Your Way, Lord

A reflection on the Mass readings for the Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

By: Sharon Nelsen

The Lord recycles truth in our lives; always giving us new thoughts, new words, new ways to think, speak and to act on old truths.  Today, as I read from Isaiah 55.7-8, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord,” I smiled—yet again the Lord had recycled that truth in my life.

When I was an RCIA companion in our parish several years ago, I was inspired to write this prayer, a prayer I knew was inspired by the Holy Spirit for it flowed from my pen and needed little editing.  After I wrote it down, I named it, “A Prayer for Continued Growth.”

Blessed Lord, God of Heaven and earth,

            Draw me into right relationship with You:

                        May Your Thoughts become my thoughts

                        May Your Ways become my ways

                        May Your Words become my words

            I invite You to touch and heal all that is wounded

                        Within my mind

                        Within my heart

                        Within my spirit

            Set me free from any false beliefs I hold

                        In my thoughts

                        In my habits

                        In my values

            Fill me with Jesus, Your Way, Your Truth, Your Life

                        In my relationship with You

                        In my relationship with others

                        In my relationship with self

Open my lips that my mouth may proclaim Your Wondrous Deeds, praising  You now and forever.  Amen.            Sharon Nelsen, April 18, 2012

This past week was a week full of conflicts and so I asked the members of our faith-sharing group to pray over me.  As they prayed, the prayer for continued growth came to my mind.  I realized that I had something deep within me that perceived the words as conflictual, as if God and I were at odds in our thoughts, words and ways; we were on a collision course.  In an understanding that can only come from the Holy Spirit, I realized that God, who calls us into partnership, is not in conflict with us.  Rather, God reassures us that the seed we plant, the leaven we work into the dough of our lives are beginnings; our thoughts, words and ways are not necessarily “wrong.”  They are by nature, our good human nature, limited. 

When God says, “I will complete the work I have begun in you,” God reveals that my good thoughts, good words, and good ways are materials for God’s thoughts, words, and ways, which are cosmic, while mine are very local.  God welcomes those beginnings in us and longs to receive them so that He can do even greater works with them.

The Gospel reading from Matthew 20.1-16a illustrates the point clearly:  The laborers, who were hired at the end of the day, received the same wage as those who had been hired at the beginning of the day, express their thoughts about the justice of it all:  “These last ones worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who bore the day’s burden and the heat.”  (Matthew 20.12)

God’s way, as landowner in the parable, is generosity, a generosity that hovers high above human justice, leavening the dough of Divine Justice with cosmic compassion.  Have you ever stood on a corner and waited for a truck to come by to pick you up and take you out to the job site so you could earn a day’s wage and feed your family?  Recently, as I drove through a section of downtown Omaha around 8:00 in the morning, I saw four Hispanic men standing on a corner, waiting.  It reminded me of my high school days in Los Angeles, when I first saw a crowd of Hispanic men clothed for labor, standing along a whole block of sidewalk.  I asked my Dad why they were there.  He replied that they were “day laborers” waiting to be hired.  When we drove by the same area hours later, there were still many men waiting.  And if we had driven by even later, we would have seen men still waiting.

What does it take to stand in the day’s heat and wait, wondering if your family will have food that night, or if the rent can be paid, or if the water and light bills can be paid? 

Would you rather be standing idle, struggling with fearful thoughts, or laboring with others, knowing you can provide what is needed for those entrusted to you?

Help us grow, Lord, into your way, a way that urges us to generous compassion.  May we sow our tiny seeds with hope, entrusting the growth to Your Ways which are “As high as the heavens are above the earth.”  (Isaiah 55.9)

Happy Birthday Mary, Teach Me to be Lowly.

I am re-posting a reflection I wrote a couple years ago, May the Mother of God bless us all today with her motherly love and guidance into the heart of her Son Jesus!

Today is the birthday of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  Mary, whose immaculate conception was celebrated 9 months ago, was born on this September day.  And as is the way of the Lord, this monumental day, this wondrous birth went quietly by in time, and still goes quietly by in our lives, we could easily miss it. In fact, we often do miss it.  Yet, this feast day invites us to ponder the woman whose life modeled most fully how to allow the word of the Lord to be conceived in us and born through us, in our own words and deeds.  Insignificance and lowliness are not barriers to these wonders, they are requirements.

Which is good, because  I do not have much to offer. I am a Catholic who fails a lot in living my faith.  I am a wife who fails a lot at being a wife.  I am a mother, who fails a lot with her children (I have two crying, fighting and whining in my presence right now - thankfully they are only mildly annoying me, so I am ignoring them...).  And, in a culture that is pragmatic, cliquey and materialistic, I am a stay-at-home mother of 8 who writes for an insignificant blog because I perceived a call to do it from Him, no money in it, no huge following, no "career" to validate me - nothing.  I am nothing.  And oh, how I have caused myself and others around me much pain in fighting that truth for most of my life.

When I was in high school, it got back to me that an acquaintance of mine had described me as a "cipher"....a nobody.  In her world, I was a quiet and fairly shy girl, who was not friends with her friends and who did not leave a huge impression on her friends.  Since I was not terribly concerned with her opinion of me at that time, I was able to brush off the insult fairly easily...or so I thought.  Because every once in awhile the words would come back to me, whispering to me that I was a cipher, a nobody.  And I would fight that identity with much ferocity!  I would deny it, offer proofs against it, but mostly I would fear it.  The label became heavier and heavier.

 But,  one day I finally heard the words of Our Blessed Mother.  My spiritual ears were opened.

Luke 1:46-56:The Canticle of Mary."My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior.  For he has looked upon his handmaid's lowliness; behold, from now on will all ages call me blessed.  The Mighty One has done great things for me and holy is his name.  His mercy is from age to age to those who fear him.  He has shown might with his arm, dispersed the arrogant of mind and heart.  He has thrown down the rulers from their thrones but lifted up the lowly.  The hungry he has filled with good things; the rich he has sent away empty.  He has helped Israel his servant, remembering his mercy, according to his prose to our father to Abraham and to his descendants forever."

Was I to accept that identity that was so thoughtlessly assigned to me? Instantly my spirit rebelled: "I am not a cipher! I am not a nobody, do not let that nasty girl be right!" The arrogant and prideful aspirations of my heart, which fed upon my fear of nothingness, did not yield easily. Yet a wave of grace washed over my heart as I thought of the words: "He has shown might with his arm, dispersed the arrogant of mind and heart. He has thrown down the rulers from their thrones; but lifted up the lowly." My pride was dispersed, I was thrown down, and lifted up. In a moment I was confronted with all that I wanted to be, thought I should be and was failing at, and yet I was given an overwhelming sense of gratitude. Because I was nothing.  I was nothing so that I could be lifted up; there is no other way.

That thoughtless comment of so many years before was instantly transformed, and the weight of it lifted. The Lord needed to show me I am nothing so I can be filled with His love, His Spirit, His life.  So that he can lift me up, out of my mediocrity and into His heart, and I do not have to grasp at earthly honors, or rewards or recognition. Without Jesus I am nothing, without Him I will cling to false egos and false identities, and be let down by them, or even worse, I will be blindly self-satisfied! The heavy burden of that word "cipher" gave way to tearful gratitude and awe. In a world where wealth, popularity and honors are seen as indicators of goodness and worthiness Mary has shown me that it is only lowliness, nothingness, that can acquire the interior vision and wisdom to give Him our fiat, with complete trust in His compassionate love that will lift us up.

So Happy Birthday Mary, Queen of Heaven, who so gently taught me about lowliness. I still have to submit my fears and insecurities to God, I still have to have Him disperse pride and arrogance with His mighty arm.  But I do not fear the nothingness as I once did, and I have come to see a little how God's kingdom conquers and transforms this world of shallowness and ugliness.   I now look upon that dismissive, and shallow description of me so long ago through Mary's eyes, without the shame and fear that the world attaches to it.  In those words came the might of His arm and revealed the true and eternal beauty of His Mother.

Blessed Be God, and Blessed Be His Most Holy Mother!

Blessings, Heidi

Blessed are Those Who Mourn!

A Reflection on Ezekiel 33:7-9 N.A.B.

By: Larry T

⁷ You, son of man, I have appointed watchman for the house of Israel; when you hear me say anything, you shall warn them for me.

⁸ If I tell the wicked man that he shall surely die, and you do not speak out to dissuade the wicked man from his way, he [the wicked man] shall die for his guilt, but I will hold you responsible for his death.

⁹ But if you warn the wicked man, trying to turn him from his way, and he refuses to turn from his way, he shall die for his guilt, but you shall save yourself.

- Ezekiel 33:7-9 N.A.B.

God called Ezekiel to the thankless and dangerous task of preaching to a society that had hardened their hearts against Him. It was a message that the people and their leaders didn’t want to hear; it called them back to God’s unchanged covenant. Old Testament prophets were usually met with misunderstanding, derision and rejection by the general populace and Ezekiel was not an exception.

We may not be biblical prophets, but we are anointed priests, prophets, and kings though baptism.

1241 The anointing with sacred chrism, perfumed oil consecrated by the bishop, signifies the gift of the Holy Spirit to the newly baptized, who has become a Christian, that is, one “anointed” by the Holy Spirit, incorporated into Christ who is anointed priest, prophet, and king. – Catechism of the Catholic Church

God calls all baptized Christians to the prophetic task of being mourners. In Matthew’s gospel the second beatitude is: “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” What does that really mean? “The mourning of which the Lord speaks is nonconformity with evil; it is a way of resisting models of behavior that the individual is pressured to accept because ‘everyone does it.’ The world cannot tolerate this kind of resistance; it demands conformity. It considers this mourning to be an accusation directed against the numbing of consciences. And so it is. That is why those who mourn suffer persecution for the sake of righteousness.” says Pope Benedict XVI in his book Jesus of Nazareth.

God’s orders for Ezekiel were typically something like, “Son of man, make known to Jerusalem her abominations.” What are God’s orders for us? If we are to discern which models of behavior to resist we need a degree of wisdom.

The Serenity Prayer is the common name for a prayer authored by the American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr (1892–1971). The best-known form is:

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,

the courage to change the things I can,

and the wisdom to know the difference.

Some things will never change. For example, when taking a shower, it is always going to be better if the shower curtain is on the inside of the bathtub instead of on the outside – that will never change. Countless people can try to convince us that the shower curtain should go on the outside of the bathtub, but we know better. So the ability to recognize when something can’t change in the face of a society that says it is can change is wisdom of a different sort. Today a seemingly large part of society is trying to convince us that God’s laws are changeable, but we know better. 

Ezekiel fulfilled his prophetic mission by doggedly carrying out God’s instructions. One way that we can fulfill our prophetic calling is by refusing to cave into societal pressure to accept models of behavior that are clearly against God’s laws, and to live our lives as God’s people with the understanding that we too will sometimes be met with rejection and derision.

You Duped Me

Sunday, Aug 31: 22ndSunday in Ordinary Time

Today's readings are taken from:

Jeremiah  20:7-9

Psalm 63:2-9

Letter of Saint Paul to the Romans  12:1-2

Gospel according to Matthew 16: 21-27

Jeremiah cried out to the Lord, "You duped me and I let myself be duped. You were too strong for me, and you triumphed.  All the day I am an object of laughter; everyone mocks me."  Jeremiah continues on to tell us that he is determined not to talk about the Lord anymore.  Jeremiah will be silent, but then the name of the Lord burns within Jeremiah and he must speak.

I asked myself and I ask you, have we been duped by the Lord? In a way I hope the answer is yes. Have we been seduced by Jesus to take up the mission of proclaiming the Word?  Do we stand up against the worldliness that can turn us into uncaring people, looking only for our personal gain and comfort.  Are we brave enough to speak out when needed and then accept the derision we might receive when we testify to our mission?  In many ways, we too can be prophets and then be willing to suffer the mocking and laughter that can follow. But in our hearts we can hold tight to the name of the Lord that indeed burns within us knowing that the Lord is always with us and within us.

As I reflected on the Gospel reading, I wondered if Peter too, felt that he had been duped. In the previous passages of Matthew, Jesus told Peter that he was blessed and that Peter would be the rock upon which Jesus would build His Church. Peter must have felt both fear and delight in hearing that he would be a vital part of the kingdom on earth.  Through God the Father, Peter had been able to proclaim that Jesus was "the Christ, the Son of the living God." Peter was probably both humbled and proud.

This week, as Peter hears more and more about what Jesus will endure for our Salvation, he must be horrified.  Jesus is the Son of God; things should be easy for Him.  Instead, Jesus will walk the path of humiliation, great suffering and death.  Peter rejects the possibility of a suffering Jesus and is sharply rebuked by Jesus.  Peter is compared to Satan; an obstacle to Jesus; perhaps tempting Jesus to take an easier path.  Jesus tells us, "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me.  For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it." 

And so Peter learns, as did Jeremiah, that the prophetic message may not be received with joy and happiness, but rather may be received with derision and even hatred.  We need to be careful not to conform to this age. We need to point out when power is abused; when our worth is defined by our wealth; when many people around us are deep into poverty and homelessness.  I'm not sure it is enough to live our lives in virtue and piety; maybe we need to take some action, speak out, etc.  I don't know what my next step should be, but I do know that when Jesus didn't know what to do next, He spent the night in prayer, asking His father to show Him what He should do next.  Maybe that's a good place for me to start.

Peace and Blessings,

Judy

The Keys to the Kingdom

Sunday, Aug 24: 21stSunday in Ordinary Time

Today's readings are taken from:

Isaiah 22: 19-23

Psalm 138: 1-2a,2b-3, 6-8

Letter of Saint Paul to the Romans  11: 33-36

Gospel according to Matthew 16: 13-20

I remember the first time I was given my own set of house keys. As a teenager, I needed to be able to unlock our front door for my younger brother and I on those days when my Mom was helping a neighbor in need. My Mom was a nurse and she often spent time helping an elderly neighbor who didn't have family nearby to care for them. I was really excited about those keys; I knew I was responsible for being sure not to lose them. Those keys meant that I was responsible for getting my brother and I safely into the house when Mom was helping elsewhere.

Receiving the keys is a theme for this Sunday's readings. The reading from Isaiah tells us of the removal of King David's steward Shebnah and the transfer of authority to Eliakim as master of David's palace. "I will place the key of the House of David on Eliakim’s shoulder; when he opens, no one shall shut, when he shuts, no one shall open.” With the giving and receiving of the keys, great responsibility is given.

Then we "fast forward" to the Gospel of Matthew. Again we read about the giving of keys, this time to Peter. Jesus is giving authority to Peter, the rock. Peter has responded to Jesus' question: Who do YOU say I am, by answering, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Peter will become the leader of the New Covenant. "Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." And so our Catholic, Apostolic Church was being born and Jesus says to Peter (and to us) "I will build my Church and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it." Did you know that of all four gospels, only Matthew used the word CHURCH.

As I have been thinking about the authority given to Peter, I am drawn into the authority of our Church. Peter's successors will endure as long as the kingdom; through them we have teaching authority, forgiveness, the Church hierarchy, the Magisterium, etc. The earthly authority of the Church, comes directly from Jesus, the Christ. Sometimes, I get a bit frustrated with the institution, but I know that the authority of God works through our human frailty.

Therefore these words from the Our Father prayer are a beautiful reminder to me. "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." As Fr. Hamm said, "entering that kingdom on earth does eventually lead to entering the divine realm we call Heaven, but the authority given to Peter is a power that he exercises on earth."

And so together lets pray, "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."
Peace and Blessings,Judy

But God was not in the Earthquake...Reflection for Readings for the Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, August 10, 2014

Do you see God in nature?  Do you see God in cataclysmic events?  I love to watch storms.  They are beautiful and terrifying, and wonderful to watch from the safety of indoors or from far away.  One hopes, sometimes desperately depending on the severity of the storm, that no one is hurt by the storm, and it is saddening to learn that property or homes were damaged.

At the mountain of God, Horeb,
Elijah came to a cave where he took shelter.
Then the LORD said to him,
“Go outside and stand on the mountain before the LORD;
the LORD will be passing by.”
A strong and heavy wind was rending the mountains
and crushing rocks before the LORD—
but the LORD was not in the wind.
After the wind there was an earthquake—
but the LORD was not in the earthquake.
After the earthquake there was fire—
but the LORD was not in the fire.
After the fire there was a tiny whispering sound.
When he heard this,
Elijah hid his face in his cloak
and went and stood at the entrance of the cave.

Of course God is present in all places, and in everything, so we know God was in the wind, was in the crushing rocks, and in the fire, but Elijah did not hear or see God in those events.  Elijah heard God in the tiny, whispering sound.  This is how God was speaking to Elijah.  Elijah learned to cut through the "noise" and hear the voice of God, not in the dramatic thundering surrounding the giving out of the commandments, but in the asking us to love one another through obeying his commandments to love one another as he loves us.  In the Gospel, Jesus walks through the noise of the storm, speaks, and through his speaking calms the storm and Peter's fearful spirit.

Aren't we the same way?  When tragedy strikes, when a so termed "Act of God" weather event destroys people's lives or homes, we do not hear God in the violence of those events.  We know that God loves us and wants good for his children, wants good for people of all faith and for people of no faith.   We know that God will come to our assistance, come to our aid in putting lives back together.  We hear God in the whispered healing of the agencies, friends and neighbors who come in to assist people getting back on their feet.   It is easy when one is a victim of a damaging storm or accident to ask God why.  "Why God, why did you let this happen to us?"  It is normal to ask and wonder, and a part of the process of coming to terms with an unwanted and unpleasant shift in one's life, an unfair hand dealt from the hand of life, and it is okay to ask God these questions.  Sometimes there are no good answers, sometimes what is is simply what is, and sometimes the answers come in time, through receiving and accepting the gentle ministrations of others who come along beside you, those who say "we know, we don't understand why either, but we love you and are here for you."   Those that like Jesus in the Gospel reading, reach out their hand to us and say "It is I, do not be afraid."  Sometimes the damage can be prevented in the future, as when we learn more about how to implement safer building codes, or improve our warning systems.

Kindness and truth shall meet;
justice and peace shall kiss.

Our faith life can go through storms, and there is a place of safe retreat.  When we have doubts or fears about God and our relationship with God, we too can improve our warning systems, "hide our face in our cloak", stop looking out at the storms of doubts and learn listen for God's quiet reassuring voice.  We find a quiet place of refuge to meditate on God's goodness in our lives, and draw strength from that "storm shelter".  As we grow and mature as Christians, as people of faith, we learn to be less afraid of the storms.  We learn to accept help from others when we lack faith ourselves.  We can see the warning signs and retreat safely into the arms of God, dodging the worst of the storm.  We can sit with God and watch the storm pass, notice its awesome and terrible beauty, pray that no one will be hurt by it, and stand ready to offer comfort and healing.

When we see others going through the storms of faith, like St. Paul in the passage from Romans, we can have great sorrow and anguish in our hearts for them, learn to empathize, even acknowledge the desire that we could take the storm's "beating" instead of them, and reach out our hands, be the hands of Christ for them as so many have been the hands of Christ for us.  When we turn our selves toward Jesus, turn our spirits inward to the quiet voice saying "this too shall pass, all will be well" and wait, we will find that eventually the storm does pass, and God was with us in the storm all along.

In Christ,
Gazelle

Come and Eat! Be Satisfied!

A Reflection on Matthew 14:13-21 N.A.B.

By: Larry T

Servers rushing about, all kinds of rare and delicious foods piled high on serving platters; fine wines flowing freely; endless toasts, boisterous laughter, musicians, entertainment, and even dancing – it was a birthday bash – a royal birthday banquet.

At this banquet Herodias skillfully maneuvered Herod into ordering the murder of John the Baptist.

When Jesus heard that John the Baptist had been savagely murdered he tried to withdraw to a deserted place to be alone, but an enthusiastic crowd followed him. And when Jesus stepped from the boat to dry land the massive throng was there to greet him. He took pity on them and healed their sick. Ultimately this event concluded with a satisfying meal – Jesus’ banquet.

¹³ When Jesus heard of it, he withdrew in a boat to a deserted place by himself. The crowds heard of this and followed him on foot from their towns.
¹⁴ When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, and he cured their sick.
¹⁵ When it was evening, the disciples approached him and said, “This is a deserted place and it is already late; dismiss the crowds so that they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves.”
¹⁶ [Jesus] said to them, “There is no need for them to go away; give them some food yourselves.”
¹⁷ But they said to him, “Five loaves and two fish are all we have here.”
¹⁸ Then he said, “Bring them here to me,”
¹⁹ and he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking  the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing, broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, who in turn gave them to the crowds.
²⁰ They all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up the fragments left over—twelve wicker baskets full.
²¹ Those who ate were about five thousand men, not counting women and children.
- Matthew 14:13-21 N.A.B.

The sharp contrast between Herod’s banquet and Jesus’ banquet is clear. At Herod’s banquet there was resentment, arrogance, scheming, and murder. It took place in a royal court. At Jesus’ banquet there was healing, trust, and sharing. It took place in a deserted location – like the wilderness in which ancient Israel was fed with manna and quail.

Reading that Jesus took the five loaves and the two fish, looked up to heaven, said the blessing, broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples should remind us of his institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper:

²⁶ While they were eating, Jesus took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and giving it to his disciples said, “Take and eat; this is my body.” – Matthew 26:26 N.A.B.

We might also recall that Elisha, the Old Testament prophet, fed a hundred men with twenty loaves of barley and a few fresh ears of corn.

⁴² A man came from Baal-shalishah bringing the man of God twenty barely loaves made from the first fruits, and fresh grain in the ear. “Give it to the people to eat,” Elisha said.
⁴³ But his servant objected, “How can I set this before a hundred men?” “Give it to the people to eat,” Elisha insisted. “For thus says the LORD, ‘They shall eat and there shall be some left over.’”
⁴⁴ And when they had eaten, there was some left over, as the LORD had said.
- 2 Kings 4:42-44

There are some parallels between Jesus’ banquet and Elisha’s banquet, but the number of people fed by Jesus is much larger than those fed by Elisha, a sign of Jesus’ superiority.

Still, the multiplication of fish and loaves of bread should point us beyond the Last Supper and the institution of the Eucharist to one more banquet, to the kingdom of God pictured by the Old Testament prophet Isaiah.

⁶ On this mountain the LORD of hosts
     will provide for all peoples
A feast of rich food and choice wines,
     juicy, rich food and pure, choice wines. - Isaiah 25:6 N.A.B.

Reflecting on the feeding of the Israelites in the wilderness with manna and quail, Elisha’s feeding of one hundred men with twenty barley loaves and a few ears of corn, Jesus’s multiplication of five loaves and two fish for five thousand men not counting women and children, and Jesus’ institution of the Holy Eucharist at the Last Supper to Isaiah’s vision of the kingdom of God as a heavenly feast gives us a way of linking our present day experience of sharing in the Eucharistic meal to its rich biblical background, and our future hopes as God’s people.