Scraps

"She said, “Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters.” 

This past Sunday, as I prayed with the Gospel prior to Mass, this line struck me.  And I thought of it in relation to evangelization, for only dogs that are hungry will eat the scraps.  What if they have fed themselves elsewhere?  What if their bellies are already full with food from others, food that is not even as good as scraps but still fills them up?  Then they will not eat the scraps, not even the meal on the table will interest them because they are no longer hungry for the True Food from the Master's Table.  How do we reach those people, since so often the food that is not good is all they crave?  

Love Over a Bunsen Burner (Or...how I met my husband)

Love over a Bunsen burner      

Maybe it was just the chemicals

Sodium flashing orange

Copper flashing green

The unforgettable smell of sulfur

Your low slung sports car

Creating colors of its own

As you sped off each evening

To your roommates

In the little house

Next door to

Titchuba and the buried refrigerator

Neighbors

Still just chemicals

Everything can be boiled down

To its elemental nature

Except perhaps love

For who truly understands

Why we fell for each other

Concocting chemical cocktails

Under Father Lambert’s

Watchful eye

Little did he know

We were creating a new

Compound

Generating our own heat

Without even touching

Only our eyes

And our hearts

Joining in an unbreakable

Bond

For isn’t that what

Chemistry is all about

Anyway?

Foster Child (poem in progress)

Foster Child

You called her “Mother”,

Your foster mother

Who adopted your elder brother

And took you and your sisters

Into her home

I only knew it as a scary place

Which smelled of cats

And rotting food

A big woman

And you loved her

The only one of your siblings

Who wouldn’t forgive the birth mother

Who couldn’t raise her family

I have so many questions

Which you won’t answer

Pushing all those memories away

As you drown yourself in the company

Of Jack Daniels

The sweet smell that I remember well

Every day you came home from work

And we knew to retreat to our bedrooms

Until supper

And hope your day wasn’t bad

Filling that empty spot in your heart

With what some call

Liquid courage

But which I called weakness

Maybe I was too harsh

Maybe I was wrong

I know now you tried your best

But you still left us

Wishing someone else had raised us

Too.

June 30, 2014 Faith Formation (2 weeks of material)

June 30, 2014  St. Francis Faith Formation

V:  O God, come to my assistance.

R:  Lord, make haste to help me.
V:  Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
R:  As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever.  Amen.
V:  Lord, be with me as night falls,
R:  And I will rest in your Sprit always.

AH 601 Alleluia! Sing to Jesus

AH 579 I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say

Examination of Your Consecrated Day (Philip Neri Powell, OP:  Treasures Old & New)

The Reformation in a Nutshell

v  16^th Century (1517), Martin Luther and John Calvin

 

v  Complex:  over the centuries, the Church/Papacy had become very involved in the politics of Western Europe, had become very wealthy and powerful – charges of corruption (sale of indulgences ….)

v  By and large, most people were still loyal to the Church, but political authorities increasingly sought to curtail the public role of the church and thereby triggered tension.

v  “Reformations” had occurred before:  St. Francis of Assisi, John Wycliffe….

v  In the 16th century Erasmus of Rotterdam, a great humanist scholar, was the chief proponent of liberal Catholic reform that attacked popular superstitions in the church and urged the imitation of Christ as the supreme moral teacher.

v  Martin Luther considered the Church’s doctrine of redemption and grace to be perverted (he believed in sola scriptura and sola fide), but it was not his intention to break with the Catholic Church – he was excommunicated in 1521.

v  Luther also rejected the doctrine of Transubstantiation, claiming instead that the body of Christ was physically present in the elements because Christ is present everywhere. 

v  Also Anabaptists.

v  John Calvin:  stressed the doctrine of predestination and interpreted Holy Communion as a spiritual partaking of the body and blood of Christ.

v  By mid century, Lutheranism dominated northern Europe. Eastern Europe offered a seedbed for even more radical varieties of Protestantism, because kings were weak, nobles strong, and cities few, and because religious pluralism had long existed. Spain and Italy were to be the great centres of the Counter-Reformation, and Protestantism never gained a strong foothold there.

 

Prayers which were added to the Roman Mass after St Gregory the Great (590 – 604 Papacy) were among the first to be abolished by the Reformers (prayers at foot of altar, the Judica me, the Confiteor, the Offertory prayers). 

 A drastic reform of the liturgical rites.  Fr. Fortescue (The Mass: A Study of the Roman Liturgy): 

            The Protestant reformers naturally played havoc with the old liturgy.

            It was throughout the expression of the very ideas (the Real Presence,

            Eucharistic Sacrifice, and so on) they rejected.  So they substituted for

            it new communion services that expressed their principles, but, of

            course , broke away utterly from all historic liturgical evolution.  The

            Council of Trent (1545 – 1563), in opposition to the anarchy of these

            new services, wished the Roman Mass to be celebrated uniformly

            everywhere.  The medieval local uses had lasted long enough.  They

            had become very florid and exuberant; and their variety caused

            confusion.

 

Michael Davies (The Catholic Sanctuary):

             The line of demarcation between Catholic and Protestant worship was laid down clearly at the Reformation.  The most striking differences were as follows:

             The Catholic Mass                                          The Protestant Lord’s Supper

 

            Latin                                                                English

 

            Much inaudible                                               audible throughout

 

            Began with psalm Judica Me                          abolished

            (going to the altar of God)

            Ended with Last Gospel

 

            Sacrificial altar facing East                             table facing the people

 

            Holy Communion placed on tongue               placed in hand

            by anointed hand of priest

 

            HC given laity under one kind                        both kinds

 

 Council of Trent:  codify Eucharistic teaching; anathema was pronounced upon anyone who rejected this teaching, and the Fathers insisted that what they had taught must remain unmodified until the End of Time.  The Council appointed a commission to examine, revise and restore the Missal “according to the custom and rite of the Holy Fathers:”  The goal being not to make a new Missal, but to restore the existing one (using best manuscripts/documents available).  The Missal not simply a personal decree of St. Pope Pius V, but an act of the Council of Trent:  1570 – “The Roman Missal Restored According to the Decrees of the Holy Council of Trent.”

 

(from A New Song for the Lord, Pope Benedict XVI)

             ‘Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever’(Heb. 13:8).  This was the profession of those who had known Jesus on earth and had seen the Risen One.  This means that we can see Jesus Christ correctly today only if we understand him in union with the Christ of ‘yesterday’ and see in the Christ of yesterday and today the eternal Christ.  The three dimensions of time as well as going beyond time into that which is simultaneously its origin and future are always a part of the encounter with Christ.  If we are looking for the real Jesus, we must be prepared for this suspenseful tension.  We usually encounter him in the present first:  in the way he reveals himself now, in how people see and understand him, in how people live focused on him or against him, and in the way his words and deeds affect people today.  But if this is not to remain simply second-hand knowledge, but is to become real knowledge, then we must go back and ask:  Where does all this come from?  Who was Jesus really at the time he lived as a man among other men and women?

….

            The Enlightenment then treats this thought quite systematically and radically:  Only the Christ of yesterday, the historical Christ, is in fact the real Christ; everything else is later fantasy.  Christ is only what he was.  The search for the historical Jesus clearly locks Christ into the past.  It denies him the today and the forever. . . But the more authentic this Jesus was supposed to be, the more fictitious he became through this rigid confinement to the past.  Whoever wants to see Christ only yesterday does not find him; likewise, whoever would like to have him only today does not encounter him.  Right from the beginning it is of his essence that he was, is and will come again.  Even as the living one, he has also always been the coming one.  The message of his coming and staying belongs in a fundamental way to the image of himself.  It turn, this claim to all the dimensions of time is based on his own understanding of his earthly life:  he perceived it as a going forth from the Father and simultaneously as a remaining with him; thus he brought eternity into play with and connected it to time.  If we deny ourselves an existence that can span these dimensions, we cannot comprehend him.  One who understands time merely as a moment that irrevocably passes away and who lives accordingly thereby turns away in principle from what really makes up the figure of Jesus and what it seeks to convey.  Knowledge is always a path.  Those who reject the possibility of such an existence extended in time have in fact thereby denied themselves access to the sources that invite us to embark on this journey of being, which becomes a journey of discernment. . . . “

July 7, 2014 Faith Formation

July 7, 2014    St. Francis Parish Adult Faith Formation Group

V:  God, come to my assistance.
R:  Lord, make haste to help me.
V:  Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
R:  As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever.  Amen.
V:  Lord, set aflame my heart and my entire being with the fire of the Holy Spirit, that I may serve you with chaste body and pure mind.  Through Christ our Lord.
R:  Amen.
V:  Let us pray for our Sovereign Pontiff Francis.
R:  The Lord preserve him and give him life, and make him blessed upon the earth, and deliver him not to the will of his enemies.

AH 517  O Jesus We Adore Thee

AH 623  Be Thou My Vision

Continue with last week’s quotes:

(from A New Song for the Lord, Pope Benedict XVI)

            ‘Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever’(Heb. 13:8).  This was the profession of those who had known Jesus on earth and had seen the Risen One.  This means that we can see Jesus Christ correctly today only if we understand him in union with the Christ of ‘yesterday’ and see in the Christ of yesterday and today the eternal Christ.  The three dimensions of time as well as going beyond time into that which is simultaneously its origin and future are always a part of the encounter with Christ.  If we are looking for the real Jesus, we must be prepared for this suspenseful tension.  We usually encounter him in the present first:  in the way he reveals himself now, in how people see and understand him, in how people live focused on him or against him, and in the way his words and deeds affect people today.  But if this is not to remain simply second-hand knowledge, but is to become real knowledge, then we must go back and ask:  Where does all this come from?  Who was Jesus really at the time he lived as a man among other men and women?

….

            The Enlightenment then treats this thought quite systematically and radically:  Only the Christ of yesterday, the historical Christ, is in fact the real Christ; everything else is later fantasy.  Christ is only what he was.  The search for the historical Jesus clearly locks Christ into the past.  It denies him the today and the forever. . . But the more authentic this Jesus was supposed to be, the more fictitious he became through this rigid confinement to the past.  Whoever wants to see Christ only yesterday does not find him; likewise, whoever would like to have him only today does not encounter him.  Right from the beginning it is of his essence that he was, is and will come again.  Even as the living one, he has also always been the coming one.  The message of his coming and staying belongs in a fundamental way to the image of himself.  It turn, this claim to all the dimensions of time is based on his own understanding of his earthly life:  he perceived it as a going forth from the Father and simultaneously as a remaining with him; thus he brought eternity into play with and connected it to time.  If we deny ourselves an existence that can span these dimensions, we cannot comprehend him.  One who understands time merely as a moment that irrevocably passes away and who lives accordingly thereby turns away in principle from what really makes up the figure of Jesus and what it seeks to convey.  Knowledge is always a path.  Those who reject the possibility of such an existence extended in time have in fact thereby denied themselves access to the sources that invite us to embark on this journey of being, which becomes a journey of discernment. . . . “

1.       When does the Mass begin?

2.      What is the purpose of the “fore-Mass?”
3.      Preparation done by the priest: inner and outer.

July 14, 2014 Faith Formation

July 14, 2014  St. Francis Parish Adult Faith Formation Group

V:  God, come to my assistance.
R:  Lord, make haste to help me.
V:  Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
R:  As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever.  Amen.
V:  Lord, set aflame my heart and my entire being with the fire of the Holy Spirit, that I may serve you with chaste body and pure mind.  Through Christ our Lord.
R:  Amen.
V:  Let us pray for our Sovereign Pontiff Francis.
R:  The Lord preserve him and give him life, and make him blessed upon the earth, and deliver him not to the will of his enemies.

AH 470  Love Divine, All Loves Excelling (different music)

AH 616  I sing the Mighty Power of God

The Priest’s Preparation (what does this say about Liturgy – importance of signs and symbols, etc….?)

Vesting Prayers:

 1.       Washing of hands:  “Give virtue to my hands, O Lord, that being cleansed from all stain I might serve you with purity of mind and body”

2.      Amice:  ” Place upon me, O Lord, the helmet of salvation, that I may overcome the assaults of the devil.”

3.      Alb:  “Make me white, O Lord, and cleanse my heart; that being made white in the Blood of the Lamb I may deserve an eternal reward”

4.      Cincture:  “Gird me, O Lord, with the cincture of purity, and quench in my heart the fire of concupiscence, that the virtue of continence and chastity may abide in me.”

5.      Stole:  “Lord, restore the stole of immortality, which I lost through the collusion of our first parents, and, unworthy as I am to approach Thy sacred mysteries, may I yet gain eternal joy.”

6.      Chasuble:  “O Lord, who has said, "My yoke is sweet and My burden light," grant that I may so carry it as to merit Thy grace.”

 

 Laurence Paul Hemming, Worship as a  Revelation:

             “A further part of this textual character of the liturgy as a whole is the vestments the furnishing and ordering of the church interior, the shape and character of the sacred vessels, the materials from which all is made, its exact placing and so forth.  Everything in a church intends a meaning, so that the whole of liturgy, its chant, what is performed, by whom, and how, where, and when, form a whole textual complex with intricate significance.”  (pg. 11)

 Video Part 1:  A Biblical Walk-Through the Mass  (Edward Sri)

Homework for next week:

1.        Read the Prayers for the Introductory Rites, 17^th Week Ordinary Time (Entrance Antiphon through the Collect)  If you don’t have a Missal or a Magnificat (or similar), check out “Laudate” which is an app on Apple products and also available as a download for PC – It’s FREE!!

2.       Bring your Bible (and Missal if you have one)

June 9, 2014 Faith Formation

V:  Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful

R:  And kindle in them the fire of your love.

V:  Send forth your spirit and they shall be created.

R:  And you shall renew the face of the earth.
V:  O, God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy His consolations, Through Christ Our Lord,
R:  Amen.

Pray together:

Breathe into me, Holy Spirit,
that my thoughts may all be holy.
Move in me, Holy Spirit,
that my work, too, may be holy.
Attract my heart, Holy Spirit,
that I may love only what is holy.
Strengthen me, Holy Spirit,
that I may defend all that is holy.
Protect me, Holy Spirit,
that I may always be holy.

Sing:  Come Holy Ghost, Creator Blest  443

Passage I

“…what is revealed is passed on by means of the tradition and therefore the virtue of faith requires that we give assent to what pertains to Sacred Tradition.  But at certain times in history and particularly in modern times, there has been a rejection of the tradition, and introduction of novelty and constant changing of everything from doctrinal formulations to the monuments.  Because the monumental structure of churches has changed, often what people believe has changed.  Since monuments manifest our faith (like the liturgy), if the monuments are modified too much, one can be left with the impression that the faith has changed.”  (Fr. Chad Ripperger:  The Binding Force of Tradition, pg. 45)

 

Before heading into Scripture, some things to consider:

 “But the records of the Last Supper contain few details concerning the ceremonial of the meal, probably because this ceremonial was not meant to be the lasting setting of the celebration.”  (Joseph A Jungmann, SJ: The Mass of the Roman Rite, pg. 7)

 “In Christ’s day the paschal meal was surrounded with a very complicated ceremonial.” (cf 8)

 “As the NT accounts intimate by their omission of nearly all details of the paschal feast, the setting of the paschal rite was not considered.” (cf 9)

“Besides the liturgy of the Old Law in which everyone regularly took part, there was also this new celebration, which was referred to only by suggestion, and to which the Christians had to come in smaller groups and in their own dwellings.” (cf 10)

Acts 2:42  “And they held steadfastly to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of the bread and to the prayers.”  (CCC 950, 1329, 2624)

Acts 2:46  “And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they partook of food with glad and generous hearts.”  (eg: 3:1, 20: 7, Lk. 24:53, CCC 584)

1 Corinthians 11: 17-34

Focus on Jesus

For some time I have been trying to find a direction in which to head.  I look around and see so many Catholics who are lost, and I wonder how to reach them.  There are many "parish renewal programs" or books on "intentional disciples,"  but none of them have really grabbed me as the way to go.  They seem to focus on the wrong thing: either the priest, or the people, or the parish as a whole.  One of the more popular programs which I have seen is "Called and Gifted," and while I am sure it is a fine program, it seems to me that it is only relevant for an already evangelized parish; a parish which is already doing well, full of faithful Catholics, but just needs a little kick-start or some new energy.  But it is not a starting place. 

If we focus on the people of the parish or on the priest, any efforts at renewal, at evangelization, are bound to fail.  I am reminded of the one necessary thing:  hearing the word of God and living by it.  What is the word of God - or better yet, Who is the Word of God?  Jesus.  We need to bring our focus back to Jesus, for He certainly knows how to "save" or renew the Church much better than you or I do. 

My opinion for quite a while now has been that we as a Church need to bring back a renewed sense of love, of awe, of belief in the Eucharist.  To recapture what is an essential part of our Catholic faith: that the consecrated bread we receive is truly, substantially, the body, blood, soul, and divinity of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  The percentages of people who call themselves Catholic but do not profess belief in the True Presence is staggering.  Is Transubstantiation taught anymore?  I have not heard (in person) a homily on the True Presence, nor one on Transubstantiation, nor on proper reception (disposition to receive) of the Eucharist. 

How do we as a Church begin to re-teach this Truth?  I think it must begin with the Liturgy, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.  It is easy to see how a loss of belief in the True Presence has come about if you observe how the Liturgy is celebrated in many of the parishes I have visited.  Just one example: what would a person who was not Catholic think if they came in and watched the Mass, watched people walking up and taking something into their hands from the priest, placing it in their mouths, then walking back to their seats to stand ... as if nothing had happened?  Contrast that with the same person seeing people receiving Communion on their knees, then returning to their seat and kneeling in prayer for several minutes?  What are the different body postures and attitudes telling them?  So simple, and yet just a simple change in posture can make such a difference.

I challenge  anyone reading this to observe what goes on during the Mass at their parish - the priest's actions, the people's actions:  do they show a belief in the True Presence of Christ in the Eucharist?  If so, how?  If not, why not?

I am endeavoring to teach a course on the Mass to interested parishioners this summer.  I will try to post outlines and observations throughout the summer, and I always welcome thoughts and observations from others.  And don't forget:  before you can effectively evangelize others, you must first evangelize yourselves.  You must conform yourself to the Church - orthodoxy is required, obedience is required.  If you do not know something, take the time to learn it.  People are shocked when they see my "Catholic" bookcase - but there is so much I don't know, and the more I learn the more I realize how little I DO know. 

But begin simply:  immerse yourself in the Mass, go to regular Confession, prioritize prayer time.  From these three simple steps will come many, many fruits.  Not the least of which is beginning to hear God's Word, and a desire to live by what you hear.

Our Future? Our Present?

When I read this in Jason Evert's new book:  Saint John Paul the Great: His Five Great Loves, I couldn't help but think how this is now occurring in a certain manner in this country, and likely in other places as well.  Does anyone else see the parallel?

"G.K. Chesterton once said that the family is a cell of resistance to oppression. Unfortunately, this was one point of Catholic theology that the communists agreed with. To undermine Polish culture, communists struck at its heart - the family. Work and school schedules were organized so that parents had minimal contact with each other and with their children. Birth control and abortion were encouraged, state-sponsored sex education was implemented in schools, and apartments were built to accommodate only small families."

From the Summa

Thomas Aquinas makes more sense when I'm sick ... go figure!  I pulled out this little gem from the third section, question 82:

Article 3. Whether dispensing of this sacrament belongs to a priest alone?

Objection 1. It seems that the dispensing of this sacrament does not belong to apriest alone. For Christ's blood belongs to this sacrament no less than His body. But Christ's blood is dispensed by deacons: hence the blessed Lawrence said to the blessed Sixtus (Office of St. Lawrence, Resp. at Matins): "Try whether you have chosen a fit minister, to whom you have entrusted the dispensing of the Lord's blood." Therefore, with equal reason the dispensing of Christ's body does not belong to priests only.
Objection 2. Further, priests are the appointed ministers of the sacraments. But this sacrament is completed in the consecration of the matter, and not in the use, to which the dispensing belongs. Therefore it seems that it does not belong to apriest to dispense the Lord's body.
Objection 3. Further, Dionysius says (Eccl. Hier. iii, iv) that this sacrament, likechrism, has the power of perfecting. But it belongs, not to priests, but to bishops, to sign with the chrism. Therefore likewise, to dispense this sacrament belongs to the bishop and not to the priest.
On the contrary, It is written (De Consecr., dist. 12): "It has come to ourknowledge that some priests deliver the Lord's body to a layman or to a womanto carry it to the sick: The synod therefore forbids such presumption to continue; and let the priest himself communicate the sick."
I answer that, The dispensing of Christ's body belongs to the priest for three reasons. First, because, as was said above (Article 1), he consecrates as in theperson of Christ. But as Christ consecrated His body at the supper, so also He gave it to others to be partaken of by them. Accordingly, as the consecration ofChrist's body belongs to the priest, so likewise does the dispensing belong to him. Secondly, because the priest is the appointed intermediary between God and the people; hence as it belongs to him to offer the people's gifts to God, so it belongs to him to deliver consecrated gifts to the people. Thirdly, because out of reverence towards this sacrament, nothing touches it, but what is consecrated; hence the corporal and the chalice are consecrated, and likewise the priest'shands, for touching this sacrament. Hence it is not lawful for anyone else to touch it except from necessity, for instance, if it were to fall upon the ground, or else in some other case of urgency.
Reply to Objection 1. The deacon, as being nigh to the priestly order, has acertain share in the latter's duties, so that he may dispense the blood; but not the body, except in case of necessity, at the bidding of a bishop or of a priest. First of all, because Christ's blood is contained in a vessel, hence there is no need for it to be touched by the dispenser, as Christ's body is touched. Secondly, because the blood denotes the redemption derived by the people from Christ; hence it is that water is mixed with the blood, which water denotes the people. And becausedeacons are between priest and people, the dispensing of the blood is in the competency of deacons, rather than the dispensing of the body.
Reply to Objection 2. For the reason given above, it belongs to the same personto dispense and to consecrate this sacrament.
Reply to Objection 3. As the deacon, in a measure, shares in the priest's "power of enlightening" (Eccl. Hier. v), inasmuch as he dispenses the blood. so the priestshares in the "perfective dispensing" (Eccl. Hier. v) of the bishop, inasmuch as he dispenses this sacrament whereby man is perfected in himself by union withChrist. But other perfections whereby a man is perfected in relation to others, arereserved to the bishop.

Adult Faith Formation, Last Night

We just spent the last two months reading through, studying, and discussing Sacrosanctum Concilium; it seemed appropriate to spend some time away from the more scholarly pursuits. 

So I picked up a copy of Dominican Romanus Cessario's The Seven Last Words of Jesus.  I had planned to move through 2 or 3 last night, and finish up next week in anticipation of Good Friday.  Well, we only got halfway through the first word: "Father, forgive them, they know not what they do." 

We spent much time on forgiveness, sin, confession. I brought in imagery and themes from Sunday's Gospel (the raising of Lazarus) and Monday's Gospel (the forgiveness of the adulteress woman).   Forgiveness seems to be a topic that always brings up a lot of questions.  It is a topic people really desire to understand and know more about.  Luckily, I have much experience with forgiveness, and am finally at a point in my life where I am not constrained in talking about it.  My experiences with forgiving the man who sexually abused me and my struggle with forgiving myself seem to help people understand that forgiveness is possible.

But what has been most amazing is watching this group, and how they have grown and changed and slowly started on a steady path toward holiness.  It is beautiful.  The wisdom that comes from their mouths never ceases to amaze me.  They ask the most wonderful questions! 

May the Holy Spirit continue to work in their lives, as they grow in their faith.  And may I continue to be open to His promptings as I guide them - remembering always that it is not me, but God working through me.

(Oh, and the book is quite excellent as a meditation starter - or discussion starter!)

Love?

How shall I love God
as He loves me
when my own heart
is cluttered -
filled with so many things
which are not God;
when I am still
so attached to myself
and see the world
through my eyes
and not His?
How shall I love my Lord
as He loves me
when impurities
still clog the way
to my heart?

The Quality of Mercy

 The quality of mercy is not strain'd,
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest:
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.

- Portia, "The Merchant of Venice"

 

 

What is mercy?  Merriam Webster's dictionary defines it as : "compassion or forbearance shown especially to an offender or to one subject to one's power."  This seems as good a definition as any.  But when we speak of God's mercy, what exactly do we mean? 

 

We sin.  We offend against God's love for us.  We turn away from Him - some days we turn further away than other days.  For some people there may come a point where they do not turn back.  But God is always waiting, always ready to take us back into the fold.  We are already forgiven, for it is a freely given gift, but we must cooperate with God.  He will not force us to repent, to turn back.  We must accept His forgiveness.

 

Repentance presupposes a conversion of heart, which is brought about through grace.  "Moved by grace, man turns toward God and away from sin, thus accepting forgiveness and righteousness from on high" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1989).  In His compassion (mercy), God freely offers His forgiveness to us.  He offers us reconciliation, freedom.  How many of us take Him up on that offer?  Or do we prefer to wallow in our sins, using them as an excuse to stay away from God? 

 

During this season of Lent, avail yourself of the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession).  Repent. Turn back to God and accept His freely offered forgiveness.  There is no sin so great that it cannot be forgiven.  Meet Jesus in this most wonderful of sacraments.  Experience His loving mercy, as the woman who washed Jesus' feet with her tears did.  Allow him to touch you, to give you the gift he has already won for you.  But you must choose to turn back.  He is calling. 

"Even now, says the LORD,
return to me with your whole heart,
with fasting, and weeping, and mourning;
Rend your hearts, not your garments,
and return to the LORD, your God." —Joel 2:12-13

 



Musings on Mary....

Today is the Feast of the Annunciation.  I spent some time in meditation this morning on the Annunciation:

The Annunciation has captured the imagination of artists throughout the ages.  My favorite is Henry Owassa Tanner's .

From today's Office of Readings, Responsory:  "The light filled her with fear, but the angel said to her: Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God." 

Mary, sinless from her conception, can sit in the Light even though it fills her with fear.  She not only sees the angel but believes.  And, I must presume that because of her sinless nature, she does not shrink from the Light for she is created from the moment of her Immaculate Conception to live within it.  She waits, curious, expectant - she must have lost her fear at the angel's words for not only has she listened well to the angel's proclamation that she is to conceive and bear a son, she finds her voice and asks a perfectly reasonable question:  "How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?" 

Does the Light fill  me with fear?  How do I respond to the Light?  How do I respond to any fear I may feel when my sins and imperfections are exposed by the Light?

And then she says "yes".  A full yes: "May it be done to me according to your word."  Confidence in her God.  Confidence in herself.  Trust and love fill her words, as she knows the word spoken to her, the Word to grow inside her womb, is from God, is of God, is God.  She knows Him already, for He has been present to Her and with her from the beginning.  Full of Grace, she has no need of perfection for her nature is already perfect.  Childlike in her knowledge of God, she accepts the power of the Most High, seemingly without question, for her answer comes without pause.  It is an immediate yes to the being of Light standing before her. 

When I am asked to carry the Word of God to others, is my response so quick?  Do I trust enough to say "yes?"  Do I cooperate with God, as He perfects my nature, or do I struggle against Him?  How childlike am I in my responses and in my trust?

I must believe that she would have run immediately to Joseph, for she would have no reason to hide this, no reason for deception.  I wonder what those first few days after this encounter with Light would have been like.  She has told her betrothed and her parents.  What is she feeling?  We know that she plans for and takes a trip to her cousin Elizabeth.  Elizabeth would understand.  Elizabeth would know what to say.  Though loved by her parents and by Joseph, can you imagine their reaction to this news?  Knowing Mary to be honest and forthright, they would want to believe her, but how hard was that belief? 

When I am presented with a mystery of the faith, or a teaching I do not understand, how willing am I to surrender myself to knowledge which is beyond me?  Am I willing to accept the truth of something even if I do not understand it?  How do I react? 

Mary sits in the Light.  She is not blinded by it, but is illuminated in its glow.  It overshadows her, she is engulfed within in, yet she emerges whole.  She accepts the word, and from her the Word will be born.  She has been touched by God and lived, indeed emerges from that touch bearing another Life.  Jesus, incarnate, the Word made flesh, begins His life because of Mary's "yes."  In what way will my "yes" bring Jesus into a world which hungers for Him?