Hearing and Adhering

Guess what the Holy Spirit did today.  He directed me to a hymn that reinforces what I am teaching this weekend.  Saturday and Sunday I am introducing Lectio_Divina.  This is my favorite way of praying.  To me it's simple--think while you pray, but most people don't know what I'm talking about.

Anyway, this morning I opened up my Liturgy of the Hours to begin the Office of Readings for Wednesday, Week II in Ordinary Time.  The Hymn for the Office of Readings is Herr Jesu Christ Dich, Anon.  The melody is Herr Jesu and the Music is Cantionale Germanicum, Dresden, 1628.

I don't understand where the title is in the above, but I've given you all the information there is.
Read this and keep in mind that I'm teaching Lectio Divina

Lord Jesus Christ, be present now,
And let your Holy Spirit bow
All hearts in love and truth today
To hear your word and keep your way.

Give us the grace to grasp your word,
That we may do what we have heard.
Instruct us thru the scriptures, Lord,
As we draw near, O God adored.

May your glad tidings always bring
Good news to men, that they may sing
Of how you came to save all men.
Instruct us till you come again.

To God the Father and the Son
And Holy Spirit, three in one;
To you, O blessed Trinity,
Be praise thruout eternity.


All I can say is I thank my Lord for His care and love.  

Restorative Justice for Bishops

Cardinal Philippe Barbarin of Lyon, France, is seen praying in this 2007 file photo.
 (Credit: CNS photo/Mohamed Messare, EPA.)

When I was told that a Novena of Penance and Prayer for the physical and spiritual healing of our diocese, over the sexual abuse and coverup by bishops was going to take place, I exclaimed incredulously, "But we didn't do anything!"

An answer was ready.  "We are a community.  We support each other."

That shut me up but it didn't satisfy my feelings.  So here are my thoughts.

The buck stops at the bishop's crosier.  The abusing priest is sick.  He was the start of the problem.  But instead of fixing the problem, the bishops enabled the problem.  I don't buy that doctors' said that the priests were healed.  For the past 50 years????? 

One priest in my parish was drunk and exposed himself to a woman.  He was taken out of the parish and assigned someone else.  Where?  He became chaplain to an all-female college. 

Is that not the bishop fault?  Even if a million doctors said the priest was OK, why would you take the chance?

BTW, that priest got into trouble at the college.  (I bet you're not surprised.)

Anyway, I lay the blame on the bishops. 

I also don't think we sheep should be doing penance for our shepherds.  We didn't even know about any abuse.  Those who did (Bishops) need to do penance and make reparation. 

Families are a good example.  They certainly are a community.  When one member misbehaves he is given a time-out.  Not everybody--to support him.  That one member alone is standing in a corner where everyone can see him doing his "time."  When a citizen commits a crime, he is sent to prison where the public takes note that he is doing his "time."  Society doesn't accompany the perpetrator to prison.  So why should we do "time"?

I propose that the bishops in the USA do public penance by teaching.  It would be nice if the bishops taught the faith and concretely translated it into action by teaching at least one hour a day.  I envision the bishop teaching a CCD class every day and another RCIA class, additionally. 

Both would benefit.  The bishop would get to know vital sheep in his flock, i.e., children and discerning adults. 

For their penance, bishops should teach a CCD class, every day, for a year.  Additionally, they should teach RCIA for a year, also because RCIA should be year long, anyway.

And in this way, the sheep will get to see and know that their shepherd is humble and contrite.  May God, Who sends the Holy Spirit to spread grace through forgiveness, give pardon and peace to His Holy Church.  Grant this Father, through Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.  Amen.

A King Who Serves the People

Lectio:

The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe

Reading 1DN 7:13-14

As the visions during the night continued, I saw
one like a Son of man coming,
on the clouds of heaven;
when he reached the Ancient One
and was presented before him,
the one like a Son of man received dominion, glory, and kingship;
all peoples, nations, and languages serve him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion
that shall not be taken away,
his kingship shall not be destroyed.

Studium:

The book of Daniel was not written by him, rather, it is about him.  The purpose of the book of Daniel is to encourage the people since they were being forced to accept the pagan Greek idols.  This reading from chapter seven is a vision--a classic one where the Son of Man will be proclaimed King.  To us, the Son of Man is Jesus.  He has everlasting dominion.

Meditatio: 

This passage envisions the end-time, Jesus Christ's second coming.  Son of Man is a title known to mean Jesus Christ.  The Ancient One is God the Father.  The Holy Spirit presents Jesus.  Jesus is our King forever no matter what.

Oratio:

Lord, as King, I serve You.  Yet you came to serve me, not to be served.  Help me fathom that concept.

Contemplatio:

Viva Cristo Rey!

The First Step in Prayer

I've been praying all my life and I just learned that I'm doing it wrong.  I know not to harangue God with "Give me"s.  And I pray in thanksgiving and praise, so I thought I had it covered.  Praying, that is.

Well, in this morning's Lectio Divina, I realized that I've missed the listening for God's voice.  I know that's part of meditation and I do meditate and listen to the Lord.  But I never realized that the listening was the very first step!

Is not the Shema the most important prayer in the Jewish faith?  Hear, O Israel! ... (Deuteronomy 6: 4-5)

Did not God look and call out to Adam and Eve, "Where are you?" (Genesis 3: 8-9)

Did not God get Moses attention in the burning bush?  (Exodus 3: 2-4)

Did not God wake Samuel up?  (1 Samuel 3: 3-4)

Did not Jesus talk to the Samaritan woman at the well, first?  (John 4: 7)

Get it?  The first step in praying is to listen.  That's first.  If you hear nothing, start talking to God.  Then listen.  You could try reading and then listening.

You will hear God's voice through your thoughts.  

Missionaries in WWII

Finished!  I finished reading Trapped in Paradise Catholic Nuns in the South Pacific 1940-1943.  This is a true story written in journal form.  Sister Hedda wrote a letter just about every to Mother Superior.  These are the letters.

The first chapters are about the journey to the islands.  Everyone was sea-sick one day or another.  And the journey last four months!

Once I reached Chapter 6, the story became a page-turner.  The sisters were running from hiding place to hiding place to escape Japanese capture.  And there were a couple of times when the sisters met some Japanese face to face and managed to get out of the situations.  Most of the times, however, the sisters were hiding in the jungle and jumping from island to island.

Upon reflection, I am amazed at the glimpses of Divine Providence that was evident.  The times when the sisters were in Japanese control, they were treated with respect.  I mean no one was raped.  Oh sure, they were starved, but so weren’t the Japanese soldiers.  In fact, prisoners weren’t fed; they had to scrounge around for food.

Even the priests weren’t abused.  There was one death.  Father Hennessey was a prisoner on a ship that was attacked and sunk.  Some sisters and brothers died from sickness, or from the bombs being dropped, but no one was sexually abused.

Whereas the same couldn’t be said about the plantation owners.  They were shot immediately upon capture.

Do I recommend the book?  Definitely, I really got a feel for the war in the South Pacific during WWII.  I also saw how missionaries begin a life among a pagan culture.  Do you know that after the war, these sisters went right back to their missions?  The people needed them and the sisters had a job to do.  (Matt 25: 40)

Bro Cadoré: Preaching is the Announcement that God is Coming

Bro Cadoré: Preaching is the announcement that God is coming    I'm promoting this book.  I'll write a review after I get it.

Honoring

I love the rhythm and rhyme of this poem from Poem of the Day.  It is called Invocation and the poet

is new to me, Jane Johnston Schoolcraft. 

Invocation   Jane Johnston Schoolcraft

To my Maternal Grand-father on hearing his descent from Chippewa ancestors misrepresented Rise bravest chief! of the mark of the noble deer,               With eagle glance,               Resume thy lance, And wield again thy warlike spear!               The foes of thy line,               With coward design, Have dared with black envy to garble the truth, And stain with a falsehood thy valorous youth. They say when a child, thou wert ta’en from the Sioux,               And with impotent aim,               To lessen thy fame Thy warlike lineage basely abuse;               For they know that our band,               Tread a far distant land, And thou noble chieftain art nerveless and dead, Thy bow all unstrung, and thy proud spirit fled. Can the sports of thy youth, or thy deeds ever fade?               Or those e’er forget,               Who are mortal men yet, The scenes where so bravely thou’st lifted the blade,               Who have fought by thy side,               And remember thy pride, When rushing to battle, with valour and ire, Thou saw’st the fell foes of thy nation expire? Can the warrior forget how sublimely you rose?               Like a star in the west,               When the sun’s sink to rest, That shines in bright splendour to dazzle our foes?               Thy arm and thy yell,               Once the tale could repel Which slander invented, and minions detail, And still shall thy actions refute the false tale. Rest thou, noblest chief! in thy dark house of clay,               Thy deeds and thy name,               Thy child’s child shall proclaim, And make the dark forests resound with the lay;               Though thy spirit has fled,               To the hills of the dead, Yet thy name shall be held in my heart’s warmest core, And cherish’d till valour and love be no more. Jane was the daughter of an Indian and a Scott Irish man.  She wrote poetry and Ojibwe stories.  She married Henry Rowe Schoolcraft and a few of her poems were published in his handwritten magazine.  In fact, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's Song of Hiawatha was inspired by Jane's poetry. Robert Dale Parker  published some of her poetry in The Sound the Stars Make Rushing Through The Sky: The Writings of Jane Johnston Schoolcraft. In 2009, Jane Johnston Schoolcraft was inducted into the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame. By the way, Jane's Ojibwe's name was "The Sound the Stars Make Rushing Through The Sky."