Loch Ness

An atheist was fishing on Loch Ness when suddenly his boat was attacked by the Loch Ness monster. With an easy flip, the beast tossed his boat high into the air and then opened its huge mouth to catch him. As he sailed into the sky, he cried, “Oh, God! Help me!” At once, the ferocious scene froze! As the atheist hung there in mid-air a booming voice came out of the clouds: “I thought you didn’t believe in Me!” “Come on, God. Give me a break!” pleaded the man. “A minute ago I didn’t believe in the Loch Ness monster either!”

Life

We may never get what we want,
We may never want what we get,
We may never have what we like.
We may never like what we have.

Still we Live and Love.

This is life.

Consider the Fish

When you think you control something, you’re wrong.

It’s amazing how often we think we’re in control of something when really we aren’t.

Control is an illusion, as I’ve said many times before.

We constantly make plans that never actually turn out the way we envisioned. ‘If you want to make God laugh, make a plan,’ an old saying goes….

Consider the fish. A fish swims in a chaotic sea that it cannot possibly control — much as we all do. The fish, unlike us, is under no illusion that it controls the sea, or other fish in the sea. The fish doesn’t even try to control where it ends up — it just swims, either going with the flow or dealing with the flow as it comes. It eats, and hides, and mates, but does not try to control a thing.

We are no better than that fish, yet our thinking creates the need for an illusion.

Let go of that thinking. Learn to be the fish.

- Leo Babauta

Lord,

Take my life and let me live serenely for today.
Open my mind to happy thoughts.
Take away my self-pity, I don’t want it.
Take away my ill will towards others.
Make it possible for me to feel joy, love, and compassion.
Help me to accept what is, to hold my tongue, to do my daily task, and to let go with love.
Take away my worry about the future.
Make me realize that in your hands everything will be provided.
Help me to understand that I have no control over anything but my own actions.
Make me know that today is precious and will soon be gone.
Help me to remember that all hatred and pain directed toward me are the hatred and pain the other person is feeling toward himself.
Thank you for your willingness to accept my burden and lighten my load.

~~ Unknown

15th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Jesus used stories, parables, to explain the kingdom of heaven.  Beginning this Sunday and for the next two Sundays, we will hear Jesus tell several different parables describing the kingdom in common, everyday language using common, everyday images.  Today we have the Parable of the Sower.  Next Sunday we have the Parable of the Man Sowing Good Seed and the Parable of the Mustard Seed.  And on July 26^th we will hear Jesus presenting the Kingdom of Heaven as a treasure hidden in a field, a pearl of great price and a fisherman’s net.  

When the disciples asked Jesus why he spoke in parables, he answered, "Because knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven has been granted to you, but to them it has not been granted.  ... they look but do not see and hear but do not listen or understand" (Matt. 13: 11, 13).   Jesus was not trying to repress or hide the truth.  He says, "Whoever has ears ought to hear" (Matt. 13: 9).  However, many who did look and hear, particularly the orthodox leaders of the day, chose not to see or understand.  They rejected Jesus and threw him out of the synagogues.  So, Jesus took his message to the people.  He preached wherever people gathered, in market places, town squares, by the sea, in the fields and in people's homes.  He brought a message of hope, telling stories in language he knew they would understand with concrete examples from their daily lives: farming, fishing, commerce, cooking and relationships.

No matter what imagery he used, Jesus' message was consistent, "The kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matt. 10: 7).  The kingdom is here, present, now and it is open to you.  Turn your lives around and follow me.  For the disciples, the devout followers and those of us who did and do open our eyes to see, our ears to hear and our hearts to understand, Jesus offers a blessing:  “blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear.  Amen, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it” (Matt.13: 16 -17).   When our eyes, ears and hearts are open to understand Jesus' message, when we accept the message and when we incorporate that message into the way we live, Jesus becomes a living presence in our world. 

God of the heavens,
God of the earth,
all creation awaits your gift of new life.
Prepare our hearts to receive the word of your Son,
that we may hear it, understand it,
and bear fruit a hundredfold.
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.

 

Miracles

 

Which Road?

One day Alice came to a fork in the road and saw a Cheshire cat in a tree.

"Which road do I take?" she asked.

"Where do you want to go?" was his response.

"I don't know," Alice answered.

"Then," said the cat, "it doesn't matter."

Lewis Carroll, From Alice in Wonderland