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Prayer: Psalm 139 (with measured pauses)
This Psalm is to be read antiphonally by two of more people at a slow and measured pace with a pause after the first line. Too often we rush through our devotional prayers.
O LORD, you have probed me, you know me: ( …pause…)
you know when I sit and stand; you understand my thoughts from afar.
My travels and my rest you mark; with all my ways you are familiar. ( …pause…)
Even before a word is on my tongue, LORD, you know it all.
Behind and before you encircle me and rest your hand upon me. ( …pause…)
Such knowledge is beyond me, far too lofty for me to reach.
Where can I hide from your spirit? From your presence, where can I flee? (…pause…)
If I ascend to the heavens, you are there; if I lie down in Sheol, you are there too.
If I fly with the wings of dawn and alight beyond the sea, ( …pause…)
Even there your hand will guide me, your right hand hold me fast.
If I say, "Surely darkness shall hide me, and night shall be my light" --( …pause…)
Darkness is not dark for you, and night shines as the day. Darkness and light are but one.
You formed my inmost being; you knit me in my mother's womb. ( …pause…)
I praise you, so wonderfully you made me; wonderful are your works! My very self you knew;
My bones were not hidden from you, When I was being made in secret, fashioned as in the depths of the earth. ( …pause…)
Your eyes foresaw my actions; in your book all are written down; my days were shaped, before one came to be.
How precious to me are your designs, O God; how vast the sum of them! ( …pause…)
Were I to count, they would outnumber the sands; to finish, I would need eternity.
If only you would destroy the wicked, O God, and the bloodthirsty would depart from me! ( …pause…)
Deceitfully they invoke your name; your foes swear faithless oaths.
Do I not hate, LORD, those who hate you? Those who rise against you, do I not loathe? ( …pause…)
With fierce hatred I hate them, enemies I count as my own.
Probe me, God, know my heart; try me, know my concerns. ( …pause…)
See if my way is crooked, then lead me in the ancient paths.
Glory be to the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit ( …pause…)
As it was in the beginning it is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen
O LORD, you have probed me, you know me: ( …pause…)
you know when I sit and stand; you understand my thoughts from afar.
My travels and my rest you mark; with all my ways you are familiar. ( …pause…)
Even before a word is on my tongue, LORD, you know it all.
Behind and before you encircle me and rest your hand upon me. ( …pause…)
Such knowledge is beyond me, far too lofty for me to reach.
Where can I hide from your spirit? From your presence, where can I flee? (…pause…)
If I ascend to the heavens, you are there; if I lie down in Sheol, you are there too.
If I fly with the wings of dawn and alight beyond the sea, ( …pause…)
Even there your hand will guide me, your right hand hold me fast.
If I say, "Surely darkness shall hide me, and night shall be my light" --( …pause…)
Darkness is not dark for you, and night shines as the day. Darkness and light are but one.
You formed my inmost being; you knit me in my mother's womb. ( …pause…)
I praise you, so wonderfully you made me; wonderful are your works! My very self you knew;
My bones were not hidden from you, When I was being made in secret, fashioned as in the depths of the earth. ( …pause…)
Your eyes foresaw my actions; in your book all are written down; my days were shaped, before one came to be.
How precious to me are your designs, O God; how vast the sum of them! ( …pause…)
Were I to count, they would outnumber the sands; to finish, I would need eternity.
If only you would destroy the wicked, O God, and the bloodthirsty would depart from me! ( …pause…)
Deceitfully they invoke your name; your foes swear faithless oaths.
Do I not hate, LORD, those who hate you? Those who rise against you, do I not loathe? ( …pause…)
With fierce hatred I hate them, enemies I count as my own.
Probe me, God, know my heart; try me, know my concerns. ( …pause…)
See if my way is crooked, then lead me in the ancient paths.
Glory be to the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit ( …pause…)
As it was in the beginning it is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen
Literature: from Paradiso, Divina Commedia, Dante, 1318-21
And at that centre, with their wings expanded,
More than a thousand jubilant Angels saw I,
Each differing in effulgence and in kind.
I saw there at their sports and at their songs
A beauty smiling, which the gladness was
Within the eyes of all the other saints;
And if I had in speaking as much wealth
As in imagining, I should not dare
To attempt the smallest part of its delight.
More than a thousand jubilant Angels saw I,
Each differing in effulgence and in kind.
I saw there at their sports and at their songs
A beauty smiling, which the gladness was
Within the eyes of all the other saints;
And if I had in speaking as much wealth
As in imagining, I should not dare
To attempt the smallest part of its delight.
Prayer: Mary Magdalene De’Pazzi
You are God, you are Father, you are Spirit, and you are also love. Never, never will I tire of calling you with this name of love.
Spirituality: The mystical illumination of Ignatius at the River Cardoner
After a period of intense prayer, Inigo de Loyola sat on the banks of the Cardoner River in Manresa, Spain where he daydreamed. He received an illumination from God that was so intense that he personally appropriated the mysteries of the faith.
He writes in his autobiography:
While he was seated there, the eyes of his understanding began to be opened; not that he saw any vision, but he understood and learned many things, both spiritual matters and matters of faith and scholarship, and this with so great an enlightenment that everything seemed new to him.
This left his understanding so enlightened that he felt as if he were another man with another mind.
He writes in his autobiography:
While he was seated there, the eyes of his understanding began to be opened; not that he saw any vision, but he understood and learned many things, both spiritual matters and matters of faith and scholarship, and this with so great an enlightenment that everything seemed new to him.
This left his understanding so enlightened that he felt as if he were another man with another mind.
Spirituality: Candle Light at House Dedication
We dedicate this home to love and understanding.
May its joys and sorrows be shared
and the individuality of each person
who lives and visits here appreciated.
We light a candle to love. (Light a candle.)
We dedicate this home to work, and rest, and play.
May our home have joy and high fellowship,
with kindness in its voices and laughter running within its walls.
We light a candle to joy. (Light a candle.)
We dedicate this home to friendly life.
May its doors open in hospitality
and its windows looks out with kindness toward other homes.
We light a candle to friendship. (Light a candle.)
We dedicate this home to cooperation.
May its duties be performed in love.
Its furnishings bear witness that the work of others
ministers to our comfort,
and its table remind us that God works with us
for the supply of daily needs.
We light a candle to cooperation. (Light a candle.)
We dedicate this home to appreciation
of all things good and true.
May the books brings wisdom,
the pictures symbolize things beautiful,
and the music bring joy and inspiration.
We light a candle to appreciation. (Light a candle.)
We dedicate the time and talent of those who live here
to help build a world in which every family
may have a home of comfort and fellowship.
We light a candle to Christian service. (Light a candle.)
We dedicate this home as a unit in the Church universal,
an instrument of the Kingdom of God,
a place of worship and Christian training
and a threshold to the life eternal.
We light a candle to spiritual enrichment. (Light a candle.)
As the flames point upward, so our thoughts rise in gratitude
to God for this home, and in prayer for God’s blessings upon it.
May its joys and sorrows be shared
and the individuality of each person
who lives and visits here appreciated.
We light a candle to love. (Light a candle.)
We dedicate this home to work, and rest, and play.
May our home have joy and high fellowship,
with kindness in its voices and laughter running within its walls.
We light a candle to joy. (Light a candle.)
We dedicate this home to friendly life.
May its doors open in hospitality
and its windows looks out with kindness toward other homes.
We light a candle to friendship. (Light a candle.)
We dedicate this home to cooperation.
May its duties be performed in love.
Its furnishings bear witness that the work of others
ministers to our comfort,
and its table remind us that God works with us
for the supply of daily needs.
We light a candle to cooperation. (Light a candle.)
We dedicate this home to appreciation
of all things good and true.
May the books brings wisdom,
the pictures symbolize things beautiful,
and the music bring joy and inspiration.
We light a candle to appreciation. (Light a candle.)
We dedicate the time and talent of those who live here
to help build a world in which every family
may have a home of comfort and fellowship.
We light a candle to Christian service. (Light a candle.)
We dedicate this home as a unit in the Church universal,
an instrument of the Kingdom of God,
a place of worship and Christian training
and a threshold to the life eternal.
We light a candle to spiritual enrichment. (Light a candle.)
As the flames point upward, so our thoughts rise in gratitude
to God for this home, and in prayer for God’s blessings upon it.
Prayer: Avery Cardinal Dulles, S.J.
When I entered the Catholic Church I made a venture that appeared foolhardy in the eyes of most of my family and friends. As a vowed religious, I took up a career that would make no sense unless the Catholic faith were true. If the Kingdom is the pearl of great price, the treasure buried in the field, one should be prepared to give up everything else to acquire it. It has always seemed to me that if God is God, his honor and glory must be the first priority. Although I cannot rival the generous dedication of Sts. Paul and Ignatius of Loyola, I am, like them, content to be employed in the service of Christ and the gospel, whether in sickness or in health, in good repute or ill repute. I am immeasurably grateful for the years in which the Lord has permitted me to serve him in a society that bears as its motto: Ad majorem Dei Gloriam. I trust that his grace will not fail me, and that I will not fail his grace, in the years to come.
Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time
August 29, 2010
The elders of the community wrote instructions within Wisdom literature to help a young man or woman, who is about to start out in life, follow the path of righteousness so that one would enjoy a long life with many descendants. Humility would be a key ingredient in the recipe of success and happiness for the Lord God would favor one who rightly knows his or her position in God’s world. Humility was regarded as an especially a key element in an honor/shame/status-driven society of the ancient world. Jesus gave instructions at a dinner banquet in such a world. First, Jesus addresses the invited guests about choosing places of honor at the table that would defy societal conventions and would reveal humility as a new honored value. (I wonder at which seat Jesus was assigned.) Next, Jesus addresses the dinner party host with instructions on how to assemble a guest list that is compatible with one’s religious assertions.
I thought about these passages as I observed people queuing up to board a plane. Everyone hoped for the best or most comfortable seat assignments. No one wanted to sit in the back because it meant that you did not want to pay for better seats or you were late in purchasing the tickets. The most honorable people could afford first class or business seats. These were the categories of people you hoped you could sit near because they obviously achieved a higher degree of status. If you sat in the back, you dreaded who might sit next to you because you would not be able to escape. We seem to be caught up in a similar type of honor/shame/status-driven society that existed in biblical times and we seek affirmation and glory from humans, rather than from God. When we work hard, we desire comfort, honor, status and power and we want to hang out with those who can benefit us. We want to live in the best city, to be in the best community, attend the most prestigious schools, or work at an esteemed institution. We simply want the best – and it elevates our esteem. We share the same types of desires as our biblical cousins. We operate by the same principles as found in any human society: Grab what you want first before all the selfish people take it.
Jesus challenges us to care for those who sit at the back of the plane. These are the people who do not advance our position and are people with whom few would want to associate, but we know of the unexpected delights that we might experience when we open our attitudes up to the unexpected. We might find that we profit through mutual enrichment, that we might become a friend to someone who can give us nothing back but friendship, or that we simply might like the person beside us. Jesus is teaching us about God’s attitude towards us because all people, no matter their situations in life, are equally loved by God. God wants the best for us and God wants us to know that we are all connected to each other in our humanity. Sure, equality does not exist in human standards, but in the kingdom of Christ, this new order is a preview of the kingdom of heaven. Let’s try out this humility thing a little more often to see what we can learn from it. I bet our unsuspecting neighbor’s life will be touched deeply by our compassionate actions, and the enrichment that we create will help bring about the desired social order of the kingdom. It is worth the risk to step outside ourselves to see the opportunities.
Quote for the Week
From Luke 14:14
Rather, when you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.
Themes for this Week’s Masses
First Reading: Paul continues in 1st Corinthians by saying that the community’s faith is a demonstration of God’s power and spirit. The Spirit searches for other similar spirits and finds a home, which allows us to speak, not with human wisdom, but though as taught by the Spirit. Paul calls the people to become people of the Spirit and he outlines the way in which they still act as people who follow the ways of the flesh. God uses the ways that the world finds foolish as an example of wisdom, therefore we are to refrain from making judgments against our neighbor because the judgment of the Lord is the one in which we are to be concerned. When we believe in Christ, we are not to draw distinctions among ourselves so as to earn favor from men. Become fools for Christ.
Gospel: Upon reading the scroll of the prophet Isaiah in the synagogue, Jesus declares that in the people’s hearing of the scripture, it is being fulfilled in their presence. Jesus leaves for Capernaum and amazes the people as he teaches with such authority that even supernatural demons recognize his great power. Jesus then heals Simon Peter’s mother-in-law and all the townspeople who come to him. When the crowd leaves and Jesus goes to Lake Gennesaret, he calls Peter as a disciple, who protests because he knows he is a sinful man. The scribes and Pharisees notice that Jesus does not observe the dietary customs and practices as other teachers do, by which he answers, “can the wedding guests fast while the bridge-groom is with them?” The Pharisees again approach him. This time they ask about his disregard for Sabbath observance of dietary laws to which he responds, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”
Saints of the Week
Friday: Gregory the Great, pope and Doctor of the church, was a wealthy judge who resigned to become a monk, where he later became abbot of his monastery and then pope in 590. He was acclaimed for his greatness because of his exceeding charity to the poor, his commitment to justice, and his protection of Jewish rights. He produced a document that dealt with guidelines for pastoral care and wrote many scriptural commentaries, homilies, and explanations for liturgical rites.
This Week in Jesuit History
• Aug. 29, 1541: At Rome the death of Fr. John Codure, a Savoyard, one of the first 10 companions of St. Ignatius.
• Aug. 30, 1556: On the banks of the St. Lawrence River, Fr. Leonard Garreau, a young missionary, was mortally wounded by the Iroquois.
• Aug. 31, 1581: In St. John's Chapel within the Tower of London, a religious discussion took place between St. Edmund Campion, suffering from recent torture, and some Protestant ministers.
• Sep 1, 1907. The Buffalo Mission was dissolved and its members were sent to the New York and Missouri Provinces and the California Mission.
• Sep 2, 1792. In Paris, ten ex-Jesuits were massacred for refusing to take the Constitutional oath. Also in Paris seven other fathers were put to death by the Republicans, among them Frs. Peter and Robert Guerin du Rocher.
• Sep 3, 1566. Queen Elizabeth visited Oxford and heard the 26-year-old Edmund Campion speak. He was to meet her again as a prisoner, brought to hear her offer of honors or death.
• Sep 4, 1760. At Para, Brazil, 150 men of the Society were shipped as prisoners, reaching Lisbon on December 2. They were at once exiled to Italy and landed at Civita Vecchia on January 17, 1761.
Last Days of Summer/Winter
As winter brightens to early spring in the southern hemisphere, the northern hemisphere savors the last days of summer that customarily end on Labor Day, September 6th. Enjoy this transitional time as the calendar moves into a new phase of life.
Pray and Give Alms - Pakistan Relief Efforts
The floods in Pakistan continue to devastate one-sixth of the country’s population leaving many people displaced and without adequate food and shelter. Worldwide aid has been a pittance compared to the response we gave to Haiti and Chile in their disasters. We acknowledge that we may sometimes have ambivalent feelings toward the inhabitants because they are men and women of a different faith tradition halfway around the world and the U.S. and its military allies have been engaged in an armed conflict with Al-Qaeda and the Taliban for almost a decade. Nonetheless, our brothers and sisters need our aid. If we can reach them first and take care of their basic needs, we can gain their sympathies before our enemies promise to take care of them and devote them to their militant cause. Regardless of all of that, they are our brothers and sisters in need. If you would like to make a donation, please consider contacting the Jesuit Refugee Services USA at www.jrsusa.org or to Catholic Charities in your diocese.
The elders of the community wrote instructions within Wisdom literature to help a young man or woman, who is about to start out in life, follow the path of righteousness so that one would enjoy a long life with many descendants. Humility would be a key ingredient in the recipe of success and happiness for the Lord God would favor one who rightly knows his or her position in God’s world. Humility was regarded as an especially a key element in an honor/shame/status-driven society of the ancient world. Jesus gave instructions at a dinner banquet in such a world. First, Jesus addresses the invited guests about choosing places of honor at the table that would defy societal conventions and would reveal humility as a new honored value. (I wonder at which seat Jesus was assigned.) Next, Jesus addresses the dinner party host with instructions on how to assemble a guest list that is compatible with one’s religious assertions.
I thought about these passages as I observed people queuing up to board a plane. Everyone hoped for the best or most comfortable seat assignments. No one wanted to sit in the back because it meant that you did not want to pay for better seats or you were late in purchasing the tickets. The most honorable people could afford first class or business seats. These were the categories of people you hoped you could sit near because they obviously achieved a higher degree of status. If you sat in the back, you dreaded who might sit next to you because you would not be able to escape. We seem to be caught up in a similar type of honor/shame/status-driven society that existed in biblical times and we seek affirmation and glory from humans, rather than from God. When we work hard, we desire comfort, honor, status and power and we want to hang out with those who can benefit us. We want to live in the best city, to be in the best community, attend the most prestigious schools, or work at an esteemed institution. We simply want the best – and it elevates our esteem. We share the same types of desires as our biblical cousins. We operate by the same principles as found in any human society: Grab what you want first before all the selfish people take it.
Jesus challenges us to care for those who sit at the back of the plane. These are the people who do not advance our position and are people with whom few would want to associate, but we know of the unexpected delights that we might experience when we open our attitudes up to the unexpected. We might find that we profit through mutual enrichment, that we might become a friend to someone who can give us nothing back but friendship, or that we simply might like the person beside us. Jesus is teaching us about God’s attitude towards us because all people, no matter their situations in life, are equally loved by God. God wants the best for us and God wants us to know that we are all connected to each other in our humanity. Sure, equality does not exist in human standards, but in the kingdom of Christ, this new order is a preview of the kingdom of heaven. Let’s try out this humility thing a little more often to see what we can learn from it. I bet our unsuspecting neighbor’s life will be touched deeply by our compassionate actions, and the enrichment that we create will help bring about the desired social order of the kingdom. It is worth the risk to step outside ourselves to see the opportunities.
Quote for the Week
From Luke 14:14
Rather, when you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.
Themes for this Week’s Masses
First Reading: Paul continues in 1st Corinthians by saying that the community’s faith is a demonstration of God’s power and spirit. The Spirit searches for other similar spirits and finds a home, which allows us to speak, not with human wisdom, but though as taught by the Spirit. Paul calls the people to become people of the Spirit and he outlines the way in which they still act as people who follow the ways of the flesh. God uses the ways that the world finds foolish as an example of wisdom, therefore we are to refrain from making judgments against our neighbor because the judgment of the Lord is the one in which we are to be concerned. When we believe in Christ, we are not to draw distinctions among ourselves so as to earn favor from men. Become fools for Christ.
Gospel: Upon reading the scroll of the prophet Isaiah in the synagogue, Jesus declares that in the people’s hearing of the scripture, it is being fulfilled in their presence. Jesus leaves for Capernaum and amazes the people as he teaches with such authority that even supernatural demons recognize his great power. Jesus then heals Simon Peter’s mother-in-law and all the townspeople who come to him. When the crowd leaves and Jesus goes to Lake Gennesaret, he calls Peter as a disciple, who protests because he knows he is a sinful man. The scribes and Pharisees notice that Jesus does not observe the dietary customs and practices as other teachers do, by which he answers, “can the wedding guests fast while the bridge-groom is with them?” The Pharisees again approach him. This time they ask about his disregard for Sabbath observance of dietary laws to which he responds, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”
Saints of the Week
Friday: Gregory the Great, pope and Doctor of the church, was a wealthy judge who resigned to become a monk, where he later became abbot of his monastery and then pope in 590. He was acclaimed for his greatness because of his exceeding charity to the poor, his commitment to justice, and his protection of Jewish rights. He produced a document that dealt with guidelines for pastoral care and wrote many scriptural commentaries, homilies, and explanations for liturgical rites.
This Week in Jesuit History
• Aug. 29, 1541: At Rome the death of Fr. John Codure, a Savoyard, one of the first 10 companions of St. Ignatius.
• Aug. 30, 1556: On the banks of the St. Lawrence River, Fr. Leonard Garreau, a young missionary, was mortally wounded by the Iroquois.
• Aug. 31, 1581: In St. John's Chapel within the Tower of London, a religious discussion took place between St. Edmund Campion, suffering from recent torture, and some Protestant ministers.
• Sep 1, 1907. The Buffalo Mission was dissolved and its members were sent to the New York and Missouri Provinces and the California Mission.
• Sep 2, 1792. In Paris, ten ex-Jesuits were massacred for refusing to take the Constitutional oath. Also in Paris seven other fathers were put to death by the Republicans, among them Frs. Peter and Robert Guerin du Rocher.
• Sep 3, 1566. Queen Elizabeth visited Oxford and heard the 26-year-old Edmund Campion speak. He was to meet her again as a prisoner, brought to hear her offer of honors or death.
• Sep 4, 1760. At Para, Brazil, 150 men of the Society were shipped as prisoners, reaching Lisbon on December 2. They were at once exiled to Italy and landed at Civita Vecchia on January 17, 1761.
Last Days of Summer/Winter
As winter brightens to early spring in the southern hemisphere, the northern hemisphere savors the last days of summer that customarily end on Labor Day, September 6th. Enjoy this transitional time as the calendar moves into a new phase of life.
Pray and Give Alms - Pakistan Relief Efforts
The floods in Pakistan continue to devastate one-sixth of the country’s population leaving many people displaced and without adequate food and shelter. Worldwide aid has been a pittance compared to the response we gave to Haiti and Chile in their disasters. We acknowledge that we may sometimes have ambivalent feelings toward the inhabitants because they are men and women of a different faith tradition halfway around the world and the U.S. and its military allies have been engaged in an armed conflict with Al-Qaeda and the Taliban for almost a decade. Nonetheless, our brothers and sisters need our aid. If we can reach them first and take care of their basic needs, we can gain their sympathies before our enemies promise to take care of them and devote them to their militant cause. Regardless of all of that, they are our brothers and sisters in need. If you would like to make a donation, please consider contacting the Jesuit Refugee Services USA at www.jrsusa.org or to Catholic Charities in your diocese.
Literature: from Confessions, Augustine, about 400
Let them praise Thy Name, let the praise Thee, the supercelestial people, Thine angels, who have no need to gaze up at this firmament, or by reading to know of Thy word. For they always behold Thy face, and there read without any syllables in time, what willeth Thy eternal will; they read, they choose, they love. They are ever reading; and that never passes away which they read; for by choosing, and by loving, they read the very unchangeableness of Thy counsel. Their book is never closed, nor their scroll folded up; seeing Thou Thyself art this to them, and art eternally; because Thou hast ordained them above this firmament of the lower people, where they may gaze up and learn Thy mercy, announcing in time Thee Who madest times. For Thy mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens, and Thy truth reacheth unto the clouds. The clouds pass away, but the heaven abideth.
Literature: Augustine (about 400 CE) from the Confessions
Blessed are all thy Saints, O God and King, who have travelled over the tempestuous sea of this mortal life, and have made the harbor of peace and felicity. Watch over us who are still in our dangerous voyage; and remember such as lie exposed to the rough storms of trouble and temptations. Frail is our vessel, and the ocean is wide; but as in thy mercy thou hast set our course, so steer the vessel of our life toward the everlasting shore of peace, and bring us at length to the quiet haven of our heart’s desire, where thou, O our God, are blessed, and livest and reignest forever and ever.
Prayer: Prayer to the Sacred Heart by Saint Francis De Sales
May Thy Heart dwell always in our hearts!
May Thy Blood ever flow in the veins of our souls!
O sun of our hearts, Thou givest life to all things by the rays of Thy goodness!
I will not go until Thy Heart has strengthened me, O Lord Jesus!
May the Heart of Jesus be the King of my heart!
Blessed be God. Amen.
May Thy Blood ever flow in the veins of our souls!
O sun of our hearts, Thou givest life to all things by the rays of Thy goodness!
I will not go until Thy Heart has strengthened me, O Lord Jesus!
May the Heart of Jesus be the King of my heart!
Blessed be God. Amen.
Prayer: Emmanuel D’Alzon
Lord, open our eyes to our true destiny and make us understand that seeking to glorify you on earth in our first duty and is the surest means of reaching our true greatness in eternity.
Prayer: Claude la Colombiere, S.J.
Jesus, you are the only and true Friend; not only do you participate in all my sufferings but you take them on yourself and know the secret of how to change them into joy for me. You listen to me kindly and when I tell you my afflictions you never fail to sweeten them.
I find you everywhere, you never go away, and if I am obliged to change dwellings I find you everywhere I go. You do not suffer from boredom when you listen to me, nor are you ever weary of doing me good.
If I love you, I am sure of receiving your love; you do not need my belongings nor are you impoverished by giving me yours.
Even though I am a poor man, nobody (however noble, intelligent or holy) can steal your friendship from me. Death itself, which divides all friends, will reunite me with you.
No adversity of age or change will succeed in drawing you away from me; on the contrary, I will never so fully enjoy your presence and you will never be close to me as when everything seems to conspire against me.
Only you, with wonderful patience, can bear with my faults. Even if my unfaithfulness and ingratitude offend you, they do not prevent you from always being ready, if only I want it, to grant me your grace and your love.
I find you everywhere, you never go away, and if I am obliged to change dwellings I find you everywhere I go. You do not suffer from boredom when you listen to me, nor are you ever weary of doing me good.
If I love you, I am sure of receiving your love; you do not need my belongings nor are you impoverished by giving me yours.
Even though I am a poor man, nobody (however noble, intelligent or holy) can steal your friendship from me. Death itself, which divides all friends, will reunite me with you.
No adversity of age or change will succeed in drawing you away from me; on the contrary, I will never so fully enjoy your presence and you will never be close to me as when everything seems to conspire against me.
Only you, with wonderful patience, can bear with my faults. Even if my unfaithfulness and ingratitude offend you, they do not prevent you from always being ready, if only I want it, to grant me your grace and your love.
Poem: from Our Lady of Walsingham, Robert Lowell, 1946
Our Lady, too small for her canopy,
Sits near the altar. There’s no comeliness
At all or charm in that expressionless
Face with its heavy eyelids. As before,
This face, for centuries a memory,
Non est species, neque décor,
Expressionless, expresses God: it goes
Past castled Sion. She knows what God knows,
Not Calvary’s Cross nor crib at Bethlehem
Now, and the world shall come to Walsingham.
Sits near the altar. There’s no comeliness
At all or charm in that expressionless
Face with its heavy eyelids. As before,
This face, for centuries a memory,
Non est species, neque décor,
Expressionless, expresses God: it goes
Past castled Sion. She knows what God knows,
Not Calvary’s Cross nor crib at Bethlehem
Now, and the world shall come to Walsingham.
Weekly Email Distribution
If you would like to add your name to the private, undisclosed weekly email distribution list, please send your email to predmoresj@yahoo.com
Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time
August 22, 2010
The hopeful message of Isaiah’s reading gets twisted when pitted against Luke’s gospel passage. The Lord God tells Isaiah that some people from every nation will come to Jerusalem and see the divine glory and that some of these newly elect will become priests and Levites. The disciples of Jesus ask him if they will be saved as they realize only a few will be allowed into the kingdom. The closest friends of Jesus are unsure about their salvation even though they have listened to him, watched his wondrous miracles, heard his powerful words, and have left family and home to be with him. After all this they still are not assured. They hope and have faith and have practiced great acts of charity, but these very essential questions linger. This is a good disposition to have after all. Do you agree?
It is a confusing time to be a Christian because we know we do not have many of the answers or perhaps even the proper questions to many questions about our faith. The beliefs many Christians have about today’s complicated social issues are often at odds with the religious leaders who are trying to teach us, and we understand that a solid pedagogical model incorporates understanding our contexts, prudently choosing our action plan, and then taking the time to ponder and reflect upon the rightness of our choices. All too often the teacher becomes the student as both teacher and student are bound to learn from each other. We recognize that no side really possesses the truth, but the best disposition to have is to strive and pursue the truth as contained in God’s will for me here and now. God’s will is manifested in the here and now. What exists today as truth for me may change tomorrow. Learning and enrichment are so paradoxical because we find out that we know less than we thought we would than when we first began. Like the disciples of Jesus, we may err if we presume to know more than we do. Rightly, they wonder and do not presume that they are among the saved who will enter into the kingdom. The question remains, “Do we know if we are saved?”
Who makes it into the kingdom? The words of Jesus may upset us if we pay attention to the criteria he lists in the readings. People who are at the end of the line might get in before us. Merely knowing Jesus is not a qualification; the degree of being his friend however is significant. Those who we have rejected as unqualified might have the better seats than we do. Presuming we are in is an opposing vice to the virtue of hope. Finally, acting with humility and serving others seems to be the key to enter into the narrow gates. Together, these are difficult conditions to accept in today’s climate. What are we to do then? Developing our spiritual life and enriching our prayer experience with Jesus Christ will lead us into making the best choices we can. Our friendship with him will help us make the most prudential, merciful decisions we can because we will know what he wants from us and for us. If we learn to pay attention to both our needs and his, he will take care of us and we will learn to trust his way of being above all other inferior criteria in life. We will find that we like this way of goodness and we will want to be like him to a greater degree. It is just amazing what he will do for you when you realize how much he likes you.
Quote for the Week
From “The World According to Mr. Rogers” by Fred Rogers
I hope you are proud of yourself for the times you’ve said “yes,” when all it meant was extra work for you and was seemingly helpful only to someone else.
Themes for this Week’s Masses
First Reading: Paul’s 2nd letter to the Thessalonians is inserted into the first reading when he bolsters the courage of the persecuted believers to persevere in prayer and good works. He calls everyone to act in a way that is in order with the imitation of Paul and Jesus so that we can be a model for others to come to belief. In 1st Corinthians, Paul gives thanks for the Greek-based community that is richly blessed by God’s grace. Paul declares that Christ sent him to preach the Gospel and its message of the cross, which is foolishness to those who don’t understand. Paul glorifies the crucified Christ as the power of God. Paul illustrates how those assembled also are foolish in the world’s eyes, but glorified in God’s.
Gospel: Jesus unleashes his criticism upon the scribes and Pharisees whose actions mocks God and set the wrong example for discipleship. He encourages the people to be vigilant for the coming of the kingdom of God. They must build a relationship with God and be attentive to the divine will. He likens our disposition to receive the kingdom of heaven to be like the ten bridal virgins who are awaiting the arrival of the bridegroom and have their lamps prepared for his return. He then tells the parable of the man on a journey entrusting his possession to three servants, two of which invested the money, the third hid the talents and received no profit. For to everyone who has, more will be given and this person will grow rich.
Saints of the Week
Monday: Rose of Lima joined a Third Order of St. Dominic in Lima, Peru, a daughter of Spanish immigrants during the late 16th century. She practiced a life of penance, food deprivation and other harsh austerities, which brought about a few mystical experiences, but great periods of darkness and desolation. She was the first canonized saint from the New World.
Tuesday: Bartholomew, Apostle, is one of the Twelve Disciples, but we know little about his identity. The Synoptics link his name to Philip, but John’s Gospel links Nathaniel’s to Philip. All we really know is that he was one of the chosen Twelve who was a friend of Jesus from the beginning and witnessed his resurrection.
Wednesday: Louis of France became regent at age 12 and king at age 22 and ruled at a time of peace and prosperity. He is said to have been a fair man who acted justly, with mercy, and with great concern for the poor. He reigned for 44 years until his death in 1270.
Friday: Monica is the mother of Augustine who encouraged him to convert to the Christian faith. Previously, he had abandoned his faith in favor of the Manichean tradition, but her prayer and fasting is attributed to aiding his conversion. They lived in North Africa, but Augustine later moved to Milan where he met and was baptized by Ambrose in 387. Ambrose introduced a Milanese Eucharistic rite called the Ambrosian rite.
Saturday: Augustine, Bishop and Doctor, was the author of his Confessions, his spiritual autobiography, and The City of God, which described the life of faith in relation to the life of the temporal world. Many other writings, sermons, and treatises earned him the title Doctor of the church. In his formative years, he followed Mani, a Persian prophet who tried to explain the problem of evil in the world. His mother’s prayers and Ambrose’s preaching helped him convert to Christianity. He was named bishop of Hippo and defended the church against three major heresies.
This Week in Jesuit History
• Aug. 22, 1872: Jesuits were expelled from Germany during the Bismarckian Kulturkampf.
• Aug. 23, 1558: In the First General Congregation, the question was discussed about the General's office being triennial, and the introduction of choir, as proposed by Pope Paul IV, and it was decreed that the Constitutions ought to remain unaltered.
• Aug. 24, 1544: Peter Faber arrived in Lisbon.
• Aug. 25, 1666: At Beijing, the death of Fr. John Adam Schall. By his profound knowledge of mathematics and astronomy, he attained such fame that the Emperor entrusted to him the reform of the Chinese calendar.
• Aug. 26, 1562: The return of Fr. Diego Laynez from France to Trent, the Fathers of the Council desiring to hear him speak on the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
• Aug. 27, 1679: The martyrdom at Usk, England, of St. David Lewis, apostle to the poor in his native Wales for three decades before he was caught and hanged.
• Aug. 28, 1628: The martyrdom in Lancashire, England, of St. Edmund Arrowsmith.
My Return to the U.S.
My period of formation called tertianship has come to an end. It has been a very rich time with incredibly happy memories during a period in which I formed strong bonds of Jesuit fraternity. I will miss many of my tertianmates as we disperse throughout the world into the ministries to which our provincials assign us. I am grateful for the terrific hospitality of the Australian province and their colleagues and friends. My prayer life and my heart are much richer for this special time. I am just incredibly happy.
The hopeful message of Isaiah’s reading gets twisted when pitted against Luke’s gospel passage. The Lord God tells Isaiah that some people from every nation will come to Jerusalem and see the divine glory and that some of these newly elect will become priests and Levites. The disciples of Jesus ask him if they will be saved as they realize only a few will be allowed into the kingdom. The closest friends of Jesus are unsure about their salvation even though they have listened to him, watched his wondrous miracles, heard his powerful words, and have left family and home to be with him. After all this they still are not assured. They hope and have faith and have practiced great acts of charity, but these very essential questions linger. This is a good disposition to have after all. Do you agree?
It is a confusing time to be a Christian because we know we do not have many of the answers or perhaps even the proper questions to many questions about our faith. The beliefs many Christians have about today’s complicated social issues are often at odds with the religious leaders who are trying to teach us, and we understand that a solid pedagogical model incorporates understanding our contexts, prudently choosing our action plan, and then taking the time to ponder and reflect upon the rightness of our choices. All too often the teacher becomes the student as both teacher and student are bound to learn from each other. We recognize that no side really possesses the truth, but the best disposition to have is to strive and pursue the truth as contained in God’s will for me here and now. God’s will is manifested in the here and now. What exists today as truth for me may change tomorrow. Learning and enrichment are so paradoxical because we find out that we know less than we thought we would than when we first began. Like the disciples of Jesus, we may err if we presume to know more than we do. Rightly, they wonder and do not presume that they are among the saved who will enter into the kingdom. The question remains, “Do we know if we are saved?”
Who makes it into the kingdom? The words of Jesus may upset us if we pay attention to the criteria he lists in the readings. People who are at the end of the line might get in before us. Merely knowing Jesus is not a qualification; the degree of being his friend however is significant. Those who we have rejected as unqualified might have the better seats than we do. Presuming we are in is an opposing vice to the virtue of hope. Finally, acting with humility and serving others seems to be the key to enter into the narrow gates. Together, these are difficult conditions to accept in today’s climate. What are we to do then? Developing our spiritual life and enriching our prayer experience with Jesus Christ will lead us into making the best choices we can. Our friendship with him will help us make the most prudential, merciful decisions we can because we will know what he wants from us and for us. If we learn to pay attention to both our needs and his, he will take care of us and we will learn to trust his way of being above all other inferior criteria in life. We will find that we like this way of goodness and we will want to be like him to a greater degree. It is just amazing what he will do for you when you realize how much he likes you.
Quote for the Week
From “The World According to Mr. Rogers” by Fred Rogers
I hope you are proud of yourself for the times you’ve said “yes,” when all it meant was extra work for you and was seemingly helpful only to someone else.
Themes for this Week’s Masses
First Reading: Paul’s 2nd letter to the Thessalonians is inserted into the first reading when he bolsters the courage of the persecuted believers to persevere in prayer and good works. He calls everyone to act in a way that is in order with the imitation of Paul and Jesus so that we can be a model for others to come to belief. In 1st Corinthians, Paul gives thanks for the Greek-based community that is richly blessed by God’s grace. Paul declares that Christ sent him to preach the Gospel and its message of the cross, which is foolishness to those who don’t understand. Paul glorifies the crucified Christ as the power of God. Paul illustrates how those assembled also are foolish in the world’s eyes, but glorified in God’s.
Gospel: Jesus unleashes his criticism upon the scribes and Pharisees whose actions mocks God and set the wrong example for discipleship. He encourages the people to be vigilant for the coming of the kingdom of God. They must build a relationship with God and be attentive to the divine will. He likens our disposition to receive the kingdom of heaven to be like the ten bridal virgins who are awaiting the arrival of the bridegroom and have their lamps prepared for his return. He then tells the parable of the man on a journey entrusting his possession to three servants, two of which invested the money, the third hid the talents and received no profit. For to everyone who has, more will be given and this person will grow rich.
Saints of the Week
Monday: Rose of Lima joined a Third Order of St. Dominic in Lima, Peru, a daughter of Spanish immigrants during the late 16th century. She practiced a life of penance, food deprivation and other harsh austerities, which brought about a few mystical experiences, but great periods of darkness and desolation. She was the first canonized saint from the New World.
Tuesday: Bartholomew, Apostle, is one of the Twelve Disciples, but we know little about his identity. The Synoptics link his name to Philip, but John’s Gospel links Nathaniel’s to Philip. All we really know is that he was one of the chosen Twelve who was a friend of Jesus from the beginning and witnessed his resurrection.
Wednesday: Louis of France became regent at age 12 and king at age 22 and ruled at a time of peace and prosperity. He is said to have been a fair man who acted justly, with mercy, and with great concern for the poor. He reigned for 44 years until his death in 1270.
Friday: Monica is the mother of Augustine who encouraged him to convert to the Christian faith. Previously, he had abandoned his faith in favor of the Manichean tradition, but her prayer and fasting is attributed to aiding his conversion. They lived in North Africa, but Augustine later moved to Milan where he met and was baptized by Ambrose in 387. Ambrose introduced a Milanese Eucharistic rite called the Ambrosian rite.
Saturday: Augustine, Bishop and Doctor, was the author of his Confessions, his spiritual autobiography, and The City of God, which described the life of faith in relation to the life of the temporal world. Many other writings, sermons, and treatises earned him the title Doctor of the church. In his formative years, he followed Mani, a Persian prophet who tried to explain the problem of evil in the world. His mother’s prayers and Ambrose’s preaching helped him convert to Christianity. He was named bishop of Hippo and defended the church against three major heresies.
This Week in Jesuit History
• Aug. 22, 1872: Jesuits were expelled from Germany during the Bismarckian Kulturkampf.
• Aug. 23, 1558: In the First General Congregation, the question was discussed about the General's office being triennial, and the introduction of choir, as proposed by Pope Paul IV, and it was decreed that the Constitutions ought to remain unaltered.
• Aug. 24, 1544: Peter Faber arrived in Lisbon.
• Aug. 25, 1666: At Beijing, the death of Fr. John Adam Schall. By his profound knowledge of mathematics and astronomy, he attained such fame that the Emperor entrusted to him the reform of the Chinese calendar.
• Aug. 26, 1562: The return of Fr. Diego Laynez from France to Trent, the Fathers of the Council desiring to hear him speak on the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
• Aug. 27, 1679: The martyrdom at Usk, England, of St. David Lewis, apostle to the poor in his native Wales for three decades before he was caught and hanged.
• Aug. 28, 1628: The martyrdom in Lancashire, England, of St. Edmund Arrowsmith.
My Return to the U.S.
My period of formation called tertianship has come to an end. It has been a very rich time with incredibly happy memories during a period in which I formed strong bonds of Jesuit fraternity. I will miss many of my tertianmates as we disperse throughout the world into the ministries to which our provincials assign us. I am grateful for the terrific hospitality of the Australian province and their colleagues and friends. My prayer life and my heart are much richer for this special time. I am just incredibly happy.
Spirituality: The Dogmatic Constitution on the Catholic Faith
Chapter 2: On revelation
The same holy mother Church holds and teaches that God, the beginning and end of all things, can be known from created things, by the light of natural human reasons: “For ever since the creation of the world, God’s eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the things he has made” [Rom. 1:20]; nevertheless, it has pleased his wisdom and goodness to reveal to the human race, in another and supernatural way, himself and the eternal decrees of his will, as the Apostle says: “Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son [Heb. 1:1 f, can.1].
The same holy mother Church holds and teaches that God, the beginning and end of all things, can be known from created things, by the light of natural human reasons: “For ever since the creation of the world, God’s eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the things he has made” [Rom. 1:20]; nevertheless, it has pleased his wisdom and goodness to reveal to the human race, in another and supernatural way, himself and the eternal decrees of his will, as the Apostle says: “Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son [Heb. 1:1 f, can.1].
Prayer: Damien Joseph de Veuster
Holy Communion keeps me full of joy. Without constant presence of our divine Master in my humble chapel, I should never have been able to continue to link my life with the lepers of Moloka’i.
Spirituality: “Prayer and Desire” from Primary Speech by Ann and Barry Ulanov
Desire leads to more desire. Prayer articulates our longing for a fullness of being, our reaching out of the mind for what is beyond it, and helps us find and love God and grow with our love. It is like the sun warming a seed into life, like the work of clearing away weeds and bringing water to the interior garden of St. Teresa’s inspired imagery. Prayer enlarges our desire until it receives God’s desire for us. In prayer we grow big enough to house God’s desire for us, which is the Holy Spirit.
Prayer: Pedro Arrupe, S.J.
If we follow Christ, persecution will come, as we have discovered through experience in so many countries when we try to serve faith and promote justice. Not all of us will witness to Christ by shedding our life’s blood in sacrifice, but all of us should unreservedly offer him our whole lives. The essential thing, the Jesuit thing, is to always confess him before people. As I said to the General Congregation in December 1971, “The thing that counts is that we really resolve to follow Christ even without knowing what sacrifice this following of him will certainly demand of us.”
To be able to carry out this vocation of ours, the Society today must count on men and on communities imbued with the “mind of Christ” who serve Christ without limit or reservation, who joyfully lead lives of evangelical simplicity and continuing self-sacrifice, thus offering to our contemporaries an ideal for living, and to the generous youth of our day a model and way of life.
This is the real secret of success in our mission in the Church. This will be the source of new vocations: “the blood of martyrs is the seed of vocations.” This is the Jesuit that St. Ignatius, that the Pope, and above all that the Eternal King wishes today to find in each one of us.
To be able to carry out this vocation of ours, the Society today must count on men and on communities imbued with the “mind of Christ” who serve Christ without limit or reservation, who joyfully lead lives of evangelical simplicity and continuing self-sacrifice, thus offering to our contemporaries an ideal for living, and to the generous youth of our day a model and way of life.
This is the real secret of success in our mission in the Church. This will be the source of new vocations: “the blood of martyrs is the seed of vocations.” This is the Jesuit that St. Ignatius, that the Pope, and above all that the Eternal King wishes today to find in each one of us.
Prayer: Aloysius Gonzaga, S.J.
May the comfort and grace of the Holy Spirit be yours forever, most honored Lady. You letter found me lingering still in this region of the dead, but now I must rouse myself to make my way on to heaven at last and to praise God forever in the land of the living; indeed I had hoped that before this time my journey there would have been over. If charity, as Saint Paul says, means to weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who are glad, then, dearest mother, you shall rejoice exceedingly that God in his grace and his love for you is showing me the path to true happiness, and assuring me that I shall never lose him.
The divine goodness, most honored lady, is a fathomless and shoreless ocean, and I confess that when I plunge my mind into thought of this it is carried away by the immensity and feels quite lost and bewildered there. In return for my short and feeble labors, God is calling me to eternal rest; his voice from heaven invites me to the infinite bliss I have sought so languidly, and promises me this reward for the tears I have so seldom shed. Take care above all things, most honored lady, not to insult God’s boundless loving kindness; you would certainly do this if you mourned as dead one living face to face with God, one whose prayers can bring you in your troubles more powerful aid than they ever could on earth. And our parting will not be for long; we shall see each other again in heaven; we shall be united with our Savior; there we shall praise him with heart and soul, sing of his mercies forever, and enjoy eternal happiness. When he takes away what he once lent us, his purpose is to store our treasure elsewhere more safely and bestow on us those very blessings that we ourselves would most choose to have.
I write all this with the one desire that you and all my family may consider my departure a joy and favor and that you especially may speed with a mother’s blessing my passage across the waters till I reach the shore to which all hopes belong. I write the more willingly because I have no clearer way of expressing the love and respect I owe you as your son.
The divine goodness, most honored lady, is a fathomless and shoreless ocean, and I confess that when I plunge my mind into thought of this it is carried away by the immensity and feels quite lost and bewildered there. In return for my short and feeble labors, God is calling me to eternal rest; his voice from heaven invites me to the infinite bliss I have sought so languidly, and promises me this reward for the tears I have so seldom shed. Take care above all things, most honored lady, not to insult God’s boundless loving kindness; you would certainly do this if you mourned as dead one living face to face with God, one whose prayers can bring you in your troubles more powerful aid than they ever could on earth. And our parting will not be for long; we shall see each other again in heaven; we shall be united with our Savior; there we shall praise him with heart and soul, sing of his mercies forever, and enjoy eternal happiness. When he takes away what he once lent us, his purpose is to store our treasure elsewhere more safely and bestow on us those very blessings that we ourselves would most choose to have.
I write all this with the one desire that you and all my family may consider my departure a joy and favor and that you especially may speed with a mother’s blessing my passage across the waters till I reach the shore to which all hopes belong. I write the more willingly because I have no clearer way of expressing the love and respect I owe you as your son.