When the Well is Dry

3/20/2014

 

Within an hour, this bulletin must be finished. Nothing has come to mind to write as a mediation. What does one do when the well is dry? One returns to the Source of all that exists.

LORD God Almighty, God of Abraham, Moses, and the prophets, God of Jesus Christ, the Apostles, and the host of saintly people through the ages, In You all begins, each being has its origin; and in You we all have our End without end: Help each of us to honor You more generously with our lives than with our lips, To revere You in our hearts, and in the heart of our neighbor, and in every creature: Help each of us to love You not only as You are, but also in all whom You love, including in the man, woman, child who is hurting, who needs some support.

LORD God, as you came to the rescue of your people enslaved in Egypt, move us to have hearts of compassion, and hands to take action to help relieve the sufferings of others. Surely You in your infinite goodness are drawn to suffer in and with those who suffer; help us to do likewise, as we draw on your strength and compassion. Inspire us, LORD, to suffer with and for one another, that we may truly be your people.

As we continue on our Lenten journey towards Easter, As we continue on our life-long journey home to You, Eternal One, forgive, cleanse, and heal our defections, our sins, our betrayals of Your will and justice; and strengthen our will to do good, to reject evil, and to overcome evils with good. Strengthen us, LORD, with the Life and Love by which you conquered sin and death, and set us free from slavery to ourselves that we may serve You in deed and in truth.

LORD, what can I possibly say or do to be a source of blessing to your people? Keep me from betraying You, from hurting any of them, from betraying their trust. With St. Francis, LORD, make me, make each of us, a channel of your peace, a vessel of your holiness, a conduit of blessings You pour into your people.

To You, eternal Father, only-begotten God, and Holy Spirit, be honor and obedience now and into the timeless age of eternity.  Amen.

Some Thoughts As We Begin Lent

Lent for you will mainly be what you choose and work to make of it. Simply going through a liturgical season, without active involvement, without thoughts and choices and actions on your part, will do very little for your spiritual life. If you wish to grow in grace, to become more truly a disciple of Jesus Christ, then you must “change your ways,” and undergo real disciplines of body and mind. Is there one of us in our parishes who is truly ready to meet the LORD “face to face”? Well, we stand warned in the Scriptures: “Now is the acceptable time, now is the day of salvation.” Repentance—understood as a real change of life—is something that you and I must do here and now.   There is an old Latin saying, “Look to the end.” Before undertaking a task, know your goal, be aware of what you are aiming for, or else your actions will be more or less random, haphazard. As we begin Lent, there are two ends which we need to keep in mind: the end of the “journey of Lent,” which is Easter; and the end of the “journey of Life,” which is union with God beyond death. The second end is the greater, and the end that a spiritually alive, healthy human being must keep in mind daily: “Prepare to meet your God.”  As Lent unfolds, we need to keep in mind these two ends: that the liturgies and Scriptures are moving us towards a joyful celebration of Easter, “with heart and mind renewed.” And we must keep in mind why we must change, why we willingly undergo “the discipline of Lent.” We deny ourselves some food, drink, rest, entertainment, shopping, and so on, in order to give more thought for our final end. God is drawing us day by day to the Easter that has no end, to Life beyond the flow and ebb of time, into the eternal Now. God is not drawing us primarily to liturgical celebrations and religious practices, but to Himself. Each of us needs to be mindful of this ultimate End. As Lent begins, each of us would do well to ask ourselves a few questions in the silence of our hearts: Why am I here? Why do I exist? What is the meaning of my life? How well am I truly living a life of faith and love of God? Do I show my discipleship of Jesus Christ by how I am living? What do I need to change, in order to become more like Christ, or at least a more noble, self-giving disciple? How is the grace of God being offered to me today? What is God’s grace, and how does one worthily receive it? What is God asking of me that I should not put off? Am I really engaged in a process of conversion, or do I secretly think that I have “arrived,” that I am “part of the church” and therefore beyond God’s demand to change my ways?   Given our common liturgical practices during Lent, each of us could ask ourselves a few more pointed questions: Do I take time to read over the Scriptures at Mass before they are read, and before the homily? Do I make a real effort to think about what was read and preached at Mass, or do I let the teachings “go in one ear and out the other”?  Do I try to come into church before the celebration begins, to quiet myself, and prepare to enter into Christ’s Word and Sacrifice more wholeheartedly? Do I really renounce my sinful ways, and ask for divine correction? Or am I just going through the motions of being a “good Catholic”?

Towards Lent, and Adult Faith Classes

02/22/2014

As we prepare to begin Lent, I wish to encourage all of our faithful to reflect on ways we can enrich our spiritual life during this “season of grace.”  It is too easy, I think, just to “give up candy,” or something to that effect. I urge each of us to consider a number of spiritual exercises: additional prayer (and that may include attending daily Mass); quiet time alone, as in healthy walks, allowing the spirit some freedom without noise; spiritual reading (Scripture, life of a saint, a recent church document, etc); action to assist those in need (sick, shut-ins, mentally disturbed, poor); an attempt to eat more healthily during Lent (such as increasing intake of fruits and vegetables, abstaining from sweets). This list should be explained briefly in homilies as Lent begins.

Adult faith classes will be offered, as I think that attending and sharing in our discussions should be a good spiritual exercise during Lent. This year, rather than offer adult faith class in both Belt and Centerville, I will modify the approach.

At Holy Trinity, each Sunday during Lent, all are invited to attend Mass, share a simple meal, then share our faith. The timing immediately after Mass, with a meal, has worked very well. I propose that beginning on the First Sunday of Lent, we will read and examine the Mass readings for the following week. Each person should bring a set of Mass readings for the following Sunday to class. Discussion will be based on the readings, and folks are free to raise questions or comment in response to these readings. During the last session, we will briefly review the liturgies of Holy Week.

At St. Mark’s, rather than offer weekly adult faith classes, perhaps two presentations will be offered. I have learned that sporting events hurt attendance, so I will try to find two evenings when no event is being held in the school. Although I have not firmly decided on topics for these presentations, I tentatively suggest the following: One presentation will be on the use of photography as a form of prayer, something I have done for years, and wish to share, if we can find a good screen for viewing. (Note: It is painful to see how projecting digital images dilutes and distorts them, and I will consider an alternative.) The second presentation may be on the Liturgies of Holy Week, which are so extraordinarily rich that they deserve careful reflection to enhance our common experience during the services (Passion Sunday, Holy Thursday, Good Friday, the Easter Vigil, Easter Sunday).  An alternative would be a presentation on the theme of “Life and Death.”

Responses from the faithful on these plans should be appreciated.