Home Stretch3/30/2019 Fourth Sunday of Lent Today is Laetare Sunday which marks the beginning of the “home stretch” as we make our way to Easter. It's a day of "rejoicing" and certainly Paul's words, "in Christ you are a new creation" are reasons for rejoicing. As I reviewed homilies that I had written for the 4th Sunday of Lent I found that almost all were from the A Cycle because of the celebration of the Scrutinies with the Catechumens. There is one that I found that’s from the C Cycle that I’d like to share with you. (I’m happy that we are in the C Cycle since I’m so near the sea!) I was surprised to see the Gospel today is again the Prodigal Son. I was going to entitle this reflection, “Had Enough?” but after reading this homily I decided on “Home stretch.” 2007 The home stretch. The younger son in the story of the prodigal, after leaving home, grabbing all he could get of his father’s goodness and his brother’s inheritance, and spending all that he had, was stretching for home. In the midst of the most demeaning experience imaginable, hungering for what even the pigs had rejected, his memory begins to stretch toward a past that was much better than he realized, toward a home where even the servants were treated well. The younger son is of course in crisis, at a turning point. And he does have a choice. He can remain starving, homeless, feeling himself unworthy to be called son or he can head home. But before he is in the home stretch, he must bend. (or at least he thinks he has to bend) He thinks he must own his own failure to be a son, recognize that he is now dis-inherited. He thinks he must humble himself before his father, not just begging forgiveness but denying his very birth-right, as son. Given the son’s impetuous nature, maybe it wasn’t much of a stretch for him to throw himself at this father’s feet and beg forgiveness. The home stretch. The father in the story who is the real prodigal in his limitless love for his two sons is really stretching the limits of love and forgiveness. You can see him stretching towards the road his son had traveled when he left. Looking every day for a point in the distance, that would become clearer. When he would see not a shadow of his son but his own flesh and blood, a son who was lost, “Coming home.” You may know the Rembrandt painting of the Prodigal. Look at him stretching his arms in embrace, the enormous hand out of proportion to the rest of his body, clasping his son to himself. In the welcome home, there is no question, no recrimination, no punishment, no conditions of acceptance. Quite the opposite. Get out the finery. The son who thought himself dis-inherited is embraced and welcomed. The home stretch. The older son in the story of the prodigal, working and slaving in the fields, being the dutiful son, will soon be in crisis. He is heading home from the fields when he hears the sounds of music and dancing. When he hears of “That Son of yours” return (he does not own his brother as his own) he is in crisis. Here is another turning point. Will he keep turning toward home, where his father is too prodigal with his love and forgiveness, or turn away, turn inside toward his resentment, his repressed rage at how he feels his life has gone. And we hear his hurt and his bitterness. As the younger brother was homeless for a time, the elder is “homeless” now . He can not stretch toward home, because that stretch will mean he must be like his father. He must stretch his arms in welcome to the brother who was lost. He has to bend if he is going to stretch. Do you ever imagine the next scene of this parable? Jesus leaves us “in crisis” at a turning point. Will there be reconciliation with the two brothers? Because I’m a "happily ever after kind of guy," I imagine that the younger son is standing behind the father when the father goes out to meet the elder brother. The younger son takes off the cloak, the rings and stretches his arms out to his brother offering the homecoming gifts he has received. And the elder brother chooses to let go of his resentment and comes home into his father’s/brothers arms. Or do you imagine the mother of the boys whom we don’t hear about making her appearance with her wisdom Jesus does not finish the story. He leaves it up to us his disciples to finish the story of the prodigal. How will we live out this story in our crises, our turning points of asking for or giving forgiveness? How will we come to our senses and know that God’s love is really unconditional? That no matter how often we turn away, God is always, always bending, stretching, turning to us. How will we let go of our bitterness, jealousy and resentment because of our past and become a “new creation”. Home coming! Finding a home in ourselves and in our God. Quite a stretch! 2019 I have been listening to the score of Les Miserables recently. “Bring Him Home” has always been one of my favorites. Could I recommend that you listen to this piece and think about the story of the prodigal?
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Pried of Place3/30/2019 Saturday of the Third Week of Lent I imagine you are familiar with the expression, “pride of place.” It’s meaning quite simply is “first and most important position.” But if you have the “d” and the “e” switch places, you end of with “pried of place,” which could mean the exact opposite! Or to be biblical about it…. “Whoever exalt themselves will be humbled and whoever humble themselves will be exalted.” As someone who for years had “pride of place” and has been “pried of place,” as I write this I have a “smile on my face”. (If it were raining, I’d be singing.) As I prayed about how to summarize this third week of Lent, I wanted to focus on the theme of humility, not a false humility but a genuine humility in which you “know your place.” This theme is woven through the scriptures we have heard this week beginning with Moses and Mary as they accept the place that God has for them in the unfolding of God’s design for the world. We heard as well of Israel’s sinfulness and infidelity that leads to an acknowledgment for a return to God with a humble and contrite spirit. This morning we hear the parable of the Pharisee who has “pride of place” and who is “pried of place,” even if he doesn’t realize it. The tax-collector, however who knows his place before God is able to express this with a simple gesture and appeal for mercy. Bur what about “humility.” Many of us have an aversion to the word since it can be used in a way that denies one’s gifts and talents and encourages a passivity that can be harmful to our “true selves.” When I think of the word, “humility” I think of its etymology. It comes from the word “humus” or earth. One of my favorite musicals is The Secret Garden. It’s based on the children’s book by Frances Hodgson Burnett that was published in 1910. All of the main characters are suffering physically or emotionally because of illness, loss or shattered dreams. In the song, “A Bit of Earth,” young Mary’s uncle Archibald begrudgingly asks her if she needs anything, books, toys, dolls. All she asks for is “a bit of earth.” He sings: A bit of earth She wants a little bit of earth She'll plant some seeds The seeds will grow The flowers bloom But is their bounty What she needs? The thing about a “bit of earth” is that it has the potential for bringing life and beauty to the world. If only for a time, something can grow from that “bit of earth,” as it can grow from a “bit of us.” If we can accept ourselves as we are with our faults and flaws but knowing that we are loved unconditionally, we may be surprised at what beauty can bloom from our “bit of earth.” God will come to us the like the rain,
Like the spring rain that waters the earth! A "Budding" Romance3/29/2019 Friday of the 3rd Week of Lent Luxuriate in all the beautiful images of nature that the prophet Hosea gives in this passage from today’s scripture! “I will be like the dew for Israel: she shall blossom like the lily; She shall strike root like the Lebanon cedar, and put forth her shoots. Her splendor shall be like the olive tree and her fragrance like the Lebanon cedar. Again they shall dwell in her shadeand raise grain; They shall blossom like the vine, and her fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon.” After Israel’s infidelity, worshipping other gods, she returns to her lover’s embrace. Whenever I hear a text from Hosea, it always reminds me of the familiar song from Weston Priory by the same name, Hosea. Come back to me, with all your heart Don’t let fear keep us apart Trees do bend though straight and tall So must we to others’ call. Long have I waited for your coming home to me And living deeply our new life. Estrangement is a “strange” word and a stranger feeling. Alienation from family, friend, a beloved community creates a distance that can feel insurmountable. When estrangement between lovers, spouses, life partners happens because of a betrayal of trust, the pain can be simply unbearable. And so often it leads to belittling the other, thinking and saying the worst about someone or others who were once “the best.” I think most of us know how difficult it is to forgive those whom we feel have harmed and betrayed us.
And what about God? Have you ever experienced a kind of estrangement, alienation, separation from the One who is Love in its purest essence? If you have, you may also know that the passion God has for you is so strong that God will go to whatever lengths it takes to “restore, remake, renew” the relationship of love and fidelity. “I will love them freely,” are the words we hear from the prophet Hosea after the turbulent relationship between God and God’s people. I titled this reflection a “budding” romance not only because of the number of trees that are beginning to bud in this early spring season, but also because the God who is love and whom we are called to love with all our “heart, soul, mind and strength” is always “budding” into our lives. The God who is Love always is about “budding” into our tendency to hold on to hurt and burrow ourselves beneath the ground or hide in the shadows. God is, I believe, the ultimate “romantic.” God is the dreamer, the visionary, the one who imagines something beautiful for us, desiring that we be “buds” for each other. Velcro/Teflon3/28/2019 Thursday of the 3rd Week of Lent
Anyone who is reading Richar Rohr’s, The Universal Christ should catch the allusion in today’s title. “Brain studies have shown that we may be hardwired to focus on problems at the expense of a positive vision. The human brain wraps around fear and problems like Velcro… Conversely, positivity and gratitude and simple happiness slide away like cheese on hot Teflon….We are more attracted to the problem than the solution.” Pgs. 64-65 I think the Velcro/Teflon theory of the brain is also true of the positive and negative “voices” that we hear. I would imagine you have had the experience of a multitude of voices praising you and only a few criticizing. Inevitably, it’s the negative voices that “stick” and the positive slide away. In today’s Gospel, Jesus literally gives someone a “voice.” "Jesus was driving out a demon that was mute, and when the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke and the crowds were amazed." But not everybody! There are a few there who criticize and accuse him of doing the work of Beelzebul. From his response I have the impression that Jesus doesn’t let the voices of his critics and accusers “stick.” His responses challenge their thinking. I’d like to think that as human as he was, the “Velcro/Teflon” theory of the brain doesn’t apply in his case. And why not? It may be that the voice of God saying, “You are my beloved,” is the only voice he really pays attention to. And what about us? Can we tune out the voices that disparage, criticize, accuse and tell us that we are not worthy to be loved and accepted as we are? Can we listen to the voice of God as a source of affirmation, acceptance and infinite love? Rohr says in a later chapter, speaking of recognizing the voice of God: “If any thought feels too harsh, shaming or diminishing of yourself or others, it is not likely the voice of God. That is simply your voice. Why do humans so often presume the exact opposite—that shaming voices are always from God, and grace voices are always the imagination? That is a self-defeating (“demonic”) path. (p.88) “If a voice comes from accusation and leads to accusation, it is quite simply the voice of the “Accuser,” which is the literal meaning of the biblical word “Satan.” Shaming, accusing, or blaming is simply not how God talks. It is how we talk.” (p. 89) Or as an alternative translation to “If today you hear God’s voice, harden not your hearts,” how about? If today you hear God’s voice, Hearken with you Heart! Left High and Dry? Oh Well....3/27/2019 Wednesday of the 3rd Week of Lent
As I read today’s scriptures I have to admit that they left me “high and dry.” I wasn’t sure where the Spirit would lead. I decided to listen to the Spanish version of “Pray As You Go,” in the hopes that I might be inspired. I was. As part of their reflection, they played the Spanish version of David Haas’ Deep Within. It’s a piece of music that has always had a great deal of significance for me and one, which I have choreographed and used for Lenten prayer services. It's about 8 minutes into the video. https://vimeo.com/60764715 Deep Within I will plant my law, Not on stone but in your heart. Follow me, I will bring you back. You will be my own And I will be your God. The image of the “law” planted deep within one’s interior being and symbolized by the “heart” has so much emotional resonance. It feels like an invitation to act from the inside out. It’s not so much about following the rules, the laws and the commands so that one can be “law-abiding” but rather, following a person who inspires you to live with integrity and generosity. The Lenten invitation is always to know Jesus more intimately so that we can follow him more closely. If we believe that God has written the law of love on our hearts, we may be able to go our “inner well” and find the source of healing, wholeness, mercy and compassion that we need to live as Jesus did. From being left “high and dry,” the movement of the Spirit led me to the image of a Well. Well, I have to be honest and say that there haven’t been many “wells” in my experience although I “wish” there were. There is something about the image of the “Well,” its depth, its water, its mystery that captures my imagination. As the prophet Isaiah says, “You will draw water joyfully from the springs of salvation” (Isaiah 12:3) If you have a chance to look at the choreography for Deep Within, you may also want to view God is Here, another piece written by David Haas that is part of Lenten Evening Prayer 2008.https://vimeo.com/60764715 Why do you stare at the skies above While your hearts are broken, looking for love? Why get lost in the things of the past? But believe the promise of a truth that will last. God is here, God is here, One thing I know, God is here By the way, the expression “high and dry” has a positive meaning: being out of the reach of the current or tide or out of the water and a negative one: being in a helpless or abandoned position. Go figure! What's the Score?3/26/2019 Tuesday of the 3rd Week of Lent
What’s the score? That’s a pretty common question. We seem to be “score keepers” by our nature. We want to keep track of who wins and who loses. Sometimes we are so hurt by others that we want to “even the score.” We even make God into a score -keeper who knows how many wins and how many losses there are in our lives. I had a parishioner at St Ignatius who had been seriously affected by his time in Vietnam. Whatever it was that happened in his life, he decided he could “win” God’s forgiveness by going to as many masses, saying as many rosaries and novenas as was humanly possible. He kept score and wanted to make sure that his “score” meshed with God’s score. He was a wonderful human being who received comfort from thinking God was keeping his score. Peter in today’s Gospel is also a score keeper. He asks Jesus how many times one should forgive a brother/sister. I always feel that he thinks he’s pretty magnanimous suggesting “seven times.” But Jesus throws him a 'curve ball," saying that one must forgive seventy times seven times. Jesus is anything but a score keeper! The parable he tells illustrates this. The servant who is forgiven his debt want to “even the score” with his fellow servant rather than forgive the debt as the landowner did for him. It’s not easy being a follower of Jesus, especially when it comes to forgiveness. Sometimes we miss how central the experience of forgiveness is to his ministry. We can easily make excuses for ourselves and forgive some people but not others. First we must “even the score” before we are able to forgive. But Jesus asks so much more of us. Rather than focusing on “scoring,” in the sense of having the advantage over someone, maybe we are invited to hear the musical “score” of our lives as symphonies of mercy, forgiveness and reconciliation. God Sends...(Continued)3/25/2019 The picture above is Joel dancing to "Tomorrow Shall be my Dancing Day."
As I thought more about Joel as a God-sent person in my life, I remembered driving to his father, Len's funeral at St Mary of the Annunciation in Melrose. It wasn't exactly blizzard conditions but I do remember slipping and sliding on the back roads in my Prius without snow tires! I also remember how Joel on that same day somehow made it on stage and performed his heart out as a gift to his father. What a trooper! What a God-send! Dancing Day was his favorite for A Dancer's Christmas and Christmas Reflections but his favorite for the Lenten prayer service was "On Holy Ground." (Burning bush?) You can see Joel dancing this if you go to blde.org and then to Repertory/Lent. Scroll down and you will see On Holy Ground. God-Sends...3/24/2019 9 Months tomorrow is Christmas! March 25th is the feast of the Annunciation when we hear the story of the Angel Gabriel “announcing” to Mary of Nazareth that she will give birth to Jesus. Gabriel may be the most famous of all the “God-sends” in the New Testament. Call him an “angel, a divine messenger,” Mary’s life is changed forever because of this "God-send.”
My reflection on this feast day is on “godsends” in our lives. When I realized that today’s Gospel is also proclaimed on the 4thSunday of Advent in the A Cycle, I did my “sleuthing” to find a homily I wrote in 2008. It reminded me of one of the very special godsends in my life and so I have decided to share it with you. 4th Sunday of Advent 2008 My first question for you today is, "Who are the godsends in your life? Who are the people who grace you with their love, their support, their presence. Think about them and give gratitude for them." One of the God-sends in my own life is a young many named Joel. And I want to tell you about him. He is a dancer in A Dancer’s Christmas and I went to his father’s funeral yesterday at St Mary of the Annunciation church yesterday morning. There is a wonderful story I would like to share with you about Joel. About 7 years ago, I received an email from Joel’s father, Len. I had never met him but he had found my contact information. He wrote to me about his son, Joel, who was a very gifted dancer and singer who was born with Down Syndrome. Len, his father, told me this story. A few days earlier his wife Rosemary had gone outside into their backyard of their home in Melrose and noticed a single page of the Boston Globe on the ground. They were not Globe readers and so she wondered where it came from. When she looked at the page she saw that it was from the Arts Section and when she showed it to Len then were surprised and delighted to read about Fr Bob and his production of A Dancer’s Christmas. As Len and Rosemary tell the story, it is as if an angel made a special delivery of the single page of the Globe into their backyard since their son Joel had been praying for a sign from God about how he could use his talents for God. Needless to say I was moved to tears when I heard about this extraordinary course of events that brought Joel into my life. I tell you this story about Joel not only because of the wonderful way in which these events transpired, or the fact that I was at his father’s funeral at St Mary of the Annunciation on a weekend where the gospel would be the Annunciation, but because through Joel, I have understood a little more of the one “full of grace,” Mary of Nazareth and her “Yes” and loving response to her God. Joel has this wonderful transparency. He speaks of God so freely. He dances for God. He sings out of love for God. There seem to be no barrier between God and him, no defenses. This beautiful person is so transparently open to God and all that God wants to give to him. I think Mary must have been that way. One so attentive to God, God’s word, God’s presence, God’s embrace. Not at the expense of her humanity. Not without pain, not without grief and grit and wonder and worry. Mary of Nazareth lived her life with this radical openness to God. And that did not free her from suffering but she knew this intimate bond of friendship with God. What could be more intimate than to bear a child in her womb with love beyond all telling? So who are the God-sends in your life? If you think of them, give thanks! Below is a picture of Hark, The Herald Angel! He's been a God-send in my life and a source of creative inspiration for me. Haven't got a Clue?3/23/2019 3-24
The third Sunday of Lent in the C Cycle contains my absolute favorite story from the Hebrew Scriptures. It’s Moses’ encounter with the “burning bush” and it contains my absolute favorite lines, “Take off your sandals. This is Holy Ground.” This reflection contains sections of some of the homilies I’ve written over the years for this Sunday. I wish I could share all of them with you but I will resist the temptation JLet me simply say that the third Sunday of Lent Cycle C always turns me into a “spiritual sleuth,” searching for clues, hints, glimpses of the Mystery of God who reveals “some” of the mystery speaking out of the "burning bush" with the name, I AM WHO AM. Over the years, clues have led me to gardens, beaches and especially prisons. Yes, prisons! On my first visit to Norfolk Prison in 1995, while I was searching for the “burning bush,” the first words I heard spoken by the prison security were “Take off your shoes.” Later on in the office of the chaplain was a poster with an image of the ‘burning bush” with the words I AM inscribed on them. A prison? Well, of course! God is revealed as Liberator in the story of the burning bush. So keep your eyes open! You never know how and where you will encounter the mystery of God in the extraordinary ordinary. 2010 And then the word “Close” was resounding in my ears, drowning out the music I was listening to. “Close” brought me to the story of Moses, wanting to come closer, to inspect, to investigate, to probe, to delve into the mystery. He is fascinated by this phenomenon of fire defying the ordinary laws of nature. He had to come closer to see for himself what in the world was going on. Of course, he would find that it was “in the world but not of the world.” Strange in deed! But the voice that calls him my name tells him “Do not come any closer.” This is Holy Ground. Take off your shoes1 Moses could only come so close to the mystery. He had to keep his distance. The mystery was not meant to be comprehended, explained, interpreted but simply lived. The revelation of God was in its essence “I am the one who has heard the cry of my people. I am with them in their suffering. I am Deliverance.” And then strangely, still peddling away, making progress but going nowhere, it felt as if I were hearing the voice of God saying, “ I am close to you,” Close, close, close. That one word echoing within my ears, my soul, my heart. Breaking through the barriers of space and time. Questions like “how close?” What is the distance between you and me in space and in time?” None of that mattered: In the here and now, peddling away on a stationary bike, making progress and going nowhere, there was this experience of “Closeness,” and being filled with the spirit of God. 2013 Do you find this verse from scripture as fascinating as I do? Do you want to get a closer look? Like Moses who was fascinated by the burning bush and wanted to get a closer look, I’m fascinated. So let me ask you, when do you hear those words, “Take off your shoes?” Not too often, except when you’re going through security for an airline or a prison. Or maybe in a doctor’s office when you’re getting measured for height and weight? The command you are more likely to hear is, “Put on your shoes!” Don’t walk around in bare feet! Sound familiar? We are often told to put something on our feet to protect us. The ground is dirty, muddy, dusty. There may be broken glass, shards of something that will puncture your feet. There may even be a bee waiting to sting you hidden in the grass. We are not (generally speaking) a bare foot people. We wear shoes, sandals, mocassins, slippers. We don’t usually expose our feet to the elements. Shoe-less we are more vulnerable. "Come no nearer. Take off your sandals. This is Holy Ground you walk on." Why? Perhaps the answer is that there should be nothing between you and this holy ground in the encounter with I AM. Could the words, “Take off your shoes,” be symbolic for “Take off everything?” Be naked in the presence of the Holy One. There is nothing to hide. There is nothing to be ashamed of. When Moses responds to the call of his name “Here I am,” he must be completely who he is before I AM, before the mystery of God. Nothing must come between him and the holy ground that is symbol of God’s good creation. 2019 This year’s homily for the 3rdSunday of Lent is the life I’m living. For the first time in 40 years, the search for the mystery of God, symbolized in the voice speaking from the “burning bush” is not an intellectual or spiritual search. It’s not just “homily material.” It’s actually for me a search for ultimate meaning. It’s an encounter with I AM in a way that I’ve never know before. It’s overly dramatic to say that it’s about “life and death,” but it certainly feels that way. I know that I need the revelation of I AM as liberator. Have you ever had the experience of God asking for forgiveness from you? I know we think of it as the other way around. But what if God wants to ask you for forgiveness for the pain and suffering in your life? As I spent the afternoon wandering in God’s creation with the only sounds being birdsongs and wind, whistling through the trees, I thought I heard the voice of God saying, O my Bob, I am heartily sorry…. God's Active Condition...3/22/2019 Saturday of the 2nd Week in Lent
An Active Condition…God’s Infinite Love and Mercy! O my God I am heartily starry For having befriended thee. And I attest to all my sins So I can spread the hope of Heaven and the joys as well. But most of all because you befriend me, my God Who are all Good and unswerving in all your love. I firmly resolve with the help of your grace To profess your infinite mercy, to do justice to your Goodness And to Amen my life. Amen! This past week the reflections I have written have focused on the traditional Act of Contrition and how that prayer does not do justice to an image of God who is Unconditional Love and Infinite Mercy. When I first began hearing people’s confession of sins, I would often use the image of a grain of sand in a desert or a beach, comparing one’s sinfulness to that grain of sand in comparison to God’s infinite mercy. Yes, we are sinners. We are flawed. We make mistakes. We inflict pain on others with our words and actions. All of this is true but we always need to balance our human sinfulness with the infinite mercy of God who is Love. The story of the Prodigal, today’s Gospel, illustrates this unconditional love better than any words I can find. I have always been moved by the father’s response to the younger son. He doesn’t want a “formulaic” expression of sorrow. He doesn’t scold or punish the son for squandering his inheritance. He is so happy to have him home that he plans a party! While he was still a long way off, his father caught sight of him, and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him. His son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you; I no longer deserve to be called your son.' But his father ordered his servants, 'Quickly, bring the finest robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Take the fattened calf and slaughter it. Then let us celebrate with a feast, because this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again; he was lost, and has been found.' Years ago I choreographed this story as part of For the Greater Glory of God. You may enjoy taking a look at this interpretation at www.blde.org If you scroll down on the home page to For the Greater Glory, the prodigal piece begins 13:30 minutes into the piece. As I said in my reflection yesterday, I believe that the Church has done a disservice to God in portraying God as “out to get us” when God really does “get us.” Believing in God can be more “burden” than “blessing.” Sometimes when people would come to the Sacrament of Reconciliation after many years of estrangement from the Church because their lives and loves were considered sinful, I would first ask them for their forgiveness. I thought it important they first forgive the “church” for making life a test they were always failing rather than a gift that keeps on giving. The question to myself these days is, "Do I really believe that God’s infinite, unconditional mercy and love reaches into the depths of my being, knowing my flaws and failures and accepting me as I am?" Maybe the real question is, "Can I love and forgive myself for not being perfect?" All I can say is that I’m working on it. Or maybe it’s really God who is working on it. That is after all, God’s Active Condition. :-) 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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