Hostage Exchange

 

This is the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pizzaballa, offering to take the place of Hamas' hostages.  This morning I was reading a letter St. Ignatius of Antioch wrote around 100 AD.  This hostage exchange was in my mind as I read Ignatius telling the early Christians not to rescue him, but rather pray for him.

I am writing to all the churches to let it be known that I will gladly die for God if only you do not stand in my way.  I plead with you: show me me no untimely kindness.  Let me be food for the wild beasts, for they are my way to God....  

My Strength

 LECTIO: Psalm 18

1(To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, the servant of the LORD, who spake unto the LORD the words of this song in the day that the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul: And he said,) I will love thee, O LORD, my strength.

2The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.

3I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.

4The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid.

5The sorrows of hell compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me.

6In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears.

7Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, because he was wroth.

8There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it.

9He bowed the heavens also, and came down: and darkness was under his feet.

10And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind.

11He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.

12At the brightness that was before him his thick clouds passed, hail stones and coals of fire.

13The LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice; hail stones and coals of fire.

14Yea, he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; and he shot out lightnings, and discomfited them.

15Then the channels of waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were discovered at thy rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils.

16He sent from above, he took me, he drew me out of many waters.

17He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me: for they were too strong for me.

18They prevented me in the day of my calamity: but the LORD was my stay.

19He brought me forth also into a large place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me.

20The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me.

21For I have kept the ways of the LORD, and have not wickedly departed from my God.

22For all his judgments were before me, and I did not put away his statutes from me.

23I was also upright before him, and I kept myself from mine iniquity.

24Therefore hath the LORD recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his eyesight.

25With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful; with an upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright;

26With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt shew thyself froward.

27For thou wilt save the afflicted people; but wilt bring down high looks.

28For thou wilt light my candle: the LORD my God will enlighten my darkness.

29For by thee I have run through a troop; and by my God have I leaped over a wall.

30As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him.

31For who is God save the LORD? or who is a rock save our God?

32It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect.

33He maketh my feet like hinds' feet, and setteth me upon my high places.

34He teacheth my hands to war, so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms.

35Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy right hand hath holden me up, and thy gentleness hath made me great.

36Thou hast enlarged my steps under me, that my feet did not slip.

37I have pursued mine enemies, and overtaken them: neither did I turn again till they were consumed.

38I have wounded them that they were not able to rise: they are fallen under my feet.

39For thou hast girded me with strength unto the battle: thou hast subdued under me those that rose up against me.

40Thou hast also given me the necks of mine enemies; that I might destroy them that hate me.

41They cried, but there was none to save them: even unto the LORD, but he answered them not.

42Then did I beat them small as the dust before the wind: I did cast them out as the dirt in the streets.

43Thou hast delivered me from the strivings of the people; and thou hast made me the head of the heathen: a people whom I have not known shall serve me.

44As soon as they hear of me, they shall obey me: the strangers shall submit themselves unto me.

45The strangers shall fade away, and be afraid out of their close places.

46The LORD liveth; and blessed be my rock; and let the God of my salvation be exalted.

47It is God that avengeth me, and subdueth the people under me.

48He delivereth me from mine enemies: yea, thou liftest me up above those that rise up against me: thou hast delivered me from the violent man.

49Therefore will I give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the heathen, and sing praises unto thy name.

50Great deliverance giveth he to his king; and sheweth mercy to his anointed, to David, and to his seed for evermore.

STUDIUM: MEDITATIO:

These verses are the same as 2Samuel 22.  David composed this psalm in thanksgiving for being delivered.  If anyone knew what it was like to lose everything, David did.  He lost his family, his sheep, his connection not only with his family but with the covenant people, he lost comfort, and he was on the run. Yet, God delivered David from all that and anointed him king.  

MEDITATIO:

Whatever David was going through, he stayed steadfast in his faith to God.  David said God was his rock and this was before he became king.  

ORATIO:

Lord, I need David's faith.  I want to be steadfast in my trust in the Lord.  I want to surrender myself and only trust in God.  Help me Lord.

CONTEMPLATIO:

I love You, Lord, my strength.

RESOLUTIO:

I will pray a Novena to trust in the Lord.

A Florilegium

 A florilegium is a notebook, or journal, or collection of verses that you want to remember.  A notebook of "bon mots," so to speak.

I have done this all my life.  Whenever, I have encountered something beautifully written, or something I wish I had said, or just something I want to remember, I've written it down.  A florilegium is for spiritual texts that you want to meditate more on.  Whereas my notebooks have everything from "come backs" to spiritual thoughts.  

Every once in a while, I enjoy reading through them.  These are written mindfully and represent an act of enjoyment, appreciation, if not homage, to the text.  What can I say, I enjoy written expression.

Enjoy the Walking

 I walk for health reasons, not because I enjoy it.  I'd rather be reading in a comfy chair.  However, Neil  King, Jr., American Rambler had me thinking about making a walking pilgrimage. 

His descriptions were beautifully crafted.  I want to see it besides experience it imaginatively.  He also philosophizes as he walks and at one point he realizes that he is privileged.  Privileged to be a white, middle-aged, male.  True.  It's still a man's world.  As a female, I would never walk alone from DC to Manhattan.  If you were a young black man, the police would have been called.  

Many times, Neil visited cemeteries.  Here is a descriptive example of his writing:

You enter a different time when you step into a cemetery.  That mix of finality with our attempts at eternity faintly amuses, seeing how the older the place, the clearer it is that finality wins.  I smiled at the toppled marker that boasted how the beloved buried there would never be forgotten. 

This was a ramble, meaning he wasn't walking a straight path.  He meticulously plotted the cites he wanted to visit and where he would spend the night.  He visit revolutionary battlegrounds, civil war memorabilia, and people.  His descriptions are worth the walk, the time, his, and the reader's.

Mark Your Calendar

 A day of prayer is asked for the people involved in this war between Israel and Hamas.  I love this man's name--Pizzaballa--Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa. He was just made a cardinal. He is the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem. It would be so good for us to join the Catholics and Christians of the Holy Land in this prayer wherever we are . . .

"The newly created cardinal who is also the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem is calling on Christians to pray and fast for peace in the Holy Land.

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa has asked that on Tuesday, October 17, “everyone hold a day of fasting, abstinence, and prayer.”

The cardinal, who just returned to Jerusalem after spending some time in Italy, issued a letter Wednesday on behalf of himself and other bishops of the Holy Land, in response to the escalating war between Israel and Hamas, the Islamic political organization that runs the Palestinian territory of Gaza."

Snip.

"But, the patriarch said, in order not to “remain helpless,” it is important to pray, “to turn our hearts to God the Father.”

“Only in this way we can draw the strength and serenity needed to endure these hard times, by turning to Him, in prayer and intercession, to implore and cry out to God amidst this anguish,” Cardinal Pizzaballa said.

As president of the Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land, he issued an invitation to “all parishes and religious communities to a day of fasting and prayer for peace and reconciliation.”

“We ask that on Tuesday, October 17, everyone hold a day of fasting, abstinence, and prayer,” he wrote. “Let us organize prayer times with Eucharistic Adoration and with the recitation of the Rosary to Our Blessed Virgin Mary.

An Exit Strategy

 How will this war between Hamas and Israel end?  The answer is easy.  The war will end when Hamas is gone.  WWII ended when Nazism ended.  

I know you could argue that this war was expected since Israel made the Gaza strip a virtual prison, with their check points, surveillance, and annoying rules.  But does all that justify the massacre Hamas has perpetrated?  

Hamas is a hate group.  Can they change?

Some people's minds and hearts are poisoned much like rabid animals.  They cannot be healed. I'm sorry to write this, but I'm also sorry that it is true.  The only chance for peace is to get rid of Hamas.  Those poor Palestinians that don't agree with Hamas know this is true.  If anyone knows this to be true, it is the peace loving Palestinians.  May God help them. 

Aliens

 

LECTIO:

Ex 22:20-26

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.
My wrath will flare up, and I will kill you with the sword;
then your own wives will be widows, and your children orphans.

"If you lend money to one of your poor neighbors among my people,
you shall not act like an extortioner toward him
by demanding interest from him.
If you take your neighbor's cloak as a pledge,
you shall return it to him before sunset;
for this cloak of his is the only covering he has for his body.
What else has he to sleep in?
If he cries out to me, I will hear him; for I am compassionate."

STUDIUM:

This reading comes from Exodus 22:22-23:33, which is a collection of case laws, pronouncements, commands, and prohibitions.  This happens just after God came to Mount Sinai and gave Moses the Ten Commandments.  This reading is specifically for aliens.  Aliens are grouped with widows and orphans, as the poorest and most vulnerable.  

   The second command has to do with money lending.  In the ancient world, lending money was more like today's pawn broker.  Only poor people who had no other choice used money lenders because they charged high interest--think loan shark. This command forbade charging interest and what could be used for collateral.  For example, you cannot keep a person's cloak as collateral, because they most likely will need it.

MEDITATIO:

Since my state is a sanctuary state, my town has many migrants and refugees.  Some people don't like it and others, who at first were welcoming, now see their generosity running on low.

ORATIO:

Lord, what's the matter with people?  Do they forget their grandparents and how they were treated?  I am blessed to be of second generation immigrants.  In memory of my grandparents, I welcome and support the refugees that have come to my town.

CONTEMPLATIO:

Thank you Jesus for giving me enough to give to others.

RESOLUTIO:

Immediately after writing this post, I am donating money to help these refugees.