Pauca Verba is Latin for A Few Words.

Monday, February 28, 2022

Psalm 12 ~ Prayer at the Front Door of Lent



This is a short psalm of only six verses. But in those few lines we get a good idea of how this psalmist relates to God. He is an anxious fellow, a hand-wringer. He even has some real issues with God. I find psalmists to be whiney much of the time. This fellow is no exception. Maybe if we're really honest we might see something of ourselves in his complaint.

1 How long, O Lord, will you forget me?

How long will you hide your face?

2 How long must I bear grief in my soul,

this sorrow in my heart day and night?

How long shall my enemy prevail?

3 Look at me, answer me, Lord my God!

Give light to my eyes lest I fall asleep in death,

4 lest my enemy say: 'I have overcome him';

lest my foes rejoice to see my fall.

5 As for me, I trust in your merciful love.

Let my heart rejoice in your saving help:

6 Let me sing to the Lord for his goodness to me,

singing psalms to the name of the Lord, the Most High.


Verses 1-3: A psalmist thinks of himself as a friend of God. Here he seems to think that gives him permission to be even rude. What presumption to think God is hiding God's face. He's exasperated and annoyed with God. If there's anything we can say about the God of the ancient Hebrews is that this God fights for them. But this psalmist has either forgotten that or is angry he's not feeling God's salvation more personally and on time! "How long....how long?"  He's made God as small as his own little world.

Verse 4: I get the feeling that the psalmist is trying to blackmail God. It's as if he's saying, "You know, if I fall to my enemies, they will think that YOU are weak and can't be relied upon for help." I don't think God is bothered by this tricky thinking.

Verses 5,6: Then, as is usually the case with a whiney psalmist, he comes around in the end and gives God the thanks that is God's due. We hope he means it.

But you know what, and this really matters, maybe we do have real enemies, those who might even have wished us harm or who have been trouble makers in our lives over the years. But Jesus makes it clear what we're supposed to do with them: We are to pray for them. Wish them well. Wish them what they need for salvation.

But the other and more serious enemies we have are within us. "You're your own worst enemy" we say, or has been said to us. We burden ourselves with our wrong-headed thinking, by the foolishness we listen to and make our own, the little (or not so little) Christ-displacing cults we follow, the stupidity we defend. Another Lent begins. Another Lent to kind of get it right. But I'm getting older; I don't have forever. I will approach this Lent as if it is my last. 


Sunday, February 27, 2022

The Original Sin is Power


 

This is a detail of Masaccio's early Renaissance painting, The Expulsion from the Garden of Eden. It is found in the Brancacci Chapel in Florence. It's a very powerful painting, isn't it? We can almost hear Eve's screams and howls. I doubt we'd be able to pull Adam's hands away from his shamed face.

While teaching years ago, I had a Jewish colleague who was a Hebrew school teacher, a kind of director of religious education in her synagogue. She didn't use the term Original Sin but told me once, "A Jew would say that in the long story of humankind, something went terribly wrong very early on." We say, "Yes, God told them not to eat the fruit of the tree and they did anyway. They were disobedient." But that's not really the case. They ate the fruit because the liar told them that if they did, they'd be like God. So they took a bite of the false promise, and in that power quest they lost everything. Masaccio's painting depicts the moment of that awful awareness.

The original sin is our desire and search for power. It's seemingly everywhere. Sex abuse is power abuse. Pope Francis is on to this in the life of the Church when he talks about clericalism, which is about power. The pastor who is a kingdom builder, the bishop who bullies his priests, a religious superior who abuses the novices—the sin is power. Domestic violence, the corporal punishment of children, political parties that can't stand the idea of not being in power, a leader who can't abide losing, going into a neighboring nation and taking it by storm. The sin is the power quest. 

But Masaccio (1401-1428) has done an amazing thing. If we were to look at the entire painting we would see that as they walk, stripped of their glory, Adam and Eve cast shadows behind them. This suggests they are walking into the light! That's hopeful. Masaccio doesn't seem to despair of humankind. And in the next wall painting we find another, of even greater size—a massive depiction of Christ with the twelve apostles. We see Jesus sending Peter off to find the required tax in the mouth of a fish. (Mt. 17:27)  And even though this is a different scene—Jesus is looking towards and gesturing towards Adam and Eve in the previous scene. Masaccio's vast wall paintings are filled with light. They glow! 

This Wednesday we set out towards Easter, the feast of light, life and hope restored. It may be incredibly hard to feel this, seeing the news everyday, but there it is. The hundreds of priests, nuns and brothers (many non-Ukrainian) staying behind to help the internally displaced and the flood of refugees headed towards Poland must have a sense of this—that goodness wins, life and love prevail.


Saturday, February 26, 2022

Heaven Sees the Insanity

 



This icon is titled, "Mother of God of the Sign." She stands in the prayer position called orans. The  Christ-Child (always depicted as the Lord) is held in an orb from which he blesses us and holds the scroll of his teaching. But it is for us to unroll the scroll,  so to discover its message.

In praying with arms outstretched, like a priest at Mass, the Mother of God intercedes for us. She carries no weapon. She is not closed in on herself arrogantly, like a bully with arms folded across the chest. She is open to God and to us. 

But notice, She looks off to the sides perhaps searching for humanity where it squanders its genius, devolving into the deep darkness of self-destruction, despoiling wars, waste, hatred and death. May the light  radiating from her mind and that of her Son, brighten consciences.

A terrible invasive war in Europe is on our minds these days. People of good will all around the world are grieving and feeling powerless. The Mother of God looks to the sides where those left behind are hiding—the mothers with their frightened children, the elderly, the poor, the homeless. She searches with the scores of refugees who are fleeing west to hoped-for safety. She looks to the sides where the missiles and bombs have left behind destroyed apartment buildings, the ravaged scarred earth. She sees the lies of the destroying invaders.

Heaven sees our insanity. And it is insanity, isn't it—one Christian nation invading and destroying another Christian nation. Maybe we shouldn't wonder that someone overwhelmed with disappointment would give up on religion—except that hundreds of religious priests, brothers and sisters are staying behind—Diocesan clergy, Franciscans, Jesuits, Pallotines, Dominicans, opening their churches, hostels, monasteries, retreat houses to care for suffering refugees.


Friday, February 25, 2022

Mother of God Ozeryanskaya




THE OZERYANSKYA ICON OF THE MOTHER OF GOD dates to the end of  the 16th century. A farmer in Eastern Ukraine was mowing a summer field with a scythe when he heard a human groan and found an icon of the Mother of God split in two on the ground. He took the halves to his home, lit a candle and prayed before the pieces which he had placed among his other icons. The next day, the icon having disappeared from his home, he returned to the field and found the icon spliced together with only a thin scar indicating where the cut had occurred. 

Soon the icon became notable as wonder-working and a chapel within a monastic complex was built to which people in need began to pilgrim. In 1930 the icon was destroyed by the Soviets and the monks dispersed who had become its custodians.

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the monastic property has been returned to the Church and the Monastery of the Holy Protection revived. Though the original icon was destroyed, new copies have been painted, though the icon shown here seems to bear a closeness to the original. The Mother of Jesus is sought as an intercessor of those with serious diseases, especially "where medicine is powerless." In the west we might say, hopeless cases. Many pray before the icon in hope of healing where there are serious injuries, bone breaks and fractures. 

In this icon the Mother of God is decorated very beautifully. Stars cover her mantle. Both she and her Son wear crowns—the gift of love from us. Halos indicate the illumination of their thoughts, knowledge and insights. Jesus sits as teaching-Lord, supported on the left arm of his Mother. In humility, with her right hand, she indicates Jesus. He blesses us and holds the little gospel book he hopes we will open.

We're told the Ozeryanskaya's specialty is broken bones. But as we come before the icon with physical complaints, perhaps all the more we should fly to her asking for the healing of broken hearts, broken trust, the healing of broken or fractured relationships—marriages, friendships and family unity. We might go to her where countries, parishes and local communities need healing, where we feel divided, hypocritical or at odds within ourselves—wherever we need help putting life back together. 

Thursday, February 24, 2022

Intercessions ~ Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time


Hellebore ~ Lenten Rose in Snow


As Ash Wednesday is observed this week,/ the third time since the start of the covid pandemic,/ we pray for a holy Lent,/ marked not so much by the giving up of things,/ but by a great longing or thirst for God/ that is satisfied in a deepened relationship with Jesus Christ./ We pray to the Lord.

At the start of March this week as well,/ we pray for those who this month will celebrate birthdays,/ anniversaries/ and other days of remembrance,/ asking for good health,/ safety and wellbeing./ We pray to the Lord.

"Where there is a man,/ there is always a war."/ And wherever there's war,/ humanity loses./ We ask for the world to be spared the sadness,/ waste and death that comes with war,/ and find our way quickly to the restoration of security and peace./ We pray to the Lord.

This week Pope Francis met with French pilgrims committed to improving the well-being of persons blind/ and advocating for their inclusion./ The pope reminded all—"We see well only with the heart."/ May we listen and learn./ We pray to the Lord.

Spring officially begins in the month of March./ The turning of seasons reminds us that we can change./ May we learn to forgive others,/ resolving conflicts humbly and patiently./ Bless families in all their variety/ and those who feel overwhelmed,/ lonely or sad./ We pray to the Lord.

Heal those who suffer chronic and debilitating pain or sickness./ Strengthen all whose spirits or minds are full of anger,/ violence or revenge./ We pray to the Lord.




Tuesday, February 22, 2022

Fritz von Uhde ~ What's he doing with religious imagery?

 


Fritz von Uhde is the Lenten artist this year. Lent begins March 2. I thought his painting, Jesus Meeting With Nicodemus At Night might serve as an introduction. The artist was criticized for taking gospel themes and imagining them in his contemporary setting. Notice how Nicodemus is enthralled by Jesus, but dressed as a contemporary judge or cleric. The gospels are not simply reminiscent scenes from millennia ago but perennial and forever in their meaning.

Fritz von Uhde was Protestant, with a non-clerical, non-liturgical vision of Jesus. Let's remember too,    no one owns Jesus or has any kind of copyright on him. And so the artist shows us Jesus without rays or decorations. Here is Jesus without a halo—but we still recognize him. 

In this painting, Jesus is talking about God and our lives with God (John 3:1-21). And in doing so, notice first he has pulled back the heavy curtain. See the lock opened at the top of the window and that the window has been flung open wide. Jesus' gestures are expansive, inviting Nicodemus (and us) to venture into what seems dark at first.

Benedictine Sister Joan Chittister has written,

"We do not, by and large as a culture, have a God big enough to believe in. We have diminished God. We've made God a puppeteer, a magician, a vending machine, a warrior, a judge, all slivers of ourselves. But of course, anybody with an understanding looks up in the sky at night, saying to themselves, what is out there? Where did this all come from? Where is it going? And what about the people who have left our lives? Where are they? Those are cosmic questions.  And I believe that, for me, my God is a cosmic God." 

Nicodemus was a leading Pharisee, a religious man. He visits Jesus at night for fear his colleagues will see him and disapprove. But the night darkness is symbolic as well. The artist seems to have Jesus inviting Nicodemus out and into the darkness as if saying, "Leave behind all your old ideas and venture out into the unknowing." See the worn books on the table behind Jesus. They are what someone else has said about God. What do you, what do I say about God when we leave behind too-small ideas of God? Eventually there will be a dawn—as if coming to know God for the first time. For me, the new knowing of God is an ever deepening listening to Jesus. 

Did you hear Bishop Michael Curry preach at the 2018 wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle? 

"Jesus began the most revolutionary movement in human history, a movement grounded in the unconditional love of God for the world and a movement mandating people to live that love and in doing so to change not only their lives  but the very life of the world itself."

Some people are terrified of this idea—Jesus beginning a "revolutionary movement in human history." The protestant artist, Fritz von Uhde, seems to express this in his Jesus-Nicodemus painting. We might sit with this painting a while as Lent approaches—a wide armed, expansive Jesus, standing at an unlocked, opened, night-window. Maybe Jesus is saying to Nicodemus (and us) "Your God is too small." 




Sunday, February 20, 2022

Fritz von Uhde ~ Lenten Introduction


 

Fritz von Uhde (1848-1911) is the German artist whose paintings we'll reflect upon this Lent. Here is his self-portrait — palette in hand and with his high maintenance mustache. The 19th century is called , The century of the mustache. I'd say Fritz cultivated his mustache while he was in the military. There are photographs of the artist where this male plumage has gone to wreck and ruin. 

The artist has a pleasant face, but is there sadness in his eyes. His wife died young, (when he was 38) leaving him with three daughters. Maybe in this painting we can see something of that felt-loss.


O Lord, you search me and you know me,

you know my resting and my rising,

you discern my thoughts from afar.

You mark when I walk or lie down,

all my ways lie open to you.

Before ever a word is on my tongue

you know it, O Lord, through and through. 

Psalm 138:1-4

~ ~ ~

But before we set out into Lent with daily posts reflecting on forty some-odd paintings, there are  two  terms that might be helpful to our understanding and appreciating this artist's work. Naturalism is a late 19th century movement in art (it's heyday 1870's-1880's) which attempts to present the subject matter without concerns for established and acceptable norms or without notions of what others  consider acceptably beautiful. Naturalism depicts people in their natural world and environment.

The other useful word is genre. A broad definition of genre says that there are five types of subject matter in painting: historical painting, portraiture, landscape painting and still life. Then there is the definition of genre which is both broad and narrow, depicting aspects of the everyday lives of ordinary people engaged in common activities. This type of depiction is not new — even in ancient Egypt and throughout the Middle Ages we have paintings which depict people pruning vines, tending animals, harvesting, monks copying books, etc.

Fritz von Uhde is a master of genre painting, so much so that he depicts ancient gospel accounts taking place as if in his contemporary world. It is also said that Fritz von Uhde brought plein air (outdoor) painting to Germany.


~ ~ ~ 

Returning for a moment to the artist's self-portrait — in Christianity God has a human face. This is Jesus Christ. Faces matter. The violent Christian protesters carrying Jesus Saves banners couldn't have looked into the faces of the officers they mercilessly beat on January 6.  Had the gun wielding men who murdered Ahmaud Arbery  looked deeply at his face they would have seen his terror. I'm thinking of the priest or deacon who distributes communion while looking over the heads of the parishioners to see how long the line is rather than looking squarely at faces and making eye contact. There are spouses who no longer look deeply into the face of the other. Christianity is a religion of faces and each and all of those faces matters.  

Here's a Lenten idea: Every day for forty days I will make eye contact with someone else — even a stranger in a store, the cashier, the fellow stocking shelves, the person getting into the car parked next to mine, someone on an elevator or at the front desk in the doctor's office. Not peering at them of course, but noticing carefully and breaking through the fear of being perceived to be a weirdo. I might be moved to a new depth of prayer. And if any of us should think, "It's impossible to do this today in our dangerous, suspicious, cultural climate," — then we are in a very sad place indeed. I would say, a place of human collapse. But God keep us from another Lent of just giving up candy.

Thursday, February 17, 2022

Intercessions ~ Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

 


After being rejected by every seminary in the country,/ Augustus Tolton,/ a freed slave,/ was the first African American to be ordained a priest from Rome for the United States./ He wrote,/ "We should welcome all people into the church, not send them away."/ May we learn and practice./ We pray to the Lord.

Have we given up believing in the power of love which God has put into our hearts?/ We pray for homes and families,/ communities and neighborhoods,/ churches, synagogues and mosques,/ governments and nations,/ schools and businesses./ May we believe still that love can be transformative./ We pray to the Lord.

In the wintertime,/ we pray for those who live without proper shelter,/ for first responders and helpers/ for those who work outdoors./ As the Winter Olympics draw to a close/ we pray for a more peaceful world,/ even as in our immaturity before God/ we continue to amass great armies capable of terrible death and destruction./ We pray to the Lord.

Lent begins in eleven days./ May it be a time of deep, inner awareness and repentance./ And as our country carries still the great stain of racism,/ may we acknowledge how racial prejudice,/ anti-Semitism or any kind of 'other-ism'/ which is not the way of Christ,/ may have invaded our lives./ We pray to the Lord.

Tuesday is the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter./ We pray for Pope Francis/ asking for him to be sustained in health,/ strength and joy in his mission./  We pray for those who do not understand him,/ resist or even reject him./ For the healing of divisions which afflict the Church./ We prat to the Lord.

A TV spot reveals that ninety percent of the world's elephants are gone./ There are only about five hundred tigers left in the wild./ Many animal and plant species are threatened with extinction in our time./  We ask for the mind-heart revolution needed to save our sanctuary planet./ We pray to the Lord.

Tuesday, February 15, 2022

Heather in Snow ~ Stay the Course


 

After some especially cold days and a few overnight inches of snow, I came across this rosy-pink heather blooming nearby. Heather is a hardy plant recognized for its strength and enduring ability to survive and even flourish under harsh conditions, whether that's thin, rocky soil, temperature extremes and fast changing, nasty weather. And so it is rightly recognized as a beautiful symbol of solitude and perseverance. One website says it symbolizes, "Staying the course even when all the tables seem to be turned against you."

Of course, these gospel verses may well come to mind as well — Luke 9:51ff

51 Now it happened that as the time drew near for Jesus to be taken up, he resolutely turned his face towards Jerusalem and sent messengers ahead of him. 52 These set out, and they went into a Samaritan village to make preparations for him 53 but  the people would not receive him because he was making for Jerusalem. 54 Seeing this, the disciples James and John said, "Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to burn them up?" But he turned and rebuked them, 55 and they went on to another village.


Verse 51:  Another translation says Jesus turned his face like flint. 

Verse 52: The hatred of Jews and Samaritans for each other is well known. But that hatred found a particular expression towards Jews who were headed towards Jerusalem on pilgrimage. Samaritans worshipped on a different mountain and read different scriptures.

Verse 54: There are some Christians today who have, "Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to burn them up," in their hearts.

Verse 55: Nothing seems to catch a scolding from Jesus like twisted religion.

Back to the winter blooming heather — stay the course of doing what God has put before me to do and the essential inner work of turning  my mind and heart to God's light.



Sunday, February 13, 2022

The "Gesima" Sundays and Fritz von Uhde

Fritz von Uhde with palette and moustache
 
On the old liturgical calendar, today is called Septuagesima Sunday. It is the first of three Sundays that serve as a kind of countdown — roughly 70, 60, 50 days until Easter. They are sometimes referred to as the "front porch" to Lent — a heads up as Lent begins with Ash Wednesday, March 2 this year. 

Years ago these Sundays introduced the penitential time with the disappearance of the the Gloria and Alleluia at Mass, the change to purple vestments and the start of some fasting. They were dropped from the liturgical calendar in 1969. Though in 2014 the Polish National Catholic Church reinstated them. I wonder why? Perhaps because the world is moving so fast, these Sundays offer us a pause. Perhaps to direct our thoughts to something other than the contentious, ugly, violent news that burdens and disturbs us everyday. How can it be that along the Ukraine-Russia border there is the threat of yet another costly war? Why haven't we evolved past war?

To that end every year during Lent I find an artist whose paintings offer us some respite. The posts are simply a priest's reflections on forty paintings — one for each day of Lent. They are not art-critical, art historical or dogmatic exposes — but observations, imaginings, attentive wonderings. The Sunday Intercessions posted each Thursday are the only interruption.  In 2017 we saw the paintings of the classical Russian landscape painter, Isaac Levitan. In 2019 the Danish-French Impressionist painter Camille Pissaro (1830-1903). Lent of 2020 the paintings from the Passion Cycle of Duccio di Buoninsegna's Maesta. Lent last year, the Russian realist painter Vasily Polenov (1844-1927).

This year I'd like to introduce the German painter Fritz von Uhde (1848-1911). He is called a genre painter. Genre painting depicts ordinary people in every day situations. The artist is also known for his painting of religious subjects in a time when religion was falling out of fashion. His style lay between realism and impressionism. He was once know as Germany's outstanding impressionist and was one of the first painters to introduce outdoor painting (plein air) in his country.

But choosing Fritz von Uhde (Yew-dah) presents a great challenge for me — beyond a couple of online articles there is nothing published in English about his work. So I'm on my own more than any previous Lent. But that's fine — I see it as an opportunity to look more closely. I hope you will join me. 

A final thought. Isn't it time I chose a female painter? Yes! But there are not many to choose from. I have discovered Mary Cassatt, Marie Bracquemont, Bertha Morisot and Eva Gonzales. But there's a problem. Their paintings are mostly of women in an endless variety of 19th century dresses and poses with children. Women could not be admitted to art schools or the male world of art exhibition. Women's work was routinely rejected. Women were not allowed to wander around cities and countryside in search of landscape sites. Camille Pissarro could sit on a street all day and paint four paintings facing four directions. No 19th century woman would have been allowed to do that. So women were consigned to painting living rooms, at-home studios, bedrooms and gardens. Even if I were to combine the work of the four female artists mentioned above, I can't identify forty paintings that offer subject possibilities for the kind of reflecting we do here. That saddens me. The world is poorer for it. But I'll keep searching. 




Thursday, February 10, 2022

Intercessions ~ Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Sermon on the Mount ~ Karoly Ferenczy (1896) Hungarian National Gallery

Gathering around God's Word and Christ's Eucharist,/ we pray for each other at Mass today./ And in the hearing of the Beatitudes this weekend,/ may we be a church of blessing and glad news,/ never a church of fear./ We pray to the Lord.

May we detect God's presence in everything that is beautiful and life-giving —/ the loveliness of the natural world God has given us,/ our relationships and capacities to create./ We pray to the Lord.

Give the world heart-sensitive leaders and governments that attend to the needs and struggles of people./ Protect those whose work is dangerous or demanding,/ first responders,/ teachers,/ military personnel,/ law enforcement./ We pray to the Lord.

So many people long for healing in their lives./ Bless doctors and nurses/ technicians and lab-workers,/ social workers,/ therapists and care providers in nursing homes,/ hospitals,/ hospices./ Let those who are afraid,/ sick,/ in pain or dying,/ feel your strengthening and consoling presence./ We pray to the Lord.

In a dangerous world,/ peace is always fragile./ We pray for those places where wars,/ conflicts and unrest threaten the lives of people and all living things./ We are often our own worst enemy./ Teach us how to love,/ to share and  to resolve problems with intelligence and humility./ We pray to the Lord.

On the old liturgical calendar,/ today is Septuagesima Sunday,/ called the front porch of Lent,/ Easter is roughly seventy days away./ May we have our first thoughts of Lent/ and how we might observe that time as a period of personal renewal and growth in Christ./ We pray to the Lord.

Monday is St. Valentine's Day./ We pray for those who are dear to us,/ for those who go through life unknown and unloved./  May we have some new insight as to how best to love others./ We pray to the Lord. 

Tuesday, February 8, 2022

Seed Packet Prayer

 


Today is February 8th —

Fifty days of winter are passed,

forty days till the official start of spring.

And these seed packets arrived in the mail the other day —

cosmos, cornflowers, sunflowers, zinnias.

I carry them around in my shirt pocket 

little envelopes of hope,

or I stand them up on the window frame

so that when I look out at the gray sky,

and its threatening snow,

I see them first.

At night I place them at the feet of

holy Fiacre of Meaux, 

my gardener patron

who blesses them through the dark time.

O God,

thank you for the gift of seeds —

that life is always tucked in somewhere,

that beauty can be restored,

joy can be renewed,

promise is eternal.




Sunday, February 6, 2022

First Prayer




 In the lighting of the lamp,

the first act of my day,

O Christ our God,

may my spirit be lifted,

my soul be awakened,

the inner monologue of

fears and dark thoughts be calmed,

my resistant energies be healed.

Then reassured in seated silence

(and my secret wish whispered

that you would reveal yourself

to this fractured planet

in a great biblical ferment)

I will trust — today will be all right.




Thursday, February 3, 2022

Intercessions ~ Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

St. Catherines at Bell Gable in Snow

Friday is the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes./ May we understand and walk our own pilgrim way,/ with a smile,/ as the Virgin Mary showed herself to Bernadette at Lourdes./ We pray to the Lord.

Strengthen the Pope as he guides the church in faith, hope and love./ Grow the ministries and communities of compassion/ that give witness to your sure presence among us./ We pray to the Lord.

Heal human arrogance that exploits natural resources,/ ruins the planet and disregards future generations./ Inspire the work of environmental scientists who encourage us to live in  harmony with creation./ We pray to the Lord.

Comfort the lonely, the fearful and the broken-hearted./ Build up in hope/ those who suffer in body,/ mind or spirit./ Accompany the many who are fleeing for their lives:/ the immigrants,/ migrants,/ refugees and asylum seekers./ Humanize the world's politics./ We pray to the Lord. 

Bless the gifts of children around the world./ May we have humble hearts,/ inspired by their joy and questioning curiosity./ We pray to the Lord.

Keep safe those who must work out of doors these winter days./ May they find help who suffer from food insecurity,/ who are unemployed,/ who can't make the rent,/ who live without insurance or medical care./ May the people who are exhausted find renewing rest./ We pray to the Lord.

Bless those who celebrate birthdays,/ anniversaries and other days of remembrance this February./ Grant them good health,/ safety and well-being./ We pray to the Lord.





Tuesday, February 1, 2022

Luke 7:31-35 ~ What the Gospel is for the Ear, the Icon is for the Eye


 

I turn to this icon again and again. It is called the Mandylion, the cloth upon which Jesus imprinted his face when King Abgar requested Jesus to come and heal him. I am drawn to this icon because Jesus looks at us squarely, as if he is looking in-to us. If his eyes are ever so slightly to the side, it's because that's where we try to hide in false persona, excuses or distraction. Did you ever try to hide behind a classmate so the teacher wouldn't call on you?


Jesus said, "What can I say that the men of this generation are like—what sort of men are they? They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling out to each other, 'We played at weddings for you, but you wouldn't dance, and we played at funerals for you, and you wouldn't cry!' For John the Baptist came in the strictest austerity and you say he is crazy. Then the Son of Man came, enjoying food and drink, and you say, 'Look, a drunkard and a  glutton, a bosom-friend of the tax-collector and the  outsider!' So wisdom is proved right by all her children!" Luke 7: 31-35


Jesus knows how we are — how much time we spend assessing, evaluating and judging other people. We can know nothing of what's going on in someone else's life — their story and the troubles they have, the burdens they carry, the sorrows they bear — and it doesn't stop us from appraising them. Jesus calls out every generation that disregards both John and himself based on outer appearances. He won't have it. The Gospel and the icon say effectively, "As far as God is concerned (wisdom) it's what's inside that matters."  Religion that leaves us on the level of outside appearances and performances has failed.

 

By your Gospel Word and 
before your holy Mandylion icon
by which Abgar was made whole,

it's as if you are looking right through me.

O Christ, my Savior.

Heal me from the inside out.