A Leap of Faith2/29/2024 ,Thursday of the 2nd Week of Lent
Since today is “leap day” I knew that I had to use “leap” in the title. I have lots of “leap” photos I could use, but chose one of my favorite EP tree. For me, she embodies the trust that the reading from Jeremiah speaks of. Blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, whose hope is the LORD. He/She is like a tree planted beside the waters that stretches out its roots to the stream: Despite all the ravages of nature that gave her the “bedraggled” look over the years, she became a symbol of holding on for dear life. When people would look at her, she reflected their holding on in trust to a God who promises to be always faithful. As you know, we lost her in a storm in October of 2021. There is a cross that stands in her place, another reminder of the “trust” that is called for in life’s journey that is at times as torturous as the human heart. “Trust in God” is very much on my mind. This morning I received an email from a friend and former parishioner. He and his wife came to the US from Central America a good number of years ago to provide a better education for their children. And, although they were professionals in their country and entered the US legally, they have struggled economically.. And yet, their love for their children and desire to give them the best has kept them here. Like Lazarus in the Gospel today, they have lived off the “scraps,” often having to beg support from friends. And yet, despite all the challenges they have faced, their trust in God has never faltered. They sincerely believe that all they have gone through is God’s plan for them. Most recently they have moved to Minnesota to be close to the Mayo Clinic since their college aged son has had serious health problems. Thanks to the charity of a parish in the Twin Cities, they have some part-time work and some limited income. Their trust in God in these dire circumstances is such a powerful witness. I hope and pray that God will reward them with healing for their son.
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Mercy, Me!2/26/2024 You may be familiar with the expression, “Mercy me!” It’s a short form for “God have mercy on me!” In the light of today’s Gospel where Jesus says, “Be merciful as your heavenly Father is merciful,” we might think of this expression in two ways: “Let me be mercy for others!” and “Let me be mercy for me!” As you know, you have to be merciful with yourself, forgive yourself, if you are to have freedom to forgive others. When you are unable to be gentle and forgiving of yourself, judging yourself harshly, it’s likely to wear you down. The theme of God’s mercy is prevalent through the scriptures of this week. Are you hearing an invitation to reflect on the need to “ let “mercy” begin with me.”
I’m attaching the reflections for the Arc of the Covenant for this week. Tomorrow I have oral surgery early in the morning and have asked to be asleep for the procedure. (I had it last year and it was traumatic. And it failed….) So I’m begging for mercy and will let that mercy begin with me….. I hope to post again on Wednesday. arc_of_the_covenant_2nd_week.pdf I chose two beautiful photos of sunrise at Eastern Point because of the image that Jesus uses in the Gospel. Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap. God's Chaconne2/25/2024 2nd Sunday of Lent
This is the homily I will be preaching for the Jesuit community this morning. Six years ago, when I preached on this Sunday, I began by playing a recording of Bach’s Chaconne from the Partita in D minor for unaccompanied violin. Although I play the violin, the piece is far beyond my capabilities, so I had to use a recording. Perhaps if I had started studying the instrument when I was a child, I would have been able to play the piece. I fell in love with the violin at the age of 10 when I found a violin in our attic and asked my mother if I could study it rather than the piano, but my dear mother was forced to play the violin when she was a child and said no. I had to wait until my 20’s to begin torturing everyone around me. But the sounds of screech and scratch were music to my ears. For me to be “transfigured” would mean that I would be playing the Chaconne. And look! How can it possibly be that pieces of wood glued together in a certain shape with f holes to allow the sound to escape and a bridge over which 4 strings would be strung and a bow with horse hair dragged along those strings would be capable of producing some of the most exquisite sounds known to human kind? Who could have ever imagined something so exquisitely beautiful in something so ordinary? Transcendent, divine sounds coming from something made of really ordinary, down to earth “stuff”, wood and glue and gut or steel and a hank of horse hair. What could be more ordinary? And he was transfigured before their eyes, his clothes became whiter than any bleacher could bleach them. This moment of transfiguration is the “divine” within Jesus emanating from his human nature. There is a moment when the essential essence of Jesus is seen by the disciples and the voice is heard. “This is my beloved Son, Listen to him”. It is God’s Chaconne, the exquisite, breathtaking beauty of Jesus’ inner life shining forth! From the “ordinary” flesh and blood person of Jesus of Nazareth, his inner self, human and divine blazes out, Speaking of the violin and violinists, you may have heard the story about a young violinist who appeared one day at the L’Enfant Plaza Metro Station in DC, opened his violin and started to play. This was an experiment arranged by the Washington Post to see if people rushing to work would stop and listen to “beauty”. During the time he played, more than 1000 people passed him by. The Post wanted to know, “In a banal setting at an inconvenient time, would beauty transcend?” As it turned out the violinist was Joshua Bell and he was playing on a 3 million dollar Stradivarius. In the three-quarters of an hour that Joshua Bell played, seven people stopped what they were doing to hang around and take in the performance, at least for a minute. Twenty-seven gave money, most of them on the run -- for a total of $32 and change. That leaves the 1,070 people who hurried by, oblivious, many only three feet away, few even turning to look. The passers-by had no idea of the identity of the person who was right before their very eyes. Unaware of the reality, who it is, right before our very eyes? Wasn’t this the experience of Jesus of Nazareth? He was right before the very eyes of everyone, disciples, Pharisees, passersby. Why could they not see the exquisite, divine beauty emanating from him? And what about ourselves? Do we stop, look and listen to the Chaconne God has composed in the life of Jesus of Nazareth whose beauty is rooted in his humanity but whose beauty transcends time and space and all the limits we impose? Are his words music to our ears? The voice from the cloud says, “This is my son, my beloved, listen to him. Do we hear his voice speaking to us? Or are we tone-deaf? I would imagine that most of us have had our hearing tested. I did just the other day and the results were that I had difficulty hearing certain frequencies. Can I hear the frequency of Jesus’ voice? (Frequency in both senses.) When Magdalena Richter, a professional violinist and Marc Ryser, a professional pianist, both directees of Jim Bowler asked if they could offer a concert for Jim for his birthday, I had no idea that it would happen on the day when we would hear the Gospel of the Transfiguration. When I discovered my homily on the Bach Chaconne for this day 6 years ago, I thought it was “heaven-sent.” So I hope you will return here to the Chapel of the Holy Spirit at 4PM this afternoon and be transported if not transfigured by the heavenly voices of violin and piano in concert. And here's a link the the Bach Chaconne if you'd like to hear it. www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhOaS_Cy8_8 Wicked Good!2/23/2024 Friday of the 1st Week of Lent
The word “wicked” appears over and over in the reading from Ezekiel. In a way, Ezekiel is breaking ground in suggesting that a person can’t be pegged as “wicked” or “good.” It’s not the person, in and of themselves, but rather how the person chooses to do good or evil. It’s so easy to call someone “wicked” in a way that defines his or her nature. If you know the story of “Wicked,” the Broadway musical, one of the reasons for the Wicked Witch of the West’s wickedness is that she was different. She has green skin, setting her apart from others and making her an object of ridicule. As the story unfolds, you see the goodness within, and that people are not “intrinsically” evil but more often it’s the lack of love and life’s circumstances that are to blame. A common expression in certain parts of Massachusetts is “wicked good” meaning “really good.” It’s what’s at play in the following poem, “Wicked Good!” Wicked Good! Wicked which? Wicked evil, Yes Wicked good, No One cannot be both/and Or can one be two at once? Wicked comes from wicca, Witch or wizard. Wicca which? One who casts spells And instills fears? Or one who casts cares To the west wind Knowing nature heals, Herbs powers Nature’s wizardry Drying herbs releasing Healing remedies. Ezekiel assays, Good as gold or Wicked as a western witch? Which is which? Do not be so wick to judge, Ezekiel essays to say, “One’s wick can absorb both Good and evil What makes the difference Is what one does Not ‘who one is.” Will your wick work For good and not for evil, Burning brightly, God’s glow, sheen And shine, waxing And not waning? Jesus, the wizard of us Cast out demons and nets Freeing some, catching others Jesus, the wizard of us Knew how to cast spells Knowing nature’s healing A single word enough to hear And be healed, God was this wizard’s Source, sirree, He sees the good as gold In each and every, which way, he knows us for what we are, a patchwork of guilt and grace a wick’s work of guile and good The wizard of Us knows we are Wicked Good! RVE Suggestions for prayer: As you reflect on today’s scriptures and the images and wordplay in today’s poem, what is stirred up in you? Can you accept that you are a “patchwork of guilt and grace, a wick’s work of guile and good?” In the First Week of the Spiritual Exercises, we are invited to know that we are sinners who are unconditionally loved. How does God let you know that this is the way you are known and loved? Simple Gifts2/22/2024 Thursday of the 1st Week of Lent/ Chair of St Peter
Although the Church celebrates the Feast of the Chair of St Peter today, my reflection is more in tune with the readings for Thursday of the 1st week of Lent. I’ve been struggling with the Gospel passage in prayer. It’s another example of Jesus’ saying, “Keep it simple.” As we heard the other day when he tells his disciples not to “babble on” but speak from the heart, today we hear him say, “Ask, Seek, Knock” (That’s a big A-S-K) It sounds so simple. Just ask and it will be given to you, seek and you’ll find, knock and the door will be opened. Would that it were that “simple!” Who doesn’t struggle with God’s seeming non-responsiveness to their prayers; to their “asks.”. As I prayed with this scripture, a thought dawned on me. Could the “receiving, finding, and opening” be much more than we are asking, seeking, and knocking for. When we are so focused on the specificity of the ask, we may be missing what we are already receiving. When we are so deliberate in our seeking, we may miss what we are already finding. And when we knock and the door is not opening, we may be knocking at the wrong door. There may be lots of doors open that we don’t notice. My reflection this morning is in some way connected with what I wrote last year. Ask and you shall receive… There are days when you are surprised by what you have received without asking for it. This can go both ways, of course. Sometimes you get stones and scorpion, even when you haven’t asked for bread or fish. But there are days when you haven’t prayed or asked for anything, and something appears to delight you. I was surprised and delighted this morning to see another bloom on the Hibiscus plant. I hadn’t noticed that there was bud about to bloom since it was hidden from my sight. But then, “bloom!” There it was, reminding me that there are moments of receiving without having to ask. Oh why can’t every day be a “bloomsday” when you haven’t asked, prayed, begged, prostrated yourself like Esther who believes the “doomsday” will come any moment, and suddenly you receive what you didn’t even know that you wanted and had not asked for! Could every day be a “bloomsday,” bringing unexpected gifts and we just don’t notice them. They come and go, like the hibiscus which will bloom today and be gone tomorrow. As I reread the reflection from last year, I’m aware that the hibiscus hasn’t bloomed in some time. It needed pruning and is only beginning to sprout leaves. Another “bloomsday” won’t happen for some time, I fear. All I can do is wait. Who knows, maybe there will be a new bloom for Easter! Very Vary2/21/2024 Wednesday of the 1st Week of Lent
“This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it, except the sign of Jonah. These verses have always confused me. Why is Jesus upset and frustrated by the request for a sign? Why does he refer to this generation as evil because is seeks a sign? Aren’t we always seeking signs? We look for signs of God’s presence in the world. We ask for signs from God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit to show us the way. We ask for signs to give us help, courage, discernment, etc. Could it be that the sign that they are asking for is right before their very eyes? As Jesus says, you’re asking for a sign but I am the sign that you don’t see. And aren’t there times in our lives when the sign is right before our very eyes? How often has something caught your attention and when you look closely, it appears as a sign of God’s or someone’s care for you? When I was in NY last week, I was staying in a guest room at America House Jesuit community. I was given someone’s room who was away for a few months. One morning when I was working on these reflections, I glanced up and saw a reproduction of the watercolor that you see above. I was startled to see it, since not only does the original hang in my office, but if you look closely, you can see someone on the steps of the Immaculate Conception Chapel in the South End. The person on the steps is my dear friend, Fr. JA Loftus who was the director of the Urban Center at the time. The artist gave him the original painting and I have it now. The artist, Davis Carroll, made sure that JA was holding a cigarette in his hand, since that was his trademark. I was so surprised to see the painting with my friend in it. It felt like he was there “watching over me.” I think that each of us has stories of those moments when we are caught off guard and see something with our “very” eyes and that feels “very” much like a sign. As you can probably guess from the title of this reflection, “Very Vary,” I began thinking of the various ways that “very” is used. Ordinarily we think of its meaning in reference to “quantity” but there is also a use of the word that has to do with “quality.” This is the sense in the expression “one’s very eyes.” It’s from the same root as “truth.” Veritas…. To see with one’s “very own eyes” is to see “truly.” Today we may ask for the grace to see the signs of God’s presence in our lives with our “very own eyes.” I’m also including the reflection that I did for the Eastern Point “Arc of the Covenant.” Resent, Repent, Relent. They could be the three “Rs” of the Lenten Season. Will you hold on to hurts, grudges, resentments or will you let go of them? To resent or repent and relent is at the heart of the Jonah story that is the first reading today. Today’s text gives only the bare outline of the story and doesn’t let us see Jonah as the “unforgiving, cranky, sulky” guy he really is. The issue for Jonah is that he’s running away from God because he doesn’t like the fact that God is SO merciful. He knows that if he preaches repentance to the Ninevites, they will repent, and God will relent. After they do repent and God relents, Jonah resents God for his gracious mercy. “He prayed to the Lord, “Isn’t this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity.” (Jonah 4:2) Resentment is as hard as a rock. Relenting comes from the word to be flexible or to melt. It also means to “bend back.” (Think of God’s “bending over backwards” to show us love, compassion and forgiveness.) Think of a snowman melting. (I had a photo but wasn't able to post it.) Suggestion for Prayer Is there anything of Jonah that you recognize in yourself? What’s God’s invitation to you as you begin this Lenten journey? Speak to God as one friend speaks to another: How flexible are you? How flexible is God with you? K.I.S2/20/2024 Tuesday of the 1st Week of Lent
I chose a photo of snow to accompany the first reading since rain is not nearly as photogenic! Just as from the heavens the rain and snow come down And do not return there till they have watered the earth, making it fertile and fruitful, Giving seed to the one who sows and bread to the one who eats, So shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; It shall not return to me void, but shall do my will, achieving the end for which I sent it. Jesus says to his disciples, “Don’t babble on”. Keep your prayer simple. There’s no need for an excess of words. Speak from the heart and notice if the gifts of the spirit are “bubbling up” in you. We usually don’t associate “joy” with the Lenten season. Joy always feels “light” where Lent has a heaviness to it. Whether it be the weight of the Cross, the weight of our sinfulness, the weight of the world, during Lent we are more weighed down than buoyed up. Easter is the time for bubbling and even babbling with sheer joy. Even in Lent, however, we can be surprised by joy. If we listen closely to the babbling and bubbling of today’s scripture, the Spirit may not “brook” any opposition to the joyful sounds within and without. Isaiah begins with the beautiful image of the earth watered and made fruitful by the snow and the rain. God’s word is living, active and effective if we let it take root in us. God’s Word is Jesus, himself and if we listen to him, and let him work through us, we may be delighted with what happens and the difference we can make as instruments of his peace and his joy. There is as well a beautiful image in the psalm today. “Look to God and be radiant with joy and your faces may not blush with shame.” Even in this Lenten season with all the worries of our world today, can we radiate joy that comes from seeing the face of God in creation and the face of Jesus in our brothers and sisters? As you know, joy cannot be programmed. It’s spontaneous and surprising. It’s not up to us to decide to be joyful in the midst of the troubles of the world. Joy is gift and it comes when and where we least expect it and may be an important reminder that the Spirit of God is still bubbling up, even when we “babble on.” Suggestion for Prayer KIS! Keep it simple, as Jesus says. What’s bubbling up in you as you pray with these scriptures. What is a source of joy for you during these times that bring such sadness? Here’s a video and a poem that describes the joy of a simple sunrise at Eastern Point on Tuesday of the First Week of Lent a few years ago. vimeo.com/395176744 The Band Played On It began with a band. A strip of light elastic Stretching horizon’s length A string of light fantastic Separating sky from sea And at the sight, My heart beating Drum-like Rat-a-tat. Rat-a-tat The band played on. Measure for measure More and more Color’s crescendo Splaying across sky Playing “on the sea” Rubato reds Obligato oranges Jazzy blues and stretto yellows. And at the sight My heart thumping Tuba-like Oom-pah, Oom-pah The band played on Brash and brassy A celestial organ sounding, No muted trumpets or tones. Bands of angels, All coloraturas cry, Pull out all the stops! Let heaven display Its power and its glory! Holy, Holy, Holy, Seraphim seen not heard And at the sight, my heart thrumming strung like a band of light across horizon’s length God’s vibrato Playing on my heartstrings. RVE Curtain's Up2/19/2024 Monday of the First Week of Lent
This photo has a “Lenten Look” to it. It almost looks like a purple curtain that you are waiting to see raised. What will it reveal? At the very beginning of the Lenten journey, the Gospel for Monday of the first week sets the scene of the time of judgment. In the reading from the Book of Deuteronomy and the Gospel parable of the sheep and the goats, we hear that God who enters into covenantal love with us expects us to live lives of compassion. We are responsible for the “other” person. We are meant to put God’s love for us into action. Suggestion for prayer: As you read today’s gospel of the sheep and the goats, in your prayer can you put a human face to those whom the Son of Man describes as most needy of your care and compassion? Two years ago, when the War in Ukraine had just begun, we shared with you a variation on this familiar Gospel. Now with the horrific war in Gaza and the devastation and ongoing conflict it is certainly worth hearing again, especially with the recent suspicious death of Alexey Navalny in Russia. Jesus said to his disciples: “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne, and all the nations will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, The peacemakers on the left and the war-mongers on the right Then the king will say to those on his left, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry for peace among nations and you devoted yourself to peace-making I was thirsty for justice for all and you worked for justice, a stranger, a refugee from the scourge of war and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you freed me.’ For whenever you did these things for a victim of war and terror, you did this for me.’ Then he will say to those on his right, ‘Depart from me, you war-mongers, into the eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his angels. For I was hungry for peace and you made war. I was thirsty for justice, and you killed the innocent You made me an exile, a refugee, in an alien land. You stripped me naked of my rights to a homeland and you clothed yourself in wealth and luxury. You imprisoned me with fear of your bombs, missiles, convoys that would take away my freedom. Then they will answer and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you as a victim of war and human cruelty, hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?’ He will answer them, ‘Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, your brothers and sisters, you did not do for me.’ And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” Suggestion for Prayer: “Be Holy, for I the Lord your God am Holy.” As you pray with today’s scriptures, what does it mean for you to respond to the call to holiness? It’s so much more than piety. Arc of the Covenant2/18/2024 First Sunday of Lent
Since I’m curating the reflections for Eastern Point that begin today, I’ll be sharing the ones I have prepared. I did this Sunday and the following weekdays. I’ll also share the links of the story and poem I wrote for this Sunday. They are two of my favorites. It’s always a blessing to be on the Holy Ground of Gonzaga, Eastern Point Retreat House. Whether you spend a day, a weekend, eight days or thirty, there are so many riches and graces that appear in prayer at the Ocean’s edge. But not everyone who comes gets to see a rainbow at the end of a storm. Rainbows at EP are breathtakingly beautiful, although they are so short lived that in a blink of an eye, they disappear from sight. And yet from ancient times, the rainbow has been a sign of the Covenant, especially, in the story of Noah’s Ark. Something so beautiful but ephemeral symbolizes God’s faithfulness and covenantal love! “This is the sign that I am giving for all ages to come, of the covenant between me and you and every living creature with you: I set my bow in the clouds to serve as a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.” Suggestions for Prayer Ask for the grace to enter more deeply into the covenant that God has made with us in Jesus Christ. What might be the signs of this covenant love in your life? How is God revealing “hesed/loving kindness” during this graced time? Spend some time reflecting on the covenant that God has made with this earth, the created world. We know that God promises to do no harm but how have we human beings misused the gifts of creation? Is this Lent an opportunity to pray unceasingly for our planet as Pope Francis urges us in his Apostolic Exhortation, Laudate Deum? Your ways, O LORD, make known to me; teach me your paths, Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my savior. R. Your ways, O Lord, are love and truth to those who keep your covenant. Remember that your compassion, O LORD, and your love are from of old. In your kindness remember me, because of your goodness, O LORD. R. Your ways, O Lord, are love and truth to those who keep your covenant. Good and upright is the LORD, thus he shows sinners the way. He guides the humble to justice, and he teaches the humble his way. What are the words and phrases in today’s psalm that you might savor? Spend time with the words that speak to you of God’s covenant love. What are the feelings that emerge as you pray with them? The first Sunday of Lent each year invites us to accompany Jesus into the desert. Eastern Point is a far cry from the desert! But can you remember a time in prayer where you may have struggled with your own demons? How did “angels” minister to you? Was it through the attentive ear of your spiritual director? Was it gazing upon the statue of Mary holding the child Jesus or that of Jesus and the beloved disciple? Or was it out on the rocks that have the feel of a desert, even though they are at the ocean’s edge? Mark’s Gospel gives us the briefest account of Jesus’ temptations in the desert. There is no dialogue as there is in Matthew’s and Luke’s account. This account leaves a great deal to the imagination! The Spirit drove Jesus out into the desert, and he remained in the desert for forty days, tempted by Satan. He was among wild beasts, and the angels ministered to him. Sometimes when we pray with this scene, we imagine the desert as a barren sandy land with no vegetation. The Judean desert, however, has caves nearby where one might go to escape the heat of the day. The poem, “Tempted or Tempered” tries to capture the allure of the desert and wonders what it was that drove Jesus there. The story, “Malachi’s Message,” also asks the question, “who were the angels that ministered to him.” (Both poem and story were written by Fr. Bob VerEecke when he was on the staff at Eastern Point.) tempted_or_tempered.docx malachis_message.pdf Ask for the grace to know who the angels are who have ministered to you in the past year? How have they lifted your spirits, like the “rainbow” sign of the covenant does every time we see one? AuthorAs an ordained Catholic priest for 45 years and a member of the Jesuits for 57 years, I've had a great deal of "spiritual" experience! This is a place where I can continue to share my thoughts about God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit and what it means to live the "mystery of God." Categories |
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