31 Tuesday Jul 2012
Posted in retreat, seminarians, St. Ignatius of Loyola, Suscipe, vocations
Today is the Feast day of St. Ignatius. I have borrowed the above photo from “Pray as You Go”.
This prayer of St. Ignatius is beautiful in its truth and simplicity.
Today also begins our diocesan summer seminarian retreat/gathering. Please keep our seminarians in your prayers over these next few days. Please also prayer for all our young people to be open to God’s call in their lives.
This coming fall we will have nineteen seminarians studying for our diocese!
28 Saturday Jul 2012
Posted in 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time, compassion, prayer
It is always worthy to note that every facet of the gospel is worth reflecting upon and this even applies to space and location within the biblical narrative.
Biblical commentators have noted that in the time of Jesus it was the custom that teachers sat when they gave instruction. In the gospel passage for this Sunday (Jn 6:1-5), John tells us that the Lord sat down with his disciples, he was preparing to teach. But there is also something else worthy of note; Jesus went up on the mountain… Jesus neither remains below – focused solely on his immediate work, living a self-centered existence in the midst of others – nor does he remain on high – seeking to escape reality and others in a one-on-one relationship with God. Jesus ascends the mountain to be just a little bit higher; he needs to encounter God, and from there he can see men and women better.
There is an important teaching here for Christians. Only by living in an ongoing and daily encounter with God and by welcoming God’s compassion in our lives is it possible to look upon people with open eyes and to fully understand their needs. In John’s account of this scene, it is Jesus who first raises his eyes and sees the people coming and who first recognizes that they were hungry and needed food. Jesus then prods his disciples, Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?
Time spent daily in prayer does not remain solely within, maturing our own relationship with God (which is wonderful). Daily prayer also directs our gaze outward – opening our eyes to recognize the needs of others and sharing compassion to help feed their hunger. Prayer helps to mature us within and mature us without through our ability to relate honestly and compassionately with others.
It is in this “sharing compassion” that another miracle takes place. We are told that in the face of this overwhelming crowd and their need, the disciples come to realize that there is one boy with five barley loaves and two fish. (The barley loaf of bread was the food of the poor because it was not the best bread nor the most flavorful.) The disciples, informed more by the sad realism and practicality of our world are ready to give up and wash their hands of the crowd by encouraging that they be sent away. Everyone left to forage on his or her own. But our Lord is formed more by God’s word than this sad realism and he has the people recline on the grass. He blesses the bread and with these five poor loaves he feeds the multitude!
In essence we are all like that young boy. We do not have much and what we do have is often quite poor – the little love and compassion we have, the little time we think we can spare, the little attention we can give, the little desire – yet, if we give it to the Lord then he can take it, bless it and use it to feed a multitude. The key to this equation is our putting the “little” we have into the Lord’s hands and not seeking to hold on to it for ourselves. An often unremarked upon part of this gospel scene is that the young boy did hand over his own meager meal. He could have said, “No. I have mine now you get yours.” but he did not. He handed over the little he did have into the Lord’s hands and the multitude was fed.
Living in a daily encounter with God in prayer and giving over the little that we do have – two good lessons for our reflection on this Sunday.
21 Saturday Jul 2012
Posted in 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time (B), gospel, homily, power
The Gospel passage for this Sunday (Mk. 6:30-34) has the apostles returning to the Lord after having been sent out on mission to proclaim the coming of the Kingdom of God, to heal the sick and to aid the weak and the poor. The evangelist makes note of a “power” being conferred on the apostles in order to acomplish these tasks. It is quickly realized that the power mentioned here is neither economic nor political because those first disciples clearly had neither. The “power” that the disciples went forth with were obedience to Jesus, the proclamation of his words and repeating the Lord’s gestures of mercy. Through these simple powers great things happened and the apostles return full of excitement to share their experiences. We can imagine the affectionate expression on Jesus’ face on their return and in their recounting of what had happened.
Today, the Gospel gives us a different way than just the economic and political to affect the world. This is a needed message for our time so steeped in materialism. This influence of materialism can be witnessed in society’s fixation with the “material” power of economics and politics as the only ways to really get things done. What the Gospel offers is a different way and a way that is more authentic and more human. It is a power that truly heals and touches the human heart.
In our Christian heritage there is a famous quote that states, “Christian, forget not your dignity!” In relation to today’s Gospel I think we can say, “Church, forget not your power!” I am not saying that there is no place for economics or politics – lets not be naive – but also lets not forget that the true power of the Church resides in neither of these.
The power of the Christian community (the power to which the Church alone is the steward) is threefold:
1. obedience to Jesus,
2. the proclamation of his words,
3. repeating the Lord’s gestures of mercy.
Obedience to Jesus. Jesus is Son of God, Son of Man and Lord of history. Why do we keep searching for other lords and other messiahs? Yet, we do. There are great men and great women throughout history yet none other is Son of God and Son of Man. The primary witness of the disciples is found not in so much of what they said but in what they did. They remained with the Lord. They returned to him (as we see in today’s Gospel). When they wandered and stumbled they turned back. Even when they scattered from the cross; they gathered together again in the locked room. In times of triumph, times of struggles, and times of uncertainty the disciples remained with the Lord. There is a power found in obedience to the Lord.
The proclamation of Christ’s words. There are many great ideas, theories and achievement throughout human history and these, rightly, can amaze and astound us. We celebrate what is good and true. But even as the Church can and should learn from these achievements she must remember that the words which she has to share are authentic, true and needed for every place and age. They are words that truly bring life. The words are not of our own making; rather they have been entrusted and given to us. We are to speak Christ’s words to our world. Elsewhere in the Gospel our Lord tells us that no one puts a light under a bushel basket yet how often are we tempted to give the Gospel second place in our lives to the latest theory, psychology, philosophy or social fad? When we do so are we not, in essence, placing a bushel basket over the light of the Gospel? The words of Christ truly heal because Christ alone is the Lord of life.
The Lord’s gestures of mercy. Our Lord knew the power of gesture: he writes in the sand, he touches the leper, he sits down at the well with the samaritan woman, he heals the demoniac, he feeds the five thousand. It is interesting to note how our Lord’s gestures were directed toward the expression of mercy. Even the cleansing of the Temple can be seen as the desire to clear away a crushing and deadening legalism in order that God’s house might once again be seen as a house of mercy. The Church is at its best when it lives our Lord’s gestures of mercy – when the untouchable are touched, when the hungry are fed when the sinner is forgiven. These gestures might not make the evening news or any of the plethora of our society’s award shows but they are true, they are noted by heaven and they bring hope and healing to our world.
At the end of today’s gospel passage we are told that when Jesus disembarked from the boat and saw the vast crowd his heart was moved with pity. The people were starving. They were tired of that which failed to satisfy. We, today, are tired of that which fails to satisfy. Salvation does not come through politics nor does it come through the economy. Salvation comes through mercy – God’s mercy at work in our world, our hearts and our lives.
Christian, forget not your dignity! Church, forget not your power!
18 Wednesday Jul 2012
Posted in consolation, human face, icon, prayer, St. Teresa of Avila
I have been taught that in iconography you should write the face first. (I must admit that I do not always follow this rule.) But with this icon I did.
I once heard an interview with an artist who said that we are not born with a face; rather we craft our faces over the course of a lifetime of choices, smiles, tears, expressions and struggles. He went on to say that it is really not until our forties that our face begins to be our own – what we have made of it. I like this thought. We grow into and mold our face and therefore our face becomes a true expression of who we are as a person rather than just a mask we wear.
In her reflection on the “Second Dwelling Places” in The Interior Castle Teresa warns about the danger of seeking spiritual consolation too early in the journey of prayer.
Even though I’ve said this at other times, it’s so important that I repeat it here: it is that souls shouldn’t be thinking about consolations at this beginning stage. It would be a very poor way to start building so precious and great an edifice. If the foundation is on sand, the whole building will fall to the ground … It is an amusing thing that even though we still have a thousand impediments and imperfections and our virtues have hardly begun to grow – and please God they may have begun – we are yet not ashamed to seek spiritual delights in prayer and to complain about dryness. May this never happen to you, Sisters. Embrace the cross your Spouse has carried and understand that this must be your task. Let the one who can do so, suffer more for Him; and she will be rewarded that much more. As for other favors, if the Lord should grant you one, thank Him for it as you would for something freely added on.
We like consolation and we like it now! In fact, I know whole ministries that our based on this premise (and they are quite popular). But Teresa’s words of caution are very appropriate here. Just as a human body does not grow and become healthy if its whole diet consists of sweets and desserts so the spiritual person does not mature in his or her faith by seeking consolation after consolation. The cross must be embraced because the truth is that there are a thousand impediments and imperfections within each of us. Lets be honest is this regard.
To return to the thought of the artist – it is in embracing our crosses in hope and in love (and also enjoying the consolations that do come along in God’s time) that we do the work of crafting our faces in order that our face rather than being just a mask might truly come to reveal who we are as a mature human person.
16 Monday Jul 2012
Posted in humility, icon, knowledge of God, self-knowledge, St. Teresa of Avila
I have put down the base colors for the icon of St. Teresa of Avila.
In iconography you put down the darker colors first and then bring forth the lighter colors. In iconography it is not so much that light shines on the individual from without rather the light is meant to emanate from within the saint or our Lord. The light of God’s grace transforms and transfigures from within and shines forth.
Also, iconography is not so much concerned with perspective as we are so often used to in western classical art. The purpose of the icon is to bring the viewer into a spiritual encounter with the person pictured in the icon. It can be said that it is not so much us who view the image as it is the one presented in the icon who is looking at us. Perspective, in iconography, is reversed – the icon watches us.
In the beginning of The Interior Castle St. Teresa reminds us that the only door of entry into true knowledge of self and of God is “prayer and reflection”.
Teresa wisely cautions that self-knowledge must be held in a creative tension with the truth of God.
If we are always fixed on our earthly misery, the stream will never flow free from the mud of fears, faintheartedness, and cowardice…
So it is with the soul in the room of self-knowledge; let it believe me and fly sometimes to ponder the grandeur and majesty of its God. Here it will discover its lowliness better than by thinking of itself (solely)…
In my opinion we shall never completely know ourselves if we don’t strive to know God. By gazing at His grandeur, we get in touch with our own lowliness; by looking at His purity, we shall see our own filth; by pondering His humility, we shall see how far we are from being humble.
Two advantages come from such activity. First, it’s clear that something white seems much whiter when next to something black, and vice versa with the black next to the white. The second is that our intellects and wills, dealing in turn now with self now with God, become nobler and better prepared for every good.
Finally, for this post at least, the saint offers this thought: While we are on this earth nothing is more important to us than humility.
Amen, St. Teresa, amen.
14 Saturday Jul 2012
Posted in 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (B), care for others, death, ego, guilt, homily, joy, love
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| “Return of the Prodigal Son” by Rembrandt |
The original Christians were known for their taking care of others. Especially others that the rest of society did not care for. They buried the unknown poor, they cared for the sick. They cared for the beggars. Most of all, they cared for one another – sharing all so that no one was in need. Many groups in history are known for power, strength, violence and bravery. Few are known for how they loved each other. This is the witness of our faith.
Those first Christians were also known for their joy. Joy is the infallible sign of God’s presence – it goes beyond happiness (which is having the world as we would have it) toward being in tune with the world as God would have it. We find joy when we live as God would have us live.
The first Christians shared all the conditions and struggles of life that their neighbors shared (and we still do). We share the struggles, uncertainties and pains of this world. Where then does our joy come from? It comes from being freed to love and rejoice because, in Christ, we are freed from the three chains of death, guilt and ego.
We all fear death whether we acknowledge it or not and most of our sins come from this deep fear of diminishment, loss and ultimately oblivion. But, as Christians, we know someone who once was dead and now lives. We can boast, “Death, where is your sting?”
As Christians we are also freed from guilt. We all know and bear this misery. It is the felt knowledge that we have done what we should not and that we have not done what we should. And even when we are not personally guilty of a specific sin we do share in the wholesale guilt of the human race. And no human can forgive us, because we all share in sin. But God can forgive and God has in Christ. In Christ our guilt is wiped away – replaced by God’s mercy.
Finally, the Christian is freed from the ego. We are each both blessed and cursed by being a unique individual. We can be so obsessed about taking care of ourselves and living in our own bubble that we forget others and forget the great mystery that it is only in dying to self that we rise to new life. Through Christ we have learned that we save ourself by losing ourself. Maturity comes when I realize that my life is not just about me.
In our care and in our joy we, as Christians, are known. We love because, in Christ, we have been loved and freed from death, from guilt and from the ego. This is the witness of our faith.
See, how much these Christians love one another! Hopefully, this will one day be said of our generation of Christians!
07 Saturday Jul 2012
Posted in icon, St. Teresa of Avila
I started cleaning and organizing my office the other day which is always a sign that something is coming…
I have felt a desire as of late to write another icon but I have not been able to decide on a subject. But recently it has come into my prayer and heart to write an icon of St. Teresa of Avila.
St. Teresa has always been one of my favorite saints – she was a contemplative, a pragmatic and someone not to be crossed lightly all rolled up into one.
During seminary I read through a good bit of her writings and received much spiritual nourishment. Maybe its time I pick up some of her writings again… Maybe eighteen years of priesthood will give me a different perspective.
I have cobbled together an icon to write. In the center stands St. Teresa, in her left hand she holds an open book representing her writing. (I have not yet decided on a quote.) Her right hands points to the Holy Spirit over her left shoulder. While researching the icon I noticed that in many portrayals of the saint the Holy Spirit is often pictured. On the right of the saint in the background stands a representation of the Interior Castle (in reference to her writing on mystical prayer).
I have placed St. Teresa on a bank below which will be a stream. One summer day back when I was a seminarian reading St. Teresa’s writings I took an afternoon nap and in a dream I found myself on one side of a stream and on the other side stood a beautiful and dignified woman in a religious habit. She smiled at me. To this day I think it was St. Teresa so I have decided to add the stream to this icon.
I do not think that this is an icon that I will give away.
I will post pictures and commentary as the icon progresses…
05 Thursday Jul 2012
Posted in Carmelites, Religious Life, Vocation
01 Sunday Jul 2012
In his newly released book, Catholic Teaching on Homosexuality: New Paths to Understanding, Fr. Lou Cameli holds a creative tension between the full teaching of the Catholic Church on human sexuality and a pressing pastoral need of our time. He is able to do this because he situates the Church’s teaching on homosexuality within the larger positive teaching on chastity and he takes seriously the possibility of Christian perfection in the life of the homosexual person as laid out by the Catechism of the Catholic Church when it teaches:
2359 Homosexual persons are called to chastity. By the virtues of self-mastery that teach them inner freedom, at times by the support of disinterested friendship, by prayer and sacramental grace, they can and should gradually and resolutely approach Christian perfection. (Emphasis mine.)
P.S. I would encourage all who are interested to take the time to read and reflect upon the entire section on chastity as found within the Catechism of the Catholic Church in order to see how the Church’s teaching on homosexuality as well as all sexual expression falls within a larger framework. The section on chastity is found under the reflection on the sixth commandment, Thou shalt not commit adultery (CC # 2331-2391).
