News items from TJC Blog
Prayer: Rose of Lima
O good Jesus, I know not even how to love you. What advantage is it to have a heart, unless it be quite consumed with love for you?
Spirituality: “Mature religious generativity” from Christian Life Patterns
Growth into mature religious generativity results in a new combination of virtues in the personality. Charity, matured into less controlling care and a broader concern, is now joined by detachment. Charity is manifested in the generative person’s contribution to the community and society. In middle age this self-giving is informed by greater self-knowledge and less restricted by one’s personal ambition and the need to succeed. Detachment is that peculiar virtue that allows one to let go of control. It is rooted not in a stoic indifference but in a conviction – perhaps new for the adult – that God rather than oneself will see to the destiny of future generations of believers and nonbelievers. The energetic self-investment in Christian service characteristic for many in the twenties and thirties may be transformed in the forties and fifties into a self-investment complemented by a new self-engagement. Control can now be shared and passed on as one becomes able to trust more fully both in God and the next generation. This virtue of detachment does not manifest itself in a decrease in one’s involvement or creativity but rather in a growth in trust, patience, and an ability to share responsibility. The religious insight which allows such mature generativity is that the human and Christian enterprise extends beyond my strengths and limitations. Thus I learn to give myself to something that transcends me. And in giving myself away, I find myself again, now in a new relationship with God and the community.
Evelyn Eaton Whitehead and James D. Whitehead
Evelyn Eaton Whitehead and James D. Whitehead
Poem: The Plain Facts, By a PLAIN but AMIABLE Cat, Ruth Pitter, 20th century
See what a charming smile I bring,
Which no one can resist;
For I have a wondrous thing –
The Fact that I exist.
And I have found another, which
I now proceed to tell.
The world is so sublimely rich
That you exist as well.
Fact One is lovely, so is Two,
But O the best is Three:
The fact that I can smile at you,
And you can smile at me.
Which no one can resist;
For I have a wondrous thing –
The Fact that I exist.
And I have found another, which
I now proceed to tell.
The world is so sublimely rich
That you exist as well.
Fact One is lovely, so is Two,
But O the best is Three:
The fact that I can smile at you,
And you can smile at me.
Poem: from Israfel by Edgar Allan Poe, 1831
In Heaven a spirit doth swell
‘Whose heart-strings are a lute;’
None sing so wildly well
As the angel Israfel,
And the giddy stars (so legends tell)
Ceasing their hymns, attend the spell
Of his voice, all mute.
Tottering above
In her highest noon,
The enamored moon
Blushes with love,
While, to listen, the red Levin
(With the rapid Pleiads, even,
Which were seven)
Pauses in Heaven.
And they say (the starry choir
And the other listening things)
That Israfeli’s fire
Is owing to that lyre
By which he sits and sings –
The trembling living wire
Of those unusual strings.
But the skies that angel trod,
Where deep thoughts are a duty,
Where Love’s a grown-up God,
Where the Houri glances are
Imbued with all the beauty
Which we worship as a star.
Therefore, thou art not wrong,
Israfeli, who despises
And impassioned song;
To thee the laurels belong,
Best bard, because the wisest!
Merrily live, and long!
‘Whose heart-strings are a lute;’
None sing so wildly well
As the angel Israfel,
And the giddy stars (so legends tell)
Ceasing their hymns, attend the spell
Of his voice, all mute.
Tottering above
In her highest noon,
The enamored moon
Blushes with love,
While, to listen, the red Levin
(With the rapid Pleiads, even,
Which were seven)
Pauses in Heaven.
And they say (the starry choir
And the other listening things)
That Israfeli’s fire
Is owing to that lyre
By which he sits and sings –
The trembling living wire
Of those unusual strings.
But the skies that angel trod,
Where deep thoughts are a duty,
Where Love’s a grown-up God,
Where the Houri glances are
Imbued with all the beauty
Which we worship as a star.
Therefore, thou art not wrong,
Israfeli, who despises
And impassioned song;
To thee the laurels belong,
Best bard, because the wisest!
Merrily live, and long!
Spirituality: Praying with Scripture
God speaks to us First
This fundamental truth makes it possible for us to pray: God has been concerned for each of us before we became concerned for ourselves. God desires to communicate with us.
God speaks to us continually, revealing Himself to us in various way:
1. Through Jesus Christ, His Word,
2. Through the Church, the extension of Christ in the world,
3. Through other people (because we are joined together in Christ),
4. Through the visible creation all around us, which forms the physical context of our lives,
5. Through the events and experiences of our lives,
6. Through Holy Scripture.
God invites us to Listen
Our response to God’s initial move is to listen to what God is saying: this is the basic attitude of prayer.
How to Go About Listening
What you do immediately before prayer is important.
• Normally, it is something you do not rush right into.
• Spend a few moments quieting yourself and relaxing.
• Settling yourself into a prayerful and comfortable position.
In listening to anyone, you try to tune out everything, except what the person is saying to you. In prayer this can be done best in silence and solitude.
Select a short passage from Holy Scripture. Read through a few times to familiarize yourself with it. Put a marker in the page. Try to find a quiet place where you can be alone and uninhibited in your response to God’s presence. Try to quiet yourself interiorly. Jesus would often go up to a mountain by himself to pray with his Father.
In an age of noise, activity, and tensions like our own, it is not always easy or necessary to forget our cares and commitments, the noise and excitement of our environment. Never feel constrained to blot out all distractions. Anxiety in this regard could get between ourselves and God.
Rather, realize that the Word did become flesh, that he speaks to us in the noise and confusion of our day. Sometimes in preparing for prayer, relax and listen to the sounds around you. God’s presence is as real as they are.
Be conscious of your sensations and living experiences of feeling, thinking, hoping, loving, of wondering, and desiring. Then, conscious of God’s unselfish, loving presence in you, address Him simply and admit: “Yes, you do love life and feeling into me. You do love a share of your personal life into me. You are present to me. You live in me. Yes, You do.”
God is present as a person, in you through God’s Spirit, who speaks to you now in Scripture, and who prayers in you and for you.
Ask God for the grace to listen to what the Spirit is saying.
Begin reading Scripture slowly and attentively. Do not hurry to cover much material.
If it recounts an event in Christ’s life, be there in the mystery of it. Share with the persons involved, e.g., a blind man being cured. Share their attitude. Respond to what Jesus is saying.
Some words or phrases carry special meaning for you. Savor these words, turning them over in your heart.
When something strikes you, for example:
• You feels a new way of being with Christ,
• He becomes for you in a new way (for instance, you sense what it means to be healed by Christ),
• You experience God’s love,
• You experience new meaning,
• You are moved to do something good,
• You are peaceful,
• You are happy and content just to be in God’s presence,
• You are struggling with or disturbed by what the words are saying,
This is the time to pause….
This is God speaking directly to you in the words of Scripture.
Do not hurry to move on. Wait until you are no longer moved by the experience.
Do not get discouraged if nothing seems to be happening.
Sometimes God lets us feel dry and empty in order to let us realize it is not in our own power to communicate with Him or to experience consolation. God is sometimes very close to us in His seeming absence. (Psalm 139: 78) God is for us entirely in a selfless way, accepting us as we are, with all our limitations – even with our seeming inability to pray. A humble attitude of listening is a sign of love for Him, and a real prayer from the heart.
The Spirit, too, comes to help us in our weakness, for when we cannot choose words in order to pray properly, the Spirit himself expresses our plea in a way that could never be put into words. (Romans 8:26-27)
Relax in prayer. Remember. God will speak to you in His own way.
“Yes, as the rain and the snow come down from the heavens and do not return without watering the earth, making it yield and giving growth to provide seed for the sower and bread for the eating, so the word that goes from my mouth does not return to me empty, without carrying out my will and succeeding in what it was sent to do.” (Isaiah 55: 10-11)
Spend time in your prayer just being conscious of God’s presence in and around you. If you want to, speak with God about the things you are interested in or wish to thank God for – your joys, sorrows, aspirations.
Summary: The Five “P’s”
Passage from Scripture. Pick none and have it marked and ready.
Place. Where you are alone and uninhibited in your response to God’s presence.
Posture. Relaxed and peaceful. A harmony of body with spirit.
Presence of God. Be aware of it and acknowledge and respond to it. When you are ready, turn to the
Passage of Scripture. Read it slowly (aloud), attending carefully and peacefully to it.
Pause.
Read aloud or whisper in a rhythm with your breathing a phrase at a time with pauses and repetitions when and where you feel like it.
Do not be anxious. Do not try to look for implications or lessons or profound thoughts or conclusions or resolutions. Be content to be like a child who climbs into its parent’s lap and listens.
Carry on a conversation (Colloquy) with the Lord concerning what you hear or feel or what you need or what you have experienced.
Review
After the period of prayer is over it is helpful to reflect back over the experience of prayer. This will help you notice what the Lord is doing in your experience.
From Joseph Sobb, S.J. of the Australian province
This fundamental truth makes it possible for us to pray: God has been concerned for each of us before we became concerned for ourselves. God desires to communicate with us.
God speaks to us continually, revealing Himself to us in various way:
1. Through Jesus Christ, His Word,
2. Through the Church, the extension of Christ in the world,
3. Through other people (because we are joined together in Christ),
4. Through the visible creation all around us, which forms the physical context of our lives,
5. Through the events and experiences of our lives,
6. Through Holy Scripture.
God invites us to Listen
Our response to God’s initial move is to listen to what God is saying: this is the basic attitude of prayer.
How to Go About Listening
What you do immediately before prayer is important.
• Normally, it is something you do not rush right into.
• Spend a few moments quieting yourself and relaxing.
• Settling yourself into a prayerful and comfortable position.
In listening to anyone, you try to tune out everything, except what the person is saying to you. In prayer this can be done best in silence and solitude.
Select a short passage from Holy Scripture. Read through a few times to familiarize yourself with it. Put a marker in the page. Try to find a quiet place where you can be alone and uninhibited in your response to God’s presence. Try to quiet yourself interiorly. Jesus would often go up to a mountain by himself to pray with his Father.
In an age of noise, activity, and tensions like our own, it is not always easy or necessary to forget our cares and commitments, the noise and excitement of our environment. Never feel constrained to blot out all distractions. Anxiety in this regard could get between ourselves and God.
Rather, realize that the Word did become flesh, that he speaks to us in the noise and confusion of our day. Sometimes in preparing for prayer, relax and listen to the sounds around you. God’s presence is as real as they are.
Be conscious of your sensations and living experiences of feeling, thinking, hoping, loving, of wondering, and desiring. Then, conscious of God’s unselfish, loving presence in you, address Him simply and admit: “Yes, you do love life and feeling into me. You do love a share of your personal life into me. You are present to me. You live in me. Yes, You do.”
God is present as a person, in you through God’s Spirit, who speaks to you now in Scripture, and who prayers in you and for you.
Ask God for the grace to listen to what the Spirit is saying.
Begin reading Scripture slowly and attentively. Do not hurry to cover much material.
If it recounts an event in Christ’s life, be there in the mystery of it. Share with the persons involved, e.g., a blind man being cured. Share their attitude. Respond to what Jesus is saying.
Some words or phrases carry special meaning for you. Savor these words, turning them over in your heart.
When something strikes you, for example:
• You feels a new way of being with Christ,
• He becomes for you in a new way (for instance, you sense what it means to be healed by Christ),
• You experience God’s love,
• You experience new meaning,
• You are moved to do something good,
• You are peaceful,
• You are happy and content just to be in God’s presence,
• You are struggling with or disturbed by what the words are saying,
This is the time to pause….
This is God speaking directly to you in the words of Scripture.
Do not hurry to move on. Wait until you are no longer moved by the experience.
Do not get discouraged if nothing seems to be happening.
Sometimes God lets us feel dry and empty in order to let us realize it is not in our own power to communicate with Him or to experience consolation. God is sometimes very close to us in His seeming absence. (Psalm 139: 78) God is for us entirely in a selfless way, accepting us as we are, with all our limitations – even with our seeming inability to pray. A humble attitude of listening is a sign of love for Him, and a real prayer from the heart.
The Spirit, too, comes to help us in our weakness, for when we cannot choose words in order to pray properly, the Spirit himself expresses our plea in a way that could never be put into words. (Romans 8:26-27)
Relax in prayer. Remember. God will speak to you in His own way.
“Yes, as the rain and the snow come down from the heavens and do not return without watering the earth, making it yield and giving growth to provide seed for the sower and bread for the eating, so the word that goes from my mouth does not return to me empty, without carrying out my will and succeeding in what it was sent to do.” (Isaiah 55: 10-11)
Spend time in your prayer just being conscious of God’s presence in and around you. If you want to, speak with God about the things you are interested in or wish to thank God for – your joys, sorrows, aspirations.
Summary: The Five “P’s”
Passage from Scripture. Pick none and have it marked and ready.
Place. Where you are alone and uninhibited in your response to God’s presence.
Posture. Relaxed and peaceful. A harmony of body with spirit.
Presence of God. Be aware of it and acknowledge and respond to it. When you are ready, turn to the
Passage of Scripture. Read it slowly (aloud), attending carefully and peacefully to it.
Pause.
Read aloud or whisper in a rhythm with your breathing a phrase at a time with pauses and repetitions when and where you feel like it.
Do not be anxious. Do not try to look for implications or lessons or profound thoughts or conclusions or resolutions. Be content to be like a child who climbs into its parent’s lap and listens.
Carry on a conversation (Colloquy) with the Lord concerning what you hear or feel or what you need or what you have experienced.
Review
After the period of prayer is over it is helpful to reflect back over the experience of prayer. This will help you notice what the Lord is doing in your experience.
From Joseph Sobb, S.J. of the Australian province
Song: Lauda Sion by Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas wrote the Lauda Sion, the song used in the sequence to the Mass preceding the Gospel proclamation. His words in this hymn show deep reverence for the gift of the Blessed Sacrament as a life-nourishing presence in our liturgical world.
Click on the link to hear the Sequence.
Lauda Sion
Sion, lift thy voice and sing:
Praise thy Saviour and thy King;
Praise with hymns thy Shepherd true.
Strive thy best to praise him well,
Yet doth he all praise excel;
None can ever reach his due.
See today before us laid
The living and life-giving Bread,
Theme for praise and joy profound.
The same which at the sacred board
Was by our incarnate Lord.
Giv’n to his apostles round
Let the praise be loud and high;
Sweet and tranquil be the joy
Felt today in every breast;
On this festival divine.
Which records the origin of the glorious Eucharist.
On this table of the King
Our new paschal offering
Brings to end the olden rite.
Here, for empty shadows fled.
Is reality instead:
Here, instead of darkness, light.
His own act, at supper seated,
Christ ordained to be repeated,
In his memory divine;
Wherefore now, with adoration,
We the Host of our salvation
Consecrate from bread and wine.
Hear what holy Church maintaineth,
That the bread its substance changeth
Into flesh, the wine to blood.
Doth it pass thy comprehending?
Faith, the law of sight transcending,
Leaps to things not understood.
Flesh from bread, and blood from wine,
Yet is Christ in either sign
All entire, confessed to be.
They too of him partake,
Sever not, nor rend, nor break,
But entire their Lord receive.
Whether one or thousands eat,
All receive the selfsame meat,
Nor the less for others leave.
Both the wicked and the good
Eat of this celestial food;
But with ends how opposite!
Here ’tis life, and there ’tis death,
The same, yet issuing to each,
In a difference infinite.
Nor a single doubt retain,
When they break the host in twain,
But that in each part remain,
What was in the whole before.
Since the simple sign alone
Suffers change in state or form,
The signified remaining one
And the same for evermore.
Lo! upon the altar lies,
Hidden deep from human eyes,
Bread of angels from the skies,
Made the food of mortal man:
Children’s meat, to dogs denied:
In old types foresignified:
In the manna heav’n-supplied,
Isaac, and the paschal Lamb. Jesu!
Shepherd of the sheep!
Thou thy flock in safety keep.
Living Bread! thy life supply;
Strength us, or else we die;
Fill us with celestial grace;
Thou, who feedest us below!
Source of all we have or know!
Grant that with thy saints above,
Sitting at the feast of love,
We may see thee face to face. Amen.
Click on the link to hear the Sequence.
Lauda Sion
Sion, lift thy voice and sing:
Praise thy Saviour and thy King;
Praise with hymns thy Shepherd true.
Strive thy best to praise him well,
Yet doth he all praise excel;
None can ever reach his due.
See today before us laid
The living and life-giving Bread,
Theme for praise and joy profound.
The same which at the sacred board
Was by our incarnate Lord.
Giv’n to his apostles round
Let the praise be loud and high;
Sweet and tranquil be the joy
Felt today in every breast;
On this festival divine.
Which records the origin of the glorious Eucharist.
On this table of the King
Our new paschal offering
Brings to end the olden rite.
Here, for empty shadows fled.
Is reality instead:
Here, instead of darkness, light.
His own act, at supper seated,
Christ ordained to be repeated,
In his memory divine;
Wherefore now, with adoration,
We the Host of our salvation
Consecrate from bread and wine.
Hear what holy Church maintaineth,
That the bread its substance changeth
Into flesh, the wine to blood.
Doth it pass thy comprehending?
Faith, the law of sight transcending,
Leaps to things not understood.
Flesh from bread, and blood from wine,
Yet is Christ in either sign
All entire, confessed to be.
They too of him partake,
Sever not, nor rend, nor break,
But entire their Lord receive.
Whether one or thousands eat,
All receive the selfsame meat,
Nor the less for others leave.
Both the wicked and the good
Eat of this celestial food;
But with ends how opposite!
Here ’tis life, and there ’tis death,
The same, yet issuing to each,
In a difference infinite.
Nor a single doubt retain,
When they break the host in twain,
But that in each part remain,
What was in the whole before.
Since the simple sign alone
Suffers change in state or form,
The signified remaining one
And the same for evermore.
Lo! upon the altar lies,
Hidden deep from human eyes,
Bread of angels from the skies,
Made the food of mortal man:
Children’s meat, to dogs denied:
In old types foresignified:
In the manna heav’n-supplied,
Isaac, and the paschal Lamb. Jesu!
Shepherd of the sheep!
Thou thy flock in safety keep.
Living Bread! thy life supply;
Strength us, or else we die;
Fill us with celestial grace;
Thou, who feedest us below!
Source of all we have or know!
Grant that with thy saints above,
Sitting at the feast of love,
We may see thee face to face. Amen.
Corpus Christi 2010
The Body and Blood of Christ June 6, 2010
The feast of Corpus Christi began in Christendom during the late 13th and early 14th centuries to honor the institution of the Eucharist in a more joyful time than Holy Thursday when the Passion of the Lord is the predominant focus. In the mid-14th century, grand processions accompanied the feast when both religious and civic officials sought the blessings that the real presence of the Blessed Sacrament would provide. Farms, fields, houses and business were blessed during these processions to provide good fortune while Christians would receive indulgences. Today only a few churches organize ceremonial processions and the feast has been more universally recognized as the Body and the Blood of Christ – bringing significance to the saving nature of the chalice and blood.
Eucharistic elements appear in each of our readings today. In gratitude for the blessing of Melchizedek over the bread and wine, Abram provides a tenth of all his endeavors for the priest. Paul passes onto us in 1 Corinthians 11 that Jesus blesses the cup with bread that is to be broken while further commanding us to remember him when we celebrate the meal. Jesus asks us to reach into our resources and to provide for those who are hungry in Luke’s account of the multiplication of the five loaves and two fish. Many people will claim that the true miracle is that the 5,000 men transcended their self-preserving nature to provide for others. While this is possible, we have to keep our attention focused on the nourishing self-giving aspect of Jesus. It is from him that we receive our nourishment. While the people who were cured and listened to Jesus were able to eat plenty, they decided to remain with him that evening as they recognized that he is the source of all that sustains us.
We cannot underestimate the role we play. Jesus tells the disciples, “Give them some food yourselves” and Paul tells us that he is freely handing on what he has freely received. We have received a command to feed one another and to pass on our faith. Both are extremely difficult to do within today’s climates. We constantly have to ask ourselves ‘who is my neighbor’ and ‘to whom do I assist’ in a world that is wracked with devastating calamities every week. We just have too many mouths to feed and we come up with answers just like the disciples. No, Jesus will send us back so we can evaluate our own resources – spiritual and otherwise – so we can feed others and bring them to his heart. It is ironic that in a time in the world where we can all benefit from the Eucharistic nourishment, our church attendance is dramatically low. Are we freely and generously passing on what we have been freely handed? Give them something to eat.
Quote for the Week
Prayer to the Sacred Heart by Saint Francis De Sales, founder of the Salesian Orders.
May Thy Heart dwell always in our hearts!
May Thy Blood ever flow in the veins of our souls!
O sun of our hearts, Thou givest life to all things by the rays of Thy goodness!
I will not go until Thy Heart has strengthened me, O Lord Jesus!
May the Heart of Jesus be the King of my heart!
Blessed be God. Amen.
Themes for this Week’s Masses
First Reading: We meet the prophet Elijah who learns to trust in God’s providence by waiting at the Wadi Cherith while bread and meat is brought to him each day. He was commanded by the Lord to go to Zarephath where he met a starving widow who served him her last morsel of food. For this, Elijah stayed for a year and the woman’s food supplies never ran out. The sole Elijah sets us a competition with the 450 prophets of Baal and the Lord God answered Elijah’s offering by sending fire to the sacrifice at the altar. The people fell prostrate and worshipped the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. During Elijah’s next prayer in front of Ahab, he asked for rains and God sent it. Elijah then sets out and comes to meet Elisha who leaves his fields to come follow Elijah as his attendant.
Gospel: Matthew’s Beatitudes begin the Sermon on the Mount by describing the present state of the poor people who have come to hear the words of Jesus while also describing the conditions for discipleship. All followers are called to be special examples (salt, light) for others through their moral choices, and he urges them to respect, uphold, and promote the fulfillment of the law, which will bring about the day of the Lord. One’s righteousness is to communicate lasting impressions to others; one’s desire to reconcile with a brother will be a condition for entering into the family of God.
Saints of the Week
Wednesday: Ephrem, deacon and doctor, was from the area now known as Iraq. He wrote scriptural commentaries after the fall of the Persians in 363 and is one of the first to evangelize through music – writing many hymns for public worship. He spent most of his time in a cave at Edessa.
Friday: The Sacred Heart of Jesus has a long-standing devotion traced back to the Middle Ages that shows the three-fold (human, spiritual, divine) love contained within the heart of Jesus. In 1899, Pope Leo XIII consecrated the world to the Sacred Heart – a tradition that began with the Jesuits. Claude La Colombiere, S.J., as a spiritual director to Margaret Mary Alocoque, established the feast as a liturgical celebration in the 17th century.
Saturday: The Immaculate Heart of Mary falls the day after the Sacred Heart of Jesus feast to recognize Mary’s love for us as the Mother of God. Just as the world has been consecrated to the sacred heart of Jesus, similar devotions were made to Mary’s protection by various popes and religious leaders.
This Week in Jesuit History
• Jun 6, 1610. At the funeral of Henry IV in Paris, two priests preaching in the Churches of St Eustace and St Gervase denounced the Jesuits as accomplices in his death. This was due primarily to the book De Rege of Father Mariana.
• Jun 7, 1556. Peter Canisius becomes the first provincial superior of the newly constituted Province of Upper Germany.
• Jun 8, 1889. Poet Gerard Manley Hopkins died at the age of 44 in Dublin. His final words were "I am so happy, so happy." He had written "I wish that my pieces could at some time become known but in some spontaneous way ... and without my forcing."
• Jun 9, 1597. The death of Blessed Jose de Ancieta, Brazil's most famous missionary and the founder of the cities of Sao Paolo and Rio de Janeiro.
• Jun 10, 1537. Ignatius and his companions were given minor orders at the house of Bishop Vincenzo Negusanti in Venice, Italy.
• Jun 11, 1742. The Chinese and Malabar Rites were forbidden by Pope Benedict XIV; persecution broke out at once in China.
• Jun 12, 1928. Fr. General Ledochowski responded negatively to the idea of intercollegiate sports at Jesuit colleges because he feared the loss of study time and the amount of travel involved.
Our Ecological Concerns
Many in the U.S. and Mexico are terribly concerned about the oil spill caused by oil giant, BP. The spill has gone on for far too long without any solutions seemingly in place. We wonder how companies like this can drill without any relevant safeguards in place. With the many steps we have taken forward to make our world more eco-friendly, spills like this one seem to put us far back in our efforts. We need solutions. I pray that such a solution comes quickly as our natural habits are threatened with harmful pollution.
The feast of Corpus Christi began in Christendom during the late 13th and early 14th centuries to honor the institution of the Eucharist in a more joyful time than Holy Thursday when the Passion of the Lord is the predominant focus. In the mid-14th century, grand processions accompanied the feast when both religious and civic officials sought the blessings that the real presence of the Blessed Sacrament would provide. Farms, fields, houses and business were blessed during these processions to provide good fortune while Christians would receive indulgences. Today only a few churches organize ceremonial processions and the feast has been more universally recognized as the Body and the Blood of Christ – bringing significance to the saving nature of the chalice and blood.
Eucharistic elements appear in each of our readings today. In gratitude for the blessing of Melchizedek over the bread and wine, Abram provides a tenth of all his endeavors for the priest. Paul passes onto us in 1 Corinthians 11 that Jesus blesses the cup with bread that is to be broken while further commanding us to remember him when we celebrate the meal. Jesus asks us to reach into our resources and to provide for those who are hungry in Luke’s account of the multiplication of the five loaves and two fish. Many people will claim that the true miracle is that the 5,000 men transcended their self-preserving nature to provide for others. While this is possible, we have to keep our attention focused on the nourishing self-giving aspect of Jesus. It is from him that we receive our nourishment. While the people who were cured and listened to Jesus were able to eat plenty, they decided to remain with him that evening as they recognized that he is the source of all that sustains us.
We cannot underestimate the role we play. Jesus tells the disciples, “Give them some food yourselves” and Paul tells us that he is freely handing on what he has freely received. We have received a command to feed one another and to pass on our faith. Both are extremely difficult to do within today’s climates. We constantly have to ask ourselves ‘who is my neighbor’ and ‘to whom do I assist’ in a world that is wracked with devastating calamities every week. We just have too many mouths to feed and we come up with answers just like the disciples. No, Jesus will send us back so we can evaluate our own resources – spiritual and otherwise – so we can feed others and bring them to his heart. It is ironic that in a time in the world where we can all benefit from the Eucharistic nourishment, our church attendance is dramatically low. Are we freely and generously passing on what we have been freely handed? Give them something to eat.
Quote for the Week
Prayer to the Sacred Heart by Saint Francis De Sales, founder of the Salesian Orders.
May Thy Heart dwell always in our hearts!
May Thy Blood ever flow in the veins of our souls!
O sun of our hearts, Thou givest life to all things by the rays of Thy goodness!
I will not go until Thy Heart has strengthened me, O Lord Jesus!
May the Heart of Jesus be the King of my heart!
Blessed be God. Amen.
Themes for this Week’s Masses
First Reading: We meet the prophet Elijah who learns to trust in God’s providence by waiting at the Wadi Cherith while bread and meat is brought to him each day. He was commanded by the Lord to go to Zarephath where he met a starving widow who served him her last morsel of food. For this, Elijah stayed for a year and the woman’s food supplies never ran out. The sole Elijah sets us a competition with the 450 prophets of Baal and the Lord God answered Elijah’s offering by sending fire to the sacrifice at the altar. The people fell prostrate and worshipped the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. During Elijah’s next prayer in front of Ahab, he asked for rains and God sent it. Elijah then sets out and comes to meet Elisha who leaves his fields to come follow Elijah as his attendant.
Gospel: Matthew’s Beatitudes begin the Sermon on the Mount by describing the present state of the poor people who have come to hear the words of Jesus while also describing the conditions for discipleship. All followers are called to be special examples (salt, light) for others through their moral choices, and he urges them to respect, uphold, and promote the fulfillment of the law, which will bring about the day of the Lord. One’s righteousness is to communicate lasting impressions to others; one’s desire to reconcile with a brother will be a condition for entering into the family of God.
Saints of the Week
Wednesday: Ephrem, deacon and doctor, was from the area now known as Iraq. He wrote scriptural commentaries after the fall of the Persians in 363 and is one of the first to evangelize through music – writing many hymns for public worship. He spent most of his time in a cave at Edessa.
Friday: The Sacred Heart of Jesus has a long-standing devotion traced back to the Middle Ages that shows the three-fold (human, spiritual, divine) love contained within the heart of Jesus. In 1899, Pope Leo XIII consecrated the world to the Sacred Heart – a tradition that began with the Jesuits. Claude La Colombiere, S.J., as a spiritual director to Margaret Mary Alocoque, established the feast as a liturgical celebration in the 17th century.
Saturday: The Immaculate Heart of Mary falls the day after the Sacred Heart of Jesus feast to recognize Mary’s love for us as the Mother of God. Just as the world has been consecrated to the sacred heart of Jesus, similar devotions were made to Mary’s protection by various popes and religious leaders.
This Week in Jesuit History
• Jun 6, 1610. At the funeral of Henry IV in Paris, two priests preaching in the Churches of St Eustace and St Gervase denounced the Jesuits as accomplices in his death. This was due primarily to the book De Rege of Father Mariana.
• Jun 7, 1556. Peter Canisius becomes the first provincial superior of the newly constituted Province of Upper Germany.
• Jun 8, 1889. Poet Gerard Manley Hopkins died at the age of 44 in Dublin. His final words were "I am so happy, so happy." He had written "I wish that my pieces could at some time become known but in some spontaneous way ... and without my forcing."
• Jun 9, 1597. The death of Blessed Jose de Ancieta, Brazil's most famous missionary and the founder of the cities of Sao Paolo and Rio de Janeiro.
• Jun 10, 1537. Ignatius and his companions were given minor orders at the house of Bishop Vincenzo Negusanti in Venice, Italy.
• Jun 11, 1742. The Chinese and Malabar Rites were forbidden by Pope Benedict XIV; persecution broke out at once in China.
• Jun 12, 1928. Fr. General Ledochowski responded negatively to the idea of intercollegiate sports at Jesuit colleges because he feared the loss of study time and the amount of travel involved.
Our Ecological Concerns
Many in the U.S. and Mexico are terribly concerned about the oil spill caused by oil giant, BP. The spill has gone on for far too long without any solutions seemingly in place. We wonder how companies like this can drill without any relevant safeguards in place. With the many steps we have taken forward to make our world more eco-friendly, spills like this one seem to put us far back in our efforts. We need solutions. I pray that such a solution comes quickly as our natural habits are threatened with harmful pollution.
Poem: Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy
Thou art that She by whom our human nature was so ennobled that it might become the Creator to create Himself His creature.
Prayer: Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, S.J.
“You would not be searching for me unless you had already found me,” as Pascal suggests. In this sentence, the question posed already contains an answer of a sort. The question brings to mind and experience of a famous abbot in the Middle Ages. I see myself more or less in his story. The abbot used to speak very well, every morning to his monks, on finding God, on searching for God, on encountering God. He carried on until the day on which a monk dared to ask him if he himself had ever encountered God. After a bit of embarrassed silence, the abbot frankly admitted he never had a vision or a one-on-one meeting with God. Nothing surprising about that, since God Himself had said to Moses, “You cannot see my face” (Exodus 33:20). But this very same God taught Moses that he could see His back as He passed across his path. “You will see me pass.” And thus, looking back over the length and breadth of his life the abbot could see for himself the passage of God.
For the One, who wishes to write together with each of us our individual history, comes and abides to live life with us – often despite us. Without these respectful, but definitive passages of God, our life would not now be what it is. In this sense, it is less a matter of searching for God than of allowing oneself to be found by Him in all of life’s situations, where He does not cease to pass and where he allows Himself to be recognized once He has really passed: “You will see my back.”
For the One, who wishes to write together with each of us our individual history, comes and abides to live life with us – often despite us. Without these respectful, but definitive passages of God, our life would not now be what it is. In this sense, it is less a matter of searching for God than of allowing oneself to be found by Him in all of life’s situations, where He does not cease to pass and where he allows Himself to be recognized once He has really passed: “You will see my back.”
Prayer: Dr. Elisabeth Kuebler-Ross
If we make our goal to live a life of compassion and unconditional love, then the world will indeed become a garden where all kinds of flowers can bloom and grow.
Poem: The Good by Brendan Kennelly, 1967
The good are vulnerable
As any bird in flight,
They do not think of safety,
Are blind to possible extinction
And when most vulnerable
Are most themselves.
The good are real as the sun,
Are best perceived through clouds
Of casual corruption
That cannot kill the luminous sufficiency
That shines on city, sea and wilderness,
Fastidiously revealing
One man to another,
Who yet will not accept
Responsibilities of light.
The good incline to praise,
To have the knack of seeing that
The best is not destroyed
Although forever threatened.
The good go naked in all weathers,
And by their nakedness rebuke
The small protective sanities
That hide men from themselves.
The good are difficult to see
Though open, rare, destructible;
Always, they retain a kind of youth,
The vulnerable grace
Of any bird in flight,
Content to be itself,
Accomplished master and potential victim,
Accepting what the earth or sky intends.
I think that I know one or two
Among my friends.
As any bird in flight,
They do not think of safety,
Are blind to possible extinction
And when most vulnerable
Are most themselves.
The good are real as the sun,
Are best perceived through clouds
Of casual corruption
That cannot kill the luminous sufficiency
That shines on city, sea and wilderness,
Fastidiously revealing
One man to another,
Who yet will not accept
Responsibilities of light.
The good incline to praise,
To have the knack of seeing that
The best is not destroyed
Although forever threatened.
The good go naked in all weathers,
And by their nakedness rebuke
The small protective sanities
That hide men from themselves.
The good are difficult to see
Though open, rare, destructible;
Always, they retain a kind of youth,
The vulnerable grace
Of any bird in flight,
Content to be itself,
Accomplished master and potential victim,
Accepting what the earth or sky intends.
I think that I know one or two
Among my friends.
Song: Everyday God by Bernadette Farrell
Bernadette Farrell's prayerful tune "Everyday God" with lyrics
Prayer Slideshow to Farrell's song Everyday God.
Prayer Slideshow to Farrell's song Everyday God.
Prayer: Richard Rohr, OFM
What we know about God is important, but what we do with what we know about God is even more important.
Spirituality: Ignatian Prayer
Practicalities
• Find a quiet place where distractions are minimized.
• Aim to be still (seated, standing, kneeling or prostrate.) Avoid moving around.
• If you have been busy or agitated, allow a little time to quiet and center your heart and mind. Try muscle relaxation – slow deep, and conscious breathing.
• Allow sufficient time either side of your conscious prayer so that you do not feel hurried.
Approach to Prayer
1. After going to bed, think for one or two minutes about the time to get up and the prayer that I am going to make.
2. Upon waking, let your thoughts attend to the subject of the prayer.
3. Maintain this recollection as you wash, dress, etc.
4. To establish a context for prayer, stand for a minute or so to acknowledge and welcome God’s presence with you and offer God this prayer as an act of love.
5. Ask for the grace you seek. What are your deepest desires.
6. Various postures can be helpful for prayer.
7. If you sense that you are obtaining what you desire, do not change your posture. If, however, you begin to grow uneasy, restless, or distracted, perhaps a change of posture may help.
8. Stay quietly at any point where you find what you desire, with no eagerness to move on until you are satisfied.
9. Conclude the prayer time with the Lord’s Prayer or another vocal prayer.
10. After each prayer time, take a break.
11. Spend 15 minutes or so on the review.
12. Give thanks, where appropriate, ask pardon where necessary.
13. Make a few notes – See Reviewing your Prayer.
14. Maintain the mood of the particular phrase or “week” of the Spiritual Exercises as much as possible.
Scripture Prayer
• Slowly and reflectively read the passage,
• Pause
• Read it again,
• As you absorb the reading, attend to your feelings. They may be no more than zephyr strong, positive or negative.
Imagination – Contemplative Prayer
• Imagination engages the heart more than the intellect, the right side of the brain more than the left.
• The scriptures, especially the Gospels which are well suited to this type of prayer, are more than historical biographies in the modern sense. Rather they offer a vision of faith colored by the essentials “Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.” The Jesus we meet is the risen Lord active in the community today. By using our imagination we are appropriating the eternal trust of the scriptures to ourselves here and now, just as we are. We are rightly asking, “What would have happened if I had been present with Jesus?”
• Use all your senses to imagine the scene described in the scripture selected. What do you see, hear, smell, feel, taste.
• Then let the story take shape: the different characters. What are they doing? Saying? Where are you? Perhaps you are identified with one of the characters, one of the disciples, one of the crowd, an onlooker, etc. Perhaps you will speak with someone, or touch someone, or simply connect with someone through a gaze.
• Do not hurry. Trust the experience and let it unfold itself. Do not try to intellectualize or judge what occurs.
• Notice your feelings, desires, etc. (positive or negative) and stay with them; let Jesus (or God or a character you are relating to in the story) know how you are feeling or ask them to reveal something more of themselves to you.
• When you sense the prayer has come to an end, do not rush to the next stage; sit with what has happened for a period, savor it especially if you have received a grace. This may motivate further dialogue with Jesus (of God, a character) or a desire simply to gaze upon Jesus and enjoy the sweetness of the moment longer in your heart (i.e., contemplation.)
These suggestions to facilitate your prayer are not a mechanical technique. They are often helpful but do not guarantee an experience of God. God cannot be manipulated. All prayer is God’s gift.
Sometimes prayer can be dry. Nothing much seems to happen. Providing we have given ourselves generously to prayer and sought to follow the guidelines, many saints have proven over time, we can leave the ‘result’ to God who will always offer us the best and often we grow more in dryness and shadows than in abundance, material or spiritual.
Distractions: These are quite common. Simply acknowledge them and return to your prayer focus. Each turning from distraction to prayer is in effect an act of love and faithfulness.
Pray as you can, not as you can’t. The goal is a relationship with God which brings conversion that bears fruit and honors God so that we make a difference in our families, communities, workplaces, nations and world. The goal is NOT to feel good or have some ecstatic experience of God.
From Joseph Sobb, S.J. of the Australian province
• Find a quiet place where distractions are minimized.
• Aim to be still (seated, standing, kneeling or prostrate.) Avoid moving around.
• If you have been busy or agitated, allow a little time to quiet and center your heart and mind. Try muscle relaxation – slow deep, and conscious breathing.
• Allow sufficient time either side of your conscious prayer so that you do not feel hurried.
Approach to Prayer
1. After going to bed, think for one or two minutes about the time to get up and the prayer that I am going to make.
2. Upon waking, let your thoughts attend to the subject of the prayer.
3. Maintain this recollection as you wash, dress, etc.
4. To establish a context for prayer, stand for a minute or so to acknowledge and welcome God’s presence with you and offer God this prayer as an act of love.
5. Ask for the grace you seek. What are your deepest desires.
6. Various postures can be helpful for prayer.
7. If you sense that you are obtaining what you desire, do not change your posture. If, however, you begin to grow uneasy, restless, or distracted, perhaps a change of posture may help.
8. Stay quietly at any point where you find what you desire, with no eagerness to move on until you are satisfied.
9. Conclude the prayer time with the Lord’s Prayer or another vocal prayer.
10. After each prayer time, take a break.
11. Spend 15 minutes or so on the review.
12. Give thanks, where appropriate, ask pardon where necessary.
13. Make a few notes – See Reviewing your Prayer.
14. Maintain the mood of the particular phrase or “week” of the Spiritual Exercises as much as possible.
Scripture Prayer
• Slowly and reflectively read the passage,
• Pause
• Read it again,
• As you absorb the reading, attend to your feelings. They may be no more than zephyr strong, positive or negative.
Imagination – Contemplative Prayer
• Imagination engages the heart more than the intellect, the right side of the brain more than the left.
• The scriptures, especially the Gospels which are well suited to this type of prayer, are more than historical biographies in the modern sense. Rather they offer a vision of faith colored by the essentials “Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.” The Jesus we meet is the risen Lord active in the community today. By using our imagination we are appropriating the eternal trust of the scriptures to ourselves here and now, just as we are. We are rightly asking, “What would have happened if I had been present with Jesus?”
• Use all your senses to imagine the scene described in the scripture selected. What do you see, hear, smell, feel, taste.
• Then let the story take shape: the different characters. What are they doing? Saying? Where are you? Perhaps you are identified with one of the characters, one of the disciples, one of the crowd, an onlooker, etc. Perhaps you will speak with someone, or touch someone, or simply connect with someone through a gaze.
• Do not hurry. Trust the experience and let it unfold itself. Do not try to intellectualize or judge what occurs.
• Notice your feelings, desires, etc. (positive or negative) and stay with them; let Jesus (or God or a character you are relating to in the story) know how you are feeling or ask them to reveal something more of themselves to you.
• When you sense the prayer has come to an end, do not rush to the next stage; sit with what has happened for a period, savor it especially if you have received a grace. This may motivate further dialogue with Jesus (of God, a character) or a desire simply to gaze upon Jesus and enjoy the sweetness of the moment longer in your heart (i.e., contemplation.)
These suggestions to facilitate your prayer are not a mechanical technique. They are often helpful but do not guarantee an experience of God. God cannot be manipulated. All prayer is God’s gift.
Sometimes prayer can be dry. Nothing much seems to happen. Providing we have given ourselves generously to prayer and sought to follow the guidelines, many saints have proven over time, we can leave the ‘result’ to God who will always offer us the best and often we grow more in dryness and shadows than in abundance, material or spiritual.
Distractions: These are quite common. Simply acknowledge them and return to your prayer focus. Each turning from distraction to prayer is in effect an act of love and faithfulness.
Pray as you can, not as you can’t. The goal is a relationship with God which brings conversion that bears fruit and honors God so that we make a difference in our families, communities, workplaces, nations and world. The goal is NOT to feel good or have some ecstatic experience of God.
From Joseph Sobb, S.J. of the Australian province
Holy Trinity Sunday 2010
May 30, 2010
Our faith is a strange one. We believe in one God with three distinct expressions of divine activities (creator, redeemer, and sustainer) and few of us can adequately explain the Trinitarian nature to another person. In fact, when I hear a person speaking about his or her images of the Triune God in prayer, the person seldom has a clear notion of these individual expressions of God. We don’t spend too much time reflection upon the names of God and their meanings either. No wonder why prayer is so hard at times. To complicate matters, the reading from Proverbs today speaks about Lady Wisdom existing with God at the beginning of time as a co-creator. This all gets complicated, but the key point for us to focus upon is the way they relate to each other and to us.
The personified Lady Wisdom is a partner with God who was beside him during creation and was “his delight day by day.” This is an image of a deeply happy God who is pleased with the result of his work and has fun sharing it with Wisdom. This is a God who likes to play and recreate: as Wisdom was “playing before him all the while, playing on the surface of the earth; and I found delight in the human race.” We get the sense that God really enjoys creation. After all, he declares it ‘good’ and in this passage Wisdom also delights in us. You can almost detect the two of them laughing because they are pleased in our goodness. This is quite an image on which to chew in prayer.
The question that arises is: “Do we delight in God and allow ourselves to have fun with God?” For many, it is an unusual question, but still a relevant one. How often do we turn to God in prayer and just say, “I am happy. I am happy with the life we have lived together?” In John’s Gospel, Jesus tells us that the Spirit of Truth will come and will glorify Jesus and will provide us comfort. The words of Jesus about the Father are remarkable because they are words of sharing freely what one has with the other with the lack of possessiveness. Everything exists for the other’s delight and glory, and this Triune God invites us into this relationship in which each finds the best in the other. Oh, it is so good to experience God glorifying each of us personally – just finding delight in us. We have so many burdens and concerns that we often forget to just approach God and spend some time in fun and recreation. What a world we could have if we could relax a little more in prayer and enjoy the affectionate way God longs to relate to us.
Quote for the Week
In honor of the Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth, I offer the ‘Hail Mary’ in French and German.
Je vous salue Marie, pleine de grâce, le Seigneur est avec vous;
vous êtes bénie entre toutes les femmes;
et Jésus, le fruit de vos entrailles, est béni.
Sainte Marie, Mère de Dieu,
priez pour nous, pécheurs,
maintenant et à l'heure de notre mort. Amen.
Gegrüßet seist du, Maria, voll der Gnade; der Herr ist mit dir;
du bist gebenedeit unter den Frauen,
und gebenedeit ist die Frucht deines Leibes, Jesus.
Heilige Maria, Mutter Gottes, bitte für uns Sünder
jetzt und in der Stunde unseres Todes. Amen.
Themes for this Week’s Masses
First Reading: Peter urges his readers to wait for and hasten the coming of the day of God and to refrain from behaviors not born of righteousness. Paul writes to Timothy to tell of his gratitude to God in the face of terrible suffering he faces. He urges people to stop disputing about words and to accept the salvation that is offered to them. He exhorts them to turn to Scripture to help them stay faithful because it will give them the wisdom for salvation. Paul is ready to turn over the church to Timothy and other leaders and he encourages them to persevere in preaching the word an doing anything that will help people receive the Gospel.
Gospel: From the outset of his ministry, Jesus meets opposition. The Herodians and Pharisees try to trip him up and discredit him with a brainteaser. When asked whether to pay Caesar’s tax or not, he tells them to respect the authorities of the world in their matters and to respect God’s authority in God’s matters. The Sadducees accost him with a teaching on the resurrection and the seven marriages and he declares that God is the living God. A scribe, often an opponent, asks Jesus about the greatest commandment. Moved by the answer of Jesus, his mind and heart are moved to greater understanding. Jesus cautions about the profession of the scribes who accept worldly honors, but do not live up to their teachings; just then a poor woman comes by and drops two coins into the temple treasury causing Jesus much happiness because she lives righteously – according to the Law.
Saints of the Week
Monday: The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a day that celebrates the rejoicing of Mary and the formerly barren Elizabeth who both find themselves pregnant. Today is a day of wonder because of the awesome plan of God to bring about the incarnation: Elizabeth calls Mary blessed, which ushers in Mary’s great song of praise.
Tuesday: Justin, martyr, was a philosopher from Samaria and he would teach others about the faith through philosophical means. His trial about debating habits is recorded and he is known to have professed with Christian discipleship and refused to sacrifice to the pagan gods. For this, he was condemned to death.
Wednesday: Marcellinus and Peter, martyrs, are familiar to us because their names are mentioned in Eucharistic Prayer I. They were killed in the Diocletian persecution in the fourth century. Peter is said to have been an exorcist and he worked under the direction of Marcellinus.
Thursday: Charles Llwanga and companion, martyrs, were killed in Uganda on this date in 1886. Charles and his friends became converts by the White Fathers. He and his companions were ordered to stop preaching and baptizing by King Mwanga who ushered in a period of persecution in which ten thousand people were martyred.
Saturday: Boniface, bishop and martyr, began his missionary career in north Netherlands and was sent to make converts in 719. As bishop of Germany, he cut down the Oak of Thor and was not beset by calamities as people superstitiously expected. On this date in 754, as he was planning to confirm more converts, non Christians rose up to kill him and his companions.
This Week in Jesuit History
• March 30, 1545: At Meliapore, Francis Xavier came on pilgrimage to the tomb of St. Thomas the Apostle.
• March 31, 1548: Fr. Anthony Corduba, rector of the College of Salamanca, begged Ignatius to admit him into the Society so as to escape the cardinalate which Charles V intended to procure for him.
• Apr 1, 1941. The death of Hippolyte Delehaye in Brussels. He was an eminent hagiographer and in charge of the Bollandists from 1912 to 1941.
• Apr 2, 1767. Charles III ordered the arrest of all the Jesuits in Spain and the confiscation of all their property.
• Apr 3, 1583. The death of Jeronimo Nadal, one of the original companions of Ignatius who later entrusted him with publishing and distributing the Jesuit Constitutions to the various regions of the early Society.
• Apr 4, 1534. Peter Faber (Pierre Favre) ordained a deacon in Paris.
• Apr 5, 1635. The death of Louis Lellemant, writer and spiritual teacher.
Happy Memorial Day
I offer bountiful prayers and blessings for all of the deceased service men and women of the U.S. who gave their lives as their greatest gift to their country’s values and freedom. Blessings also on all our veterans and current military personnel who protect our national interests and make our lives able to live in peace and security.
ATrinitarian Blessing
Blessed be you, our God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for the love you have shown us. You reveal yourself in the depths of our being; you draw us to share in your life and life. Be near to us for you have created us in your image and likeness, redeemed us and made us your children, and sustain us with your grace and the memory of the ways you have united your life to ours. We bless you through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Our faith is a strange one. We believe in one God with three distinct expressions of divine activities (creator, redeemer, and sustainer) and few of us can adequately explain the Trinitarian nature to another person. In fact, when I hear a person speaking about his or her images of the Triune God in prayer, the person seldom has a clear notion of these individual expressions of God. We don’t spend too much time reflection upon the names of God and their meanings either. No wonder why prayer is so hard at times. To complicate matters, the reading from Proverbs today speaks about Lady Wisdom existing with God at the beginning of time as a co-creator. This all gets complicated, but the key point for us to focus upon is the way they relate to each other and to us.
The personified Lady Wisdom is a partner with God who was beside him during creation and was “his delight day by day.” This is an image of a deeply happy God who is pleased with the result of his work and has fun sharing it with Wisdom. This is a God who likes to play and recreate: as Wisdom was “playing before him all the while, playing on the surface of the earth; and I found delight in the human race.” We get the sense that God really enjoys creation. After all, he declares it ‘good’ and in this passage Wisdom also delights in us. You can almost detect the two of them laughing because they are pleased in our goodness. This is quite an image on which to chew in prayer.
The question that arises is: “Do we delight in God and allow ourselves to have fun with God?” For many, it is an unusual question, but still a relevant one. How often do we turn to God in prayer and just say, “I am happy. I am happy with the life we have lived together?” In John’s Gospel, Jesus tells us that the Spirit of Truth will come and will glorify Jesus and will provide us comfort. The words of Jesus about the Father are remarkable because they are words of sharing freely what one has with the other with the lack of possessiveness. Everything exists for the other’s delight and glory, and this Triune God invites us into this relationship in which each finds the best in the other. Oh, it is so good to experience God glorifying each of us personally – just finding delight in us. We have so many burdens and concerns that we often forget to just approach God and spend some time in fun and recreation. What a world we could have if we could relax a little more in prayer and enjoy the affectionate way God longs to relate to us.
Quote for the Week
In honor of the Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth, I offer the ‘Hail Mary’ in French and German.
Je vous salue Marie, pleine de grâce, le Seigneur est avec vous;
vous êtes bénie entre toutes les femmes;
et Jésus, le fruit de vos entrailles, est béni.
Sainte Marie, Mère de Dieu,
priez pour nous, pécheurs,
maintenant et à l'heure de notre mort. Amen.
Gegrüßet seist du, Maria, voll der Gnade; der Herr ist mit dir;
du bist gebenedeit unter den Frauen,
und gebenedeit ist die Frucht deines Leibes, Jesus.
Heilige Maria, Mutter Gottes, bitte für uns Sünder
jetzt und in der Stunde unseres Todes. Amen.
Themes for this Week’s Masses
First Reading: Peter urges his readers to wait for and hasten the coming of the day of God and to refrain from behaviors not born of righteousness. Paul writes to Timothy to tell of his gratitude to God in the face of terrible suffering he faces. He urges people to stop disputing about words and to accept the salvation that is offered to them. He exhorts them to turn to Scripture to help them stay faithful because it will give them the wisdom for salvation. Paul is ready to turn over the church to Timothy and other leaders and he encourages them to persevere in preaching the word an doing anything that will help people receive the Gospel.
Gospel: From the outset of his ministry, Jesus meets opposition. The Herodians and Pharisees try to trip him up and discredit him with a brainteaser. When asked whether to pay Caesar’s tax or not, he tells them to respect the authorities of the world in their matters and to respect God’s authority in God’s matters. The Sadducees accost him with a teaching on the resurrection and the seven marriages and he declares that God is the living God. A scribe, often an opponent, asks Jesus about the greatest commandment. Moved by the answer of Jesus, his mind and heart are moved to greater understanding. Jesus cautions about the profession of the scribes who accept worldly honors, but do not live up to their teachings; just then a poor woman comes by and drops two coins into the temple treasury causing Jesus much happiness because she lives righteously – according to the Law.
Saints of the Week
Monday: The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a day that celebrates the rejoicing of Mary and the formerly barren Elizabeth who both find themselves pregnant. Today is a day of wonder because of the awesome plan of God to bring about the incarnation: Elizabeth calls Mary blessed, which ushers in Mary’s great song of praise.
Tuesday: Justin, martyr, was a philosopher from Samaria and he would teach others about the faith through philosophical means. His trial about debating habits is recorded and he is known to have professed with Christian discipleship and refused to sacrifice to the pagan gods. For this, he was condemned to death.
Wednesday: Marcellinus and Peter, martyrs, are familiar to us because their names are mentioned in Eucharistic Prayer I. They were killed in the Diocletian persecution in the fourth century. Peter is said to have been an exorcist and he worked under the direction of Marcellinus.
Thursday: Charles Llwanga and companion, martyrs, were killed in Uganda on this date in 1886. Charles and his friends became converts by the White Fathers. He and his companions were ordered to stop preaching and baptizing by King Mwanga who ushered in a period of persecution in which ten thousand people were martyred.
Saturday: Boniface, bishop and martyr, began his missionary career in north Netherlands and was sent to make converts in 719. As bishop of Germany, he cut down the Oak of Thor and was not beset by calamities as people superstitiously expected. On this date in 754, as he was planning to confirm more converts, non Christians rose up to kill him and his companions.
This Week in Jesuit History
• March 30, 1545: At Meliapore, Francis Xavier came on pilgrimage to the tomb of St. Thomas the Apostle.
• March 31, 1548: Fr. Anthony Corduba, rector of the College of Salamanca, begged Ignatius to admit him into the Society so as to escape the cardinalate which Charles V intended to procure for him.
• Apr 1, 1941. The death of Hippolyte Delehaye in Brussels. He was an eminent hagiographer and in charge of the Bollandists from 1912 to 1941.
• Apr 2, 1767. Charles III ordered the arrest of all the Jesuits in Spain and the confiscation of all their property.
• Apr 3, 1583. The death of Jeronimo Nadal, one of the original companions of Ignatius who later entrusted him with publishing and distributing the Jesuit Constitutions to the various regions of the early Society.
• Apr 4, 1534. Peter Faber (Pierre Favre) ordained a deacon in Paris.
• Apr 5, 1635. The death of Louis Lellemant, writer and spiritual teacher.
Happy Memorial Day
I offer bountiful prayers and blessings for all of the deceased service men and women of the U.S. who gave their lives as their greatest gift to their country’s values and freedom. Blessings also on all our veterans and current military personnel who protect our national interests and make our lives able to live in peace and security.
ATrinitarian Blessing
Blessed be you, our God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for the love you have shown us. You reveal yourself in the depths of our being; you draw us to share in your life and life. Be near to us for you have created us in your image and likeness, redeemed us and made us your children, and sustain us with your grace and the memory of the ways you have united your life to ours. We bless you through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Prayer: Katherine Drexel (1858-1955)
If we wish to serve God and love our neighbor well,
we must manifest our joy in the service we render to him
and them. Let us open wide our hearts. It is joy which
invites us. Press forward and fear nothing.
we must manifest our joy in the service we render to him
and them. Let us open wide our hearts. It is joy which
invites us. Press forward and fear nothing.
Prayer: John Chrysostom
So you want peace of heart? Seek wisdom in God’s sight, stick to the virtues, and nothing will be able to make you sad.
Prayer: Joseph deGuibert, S.J.
St. Ignatius’ conversion was essentially his discovery of the greatest and most attractive of all leaders, our Lord Jesus Christ. Ignatius expressed with great ardor this desire “to be placed with Jesus.”… Both the desire and the thirst also formed, I think, a twofold component which was the most profound, general, constant, and predominant characteristic in the spirituality of his followers. That trait can be expressed thus: to be with Christ – in order to serve Him…. From this point of view, it is beyond all doubt that for the Jesuits, as for Ignatius, the center of their spiritual life is truly in that devotion to Christ.
Spirituality: “Mid-Life Reconciliation” from Christian Life Patterns
The reconciliation demanded in mid-life is not a return to a former balance and maturity, from which I have fallen during this time of crisis or distress. It is a reconciliation within myself and of myself with God. Reckoning with the dream and reordering the polarities in my life are part of the task. I become reconciled with my past, acknowledging personal limitations and sinfulness in a way not possible before. This interior reconciliation (with myself and with God) must often be accompanied by reconciliation with loved one – spouse, parents, children, friends. In the liturgical celebration of mid-life passage, in the midst of the Eucharist or as a part of a communal experience of the sacramental rite of reconciliation, for example, this reconciliation is acknowledged and celebrated in the community of faith. The person, after some difficulty and struggle, has reached a new and grace-filled stage in life. The healing and reconciliation which have been experienced will release new energies in the person, which, in the shape of a broader care and a more altruistic concern for others, will benefit many in the believing community and beyond.
Evelyn Eaton Whitehead and James D. Whitehead
Evelyn Eaton Whitehead and James D. Whitehead
Prayer: Jerome
Indeed full of grace, for to others it is given in portions, but on Mary its fullness in showered.