Ps 15:2-3a, 3bc-4ab, 5
He who does justice will live in the presence of the Lord.
He who walks blamelessly and does justice;
who thinks the truth in his heartand slanders not with his tongue.
Who harms not his fellow man,
nor takes up a reproach against his neighbor;
By whom the reprobate is despised,
while he honors those who fear the LORD.
Who lends not his money at usuryand accepts no bribe against the innocent.
He who does these things shall never be disturbed.
Every weekday morning as I’m driving to Mass (if I go in the morning) and listening to the radio, there is a nun—Sister Ann Shields—who discusses the readings of the day. Usually it’s the Gospel or one of the readings that finds its way into my heart. Today was different.
For the last couple of days I’ve been in Bakersfield getting the paperwork and other tasks done that allows me, or rather my employer to auction off the goods in storage rooms that belong to people who have fallen behind on their monthly payments. It’s a part of my job that I hate—not because the work is hard (it is)—but because I feel for these people. Granted, there are some who fall behind in their payments who are simply irresponsible and actually deserve to have their goods sold, but as a rule most are people who have been wronged by others or made bad choices in life and had no other recourse but to put their goods in storage while they try to build a new life.
Believe me I’ve heard all of the reasons. I’ve heard of lost jobs, criminal convictions and jail time, divorce proceedings where one spouse is hiding stuff from another, the list goes on and on. While I don’t believe most of the stories, it doesn’t matter to me. Most of this stuff is stuff that will wind up at a flea market or in a trash bin. My feeling is why not just give it back to the original owner? So that’s what I do, or what I think Christ would do. I offer to negotiate a settlement with them if they just come down and get it out. Usually I tell them they don’t have to pay me anything—just get the stuff out! It’s better for me to just let it go and rent the room to someone who CAN pay, than to go through the expense of sending letters, running newspaper ads and spending a fortune on lock cutting tools each month. Sometimes it means writing off thousands of dollars, because I wait so long to exhaust every means of contacting them.
I’m very successful in finding these people, and when I do I offer them the free move outs, and many of them break down in tears and thank me from the bottoms of their hearts. Occasionally I get a letter of thanks that will say I have answered a prayer in helping someone not lose everything they own. I, in turn give glory to God for giving me the opportunity to help a fellow brother or sister in Christ through a difficult situation.
The thought ran through my mind after reading the Psalms this morning that maybe I’ve helped to right an injustice done to them by others and I can “walk in the presence of the Lord.”
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Monday, June 22, 2009
On my last blog, I used the term "boy scout" in a sort of self-denigrating way. Truth be told, even after all these years out of scouting, I am proud of my accomplishments with that organization. Here's a memory for you:
I remember when I was 11 years old and in the Boy Scouts. It was going to be my first hiking and camping trip. Ken Jansen, the kid down the street and a good friend, was already in the troop. He and I spent hours together while he showed me how to tie all of the knots I had to know to become a Tenderfoot. Then he told me all about camping. Keep in mind that he was older (12-years-old), so he knew a LOT more than I did. He told me I would have to have a pack with a frame (which was a relatively new concept in those days--quite common now) and, of course, a good sleeping bag.
Since we didn't have a lot of money, I used a hand-me-down pack from my brother Bob's days in the Scouts. It had "Bob Farnsworth" written on the flap. I crossed out the "Bob" and wrote "Steve". I also had to use an old sleeping bag. Ken and I "built" a frame assembly for the pack out of a light wood (I think it was made out of 1/4" x 1" furring strips) in his back yard. I was so proud of myself for my ingenuity and could hardly wait to try it out.
The hike was a 10-mile hike--5 miles in, 5 miles out. Everything looked good. I had everything I needed and everyone thought my pack frame was terrific. We left early on Saturday morning from Our Lady of Lourdes Church, which was the sponsor of our troop. Since I was the new scout, I rode with the scoutmaster, Mr. Haughey,(actually, I think it was DR. Haughey--I can't remember if he was an MD or a DDS, but I recall he was called DR. Haughey) and his son Mike, about 16 or 17 years old, who was the Senior Patrol Leader. There were a couple of other kids in the station wagon as well, but my memory of this particular hike isn't about what I learned from them. It is what I learned from Mike.
It only took about an hour or so to get to the trailhead, which was near Sunland, California. We split up into "patrols" and each of us was assigned a "buddy". Of course, since Ken and I were good friends, we chose each other as buddies. We were supposed to stick together like glue for the duration of the camping trip.
Ken was a good hiker, with a good pace. It was very difficult to keep up with him. It didn't help that the frame I had built was falling apart with every step I took. In addition, the knots I had worked so hard to learn and that held my sleeping bag to my pack came loose and I had to carry the bag separately, like a bag of groceries. About a mile into the trip, I was close to tears. I was not prepared for the weight of the pack, the destruction of my frame, or the pace of my “buddy”.
Mike saw the problems I was having, and gave me a lesson in leadership that I will never forget. Instead of berating me for not being able to carry my share of the load, he had the entire patrol stop right on the trail. He dissected his pack and showed each of us how he packed his own supplies and why. Then he had each of us do the same. Of course, since I was the only one that didn't have a frame to attach my sleeping bag to, he showed me the proper way to tie it to the pack.
Some of the other boys were making fun of me for being so slow and unable to carry such a heavy pack. Mike made it clear that this was unacceptable behavior and that the only way somebody learns is through his mistakes. He asked each one of the other guys to come up with one idea each that would help me make it through the weekend. When we started out on the trail again, he asked me if we could trade packs! Since his outfit was state-of-the-art, I didn't refuse. What a difference! Then, he set a pace that ALL of us could follow the rest of the way in, singing songs with a cadence that made it seem easier and before we knew it, we had arrived.
By this time, Mike had decided to take me "under his wings" and for the rest of the weekend we were buddies.
That was the last time I had difficulty on a hike with the Boy Scouts. When I got home, the first thing I did was save my money from my paper route and buy the best pack, frame and sleeping bag I could afford. I also asked so many questions of the other boys in the troop that I'm sure they probably would have gone out of their way to hide from me, if they could.
Because of Mike's example and leadership, my years in the Boy Scouts were some of the most enjoyable of my life. I learned so much--not just about how to camp and hike and all the fun stuff--but about life, the situations that occur, and how to handle them. In time, I even became the Senior Patrol Leader of the Troop, and I was able to lead and teach the younger scouts in the same way Mike taught me on that first outing.
Since we didn't have a lot of money, I used a hand-me-down pack from my brother Bob's days in the Scouts. It had "Bob Farnsworth" written on the flap. I crossed out the "Bob" and wrote "Steve". I also had to use an old sleeping bag. Ken and I "built" a frame assembly for the pack out of a light wood (I think it was made out of 1/4" x 1" furring strips) in his back yard. I was so proud of myself for my ingenuity and could hardly wait to try it out.
The hike was a 10-mile hike--5 miles in, 5 miles out. Everything looked good. I had everything I needed and everyone thought my pack frame was terrific. We left early on Saturday morning from Our Lady of Lourdes Church, which was the sponsor of our troop. Since I was the new scout, I rode with the scoutmaster, Mr. Haughey,(actually, I think it was DR. Haughey--I can't remember if he was an MD or a DDS, but I recall he was called DR. Haughey) and his son Mike, about 16 or 17 years old, who was the Senior Patrol Leader. There were a couple of other kids in the station wagon as well, but my memory of this particular hike isn't about what I learned from them. It is what I learned from Mike.
It only took about an hour or so to get to the trailhead, which was near Sunland, California. We split up into "patrols" and each of us was assigned a "buddy". Of course, since Ken and I were good friends, we chose each other as buddies. We were supposed to stick together like glue for the duration of the camping trip.
Ken was a good hiker, with a good pace. It was very difficult to keep up with him. It didn't help that the frame I had built was falling apart with every step I took. In addition, the knots I had worked so hard to learn and that held my sleeping bag to my pack came loose and I had to carry the bag separately, like a bag of groceries. About a mile into the trip, I was close to tears. I was not prepared for the weight of the pack, the destruction of my frame, or the pace of my “buddy”.
Mike saw the problems I was having, and gave me a lesson in leadership that I will never forget. Instead of berating me for not being able to carry my share of the load, he had the entire patrol stop right on the trail. He dissected his pack and showed each of us how he packed his own supplies and why. Then he had each of us do the same. Of course, since I was the only one that didn't have a frame to attach my sleeping bag to, he showed me the proper way to tie it to the pack.
Some of the other boys were making fun of me for being so slow and unable to carry such a heavy pack. Mike made it clear that this was unacceptable behavior and that the only way somebody learns is through his mistakes. He asked each one of the other guys to come up with one idea each that would help me make it through the weekend. When we started out on the trail again, he asked me if we could trade packs! Since his outfit was state-of-the-art, I didn't refuse. What a difference! Then, he set a pace that ALL of us could follow the rest of the way in, singing songs with a cadence that made it seem easier and before we knew it, we had arrived.
By this time, Mike had decided to take me "under his wings" and for the rest of the weekend we were buddies.
That was the last time I had difficulty on a hike with the Boy Scouts. When I got home, the first thing I did was save my money from my paper route and buy the best pack, frame and sleeping bag I could afford. I also asked so many questions of the other boys in the troop that I'm sure they probably would have gone out of their way to hide from me, if they could.
Because of Mike's example and leadership, my years in the Boy Scouts were some of the most enjoyable of my life. I learned so much--not just about how to camp and hike and all the fun stuff--but about life, the situations that occur, and how to handle them. In time, I even became the Senior Patrol Leader of the Troop, and I was able to lead and teach the younger scouts in the same way Mike taught me on that first outing.
And for you "Boy Scouts" out there who thought I forgot:
Scout Oath
On my honor I will do my best
To do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law;
To help other people at all times;
To keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight.
Scout Law
A Scout is:
trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty,brave, clean, and reverent.
And yes, I do remember how to tie most of the knots, and yes, I can still identify, cook, and eat some of the everyday "edible" plants found on a trail--although there's no way I would do it again.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
It's what Moms do best!
In honor of the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary:
What a special gift Jesus gave us when from the cross He said to John, “Behold your Mother.”! (Jn 19:26-27).
Mothers always seem to know what you need and when you need it. I have a lot of very fond memories of times spent in my childhood when it was just Mom and me. I couldn’t begin to write down all of them, because A) There are too many, and B) I don’t have enough words in my vocabulary to express what those moments have meant to me. But I will share one that I think about a lot.
When I was a young my mother would use a bobby pin to scrape the earwax out of my ears. It sounds strange, I know, but I actually looked forward to it. Sometimes I would even ask for it. Why? Because I would get to put my head in my mother’s lap, and she would talk about her day and ask me about mine while she was scraping away. It was by no means the only time she seemed interested in me and how I was doing, but it did seem like she was totally focused on me.
It was very nurturing, and I didn’t want to share this attention with anyone else! There were times that Tom would try to horn in on my special time with Mom whining, “My turn! My turn! I would get angry and push him out of “my space”. It made me feel very special. If I had a particularly hard day at school (how hard could school be, for cryin’ out loud!), I would crawl onto the couch and put my head in her lap and I wouldn’t have to say anything—just her presence would give me the confidence to go back to school the next day. And I’m not talking just grade school, either. This ritual took place well into my teens and to tell the truth, I find that just the memories of these times can have a calming effect to this day.
Of course, a couple of years ago during a doctor’s examination, he asked me about the scarred tissue in my ears and I explained my childhood of bobby pins in the ear and he said, “Yep! That’ll do it!” But I wouldn’t trade those moments for anything in this world.
One more memory just came to mind. In fact Mom and I were discussing it just the other day. Her memories of the events are slightly different than mine (in fact, she thought the incident was with Tom!), but this is how I remember it, and I’m sticking to it!
When I was about 10 or 11 years old, I got caught stealing a candy bar from Dale’s market, across the street from our house (I should probably be on that television show, “America’s Dumbest Criminals!) The manager called Mom and she came over to get me. She pulled me home by my ear, really angry that I would betray her trust in me and embarrass her to the neighbors. She kept saying, “You’re going to confession! Today!” and “Your father’s going to punish you when he gets home!” When we got home, Mom sent me to my room and said, “Wait right here! When your father gets home, we’ll decide what to do with you!” All kinds of thoughts were running around in my head, not the least of which was “Man, this spanking is going to hurt!” (I could only imagine this, because I don’t remember either Mom or Dad ever spanking me—I was such a Boy Scout!) Anyway, Dad came home and I got really scared. He was all for spanking me, but just as he was about to let loose on my behind, the phone rang and he went out with Mom to see who it was, forgetting about me for the time being. It was Aunt Jenny. Mom told her what was going on and Aunt Jenny offered to come by and take the both of us to confession right then. By this time, Mom had pretty much cooled down anyway and was having second thoughts about spanking me. She could see that I was sorry. And I was. Truly sorry. Not because of the punishment I might receive, but because I had offended her and Dad, by not obeying them and staying out of trouble. I said as much to them (in child-speak) and evidently Mom was satisfied enough with my contrition to talk Dad out of spanking me.
I’m sure that each of my brothers has a “special” memory of Mom that shows what a powerful effect a mother’s love can have on all of us, and how she can protect us from pain and suffering, just as I’m sure Jesus has similar stories to tell about His special moments with His mother that were never written down in the Bible. How great His love is to share His Mother with us, so we can build similar memories with her. And just as Mom was able to intercede for me to Dad so that he stayed his hand on my bottom, so Our Blessed Mother does for us with her Son.
Hail, Mary, full of grace! The Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women and Blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now, and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Mothers always seem to know what you need and when you need it. I have a lot of very fond memories of times spent in my childhood when it was just Mom and me. I couldn’t begin to write down all of them, because A) There are too many, and B) I don’t have enough words in my vocabulary to express what those moments have meant to me. But I will share one that I think about a lot.
When I was a young my mother would use a bobby pin to scrape the earwax out of my ears. It sounds strange, I know, but I actually looked forward to it. Sometimes I would even ask for it. Why? Because I would get to put my head in my mother’s lap, and she would talk about her day and ask me about mine while she was scraping away. It was by no means the only time she seemed interested in me and how I was doing, but it did seem like she was totally focused on me.
It was very nurturing, and I didn’t want to share this attention with anyone else! There were times that Tom would try to horn in on my special time with Mom whining, “My turn! My turn! I would get angry and push him out of “my space”. It made me feel very special. If I had a particularly hard day at school (how hard could school be, for cryin’ out loud!), I would crawl onto the couch and put my head in her lap and I wouldn’t have to say anything—just her presence would give me the confidence to go back to school the next day. And I’m not talking just grade school, either. This ritual took place well into my teens and to tell the truth, I find that just the memories of these times can have a calming effect to this day.
Of course, a couple of years ago during a doctor’s examination, he asked me about the scarred tissue in my ears and I explained my childhood of bobby pins in the ear and he said, “Yep! That’ll do it!” But I wouldn’t trade those moments for anything in this world.
One more memory just came to mind. In fact Mom and I were discussing it just the other day. Her memories of the events are slightly different than mine (in fact, she thought the incident was with Tom!), but this is how I remember it, and I’m sticking to it!
When I was about 10 or 11 years old, I got caught stealing a candy bar from Dale’s market, across the street from our house (I should probably be on that television show, “America’s Dumbest Criminals!) The manager called Mom and she came over to get me. She pulled me home by my ear, really angry that I would betray her trust in me and embarrass her to the neighbors. She kept saying, “You’re going to confession! Today!” and “Your father’s going to punish you when he gets home!” When we got home, Mom sent me to my room and said, “Wait right here! When your father gets home, we’ll decide what to do with you!” All kinds of thoughts were running around in my head, not the least of which was “Man, this spanking is going to hurt!” (I could only imagine this, because I don’t remember either Mom or Dad ever spanking me—I was such a Boy Scout!) Anyway, Dad came home and I got really scared. He was all for spanking me, but just as he was about to let loose on my behind, the phone rang and he went out with Mom to see who it was, forgetting about me for the time being. It was Aunt Jenny. Mom told her what was going on and Aunt Jenny offered to come by and take the both of us to confession right then. By this time, Mom had pretty much cooled down anyway and was having second thoughts about spanking me. She could see that I was sorry. And I was. Truly sorry. Not because of the punishment I might receive, but because I had offended her and Dad, by not obeying them and staying out of trouble. I said as much to them (in child-speak) and evidently Mom was satisfied enough with my contrition to talk Dad out of spanking me.
I’m sure that each of my brothers has a “special” memory of Mom that shows what a powerful effect a mother’s love can have on all of us, and how she can protect us from pain and suffering, just as I’m sure Jesus has similar stories to tell about His special moments with His mother that were never written down in the Bible. How great His love is to share His Mother with us, so we can build similar memories with her. And just as Mom was able to intercede for me to Dad so that he stayed his hand on my bottom, so Our Blessed Mother does for us with her Son.
Hail, Mary, full of grace! The Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women and Blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now, and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Friday, June 19, 2009
The Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
While looking for pictures to post for my blog today, (it's actually after midnight, so technically it's tomorrow!), I came across this picture that was drawn by a 9-year old boy, Derek Frey. The theology of this child is something that is so simple, yet profound.
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The first reading at Mass today (yesterday?) was from Hosea. Bob and I were talking the other day on the phone and we were marveling at how, no matter how many times we've read the Bible, or how many Bible studies he's done, we still find "new " things we didn't realize in our previous readings. Like today. It was actually quite a funny story. You probably had to be there to get the humor, but I'll relate the story anyway.
Father was giving his homily and said that the book of Hosea is about a man and his wife, who is an adulteress but Hosea still loves her and keeps trying to "win" her back to God's teachings, and to save her soul. Father remarked that Hosea's wife's name is Gomer. All of a sudden he let out a laugh and said "Gomer! ShaZam!" Those of us old enough to remember Gomer Pyle cracked up. Then the homily got serious again and we got the message--that the more Christ pulls on our heartstrings to love Him, the further a lot of us move away from Him. And that despite our hardness of hearts, He never loves us any less, and continues to pull. It doesn't matter how obstinate we are. He wants us to be with Him, and He is a lot more patient and persistent than we can ever imagine.
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I started out in Fresno this morning. I had to do some equipment transfers for the Modesto location, so after Mass I headed to Modesto. On the way there, I was listening to catholic radio and the guy was saying we should offer EVERYTHING we do EVERY DAY as a prayer for our special intentions. He said he felt it was even more meaningful if the task at hand was especially unpleasant and it was done cheerfully nonetheless. I thought, "OK, I'll give that a try today, Lord."
I got to Modesto about 10AM and picked up two other drivers. We drove to Atwater (which was a backtrack of about 40 miles for me!) then back to Modesto. We turned right around and made a trip to Los Banos (60 miles, one way) for more trucks. When we dropped those off, I was asked to make another trip to Los Banos to get still more equipment! By the time I was done, we were able to serve 9 families that would not have been able to move tomorrow, and I didn't get home until well after 8PM!
I'm sorry to say I didn't "say" these "prayers" as cheerfully as I intended when I made the promise! I'm exhausted tonight! Ah, well, maybe next time!
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You may notice on the left of this page is two new items. The first is a link to some resources for prayers to help the Holy Father celebrate "The Year of the Priest." Please choose one or two of these prayers on behalf of YOUR priests or ALL priests.
And let's not forget to ask Our Lord to soften the hearts of more young men to enter His holy priesthood!
A PRAYER FOR PRIESTLY VOCATIONS
O Lord, my God, You renew the Church in every age by raising up priests outstanding in holiness, living witnesses of Your unchanging Love. In Your Plan for our salvation You provide shepherds for Your people. Fill the hearts of young men with the spirit of courage and love that they may answer Your call generously. Give parents the grace to encourage vocations in their family by prayer and good example. Raise up worthy priests for Your Altars and ardent, but gentle servants of the Gospel. Give the Church more priests and keep them faithful in their love and service. May many young men choose to serve You by devoting themselves to the service of Your people. Amen.
O Lord, my God, You renew the Church in every age by raising up priests outstanding in holiness, living witnesses of Your unchanging Love. In Your Plan for our salvation You provide shepherds for Your people. Fill the hearts of young men with the spirit of courage and love that they may answer Your call generously. Give parents the grace to encourage vocations in their family by prayer and good example. Raise up worthy priests for Your Altars and ardent, but gentle servants of the Gospel. Give the Church more priests and keep them faithful in their love and service. May many young men choose to serve You by devoting themselves to the service of Your people. Amen.
The second item is a counter. It will explain it's own purpose. Please pray the rosary as fervently and as often as possible. The Divine Mercy chaplet at the 3 O'clock hour is not a bad idea, either.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
I'm back! (or) Ow! My back!
I was pretty good there for a while with daily blogs, but I've been really busy and the stupid hotel's internet went down, so I've been on dial-up. It's just not conducive to writing--in fact, it aggravates the heck out of me! They got the internet working today, so I'll give it a go.
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The last couple of weeks I've been noticing how the priests in the Central Valley seem to be getting younger (or is it that I'm getting older?) They just ordained 3 more in the Fresno Diocese and I hear there are going to be 2 ordinations in the Stockton Diocese shortly. Praise God--they're desperately needed!
The priest that celebrated Mass this morning was from India. During his homily, he said he met Mother Teresa and spoke one-on-one with her when he was a young seminarian. Can you imagine meeting a saint? As you might imagine, her advice to him was to spend one hour every single day before the Blessed Sacrament in silence--she said this is the best way to listen to what Christ is calling you to do. It is one of the daily "duties" she required of all of the Sisters in her Order. I agree with her viewpoint. I've learned that just sitting (or kneeling) without saying anything or even praying is when I am most at peace. Afterwards, I feel like I can tackle anything--nothing fazes me!
Of course, I was close to a future saint once-Pope John Paul II! I saw him in San Francisco when he was there in 1989 (or was it earlier?) After Mass, as he was walking off from the altar after the dismissal, I was in a crowd of people (who I later learned were a group of AIDS patients) and JPII was touching them and blessing them. I was only about 8 feet away! I have a picture that I took that shows just how close I was somewhere . I'll try to post it later in the week if I can find it. That is an experience I will never forget. I remember saying to myself, "OK, the Pope has visited MY backyard. Someday I will visit him in HIS!" I think that's why I am so anxious to get to Rome before I'm too old to really enjoy it.
If I went to Rome today, I probably couldn't get around. I had trouble just finishing a walk around one of my centers today. My back is killing me! Yes, it probably does have a lot to do with my weight. I've been doing a lot of golfing as of late, but I can't even finish a round before either my back or my knees give out. Two years ago I went on a diet of only 2,000 calories and walked every night and I felt really good. In fact I was walking 4 miles a day and the last 100 yards I ran!
I don't know why I stopped, but I made the commitment to myself today to pick it up again--after Father's Day, of course--I don't want to spoil anything the kids may have planned for me (lol). I figure if I lose just one pound a week, I'll have lost 52 pounds by this time next year, which will put me at the weight my doctor says is "ideal". If I make it, I'll reward myself with a trip to Rome if finances and vacation schedules permit. I will back up this plan with daily prayers for the endurance to keep it up(I know it's wrong to pray for "things", but it's to make a pilgrimage to increase my faith, for crying out loud!).
Mt 6:7-15
Jesus said to his disciples:"In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
"This is how you are to pray:
'Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread;and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.'
"If you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions."
Enough said on this subject.
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The last couple of weeks I've been noticing how the priests in the Central Valley seem to be getting younger (or is it that I'm getting older?) They just ordained 3 more in the Fresno Diocese and I hear there are going to be 2 ordinations in the Stockton Diocese shortly. Praise God--they're desperately needed!
The priest that celebrated Mass this morning was from India. During his homily, he said he met Mother Teresa and spoke one-on-one with her when he was a young seminarian. Can you imagine meeting a saint? As you might imagine, her advice to him was to spend one hour every single day before the Blessed Sacrament in silence--she said this is the best way to listen to what Christ is calling you to do. It is one of the daily "duties" she required of all of the Sisters in her Order. I agree with her viewpoint. I've learned that just sitting (or kneeling) without saying anything or even praying is when I am most at peace. Afterwards, I feel like I can tackle anything--nothing fazes me!
Of course, I was close to a future saint once-Pope John Paul II! I saw him in San Francisco when he was there in 1989 (or was it earlier?) After Mass, as he was walking off from the altar after the dismissal, I was in a crowd of people (who I later learned were a group of AIDS patients) and JPII was touching them and blessing them. I was only about 8 feet away! I have a picture that I took that shows just how close I was somewhere . I'll try to post it later in the week if I can find it. That is an experience I will never forget. I remember saying to myself, "OK, the Pope has visited MY backyard. Someday I will visit him in HIS!" I think that's why I am so anxious to get to Rome before I'm too old to really enjoy it.
If I went to Rome today, I probably couldn't get around. I had trouble just finishing a walk around one of my centers today. My back is killing me! Yes, it probably does have a lot to do with my weight. I've been doing a lot of golfing as of late, but I can't even finish a round before either my back or my knees give out. Two years ago I went on a diet of only 2,000 calories and walked every night and I felt really good. In fact I was walking 4 miles a day and the last 100 yards I ran!
I don't know why I stopped, but I made the commitment to myself today to pick it up again--after Father's Day, of course--I don't want to spoil anything the kids may have planned for me (lol). I figure if I lose just one pound a week, I'll have lost 52 pounds by this time next year, which will put me at the weight my doctor says is "ideal". If I make it, I'll reward myself with a trip to Rome if finances and vacation schedules permit. I will back up this plan with daily prayers for the endurance to keep it up(I know it's wrong to pray for "things", but it's to make a pilgrimage to increase my faith, for crying out loud!).
Mt 6:7-15
Jesus said to his disciples:"In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
"This is how you are to pray:
'Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread;and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.'
"If you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions."
Enough said on this subject.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Pope Benedict XVI on the Priesthood
Actually written by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, from A New Song for the Lord, tr. by Martha M Matesich, NY: Crossroad Publishing Co., 1996, and quoted in Magnificat for Holy Thursday, March 24, 2005.
The Priest - the Believer
The priest must be a believer, one who converses with God. If this is not the case, then all his activities are futile. The most lofty and important thing a priest can do for people is first of all being what he is: a believer.
Through faith he lets God, the other, come into the world. And if the other is not at work, our work will never be enough; When people sense that one is there who believes, who lives with God and from God, hope becomes a reality for them as well. Through the faith of the priest, doors open up all around for people: it is really possible to believe, even today.
All human believing is a believing-with, and for this reason the one who believes before us is so important. In many ways this person is more exposed in his faith than the others, since their faith depends on his and since, at any given time, he has to withstand the hard-ships of faith for them….There is a mutual given-and-take in faith in which priests and lay people become mediators of the nearness of God for one another.
The priest must also nurture the humility of such receiving in himself ….
The first “task” a priest has to do is to be a believer and to become one ever anew and ever more. Faith is never simply there automatically; it must be lived. It leads us into conversation with God which involves speaking and listening to the same degree. Faith and prayer belong together; they cannot be separated. The time spent by a priest on prayer and listening to Scripture is never time lost to pastoral care or time withheld from others. People sense whether the work and words of their pastor spring from prayer fabricated at his desk.
The Priest - the Believer
The priest must be a believer, one who converses with God. If this is not the case, then all his activities are futile. The most lofty and important thing a priest can do for people is first of all being what he is: a believer.
Through faith he lets God, the other, come into the world. And if the other is not at work, our work will never be enough; When people sense that one is there who believes, who lives with God and from God, hope becomes a reality for them as well. Through the faith of the priest, doors open up all around for people: it is really possible to believe, even today.
All human believing is a believing-with, and for this reason the one who believes before us is so important. In many ways this person is more exposed in his faith than the others, since their faith depends on his and since, at any given time, he has to withstand the hard-ships of faith for them….There is a mutual given-and-take in faith in which priests and lay people become mediators of the nearness of God for one another.
The priest must also nurture the humility of such receiving in himself ….
The first “task” a priest has to do is to be a believer and to become one ever anew and ever more. Faith is never simply there automatically; it must be lived. It leads us into conversation with God which involves speaking and listening to the same degree. Faith and prayer belong together; they cannot be separated. The time spent by a priest on prayer and listening to Scripture is never time lost to pastoral care or time withheld from others. People sense whether the work and words of their pastor spring from prayer fabricated at his desk.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
The Feast of Corpus Christi
THE REAL PRESENCE
by
Saint Peter Julian Eymard
Founder, Blessed Sacrament Fathers
THE EUCHARIST, OUR WAY
Ego sum via, et veritas, et vita.
I am the way, and the truth, and the life. (John xiv. 6.)
OUR Lord uttered these words while He was still among men, but He meant them to reach far beyond the short span of His human life. They belong to all ages; He can still repeat them in the Blessed Sacrament with as much truth as in Judea.
In the spiritual life we come upon certain artificial roads and crossroads which we are free to follow for some time and abandon later on. But our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament is the unchanging way to holiness.
He is the means as well as the model. It would avail us little to know the way if by His example He did not also teach us to follow it, We can go to Heaven only by participating in our Lord's life. Baptism infuses this life into us; the other Sacraments strengthen it. It consists specially in the practice and imitation of our Savior's virtues.
To imitate these virtues we must see our Lord Himself practicing them. We must follow Him in all the details of His sacrifices and labors,-----which we must accept in order to establish His virtues in us. His virtues are His words translated into practical life, and His precepts translated into action. To attain perfection we must get down to the details of His virtues; for there can be no perfection without attention to detail. Non est perfectum nisi particulare. The Eternal Word wanted to reconcile us to His Father. But since in Heaven He could not practice the human virtues, which imply struggle and sacrifice, He became Man, He took the tools of man and handled them for man to see; and since in Heaven, to which He has returned in a glorified state, He cannot exercise our virtues of patience, poverty, and, humility, He has made Himself Sacrament to continue being our model.
Our Lord's Eucharistic virtues are no longer the result of a free choice; and consequently, their acts are not meritorious. He has taken them as a form of existence, as a garment. Formerly He performed the acts of these virtues; now He has donned them as His exterior mode of being. On earth He was humble and suffered humiliations; now He reigns in glory, but in a state and under the appearances of humility in the Blessed Sacrament.
The virtues are inseparably bound to Him as His mode of being. In contemplating Him we see His virtues and we learn how to practice the acts of these same virtues. Do away with His Eucharistic humiliations, and the sacramental state ceases. Do away with His Eucharistic poverty, and let a magnificent escort accompany Him; His majesty will overwhelm us, but there will be no more love. Love proves itself by self-abasement.
In the Eucharist He practices patience and forgiveness of injuries still more than He did on Calvary. On Calvary His executioners did not know Him; but we do, and we insult Him just the same. In the Eucharist He pleads for so many deicidal cities that have outlawed Him. Were it not for this plea for pardon, the Sacrament of love would cease to exist as such, and stern justice would surround and defend His outraged Royalty.
In the Eucharist He no longer performs the acts of virtues, but He has assumed them as His form of existence. We must make the acts and thus, in a way, complete our Lord. He thereby becomes one mystical person with us. We are His acting members, His Body, of which He is the Head and the Heart; so that He can say, "I still live." We complete and perpetuate Him.
In the Blessed Sacrament therefore Jesus is the model of every virtue. We shall study a few of them in detail. There is nothing so beautiful as the Eucharist. But only the pious souls who have the habit of receiving Communion and of meditating are able to understand it. The rest can make nothing of it.
Few people think of the virtues, of the life or of the state of our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. We treat Him like a statue; we live under the impression He is there merely to forgive our sins and listen to our prayers. That is a wrong viewpoint. Our Lord lives and acts in the Eucharist. Look at Him, study Him. and imitate Him. Those who do not find Him in the Eucharist must go back eighteen centuries, read the Gospel, and fill in its intimate details. They miss the sweetness of our Lord's words as actually spoken: "I am your Way, today; I Myself am your Way!"
Without doubt, truth never fails, and the Gospel is an immortal book. But how laborious it is for one to be always going back to the past! And that for a mere mental representation obtained at the cost of effort and fatigue. It is a more speculative way, but less of a help to virtue. Only in the Eucharist are virtues easily acquired and sustained.
Let us then remember that our Lord is in the Blessed Sacrament not merely to distribute His graces but above all to be our Way and our Model.
A mother educates her child through her presence, through a secret correspondence that exists between her heart and that of her child. The mere sound of her voice thrills the heart of her child, whereas strangers fail to make any impression at all.
We shall have the life of our Lord in us only if we live under His inspiration and receive our education from Him.
Men may show you the way of acquiring virtues, but no one other than our Lord can give them to you and see to the education of your soul. Moses and Joshua led their people, but they themselves were led by the pillar of fire. In the same way a director merely repeats our Lord's orders to you. He consults our Lord and looks for Him in you. He tries to discover the particular grace and inclinations our Lord has deposited in your soul. In order to know you, he seeks to know our Lord in you. He directs you according to the predominant grace in you, which he fosters and which he adapts to your life under the guidance of the Supreme Director of souls. He has only to repeat His orders. Well, our Lord is in the Blessed Sacrament for everybody and not only for directors of souls. Everybody can see Him and consult Him therein. Watch Him practice virtue, and you will know what you have to do.
When you read the Gospel, transport it into the Eucharist, and from the Eucharist into yourself. Your power of understanding will then be much greater and the meaning of the Gospel much clearer; for you shall have before your very eyes the continuation of what you are reading. For our Lord, Who is our model, is likewise the Light that manifests Him as model and shows us His perfections.
Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament is His own Light, His own means of being known, just as the sun is itself its own proof. To make Himself known, He has only to show Himself. We need not resort to reasoning to understand that; a child does not have to discourse with itself to recognize its parents. Our Lord manifests Himself through the reality of His presence as parents do.
But as we grow to know His voice better, and our hearts become more detached and more in sympathy with Him, our Lord reveals Himself in a clearer light and with an intimacy known only to those who love Him. He gives the soul a Divine conviction which overshadows the light of human reason. Look at Mary Magdalen: one word from Jesus, and she recognized Him. He acts the same way in the Blessed Sacrament: He speaks only one word, but a word that rings in our very hearts: "It is I! . . ." And we sense His presence, we believe in it more firmly than if we were to see Him with our eyes.
This Eucharistic manifestation must be the starting point of all the actions of our life.. All our virtues must come from the Eucharist. For instance, you wish to practice humility: see how Jesus practices it in the Blessed Sacrament. Start with this knowledge, this Eucharistic light, and then go to the Crib if you wish, or to Calvary. Your going thither will be easier because it is natural for the mind to proceed from the known to the unknown. In the Blessed Sacrament you have our Lord's humility right before your eyes. It will be much easier for you to conclude from His actual humility to that of His birth or of any other circumstance in His life.
Follow the same process for the other virtues; it makes the Gospel less difficult to understand.
Our Lord speaks to us through His exterior mode of being. He can, better than anyone else, explain and make us understand His words and His mysteries. He moreover gives us the grace of enjoying them while understanding them. We are no longer in search of the mine; we have found it and are actually exploiting it.
Thus through the Eucharist only may we realize all the force and actuality of the Savior's words: "I am the way." Ego sum via.
Let our sole spiritual concern be to contemplate the Eucharist and find in it the example of what we have to do in every circumstance of our Christian life.
That is what constitutes and fosters our life of union with our Eucharistic Lord; that is how we become eucharistic in our life and attain holiness through our Eucharistic grace.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
A silly day
I thought I'd break up my blog today with a little humor. Please forgive me.
Then some off-the-wall stuff I found while browsing Catholic blogs:
First up: Something Jesus NEVER said!
Then some off-the-wall stuff I found while browsing Catholic blogs:
Friday, June 12, 2009
A treasure unshared is no treasure
2 Cor 4:7-15
Brothers and sisters: We hold this treasure in earthen vessels,
that the surpassing power may be of God and not from us. We are afflicted in every way, but not constrained; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the Body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our body. For we who live are constantly being given up to death for the sake of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh.
Brothers and sisters: We hold this treasure in earthen vessels,
that the surpassing power may be of God and not from us. We are afflicted in every way, but not constrained; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the Body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our body. For we who live are constantly being given up to death for the sake of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh.
So death is at work in us, but life in you. Since, then, we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, I believed, therefore I spoke," we too believe and therefore speak, knowing that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and place us with you in his presence.
Everything indeed is for you, so that the grace bestowed in abundance on more and more people may cause the thanksgiving to overflow for the glory of God.
“We hold this treasure in earthen vessels….” In some translations, this is “clay pots”. It made me think of those cheap clay pots you can get at Target or Wal-Mart that (some people think) are cute, but have no function other than decoration. The paint chips, the clay cracks and they only last a little while before you have to go get some more. Some people put small stones in them or they may plant a little something.
When I read the letter from Paul this morning at Mass, I thought, “Paul is right. We ARE the clay pots. We hold the “pearl of great price” (Mt 13:44-46) within us every time we partake of the Eucharist.”
And when we have Christ within us we may be “afflicted in every way, but not constrained, perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not abandoned, struck down but not destroyed; always carrying about in the Body of the dying Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our body.”
The trouble with some of us, however is that even though we have the pearl in the clay pot, we never take it out to look at it, or share it with others.
I think this week I am going to try to take the pearl out of THIS “clay pot” and share it with whoever I meet.
When I read the letter from Paul this morning at Mass, I thought, “Paul is right. We ARE the clay pots. We hold the “pearl of great price” (Mt 13:44-46) within us every time we partake of the Eucharist.”
And when we have Christ within us we may be “afflicted in every way, but not constrained, perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not abandoned, struck down but not destroyed; always carrying about in the Body of the dying Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our body.”
The trouble with some of us, however is that even though we have the pearl in the clay pot, we never take it out to look at it, or share it with others.
I think this week I am going to try to take the pearl out of THIS “clay pot” and share it with whoever I meet.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Thanks, Bob
I was just getting ready to log in and write my blog at about 8:30 this evening when my brother Bob called and we spoke for about 40 minutes about this and that. He hasn't been on line for a few days and was catching up on my blogs and had a comment about my meditation on the Passion of our Lord.
He told me that it appeared I had forgotten that the pain and suffering was so intense not because He was undergoing it for all sin up to the time of the crucifixion, but for all sin, everywhere, for all time. This means when He said,"Forgive them Father, they know not what they do!"(Luke 23:24), He was talking about me. And you. And all who have sinned and will sin until the end of time, when the final judgement will be made by our Just Judge.
Even before His crucifixion, when He was praying in the Garden, can you imagine the burden He had? Knowing that He was about to undergo the serious physical pains and humiliation not just for His contemporaries (in His human nature) but for all of mankind everywhere, for all time? Not just the sorrow that His creation did not seem to love Him, and in fact wanted to put him to death, but the frustration His human nature must have felt at our refusal to recognize Him even after witnessing the fulfilment of the Old Testament--I can't even imagine the pain this thought caused Him.
I didn't forget. I realize that Christ lives outside of time. To Christ, today is the same as yesterday and the same as tomorrow. We agreed that in one way, we're like the cat in the video I posted yesterday--we don't know what God's ultimate plan is for us. But unlike the cat, God has at least given us (made in the image and likeness of Himself) an awareness that there IS a plan.
Anyway, I had no ideas for my blog today, and my conversation with Bob provided me with some clarification. I'm not sure I communicated the clarification very clearly, but I wanted to thank Bob for the idea. I may not post again for a few days. I think I'm getting dry on ideas. We'll see. I see that a couple of my favorite readings are coming up next week. The story of Abraham and Sarah, Sodom and Gomorrah, Lot and his wife--exciting stuff!
He told me that it appeared I had forgotten that the pain and suffering was so intense not because He was undergoing it for all sin up to the time of the crucifixion, but for all sin, everywhere, for all time. This means when He said,"Forgive them Father, they know not what they do!"(Luke 23:24), He was talking about me. And you. And all who have sinned and will sin until the end of time, when the final judgement will be made by our Just Judge.
Even before His crucifixion, when He was praying in the Garden, can you imagine the burden He had? Knowing that He was about to undergo the serious physical pains and humiliation not just for His contemporaries (in His human nature) but for all of mankind everywhere, for all time? Not just the sorrow that His creation did not seem to love Him, and in fact wanted to put him to death, but the frustration His human nature must have felt at our refusal to recognize Him even after witnessing the fulfilment of the Old Testament--I can't even imagine the pain this thought caused Him.
I didn't forget. I realize that Christ lives outside of time. To Christ, today is the same as yesterday and the same as tomorrow. We agreed that in one way, we're like the cat in the video I posted yesterday--we don't know what God's ultimate plan is for us. But unlike the cat, God has at least given us (made in the image and likeness of Himself) an awareness that there IS a plan.
Anyway, I had no ideas for my blog today, and my conversation with Bob provided me with some clarification. I'm not sure I communicated the clarification very clearly, but I wanted to thank Bob for the idea. I may not post again for a few days. I think I'm getting dry on ideas. We'll see. I see that a couple of my favorite readings are coming up next week. The story of Abraham and Sarah, Sodom and Gomorrah, Lot and his wife--exciting stuff!
Suffering and the mind of God
http://www.archive.org/details/Fatherjeffrey-ACatAndHisPriestExplainSufferingAndTheMindOfGod449
Here is a cute video. Not much time for anything else today. By "today" I mean Wednesday, even though since it's after midnight it will post Thursday. I will post on Thursday nite.
If you don't get a "link", simply copy the link and paste it into your address bar.
Here is a cute video. Not much time for anything else today. By "today" I mean Wednesday, even though since it's after midnight it will post Thursday. I will post on Thursday nite.
If you don't get a "link", simply copy the link and paste it into your address bar.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Reflection on the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ +
The agony in the garden was really the agony in His mind. He suffered the passion in His mind before He suffered it in His body—to the point of actually affecting the latter by sweating blood.
But from then on, it was His bodily suffering that affected His mental suffering. At the base of all His suffering was the one thing that human beings dread the most: rejection. He was betrayed by Judas, denied by Peter and abandoned by all the rest of His Apostles; those He had hand picked as His closest intimates.
He was most rejected by those who put Him to death. They not only wanted Him dead, they wanted Him to suffer. They not only considered Him to be worth nothing, they considered Him to be worth minus nothing! This significance was not lost on Him. He felt fully the rejection as each physical agony reminded Him.
So we thank Him for joining us on our human journey and actually choosing to experience what we fear the most.
We thank Him for enduring the arrest and the cruelty of the guards and the Sanhedrin.
We thank Him for enduring the cruelty of Pilate who allowed Him to be executed rather than risk his own political ruin—and for the cruelty of Herod who wanted to be entertained by having Him work a miracle.
We thank Him for all the time He spent satisfying their preoccupation with themselves, just delaying His ultimate death.
We thank Him for the anxiety of that night in a cell.
The next morning He was brutally scourged with such intensity and violence that He became as an aged man in a matter of minutes. His multiple wounds bloodied His entire body. The loss of so much blood not only severely weakened Him; it also caused a severe, throbbing headache that remained with Him for the duration.
We thank Him for this and for the mockery He received when they put a purple cloth on His shoulders and pushed a crown of thorns down into His head which intensified His headache.
They blindfolded Him and slapped Him, insisting that He ‘prophesy’ who had hit Him. They spat on Him and beat Him. But it was they who were blind. He knew who they were. This is what we do when we sin. We blot him out of our consciousness as if He can’t see us. But it is we who choose to not see.
He stood at the praetorium in utter disgrace according to the attitude of the crowd—while in reality, He stood in utter glory: almighty God, being present to every person who has ever suffered rejection, joining them in their moment of pain. It was there that He was sentenced to death by crucifixion.
As a further humiliation, He was forced to carry His instrument of execution. He revealed to St. Bernard that carrying the cross was His most painful agony. He was so weak, He could hardly walk. So the weight of the cross on His shoulder was unbearable. It most likely dislocated His shoulder. It is not surprising that He fell down on the stone streets that were filthy with animal dung—with the cross on top of Him. And He got up each time. It was only with the help of Simon of Cyrene that He made it to the top of Calvary.
There they drove the nails into the carpal tunnels of His hands, causing pain throughout His upper body. The nail in His feet registered great pain through all the sensitive nerves there. When the cross was righted, His up-stretched arms squeezed His lungs and He began to pant for lack of oxygen. So He had to push down on His crucified feet to push His body up in order to fill His lungs with air. This took great effort because He was so weak. Yet He managed to maintain such effort for three hours of agony which increased gradually as He became weaker moment by moment.
By the end of the third hour, His agony was at its peak and His self-gift was exquisite. He had come to the point where His strength simply gave out and He suffocated. In this eternal moment as He died, He gave us His life. Transcending time, this moment of divine love is present to us in the tabernacles of the world.
Thank you, Lord. We adore you O Christ and we praise you. By your holy cross, you have redeemed the world!
But from then on, it was His bodily suffering that affected His mental suffering. At the base of all His suffering was the one thing that human beings dread the most: rejection. He was betrayed by Judas, denied by Peter and abandoned by all the rest of His Apostles; those He had hand picked as His closest intimates.
He was most rejected by those who put Him to death. They not only wanted Him dead, they wanted Him to suffer. They not only considered Him to be worth nothing, they considered Him to be worth minus nothing! This significance was not lost on Him. He felt fully the rejection as each physical agony reminded Him.
So we thank Him for joining us on our human journey and actually choosing to experience what we fear the most.
We thank Him for enduring the arrest and the cruelty of the guards and the Sanhedrin.
We thank Him for enduring the cruelty of Pilate who allowed Him to be executed rather than risk his own political ruin—and for the cruelty of Herod who wanted to be entertained by having Him work a miracle.
We thank Him for all the time He spent satisfying their preoccupation with themselves, just delaying His ultimate death.
We thank Him for the anxiety of that night in a cell.
The next morning He was brutally scourged with such intensity and violence that He became as an aged man in a matter of minutes. His multiple wounds bloodied His entire body. The loss of so much blood not only severely weakened Him; it also caused a severe, throbbing headache that remained with Him for the duration.
We thank Him for this and for the mockery He received when they put a purple cloth on His shoulders and pushed a crown of thorns down into His head which intensified His headache.
They blindfolded Him and slapped Him, insisting that He ‘prophesy’ who had hit Him. They spat on Him and beat Him. But it was they who were blind. He knew who they were. This is what we do when we sin. We blot him out of our consciousness as if He can’t see us. But it is we who choose to not see.
He stood at the praetorium in utter disgrace according to the attitude of the crowd—while in reality, He stood in utter glory: almighty God, being present to every person who has ever suffered rejection, joining them in their moment of pain. It was there that He was sentenced to death by crucifixion.
As a further humiliation, He was forced to carry His instrument of execution. He revealed to St. Bernard that carrying the cross was His most painful agony. He was so weak, He could hardly walk. So the weight of the cross on His shoulder was unbearable. It most likely dislocated His shoulder. It is not surprising that He fell down on the stone streets that were filthy with animal dung—with the cross on top of Him. And He got up each time. It was only with the help of Simon of Cyrene that He made it to the top of Calvary.
There they drove the nails into the carpal tunnels of His hands, causing pain throughout His upper body. The nail in His feet registered great pain through all the sensitive nerves there. When the cross was righted, His up-stretched arms squeezed His lungs and He began to pant for lack of oxygen. So He had to push down on His crucified feet to push His body up in order to fill His lungs with air. This took great effort because He was so weak. Yet He managed to maintain such effort for three hours of agony which increased gradually as He became weaker moment by moment.
By the end of the third hour, His agony was at its peak and His self-gift was exquisite. He had come to the point where His strength simply gave out and He suffocated. In this eternal moment as He died, He gave us His life. Transcending time, this moment of divine love is present to us in the tabernacles of the world.
Thank you, Lord. We adore you O Christ and we praise you. By your holy cross, you have redeemed the world!
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
It's going to be a looooong night!
Sometimes I could just kick myself for my dedication and loyalty to my employers.
We have been having break-ins at one of our storage facilities. The thieves are not stealing things--instead, they are rifling through boxes and file cabinets and the like to look for paperwork that can be used to create new identities. The police say that this is a really big issue right now nation-wide.
My company has required our customers to use only the round "disc"-type locks for about two years now, because they cannot be cut with bolt cutters, and it takes longer to use welding torches to burn through them. Thieves want to get in and get out. The disc lock makes this difficult. And we have not had any "outside" thefts in storage in the 16 years I've worked for the company, although there have been a few "inside" jobs. But the burglars have found out that it is quite easy to just cut the hasps around the disc locks.
We've been hit 7 times in the last week. 3 times last week and 4 this week. A customer called us to say that she was told by the police that a credit card she KNEW was in her storage rooms was being used to make a large purchase. We had her come down, and we found the hasp had been cut. We took a walk around and found 2 other rooms in the same condition. Nothing of value was missing, only paperwork and credit cards and records of closed bank accounts.
So I made sure the manager was making inspections of every lock twice a day since then and yesterday, we found 4 more cut! I went to Radio Shack and bought one of those surveillance cameras, but the distance was too great between the cameras and the base unit to be effective.
It is impossible to get a security guard in Stockton on short notice, it seems, so I volunteered to be a security guard tonight. I will be staying in the office, but taking walks through storage every hour to make sure no one comes in. This is AFTER getting here this morning at 7AM! Someday I'll learn not to be such a pushover when the boss asks me to help with something. Normally, I would have probably been able to refuse, but since I am in charge of the storage for the entire central Valley, I felt duty-bound to set an example and show how important security really is. If I were smarter, I would have "volunteered" the GM to stay with me!
So I went home to have dinner, kiss Marilyn and Lily Bug, grab the book I'm reading now, Let God's Light Shine Forth by Pope Benedict XVI, then came back with a few sodas and some candy to help me stay awake!!
But don't worry about anything happening violence-wise --I've got "Larry" here with me!
We have been having break-ins at one of our storage facilities. The thieves are not stealing things--instead, they are rifling through boxes and file cabinets and the like to look for paperwork that can be used to create new identities. The police say that this is a really big issue right now nation-wide.
My company has required our customers to use only the round "disc"-type locks for about two years now, because they cannot be cut with bolt cutters, and it takes longer to use welding torches to burn through them. Thieves want to get in and get out. The disc lock makes this difficult. And we have not had any "outside" thefts in storage in the 16 years I've worked for the company, although there have been a few "inside" jobs. But the burglars have found out that it is quite easy to just cut the hasps around the disc locks.
We've been hit 7 times in the last week. 3 times last week and 4 this week. A customer called us to say that she was told by the police that a credit card she KNEW was in her storage rooms was being used to make a large purchase. We had her come down, and we found the hasp had been cut. We took a walk around and found 2 other rooms in the same condition. Nothing of value was missing, only paperwork and credit cards and records of closed bank accounts.
So I made sure the manager was making inspections of every lock twice a day since then and yesterday, we found 4 more cut! I went to Radio Shack and bought one of those surveillance cameras, but the distance was too great between the cameras and the base unit to be effective.
It is impossible to get a security guard in Stockton on short notice, it seems, so I volunteered to be a security guard tonight. I will be staying in the office, but taking walks through storage every hour to make sure no one comes in. This is AFTER getting here this morning at 7AM! Someday I'll learn not to be such a pushover when the boss asks me to help with something. Normally, I would have probably been able to refuse, but since I am in charge of the storage for the entire central Valley, I felt duty-bound to set an example and show how important security really is. If I were smarter, I would have "volunteered" the GM to stay with me!
So I went home to have dinner, kiss Marilyn and Lily Bug, grab the book I'm reading now, Let God's Light Shine Forth by Pope Benedict XVI, then came back with a few sodas and some candy to help me stay awake!!
But don't worry about anything happening violence-wise --I've got "Larry" here with me!
Monday, June 8, 2009
It could have been worse!
The esteem in which the Church holds Lawrence is seen in the fact that the celebration in his honor ranks as a feast (August 10). We know very little about his life. He is one of those whose martyrdom made a deep and lasting impression on the early Church. Celebration of his feast day spread rapidly.
He was a Roman deacon under Pope St. Sixtus II. Four days after this pope was put to death, Lawrence and four clerics suffered martyrdom, probably during the persecution of the Emperor Valerian.
Legendary details of his death were known to Damasus, Prudentius, Ambrose and Augustine. The church built over his tomb became one of the seven principal churches in Rome and a favorite place for Roman pilgrimages.
A well-known legend has persisted from earliest times. As deacon in Rome, Lawrence was charged with the responsibility for the material goods of the Church, and the distribution of alms to the poor. When Lawrence knew he would be arrested like the pope, he sought out the poor, widows and orphans of Rome and gave them all the money he had on hand, selling even the sacred vessels to increase the sum. When the prefect of Rome heard of this, he imagined that the Christians must have considerable treasure. He sent for Lawrence and said, “You Christians say we are cruel to you, but that is not what I have in mind. I am told that your priests offer in gold, that the sacred blood is received in silver cups, that you have golden candlesticks at your evening services. Now, your doctrine says you must render to Caesar what is his. Bring these treasures—the emperor needs them to maintain his forces. God does not cause money to be counted: He brought none of it into the world with him—only words. Give me the money, therefore, and be rich in words.”
Lawrence replied that the Church was indeed rich. “I will show you a valuable part. But give me time to set everything in order and make an inventory.” After three days he gathered a great number of blind, lame, maimed, leprous, orphaned and widowed persons and put them in rows. When the prefect arrived, Lawrence simply said, “These are the treasure of the Church.”
The prefect was so angry he told Lawrence that he would indeed have his wish to die—but it would be by inches. He had a great gridiron prepared, with coals beneath it, and had Lawrence’s body placed on it. After the martyr had suffered the pain for a long time, the legend concludes, he made his famous cheerful remark, “It is well done. Turn me over!”
Go ahead. Ask me. Why the interest in St. Lawrence? To tell you the truth, I’m a little freaked today. If you’ll remember a couple of days ago, I wrote that I read somewhere if you ask your Guardian Angel point blank, “What is your name?” just before going to bed, you will get an answer when you wake up. I didn’t really put much stock in it, even suggesting that it might be a bad idea to play with superstition. I figured, “What can the harm be?” So last night just before going to sleep, I said jokingly, “Alright, Mr. Guardian Angel, what’s your name? Better make it something pronounceable!”
I can’t believe what happened this morning. At about 1:30 this morning, I woke up with a “start” and the name “Lawrence” was the first thing that came into my head! I was, and remain dumbfounded! The only “Lawrence” I am acquainted with or even ever had anything to do with, was my uncle Lawrence, my mom’s brother, who passed away several years ago.
I haven’t seen any television shows or listened to any radio programs when the name Lawrence was used recently. And usually, when I wake up, I think about the tasks I have to do that day—I never think about names of people, especially names of people I don’t know!
I thought, just to be on the “safe” side, that if I shouldn’t have “performed” this weird act (superstition) and the thought that came to me with the name of Lawrence is of other than natural origin, I would look up the name St. Lawrence on the computer and pray to him and ask him to ask God to forgive me if I opened a can of worms.
As I said the other day, what harm can there be in naming our Angel? And, unless I hear otherwise, after reading the account of St. Lawrence, I couldn’t have picked a better name! I’m just glad it wasn’t something really weird.
So from now on, when I feel I’ve been protected or guided by my guardian angel, I’ll just say, “Thanks, Larry!”—I’m assuming it’s OK to use the familiar form of his name.
It would be interesting to know if anyone else has tried this and what name, if any, they “heard” when they woke up. Let me know!
He was a Roman deacon under Pope St. Sixtus II. Four days after this pope was put to death, Lawrence and four clerics suffered martyrdom, probably during the persecution of the Emperor Valerian.
Legendary details of his death were known to Damasus, Prudentius, Ambrose and Augustine. The church built over his tomb became one of the seven principal churches in Rome and a favorite place for Roman pilgrimages.
A well-known legend has persisted from earliest times. As deacon in Rome, Lawrence was charged with the responsibility for the material goods of the Church, and the distribution of alms to the poor. When Lawrence knew he would be arrested like the pope, he sought out the poor, widows and orphans of Rome and gave them all the money he had on hand, selling even the sacred vessels to increase the sum. When the prefect of Rome heard of this, he imagined that the Christians must have considerable treasure. He sent for Lawrence and said, “You Christians say we are cruel to you, but that is not what I have in mind. I am told that your priests offer in gold, that the sacred blood is received in silver cups, that you have golden candlesticks at your evening services. Now, your doctrine says you must render to Caesar what is his. Bring these treasures—the emperor needs them to maintain his forces. God does not cause money to be counted: He brought none of it into the world with him—only words. Give me the money, therefore, and be rich in words.”
Lawrence replied that the Church was indeed rich. “I will show you a valuable part. But give me time to set everything in order and make an inventory.” After three days he gathered a great number of blind, lame, maimed, leprous, orphaned and widowed persons and put them in rows. When the prefect arrived, Lawrence simply said, “These are the treasure of the Church.”
The prefect was so angry he told Lawrence that he would indeed have his wish to die—but it would be by inches. He had a great gridiron prepared, with coals beneath it, and had Lawrence’s body placed on it. After the martyr had suffered the pain for a long time, the legend concludes, he made his famous cheerful remark, “It is well done. Turn me over!”
Go ahead. Ask me. Why the interest in St. Lawrence? To tell you the truth, I’m a little freaked today. If you’ll remember a couple of days ago, I wrote that I read somewhere if you ask your Guardian Angel point blank, “What is your name?” just before going to bed, you will get an answer when you wake up. I didn’t really put much stock in it, even suggesting that it might be a bad idea to play with superstition. I figured, “What can the harm be?” So last night just before going to sleep, I said jokingly, “Alright, Mr. Guardian Angel, what’s your name? Better make it something pronounceable!”
I can’t believe what happened this morning. At about 1:30 this morning, I woke up with a “start” and the name “Lawrence” was the first thing that came into my head! I was, and remain dumbfounded! The only “Lawrence” I am acquainted with or even ever had anything to do with, was my uncle Lawrence, my mom’s brother, who passed away several years ago.
I haven’t seen any television shows or listened to any radio programs when the name Lawrence was used recently. And usually, when I wake up, I think about the tasks I have to do that day—I never think about names of people, especially names of people I don’t know!
I thought, just to be on the “safe” side, that if I shouldn’t have “performed” this weird act (superstition) and the thought that came to me with the name of Lawrence is of other than natural origin, I would look up the name St. Lawrence on the computer and pray to him and ask him to ask God to forgive me if I opened a can of worms.
As I said the other day, what harm can there be in naming our Angel? And, unless I hear otherwise, after reading the account of St. Lawrence, I couldn’t have picked a better name! I’m just glad it wasn’t something really weird.
So from now on, when I feel I’ve been protected or guided by my guardian angel, I’ll just say, “Thanks, Larry!”—I’m assuming it’s OK to use the familiar form of his name.
It would be interesting to know if anyone else has tried this and what name, if any, they “heard” when they woke up. Let me know!
Sunday, June 7, 2009
The Saint of the Divine Indwelling,by Fr. Gregory Ross, O.C.D., S.T.L.
(Fr. Gregory Ross O. C. D. is a Discalced Carmelite of the Province of St. Therese. Currently he is Student Master and Rector of St. John of the Cross House of Studies in New Orleans Louisiana.) 
Blessed Elizabeth was born in July of 1880 into a military environment. Her father, Joseph, had been raised in a poor, agricultural family. At the age of twenty-one, he had enlisted in the French army. In September of 1873, Catez had married Marie Rolland, herself the daughter of a successful military man. After a career marked by combat as well as by many promotions, he was made a Knight of the Legion of Honor in 1881. Spending her earliest years in this military environment Elizabeth was naturally formed in such virtues as courage and forthrightness.
As she was waiting to enter her beloved Carmel, Elizabeth lived the life of a typical young, active Catholic laywoman of her time. She sang in two choirs in her parish, she helped prepare children for their First Communions, and she animated a type of summer "day care" for the children of those who worked in the local tobacco factory. The personality of this sensitive and energetic young woman had blossomed from her earlier years. Her simple, vivacious and spontaneous nature, coupled with her great, if hard won, self-possession, won for her friends of all ages. Many of those who knew her later testified that she exercised a notable influence on others, especially on those younger than herself, being skilled at animating recreations and other youthful activities. It should be noted that Elizabeth was also a very gifted musician. From the age of seven, she studied music at the Conservatory of Dijon, winning several prizes for her skill at the piano. She is said to have played with great passion, playing in order to please God himself. "No one can interpret the great masters like Elizabeth," noted one of her many admirers.
Further on in this passage from Ephesians, Elizabeth discovered a type of "personal vocation" to live as a "Praise of Glory" of the Father, just as Jesus himself was the definitive Praise of the Father's Glory. This call to praise the glory of God also included the call to share in the redemptive sufferings of Christ, to be able to say like St. Paul, "In my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his body, which is the church" (Col 1:24).
In a letter written just a few weeks before her death in the year 1906, a young Carmelite nun declared to a friend: "My beloved Antoinette, I leave you my faith in the presence of God, of the God who is all Love dwelling in our souls. I confide to you: it is this intimacy with Him 'within' that has been the beautiful sun illuminating my life, making it already an anticipated Heaven: it is what sustains me today in my suffering.' This young nun, Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity, has since been given such titles as "the prophet of the presence of God,""the saint of the divine indwelling," or "the saint of one idea," because of her strong experience of the indwelling of God in her soul. Even the Catechism of the Catholic Church cites a prayer that she composed and addressed to the Trinity whom she knew dwelled in her soul. The Catechism cites Blessed Elizabeth's prayer to illustrate the truth that "Even' now we are called to be a dwelling for the Most Holy Trinity": 'If a man loves me,"says the Lord, "he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our home with him." (Jn 14:23)
Blessed Elizabeth had a profound and living experience of this great truth of our faith, also expressed in St. Paul's words to the Corinthians: "Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?" (1 Cor 3:16) She cites these words as she writes to a friend of hers. "I am going to give you my 'secret': think about this God who dwells within you, whose temple you are; St. Paul speaks in this way, and we can believe it."
This young mystic understood God's constant presence within her as a sign of his great love for her. She writes to her mother: "Oh, may the Master reveal to you His divine presence, it is so pleasant and sweet, it gives so much strength to the soul; to believe that God loves us to the point of living in us, to become the Companion of our exile, our Confidant, our Friend at every moment.
How did Blessed Elizabeth arrive at this profound awareness of the loving God who dwelled within her and within the souls of all the baptized? Let us look briefly at her life to see how God's grace was active and effective in her spiritual development.
Blessed Elizabeth was born in July of 1880 into a military environment. Her father, Joseph, had been raised in a poor, agricultural family. At the age of twenty-one, he had enlisted in the French army. In September of 1873, Catez had married Marie Rolland, herself the daughter of a successful military man. After a career marked by combat as well as by many promotions, he was made a Knight of the Legion of Honor in 1881. Spending her earliest years in this military environment Elizabeth was naturally formed in such virtues as courage and forthrightness.From her earliest years, Elizabeth's personality was also marked by a determined, energetic disposition. The strong-willed, exuberant child's energy, however, often became violent, resulting in fits of rage. She could not support being opposed, seeming "to think that all must give way before her." Nevertheless, this child who was once described mischievously as "pure devil" simultaneously demonstrated and developed a great attraction to prayer.
The year 1887 marked a great change in seven-year-old Elizabeth's life. The year began with the death of her maternal grandfather in January. In October of that same year, her father, Joseph, died suddenly of a heart attack at the age of fifty-five. Madame Catez and her two children (Elizabeth's sister, Marguerite, who had been born in 1883) soon moved from their former house to an apartment in what could be called the suburbs of Dijon. From the window of her room in her new home, Elizabeth could see the monastery of the Discalced Carmelite Nuns.
After the death of her father, Elizabeth's outbursts of anger increased both in number and in violence. During the course of the same year, though, the child experienced for the first time the sacrament of Penance, "which brought about what she styled her ‘conversion'." She henceforth began to struggle noticeably against her violent temper, promising her mother that she would strive to be the very model of a "sweet, patient, and obedient" daughter.
However, it was only four years later that the future Blessed would manage finally to conquer her difficult temperament. In the spring of 1891, when she was almost eleven years old, Elizabeth made her First Communion. Sensitive by nature, especially to things sacred, she was profoundly affected by her first reception of Jesus Christ in the sacrament of the Eucharist. Tears of joy were seen to run down the young girl's face after her Communion. Upon leaving the church, she said to a close friend, "I'm no longer hungry. Jesus has fed me."
On the afternoon of her First Communion, Elizabeth also encountered the prioress of the Carmel of Dijon for the first time. The prioress, upon learning the name of the child, explained to her that "Elizabeth-means "house of God." A few days later, she would send this same message to Elizabeth, writing on the back of a holy card: "Your blessed name hides a mystery, accomplished on this great day. Child, your heart is the House of God on earth, of the God of love."
This theme of being the "house of God," then, was at first closely associated with the mystery of the Eucharist in the mind of Elizabeth. In a poem that she would later write to commemorate the seventh anniversary of her First Communion, she meditates upon the day:
When Jesus made in me His dwelling place,When God took possession of my heart, So well that since that hour, Since that mysterious colloquy,
That divine and delicious meeting,I have aspired to nothing else but to give my life In order to return a bit of His great love To the Beloved of the Eucharist Who reposed in my feeble heart, Inundating it with all of his favors.
Likewise, Elizabeth once wrote the following words to a friend who had just made her First Communion: "If He came this morning into your little heart, it was not to pass through it and go away, but to remain there always." It seems that the future Blessed understood that by giving himself to her in the sacrament of the Eucharist, Jesus had come to dwell within her in a new way.
Elizabeth lived out her desire 'to return some of His great love to the Beloved of the Eucharist" by conquering her tempestuous nature. Her mother later testified, "From that day (of her First Communion) and afterwards, no more fits of anger." This victory did not come easily to the young girl, however, but rather cost her a considerable amount of effort and struggle. Yet, Elizabeth desired to return love for love, and to show her love for the loving God by becoming herself more loving towards others. She drew strength for this struggle from "the Beloved of the Eucharist who had made in her His dwelling place.
Elizabeth first discerned her vocation to Carmel after having received Communion one day when she was fourteen years old, but her mother was opposed to the idea. Eventually, when Elizabeth was nineteen years old, Madame Catez agreed to her daughter's entry into Carmel, but required her to wait until her twenty-first birthday. In the years before she entered the cloister, Elizabeth studied St. Teresa of Jesus' Way of Perfection. She also read the first edition of Therese of Lisieux's Story of a Soul, and quickly became an enthusiastic follower of the -Little Way." The soon-to-be Carmelite was also greatly enamored of "Little Therese"'s "Act of Offering to Merciful Love." Furthermore, in February of 1900, the young aspirant to the Carmel of Dijon was introduced to a Dominican friar, a friend of the nuns. Elizabeth asked for help in understanding her interior experience - her need for silence and recollection, and her sense --of an inexplicable presence in the depth of her soul. This Dominican proceeded to deepen her awareness of the truth of the indwelling of the Trinity in the soul of the baptized: that not just Christ, but that "all three of the Trinity - Father, Son, and Spirit - were present in love in her soul. This graced meeting greatly reassured Elizabeth and aided her in her spiritual progress.
As she was waiting to enter her beloved Carmel, Elizabeth lived the life of a typical young, active Catholic laywoman of her time. She sang in two choirs in her parish, she helped prepare children for their First Communions, and she animated a type of summer "day care" for the children of those who worked in the local tobacco factory. The personality of this sensitive and energetic young woman had blossomed from her earlier years. Her simple, vivacious and spontaneous nature, coupled with her great, if hard won, self-possession, won for her friends of all ages. Many of those who knew her later testified that she exercised a notable influence on others, especially on those younger than herself, being skilled at animating recreations and other youthful activities. It should be noted that Elizabeth was also a very gifted musician. From the age of seven, she studied music at the Conservatory of Dijon, winning several prizes for her skill at the piano. She is said to have played with great passion, playing in order to please God himself. "No one can interpret the great masters like Elizabeth," noted one of her many admirers.In the midst of her active social life, Elizabeth sought to live as "a Carmelite on the inside" while she awaited the day of her entrance into the cloister. She sought to live in constant communion with the loving God whom she knew was always present within her. When she was twenty years old, Elizabeth addressed the following words to Jesus: 'May my life be a continual prayer, one long act of love. May nothing be able to distract me from you. I would like so much, O my Master, to live with you in silence. But what I love above all is to do your will, and since you still want me to be in the world, I submit with all my heart for love of you. I offer to you the cell of my heart; may it be your little Bethany, come to rest there, I love you so".
Finally, in 1901, Elizabeth entered her beloved Carmel, receiving the name "Sister Elizabeth of the Trinity." Her awareness and experience of the Triune God dwelling within her continued to grow. Through her communion with Christ in the Eucharist and in the Scriptures, the young Carmelite's spiritual life deepened even more. She drew nourishment from the teachings of the great saints of Carmel - St. Teresa of Jesus and St. John of the Cross, as well as from her contemporary, Therese of Lisieux. Above all, though, Elizabeth names as "the father of her soul" St. Paul, who preached to her "nothing but this mystery of the charity of Christ."
In St. Paul, Elizabeth found teaching that both echoed her own experience of the love of God and helped her to interpret this experience. Paul spoke to her of the "exceeding love" of Christ, who "loved me and gave himself for me" (Gal 2:20) According to Elizabeth, this last Pauline expression summed up everything about the love of Christ, a love that was true and strong.
As a child, Elizabeth had found the strength to conquer her fiery temper only after having received the body and blood of Christ in the Eucharist for the first time. As a Carmelite, she would read in St. Paul that it was Christ who made peace through the blood of his Cross (Col 1:20), making "peace in my little heaven," so that it may truly be the repose of the Three." Elizabeth had experienced for herself the way in which the blood of the Eucharistic Christ had brought peace to her tempestuous soul, and later found the words in St. Paul to affirm her experience. Also, as seen above, Elizabeth found in the words of St. Paul the scriptural foundation for the doctrine of the indwelling of God in the soul of the Christian.
Likewise, Elizabeth found in St. Paul the words to confirm her experience that it is through Jesus that "we have access to the Father" (cf Eph 2:18). As Elizabeth writes in a poem that she composed for Christmas of 1901:
He comes to reveal the mystery,
To give all of the Father's secrets
To lead from glory to glory
Even unto the bosom of the Trinity.
Elizabeth, then, experienced Christ as the one who comes to reveal to us the Father's love and to lead us to share in the divine life of Trinitarian love.
Finally, the young Carmelite found many passages in St. Paul that helped her discover the great dignity of this vocation of the Christian to share in the life of the Trinity through union with Christ. She was especially drawn to the eighth chapter of Paul's letter to the Romans, in which the great saint writes: "For those he foreknow he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, so that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined he also called; and those he called he also justified; and those he justified he also glorified" (Rom 8:29-30). Likewise, she drew great riches from the first chapter of the letter to the Ephesians, in which Paul writes: "He chose us in (Christ), before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him. In love he destined us for adoption to himself through Jesus Christ. In accord with the favor of his will, for the praise of the glory of his grace that he granted us in his beloved" (Eph 1:4-6)
Further on in this passage from Ephesians, Elizabeth discovered a type of "personal vocation" to live as a "Praise of Glory" of the Father, just as Jesus himself was the definitive Praise of the Father's Glory. This call to praise the glory of God also included the call to share in the redemptive sufferings of Christ, to be able to say like St. Paul, "In my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his body, which is the church" (Col 1:24).
Elizabeth realized that all people are created in order to be united to Jesus, to be made like him, even in his sufferings, in order to share in the relationship of love that the risen Jesus shares with the Father and the Holy Spirit. She explains this great plan of God in one of her meditations:
God bends lovingly over this soul, His adopted daughter,
who is so conformed to the image of His Son,
the ' first born among all creatures,'
and recognizes her as one of those whom
He has 'predestined, called justified.'
And His fatherly heart thrills as
He thinks of consummating His work,
that is, of 'glorifying' her by bringing her into
His kingdom,there to sing for ages unending
'the praise of His glory’.
All of this great work is an action of the God of Love.
God creates us in order to lead us to communion with Himself,
the God who is Love itself.
In response to this loving plan of God, Elizabeth desired to live fully her Christian and Carmelite vocation. On November 21, 1904, the feast of the Presentation of Mary, Elizabeth composed her famous prayer to the Trinity. This prayer is like an offering of herself to the God who is Love. It marks out the program of life which Elizabeth desired to follow. In it we see her desire to be united to Christ, conformed to him, in order to please the Father and to enter profoundly into the dynamic and infinite love of the Trinity. Elizabeth begs the Holy Spirit to "create in my soul a kind of incarnation of the Word: that I may be another humanity for Him in which He can renew His whole Mystery." She entreats the Father: "Bend lovingly over Your poor little creature; 'cover her with Your shadow,' seeing in her only the 'Beloved in whom You are well pleased." She concludes by surrendering herself to the Trinity, begging God: "Bury yourself in me that I may bury myself in You until I depart to contemplate in Your light the abyss of Your greatness."
It was only two years after composing this prayer that Elizabeth of the Trinity finally did depart this life in order to contemplate the abyss of God's great love for all eternity. The young Carmelite died after many months of suffering from Addison's Disease, a malady of the kidneys which at that time was incurable. As a result of this illness, Elizabeth suffered great fatigue, an inability to digest food, intense abdominal pains and great thirst. She wrote that she felt as though tiny beasts were devouring her insides, and said that one of the first things she would do in heaven was to have a drink of water. Her community noted the great patience, courage, and joy with which Elizabeth suffered.
The young Carmelite viewed her suffering as a way of being conformed to Jesus, as a way of sharing in the redemptive suffering of her divine Bridegroom for the good of the Church. As such, Elizabeth even came to view this suffering as a gift. She explains to her mother in a letter written from her sickbed:
'I rejoice,' said St. Paul, 'to make up in my flesh what is lacking in the passion of Jesus Christ for the sake of His body the Church.' Oh, how your mothers heart should leap for divine joy in thinking that the Master has deigned to choose your daughter, the fruit of your womb, to associate her with His great work of redemption, and that He suffers in her, as it were, an extension of His passion. The bride belongs to the Bridegroom, and mine has taken me. He wants me to be another humanity for Him in which He can still suffer for the glory of His Father, to help the needs of His Church: this thought has done me so much good."
Elizabeth's last audible words before her death were, "I am going to Light, to Love, to Life." She died on November 9, 1906, at the age of 26, after having lived in Carmel for only five years. When asked if she would spend her heaven doing good on earth like "Little Therese," Elizabeth responded that she would not, but that she would shoot "like a rocket" deeper and deeper into the abyss of the Trinity. Nevertheless, she did intuit that she would exercise a particular mission within the Church from her place in heaven. From her sick bed, Elizabeth wrote to a fellow Carmelite "I think, that in Heaven my mission will be to draw souls by helping them go out of themselves to cling to God by a wholly simple and loving movement, and to keep them in this great silence within that will allow God to communicate Himself to them and transform them into Himself".
On November 25, 1984, Pope John Paul II beatified Elizabeth of the Trinity. In his homily at the beatification, the Pope presented Elizabeth of the Trinity to the Church as one "who led a life 'hidden with Christ in God' (Col 3:3)," and as "a brilliant witness to the joy of being 'rooted and grounded in love' (Eph 3:17)." We can turn to Elizabeth of the Trinity today as a witness to the impact that the presence of the loving God within the soul can have in a human life. She proclaims to us with St. Paul the great dignity of the Christian Vocation: the call to be conformed to Christ -- crucified, risen, and present in the Eucharist - to become "temples of the Spirit," all to the praise of the Father's glory. She reminds us that the Trinity is "our home," that God has created us in order to be united to Christ, to live as his adopted sons and daughters, dwelling in his love and remaining there always in this life and in the next.
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Guardian Angels or What's in a name?
Psalm 91: 10-12No evil shall befall you, nor shall affliction come near your tent, for to His Angels God has given command about you, that they guard you in all your ways. Upon their hands they will bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.
Matthew 18:10
"See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven continually see the face of My Father who is in heaven.
A heavenly spirit is assigned by God to watch over each of us during our lives. The doctrine of angels is part of the Church's tradition. The role of the guardian angel is both to guide us to good thoughts, works and words, and to preserve us from evil.
Every day since I can remember, I have said the Prayer to My Guardian Angel that Mom taught us all. Even on those days that I don’t seem to get the whole Rosary said, I manage to acknowledge the helper that God has blessed me with. You all know the prayer:
Angel of God, my guardian dear,
To whom God’s love entrusts me here.
Every this day (night) be at my side,
To light and guard, to rule and guide.
Amen.
I must admit that even with a daily prayer to my angel, I sometimes forget he’s there. Did I say “he?” How do I know? As I understand it, the angels have no gender. Or do they possess both? Unimportant. What is important is the role they play in our daily lives.
As Jesus said in Matthew 18:10 our angels are not only with us every minute of every day but also face-to-face with God, Himself, presenting our petitions, joys and anxieties to Him. They can influence our thoughts and our actions but they can’t control them—that’s the purpose of our free will. What the guardian angels will do is remind us of what is good and urge us to follow that. They will also step in and protect us from physical harm, if it is God’s will.
I believe that our angels actually take our bodies over, at times, to do good works for others that we may not feel capable of or even be aware of.
A couple of scenarios come to mind:
There have been several times when I was so sleepy, I should not have been driving. I managed to get to my destination without even realizing how I got there! I’m sure it was my guardian angel driving! It’s a good thing he didn’t get pulled over, or there would have been some “ ‘splainin’ to do, Lucy!” lol
And then I got another email from Wendy last week explaining how she actually became a guardian angel for a couple of people she encountered. I’ll cut and paste the letter and let Wendy tell it in her own words:
“I was pulling into SAM'S CLUB this morning about 8:45 a.m., and I saw a man and a woman looking for something in the parking lot. I could tell these people worked at SAM’S CLUB because they were wearing a uniform with nametags.
I pulled over a few rows to park (I was looking for a little shade for my dog, who was in the car). When I got out the man and woman were nearby so I asked them “What are you looking for? I am a good finder. Ever since I was young I can find things.” (I also prayed to St. Anthony).
The woman started to say what they were looking for when the man shouted out, “There it is!”, practically under my foot. It was a crown that had fallen out of his mouth. They couldn’t believe what had happened. I told them I prayed to St. Anthony. The woman said she had goose bumps and the man had started to cry. The woman told him not to cry. He was so happy to have found his tooth.”
And that’s not the first time Wendy has served in that capacity. Remember the lady from my blog last March? (A Loving Father).
Have any of you NAMED your guardian angel? Mom says she named hers “George” years ago! As in St. George. Have her tell you why someday. It’s still unclear to me. Maybe she’ll put it on her blog.
I read somewhere that if you really want to know your guardian angel’s name, ask him! I’m going to try it tonight. Supposedly, if you simply ask, “What is your name?”, just before going to bed, the name will come to you when you wake up. I’m hoping my angel’s name is something cool, and from the Bible, like Obadiah, or Tobiah, or Joshua. But, knowing my luck and God’s sense of humor, I’ll probably end up with an angel named Tiddly Wink, or Mortimer. Yeah, yeah, I know it’s stupid and we shouldn’t participate in superstition, but aren’t you curious?
And wouldn’t it help to make him (or her) more present in our lives, to help us focus on our “prime directive” (courtesy Star Trek) given to us by Jesus, to love one another as Christ loves us?
Friday, June 5, 2009
Just too tired tonight
I just couldn't sleep last night. I turned off the TV and the computer and the radio and the phone and any other "convenience" at about 9:00 last night because I felt physically exhausted. But I found that I wasn't sleepy. I tried a glass of water. No luck. I tried saying the Rosary (usually a sure bet to La La Land)--No luck, but I was able to offer the prayers for my family! I turned on the computer and played some games. I surfed the net. I read the on-line Bible. Still no sleep. About 3:3o am, I said to myself, "Oh well, you have to get up and get ready for work in about an hour anyway, you may as well just stay up." That did it. All of a sudden I couldn't keep my eyes open. Sure enough, I got up at 4:30 and was extremely sleepy all day.
Not a good way to be when the boss calls and says, "Change of plans! Instead of staying in Fresno tonight, I need you to go home to Stockton and take care of an issue that has come up." Great. I can handle being sleepy if I'm busy. But not while I'm driving.
The good news is that my Guardian Angel was with me (as always) and I made it home safe. My blog was going to be about our "personal" angels tonight, but I can barely think right now, so my Guardian Angel entry will have to wait until tomorrow.
Not a good way to be when the boss calls and says, "Change of plans! Instead of staying in Fresno tonight, I need you to go home to Stockton and take care of an issue that has come up." Great. I can handle being sleepy if I'm busy. But not while I'm driving.
The good news is that my Guardian Angel was with me (as always) and I made it home safe. My blog was going to be about our "personal" angels tonight, but I can barely think right now, so my Guardian Angel entry will have to wait until tomorrow.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
A matter of degrees
“What do I want in life?” It’s a question we all ask at some point in life. I’m willing to bet that the number one answer is, “To be ‘happy’”. Happiness is described in Webster’s as: good fortune; pleasure; contentment. Is this all we want? Seems like a pretty small goal to me.
Joy, however, is described as the emotion of great delight or extreme happiness caused by something exceptionally good or satisfying; keen pleasure; elation.
We reach for joy, but settle for happy. Happy is not a bad thing, but it’s not as good as joy.
I think that “joy” is “happiness”, shared with someone else. I have a pretty good job, but it would mean nothing without Marilyn in my life to share my experiences with. Marilyn and I have a “happy” marriage, but Alicia and Sarah and Lorenzo and Lily bring “joy” to it. I am happy to attend Mass as often as I can—the Eucharist brings joy to the experience. So JOY is a higher degree of HAPPINESS.
But joy doesn’t come as easily as happiness. We have to DO something MORE to achieve joy.
What started me thinking about this today was the Gospel at Mass tonight.
Mk 12:28-34
One of the scribes came to Jesus and asked him, "Which is the first of all the commandments?" Jesus replied, "The first is this: Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these."
The scribe said to him, "Well said, teacher. You are right in saying, He is One and there is no other than he. And to love him with all your heart, with all your understandingwith all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices." And when Jesus saw that he answered with understanding,he said to him, "You are not far from the Kingdom of God." And no one dared to ask him any more questions.
This was not the only time in the Gospels when Jesus told us to “love our neighbor as ourselves”. Today’s admonition was the “easy” version. The Lord gives the same admonition to the Apostles just before His Passion while washing their feet, but the second time He is more specific and telling us there is more than “just” loving our neighbors—
John 13:34
"I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another."
Note the key words in this commandment: “As I have loved you….” That’s the real trick.
So you see, it’s all a matter of degrees.
Joy, however, is described as the emotion of great delight or extreme happiness caused by something exceptionally good or satisfying; keen pleasure; elation.
We reach for joy, but settle for happy. Happy is not a bad thing, but it’s not as good as joy.
I think that “joy” is “happiness”, shared with someone else. I have a pretty good job, but it would mean nothing without Marilyn in my life to share my experiences with. Marilyn and I have a “happy” marriage, but Alicia and Sarah and Lorenzo and Lily bring “joy” to it. I am happy to attend Mass as often as I can—the Eucharist brings joy to the experience. So JOY is a higher degree of HAPPINESS.
But joy doesn’t come as easily as happiness. We have to DO something MORE to achieve joy.
What started me thinking about this today was the Gospel at Mass tonight.
Mk 12:28-34
One of the scribes came to Jesus and asked him, "Which is the first of all the commandments?" Jesus replied, "The first is this: Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these."
The scribe said to him, "Well said, teacher. You are right in saying, He is One and there is no other than he. And to love him with all your heart, with all your understandingwith all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices." And when Jesus saw that he answered with understanding,he said to him, "You are not far from the Kingdom of God." And no one dared to ask him any more questions.
This was not the only time in the Gospels when Jesus told us to “love our neighbor as ourselves”. Today’s admonition was the “easy” version. The Lord gives the same admonition to the Apostles just before His Passion while washing their feet, but the second time He is more specific and telling us there is more than “just” loving our neighbors—
John 13:34
"I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another."
Note the key words in this commandment: “As I have loved you….” That’s the real trick.
So you see, it’s all a matter of degrees.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Q and A
First, a correction to yesterday's blog. Tobit probably didn't write the BOOK of Tobit. What I should have said was "(The author of the book of )Tobit must have been the great, great, great, great, great,......great grandfather of O Henry! He sure could write a story!
=====================================================================
(Now to today's entry)
In today's Gospel reading, the Sadducees asked Jesus a question:(Mk 12:18-27)
Some Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus and put this question to him, saying, "Teacher, Moses wrote for us, 'If someone's brother dies, leaving a wife but no child, his brother must take the wife and raise up descendants for his brother. 'Now there were seven brothers. The first married a woman and died, leaving no descendants. So the second brother married her and died, leaving no descendants, and the third likewise. And the seven left no descendants. Last of all the woman also died. At the resurrection when they arise whose wife will she be? For all seven had been married to her. "Jesus said to them, "Are you not misled because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God? When they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but they are like the angels in heaven.
As for the dead being raised, have you not read in the Book of Moses, in the passage about the bush, how God told him, I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?He is not God of the dead but of the living. You are greatly misled."
The Pharisees and Herodites are openly hostile to Jesus from His first appearance. They too, are not really looking for answers--They only ask questions hoping for answers that will give them cause to put Him to death. When Christ answers their questions, he seems to always preface the answer with, "You hypocrites" or "Why do you ask when you should know the answers?" He (rightfully and justly) holds them to a higher standard than the average Jew.
The young man at least is searching for an answer--it's a pity that he can't (or won't) accept the answer his Master gives him.
Then there is Peter and the rest of the disciples who ask questions that are not only seeking the Truth, but they are open to the answers and look to fulfilling the Will of God.
I can only hope that I fall in the last category.
=====================================================================
(Now to today's entry)
In today's Gospel reading, the Sadducees asked Jesus a question:(Mk 12:18-27)
Some Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus and put this question to him, saying, "Teacher, Moses wrote for us, 'If someone's brother dies, leaving a wife but no child, his brother must take the wife and raise up descendants for his brother. 'Now there were seven brothers. The first married a woman and died, leaving no descendants. So the second brother married her and died, leaving no descendants, and the third likewise. And the seven left no descendants. Last of all the woman also died. At the resurrection when they arise whose wife will she be? For all seven had been married to her. "Jesus said to them, "Are you not misled because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God? When they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but they are like the angels in heaven.
As for the dead being raised, have you not read in the Book of Moses, in the passage about the bush, how God told him, I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?He is not God of the dead but of the living. You are greatly misled."
In Matthew 12: 1-14, the Pharisees asked Jesus a question:
At that time Jesus was going through a field of grain on the sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat them. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, "See, your disciples are doing what is unlawful to do on the sabbath." He said to them,"Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry, how he went into the house of God and ate the bread of offering, which neither he nor his companions but only the priests could lawfully eat? Or have you not read in the law that on the sabbath the priests serving in the temple violate the sabbath and are innocent? I say to you, something greater than the temple is here. If you knew what this meant, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned these innocent men. For the Son of Man is Lord of the sabbath."
Moving on from there, he went into their synagogue. And behold, there was a man there who had a withered hand. They questioned him, "Is it lawful to cure on the sabbath?" so that they might accuse him. He said to them, "Which one of you who has a sheep that falls into a pit on the sabbath will not take hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable a person is than a sheep. So it is lawful to do good on the sabbath." Then he said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He stretched it out, and it was restored as sound as the other.
But the Pharisees went out and took counsel against him to put him to death.
And there was a "young man" who asked Jesus a very important question:(Mt 19:16-22)
A young man approached Jesus and said, "Teacher, what good must I do to gain eternal life?" He answered him, "Why do you ask me about the good? There is only One who is good. If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments." He asked him, "Which ones?"And Jesus replied, "You shall not kill; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; honor your father and your mother; and you shall love your neighbor as yourself." The young man said to him, "All of these I have observed. What do I still lack?" Jesus said to him, "If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." When the young man heard this statement, he went away sad, for he had many possessions.
And finally, Peter asked Jesus a profound question (and also answered it!):(John 6:68)
Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life."
So I meditated today not so much on the questions found in Scripture, but the people who asked the questions and the reasons for their inquiries. In the case of the Sadducees, throughout the Scriptures their questions are always those they already know the answer to, or are inane questions asked simply to ask questions because that's their "job" as scribes. They don't really want answers. They only know they have a common enemy with the Pharisees (who they normally detest) in Jesus, and they want to find some question to "stump" Jesus, proving He isn't Who He claims to be. Usually, when He answers the Sadducees, He "pities" or "belittles" them ("You are misled"), then gives them the simplest answers, which humiliates them even more.The Pharisees and Herodites are openly hostile to Jesus from His first appearance. They too, are not really looking for answers--They only ask questions hoping for answers that will give them cause to put Him to death. When Christ answers their questions, he seems to always preface the answer with, "You hypocrites" or "Why do you ask when you should know the answers?" He (rightfully and justly) holds them to a higher standard than the average Jew.
The young man at least is searching for an answer--it's a pity that he can't (or won't) accept the answer his Master gives him.
Then there is Peter and the rest of the disciples who ask questions that are not only seeking the Truth, but they are open to the answers and look to fulfilling the Will of God.
I can only hope that I fall in the last category.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
A Biblical soap opera
This week's readings are from Tobit. Talk about a soap opera!
Tobit isn't your ordinary Bible "personality". He's just a regular guy. He is a devout and wealthy Israelite living among the captives deported to Nineveh from the northern kingdom of Israel in 721 B.C.. He suffers severe reversals and is finally blinded when bird droppings fall in his eyes!
Because of his misfortunes he begs the Lord to let him die. But recalling the large sum he had formerly deposited in far-off Media, he sends his son Tobiah there to bring back the money.
In Media, at this same time, a young woman, Sarah, also prays for death, because she has lost seven husbands, each killed in turn on his wedding night by the demon Asmodeus. God hears the prayers of Tobit and Sarah, and sends the angel Raphael in disguise to aid them both.
Raphael makes the trip to Media with Tobiah. When Tobiah is attacked by a large fish as he bathes, Raphael orders him to seize it and to remove its gall, heart, and liver because they make "useful medicines."
Later, at Raphael's urging, Tobiah marries Sarah, and uses the the fish's heart and liver to drive Asmodeus from the bridal chamber. Returning to Nineveh with his wife and his father's money, Tobiah rubs the fish's gall into his father's eyes and cures them.
Finally, Raphael reveals his true identity and returns to heaven. Tobit then utters his beautiful hymn of praise. Before dying, Tobit tells his son to leave Nineveh because God will destroy that wicked city.
After Tobiah buries his father and mother, he and his family depart for Media, where he later learns that the destruction of Nineveh has taken place.
Tobit must have been the great, great, great, great, great,......great grandfather of O Henry! He sure could write a story!
Tobit isn't your ordinary Bible "personality". He's just a regular guy. He is a devout and wealthy Israelite living among the captives deported to Nineveh from the northern kingdom of Israel in 721 B.C.. He suffers severe reversals and is finally blinded when bird droppings fall in his eyes!
Because of his misfortunes he begs the Lord to let him die. But recalling the large sum he had formerly deposited in far-off Media, he sends his son Tobiah there to bring back the money.
In Media, at this same time, a young woman, Sarah, also prays for death, because she has lost seven husbands, each killed in turn on his wedding night by the demon Asmodeus. God hears the prayers of Tobit and Sarah, and sends the angel Raphael in disguise to aid them both.
Raphael makes the trip to Media with Tobiah. When Tobiah is attacked by a large fish as he bathes, Raphael orders him to seize it and to remove its gall, heart, and liver because they make "useful medicines."
Later, at Raphael's urging, Tobiah marries Sarah, and uses the the fish's heart and liver to drive Asmodeus from the bridal chamber. Returning to Nineveh with his wife and his father's money, Tobiah rubs the fish's gall into his father's eyes and cures them.
Finally, Raphael reveals his true identity and returns to heaven. Tobit then utters his beautiful hymn of praise. Before dying, Tobit tells his son to leave Nineveh because God will destroy that wicked city.
After Tobiah buries his father and mother, he and his family depart for Media, where he later learns that the destruction of Nineveh has taken place.
Tobit must have been the great, great, great, great, great,......great grandfather of O Henry! He sure could write a story!
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