The Clown's Prayer

Lord, as I stumble through this life, help me create more laughter than tears, dispense more happiness that gloom, spread more cheer than despair.

Never let me grow so big that I fail to see the wonder in the eyes of a child, or the twinkle in the eyes of the aged. Never let me forget that I am a clown, that my work is to cheer people up, make them happy, and make them laugh, make them forget momentarily all the unpleasant things in their lives.

Never let me acquire financial success to the point where I will discontinue calling upon my Creator in the hour of need, or acknowledging and thanking Him in the hour of plenty.

And in my final moment, may I hear you whisper: "When you make MY people smile, you made ME smile.

1 Peter 5:5-7

2nd Sunday of Easter

Throughout the six weeks of Lent, we followed Jesus on his journey towards Jerusalem.  During Holy Week we shared in the last supper, we prayed with Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane and we followed the Way of the Cross to Golgotha.  On Easter Sunday we rejoiced with Mary Magdalene, Peter and John when they discovered the empty tomb.  Today we begin a new journey of faith and discovery as we encounter through scripture and sacrament the victorious Christ in his resurrected glory. 

In the Catholic Church there is a name for this type of discovery, Mystagogy.  In the modern church mystagogy is an orientation for the newly baptized members of our Christian family.  The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults describes mystagogy as “a time for the community and the neophytes together to grow in deepening their grasp of the paschal mystery and in making it part of their lives through meditation on the gospel, sharing in the Eucharist and doing works of charity” (RCIA 234).  However, mystagogy is a very old term that means the study of the “mysteries” we celebrate at Easter.  Although technically mystagogy finishes at Pentecost, in reality it is a lifelong process.  Our mystagogy finishes when we come face to face with God and we see God “as he is” (1 John 3:2).

The disciples hiding behind locked doors and John writing in Revelation had the opportunity to see Christ face to face.  For those of us who will not see the face of Christ until the time of our death, Jesus gives a special beatitude: “Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed” (John 20:29).  

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

God of mercy,
you wash away our sins in water,
you give us a new birth in the Spirit,
and redeem us in the blood of Christ.
As we celebrate Christ's resurrection,
increase our awareness of these blessings,
and renew your gift of life within us.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever.

Amen.

Prayer for Our Earth

Seeking God

Insignificant man, escape from your everyday business for a short while, hide for a moment from your restless thoughts. Break off from your cares and troubles. Make a little time for God and rest a while in him.

Enter into your mind's inner chamber. Shut out everything but God and whatever helps you to seek him; and when you have shut the door, look for him. Speak now to God and say with your whole heart: I seek your face; your face, Lord, I desire.

Lord, my God, teach my heart where and how to seek you, where and how to find you. Lord, if you are everywhere, why do I not see you when you are present? But surely you dwell in "light inaccessible." And where is light inaccessible? How shall I approach light inaccessible? Or who will lead me and bring me into it that I may see you there? I have never seen you, Lord my God; I do not know your face.

Lord most high, what shall this exile do, so far from you? What shall your servant do, tormented by love of you and cast so far from your face? He yearns to see you, and your face is too far from him. He desires to approach you, and your dwelling is unapproachable. He longs to find you, and does not know your dwelling place. He strives to look for you, and does not know your face.

~ St Anselm (1033-1109ad)​

Easter Sunday

 

Alleluia!  Alleluia!  Jesus our Lord is risen!  Alleluia!

 

After six long weeks of an arduous pilgrimage through Lent, we have arrived at Easter, the greatest Feast of our liturgical year.  We come to Mass full of hope and expectation.  We sing joyous hymns of praise and thanksgiving because Christ our Lord is risen!  The celebration of Easter brings us the joy of new life, the promise of victory over death, and the belief that we will be "united with [Christ Jesus] in the resurrection" (Romans 6: 5).    Alleluia!

However, the narratives we hear in our Easter gospels, Luke 24: 1 - 12 for the Easter Vigil and John 20: 1 - 9 for Easter Sunday present quite a different experience.  On that first Easter morning, the faithful and not so faithful disciples were in shock.  On Good Friday they watched as Jesus, their teacher and friend suffered a brutal and humiliating death.  They saw their hopes and dreams for a glorious kingdom crushed.  So it is not surprising that when Mary Magdalene, Joanna and Mary the mother of James tried to explain what they saw at the tomb, their announcement was met with skepticism.  St. Luke tells us that the women's "story seemed like nonsense" and the disciples "did not believe them."  Only after Peter and another disciple (probably John) ran to the tomb and saw for themselves, did they begin to believe.  And they were amazed!  Alleluia!

We experience the joy of Easter because the disciples did come to believe and because they had the courage to preach, testify and write about the joyous experience they had with their risen Lord.  Jesus was visible to them and they "ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead" (Acts 10: 41).  We too can experience the living presence of the Risen Jesus; we eat and drink with him every time we participate in the Eucharist.  We experience the living presence of the Risen Jesus in scripture, in sacrament, in our families, in our parish and in our communities.  For us, like the disciples, the resurrection of Christ is something we believe in and something we live. And like the disciples, we should feel compelled to share this great news of Easter joy with as many people as possible.  We should join with Peter and all the disciples shouting out to all, who will hear,

Alleluia!  Alleluia!  Jesus our Lord is risen!  Alleluia!

Lord God, this is the day that you have made!
Raising Jesus from the dead,
and raising us with him,
you have fashioned for yourself a new people,
washed in the waters of baptism,
sealed with the gift of the Spirit,
and invited to the banquet of the Lamb!

Continue in us the work of resurrection;
lift us above our faults,
to joy and unselfish love
as we serve you in one another.
We ask this through your Son,
our Passover and our Peace,
who lives and reigns with you
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God for ever and ever.

AMEN.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thomas Merton: Resurrection

“So Profound is the meaning of the Resurrection that everything, even the purest negation, that is touched by its light, acquires something of a positive orientation. Even darkness, even evil, even death, even sin: all of them seen by the light of the sacramental fire (of the Easter Vigil), become capable of helping the work of God.”

Thomas Merton, The New Man, The Noonday Press, New York, 1961 pp.244-255

Passion Sunday

Today we celebrate Palm Sunday and we commemorate the Passion of our Lord, Jesus Christ.  We are about to take the last steps of our Lenten journey with Jesus.  We stand with the crowd at the Mount of Olives and we prepare to follow Jesus as he makes his triumphant entry into Jerusalem.  We join the crowd as they spread their cloaks on the road and we shout with them, "Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord.  Peace in heaven and glory in the highest" (Luke 19: 38).  And with these shouts of joy and praise, we begin Holy Week. 

The tone of celebration dies out quickly in our Palm Sunday liturgy as our shouts of joy and praise turn into heckling taunts, "Away with this man...Crucify him!  Crucify him!"  

As the crowd turned on Jesus, dragging him toward the cross, he offered consolation to the people "who mourned and lamented him" and he forgave the very people who betrayed him, those who denied him, those who condemned him and those who crucified him.  We are part of this fickle crowd too.  We are among those who heckle and taunt and we are among those who receive consolation and forgiveness. 

Our challenge during Holy Week and throughout our lifelong journey with our Lord is to take on ourselves the "same attitude" of Christ Jesus (Philippians 2: 5).  St. Paul tells us how we can meet this challenge in our second reading, Philippians 2: 6 - 11,"Do nothing out of selfishness or out of vainglory; rather, humbly regard others as more important than yourselves, each looking out not for his own interests, but (also) everyone for those of others."  In all of this, we must remember that Christ Jesus through his humility, his "coming in human likeness," his obedience to God his Father and his willingness to die on a cross, was ultimately exalted "in heaven and on earth and under the earth."  His suffering, death and resurrection give us the capacity to "confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

My prayer for us is that we all experience a Blessed and Holy Week. 

Lord God,
as we enter this Holy Week,
Give us the same mind and attitude that was in Christ Jesus.
Empty us of our pride and selfishness;
draw us close to his cross,
so that as we celebrate his passion and resurrection,
our lives may become models of self-sacrificing love.
We ask this through Christ, our liberator from sin,
who lives with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God for ever and ever.

AMEN.

 

Mud Puddles and Dandelions

Big Mud Puddles And Sunny Yellow Dandelions

Author Unknown

When I look at a patch of dandelions, I see a bunch of weeds that are going to take over my yard.

- My kids see flowers for Mom and blowing white fluff you can wish on.

When I look at an old drunk and he smiles at me, I see a smelly, dirty person who probably wants money and I look away.

- My kids see someone smiling at them and they smile back.

When I hear music I love, I know I can't carry a tune and don't have much rhythm so I sit self-consciously and listen.

- My kids feel the beat and move to it. They sing out the words. If they don't know them, they make up their own.

When I feel wind on my face, I brace myself against it. I feel it messing up my hair and pulling me back when I walk.

- My kids close their eyes, spread their arms and fly with it, until they fall to the ground laughing.

When I pray, I say thee and thou and grant me this, give me that.

- My kids say, 'Hi God! Thanks for my toys and my friends. Please keep the bad dreams away tonight. Sorry, I don't want to go to Heaven yet. I would miss my Mommy and Daddy.'

When I see a mud puddle I step around it. I see muddy shoes and dirty carpets.

- My kids sit in it. They see dams to build, rivers to cross, and worms to play with.

I wonder if we are given kids to teach or to learn from? No wonder God loves the little children!

Enjoy the little things in life, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.

I wish you Big Mud Puddles and Sunny Yellow Dandelions!

Wonderfully Made!

In a tiny book written in German and entitled "Wunder der Schöpfung" (Miracle of Nature) the author writes: "friend, your body is made up of 100 trillion cells. If you attempted to count them, taking a second to count each cell, it would take you three million years. This would not be an easy task because the cells are so tiny; each having an average diameter of 10 micrometers (one micrometer is equivalent to one millionth of a meter or 1/1000 of a millimeter). Yet each of these cells has a definite function in the entire organism: for the construction of the eyes and ears, of the teeth and fingernails, of the brain and hormones... Friend, who made this marvelous body of yours?

In contemplation of God's marvelous work of our beings and the beings of other living creatures, we can only exclaim with Psalm 139:13-14 "You formed my inmost being; you knit me in my mother's womb. I praise you, so wonderfully you made me; wonderful are your works!"

What's in Your Cup

You're holding a cup of coffee when someone comes along and bumps into you, making you spill your coffee everywhere. Why did you spill your coffee? You spilled the coffee because there was coffee in your cup. Had there been tea in your cup, you would have spilled tea.

The point is whatever is inside the cup, is what will spill out. Therefore, when life comes along and shakes you (which will happen), whatever is inside you will come out. It’s easy to fake it, until you get rattled.

So, we have to ask ourselves, “What’s in my cup?” When life gets tough, what spills out? Joy, gratefulness, peace and humility? Or does anger, bitterness, harsh words and reactions come out? You choose!

Today, let’s work towards filling our cups with gratitude, forgiveness, joy, words of affirmation, kindness, gentleness and love for others.

Ability

 

5th Sunday of Lent

Today is the fifth Sunday of Lent. During the first four weeks of Lent, we followed Jesus from the dessert to a mountaintop. We walked with him as he taught his disciples, his followers, the scribes, the Pharisees and us about repentance and reconciliation. Today we listen as Jesus faces another challenge and teaches us about forgiveness. In our gospel, John 8:1-11, Jesus is in Jerusalem teaching near the Temple. The scribes and the Pharisees attempt to "test" Jesus "so that they could have some charge to bring against him." They bring him a woman caught in adultery asking what do you say we should we do with her. According to the Law of Moses, women caught in the act of adultery should be stoned to death. However, under Roman law the Jewish people could not execute anyone. They did not have the authority to do so. If Jesus agreed that the woman should be killed, he violates Roman law. If he said she should not be killed he violates the Law of Moses.

Rather than step into the trap, Jesus did something totally unexpected. He made no attempt to answer the scribes and Pharisees. Jesus simply wrote some words on the ground and he confronted the scribes and Pharisees with their own sinfulness saying, “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her” (John 8:7). He did not condemn the woman nor did he condemn her accusers. To their credit, the scribes and Pharisees did not continue their pursuit of retribution and retaliation; "they went away one by one, beginning with the elders" (John 8:9). Jesus then told the woman to "go, (and) from now on do not sin any more" (John 8:11). By his actions, Jesus turned a potentially violent confrontation into a grace-filled lesson about the power of God's mercy and forgiveness.

The woman in this gospel account had her sins forgiven by Jesus Christ. We gain forgiveness through the redeeming death of Christ whose blood was "shed on behalf of many for the forgiveness of sins" (Matt. 26:28). The forgiveness we receive carries a great deal of responsibility. One of the foremost duties of every Christians is to forgive one another from our hearts (Matthew 18:21-35). Over and over in the gospels, Jesus teaches that each of us must "forgive anyone against whom you have a grievance, so that your heavenly Father may in turn forgive you your transgressions" (Mark 11:25). When we pray the Lord's Prayer, we ask God, our Father, to "forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us."

Not only must we forgive in order to be forgiven ourselves, God asks us to forget whatever wrongs people have committed against us so we can move forward into the Kingdom. In today's first reading, the Lord, speaking through the Prophet Isaiah says, "Remember not the events of the past, the things of long ago consider not; See, I am doing something new!" (Isaiah 43:18-19). A few verses later the Lord tells us “Your sins I remember no more" (Isaiah 43:25). And St. Paul carries on this theme in our second reading when he tells the Philippians, “Forgetting what lies behind but straining forward to what lies ahead, I continue my pursuit toward the goal, the prize of God's upward calling, in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:13-14). Our goal is to reach the Kingdom of God. Let us pray for the grace to forgive and forget so that we can achieve our goal in heaven.

Infinite is your compassion, O God,

to every sinner who stands before you.

Grant that we,

who have been forgiven so much,

may embrace as sisters and brothers

every sinner who joins us at this feast of forgiveness.

We ask this through Christ,

our peace and reconciliation,

the Lord who lives and reigns with you

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

God for ever and ever.

AMEN.

Making the Most of Life

If I can throw a single ray of light across the darkened pathway of another; if I can aid some soul to clearer sight of life and duty, and thus bless my brother; if I can wipe from any human cheek a tear, I shall not have lived my life in vain while here.

If I can guide some erring one to truth, inspire within his heart a sense of duty; if I can plant within my soul of rosy youth a sense of right, a love of truth and beauty; if I can teach one man that God and heaven are near, I shall not then have lived in vain while here.

If from my mind I banish doubt and fear, and keep my life attuned to love and kindness; if I can scatter light and hope and cheer, and help remove the curse of mental blindness; if I can make more joy, more hope, less pain, I shall not have lived and loved in vain.

If by life's roadside I can plant a tree, beneath whose shade some wearied head may rest, though I may never share its beauty, I shall yet be truly blest--though no one knows my name, nor drops a flower upon my grave, I shall not have lived in vain while here.​