Pauca Verba is Latin for A Few Words.

Thursday, January 30, 2020

Intercessions ~ Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time




Grant that our prayer would deepen and grow this week:/ may we desire for God to take full possession of ourselves./ We pray to the Lord.

For our families,/ friends and neighbors./ May they be accepting of what comes to them in life./ May they discover God's nearness in their struggles/ and not lose sight of the blessings which remain./ We pray to the Lord.

We ask for the demilitarization of our world/ and the cessation of wars and deadly conflicts,/ but flowing from the turning of our own hearts to the things of peace-making,/ inclusion and sharing./ We pray to the Lord.

We pray for Pope Francis/ as he continually asks for a just world that lifts up the poor,/ welcomes the stranger,/ and protects the littlest and the weakest./ That at our standing before God,/ no hate would be found in us./ We pray to the Lord.

For the President of the United States,/ and for those in leadership around the world:/ may they come before God in child-like confidence,/ eager to learn God's ways of justice,/ authenticity,/ charity and  service./ We pray to the Lord.

At Mass today,/ in the liturgical green time,/ in the eating and drinking of Christ's Body and Blood,/ may we be lifted out of our own smallness/ and into the inconceivably deep, self-gift of Jesus./ We pray to the Lord.




Tuesday, January 28, 2020

A Christic Prayer in a World of Sex Abuse


The Flagellation of Christ ~Belmiro de Almeida ~ 1887


This is a sad picture, the soldiers putting their backs into abusing Jesus. Their hearts and heads are encased in metal. Jesus' clothes have been taken away and thrown on the floor. One soldier has put down his shield to free up his hands. He is standing on Jesus' mantle. Swords, shields, spears and branches are littered around—as if inviting the soldiers to take your pick.  The crowd is noisy and stupid; the gabble-mouthed man nearest Jesus raises an angry fist. We might wonder if he could even articulate why he's so disturbed. Spears pierce the air. The nakedness of the Roman god in the shadows at left stands in contrast to the nakedness of Jesus who is clothed in light.

Every day brings fresh news of sex abuse or its cover-up. This story is not going away, is it? Are we even paying attention anymore? Sex abuse happens in places like Abu Ghraib but also in a confessional, sacristy, automobile, locker room, family basement, classroom or camping trip.

Arrested,
bound,
dragged off,
imprisoned Jesus,
accompany us.

Stripped naked,
shivering,
shamed, 
spit upon Jesus,
support us.

Blindfolded,
lonely,
powerless,
laughed at Jesus,
steady us.

Slapped,
disparaged,
degraded,
invaded Jesus,
companion us.

But that's not even the worst of it,
is it, Jesus?...
the pile on
prison night,
bored,
booze fueled,
soldier violence—
the don't speak it,
don't even think it,
lest pious ears be offended,
violence.

From distraction,
sleeplessness,
anxiety,
dread and
self doubt,
heal me, Jesus.

From shame,
silence,
fatigue,
loss of faith and
burning tears,
rescue me, Jesus.

From bitterness,
cynicism,
insecurity,
distrust and
self-deprecation,
liberate me, Jesus.

Father Stephen Morris



Sunday, January 26, 2020

Duccio's Jesus and the Samaritan Woman






Here is Duccio's painting and St. John's account of Jesus in conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well. Some one might think, "Oh, forty-two verses,  I know that story already; I don't need to read it again." Hmm. Strange how a Christian will tune in to a favorite radio, talk-show guy, endlessly blathering his themes, but opt out of a fresh reading of Christ's words in the Gospel. Anyway, might I suggest a meditative reading which allows for some new insight or observation.

1 When Jesus heard that the Pharisees had found out that he was making and baptizing more disciples than John-2 though in fact it was his disciples who baptized, not Jesus himself-3 he left Judaea and went back to Galilee. 4 He had to pass through Samaria. 5 On the way he came to the Samaritan town called Sychar near the land that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob's well was there and Jesus, tired by the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour. 7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, 'Give me something to drink.' 8 His disciples had gone into the town to buy food. 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, 'You are a Jew. How is it that you ask me, a Samaritan, for something to drink?' -- Jews, of course, do not associate with Samaritans. 10 Jesus replied to her: If you only knew what God is offering and who it is that is saying to you, 'Give me something to drink,' you would have been the one to ask, and he would have given you living water. 11 'You have no bucket, sir,' she answered, 'and the well is deep: how do you get this living water? 12 Are you a greater man than our father Jacob, who gave us this well and drank from it himself with his sons and his cattle?' 13 Jesus replied: Whoever drinks this water will be thirsty again; 14 but no one who drinks the water that I shall give will ever be thirsty again: the water that I shall give will become a spring of water within, welling up for eternal life. 15 'Sir,' said the woman, 'give me some of that water, so that I may never be thirsty or come here again to draw water.' 16 'Go and call your husband,' said Jesus to her, 'and come back here.' 17 The woman answered, 'I have no husband.' Jesus said to her, 'You are right to say, "I have no husband"; 18 for although you have had five, the one you now have is not your husband. You spoke the truth there.' 19 'I see you are a prophet, sir,' said the woman. 20 'Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, though you say that Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.' 21 Jesus said: Believe me, woman, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know; for salvation comes from the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming -- indeed is already here -- when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth: that is the kind of worshiper the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship must worship in spirit and truth. 25 The woman said to him, 'I know that Messiah -- that is, Christ -- is coming; and when he comes he will explain everything.' 26 Jesus said, 'That is who I am, I who speak to you.' 27 At this point his disciples returned and were surprised to find him speaking to a woman, though none of them asked, 'What do you want from her?' or, 'What are you talking to her about?' 28 The woman put down her water jar and hurried back to the town to tell the people, 29 'Come and see a man who has told me everything I have done; could this be the Christ?' 30 This brought people out of the town and they made their way towards him. 31 Meanwhile, the disciples were urging him, 'Rabbi, do have something to eat'; 32 but he said, 'I have food to eat that you do not know about.' 33 So the disciples said to one another, 'Has someone brought him food?' 34 But Jesus said: My food is to do the will of the one who sent me, and to complete his work. 35 Do you not have a saying: Four months and then the harvest? Well, I tell you, look around you, look at the fields; already they are white, ready for harvest! 36 Already the reaper is being paid his wages, already he is bringing in the grain for eternal life, so that sower and reaper can rejoice together. 37 For here the proverb holds true: one sows, another reaps; 38 I sent you to reap a harvest you have not laboured for. Others have laboured for it; and you have come into the rewards of their labour. 39 Many Samaritans of that town believed in him on the strength of the woman's words of testimony, 'He told me everything I have done.' 40 So, when the Samaritans came up to him, they begged him to stay with them. He stayed for two days, and 41 many more came to believe on the strength of the words he spoke to them; 42 and they said to the woman, 'Now we believe no longer because of what you told us; we have heard him ourselves and we know that he is indeed the Saviour of the world.' John 4:1-42

Verses 4:1,2: Perhaps Jesus senses there could be trouble with the investigator Pharisees, so he heads back to Galilee. 

Verses 3-6: Along the way, Jesus has to pass through a Samaritan area. Jacob, his land and well are mentioned. Jacob was Abraham's grandson and so we are taken all the way back to the very beginning of that lineage from which the Messiah will come. The Messiah: the great and glorious king, greater than Solomon and David, who will usher in a kingdom of security, prosperity and peace.

Duccio has Jesus seated on the edge of a great green marble well. He's sitting because he's tired, but I would suggest also because he is going to teach. In the ancient world, a teacher sat.

Verses 6,7: It's noon when the Samaritan woman appears. It is the little window of time when she can go to the well without being hassled, the Jewish women having left after their morning time, the men in the afternoon. Duccio shows us the woman arriving. She is poor, carrying the clay water jar on her head. She holds a metal pot in her left hand with a rope attached, so she can lower the pot into the well.

The apostles have gone off for some lunch and so Jesus is alone when the woman arrives. He should not talk with her because she is the wrong race and gender. Jesus poses a simple request to get the conversation going. That question will take her (and eventually her village) to new spiritual awareness. When did I last have some new personal spiritual awareness? 

Verses 8-10: Jews considered Samaritans to be heretics: worshipping on the wrong mountain, following the wrong scripture arrangement, having allowed themselves to be infiltrated by pagan god-worship (maybe symbolically alluded to later with the five husbands). But isn't it interesting that the Gospels propose Samaritans as the great heroes of Jesus' stories. I mean, the poor Jew who was beaten up and left naked on the roadside, wasn't helped by a fellow Jew, but by a Samaritan! There's a teaching in there for us too.

Living water! Wells and water play a major role in the ancient stories. Springs welling up symbolize the richness of life God gives through the Law and God's Wisdom. But now, Jesus takes this further—the living water he offers is his Word and his enduring Spirit which invites us to become truly alive in God.

Verse 11: She doesn't get it (let's be honest, we usually don't). She is still on the level of buckets and geologic wells—like people who are religious practitioners but have no interior understanding that challenges them in any meaningful way.

Verses 12-14: She's a little snappy, kind of like, "Who do you think you are? Are you greater than Jacob, whose well this was?" The answer is, Yes.

Jesus leads her to spiritual insight, and she allows herself to be taught. "I have water that can well up in you that will enable you to live fully."  He says eternally. But we usually think eternal life means just a happy heaven, a forever-get-together with our relatives. Eternal life starts now. This is where Christianity can fail miserably—leaving us untransformed, thinking and acting like everyone else, especially as it pertains to how we view and treat other people. Our lack of transformation is perhaps most evident there. 

Verses 15-20: The woman is coming to understand in stages. That's how it is, isn't it? She's interested, but is still thinking of the satisfaction of physical thirst. Jesus doesn't fuss about that, but tells her to get her husband. This is the part where the five husbands may be symbolic of the Samaritans dabbling in pagan worship. Don't judge her harshly—the whole nation dabbles in false worship: our vulgarity and greed, shopping lust, gun worship, thinking we can solve every problem by throwing money at it, our selfishness that leaves children poor and environment wasted, the militarization which will bankrupt us, our over eating, our equating real life with having fun, our obsession with looking young, the bubble worlds we create which are zones of comfort protecting our petty and immature opinions about everything, the entertainment and political personalities around which we create adoring cults. The panoply of stupid gods is endless.

Verses 21-24: Then there's this bit of conversation about mountains and where we should worship. Ugh! Do we get it? So many Catholic and Orthodox agenda ridden books and websites that exist essentially to tell people, "The way you're going about it is all wrong." Jesus tips his hat to the Jews who worship in the Jerusalem temple, but then, the time is already here when people will worship in spirit and truth. But that's because the Jews have the lineage from which he would come. Jesus is the one with spirit and truth. But what's that? A new thousand-paged catechism? No, spirit and truth is his law of love. Not his law of nice, but his law of love. Love is a heart loved by God and set on fire for people, who, like the Samaritan woman are excluded, told to mind their place, not to bother trying to get in, who are "other" or not worth the trouble. The planet is filled with these kinds of people and many Christians respond to them with fear, not love.

Verses 25,26: The woman brings up Messiah, and Jesus, now speaking plainly says, "That is who I am, I who speak to you."  No chariot. No escorts. No imperial anything. In seminary, we often sang a hymn at Mass: "The King of love, my shepherd is..."

Verses 27-38: The apostles return from their food shopping and are surprised to find Jesus talking alone with this woman. Duccio shows us the first four coming through the gate, looking perhaps confused. John holds a couple of little rolls in his cloak, the second has a weightier meal hidden in his. Another conversation takes place, this time a mysterious conversation about food, a full harvest and farm laborers. They don't get it anymore than the woman understood Jesus' words about a spring of water welling up to eternal life. Remember Brother Luke, who when asked to give a speech to the guests on the occasion of his monastic jubilee, stood up and simply said, "I think I see the starting gate." He'd been at it - living as a monk for fifty or sixty years and in humility announced he wasn't even a beginner. We're all Christ-disciple wanna-bees.

Verses 39-42: The Samaritan woman then ran off to share with the village the news of her having met Jesus. She's an evangelizer. How hospitable of these Samaritans, inviting Jesus (a Jew) to stay with them. And Jesus accepted the invite, undoubtedly talking with them about these things further and personally, such that they came to believe for themselves. One priest theologian fearfully wonders aloud, "Do Christians in our country even really believe in Jesus anymore?" Many Christians can't tell the simplest stories about him, let alone grasp what Saint Paul's words can mean, "For me, to live is Christ," or "May you have the mind of Christ."

Thursday, January 23, 2020

Intercessions ~ Third Sunday in Ordinary Time


White Birch Trees in Snow


May we be protected from our worst selves:/ our willful ignorance,/ neediness,/ and blind loyalty./ In these weeks of liturgical green/ before Lent,/ may we grow in the ideas God has in mind for us./ We pray to the Lord.

Monday is the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the seventeen million Holocaust Victims./ Grant us the intelligence and clean-ness of heart to see each human person as a child of God./ We pray to the Lord.

Safety and political concerns thwart the Pope's desire to visit South Sudan,/ Iraq,/ Argentina,/ Cyprus,/ Lebanon,/ East Timor,/ Indonesia,/  Russia and China./ We pray for the Pope's message of peace,/ human dignity and justice to be advanced/ as God wills./ We pray to the Lord.

We are living in a time of great emergency:/ animal and plant extinction,/ global heating and pollution./ Grant that we would be wise,/ creative and enduring in taking care of our planet./ We pray to the Lord.

For the President of the United States and for all who are in positions of leadership and authority./ We pray for those who abuse power,/ lie or manipulate to hold onto power./ May we learn the servant way of Christ and his saints./ We pray to the Lord.

We ask for our families and friends to take on the heart and mind of Christ./ May they be healed of what ails them,/ strengthened in all that is before them,/ comforted in their struggles and sorrows./ We pray to the Lord.


Tuesday, January 21, 2020

Feeling Faint of Heart in the Good Friday World?




This painting, The Three Mary's At The Tomb, was created by Hubert van Eyck in 1425. It depicts the Gospel account of Mark 16:1,2. 
When the Sabbath was over, Mary of Magdala, Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices with which to go and anoint him. And very early in the morning on the first day of the week they went to the tomb when the sun had risen. 

Like these three women-friends of Jesus, we're living in a Good Friday world. A lot of people are suffering it today, feeling faint of heart, tired, depressed, negative, even cynical. We know the Good Friday story themes:

loss, grief, false accusation, suffering, burdens, pain, betrayal, hatred, curses, violence, prison abuse, treachery, brutality, bribery, libel, scheming, threats, indifference, abandonment, torture, loneliness, false imprisonment, false religion, fears, nakedness, shame, insults, blaming, cold calculating, dark politics, dark deal making, death, secret plotting, vulgarity, the money grab, pay offs, pressure...

Depressing. So what are we to do?  Go back to the Gospel. The disciples literally wrapped things up quickly after Jesus was taken down from the cross. Time was short, the Sabbath was to begin soon—even the body of dead criminal had to be out of sight before sunset. Mark leads us to wonder if there was even time to wash the body of Jesus before placing it in the tomb.

These women disciples, having seen and heard it all, then went home, likely exhausted and overwhelmed. But instead of collapsing into a bitter heap, they did the things of love, preparing the spices and whatever else they were going to need to complete the burial of Jesus at Sabbath's end early Sunday morning. And even with the last minute snag, "Who will roll away the stone for us?" they endured and continued to love. Any ideas?

Here's a zoomed in piece of the van Eyck painting, showing one of the Mary's with a particularly beautiful spice jar. Not just an ordinary clay jar, but a specially chosen, wondrously created, decorated jar of silver and lapis. The jar itself, seeming to jump out of the darkness, suggests the continuing in love. 



Sunday, January 19, 2020

Duccio's Cana Wedding



1 There was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2 Jesus and his disciples had likewise been invited to the celebration. 3 At a certain point the wine ran out, and Jesus' mother told him, "They have no more wine." 4 Jesus replied, "Woman, how does this concern of yours involve me? My hour has not yet come." 5 His mother instructed those waiting on table, "Do whatever he tells you." 6 As prescribed for Jewish ceremonial washings, there were at hand six stone  water jars, each hold holding fifteen to twenty-five gallons. 7 "Fill those jars with water," Jesus ordered, at which they filled them to the brim. 8 "Now, " he said, "draw some out and take it to the waiter in charge." They did as he instructed them. 9 The waiter in charge tasted the water made wine, without knowing where it had come from; only the waiters knew, since they had drawn the water. Then the waiter in charge called the groom over 10 and remarked to him: "People usually serve the choice wine first; then when the guests have been drinking awhile, a lesser vintage. What you have done is keep the choice wine until now." 11 Jesus performed this first of his signs at Cana in Galilee. Thus did he reveal his glory, and his disciples believed in him. 12 After this he went down to Capernaum, along with his mother and brothers (and his disciples) but they stayed there only a few days. John 2:1-12

Here is Duccio de Buoninsegna's Wedding Feast at Cana, one of the dozens of paintings from the Life of Jesus and Mary, which comprised his early 14th century Maesta Altarpiece.  Unfortunately, the Maesta was sawed up 700 years after its creation and the pieces passed around, landing in a number of museums or lost. Human beings do awful things. Anyway, how blessed we are to have the image of Jesus' first sign, as recorded in St. John's Gospel. 

Here are some thoughts, combining John's Gospel verses with Duccio's wonderful image.

Verse 1: The artist takes us inside for the wedding feast. He's not simply showing us that he's skilled at painting architectural features, but he wants us to go inside ourselves. Spiritual architecture wants us to be able to go beyond just knowing data or facts about the story, but to progress inwardly. Notice between Jesus and Mary there is an archway that takes us beyond to another room, and then a second archway that invites us to enter still further into another room. Soul work—going deeply into one's psychological soul-place is terrifying to many people. 

Verse 2:  O my goodness, look, it's only in this second verse that we're told that Jesus and his disciples were invited. But it's in the first verse (at the story's start)  that we're told, "the mother of Jesus was there." What does this mean? Lots of Catholics say exalted things about Mary, but they pay no heed to the most important gospel awareness of her: She's the first disciple. She's an image of us. So John introduces us to Mary (notice she's not called by name but referred to as mother and woman) because this story is about US! Notice too, Mary is at the very start of the story as she will be present at the end. Disciples are with Jesus from beginning to end.

Verses 3,4: Right away, like much of life there's a snag or a problem. A Jewish wedding lasted days. Running out of wine would have brought great embarrassment to a family. Mary brings the problem to Jesus' awareness. Some folks will say, "Oh, Mary brings our problems to Jesus." It's not about that. What follows immediately is what matters.

Jesus calls his mother "woman".  Mary's the new Eve—Mother of the living. Who's that? US. We're the people who, pray God, are more alive because we've been baptized into Christ. Sad to say, but a lot of Christians are living a bourgeois religion—we're like everyone else. And it's not religious do-ings that are our distinguishing feature, but love. 

Again, Jesus calls Mary, woman. We might think that sounds rude, but it's really only a formal Aramaic form of address. Then Jesus says to his mother's request: "What does your concern have to do with me?" Jesus knows that if he performs this sign (John doesn't use the word miracle) that enemies will start to form around him and the time for that contest is not here yet. That's inside information between himself and the Father.

Verse 5: There's some tension here, as there was tension when Jesus was lost and found in the Temple as a boy. Remember that somewhat contentious conversation between himself and his mother. Still, even while Jesus lets her know he lives by God's timetable and not that of family relationships, she seems to know he'll respond. She's a disciple who trusts Jesus utterly. 

Verses 6,7: Six stone jars at roughly 25 gallons each—that's a lot of water. "Fill those jars with water...they filled them to the brim." We are getting ready to witness a sign of God's great and overflowing abundance. God's gifts aren't puny, parsing out little bits of grace, blessing, mercy and forgiveness. 

Verses 8,9: The water is changed to wine in transit. Wine has great spiritual significance. Wine brings joy. It's a sign of happiness. For knowing Christ, we're supposed to be a joyful, happy people. It's the sign of our becoming spiritually mature, as grapes have to move through the maturation process - from simply grape juice, to fermentation, to mature wine. Wine symbolizes the perfected human life, which doesn't mean, no mistakes, but a whole life. I want to be a whole human being - kind of fermented in God. Some of that fermentation is struggling with sin, but by no means all of it. Evolving into a whole human person takes time, real self-awareness, honesty and a willingness to change. It's work to become a whole or full human person. 

Notice that Duccio hasn't placed the bride and groom in the scene. That's because it's not about them but about us. Wine at this wedding symbolizes that now, in Christ, we are God's bride—loved abundantly. This is why the real focal point of the Duccio painting is the conversation between Jesus and Mary, the disciple. The guests at the table at looking at that dynamic. BTW: boring table; no women apart from Mary.

Verse 10: This isn't just wine, but (choice) a super abundant and fabulous wine. 

Verses 11,12: This is the first of seven (number of completion, fullness, wholeness) signs John shares with us. Signs of what? Signs of Jesus' glory—that in Jesus Christ we have an encounter with God's own power and beauty. The disciples see it and start to believe. To believe isn't to nod one's head in agreement, but to live in trust and confident joy.  Notice Jesus doesn't hang around to have a confab about the wine and all the questions guests might pose, "Oh wow, Jesus, how'd you do that?" He leaves and moves on to Capernaum where he stays only a few days. I knew a young Franciscan Friar who (in habit) walked 111 miles from Assisi to Florence and back. Along the way he greeted everyone he met, sang a song for them, gave them a holy card or medal, prayed with them, told them a funny story, cheered them. There's something about the Christian disciple that's (like Jesus) on the road.

Thursday, January 16, 2020

Intercessions ~ Second Sunday in Ordinary Time


Yosemite Chapel in Snow ~ Bill Gallagher

Today begins the Eight Days of Prayer for Church Unity./ Jesus calls us to be one./ May the Christians of varying belief and practice/ learn unity through service and kindness./ We pray to the Lord.

Wednesday is the Day of Prayer for the Protection of Unborn Children./ We pray for a world where every child is welcomed and loved./ We pray to the Lord.

2020 has gotten off to a bad start:/ a commercial airplane has been shot out of the sky over Iran,/ a swarm of earthquakes in Puerto Rico has left thousands homeless,/ fires continue to ravage Australia./ We ask for heaven's comfort and strength./ We pray to the Lord.

At the start of the liturgical time called 'ordinary'/ may we discover the extraordinary love of God in our every day lives,/ in our joys and successes,/ but also in our struggles and challenges./ We pray to the Lord.

In an election year,/ we pray for the President of the United States/ and all who run for public office./ May the nation be protected from ugly division and violence./ We pray to the Lord.

For the safety of winter travelers,/ for those who can't pay their bills,/ who live without shelter,/ food or adequate clothing./ We ask blessings for those who help wherever there is human need./ For the healing of our families./ We pray to the Lord.


Tuesday, January 14, 2020

St. Thomas More's Godly Meditation





This beautiful window stained glass window is found in the Church of St. Dunstan in Canterbury, England. It shows St. Thomas More with his wife, Alice, and his daughter, Margaret, and her husband, William Roper.  Thomas wrote the prayer below in 1534 while sitting in the Tower of London, awaiting his execution by order of King Henry VIII, for not signing on to the Oath of Supremacy, which declared the King was supreme head of the Church.

The prayer is a meditation on the Christian life—for all of us, not just those who are going to be martyred in the next twenty-four hours. I've changed a few of the 16th century words to make the prayer more understandable for us and laid out the sentences a little differently for an easier flow. I'd suggest reading the prayer slowly, so its poetic value can be sensed.

You might notice that the saint uses the word world or worldly five times in the first five lines, then a sixth time before the prayer is finished. What is the world and why does it have a negative connotation for Thomas? 

World? Well, Abraham Lincoln said, "...if you want to test a man's character, give him power." Yeah, listen to a politician at a rally, news conference or interview. The higher the office, the greater the power. "World" is the signature that looks powerful, the name calling, bullying, mugging for the camera, threats, vanity, spin, distraction, lies, obfuscation, baseness, menacing tone, vulgarity, unaccountability. 

"World" is on full display watching an evening of television. "World" is the pop-ups on the computer screen, the commercial breaks throughout a radio show—full of promises, telling you what you're missing, what  you absolutely have to have. "World" means power, owning, getting, taking, boasting, fame, honors, exploitation, grasping, pride of place, selfishness, self-centeredness. "World" leaves us feeling dull, confused, tired. "World" is about appearances, deals and conniving. "World" is all that is fleeting.

Two final thoughts: The reference to Joseph in the prayer's last few lines refers to the Book of Genesis story (chapters 37-50) of Joseph, much-loved by his father, Jacob, gifted with the splendid coat, sold cruelly into Egyptian slavery by his jealous brothers. And (12 lines up from the bottom) "vain confabulations" - that's silly, pointless, useless, empty conversations—stupid talk.



 Give me your grace, good Lord,
   to set the world at no esteem,
   to set my mind firmly upon you.
And not to hang upon the blast
  of men's mouths.
To be content to be solitary.
Not to long for worldly company,
  little and little utterly to cast off
  the world,
  and rid my mind of all the business thereof.
Not to long to hear of any worldly things,
  but that the hearing of worldly
  fantasies may be to me displeasing.
Gladly to be thinking of God,
  piteously to call for his help,
  to lean unto the comfort of God,
  busily to labor to love him.
To know my own baseness and wretchedness,
  to humble and meeken myself under
  the mighty hand of God,
  to bewail my sins passed;
  for the purging of them
  patiently to suffer adversity.
Gladly to bear my purgatory here,
  to be joyful of tribulations,
  to walk the narrow way
  that leads to life.
To bear the cross with Christ,
  to have the last thing—death—
  in remembrance, 
To have ever before my eye my death,
  that is ever at hand;
  to make death no stranger to me;
  to foresee and consider
  the everlasting fire of hell;
  to pray for pardon before the Judge come.
To have continually in mind the passion
  that Christ suffered for me;
  for his benefits unceasingly to give
  him thanks.
To buy the time again that I before
  have lost.
To abstain from vain confabulations,
  to eschew light foolish mirth
  and gladness;
  recreations not necessary, to cut off.
Of worldly substance, friends, liberty,
  life and all—to set the loss at nought
  for the winning of Christ.
To think my worst enemies my best friends,
  for the brothers of Joseph could never
  have done him so much good with their
  love and favor as they did him with
  their malice and hatred.

Sunday, January 12, 2020

A Prayer During the Australian Bushfires



A few years ago, someone told me rather proudly, "I don't follow the news." I asked, "Then, how can you pray?" God has gone to a great deal of trouble to enter this world of ours in all of its sadness and trouble. How can I excuse myself from knowing about that world? I hope you follow the news, so you can pray.

Australia has been in flames for months and will be for some months to come. One Australian businessman said, "After this, Australia may well be uninhabitable." More than two dozen people have died. Hundreds of homes have been destroyed as well as vineyards and orchards. Whole towns are gone; indigenous tribes threatened. More than a billion animals have died in the flames—birds, reptiles, mammals. There is no counting the frogs, snakes, insects and plants. Upwards of ten thousand camels have been deliberately shot and killed this week because they drink too much water needed to extinguish the flames.

Here is a link to a prayer printed this week in AMERICA magazine. Click on the prayer title if you'd care to join the prayer.





Thursday, January 9, 2020

Intercessions ~ Feast of the Lord's Baptism


Ethiopian Baptism of Jesus


We pray for those who in January/ celebrate birthdays,/ anniversaries or other days of remembrance./ For gifts of good health,/ safety and peace./ We pray to the Lord.

On the Feast of the Lord's Baptism,/ grant us joy in the fact of our own having met Jesus in the water./ We ask blessings for ourselves as we strive to live our lives in goodness,/ as Christ lived his./ We pray to the Lord.

War wastes resources,/ displaces people,/ kills children and despoils the planet./ For the creative will to find peaceful alternatives to war./ We pray to the Lord.

The Jordan River is named as one of the most endangered ecological sites./ May we learn friendship/ and reverence for the planet God has entrusted to our care./ We pray to the Lord.

May the President of the United States/ and those who govern and lead in every place,/ be healed of selfishness,/ dishonesty and greed./ May they have servant-hearts./ We pray to the Lord.

We pray,/ as Australia continues to battle deadly and destructive fires./ For those who generously and kindly help/ wherever there is accident,/ war or disaster./ We pray to the Lord.

For family members and friends struggling with sickness,/ weakness,/ addiction or other troubles./ We ask to be uplifted and restored where we feel disappointed,/ weary or overwhelmed./ We pray to the Lord.


Tuesday, January 7, 2020

Jesus' All-Night-Vigil and Choosing Apostles




12 Now it happened in those days that he went onto the mountain to pray; and he spent the whole night in prayer to God. 13 When day came he summoned his disciples and picked out twelve of them; he called them 'apostles': 14 Simon whom he called Peter, and his brother Andrew; James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, 15 Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon  called the Zealot, 16 Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot who became a traitor. Luke 6:12-16

Here's the Gospel text that inspired Domenico Ghirlandaio's painting, The Summoning of the Twelve Apostles. The fresco, painted in 1481-82, is found in the Sistine Chapel of the Vatican. Jesus stands at the head of the winding Sea of Galilee. And while large  crowds to left and right have followed Jesus, Peter (in yellow) and Andrew (in green) kneel before him to accept his commission and receive his blessing.  

Behind Jesus, seen along the shore, are two sub-scene reminders of Jesus calling these fishermen to discipleship. A disciple is one who presents himself (herself) to learn. An apostle is one who is sent out.

In less than a minute of viewing the painting, I asked, "But where are the women?" Jesus had women disciples. I found them way over on the left side where a man in blue is talking with them. I wonder if these are the women who will persevere in love after Jesus is buried hurriedly, who will return to the tomb on Easter morning and then act as apostles to the apostles, telling the men of Jesus' rising?

Ghirlandaio's reputation as a landscape artist is on full display here. He shows all of creation witnessing the calling of the Twelve—the morning sky is alive with light and dark, the birds zoom in, the trees are lush, the hills and mountains shape the river. The Gospel verses are short, only five, but there's a great deal to learn.

Verse 12: Jesus has moved away from the towns and villages of the previous accounts, now to the mountain, where he goes to pray through the night. Notice we're told "the" mountain, so Luke must have had a particular one in mind. Was it Mount Horeb? Mount Tabor? 

Whenever Jesus has an important decision to make, we're told he first goes off to be alone in solitary prayer. There are lots of people who approach their big decisions this way, if not going off to a mountain, at least setting aside some time and place that honors their interior life.

Verse 13: Jesus has prayed through the night, and now it is morning. A new day! Something is changing. During that long night, did Jesus envision you, me, as persons who would one day profess an apostolic faith—a faith that doesn't stay closed up in a building, but which goes out to others.

Verses 14-16: Luke's list of names doesn't coincide with the names recorded in Matthew and Mark, or even the second list he offers in the Acts of the Apostles. We needn't spend time distracting ourselves, worrying and debating this. Let others do that. Maybe different, early Christian communities had different representatives. But it is interesting that the name of the betrayer, Judas Iscariot, is included in each list: "Oh Jesus, suffer me not to be separated from thee, from the malignant enemy defend me..."



Sunday, January 5, 2020

Rabbit Awake




In the icon of Christ's Nativity each of the story figures is wide awake—the Holy Mother, Joseph, the angels and the shepherds, the midwives, the magi traveling by starlight, the cow and the donkey. And way down on the bottom (look deeply) along the edge of the icon, is sometimes found a small rabbit. Even she is wide awake to the great mystery of God drawing near to us, not to our condemnation and extinction, but in restorative love.

On Christmas Eve, on my way over to the chapel a bit before dusk, a small brown rabbit ran across the lawn at the edge of the snowy woods. Half an hour later, leaving the chapel, I saw the rabbit again some yards off and disappearing into the brush. Rabbits are nocturnal—they see well in the darkness. This caused me to look again at the Nativity icon I have here.


In the picture below, my photographer friend has zoomed in on the rabbit found in my icon. Rabbits sleep with their eyes open. This little rabbit has a knowing look in her eye. The painter has not added the rabbit for the sake of Christmas whimsy, but more likely as a visual echo of Christ's persistent invitation to wake up in the encroaching darkness. Can you name it?




Prayer Before the Wide-awake Rabbit of the Nativity Icon.

May I stay awake to the loss of soul—
our devolving to the level of beasts.

May I be conscious,
and of evolved conscience...
alive to my own Christ-person,
my unique self 
lived authentically,
as Christ lived his.

In the midst of the destruction,
may I remain wide-eyed
to what remains lovely,
elegant and good...
watchful,
but with a guard
on my lips and eyes.

May I remain observant of others,
to aid and comfort,
to wipe away tears,
heedful of the inner voice,
pointing me in some new direction,
the need to be taught.

Alert to grace,
may I be drawn to inner kindness and
growth in goodness.

Darkness is descending—
the sleeping of hearts,
the dulling of minds. 
May I know my self.

May I stay attentive to indifference,
willful ignorance,
our free fall into insanity,
vigilant, 
lest the faith I profess
become exclusive,
self-congratulatory,
irrelevant.

Father Stephen P. Morris

Thursday, January 2, 2020

Intercessions ~ Feast of the Lord's Epiphany




In the Christmas time we see Christ as a helpless child,/ may we acknowledge the children of helplessness/ and find our way to do something to comfort and relieve them,/ the children of war,/ of poverty,/ disaster,/ abandonment,/ trafficking./ We pray to the Lord.

As we observe the magi arriving to offer gifts,/ may we recognize the gifts we each have to offer for the love of Christ,/ love of neighbor/ and for the healing of the world God has entrusted to our care./ We pray to the Lord.

Grant that our families would be healed where there is addiction,/ anger,/ spiritual poverty or emotional breakdown./ We pray to the Lord.

May the Christmas message of Pope Francis,/ a message of justice/ and the lifting up of the most desperate,/ be heard by those who lead around the world./ We pray to the Lord.

We ask for the conversion of the nations to the things of God's grace and goodness./ For our own nation in its confusion and bitterness./ May we learn anew how to be friends to each other./ We pray to the Lord.

At the start of a new year/ and on the feast of the Epiphany-star,/ we pray for the world where it is lost in darkness,/ where there is murder,/ terrorism,/ war,/ fear and hopelessness./ May we be humble bearers of light./ We pray to the Lord.