Intercessions ~Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

We pray for the thirteen Felician Sisters who died of the covid virus this month at their Detroit Motherhouse./ We pray for their religious family who are overwhelmed with sadness./ Grant peace and healing to all who mourn the loss of loved ones during these long months of sickness./ We pray to the Lord.

With grateful hearts,/ we pray for scientists,/ researchers,/ lab technicians,/ doctors,/ nurses and all who staff hospitals./ May they be kept safe and well in their important and helpful work./ We pray to the Lord.

At the start of August,/ we pray for those who celebrate birthdays,/ anniversaries and other days of remembrance./ For our families and friends/ and for any who are suffering loneliness or stress these days./ We pray to the Lord.

Tuesday is the Feast of St. John Vianney,/ the patron saint of parish priests./ We ask for the renewal of priests,/ for priests who are troubled/ whose morale is low,/ who are sick,/ or whose inner life is un-evolved./ We pray to the Lord.

Thursday is the Feast of the Transfiguration:/ Jesus in a blaze of light,/ anticipating the Resurrection./ It is also the day of remembering the dropping of an atomic bomb on Hiroshima,/ and days later,/ the dropping of another weapon on Nagasaki,/ claiming the lies of upwards of 70,000 children alone./ We pray to know and embrace a new way of living peacefully on this earth./ We pray to the Lord.

We pray for the President of the United States,/ our Congress and all who are in positions of authority around the world/ May they elevate the people they serve,/ being freed themselves,/ of blaming,/ name-calling,/ lies,/ self aggrandizement,/ power-quest,/ material profit and vanity./ We pray to the Lord.

We ask blessings for those who humbly strive for self-awareness/ and do inner battle with hatred,/ racism,/ suspicion,/blaming,/ fear,/ meanness,/ bitterness and cynicism./ We pray to the Lord.

Openings

"Openings" is the Quaker word for life moments which invite growth and learning. I would add creativity. The other day, while walking through a nearby neighborhood, I came across a house that had lost a great curbside tree to age or disease. But rather than chop down the whole thing, the owner used the bottom third of the tree trunk to carve a great owl which seems to be checking out the street's comings and goings. Upon closer look, I discovered the especially insightful and creative touch — two owlets looking out at us from their hollow trunk nest.

Henry David Thoreau wrote: "It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see."  Someone might have looked and seen a dead tree that needed to be taken down, someone else saw an owl with nestlings.  

An opening could occur while reading an article or book, catching a news item or listening deeply to someone's suggestion or insight, and I hear myself saying, "I never thought of it that way."  

An opening might occur in the moment of self-realization, when I ask, "Why do I keep doing that?" or "I don't like that about myself; why do I still think this way?" or "Why have I not grown up?"

A woman was told from a very early age that she couldn't draw, paint or sing — that she had no creative abilities. She accepted that as a fact about herself and lived well into her adult years with every creative impulse shutdown. She remembers gratefully the moment it all changed, accepting an invitation to join a community which encourages the arts. An opening!

As children, the first thing we learn about God is that God creates. God loves to create. God takes time to create and to actualize God's wonderful imagination. And we were made with capacities to grow, learn and create. There's something divine about that, isn't there? What about it?

A Feast Day About Little Girls

It is the feast of Sts. Joachim and Anna — the parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary. And this is a Spanish Colonial painting (oil on tin) of  this other holy family. Maybe they are going for a Sabbath Day's walk. It's very lovely, isn't it? We see serenading, petal strewing angels. We encounter the pair who had so hoped and longed for this child even into their senior years. The story of Mary's Conception and Birth gets us ready for the story of Jesus Christ — God, pulling out all the stops to love us, up and out of our savagery, our awful greed, our self-destruction and into light and wholeness.

I would venture most of the folks who tune in here, when asked on a questionnaire, "What is your religion?" would answer, Roman Catholic. But young people don't much answer that way anymore. These days they are more apt to print (or type), N-O-N-E on the form. There are so many of them they are even called, "NONES." They claim no religion. I'd also suggest that among them there are many who were baptized and even confirmed as Roman Catholics. When asked why they no longer identify as Catholic, they might well say, "The religion seems to be irrelevant to me." How did it come to that?

I think this lovely day is quite relevant — a celebration about parents, about grandparents, about children, and perhaps especially about little girls. The video below is wonderful. It is an episode from the TV show, Britain's Got Talent. Souparnika, a 10 year old Indian girl is auditioning, when suddenly things seem to go wrong. The situation is then just as quickly made right, and we are delighted. This little girl— with a flower in her hair, a pretty dress with a pink bow and matching slippers, a delicate left hand — sings for us. She is perfect for this feastday about a treasured little girl. Watch the video to the end where we see her after the performance rejoining her happy parents.

And might we hold in our awake hearts all the little girls around the world who are failed by adults — aborted (just because they're little girls), abandoned, runaway, sexualized, even sold, left un-treasured. On this feast of Mary's parents, may every little girl be nourished, encouraged, brought forward, applauded. May each one hear, "Go on, girl!"

Intercessions ~ Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

While cases of Coronavirus and hospitalizations increase,/ we pray for the doctors,/ nurses,/ technicians and hospital staffs who care for the sick./ We pray as well for morgue attendants and those who bury the dead./ We pray to the Lord.

For Pope Francis/ as he has recently invited the world's parishes to move beyond the maintenance of outdated models/ and to adapt a new spirit of inner conversion,/ missionary zeal,/ welcome and genuine encounter with Christ./ We pray to the Lord.

We pray for the millions of people who are suffering in the summer's heat,/ for those who must work outdoors in dangerous temperatures./  We ask for the gift of rain where it is needed./ We pray to the Lord.

During this time of great loss,/ more than 146,000 people have lost their lives to the coronavirus./ Many people mourn the loss of dear ones./ People are losing their jobs,/ losing health insurance,/ food security and even the ability to pay rent and mortgages./ May we go deep inside ourselves/ and find some place for hope and optimism./ We pray to the Lord.

Today is the Feast of Saints Joachim and Anna,/ the parents of the Virgin Mary./ We pray for those who are parents and grandparents,/ and for the world's children to be kept safe from neglect,/ the destruction of wars,/ trafficking,/ and the adult selfishness which is destroying the planet they ought to inherit in joy and security./ We pray to the Lord.

We pray for the world's leaders during this time of pandemic./ May they care more for their people than about winning elections,/ the approval of their base,/ or what the next news cycle will say about them./ May they be clean of heart;/ freed of vanity,/ insincerity and greed./ We pray to the Lord.

Bougainvillea, Lourdes and Our Christ-Fragrance

This mighty vine is Bougainvillea, which can be tidily clipped and controlled as a bush, or allowed to trail off up to thirty feet. 

Bougainvillea isn't growing in my garden here, but for the past few weeks I've detected its intense fragrance wafting onto the property and through the neighborhood. It's evidently growing on someone's property. But what a memory for me! Bougainvillea's perfume is the first sense-impression one has walking through the gate and into the domain at Lourdes in France, where the Virgin Mary appeared to young Bernadette 18 times in 1858.

Stream of consciousness! Bougainvillea might invite us to recall that other arresting fragrance — the chrism with which we were anointed after our Baptism. We all carry a fragrance — a Christ fragrance — to spread wherever we go. Our Chrism-scent is the fragrance of compassion, willingness and cooperation. It is the scent of joy in difficult times, confidence in God's presence and enduring hope. It is the good odor of consolation, transformation, and the gift of being able to feel with others. 

That last one — feeling with others — might be in short supply these days. One politician said recently that our national goodness is at stake these days: gun mayhem and threats of violence over masks during a pandemic. Someone might object and say, "Oh no, look at all these health professionals doing heroic work for others during the pandemic." True, but where there is great light, there can also be great shadow.

Our "Miracle Country"

A young-ish medical doctor had his Middle Eastern mother come to the United States for a visit. One morning while driving her around on errands, a lights-flashing, siren-blaring ambulance came up behind them. All the other cars and trucks quickly pulled over, and the intersection ahead cleared to let the ambulance through. The mother looked over at her son and said, "This is a miracle country. At home, no one would pull over for an ambulance. If it gets stuck in traffic with everyone else, then that's how it is, even though someone might die. But this is a miracle country." 

The doctor said to the TV interviewer, "If we pull over to let an ambulance pass so someone can live, why can't we all wear a mask during this time of deadly, disease threat, so someone might live?"

Intercessions ~ Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

We pray for the President of the United States and those who govern around the world,/ asking for leaders who are skilled at listening,/ who know what it is to feel the pain of the people they serve./ For the healing of leaders who are soul-sick,/ lacking compassion and good judgment./ We pray to the Lord.

At the height of the summer we pray for those who suffer from the heat/ or who must work out of doors./ For those who are shut-in during the Coronavirus pandemic./ For the safety of travelers./ We pray to the Lord.

Our nation has isolated itself in the global  effort of addressing climate change./ May we be wise and brave in protecting the life of the planet we have been given for our home./ We pray to the Lord.

Nearly 140,000 people have died in our nation from Coronavirus./ Still,/ cases and hospitalizations spike in many places,/ often due to carelessness and willful ignorance./ May we learn the mind of Christ./ We pray to the Lord.

Around the world,/ nearly 600,000 people have died from coronavirus,/ among them,/ little children and young people./ Each leaves behind loved ones who are suffering loss./ We pray for them/ and for the many who continue to help the sick./ We pray to the Lord.

We pray for our own families and friends these days,/ asking for good health and safety./ We ask for the restoration of balance these days marked by every negative and enervating emotion./ We pray to the Lord.

Daydream For An Abandoned Church

This is the abandoned and fenced off Baptist Church of the Evangel. Evangel means good news. Isn't that a great name for any church: The Church of Good News. I stop by this place every morning as I walk about 300 steps to my volunteer weeding job in a pollinator garden.

The church, which seated 200 people, was built with hand-quarried gray stone and on high ground, rather like the great temple of Jerusalem, which seemed to rise up out of the ground atop Mount Zion.  The cornerstone reads 1891 and had a good run of about 125 years before the congregation, as in many places, declined and eventually disappeared.

The first services were held on the site in 1890. Within a year the fledgling community was recognized as a mission of a larger parish; by 1893 they were independent. Over the years Evangel Baptist was known for its "activity and benevolence." In other words, they were a parish known for being busy in doing good.

In 1929 the community built an attached Church School with feel-at-home classrooms, a great fireplace, potted plants and windows offering a southern exposure. On the other side of the church building, a gymnasium was built with a stage for theatre performances, indoor sports (volleyball, junior basketball and two bowling alleys). 

There was morning and evening worship each Sunday, a Wednesday night worship service, young people's organizations and mens and womens groups to respond to local needs. Now, all that remains is the decaying buildings and arguments about whether the place should be torn down for an apartment complex or turned into office space. The biggest stumbling block is, "Where would everyone park their cars?"

About ten years ago, a gardening club planted a dozen or so young trees along the Evangel Baptist road hoping to restore some shade to the area. I noticed today that all of the trees have died (because no one watered them), except for the five trees which run along the front property of the vacant church. 

Well, what do you make of that? I wouldn't call it a miracle, because that word is usually associated with an authority having to issue a stamp of approval. But I would say, perhaps the church remains surrounded by or is still exuding divine energies (grace). After all, the place was called, Good news! A wonder perhaps! In that sense, the parish is still active and benevolent.

So, in my project-loving, priest imagination, I envision being approached by  a God-sent benefactor who wants to buy the property, supportive of the idea of reviving the little church. I would restore the porch, the roof, the windows and even the bell which disappeared long ago. Then I would enshrine the Icon of the Mother of God ~ Life-giving Spring and surround the whole place, not with cement, blacktop and high maintenance chem-lawn, but with wide, heady perennial gardens, gravel paths, benches, shade trees and a fountain. People would come from everywhere, even great distances, to The Evangel Shrine of the Mother of God, Life-Giving Spring.

Here's the prayer I'd invite folks to pray — a prayer for the healing and wholeness of our weary, sick world and nation.

But first — approach the Mother of God and her Divine Child in silence. Notice, the setting is a desert-y place, arid and dry. There is a deep cave, like Bethlehem and the Easter tomb. The cave, like the Descent of Christ into Hades — the depth of our depravity,  the dark hole of human alienation and foolish schemes, the gaping horror of the evil we create.

Notice the Holy Mother is suspended in a basin. She assumes the posture of the priest at Mass, "Lift up your hearts." Those arms frame her Son who says to the Woman at Samaria:

"Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life." John 4:13,14

This Christ-Spring (the life-gift of divine energies) is not a drip or drizzle, but a triple fountain, steadily overflowing into the cross-shaped pool.

The icon further reveals humankind on pilgrimage to this place of spiritual reality — the mother desperate for her sick child, the old man bending with his pitcher (perhaps he is bent over with inner pain and emotional struggle), the young woman who has crawled on hand crutches (we feel her desperate loneliness), the woman who pours water over the head of the skin-diseased fellow, the blind boy who symbolizes our inner condition — bumping around in our shadow and unknowing. And now, from that interior, silent place...

Rejoice, O Mother of God, Life-Giving Spring, 

Gabriel enters with the good news

of God's human face —

cure the racial animus,

the faces made ugly by hatred.

Rejoice, O Mother of God, Life-Giving Spring,

hurrying through the hill country

of human history's

barriers,

twists and turns —

invigorate justice in the 

systems which keep people poor.

Rejoice, O Mother of God, Life-Giving Spring,

singing Magnificat,

recounting the wonders,

God's lifting up and casting down —

refresh the broken hearts,

the disappointed,

mournful hearts.

Rejoice, O Mother of God, Life-Giving Spring,

as at Bethlehem 

in the echo of angel-song,

welcoming the 

littlest and the least —

be medicine for the despoiled nation 

which counts more guns than people.

Rejoice, O Mother of God, Life-Giving Spring,

whereupon traveler-seekers arrived

star-gazing,

gift-laden wonderers,

your bemused hospitality —

remedy the nation which can't stop warring.

Rejoice, O Mother of God, Life-Giving Spring,

as would any mother

lifting the blanket to show the baby,

then suddenly the mood-shift,

the frightful news of 

soul piercing

swords of sorrow —

bring to wellness,

the nation, addiction-claimed.

Rejoice, O Mother of God, Life-Giving Spring,

pointing us,

fellow disciples in the right direction,

"Do what he tells you" —

make healthy the world of greed,

consuming,

extinctions,

exploitation,

trash and waste.

Rejoice, O Mother of God, Life-Giving Spring,

you must have laughed

at the ridiculous amount of Cana's high-end wine,

its revelation of God's 

wedding-like love for us —

enliven the nation which wasn't discovered,

but invaded,

tricking,

stealing from,

lying to, 

infecting,

enslaving 

the natives they met. 

Rejoice, O Mother of God, Life-Giving Spring,

who no doubt walked among the crowd

the Calvary way,

heaven's interface with us 

on our own tear-stained way —

restore the nation's politic,

sick with obstruction,

collusion,

deception,

fearful weakness,

bitterness. 

Rejoice, O Mother of God, Life-Giving Spring,

the devout soul imagines

your Son visited you first on 

Easter Morning —

and why not,

love does such things,

heart speaking to heart —

Make us whole,

make us life-giving springs too!

Rejoice, O Mother of God, Life-Giving Spring,

who in your going up

was welcomed into the inner

communal life 

of the divine —

bring to light the indifferent mind,

the selfish mind,

the witless, invincible mind,

that doesn't care enough to mask-up

for the sake of the susceptible ones.

Camera view into our paradisal world

The folks who tune-in here will be pleased to watch this five minute video titled: The Log 2: Another Year. Nature photographer, Robert Bush Sr., set up a wildlife camera at the of a log that had fallen across a very active stream in Pennsylvania. Who would have thought!

But as we watch the magic and wonder unfold over the days, weeks and months, (see the temperature, time and date notes along the bottom of the video) we might keep in mind that during the past three years, one hundred (100!) environmental protections have been rolled back, leaving the waterways, air, soil, animals and plants increasingly vulnerable before the nation's money-adoration, turning the paradise into a wasteland.

11 environmental protections for animals rolled back

8 rollbacks for toxic substance safety

20 rollbacks for drilling and extraction

11 rollbacks for water safety and on and on...

Beyond the rollbacks, more previously secure areas have been opened up to logging, mining and drilling, further diminishing wilderness protections. 

It's not farfetched to imagine that the wonderfully alive creek Mr. Bush has filmed here will disappear sooner than later. We are a land of pavement, pollution and plunder. When one Sunday I suggested that protecting the very life of the planet was a Pro-Life concern, one parishioner went around coining me, "Father Pro-Choice." Sometimes Christian thinking disappoints and grieves me — that we so box the cosmic Christ whose Easter life radiates and loves every bit of creation — even the green frog that jumps out of the alive water and onto the log as the black bear passes by.  Did you see it?!

Intercessions ~ Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Early in July, we pray for those who celebrate birthdays,/ anniversaries and other days of remembrance this month./ We ask gifts of good health,/ safety,/ well-being and peace./ We pray to the Lord.

During the Coronavirus pandemic,/ with cases spiking in many states,/ we pray to have a care for the health of all,/ that when we say we are all in this together,/ we understand and mean it./ We pray to the Lord.

Within a few years,/ Christianity may well be extinct in Iraq./ We pray for the safety of Christians wherever their lives are stressed or endangered./ We pray as well for Christians who are just like everyone else,/ and are bothered by no one./ We pray to the Lord.

We join Pope Francis in his prayer and call for a cessation of all hostilities for at least three months,/ so that the world's energies and resources may be placed in the service of the most vulnerable populations suffering from the Coronavirus pandemic./ We pray to the Lord.

We pray for the President of the United States/ and for those who lead in every capacity and place,/ may they be forward looking people,/ healers,/ empathic reconcilers and clean of heart./ We pray to the Lord.

In the summertime/ we ask for safety from storms and fires,/ for vacationers and travelers,/ for those who get no time off,/ who are unemployed or fearful about the future./ We pray to the Lord.

The Prousiotissa Mother of God ~ Shhh!

This icon of the Prousiotissa Mother of God had its feast day celebrated on the Eastern Church calendar — June 23. The Mother of God is spiritually wide-eyed and awake to her Infant Son who appears as a little man. Jesus is always the Lord whose message is, stay awake. "Wake up from your sleep, climb out of your coffins. Christ will show you the light." Ephesians 5:14. She is the first disciple who patterns this soul-disposition for us.

The icon's traditional story is regrettably full of dread, paralysis and a dis-empowering fear of God. In the account, when the Holy Mother performs wonders, the people thank her with gifts of gold and silver. Wouldn't converted hearts please her more? How it is that we settle for distortion, the shrinking of God and ourselves? The world, weary with violence and death, hopes for a message that is fresh, relevant and genuinely spiritual. 

Notice the Mother of God looks out at us, proposing a personal and interior involvement. In truth, the Prousiotissa Icon is a story about the  curing of a deadly virus, a plague-like influenza. Of course, we think of our own time of Coronavirus epidemic. But I'd suggest there's more. There is also the epidemic of too much thinking and talking in religion. I sometimes wonder if I am alone in feeling like a talking head at the end of Mass. What happens to awe (even ecstasy) when there's only talking? 

I remember in my first year of seminary there was mandatory 7:00 A.M. meditation. We knelt in rows facing forward while a priest in the rear of the chapel talked us through our meditation for an hour. You could hear elbows and heads clunking off the kneelers. 

As the icon appears here on our screens, might I propose a new prayer which pays attention to her nimbus (halo). Let's not think the nimbus is just decoration. Heaven keep us from the religion of decoration, especially decorative talking and thinking.

Your nimbus, O Lady,

filled with swirling

clouds of unknowing —

the inner darkness,

pious imaginings,

fanciful God-knowledge,

the voluminous study of

what everyone else has said,

the keep-you-in-a-box of God-cliches,

the tidy, "just believe it," religion...

like tree-top birds,

  wide-winged,

  currant riding birds

  kept in cages.

Pierce with

  a bowing love,

  a hushed love,

the amorphous cloud-thoughts

  shrinking the vastness,

  claiming to know.

Only by love!

Here is a selection from a boy's choir concert in St. Petersburg, Russia. The first minute or so is not important, as the boys are getting themselves organized and the crowd is unsettled. Then we hear a very young voice coming from somewhere. Perhaps, like an angel, he is making an announcement. The photographer seems startled at what he hears — his camera spins around almost to the ceiling and then to the rear door of the church where a small boy sings a repeated phrase. 

Returning to the front of the church, a serious young man (both modern and traditional) shocks us with his voice. Why so serious? Perhaps he is just nervous at being featured. Many adults are terrified of speaking, reading or singing in public. I'm wondering he is so serious because he's singing about serious things. Maybe the lyrics peek into the incomprehensible enormity and vast depth of God's presence and love. That would shock us!

We have no translation of the song, but that needn't trouble us. We are left free to imagine. I'm thinking perhaps the little boy is singing:

Awake my heart!

Awake my heart!

Only by love will we know God!

Then the older boy:

God cannot be grasped by thought

but only by love!

Shelve your 

calculations,

plans, hopes, fears,

imaginings —

even the pious ones,

 your anxieties and dreams

your too-small ideas!

Break free of the brain-box;

distorting, distracting,

diminishing,

and come to God by love,

the nature of which is to grow!

P.S. Some have said this young man will one day be a great Russian opera baritone or bass. But why do we jump to that conclusion? Is it because he will make big money that way? It's not enough to sing profoundly and with skill to God's glory — we need the biggest applause and notoriety?

Intercessions ~ Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

This July 4th weekend,/ recalling the words of the much-loved national hymn,/ may we learn that the spacious skies stretch over all of us,/ including the native peoples who were here first,/ those brought here in slavery,/ and all who flee from danger and death./ We pray to the Lord.

The word independence means freedom./ May we be freed of all hatred,/ degradation of others,/ slander/ and bitter lies./ May the people of this nation be renewed/ and live up to our most noble aspirations./ We pray to the Lord.

On the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul this week,/ Pope Francis invited all the baptised to be builders of unity in a fractured and angry time./ May we join him in this hope and prayer./ We pray to the Lord.

The Coronavirus is very much with us,/ claiming lives and exhausting the nation,/ largely due to willful ignorance,/ indifference and selfishness./ Grant that we would learn to care for others,/ especially the most vulnerable ones./ We pray to the Lord.

In the summertime,/ we pray for the safety of travelers and any who have to work in the heat./ For the sick and those who work to comfort and heal them./ We pray to the Lord.

For the President of the United States and those who lead  in any capacity,/ may they desire only to serve the people,/ forfeiting vanity,/ power and the love of money./ We pray to the Lord.