Intercessions ~ Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

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

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

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

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

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

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

Mary-Mosque

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Borderland Rosary

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

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

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

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

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


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


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



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


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