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

Prayer It Forward: Arrow Prayers

“Prayer is a surge of the heart, it is a simple look turned toward heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy.”

~St. Therese Lisieux

Michael Keaton starred in the 1996 comedy Multiplicity; he played a husband and father who tried to be present to his children and wife and still maintain his successful career. A scientist managed to clone him into four versions of himself to do right by his family and his career. The plan works for a while but comes to a comedic end. The movie’s intrigue has stayed with me as I’ve seen our family grow and divide into three parts of the country; my desire to live near each of them couldn’t be fulfilled, so multiplying myself sounded like a great idea. I follow their lives in conversations, texts, and Facetime. We are unique in our interests and pursuits, and even though I long to be a daily companion in their lives, I must rely on another kind of multiplication.

I offer up my prayers for each of them and am oriented to their well-being; my prayers as a wife, mother, and memiere are indeed the upward surge of my heart throughout each day. I can turn my look to our Heavenly Father, knowing that he knows my heart and embraces my family even better than I do. The idea of “arrow prayers” isn’t original to me. Still, my pattern of daily prayer for my lovies could be described as arrow prayers. They are a few lines of Scripture or quotes from the writings of the Saints or prayers of The Church coupled with my knowledge of each of my lovey’s needs.

When we were raising our children, I made a practice of writing said prayers on 3×5 cards strategically placing them around our home. The silent witness of those prayers seeped into our family atmosphere, and I know they helped to form our children’s faith in God. I encourage you to practice praying arrow prayers for your children and grandchildren. Remember that the Word of God is living and active…sharper than a two-edged sword…able to pierce the heart and mind (Hebrews 4:12). Our “arrow prayers” are just as intense!

The arrow prayers we pray with our children when they are young are much different than what we pray for in other stages of life. For instance, whenever we hear a siren or helicopter, we can train our children to know that someone is in trouble and then ask God to help them. The change of seasons gives us ample reasons to offer praise together to God for the beauty of his creation. Simple prayers like “Help them, Jesus” or “Thank you, Jesus” orient our children to God.

My prayers are different now. As I pray for my adult children and grandchildren, I rely on God’s prevenient grace (see Pray It Forward: Introduction) to answer my prayers. I still write appropriate arrow prayers in a prayer journal I keep for my family. Some I’ve relied on so often that they are written in my memory. It is as though I carry a quiver full of arrows with me each day, ready to be shot to heaven at the prompting of the Holy Spirit. I am sharing some of those prayers in my quiver to help guide your prayers or give you ideas of what to fill your quiver with.

Lord Jesus Christ,

I ask that [ ]…

Would grow in wisdom and stature and favor with God and man.

Would function with godly wisdom, discernment, and revelation.

Would be given a sense of purpose and hope for the future.

Would inflame them with Spirit, that it would burn, consume, and nourish them so that your Supreme will form them.

Mary lay her mantle over them so the infernal serpent may not dare to penetrate or entice them away from you.

Would be someone who speaks wisely, graciously, and clearly and never foolishly, rudely, or insensitively.

Would open the doors of salvation and draw them into your Divine will to form their life all in you.

You would remove anything that separates them from you.

May they see, hear, taste, savor, and touch you. They would be conscious of your presence and enjoy you!

I lay a spiritual ax to the root of their family tree and pray that the physical, mental, or emotional tendency stops and will not manifest in them.

May the Spirit of the Lord stir them onward and upward in the ascent of holiness.

May they rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and give thanks in all circumstances.

Grant [ ] the Spirit of Wisdom that they may not be attached to the perishable things of this world but aspire only after the things that are eternal.

Grant [ ] the Spirit of Understanding to enlighten their minds with the light of your Divine truth.

Grant [ ] the Spirit of Counsel that they may ever choose the surest way of pleasing God and gaining heaven.

Grant [ ] the Spirit of Fortitude that they may bear our cross with you and that we may overcome with courage all the obstacles that oppose our salvation.

Grant [ ] the Spirit of Knowledge that they may know God and know themselves and grow perfect in the science of the Saints.

Grant [ the Spirit of Piety that they may find the service of God sweet and amiable.

Grant [ ] the Spirit of Fear that they may be filled with a loving reverence towards God and may avoid anything that may displease him.

Mark [ ], dear Lord, with the sign of your true disciples, and animate [ ] in all things with your Spirit.

May the words of [ ] mouth and the meditation of [ ] heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, our Rock and Redeemer.

Keep sending your arrow prayers to the Lord on behalf of your family. He will receive them and work all things together for the good of those who love him.

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

****

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.

Pray It Forward: Introduction

Today, I trailed behind my daughter and granddaughter as we walked the halls of the school she will enter this year. With her schedule and map of the school in hand, she walked beside her guidance counselor to each of the doors in her new adventure–high school! It was a bizarre moment for me. I was here in a place like this with her mother just yesterday, wasn’t I? The guidance counselor gave the same advice to my granddaughter that my daughter and I heard when we were her age. “Change is exciting, but it can be scary; everyone around you probably feels the same way as you do, so don’t be afraid to ask for help.” Good advice, no matter your age!

I have 16 grandchildren, and there are many bizarre moments like these for me as I mother-once-removed them. It is more challenging for me to see my grandchildren growing up than it ever was when I parented their parents. I know it’s ridiculous to feel that way, but I can’t help myself. My love for them is possibly more than their fathers and mothers’ love for them at this stage in the game. It feels like my mama bear-ness is on steroids with my grandchildren.

Our family is spread across the country, and so is my love. With the arrival of each grandchild, my passion keeps expanding; sometimes, I’m bursting with emotions in 16 directions. So, what do I do? I get down on my knees and pray like I’ve never prayed before! I pray for these grandchildren just as I prayed for my children, but with more urgency than I ever felt when my children were young. I was too busy surviving motherhood; I didn’t have time to think of the “what ifs.” I would collapse into bed at night and ask our heavenly Father to make up for all my mistakes that day and for the stamina to get through the next day. I often told the Lord, “I just want them to remember how much you love them; don’t let me get in the way of them knowing that.” Now I pray, “Lord, help their parents to show them how much you love them, but let me help!”

And I do help! I help with the most significant effectiveness I have as their memiere (grandmother), for I, too, have a Guidance Counselor walking beside me, reassuring me as I navigate each new change in my family’s life. I’ve taken St. James’ admonition (5:13,16) to earnestly pray for others for a long time.

Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise. Are any among you sick? … The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective. 

The sense of urgency in interceding for my children grew exponentially when they reached their teen years, and now, 30-some years from our first child starting his teen years, I’m still praying not only for my children and grandchildren but our progeny! There is a theological understanding referred to as “prevenient grace,” referring to the grace of God that goes before us to prepare us for the recognition of sin and to enable us to understand our need for a Saviour. I know, that I know, that I know prevenient prayer for my family is the most valuable inheritance I can give as a mother and memiere. It is my habit to pray the Sacred Scriptures for my family. For what better way could I pray than praying God’s Word over them. The writer of Ecclesiastes encourages us to Send out your bread upon the waters, for after many days, you will get it back.

I pray that this new category addition to my blog will be helpful to you, friend.

…[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

Place Yourself in a Place Where You Can Be Found

A priest who served a small town parish found himself going blind due to a congenital disease. As he was preparing for his new life as a blind person memorized the layout of the streets in the town, making Main Street his anchor for navigation. As his sight deteriorated and soon disappeared, he walked each road of the town, constantly navigating back to Main Street before turning toward the parish rectory. One day, he got turned around. He knew how to make his way to the main street, so he walked to it and sat down, knowing someone from the parish would find him. Sure enough, a parishioner passed by and gave him a drive back to the rectory. He thanked the parishioner for finding him. Then the parishioner asked him how he had known how to make his way to Main Street. The priest told him of his practice of memorizing the town as he was going blind. “But, why Main Street?” the parishioner asked. The priest reminded him that everybody in town must drive down the main street to get where they are going. And then he added, “When you are lost, put yourself in a place where you can be found.”

I have never been so lost that I couldn’t be found (we never are), but I certainly have felt that way from time to time over my life. And, like the priest, I want to always be in a place where I can be found! Like Zaccheus, who wanted to see Jesus but couldn’t see over the crowd because he was vertically challenged, I sometimes needed to climb a tree to be found. The hard part is to sit and wait for Jesus. An Ignatian Spirituality principle about the discernment of spirits helps me to remain “seated” as I wait to be found, or I should say, as I wait for the Lord’s consolation. Life just happens, does it not? We are perennially in a state of consolation, tranquility, or desolation; and sometimes life just drives us up a tree; pun intended. We have seasons when our spirit is tranquil and still in the hands of our LORD, but then something comes along to disturb our peace, and it can make us feel discontent, doubt, or fear settling in around the edges of our mind. I believe the LORD allows those times to come to help us relearn that he is always with us despite how we feel. Usually, we can recognize that it’s simply another opportunity to entrust ourselves to the LORD. Normally. But then there are those times when discontentment, doubt, or fear move into our hearts and begin to nag us into looking for love in all the wrong places.

Saint Ignatius of Loyola refers to those seasons of our life as “desolation.” It may start with a bit of melancholy or feelings of isolation tiptoeing their way into our thoughts or a dramatic life event that assaults us. Either way, we risk losing sight of the LORD’s abiding love for us if we try to avoid the season by distracting ourselves from the LORD’s love. It is then that we need to take the blind priest’s advice and place ourselves in a place where we can be found.

He cautions that we should never make decisions when in desolation; in other words, we are to remain in the LORD’s hands as he carries us through the unwelcomed season back to the tranquil rest that is ours when we wait for the LORD. When we continue to do what we know to do in our relationship with the LORD–worship, prayer, reading the Sacred Scriptures–we are placing ourselves in a place we can be found. And just as Jesus did for Zacchaeus, he will do for us even though we cannot see the forest for the trees, another pun intended!

I believe I know why Ash Wednesday is the third most attended mass of the Liturgical year; we all share the knowledge that our physical lives are just dust after all. St. James writes:

What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

Yet we all know or at least hope to know that when we place ourselves in the place where we can be found, Jesus comes to us with his abundant life as he did to Zaccheaus. And like Zaccheaus, we know that when we repent of whatever got us lost in the first place, a season of refreshing will come. That’s another way to look at Lent’s meaning- a time of renewal and refreshment.

Repent therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Messiah appointed for you, that is, Jesus…

“Acts 3:19,20

Do you ever doubt God will come through for you? Do you long for contentment that isn’t rattled by your circumstances? Do you struggle with feelings of doubt and discontent? The malignant enemy of our soul nags us with feelings of shame and regret, discontentment and doubt. Yet our loving Lord Jesus has his eyes fixed on us, waiting for us to place ourselves where we can be found.

LORD Jesus Christ, there are so many ways we get ourselves lost. You know them all, don’t you? There is one way to be found, and you are the One who sees us. Teach us how to place ourselves where we can be found momentarily as we make this Lenten journey together.

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

Amen

Holy Work

And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him… Whatever you do, do from the heart, as for the Lord…

Colossians 3:17, 23

St. Paul writes that whatever our task, it can glorify God when we do it with thanksgiving. What is your task right now? Are you harvesting a field, holding your child, baking bread, or repairing a vehicle? When rightly ordered, the tasks of our hands are offerings of worship and thanksgiving to the Lord.

God ordered his creation as good, and he considers us as very good co-creators with him. His instruction to “be fruitful and multiply” applies to more than procreation. He has instilled within us a very good desire to innovate: in other words, to multiply his beauty and goodness in every corner of his creation. 

There’s not an animal alive that finds a cave to live in and immediately thinks, “Now, what can I do to improve the place?” But we do! God put the first man and woman in the Garden of Eden to cultivate and care for it as an act of thanksgiving and worship of God (Genesis 2:15). We, too, worship him with thanksgiving as we cultivate and care for our corners of this world by beautifying it. What a privilege! What a responsibility!

So how do we do that? We join hands, so to speak, in co-creating with God according to the unique giftedness he has blessed us each with. Whether right brain or left brain, artistic or analytical, we multiply God’s beauty, goodness, and truth with the work of our hands. My friend is an investor; he delights in helping people invest wisely. Another friend is an artist; she is delighted to give her paintings to neighbors and friends. Creating and giving, isn’t this another way of participating with God?

In the Sacred Tradition of our faith, we worship in the Mass, celebrating Christ, our Lord. There, our response to our salvation is a liturgy of praise and thanksgiving that we pray in word and song. The last words of the prayer of the Mass are “The Mass is ended. Go, in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life.” And we respond, “Thanks be to God.” We don’t walk out of the worship of God as if our thanksgiving has ended. No, we continue our worship of him as the Lord of our life in the liturgy (its etymology means “work”) of our daily lives. 

This is the beautiful reciprocity of the worship of God: God is delighted by our worship, and he pours that delight back into our lives as we co-create with him in the work of our hands. Our work is a favor from our Creator, a favor that keeps on giving. 

The psalmist writes, “May the favor of the Lord our God be ours. Prosper the work of our hands!” (Ps 90:17). Favor is an act of kindness beyond what is usual, but another definition of favor is to bear a resemblance to someone. Aren’t we doing that with the work of our hands as we co-create with our heavenly Father? 

Consider that our God, in the work of creation, made all things purposeful, perfect and valuable for us. And I believe it was quite enjoyable and satisfying for him to do that! It was all a favor for us. As we participate with him in co-creating, we too, enjoy the work of our hands, finding it satisfying and enjoyable and then gifting it to others.

My God-given abilities and talents bring order to my life, enriching my corner of the world. As I co-create, I am calmed and balanced in the rhythm of the abundant life in God. As I give my gifts and abilities to others, they may join in the rhythm of this abundant life as well. And yes, God favors me with the sanity that comes with it!