July 2 - St. Otto

On July 2, the Church celebrates the life and work of St. Otto. He was born in 1060 in Swabia, and died on June 30, 1139. He was the Bishop of Bamberg, an indefatigable evengelizer, and the apostle of the Pomeranians.

He was born of noble rank and ordained a priest sometime before the age of 30. He joined the service of Emperor Henry IV in  1090 and became his chancellor in 1101. He served Henry IV and his successor, Henry V, loyally, but he disaproved of the latter’s disgraceful treatment of Pope Paschal.

Otto was consecrated a bishop on May 13, 1106, and set to work founding new monasteries, reforming existing ones, building schools and churches, and completing the construction of the cathedral.  He lived a poor and simple life, and was called the “Father of the monks” for the concern he showed toward religious orders.

In 1122 Otto was commissioned by the Polish Duke Boleslaw III to convert Pomerania to Christianity, and he set about this mission in 1124. He traveled across Pomerania twice, and won over the people with his holiness, quiet generosity, and gentle, inspiring sermons.

The conversion of Pomerania was his greatest apostolic work. He baptized over 22,000 people and established 11 churches. Many miracles were attributed to him throughout his two journeys, and many more after his death.

Kind Words

 

No Room in the Bank

Is your life full and busy? If you're like me, maybe it is TOO busy.

Sometimes I fill my life so full doing things I think I SHOULD do, I don't have time for the things I WANT to do, even if some of those things are important. It seems that I have a thousand deadlines to meet, and too often I can't find enough time to write, I skip my exercise routine, or I neglect uninterrupted time spent solitude and meditation.

But it helps to remember a story about a young girl and her bank. The little girl's father had just given her a silver dollar to put into her bank. She excitedly ran off to her room to "deposit" the coin. However, within a few minutes she returned and handed the silver coin back to her father.

"Daddy," she said sadly, "here's your dollar back. I can't get it into my bank."

"Why not?" her concerned father asked.

"It's too full," she said, obviously disappointed.

Her father accompanied her back to her room and, sure enough, her bank was too full to accept even one more coin. It was stuffed with pennies.

If your life ever like that bank? So full of errands, obligations and activities of no lasting value, that there simply is no room left for what is truly important - the silver dollars?

Author Grenville Kleiser once said, "To live at this time is an inestimable privilege, and a sacred obligation devolves upon you to make right use of your opportunities. Today is the day in which to attempt and achieve something worthwhile."

Have you made room for a few large coins in your bank; for something you believe to be worthwhile? If not, you may have to take out a few pennies, but I suspect you will never know they are gon​e.

~ Steve Goodier

June 29 - Sts. Peter and Paul

On June 29 the Church celebrates the feast day of Sts. Peter & Paul. As early as the year 258, there is evidence of an already lengthy tradition of celebrating the solemnities of both Saint Peter and Saint Paul on the same day. Together, the two saints are the founders of the See of Rome, through their preaching, ministry and martyrdom there.

Peter, who was named Simon, was a fisherman of Galilee and was introduced to the Lord Jesus by his brother Andrew, also a fisherman. Jesus gave him the name Cephas (Petrus in Latin), which means ‘Rock,’ because he was to become the rock upon which Christ would build His Church.

Peter was a bold follower of the Lord. He was the first to recognize that Jesus was “the Messiah, the Son of the living God,” and eagerly pledged his fidelity until death. In his boldness, he also made many mistakes, however, such as losing faith when walking on water with Christ and betraying the Lord on the night of His passion.

Yet despite his human weaknesses, Peter was chosen to shepherd God's flock. The Acts of the Apostles illustrates his role as head of the Church after the Resurrection and Ascension of Christ. Peter led the Apostles as the first Pope and ensured that the disciples kept the true faith.

St. Peter spent his last years in Rome, leading the Church through persecution and eventually being martyred in the year 64. He was crucified upside-down at his own request, because he claimed he was not worthy to die as his Lord.

He was buried on Vatican hill, and St. Peter's Basilica is built over his tomb.

St. Paul was the Apostle of the Gentiles. His letters are included in the writings of the New Testament, and through them we learn much about his life and the faith of the early Church.

Before receiving the name Paul, he was Saul, a Jewish Pharisee who zealously persecuted Christians in Jerusalem. Scripture records that Saul was present at the martyrdom of St. Stephen.

Saul's conversion took place as he was on his way to Damascus to persecute the Christian community there. As he was traveling along the road, he was suddenly surrounded by a great light from heaven. He was blinded and fell off his horse. He then heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” He answered: “Who are you, Lord?” Christ said: “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.”

Saul continued to Damascus, where he was baptized and his sight was restored. He took the name Paul and spent the remainder of his life preaching the Gospel tirelessly to the Gentiles of the Mediterranean world.

Paul was imprisoned and taken to Rome, where he was beheaded in the year 67.

He is buried in Rome in the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls.

In a sermon in the year 395, St. Augustine of Hippo said of Sts. Peter and Paul: “Both apostles share the same feast day, for these two were one; and even though they suffered on different days, they were as one. Peter went first, and Paul followed. And so we celebrate this day made holy for us by the apostles' blood. Let us embrace what they believed, their life, their labors, their sufferings, their preaching, and their confession of faith.”

Humphry Davy

Life is made up, not of great sacrifices or duties, but of little things, in which smiles and kindnesses and small obligations, given habitually, are what win and preserve the heart, and secure comfort.

~ Humphry Davy

Holding

People who live in the forests and mountains of India have an age-old method of catching monkeys. They do not run after the monkeys, and they do not use ropes. Rather they rely on their understanding of a monkey's behavior. They carve pots with necks as long as a monkey's arm and a base large enough for a banana. The monkeys, eager to collect their food, put their arms down the neck of the jar until they have the banana in their tight grasp. Unable to pull it through the narrow neck, they sit holding their treasure, unwilling to release their grip for fear of losing it. Because they cannot give up the banana in their grasp, they remain immobilized, and the villagers simply pick them up.

We are all afraid of letting go of what is in our grasp, that is why we become prey to the domination of others, whether that be advertising, other people's will pressed upon us, or mindlessly following the crowd. We take a leap of faith when we "let go," but in that leap of faith we might find our freedom in a variety of small or big ways. I will release what my mind is clinging to and refusing to let go of.

What I hold onto, holds onto me.

13th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Independence Day

Sometime between 1411 and 1427, a Russian monk, Andrei Rublev, painted an icon that he named The Trinity. What is interesting about The Trinity, is that it does not depict the Trinity as we usually envision it. Neither God the Father, God the Son nor God the Holy Spirit are there. What is there are three angels, a table, a bowl, three chairs, a house and a tree. Like most icons it is flat and some might consider it plain. Yet in 1551 a Council of the Russian Orthodox Church declared it “to be the ideal medieval painting of its type, and the model for all Orthodox Russian artists”(Encyclopedia Of Art Education). Ultimately Andrei Rublev was canonized by the Orthodox Church.

So why am I telling you about this icon. I’m telling you about it because it is better known by its other name, The Hospitality of Abraham. And you probably have seen it at some time or another. It tells the story about when God visited Abraham in Genesis 18:1-10. Abraham didn’t know it was God, he only saw three men. Even though he didn’t know who they were, he welcomed them, washed their feet and provided a feast. Before they left, “One of them said, “I will return to you about this time next year, and Sarah will then have a son.” This is one of the greatest hospitality stories in scripture and today’s first reading and Gospel are also about hospitality.

In today’s first reading from 2 Kings 4:8-11,14-16a, we hear about a woman from Shunem who offered Elisha hospitality multiple times. She built him a room and furnished it so that whenever he was in Shunem he had a place to stay. In return for her graciousness Elisha promised her a son. Hospitality is one of the greatest virtues of the Bible. The scripture scholar William Barclay observed that: “If a man is a true man of God, to receive him is to receive the God who sent him.” Jesus carries this virtue into New Testament duty in today’s Gospel from Matthew 10:40-42, “whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me…. And whoever gives only a cup of cold water to one of these little ones to drink because the little one is a disciple--amen, I say to you, he will surely not lose his reward."

The virtue of hospitality is recognizing the presence of God in other people and honoring and nourishing that presence. We cannot all be prophets, or preach and proclaim the word of God, but we can all practice the simple virtue of hospitality. By practicing hospitality each of us can bring the Kingdom of God into our hearts, homes, communities and the world.

On Saturday, we celebrate Independence Day. We are celebrating the 250th birthday of the United States of America and the principles of democracy and freedom. And so, we pray:

God of justice, 

Father of truth, 

who guide creation in wisdom and goodness 

to fulfillment in Christ your Son, 

open our hearts to the truth of his Gospel, 

that your peace may rule in our hearts 

and your justice guide our lives.

Make our vision clear and our will strong:

that only in human solidarity will we ­ find liberty,

and justice only in the honor that belongs

to every life on earth.

Turn our hearts toward the family of nations:

to understand the ways of others,

to offer friendship,

and to ­find safety

only in the common good of all.

We ask this through Christ our Lord. 

Amen