The Effects of Prayer

 Thinking of yesterday's blog post regarding expectations when we pray, I read this quote, this morning, by St. Peter of Alcantara.

          In prayer the soul is purified from sin, charity is nurtured,
          faith takes root, hope is strengthened, the spirit gladdened.
          In prayer the soul melts into tenderness, the heart is puri-
          fied, the truth reveals itself, temptation is overcome, sad-
          ness is put to flight.  In prayer, the senses are renewed,
          lukewarmness vanishes, failing virtue it reinvigorated,
          the rust of vices is scoured away; and in the exchange,
          there come forth living sparks, blazing desires of
          heaven, in which the flame of divine love burns.

This satisfies me, but I don't think Gordon will accept this explanation.

Expectations

 The "cloistered brothers" are reading Simone Weil's Waiting for God. A discussion arose on prayer.  Gordon, does believe in God, but not prayer.  He figures that God is all knowing, so He knows what is going to happen, so what's the use of prayer.  He challenged the group with the question, "So what do you expect to happen?"  

This question has been bouncing back and forth, inside my head.  What do I expect to happen when I pray?  Today is two days removed from the question, and I've come to the conclusion that what I expect and what I hope are two different answers.

I hope that God will do what I want.  I expect that I will understand what God is doing.  I expect that my prayer will give me wisdom and understanding and patience to see God's plans.

I also expect that more understanding will come, in time.  I also expect that I will have an answer for Gordon, that will satisfy him.

An Eschatological Reality

 

Lectio:                                  Isaiah 2:1-5

This is what Isaiah, son of Amoz,
saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
In days to come,
the mountain of the LORD's house
shall be established as the highest mountain
and raised above the hills.
All nations shall stream toward it;
many peoples shall come and say:
"Come, let us climb the LORD's mountain,
to the house of the God of Jacob,
that he may instruct us in his ways,
and we may walk in his paths."
For from Zion shall go forth instruction,
and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between the nations,
and impose terms on many peoples.
They shall beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks;
one nation shall not raise the sword against another,
nor shall they train for war again.
O house of Jacob, come,
let us walk in the light of the Lord!

STUDIUM:

Isaiah wrote this during the Babylonian Exile, 586 BC-539 BC.  Jerusalem was destroyed and Isaiah calling the people back, was confusing.  To what?  Rubble?  But Isaiah was talking about the days to come.  The Lord promised to provide. He always does, even now.  Israel will come to know that Jerusalem will become great, again.  It will be an example to all people to walk in God's promises, until the end of time.

MEDITATIO:

Reading about the devastation of Jerusalem, my mind pictures Gaza and Ukraine--countries that currently have been destroyed. These verses promise restoration.  There's a catch: the people must strive to do God's will.  
       So?  Weren't they doing God's will before the war?  Isaiah's Jerusalem is not today's Israel.  Isaiah is speaking generally, for all time.  Disasters come and go but we must trust in God.

ORATIO:

Lord, I hope in this prophesy.  You turn bad into good.  May these wars and bad things end and good come forth.

CONTEMPLATIO:

The world and its problem will pass.  God is forever.

My Emmaus Journey

 Not that I completely grasp why God the Father allowed His Son to die such a horrific death, but I am starting to get a handle on why. Firstly, I recognize that my twenty-first century sensibilities are far removed from earlier centuries—-beginnings of mankind. I also know that when I want to visit someone I always bring a gift. How and why we do this is unknown but it’s natural and customary. 

Probably early man wanted to visit/communicate with God, or his gods, he would offer a gift. In times of dire need, ei, volcanic eruption, man would need to offer something very valuable.  Throwing a child in the volcano became acceptable. 

Barbaric to us in the twenty-first century, but is it?  God asked Abraham to kill his son, Isaac. Jonah was thrown in the sea to satisfy the storm gods.

Then there’s Jesus.

!!!!

Is that why one of His titles is Lamb of God?

Sacred Words

 This is My Body by Bishop Robert Barron mentions Ita Missa Est as an apostolic commission.  Ita Missa Est is Latin for Go the Mass is ended.  Children and new Catholics always giggle at this, thinking we are being kicked out.  Au contraire, re-think.  We Catholics believe that our church is the church Jesus commissioned.  He told Peter that He would build a church upon him.  Catholics believe that is us.  So, we are worshipping as Jesus intended.  Hence, we are carrying on the work of the Apostles.

Hence, when the priest sends us out to carry on what we have heard, seen, and tasted, at Mass, we are to go out and tell everyone the Good News about Jesus.  We, the people are being sent out, as Jesus sent out His Apostles.

If you meditate on "Go the Mass is ended," you should come to the conclusion that these words are as important as the words "Take this and eat of it, for this is My Body...this is My Blood."

St. Stephen Memorialized

Since I am reading this on a radio show, which will be aired next month, in December, I looked over different December themes.  Naturally, Christmas themes prevailed.  However, what caught my eye was the Grateful Dead's song St. Stephen.

https://youtu.be/niUWikozXYo?si=AwBxVe8K73sH2OOw 

St. Stephen's feast day is December 26, which is why it was listed as a Christmas song.  St. Stephen is honored as the first Christian martyr.  After Jesus was killed, His followers continued His preaching.  St. Stephen was a follower of Jesus, and he was not too prudent regarding his audience's receptivity to his message.  Telling an audience of Jews, that they killed their Messiah, was not received well.  That was not wise.  Consequently, Stephen was stoned to death--hence he is considered the first Christian martyr.  Before he died, as he was being stoned, he is known to have said, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit and Lord, do not hold this sin against them."

See.  This is why he is remembered as the first Christian martyr.  Now one way to cement a person and event in people's minds and hearts, is to put the event in a song; the Grateful Dead's St. Stephen, is an example.  Although Robert Hunter's lyrics don't explicitly explain who St. Stephen was, the listener does understand that St. Stephen was a visionary who faced persecution.

Googling who and why St. Stephen was considered under Christmas themes, I learned who he was and why he has a feast day.  Martyrdom has a way of being noted as going above and beyond one's job. And the Grateful Dead's song wasn't the only song memorializing St. Stephen.  The nineteenth century has two more songs.

There is the hymn, St. Stephen was a Holy Man.

Read lyrics.

          https://youtu.be/Sqy2Mau1vTQ?si=F1YWHnuA2-lSQvj8  

The other song isn't about St. Stephen but rather a Bohemian King who was assassinated--think how Stephen died. The lyrics tell the story.  In fact, I remember this song and as a child and we sang it as a Christmas Carol.

Read lyrics.

https://youtu.be/uB6WWulhCVs?si=X24LisV9d2uc_8Oo   

Merry Christmas and have a good St. Stephen's Day.

The 51st State

 Louise Penny's latest novel, The Black Wolf is a thriller.  It is exciting.  It's a spy story.  Inspector Gamache frequently travels home to Three Pines, to recharge, and that's nice.  But the story takes place between the governments of Canada and the US.

It's uncanny how prescient Louise Penny is.  She wrote this novel before 2025, and the story line revolves around current problems.  We just had a humongous fire in Canada that affected the US.  Also, for years, there has been a water problem.  Rivers are drying up and municipalities have been conserving water in the summer, for years.

The plot is to cause tragedy to strike, to cause panic, to use social media to affect people's minds to turn to blame the other country.  Since the US needs water and Canada has an abundance, why not make it our 51st state?  The Canadian fires are sending ash and other pollutants over the border--are they doing it on purpose?

My criticism is there are too many twists, and bad guys, and all too convenient Deus Machina.  It's too, too much and too many.  I found it hard to follow the bad guys.  I also found it hard to believe how the characters were rescued--again and again, at the last moment.

But hey, it's a story, right?  It's a good story.