Monthly Archives: July 2016

Saturday of Week 15 in Ordinary Time (Year II)
Micah 2:1-5 | Psalm 9B:1-4,7-8,14 | Matthew 12:14-21

Yesterday, we awoke to reports of the horrific vehicular attack on helpless revelers in Nice on France’s national day. The entire Liturgy of the Word for today is similarly somber, reminding us that evildoers are always in our midst, and while they will eventually reap their just retribution, they are also often uncovered only after they’ve done their dirty deeds and inflicted unjust hurt.

We may not be able to stop devilish acts on this scale, but we can still do our part to shift the balance around us from mutual suspicion to collective respect, to “put our thumbs on the scale of love”, as it were.

Nothing in our Catholic faith says we can’t:

• greet our neighbors with good cheer and a helping hand where needed, or
• spare a smile and a grateful “Thank you!” to the cleaners and service staff at our offices, common areas and eating spots, or
• decline to pass on the “hairdryer treatment” we receive from our bosses on to our colleagues and subordinates,

or any of a thousand other things that proclaim by example our belief in the Lord of Love, whose visage we behold in everyone around us, regardless of race, language or religion.

Let us also unite with the grieving souls of Nice and other troubled places in this world, in calling upon our Lord to be with us always, our hope, our help and our shield:

Amen.

St. Bonaventure (Bishop, Doctor)
Isaiah 38:1-6,21-22,7-8 | Isaiah 38:10-12,16 | Matthew 12:1-8

Today’s Responsorial Psalm is rather unusual, in that it’s not actually taken from the Book of Psalms. Rather, it’s a canticle attributed to Hezekiah, one of the central characters in today’s reading.

Canticle: a hymn, psalm or other song of praise taken from biblical or holy texts other than the Psalms (Wikipedia)

So what would it take for us to write our own canticles, besides some modicum of musical ability?

The key ingredient is obviously something to praise God about, which can be surprisingly hard to find when we’re not in the right frame of mind. When we’re beset by disagreeable people and seemingly insurmountable problems, we’re probably more inclined to moan, “why, God, why?!?!”

But when we consciously shift our mental focus away from the unpleasant, and imbibing in the stream of Christ’s peace, then the words of praise can begin to flow, as they did for St. Francis of Assisi when he completed his famous Canticle of the Sun on his deathbed.

Be praised, Lord God Almighty,
For the trials that come my way,
And for all the love and graces
You show me every day

Lord, I hunger for your goodness
Pouring forth from Thy pierced side
Cleanse me with Thy Precious Blood, that
I may with Thee abide

Holy Spirit, Thee descending,
With Thy gifts all sevenfold,
Come inflame us with Thy fire
Of heav’nly love untold.

O my soul, give praise and glory
To the Trinal Unity
Of the Father, Son and Spirit
For all eternity.

Amen.

Thursday of Week 15 in Ordinary Time (Year II)
Isaiah 26:7-9,12,16-19 | Psalm 101:13-21 | Matthew 11:28-30

So it’s the end of a very long and rather difficult day, in a endless string of long and difficult days. How shall we unwind?

A few hours playing a favorite first-person shooter game, while mentally painting our business antagonists’ faces on the opponents?

HEADSHOT! Booyah! Take that, you fat *****!

Or perhaps downing a couple of pints at the local bar, to drown our sorrows?

That fat ***** can go ***** himself! Now I have to cut my margins just to stay in the running for that very lucrative tender! *****!

Or perhaps taking a cue from today’s Gospel:

Lord, today could’ve gone better, but I guess You had something in mind when you let me experience all that unpleasantness. It’s late and I’m tired, but thank You for everything today, and it would be nice if you could inspire me in my sleep. See you tomorrow, Lord.

<zzzzzsnxsnx>

Good morning, Lord. I guess I’d better get to the office early and try to figure a way out of this me…oh. Oh. OH! Why didn’t I think of that before?!?! Thank you, Lord, for saving my ***!

✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞

When I started nightly reflections on the daily Word of God, there was a niggling doubt deep within that I might not be able to sustain this pace, that I’d run into writer’s block before long, that I was just setting myself up for a prideful fall.

That doubt, after exactly 100 entries, isn’t there any more. On the contrary:

• reading a few words from centuries ago,
• spending some time pondering them,
• occasionally looking up odd phrasings and curiously contradictory messages,
• reading others’ interpretations of the same passages, then
• blogging my own thoughts

has been remarkably relaxing and rather addictive. I’m not sure I could stop if I wanted to…and I’m a long way from wanting to.

✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞

I’ve long retained a romantic image of a quiet neighborhood bar playing soft music, with a wise bartender dispensing drinks and advice in equal measure, but especially generous with a listening ear. There’s a priest who does something similar every Friday at a local eatery, and I can easily imagine Jesus playing this role with love and understanding.

Welcome to the Lord’s Bar, where the love flows freely and the patrons leave refreshed! Don’t forget to tip the barkeep with daily prayer!

Lord, make me know your ways.
Lord, teach me your paths.
Make me walk in your truth, and teach me
for you are God my saviour. (Psalm 24:4-5)

Amen.

Wednesday of Week 15 in Ordinary Time (Year II)
Isaiah 10:5-7,13-16 | Psalm 93:5-10,14-15 | Matthew 11:25-27

I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and of earth, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever and revealing them to mere children. (Matthew 11:25)

To be sure, it’s not that Jesus deliberately worked miracles only when the Pharisees and other learned folks weren’t around to witness them. Often enough, they saw with everyone else what Jesus hath wrought, but choose to find some explanation other than God:

As they were going out, a demoniac who could not speak was brought to him, and when the demon was driven out the mute person spoke. The crowds were amazed and said, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.” But the Pharisees said, “He drives out demons by the prince of demons.” (Matthew 9:32-34)

We too can be suddenly blind to things we’d rather not see:

We ooh and ahh at the magnificent cathedrals during our travels, but studiously avoid making eye contact with the pitiful beggars at the entrances.

We gawk at the glitz of Muslim weddings at our void decks, but avert our eyes at the sobriety of wakes of any kind.

We rush to pass through and touch Holy Doors, but rush past the family Bible on the way to the family TV.

Oh, to be like children again, to behold the face of Christ in all that we avoid seeing…

the hungry,
the sorrowful,
the Word that is Truth and Life

…and to reach out with loving arms and a heart emptied of everything but the desire to know God through these things.

Open our eyes, Lord
Help us to see your face
Open our eyes, Lord
Help us to see

Amen.

Tuesday of Week 15 in Ordinary Time (Year II)
Isaiah 7:1-9 | Psalm 47:2-8 | Matthew 11:20-24

But if you do not stand by me,
you will not stand at all. (Isaiah 7:9)

I received news yesterday that my parish priest would be posted out in the near future. My reaction is very simple:

May God grant you the strength of Samson, the wisdom of Solomon, and the love of Christ. Godspeed with all my love and prayers. 

Most everyone has his or her favourite priest, be he a righteous firebrand, an eloquent preacher, or simply a pleasant person who doesn’t poke too deeply into others’ prayer lives. Indeed, I daresay some priests have entourages, though not of their own making.

Conversely, most everyone can name a “priest from hell”, the standard bearer who declaims cut-down-to-there dresses at mass, the boring sermonist, the nosey parker who keeps running a finger over the dusty family Bible during house visits.

Well, my parish priest and I have a pretty easygoing relationship both personally and ministerially, and while I don’t know whether that will continue with a new padre, that doesn’t matter one bit.

Because I stand by God, He has provided.

I believe He will always bring into my life the people and situations I need. If it be a parish priest whose preferred style of mass celebration differs from what I’ve experienced before, that’s just an opportunity to learn to find common ground for the good of the weekly congregation.

Because I stand by God, He has protected.

I believe He has embedded a Spirit-driven conscience in me, one that will warn me when sin is near, and especially when I’m the source. (Whether I choose to listen is of course my own problem in the end.)

Because I stand by God, He has promised.

I believe that, no matter our disagreements, I will one day be reunited under the vaults of heaven with all my parish priests and fellow ministers past, present and future. Given that certainty, I’ll just do the best I can with the people around me, with all our collective faults and failings, to bring the light of Christ to everyone we can.

When the night has come
And the land is dark
And the moon is the only light we’ll see
No I won’t be afraid, no I won’t be afraid
Just as long as I stand, stand by Him

So bros and sisters, stand by Him, oh stand by Him
Oh stand by Him, stand by Him

If the sky that we look upon
Should tumble and fall
Or the mountains should crumble to the sea
I won’t die, I won’t die, no I won’t die in fear
Just as long as I stand, stand by Him

So bros and sisters, stand by Him, oh stand by Him
Oh stand now, stand by Him, stand by Him

Amen.