Spiral Galaxy

William Beebe, the naturalist, used to tell this story about Teddy Roosevelt. At Sagamore Hill, after an evening of talk, the two would go out on the lawn and search the skies for a certain spot of star-like light near the lower left-hand corner of the Great Square of Pegasus. Then Roosevelt would recite: “That is the Spiral Galaxy in Andromeda. It is as large as our Milky Way. It is one of a hundred million galaxies. It consists of one hundred billion suns, each larger than our sun.”

Then Roosevelt would grin and say, "Now I think we are small enough! Let's go to bed.”

How We Look at Others

A young couple moves into a new neighborhood.

The next morning while they are eating breakfast, the young woman sees her neighbor hanging the wash outside.  “That laundry is not very clean,” she said.  “She doesn't know how to wash correctly. Perhaps she needs better laundry soap." 

Her husband looked on, but remained silent.  Every time her neighbor would hang her wash to dry, the young woman would make the same comments.

About one month later, the woman was surprised to see a nice clean wash on the line and said to her husband: “Look, she has learned how to wash correctly.  I wonder who taught her this?”  

The husband said, “I got up early this morning and cleaned our windows.”  

And so it is with life.  What we see when watching others depends on the purity of the window through which we look.

Anonymous

Children of God

Recently, a friend told me a story about twins talking to each other in the womb. The sister said to the brother, “I believe there is life after birth.”

Her brother protested vehemently, “No, no, this is all there is. This is a dark and cozy place, and we have nothing else to do but cling to the cord that feeds us.”

The little girl insisted. “There must be something more than this dark place. There must be something else, a place with light where there is freedom to move.” Still she could not convince her twin brother.

After some silence, the sister said, hesitantly, “I have something else to say, and I'm afraid you won't believe that either, but I think there is a mother.”

Her brother became furious. “A mother!” He shouted. “What are you talking about? I have never seen a mother, and neither have you. Who put that idea in your head? As I told you, this place is all we have.  Why do you always want more? This is not such a bad place, after all. We have all we need, so let's be content.”

The sister was quite overwhelmed by her brother's response and for a while didn't dare say anything more. But she couldn't let go of her thoughts, and since she had only her twin brother to speak to, she finally said, “Don't you feel these squeezes every once in a while?  They're quite unpleasant and sometimes even painful.”

“Yes,” he answered. “What's special about that?”

“Well," the sister said, I think that these squeezes are there to get us ready for another place, much more beautiful than this, where we will see our mother face-to-face. Don't you think that's exciting?”

“How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.”

1 John 3:1-2 (NIV)

I Asked the Lord to Bless You

I asked the Lord to bless you
As I prayed for you today,
To guide you and protect you
As you go along your way.

His love is always with you
His promises are true,
And when we give Him all our cares
You know He will see us through.

So when the road you're traveling on
Seems difficult at best
Just remember I'm here praying
And God will do the rest.

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time

In today's gospel, Luke 18: 9-14, we hear another parable about prayer.  Last Sunday we reflected on the importance of persistence in prayer.  Today in the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector, Jesus directs our thoughts towards our attitude about prayer.  Prayer is our primary means of communicating with God and how we pray reflects our relationship with God.  When we pray, most of us thank God for all the graces and gifts we receive and we ask for healing, understanding, patience or for whatever we believe we lack or need.  Sometimes we try to tell God what to do.  But I believe the majority of us recognize that God is bigger than we are, that God already knows all our needs and that we depend on God for everything.  Prayer is our way of placing our needs before God and trusting that God in his goodness will meet them.

The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector presents two people with very different relationships with God.  In the “normal” world, the Pharisee should be our model of devotion and the tax collector should be the “villain.”  However, we are not in the “normal” world.  We are in the Kingdom of God. And in this kingdom, everything is different.  Although the Pharisee is devout, practicing his faith to the letter of the law, he also is arrogant and proud.  He knows that he is “not like the rest of humanity” (Luke 18:11).  He is BETTER than the rest of humanity.  Not only is he better than the rest of us, he does not need God.  With his inflated sense of self worth, he has no room for a relationship with God, he prays to himself and so he is not “justified” in the Kingdom.

In the Israel of the New Testament era, few people were more despised than tax collectors.  They were Roman collaborators and often they were corrupt.  When the tax collector in the parable approaches the Temple to pray, he stands at a distance, with downcast eyes and prays, “O God, be merciful to me a sinner” (Luke 18:13).  That is the extent of his prayer and that is the prayer God heard.  The tax collector knew where he stood with God.  He recognized and acknowledged his own sinfulness. He is “justified” in the kingdom.  Therefore, Jesus presents the tax collector to us as our role model for faithful prayer. 

During your prayer time this week, remember the humble tax collector whose prayer was heard.  And remember what Sirach teaches us, “The prayer of the lowly pierces the clouds; it does not rest till it reaches its goal, nor will it withdraw till the Most High responds, judges justly and affirms the right, and the Lord will not delay” (Sirach 35:17-18).

Merciful God,
you assure us that the prayer of the humble pierces the clouds.
Look upon us who come before you,
humble and repentant like the tax collector,
and grant that, as we open our hearts
we may trust in your steadfast love and mercy.
We make our prayer through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God for ever and ever.

AMEN.

St. Anthony Claret - Feast Day October 24

St. Anthony Claret (1807-1870)

The "spiritual father of Cuba" was a missionary, religious founder, social reformer, queen’s chaplain, writer and publisher, archbishop and refugee. He was a Spaniard whose work took him to the Canary Islands, Cuba, Madrid, Paris and to the First Vatican Council.

In his spare time as weaver and designer in the textile mills of Barcelona, he learned Latin and printing: the future priest and publisher was preparing. Ordained at 28, he was prevented by ill health from entering religious life as a Carthusian or as a Jesuit, but went on to become one of Spain’s most popular preachers.

He spent 10 years giving popular missions and retreats, always placing great emphasis on the Eucharist and devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Her rosary, it was said, was never out of his hand. At 42, beginning with five young priests, he founded a religious institute of missionaries, known today as the Claretians. 

He was appointed to head the much-neglected archdiocese of Santiago in Cuba. He began its reform by almost ceaseless preaching and hearing of confessions, and suffered bitter opposition mainly for stamping out concubines and giving instruction to black slaves. A hired assassin (whose release from prison Anthony had obtained) slashed open his face and wrist. Anthony succeeded in getting the would-be assassin’s death sentence commuted to a prison term. His solution for the misery of Cubans was family-owned farms producing a variety of foods for the family’s own needs and for the market. This invited the enmity of the vested interests who wanted everyone to work on a single cash crop—sugar. Besides all his religious writings are two books he wrote in Cuba: Reflections on Agriculture and Country Delights. 

He was recalled to Spain for a job he did not relish—being chaplain for the queen. He went on three conditions: He would reside away from the palace, he would come only to hear the queen’s confession and instruct the children and he would be exempt from court functions. In the revolution of 1868, he fled with the queen’s party to Paris, where he preached to the Spanish colony.

All his life Anthony was interested in the Catholic press. He founded the Religious Publishing House, a major Catholic publishing venture in Spain, and wrote or published 200 books and pamphlets. 

At Vatican I, where he was a staunch defender of the doctrine of infallibility, he won the admiration of his fellow bishops. Cardinal Gibbons of Baltimore remarked of him, "There goes a true saint." At the age of 63, he died in exile near the border of Spain.

Success

Reminder

Sometimes we just need to be reminded!

A well-known speaker started off his seminar by: holding up a $20 bill. In the room of 200, he asked, “Who would like this $20 bill?”  Hands started going up. He said, “I am going to give this $20 to one of you but first, let me do this.”  He proceeded to crumple up the $20 dollar bill. He then asked, “Who still wants it?”  Still the hands were up in the air. Well, he replied, “What if I do this?”  And he dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe.  He picked it up, now crumpled and dirty.  “Now, who still wants it?”  Still the hands went into the air.  My friends, we have all learned a very valuable lesson.  No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value.  It was still worth $20.  Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make or the circumstances that come our way.  We feel as though we are worthless.  But no matter what has happened or what will happen, you will never lose your value.  Dirty or clean, crumpled, or finely creased, you are still priceless to those who love you.

The worth of our lives comes not in what we do or who we know, but by WHO WE ARE and WHOSE WE ARE. As Isaiah 43:1; tells us: “But now, thus says the LORD, who created you, Jacob, and formed you, Israel: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name: you are mine..”

Thinking Clearly

Sometimes it's just a matter of thinking clearly. Like the small businessman whose clothing store was threatened with extinction when a national chain store moved in and acquired all the properties on his block. This one particular businessman refused to sell. “All right then, we'll build all around you and put you out of business,” the new competitors said. Surely -- you might think -- here is a case for warranted anger. If a hothead ever had an excuse, this was it. The day came when the small merchant found himself hemmed in with a new department store stretching out on both sides of and above his little retail shop. The competitors now opened shop. Their banners unfurled, “Grand Opening!”

The merchant in the old store, the little store surrounded by the big bully, had a banner of his own. His banner reached across the entire width of his little store. It read, “Main Entrance.”

And just when others thought he wouldn’t survive … he thrived.

1 John 3:1-2 (NIV)

Recently, a friend told me a story about twins talking to each other in the womb. The sister said to the brother, "I believe there is life after birth.”

Her brother protested vehemently, "No, no, this is all there is. This is a dark and cozy place, and we have nothing else to do but cling to the cord that feeds us.

The little girl insisted. "There must be something more than this dark place. There must be something else, a place with light where there is freedom to move." Still she could not convince her twin brother.

After some silence, the sister said, hesitantly, "I have something else to say, and I'm afraid you won't believe that either, but I think there is a mother.”

Her brother became furious. "A mother!" He shouted. "What are you talking about? I have never seen a mother, and neither have you. Who put that idea in your head? As I told you, this place is all we have. Why do you always want more? This is not such a bad place, after all.  We have all we need, so let's be content.”

The sister was quite overwhelmed by her brother's response and for a while didn't dare say anything more. But she couldn't let go of her thoughts, and since she had only her twin brother to speak to, she finally said, "Don't you feel these squeezes every once in a while?  They're quite unpleasant and sometimes even painful.”

"Yes," he answered. "What's special about that?”

"Well," the sister said, I think that these squeezes are there to get us ready for another place, much more beautiful than this, where we will see our mother face-to-face. Don't you think that's exciting?”

"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.”

1 John 3:1-2 (NIV)

29th Sunday in Ordinary Time

When are you most likely to pray?  Is it when life is going well or when the rug has been pulled out from under you?  For many people prayer comes easily when everything in life is going their way but when disaster strikes, they shut down.  For other people when life is running smoothly, they become complacent and forget about their relationship with God.  However, when things go wrong, they are down on their knees in a Nano second imploring God to make things right again.   Our approach to prayer says a lot about our relationship with God.

For the next two weeks St. Luke directs our thoughts towards prayer.  Today’s Gospel, the Parable of the Persistent Widow and the Corrupt Judge (Luke 18:1-8), is about perseverance in prayer.  In this humorous story a corrupt judge who has no fear of God or respect for any human being is badgered by a poor widow who finally gets what she wants because the judge is afraid, she will give him a black eye.  It would be easy to interpret this parable as encouragement to nag God until we get what we want.  However, the corrupt judge is nothing like God.  Jesus uses the judge as an example of what God isn’t.  God does not respond to us out of fear, frustration or cowardice.  God cannot be manipulated by our wants or our whims.  God responds to us out of love; a love so great we cannot begin to comprehend its vastness.  Imagine, if a self-serving, corrupt and amoral judge can be swayed by a widow’s plea for justice, how much more our loving and generous God responds to us. 

The heroine of this parable is the persistent widow.  As a poor widow, her survival depended on a just decision, which she finally got.  But if we stop at this point in the parable, we totally miss the punch line.  Which is “But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”  This question brings us back to our approach to prayer.   Prayer requires discipline and perseverance.  It is a habit we must cultivate because the more we pray (in good times and in bad times) the closer we come to God.  More often than not when we pray our situations don’t change but we change.  Through prayer we stand a chance of seeing the hand of God working in our lives and then we can pray that perfect prayer “Thy will be done.” 

Lord God,
tireless guardian of your people,
always ready to hear the cries of your chosen ones,
teach us to rely, day and night, on your care.
Support us in our prayer lest we grow weary.
Grant that we will always seek your enduring justice
and your ever-present help.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God for ever and ever.

AMEN.

Laughter

“The most wasted day is that in which we have not laughed.” – Chamfort

When we are adrift and fixated with this world, we take ourselves very seriously and often lose contact with reality. We become lost in fantasy and obsession. Life becomes joyless because we can't see beyond our possessions, and we find no real satisfaction there. We lose touch with the joy and humor of life, and we find that everything around us and inside us is grim and dark.

One of the many positive signs of our return to health and sanity is our recovery of the gift of laughter. Each day as we gain more energy and zest of life, we move in to the world and find many things that are humorous, in ourselves and in other people. We laugh and find we are no longer alone.

Laughter is the mark of a healthy, happy human being. Laughter shows that we are truly a part of the human community. It is a sign that we are alive and on the way to a healthy spiritual life.

Let us be glad when we can laugh and feel in touch with ourselves and others.

Prayer of Abandonment

Favorite Prayers

Here are some favorite prayers:

Help.
Please.
Show me.
Guide me.
Change me.
Are you there?
Thank you,

Today, I will tell God what I want to tell God, and listen for God’s answer. I will remember that I can trust God.

Morning Prayer

The Difference

The Tiger and the Fox

A fox who lived in the deep forest of long ago had lost its front legs. No one knew how: perhaps escaping from a trap. A man who lived on the edge of the forest, seeing the fox from time to time, wondered how in the world it managed to get its food. One day when the fox was not far from him he had to hide himself quickly because a tiger was approaching. The tiger had fresh game in its claws. Lying down on the ground, it ate its fill, leaving the rest for the fox.

Again the next day the great Provider of this world sent provisions to the fox by this same tiger. The man began to think: "If this fox is taken care of in this mysterious way, its food sent by some unseen Higher Power, why don't I just rest in a corner and have my daily meal provided for me?"

Because he had a lot of faith, he let the days pass, waiting for food. Nothing happened. He just went on losing weight and strength until he was nearly a skeleton. Close to losing consciousness, he heard a Voice which said: "O you, who have mistaken the way, see now the Truth! You should have followed the example of that tiger instead of imitating the disabled fox."

From Anthony De Mello SJ

28th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Today's readings present two powerful stories about faith, healing, gratitude and salvation.  In the first story from the Book of 2 Kings, Naaman, an Aramean army commander, travels to Israel seeking Elisha because he believes that the prophet can cure his leprosy.  And in the second story from Luke 17:11-19, ten lepers cry out to Jesus asking for healing.

Elisha didn't even bother to come out of his house or see Naaman.  He merely sent Naaman a message, "Go and wash seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will heal, and you will be clean" (2 Kings 5:10).  Naaman, insulted and angry but obedient, followed Elisha's instructions and "his flesh became again like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean" (2 Kings 5:14).  Healed and humbled, Naaman and his whole retinue returned to Elisha in gratitude offering the prophet a great treasure of gold and silver.  But Elisha refused the gift.  Although Naaman was a rich and powerful man, neither his wealth nor his power could influence Elisha or purchase his health.  His humble, obedient faith saved him and Naaman went home a firm believer in the God of Israel.

The ten lepers who approached Jesus had an experience similar to Naaman's.  They asked Jesus to heal them and he did without any fanfare or dramatic effects.  They didn't even have to wash in the Jordan River.  With the simple words, "Go show yourselves to the priests" Jesus healed all of them.  However, in this story only one of the lepers recognized the magnitude of what happened.  This leper, a Samaritan, did not have any gold or silver to offer Jesus, he was poor and vulnerable.  All he had was his faith in Jesus and overwhelming gratitude.  He returned to Jesus " glorifying God in a loud voice; and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him" (Luke 17:15-16).  For his faith, the Samaritan leper received the gift of healing.  For his gratitude, he received a gift greater than physical healing; he received salvation.

During this next week, let’s show our gratitude to God by remembering to thank Him each day for the gift of life, for the gift of our families, for the gift of our friends, for the gift of our health and mostly for the gift of His love and for the gift of salvation that Jesus Christ won for us. 

O God, our life, our health, our salvation,
look with mercy on your people.
Stir up within us a saving faith,
that believing, we may be healed,
and being healed, we may worthily give you thanks.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God for ever and ever.

AMEN.

We are Each so Much More

We are each so much more than what some reduce to measuring.

Our society places great emphasis on how well each person is doing. It makes us judgmental and competitive. As children we may have thought that our real value was measured by the grades we got in school or the scores of our soccer games or baseball games. As grown-ups we continue measuring our worth by things like the size of our wages, the model of the car we drive.

We can't stop the measuring, but we are in a faith that helps us step outside this system. We seek to know and do the will of our Lord and Savior, which is beyond the limitations of such measurements. Submitting our own will to our Lord releases us from the competition and the judgments in these games of measurement. Our loyalties are to values like honesty, respect, peace, and wholeness. Today, let us remember that our value isn't measured on a human-made scale.

Holy Trinity Prayer

God for us, we call you “Father.”

God alongside us, we call you “Jesus.”
God within us, we call you “Holy Spirit.”

Together, you are the Eternal Mystery
That enables, enfolds, and enlivens all things,
Even us and even me.

Every name falls short of your goodness and greatness.
We can only see who you are in what is.
We ask for such perfect seeing
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be.

Amen.

A New Beginning

Henri Barbusse tells of a conversation overheard in a dugout full of wounded men during the First World War. One of the men had been terribly wounded, and he knew he has only moments to live. He had a friend with him, one who had already seen a bad start to a bad life. He'd made wrong decisions. He'd already served time in prison. In fact, he was wanted, back home, by the police again. The wounded man, the dying man, pulls the wanted man down, close to his face. He takes his dog tag, his ID chain, and presses it in the hand of his buddy. “Listen, Dominic, you've led a bad life,” he said. “Everywhere you are wanted by the police. But there are no convictions against me. My name is clear, so, here, take my dog tag, take my wallet, take my papers, my identity, my good name, my life and quickly, hand me your papers that I may carry all your crimes away with me in death.”

That is the same offer the Living Christ makes to us through his saving death on the cross - and his life-changing resurrection.

Jesus, the Lamb of God, still offers to take your sins to the cross with him. And because of the resurrection, you can take his good name ... Christ ... you can be a Christian ... and live in freedom.

Perseverance

I like the story of Dack Axselle. In October, 1984, they held the annual marathon in Richmond, Virginia. Some 831 runners started the race, a race that would cover a torturous 26.2 miles. In about three hours, the winner had crossed the finished line, and only a handful of people knew 10-year-old Dack Axselle was still running.

What Dack was doing, however, wasn't really a run. It was more of a fast shuffle. Dack was born with spina bifida, and doctors were sure he would never walk - if he lived at all. But Dack did learn how to walk with heavy leg braces and crutches. He developed a love for running, and he aimed for the toughest race of all.

So as he swung those leg braces down the road of his marathon, more and more people heard that he was still running. Twice near the end he had to stop to change gloves and re-wrap the gauze around his forearms. But each time he got up to race again. Finally, he came to the finish. It took Dack 11 hours and 10 minutes to get there, and the race had officially ended an hour and a half earlier.

The officials, the helpers, those who had run the race earlier had all packed their bags and gone. But as Dack neared the finish line, word spread like wildfire. Officials found the finish line, and put it up again. And more than 1,000 people cheered wildly as Dack pressed on, and many wept when he finally finished his marathon.

More than half the runners with good legs couldn't finish the race, but Dack became the biggest winner of the day - simply because he pressed on toward the goal. It didn't matter that his time was so slow. It mattered only that he finished. Dack said he had modeled himself on St. Paul. In finishing his race St. Paul had gained a new perspective on life. Once a persecutor of Christians, he was suddenly delighted to be part of the persecuted. His encounter with Jesus Christ had so profoundly changed him, it put a new perspective on everything in his life.

When we open Paul's letter to the Philippians, however, more than 25 years have passed. On the downside, Paul was dealing with the usual aging process and a painful "thorn in the flesh." But on the positive side of things, Paul possessed a maturity only time can bring. Part of that maturity was a new perspective, something that gave him encouragement for the long haul. He was determined to cross his finish line in a full run.

If you've been a Christian for a great many years, make it a point to model your life on St. Paul's perseverance. It worked for Dack.

It's Not About You

The Purpose Driven Life has sold millions of copies, and transformed millions of people and churches across the world. Instinctively, most people want to know: What is my purpose? How can I be more fulfilled?

What a shock to open this best-selling book and read the first sentence: “It’s not about you!”

And it’s not about you. Though Jesus is intently interested in you, and loves you more than can be described, he is King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, and is worthy of our worship.

We have been created to worship him, not the other way around.

Bridges of Faith

In 1847, a boy named Homan Walsh went out to fly a kite. Homan was taking part in a kite-flying contest, so he brought his best kite, and plenty of string.

He stood on the Canadian bank of the Niagara River, letting more and more of that string go out, and his little-boy's kite kept going higher, and higher, and higher until it stretched nearly 1,000 feet. When a stranger on the American side of the Niagara Gorge grabbed Homan's string, the crowd that had gathered let up a mighty roar. For the first time in history, people on opposite sides of this great gorge were holding onto the same string. And Homan won $5, the top prize in the contest.

There was much more than $5 at stake, however. In short order, the string was tied to a tree on the American shoreline, and a light cord tied to the Canadian end of the string. The cord was then pulled across the 800-foot span. A rope was tied to the cord, and pulled safely across. To the rope was attached a wire cable, and to the cable, a thicker cable attached. It was the beginning of an engineering victory over one of the greatest natural barriers that had separated Americans and Canadians.

Fifty-foot towers were built on each side of the river, and more cables became a part of the picture. In time, people rode across the river in buckets, for $1 each, and then they walked on a foot bridge for a quarter. But less than a year after Homan's kite first flew across the river, people were safely riding their horse-drawn carriages across the Niagara, on a marvelous suspension bridge that hung 220 feet over the rushing water.

Eventually, there were 15 bridges that spanned the Niagara, six of which are in use today. The thousands of passengers that travel across the multi-lane, high-speed bridges today think nothing of the bridge, some of them so familiar with the path, they barely glance at the scenic view. More than likely, it has never occurred to most of those on the great bridges today that somewhere in the past, just to get this modern-day miracle under way, somebody had to fly a kite.

If great bridges can get their start with a boy's kite and string, then I'll tell you that great spiritual experiences can get their start with amazingly simple decisions.

The Lord's Supper is one of the world's simplest meals. From one vantage point, it might not seem much more significant than a boy flying a kite. It might seem little more than a string of a connection between you and God. Our offer to you today is make that connection. From the smallest beginnings can come great bridges of faith.

Be Yourself

The 4th of October is the Feast of St Francis. Francis’ first sermon was not to humans, but to birds. At the end of the sermon, he told the birds, “Now, go off, because I’ve told you who you are.” And he was addressing them as equals in creation, calling them “brother” and “sister,” as no one recorded had ever done before!

Throughout his life in his interactions with creatures—including a wolf, a lamb, worms, fish and bees—Francis was always telling them that by their very existence they are inherently giving glory to God. All things should be who they truly are, and that is enough. Every animal must simply “do itself.”

Each creature has a unique thing to do in the circle of life, and in that simple performance it is giving glory to a unique aspect of God and making us happy besides—at least I hope so.

I wonder if Francis preached to birds, to wolves, and to sheep because he knew they would believe him and act on their true identity more easily than we humans.

27th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Today, the first Sunday of October, we celebrate Respect Life Sunday and the beginning of Respect Life Month.  During the month of October, Catholics in 197 dioceses across the United States will gather in prayer and thanksgiving to give public witness to the unique and priceless value of every human life.  This year's Respect Life theme is “Every Life: Cherished, Chosen, Sent.” In a beautiful reflection for Respect Life Month 2019, the U S Conference of Catholic Bishops published the following: “The essence of our identity is that we are created in God's image and likeness and loved by Him. Nothing can diminish the priceless worth of any human life. Every person is cherished. God creates every person for eternal union with Himself and continually invites us to embrace a loving relationship with Him. Every person is chosen. We are called to be messengers of God's love, treating one another as cherished and chosen by Him. In doing so, we help build a culture that respects all human life. Every person is sent.”

The world we live in is a violent place.  Our modern society seems to revel in violence and the culture of death.  We can't escape it.  Like the prophet Habakkuk in today’s first reading, we could cry out, “’Violence!’ but you do not intervene. Why do you let me see ruin; why must I look at misery”? Although we may not personally experience violence, we are confronted with it in films, on television and radio, in our newspapers and in the music we listen to every day.  If we were to believe what we see and hear, we could conclude that Life, which the gospels teach us to cherish, is cheap and readily disposable to the rest of the world. 

As Catholics, we believe that all human life is sacred.  We believe in the dignity of each and every human being without exception.  Every day each of us has to decide if we will live the Gospel message of love.  And then we have to put that love into practice in our homes, schools, workplaces, and in public. Timothy Cardinal Dolan, Chairman of the USCCB Committee on Pro-Life Activities, writes, “We are called and sent to be messengers of God’s love, treating one another as cherished and chosen by Him. In doing so, we help build a culture that respects all human life. The Body of Christ needs you. The world needs you.”

I invite all of you to pray every day that God will transform our culture from a culture of violence and death to a culture that cherishes life.

O gentle Jesus,
through whom all life came to be,
Hear our prayers for all men and women.

Hear our prayers for the great and powerful
Hear our prayers for the weak and broken
Hear our prayers for the littlest and most innocent
Hear our prayer for tall human cedars
and the very littlest of human flowers.

May all see in each the souls so precious to you,
May each of them be kept, saved and loved.

We ask this though Christ our Lord.

Amen.