Summer Break and a Blessing Prayer

Taking a break from posting for some summer days. The next post will be Friday, August 10th, in time for the Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time.  Until then, with this Trappist Monk and his wildlife friend, I send a Celtic style blessing prayer for everyone - myself included.


May you pay attention to your actions,
   in this moment,
   now this moment,
   and now this moment.

May you listen carefully - God is near.
May you observe well - God is at hand.

May you be ready and willing to stop,
   to sense,
   to respond from within.

May you be infinitely patient,
   like a monk waiting for a rabbit to come close.

May you be gentle of heart,
   possess an inner vision,
   recognizing a oneness
   with every living thing -
   even the mountains and stars the psalms say.

May you be able to distance yourself
   from the national feeling of 
   mayhem and menace,
   and feel the monk's joy -
   the thrill of it!

July Is Lily Month

These are fading now at the end of July, which was Lily Month, and here was a spectacular display. Before the Protestant Reformation in England all flowers had Mary names or a Marian association. Lilies are often seen painted into depictions of Mary. So these great, almost six-footers, might bring her to mind as we segue into the August-month of her Assumption. And here's a prayer which takes its cues from the flowers themselves.

Hail Mary,
who finds joy in God,
who brings about marvels.

Hail Mary,
trumpet of God's justice, 
herald of God's drawing near.

Hail Mary,
flower of humankind,
scenting the world with praises.

Hail Mary,
abundant in discipleship,
superabundant in gratitude.

Hail Mary,
golden in your believing,
in the vigor of your visitation.

Hail Mary,
like Bethlehem's angels,
like Bethlehem's star.

Hail Mary,
who stands amidst our weariness -
our disarray,
our moral apathy.

Intercessions ~ Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Next month in Ireland/ Pope Francis will participate in the World Meeting of Families./  We pray for families stressed by poverty,/ violence,/ addiction or dysfunction./ For the families of young children,/ the elderly and those with special needs./ For families where there is no faith./ We pray to the Lord.

May we be freed of naive nationalism,/willful ignorance and foolishness./ May our efforts at prayer and study be blessed,/ and our hearts evolve in justice and love./ We pray to the Lord.

For those who are in hospitals or living with chronic illness./ For those anticipating surgery,/ or who are recovering from accidents or wounds./ For any who suffer wearying, emotional pain./ We pray to the Lord.

We pray for those who feel excluded,/ condemned,/ devalued or forgotten./ May the great colonnade of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, symbolize the Church's desire for every person to experience God's embrace./ We pray to the Lord.

We ask new hearts for those who bully others,/ manipulate or cheat./ For the conversion of those who are the cheerleaders of war,/ who provoke and exploit conflict and division./ We pray to the Lord. 

Saturday is the Feast of St. John Vianney,/ patron of the parish clergy./ And while we pray for priests,/ mindful of burdened priests,/ troubled,/ young and old priests,/ we pray for the Catholic parish to be a place of joy,/ unity and welcome./ We pray to the Lord.

Christ, All-Seeing

This is a wonderful photograph. The immense icon is likely placed in a vast church so worshippers are able to inter-face with Christ even from way back. But this little girl of about five or six, has placed herself directly under the gaze of Jesus. She is fascinated, isn't she?

The eyes of Christ are wide-opened and seeing. His brow is furrowed, knowing and sharing our conditions and situations. Even the metal halo, the light from his face, reaches out towards us, a kind of umbrella. 

An important note: In studying for last Sunday's Gospel (Mark 6:30-34) Jesus had pity on the crowds. He knew their longing and inner hunger. "Pity" doesn't mean he felt sorry for them, but that he felt the gut-pain a parent feels when the child is anguished, in need or trouble.

Lord Jesus, in affection,
you see us in our littleness,
vulnerability,
aloneness and 
searching.

Lord Jesus, in pity,
you know us in the collapse of our best resolve,
our regrets,
wrong turns,
old hurts and
mistakes.

Lord Jesus, in compassion,
you are awake to our pain,
our sorrowing,
our seeming inability to quit wars,
fighting and
argument.

Through your icon eyes,
heal us,
and our nation,
of hatred,
bitterness,
un-forgiveness and 
gloom.

Dawn Chorus and the Waning of July

A Wikipedia article states: "The Dawn Chorus occurs when birds sing at the start of a new day. In temperate countries this is most noticeable in spring when the birds are either defending territory, trying to attract a mate, or calling in the flock."

The statement says nothing about the birds being happy, rather, just the nuts and bolts of life: defence, mating, nest building, food. But unless a body tends to irritability at the sound of robins disturbing sleep at 4:45 A.M - we might well find the sound of the Dawn Chorus to be pleasing - even delightful. We call it "singing" after all. Comedian Robin Williams said:

"You know what music is? God's little reminder that there's something else besides us in this universe; harmonic connection between all living beings, everywhere, even the stars." 

At first, his sentence says that music links all the living beings, but then it goes even further by including the stars. The Prophet Baruch seems to have understood this, claiming poetically that the stars have a voice:

The stars shone in their watches, and were glad; he called them, and they said, "Here we are!" They shone with gladness for him who made them. Baruch 3: 34,35

One bird guide book says that towards the end of July the Dawn Chorus starts to quiet down, and by the first week of August, it is finished until next spring. The birds are around for awhile yet, but the business of mating and raising young birds is over for now. The birds will head south soon enough, and the morning will be quiet until next March or April. 

So, there are these last days of the Dawn Chorus, and Robin Williams' invitation to see, even in bird song, a connection to all living things and even beyond. The psalmist doesn't want to be left out of the lovely thought and still more, claiming our own dawn as a time of songful-praise.

My heart is ready, O God;
I will sing, sing your praise.
Awake, my soul; 
awake, lyre and harp.
I will awake the dawn.

Psalm 107

Intercessions ~ Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

July is Lily Month

Thursday is the Feast of Sts Joachim and Anna/ parents of the Virgin Mary./ We pray for parents and grandparents around the world/ mindful of those who are raising young children./ For parents who are fearful/ or feeling as if they have failed./ We pray to the Lord.

This Saturday marks the start of the First World War in 1914:/ one of the deadliest conflicts in all of human history./ Bless the world with peaceful leaders,/ and us,/ with peace-loving hearts./ We pray to the Lord.

These are disturbing,/ challenging,/ unsettling days./ Grant that we would be a nation of clarity,/ with our unity restored and our inclusive ideal strong./ We pray to the Lord.

A month from now,/ Pope Francis will pay a pastoral visit to Dublin, Ireland,/ for the World Meeting of Families./ We ask for the pope's safety/ and blessings for the families of the world in their great variety and need./ We pray to the Lord.

More than forty vast wildfires are burning in Western states./ We pray for firefighters,/ helpers and rescuers./ For the consolation of those who have lost property,/ or who have been displaced./ We pray to the Lord.

May we be honest with ourselves./ May our prayer deepen and evolve./ And may our good deeds issue from genuinely clean hearts./ We pray to the Lord.

Mother Placid ~ Black Currants and Transformation

This lovely photo is of Sister Mary Placid, who was born in Capbreton, France in 1924. She entered the Benedictine monastery of  Poyanne in 1940 before co-founding Transfiguration Monastery in Windsor, N.Y. in 1979. That's where Placid and I met and became friends. 

She told me that during the Second World War, when Hitler's Black Shirts took over the monastery guest house, the nuns had to slip out at night asking nearby villagers for something to eat. When a farmer gave Placid a case of apricots, instead of the community eating them, she taught herself some chemistry and turned the fruit into apricot brandy. 

One summer day Placid appeared at my home carrying eight dirty "sticks" claiming: "Etienne, these are currant bushes; six red and two black." She stuck them in the ground (carelessly, I thought), said a blessing prayer and within a few days the sticks produced not only leaf buds but flowers which quickly morphed into tiny currants. 

She had added that perhaps in a year or so I'd be able to produce Creme de Cassis, a blackcurrant liqueur. When I moved to the retreat house, I dug up the currants and transplanted them here. Every year the robins have gotten the currants before I'm able to get to them. Fussy birds, they consume the red ones first and when they're gone, the black. So now for the first time, down in the cool and dark basement here, there is a large sealed jar of almost two pounds of fermenting black currants. After about ten days I gave the jar a first swirl; the liquid now the consistency of syrup. 

While Placid specialized in the fermentation-transformation of all kinds of fruit into wine, she knew we all need (indeed the world needs) transformation, and that the Holy Spirit is the agent of that personal change. Giovanni Papini speaks of this in his 1923 book, Life of Christ.

The first words of Jesus are few and simple, very much like those of St. John, "The time is accomplished; the Kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe the Gospel." Bare words, incomprehensible to moderns by their very sobriety...It is true that Jesus added "repent," but the old Greek word has been distorted from its true and magnificent meaning. The word of Mark should not be translated "repent"; but rather the changing of the mind, the transformation of the soul. Metamorphosis is a change of form; "metanoia," a changing of the spirit. It ought rather to be translated "conversion," that is, the renewing of the inner life of man (and woman).

 
As one of the conditions of the arrival of the Kingdom of God and at the same  time as the very substance of the new order, Jesus demands complete conversion, a revolution of life and of the common values of life, a transmutation of feelings, of opinions, of intentions. This he called, speaking to Nicodemus, "the second birth." Little by little He was to explain in what way this total transformation of the ordinary human soul is to be effected..."Believe in the Gospel."

A Prayer for Transformation

O Jesus, may I follow you along the Way of Transformation:
learning to feast,
learning your kind of joy.

O Jesus, may I follow you along the Way of Transformation:
not clinging to things,
opinions,
ideas,
people,
places and
traditions that have become lifeless.

O Jesus, may I follow you along the Way of Transformation:
learning silence,
solitude and
inner peace,
gratitude to God for every blessing
and the way of spiritual childhood ~
humility,
trust,
wonder and
even play.

O Jesus, may I follow you along the Way of Transformation:
learning that I am defined not by blood family,
but the family of God's Kingdom-Rule,
that I can be a healer too,
without condemnation and
hatred.

O Jesus, may I follow you along the Way of Transformation:
learning empathy in the pondering of your face ~
the way of generosity and unity ~
unity with God,
unity with others,
unity with myself.
May I accept myself as I am and all the more
as I may become.

O Jesus, may I follow you along the Way of Transformation:
learning that in death I am freed
of my false self ~
my pretend,
exaggerated,
self-protected,
un-surrendered,
controlling self,
and in death my true self emerges and endures ~
that I am God's unique and
dearly loved, no-matter-what, child.

And Jesus, may I follow you along the Way of Transformation:
along that most difficult and seemingly impossible way
of unconditional love ~
that every person is lovable,*
no matter how various,
hypocritical,
failed,
wrong headed,
badly behaved.

Your mercy, Jesus!
Grow me up, Jesus!

~ ~ ~

*Lovable means, I can at least wish everyone well. Some people are tedious, tiresome, burdensome; others do bad things. I am to see them as God sees them - God's child - as God sees me. It can be a real workout, but there it is. Wish them salvation, which means firstly to be saved from their own worst possibilities. We have our own. There are great saints who did awful things at some point in their lives. There are great saints who would have been very difficult to live with. I'm ruined the moment I think (even secretly) "I'm God's completed project, except for a little tidying up around the edges." It also means I likely don't know myself very well.

The Paramythia Mother of God ~ Night Prayer

This is the 8th century Paramythia Icon of the Mother of God -Comforter. She has her own side-chapel in the Vatopedi Monastery on Mt. Athos in Greece.

It is night. The monks have retired for their rest. The priest has left his stole hooked onto the icon's frame. There are a few candles we may light and a chair to the right where we may sit peacefully for awhile at the end of our own day. A small rug has been placed on the floor before the wonder-working icon where we may kneel or even touch our forehead to the floor. We can feel the silence of this inviting space.

O Lady, 

gratitude for this day ~

  its gift of life,

  energy and stamina,

for the food and water that have sustained me,

for the beautiful and the good I have

  seen or heard,

  tasted or touched,

for the clarity and strength to make any right choice,

for every awareness of God's nearness,

for the love of others ~ love given and received,

for any inspiration and movement towards 

  justice and charity,

for the help of others

  in my weakness,

  my loneliness,

  my indecision,

  anxiety,

  doubt,

  sorrow or sickness.

And O Lady,

Comforter,

I pray for those who are sleepless,

  who will work through this night,

  who keep us safe,

  who rescue others,

  who work in hospitals,

  who tend to children,

for those whose night is ruined with arguing

  and even violence,

for those who stay awake to watch over the dying,

for the children born tonight,

for those away from loved ones,

for wanderers without home or bed,

for night-travelers,

for mourners and those whose night is tear-filled.

Bless my own night time rest now,

may I have a sweet-dream,

and bring me to tomorrow ready and renewed.

Amen.

Intercessions ~ Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

The Call of the Prophet Amos ~ James Smetham 1875

At Mass today we are introduced to the Prophet Amos/ whose ancient message illuminates the present moment in which we live./ May we be more brave in embracing God's alternate way of life,/ strong of conscience and less silent before injustice./ We pray to the Lord.

We pray for our country to turn continually in the direction of its founding principles:/ to be the nation of all colors and kinds,/ choosing to live by love,/ not hatred./ We pray to the Lord.

For those who are chronically sick,/ emotionally troubled,/ recovering from accidents and wounds./ For the inner healing of the war-traumatized./ For those in nursing homes and hospices./ For the strengthening of those who care for the sick./ We pray to the Lord.

May we not judge as naive our prayers for a peaceful world,/ but allow for the heart-possibilities of a world without war,/ and the industries that garner huge profits off the preparation for war./ We pray to the Lord.

For the world's children./ For the children orphaned by war,/ disease and disaster./ For the children separated from their families,/ and for grieving parents./ We pray to the Lord.

Grant safety to summer travelers and vacationers./ For those who get no summer rest or renewal./ For those whose summertime work benefits and blesses us,/ mindful of those who must work in the heat/ or whose pay is insufficient or un-just./ We pray to the Lord.

Interceding

This icon is titled ~ Mother of God Who Loves All Equally. O that we could love like that as well. These folks symbolize all of human kind tucked under the protective maphorian of the Mother of God. Ladies on the left; gentlemen on the right. Someone has kindly ushered the little children up front with the poor sick fellow on his mat.There are some clerics and maybe a king or czar in the front row too. I hope they're  there to speak up for the multitudes who are timid or for one reason or another are unable to speak up for themselves. The voiceless ones.

Anyway, there's a lot of prayer going on here. I'd suggest most of that prayer is interceding out of one's own burdened life or prayer on behalf of others. We can join in.

Going way back to 2013, I've offered a Prayer of the Faithful each Thursday that people write to say they pray before Sunday Mass - even opening up the page in the pew in the minutes before the processional hymn. Others use the intercessions as part of their own night prayer. I'm glad for that, hoping these intercession-posts help us to be the Lord's prayerful people.

The French author Georges Bernanos has written: "Nothing about modern civilization can be understood unless you recognize that it is a universal conspiracy against any kind of interior life." The Sunday Intercessions are a little answer to that sad statement.

The intercessions help us to imagine godly possibilities. We dream with God. We lay bare our hearts, full of concerns in ever widening circles that embrace the whole world. The intercessions don't set out to change or somehow manage God but to change ourselves - coming before God in humility, tenderized to the needs of others beyond our own small orbit. In the Gospels we see Jesus repeatedly reaching beyond the boundaries. And Saint Paul writes to the Philippians (4:6) and to us:

"Don't worry over anything whatever; whenever you pray tell God every detail of your needs in thankful prayer, and the peace of God, which surpasses human understanding, will keep constant guard over your hearts and minds as they rest in Christ Jesus."

Jesus on Trial

Here is Duccio Du Buoninsegna's early 14th century depiction of Jesus on trial before the religious hierarchy. They are in a huddle among themselves and with the witnesses, trying to get their story straight. We see Roman helmets and spears behind them . The high priest rips his shirt when hearing Jesus speak the "blashempy" of close identification with God. Peter looks nervous out in the courtyard at left. Two locals question him about his relationship to Jesus who stands silently, hand's tied, in the middle.

53 Then they led Jesus away to the High Priest's house, where the chief priests, elders, and doctors of the law were all assembling. 54 Peter followed him at a distance right into the High Priest's courtyard; and there he remained, sitting among the attendants, warming himself at the fire.

55 The chief priests and the whole Council tried to find some evidence against Jesus to warrant a death-sentence, but failed to find any. 56 Many gave false evidence against him, but their statements did not agree. 57 Some stood up and gave this false evidence against him: 58 'We heard him say, "I will throw down this temple, made with human hands, and in three days I will build another, not made with hands."' 59 But even on this point their evidence did not agree.

60 Then the High Priest stood up in his place and questioned Jesus: "Have you no answer to the charges that these witnesses bring against you?' 61 But he kept silence; he made no reply. 

Again the High Priest questioned him: 'Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?' 62 Jesus said, 'I am; and you will see the Son of Man seated on the right hand of God and coming with the clouds of heaven.' 63 Then the High Priest tore his robes and said, 'Need we call further witnesses? 64 You have heard the blasphemy. What is your opinion?' Their judgment was unanimous: that he was guilty and should be put to death.  Mark 14:53-64

Verse 53: These guys have a plan and have gathered to put it into action. Their gang-up paints a sad picture: all this power (indeed - religious power) assembled against Jesus who shunned power.  

Power is the original sin - not dis-obedience, gluttony, lust. "Eat this fruit and you'll be like God," the serpent said to our parents in the garden. Power: "Do you have any idea who you're talking to?" "I give the orders around here," "Only I can fix these problems," "I was just joking." Calling people names is power abuse. Mocking immitation and laughter is power.

Verse 54: Notice that Peter is hanging around from a safe distance. Not a few Christians live their religious lives from a distance. They wear some religion, know a priest or a nun, step into a church for a  holiday or funeral, "say" a prayer when there's trouble. We might call Peter the patron saint of those who follow Jesus from a safe distance.

Verse 55: What a bunch, heh? They're digging around looking for some sound-bite they can slap on Jesus that will land him the death-penalty. Religion issuing death penalties - yikes! Pretty hard to believe this still happens: beheading, crucifying and stoning Christians, murdering a gay teenager, killing a young girl who picked her own boy friend - from a different religion.

Verses 56, 57: Many gave false witness. That means they lied about Jesus. Somebody likely made some money on it. But they weren't good at it and the contradictions were all over the place. Sounds like a modern day political scene: walking back stories, changing press releases, bold-faced denials, changing stories, conflicting stories, blaming others, concocting accounts, spin.

Verses 58, 59: "We heard him say..." This is religion without a real spiritual grounding. Religion needs poetry, image and metaphor to express inexpressible, divine things. When religion is reduced to insisting on the black and white, then that religion becomes a weapon to be used against people. Dangerous. I can have all my bible verses in good order - all my proof texts memorized and at-the-ready like arrows, and still not know God. How sad is that: to be so religious and still not know God.

Verses 60, 61: The high priest stands up at his authority chair as if to say, "Now everyone be quiet and I'll get to the bottom of this." But Jesus is silent. He has accepted his death but won't play their game. Am I ever silent? We can be so wordy, noisy, busy, agitated, fussy, that God's voice doesn't stand a chance. Jesus penetrates the talk-y world of these men. Their boldness will stand exposed on judgment day.

Verse 62: When Jesus is asked if he is the Messiah, he answers, "I am, and you will see..." He seems to be putting a judgment on his accusers, as if to say, "God will judge you for putting an innocent person to death." Fourteen year old Emmett Till from Chicago was hanged while visiting his relatives in Mississippi on August 28, 1955 for allegedly whistling at a white woman. Key word: allegedly. Let's not think Jesus is concerned only with his own phony trial.

Verse 63: High drama! The words Jesus speaks, "I am" - these are divine words, and so the high priest tears his clothes when he hears the blasphemy. Blasphemy is a God insult. Some people love to use these kinds of handy weapon-words against others: abomination, heresy, heretic, heterodox. They are power words that allow some folks to feel good about themselves. Some sexual things are called abominations, and the religious doctrines of others. But I've never heard anyone call bombing a school full of God's children an abomination, or turning our God-given paradise world into a garbage dump an abomination. Human beings often get it really wrong.

Verse 64: Their judgment was unanimous. They thought they were right because they all agreed. Power in numbers!

Psalm 150 ~ Let everything that breathes, praise the Lord!

Way back in Psalm 1 we were told: "Happy indeed is the man (the person)...whose delight is the law of the Lord and who ponders God's law day and night."  But "God's law" isn't movie-Moses coming down the smokey mountain holding stone slabs inscribed with Roman numerals I to X. God's law is everything that reveals God's beauty, God's justice, God's presence, God's intentions and hopes. 

And following that first psalm, we have dozens and dozens more that petition, cry out, complain, teach, warn and encourage. But even through the worst of the many complaining psalms, they all contain some element of wondrous, even rapturous, praise. Here at the end,  Psalm 150 sums it all up. 

Verse 1: Alleluia! One author says alleluia is the only word we know from the angels' lexicon. It sounds like a baby's babble-word. For all our talking and writing, we actually say very little - especially when we are talking about God, who supercedes everything we think or say. Before God, we are reduced to babbling. 

Verse 2: God's surpassing greatness. In the Russian film, The Island, in a fictitious port in northern Russia during the second war, Anatoly, with his captain, Tikhon, are manning a coal barge when a Nazi trawler comes into their quiet night-time port. The two hide themselves in piles of coal, but when Anatoly's cough gives him away, the Nazis uncover him and demand he reveal the whereabouts of the captain. 

Threatened with his life, Anatoly digs in the coal revealing Tikhon. The Nazi commander hands Anatoly a gun, telling him to kill Tikhon or both of them will die. Anatoly shoots his captain who falls overboard into the water. The Nazi sailors leave and blow up the barge. The next morning at low tide, Anatoly is found unconscious on the beach where monks discover him and bring him to their monastery.

The story shifts in time and we meet Anatoly again,  now a middle-aged monk, living as a holy fool in the monastery boiler room. He spends the day shoveling coal from the ruined barge and transporting it in a wheelbarrow. 

He is overwhelmed with a tearful repentance for having shot Tikhon years ago. We see him repeatedly row out to a deserted island away from the monastery, throwing himself down on the ground, begging God's forgiveness. But people also come to see him, asking for life-advice or even miracles. No one goes away happy though, even after having been the recipient of wondrous healing. They have in mind how it should be with God - what problem-resolution Anatoly should offer them. Or they simply can't return gratitude for God's mercy.

That's how it goes: people not really wanting what God wants, but what they want, and expecting God to "make it happen" for them.  "Praise him for his powerful deeds, praise his surpassing greatness." 

God's surpassing greatness! Maybe we don't understand it, or we're really not interested: my cure, my protection, my security, my success, my idea of a solution. A lot of people don't really want God - they only want what God can do for them. There's a difference.

Verses 3-5: And how are we to praise the God of surpassing greatness? With lute, harp, timbrel, dance, strings, pipes, reverberating and crashing cymbals! Christian worship is often just a little twitter; a mumble. Why is that? The psalmist envisions a worship that can reach heaven's heights.

Verse 6: And notice that it's not just human beings that are called to praise God, but everything that lives and breathes! We're to find our solidarity before God with all the animals, the insects, the trees and plants, the breathing waters! The invitation is to praise, not plunder! It is being reported that if the whole world consumed materials the way Americans and Europeans do, four planets would be needed to provide the natural resources. Praise, not plunder!

Intercessions ~ Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Living in our own time of environmental threats,/ wars,/ human cruelty and corruption/ we ask for the gifts of reassurance and even quiet optimism born of faith./ We pray to the Lord.

Saturday is the Feast of Saint Kateri Tekakwitha,/ America's first Native born saint./ We pray for native populations around the world who are exploited,/ abused and manipulated./ We ask blessings for those who pilgrim to Kateri's shrines in Fonda, New York and Canada./ We pray to the Lord.

This week of national pride may we learn repeatedly in every age the meaning of our Statue of Liberty/ who is called the Mother of Exiles,/ and whose hand glows world-wide welcome./ We pray to the Lord.

July is the Month of the Precious Blood of Jesus./ Mindful of Christ's blood-gift at Calvary,/ we pray for those whose blood is weak or diseased./ For the healing of those who bleed in accidents,/ wars,/ gun mayhem and torture./ We pray to the Lord.

We pray for our families,/ friends,/ colleagues and neighbors,/ calling to mind the ones who are lonely,/ frightened,/ insecure,/ tired or overwhelmed./ We pray to the Lord.

For relatives and dear ones who have died./ For those who die un-known;/ un-mourned./ And may we live our own lives truthfully and beautifully/ as Christ has lived his,/ that we might look upon his face forever/ in light and joy./ We pray to the Lord.

Mary-Mosque

A mosque is a Muslim place of worship. This photograph was taken in Abu Dhabi of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. In 2017 it was re-named: The Mariam Umm Eisa Mosque which translates, Mary, Mother of Jesus.

The mosque was renamed to form an interfaith link in the United Arab Emirate where people from over 200 nationalities live including Christians from Europe and the Philippines. How very thoughtful, generous and kind. But some Christians got sniffy right away and said with an air of righteous indignation, "Notice, they didn't name the mosque, Mary, Mother of God." That's right, Islam doesn't recognize the divinity of Jesus.

But why can't we just be happy and share the joy? Mary is profoundly loved by Islam. The whole of the 19th chapter of the Quran is dedicated to her memory. She is mentioned many more times in the Quran than in the entire New Testament.  Naming the mosque after Mary, Mother of Jesus echoes the Gospels. So what's to argue about?

On the third day there was a marriage at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there; Jesus also was invited to the marriage, with his disciples. When the wine failed, the mother of Jesus said, to him, "They have no wine."  John 2: 1-3

Within Islam there is a mystical thread called Sufism which is a system of belief and practice in which Muslims seek to find the truth of Divine Love and knowledge through a direct experience of God. And what is that, but to learn compassion which is to feel deeply with other people. Americans are turning against one another lately, especially against those who are considered other. And Muslims are often considered to be other. 

Maybe Mary can help us find our way back to one another. Not blue and white, blond Mary, but the brown-skinned and dark-eyed Mary of Nazareth. Mary, the minority woman from Nazareth. Nazareth - forgotten, laughed at and backwater.  Mary, whose name means strong or obstinate. Pregnant, revolution (turn-around) Mary who sang out to her pregnant elder relative: 

"...for the Almighty has done great things for me. Holy is his name, and his faithful love extends age after age toward those who fear him. He has used the power of his arm, he has routed the arrogant of heart. He has pulled down princes from their thrones and raised high the lowly. He has filled the starving with good things, sent the rich away empty..." Luke 1:49-53

The name Mary means rebellion. Today, learning compassion, acceptance and love is rebellious. I'd suggest we're not as good at this as we might think we are.

Borderland Rosary

Tom Kiefer is an American photographer who held a second job as a janitor (2003-2014) at a Customs and Border Patrol facility in Southern Arizona. In 2007 he received permission to salvage the pre-packaged food people brought into the country at the border. While sorting through the garbage he found a discarded Bible and knew he had to start paying more attention. His photographic essay titled El Sueno: An American Project grew out of that. This photograph of discarded rosaries is found among those photographs of shirts, wallets, toys, water bottles, shoelaces, gloves... Tom Keifer writes:

These are the personal effects and belongings of people apprehended in the desert by U.S. Border Patrol Agents that were subsequently seized, surrendered, or forfeited as they were processed at a US. Customs and Border Patrol facility in Southern Arizona. During the course of intake, this property was considered non-essential and discarded. These personal effects and belongings represented their choice of what was important for them to bring as they crossed the border to either start or continue their life in the U.S. 

When Pope John Paul II gave us the Luminous Mysteries he opened a spirit-door inviting us to go beyond the three traditional sets of mysteries and to perhaps find other points of meditation to help us pray. The photograph of the discarded rosaries is left large so we can see more clearly. We might pick one out to pray. I've offered a thought to accompany each Hail Mary. The rest I'll leave to you.

We might hold over our prayer (umbrella like) the Gospel scene of the Flight into Egypt (Mary and Joseph fleeing to Egypt when Joseph is told in a dream that Herod wants the Holy Child dead). Some folks say you can't use scripture this way - calling the Holy Family refugees, migrants or asylum seekers. Yes you can. I'd even suggest if I don't, then my religion risks being isolated from today's lived realities and being fossilized or reduced to sentiment or something else. This is why young people so often reject organized religion, saying, It's just a bunch of old stories. 

1. May the owner of this rosary I have chosen be safe. Hail Mary...
2. May the owner of this rosary I have chosen once again be glad. Hail Mary...
3. May the children of tears be comforted. Hail Mary...
4. May the world of anxieties be consoled. Hail Mary...
5. May I partner with God who dreams of a world made whole. Hail Mary...
6. May I avoid spiritual stagnation and be an en-spirited Christian. Hail Mary...
7. May the world shun lies and greed. Hail Mary...
8. May the cities of ruin and dust be raised up and made beautiful again. Hail Mary...
9. May those who are addicted find inner freedom. Hail Mary...
10. May the leaders of the world be people of good heart. Hail Mary...


1. May murderers and en-slavers be converted to the beauty of life. Hail Mary...
2. May the world become a human family. Hail Mary...
3. May there be more joy, laughter and peace in this world. Hail Mary...
4. May there be more justice, goodness and compassion in this world. Hail Mary...
5. May God's dream come true of swords being beaten into plow shares. Hail Mary...
6. May no one feel they don't belong. Hail Mary...
7. May love be the root of our laws. Hail Mary...
8. May the crooked way of injustice become straight. Hail Mary...
9. May the rough way millions walk be made smooth. Hail Mary...
10. May the mountains of arrogant power be brought low. Hail Mary...


1. May those who live in darkness experience God, who said, "Let there be light." Hail Mary...
2. May no child end a day hungry. Hail Mary...
3. May all of God's creation be reverenced and protected. Hail Mary...
4. May the world be re-configured for the love of people, not money and power. Hail Mary...
5. May the world's leaders model humility, integrity and dignity for their people. Hail Mary...
6. May the world's children feel the right to be hopeful. Hail Mary...
7. May there be education for every boy and girl. Hail Mary...
8. May we stop making fun of other religions. Hail Mary...
9. May I experience the reality of God's goodness, active presence and forgiveness. Hail Mary...
10. May we experience God's victory over darkness, death and sin. Hail Mary...



1. May God's light overcome the darkness of hateful hearts. Hail Mary...
2. May every child be welcomed and protected. Hail Mary...
3. May Christ's Resurrection triumph over nationalism's disdain for others. Hail Mary...
4. May we face the future with courage despite the present discouraging chaos. Hail Mary...
5. May we learn to make room for others. Hail Mary...
6. May we learn the Holy Trinity's lesson of community and diversity. Hail Mary...
7. May I learn Eden's lesson: I was made for relationship with God and others. Hail Mary...
8. May the Church be Christ's community of the beloved. Hail Mary...
9. May love be the sign of the Holy Spirit's presence in our parishes. Hail Mary...
10. May the name "Christian" mean the renewing good news of God's love. Hail Mary...


1. May I not condemn the world but love it into transformation. Hail Mary...
2. May my religious life be less self-interested and more other-referred. Hail Mary...
3. May I personally know the new birth and life-evolving way of Jesus. Hail Mary...
4. May I know each day some small way by which I can change the world. Hail Mary...
5. May the Holy Spirit shake me out of discouragement. Hail Mary...
6. May the Holy Spirit heal my inner wound. Hail Mary...
7. May I know again the joy of when I first met Jesus. Hail Mary...
8. May my country of such possibility creatively address poverty, war and hostility. Hail Mary.
9. May my genealogy be healed of abuse, addiction, imbalance and lovelessness. Hail Mary...
10. May we understand Jesus' Family Values to mean an inclusive love for all. Hail Mary...