Prayer

Almighty God, I humbly pray,
Lead me, guide me through this day.
Cast out my selfishness and sin,
Open my heart to let You in.

Help me now as I blindly stray
Over the pitfalls along the way.
Let me have courage to face each task,
Invest me with loving patience, I ask.

Care for me through each hour today,
Strengthen and guard me now, I pray.
As I forgive, forgive me too,
Needing Your mercy as I do.

Oh, give to me Your loving care,
Never abandon me to despair.
Yesterday's wrongs I would seek to right,
Make me more perfect in Your sight.

Oh, teach me to live the best I can,
Use me to help my fellow man.
Save me from acts of bitter shame,
I humbly ask it in Your name.

May You Always Feel Loved

May you find serenity and tranquility
in a world you may not always understand.

May the pain you have known
and the conflict you have experienced
give you the strength to walk through life
facing each new situation with courage and optimism.

Always know that there are those
whose love and understanding will always be there,
even when you feel most alone.

May a kind word,
a reassuring touch,
and a warm smile
be yours every day of your life,
and may you give these gifts
as well as receive them.

May the teachings of those you admire
become part of you,
so that you may call upon them.

Remember, those whose lives you have touched
and who have touched yours
are always a part of you,
even if the encounters were less than you would have wished.
It is the content of the encounter
that is more important than its form.

May you not become too concerned with material matters,
but instead place immeasurable value
on the goodness in your heart.
Find time in each day to see beauty and love
in the world around you.

Realize that what you feel you lack in one regard
you may be more than compensated for in another.
What you feel you lack in the present
may become one of your strengths in the future.
May you see your future as one filled with promise and possibility.
Learn to view everything as a worthwhile experience.

May you find enough inner strength
to determine your own worth by yourself,
and not be dependent
on another's judgment of your accomplishments.

May you always feel loved.

May God's Blessings Abound in your life!

~ Sandra Sturtz Hauss

13th Sunday in Ordinary Time

In today’s second reading from 2 Corinthians 8:7,9,13-15, St Paul elaborates on the Judeo-Christian understanding of equality. Referencing regulations regarding the distribution of manna, St Paul reminded his readers in Corinth and he reminds us that “[Christ] became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.” He goes on to explain, “Not that others should have relief while you are burdened, but that as a matter of equality your abundance at the present time should supply their needs, so that their abundance may also supply your needs, that there may be equality.” This is because God was generous to the Israelites in the distribution of manna. In Exodus 16:16-18, Moses tells us that God provided exactly what was needed for each person no more, no less, regardless of their status.

Jesus practiced the same level of generosity when he responded to the pleas of Jairus, a synagogue official and an unnamed woman who was practically an outcast. Both Jairus and the woman humbly approach Jesus in faith believing in his power; Jairus seeking healing for his daughter and the woman seeking healing for herself. Jesus responded to both of them with magnanimity and compassion. Jesus was the most egalitarian person ever on this earth. In his eyes each human person was and is equal to every other person. No one is better than anyone else and everyone who petitions Jesus in faith and humility will have their needs met.

On Thursday July 4th we will celebrate the 248th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The second paragraph of the Declaration begins, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness…” Over the course of the past two hundred and forty-eight years many people have sacrificed their lives to preserve these self-evident truths that citizens of the United States believe in so passionately. As we begin our celebrations this year, please stop and remember those who have gone before us, those who have given their lives for this Country and those who will spend Independence Day serving us in the armed forces.

God of all nations,

Father of the human family,

we give you thanks for the freedom we exercise

and the many blessings of democracy we enjoy

in these United States of America.

A Quarter Too Much

Several years ago, a preacher from out-of-state accepted a call to a church in Houston, Texas. Some weeks after he arrived, he had an occasion to ride the bus from his home to the downtown area. When he sat down, he discovered that the driver had accidentally given him a quarter too much change.

As he considered what to do, he thought to himself, "You'd better give the quarter back. It would be wrong to keep it." Then he thought, "Oh, forget it, it's only a quarter. Who would worry about this little amount? Anyway, the bus company gets too much fare; they will never miss it. Accept it as a 'gift from God' and keep quiet."

When his stop came, he paused momentarily at the door, then he handed the quarter to the driver and said, "Here, you gave me too much change."

The driver, with a smile, replied, "Aren't you the new preacher in town? I have been thinking a lot lately about going somewhere to worship. I just wanted to see what you would do if I gave you too much change. I'll see you at church on Sunday."

When the preacher stepped off of the bus, he literally grabbed the nearest light pole, held on, and said, "Oh God, I almost sold your Son for a quarter."

Our lives are the only Bible some people will ever read. This is a really scary example of how much people watch us as Christians and will put us to the test! Always be on guard and remember that you carry the name of Christ on your shoulders when you call yourself "Christian."

Watch your thoughts; they become words. 

Watch your words; they become actions. 

Watch your actions; they become habits. 

Watch your habits; they become character. 

Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.

The Will of God will never take you to where the Grace of God will not PROTECT you.

Stay FAITHFUL and Be GRATEFUL.

Never Grow Weary

In the Second Letter to the Thessalonians, Paul ends a long, challenging admonition by stating: You must never grow weary of doing what is right.

All of us experience tension in our lives: tension in our families, tension in our friendships, tension in our places of work, tension in our churches, tension in our communities, and tension within our conversations around other people, politics, and current events. And, being good-hearted people, we carry that tension with patience, respect, graciousness, and forbearance – for a while!

Then, at a certain point we feel ourselves stretched to the limit, grow weary of doing what is right, feel something snap inside of us, and hear some inner-voice say: Enough! I’ve put up with this too long! I won’t tolerate this anymore!

And we let go. We let go of patience, respect, graciousness, and forbearance, either by venting and giving back in kind or simply by fleeing the situation with an attitude of good riddance. Either way, we refuse to carry the tension any longer.

Mature parents put up with a lot of tension in raising their children. Mature teachers put up with a lot of tension in trying to open the minds and hearts of their students. Mature friends absorb a lot of tension in remaining faithful to each other.

Men and women are noble of character precisely when they can walk with patience, respect, graciousness, and forbearance amid crushing and unfair tensions, when they never grow weary of doing what is right.

But all of this will not be easy. It’s the way of long loneliness, with many temptations to let go and slip away. But, if we persevere and never grown weary of doing what is right, at our funeral, those who knew us will be blessed and grateful that we continued to believe in them even when for a time they had stopped believing in themselve​s.

In Other Words

In promulgating your esoteric cogitations or articulating your superficial sentimentalizes, and amicable philosophical or psychological observations, beware of platitudinous ponderous while letting your conversational communications possess a compacted conciseness, a clarified comprehensibility, a coalescent cogency, and a concatenated consistency. Be sure to eschew obfuscation and all conglomerations of flatulent garrulity, jejune rabblement, and asinine affectations. Maintain your extemporaneous descanting and unpremeditated expatiation's have intelligibility and voracious vivacity without rodomontade or thrasonical bombast. Sedulously avoid all polysyllabic profundity, pompous prolificacy, and vain vapid verbosity.

...in other words: say what you mean, mean what you say, and don't use big words!

Take, Lord, and Receive

Take, Lord, and receive

All my liberty,

My memory,

My understanding

And my entire will,

All that I have and possess.

You have given all to me,

To you, Lord, I return it.

All is yours;

Do with it what you will.

Give me only your love and your grace,

That is enough for me.

~ From the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola