Intercessions ~ Third Sunday in Lent

We pray for the many who are sick with the coronavirus,/ and their families,/ for those who are quarantined,/ the volunteers who are helping,/ the doctors,/ nurses and lab workers,/ the elderly in nursing homes,/ and those in prison./ We pray to the Lord.

For Pope Francis,/ who celebrates his 7th anniversary as pope this week,/ and who helps us to have the mind of Christ./ For those who resent or even resist him./ In the Lenten time,/ may the Church experience something of the springtime Christ desires for us./ We pray to the Lord.

One in seven children suffers hunger in our country./ We ask for a new awareness of  God's justice,/ that the sin and scandal of child-hunger would be resolved and forgiven./ We pray to the Lord.

We pray with St. Paul at Mass today,/ that we would not become discouraged or cynical,/ but remain confident in God's love which emboldens us to live and act in the Holy Spirit./ We pray to the Lord.

We pray for those who lead nations and states around the world,/ may they be mature souls,/ who pattern self-forgetting,/ non-aggression and goodness./ We pray to the Lord.

For our families and friends,/ and those with us at Mass today./ We ask for good health,/ safety,/ well-being,/ inner freedom and peace./ We pray to the Lord.

The Syriac Wonder-Working Icon of the Mother of God

Sitting in a diner at breakfast time this morning, I was just given my laminated menu when an elderly woman in the next booth, having breakfast with a friend, whistled through her fingers, summoning the young waitress. You know the sound—the kind of shrill, single-note whistle we'd associate with a man demanding his off-in-the-weeds dog return. Then I heard her laugh to her friend, "Oh, that was rude."

A great vulgarity has been unleashed. I fear we are no longer evolving, but devolving. And I thought, "How will we ever invite a woman to lead us as president when we can't manage giving a hardworking, young waitress her dignity?" 

What to do? I considered calling out this woman on her ugly behaviour, as I made my way to the door—but these are dangerous times, people weaponized and unpredictable. So when I returned home, I remembered that I had this photograph of the Wonder-Working, Syrian Mother of God icon. I've left the photograph large, so you can see her soft smile. She'll help me to recover from this exposure to low-end behaviour. And now to ask her for what we need as a nation:

O Wonder-Working Lady,
Mother of God
Mother of wounded Syria,
  and our Mother too—
We need more 
stargazers, 
wave-watchers,
songbird admirers and
forest bathers.

We need more
stream listeners,
rose inhalers,
honey bee wonder-rs,
nature mystery sleuths and
cloud contemplators.

We need more
moon phase ponderers,
seed planters,
animal rescuers,
beauty imagine-rs,
Latin chanters and
icon gazers.

We need more 
soil diggers,
green sprout detectors,
roadside recyclers,
beauty creators and
silence imaginers.

O Lady,
heal us by your
wide-eyed,
knowing gaze,
your gentle-ing smile,
your wisdom-filled mind 
  radiating new thoughts.
Save us by
  the gift of your effulgent son,
  Jesus, 
  the all courteous,
  all compassionate,
  all gracious one.

Amen.

Christ Before Annas the High Priest and Peter's Denial

This painting by Duccio de Buoninsegna is one of twenty-six images the artist created for the back of the Maesta altarpiece in the Cathedral of Siena at the start of the 14th century. Click on the image to hear a teaching about the two Gospel scenes Duccio has creatively combined into one. The account is found  in St. John's Gospel 18:12-27.

You can scroll back over the past couple of weeks to hear reflections on Duccio's Farewell to His Disciples and Jesus Washing the Feet of His Disciples.