 11, 2008

God has sent into your hearts the Spirit of his love.

The Ascension command of Jesus to go, teach and baptize was a moment when he conferred the power of giving new life in God. These words are from St. Irenaeus, a second century writer.

He reminds his writers and hearers who were on various journeys of life that God "had promised through the (words) of the prophets that ... he would pour out his Spirit" upon them. Furthermore, he taught that "when the Son of God became Son of Man, the Spirit also descended upon him, becoming accustomed in this way to dwelling with the human race, to living in men (and women) and to inhabiting God's creation .... The Spirit accomplished the Father's will in men (and women) who had grown old in sin, and gave them new life in Christ."

He also reminded us that St. Luke taught "that the Spirit came down on the disciples at Pentecost ... with power to open the gates of all nations and to make known to them the new covenant." In his writings he uses the image of water to describe the Holy Spirit. Without water dough fails to become bread; without water trees produce no fruit.

These past five days you have read some of the insights from the earliest writings about the Holy Spirit. Hopefully these words have helped you renew in your hearts a stronger awareness of the power, the dynamism that God has given in the gift of the Spirit.

Perhaps the challenges we confront in our lives, in our society, in our world are a sign to us that we need to renew the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. God does not fail in continuing the gifts of the Holy Spirit for us. As many of the early writers commented: the gift of the Spirit is an unending gift to those who are open to receiving it. On this Pentecost Day might we not ask ourselves about our own devotion, our own reliance upon the Holy Spirit in our day-to-day encounters with the world around us.

Friday Reflection: May 9, 2008

Another "great" of our early Church to address the "mission" of the Holy Spirit is St. Cyril of Alexandria (Egypt). The brief "life" is worth the reading time! He is well known in patristic circles for opposing Nestorius who claimed that Mary could not be the mother of Jesus because he was divine and not human. A commonly used "title" of Mary, theotokos, meaning God-bearer, could not be attributed to her. Cyril also wrote a treatise on the Holy Spirit.

He taught that after the earthly life of Jesus was completed, there remained a challenge for humankind: "To become sharers in the divine nature of the Word" was a goal to be achieved. Transformation -- putting off the old and putting on the new -- into a life that pleased the Father was possible "only by sharing in the life of the Holy Spirit.

Cyril believed it was "fitting" that only after Jesus had departed that the Holy Spirit could descend upon those who believed in Jesus. After his Ascension, he would be united to his followers through the Holy Spirit. Jesus would continue "to dwell in our hearts through faith." Jesus, related to us through the gift of the Holy Spirit in our lives, would strengthen us to be able to pray "Abba, Father." This gift of the Spirit was to be the power that enabled us "to grow in holiness" and to have strength to be invincible when challenges by sin and other kinds of enemies.

Cyril writes that the Old and New Testaments present examples "that the Spirit changes those in whom he come to dwell. His presence in our lives transforms us "to live a completely new kind of life." Cyril cites the transformation of Saul into the ardent follower of Jesus, Paul. This new man should be a living proof to us "that the Spirit changes those in whom he come to dwell and alters the whole pattern of their lives.... With the spirit within them it is quite natural for .... cowards to become men of great courage." Cyril suggests that this happened to the disciples of Jesus. The gift of this power could, as Jesus said, only take place if he returned to heave, God's "time appointed for the descent of the Holy Spirit."

For us today in our daily challenges to live our faith and to give the Good News of our redemption to others, it is the gift of the Holy Spirit and our regular prayer to him and our willingness to accept him into our lives that we have one of the tools needed to help sanctify our world and the work that we seek to accomplish. No doubt, being born again in the Holy Spirit can be frightening. When we pray, "Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful," we are without doubt inviting God through the Holy Spirit to transform us.

Send forth your Spirit, light of radiant joy,

to take possession of our hearts.

Photo: Logo of the Church of the Holy Spirit, Belmont, MI.

Thursday Reflection: May 8, 2008

The Vatican II Council Father produced a dogmatic constitution, Lumen Gentium. In this document we can learn how the modern Church views the mission of the Holy Spirit in #4 and #12.

How did the Father and Jesus determine to sanctify the Church once Jesus had fulfilled the divine plan entrusted to him? How would those who walked with Jesus and those who learned about the Father and Jesus from that first community of believers continue to have a way to them? The answer? Through the "spirit of life, the fountain of water welling up to give eternal life. Through him the Father gives life to men ... dead because of sin, until he raises up their mortal bodies."

The Spirit is within us both in our Church and our hearts. It is the power, the work of the Spirit to advance the Church "into all truth and gives it unity in communion and in service." It is this road to the truth that our Church builds its unity because of the unity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

This in mind the Council Fathers state clearly and boldly "The whole company of the faithful, who have an anointing by the Holy Spirit, cannot err in faith." The faithful show this "distinctive characteristic ... in the supernatural instinct of faith (Latin sensus fidei) of the whole people when, from the bishops to the most ordinary lay person among the faithful, they display a universal agreement on matters of faith and morals." This is one of the most significant statements of the Council. The final clause seems to put forward a genuine challenge from the Holy Spirit to a monolithic, authoritative Council.

It is the "instinct of faith" that is enlivened by the Spirit of truth. It is this Spirit of truth that demands openness and genuine humility especially from those charged with the "protection" of our faith. With this instinct the people of God "hold indefectibly to the faith once delivered to the saints penetrate it more deeply by means of right judgment, and apply it more perfectly in their lives. They do all this under the guidance of the sacred teaching office [understand here of the Church]: by faithful obedience to it they receive, not the word of men but in truth the word of God."

These words make clear the serious obligation we have to hear, to know where the Spirit leads the Church, leads the faithful. These words proclaim boldly the obligation all members of the Church -- from the first of the bishops, the Pope, to any other members of the Church -- to be open to the movements of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit speaks and leads those ordained as well as those who make up the faithful body of believers. What a challenge to any pride or sinfulness that prevents an open heart and mind to the movements of the Spirit within us.

Wednesday Reflection: May 7, 2008 -- St Basil the Great

St Basil the Great -- Treatise On the Holy Spirit

In this 4th century reflection, one of the Cappadocian saints (Gregory of Nazianzus and Basil's brother Gregory of Nyssa) at one point focuses the readers attention on the various titles ascribed to the Holy Spirit. He believes that a prayerful consideration of these titles should move the soul. Important titles are "the Spirit of God," "the steadfast Spirit," "the guiding Spirit." These titles affirm that the Spirit is "supreme" Being. However, Basil makes clear "his principal and most personal title is the Holy Spirit." It is to the Holy Spirit that we turn for the graces that will lead us to holiness. In reality the Holy Spirit is present for all of us but as Basil sees it "acting in each [person] according to the measure of his faith."

Yesterday on this blog you read to John's portrayal of water as a concrete reality to paint for us some clarity as to what the Holy Spirit is for us. Basil uses sunshine as a means for us to understand the marvelous gift given to us. Sunshine is the gift that "permeates all the atmosphere, spreading over land and sea, and yet is enjoyed by each person as though it were for him alone...." We, all of us, share the fullness of the graces of the Holy Spirit as if they alone were for each person in their totality. Basil makes an interesting point not to be overlooked. The gifts of the Spirit are only limited by our own nature. The Spirit's gifts are in abundance.

Returning to the light of sunshine, Basil reminds us when sunlight falls on "clear, transparent substances," they "shine with a new radiance." Basil writes that when we who open our souls to the Holy Spirit, we achieve a genuine spirituality. We become, furthermore, "a source of grace for others."

What does Basil see in the grace gifts of the Holy Spirit? "... foreknowledge of the future, understanding of the mysteries of faith, insight into the hidden meaning of Scripture and other special gifts."

Basil also gives a powerful thought for us to reflect on: "... we acquire a likeness to God, indeed we attain what is beyond our most sublime aspirations -- we become God." His words ... not mine. Perhaps frightening, perhaps beyond belief at times but nevertheless what we can become!

Tomorrow: the reflection of the Council Fathers at Vatican II in the council dogmatic constitution Lumen Gentium.

Tuesday Reflection: May 6, 2008 -- Pentecost Is Coming

The reflections for the remainder of this week will be focused upon the upcoming feast of Pentecost.

The living water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of living water, welling up into eternal life. (Jn 4: 7-14)

Did you ever wonder why Jesus would refer to the grace of the Holy Spirit as water? So often we hear or see references to this unique and singular gift of God as a bird or a flame.

Have you ever thought about this: everything we use and we ourselves are dependent upon water? Remember that plants and animals trace there origins to water. From the heavens we feel rain come down upon us. But there is a very interesting insight: the water that falls from the heavens is always the same. Sometimes it is a teeming rain. Other times it is a drizzle. Other times it is part of a hurricane or a tornado. Yet this sameness, this water that falls upon us is able to bring about results that are so very different. St. Cyril of Jerusalem http:an early Church Father reminded us that this water, that doesn't change, produces many different effects. He cited such things as the palm tree and grapes on a vine. Consider what happens to our world economy when there is a drought in produce yielding areas of the world. Water adapts itself to the needs of the creation upon which it falls.

And what is the meaning for us? The Holy Spirit, "whose nature is always the same, simple and individual" provides graces for each of us as he desires regardless of who we are or what we are. The Holy Spirit never changes. He is always the God of the Trinity that showers blessings and graces upon us. Nevertheless his gifts are "many and marvelous" as Cyril wrote.

The graces that come down upon us enabled me to work through my vocation as a priest. For others, like some of you, the graces help you to live your married life vocation. Others among us have become spiritual gurus because of the same Holy Spirit although the graces given to another person may be different in the resulting work of God. Why are some people drawn to working with the poor while others feel drawn to be teachers? Why are some called to be healers while other feel that grace of monastic mysticism?

Some of us the Spirit has made teachers, others parents, others, single persons, others artists, other athletes and so on. This is the "vocation" that is instilled in our hearts and minds by the graces of the Holy Spirit. His action is grace in our lives but it is the same grace but somewhat different for each of us who is so very different from the next person.

Cyril reminds us that the Holy Spirit is a gentle grace from God the Father. He is not a heavy weight put upon us. The impact of the Holy Spirit comes to us either directly or through the impact of another person already gifted by the Spirit's graces.

When we walk out of a theatre in the middle of a bright sunny day, the sunshine makes its impact felt. We can see clearly again. Perhaps if we ever took the time to realize what we see coming from darkness into light, we might realize how we see more clearly than before. So it is with the Holy Spirit. Many times his graces open our eyes to discern as we have never dreamed of seeing before. When we allow the Holy Spirit to gift us with his graces, our world becomes very different.

As we move forward to that great feast of Pentecost, take some time to realize the gift of the Holy Spirit ... especially when it is likened to water.

The manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one in a singular way for the good of all.

1 Corinthians 12: 6-7, 27

ASCENSION DAY, May 4, 2008

In the Ascension Day gospel there is a sentence we might consider. Obviously in one of his post-Resurrection appearances, Jesus ordered his eleven apostles to a mountain top in Galilee. When they arrived there, Jesus was present to them again. As Matthew the Evangelist wrote, "When they saw him" on the mountain, "they worshiped, but they doubted" (28:16).

Might we not ascribe the sentiment of one of those present to ourselves in our world today? Even those who faithfully worship God can be brought to recognize that often they forget or fail to accept a core belief of our faith: our lives rest in God's hands. Too often we do not fully assent to the reality that we have nothing to fear because God is always with us.

A friend, Jesuit Father Andy Alexander, in true Jesuit inquisitiveness, puts a challenge before his readers: (1) "list the ways I show signs of living the joy and hope of the resurrection." Think about that for a moment. How many ways come to mind? ..... Now that you have struggled with the little quiz let me give you the second part: (2) "now list the ways I show that I am upset, disturbed, impatient, frustrated, angry at the people, situations circumstances around me." Again think about that ... but we have only a few minutes ... because I am sure that list would be much longer.

If you were like me listing my responses in my mind, you probably realized that the smallest of things can create a different me more easily and quickly than the joy and hope offered to us by Jesus through his Resurrection!

So what is the lesson for us? The freedom of the Resurrection, indeed the liberation spelled out for us in the life of Jesus and the gospel may be liberally given to us but for us to fully enjoy or partake of his message his promise to be with us at all times, evening following his Ascension, takes an amazing grace. No matter how devoted or devotional we might be, our world, our culture, our previous sinfulness work together to impede the graces that should capture our hearts and give us the drive to live with a realization that the gospel of Jesus is an immense treasure house for us.

Again considering Fr. Alexander's insights , his guiding us into a few moments of self-awareness, we should not feel ashamed or guilty if one of our lists was much longer than the other. This reflection should help us just as Jesus' appearance to the two Emmaus-bound disciples after his death. They were promised a new power, a new dynamism, if they returned to Jerusalem. "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes to you" and then he promised them "you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem."

And that is where we are --- just several days before we celebrate Pentecost Sunday. Next weekend we renew the gift of Jesus and the Father to each of us --- a new dynamic thrust to our faith, our lives. My sisters and brothers, the Holy Spirit graces us with power beyond anything we can imagine to live out the Ascension mandate: "go and make disciples of all nations ... teaching them "to observe all I have commended you." And that, folks, is the incredible gift and call we have received from the Father. That is his call to bring us from doubt to praise and the full life of discipleship.

Saturday Reflection: May 3, 2008

Today's gospel reading recounts Philip's asking Jesus "Show us the Father." How often do we ask the same question of Jesus and the Holy Spirit? Most likely more than we imagine. There are often times in each day when we directly life up our hearts and minds to God with a prayer for guidance or thanksgiving. The sunrises, the sunsets or seeing acts of kindness or hearing of noble deeds by another human being --- these are for many moments of lifting the mind and heart to God. These are the moments when we can find an answer to Philip's request.

For a moment let us step aside form Philip and his searching and our searching. Let me recall the written words of a noted French composer, Claude Debussy. Describing the composition process in music, he said "Music is the silence between the notes." What an insight that has helped so many even beyond the music composition world. It is the pause between two notes that makes the musical work of art possible.

Debussy's insight also helps us in our search for God. We have been taught by so many people of as many backgrounds that silence is important if we want to talk with God, if we want to engage him in conversation. Today we live in a world of noise. Surely there is music of every genre. There is tv speaking to us 24/7 if we allow it. There are jet planes roaring above us if we live near an airport. Our city streets are a cacophony of sounds: horns, engines, sirens, screeching brakes. But there are quiet moments, too, on a country road, on the streets in a housing development, in a park. Most libraries offer silence along with the sacred silence of a chapel or a church or a quiet place in our homes. Even in our daily experience of noise there are the moments between the horns, the sirens, the loud music, even the noise of innocent young children playing in a school yard.

So, too, our search for God is found in the quiet, noiseless exercise of meeting God in prayer. Prayer is that treasured moment between the notes of our active days. It is in the moment when we give serious effort to silence, to the space between the notes of noise on the written musical composition of our lives. To discover God today we must work to find the space between the notes --- the moments when sunrises or sunsets let us hear God speak, when the goodness of others let us hear God-talk. Psalm 65:7 helps us to know that God will do his part in our searching to find him in silence. He will speak to us between the noises of our lives. "You still the roaring of the seas, the roaring of the waves, and the tumult of the peoples."

In the spaces between the noises God will speak to us. He will make known what we truly need to hear. This is the power between the notes, the power of silence. What is that power? Simply this: the voice of God!

In the words of today's gospel Jesus conveys a kind of sadness as he is drawing closer to the serious days that are before him. Perhaps there is also the pain of separation that hangs in the future. No doubt there must have been moments when human emotions captured his heart. He loved being with his disciples.

But he turns from sadness to words of comfort, words of support. Again he reminds his disciples that joy, genuine joy, will be theirs. "Whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you." What an extraordinary promise! Yet it seems to many to be a challenging promise. Why? Are we not overwhelmed at times by the realities of our world that add confusion to our lives ... the wants and desires that diminish our relationship with the Lord. Do we fully comprehend what Jesus is teaching us?

Praying for the gift of faith, a strong faith, is not easy. Faith demands much from modern humanity. Are we not terribly challenged by the many different types of crises that weigh heavily upon us at this time in our lives: the seemingly unending war, the economic crises that impact most Americans' wallet or purses. Is there not fear in the hearts of men and women who are struggling to raise families? As a priest, I can only imagine what it would mean to be confronting the realities that face a husband or wife trying to make ends meet for their families today. It must be so easy especially for those who had perhaps teased themselves into believing that there was everything to be had for themselves and their families. It was a land of plenty that pulled so many away from their God.

Reflecting upon the word "elitism" that has become so much a part of the current political circus we are watching, perhaps it is a reality many do not wish to acknowledge publicly but crises so often pull those suffering not necessarily to their guns but certainly to their religion, to more regular Church attendance, to more prayer.

There are more people praying today for relief from the impact of the various economic burdens that are theirs, burdens that were not so difficult and frightening just a few years ago. The words of Jesus mentioned above have more significance today.

Perhaps we might consider that many are now confronting the pains of delivery ... delivering us to a new awareness of a challenging life that we must endure for a time.