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

Who Will You be Tomorrow?

One man sat at a stop light. The woman in front of him was going through papers on the seat of her car, and when the light changed to green she didn't go. A green light is not a suggestion, you know, it is more of a commandment. But she didn't notice.

When the light turned red again, she still had not moved. The man in the car behind her now started screaming epithets and beating on his steering wheel.

A policeman tapped on his windshield. "You can't arrest me for hollering in my car," the man said. The cop asked for his license and registration, returned to his car, talked on the radio for awhile, and finally handed the papers back. The driver protested, "I knew you couldn't cite me for yelling in my own car!"

The officer replied, "I didn't want to cite you for shouting in your car. But I was directly behind you at the light. I saw you screaming and beating your steering wheel, and I said to myself, 'That man is out of control. He's going to hurt someone!' Then I noticed the cross hanging from your rear view mirror, the bright yellow 'Love Is a Choice' license tag, the 'Give Peace a Chance' and 'Prayer Changes Things' bumper stickers, and I was sure you must have stolen the car."

His behavior did not reflect his bumper stickers. But let's not be too critical. Are we always the people we want to be?

We make changes by stretching. Personal transformation can happen when the person we presently are does not yet resemble the person we hope to be. Better to set high ideals and occasionally fall short than to settle for mediocrity and succeed.

The important question is not, "Who are you today?" It is better to ask, "Who will you be tomorrow?"

Remember: if nothing ever changed, there'd be no butterflies.

An old mystic said this about himself: "I was a revolutionary when I was young, and my prayer to God was, 'Lord, give me the strength to change the world.' As I approached middle age and realized that my life was halfway gone without changing a single soul, I changed my prayer to, 'Lord, give me the grace to change all those who come into contact with me, especially my family and friends, and I shall be satisfied.' Now that I am an old man, and my days are numbered, I have begun to see how foolish I have been. Now my one prayer is this, 'Lord, give me the grace to change myself.' If I had prayed that right from the start, I would not have wasted my life."

We can waste years trying to change other people. But we can only really change one person -- ourselves. In the end, that is probably enough.

14th Sunday in Ordinary Time - 250th Independence Day

On July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress passed the Declaration of Independence.  Anticipating the event, John Adams wrote to his wife, Abigail, this “will be the most memorable epocha in the history of America.  I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival.  It ought to be commemorated as the Day of Deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty.  It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other from this time forward forever more.”  And, 250 years later we continue to commemorate this “great anniversary festival” celebrating a country founded on Christian principles and inspired by Divine Providence. 

In our first reading today from Zechariah 9: 9 – 10, the Prophet celebrates another day of liberation; the day the Messiah arrives.   On this day, there is no pomp or show of force.  The symbols of power will be banished. The Kingdom of Heaven is announced by a “meek” and “just savior” who proclaims “peace to the nations.”  His dominion stretches from “sea to sea” and “to the ends of the earth.”  And, approximately 2534 years after this prophecy was made, we still live in faith and hope that it will be fulfilled. 

Jesus tells us in today’s gospel, Matthew 11: 25 – 30, that citizenship in the Kingdom of Heaven does not depend on being “wise or learned.”  Rather, citizenship in the Kingdom of Heaven comes to people who learn from Jesus and imitate him.  It comes to people who are “meek and humble of heart,” those whose minds are open and accepting like little children.  The Kingdom of Heaven is open to the people who take on the yoke of Jesus

The message today is that Jesus brings us freedom.  Not freedom from an oppressive government like that which John Adams and our other founding fathers sought, but freedom from the tyranny of sin, freedom from the burdens of everyday life, and, ultimately freedom from the fear of death.  This freedom offered to us does come at a price, the price of obedience to the Word of God.  St. Peter wrote, “Be free, yet without using freedom as a pretext for evil, but as slaves of God. Give honor to all, love the community, fear God, honor the king,” for “He himself bore our sins in his body upon the cross, so that, free from sin, we might live for righteousness” (1 Peter 2: 16, 24). 

As we celebrate our 205th Independence Day, remember to give thanks for our secular and spiritual freedom and pray that the Kingdom of Heaven will be revealed in our lives. 

Gracious and loving God,

let your Spirit be with us today.

Hear our prayers,

and increase in us the will to follow your Son Jesus.

Help us to draw on the resources of our faith

as we use the opportunities of our democracy

to shape a society more respectful of the life, dignity,

and rights of the human person, especially the poor and vulnerable.

We ask this through Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God forever and ever.

Amen.