Intercessions ~ Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

 

Wherever Ukraine is able to take back villages and towns,/ mass graves are discovered,/ some containing many hundreds of people,/ including children and those who appear to have been tortured and executed./ We pray for our poor, tormented world,/ where the most awful things happen./ We pray to the Lord.

Poor Puerto Rico is again destroyed by another hurricane/ five years after hurricane Maria./ It is said that the island was only half way back from that storm which leveled everything and left thousands dead./ Again,/ there is no electricity,/ no clean water./ We pray for those who suffer there and for those who help./ We pray to the Lord.

It is the fall season of Jewish Holidays./ May these days bring peace/ and the lessening of hatred and violence./  We pray to the Lord.

We hold in our minds and hearts the members of our families who are struggling and who ask for help or healing./ For the ones addicted/ divorcing/ whose relationships are broken or stressed,/ who have money problems,/ who are in mourning,/ where things seem to be falling apart./ We pray to the Lord.

Autumn has begun,/ the season of leaf-fall./ But behind each fallen leaf there is already next spring's leaf-bud./ And so we ask not to lose hope these days/ when even at the highest levels,/ lies,/ ugliness,/ dishonesty,/ corruption,/ theft,/ threats of violence,/ obfuscation and disintegration,/ seem to win./ We pray to the Lord.

We pray for Pope Francis,/ his health,/ strength and endurance./ May he be effective in leading the Church in a stressed world./ May his enemies not prevail./ We pray to the Lord.

Walsingham Feast Day ~ September 24

The Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham is in North Norfolk, England. In 1061, an Anglo-Saxon woman noblewoman, Richeldis de Faverches, had a vison of the Virgin Mary in which she was instructed to build a replica of the Holy House in Nazareth where the Annunciation took place.  Hence Walsingham became known as England's Nazareth. For centuries people, in all their variety, pilgrimed to the great shrine from all across Europe.

But Mary's shrine fell victim to the English Reformation of Henry VIII. Once her greatest devotee, who even paid to have a candle burning before her image year round, in 1538 he had Mary's shrine, the Holy House and monastic priory plundered and leveled. It is said that the shrine's image of the Mother of God was dragged behind a horse from Norfolk to London where it was burned. Another version claims the broken remains are possibly kept in The Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Either way, since the 1930's the shrine has been modestly restored and pilgrims in increasing numbers return.

Here is a small wood carved statue of Our Lady of Walsingham I bought when I was in seminary a long time ago. The tiny lily which Mary held in her right hand got lost somehow over the years. Anyway, I keep the candle lit before the statue as one of the first acts of my day. For me, lighting a candle before Mary's image keeps hope alive. 

And here is a a litany prayer I've composed for her feast day which is celebrated this Saturday, September 24.

My Lady Mary —

Who dwelt at Nazareth as a flower in its niche.

Who understands the language of angels.

Who is God's new home on earth.

Who is God's joy.

My Lady Mary —

Who is true and noble.

Who is is right and pure.

Who is lovely and admirable. 

Who is excellent and praiseworthy. Philippians 4:8

My Lady Mary —

Who praises God in the midst of creation.

Whose image so pleases us.

Whose lap a great throne.

Whose holy well a blessing place.

My Lady Mary —

Who bids us pray our own Magnificat.

Who gathers people in prayer.

Who heals hearts for loving.

Who understands the Beloved's mind.

My Lady Mary —

Who knows we are willed by God.

Who knows we are loved by God.

Who resides enfolded in the everlasting arms.

Whose praises on earth endure.

My Lady Mary —

Whose name, Miryam, is sweet.

Whose name is created for our encouragement.

Who creates an atmosphere of love around your son.

Who I approach in silence.

My Lady Mary —

Who restores comfort.

Who restores joy.

Who is my soul's fire.

Who is clean of heart.

My Lady Mary —

Who births the deliverer.

Whose enduring story is gladsome.

Who is there, with us, in our spiritual yearning.

Who reconciles visible and invisible worlds.

My Lady Mary  —

Who sees the desecrator.

Who has compassion for minds turned coarse and cold.

Who pities our world of flame.

Who knows us in our cruel losses.

My Lady Mary —

Who will be there in joy on my resurrection day.

Who I serve reverently.

Whose protection covers me as with a vestment.

Who delights me like the golden hour.

Fr. Stephen Morris

All Things Little

In late August moving into September, when the rest of the garden is showing signs of exhaustion, clematis paniculata blooms. This deciduous vine, a native of New Zealand, reveals masses of star-shaped, creamy-white and sweetly scented flowers. Here, called Sweet Autumn, it is growing over a stone wall. The Maori Polynesian people call the plant, puawhanaga which means flower of the skies. 

All of this loveliness is shared by little flowers no more than an inch across. I can't pass by without sticking my nose into the white clusters and inhaling deeply. Little flowers with a big delivery!

Jesus is a master of little things that furnish a big divine message:

a group of shepherds at his birth — considered God's little ones.

a little girl raised up talitha koum

a lost sheep (I have always imagined to be a lamb)

a hen with her chicks

a little pearl

a little yeast

a little boy's gift of a little fish and a little bread that feeds thousands

a poor widow's littlest coin

a lot of seed thrown, but a little bit landing safely

a little sparrow

a cluster of mothers escorting their little children

a little boat on a stormy sea

a little Easter morning breakfast for friends

a little cup of water

a Passover passing a little bit of bread and wine

There are as well the little things of life full of meaning:

We come into the world as little.

At an early age we learn the power of the littlest words, Please and Thank you.

We are baptized with a little bit of water.

My first catechism was a little blue book.

At Mass we receive the little Bread we call Bread of Life.

We end our prayers with the little word Amen.

Even through the night there's the little flame by the tabernacle.

As children perhaps we developed an appreciation for life planting little seeds;

  caring for little animals.

"It needs a little salt," we say.

A little cricket's chirping can fill an entire garden.

To send a little note; a little gift.

A vignette (from the French vigne, meaning little vine) is a short, evocative life moment, a kind of frozen scene which invites some emotional response.  I take care of a garth (a low walled garden) in an old church cemetery. This morning I watered the garden very early, even before there was full light. Before rolling up the hose I quickly washed off the bluestone slabs which cap the stone wall all around. It only took a moment to bend over to turn off the faucet, but in that split second, already a robin had flown down out of a nearby tree to have a drink from the water that had puddled in the shallow irregularities of the stone. I stood watching for a full minute while he filled up. Then he flew off.

Our lives are filled with these little "frozen" moments. The earth is charged with God's energies and gifts. I want to watch and listen so as not to miss them.