High Seas/ High C's10/31/2023 Tuesday of the 30th Week in Ordinary Time
For creation awaits with eager expectation the revelation of the children of God; for creation was made subject to futility, not of its own accord but because of the one who subjected it, in hope that creation itself would be set free from slavery to corruption and share in the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that all creation is groaning in labor pains even until now; The first reading of the liturgy is taken from Chapter 8 of Paul’s letter to the Romans. It’s filled with moans, groans, hopes, and dreams. What is so stunning about it, is how Paul portrays creation as personal. More than metaphor, creation has feelings! Birth pains, labor contractions are all there! Why would any Christian have problems believing in evolution reading a text like that! It certainly seems that all creation is groaning these days with the reality of climate change causing such harm to the planet. And the wars in the Middle East, and the Ukraine. One can only imagine the groans and cries of the children whose lives are being destroyed by the cruelty and heartlessness of men in power. And yet, in contrast to those who exploit their positions to create chaos and havoc in people’s lives, there are so many examples of people who live good lives of care and compassion. Today we remember a Jesuit brother, St. Alphonsus Rodriguez, who is known for the simplicity of his life and ministry. Alphonsus was a widower who lost not only his wife but all three children before the age of 35. He had known the Jesuit order since he was a boy and after the tragic loss of his family, he felt God calling him to join the Society as a priest. Because of his age and poor health, he was not accepted at first. When he finally entered the Jesuits at age 40, he was accepted as a brother and he worked as the porter at the Jesuit school in Palma, Majorca for 46 years. His “sanctity” was recognized in the simplicity of his life, the depth of his prayer, and the effect he had on each person who he welcomed at the door, seeing Christ in each person. Paul goes on to say: and not only that, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, we also groan within ourselves as we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For in hope we were saved. Now hope that sees for itself is not hope. For who hopes for what one sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait with endurance. These days with all creation groaning call us to hope in the face of despair with patient endurance. Easier said than done! Can we trust that our gracious God hears the moans, groans, and heartfelt cries of a broken and bruised world. I certainly HOPE so! On another “note,” I wrote this entry four years ago when we heard these readings. It seems to be appropriate for Halloween. “No trick but a real treat” I get to see the sea every day. Each day it’s different but when there’s a storm and there are high seas, it feels as if she’s crying out and calling to me. Her high seas made me think of the high C’s that are reached by sopranos. Early this morning I found a youtube link that has various sopranos reaching high C. There’s no trick to this but it is a real treat. Then, I found the same for tenors. One of them is singing a scale and when he gets to a high C the sound turns to “Ouch.” Here are the links: Soprano High C Tenor High C All of the above contributed to today’s “poem.” Aye, Aye! I eye the sea Hi!, sea, I say. High seas, I see. Storm churns, Turns, topsy-turvy. See for yourself, sea says. I’m all eyes and ears, I say Aye, Aye, sea says High C’s, I hear Sea sings, Scales, from sea to C Hear for yourself, sea says. Are you groaning?, I ask. Your high seas sound Pain-filled like high C’s Off-key, more screech than reached. Labor pains, sea says All creation contracting, expanding, labor pangs. Don’t you see, sea says? Your pain is mine My pangs are yours. Aye, Aye, I say, Yes, sea, I see. Not you or me but We as one, Reaching high, see? Since today is Halloween, I can't resist posting this photo of a house on the Cape across the street from where I stay that each year has quite a display! I'm sure it elicits scary screams and groans from all who pass it at night.
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Another "Tall" Order10/30/2023 Monday of the 30th Week in OT
When I chose the title “A Tall Order” yesterday, I didn’t realize that the Gospel today would be Jesus’ healing of the woman stooped over and unable to stand erect. Through Jesus’ compassion, she is able to stand tall for the first time in eighteen years. A few years back I titled the reflection on this reading “Upright or Uptight.” The irony, of course, is that Jesus’ enables her to be truly “upright” but the voice of the “upright” leader challenges Jesus compassionate response to the woman. For the “upright,” the law must be followed to the letter. I judged the leader as “uptight” in his narrow interpretation of the law. Jesus calls out the upright who say they follow the law but find ways of working around it. And what might this Gospel passage offer us today? Do we feel stooped over because of burdens that we are carrying? Is Jesus able to straighten us out by lifting those burdens? For more than forty years, I have been seeing a chiropractor as part of my health care. What I’ve always appreciated is that it’s a “hands on” form of health care. “Chiro” means “hand.” Can we let Jesus be “hands on,” a spiritual chiropractor? And just for fun, since today is the eve of Halloween, here's a very tall and scary ghost! “ A Tall Order!10/29/2023 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time Thus says the LORD: "You shall not molest or oppress an alien, for you were once aliens yourselves in the land of Egypt. You shall not wrong any widow or orphan. If ever you wrong them and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry. The reading from Exodus today is so timely, hearing each day about the devastation in Gaza in response to the horrific attacks on innocent people in Israel. How many widows and orphans are there now because of this conflict between neighbors? Since I do not know the teachings of the Qur’an, I searched this morning to see if there was something similar to the commandment in the Hebrew Bible not to molest or oppress an alien; a stranger. This is what I found.) “Serve God and join not any partners with Him; and do good – to parents, kinsfolk, orphans, those in need, neighbors who are near, neighbors who are strangers, the companion by your side, the wayfarer (ye meet), and what your right hands possess.” [The Holy Qur’an, al-Nisaa 4:36] Reading these two texts from different religious traditions, you wonder how political leaders take to heart the commands of compassion. The Exodus reading finishes with the words, “If someone cries out to me, I will hear their cry. For I am compassionate.” Yes, I know I’m oversimplifying a conflict rife with hatred and injustices on both sides. But what difference do religious beliefs make if they don’t translate into compassion for the alien, the other, even the enemy? In today’s Gospel, Jesus simplifies the commands of the law into two. They are the containers in which all 613 laws of the Torah are held. We simplify them further in reducing them to love of God and neighbor. But what Is missing is the descriptor, “with your WHOLE heart, with you Whole soul, with all you mind. (Matthew leaves out “with all your strength.” And “your neighbor as yourself.” As simple as this sounds, we know from personal experience that it’s a “tall order” to love God and neighbor, whole heartedly, especially when the neighbor is more alien to us and seen as an enemy, rather than someone who deserves love and compassion. But hasn’t God given us “tall orders” since the beginning of time? Can we ask for the grace for our “small” hearts to embrace God’s “tall orders” and find ways to put them into practice? I took the photo of the very tall trees on the Campion property yesterday. At the time I didn't know that I would use the title "A Tall Order" today. Good Grief!10/27/2023 Friday of the 29th Week in OT
“Good” is a strange adjective to use with the word “grief.” How can grief be “good” when it is associated with pain, suffering, and loss? There is the personal grief we know when we lose a loved one. There is a communal grief that is shared when we hear of the terrible loss of lives from the shooting rampage of a single individual. There is a global grief when we see and hear of war in the Middle East and Ukraine. How can grief be good? The more I thought about the question, I was led to a very simple answer. Grief reminds us of whom we love. Grief reminds us of our deepest desires for peace and harmony among all people. Grief can be “good” after all. I’m sure you recognize Charlie Brown in the photo above. I always associate the expression, “Good Grief!” with Peanuts characters. Whether it’s Charlie lamenting the unfairness of life and Lucy, or others calling him out on something “Charlie Brownish” he’s done, “Good Grief!” is an expression that permeates “Peanuts.” As I shared with you already, Tuesday was the first anniversary of the death of my friend, JA. Another dear friend, Judy Basilico who was with me the morning of the day he died, shared with me a photo of him taken a few hours before he died. With him in the bed was Charlie Brown. I had forgotten that I had placed it there for him to have company on his journey. CB was so often at the heart of JA’s preaching and the family Mass so associated him with the Peanuts characters that they called him “Fr Snoopy.” Needless to say, seeing the photo of him with CB was a source of grief, but I think it was “good grief,”reminding me of love and friendship. Four years ago, I wrote a letter to St Paul after reading today’s section from Romans. I think it bears repeating, especially in the light of the experience of grief, which engages the whole person, body and soul, mind and spirit. Grief is something you feel in the gut and in the very fibers of your being. I think the poem I wrote, “Grief’s Engraving” captures the physicality of grief. Grief’s Engraving “Weigh your words,” they say When the time comes to speak of weighty matters, weigh your words. What do words weigh, anyway? Can you put words on a scale and weigh them? If there were a weight with words, what would “grief” weigh? At least a ton, the way that grief crushes the joy, the juice of life’s love squeezed out and all that is left is the pulp, a mass of the trappings and trimmings of memory, still lives when there is no life still. With grief, one can barely breathe Still, wait! Grief should be weighed in pounds. Who has not grieved and felt the pounding heart within, the pounding head without relief, the hands wanting to pound walls and smash, crash, crush whatever is in the way, wringing sobs and sorrows from one who knows no calm, no balm to assuage the searing pain. Still wait! Grief should be weighed in stones. Fourteen pounds in a “stone” A stone’s throw away? Not in grief’s engraving a name on a tombstone, a daily reminder of who has been taken and who has been left behind. And who will roll the stone away? John, the evangelist had a way with words, or more to the point, a way with the Word made flesh with all its trappings and trimmings, the “stuff” of living, loving and dying Rights of passage for the Word weighed down with the world’s woes. The “beloved” must have known the weight of grief. One cannot love and lose the “other” without bone-crushing, breath-taking, heart-smashing, head pounding, grief engraved as it is. Here’s no heart of stone, Here’s a hearth where love’s flame still is a-flicker? The beloved “peered in” and saw wrappings, trappings, trimmings and he would wait for the beloved to appear. Here’s what I wrote four years ago. Today’s reflection is in “epistolary” form. Since we’re hearing Paul’s Letter to the Romans I decided to “sit right down and write St Paul a letter.” I’m writing to you almost 2000 years after you wrote your letter to the community in Rome. As we say in the 21st century, “Thanks for sharing.” We also say, “I feel your pain!” When you lived, you wouldn’t have known that your letters would be collected and quoted by chapter and verse. We’re reading the 7th chapter which has to do with the struggle in you between “sarx” (flesh) and “psyche” (your spirit/soul) You sound pretty conflicted, and you admit your own misery. Miserable one that I am! Who will deliver me from this mortal body? Again, thanks for sharing your struggle. I think most of us can identify with the struggle to do good despite our human limitations. As you say, there is a war that’s going on inside. For I take delight in the law of God, in my inner self, but I see in my members another principle at war with the law of my mind, taking me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. I wonder if there isn’t another war going on in you as well. It’s the war between your Jewish heritage and being a Greek-speaking Roman. As a Jew, you wouldn’t have thought of a split between your spirit and your body. The Jewish understanding of the person was holistic. From what I understand there were two words, “nefesh” and “basar” Both tried to capture the essence of the human person as physical and spiritual being, one associated with the “earthly” and the other with the “divine.” But you had to make these words in Hebrew palatable to a Greco-Roman audience and use the Greek language of sarx (Flesh) body (soma) soul (psyche). You must have been influenced by Greek philosophers who saw the body/flesh as base because of its corruptibility. Body, bad! Spirit, good! I guess what I’m trying to say is that for those of us who live in the 21st century who have to make sense of your letters, something is “lost in translation.” Our contemporary struggle is to see ourselves holistically and not as separate; our physical being at war with our spiritual. Acknowledging the struggle to “do good and avoid evil” isn’t it more accurate to say that God’s embraces the whole self, not just our spiritual self? God seemed to care enough about the body, that in Jesus God is flesh and blood for us. It’s interesting that the Gospel of John, written decades after your letters, has Jesus using “sarx” flesh as the word for his body. So maybe it’s not so bad after all! I wish you could see the photo of the great Russian dancer, Mikhail Baryshnikov, soaring into space. What a beautiful image of his soaring into space. You see his body. You feel his spirit. In this moment they are one and the same. Hope you’re enjoying hanging out with Jesus! Sincerely Robert VerEecke S.J. Hard S(h)ell10/26/2023 Thursday of the 29th Week in OT
I’m posting what I wrote two years ago on this date since I have a long drive ahead of me this morning to visit my brother and sister-in-law in NH. What’s really on my mind this morning is the horrific violence perpetrated against the people of Lewiston Maine by a single shooter. May we never become hardened to the senseless violence that we see more and more in our country. Yesterday, I had a delightful time reconnecting with a friend and former parishioner who has moved to Rockport (town next to Gloucester.) On a walk from her house to the downtown, I stopped to take a photo of Motif #1, “the most often painted building in America.” It was only this morning as I was thinking about the scriptures of today that I looked at the photo and noticed the name of the boat in front of the fishing shack. “Hard Shell” As you can see, I chose this for the title of today’s reflection. First, the scriptures today are a “hard sell.” Paul’s frequent use of the word “slave,” is “heart hardening.” As I said yesterday, we can understand the historical and cultural context in which Paul is writing, but the history of slavery is so horrific and antithetical to what we believe is truly human, that it is hard to hear in any meaningful way. The Gospel is also a “hard sell” as Luke’s Jesus speaks of conflicts which tear apart families and pit one against the other. How does this make sense, given Jesus’s preaching about forgiveness, reconciliation and compassion? And who wants to hear Jesus speaking about “setting the earth on fire,” when parts of our country are ablaze with wildfires bringing destruction in their path? The more I prayed, reflected with these readings, I felt a “hard shell,” encasing my mind and heart. Of course, hard shells are important for protection and preservation of what’s inside, the meat or the fruit. And, of course, they need to be “cracked open” if the delicacy within is to be enjoyed. That may be fine for fruits and nuts, but when it comes to us human beings a “hard shell” is a “hard sell” if we are called to lives of love and compassion. Mastery or Mystery?10/25/2023 "Wednesday of the 29th Week in OT
The Gospel today speaks of the relationship between master and servant. Paul’s letter to the Romans speaks of being “slaves of sin” and “slaves of righteousness.” Although we may find the concept of master-slave or even master-servant off-putting or even repulsive, it is so much a part of biblical experience that it is hard to ignore. Rather than an analysis or exegesis of today’s scriptures, my own prayer led me to remember a retreat I made some years ago using the poem, "The Wreck of the Deutschland" by Gerard Manley Hopkins. It was the first line that came into mind as my morning musing turned to “mastery.” I share with you the first and fifth stanzas of this extraordinary poem by a “master of the art of poetry.” Thou mastering me God! giver of breath and bread; World's strand, sway of the sea; Lord of living and dead; Thou hast bound bones & veins in me, fastened me flesh, And after it almost unmade, what with dread, Thy doing: and dost thou touch me afresh? Over again I feel thy finger and find thee. I kiss my hand To the stars, lovely-asunder Starlight, wafting him out of it; and Glow, glory in thunder; Kiss my hand to the dappled-with-damson west: Since, tho' he is under the world's splendour and wonder, His mystery must be instressed, stressed; For I greet him the days I meet him, and bless when I understand. Although Hopkins is referring to God in the last three lines, it could also refer to him and understanding his poetry. It’s not always easy but sometimes, a single verse can open you up to a hidden meaning within yourself. When I read, “And dost thou touch me afresh? Over again I feel thy finger and find thee,” I had to ask myself, "Is God touching me afresh? Am i feeling the finger of God even now in the mix of grace and grief? Haven’t we all had experiences when fear and dread is transformed into hope and love? Some moments are more pregnant with meaning than others. Sometimes all we can do is “shiver” as we feel the finger of God, or at least it feels like that. Don’t we live for moments when we feel the touch of God “afresh?” Hopkins, with his Jesuit formation, was steeped in the experience of “finding God in all things.” As he says “ Since, tho’ he is under the worlds splendour and wonder, His mystery must be instressed, stressed.” The mystery of God is all in all. The mastery of God is inviting us to discovery and recovery of ourselves in relationship to God. Hopkins moves from sublime to simple. “For I greet him the days I meet him, and bless him when I understand.” And there are days when we feel that we meet God and there is some understanding that we have. Is today one of those days for you? Four years ago, on this day I wrote the poem, “Mind Over Matter.” It wove together Pauline themes of spirit and matter with Ilia Delio’s “The Emergent Christ” which a group of us were reading at that time. I think it happens to have a “Hopkins” feel to it. mind_over_matter.docx With all the Hopkins quotes and references, I chose to use a Bill McNichols icon of GMH. Yesterday, I wrote my reflection before going to JA’s room to pray and remember. When I was there I looked out the window and saw a beautiful tree, adorned with autumn amber leaves. It was my “one ray at a time.” One Ray at a Time10/24/2023 Tuesday of the 29th week in OT/ Memorial of St. Anthony Claret
A year ago, today I was waiting in vigil for the death of my dear friend, JA. I was accompanied by my friends Tony Compagnone and Marguerite and John Gallagher. JA passed away quietly, (very unlike him!). I’ll celebrate Mass in his memory this morning but before, I’ll return to the room here at Campion where he died and spend some time remembering him and how our lives were woven together in friendship over 56 years. This morning as I was looking at the front page of the Boston Globe the words “One Ray at a Time” caught my eye. They were the heading for the weather report. Every day there is some clever play on words, and that always delights me. Of course, the expression is “one day at a time.” It’s the advice you give or get when you or someone else is dealing with life’s challenges. As I reflect over the past year, trying to deal with the loss of a beloved friend and companion, I’ve had to look each day for some “ray of light;” a reason for living, and a trust that “all will be well.” This morning, for example, the sky was lit up with streaks of light with a “rosy” hue. The cloud formations were stunning but from where I was sitting most of the sky was hidden from my sight. I could only catch a glimpse of the beauty I was beholding. And I was thinking of how much is hidden from our sight when it comes to knowing the ways in which God reveals “love” in so many different forms. Already today, on the first anniversary of his death, there have been much, much more than “one ray at a time.” In today’s reading from Romans, Paul reminds us of the abundance of God’s love for us in Jesus Christ. If by that one person's transgression the many died, how much more did the grace of God and the gracious gift of the one man Jesus Christ overflow for the many. This is so much more than just “one ray at a time.” It’s a sunburst! As I now go to the room where JA died and remember the “sunburst” of his life and love for me and so many others whose lives he touched, I wanted to share again the poem I wrote for this day four years ago for the memorial of St Anthony Claret. He was a weaver, and the title of the poem is “Autumn Weaves.” Although the predictions for the foliage were very muted this year because of all the rain we’ve hand, I’ve been surprised and delighted by what I have seen so far. .autumn_weaves.docx Cache or Credit?10/22/2023 Monday of the 29th Week in Ordinary Time
Cache or Credit I give Paul’s letter to the Romans all the credit for today’s reflection. The word “credited” kept coming into my consciousness after hearing Paul use it three times. I thought about different ways we use the word “credit” and finally came to “cash or credit?” You hear that expression so often these days. Lo and behold, the Gospel speaks of a “cache” of the rich man’s possessions. Hence, “Cache or Credit?” Cache or Credit? Quite a cache! Where house my wares? Some safe place Where no one knows. A barn? Barns burn, too many bales. A building? Buildings buckle, too many stories A Vault? Of course! Vaults hold hidden treasures. No safer place than a vault No stealing from this steel Vault-less no longer! I take all the credit for my cache! Foolish, frivolous, Feckless fellow! A vault for your vanity! Housing, hording, hiding Heaven’s treasures, God’s gifts! Better credit God than cache. Here’s the catch. With God, No need for a vault, There’s the vault of the sky. With God, No need for a warehouse When a small wooden box holds the universe. Extraterrestrial10/22/2023 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time
No, I’m not going to reference the film, ET or reflect on extraterrestrial beings. Six years ago, there was an article in the NY Times about an extraterrestrial explosion of stars that seemed so appropriate to today’s Gospel that I used it in my homily. Astronomers announced on Monday that they had seen and heard a pair of dead stars collide, giving them their first glimpse of the violent process by which most of the gold and silver in the universe was created. The collision known as a kilonova, rattled the galaxy in which it happened 130 million light years from here and sent fireworks across the universe. Such explosions, astronomers have long suspected, produced many of the heavier elements like gold, silver and uranium. All the atoms in your wedding band, in the pharaoh’s treasures and the bombs that destroyed Hiroshima and still threaten us have been formed in cosmic gong shows that reverberated across the heavens. I could go on but wow! Isn’t that mind-bending, mind-boggling, amazingly awesome! Aren’t you in stunned silence before the mystery of the Universe? And how perfect is this discovery on a Sunday when we hear the passage in scripture where Jesus asks the Pharisees for a coin (gold/silver/copper/ some heavy metal) If what we just heard is true then that coin came from one of those cosmic gong shows millions of years before. The Pharisees are trying to “trap” Jesus or trip him up so that he will show himself in conflict with the Roman regime but with the flip of a coin he evades the question. “Whose image is on this coin? Caesar’s. Then, give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar. But to God what belongs to God. And that’s just about everything and everyone. God’s image is imprinted on creation and especially on men and women who bear the “imago dei”, the image of God. There is something about this cosmic explosion that creates heavy metal for the coin in Jesus’ hand that invites us to expand our horizons about God who is creator of this mind-bending universe. Like the coin that is so small, and like the critics of Jesus who are so small-minded, so often our “images of God” are so small, “domesticated”. We think we can talk about God, describe God, measure God, when we really should be in stunned silence before God. Listen to a bit more: Neutron stars are full of stuff, matter packed at the density of Mount Everest in a teaspoon. When neutron stars slam together, all kinds of things burst out: gamma rays, X-rays, Radio waves. Something for everyone who has a window on the sky. “Joy for All”, as one scientist says. This is the story of a gold rush in the sky. Joy for all, here and now, knowing that eternal one whom we name “God” is so much, much more that our “small minds can comprehend”. God is the One who at the “flip of a coin” puts into motion these cosmic gong shows that can only elicit from us “awe and wonder”, And yet God is the one whom we call “father/mother”, the eternal one who is so near to us in Jesus Christ, God’s anointed. Another expression used to capture an “extraterrestrial” experience is “other worldly.” Yesterday, I went to see/hear the Metropolitan’s production of “Dead Man Walking.” It was playing at the Cape Cinema and although I was going to a wedding later in the afternoon, I really wanted to see/hear how this story based on Sr. Helen Prejean’s book of the same name which deals with an horrific crime and capital punishment could be translated into music. From the first strains of Joyce DiDinato, as Sr. Helen, singing “He will gather us around,” I was transported to another world. The contrast between the beauty of the music and the stark reality of human cruelty and emotional pain created a gut-wrenching experience. I could barely contain my tears, and sometimes sobs seeing and hearing the story of a Joseph DeRocher’s (Ryan McKinny) spiritual redemption through the persistent compassion of Sr. Helen. (I was only able to stay for the first half of the opera. I would go back again in a heartbeat.) The irony in naming this an “other worldly” experience is that it deals with “this world” stuff; human crime and capital punishment. And yet, there is something in the music and the story that soars beyond this world into the galaxies and into “another world.” Peace Prayer10/20/2023 Friday of the 28th Week in Ordinary Time
Since I’m heading to Cape Cod shortly for the wedding of the granddaughter of dear friends, I don’t have the time to do a reflection. I will catch up on Sunday morning after the festivities. Hearing the reading to the Romans today, however, with its references to the faith of Abraham, how can we not pray for peace and understanding among the three faiths that credit him with origins? I chose a photo of the globe, since our prayers for peace need to expand to all people. Here is the Peace Prayer from For the Greater Glory of God. Peace Prayer 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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