Pauca Verba is Latin for A Few Words.

Sunday, June 14, 2015

Learning Forgiveness Through the Opened Heart of Christ



That blood and water poured out of the stabbed side of Jesus Crucified indicates his heart was punctured and emptied. But it was mercy, compassion and forgiveness which poured out of his heart. Even in his dying, Jesus taught us. Some years ago Oprah Winfrey had a young man on as a guest who had a very important forgiveness message for the world.

He told of having been abducted from a school bus by a neighbor man who took him into the Florida Everglades, where he shot the boy three times and abandoned him. Two weeks later, on Christmas morning, the boy found himself sitting alone on the roadside. Passersby discovered him and took him to a hospital where he slowly recovered. The abductor was arrested and sentenced to prison. 

As he grew older the imprisoned man asked to see the boy, who by now was a grown man. The boy said to the man, "I forgive you for what you did to me years ago." The television audience was stunned. "How were you ever able to do that?" Oprah asked. "I chose to see myself more as the receiver of blessings than as the victim of a crime," the young man answered.

Thursday, June 11, 2015

Intercessions ~ Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time


Summer Ginkgo

As we return to the season of liturgical green - the color of hope,/ we pray to trust God/ who can lead hearts to the creation of justice and peace./ We pray to the Lord.

We pray for students and teachers to end their school year well:/ asking for summer gifts of safety,/ good health,/ renewal and family peace./ We pray to the Lord.

While the pope's encyclical on global climate and environment has yet to be released/ there are already people who are angrily opposed to his thoughts./ We ask God to calm our passions,/ our fanciful and fearful imaginings./  We pray to the Lord.

Pope Francis visited Sarajevo this past week to extend a hand of friendship to all/ and to encourage the Christian minority./ We ask for perseverance and hope where Christians are persecuted and struggling./ We pray to the Lord. 

We are approaching the summer solstice - the day of the longest light./ We ask to turn to Christ the light/ who can keep us from the stumblings of hate,/ vanity and arrogance./ We pray to the Lord.

We offer prayers for the many refugees around the world who are fleeing wars and conflicts./ We pray for those countries who generously and kindly receive them./ We pray to the Lord.

For the sick, / the elderly/ the weakest,/ the poorest/ and for those who help them./ And for those who have died/ to be welcomed by the bright face of Christ into the fullness of life./ We pray to the Lord. 




Tuesday, June 9, 2015

A Gardener's Prayer (In a Kind of Celtic-American Tradition)




Good morning, One in Three ~
Hello and Glory to you!

in the falls and frills of Iris, 
in the secret strength of seeds,
in the scent on breezes, 
and the decay of compost,

in the rocks and the rain,
in the fog-covered hill,
in the in-and-out sun,
and the flute-stream nearby,

in the shade of my cap,
in the sharpness of blade,
in the malleable soil,
and the contest of bird-song,

in the freshness of dill,
in the blister that's healing,
in the variance of cloud
and the red-painted fern ~

first showings of your transfigured face!