Praying The Scriptures for Life – Page 2

Pray It Forward: The Family Altar

“Teach [your] children of the [loving ways] of God; [so] that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and rise up and tell them to their children, so that they should set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments”

~Psalm 78

The Sacred Scriptures emphasize the honor and responsibility we have to our family and future generations to teach the ways of God. Let’s consider an object lesson; as it were, God used to open the eyes of his people to their sacred responsibility to sanctify their families.

The first books of the Bible and the book of Joshua relay the lengths God went to to establish his covenant with his creation. He chose the family of Abraham and his future generations to fulfill his desire that all creation would know of his desire to bless them. He led his people into the long-awaited Promised Land through the river Jordan under the leadership of Joshua. God instructed Joshua to tell his people, “Sanctify yourselves; for tomorrow, the Lord will do wonders among you” (Jos 3:5). And he did!

Later, when they crossed the Jordan, God instructed his people to build an altar with 12 stones from the river so that “these are to be a sign among you. When your children ask you, ‘What do those stones mean to you?’ you shall answer them, ‘The waters of the Jordan ceased to flow before the ark of the covenant of the Lord when it crossed the Jordan. Thus these stones are to serve as a perpetual memorial to the Israelites” (Jos 4:6-7).

This wasn’t the only time God instructed his people to build an altar as a remembrance (a visual reminder of God’s faithfulness), but it is one that will encourage us in our desire to live our faith effectively so that we become the holy families God desires to bless.

Altars would eventually serve other purposes: a place where parents would prophesy over their children by reminding them that they were created for a purpose—to serve the Lord God with all their mind, all their strength, and all their hearts. An altar became a sacred place where parents would release children into their prophetic destinies and where they would receive their father’s blessing. It would also become a destination to offer sacrifices of thanksgiving to the Lord on behalf of their family.

Over time, the geographical altars of remembrance became family altars in the culture of Judeo-Christian home life. It was a designated place in the home. The purpose was the same: a family remembered God’s faithfulness to their ancestors in the faith (Bible stories), and they conversed with God together, showing their love and thanksgiving for him (prayer). The benefit to future generations, of course, depended on how committed the parents were to passing on the faith to their children.

I grew up with a family altar that shifted throughout the day: from the kitchen, where we knelt at our chairs after breakfast as my father would pray for each of us before we went our separate ways, to the living room after dinner, where we listened to our father read the Sacred Scriptures, and we each learned to pray together; then to our bedsides as our mother prayed with us and tucked us into bed. Once I left home and married my husband, we built a family altar. Why? Because my parents were faithful to God by being faithful to us around the family altar, I knew the stability it provided for my development as a Christian, not to mention my self-image!

It isn’t always easy; a toddler crying at your feet or a teenager slamming their bedroom door in your face is distracting. Perseverance is required if we desire to instill in our children the stability of knowing who they are and why God created them the way he did. We must teach them, through example and habit, the beauty, goodness, and truth of The Faith.

Our desires for our family require consistent attention to God’s Word and perseverance in prayer, but where do we begin, and how do we fit it in? I would like to come alongside you to offer encouragement and practical advice for finding suitable “stones” for your family altar. We will consider other altars in the Sacred Scripture and how they can inspire us as we worship at our family altars.

Regardless of the composition of your family (mom and dad, single parent, blended family), You will discover ways to build a family altar and navigate family life under the priority of family worship. You will discover the beauty of verbally blessing your family and fostering an atmosphere of peace. We will offer practical approaches for discussing the faith with your children. And most importantly, you’ll learn how to become prayer warriors for your children and future generations.

Pray it Forward: Tradition!

“Without our traditions, our lives would be as shaky as a Fiddler on the Roof.”

The Broadway musical The Fiddler on the Roof is about a Russian village that strives to protect the traditions of Judaism to keep their religious culture alive and thriving as the pre-Holocaust world threatens to destroy them. The story’s protagonist is Tevya, who has a running dialogue with God throughout the musical. His desire to keep the tradition alive drives him to his knees about how he raises his family–he’s a lovable character because his struggle is standard in every age. At one point in the musical, his wife and he dialogue about their struggles in keeping the traditions of their faith front and foremost for their family amidst the inevitable changes they face in the culture. One of the most tender songs between the husband and wife relays what I believe you, and I feel as parents and grandparents.

Sunrise, sunset. Sunrise, sunset,
Swiftly fly the years.
One season following another,
Laden with happiness and tears.

What words of wisdom can I give them?
How can I help to ease their way?

We must ask ourselves the same questions if we hope to vibrantly live the Sacred Tradition of our Catholic Faith in our domestic church today and in future generations. How can we do that? I suggest that the daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly small “t” traditions we practice within the culture of our family support the capital “T” traditions of The Faith. We must be attentive to what habits and dispositions we form daily to protect our family and future generations from forgetting what they believe and why they believe it. The orthodox Jewish home stands on three pillars we most likely recognize: the Torah (The Law of God), Service to God, and Acts of human kindness. We are Judeo-Christians in that we are the extension and fulfillment of the history of salvation recorded in the Old Testament and fulfilled in the New Testament. And through Jesus Christ’s sacrifice for us once and for all, we are united to God for his Good Purpose. God’s Word is living and active, guiding us today as it did as it was recorded.

The Shema (Deuteronomy 6) alluded to in the musical is a declaration to adhere to as we raise a faithful Christian family. To do otherwise is to risk forgetting the purpose of our vocation as parents and grandparents. When we forget or are apathetic toward what we are about and why we observe our Faith traditions, we are in danger of our children and future generations walking away from The Faith. It is not enough to say, “That’s just what we do,” as Catholic Christians, our faith in God is to be lived purposefully, supported by faith and reason and action. Lack of attention leads to a lack of understanding, giving way to a lack of appreciation. All this culminates in a dismissal of the ancient traditions that sustain and frame the domestic church.

Beyond ensuring our children attend CCD and Sunday Mass each week, where do we form our Christian identity? In the domestic church! We take care to keep The Faith vibrant and life-giving 168 hours a week in our family’s life. The active attention to the integrity of The Faith is reflected in our thoughts, words, actions, and the choices we make for our family, and that forms the domestic church traditions that will guard our families against relegating our faith in God to just another option in a world of shinier but inferior options.

We can’t read the words of The Shema without noting how pivotal the actions are in fulfilling the ordinance. God directs Moses to remind the people: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. Then he instructs the people, “Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home, when you are away when you lie down, and when you rise. Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates .…You must diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God, his decrees, and his statutes that he has commanded you. Do what is right and good in the sight of the Lord, so that it may go well with you, and so that you may go in and occupy the good land that the Lord swore to your ancestors to give you, thrusting out all your enemies from before you, as the Lord has promised. (Deuteronomy 6:4-19)

Friends, we live in a culture that is anti-Christ, which is the enemy at war against us. It is the enemy we must thrust out before us one deliberate action at a time. In the words of Tevya, “Without our traditions, our lives would be as shaky as a Fiddler on the Roof.”

Resource recommendations:
The Catholic All Year Compendium: Liturgical Living For Real Life by Kendra Tierney
The Catholic Home: Celebrations and Traditions for Holidays, Feast Days, and Every Day by Meredith Gould
Theology of Home: Finding the Eternal in the Everyday by Carrie Gress, PhD

Pray It Forward: Praying with Authority

In the story of Creation, there is an exchange between God and Cain (the first son of Adam and Eve). Cain had an anger management problem that stemmed from envy and jealousy. Following is the conversation before the first murder was committed from Genesis 4:5-7:

So Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is lurking at the door; its desire is for you, but you must master it.”

Cain probably didn’t set out to commit murder, but he chose not to master his envy, jealousy, and anger; because Cain refused to master these sins, he descended a ladder, so to speak, into mortal sin. (”Veniel sin is a sin that is relatively slight, or that is committed without complete reflection or consent. While a venial sin weakens the sinner’s union with God, it is not a deliberate turning away from God and so does not wholly block the inflow of sanctifying grace. An example of such a sin might be gossip, impatience, or a failure to pray. Venial sins are usually contrasted with mortal sins, which are the gravest of sins and represent a deliberate turning away from God.”)

It’s most likely that the enemy of our child or grandchild’s soul will never take possession of them to such an extreme mortal sin against the LORD. However, consider the venial sins of Cain–envy, jealousy, anger, lying. We sometimes witness those things in our lives and our family, right? What is our role as parents and grandparents when we notice venial patterns set into the mind, body, and soul of our loved ones?

First and foremost, we live a life of integrity before them! Little eyes and ears are always watching and listening! Our speech patterns and attitude can foster goodness, however; if our venial sins go unchecked, they can infest our lovies with the same venial sins we have not mastered. That’s enough about that. Let’s consider our authority as children of God when we pray for our family.

There is one resource other than the Sacred Scripture that I sometimes employ in my intercession for my family. They come from the book Deliverance Prayers For Use by the Laity by Father Chad Ripperger, a priest, theologian, and exorcist for The Roman Catholic Church. The book has the Imprimatur, which assures us as the laity that we can utilize the prayers in our intercession with confidence in the Sacred Authority of The Roman Catholic Church. As the laity, we cannot be exorcists, but we must intercede with the constant petition for protection from the evil one when we observe the enemy lurking about the door of their minds. We can pray the words of the prayers of deliverance on behalf of our family in the name of Jesus, who has conquered death, hell, and the grave. St. Peter, referring to the Risen Savior, proclaimed to the religious court of Israel (Acts 4:12):

There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved.

By the time St. Peter proclaimed this to the religious court, he had already given into the temptation that it was up to him to save himself from the threats of evil. But he learned through his remorseful failures that salvation is from no one else but Jesus. He later goes on to warn believers in a letter to them (I Peter 5:7-9).

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Discipline yourselves, keep alert. Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour. Resist him, steadfast in your faith, for you know that your brothers and sisters in all the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering.

We have a Savior; we can cast all our anxiety on him for our loved ones, and he will always come through for us. Just this morning, as I was praying for my family and future generations, I was overcome by an urgency to pray against the enemy’s influence on them. I don’t know why and will probably never know why the Holy Spirit prompted me to pray so specifically at that moment, on this day, in this year, but I am confident that the prevenient grace of God took action in the life or lives of my family! Praying In the Name of Jesus is our only hope for the protection and salvation of our loved ones.

Follows is a prayer from Deliverance Prayers that is referred to as the Short-Form Deliverance prayer. I commend it to you as a weapon in your prayer arsenal against the adversary of our soul that prowls like a roaring lion seeking to devour.

In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I bind you, Satan, and all your evil forces by the power of His Cross, His Blood, and His resurrection. I take authority over all evil influences that are directed against [ ]. I break them by the power and authority of our Lord Jesus Christ. I bind all evil interactions, interplay, and communications between spirits sent against [ ], and send them directly to Jesus Christ to deal with as He wills…I ask Jesus, the son of the living God, to pour His shed Blood over every aspect of [ ] life for their protection. I pray all this in the precious Name of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. –Amen

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The Examined Life

When author and pastor, Rick Warren, wrote The Purpose Driven Life, he attempted to answer the question, “What on earth am I here for?” The book became a best-seller and joined many others that attempt to answer the same question. The search for meaning and purpose is as old as humankind. Why can’t we answer the question and be done with it instead of looking for another opinion? The struggle to know who we are and why we are here, I believe, is because we don’t realize God’s unfailing desire for us to know him. In knowing Him, we learn to know our purpose for living. In this post, I would like us to consider the need for silence and introspection as we search for the meaning of our lives.

St. Paul wrote to the Ephesians, “In [Christ] we were also chosen, destined in accord with the purpose of the One who accomplishes all things according to the intention of his will, so that we might exist for the praise of his glory, we who first hoped in Christ.” (1:11-12) God chose us; we are his beloved! He created us in his image. It was perfect and beautiful, and it was enough.

That is, until we chose something other than him.

And the rest of history reveals what happens to us when we stop listening to him. We distract ourselves with the seemingly fascinating options for self-fulfillment that move us farther and farther away from God’s intention for our lives—always coming up short and dissatisfied. How may we return to the intention of God’s will for us?

We begin by silencing ourselves and our surroundings, which takes a herculean resolve in a distracted and noisy society. Reminding myself that Jesus often withdrew to a quiet place helps my resolution. Just think of what he can do when we retire from our noisy surroundings to meet him there. His Word to us can pierce through our darkened understanding about ourselves to restore us to the intention of his will for us.

So, if we’ve silenced ourselves and inclined our hearts to God, then what do we do?

Socrates wrote, “An unexamined life is not worth living.” Examination of our life requires introspection, and we just aren’t comfortable with that, are we? St. Ignatius of Loyola developed a guide of Spiritual Exercises to help us examine our lives and discern God’s desires for us. In considering our lives, we allow the Holy Spirit to reorient the inclination of our lives toward God. We learn to know ourselves–strengths and weaknesses. We understand how our unique nature can “exist for the praise of his glory.” St. Ignatius provides a template, so to speak, for prayer called The Suscipe (the Latin word for “receive”) that will guide us in examining our strengths and weaknesses and giving them back to the One who created us the way we are.

Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty, memory, understanding, and entire will, all I have and call my own. You have given all to me. To you, Lord, I return it. Everything is yours; do with it what you will. Give me only your love and grace; that is enough for me. Amen

Beginning the prayer with the word “take” assumes we will give up. What do I hold too tightly that needs surrendering to the Lord? What is the disposition of my heart? What does the essence of my heart incline me toward? Remembering the saying, “Everywhere I go, there I am,” is a good place for me to start when answering those questions.

Do I recognize a running theme in my conversations and relationships? Do I see a pattern of behavior toward others that repeats in every circumstance? I must stop and consider if disordered pride, fear, or anger motivates my words and actions, dragging me farther away from God’s intention.

What liberties do I take with myself and with others? What memories keep me from entrusting myself to the Lord? What do I have difficulty understanding about God, myself, and others? Most of the confusion and conflicts we have in life come from our unwillingness to understand ourselves and others. The Holy Spirit is always faithful to affirm our strengths and counsel us in our weaknesses if we remain silent before him, desiring to seek God’s purpose above all.

This examination prepares us to entrust our entire will to him, where all questions about our existence are answered. St. Paul wrote to the Romans, “…Be transformed by the renewal of your mind, so that you may discern what the will of God is–what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (12:2).

What are we here for? Not ourselves. No, we are here for the praise of God’s glory–that is the abundant life worth living!

Pray It Forward: Cast Your Bread Upon the Water

“…Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap, for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.”

St. Luke 6:38

Send out your bread upon the waters,
for after many days, you will get it back...

Ecclesiastes 11:1

Consider

Jesus teaches us that giving of ourselves to others results in a reward. The same principle applies in His Kingdom’s economy of abundance when we cast our prayers upon Him. When we intercede, we surrender our most profound concerns for our loved ones to Him. Some of us have been praying for years for a loved one, but we are losing hope that God will answer our prayers. It can be challenging to entrust our loved ones to our Lord, whether it is a wayward child, a broken marriage, a chronic disease, or any other issue. It boils down to this: the tricky part about giving our children and grandchildren to the Lord is that we must let go, which can seem impossible. How is it going for you?

The most powerful way to communicate with God is by using His Word. One of the best things we can do for ourselves is engage with the Sacred Scripture, which helps us find peace when we are struggling with our loved ones. We immerse ourselves in His grace when we meditate on God’s Word. We can be confident that His Word always hits the mark. The writer of the letter to the Hebrews reminds us that the Word of God is alive and active, sharper than any double-edged sword. It can divide the soul from spirit, joints from marrow, and judge the thoughts and intentions of our hearts. (Hebrews 4:12)

My prayers for my present and future family members may not be perfect; I’m just not that good! However, when we pray using the Word of God, the Holy Spirit interprets our words and makes them effective.

Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

Romans 8:26-27

If you need more encouragement for your intercessory prayers, consider the power of God’s Word described by the prophet Isaiah.

For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
and do not return there until they have watered the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

Isaiah 55: 10-11

When we entrust the well-being of our loved ones to God by praying His Word, we may have a solid urge to dictate precisely how we want Him to answer our prayers. However, we must trust that His Holy Spirit will translate our requests according to His will. Even though the answer may not come immediately, we can be confident that God will fulfill His purpose for our loved ones in abundance and with incredible generosity as they respond to his grace and salvation.

Pray

Lord, you promise to keep [ ] from all evil and keep [ ] life in your hands. You know [ ] comings and goings from this time on and evermore. I entrust [ ] to you; do with [ ] what You will!

In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen

Act

Start a prayer journal dedicated to intercessory prayer for your family. As you read the Daily Office, you will discover how to form the Scripture into prayer. Here are a few samples from today’s liturgy:

The Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces, and he will take the disgrace of his people from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken. Isaiah 25:8

Oh Lord God, I carry [ ] to your loving arms, and I ask that you wipe away her tears and assure her of your unfailing love for her. You know the disgrace in her life and how it affects her mind and body. Comfort her for me today. –Amen

Light dawns for the just and gladness for the upright of heart. Be glad in the Lord, you just, and give thanks to his holy name. Psalm 97:11-12

God of Light, shine on [ ] as he strives to be a godly father. Grant him an upright heart so that he gladdens the heart of his children. May he live a life of gratitude before all people. –Amen

Pray It Forward: “Too Heavy for Me”

“Do not lose heart, even if you should discover that you lack qualities necessary for the work to which you are called. He who called you will not desert you, but the moment you are in need, he will stretch out his saving hand.”

– St. Angela Merici

Moses, the quintessential priest of the Old Testament, stood before the Lord after leading God’s people away from the bondage of slavery, lamenting to him about the burden he had to carry as the leader in The Exodus from enslavement in Egypt to the land God had promised to give them where they would be free from oppression. It was a noble calling for this faithful man, but it wasn’t a walk in the park. The people of God were complaining, “We are hungry and thirsty…we are tired and weary…we want things to return to the way they used to be.” And the list of complaints kept growing. Moses cried out to God, “I cannot carry this people by myself, for they are too heavy for me.” (Numbers 11) Do those complaints sound familiar to you? If you are a parent/grandparent, you regularly hear these honest complaints in one form or another. It’s normal for children to make their needs known to their parents, but the yammering can get tiring when it embeds in the disposition of their minds as they grow! Our role in their lives is to lead them out of their immaturity and self-preoccupation, first by example, but discipline is sometimes needed to correct their ingratitude. That gets exhausting, doesn’t it? The Lord desires us to intercede as we lead; the Holy Spirit will guide us as we guide them to the “promised life” of contentment. Like Moses, when we cry out to the Lord that we are at a loss on how to carry our loved ones into young adulthood and that, at times, parenting is too heavy for us, he gives us just the right guidance and energy to stay the course.

Consider

What burden for your children/grandchildren do you carry that causes you to cry to the Lord that it is too heavy for you? Name them to the Lord. He knows already, but we need to voice them. I started a prayer journal for our family as we were raising them, and I continue to use it as a mother to adult children and their spouses, as well as my grandchildren and future generations. I’ve prayed my way through nearly 43 years of ups and downs, loss and gain, joys and sorrows. My Savior and Friend sits with me as I’ve poured my heart out to him on behalf of my loved ones. Perhaps that would be helpful for you. How can you pray for your family today? Simply asking the Lord to have mercy on them is often enough, but praying the Scripture over them is also needed, for it is the ultimate weapon we have against the malignant enemy of the souls of our families.

Pray

Father, your Word says, When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and rescues them from all their troubles. (Ps 34:17) I ask that you give [ ] unusual strength to stand up under whatever causes them to be discouraged and fretful. Your Word promises you will rescue us when our spirit is overwhelmed (Ps 143:4). I entrust [ ] to you today and ask that you grant them a lightness of spirit as they go throughout their day. Help [ ] to place their confidence in you as they face circumstances that may seem too heavy for them.

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen

Act

Talk with your children/grandchildren, appropriate to their age, about their complaints and frustrations. You may find that their complaints are legitimate (like the Israelites’ hunger) or that they don’t like change, especially when it’s hurried change. Talk about ways to help them adjust to new things rather than complain about them. You may want to ask them how you could prepare them for transition better. I had two children and now several grandchildren who struggle with change when it appears to threaten their sense of security. The Holy Spirit gave us helpful insight when we were parenting the said children; they now use it with their own children. We would begin preparing them for the disruption and talk about the upcoming event days and sometimes weeks ahead, depending on the significance of what was coming. Once they knew we would listen to their concerns about what was ahead of them and prayed with them about their worries, the complaining subsided. The importance of consistency can’t be overstated regarding renewing our mindsets, especially in children’s lives.

…[Because] His Hour Had Not Yet Come

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” Then the Pharisees said to him, “You are testifying on your own behalf; your testimony is not valid.” Jesus answered, “Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid because I know where I have come from and where I am going, but you do not know where I come from or where I am going. You judge by human standards; I judge no one. Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is valid; for it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me. In your law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is valid. I testify on my own behalf, and the Father who sent me testifies on my behalf.” Then they said to him, “Where is your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.” He spoke these words while he was teaching in the treasury of the temple, but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.

The Gospel According to Saint John 8:12-29

My strong sense of justice sometimes becomes disordered because of my prideful hubris. It’s a besetting sin that provides many lessons for me to learn the virtue of humility–mea culpa! The Sacred Scripture is a syllabus of sorts for transformation in the virtues. I’m a willing student but often feel like I’m failing the course. Do you ever feel that way, friend?

Jesus had a perfect sense of justice; we could say Jesus is Justice. So whenever I read passages such as today’s gospel reading, I lean in a little closer to listen to The Teacher as he shows me a more excellent way to live. It just so happened that today is also when we recall the Joyful Mysteries where we visualize, through Mary’s eyes, the wonder of the Incarnation of Jesus. The last mystery we recall in today’s rosary is Jesus in The Temple. Joseph and Mary had “lost” Jesus on the way back home to Nazareth after the Passover in Jerusalem. They found him after three days, sitting in the Temple. St. Luke 2:48-51 puts it this way:

After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.

Mary and Joseph let him know what he had put them through and Jesus replies:

“Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” But they did not understand what he said to them. Then he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them. His mother treasured all these things in her heart.

As I prayed with that mystery, the Teacher asked me a question. Why do you suppose I reveal my understanding to these particular teachers of the Law? It was early morning, I was barely awake, and it was too much to ponder. But the Teacher wasn’t done teaching. A bit later, with my coffee in my mug and the incense burning, I opened The Daily Liturgy. As I read the gospel reading, the Teacher was still there; he didn’t mind the interruption, he wasn’t done teaching for the day.

“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” Oh, Jesus! As I see the sun just now rising above the trees, I am grateful that you never stop shining, even when I’ve “rotated” away from your light. Help me to remain oriented to your light, especially when my disordered pride makes me think I have just the right insight into other people’s behavior that they need to hear–mea culpa!

Jesus is in the same Temple again; the Pharisees–teachers, probably some of the same teachers from decades earlier argue with Jesus after he made the above declaration. Their disordered pride was getting in the way of their ability to understand The Teacher. Oh, Jesus! Forgive me for thinking my way of thinking is how you see things. There is no way I can fathom the depth and breadth of your wisdom; what’s that you say to me?

“You know neither me, nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.” I stand up in protest. Oh, Jesus! How can that be? I am convinced you are the Son of God; surely, I’m thinking correctly. But you say, I am Love. I am not like love. I am Love. You must learn to love me more and love your big fat ego less. Only then will you understand. When you speak words motivated by your disordered pride, you are speaking out of turn. He looks at me with gentle eyes, and I sit down.

He spoke these words while he was teaching in the treasury of the temple, but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come. Is this the lesson for me today, Jesus? That even though you were God incarnate–Perfect Wisdom–you allow the errant teachers to remain convinced of their errant teaching. Rather than striking the verbal blow that would knock them to their knees, you walk away because your hour had not yet come.

That subordinate clause, “because,” gets me to wondering if I have missed something from the lesson. Ah, yes. You are the Cause; the beginning and the end. You are the Incarnate God that began a discussion with the errant teachers of your Law when you were just a child. I suppose you could have knocked them to their knees then, but the time you chose to reveal your Divinity had not yet come. Jesus, forgive me! Forgive my ego-centered attitude toward others. Forgive me for not listening to you–all those times in my past when the words of my mouth came out like knives to slyly pierce the one in front of me–mea culpa!

You, Lord, are the Cause of my life. In you, I have my beginning and end. Through you I receive Wisdom that leads to understanding, that leads me to keep my big fat mouth closed. Humble me into Love–genuine and pure–self-giving love that seeks to understand the other rather than to conquer the other.

In the name of the Father and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, it is now, and ever shall be, world without end.

Amen

Wealth that Matters to God

Someone in the crowd said to Jesus,
“Teacher, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me.”
He replied to him,
“Friend, who appointed me as your judge and arbitrator?”
Then he said to the crowd,
“Take care to guard against all greed,
for though one may be rich,
one’s life does not consist of possessions.”

Then he told them a parable.
“There was a rich man whose land produced a bountiful harvest.
He asked himself, ‘What shall I do,
for I do not have space to store my harvest?’
And he said, ‘This is what I shall do:
I shall tear down my barns and build larger ones.
There I shall store all my grain and other goods
and I shall say to myself, “Now as for you,
you have so many good things stored up for many years,
rest, eat, drink, be merry!”’
But God said to him,
‘You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you;
and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?’
Thus will it be for the one who stores up treasure for himself
but is not rich in what matters to God.”

The Gospel According to St. Luke 12: 13-21

The “someone in the crowd” on this day came to Jesus with a complaint about an inheritance that he thought should be divided up between him and his brother. We don’t know the whole story, but Jesus did and he graciously responded with a parable to illustrate to him the spiritual lesson he needed to learn. Jesus’ method, so to speak, still works today. We are all someone in a crowd seeking answers for the dilemmas in our life, and Jesus knows our whole story. What Jesus had to say then, he still speaks today–this is what I treasure about the gospels–it is the good news I need for every moment of my life.

Let’s consider together this interaction from St. Luke’s narrative. Jesus warns the brother, as he does us, to take care to guard against all greed because our quality of life here on earth doesn’t rely on the accumulation of earthly goods. We know that in theory, but how do we follow Jesus’ advice to become rich in what matters to God? The parable Jesus then tells has been referred to as The Parable of the Rich Fool, for the man, so caught up in his greediness, doesn’t seem to consider treasuring what matters to God. It seems that he believed that the accumulation of money would give his life purpose. He certainly isn’t alone in his greediness, what began in Eden plays out in the habits of the human condition!

St. Augustine wrote that our hearts are restless until they rest in God. Like the rich fool, the restlessness of the human condition drives us toward immediate satisfaction from whatever fascinates or consoles us–all under the umbrella of over-weaning fear or pride. The rich fool’s pride was obvious, our’s might not be so obvious. The man’s question of what shall I do to satisfy my restlessness is the question that sends each of us down paths that may appear benign enough. But do they make us rich in what matters to God?

Consider Jesus’ words again, “‘You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong? ‘Thus will it be for the one who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich in what matters to God.” St. Augustine taught people to seek the invisible rewards of God in loving what is good, loving what God has created, but only if they are lovers of God. That’s the tipping point, isn’t it? He exhorted his congregation to pursue what they love in the right order: heavenly things before earthly ones, the LORD before everything else.

Here’s the thing, it’s much easier to pursue the things we see rather than the things we don’t see! We can’t quantify charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control, and chastity. And how do we quantify temperance, justice, prudence, and fortitude or faith, hope, or charity? I’ve referred to this before by considering them as investments that roll back dividends into our lives, all for the sole purpose of glorifying God and attracting those around us to do the same. It’s the most simple and difficult method to guide us away from being fools!

Father, reveal to us how our restlessness for you is misguided by our drive to eat, drink, and be merry with the temporal wealth of this world.

Draw our wandering hearts back to you, and open our eyes and ears to the abundance of your blessings. May we treasure what you think about us more than what those around us think of us.

Holy Spirit of God, train us in storing up the eternal riches of God’s glory as you guide us into the abundant freedom of detachment from this world’s empty treasures.

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

As it was in the beginning, it is now, and ever shall be, world without end.

Amen

The Feast Day of St. Benedict

Preferring Christ: The Rule of St. Benedict

Today is the Feast Day of St. Benedict of Nursia. St. Benedict is among the posse of saints that surround my life, interceding for me before the LORD, our God. The Rule of St. Benedict which is so revered in the history of The Church is a rich tapestry of wisdom that is tightly woven with Sacred Scripture to guide us in living our ordinary life in an extraordinary way.

The Rule orientates us to the knowledge that God is everywhere, all the time, and because of this, every element of our ordinary day is potentially holy. Ascending to this truth that seems a little homely reorients us to our created identity because we learn to recognize that daily life is the grist for the mill of our consecration to our Creator. Does your day-to-day life seem stressful, challenging, hum-drum, or dull? Then St. Benedict is your guide through the ordinary into the extraordinary life in God.

The title, The Rule of St. Benedict, is better understood in its ancient context of the Latin word, regula, or guidepost. The prologue of The Rule begins with this: Listen, my child….incline the ear of your heart. Hearing and listening are two different things. Have you ever spent time with someone who hears you but doesn’t incline their spirit toward you enough to listen to you? Worse yet, do we hear the Word of the LORD without our spirit leaning toward him in order to really listen? St. Benedict emphasizes the importance of turning toward Christ with the posture of a child leaning into him to hear every word of beauty, goodness, and truth. In this way we are trained in preferring Christ above all things which is one of St. Benedict’s favorite themes. Praying with St. Benedict as we pray Sacred Scripture helps us look at our world through interior eyes. It helps us become better listeners to our Father and, in turn, better observers of the people and events of our lives.

Early in The Rule, we are guided in three monastic virtues: obedience, restraint of speech, and humility. Hmm? That sounds like the folk in the sixth century were just like us. St. Benedict makes it clear that these timeless virtues are inseparable. As we practice these virtues, we gain everything the LORD has promised us of the abundant life with Him. We, like St. Benedict, live in a culture of protest, excessive self-promotion, and overweaning pride. You and I can choose from the vices of the culture or we can pursue the virtues of God’s Kingdom; how is it going for you? It’s hard work to swim upstream in our downstream society! So let’s briefly consider these primary virtues.

Here’s a little side note, each of these virtues has its own chapter in The Rule. Obedience gets 19 verses of attention; Silence gets one verse of attention, and Humility has a whopping 70 verses of attention! Take a knee with me at this observation!

Regarding the virtue of obedience, St. Benedict writes that the first step of humility is obedience without delay. He encourages us to, immediately leave all that is our concern and forsake our own will, with our hands disengaged from what seems urgent to us. I am driven by goals, so much so that finding balance in the daily round is a consistent prayer I offer to the LORD. Do you suffer from tunnel vision as I do? Disengaging my hands from what seems so important to me in a moment takes monumental effort sometimes. I am learning to appreciate the slowness that St. Benedict emphasizes throughout The Rule because it is in slowing down my pell-mell thoughts and actions I’m trained in obedience. What I am discovering as I slow down is there’s very little in life that is worth the whims and appetites of my self-indulgent grasping.

Regarding the virtue of Silence, St. Benedict writes Let us do as the prophet says: “I said, I will take heed to my ways that I do not sin with my tongue: I have placed a watch over my mouth… He draws our attention to the importance of silence with scriptures from the book of Proverbs: In too much speaking you shall not avoid sin. (Proverbs 10:19) And, Death and life are in the power of the tongue. (Proverbs 18:21) Oh, so much could be said here (pun not intended). I kindle to what fellow Benedictine oblate Norene Vest wrote about this: it seems to me that the more we love words, we tend to let ourselves be satisfied by them, thus stopping short of the true satisfaction [that comes from Jesus alone]. It calls to mind St. Paul’s observation that people are always learning but never understanding. I respond to that verse by praying, Lord, I don’t want to be so caught up in speaking about what I am learning at the expense of not understanding it and living it out. Lord, remind me that it is through listening and silence that you teach and lead me into rest.

And finally, regarding the virtue of humility, St. Benedict gives us extensive guidance, beginning with the straightforward point: the problem of the spiritual life is pride (self-exaltation); the remedy is humility. St. Benedict emphasizes the need to contemplate Sacred Scripture; it comes down to this, the more we immerse ourselves in praying with Sacred Scripture we become acutely aware of our prideful leanings.

He writes that we must, by our ever-ascending actions, erect a ladder, like the one which the proud and fearful Jacob beheld in his dream in his flight from duty and responsibility. Daily life offers plenty of opportunities to learn how to descend and ascend the ladder of humility. As we practice humility, the ladder is lifted by the LORD to heaven; I like that! Yet, some days when I’ve forgotten to allow the LORD to teach me this way, the Holy Spirit remains on each rung with me, guiding me. How about you, friend? When you face an old struggle and bristle at someone’s words or actions, does pride knock you off the ladder of humility? I regularly find myself flat on my backside, wondering how I could fall off the ladder again!

When we follow the guideposts in St. Benedict has provided us, we receive the remedy for the consumer-driven society that peddles discord, disenchantment, and dis-ease. We live in the chaos of evil times, full of anxiety, anger, and the noise of modernity! St. Benedict shows us the path away from it into preferring Christ over all things (no matter how entertaining or attractive they are) and abiding in the dailiness of our extraordinary life with God.

Let’s pray with St. Benedict:

O Lord, I place myself in your hands and dedicate myself to you. I pledge to do your will in all things: To love the Lord God with all my heart, soul, strength…

I desire to prefer nothing to the love of Christ…To desire eternal life with spiritual longing…to pray often. To ask forgiveness daily for my sins, and to seek ways to amend my life…Not to desire to be thought holy, but to seek holiness…Never to despair of your mercy, O God of Mercy.

I ask this in the name of the Father and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

As it was in the beginning, it is now, and ever shall be, world without end.

Amen

The Little Foxes Steel the Vine

The Old Testament reading for Mass today is well worth our consideration. As is The Church’s way, we are offered the daily scripture readings that require more than a cursory glimpse, for in keeping with the Sacred Tradition of the Church–all of Sacred Scripture is written for our salvation. As we open our spirit to the Holy Spirit’s inspiration contained in the written word, we are tutored on how to live the virtues in order to fight the good fight against the vices of sinful thought that can lead to sinful actions which are on display in the narrative of Ahab and Jezebel. So, with that in mind, let’s examine the reading to discover what the Holy Spirit desires to accomplish in our thoughts, motives, and actions.

If you have been following the daily readings in the Old Testament, then you know much of the backstory of King Ahab and his wife Jezebel. I bet you already know today’s recorded event won’t end well for them. Ahab and Jezebel refused to accept God’s authority over them by acting on the many vices that festered in their spirits. Those actions eventually led to a messy ending for them where God’s justice was served. Let’s pick up the narrative of I Kings 21: 1-17 as the extent of their spiritual disease reveals their evil; I will paraphrase parts of the lengthy narrative.

Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard in Jezreel
next to the palace of Ahab, king of Samaria.
Ahab said to Naboth, “Give me your vineyard to be my vegetable garden,
since it is close by, next to my house.
I will give you a better vineyard in exchange, or,
if you prefer, I will give you its value in money.”
Naboth answered him, “The LORD forbid
that I should give you my ancestral heritage.”
Ahab went home disturbed and angry...”

[Ahab seethed in his anger, complaining to his wife Jezebel]

His wife Jezebel came to him and said to him,
“Why are you so angry that you will not eat?”

[I wanted something Naboth had and he wouldn’t give it to me!]

His wife Jezebel said to him,
“A fine ruler over Israel you are indeed!
Get up.
Eat and be cheerful.
I will obtain the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite for you.”

[Jezebel used the power of Ahab’s office as king to plot against Naboth with lies and accusations to paint him into a corner that he would not be able to get out of alive]

And they [the bribed accusers] led Naboth out of the city and stoned him to death.
Then they sent the information to Jezebel
that Naboth had been stoned to death.

[Jezebel went in to the king with the “good” news]

“Go on, take possession of the vineyard
of Naboth the Jezreelite that he refused to sell you,
because Naboth is not alive, but dead.”
On hearing that Naboth was dead, Ahab started off on his way
down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite,
to take possession of it.

Such evil people! Such duplicity! Such injustice! But wait, let’s consider the heart and soul of Ahab and Jezebel. A small parable comes to mind from another Old Testament book; The Song of Solomon 2:15. It reads:

Catch us the foxes,
the little foxes,
that damage the vineyards—
for our vineyards are in blossom.

The putridity of Ahab and Jezebels’ behavior reveals that somewhere along the way, they had little foxes that snuck into their minds and began to damage them from the inside out. Those little foxes had names: pride, lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, anger, and envy: the seven vices. Those vices motivated their actions and ended in God’s judgment against them.

This is why The Church keeps the Sacred Scripture ever before us. This is why our Triune God sends his Holy Spirit into our lives to grant us his wisdom to live our lives. The Holy Spirit gifts us so that we may fight against the vice that motivates us to act unjustly toward another. Because of Christ’s Passion for us, we can confess those vices and be forgiven. Because of Christ’s resurrection from death, hell, and the grave, we can be strengthened in virtue and transformed to live in the abundance of a well-tended vineyard!

How does the vineyard of your soul look today? Are their little foxes running amuck in your heart and mind? If you are anything like me, friend, you regularly have to walk the wall of your vineyard looking for the holes that allow the little foxes into your soul. The Holy Spirit comes alongside us as we examine the wall, giving us the grace and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, helping us repair what has broken down in us. The Church comes alongside us, as well, to give us the Sacrament of Confession and the Daily Examine as tools for the repair. Sometimes I need to do minute-by-minute examinations of my thoughts and motivations; do you feel me? I invite you to pray with me the prayer of examen with the seven vices with the seven virtues.

Triune God, please grant me your humbleness to remove my prideful self-promoting thoughts and actions.

Grant me your purity and self-restraint to remove my lustful striving after more; for excess.

Grant me your patience to remove my judgmental assumptions that lead to an angry spirit.

Grant me your temperance to remove my gluttonous consumption of all the distractions that I use to ignore the sickness in my soul.

Grant me your kindness to remove the envy of others that traps me in comparisons, jealousy, and self-loathing.

Grant me your forbearance to remove the sloth of spirit that causes me to sink under the weight of what I perceive is demanded of me or causes me to despair that I will never change.

I ask this, in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

As it was in the beginning, it is now and ever shall be, world without end.

Amen