Paul Boese

Feast of the Archangels

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael.

We are familiar with Michael, the fighter and warrior of God, and with Gabriel, God’s messenger to Mary and Zechariah for the birth of their sons. The Archangel Raphael, “the Medicine of God,” appears in the book of Tobit to heal Tobit from his blindness​.

God is Watching

We are often told that "God is watching us" as an ominous warning to behave ourselves. The truth is that God does watch us. However, God looks at us through the eyes of infinite love. 

If you've ever been in love, you know that you become so fascinated by the object of your love, that it's sometimes hard to look away. You are captivated. 

That's how it is with God. God loves us so much and we are so unique and fascinating to God that He can't take His eyes off of us! That's how love is!

I'm All Over It

There is a phrase that is used to describe someone who is anxious and eager to handle a situation. You might hear it in the context of a coworker suggesting to another that something needs to be done. The other worker in response says, "I'm all over it!" With that phrase they are saying, "There is no need to worry. I have it covered, I have it under control, I understand the situation, and I am taking care of it."

The world would be a different place if we as believers could respond to the question: "How is your prayer life?" with the answer, "I'm all over it!"

Can you respond in that way?

In Ephesians 6:18 we read the following words, "With every prayer and request, pray at all times in the Spirit, and stay alert in this, with all perseverance and intercession for all the saints" (HCSB). This is one of the Bible's amazing verses on prayer. When you examine it closely you discover some guidelines on how to have an effective and exciting prayer life. The words of the verse remind us of some things to get "all over" as we pray.

26th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Sin is not something we like to talk about or think about.  But in today’s gospel from Mark 9: 42 – 48 Jesus confronts us with some very harsh words about sinful behaviour. St James also warns us about the consequences of sinful behaviour in today’s second reading. In the Old Testament the word for sin is heť which means to miss the mark. Fr John L. McKenzie, SJ in his Dictionary of the Bible devotes three pages to the Old Testament meaning of sin. In addition to missing the mark, Old Testament sin implies rebellion, breach of an agreement between nations and people and disloyalty. According to McKenzie the key element of the Old Testament notion of sin is “a breach of covenant” and non-action. Quoting McKenzie again “The first and dominant effect of sin is death; sin is the denial of life…the sinner dies a little each time he sins.” What happens to sinners in the Old Testament is usually some sort of shunning, banishment or death.  

When Jesus arrived on the scene, he preached about repentance, forgiveness and divine mercy. One of Jesus’ sins in the eyes of the Pharisees was that he befriended and associated with sinners. Over and over, we read in the Gospels that Jesus is the conqueror of sin.  In Luke 15:7 Jesus tells a crowd of tax collectors and sinners that “there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents that over ninety-nine righteous   people who have no need of repentance.” Jesus confronted sin and gave sinners opportunities to repent and taught people who had been sinned against to forgive. This is what we pray every time we say “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” 

So, why is Jesus using such harsh language in today’s gospel? Think about it. If anyone is diagnosed with cancer, one of the first lines of defence is surgery - cut it out. Excising the cancer can save life.   The same is true for our spiritual lives. If we want to enter into the Kingdom of God then we must get rid of whatever is causing us to sin. I don’t believe that Jesus meant literally cut off your hand, or foot or eye. I believe he meant get rid of the bad habit, the bad behaviour, the unhealthy relationship or anything that separates us from God. All of us are sinners and all of us are graced with forgiveness if we seek it. To me the story of the woman caught in adultery found in John 8: 1 – 11 is one of the great examples of how Jesus dealt with the forgiveness of sin. After Jesus shamed the scribes and Pharisees who charged the woman, he turned to her and said “’Has anyone condemned you?’ she replied, ‘No one, sir.’ Then Jesus said, ‘Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin anymore.’”  Jesus says the same to us.  And, so, we pray,

Pour out your Spirit, O God, over the whole world
to inspire every heart
with knowledge and love of you.

Grant that we who confess Jesus as Lord
may avoid whatever leads us and others to sin
and give witness to your love
made visible in Jesus Christ,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God for ever and ever.

AMEN

St. Patrick Prayer

When you find yourself in times of trouble, recite this prayer by Saint Patrick himself. May the Strength of God guide us. May the Power of God preserve us. May the Wisdom of God instruct us. May the Hand of God protect us. May the Way of God direct us. May the Shield of God defend us. May the Angels of God guard us. Against the snares of the evil one. May God be with us! May God be before us! May God be in us, God be over all! May Thy Grace, Lord, Always be ours, This day, O Lord, and forevermore. Amen.

Knowledge of the Poor and Needy

Knowledge of the poor and needy is not gained by pouring over books or in discussions with politicians, but by visiting the slums where they live, sitting by the bedside of the dying, feeling the cold they feel and learning from their lips the causes of their woes.

~Blessed Frédéric Ozanam

My Creator,

You are before me … and behind me.

You are above me … and beneath me.
You are to my right … and to my left.
You all around me … and You fill me with Your Presence.

I surrender myself to You today.
Lead me where You want me to go.
Show me what You want me to see.
Let me meet whom You want me to meet.

Give me the words You want me to speak.
Strengthen me to do what You want me to do.
Please grant me the Gift of Peace today.
Help me to love You, to love others,
and to experience Your Love and Your Grace this day.

Prayer - St. Teresa of Ávila

May today there be peace within. 

May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be.
May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith.
May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you.
May you be content knowing you are a child of God.
Let this presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise, and love.
It is there for each and every one of us.

~ Teresa of Ávila

Somebody

Somebody is very proud of you.

Somebody is thinking of you.

Somebody is caring about you.

Somebody misses you.

Somebody wants to talk to you.

Somebody wants to be with you.

Somebody hopes you are not in trouble.

Somebody is thankful for the support you have provided.

Somebody wants to hold your hand.

Somebody hopes everything turns out all right for you.

Somebody wants you to be happy.

Somebody wants you to find him/her.

Somebody wants to give you a gift.

Somebody wants to hug you.

Somebody thinks you ARE a gift.

Somebody admires your strength.

Somebody wants to protect you.

Somebody can't wait to see you.

Somebody loves you for who you are.

Somebody treasures your spirit.

Somebody is glad that you are their friend.

Somebody wants to get to know you better.

Somebody wants to be near you.

Somebody wants you to know they are there for you.

Somebody would do anything for you.

Somebody wants to share their dreams with you.

Somebody is alive because of you.

Somebody needs your support.

Somebody will cry when they read this.

Somebody needs you to have faith in them.

Somebody trusts you.

Somebody hears a song that reminds them of you.

Somebody needs you to send this to them, too.

"To the whole world you might be just one person, but to one person you might be the whole world."

By Somebody

Do Unto Others

When we honor others by following the golden rule, we honor ourselves too.

All over the world, there exists a simple precept that, when followed, has the power to end conflict and banish strife. It is the Golden Rule, a key concept in many philosophies and spiritualties that admonishes us to “do unto others as we would have them do unto us. Its meaning is clear: treat others only in ways that you would want to be treated. However, the golden rule is not always easy to follow. It can be a challenge to honor others as we wish to be honored. Yet, when we do so, we bestow a gift of loving kindness on our fellow human beings. And, in honoring others, we honor ourselves.

It is as uncomplicated a tenet as one could wish for. When we live by it, harming another person becomes nearly impossible. The Golden Rule is rooted in pure empathy and does not compel us to perform any specific act. Rather, it gently guides us to never let our actions toward others be out of harmony with our own desires. The Golden Rule asks us to be aware of the effect our words and actions may have on another person and to imagine ourselves in their place. It calls on us to ask ourselves how we would feel if what we were about to do were directed toward us. And yet this rule invites us to do more than not harm others. It suggests that we look for opportunities to behave toward others in the same ways that we would want others to act toward us. Showing compassion, being considerate of others, caring for the less fortunate, and giving generously are what can result when you follow the Golden Rule.

Adhering to the Golden Rule whenever possible can have a positive effect on the world around you because kindness begets kindness. In doing so, you generate a flow of positive energy that enfolds everyone you encounter in peace, goodwill, and harmony​.

25th Sunday in Ordinary Time

There are three occasions in St. Mark's Gospel when Jesus predicts his passion.  We heard the first prediction last week in Mark 8:31-33.  We hear the second prediction today in Mark 9:30-32 and the third prediction is in Mark 10:32-34.  Jesus explicitly tried to warn the disciples about what was going to happen to him, “The Son of Man is to be handed over to men and they will kill him, and three days after his death the Son of Man will rise” (Mark 9: 31).  However, they "did not understand [what he was] saying" (Mark 9:32).  Not only did they fail to understand, "they were afraid to question him"; which is understandable given how Jesus publicly rebuked Peter when he got it wrong.  

Like St. Peter in the gospel last week, the disciples were "thinking not as God does, but as human beings do” (Mark 8:33).  They were overwhelmed by the knowledge Jesus was giving them and so they focused on their petty ambitions, arguing about "who was the greatest" (Mark 9: 34).   At this point, Jesus gives them and us a lesson about the topsy-turvy hierarchy of the kingdom.  In the kingdom “If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all” (Mark 9: 35).  There is no place in the kingdom where status or prestige is valued.  And there certainly is no place for jealousy or ambition. 

In today's, second reading from James 3:16 - 4:3, we are warned that jealousy and selfish ambition are earthly and unspiritual, bringing about disorder.  Our goal is to seek wisdom from above that is "pure, then peaceable, gentle, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits, without inconstancy or insincerity" (James 3:17).  If we can put our egos aside, and take on a gentle attitude of mercy and peace, then there is hope that we can, following the example of Jesus, bring the kingdom a little closer to Peachtree City. 

O God,
protector of the poor and defender of the just,
in your kingdom the last become first,
and the lowly are exalted.
Give us wisdom,
that we may find in Jesus the pattern of true discipleship
and the grace to follow him,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God for ever and ever.

 AMEN.

Prodigal

Dictionaries define "prodigal" as "wastefully extravagant and lavishly abundant." That certainly describes the God that Jesus incarnates and reveals.

If we look back on our lives with honesty, we have to admit that of all the invitations that God has sent us, we have probably accepted and acted on only a fraction of them. There have been countless times we have turned away from an invitation. For every invitation to maturity we have accepted, we have probably turned down a hundred. But that is the beauty and wonder of God's richness. God is prodigal, abundant, generous, and wasteful beyond our small fears and imaginations. And that invites us to be generous and generative.

You Can't be All Things to All People

You can't be all things to all people.

You can't do all things at once.
You can't do all things equally well.
You can't do all things better than everyone else.
Your humanity is showing just like everyone else's.

SO ...
You have to find out who you are, and be that.
You have to decide what comes first, and do that.
You have to discover your strengths, and use them.
You have to learn not to compete with others,
Because no one else is in the contest of "being you."

THEN ...
You will have learned to accept your own uniqueness.
You will have learned to set priorities and make decisions.
You will have learned to live with your limitations.
You will have learned to give yourself the respect that is due,
And you'll be a most vital mortal.

DARE TO BELIEVE ...
That you are a wonderful, unique person.
That you are a once-in-all-history event.
That it's more than a right, it's your duty, to be who you are.
That life is not a problem to solve, but a gift to cherish.
And you'll be able to stay one up on what used to get you down​.

Heaven and Hell

A very old man knew that he was going to die very soon. Before he died, he wanted to know what heaven and hell were like, so he visited the wise man in his village.

“Can you please tell me what heaven and hell are like?” he asked the wise man.

“Come with me and I will show you,” the wise man replied.

The two men walked down a long path until they came to a large house. The wise man took the old man inside, and there they found a large dining room with an enormous table covered with every kind of food imaginable. Around the table were many people all thin and hungry, who were holding 12-foot chopsticks. Every time they tried to feed themselves, the food fell off the chopsticks.

The old man said to the wise man, “Surely this must be hell. Will you now show me heaven?” The wise man said, “Yes, come with me.”

The two men left the house and walked further down the path until they reached another large house. Again they found a large dining room and in it a table filled with all kinds of delicious foods. The people there were happy and appeared well fed, but they also held 12-foot chopsticks.”

“How can this be? Said the old man. “These people have 12-foot chopsticks and yet they are happy and well fed.”

The wise man replied, “In heaven the people feed each other.”

Learning Along the Path

Life is like a path...and we all have to walk the path... As we walk... we'll find experiences like little scraps of paper in front of us along the way. We must pick up those pieces of scrap paper and put them in our pocket... Then, one day, we will have enough scraps of papers to put together and see what they say... Read the information and take it to heart.

~ Uncle Frank Davis (quoting his mother), Pawnee

The Creator designed us to learn by trial and error. The path of life we walk is very wide. Everything on the path is sacred - what we do right is sacred - but our mistakes are also sacred. This is the Creator's way of teaching spiritual people. To criticize ourselves when we make mistakes is not part of the spiritual path. To criticize mistakes is not our way. To learn from our mistakes is our way. The definition of a spiritual person is someone who makes 30-50 mistakes each day and talks to the Creator after each one to see what to do next time. This is the way of the Warrior.

Today let me see my mistakes as a positive process. Let me learn the aha's of life... Awaken my awareness so I can see the great learning that You, my Creator, have designed for my life.

~ Elder's Meditation of the Day​

Your Inner Self

There is a place, deep inside you, that is filled only with the things you've allowed to come in.  Take a careful look, and see what that special place holds. For although nothing can get in unless you allow it, everything there will surely get out. The things you hold inside of you will eventually take hold in your outer self and the world in which you live.

One day, your innermost imaginings will become your outermost reality.  
So what are you imagining?

Is your inner self full of fear, anger, doubt, and resentment?

Or do you fill your innermost thoughts with love, faith, confidence, gratitude, and joy?

Whatever is on the inside will soon be on the outside, and will indeed define who you are.  Make positive use of that control you have over your deepest, innermost self.

Fill the inside with goodness, with love, with the best you can imagine.  For what you keep inside, is what you do become.

 ~ Ralph Marston

24th Sunday in Ordinary Time

All good dramas have a climax. At these critical moments, everything falls into place and we can anticipate a happy or tragic ending. Today's gospel, Mark 8:27-35, presents us with just such a moment. These eight verses are a turning point in Mark's Gospel. He presents us with the revelation of who Jesus is and the stark reality of Jesus' mission. This is not a happy moment for the disciples. Their vision of Jesus the Messiah as a conquering hero coming to vindicate His people is crushed by the symbol of the cross. Jesus is not going to smash their enemies. He is going to “suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and rise after three days” (Mark 8:31). Not only that, the disciples and all of us who choose to follow this suffering servant king have to suffer as well, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me” (Mark 8:34).

Acknowledging Jesus as "the Christ" is easy. Accepting suffering, pain and death as part of the package is another matter entirely. Yet this is what we must do as followers of Jesus the Messiah. For the disciples, the cross represented a brutal form of punishment intended for slaves and non-Romans who committed heinous crimes including murder, treason and rebellion. Crucifixion was the worst death possible. Jesus is telling the disciples that if they continue to follow him they will be condemned as criminals and die. None of us is likely to be condemned as a criminal or suffer crucifixion for our belief in Jesus. However, Jesus is telling us that we too will have our crosses to carry. No Christian is exempt from hardship or suffering. Over and over again in the Gospels, Jesus reminds us that there is a high price to pay for discipleship.

Of course, we all want to be happy. None of us wants to suffer. Jesus does offer us hope “whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the gospel will save it” (Mark 8:35). If we are looking for happiness in wealth, success, fame and recognition, we probably won’t find it. If we look for happiness by following the path of Jesus (selflessness, humility and generosity), we may suffer some along the way but in the end we will experience a joy no one can take away (John 16:22).

Lord God, our hope and trust,

you have made us for happiness.

When we seek it in glorious dreams

of prosperity, success, and freedom from pain

help us to face the realities of real life.

Help us accept the uncertain darkness

of suffering and self-effacement

as the price to pay for light and joy.

Teach us the way of your Son Jesus Christ,

who died of his own free will,

that we might live and be happy.

We ask this in the name of Jesus the Lord.

Amen.

I Prayed For ...

I prayed for strength that I might achieve;

I was made weak that I might learn humbly to obey.
I prayed for health that I might do greater things;
I was given infirmity that I might do better things.
I prayed for riches that I might be happy;
I was given poverty that I might be wise.
I prayed for power that I might have the praise of men;
I was given weakness that I might feel the need of God.
I prayed for all things that I might enjoy life;
I was given life that I might enjoy all things.

I got nothing that I had asked for,
but everything that I had hoped for.

Almost despite myself my unspoken prayers were answered;
I am, among all men, most richly blessed.

Author Unknown

How Much Do We Notice as We Go Through a Day

How much do we notice as we go through a day?

Lisa Beamer on Good Morning America - If you remember, she's the wife of Todd Beamer who said 'Let's Roll!' and helped take down the plane over Pennsylvania that was heading for Washington, DC back on 9/11. She said it's the little things that she misses most about Todd, such as hearing the garage door open as he came home, and her children running to meet him.

Lisa recalled this story: "I had a very special teacher in high school many years ago whose husband died suddenly of a heart attack. About a week after his death, she shared some of her insight with a classroom of students. As the late afternoon sunlight came streaming in through the classroom windows and the class was nearly over, she moved a few things aside on the edge of her desk and sat down there. With a gentle look of reflection on her face, she paused and said, 'Class is over, I would like to share with all of you, a thought that is unrelated to class, but which I feel is very important. Each of us is put here on earth to learn, share, love, appreciate and give of ourselves. None of us knows when this fantastic experience will end. It can be taken away at any moment. Perhaps this is God's way of telling us that we must make the most out of every single day.

Her eyes, beginning to water, she went on, 'So I would like you all to make me a promise. From now on, on your way to school, or on your way home, find something beautiful to notice. It doesn't have to be something you see, it could be a scent, perhaps of freshly baked bread wafting out of someone's house, or it could be the sound of the breeze slightly rustling the leaves in the trees, or the way the morning light catches one autumn leaf as it falls gently to the ground. Please look for these things, and cherish them. For, although it may sound trite to some, these things are the "stuff" of life. The little things we are put here on earth to enjoy. The things we often take for granted.

The class was completely quiet. We all picked up our books and filed out of the room silently. That afternoon, I noticed more things on my way home from school than I had that whole semester. Every once in a while, I think of that teacher and remember what an impression she made on all of us, and I appreciate all of those things that sometimes we all overlook.

Take notice of something special you see today. Go barefoot. Or walk on the beach at sunset. Stop off on the way home tonight to get a double dip ice cream cone. For as we get older, it is not the things we did that we often regret, but the things we didn't do. Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away."

HAVE A GREAT DAY! GOD Bless you every day of your life. The nicest place to be is in someone's thoughts. The safest place to be is in someone's prayers, And the very best place to be is....In the hands of God.

Dear Heavenly Father

Dear Heavenly Father,

Creator of the heavens and the earth,

the skies and the seas, and everything in them,

You are worthy of all glory, honor, dominion, and strength.

You have every right to call the shots

in my life, and in the world.

I thank You for the peace that comes with accepting

that the Most High God rules in the kingdom of humanity.

I know unequivocally that I can trust Your infinite

goodness, wisdom, and holiness.

Please help me to hold my blessings with open hands,

not hoarding them for myself,

but willing to give them back, to share them,

and to use them on behalf of Your glory, as You so lead.

It’s in the name of my Savior, Jesus Christ, that I pray.

Amen

Gratitude

If you read the front page story of the San Francisco Chronicle on Thursday, December 14, 2005, you would have read about a female humpback whale that had become entangled in a spider web of crab traps and lines. She was weighted down by hundreds of pounds of traps that caused her to struggle to stay afloat. She also had hundreds of yards of line rope wrapped around her body, her tail, her torso, a line tugging in her mouth.

A fisherman spotted her just east of the Farallon Islands (outside the Golden Gate) and radioed an environmental group for help. Within a few hours, the rescue team arrived and determined that she was so bad off, the only way to save her was to dive in and untangle her a very dangerous proposition. One slap of the tail could kill a rescuer.

They worked for hours with curved knives and eventually freed her. When she was free, the divers say she swam in what seemed like joyous circles. She then came back to each and every diver, one at a time, and nudged them, pushed them gently around-she thanked them.

Some said it was the most incredibly beautiful experience of their lives. The guy who cut the rope out of her mouth says her eye was following him the whole time, and he will never be the same. May we, and all those we love, be so blessed and fortunate; to be surrounded by people who will help us get untangled from the things that are binding us. And, may we always know the joy of giving and receiving gratitude by loving God and our neighbor.

St. Teresa of Avila Prayer

Let nothing disturb you, let nothing frighten you. All things are passing away: God never changes. Patience obtains all things. Whoever has God lacks nothing; God alone suffices.

St. Teresa of Avila

Thomas Merton: The Greatest Need

The greatest need of our time is to clean out the enormous mass of mental and emotional rubbish that clutters our minds. We have what we seek, it is there all the time, and if we give it time, it will make itself known to us. We do not want to be beginners [at prayer]. But let us be convinced of the fact that we will never be anything but beginners, all our life! Just remaining quietly in the presence of God, listening, being attentive requires a lot of courage and know-how. If our life is poured out in useless words, we will never hear anything, never become anything, and in the end, because we have said everything before we had anything to say, we shall be left speechless at the moment of our greatest decision. 

(Thoughts in Solitude)

23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

In today's first reading from Isaiah 35:4-7a, God, speaking though Isaiah, proclaims that He is coming to save us. And, Isaiah tells us, when God does come extraordinary things will happen, "then will the eyes of the blind be opened, the ears of the deaf be cleared; then will the lame leap like a stag, then the tongue of the mute will sing" (Isaiah 35:5-6). This is fantastic news. The event will be so phenomenal that "the desert and the parched land will exult; the steppe will rejoice and bloom" (Isaiah 35:1).

It is ironic that when Jesus arrives in our world and when he performs healing miracles, he often tells people not to talk about it. In today's gospel, Mark 7:31-37, Jesus heals a man who is deaf and has a speech impediment. He touches the man's ears and tongue and says "’Ephphatha!' — that is, 'Be opened!' — And immediately the man’s ears were opened, his speech impediment was removed, and he spoke plainly" (Mark 7:34-35). Jesus ordered everyone present "not to tell anyone. But the more he ordered them not to, the more they proclaimed it" (Mark 7:36).

It seems to me that it would be impossible for the healed man and his friends not to talk about what happened. Not only did Jesus give the man the gifts of hearing and speech, he gave him the gift of community, he freed the man from isolation, he gave him a new life and he gave him the opportunity to be an active participant in the Kingdom of God. This is staggering. If I was that man, I would be shouting from the rooftops, "Look at what Jesus has done me!"

God our Father,

you wait for us to be open to you, to people,

and to all that is true, beautiful and good.

Let your Spirit open our ears

to the liberating Word of your Son.

Let him open our hearts and hands

to everyone who needs us.

Let him open our lips,

that we may proclaim everywhere

the marvels you do for us.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

A Mountaintop View

A police car pulled up in front of an older woman's house, and her husband climbed out. The polite policeman explained that "this elderly gentleman" said that he was lost in the park and couldn't find his way home.

"How could it happen?" asked his wife. "You've been going to that park for over 30 years! How could you get lost?"

Leaning close to her ear so that the policeman couldn't hear, he whispered, "I wasn't lost - I was just too tired to walk home."

These bodies become less cooperative as we age. For some, work becomes less fun and fun becomes more work. One older friend commented, "I've reached the age where the warranty has expired on my remaining teeth and internal organs."

But I like the spirit of Charles Marowitz. "Old age is like climbing a mountain," he says. "The higher you get, the more tired and breathless you become. But your view becomes much more extensive."

A police car pulled up in front of an older woman's house, and her husband climbed out. The polite policeman explained that "this elderly gentleman" said that he was lost in the park and couldn't find his way home.

"How could it happen?" asked his wife. "You've been going to that park for over 30 years! How could you get lost?"

Leaning close to her ear so that the policeman couldn't hear, he whispered, "I wasn't lost - I was just too tired to walk home."  

These bodies become less cooperative as we age. For some, work becomes less fun and fun becomes more work. One older friend commented, "I've reached the age where the warranty has expired on my remaining teeth and internal organs."

But I like the spirit of Charles Marowitz. "Old age is like climbing a mountain," he says. "The higher you get, the more tired and breathless you become. But your view becomes much more extensive."

Atop the mountain, one has a better view of the world. One can see above the differences that divide people. One can better see beyond petty hurts and human fragility. Atop the mountain, one has a longer view of the past and can therefore understand the future with more clarity. Atop the mountain, one looks down on dark clouds of gloom and despair and fear and notices that they are neither as large nor as ominous as those beneath them would believe. It is also clearer that however dark they may appear, they too, are fleeting and will someday pass.

George Bernard Shaw said, "Some are younger at seventy than most at seventeen." I think it is because they have a broader outlook.

It will take a lifetime to climb the mountain, but, for me, the view will be worth the journey.

 of the world. One can see above the differences that divide people. One can better see beyond petty hurts and human fragility. Atop the mountain, one has a longer view of the past and can therefore understand the future with more clarity. Atop the mountain, one looks down on dark clouds of gloom and despair and fear and notices that they are neither as large nor as ominous as those beneath them would believe. It is also clearer that however dark they may appear, they too, are fleeting and will someday pass.

George Bernard Shaw said, "Some are younger at seventy than most at seventeen." I think it is because they have a broader outlook.

It will take a lifetime to climb the mountain, but, for me, the view will be worth the journey.

Investment

Tom Watson, Sr., is the man who founded IBM. You can imagine the money, the investments, the experiments, this man, and his multi-billion dollar company have made through the years. Once, years ago, when a million dollars was still a million dollars, Watson had a top junior executive who spent $12 million of the company's money on a venture that failed. The executive put his resignation on Watson's desk saying, "I'm sure that you want my resignation." Watson roared back:, "No I don't want your resignation. I've just spent $12 million educating you. It's about time you get to work."

God won't accept your resignation. Instead, he'll accept your failures as part of the investment He has made in your spiritual growth. But now, he expects you to get to work! So let's do it.

Thankful

Pam worked in downtown Chicago. Every morning she encountered a heavyset, middle-aged woman in a shabby coat soliciting spare change in front of an old brick church. She greeted everyone with a smile and a pleasant "Good morning." Pam almost always gave her something. After almost a year of this routine, however, the woman in the shabby coat disappeared. Pam wondered what had happened to her.

Then, one beautiful day, she was in front of the church again, still wearing the same shabby coat. As Pam reached into her purse for the usual donation, the woman stopped her. "Thank you for helping me all those days," she said. "You won't see me again because I've got a job." With that, she reached into a bag and handed Pam a wrapped package. She had been standing at her old spot waiting, not for a handout, but for the people she recognized so that she could give each of them a doughnut.

She was thankful.

Citizenship

In October 2005, Moses Bittok celebrated an experience he had waited a lifetime to achieve: He became a U.S. citizen. That alone would have been enough to give the native Kenyan the happiest day of his life, but it was just a prelude.

On the way home from the Des Moines, Iowa, Federal building, Bittok stopped at a gas station to see the winning numbers in the Iowa state "Hot Lotto Game." He was surprised to find out that he had won $1.89 million.

"It's almost like you adopted a new country and then they netted you $1.8 million," said Bittok. "It doesn't happen anywhere - I guess only in America."

Want to see something really amazing? As soon as we accept Christ, our life will changes and we become citizens in the Kingdom of God.

Statement on the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, September 1, 2024

Hope, Action and the Eucharist in Creation

Statement on the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation

Archbishop Borys Gudziak

Chairman, Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

Bishop A. Elias Zaidan

Chairman, Committee on International Justice and Peace

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

September 1, 2024

We know that all creation is groaning . . . (Rom. 8:22)

For in hope we were saved. (Rom. 8:24)

On this World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, Pope Francis invites us to meditate on Saint Paul’s Letter to the Romans (8:19-25). This year, the message of hope and care for creation resonates deeply with the Catholic community in the United States that continues to experience the joy of the National Eucharistic Congress. Drawing from the thought of Pope Francis and Pope Benedict XVI, we offer these reflections on hope in the Lord in a scientific age, which impel us to renew once more the call to care for all of God’s creation.

Pope Benedict addressed the role of science in the making of the modern world in his encyclical Spe Salvi, which means “in hope we were saved.” In this historical account, thought about redemption experienced a significant shift in the early 1600s under the influence of the English philosopher Francis Bacon.1 The hope in Jesus Christ, who would restore mankind to Paradise, was replaced by a hope in science and “faith in progress” to build a new world of the “kingdom of man”, filled with “a vision of foreseeable inventions—including the airplane and the submarine.”2 In other words, people started looking to science for redemption rather than to God. In many ways, our present world is Bacon’s world, which explains both an almost spiritual hope in techno-scientific progress and the crisis of Christian hope, indeed Christianity itself. If we are to be saved in hope, that hope must be in God. When hope for salvation is placed in scientific progress, hopes, stories and attention drift from amazing grace to amazing gadgets.

Pope Benedict’s insight into the foundational architecture of Bacon’s kingdom of man anticipates a central concern of Pope Francis’ teachings on ecology described in Laudato Si’ and Laudate Deum, namely, the technocratic paradigm, whereby the unchecked power of technology drives the progressive devastation of the planet.3 The damaged fruit of our technocratic endeavors, a spoiled planet, is a problem that algorithms, machines and technologies can never solve.

“Man always remains man” and the idea that we can redeem humankind “purely from the outside,”4 through economic systems or via technocratic solutions, as contemporary techno-optimists suggest, is misdirected. The human-constructed world will always be a mirror reflection of humanity, both awe-inspiring and broken, just as we are.5 There is no world we can build that prevents us from facing the human paradox at the core of the Holy Father’s message: “the whole creation groans (cf. Rom 8:19-22), we Christians groan (cf. vv. 23-25) and the Spirit himself groans (cf. vv. 26-27). This groaning expresses apprehension and suffering, together with longing and desire.”6

Our collective groaning points us to the human condition, which is precisely where the Christian message, the Good News, comes alive: We are not left to our own devices! God is with us. Laudato Si’ begins with St. Francis of Assisi and St. Paul’s letter to the Romans, stating that creation is alive,7 that we have a sister in water and a brother in the sun. God is always with us, as the entire Canticle of Creatures, addressed to the all-powerful good Lord, testifies repeatedly.

Our collective groaning is met with a voice, the Word. What does it say? To St. Francis of Assisi, whom the Holy Father has chosen as his namesake and guide in our times, the Lord says: “go and rebuild my Church.” The re-building can only happen in continuity with the first edifice, which has Jesus Christ as the cornerstone, the rock that holds everything together.

Jesus chose to remain with us in a specific and concrete way, in his Body and Blood. Without the Eucharist, there can be no People of God: “The Church produces the Eucharist, but the Eucharist also produced the Church.”8 This is why it should be of no surprise that the poor man of Assisi had a profound reverence and respect for the Body and Blood of the Lord. The “root and source” of St. Francis’ love for peace, poverty and care for creation was Jesus Christ.9

In and through the Eucharist we have continuous access to the source of St. Francis’ love and devotion. This year’s National Eucharistic Congress in the United States has witnessed the closeness of Jesus, reminding us that He is the hope that saves. A true Eucharistic experience will also recommit us to the task of protecting creation, “one that is eminently theological, for it is the point where the mystery of man and the mystery of God intersect.”10 The care for creation is constitutive of the Christian life. So let us go forth, with hope, to care for all of God’s creation.

1Pope Benedict XVI, Spe Salvi, no. 16.
2Pope Benedict XVI, Spe Salvi, no. 17.
3See Tony Mills, Is Pope Francis Anti-Modern?, The New Atlantis, Fall 2015.
4Pope Benedict XVI, Spe Salvi, no. 21.
5See Second Vatican Council, Gaudium et Spes, no. 10.
6Pope Francis, Message for the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, 27 June, 2024.
7Bruno Latour, The Immense Cry Channeled by Pope Francis, Nov. 1, 2016.
8Henri de Lubac, The Splendor of the Church, Ignatius Press, p. 133.
9Pope Francis, Speech to the Members of the Ecclesial Coordination for the Franciscan VIII Centenary, Oct. 31, 2022.
10Pope Francis, Message for the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, 27 June, 2024.