I Know the Shepherd

There was once a Shakespearean actor who was known everywhere for his one-man shows of readings and recitations from the classics. He would always end his performance with a dramatic reading of Psalm 23.

Each night, without exception, as the actor began his recitation - “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want” the crowd would listen attentively. And then, at the conclusion of the Psalm, they would rise in thunderous applause in appreciation of the actor's incredible ability to bring the verse to life.

But one night, just before the actor was to offer his customary recital of Psalm 23, a young man from the audience spoke up. “Sir, do you mind if tonight I recite Psalm 23?" The actor was quite taken back by this unusual request, but he allowed the young man to come forward and stand front and center on the stage to recite the Psalm, knowing that the ability of this unskilled youth would be no match for his own talent.

With a soft voice, the young man began to recite the words of the Psalm. When he was finished, there was no applause. There was no standing ovation as on other nights. All that could be heard was the sound of weeping. The audience had been so moved by the young man's recitation that every eye was full of tears.

Amazed by what he had heard, the actor said to the youth, "I don't understand. I have been performing Psalm 23 for years. I have a lifetime of experience and training - but I have never been able to move an audience as you have tonight. Tell me, what is your secret?"

The young man quietly replied, "Well sir, you know the Psalm; I know the Shepherd."

4th Sunday of Easter

Today is the fourth Sunday of Easter usually called Good Shepherd Sunday because the gospel for this Sunday always focuses on Jesus as a shepherd.  It also is the 63rd World Day of Prayer for Vocations for which Our Holy Father, Pope Leo chose The Interior Discovery of God’s Gift as the theme. 

 Jesus established the mission of the Church when he commanded the Apostles to “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matt. 28: 19 – 20).  With St. Peter as their spokesman, the Apostles followed Jesus’ instructions as our first and second readings today emphasize.   St Peter has a clear message for us “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is made to you and to your children and to all those far off, whomever the Lord our God will call.”

By our baptism and confirmation each one of us, in fact every Christian, is called to witness to the truth and proclaim the good news of the Gospel.  Every Christian is called to put Jesus Christ at the center of their life.  And every Christian has a responsibility to nurture and encourage vocations in the young men and women who may wish to dedicate themselves to full-time service bringing about the Kingdom of Heaven.  We need good shepherds.    In his Message for the 63rd World Day of Prayer for Vocations, Our Holy Father Pope Leo reminds us that “The Lord of life knows us and enlightens our hearts with his loving gaze.”   Indeed, every vocation begins with the awareness and experience of a God who is love (cf. 1 Jn 4:16). He knows us profoundly; he has counted the hairs of our head (cf. Mt 10:30) and has envisaged for each person a unique path of holiness and service. Yet this awareness must always be reciprocal. We are invited to know God through prayer, listening to the Word, the Sacraments, the life of the Church and works of charity for our brothers and sisters.” 

At the end of today’s gospel from John 10:1-10, Jesus tells the disciples and us that He “came so that [we, the sheep] might have life and have it more abundantly.”  This abundance is not for a minute or a day.  It is an abundance that extends throughout our lives.  Pope Leo tells us that, “A vocation, therefore, is not an immediate possession — something “given” once and for all. Instead, it is a path that unfolds much like life itself. The gift we have received must not only be protected but also nourished by a daily relationship with God in order to grow and bear fruit. “This is helpful, since it situates our whole life in relation to the God who loves us. It makes us realize that nothing is the result of pure chance but that everything in our lives can become a way of responding to the Lord, who has a wonderful plan for us.” 

Loving God, You speak to us and nourish us
through the life of this Church community.

In the name of Jesus, we ask you to
send your Spirit to us so that men and
women among us, young and old,
will respond to your call to service and
leadership in the Church. We pray
especially, in our day, for those who
hear your invitation to be a priest, sister, or brother.

May those who are opening their
hearts and minds to your call be
encouraged and strengthened
through our enthusiasm in your
service.

Amen.

Pray at All Times

 "With every prayer and request, pray at all times in the Spirit"

The Bible tells us we are to pray without ceasing, but for many believers this is not understood in a practical sense. Prayer for each individual must become a daily, constant, and consistent way of living. In any given moment we are only a thought and breath from communicating with God. In a day and age when we pride ourselves on having high-speed internet connections, we also have a high-speed instant access connection with the Heavenly Father.

In the book of Psalms we get some insight into the approach that David took in praying at all times. In Psalm 4 we are reminded that he prayed before ending the day. In Psalm 5 we see him start his day in prayer. In Psalm 6 we see how he prayed in the aftermath of his failures. In Psalm 7 we read how David prayed when the pressure was on and he was under attack. In Psalm 8 he prayed when he thought of the creative power of God. In Psalm 9 we see that he prayed in times of joy. In Psalm 10 he prayed when he felt isolated.

It is safe to say that David as a lifestyle prayed without ceasing and stressed how important it is to keep the lines of communication open to God.

Keys to Success

Awareness - know yourself
Understand "stages of life" (expectations)
Seek support - don't journey alone
Be responsible - healthy self-care
Be human - allow for mistakes
Be honest - keep looking in the mirror and beyond
Understand needs and wants
Set long- and short-term goals
Think straight
Trust your feeling

Attitude - positive, optimistic, hopeful, grateful, committed

Self-care = self-esteem = mental, physical, emotional

Spiritual care - personal prayer, community prayer, spiritual direction, scripture, spiritual literature, awareness of and respect for all of life and Creation.

One Tick at a Time

We have both analogue and digital watches and clocks. Some prefer one to the other.

But as we look at the analogue clock or watch, there is also something worth reflecting about the ticking of the second hand.

If we do some calculations, that second hand goes 60 ticks a minute, 3600 ticks an hour, 86,400 ticks a day, 604,800 ticks a week, and 31,449,600 ticks a year.

Now that is a lot of ticking. Yet that humble second-hand shows us something.

It takes one tick at a time.

We don't have to worry about how many ticks we have to accomplish in a year, or in a week, or in a day or even in a minute.

That is all taken care of by God.

What we need to do is to let love, joy, peace, patience, compassion, kindness, generosity start ticking in our lives.

That is what is meant by setting our hearts on the Kingdom of God and on His righteousness.

Thank You, God, for Another Day

 

3rd Sunday of Easter

St. Luke’s story about the two disciples and their trip to Emmaus is like a finely cut gem.  There are many facets to the story and each facet reflects a different image of the Resurrected Christ present among us.   The risen Christ is with us always and everywhere, even when we are running away or isolated in our houses.  He is with us on our important, life changing journeys and our everyday activities. We may not recognize him, but he is there.  The risen Christ reaches out to us through scripture as St Pope John Paul II reminded us, "it is Christ himself who speaks when the Holy Scriptures are read.”  The resurrected Christ is present when we gather together as a congregation to worship (even when we worship together electronically) because we are the Body of Christ.   And most significantly, the risen Christ is present in the Eucharist both through the priest in the act of consecration and in the bread and wine.  We believe that the consecrated host really becomes the Body of Christ and the blessed wine really becomes the Blood of Christ.  The risen Christ is very real and present here with us today. 

The question I put to you today is what do you do with this precious gift of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ present to us in so many ways?    Do you forget about him when Mass in over? Is he relegated to a small corner of your life?  Does he disappear when you interact with your family or people you work with? When Cleopas and his colleague finally recognized Jesus in the breaking of bread, they “set out at once,” walking the seven miles back to Jerusalem to share their good news with the apostles and other disciples.  During these times of social distancing and for many people isolation, how do we share the Good News?  You can reach out to people you know are isolated by calling them, emailing them or sending them a note to let them know you are thinking about them.  When you get frustrated with your spouse, children or even your neighbors, you can be patient, loving and kind.  You can take time out to read and reflect on scripture.  And you can pray. 

In today’s second reading from 1 Peter 1: 17 – 21, St Peter tell us, “Beloved: If you invoke as Father him who judges impartially according to each one’s works, conduct yourselves with reverence during the time of your sojourning, realizing that you were ransomed … with the precious blood of Christ as of a spotless unblemished lamb. He was known before the foundation of the world but revealed in the final time for you, who through him believe in God who raised him from the dead and gave him glory,

so that your faith and hope are in God.” 

God our Father,
our road in life is often tiresome
for it is the road of pilgrims.
Give us Jesus your Son
as our companion who journeys with us
and who warms our hearts with love and joy.
Let him keep breaking for us
the bread of himself that gives us courage.
Open our eyes to recognize him
in our downhearted and suffering brothers and sisters,
that they may see in us
something of our faith that our Lord is risen
and that he lives for ever and ever.

Amen

 

Whole

It’s no wonder that sometimes we feel fragmented and disjointed. The world looks like it's divided into billions of pieces, all separate and distinct. What is the force that unites all the parts and keeps everything from colliding in random motion? Is there a Whole? 

Emerson called it the Soul. Others call it the Life Force, Brahman, the movement of energy, Higher Power, God.

If we imagine the Whole is the Soul and we acknowledge that each of us also has a Soul, or is a Soul, then we have outlined the great paradox, the mystery of the universe: All that is out there, everything on earth and in the heavens, is also part of us. We reflect the majesty of all the pieces and all the pieces are a reflection of us. To know the Whole, the unifying thing itself, we must turn to our own Soul and get to know the God within.

My life is one piece, a Whole, just as the world is one piece, a Whole. Contained in my Soul is all the mystery and magic of the universe.

We are Small Enough

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.”

Spread Love

Refresh Yourself at Mass

When the well threatens to run dry, it's time to rest and refill.

We can't always be doing and giving and producing. There comes a time when we run out of steam, and that's when we need to know how to replenish our supply of energy and enthusiasm.

Some of us get recharged by being with other people. Some of us need to be quiet and alone. All of us can profit from going to Mass. It can give us all an inspirational uplift. Mass can help us to become recharged. It can help us to savor the beauty of nature, and lead us to a period of quiet meditation with the God of Love.

Vacations can be wonderful, but we're not always able to take them when we need them. What we can do is learn how to create for ourselves islands of recreation re-creation -- which may be inserted into our busy, everyday schedule. We can learn to stop and refill the well before it runs dry, so we do not drive ourselves into the kind of exhaustion that threatens our spirituality.

I will build an island of re-creation into today's schedule by going to Mass.

Divine Mercy Sunday

 “Peace be with you,” Jesus greets his disciples after the Resurrection when he enters the locked room where they are cowering in fear.  “Peace be with you,” he says again.   

Initially, when Jesus told his friends he was leaving peace with them, he was preparing them for his death. Over and over Jesus warned his followers about what was to come.  He wanted to comfort them.  In John 14: 27-29 Jesus says: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid. You heard me tell you, 'I am going away and I will come back to you.’ If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father; for the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you this before it happens, so that when it happens you may believe.” 

What is this peace that Jesus is talking about? It is not peace, as our world understands it.  The peace that Jesus gives does not grant us immunity from pain and suffering, or even death, rather it enables us to face all these painful realities and triumph over them in union with the victory of Christ himself. Just as Jesus comes to the disciples hiding behind locked doors he comes to us today bringing his peace and empowering us to rejoice in his Resurrection.  He invites us to share in his Resurrection and life of glory with the Father and the Holy Spirit.  He invites us to join his pain and suffering with our own pain and suffering so that dying with him we may also rise with him and share in that peace which the world cannot give.

Today is Divine Mercy Sunday, a day when we reflect on the mercy and love of our Savior, Jesus Christ.   As we continue our journey of faith during this week let this be our prayer. 

Prayer of Entrustment to the Divine Mercy

O Lord, our God.
We place our trust in You, 
Because you are mercy itself.
We repent of our sins and turn to You for mercy.
We trust You to provide for our every need, according to Your will. 
Help us to forgive others as You forgive us. 
We promise to be merciful by our deeds, words and prayers.
Though we have fears because of human weakness, we rely on Your infinite goodness and mercy. 
We entrust to You the future of our planet, our Church, our nations, our families and all our needs.  
With loud cries, we implore your mercy on us and on the whole world.
Look upon us, created in your image and likeness.
Form us in the Heart of Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit into the living images of mercy.
May all come to know the depth of Your mercy and sing the praises of Your mercy forever.

Amen!

The Lake Isle of Innisfree

 

Pearl

The beauty of a single pearl, or a string of the precious stones, is unmistakable. Few jewels capture the eye quite like a perfect pearl. Know how the pearl came to be? In the beginning, it’s only a grain of sand. That tiny little irritant slips inside the tight seal of an oyster’s shell, and immediately causes discomfort. With no way to expel the grain of sand, with no way to ease the pain, the oyster coats the sand with a layer of the inner lining of its shell to make the sand smooth. This still does not ease the oyster's suffering. Again and again the oyster coats the sand, but all the attempts to get rid of the irritant have little effect. As far as an oyster is concerned, what we call a “pearl” is nothing more than great suffering. But one day the oyster is fished from the water and opened. The gem inside has amazing beauty and holds great value – all because the oyster had great suffering.

Maybe it’s no accident that the 12 gates of the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:21) are made of pearls. It’s the suffering of our Savior that allows the gate to be there in the first place, and more than likely, all who enter those priceless gates will have also known the personal cost of great suffering.

Take Time

Work and Family

To the world you are just a person. To a company you are just an employee.

The day you resign, your work cubicle will be replaced. Your absence missed for a day then the company forgets you. They went on to make their money for they need to, and they have no time to grieve because of the expectations they have to fulfill. Occasionally they make mistakes and it may come with a price, you have to pay.

This is why, my friends, do not mix work with family. Do not take your work home, cast your family aside and forget about giving time to your children. Because in their hearts you are never replaced, because when you are gone, every day you will be missed. If anything happen to you, it will be your family and friends crying like crazy for you. Because to them, even though you are just one person, you are their world.

So reset your priorities. Be a good worker but be a better father / mother / friend / daughter / son / sister / brother / husband / wife.

Easter Sunday

 

Alleluia!  Alleluia!  Alleluia!  Jesus has risen!  Alleluia!

Back in the 4^th Century AD St Augustine wrote a beautiful discourse on the psalms. For Psalm 148 subtitled All Creation Summoned to Praise he wrote “we are given two liturgical seasons, one before Easter and the other after. …What we commemorate before Easter is what we experience in this life; what we celebrate after Easter is something we do not yet possess. This is why we keep the first season with fasting and prayer; but now the fast is over and we devote the present season to praise.  Such is the meaning of the Alleluia we sing. “ 

It is so easy for us to get stuck in the before Easter mindset that St Augustine wrote about so long ago.  All we have to do is turn on the television or read the newspaper.   Bad news makes for exciting media.  But we are not bad news people.  We are good news people.  And the good news is that three days after he was crucified, died and was buried, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, was raised from the dead.  ALLELUIA!   And, St Paul tells us, “Just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live in newness of life” (Romans 6: 4).  ALLELUIA!

Given this extraordinary historical event we all should be out in the streets shouting “Alleluia, Alleluia, Jesus has risen from the dead.”   There is more, St Augustine tells each one of us to make sure “your praise comes from your whole being in other words, see that you praise God not with your lips and voices alone, but with your minds, your lives and all your actions.”   Sixteen centuries later, Saint Pope John Paul II said “Do not abandon yourselves to despair. We are the Easter people and hallelujah is our song.” 

Alleluia!  Alleluia!  Alleluia!  Jesus has risen!  Alleluia!

Heavenly Father and God of mercy,

We no longer look for Jesus among the dead,

For he is alive and has become the Lord of life.

From the waters of death, you raise us with him

And renew your gift of life within us.

Increase in our minds and hearts the risen life we share with Christ,

And help us to grow as your people

Toward the fullness of eternal life with you.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

It is Finished

So they took Jesus, and carrying the cross himself he went out to what is called the Place of the Skull, in Hebrew, Golgotha. There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, with Jesus in the middle.

Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the cross. It read, "Jesus the Nazorean, the King of the Jews." Now many of the Jews read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek. So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, "Do not write 'The King of the Jews,' but that he said, 'I am the King of the Jews.'" Pilate answered, "What I have written, I have written."

When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four shares, a share for each soldier. They also took his tunic, but the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from the top down. So they said to one another, "Let's not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it will be," in order that the passage of scripture might be fulfilled (that says): "They divided my garments among them, and for my vesture they cast lots." This is what the soldiers did.

Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, "Woman, behold, your son." Then he said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother." And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.

After this, aware that everything was now finished, in order that the scripture might be fulfilled, Jesus said, "I thirst." There was a vessel filled with common wine. So they put a sponge soaked in wine on a sprig of hyssop and put it up to his mouth. When Jesus had taken the wine, he said, "It is finished."

And bowing his head, he handed over the spirit.

From The Gospel of John