Tuesday of Week 13 in Ordinary Time - Violence and More Violence!

Confession:  After reading Genesis 19:15-29  chronicling the events in Sodom and Gomorrah, sulphurous (sorry spell-check that's how it is spelled in the Good Book) fire, a weirdly reluctant Lot, and his wife who just couldn't let it go, I went to shmoop.com (click here) and re-aquainted myself with the whole narrative of Genesis!  It was quite a morning read but, then again, I like Criminal Minds.

So the visitors to Abraham's tent, where he and Sarah showed their great hospitality, and where the revelation of Sarah's post-menopausal bearing was met with laughter, move on to Sodom, where Lot also shows them great hospitality.  But Lot is in the suburbs; a little too close to Sodom and he has clearly been influenced by the cities smut and riches and overall propensity for all things lecherous.  It just gets juicier and juicier which, while interesting, isn't prompting any kind of reflection on my part.

But Lot and his wife do.  Why did Lot hesitate?  The "messengers" are so clear, "ON YOUR WAY! Take your wife and your daughters and run!"  And then the instructions are so clear...don't look back at the utter destruction.  That hesitation and that looking back are evidences of the human attraction to evil…why do I like Criminal Minds anyway?  

As St. Paul writes:  "I do not understand my own actions.  For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate…I can will what is right, but I cannot do it.  For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do."  Romans 7:15;19

That's quite a confession.  And, as it was for Lot and his pillar of salt wife, and as it was for Paul, so it is with me.  I'm trying to find some good news here!  I can't just be satisfied with the awareness.  I have to figure out how, by prayer and by practice, I can lessen the attraction of what takes my eyes off the good.  A little lessening…that's all for now.  Please.

SAINTS PETER AND PAUL, APOSTLES - solemnity

Today's reading from Acts 3:1-10, keeps me in the reflection on yesterday's gospel reading.  The reach of the Marcan Jesus as he demonstrates what this "kingdom" really looks like is mirrored by Peter's healing in today's reading from Acts.  "In the name of Jesus" Peter heals and a man who has been prevented, by his infirmity and all that that means socially and ritually, from taking part in his community's worship.  It didn't come easy for Peter.  It took a serious and relentless pestering by the Holy Spirit for him to let go of prejudice and hesitation.  But finally, in Acts 10:34-35, he claims "In truth, I see that God shows no partiality!" (exclamation mine!)

And in the second reading from Galatians 1:11-20, Paul offers a clue as to how that truth can break in.  Peter and Paul, so very different, and each such a gift to the church and to each other, CONFER and remain together for fifteen days in Jerusalem.  This is serious "reaching across the aisles."  And what fruit it bore.

There is something, or many somethings, that I am blind to because they have been my whole life in-the-making.  May I CONFER more often and more honestly and more without hesitation so that, like with Peter, the Holy Spirit will not give up her relentless pestering!

Saints Peter and Paul, pray for me!

13th Sunday in Ordinary Time - THIS Woman!

Stepping Away From the Crowd  NOTES FOR SERMON GIVEN AT ZION UCC, HENDERSON KY

When I saw what the lectionary laid before us for today

I was most grateful

It is so rich

And so revelatory

And so full of wisdom, and challenge and comfort.

I like to check-in with where we are in the story

..where are we in Mark?

How is it unfolding, where is the story going?

Jesus has begun talking about this KINGDOM

He’s using parables about Sowers and the Seeds…

And Jesus begins his teaching and healing in HOMES

In fact the first thing he does is break open this notion of family

“who are my mother and my brothers and my sisters”

Then he goes to the sea as the crowds grow

He teaches from a boat

From the Jewish side of the sea

Then the journey takes them to the other side

In a storm no less

They head to the gentile side

To the territory of the Gerasenes

Where they meet a colorful figure…

The demoniac… who, when cured and in his right mind

Is sent as a missionary to his own people

This movement of Jesus…what he does

Is a kind of acting out of this kingdom vision

of what this KINGDOM he’s been talking about  

actually looks like

Its bigger than my household, my family or my clan…

Its bigger than Judaism

It includes gentiles who become evangelizers

It includes those who once lived in caves, out of their minds.

And now in our reading today

We are back on the Jewish side of the lake

Where once again the crowds are gathered

And Jesus is going to bring in the women and the unclean and the children

The healing of the woman and the raising of the young girl

Bring them into the community of faith

Fully included they are members of this Kingdom vision

This kingdom is Big…

And this kingdom is not about distinctions.

That can be a tough sell

It was then and it still is!

We have a character rich story today

We have this Jairus fellow

One thing we can say about Jairus

is that he isn’t typical of high ranking synagogue leaders

Something Mark is very deliberate to tell us

Each synagogue had one elected leader and Jairus was it.

They don’t throw themselves at anybody’s feet

They don’t beseech or plead

Rather we might expect a high ranking synagogue official

To be off standing to the side, disapprovingly, with arms crossed

Worrying about transgression

Against the Sabbath…Or the purity codes

            …which are being violated right and left in this passage

One wonders?

Why and how did he break ranks?

How did he come to prostrate himself before Jesus?

He was desperate…his daughter is near death…I would be too.

But nonetheless, his gesture acknowledges Jesus’ authority

Mark has noted this very deliberately about Jesus

“all are amazed as he teaches with such authority”

But Jarius is a bit too fascinated

…a bit too much like the crowds

…it is all a little one-sided for Jarius,

…its all on Jesus…Jesus the wonder worker

…Jesus the miraculous healer

Nonetheless, Jesus loves Jairus

Jesus is ready to follow Jarius…but along the way…

there is THIS woman

Now this literary technique is elegantly called the Marcan Sandwich

There is the outer story…The Jairus Story

And the inner story, about THIS WOMAN

The outer story is the bread…very important

But it’s the inner story that contains the richest and deepest goodies

(the meat, cheese, banana peppers, mayo…)

And Mark is making a point…

he wants the stories to illuminate each other and to offer contrast.

THIS WOMAN

Unlike Jairus…

She doesn’t have a name…indicative of her status maybe.

Who is she?

Unfortunately, in the tradition she has become known as

A chapter title…not something that the Greek text contains

…Our need for order I suppose

She has become the chapter title

“The Woman with a Hemorrhage”

THIS woman is reduced to her affliction…

her relentless bleeding IS her name.

But in fact the text says it quite differently.

The text introduces her by a string of descriptors

Meant to be read as a unit…the textual scholars say

And that makes all the difference!

Reading it this way we have:

And a woman in a flow of blood for 12 years

And having suffered much by many physicians

And having spent all that she had

And not being any better for it

But having gone from bad to worse

And she also heard about Jesus

And went into this pressing throng of people to grab his garment

That is her name!

She is so much more than an affliction!!! 

She is tenacity and guts and courage and stamina!  (SHE IS A BAD-ASS)

Her life has been bleeding away,

but NOT because she hasn’t given it her all!

And then there is the crowd.  

Mentioned 7 times...It is very dramatic. 

The greek implies a great crowd, squeezing and pushing and tightly wound

These people want to get a piece of Jesus. 

Rubbing up against each other

like those on the hunt for a celebrity’s  autograph.

Lots of folks are “touching” Jesus

So when Jesus says “who touched me?”

We can relate to the disciples’ smart-mouth response

“well, Jesus…there have only been a hundred or so…

which one…really?”

But when Jesus asks “who touched me?”

He means something very different

...She only touched the hem

It makes me think about what we mean when we say

that something or someone has touched us…or moved us…or changed us

I think what we mean is that something spiritually and profoundly significant has occurred.  An encounter has occured. 

A 1 + 1 = greater than 2 encounter.

This woman touches Jesus in a profoundly different way.

And Jesus (and Mark) want us to learn from her.

Somehow she has gained a radically open disposition

to receive for an-other.

This interior openness

This honest, un-selfconscious vulnerability is the meat of the matter.

This is what Jairus needs to learn.

Both Jesus and the Woman know that IT has happened.

She knew at once that she was healed

He knew at once that power had left him

But that is not enough

Jesus calls her out

He calls her out of the crowd and she tells “the whole truth”

What was this whole truth?

It appears to be a confession

YES, I admit it!

I disregarded every law

that says for me to stay put--stay apart--stay separated

Must have been frightening  beyond what we can understand

Bloodflow made her perennially unclean

And in a world ordered by distinctions

Sacred-profane

Clean-unclean

Honored-shamed

Jew-Gentile

Man-woman

THIS IS A VERY BIG DEAL

Her cover was the crowd

Jesus blew her cover

He blew her cover so that he could unravel its power

“No no no” Jesus says.  “Woman, let me tell you the whole truth

the whole truth is

you have never been an unclean woman with uncontrolled bleeding.  

That is not your name!

You have always been a beloved daughter who is suffering”

The healing that comes from her daring faith allows her new freedom 

to live as a daughter of God, in peace, 

and in the company of her community,

Where she can touch and be touched

She is re-included.

Back to Jairus

It seems too late.

Jesus stopped for the no-name woman

And now the “daughter” is dead.

But Jesus calls Jairus to “step out” as well

There is another crowd…this time mourners and wailers

Oftentimes professionals

They are drunk on the power of death

To be like the woman, to learn from the woman

Jairus must believe even in the face of death

and its attraction, manifested in the wailing crowd.

Step away from that crowd

See something new

“the child is not dead, but sleeping”

Jesus takes her hand

He raises her up---

He raises her with all the implications of that word

Jesus stops the life blood that was flowing out of the hemorrhaging woman.

He re-starts the life blood flowing again in this small daughter.

Stepping out of crowds to encounter something new

To encounter healing and wholeness and relationship with an-other

That might be the lesson here

Crowds, crowd thinking, group think

They can be places to hide.

Having an inner disposition that is open to encounter

Coaxes us out of our crowds, our hiding places, our ruts

The older I get

The more I long for such real encounters

Sometimes I find myself comfortable at home

With my dog

And my crossword puzzle

Not wanting to go anywhere

I suppose its “my crowd”

And then I realize, or my husband reminds me,

that there is something we have to do

An obligation

I just don’t want to go

But I go

And truly, more often than not

I’m glad I went

But what is it that makes me glad?

I was thinking that all it really takes is even a slight encounter

Not chit chat about the weather,

not even spirited conversation about the news or politics

But an encounter

When I find myself wrapped up with an-other in such a way

That each of us goes away a bit changed…even if just by a little bit

It is an experience of being the giver and the receiver at the same time

It doesn’t always happen

I have to bring with me at least a little of what THAT woman had

…that inner disposition that is open and inviting

7 or 8 years ago

in my community

we decided to celebrate healing/anointing of the sick

at Sunday worship

We thought maybe 3..5 people would stand and move to the center aisle at the invitation to be anointed.

But it didn’t happen that way

15-20 rose and found there way out of their pews to stand and be prayed over

This was new…Unexpected even.

They stepped out

they risked.

And what followed was an encounter

A healing God working through the power and faith of ordinary people

Oil traced on foreheads

People connected by hands upon hands…touching

it was an encounter

who gave and who received?

Who was graced by whom?

I wonder,

How can we ever encounter God the way THAT woman did

If somehow we haven’t learned it among ourselves?

Jairus stepped out of his mindset

And encountered divine healing

The woman steps out of the crowd

Jesus doesn’t stop to heal her

She goes after him

Taking a risk

While in the crowd she was covered in blood

When she leaves it; the bleeding stops

Maybe in some way

Faith means

Stepping out of the crowd

The pews

Our hiding places

Our ruts

And stepping into an encounter

Where grace abounds

Where we are honest and naked and vulnerable with an-other

Where 1 + 1 is always greater than 2.

Thanks be to God.

(sources:  John Shea, The Spiritual Wisdom of the Gospels, Eating with the Bridegroom, Mark Year B, 161-168; Eugene LaVerdiere, The Beginning of the Gospel, Introducing the Gospel According to Mark, 132-141; Leftbehindandlovingit@blogspot.com, The Myth of Scarcity, June 23, 2015 and Begging Believers and Scorning Skeptics, June 26, 2012.)

Wednesday of the 12th Week - Those Alternative Readings

This day's reading from Genesis is tough. And the "alternative reading" prunes a lot of the toughest stuff off. There is Hagar, property of both Sarai and Abram.  There is surrogate baby making with no regard for birth mother and the value of womanhood reduced to uterine proficiency.  Slavery, surrogacy, sex, and snottiness. How do I reach through to the crux of the story?  How can it speak to me today?

I suppose the story is telling about how God keeps his promises in less than favorable circumstances. Where I might see barriers, God sees creative opportunities.  Where I see barrenness, God visions fruitfulness. Where I see categories, God sees persons, unique and with names. Where I see victims, God sees heroines.

Who can tell the mighty deeds of the Lord,
Or proclaim all his praises?   Psalm106

Who indeed!

Tuesday, 12th Week - Genesis 13:2, 5-18

At the end of today's first reading Abram is at Mamre. And whenever I think of Mamre I think of Rublev's icon of the Holy Trinity which is also referred to as "The Hospitality of Abraham," even though we know Sarai had a lot to do with it!

So when Abram is at his most God-like, hospitality is in abundance. That's what strikes me about Abram's conversation with Lot. Clearly there is contention. Someone has to start by stating this obvious fact. Abram is so hospitable, initiating the needed conversation with grace as he invites Lot to choose his land first. Abram knows that there is enough to go around.  Lot is not so convinced. Abram's vision of the world leads naturally to generosity and hospitality, two sides of the same coin. Lot, not so.

Under the shade of the oak at Mamre Abram and Sarai open their arms in hospitality to the strangers who are always the Lord. Give me a hospitable and generous spirit O Lord, that my life will grow in welcoming both neighbor and stranger.

Genesis 12:1-9, Monday Week 12

God sets Abram off on a journey. He receives such a specific and clear call from God that he must respond. I think of all the fears. But, I'm old, really old. But, I've lived in this spot all my life. But, this is so outside my comfort zone. But, I was just getting ready to retire peacefully. But, me?  I'm not the adventurous type.  But I'm scared.

It's always easier in retrospect to see my fears overcome and to be grateful for whatever it was that forced the facing. But to be proactive, to leave safety and to journey toward that next fear is a different story. But I think it is the Abrahamic story. If I am truly honest, God is always calling me to move (even if slowly) toward and eventually through my fears. In my life, fears amount to grasping on to all the security I think I can surround myself with. Money security. Health security. Relationship security. Family security. Fear turns what ought to be an outward looking soul into one that is huddled and self consumed.

Without uncomfortable reflection, in and among the communion of Saints, I might look saintly enough but I am, in fact, a fraud.  Honestly, I'm scared to hear God calling. Very scared.  Very, very, scared.

God of Abraham
Let me hear and believe
your promise of blessing
That I might replace
Little by little
My fear with trust in the journey that is calling my name.

Amen

Saturday, June 20 - Week 11 of Ordinary Time

Therefore, I am content with weakness, insults, hardships, persecutions and constraints for the sake of Christ; for when I am weak , then I am strong.  2 Cor 12:10

Paul continues to juxtapose his boasting which is in his weakness and affliction with that of the "super-apostles" who have worked their way into his community.

It's the "for the sake of" part that both troubles me and offers intelligibility. How does that work?  Have I ever been able to be content under any of those five conditions?  And if I have or if I could, it would have to be for the sake of something completely life giving.

When I find myself weak and not up to the task before me, or when I am thwarted in my efforts to go where I feel called, maybe that's the place where I can be in communion with the weak and literally constrained suffering Christ. But that communion is not just mine. I have to spend it somehow for others a la Jesus. I'm not sure at all what that looks like.  But it does sounds good and true. I pray someday to be able to witness more clearly...to be able to witness a la Paul.

Friday Week 11 of Ordinary Time

Matthew 6:19-23

The lamp of the body is the eye. If the eye is sound your whole body will be filled with light."

Quite often in the hospital setting I must figure out how to communicate with patients who can't talk for one reason or another. And for most, these are times when they have a lot to say or process or scream about. Eyes; to speak all of this.

How often I feel as if someone has looked right through me or peered deep within me. In those instances there is raw authenticity...nowhere to hide. Light can work wonders in this environment.

I pray for eyes that welcome
Without words
The other into my darkness
That longs to be healed
And filled with light

Amen

Matthew 6:7-15 Teach Us To Pray

"Teach us to pray" is itself a habitual part of my prayer. There is so much talk of prayer...words and more words (as I type away;)

"Do not heap up empty phrases," a warning for the times I approach God uneasy with listening and silence.  I admit it!  Often when I celebrate Eucharist I become irritated by the onslaught of words. Separately, they are beautiful but layer upon layer cheapens the one before and tires me. Why do we feel the need to fill all the silences?

Jesus teaches us to keep it simple.  Matthew's account is about how not simply what.  First, remember who God is.  Remember who I am related to God. Recall the big picture, the advent of the kingdom, remember who's kingdom it is.  And then a few specifics...food, forgiveness, protection. It's an ancient pattern of how. But I do love having prayers to fall back on throughout the day or when I'm so torn up I can't find any words of my own.  I imagine how many Christians over the years have held onto to the Lord's Prayer in times of distress. What a communion that is!  And how comforting the company.

Of late it has been the Glory Be that I often reach for. It has an incredible calming and reorienting effect on my worry and stress. It's very unclutteredness is prayerful.

Glory be to the Father
And to the Son
And to the Holy Spirit
As it was in the beginning
Is now
And ever shall be
World without end
Amen

Matthew 6: 1-6, 16-18

DON'T BE LIKE THE HYPOCRITES...

The Gospel gives us warnings today. A kind of "How Not To" guide to almsgiving, prayer, and fasting. I admit it!  I have searched for my name in lists of donors and felt that satisfying "there I am...so good of me" feeling. I've prayed with just a bit too much umph in a communal setting as if there were some kind of prayer competition. With regards to fasting, well I don't even try as I should. 

But what I take away from this day's reading is a heightened desire to be so unselfconsciously in love with God that gifting my life is just who I am. I want to just do because I am. Perhaps being a hypocrite is like living one's life as a performance, always worrying about the audience. This is a ripe context for stiff distinctions. And being an authentic Christian disciple is about encounters and relationships grounded in mutuality, where distinctions are interesting but not telling. 

Lord, as I travel on, make my life a living prayer...without my really noticing. 

Listening to Paul…Tuesday of Week 11

2 Corinthians 8:1-9

It seems that the first and last thirds of this letter are Paul defending his apostleship but in this middle section he's intent on giving.  This collection for the poor in Jerusalem is an act of faith in something bigger than the local.  It is a sign of unity.  Are Paul's tactics manipulative?  He holds up the good example of the Macedonians and then exhorts the Corinthians.  That's a parenting move I've used from time to time.  

What I know is that it took such a mirror, gently and lovingly held to my face, for me to see my own clenched fists.  What is discipleship made of?  According to Paul "giving yourself first to the Lord" results in "begging for the favor of taking part in the service of the holy ones."

I have felt this way.  I don't always feel this way.  So perhaps, like the Corinthians, my genuineness needs to be tested by my concern for others.  And who better to do that than a loving companion "on the way."

May I let go of needing perfection in the Church and do my part for unity…but not all at once!

The Immaculate Heart of Mary

I had a professor that once said "Mary is too important to leave to the kooks."  And I think I understand.  It's the balance between what makes her so different...immaculate, most holy, glorious ever virgin, and what makes her a sister and disciple extraordinaire to be called upon every day for everyday reasons.

I have found among the patients I visit a keen awareness of Mary as gentle mother.  One who is easy to weep with and to trouble.  Sometimes only a mother will do.

And like yesterday's reflection on the heart of Jesus, the heart is that place of vulnerability where my wounds are open and positioned to be healed. It takes another heart to fulfill the task.  Mary's or Jesus's or my neighbor's are welcome.

I understand immaculate and spotless, theologically. But as a companion and prayer partner Mary has dirt under her fingernails and wrinkles from all her pondering.  Mary has many names in the tradition, some heavenly, and some more earthy.

BLESSED AMONG WOMAN,
FULL OF GRACE,
LADY OF SORROWS,
MORNING STAR,
QUEEN OF PEACE,
VIRGIN MOTHER,
And my favorite,
THEOTOKOS...God Bearer aka Christian Disciple
Kinda like me only her title is both literal and figurative.
And of course she's the first and the all-time best!

Mary, QUEEN of the Apostles, pray for me!

Friday June 12th - The Most Sacred Heart

There is a smorgasbord of material to attend to this day. I've been thinking a lot about this week's unfolding readings from Joshua, wondering how to engage with texts of terror.  And then there is the feast of the Sacred Heart which unfortunately conjures visions of anemic Catholic Catalog statues. And then there is Hosea.

If the feast is meant to point toward the humanity of Jesus, his fleshiness at that place where human emotions live, then Hosea is a rich companion.  The "ban" and the slaughter will have to wait.

The language is so tender. And so human.  "I drew them with human cords, with bands of love;  I fostered them like one who raises an infant to his cheek."  And that's all it takes, flesh touches flesh and "My heart is overwhelmed, my pity is stirred.  I will not give vent to my blazing anger."

So true. Human contact, real, proximate, and open, diffuses so much would-be violence of thought or action.  Seeing Christ in the other is being open to that encounter that subverts all my prejudice and allows heart to know heart and where every person is that precious raised infant to the cheek.

May my heart be so overwhelmed!

June 11, 2015, St. Barnabas, Apostle

He was a good man, and he was full of the Spirit and of faith.  Acts 11:24

Barnabas appears for the third time in Acts.  He's Paul's cheerleader to the Jerusalem church.  And Paul apparently needed one!  I love the collaboration.  A Paul needs a Barnabas.  I pause to think about my being a Paul to someone else's Barnabas, or to my being a Barnabas to someone else's Paul.  I love that I have friends in my life who welcome the part of me that collaborates well with a part of each of them.  

I give thanks this day for my husband who is the Barnabas to my Paul.
I give thanks this day for my mentor and spiritual confidant who is the Paul to my Barnabas.
And I give thanks for all who come in and out of my life of discipleship in such a way that each is gifted with "goodness, spirit and faith."

Saints Paul and Barnabas, Pray for me!

Wednesday the 10th of June in the 10th Week of Ordinary Time

Growing in Confidence…Paul Style

When I read from Paul's letters I am challenged to remember how very different we are.  Paul, so dramatically and radically changed, sees things through the passion and near-violence of his experience on the road.  So my caution to myself this morning as I read 2 Corinthians 3:4-11, was to focus on his exuberance over the liberation felt when things all of the sudden are in right focus.  He only needed that very heated ONCE.  My experience has been more frequent and less dramatic…but still on the road.

"Not that of ourselves we are qualified to take credit for anything as coming from us; rather, our qualification comes from God, who has indeed qualified us as ministers of a new covenant, not of letter but of spirit."  

I left out the part about the letter bringing death.  But for Paul it did.  The law became an idol.  AND it was still glorious.  I love how Paul won't throw anything away.  It speaks to me about the ingredients that make for "growing in confidence."  So, whether presenting a first scholarly paper for peer review, or starting a new ministry in a venue that seems off-limits, or taking any kind of new direction on the road, it will be that Pauline deference to the whence of authentic confidence that will provide a welcoming space for the Holy Spirit.

May I say confidently with Paul, Brothers and sisters:  Such confidence we have through Christ toward God!

Tuesday of Week 10 in Ordinary Time

When I read today's Gospel about "being the light of the world" I quickly started hearing that campy song from my childhood.  We sang it often back in the 70's...in fact way too much.  The result cheapened this text for me and today I breezed over it as if to hurry and get past it.  

Now, having rid myself of my "auto-response" I only have to go back so far as yesterday to recognize how likely I am to forget that I am a part of the light of the world.  Believing that places a huge responsibility on me.  And that responsibility looks a lot like burden if I forget that I am not in this thing alone.  I am not the ENTIRE light!  I am not a LONE light!  I am not the light switch, or the Bic, or the match, or the spark.  I am my unique and indispensable candle among an infinitesimally large candelabra.  Phew…I think I can handle that with a little help from my friends!

The Gospel acclamation today is 
"Let your light shine before others that they may see your good deeds and glorify God!"

So, somehow my taking up my place on the grand candelabra, ought to lead others to their own encounter with the living God.  My piece of the light of the world, unique and powerful as it potentially is, is nothing alone.  It's a lot easier to blow out a single candle than a birthday cake full!  The burden is lifted…for now anyway.  Let it shine…today!

The Lord is my light and my salvation;
whom should I fear?
Psalm 26:1

Corpus Christi, and the very ordinariness of it all

I'm jumping ahead to tomorrow's Gospel reading for The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (that is indeed a mouthful;)

A few posts ago I was pondering how much communicating I do with my body, my gestures, my breathing, and my tone…the non-wordy stuff.  So when I read Mark's account of the last supper I found myself imagining…even inhabiting the scene.

A carefully planned meal.  The right space and arrangement of furniture.  The plates, the cups, the food and drink.  All very ordinary but well attended to.  And then the words "This is my body."  I don't see Jesus staring into the cup or at the bread, not with all that good company at table.  That would be way outside of ordinary.  He would be gesturing with his hands, making THIS a very big word, his arms outstretched and sweeping to include it all.  THIS.  "All of you who have been following me around these past years."  THIS.  "This meal and our sharing and all that came before."  THIS.  "Our story.  Our identity."  THIS is a very big word.

I can't help but think that we have narrowed it as we stare at the bread, as the cups are too precious for ordinary folk to handle, as we bleed the meal of everything meal-like.  Is God afraid that the Eucharist will not be holy or sacred enough?  I doubt it.  My guess is that it is quite the opposite.  We just have such a hard time keeping it ordinary as if that might scandalize the God who chose to come to us in a dirty feeding trough, to a no-name family, in a backwater Palestinian village.

Taught and formed at the Eucharistic table, may I bring THIS to the sharing that happens in the ordinariness of my life.  THIS, a life open, broken, precious and ordinary.

Thursday of Week 9 in Ordinary Time

THE GREAT COMMANDMENT(S)


Because Luke's is my "go to" Gospel, I tend to hone in on the neighbor aspect of the Great Commandment.  But I am wondering if the groundedness that comes from reciting the Shema three times a day might be something I need to attend to?  Listening to "Pray-As-You-Go" this morning, the question was posed, "What changes might I need to make to live out that love at its best?" 

I remember how Fr. Aurelius Boberek, OSB, a monk of St. Meinrad and Professor of Liturgy, started each class.  Attempting to ground us in both the love of God and our deep tradition he led us in chanting the Shema and the Barukh Sheim (a liturgical response to the Shema.)  

Sh'ma Yis'ra'eil Adonai Eloheinu Adonai echad.

Hear, Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One.

Barukh sheim k'vod malkhuto l'olam va'ed.

Blessed be the Name of His glorious kingdom for ever and ever.

Jewish Roots of Christian Liturgy was the name of Fr. Aurelius' class.  I believe that being grounded in the Lord as One, remembering often and deliberately, is an attitude and practice I hope to grow in my prayer life.  

Ground my love of neighbor in love for you, O Lord.
Let my love for you, highlight all that is not you that clammers for my attention.
Let my love for you participate in the transformative power of your mysterious Oneness.
For this I pray.

On Turning "Out To Get You" Into Grace

Wednesday of Week 9

Yesterday it was the story of Tobit and the bird droppings that landed in his eyes and made him blind.  Today, he and Sarah call out desperately to God.  Backstabbing, ridicule, thoughts of suicide, unconsummated marriages…vivid storytelling indeed.   Tobit is paired with the passage from Mark about Jesus responding to the Sadducees who are trying to trip him up with respect to "whose wife will she be?"  They don't believe in the resurrection of the dead anyway so there is no real quest here for wisdom.

So, I wonder…how often do I jump into discussions or arguments without any real desire for knowledge or wisdom?  How often am I motivated only by my desire to be right or to look smart and then pleased with myself?  Answer:  Too often;)

The beautiful thing about this text (once I let myself get beyond the misogyny) is how patient Jesus is.  He knows who they are and what their motives are.  The text makes that quite obvious.  He loves them.  That's the bottom line.  Its a test and a trap and Jesus' love, patience and generosity can turn that into grace.  To have a generous heart, eager to offer the benefit of the doubt, a worthy prayer for this day…

Saint Charles Lwanga and Companions
Pray for me.

Week 9 in Ordinary Time…No Ordinary Martyrs

Yesterday it was Saint Justin; today Saints Marcellinus and Peter.  Martyrs all three.  In the Gospel selection we hear "the things of Caesar give back to Caesar, and the things of God to God."

In a few short verses we will hear the Great commandment to love God with heart, mind, soul and strength…with everything.  It makes me wonder what's left for Caesar?  What ever was Caesar's to begin with?  Is that why the pharisees were so "amazed?"  Did Jesus just make it sound good to give Caesar back what is Caesar's, knowing full well that that "what" is nothing of any real value?  

My life is a gift.  It is on loan to me.  God wants the whole of me.  May my stewardship response to that gift be a return to God of all my heart, mind, soul and strength.  And the only way it gets to God is through my neighbor.  I have many Caesars, many alluring distractions that infatuate my being.  Give me a martyrs discernment, the kind of clarity that properly orders the confusion I often find.

Saints Justin and Marcellinus and Peter…Pray for me!