Jul14

Call to Me, If My People, Day 2

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Jeremiah 33:3  Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.

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God’s phone number, Jeremiah 33:3.  Thirty-three three. 333.  His Word that tells us to call out to Him and He will answer by showing us great and mighty things.  It is what a group of my friends, family, and myself are doing for these next forty days.   Day 2 of my If My People prayer pilgrimage finds me thinking about calling on God and quieting my fears and anger enough to actually hear what He is saying to me in regards to the crisis our nation now finds itself in.

Calling out to God.  Asking, begging, His Holy Spirit to bring guidance to the citizens of our nation.  We are wounded, non-communicative, angry people who have become so used to the separation, segregation, discrimination that we have become blinded to it.  Terms being tossed around right now include things like “white privilege,” “post traumatic slave syndrome,” and the like.  Then we deal with #BlackLivesMatter, #BlueLivesMatter, #LoveAboveAll, and so forth.  All these labels tossed around bringing confusion, and denial, and irritation, and frustration across all peoples in our nation, whose main difference among them is that some have more pigment in their skin than others.  And where has it gotten us on our own… just more separation and confusion and anger.  More death and violence.  Fear; that perfect love is finding challenging to overcome these days (1 John 4:18).  God is quite specific in His Word about calling out to Him.  Just look at Psalm 86:3, “Have mercy on me, O’Lord, for I call you all day long.  and Psalm: 145:18, . , “The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth.” Even Jonah was told by the ship captain, “How can you sleep?  Get up and call on your God.” (Jonah 1:6).   As a nation, are we sleeping  like Jonah rather than looking to God to show us great and mighty things for our country?  Who among us is calling out to God? Who is crying out for healing and guidance for our people?  Calling aloud?  Roaring to God about the fright and the injustice that is filling our news stories and social media?  Is it you?  Is it me? James tells us that “We do not hear because we do not ask God.” (James 4:2).  It is time to start asking Him what He desires for our nation to bring glory to Him.  People, I seriously doubt it is more labels, more hashtags, more violence, more death.  Just sayin’…

We must shout out to God now.  Then we must quiet ourselves and let go of what we think we are going to hear from Him.  We must listen, quietly, for His still small voice to answer us.  The Lord will hear us when we call to Him (Psalm 4:3) and will answer us.  Getting on our knees, grabbing our Bible and rosary, and crying out to Him is not the hard part.  The challenge in all of this is to let go of a lifetime of beliefs, thoughts, feelings of what it means to have a relationship with people who are different than us…  Them….  The challenge will be to listen to what He tells us that He wants for our nation and follow His leading in this regard.  I read in a post today from a social media “friend” that she is approaching people of color and apologizing for what us “privileged whites” have done to them.  I was outraged when I read what she is doing.  All I could think of is “How dare she speak for us… for me.”  And what is this response…. Ego, fear, anger…plain and simple.  Why not in this time of great racial tension approach those who are different and offer an olive branch of love, kindness, humility?  As Mother Teresa of Calcutta is quoted as listing many things in life that are hard to do and then she admonishes us to do them anyway.   I’m sure it was hard for my friend to say to perfect strangers that she was sorry for the discrimination that they have had to live with, but she did it anyway.  Who am I to not offer this kindness to those around me.  For me, this is the hard stuff.  Wouldn’t it be nice if God waved a magic wand and made it so that we did not have to humble ourselves with one another. Alas, He is quite clear in yesterday’s Word of 2 Chronicles 7:14 “If my people… humble themselves and pray…”  Humbling oneself is difficult in our culture of “I am the center of the universe and can do and say what I want regardless of the effect it may have on another.”  Yet we must keep in our very heart the following thought:  love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control will beget only more self-control, gentleness, faithfulness, goodness, kindness, forbearance, peace, joy, and love (Galations 5:22-23).

St teresa

Encouraging you to keep God’s phone number close at hand.  Feel free to use it any and all times these next forty days.  Pray continually (1 Thessalonians 5:15) and listen for God’s response.  He will do mighty and wondrous things for our country and bring true healing to all our citizens.  All we need do is ask.

May you find gratitude and peace in every moment on our prayer pilgrimage for our beautiful country.

Joan

 

 

 

Jul13

Seek My Face, If My People, Day 1

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2 Chronicles 7:14 If then my people, upon whom my name has been pronounced, humble themselves and pray, and seek my face and turn from their evil ways, I will hear them from heaven and pardon their sins and heal their land.

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My forty days of prayer for our nation began today.  Out of the gate, I am already called to ponder that which fears me the most, differences among people.  Looking at 2 Chronicles 7:14, which is the verse that my friends and I have been praying over today has a number of “if you” behaviors performed by us, “then I” consequences from God.  If we as Christians humble ourselves, pray, seek His face, turn from sin, then God will hear us, forgive us, and heal our land.  Sounds simple enough.  Except for the fear part.

My family of origin is white bread all the way.  I grew up in a small town where we had one  black family attend our school for maybe six months total.  I once met a Jewish kid at an summer theater program.  Other than that, we were all white, Christian, and nondisabled in the area of town I lived in.  Back in those days- before social media created a global community within our world, there was absolutely no discussion of homosexuality and no one even knew about transgender issues.  Just all of us the same, day in and day out.  It wasn’t until I went to college that I realized there was a kaleidoscope of beautiful colors and abilities and lifestyles in the world.  Life was not all white bread.  It was wheat, rye, pumpernickel, and even a touch of sour dough.  And it was beautiful.  I thought that I was living the dream, free of distant family prejudices and fears, unfounded beliefs of differences.  To me separation and segregation and discrimination were just words that had no bearing on my life and thus I assumed were not real to other people.

Then 9/11 happened.  The illusion of safety our country lived with was broken.  America was vulnerable and life became us and them.  Them being terrorist, people of the Muslim religion.  My first moments of discrimination leaking through when my husband hired a Muslim man to work in his lab and I asked why he would hire this man after the planes had just taken down The Towers.  His reply was “Mohamed wasn’t a terrorist on the planes.”  Come to find out Mohamed’s family had suffered tremendously under Saddam Hussein’s rule in Iraq.  Mohamed showing way more courage than I could ever have when forced to enter the country secretively to check on his mother with the real threat of being caught and killed for doing so. However, fear is strong and it comes to all who lend a blind eye to it.  I felt comfortable with my fear of Muslims, terrorists, ISIS.  Who in our country was not afraid of these people?

Then Trayvon was killed and suddenly we had #BlackLivesMatter.  I could not figure this one out in my thinking.  Of course black lives matter, white lives matter, all lives matter.  To me, there was no white privilege.  There was no discrimination as I knew and had heard over and over that there were laws to protect black people from being discriminated against.  Then Dallas happened and sixteen innocent police officers were shot, five of whom died (Lorne Ahrens, Michael Smith, Michael Krol, Patrick Zamarirpa, Brent Thompson), at the hands of an obviously mentally ill, hate filled man who chose evil over good, violence over peace at a #BlackLivesMatter protest rally over the recent deaths of two black men in two different states, Alton Sterling and Philando Castille.  This was the moment, when many of us opened our eyes and realized that we as a nation are severely wounded.  Prejudice and discrimination are still alive and well in our country. Suddenly it was time to pray, pray, pray.

So today I’m looking at 2 Chronicles 7:14 and I keep focusing on “seek my face.”  The quiet whispering of the Holy Spirit encouraging me to place my faith in God’s perfect love to cast out my fear (1John 4:18) when seeking God’s face.  Seeking God’s face seems insurmountable as 1John 4:12 tells us that “no one has ever seen God”. but we are to find hope in His promise that “if we love one another, God remains in us, and His love is perfected in us.” (1John 4:12).  If God’s love is in us, then we may seek the face of God in those around us; others met in our day to day lives, strangers and loved ones alike, those who look like us and those who are very different from us.  It is easy to seek God in those I love and am familiar with. However, God challenges me to seek Him in those who are different than me, whose race, religion, culture, sexuality are not the same as mine.  This challenge has been overshadowed with feelings of fear and indifference sadly by many in our nation.  But our God remains in us and others, nonetheless.  He never leaves nor forsakes us, calling us to be brave and courageous in our seeking of Him (Deuteronomy 31:6).  It is through God’s grace, my intention to find Him in those very different from me, and with prayer that I seek and find Him in others.  If I can overcome my fear of those different from me, I can transform my heart.  In transforming my heart, I can transform my life.  In transforming my life, I can transform the world.  Prayer, grace, intention these three things, but the greatest of these is love.  Perfect love that casts out my fear of those who are different than me and allows me to seek the Face of God in all….

Jeremiah 29:13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

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May you always seek the face of God and may you always be blessed with recognizing His face in the faces of others.

Wishing you gratitude and peace in every moment, Joan

 

 

 

 

Jul13

Prayer for Our Nation

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Isaiah 65:24 “Before they call, I (the Lord) will answer; while they are yet speaking, I will hear.”

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This last week our beautiful nation has been faced with horrific violence once again from those who are charged with protecting the masses as well as from one obviously mentally ill man who chose evil over love, violence over peace with the sniper killing of five innocent police officers and injuring eleven others at last count.  Suddenly, as if it were something new, of which I recall forty years ago listening to my parents argue with prejudiced family members, it is the same ole’, same ole…. separation, fear, anger, violence.  The illusion that we are a global community with social medias and technology creating a world filled with opposites talking and learning and accepting is just that…. an illusion.  The separation continues sadly.  We are left with #blacklivesmatter, #bluelivesmatter, #alllivesmatter, #loveaboveall of which untold numbers of posts and comments have ensued to debate which is politically correct to use in which groups of people and has resulted in further posturing of people on what they believe is accurate in the use of these hashtags and what is offensive.  The separation has continued as far as I can see.

It was with excitement that I came across a post on Facebook from a long ago high school friend asking all Christian friends to consider joining her in a forty day prayer visual for our nation using the book If My People: A Forty Day Guide For Our Nation, by Jack Countryman.  Without hesitation, I signed myself up and eagerly awaited the starting day… today.  The just of the forty days is that we each agree to keep our beautiful, diverse, wounded nation in prayer for the next forty days.  There is a Bible verse and brief prayer to be read as well as our personal reflections for each of the next forty days.  It is a storming of heaven with hearts heavy and tired of the violence, the hate, the fear, with many of us members of the “Tribe of the Sacred Heart-member of a Scar Clan” (Dr Clarissa Pinkola-Estes).  So for the next forty days, I will be posting my thoughts, meanderings, fears and dreams, my prayers for our nations, and my discerning of what God is asking of us to help heal this imperfect yet beautiful country of ours.

Being Catholic, I often “study” God’s Word in Scripture somewhat differently than others, including Protestants.  We, as Cathoics, practice a Bible study called Lectio Divina.   http://ocarm.org/en/content/lectio/what-lectio-divina   It is quite simple to read Scripture using Lectio Divina and opens us up to allowing God to guide us in what his message is regarding the passage that He wants us to be open to.  Begin with a prayer and ask God to protect you and to help you to understand the passage.  Let go of expectations and preconceived notions of what the passage is saying.  Be open and sensitive to God’s nudging, knowing that often Holy Spirit speaks to us in whispers and not in cymbals.  Read the passage.  Pause. Think. Pause.  Read the passage again.  Pause. Think. Pause.  What word or phrase grabs your attention?  What is it that you are being taught by the Holy Spirit?  What is God wanting you to focus on? Where do your thoughts go with this word or phrase?  This is Holy Spirit teaching you.  Yes, there is context for every Bible verse as to when-what-where-why it was written.  Yet, I believe fully that He uses these Words to speak to each of us still today.  Yes, we must be careful to understand Holy Spirit teaching over our own self interpretation.  If you feel uncomfortable with what draws your attention; forced to look at your own fears and ego desires; feeling stretched…. most likely Holy Spirit is trying to expand your narrow belief.  If what you are coming to understand is disturbing to you or totally contrary to any reality you know, please do not hesitate to speak with your priest, pastor, spiritual director, close religious friends. Remember, pray, pray, pray at all times when studying Scripture, asking Holy Spirit to help you understand what is being said to you and why; asking for protection that your understanding is from Him who loves you with a never ending love; asking for courage to allow yourself to see His ways and not your own.

I encourage you to consider joining me on this adventure.  It is sure to be an exciting ride, filled with Holy Spirit guidance and stretching each of us to learn a new way to accept, love, care for those in our midst.

May God Bless America with the healing of all!

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Mar1

You, Jesus, Complete Me.

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Philippians 1:6 “I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete it until the day of Christ Jesus.

Philippians 1:6. God Completes What he Starts. Art Within the Ar

Artwork by Mark Lawrence, Copyright.  The Battlefield of the Mind Collection inspired by Joyce Meyers.

Giving my heart to him again and receiving his special words to my soul.  Music that made me dance and music that made me cry.  Witnessing that got to the heart of the matter of the struggle to follow His footsteps.  Quiet time to sort out my life and pray and find buttercups in full bloom in the grotto of the retreat center.  Reconciliation to give Him my sorrow over poor choices in the past and present and to find forgiveness.   This was my past weekend at our Parish Woman’s Retreat.

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Buttercups in the Grotto.

Sunday morning, as I entered the chapel, I realized that I had not yet signed the altar cloth and it was “last call” so to speak.  So up I headed, purple fine line marker in hand with final instructions that I could leave a message if I so desired with my name.  I stood pondering what message to leave on an altar cloth that will be brought back to the retreat year after year.  What words to write in this tiny little space that I found had not been written on yet….  It came to me fairly quickly.  The Bible promise that I have held on to since those early days of parenting and MOPS and not knowing what I was doing with my life and being filled with anxiety and struggles just to make ends meet while my husband finished medical school.  The promise that He would complete me, Philippians 1:6.  So I wrote on the altar cloth the simple sentence with a prayer that it would bless the other women present now and to come:

You, Jesus, complete me.  Joan Marie 2016

I headed back to my seat and waited for the big group celebration and then Mass to close out our retreat.  As they had all week-end, our group celebration began with a Bible verse.  Surprisingly it went like this:  “A Letter from St Paul to the Philippians.  ‘I give thanks to my God at every remembrance of you, praying always with joy in my every prayer for all of you, because of your partnership for the gospel from the first day until now.  I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete it until the day of Christ Jesus. ..And this is my prayer: that your love may increase ever more and more in knowledge and every kind of perception to discern what is of value so that you may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.'” Simply put, it was my God promise that I had just prayed over my sisters in Christ not ten minutes earlier.

While I sat there contemplating the meaning of this “coincidence,” the group went on to sharing time.  Woman after woman bravely standing and speaking into a microphone sharing what the retreat had meant to them.  Woman after woman sharing their struggle, their lepers, their pain.  Sexual molestation, substance abuse, death…  I sat listening with my own struggles and heard that small, still voice saying to me “speak My promise to these woman.”  Alas, I am not so brave as to stand in front of just shy of 200 woman and be vulnerable.  I just could not bring myself to raise my hand, though I tried and tried to gather up the courage to say what I knew He wanted me to say.  For that I am sorrowful.

So I am here saying to each of you, now, in this place to take courage.  Do not see yourself as the leper whom others fear.  Do not look at yourself only through your pain and struggles feeling that you are the only one.  We all have pain and struggles.  We all have death and illness and abuses somewhere in our lives or the lives of loved ones whom we care for.  Suffering comes to all of us.  But He, the one who created us, bore our sins, and overcame the sting of death, looks down on us with steadfast love and tender mercies and He completes each of us.  He never leaves nor forsakes us.  He is in each of us helping us through whatever suffering this life brings by giving us whatever it is we lack to get through it.  I am small, weak, and cowardly.  Yet, with his merciful heart and outstretched arms, Jesus wraps Himself around me in those moments of suffering and weakness and completes me so that I am able to stand strong and brave and proclaim His love to all my suffering Sisters and Brothers in Christ.  He promises to do this for you as well.

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Praying that each of you can find the confidence to know in your very being that He who began a good work in you will continue to complete it until the day of Christ Jesus, as well.

Amen, Joan Marie

Mar31

“Little Ways” of Love: Holy Monday, 2015

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Isaiah 61:1-2 “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me. He has sent me to bring glad tidings to the lowly….”

Do you have a Facebook account or other social media?  Did you ever friend a family member or acquaintance whom you might not have known well, but felt obligated to include them in your circle of social media?  Did they have a different fundamental belief in some area than you and played their God card only for you to be outraged at the error of their beliefs?  Did it get ugly with name calling, blocking, and other outrageousness?  Yeah, I dealt with this last week-end.  Sadly,  Indiana has recently passed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.  I wish the people of Indiana had listened to Pope Francis when he stated,  “If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?” — Interview aboard the Papal Plane after World Youth Day in Brazil.  Discrimination is wrong and not of God, simply put.  I cannot wrap my head around interpreting this bill any other way.  Trust me, I have heard it all from devout Christians in my social media circle as well as those in my immediate family who felt the need to defend this act on my Facebook wall.  I fear that until the Supreme Court takes an interest and rules on whether sexual orientation is a civil right, we will continue to struggle with this new discrimination based on the right of the individual to refuse to service another based on their own religious interpretation.  It is saddening.

Which brings me to our Bible passage which is being pondered by Catholics around our world this Holy Monday, as we continue to prepare our hearts for the most important of all holidays in our faith, Easter.  Originally, Isaiah, one of the great prophets of the Old Testament, shared these verses as he proclaimed what God had anointed him as a prophet with a job to do.  Jesus in Nazareth cited Isaiah 61:1-2 when he stood before His people and after reading the verses, He announced “Today, this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:18).  Naturally, that did not go over very well with those who had come to the service as they were expecting a Messiah that would come in glory and strength, not a local carpenter who came from an unwed mother.  I am sure that news like that tended to stay around for awhile, small town mentality and all.  (How dare that Jesus think he is the Messiah.  I heard that Mary and Joseph weren’t married when he was begot. No way is he even capable of the job we need done in a Messiah.   Yada, yada.)They did not realize that in the most humblest of circumstances the greatest of God’s purposes are accomplished for His glory.  Thus His Son, the Messiah, was indeed begot by a young, unwed virgin and born in the lowliest of circumstances to the poorest of poor among the people.

So Jesus announces and confirms His mission statement in Nazareth, repeating the words of Isaiah that He has come and with the Spirit of the Lord’s anointing He has been sent to cheer, heal, proclaim, release and announce.  If this is His mission, we as His believers, must find this to be our mission as well.  We are sent to do all these things as we are now His hands, His feet, His heart here on Earth.

So I ask, how is it that we are to cheer the lowly?  Who are the lowly?  The poor in spirit?  Do I trust Him enough to let go of whatever my agenda is to be anointed by Him to perform this cheering which He has called me to?  I am reminded of Mother Theresa of Calcutta stating “God did not put me down here to be successful.  He put me down here to be faithful.”  So it is with each of us.  We must walk in faith and give up our successes and agendas and perceptions on who is deserving of our respect and we must serve others.  Even if this means in Indiana looking past whatever behavior you do not respect, and simply loving and serving the person in front of you, regardless of sexual orientation, race, religion, etc.

How do we serve the lowly, whether in actuality or perceived lowliness?  St Therese of Lisieux, a Catholic saint who lived in the mid 1800’s, is known for her Little Ways.  She taught through example that the way for each of us who wants to serve God, need look no further than littleness, simplicity and love.  It is not necessary that we all perform great sacrifices or mighty works to accomplish bringing good tidings to the lowly.  If we live our life doing for others in love and obedience to His calling, we are showing love in the “Little Ways.”  Matthew 18:3 tells us that Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”  We must become child-like in our love, devotion, and care of our fellow man.  We must eat with the sinners and prostitutes and tax collectors and homosexuals, without hesitation.  Daily we must attend to them in the little things.  For it is in the little, day to day interactions that we show God’s great love for His glory to our brothers and sisters.  Those whom the world has time and time again tried to infer that they are less than.  The friends of Jesus.  As He did even though it led to His Walk of Sorrow on Good Friday.  For that we give Him our thanks, our love, our life.  Because had He refused to serve those whom He felt were lower than He, none of us would ever have risen with Him on Easter morning, anointed and forgiven and much loved by a Father who had spent an eternity to love us.

Mar30

Flee to the Lord

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Mark 14:50-52, “And they all left him and fled.  Now a young man followed him wearing nothing but a linen cloth about his body.  They seized him, but he left the cloth behind and ran off naked.”

It is Holy Thursday in this reading of Mark.  Jesus has just celebrated the Last Supper in which he proclaims to his most beloved Apostles that his body and blood will be given up for each of them as well as each of us who follows him.  Judas, the misinformed zealot Apostle has made his choice and gone to the authorities to hand Jesus over.  Jesus goes to Gethsemane to pray for his Father’s will to be done.  While there, he is handed over to the authorities with a kiss from Judas.  There is a scuffle and a miracle and suddenly the Apostles flee, distancing themselves from their Master, the one who has come to set all of us free through His captivity.  Now this is the part that gets interesting in Mark, where each of us can identify in some way.  Just three short sentences with an unknown character.  A young man follows the posse with Jesus in their midst wearing only his linen cloth, think underwear or loose robe.  Most likely his disrobed body draws attention and the young soldiers grab his cloth trying to seize him.  He flees as well in his nakedness and shame for all to see.

Who is this young man?  Some say Lazarus, who is wearing his burial linen cloth.  Others think Mark is making a brief appearance to show that he was actually present at the time.  Still others claim everything from the owner of the garden to the man who appears again at the end of Mark announcing our Lord’s resurrection.  Will we ever know the true identity of this man?  Is it important that we know who he really was?  Perhaps what is of more importance is to look at why the Holy Spirit felt it important to inspire Mark to include this unknown man in his account of the Passion of Jesus, note that only Mark includes this part of the Passion Story.

This young man causes us to think about frightening or difficult times, when we are asked to faithfully follow Jesus rather than running to those things which bring us comfort.  We have all had these experiences, though different for each of us.  The single mother who must find a way to put food on the table for her children and pay the rent with not enough money for both.  The teacher who struggles to keep the brightest children in her class challenged while encouraging the children with learning disabilities to try and keep up.  The son who must find time to deal with his angry elderly mom while meeting the responsibilities of being a husband and father to his family.  The teen who yearns to be popular but realizes how unsafe it is to follow the crowd into sexual experimentation and substance abuse to gain that popularity.  The missionary in the Middle East who lives with the threat of terrorism daily but knows that God is leading their life to bring His Word to this troubled part of the world.

We all struggle…..  And yet, we are each faced with a choice.  Do we leave Jesus and flee when the going gets tough?  “Thanks, Lord, but no thanks.  I’ve got it from here on my own.  I can take care of this problem better than you.  It’s getting scary and tough to be associated with the likes of you, Lord.  Sorry, but heading out to keep myself safe on my own.”  Perhaps, we head towards Jesus in the midst of our fear and trembling, almost naked, for all to see.  “Lord, it is getting scary here.  Time for a miracle.  I am needing a little help here.  You going to do something to make it better.  No worries though Lord, I’ll take care of this little area over here on my own.”  Yet, when they see we are looking to Him for our answer, we back away and run with our sin naked for the world to see, abandoning Jesus just like his Apostles and the young man in his skivvies did the night of Holy Thursday.

Me, I prefer to keep my  eyes on Jesus, clothed or otherwise.  “Lord, I am frightened here.  I don’t want to grumble.  I don’t want to die.  I have things that I want to do and see and be for You and Your glory.  Even when times get tough, overwhelming, alarming, I hold to Your promise that in the midst of all this mess, You ‘will never leave me nor abandon me’ (Hebrews 13:5).  You, Lord are my refuge so that no one may say ‘flee like a bird’ (Psalm 11:1).  I am strong and courageous as You have promised to always go with me  (Deuteronomy 31:6).  I need not turn and flee when frightening times come to me knowing that you are ever present (1 Chronicles 28:20).

So I take heart that when the others fled Jesus in his moment of great strength, which appeared to human eyes as weakness, there was this lone young man who ventured towards Him.   In his nakedness, he followed Jesus for as long as He dared.  And though he turned and fled when the world seized Him, I am sure that Jesus looked upon Him with great compassion as He does to each of us in those moments.  Knowing each of our hearts, with open arms, He claims over us His steadfast love and tender mercies through the most terrifying of times.  With this we know that unlike this lone young man, we have nothing to flee in fear from.   And so we run into his outstretched arms for the strength and courage we need to endure those most difficult times to bring glory to Him, our Master and Savior.

Apr22

Via Dolorosa, Way of Sorrows

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Stations of the Cross

i.  Jesus is condemned to death.

 

condemned

sinless Lamb of God

innocently guilty

unafraid, blameless, yet condemned

sinless Lamb of God

you take away the sin of mankind.

majestic reign

humbled as Perfect Sacrifice

sinless Lamb of God

Savior


 ii.  Jesus carries his cross.

 

cross

i am forgiven

sin, separation

my burden is heavy

i am forgiven

daily, Jesus carries my cross with his

grace given

faulty footsteps following Him

i am forgiven

salvation

 

iii.  Jesus falls for a first time.

 

fall

your majesty protects

weakened, vulnerable

most powerful Jesus falling

your majesty protects

God’s weakness is stronger than man’s strength

Angel strengthened

sinless burdened with sin

your majesty protects

Arise

 

iv.  Jesus meets his mother.

 

Mary

full of Grace

humble, willing

Ark of the Covenant

full of grace

knowing Jesus would be about God’s work

prayerful submission

in this suffering moment

full of grace

obedient

 

v.    Simon helps Jesus carry His cross.

 

simon

carrying His burden

human weakness

your cross bearing shoulders

carrying His burden

offering your strength to the Son of Man

comforting the Great Comforter

carrying His burden

servant

 

vi.  Veronica wipes the face of Jesus.

 

veronica

gentlewoman’s loving kindness

tender mercy

wiping His sacred blood

gentlewoman’s loving kindness

mark of Jesus’ love imprinted on her

veiled image

offering all she had

gentlewoman’s loving kindness

compassion

 

vii.  Jesus falls a second time.

 

downtrodden

we all fall

oppressed, persecuted

the Lord lifts up

we all fall

come you weary and burdened to Him

Jesus fell

the burden so great

we all fall

arise

 

viii. Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem

 

weeping

tender mercy of God

Jesus’ suffering

let us weep too

tender mercy of God

along the road He saw ALL women

reaching out

compassion, healing for them

tender mercy of God

comforting

 

ix.  Jesus falls a third time

 

weakened

falls…falls…falls

Jesus carries

every sinner’s tragic fall

falls…falls…falls

twisting, winding sorrowful way to God’s glory

Spotless Victim

undelivered from wicked hands

falls…falls…falls

arise

 

x.  Jesus is stripped of his garments.

 

naked

nothing separates us

vulnerable, indignant

God is with us

nothing separates us

Love of God is with us ALWAYS

embarrassment, shame

God is with us

nothing separates us

Love

 

xi.  Jesus is nailed to the cross

cross

Christ lifted high

Fragrant Offering

Divine Love for us

Chris lifted high

my redemption is found in the cross

Perfect Sacrifice

all people drawn to Jesus

Christ lifted high

crucifixion

 

xii.  Jesus dies on the cross.

 

death

arms spread wide

humble submission

as He embraced all

arms spread wide

may His sacrifice bring gratitude and peace

every moment

into this sinner’s heart

arms spread wide

rebirth

 

xiii.  Jesus is taken down from the cross.

 

dismounted

holiest of sorrow

unbearable task

burial of our Lord

holiest of sorrow

joseph, nicodemus, love won out over fear

profound grief

Mary held her son

holiest of sorrow

Pieta

 

xiv.  Jesus is placed in the tomb.

 

burial

laid to rest

joseph’s tomb

Jesus wrapped in linen

laid to rest

we grieve his death.  God promises life.

stone closed

yet opened and empty

laid to rest

Resurrection

 

xv.  The resurrection of Jesus

 

Resurrection

go to Galilee

empty tomb

intense desire to encounter Jesus

go to Galilee

now let us be on our way

Risen Lord

Holy Light overcame darkness

go to Galilee

proclamation

 

 

Apr16
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Aside

As Jesus was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great crowd, Bartimaeus, that is the son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting at the side of the road.  When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout and cry out, “Son of David,  have pity on me.”  And many of them scolded him and told him to keep quiet, but he only shouted all the louder,”Son of David, have pity on me.”  Jesus stopped and said, “Call him here.”  So they called the blind man over, “Courage,” they said, “get up; He is calling you.”  So throwing off his cloak, he jumped up and went to Jesus.  Then Jesus spoke, “What do you want me to do for you?”  The blind man said to him, “Rabbuni, let me see again.”  Jesus said to him “Go, your faith has saved you.”  And at once his sight returned and he followed (Jesus) along the road.
And so it is even today:
The little one, who knows that home is not a safe place.  Parents who are suppose to protect and nurture and provide for are only capable of neglect and violence.  She is unsafe in her bed, her home, her neighborhood.  She knows too young that evil lurks and safety is at bay.   “Courage.  Get up.  Jesus is calling you.”
The teenager,who is looking for answers.  She turns to drugs and the occult because she finds acceptance with other misled friends and is unaware of the dangers that she is exposing herself to.  The thoughts in her head constantly running amok as she tries desperately to find a place to fit in, be accepted, be strong. So she chooses to numb her mind with drugs and booze.  She chooses what looks exciting to her and her other broken friends by dabbling in the paranormal and vampire movies and Ouije boards.  “Courage.  Get up.  Jesus is calling you.”
The young man, who married too soon while trying to find independence and love.  He tries so hard to finish his schooling, but there are bills to be paid, food to be bought, babies to care for.  Feelings of fatigue from the daily grind of school, work, study, school, work, study, school, work….  Never enough time to just be with his children, his wife, his aging parents.  “Courage.  Get up.  Jesus is calling you.”
The new mom, who is so worn out having just given birth after forty weeks of hormonal shifts and weight gain and preparations for the coming little babe in her life.  She has not slept a full night in months between the uncomfortable-ness of her body in the late weeks of her pregnancy and now caring for the newborn in her midst.  Once again, the babe is crying in the night.  And she is just so tired and does not know if she can find the strength to get up and care for the babe one more time.  “Courage.  Get up.  Jesus is calling you.”
The father, who thought he had a good, safe job working the factory line.  It wasn’t a career, but the bills were paid with money left over for him and his sweetie to have some fun on the week-ends.  Now he finds himself holding a pink slip in his hand and waiting in the unemployment line.  His sweetie is at the local food bank trying to get food to put on the table for them and their two children.  Their savings account long gone in the first month of his joblessness.  Confusion reigns in his head as to how they came to his point in life.  He has no idea how to get them back on track before they loose their house.  “Courage.  Get up.  Jesus is calling you.”
The proud momma, who always put her children first.  Now they are young adults and flying the nest.  She finds herself sitting in a large home with a stranger that she barely recognizes as her husband and more frightening, a stranger that she barely recognizes as herself.  She is so proud of the people her children have become. Yet, she wonders how she and her husband lost themselves in the raising of their children.  She is afraid to continue on to this next stage of life, yet does not know what else to do.  “Courage.  Get up.  Jesus is calling you.”
The career woman, who put her job first in her life.  She needed no one.  Not a husband who she might be held accountable to.  Not children who would depend on her during her most productive years. Not her parents, who did little for her other than provide her her very life and little else.  She has gotten to where she is on her own two feet.  Now, she is in the winter of her life, facing retirement, and realizing that it is lonely where she finds herself.  What will she do once she gives up the only thing that has brought meaning to her existence.  “Courage.  Get up.  Jesus is calling you.”
The elderly man, who would have been married for 53 years this March, had “the cancer” not taken his beloved wife six months ago.  He walks around in numbness and grief.  He hears his children and grandchildren pleading with him to go on with life.  Yet every night, when he says his prayers, he pleads that Jesus will take him in his sleep.  And yet, every morning,he awakes once again without her by his side.  “Courage.  Get up.  Jesus is calling you.”
The dear granny who was a “looker” in her day, but now finds herself bent over and barely able to walk with “the osteoarthritis.”  She remembers how she used to sway those hips and the workers on the sidewalk would whistle and  hoot when she went by.  Now she sits in her wheelchair in the nursing home, barely able to feed herself and dependent on others.  Her family has forgotten her in the busy-ness of their lives.  She is bored with the remainder of her life and envious of the young nursing assistants who are there to help her.  She thinks to herself that someday this will be their lives too.  “Courage.  Get up.  Jesus is calling you.”
And so it goes….  In our inequities and despite ourselves, Jesus calls us to have courage and get up and follow Him.  Like Bartimaeus, our faith in Jesus saves us as we follow Jesus down the road of our life.   *Format adapted from homily by Father Dustin, St Monica Parish, Indianapolis, In, 12-2012.

Have Courage! Get Up! Jesus is calling you!