Intercessions ~ Fifth Sunday in the Easter Time

We pray for the suffering people of Nepal

Pope Francis continues to offer prayers and hopes for the resolution of the world's bitter conflicts./ We ask for him the blessings of health and safety,/ and that we would be peace-makers too./ We pray to the Lord..

May first was the Feast of Saint Joseph the worker./ We pray that our work would be blessed,/ for those who have no work,/ those whose work helps and sustains us,/ for those whose work is dangerous,/ unfair or undignified./ We pray to the Lord.

In the Mary's month of May/ we pray for the people of Islam/ which reveres her as we do./ We pray too that we would be faithful to Jesus/ Mary's Son/ and joyful in his service./ We pray to the Lord. 

Many thousands of people have been injured or displaced in Nepal/ where a great earthquake has caused terrible destruction./ We ask for the international help these newly suffering people need./ We pray to the Lord.

The city of Baltimore has suffered fiery violence this week/ - giving expression to a tremendous discontent,/ frustration and anger./ We pray for the healing of communities wherever good order and peace has been lost./ We pray to the Lord.

We entrust our families and friends to the Lord,/ the sick,/ the world's children,/ refugees,/ couples preparing for marriage,/ the poor/ and anyone who has shown us any support or kindness./ We pray to the Lord.

In the Easter time we pray for all who have died,/ entrusting them to the Risen-Christ/ who tramples down death,/ bestowing life to those in the tomb./ We pray to the Lord.

Pope Nicholas ~ Rooster and Pro-Life Thoughts

POPE NICHOLAS I required that all churches carry an image of the cockerel (rooster) somewhere on the church walls inside or out. The reason is debated: was he just pressing the authority of St. Peter and the Papacy? I don't know. Maybe he was honest enough to acknowledge that the Church, like Peter, often denies Jesus in practice. I say often because Peter denied knowing Jesus three times in quick succession and the history of the Church is filled with sad, Christ-denying stories.

As we see in this photograph there is a stylized crowing rooster perched on the steeple of the church which was built long after Pope Nicholas. In Europe, Protestant churches often have roosters instead of crosses atop steeples to distinguish them from Catholic Churches. That might seem a little silly. We might better consider humbly how often as Christians we act as if we don't even know Jesus: our arrogance, power abuse, greed, bad alliances, lies, even criminality. Father forgive.

But there is more, because to be real followers of Jesus, we need to learn again what mercy is. Mercy doesn't mean: "I could have you thrown in jail for your crime, but I'll spare you and have mercy." For all the talk about Divine Mercy in the Church today, I wonder if we know that mercy refers to God's kindness. It's kindness that's in short-supply. Often we meet Christians, even those who call themselves pro-life, who are death penalty advocates. That's a problem. Here's a pro-life message from 9th century Nicholas we might grow into:

So also you, having been called by God and illumined by His light, must not be eager to inflict death as before, but rather you should seize every opportunity to summon all to life both of body and soul; and as Christ has brought you to life from the death in which you were imprisoned, so you too must seek to snatch from death not only the innocent but even all the guilty.

Pro-life folks ought to be front-of-the-line advocates for prison reform. The United States comprises 5% of the world's population but 47% of the world's prisoners. Speaking with a man in jail recently he leaned over near my ear across the counter and said softly, "There's nothing happening in here to help people to reform." 

The Catholic Church in the United States once created its own massive and effective school system. Maybe we should have our own method and approach to prisoner rehabilitation, born of God's kindness. 

"I like your Christ, but..."

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This 13th or 14th century Byzantine icon of the Mother of God is of the Eleousa type, which means Mother of God ~ Tenderness. Of course, the angels (top left and right) carry the tools which foreshadow his passion, and so we might say the Infant has fled to his Mother in fear.

That fear is often quite evident in icons of this type, but not here - the Mother of God is smiling softly and lacks the pensive, faraway look exhibited in other Eleousa icons. The Holy Child isn't looking skyward in fear of the cross and nail-bearing angels but is clearly fixed on his Mother's face in a very deep and affectionate intimacy.

Mary hugs Jesus dearly to herself. The Holy Child is comfortable in his mother's arms, perhaps pulling himself close before kissing her cheek. To be sure, the icon expresses the intensity of relationship between the Mother and Christ child. 

~ ~ ~

But there is more, as Mary is not divine but she is one of us. And in this marvelous and en-spirited icon, we see God-in-Christ looking into humanity's eyes while dancing in our arms, cheek to cheek, covering us with kisses and embraces, though the worst we can do appears in the sky. 

This is the heart of our believing - the enduring and unchanging dogma. How then could Gandhi have said this of us: "I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."

Gandhi said this because the Christians he encountered were the Christians of a ruling empire. And empire, as with any institution, has as its first purpose the preservation of itself at all costs. Often the themes of empire are: disrespect, disregard, plunder, murder and massacre, oppression, condescension, exploitation, superiority and subservience. The shame of Christ's Church is very great indeed.

O Christ our Light,

let us begin again,

with you,

only you ~

who, dancing in our arms,

covers us with

kisses and caresses.