Handling the sneaker waves of life

When I was a kid growing up in New Jersey, my parents used to take us to the Jersey shore to see my grandparents on my dad’s side and during the summer we would go wading in the Atlantic Ocean.  Occasionally a sneaker wave would catch me off guard and tumble me head over heels, bounce me off the bottom a few times and fill my hair and ears with sand.  While I was being tumbled under the water, I often couldn’t tell which way was up until things settled down a bit.  

Life tends to be a lot like the ocean sending sneaker waves to turn us upside down and tumble us so that we lose our bearings.  

One pastor friend of ours shared candidly in one of his sermons that a lot of mornings he woke up like an unbeliever until he was able to spend some time with the Lord to get his bearings.  

The Catholic Church considers the creeds to be prayers to help us get our bearings and figure out which way is up, who we are and who God is as we encounter the sneaker waves of life.  One of the earliest creeds is the Apostles Creed and I find it to have a very stabilizing influence in my life when I pray it to God in the morning.  It helps me to remember my Creator, who He is and all that He has provided for me on my journey.  I am not alone on the journey.  He’s with me and so are my brothers and sisters in Christ throughout the ages to this present day.  And the Creed reminds me that God’s plans for me are for my good, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting.  Amen.  

Praying the Creed helps me move from being a sleepy, clueless unbeliever to a believer with a mission as I navigate the sneaker waves of the day.

So when I am praying the Apostles Creed alone, I pray it as below in order to more clearly address it to God. I also drop the archaic English to make more like I am just talking to God as I declare my faith in Him and His plan of salvation for us all.

I believe in You, God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. And in You, Lord Jesus Christ, His Only Son, Our Lord. You were conceived by the Holy Spirit. You were born of the Virgin Mary. You suffered under Pontius Pilate. You were crucified, died and were buried. You descended into hell. The third day you rose again from the dead. You ascended into heaven and are seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence shall You come to judge the living and the dead.  I believe in You, Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and life everlasting. Amen

The Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time – September 9, 2018

First Reading:  Isaiah 35:4-7a

Psalm:  Psalm 146:6-7, 8-9, 9-10 (1b)

Second Reading:  James 2:1-5

Alleluia:  cf. Matthew 4:23

Gospel:  Mark 7:31-37

The first reading from Isaiah 35 is about God coming to deliver and restore Israel after  removing and replacing her unrighteous and self-serving leadership (chapter 32) and overthrowing and judging her enemies, Assyria (chapter 33) and Edom (chapter 34).  Isaiah 35 is also a Messianic prophecy which we will see Jesus fulfill in the Gospel reading.

God had allowed Israel to be conquered and oppressed by her enemies and for her land to become a desert.  But He did so with a redemptive purpose in mind and that was to drive her back to Himself and dependence on Him rather than dependence on other nations and her own abilities and wisdom.  He wanted to get His people to the point where they would say like Peter, Lord, to whom shall we go, You have the words of eternal life.

And so in Chapter 35, God speaks encouragement to those with fearful hearts in Israel, Be strong and fear not.  The strength and fearlessness that He is speaking of is that produced by faith or trust in Him.  Then He proceeds to give them reasons to trust in Him.  I will list them.

1. Here is your God – He is ever present though they may not see Him. He is already there in the midst of their guilt, suffering, fear and uncertainty.  They only need to turn to Him.
2. He comes with vindication – The vindication that God brings is twofold.  First, in His mercy, He will grant them absolution for their sins against them.  He will forgive them.  Second, their oppressors/abusers in their boasting have been telling them lies about their true dignity and worth as God’s people, unfaithful though they had been.  They had also been lying about and mocking their God.  That is what oppressors/abusers do to those who they have under their thumbs.  God is going to set the record straight, like Jesus said the oppressors in Revelation.  I will make them bow down and know that I have loved you.

3. With divine recompense – God will give them what they don’t deserve.   He will restore what they have lost.
4. He comes to save you. That is God’s goal to bring about restored relationship with Himself which is what salvation is.
5. Their restoration will include both physical and spiritual healing which are included here in this healings. The drought will be over and their land will be flowing with abundant water and become fruitful once again.

The Psalmist in the responsorial psalm continues the list of God’s trust inspiring attributes as we respond with thankful praise, Praise the Lord, my soul!

I will include the Psalm below but first I want to point out that the majority of these attributes have to do with justice and the Catholic definition of justice is different than what usually comes to our minds when we hear the word, justice.  I think most of us tend to think in terms of justice for us or criminal justice, giving the criminals what they deserve.  But the justice here in the Psalm is other focused, caring for the struggling, the weak and the powerless, those who can’t fend for themselves.  It also includes praising God for who He is, for as we say in the Mass, it is right and just.

Here is the definition of justice in the Catechism.

1807 Justice is the moral virtue that consists in the constant and firm will to give their due to God and neighbor. Justice toward God is called the virtue of religion.  Justice toward men disposes one to respect the rights of each and to establish in human relationships the harmony that promotes equity with regard to persons and to the common good. The just man, often mentioned in the Sacred Scriptures, is distinguished by habitual right thinking and the uprightness of his conduct toward his neighbor.  You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor.  Masters, treat your slaves justly and fairly, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.

Here is the Psalm.

The God of Jacob keeps faith forever,

secures justice for the oppressed,

gives food to the hungry.

The LORD sets captives free.

The LORD gives sight to the blind;

the LORD raises up those who were bowed down.

The LORD loves the just;

the LORD protects strangers.

The fatherless and the widow the LORD sustains,

but the way of the wicked he thwarts.

The LORD shall reign forever;

your God, O Zion, through all generations.

Alleluia.

James continues the justice theme in the Second Reading addressing partiality towards the rich in the assembly of believers.  This problem remains with us today.  But is God showing partiality to the poor here and elsewhere in the Scripture?  Look at the last paragraph.  And James doesn’t have very nice things to say about the rich in the rest of his epistle.

Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters.

Did not God choose those who are poor in the world

to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom

that he promised to those who love him?

We can see in the Catechism that partiality is not encouraged towards the poor or the rich.  What gives?

The problem is in the riches, money or mammon.  They are a temptation for us to trust in them and our resourcefulness in accumulating them rather than in God.  They can become our end game, our goal which we blindly pursue disregarding God and the collateral damage to our neighbors that our pursuit of riches creates.

God has no issue with those who use their riches in a godly manner, giving wisely and generously without expecting deferential treatment, not using their riches to lord it over and gain power over others but rather for the benefit of their employees, the furtherance of the Gospel and the betterment of the world.  They realize they are stewards whom God has gifted with the necessary skills and with the resources to be a blessing to others.

But such people are the exception rather than the rule among the rich because of the power of the temptation.  So we need to pray for them and not treat them with partiality but rather love.

Jesus in the Gospel reading travels into a more Gentile area to perform two of the miracles mentioned in the Isaiah 35 reading, the healing of the deaf and speech impeded man.  His purpose is still redemptive and He desires to open their spiritual ears to hear the Gospel about who has come among them and to heal their mouths so they can sing praises to God, their creator.  And we can perhaps see that beginning to happen in their testimony about Jesus at the end of the reading.

May God provide the healing that we need to be fully functioning children of God.

The Thirty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time - November 11, 2018

First Reading: 1 Kings 17:10-16

Psalm: Psalm 146:7, 8-9, 9-10 (1b)

Second Reading: Hebrews 9:24-28

Alleluia: Matthew 5:3

Gospel: Mark 12:38-44

I will be addressing the readings randomly.

Life in this world is unpredictable as much as we try to control it, even for those who have fame, power and fortune.  We are seeing that play out in California as  out of control fires are devouring whole cities, forcing thousands to flee for their lives.  We’ve seen it in increasingly destructive hurricanes and storms ravaging the eastern United States.  We are experiencing it in our own lives and those of our loved ones as we experience disease, lost jobs, rising prices for housing and health care, death, violence and catastrophe.  My own daughter-in-law and her son, our grandson, lost their husband and father, respectively last month.  And we lost a beloved son.  Not much has really changed since Biblical times.  Who can we trust in during such perilous times?  Even people who love us are often prevented by their limitations as human beings from coming through for us.  It is easy to conclude we are on our own and let terror, despair and the enemy of our souls overwhelm us.

Well, there is a God, our Father, up in the heavens who keeps faith forever, who makes promises and keeps them and who reigns forever.  And He is not distant but is always aware of what is happening in our lives whether we are trusting Him and confiding in Him or not.  He sent His own son into our world to become one of us, die for us, conquer death for us to take away our sins, ascend back into heaven for us to appear before Him on our behalf as both our eternal high priest and sacrifice.  Not only that but His Son Is coming back to take us home to Father’s house, if we believe and entrust ourselves to Him in this world while looking forward to the eternal life with Him promised to us.  I gleaned these reflections from the Psalm and the second reading.

But what about life in this world, what hope does He offer us in this world while we are traveling through it?  Well, there are the lives of Elijah and the two widows and the Psalm in today’s readings to take to heart.  

In the first, Elijah confronts Ahab, the wicked king of Israel, in a showdown on God’s behalf.  God had given Elijah the power through prayer to control the rainfall in the region.  And Elijah was sent by God to pronounce upon the king and the region a multi-year drought that would not end until Elijah prayed for it to.  Now droughts always meant famines in those days.  And King Ahab responds by wanting to kill the messenger so God directs Elijah to a series of refuges for his safety.  One of the places He provides is the home of a poor widow and her son in neighboring kingdom in Zarephath of Sidon.  The widow isn’t even Jewish but God had already contacted her, giving her a heads up that Elijah would be coming and commanding her to provide for him.  See 1 Kings 17:9.

Now the widow and her son have been suffering both from the loss of their husband and his father and also from the famine.  They only have enough food for a meager last meal before they die of hunger.  But she is willing to share it with Elijah on the basis of God’s promise through him that He will provide for her and her son until He sends the rains again.  So trust in God’s promise to her and her obedience prior to any fulfillment of that promise was requested and given.

That impressed me!  Wow!

In the Gospel reading, Jesus took the religious leaders, the scribes who were teachers of the law to task for using their position for the self-gratification of getting their egos stroked and for greed.  They were even taking widows houses while they were reciting lengthy prayers.  Jesus called them out and said they will receive a very severe condemnation, presumably from His Father when they are called to give an account.  Sound familiar?

Then Jesus sat down opposite the temple treasury to observe the crowd bringing their contributions to the temple.  He saw the rich dropping in big bags of money.  Then He noticed the widow, one of those being taken advantage of by the unrighteous scribes, putting her two last small coins, all she has.  So he called his disciples and brought her generosity to their attention.  She gave more than all the rich because she gave it all while the rich gave their leftovers.  

Now most of us would probably have been looking at the big bags of money the rich were giving.  But not Jesus.  His eyes zeroed in on the poor widow, one of the least of these.  He marveled at her faith.

Which brings us back the Psalm which I have included below.

The LORD keeps faith forever,

secures justice for the oppressed,

gives food to the hungry.

The LORD sets captives free.

The LORD gives sight to the blind;

the LORD raises up those who were bowed down.

The LORD loves the just;

the LORD protects strangers.

The fatherless and the widow he sustains,

but the way of the wicked he thwarts.

The LORD shall reign forever;

your God, O Zion, through all generations. Alleluia.

Praise the Lord, my soul!

Kind of reminds me of 1 Corinthians 1:26-29.

26 Consider your own calling, brothers. Not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.

27 Rather, God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise, and God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong,

28 and God chose the lowly and despised of the world, those who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing those who are something,

29 so that no human being might boast before God.

We can rejoice.  God cares for us and will assist us.  Often through His people, His Church.  My family and I have experienced His care and His miraculous provision many times.  Often in the nick of time.  So this reflection was not just an academic exercise for me.  We just need to trust Jesus as our rock in this crazy world, growing and walking in obedience to His will.  He’ll come and get us when it’s time to come live with Him forever.

I love this prayer from the common preface in the Mass because it is so true.

I love this prayer from the common preface in the Mass because it is so true.

It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation, always and everywhere to give you thanks, Lord, holy Father, almighty and eternal God, through Christ our Lord.

It is not only right and just and our duty to thank God because He really does deserve it, it is also our salvation.  When we allow our hearts to be thankful to God and give Him thanks, it saves us and unites us with Him.  My heart swells with gratitude just thinking about it.

Lord Jesus, You are the Light of the World

Lord Jesus, you are the light of the world, have mercy on us and give us light in our darkness.

Lord Jesus, you love us and gave yourself for us.  You love us still and feed us with your own flesh and blood through the Eucharist.  Give us your life to strengthen ours.

Lord Jesus, you became one of us so that you could experience life and death in this world and become our faithful high priest who knows how we feel.  Help us in our loneliness when we feel no one cares.  You do, Lord, you do.

Lord Jesus, you even come to us physically in the consecrated host so that you enter us when we receive you in the Eucharist and are present with us in Adoration.

Lord Jesus, help us to choose life and the Father’s will instead of our own.  Help us to not lean on our own understanding but yours.

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of us your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love.  Send forth your Spirit, and they shall be created; and you shall renew the face of the earth.

The Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time - August 19, 2018

The Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time - August 19, 2018

First Reading: Proverbs 9:1-6

Psalm: Psalm 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7 (9a)

Second Reading: Ephesians 5:15-20

Alleluia: John 6:56

Gospel: John 6:51-58

This Sunday’s reading are about attaining the wisdom to know where to find life for the journey in this world and the next.  Life is a person, a relationship, a community, a shared meal, a way in which to walk and learn.

We find Wisdom in the first reading inviting us all over to her house, a house with seven pillars which represent perfection and the seven collections of proverbs contained in the Book of Proverbs.  She is inviting us all, everyone in the city who recognizes their foolishness, ignorance and lack of understanding to come eat and drink the sumptuous meal she has prepared for us.  It is a meal which will enable us to forsake our foolishness and advance in the way of understanding.  Her meal that she has prepared for us possibly foreshadows the Eucharist with the meat (flesh) and the wine(blood).

The Psalm begins with the faithful inviting others to join the banquet of praise and thanksgiving to the Lord for his deliverances.  It is an invitation to taste and see the goodness of the Lord and experience the joy of gazing upon Him and putting our trust and hope in Him.

Verse 5 is particularly meaningful to me in the context of having become a Catholic.

I sought the LORD, and he answered me,

delivered me from all my fears.

My fears were tempting me to despair of life and feel like committing suicide.  I didn’t know how to seek Him in prayer to obtain answers and find deliverance.  But the Lord led me to the Catholic Church, the Sacraments and the prayers of the Church, particularly the Rosary.  I can now say that He has delivered me from all my fears.  They still come at me but I know what to do with them now.  Thanks be to God!

The Apostle Paul then exhorts us further into the way of wisdom and into the fight against the daily onslaught of evil, living intentionally and seeking to understand the will of the Lord through learning.  Whereas most people in this world try to self medicate with the goods of this world to deal with the stress and strain in their lives, St. Paul advocates sung praise and thanksgiving as ways to be filled with the Spirit and handle the difficulty of life.

It is interesting how when we sing and focus on the Lord, we feel better.  A lot of the old hymns that I used to think were pie in the sky and corny now ring true because I am experiencing what they were about.  Hymns Iike Count Your Blessings.  Here’s the first verse for an example.

When upon life's billows you are tempest tossed,

When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,

Count your many blessings, name them one by one,

And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

Finally Jesus really does give us Himself and His life in the Eucharist as He proclaims in the Gospel reading.  The Eucharist is one of the most important ways that Jesus has provided for us to come to Him and remain in Him and receive life from Him.  I love every word and action in the Mass.  It is interesting how Jesus gives the John 6 discourse on His being the Bread of Life after criticizing the Pharisees and scribes for seeking eternal life by searching the Scriptures rather than coming to Him the source of eternal life in the Eucharist.  The Scriptures point to Him.

Tips for praying the rosary

Tips for praying the rosary

General tips in praying the rosary
1. Expect it to be somewhat dry as you are learning the prayers. Think of all the other things that you have learned how to do and how they were at times tedious as you learned them. But eventually you mastered them if you persevered. Then it became more satisfying.

2. You have an attentive audience to your prayers. God the Holy Trinity and the Blessed Virgin Mary are listening to your prayers even as you are learning them. You are not just saying words that don’t matter. You are praying, even if somewhat clumsily. They want you to succeed because they know it will help you to draw near to them and they will in turn draw near to you. They are present. And that is a promise. James 4:8a, “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.” NABRE So pray with expectation they are there even if you don’t feel them. Your attitude and faith make a big difference in how satisfying prayer will be. If you are just saying words into the air, not thinking you are connecting with anyone, then why pray? Prayer then becomes a dead thing and God is probably saying, “are you talking to me?” By the way, just so we are clear Mary is not God but she can be present as can the saints and angels

3. There is nothing wrong using a booklet or a list to help you remember the prayers and mysteries or eventually in your mediations on the mysteries after you get the Hail Marys down enough to begin to multi-task. If you find you just can’t meditate while praying the Hail Marys, then meditate on the mysteries at the beginning when you state the mystery.

4. The Catholic Church considers the creeds to be prayers so when I am praying the rosary alone I pray the Apostles Creed like this to more clearly address it to God. I also drop the archaic English to make more like I am just talking to God declaring my faith in Him and His plan of salvation.

I believe in You, God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. And in You, Lord Jesus Christ, His Only Son, Our Lord. You were conceived by the Holy Spirit. You were born of the Virgin Mary. You suffered under Pontius Pilate. You were crucified, died and were buried. You descended into hell. The third day you rose again from the dead. You ascended into heaven and are seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence shall You come to judge the living and the dead.  I believe in You, Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the resurrection of the body and life everlasting. Amen

5. I drop the archaic English from the Our Father.

Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. Amen.

6. I drop archaic English from the rest of the prayers and replace it with current English.
7. I also recite the prayers in archaic English occasionally so I am prepared for group prayer sessions which usually use the archaic English.
8. You don’t have to drop the archaic English if you don’t need or want to.

How many prayers do you have to learn to pray the rosary? Not many and I bet you already know some of them by heart.

1. The Sign of the Cross
2. The Apostles Creed
3. The Our Father (Lord’s Prayer)
4. The Hail Mary
5. The Glory Be
6. The extra Fatima prayer, Oh my Jesus, which is optional but I always pray it after the Glory Be. David doesn’t use it.
7. The Hail Holy Queen after you finish praying the decades. That prayer will seem strange to newbies from Protestantism but it grows on you as Mary becomes dear to you. Now I love it.
8. There are other awesome prayers you can add at the end but those are optional. Some prayer books have them and some don’t.

That’s it.

Then you just have to put them together into the introductory prayers to the rosary and the 5 mysteries/decades for the day. There are plenty of examples/lists/brochures of the structure so I won’t include that here.

You can add your prayers to the rosary at any point as they come to mind or you are led. The various mysteries may jog your mind and spur your heart to pray about similar situations you or others you know are going through. Even if you don’t add any of your prayers, God is sifting through your heart changing things and bringing them to the surface. Or He may give you insights into the mysteries that leave you awestruck, singing praises and thanking Him. Sometimes He may interrupt your rosary to work through something with you or redirect your prayers. And you may never get back to the rosary for the day. That’s His prerogative. Let Him.

If you wrestle with anxiety, the rosary will keep you in God the Holy Trinity and Mary’s presence to bring them to the surface and offer them up. You will probably find your trust in God, peace and tranquility growing. Sometimes since your anxieties are being handled by God, you will find yourself having fewer anxieties to bring to Him and you will focus more on others, having greater empathy and compassion.

Sometimes you will find that you have drifted and can’t remember where you left off exactly. I just go back to the last place I can remember praying and start from there unless I feel it was a God redirection.

Where to start
With the mysteries for that day of the week. Again, there are lists that are available so I won’t reproduce them here.

If praying all five mysteries for the day with the related decades of the Hail Marys is too much to start with then pray one of them. The next day those mysteries come up then pray the next one in line.

The main thing to remember is that you are loved by God the Holy Trinity and by Mary. They are pleased by your efforts to draw near. Even if you don’t pray any other prayers but the rosary prayers, you are praying for you and for others. God is working in your heart and their hearts and the world is being changed and His kingdom is being advanced. Mary is interceding for us. You will start to see things happen.

If you need links to the lists and structure, let me know.

May God bless you as you start to pray the rosary. It has revolutionized my life.