“Trust in the Lord and Pray” by Colleen O’Sullivan

“Trust in the Lord and Pray” by Colleen O’Sullivan

Tuesday of the First Week of Lent

Thus, says the Lord:  Just as from the heavens the rain and snow come down
And do not return there till they have watered the earth, making it fertile and fruitful, giving seed to the one who sows and bread to the one who eats, so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; It shall not return to me void but shall do my will, achieving the end for which I sent it. (Isaiah 55:10-11)

When the just cry out, the Lord hears them, and from all their distress, he rescues them. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted, and those who are crushed in spirit he saves. (Psalm 34:18-19)

“This is how you are to pray:  Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.  (Matthew 6:9-13)

Piety

O Lord, help us to pray as you taught us – with acknowledgment of your holiness, with the hope that our prayer on earth echoes that which rings out in heaven, with desire only for what we need, with forgiveness in our hearts toward those who have wronged us, and with the belief that you can protect us from evil and the temptation to participate in it.

Study

Our Scripture readings today employ a variety of simple images to illustrate profound truths.

Isaiah says God’s word is like gentle rain, which makes the earth green and fertile, producing the basic ingredients for the daily bread that sustains us.  Just as we can count on rain, so we can be sure of God’s word coming to fruition.  These words come from the section of Isaiah known as the Book of Consolation. They are words of hope and encouragement to those still in Exile.

The psalmist writes that God hears the cries of the just and comes to their rescue.  God is particularly close to those who are brokenhearted and acts to save those whose spirits are crushed. 

In the Gospel reading, the disciples want to know how to pray.  Jesus tells them to keep it simple.  God doesn’t need a string of fancy words, just the truth about whatever is in your heart.  Always remember to acknowledge the holiness of our Father, Jesus says.  Pray that all of us on earth might be united in prayer, just as all those in heaven are.  Prayer isn’t asking for the sun, the moon, and the stars; ask God for whatever we need to get through the day.  Pray that God and others forgive our sins in the same measure that we are willing to forgive sins against us.  And don’t forget to ask our Father to protect us against the wiles of the evil one.

Such simple images that are sometimes so difficult to hold in our hearts!  When we find ourselves in Exile of any sort, we want immediate rescue, but God’s time isn’t always our time.  Patient hope can be difficult to sustain.  When I look back at things I prayed for as a much younger person, I can see that God eventually answered those prayers but not always in ways I expected and often many years or decades after I had uttered those prayers. 

When we are brokenhearted, or our spirits have been crushed, it’s hard to imagine that we will ever feel any better.  However, when we open our hearts to God’s love and healing, God can find ways to console and comfort us.  When they have been stomped on, opening our hearts is an act of faith and trust that can be long in coming.    

Maybe we’ve prayed the Lord’s Prayer so often that it’s become a rote exercise, but if we ponder Jesus’ words, we realize that the type of prayer he is setting before us requires our very hearts and souls.  And sometimes a struggle within.  We live in such a consumer society that the idea of asking only for necessities might seem ludicrous.  (Even at three, that’s already a difficult concept to sell to my great-nephew.  Why have only one T-Rex when ten would be better?) 

By far, the most difficult phrase in the Lord’s Prayer is the plea for forgiveness for our sins to the extent that we have forgiven others who have wronged us.  Putting hurts, judgments, or desires for revenge behind us when someone has sinned against us can be the work of a lifetime.  

Action

When you have some quiet time today, try praying the Our Father in your own words.  What do Jesus’ words mean in your life today?  What is it that you need from the Father today?  It doesn’t have to be anything material.  Who in your life has sinned against you, and what do you need to forgive that person?  In what ways does the evil spirit attempt to derail your faith journey?  Ask God for specific help in avoiding the temptation to give in.

“And the Angels Ministered to Him” by Rev. Paul Berghout

 

“And the Angels Ministered to Him” by Rev. Paul Berghout

Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter, Apostle 

Piety

Tend the flock of God in your midst, overseeing not by constraint but willingly, as God would have it, not for shameful profit but eagerly. Do not Lord it over those assigned to you, but be examples to the flock. 1 Peter 5:2-3

And so, I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock, I will build my Church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the Kingdom of heaven. Matthew 16:18-19B 

Study

On the first full week of Lent 2021, we began our journey remembering how God re-established the covenant after the flood during Sunday Mass yesterday. The Gospel reflects how he started his public ministry with a forty-day retreat - driven to the desert by the Spirit.

Today, we see how Jesus further cemented his covenant with his sisters and brothers by entrusting the continued construction of the Kingdom to Peter.  

The next three weeks of Lent represent a period of instruction, designed initially for the Catechumens (those preparing for Baptism at the Easter Vigil). We can read these readings as a catechism of renewal for us, starting with how Jesus’ voyage into the desert symbolizes the journey each of us embarks upon after our initiation.

“He was among wild beasts, and the angels ministered to him.”

In Greek, these "wild beasts" were dangerous animals.  These wild animals can remind us that dangers surrounded Jesus all through his life. And ours. 

Consider this story from a U.S. Army post in the desert of Kuwait.  Protestant Chaplain (Major) Barbara K. Sherer tells how the dining hall caught fire one morning.  The fire also destroyed the surrounding five tents in less than half an hour because of the high winds, including the large chapel tent. Amazingly, the fire started right after breakfast in between the times for the Protestant and Catholic services.

Since the fire happened right before Ash Wednesday, Maj. Sherer decided that she wanted some of the ashes from the fire for Ash Wednesday services. After the fire cooled down, Maj. Sherer got permission to visit the site to collect some ashes. A firefighter scooped up a cupful, put it in a plastic bag, and gave it to her. Later, as she poured the ashes into a bowl for the service, she spotted something shining in the bag. It was a small silver cross that had survived the fire. Inscribed on it: “Jesus is Lord.”  How had the firefighter, in scooping up a random cup of ashes, managed to pick the exact spot where this tiny cross lay hidden?

“The message to me is clear: God walks with us through the terrible firestorms of our lives, and we are lifted unharmed from the ashes,” Maj. Sherer wrote later. 

Isaiah prophesied that Jesus is at peace with the wild animals: “The wolf will live with the lamb.” Messianic peace. By the blood of his cross.

“Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness, no one will see the Lord.” Hebrews 12:14 

Pope Francis says, “Every time your mouth is about to say something that sows discord and divisiveness and to speak ill of another person, the sound advice is to bite your tongue!”

“…and the angels ministered to him.” 

A comedian said, “I have an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other. I’m also deaf in one ear.”

In a song by Terri Gibbs entitled “Someone’s Knockin,” it turns out that the devil is knocking at her door, and she says, “I never dreamed he’d have blue eyes and blue jeans.” 

The devil continually tries to trip us up through the temptations of sensuality, vanity, and pride. However, our faith teaches us that the devil cannot rob persons of their free will. Otherwise, it would remove the very grounds on which we spend eternity in heaven or hell.  Those grounds are the foundation of our free choice to accept Christ as our personal Lord and Savior through faith and Baptism. After that, we continue with on-going discipleship and a more profound conversion and sanctification.

That the Spirit drove Jesus out into the desert shows us that moments of spiritual insight and victory may be followed by “wilderness experiences.” Plus, our undertakings’ successes can introduce new temptations to which the intoxicant of achievement may make one especially vulnerable. Nevertheless, the Spirit “drove” Jesus into the wilderness, where angels ministered to him (Mark 1:12-13).  The presence of temptation itself is no failure as long as there is no consent of the will, and the tempted are not alone. 

Action

This first week of Lent is when we begin our Lenten patterns, realigning our priorities and using more reflective time each day. It is a time to fast and abstain from those that hinder our relationship with the Lord and consider being more generous to the poor.

Like Christ in the desert and Peter with the key, may the angels protect us from our demons, including the devil tempting us to sin. Only in heaven will we know the exact way that the angels have served us. 

A Sufi Master, Abdullah Ansari, said, “If thou can walk on water, thou art no better than a straw. If thou can fly in the air, thou art no better than a fly. But if thou canst resist temptation, thou can conquer the universe.” Actual power, real strength, comes from resisting temptation by God’s grace.

A Tweet from Lent: #Journey to the Desert #40days of temptations, beasts, and angels. Thank you very much, Holy Spirit.  

Amen.

Repenting, Believing Anew By Beth DeCristofaro

Repenting, Believing Anew By Beth DeCristofaro

First Sunday of Lent

 

God said to Noah and to his sons with him: "See, I am now establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you and with every living creature that was with you: all the birds, and the various tame and wild animals that were with you and came out of the ark. (Genesis 9:8-10)

 

This prefigured baptism, which saves you now. It is not a removal of dirt from the body but an appeal to God for a clear conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 3:21)

 

The Spirit drove Jesus out into the desert, and he remained in the desert for forty days, tempted by Satan. He was among wild beasts, and the angels ministered to him. After John had been arrested, Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God: "This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel." (Mark 1:12-15)

 

Piety

Lord God,
you who breathed the Spirit of life within me.
Draw out of me the light and life you created.
Help me to find my way back to you.
Help me to use my life to reflect your glory
and to serve others
as your son Jesus did.

 (Praying Lent Closing Prayer)[i]

 

Study

Pope Francis reminds us that "The Lord is — let us not forget — the Lord of compassion, of nearness, of tenderness: three words never to be forgotten. Because this is the Lord's style: compassion, nearness, tenderness."[ii]  In these readings, we see both God's fidelity and power. Narrative stories such as Noah speak to humanity's place in the world.  They can provide descriptive ways to picture our relationship to God as we struggle with sin, the human condition and misfortune. The water of the flood isolated Noah and family – with lots of animals! – from sin.  Their relationship with God is altered and renewed.

 

How can we relate to a God who can fashion a destructive flood, life-threatening virus, humans who hold so close to their preferred beliefs that they are ready to kill for them? Jesus' compassion, nearness, tenderness. In the Gospel narrative, he was readied through Baptism and, buoyed by the Spirit he prevailed over demons.  His public ministry began after his time in the desert overcoming evil through his very being.  Our new relationship with God came alive through Jesus Cross Resurrection.  Our relationship continues in the Spirit as we journey through Lent, building the Kingdom with each movement of compassion and tenderness, especially for those who most need it.  Our tools are prayer, fasting and almsgiving. 

 

Action

The poet James Metcalf said, "Conscience is a walkie-talkie set by which God speaks to us."  Sometimes our conscience buffets us like Noah's waves – we see everything as wrong, not enough, or inappropriately our fault.  Sometimes our conscience is so desert dry we cannot drink from it because we have ignored it for far too long and it parches our awareness.  By our Baptism, we are stirred to listen deeper, hunger more, live more profoundly in God, in the tender company of infinitely compassionate, near and tender Jesus. 

 

Is my conscience reliable as a loving beacon as I travel closer to God this Lent?  Is there a message that I have been ignoring?  That I need to hear? 

 

 

Illustration:  https://nilefm.com/life/article/6995/sinai-s-bedouins-call-on-egyptians-the-world-to-reconnect-with-nature-after-covid-19

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[i] Creighton U. Online Ministries, https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/Lent/1st-week.html#sun

[ii] Journey with the Pope, The Pontifical Mission Societies in the United States, from General Audience February 10, 2021,

“Those Who Are Healthy Do Not Need a Physician” By Melanie Rigney

“Those Who Are Healthy Do Not Need a Physician” By Melanie Rigney

Saturday after Ash Wednesday

Thus says the LORD:
If you remove from your midst oppression,
    false accusation and malicious speech;
If you bestow your bread on the hungry
    and satisfy the afflicted;
Then light shall rise for you in the darkness,
    and the gloom shall become for you like midday;
Then the LORD will guide you always
    and give you plenty even on the parched land. (Isaiah 58:9-11)

Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth. (Psalm 86:11ab)

“Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do. I have not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners.” (Luke 5:31-32)

Piety

Lord, remove that log from my eye so that You may heal me.

Study

I was watching the video for the next Bible study session, and frankly, I was bored. The speaker kept talking about the evil one knowing the best place to attack, how we’re afraid to suffer the way Christ did, all in, blah-blah-blah-blah-blah. It was me in a different place and time, sure, but not today. And I wondered how often she was going to relive the experiences she was sharing in this study, experiences that occurred years earlier.

And then she started down the path of busyness. You probably know the kind—where you keep so busy because you don’t want the old tapes to play, you don’t want to let up for a second because you know evil will mine that opportunity for all it’s worth if you do. The problem, the speaker opined, is that you shut out redemptive suffering at the same time.

All of a sudden, she had my complete attention.

Busyness is one of my sicknesses and probably the most visible to me and others. Having x number of writing projects, x number of editing or speaking gigs, x number of obligations, well, that’s fueled me for longer than I can remember. The pandemic pushed some of that busyness to the side. Resolve and the ability, finally, to say no have pushed others to the side. There’s more room for God these days, and sometimes that scares me.

Your sickness may not be as visible, but I am sure it is there because you are human. If you call yourself healthy and not in need of the Master Physician, it only shows your need for Him. Resolve this Lent to let Him heal some part of you, regardless of how much you fear the treatment. Pray for the faith to accept the cure.

Action

Embrace the suffering that accompanies spiritual perfecting.

 

Image is by congerdesign via Pixabay: https://pixabay.com/photos/cross-nail-symbol-wood-old-woods-3080144/

The Bridegroom Invites You By Beth DeCristofaro

The Bridegroom Invites You By Beth DeCristofaro

Friday after Ash Wednesday

 

This, rather, is the fasting that I wish:

releasing those bound unjustly, untying the thongs of the yoke;
Setting free the oppressed, breaking every yoke;
Sharing your bread with the hungry, sheltering the oppressed and the    homeless;
Clothing the naked when you see them, and not turning your back on your own. (Isaiah 58:6-7)

 

Jesus answered them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.” (Matthew 9:15)

 

Piety

Jesus, accept my contrite heart and my sincere desire to deepen my love for you and my neighbor.  In this season of Lent, please help me to deepen, widen and spread your Word within my being and those who, like me, have been invited to Feast with you.

 

Study

During a Cursillo, Fr. Joe McCloskey’s imaginative meditation on the Wedding Feast of Cana immersed me in a prayer both profoundly personal and inspirational.  He invited me – us – to enter the place of the wedding feast in the company of Jesus and his friends.  What did we see there?  Who was there?  What did we do?  For me, it was family all about me!  Many were my New Jersey and Staten Island in-laws, many of the older folk who have already died.  I danced again with great uncles who waltzed with grace even though very elderly.  The scene blazed with light, delicious odors, great cheer, and, especially, the holy joy of the bridegroom Jesus among us.

 

Jesus’ image of the bridegroom builds on Isaiah who challenged the Chosen People to act not just fast as an end.  God’s covenant with the People was enacted with Abraham, a Father in Faith we share with Jesus.  God promised Abraham that God would be both holder and principal enactor of the covenant.  God knew that the covenant was being made with very flawed beings.  But God took responsibility for honoring the covenant even when humans broke it.  And Jesus renewed that covenant in his person.  The bridegroom came to humans embodying love in his flesh, actions, teachings.  His death on the cross caused mourning; his Spirit descending and resting upon his followers caused joy of his returned presence.  We are tasked to deepen that joy in our piety, widen that joy through our study and spread that joy in the fasting Isaiah described.

 

Action

Lent’s forty days of wandering in place give us such a joyous yet reflective season to turn again to a faithful God.  Jesus’s own life and sacrifice is our vehicle to turn again to our Baptismal and Confirmation vows.  The bridegroom might feel far away but he is with us now and will be tomorrow, at the end of Lent and at the end of our days to welcome us to the Feast.  What sin or the heedlessness keeps our face turned from the bridegroom? What fasting can turn us back?  Place yourself in the Feast and approach the bridegroom who is so pleased that you are in attendance.  What will you say to him?   

Return with Your Whole Heart

 Return with Your Whole Heart

Ash Wednesday 2006 and 20021

Yet even now, says the LORD, return to me with your whole heart, with fasting, and weeping, and mourning; Rend your hearts, not your garments, and return to the LORD, your God. For gracious and merciful is he, slow to anger, rich in kindness, and relenting in punishment. Joel 2:12-13

So, we are ambassadors for Christ as if God were appealing through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake, he made him to be sin who did not know sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him. 2 Corinthians 5:20-21

But when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you. Matthew 6:6

Piety

Father, your demands of discipleship are strict. Walk with us for the next forty days of this Lenten journey as we strive to follow your wishes and build your Kingdom here on earth. We ask this through the friendship and support provided by your son Jesus and through the intervention of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Study

Ash Wednesday 2006 was the birth day of Your Daily Tripod. In the Missionhurst Chapel, Fr. Bill Quigley preached about being “ambassadors of Christ.” He balanced the metaphor of ambassadorship with the figures in a statue of a dozen villagers helping to carry a cross.

New ambassadors present credentials to the heads of that government. What credentials do we have that would qualify us to serve in such a diplomatic posting? Can we use this Pandemic Lent 2021 to build up our “cred?”

Yet how do we balance the public role of ambassador with the paradoxical admonition in Matthew to conduct our religious life in private?

Perhaps God intends to call on each of us to have a personal (i.e., non-public) relationship with Him. Through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, we should conduct ourselves in private to not appear to be doing any of these acts for personal gain. Our purpose is to advance, not ourselves, but the Kingdom of God.

Action

How do we reconcile these seemingly conflicting instructions --Be ambassadors but do it in secret? The cross and the tripod and the tripod hold that answer for me.

We do not only have one role any more than Jesus had. He was the Son of God as well as fully human. We have to balance our different roles and responsibilities to have a fully mature private friendship with God vertically.  However, in spreading God’s word and His Kingdom on earth, we must reach out in all directions as Christ does on the cross. That is the horizontal dimension of our faith. We need both working to have a complete relationship with God.

That horizontal dimension is the call to be an “acompañante” to someone in crisis and help them carry their cross. Being such a companion is the reason behind the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. We do these with and for others. 

“Whose cross can you help carry during this season?” How we answer that challenge privately and publicly is the challenge indeed – maybe not a challenge to give something up but rather to take something up?

Indeed! In deeds!

“Ingratitude: The Root of Sin” by Colleen O’Sullivan

“Ingratitude: The Root of Sin” by Colleen O’Sullivan

Tuesday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time 

Allessandro Masagno, Cameo with Noah’s Ark, c. 1600, Walters Art Museum, Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons

 

When the LORD saw how great was man’s wickedness on earth, and how no desire that his heart conceived was ever anything but evil, he regretted that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was grieved. (Genesis 6:5-6)

 

The voice of the LORD is over the waters, the LORD, over vast waters.  The voice of the LORD is mighty; the voice of the LORD is majestic.  (Psalm 29:3ac--4)

 

Jesus enjoined them, “Watch out, guard against the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.”  (Mark 8:15)

Piety

Lord, like Adam and Eve and like the people of Noah’s day, we, too, are sinners.  We confess to frequent indifference to your gifts rather than gratitude for them.  Forgive us, we pray and help us to be more aware of and thankful for your love and mercy toward us.   

Study

How quickly things change.  Not so many days ago, we were reading about the wonders of creation, God fashioning the entire universe, the earth, the moon and the stars, all the animals and plants, as well as the first man and woman, and then expressing delight and satisfaction at the end of each day’s work. 

In today’s first reading, we come away with the impression that no one learned a thing from Adam and Eve’s sin in the Garden.  Far from delighting in what he fashioned in that grand, seven-day grand effort, we find God wishing he’d never made human beings in today’s verses.  Sin and chaos were everywhere God looked on the earth.  God wanted to destroy these creatures until he spotted Noah, who was a very good man.  Well, God would save Noah and his family.  And once the floodwaters subsided, they could repopulate the earth.  God promised never to send such wholesale destruction upon the world again. 

St. Ignatius of Loyola always maintained that the root of all sin was ingratitude.  The first man and woman had everything they could ever have needed in that garden paradise, but they weren’t content.  The one thing they couldn’t have was the knowledge of good and evil that belongs only to God.  They weren’t grateful for their surroundings or for the love of their God, who strolled with them every evening when the cool breeze sprang up.  They wanted to be their own gods.  They were blind to what they were giving up by sinning.

In St. Ignatius’ Spiritual Exercises, the “Contemplation on the Incarnation” asks retreatants to imagine the Holy Trinity looking at us on earth with great love and compassion.  In their view, they would see what sin is doing to us and decided to send a Savior, who would be the Word made Flesh, Jesus of Nazareth.   Through his life, death, and resurrection, Jesus becomes the way out of the sinful mess we’ve gotten ourselves into here on earth. 

In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus and the disciples are talking at cross-purposes.  The disciples hear the Lord mention the word “leaven,” and they immediately begin to talk about bread.  Jesus gets annoyed because he is not speaking of the sort of rising agent found in bread but is talking about how they should avoid the leaven of the Pharisees and Herod.  The Pharisees were religious, but their leaven was narrow-mindedness, a legalistic approach to things, and intolerance for anyone not doing things their way.  Concerning Herod, Jesus meant morals were not on Herod’s radar screen.  His king lived from one hedonistic pleasure to the next.

Action

Try spending some of your prayer time today imagining the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit looking at the earth with loving concern and seeing where sinfulness has led.  What do they see?  What do you hear them saying?   Remember, the Trinity sees things the way they were before Jesus came to earth as one of us.  Imagine the moment the conversation among the Trinity turns to send the Son to take on human flesh.  Whatever goes on in your contemplation, share it with the Lord.

 

Image credit: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Allessandro_Masnago_-_Cameo_with_Noah%27s_Ark_-_Walters_421447.jpg