The Mighty One Has Done Great Things For Me

May 31, 2012

Feast of the Visitation of the blessed Virgin Mary

The Lord your God is in your midst a mighty savior;  He will rejoice over you with gladness and renew you in his love, He will sing joyfully because of you as one sings at festivals.  Zephaniah 3:17-18

He has mercy on those who fear him in every generation.  He has shown the strength of his arm, he has scattered the proud in their conceit.  He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, and has lifted up the lowly.   Luke 160:-52

Piety 

A Modern-Day Magnificat By Kristen Wisen

I cannot keep silent any longer. From deep within, my soul is bursting with praise and awe for my Lord and Savior. For He has taken notice of His humble servant and because of Him, I shall be remembered as a blessed woman!

Why? you ask. Because He has done incredible things for me. Yes, for simple, lowly, humble me. And all I can do is lift high His holy name.

It’s not just for me either. For generations He has provided mercy for those who fear Him. Oh, yes, He has done mighty deeds through the ages – do you remember Babel? He scattered those people who were so very proud of their accomplishments. And do you remember the time He caused Nebuchadnezzar to crawl on all fours and eat grass? Yes, He takes rulers off their thrones and replaces them with the humble.

He fills the hungry with good things, and sends the rich away with nothing – just like His provision for young David and His discipline of King Saul.

And today, He has answered the prayers of the fathers through the ages. He has remembered His people and He has granted us mercy. And just as He promised Abraham that all the nations of the world would be blessed through Him, today He has kept that promise.

And for some reason, He decided to include me in the plan…All glory be to God.

http://nikemusings.blogspot.com/2010/09/modern-day-magnificat.html

Study

Today we mark Mary's visit to her cousin and Jesus' in-the-womb's first encounter with  John.  This is one of the precious and few episodes for Mary's life with which we have an historical account.  It also is one we celebrate weekly in the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary.

Luke notes that Mary traveled "in haste" but then stayed for three months, not in any hurry to go home.  She might have been right at home in today's society filled with rush hours, delayed departures, TSA screenings, and everything that makes us rush around only to be told to wait.

Makes you wonder how one traveled in haste from Nazareth to the hill country of Judah?  On a swift-footed steed of a mule?

Mary was quite the trekker.  The few stories we have of her life involved traveling. After this trip, we know she went home eventually and then traveled for the census from Nazareth to Bethlehem.  Then, on to Egypt. Then, back to Palestine.  She was there again at Cana for the wedding feast prompting Jesus to get busy.  Ultimately she was by the side of Jesus from the manager to the cross while He was busy taking our sins onto his back.

Action

To where have you traveled recently? Have your adventures taken you down the hallway or as close as the neighbor next door or as far away as another state or country? We just got back from New Orleans for a visitation to our daughter Sarah.

New Orleans puts you on sensory overload.  The city is most known for its music and food.  But your sense of hearing and tastes are not the only senses that get a workout.  The heat, the smells, the street sounds, the grit and the grime press on you from every direction.  Sometimes there are crowds. Sometimes there are no people just potholes.  The Monsignor preaching from the clamshell pulpit at St. Louis Cathedral. The lines of people waiting for an overpriced and cup of cafe au lair at CDM.  The barefoot airport gate-seekers wandering aimlessly while aiming for C19 or D4 by way of the snaking lines of TSA.

Do you travel with a purpose like Mary? As you prepare for summer, how can you practice the holy hospitality that Elizabeth and Zechariah shared with Mary?  How can you in the present moment help your host and hostess prepare for the blessings of their future?

The Least is the Greatest

May 30, 2012

Wednesday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time

By Colleen O'Sullivan

The disciples were on the way, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus went ahead of them.  They were amazed, and those who followed were afraid.  Taking the Twelve aside again, he began to tell them what was going to happen to him.  “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and hand him over to the Gentiles who will mock him, spit upon him, scourge him, and put him to death, but after three days he will rise.”

Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.”  He replied, “What do you wish me to do for you?” They answered him, “Grant that in your glory we may sit one at your right and the other at your left.”  Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking”…  Jesus summoned (the Twelve) and said to them, “You know that those who are recognized as rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones make their authority over them felt.  But it shall not be so among you.  Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant.  For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.”  (Mark 10:32-38a, 42-45)

Piety

O Loving Jesus, although you are the Son of God, you humbled yourself and became a servant to all.  I pray for the grace to follow your example, to live a life of service to others.

Study

How do we use power?  What does it mean to be great?  These are questions raised in today’s Gospel reading. 

As I was pondering Jesus’ words, I thought about some of my work experiences.  When I first moved to the Washington area 22 years ago, I worked for a professional services firm where the partners were all about power.  Hardly a day went by in that office without some great battle between two or more of them over turf and command.  The partners were firmly in control and didn’t want anyone beneath them to forget it.  They used people purely for their own gain.  In fact, the other employees only counted insofar as they were useful to the partners’ purposes.

Contrast that with the office I work in today, a small trade association.  I report directly to the president and CEO, who, by virtue of his position, has power.  But he doesn’t flaunt his position.  He doesn’t expect anything from anyone else that he doesn’t expect from himself.  He treats his employees with respectful consideration.  If he goes to the copier to get something he printed, he’s not above picking up any jobs I’ve sent to it and bringing them to me. 

James and John might have fit in quite well in the first office I described.  They wanted power and glory. They must not have heard a thing Jesus said about being a suffering servant Messiah.  Their friend and leader is on the way to betrayal, torture, and execution and all they can think about is the choice positions they would like in the kingdom of God.  They want to be partners!

Oh, you will be partners, says Jesus, just not the sort you are imagining.  You will follow in my footsteps and experience what I’m about to experience.  If you really want to be great, he tells them, you have to humble yourselves and be least of all.  You have to be willing to reach out in love and service to the sick, the poor, and the suffering. 

Action

I went on retreat during Holy Week.  The image which keeps coming back to me is the foot-washing during the Holy Thursday Mass.  I keep seeing the Son of God in the Upper Room, not counting “equality with God a thing to be grasped,” but rolling up his sleeves, taking a cloth, a basin and pitcher of water, kneeling down and lovingly washing the filthy, stinky, cracked feet of his beloved friends, and then bending over and lovingly kissing those feet. 

When you have some time today, reflect on the people who are your heroes in the faith.  I’d be willing to bet they aren’t people filled with their own self-importance, but people whose greatness consists in their loving service to their brothers and sisters.

Give So To Receive

Give So To Receive 

May 29, 2012

Tuesday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time

 

by Beth DeCristofaro

Jesus said, "Amen, I say to you,
there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters
or mother or father or children or lands
for my sake and for the sake of the Gospel
who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age:
houses and brothers and sisters
and mothers and children and lands,
with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come.  (Matthew 10:29-30)

Piety

Lord, grant that I may see you more clearly in the outcasts of this world, love you more dearly in the poor and the rejected, and follow you more nearly by responding to the needs of your deprived sisters and brothers.  (sacredspace.ie)

Study

Years ago, right after college, I spent a year as a volunteer teacher at Santa Barbara elementary school in Dededo, Guam.  It was a year of self discovery as a Catholic young adult and as a person in new surroundings.  It was not a case of giving up everything because I had rent provided, roommates from the states and very generous parishioners that made sure their young teachers stayed out of trouble and had enough food to eat!  At that time it was figuring out what it meant to follow Christ, as I was able.

Who do I know who has truly given up everything to follow Christ?  Not many.  How about you?  The lures of a consumer world distract. And the need to provide for family - or to survive if you are poor - dictate that we must be active in worldly business.  For most of us it calls for constant awareness of priorities and our inner gyroscope.  Are we following the Christ of love or are we striking out on our own?   

We don't need to wait for the age to come for our promised rewards.  In the silence of our own being, the joy of Christ's presence tells us where we stand rooted.  

Action

Jesus said that the poor would always be with us.  In this reading he affirms giving up all to follow the Word.  He also clearly gave the poor and oppressed into our safekeeping.  As we monitor our internal gyroscope, what does God's presence tell us?  Do we form community with those different from ourselves or stay in a comfort zone of our own making?

Follow Me

Follow Me  

 May 28, 2012 

Monday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time 

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in his great mercy gave us a new birth to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you who by the power of God are safeguarded through faith, to a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the final time.  1 Peter 1:3-5 

Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him, “You are lacking in one thing. Go, sell what you have, and give to [the] poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.  At that statement his face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions.  Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” Mark 10:21-23 

Piety 

Follow me.  The words reverberate in our minds and in our hearts.  Father, take from us all the personal traits that are the obstacles to a life in grace. Jesus, give to us everything that leads us on the path of following you.  Set us free, Holy Spirit, from all that chains us to our current life so that we might live our life in the Spirit.  Amen. 

Study 

The Last Commandment from our Easter season also becomes the First Words we hear from Jesus as we renter the season of ordinary time.  Follow me.  When we heard these words Saturday Jesus was speaking to Peter and telling him to cut the chains of ego and jealousy that kept him back from executing his mission to tend to the church. Today, the rich man sulks away. His chains are to the earthly possessions and wealth that get in the way of following Jesus.   This scene takes place right after Jesus blesses the children and tells his disciples that we must be child-like to enter into heaven.  Children have no wealth.  Children have no political power.  Children have no social status. Children have no envy. Jesus, too, was child-like.  Jesus had none of these obstacles to His life of piety, study and action.  He proclaimed in the temple from the very outset of his ministry that the "Spirit of the Lord is upon me."  Jesus had no chains to any personal, economic, political or social ties.   

Action 

One day after we celebrated the birth of the Church in Pentecost, recall the Ideal talk that you heard on your Cursillo weekend.  What do you do with your time, talent and treasure to lead you to a right relationship with the Lord and the people around you?  What would Jesus say if he was addressing the  How can you cut your chains to the pursuit of wealth for its own sake and use the blessing of your treasure for the good of building the Kingdom here on earth?

Renew

Renew

May 27, 2012 

Pentecost 2012 B 

By Rev. Joe McCloskey, SJ 

Piety 

Piety is shown in our lives by the working of the Holy Spirit in the gifts we have received. The Spirit is the love of the Father for the Son and the love of the Son for the Father meeting in the personhood of the Spirit. The gifts of the Spirit are spelled out in our lives by the uniqueness of our love where the fruits of the Spirit find expression in whom we are in our service of one another. Galatians in chapter 5 lists the fruits of the Spirit. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control are the fruits of the spirit where the uniqueness of our love finds expression. These fruits are all expressions of the golden rule of Charity. “Do unto others as your would have them do unto you.”The victory of Christ won over death has its perfection expressed in gift of our lives which we give to one another. Piety is the obviousness of love. We have all been baptized into one body. We were all given to drink of one Spirit. Together we are the mystical body of Christ. 

Study 

We study how to make the Spirit welcome in our hearts. Our study allows us to fill out our lives with the gifts of the Spirit. Wisdom, knowledge, Counsel and Understanding are the sign posts of the Spirit in our minds. These gifts of the Spirit come to us through our faithfulness to love. Piety, fortitude and fear of the Lord are the gifts that touch our wills. Those who belong to Christ are willing to climb his cross and crucify their passions and evil desires with prayer, mortification and good works. How we push ourselves beyond our comfort zones shows forth our openness to the workings of the Spirit in our lives. 

Action 

For every need of the people of God there is a new coming of the Spirit which allows us to meet the crises with the freshness of the Spirit’s life within us. We need to be the line of strongest resistance to the works of the flesh. We need to stand up against immorality, impurity, lust, idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, rivalry, jealousy, outbursts of fury, acts of selfishness, dissensions, factions, occasions of envy, drinking bouts, orgies and the like. If we live in the Spirit, the gifts of the spirit will shine out in our lives in our restraint of our passions.  Pentecost is the source of what our world needs from us if we are going to make a difference in a world gone mad with indifference to the things of God. The Spirit of God lives in our love for one another. We are called by the Spirit to be God’s love for each other.

You Follow Me

You Follow Me

May 26, 2012

Memorial of Saint Philip Neri, Priest

But when the Jews objected, I was obliged to appeal to Caesar, even though I had no accusation to make against my own nation.  This is the reason, then, I have requested to see you and to speak with you, for it is on account of the hope of Israel that I wear these chains."  Acts 28:19-202

When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, "Lord, what about him?"  Jesus said to him, "What if I want him to remain until I come?  What concern is it of yours?  You follow me."  John 21:21-22

Piety

Father, the words are simple.  Though our piety, make us better able to contemplate what these words mean as we attempt to walk with Youand Your Son.  Jesus, help us to study these words so that we can break free of the chains of distractions and temptations that lead us away from our path with you.  Holy Spirit, send your gifts so that we may turn these words into the right relations with the Lord and each other. Amen.

Study

"You follow me."  In the Good News, these three simple words could be considered the Last Commandment.  These are the last words of Jesus spoken to his disciples...a concluding message to our great triple headers of Lent--Triduum--Easter.  Another way to look at "You follow me" is as the basic message to carry us through Ordinary

Time until we reach Advent, our next season of preparation at the beginning of the next liturgical year.  Maybe the next time you walk through the aisles of The Paschal Lamb or the Family Christian Bookstores, there will be a bracelet with these words engraved.  Right next to those WWJD products.

These words were prompted by Peter's final outburst.  After thrice being given the commandment to "Feed my sheep," Peter pressed Jesus to tell him about John's duty.  Maybe Peter was feeling a little put out -- a little singled out.  Yet Jesus does not give in to Peter's ego nor to Peter's possible envy directed to the disciple whom Jesus loved.  "You follow me" become the last words of tough love that set Simon Peter on his path of execution -- fulfilling the commandments and ultimately being led to his death on the cross.  

Action

Don't measure yourself against each other.  Measure yourself against what Jesus asks of us.

How can you put these words -- You Follow Me -- into action?  Today is the last day of our high holy seasons. During the last 95 days, we have prepared ourselves in Lent with a special commitment to prayer, fasting and alms giving.  We gave over ourselves on Palm Sunday to walk with Jesus intriumph into Jerusalem.  We then walked with him throughout Holy Week in defeat to Calvary and stood at the foot of the cross.  Our steps in Easter traced the path to Emmaus where we went from not recognizing Him in our midst to another great Epiphany.  Where will our steps take us as we cross the threshold back into Ordinary Time after Pentecost Sunday?  

How will we follow Him every day, 24/7?

Make yourself a little prayer card.  Decorate one side with your favorite image or icon. On the other, print these three simple words so they will guide you through the chains ofyour distractions and selfish pursuits. Stay on the right path with this gentle reminder of the Last Commandment.

You.  Follow.  Me.

Feed My Sheep

May 25, 2012

Friday of the Seventh Week of Easter

By Melanie Rigney

(Festus said in referring Paul’s case to King Agrippa:) “His accusers stood around him, but did not charge him with any of the crimes I suspected. Instead they had some issues with him about their own religion and about a certain Jesus who had died but who Paul claimed was alive.”  (Acts 25:18-19)

The Lord has established his throne in heaven. (Psalms 103:19)

Peter was distressed that (Jesus) had said to him a third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.” (John 21:17)

PIETY

Lord, let my answers to Your questions be full of joy and confidence and awareness of what loving You means to me and to those I know.

STUDY

Talk is cheap.

Twice already, Peter had told Jesus he loved him. Twice already, Jesus had told him in 

essence that if Peter loved Jesus, to care for the other followers. Remember, Peter’s love had been tested before the crucifixion, when he boasted he would always stand by Jesus, no matter what the others did—and then failed to do so.

But this is a different Peter. If Peter doesn’t know it, Jesus does. In today’s Gospel reading, he goes on to tell Peter this journey on the Lord’s behalf will take him to places he doesn’t want to go. And this Peter, soon to be fired by the Holy Spirit is ready. Ultimately, like Paul and many others, he will die a martyr for spreading the news of the Jesus’ resurrection and the promise of eternal life for his followers.

Talk is cheap.

It’s easy to offer prayers of praise to God. If having a meaningful relationship with the Lord meant just telling Him that we love, worship, and adore Him, this life would be so simple. It’s harder when He asks us to reflect that love to others, whether they return it or not, whether we feel human love for them or not. But that’s what He calls us to do. The funny thing is that the more we attempt to love in God’s name our annoying neighbors, backstabbing coworkers, negative family members, and catty acquaintances, the easier it becomes; the more confident we grow in faith. Will any of us be called before the authorities to defend our faith? Perhaps it depends on your definition of authority, for we defend the faith whenever we reach out in love in His name, expecting nothing in return. Action may not be cheap… but it becomes easier the more we grow in grace.

ACTION

Please add to your prayers the five seminarians in our diocese who will be ordained to the transitional diaconate on June 2 and the three deacons who will be ordained to the priesthood June 9. 

(http:/www.arlingtondiocese.org/vocations/documents/invitation_ordinations_2012_email.pdf). 

Pray that Christ’s message of showing love for him by caring for others inspires their hearts and souls.

The Lord Stood By Him

May 24, 2012

Thursday of the Seventh Week of Easter

The following night the Lord stood by him and said, "Take courage.  For just as you have borne witness to my cause in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness in Rome."Acts 23:11

"I pray not only for these, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me."  John 17:20-21

Piety

Father, thank you for making us the humbling gift to your Son.  Jesus, stand by us in our trials as you stood by your servant and friend Paul in prison and in life.  Send forth your Holy Spirit to fill us with the light of your life as we work to carry on our partnership with you.  Amen.

Study

Partners.  We know how important partners are in a business sense.  Pitney and Bowes.  Gates and Allen.  Mercedes and Benz.  We know it in an entertainment sense.  Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock.  Butch and Sundance.  Luke and Han.  Batman and Robin.  Our books, too, are filled with partner pairs.  Ahab and the White Whale.  Leopold Bloom and Molly.  

In the Jesus Prayer that is central to John's Gospel, we hear in His own words, how Jesus wants to perpetuate his partnership with the Father through the work of his disciples and his disciples' disciples.

The Father and Jesus are One.  And Jesus through his life, death and resurrection, leads us to carry on His holy work and join with the Father in the same unity they enjoy and enjoin.

Action

What partners do you have in life?  Spouse? Siblings?  Friends?  How do they fulfill your life and your work?

Is your partnership with Jesus evident?  When you are on trial, will he stand beside you as he stood beside Paul?  When He is on trial, will you stand beside Him?  When he is on the cross, will you be at the foot of the cross with Mary and John? 

What action can you plan to do this week to put your partnership with Jesus on display for the world.  Think beyond wearing a cross and concentrate on the actions you can take on behalf of others which will help you live up to the expectation of Jesus that he declares:  You are God's Gift to Jesus!