Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Goodness gracious!  This Lent has flown!  I was struck by a thread woven throughout these readings and the Psalm for today -- one of communication.  It seems the Israelites have grown, too, through these Lenten readings.  If anyone wishes to oppose me, let us appear together in the first reading is such a contrast to Judas betrayal in the Gospel.  Coming together is being open, it is an invitation to dialogue to solve disputes.  Earlier in the reading we see a transformation, a gentleness -- an open ear, a back to support and a face to reflect God's glory and to melt the hardest of hearts.  This is what your daddy and I strive for in our dialogue.  It is what we attempt to teach couples on the Weekend.  If we could all practice this in our everyday lives, our world would be at peace.  

The Psalm is poignant and points a finger at my own situation with my brother and to a lesser extent my sisters. I feel tremendous sadness.  Creating an outcast or being that outcast, a stranger to each other is not what God wants for us as family.  He would much prefer that we sit at the dining room table as was described in yesterday and continued in today's Gospel.  He wants only the best for us which is open and trusting relationships that listen to each other, support each other, heal woundedness and grow to even greater wholeness -- or holiness!  Chugwater and Big Horn Summits are good, but they are only a beginning.  As your daddy would say, we "need to keep the ball in the air!"  I regret that as a child I was not taught open communication, our feelings were not validated.  I look at my parent's background and I understand.  I also know that we are adults, we've grown, we've changed and things could be different.  Perhaps we, too, can follow suite and have our own Summit!

I had no idea where these readings would lead this morning.  I am grateful I took time to reflect.  MJ called us she was sick and up vomiting during the night.  It is probably not a good day to travel.  Please keep her in your prayers as we attempt to figure out what we can do with her ticket and her/and our disappointment.

Love,
MF 

Monday March 24th 2013

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/032513.cfm

I read over the first reading three times, thinking about it through several perspectives. The term servant is an ambiguous term that could easily apply to many of the great leaders that arise in the Old Testament, it could apply to the prophesied leader in Jesus of the New Testament, or it could apply the reader, us, the faithful followers. This is one of the many readings in Isaiah that challenges us to become something more than our current state of being. This reading missions us to become a voice for the voiceless, to work endlessly to make this a kingdom where all persons feel an equal share in all that God has to offer.

Here is my servant whom I uphold,
my chosen one with whom I am pleased,
Upon whom I have put my Spirit;
he shall bring forth justice to the nations,
Not crying out, not shouting,
not making his voice heard in the street.

How do we bring about justice? How do we answer the call of the spirit? Sometimes its difficult to chose the right path, to do the right thing, or to stick up for the people that truly need to be protected. But this reading and this passage is the heart of our mission as Christians. We don't do this through meaningless banter and speech but through actions, through relationship, and through love.

Saturday, March 23, 2013

As we transition into Holy Week, I find today's readings consoling -- that the people of Israel are in a place to accept a Covenant of Peace with God.  Praise be to God!

I will make with them a covenant of peace;
it shall be an everlasting covenant with them,
and I will multiply them, and put my sanctuary among them forever.

Even more consoling is the Psalm Refrain:  The Lord will guard us, as a shepherd guards his flock.  This is so gentle and protective compared to all of the warrior images that we have been reading from the Old Testament earlier this Lenten Season.  The image of our God as a Shepherd is one of the most comforting images in the entire Bible. 

John's Gospel is almost like an ongoing saga of espionage.   Mind games, power struggles and sinister plots.  I find myself longing for the Parables and ready for the positive, formative readings from the Acts and Paul in the Easter Season.  I fully realize we need to walk the road to Calvary before we can experience the gifts of the resurrection, but it seems more painful this year.  

So, Jesus has been forced to withdraw from public, but not from his Mission, in that there is consolation.  

So Jesus no longer walked about in public among the Jews,
but he left for the region near the desert,
to a town called Ephraim,
and there he remained with his disciples.

Now the Passover of the Jews was near,
and many went up from the country to Jerusalem
before Passover to purify themselves.
They looked for Jesus and said to one another
as they were in the temple area, “What do you think?
That he will not come to the feast?”

These final days are a real test of faith, both that of the human Jesus and my own faith.  I was gifted with the opportunity to console a woman yesterday whose husband had taken his life 2 days prior with a gun.  They were both patients.  She presented for a routine scheduled appointment and that was the first we learned of the suicide.  They have both struggled with depression and both been very supportive of the other.  My strongest consolation to her was the gift of faith.  That her husband can see in her grief how much she truly loved him.  Faith that a loving and forgiving God will welcome him home and restore him to the fullness of eternal life, that he can continue to walk with her in the days ahead.  The Israelites were so dependent upon a physical sign.  Not to sound arrogant, but their faith was really limited.  God, give us evidence and we will build an altar to worship you!  Yesterday I was challenged to see and to share the presence of God when it is indeed difficult.  That is faith.  As I listened to this woman pour her heart out I was able to love her and offer consolation, forgiveness and healing.  This, too, is faith -- recognizing and responding to the presence of God when it is right in front of us.  
 
May we continue to grow in faith as we enter into the final phase of this Lenten Season! And, YES, Jesus WILL come to the feast and he will welcome us with open arms.  
Love,
MF

Friday, March 22, 2013

Unlike you, I have never studied the Old Testament.  I am hardly attracted to the images of the Warrior God.  But I found some of the analogies in the Psalm intriguing:  

I love you, O LORD, my strength,
O LORD, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer.
R. In my distress I called upon the Lord, and he heard my voice.
My God, my rock of refuge,
my shield, the horn of my salvation, my stronghold!

I love the image of God as a River as sung by Peter Mayer.  The bottom line is Let Go and Trust, Let God be God.  Do not cling to the Rock, but trust your faith and enjoy the journey.

I must admit my mind is very concrete and I could never be a Theologian or a Philosopher.  I found the Gospel a bit of a mind twist.  We have been reading the Lenten Readings in a book that daddy picked up at the back of Suzanne's church in Fairbanks, Give Us This Day.

It has a reflection on the Readings.  Today's was written by a nun and she asked the question "What is the heaviest burden that Jesus had to carry?"  His empathy, the cross of all the sins of humankind, the rejection of his mission by so many that he longed to heal?  She ventures it is the burden of being God and man.  

If I do not perform my Father’s works, do not believe me;

but if I perform them, even if you do not believe me,

believe the works, so that you may realize and understand 

that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.”

For me, believing in the Trinity is one of the greatest acts of faith as is believing in the real presence in the Eucharist -- but it is also one of the greatest gifts of our Catholic faith.  I will copy her words -- she is obviously a mystic:

What was it like to be humanity, the wondrous goal of created life and the image of eternal truth?  What was it like to bear the cross of the divine on human shoulders?  What was it like to fee oneself torn and battered by the limitless personality at the core of one's being?  Torn and shredded by everlasting stillness, laid bare to the last pulse of one's heart, possessed and enkindled by the great Other who is oneself and still another.  Who can measure the strain and the weight of standing against the siege-works of the almighty, knowing and being a love whose lightest touch is depth incalculable, in which one cannot help but flounder, an ever-insistent love drawing from the heart a response beyond any imagining?  Sr. Miriam Pollard

It is a mind-trip, kind of like knowing and being able to feel everything yet also experiencing it as an ordinary human being -- it was something on which I could reflect on this snowy day!

Enjoy the snow headed your way!

Love,

MOM

Thursday, March 21st, 2013

The first reading brings me back to my first semester of my sophomore year at Creighton in Dr. Legaspi's Old Testament course. I have to admit, while I entered college with an understanding of my faith and of the general teachings of the Church, my knowledge of the Old Testament was embarrassingly low. Who knew the book of Exodus was almost entirely about Moses? I just knew the song haha. I remember sharing some of these thoughts and having some people express utter astonishment toward my ignorance. But I did not see it that way, for the first time in my adult life I was gifted the opportunity to read through a book that had absolutely shaped me from the day of my baptism, and I got to do it with a guide that genuinely appreciated my enthusiasm for knowledge. I remember reading this portion of Genesis and emailing Dr. Legaspi with my wonderings about God's gentle and loving relationship with this human. I remember thinking, wait... isn't the God of the Old Testament the one that is mean and scary? As always, the images of God throughout this book are just that, images and they are human created images from a suffering people trying to make sense of the world that seemed to constantly reject them. What I love so much about this covenant is its permanence.
                                          I will maintain my covenant with you
                                                        and your descendants after you
                                                        throughout the ages as an everlasting pact,
                                                        to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.

Lucky for us, God isn't going anywhere no matter how many times we screw up. What I wish was that this reading was coupled with a Gospel describing the new covenant. In a way the Jesus of John's Gospel is attempting to bring this covenant to light, but unfortunately the message does not sink in. Which is not a surprise. Rarely is there a concept that I teach within my classroom that students achieve on the first try. Learning is change over time through the engagement of activity. Gradually and the apostles and desciples became more engaged in Jesus' work, ministry, and teaching they came to better understand his message and existence here on earth. But the truth is, understanding God's presence in our lives is a constant journey, it is not something that we ever come to fully understand or know because God is not something we can ever come to fully understand or know. We are in a constant state of becoming while God just IS. As we grow and develop we are able to orient closer to our creator, but we are also able to orient further away. We chose whether or not we wish to deepen our relationship with God. We choose to do good and we choose to do evil. We break our relationship but we can also replenish our relationship. God is a constant that will always BE. God's door to relationship is always open, it is up to us to choose whether or not we wish to see what is on the other side.

Happy Thursday!

Laura

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Wow!  Am I glad it is Wednesday and I have the day to get caught up on so many dangling loose ends around the house, watering the plants, making travel arrangements for MJ, getting my elbow re-X-rayed, doing year end Bantry Bay business and picking up our 2012 completed income taxes.  It is a good day to be alive and these are all fantastic readings upon which to reflect, unlike the more recent ones upon which I have pondered.  The words of the Psalm refrain are obviously on my lips and in my heart today:

R. (52b) Glory and praise for ever!

God is good and worthy of so much more than our praise.  May our every breath we take be an offering of praise.

When I read the first reading, I smiled at the names and the poor lector who may have been caught off guard ; ) but then my mind wanders to the Brother's Grimm Fairy Tale of Hansel and Gretel -- a gruesome tale of horror that despite the positive ending should never be read to children.  I am sure it was the white-hot inferno that led to my train of thought.  The first reading is a wonderful tale of salvation and teaches us that if we live by faith and trust in our God (and in the fairy tale -- look out for each other/our neighbor) we will be saved.

The first reading as well as the Psalm really set up the Gospel.  I believe the key verse is: 

“If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples,

and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

The truth is within us.  It is our belief that we are good, lovable and unique just as God created us.   When we recognize that, we can more easily see the same truth in those around us.  Our hearts are open to empathy and true compassion and we begin to love more deeply not only ourselves, but our 'neighbor' and the loving God who gave us life and invites us into eternal life with Him.  It is then that we understand the fullest meaning of the truth that is written in the Gospel verse.  When we truly believe in our own goodness we are freed from the slavery of greed, power, abuse and the lies of the modern world which can enslave us.  There is tremendous freedom in this gift of truth which is within us and it frees us to move beyond our own needs to see the goodness in others.  We can choose to be merciful to the humble and the poor, to those who come to the doors of our hearts seeking compassion in our daily work, to those with whom we live and in our entire world.  We need to choose to believe in our goodness and begin to see the same goodness in others.  When we do this we experience and live the Hope that Pope Francis spoke of in his inauguration homily yesterday.  

If we believe that Christ truly lives within us and walks with us then we, too, can be like the 3 (who will go unspelled) and were thrown into the blazing inferno to escape unharmed with a 4th in their midst, whom I take to be the presence of Christ within them. Do I believe that I am good, lovable and unique just as God created me?  Or am I still trying to make of myself something that I judge to be even better?  My judgement?  God's creation?  You choose.

Hope you have a great 'hump day!'

Love and Hugs,

MOM 

Saturday, March 16, 2013

Wow!  These readings are crazy!  Twice through and I still cannot make any sense.  I even struggle with the psalm "A just judge is God, a judge who punishes day by day." and to almost take delight in the vengeance of God in the last verse of the first reading.  I find it increasingly difficult to identify with these images of an Old Testament God.  In the Gospel,  is Jesus stirring the  pot or what?  It is obvious it is not yet Jesus time -- no more arguing, yet they weren't ready to turn him in, so each went to his own house.  So be it.  That is probably the line that makes the most sense to me.  I can't help but think that on some level the people in Jesus' time knew they were in the presence of something great -- at minimum, something unusual.  When you don't understand, it is often best to step back and ponder, give it a little time.  Listen, pray and walk by faith with an ear open to the call -- so, each to his own house. . .

May Sunday's readings make a lot more sense!
Love,
MOM

Friday, March 15, 2013

R. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted.
He watches over all his bones;
not one of them shall be broken.

These are the words I will take away from the Readings of today.  These words speak of the respect and deep love God has for the poor and down-trodden.  There is almost a reverence for them in the line that "not one of  'their bones' shall be broken."  The same was true of Christ when he was found to be dead on the cross.  Not a one of his bones were broken.  

This is the way we are called to treat the poor and it looks like our Pope Francis may have a very similar respect and reverence for them and be more pastoral and less theological and philosophical.  The poor and oppressed are all around us; they may be sad and hurting, but financially well off.   They may simply be oppressed and living in this country without the rights and gifts that we take for granted.  How are we being called to be close to the brokenhearted?

Thursday March 14th 2013

Happy Pi Day!
http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/031413.cfm

Wow, I am finding it really difficult to connect to today's readings. I read them twice and both times I felt like saying so what. I often struggles to connect to the images of God portrayed and provided in the Old Testament. This idea that God is wrathful or vengeful so contradicts the images of God I have come to love. I understand the historical significance and I get that they were trying to provide and image that would help them to better understand their own suffering, but I have to admit I am more comforted by the idea that when I suffer, or when I am experiencing pain, sorrow, or grief, it is not because God is angry and causing revenge, but because I am human living in an imperfect world and God is not standing by critiquing my suffering but rather, she is holding my hand and embracing my pain, experiencing it with me. I think this is why I butt heads with John's Gospel messages so often. It is easier for me to love and embrace the human images of God in total perfection than it is to embrace an image of God that is untouchable. This leads to the quote I pulled:
“I do not accept human praise;
moreover, I know that you do not have the love of God in you. 
I came in the name of my Father,
but you do not accept me;
yet if another comes in his own name,
you will accept him.
 It is easy to be swayed into loving and believing false of God displayed in our culture. To put all your faith in something human rather than in the belief that a loving creator is pulsing through us, enabling us to become the best versions of ourselves and willing us to connect with our total completion regardless of the hardships and pain we may experience along the way. What is your image of God? Who do you choose to believe? What do you choose to see?

Love
Laura

Wednesday March 13th 2013

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/031313.cfm

I love the images of new life and growth that come with spring and the nearing of Easter. The first reading is rich with contrast between darkness and light between death and life. The writer takes everyday images and experiences and highlights their impact on our own faith journey. As Easter approaches, our earth begins to thaw, the days begin to gain length with more light exposure and the world begins to awaken to a new life and a new year. I think in many ways spring is one of my favorite seasons. I love the blossoms on the trees and the awakening of the early flowers and the smell of the rain. Spring is a time in which the earth heals from a long or short winter. It is a time when nature give's birth to the next generation of inhabitants. Spring for me is a time for hope and I love that Easter is a key marker of this time. It is a time to renew or promise and commitment to God, so that we can better love and serve one and other.
Love
Laura

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Water certainly abounds in all of these readings.  Maybe it is not a coincidence that today we are going to soak in the hot pools.  In this land where it has miles of coastline and massive rivers and all this snow that will eventually melt into one ginormous puddle -- it's pretty amazing!  Water is probably the one essential ingredient in life that we cannot do without for survival and it is a joy to have it for recreation as well.  Jesus did not need it to heal the ill man.  He was healed  because of his faith and persistence.  Jesus can do so much, for us as well, if we only have faith.
Short, sweet and crisp today!
Love you!
MOM

Monday March 11th

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/031113.cfm

Today's readings offer a foreshadowed effect to the events to come over Easter. The line: Lo, I am about to create new heavens and a new earth" from the first reading offers the same sentiment of symbolism that resides in the Easter event. In the first creation story, God created the world from nothingness. All things created were good. In this new image of creation, God does not start with nothing, but takes God's own beloved creation and creates a new vision for God's people here on earth. This begins this calling to celebrate and build the kingdom here on earth.

This is an interesting time to be thinking about the Easter calling and the Kingdom as we are currently a Church without its shepherd. It took 600 years for the Church to be lea by a pope who was able to understand that the position is not one that is meant to be held until death, but rather a calling or a pastoral position of guidance and leadership that is meant to be maintained until the one is no longer able to lead the faithful. A lot of my co-workers have been critical of Pope Benedict's choice to "abdicate" his throne. By of their problem is they see it just as that, a "throne" and position of political power, a coveted title to hold until death. So many people assume they understand the Church because they have a basic sense of its structure, they've seen a movie or two, read scathing articles about current world issues in which the Church has not upheld its mission. Its unfortunate that the things people remember the most are the things we are the least proud of. People focus on our short comings instead of looking at the big picture.

God sees the entire picture. God sees us in our entirety even though each day we are in the process of becoming more. God envisioned a world built on the foundation of love filled with a people willing to serve one and other. What are the ways in which we bring joy to the kingdom? How do we enrich the loves of others? I think these are the questions we need to reflect on as we enter into this time of discernment and contemplation in the finals weeks of Lent.

Hope you are having a fantastic time in Alaska!
Love
Laura

Wednesday of the Third Week of Lent, March 6, 2013

I love the way the readings work together so well this Lent.  And, I am amazed how quickly this Lent is speeding by.  Today's readings are so rich it is truly difficult to pick out several lines or a specific focus, . . . But, I am struck by a single line in the Responsorial Psalm:  For he has strengthened the bars of your gates;  For me, this line connects with so much in the First Reading as well as the Gospel.

What are the bars of our gates?  Well, certainly our Faith, that "the LORD, our God, is so close to us whenever we call upon him."  We can with confidence make decisions to live the gospel.  When tested we can pray for the strength to see all people as Children of God and treat them with tenderness especially when they are most vulnerable.  When we affirm we build the future of our Church and our world, adding more strength to the bars of our gates.

Another obvious bar in our gates is the statues and decrees which have been created anew in the commandments which Jesus spoke of to his disciples in the Gospel.  "Whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the Kingdom of heaven."  I would struggle to name all 10 Commandments in order, but I can with certainty remember number one, and if I live the commandment to Love One Another, I have the others all covered.  We are all teachers and teach best by example, thus the Lord says in the First Reading, "I am teaching you to observe, that you may live".  We must live to love our God and all human kind -- for me, that hits all 10.

A very important, but less obvious bar is "not to forget the things which your own eyes have seen, nor let them slip from your memory as long as you live."  To not forget is to Re-member, and to take to heart what we have experienced -- the bad and the good.  A memory which we are so grateful to have been able to give all of you as children is that of our first back-packing trip -- memories of faith, support trust in a God who loves us, and of doing without, not to mention the sheer beauty in this world which has been entrusted to our care.  But we must also not forget our mistakes so as to not make them over and over again.  We remember our transgressions, times when we have been hurt, when we have hurt others, when we have been slow to forgive, the pain that we have witnessed in our world as well as the joyful times we have been gifted.  We must remember and allow these memories to strengthen the bars in our gates so as to effect our life today.  

So, what are the bars of your gates and how can you strengthen during this remaining Lenten season?

Love,
MOM

Thursday, February 28, 2013

I am mesmerized today by the final verse from the first reading:

More tortuous than all else is the human heart,
beyond remedy; who can understand it?
I, the LORD, alone probe the mind
and test the heart,
To reward everyone according to his ways,
according to the merit of his deeds.

We are complex beings and there is nothing more intricate than the emotional component of our  human nature, that which we often refer to as our heart.  It has often been said that the distance between our head and our heart is 'a mile long.'  To many that sounds out a warning: "Don't go there!"  The 'heart' is at the very core of our ministry in Marriage Encounter:  identifying, accepting and sharing our feelings.  I love Fr. Bill's comparison of a feeling to a 'sneeze' -- they just happen.  We have no control over them.  They are a gift from a loving God and like any gift we must care for them with tenderness and use them to give honor and glory to our God.  The key to understanding the generosity of this gift is to realize how much our feelings  impact our attitudes and thus our behaviors.  We can change our attitudes and we are responsible for our behaviors.  This, I believe is the connection to the Gospel in today's readings.  

We, like the man in the Gospel might feel angry, resentful, annoyed, horrified, bitter, suspicious or even trapped if we awaken to find a poor beggar lying on our front doorstep, standing on our street corner, or enter into our office requesting help.  There is nothing wrong with those feelings.  Like a sneeze . . . . Identifying and accepting the feeling is a gift from God, inviting us to probe deeply to surface the underlying attitude.  Do we see ourselves as better than the beggar because we work hard in our job, or are frugal with what we spend so as to save for hard times ahead?  Are we more fortunate because we took advantage of the education offered to us, or accepted a job -- any job to be self-sufficient in life?  Do we have the attitude that you reap what you sow?  or is it an attitude that others will judge us by our associations?   if we give a handout this time, more will follow and we will ultimately get taken advantage of?  Does our attitude allow us to realize in the beggar a child of God, the body of Christ.  

Remember we can change our attitude and we are responsible for our behaviors.  Our Lord will reward everyone according to his ways, according to the merit of his deeds.

Love you!
MOM

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

These readings both speak to me of the need to be seen as important and how we become suspicious of anyone who seems to be getting more than their fair share of the pie. We crave recognition for what we have done.  Recognition, affirmation, 'Thank you, Jim!' 'Way to go!' -- these things are all important.  As I was writing this, the cat crawled up onto my chair; even Gus needs a little touch and affirmation!

I was just sharing this morning with our local ME Leadership that I wish people would sometimes send back a simple email -- Got it!  When they don't it is easy to let suspicion creep in -- they don't like me, or agree with me, . . . might as well 'eat worms.'  I, and I suspect many of us want to be recognized, to sit, "one at your right and the other on your left".  I won't go so far as to say that I am plotting against them, like the citizens of Judah and Jerusalem did against Jeremiah, but sometimes I do wonder if it is worth it and consider for a brief moment just throwing in the towel.

So, why don't we throw in the towel, Why don't we contrive a plot against them and destroy them by their very silence?  Deep down, I really do believe the words of the Gospel:

Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant;
whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave.
Just so, the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve
and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

We are called to a life of service and our recognition may not be in this world.  Even a simple 'Thank you!',  'Atta-boy!' or high-5 may be expecting too much.  If we ascribe to the virtue of humility being of service should be plenty.  Pie is over-rated and a skinny piece is better for my diet! 

Speaking of pie, Laura, I want the recipe for the pumpkin pie you made for Thanksgiving dinner -- I have a new pie crust I want to try out!

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

"Actions speak louder than words!"  or "Preach the Gospel, if necessary use words!"  These are quotes from some very good people in my life; my parents and para-phrased from St. Francis, my name-sake.

Therefore, do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you,
but do not follow their example.
For they preach but they do not practice.
They tie up heavy burdens hard to carry
and lay them on people’s shoulders,
but they will not lift a finger to move them.
All their works are performed to be seen.

I must admit, I think this is the first time I have read or heard "they tie up heavy burdens hard to carry and lay them on people's shoulders, but they will not lift a finger to move them." That grates like fingernails on a chalk board to me!  BUT, there are many times when I hear the gospel reading and I check it off my list -- 'yup, I do that!'  But do I really?  Do I take the words to heart and let them penetrate me to the very core?  or Do I incorporate the values and make them part of my life just when it is convenient?  

I know, yesterday I was very judgmental of your Daddy in the office.  I judge I was justified -- I still stand by my opinion, but that does not give me the right or an excuse to be judgmental.  I obviously in a pissed-off and self-righteous moment had forgotten the very Gospel of that day.  The one that I wrote was 'short and crisp and to the point' and should be memorized by all!  I ask your forgiveness and thank God for the gift of today and the opportunity to  take these scriptures to heart.  Today is a new day! 

Love you!

MOM

Monday, February 25, 2013

Wow! It is already Monday.  We had a great weekend, but I wish weekends lasted as long as weekdays!

When I read these OT readings, I feel grateful, blessed and encouraged that Jesus came to abolish the old law and establish a new law.  I sometimes forget that this is all these poor (pathetic) people know.  (Sometimes I even think 'Get over yourself!')  I so rejoice when we finally get to the New Testament.  It is probably good to be presented with the contrast between the 2 sets of readings.  It allows us to really appreciate the gift that we have been given in Christ's life and death and finally his resurrection.

I love the Gospel and I love that it is short, crisp and to the point.  It makes it so powerful!

Jesus said to his disciples:“Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.“Stop judging and you will not be judged.Stop condemning and you will not be condemned.Forgive and you will be forgiven.Give and gifts will be given to you;a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing,will be poured into your lap.For the measure with which you measurewill in return be measured out to you.”

Our gifts will be returned to us 1000-fold when we are charitable to others -- when we are kind, merciful, affirming and non-judgmental -- when we give of ourselves to others instead of judging.  We live in a world that is so judgmental, from peer pressure to the news on TV -- it is not just news, everything has to have a political spin and we so easily set up a cult of 'us vs. them.'  We have 'IT' and you don't!  We all have 'IT' -- the gift of God's saving grace in His Son!  What greater gift is there, What greater measure can we have of a loving God!  If we can only open our eyes and ears to see and accept God's tremendous love which we have been given in abundance.  If we could just see and treat each other as equally gifted and loved by God, we would all live in a land of plenty.  This is the way to end violence, to end oppression, to restore the dignity of the human being, to live in harmony.

Have a great week!

Love,

MOM

Second Sunday in Lent

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/022413.cfm

I have to admit, these readings don't speak to me as much as the readings that built up to the end of this week. As we worked through the week we were reminded to accept and embrace God's presence in our life, then we were challenged to take that presence and becomes leaders of the church. Shepherd our flock through the grace and guidance of God's love. We end this week with a compilation of stories that foreshadow Jesus' true meaning here on earth and the new laws he plans to set fourth. Saturday's gospel is the gospel of the new covenant: Love thy neighbor as thyself, today's gospel reinforces the authority of that covenant through God's revelation to Peter and James that Jesus is indeed God's own son.

Both the Gospel and the readings have these images of darkness contrasted with light. The first reading states: "As the sun was about to set, a trance fell upon Abram, and a deep, terrifying darkness enveloped him." The Gospel states: "a cloud came and cast a shadow over them, and they became frightened when they entered the cloud." Both the darkness and the cloud bring terror to the people in the stories. God reaches out through the darkness and touches the hearts of the people to bring back the calm. What is the darkness that covers your life and prevents you from experiencing and feeling God's mercy and love? What distractions to we need to remove to be more connected to God's grace and love? I think these are two questions we will continue to wrestle with the rest of the Lenten season.

Have a good Sunday!
All my love
Laura

Friday February 22nd 2013

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/022213.cfm

I think these readings fit so naturally after yesterday's reflections. Mom, I really love the images you pulled from the psalm, the prayer, and the Gospel. Yesterday we focused on welcoming God into our life, allowing for that loss of control and trusting that God's guidance will shape and direct our life in order to reconnect us with our creator. I think today's readings challenge us to become that guide, that take the graces we have received from God and shower them toward others. The passage that really struck me was:
                             
                               Tend the flock of God in your midst,
                                         overseeing not by constraint but willingly,
                                         as God would have it, not for shameful profit but eagerly.
                                         Do not lord it over those assigned to you,
                                         but be examples to the flock.

These words from the first reading really spoke to the teacher side of my identity. But I think they should act as guidance for what ever we called to do to better the kingdom. When I think about the trust my students instill in me and the relationships that are formed I am overwhelmed by the magnitude of my position as teacher. I have so much power to do good, but so much potential to do harm. I have always clung to the creation image of God as sculpture, elbows deep in the clay shaping God's creation to match God's own image: love. This set of readings missions us to be guides to the kingdom, not necessarily through words alone, but through our actions and interactions in the kingdom of God. We must remain open to God's love and grace and share that love with the kingdom.

Happy Friday!

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Why do we like Queen Esther let ourselves get into such a bind before we ask God for help.  To be seized with mortal anguish, an orphan and prostrate on the ground or stone slab floor and FINALLY coming to God for help seems so unnecessary when we believe in a God that is all loving as is so beautifully shared in the Gospel.  These readings remind me of how important it is to invite God to walk with us with our first waking breath.  I love reading the prayer of St. Ignatius of Loyola which we received on the back of a card when our current Bishop was introduced to the Diocese of Cheyenne.  I try to read it every morning as I begin my day:  

Jesus, may all that is you

flow into me.

May Your body and blood be

my food and my drink.

May Your passion and death

be my strength and my life.

With You by my side, enough has been given.

May the shelter I seek

be the shadow ofYour cross.

LORD, let me not run 

from the love which you offer,

But hold me safe

from the forces of evil.  

And on each of my dyings

shed Your light and Your love.

Keep calling me, LORD, until 

the day that, with Your saints,

I may praise You

Forever and ever.

AMEN

I often remind people that God comes to us in many ways if we open our eyes and ears to receive His call and input into our lives.  It can be the beggar on the street that softens our heart, a difficult encounter that graces us with the gift of patience, or for me, simply the humility to admit that I am in over my head and need to ask for help.  All of these experiences can provide growth, lift our hearts and lighten our step if we but see them as a gift from a loving God.   

Again, I love the Responsorial Psalm:  

When I called, you answered me; 

you built up strength within me . . .

forsake not the work of your hands.

R. Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me.

If we really believe that God created us and knew us before we were born, how could we not trust that He will care for us in our time of need -- and not just then, but 'on the day I called for help, you answered me.'  If only our other requests for help could be that immediate.  As in the Gospel, we need to trust that when we ask for help we will not get our hand bitten -- especially if we invoke the assistance of a loving God in our request.  

I love the bottom line in the Gospel -- 'Do to others whatever you would have them do to you.'  Respond as God would, as you would like to be responded to when someone seeks you out for help -- no shaming or condescending attitude.  Allow yourself to be a conduit of the love of God in your response, realize the vulnerability in the one seeking help, see their request as a gift and treat it as a gift with the same tender kindness that God would offer to you.

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

My apologies for being so late to post, Laura!  Monday and Tuesday were crazy with catch up work from the ME Weekend.  I'm unsure what a normal life is any more!

I am struck by the following from the Responsorial Psalm of today's readings.  I do not get off on sack cloth and ashes nor even fasting.  I see much more value in eating a hearty, healthy meal and using those calories to do productive work from which others may benefit.  A contrite, humble heart and spirit is foundational for me.  

R. A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.

For you are not pleased with sacrifices;
should I offer a burnt offering, 
you would not accept it.
My sacrifice, O God, is a contrite spirit;
a heart contrite and humbled, 
O God, you will not spurn.
R. A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.

Being a servant to others is how I want to live my life, even as I 'lead' in the office or in Encounter, or in parenting.  Listening when I'd rather be getting stuff done, spending time with a worried, but otherwise well patient offering reassurance, doing the mundane and not looking for glory, seeking and accepting forgiveness, letting go of hurts and not carrying a grudge is exemplary for me of a servant with a contrite heart. Working together with others on equal footing, pulling together for the common good, being a cheerleader rather than center stage and taking delight in lifting others up is living with a humble heart.  I hate it when I see myself needing to be in the spotlight or find myself blaming when I should more appropriately be asking forgiveness.  Striving to live with a contrite and humble heart, is quiet, simple everyday living.  It is not as demonstrative as sack cloth and ashes, but it is where I'd rather be.  
Love,
MOM

Monday February 18th, 2013

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/021813.cfm

I must admit, I have a hard time reading this gospel without smiling. It might be one of the strangest readings ever read at a Wedding, but it was such a crucial part of my spiritual journey through Creighton it didn't feel right to now include it as one of the focal points in the ceremony. I love that this Gospel is highlighted right at the beginning of the season and if I am not mistaken it will not be the only time we read it this less. Maybe not Matthew's version but the message rings clear. The phrase that stood out this most to me today when I read these readings is a key part of the central message that I hadn't focused on before:

                                     ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father.
                                                  Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
                                                  For I was hungry and you gave me food,
                                                  I was thirsty and you gave me drink,
                                                  a stranger and you welcomed me,
                                                  naked and you clothed me,
                                                  ill and you cared for me,
                                                  in prison and you visited me.’

The second line, "Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." reminds me of the call from the second Vatican council to build and foster the kingdom of God here during our time on Earth. Now this is a calling that is deeply embedded throughout all the gospels and NT/OT readings, but it is amazing how radical or liberal the call can seem. What I feel is different about this phrase is that we "inherit" the kingdom God envisioned for us. If we spend our time working against God's vision, what happen's to the kingdom. I don't think it is a mistake that this reading is coupled with the Genesis deliverance of the ten commandments. The rules and guidance God delivered to the Isrealites transformed into this vision Christ creates for the poor. Being righteous is no longer focused on obeying laws, but rather it is about caring for the kingdom, fostering the poor and providing for the hopeless. This becomes the new mission for God's people, a mission that cannot be done a lot. I think Lent calls us to reconnect with this Christian vision, to remove the temptations and distractions that inhibit us from fostering this kingdom.

Sunday February 17, 2013

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/021713.cfm

Sorry this post is coming at the end of the day. I have spent much of the day reflecting on these three readings and their significance in connection to the Lenten Season.

I am struck by the images of power that are used to describe God in the first reading in contrast to Jesus' refusal toward the temptation of power in the Gospel. Moses reminds his people:
               He brought us out of Egypt
                    with his strong hand and outstretched arm,
                    with terrifying power, with signs and wonders;
                   and bringing us into this country,
                   he gave us this land flowing with milk and honey.

I think this passage demonstrates just how deeply Moses loved God, but also how trusting he was to God's promise to deliver them to salvation, a land in which Moses did not see in his life time. God did deliver to his people. I am amazed and slightly overwhelmed by Moses' witness to faith. His connection to God was one so intimate that all the adversity in the desert was not able to draw question in his mind. Moses was so open to relationship with God he was able to experience, see, and feel God's presence actively working in his day to day life. 

I took a class in college entitled "The Mystery of God and Human Suffering." It was one of my professor's hopes that the material would be so thought provoking that it would draw us to question the very depth of our faith in order to come to a deeper understanding of God's intricate role in our life. One of the basic claims of this course was: "The human being is naturally oriented toward the greater good," the second was that "a human being is in a constant state of becoming, where as God IS." The idea of natural orientation means that we, as humans, are programmed to desire good, most specifically the "greatest good," meaning God. We cannot fully understand God because God IS and we are in a state of becoming. Our orientation causes us to seek temporary goods (short term happiness, career success, money, material pleasures) in hopes of satisfying our need. What often happens is a person is makes the claim: If I could just ________ then I could________________. When we fill the blanks and find that need satisfied we soon find that we are able to fill the blanks with a new need.

In lent, and in our faith journey, we are challenged to fill that need of satisfaction not with material goods or temporary happiness, but with and active longing for deeper relationship with God. We are then asked to fast, or abstain from something in our life that is causing distraction or is disrupting our ability to be open to this connection. It is so easy to get wrapped up in the rhythms and routines that dictate our day to day transgressions that we can find ourselves gliding through life without pausing to reflect on the meaning of our actions and the impact of the wake that we inevitably leave behind us. I guess the challenge then is to make time to be aware of the choices we make and the impact they inevitably have on the kingdom.