Here I Am Lord July 15

Piety

Here I am Lord. I come to do your will.

Amen.

Study
http://www.usccb.org/nab/071506.shtml

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying,“Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?” “Here I am,” I said; “send me!” Isaiah 6:8

Where are you?

9505 Babson Court. But it could just as well be 105 Lockman Avenue. 19 Albon Court. P. O. Box 241. 2911 Garden Lane. 210 S. West Street. It’s only an address, not a state of mind. We are not on our weekend any longer. Bethany House. Missionhurst. Mount Zion. We are back in the world.

Where are you? How closely is your mind disposed to do what Jesus asks of you? Isaiah encounters the friendship of the Lord when he sees the Lord on his throne. The prophet thinks he will die but instead finds Jesus looking for a friend to send out with a message to the people. Isaiah turns from the pre-occupations of his old life. The old vocation dies to a new vocation.

May the Word of God be on my mind.

Where are you? Are your lips ready to go out into the world and proclaim the Good News? The Lord sends Isaiah out to preach. But before doing so, Isaiah must be purified by the hot ember touching his lips. Isaiah then goes forth just as we do when we leave our weekend experience encountering Jesus. His Fourth Day is a time of action as we learn in Isaiah 6:9-10 while he proclaims in the light and speaks from the housetops.

Go and say to this people: Listen carefully, but you shall not understand! Look intently, but you shall know nothing!

You are to make the heart of this people sluggish, to dull their ears and close their eyes; Else their eyes will see, their ears hear, their heart understand, and they will turn and be healed.

May the Word of God be on my lips.

Where are you? Does the Lord dwell in your heart? Do you experience God with all your being and all your senses? Do you do what a friend asks of you?

Or, instead are you obstinate to the message proclaimed when as a people we face and ignore the use of the death penalty, state-sanctioned suicide, environmental destruction, genocide in Sudan, famine in Ethiopia, and more yet stands on the sidelines?

May the Word of God dwell in my heart covering me with a seamless garment woven from piety, study and action.

Action

Take a step toward respecting all life including lives condemned to prison. Twice before the end of this month, the Governor will be confronted with death penalty decisions. Unless Governor Tim Kaine intervenes, Brandon Hedrick will be executed on July 20th, and Michael Lenz will be executed on July 27th. According to the Virginia Catholic Conference, the rate of scheduling executions in Virginia has now reached an alarming level. Thus, it is more important than ever for the Governor's constituents to express their opposition to the use of capital punishment when non-lethal measures to protect society, such as life imprisonment without parole, are available.

Matthew reminds us:

What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light;what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops.And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul;rather, be afraid of the one who can destroyboth soul and body in Gehenna.

The State of Virginia cannot kill the soul. While our hearts are sluggish, our ears are dull and our eyes are closed. Please contact the Governor through the Virginia Catholic Conference web site.

Take action here.

Contact Governor Kaine and urge him to commute Mr. Hedrick's and Mr. Lenz's sentences to life in prison.