tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-82868073894074900412024-03-18T17:30:27.756-07:00Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Mill ValleyWelcome to the parish blog of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Mill Valley, CaliforniaOLMChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00798357199135886534noreply@blogger.comBlogger3664125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8286807389407490041.post-75054077737250603102024-03-18T05:00:00.000-07:002024-03-18T05:00:00.134-07:00A HEART alone (George Herbert)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidDlhbO8lXMB1_wv_wnUsq_o4HFUWFXPqxVkrFFuCYZATXeNY9JDJ3lVdIwwSxOV61nuuZs5Qu0WjDZZyBLlRgHPKDhVXrEorbrkrPsvRF8hmIRlZTtuk4qmScqk5qBQr7OxQ_fDFEJKIn04J9CmVkWjP7Oh-4_ExTJBn1ALOWFoaGwaL6IRMTXBRffj85/s1032/3206-1-Screen%20Shot%202023-11-20%20at%202.33.18%20PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1032" data-original-width="852" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidDlhbO8lXMB1_wv_wnUsq_o4HFUWFXPqxVkrFFuCYZATXeNY9JDJ3lVdIwwSxOV61nuuZs5Qu0WjDZZyBLlRgHPKDhVXrEorbrkrPsvRF8hmIRlZTtuk4qmScqk5qBQr7OxQ_fDFEJKIn04J9CmVkWjP7Oh-4_ExTJBn1ALOWFoaGwaL6IRMTXBRffj85/w330-h400/3206-1-Screen%20Shot%202023-11-20%20at%202.33.18%20PM.png" width="330" /></a></div><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><span style="font-family: georgia;">A broken ALTAR, Lord, thy servant rears,
<br />Made of a heart and cemented with tears;
<br />Whose parts are as thy hand did frame;
<br />No workman's tool hath touch'd the same.
<br /> A HEART alone
<br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">Is such a stone,
<br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">As nothing but
<br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">Thy pow'r doth cut.
<br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">Wherefore each part
<br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">Of my hard heart
<br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">Meets in this frame
<br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></i><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i>To praise thy name.
<br />That if I chance to hold my peace,
<br />These stones to praise thee may not cease.
<br />Oh, let thy blessed SACRIFICE be mine,
<br />And sanctify this ALTAR to be thine.</i> </span></span></p><p style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;">--George Herbert, <i>The Altar</i></span> </span></p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXyx4fNIUCdLXpJA8hWJbosUmKayInvIZfaVU70djbBxUuzrdCX-Y3CmyiFhyajyuvqpEWn43IgVmprpD1BVY2u2T1uCedWUZwxRthBEsHNAz4xsT4NaA92sbFLezdhsuR3Jd74Mel8HVP3fJl4s20-LSZuX5DWlkPw8yNNfHBJQAnVB_ptgAiOoCTef8g/s696/3206-2-Screen%20Shot%202023-11-20%20at%202.35.47%20PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="416" data-original-width="696" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXyx4fNIUCdLXpJA8hWJbosUmKayInvIZfaVU70djbBxUuzrdCX-Y3CmyiFhyajyuvqpEWn43IgVmprpD1BVY2u2T1uCedWUZwxRthBEsHNAz4xsT4NaA92sbFLezdhsuR3Jd74Mel8HVP3fJl4s20-LSZuX5DWlkPw8yNNfHBJQAnVB_ptgAiOoCTef8g/w400-h239/3206-2-Screen%20Shot%202023-11-20%20at%202.35.47%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: x-small;">Image source 1: <a href="https://mybrightideasblog.com/heart-shaped-beach-stones-pebble-art/">https://mybrightideasblog.com/heart-shaped-beach-stones-pebble-art/
</a><br />Image source 2: Altar, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Mill Valley, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1732773300117418&set=a.1726464817414933">https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1732773300117418&set=a.1726464817414933
</a><br /><a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44358/the-altar" target="_blank">Poem source</a></span></p>OLMChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00798357199135886534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8286807389407490041.post-37134659016558084252024-03-17T05:00:00.000-07:002024-03-17T05:00:00.343-07:00The Lord is greater than all (St. Patrick / Pope Benedict XVI)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGQoP5MsEF_QWFS7ZhLOHNdWi-fKoGWs3Mg_UBLULv0N1ytsWzNJq7VngLKTcXYIhs-OSx8D4BC_fxBP4y6XEfstzEBVC-7he1fmHJ6LybMSWcAed2CViXj2zvRMGlJjUn9c_m_78YEDlBwcsq2qw5ASPeS0M-l7IBwak_PEb0C5q5YR_b7rM4pR72mdIZ/s563/3205-Screen%20Shot%202023-11-20%20at%2011.51.52%20AM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="563" data-original-width="453" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGQoP5MsEF_QWFS7ZhLOHNdWi-fKoGWs3Mg_UBLULv0N1ytsWzNJq7VngLKTcXYIhs-OSx8D4BC_fxBP4y6XEfstzEBVC-7he1fmHJ6LybMSWcAed2CViXj2zvRMGlJjUn9c_m_78YEDlBwcsq2qw5ASPeS0M-l7IBwak_PEb0C5q5YR_b7rM4pR72mdIZ/w321-h400/3205-Screen%20Shot%202023-11-20%20at%2011.51.52%20AM.png" width="321" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>The Lord is greater than all: <br /> I have said enough.
<br /></i><br /> --St. Patrick </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><i> If we look to the saints, this great luminous wake with which God has passed through history, we truly see that here is a force for good that survives through millennia; here is truly light from light. </i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">--Pope Benedict XVI </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: #38761d;"><i>Happy St. Patrick’s Day!</i></span></b> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: x-small;">Image source: Patrick banishes the snow and darkness with which a druid has cursed the land, <i>Scenes from the Life of Saint Patrick</i>, <a href="https://www.nationalgallery.ie/art-and-artists/highlights-collection/scenes-life-saint-patrick">https://www.nationalgallery.ie/art-and-artists/highlights-collection/scenes-life-saint-patrick
</a><br /><a href="https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/saint_patrick_821930" target="_blank">Quotation source 1</a><br /><a href="https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/pope_benedict_xvi_586424" target="_blank">Quotation source 2</a></span></div>OLMChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00798357199135886534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8286807389407490041.post-10565249133318605142024-03-16T05:00:00.000-07:002024-03-16T05:00:00.135-07:00Feeling with our hearts (Helen Keller & Annie Sullivan)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQmXjpkD0gEp9XfhAL9QpHR82fk-s9rjyOzgJGhJjXMYm0Dr6p06OwWLKC1QlXUJyxH9flf06yiPer2VZcpa7c76riUBGIpvwOj-KiOG46KVrjgB5YO9jSHeTaklOCn5uuFHJYzfLhunBuC5wU4sXumKdeafOpVav7b5q776qKY9tUEhaO26uaK446hyJK/s1458/3204-Screen%20Shot%202023-11-20%20at%205.14.20%20PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1090" data-original-width="1458" height="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQmXjpkD0gEp9XfhAL9QpHR82fk-s9rjyOzgJGhJjXMYm0Dr6p06OwWLKC1QlXUJyxH9flf06yiPer2VZcpa7c76riUBGIpvwOj-KiOG46KVrjgB5YO9jSHeTaklOCn5uuFHJYzfLhunBuC5wU4sXumKdeafOpVav7b5q776qKY9tUEhaO26uaK446hyJK/w400-h299/3204-Screen%20Shot%202023-11-20%20at%205.14.20%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></div><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: x-large;"><i> The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart. </i></span></p><p style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">--Helen Keller & Annie Sullivan</span> </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: x-small;">Image source: <a href="https://designshack.net/articles/trends/fractal-art/">https://designshack.net/articles/trends/fractal-art/
</a><br /><a href="https://quoteinvestigator.com/2012/07/18/best-not-seen/" target="_blank">Quotation source</a></span></p>OLMChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00798357199135886534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8286807389407490041.post-88627324701342420692024-03-15T05:00:00.000-07:002024-03-15T05:00:00.137-07:00The voice that speaks to our heart (Henri Nouwen)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaTaH1Yghrzz8mBcPQMyeyh7ozX-NgJttXjsob8svf9nDc1tsK21FZF5Hv08oObmjSPAmPl-hX48-06N9k6qdR5GQNghkoW_SiHvkpfwWDt9kGjZCXwZteT3b0T-PCnskN691yXlMRV5EYfOyPlM2JS5zWC1PDsas8KTmdUhnzirvhQD5HIPDCCPQUx5Vd/s524/3203-Screen%20Shot%202023-11-20%20at%202.25.10%20PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="524" data-original-width="506" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaTaH1Yghrzz8mBcPQMyeyh7ozX-NgJttXjsob8svf9nDc1tsK21FZF5Hv08oObmjSPAmPl-hX48-06N9k6qdR5GQNghkoW_SiHvkpfwWDt9kGjZCXwZteT3b0T-PCnskN691yXlMRV5EYfOyPlM2JS5zWC1PDsas8KTmdUhnzirvhQD5HIPDCCPQUx5Vd/w386-h400/3203-Screen%20Shot%202023-11-20%20at%202.25.10%20PM.png" width="386" /></a></div><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i> In the biblical understanding, our heart is at the center of our being. It’s not a muscle, but a symbol for the very center of our being. Now the beautiful thing about the heart is that the heart is the place where we are most ourselves. It is the very core of our being, the spiritual center of our being. Solitude and silence, for instance, are ways to get to the heart, because the heart is the place where God speaks to us, where we hear the voice that calls us beloved. This is precisely the most intimate place. </i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i> In the famous story, Elijah was standing in front of the cave. God was not in the storm, God was not in the fire and not in the earthquake, but God was in that soft little voice (see 1 Kings 19: 11–12). That soft little voice... speaks to the heart. Prayer and solitude are ways to listen to the voice that speaks to our heart, in the center of our being. One of the most amazing things is that if you enter deeper and deeper into that place, you not only meet God, but you meet the whole world there. </i></span></p><p style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;">--Henri Nouwen</span> </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: x-small;">Image source: <a href="https://parpools.typepad.com/notes/2012/01/prayer-101-silence-solitude-2.html">https://parpools.typepad.com/notes/2012/01/prayer-101-silence-solitude-2.html
</a><br /><a href="https://henrinouwen.org/meditations/your-heart-is-the-center-of-your-being/ " target="_blank">Quotation source</a></span></p>OLMChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00798357199135886534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8286807389407490041.post-16965831395283468752024-03-14T05:00:00.000-07:002024-03-14T05:00:00.142-07:00Sunday Gospel Reflection, March 17, 2024: I will place my law within them and write it upon their hearts...<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSl-2GkcDlrPu16aoXVub9z469un83QXME5q3TkyiYstoC1V_8itz7K9Fqv-vf6I374RACYvN_TI8fzmqd7BqMGJff8fqwgrVzPJduSuAtRiuQ1iCja8EjnUVLf4Tyn7YXrop_cJ2nNjMrjk8bq3ypknnejbZZBiPaE7eSHjrL96BLorio7esJ0R87u6px/s1390/Screen%20Shot%202023-11-20%20at%2011.16.51%20AM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1290" data-original-width="1390" height="371" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSl-2GkcDlrPu16aoXVub9z469un83QXME5q3TkyiYstoC1V_8itz7K9Fqv-vf6I374RACYvN_TI8fzmqd7BqMGJff8fqwgrVzPJduSuAtRiuQ1iCja8EjnUVLf4Tyn7YXrop_cJ2nNjMrjk8bq3ypknnejbZZBiPaE7eSHjrL96BLorio7esJ0R87u6px/w400-h371/Screen%20Shot%202023-11-20%20at%2011.16.51%20AM.png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i><a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031724-YearB.cfm" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;">I will place my law within them and write it upon their hearts…</span></a></i></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><div style="text-align: center;">What has God written upon our hearts?</div></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"> <a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031724-YearB.cfm" target="_blank">Jeremiah</a> prophesies during the time of the demise of the kingdom of Judah, but the people of Judah resist his message of doom. Yet, even as their exile is upon them, the Lord promises the people that one day, there will be <i>a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah</i>, a covenant more intimate than all previous covenants, for, the Lord says, <i>I will place my law within them and write it upon their hearts</i>. The new covenant will bind the people from within rather than from without; it will reside at the center of their beings, moving them from the depths of who they are to attend to their relationship with God. They might well pray <a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031724-YearB.cfm" target="_blank">Psalm 51</a>, <i>Create a clean heart in me, o God</i>, expressing their desire to start over with a <i>clean slate, </i>that they might know the<i> joy of </i>God’s <i>salvation</i>. Their faith may have ebbed for a time, but they can regain that faith in the God who loves them, through prayer. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"> In <a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031724-YearB.cfm" target="_blank">John</a>’s version of Jesus’ agony in the garden, Jesus acknowledges that he himself is <i>the grain of wheat that</i> will <i>fall to the ground and die,</i> but yet will <i>produce much fruit.</i> The <a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031724-YearB.cfm" target="_blank">Letter to the Hebrews</a> reminds us that Jesus knew very human struggles;<i> when he was in the flesh, he offered prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to his Father</i>. Through prayer, Jesus was able to go to his own heart, as we must learn to do, for to pray is to open ourselves to the God who loves us. As he <i>falls to the ground and dies</i>, Jesus is leading us to our own transformation, a dying to self, that we might follow him. What is written on our hearts can win out. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"> As in Jeremiah’s prophecy, Jesus’ promise also looks to the future: <i>Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life.</i> The<i> joy of </i>the <i>eternal salvation</i> Jesus obtains for us lies in our recognition that this life is not what it’s all about; we endure its difficulties, but the promise of life to come makes it possible for us to endure them. Our access to faith ebbs and flows throughout our lives, as does our access to our own hearts. A closed heart is a sign of the ebbing tide of faith. At such times, the covenant God wrote upon it is still there; we just don’t have access to it. What God writes is that he loves us, and that love is absolute. To access the absolute love of God, we need to be willing to go to our hearts, where he dwells, and we do so as we open, turning to him in prayer, and journeying with him, through death to new life. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: x-small;">This post is based on Fr. Pat’s Scripture class.
<br />Image source: <a href="http://www.wordclouds.com">www.wordclouds.com
</a></span></p>OLMChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00798357199135886534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8286807389407490041.post-68223987855446478842024-03-13T05:00:00.000-07:002024-03-13T05:00:00.127-07:00The same kind of mercy (Rudy Francisco)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2iUAskAy_oTBTXJnz8zHJx__Uyc-xZjAiajODa__VgJ4477g0QYYiNsOD1yyEV3ZJfKlnie2MA1QT2PrEP6LH8mEzkjcR_1wL-30HWHZDvCxA2s6-NCQSIjQxnB4rG15G4CGphSwGi1-3TUApRHJczfhwlKZPWGEdIiU1u2rDYoBlxUNWPbF46Z6OR-QM/s1212/3201-Screen%20Shot%202023-11-17%20at%209.46.35%20PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1212" data-original-width="1002" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2iUAskAy_oTBTXJnz8zHJx__Uyc-xZjAiajODa__VgJ4477g0QYYiNsOD1yyEV3ZJfKlnie2MA1QT2PrEP6LH8mEzkjcR_1wL-30HWHZDvCxA2s6-NCQSIjQxnB4rG15G4CGphSwGi1-3TUApRHJczfhwlKZPWGEdIiU1u2rDYoBlxUNWPbF46Z6OR-QM/w331-h400/3201-Screen%20Shot%202023-11-17%20at%209.46.35%20PM.png" width="331" /></a></div><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><i>She asks me to kill the spider.
<br />Instead, I get the most
<br />peaceful weapons I can find.
<br />I take a cup and a napkin.
<br />I catch the spider, put it outside
<br />and allow it to walk away. </i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><i>If I am ever caught in the wrong place
<br />at the wrong time, just being alive
<br />and not bothering anyone,
<br />I hope I am greeted
<br />with the same kind
<br />of mercy. </i></span></p><p style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">―Rudy Francisco, <i>Helium </i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: x-small;">Image source: <br /></span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/spiders/comments/qvpkbg/im_allowing_this_spider_to_live_in_my_kitchen/" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small;">https://www.reddit.com/r/spiders/comments/qvpkbg/im_allowing_this_spider_to_live_in_my_kitchen/</a><br /><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/9070330-she-asks-me-to-kill-the-spider-instead-i-get" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small;" target="_blank">Poem source</a></p>OLMChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00798357199135886534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8286807389407490041.post-7831677244856734982024-03-12T05:00:00.000-07:002024-03-12T05:00:00.144-07:00If we walk in the light (Fr. Patrick Summerhayes / Henri Nouwen)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyFHBa-_l4LH5ErifoSIPKxCVgN4Wv7TIgCpou_ISLE8N3Li6T5ifBRL-lvq_XK_GYmZDYVKV53qI-ciBT_IbuH5RzsT_Gcgpg5xmonZMu-prMDgIIKzGlb8lGZqhTm2rR-sLMe1Mzcv9WDm3W0Bk5lbLc98u_-HVBU8Zm_f9gq5W134cR5Lbqa8LDTWni/s1070/3200-Screen%20Shot%202023-11-17%20at%209.42.28%20PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1070" data-original-width="1070" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyFHBa-_l4LH5ErifoSIPKxCVgN4Wv7TIgCpou_ISLE8N3Li6T5ifBRL-lvq_XK_GYmZDYVKV53qI-ciBT_IbuH5RzsT_Gcgpg5xmonZMu-prMDgIIKzGlb8lGZqhTm2rR-sLMe1Mzcv9WDm3W0Bk5lbLc98u_-HVBU8Zm_f9gq5W134cR5Lbqa8LDTWni/w400-h400/3200-Screen%20Shot%202023-11-17%20at%209.42.28%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i>They say that in faith, the longest journey <br />you will ever take is <br />from your head to your heart.</i></span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">--Fr. Patrick Summerhays, <br /> Homily, OLMC, Mill Valley,
<br />December 11, 2022 </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i> Trusting in the unconditional love of God: that is the way to which Jesus calls us. The more firmly you grasp this, the more readily will you be able to perceive why there is so much suspicion, jealousy, bitterness, vindictiveness, hatred, violence, and discord in our world. Jesus himself interprets this by comparing God’s love to the light. He says: </i></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Though the light has come into the world people have preferred darkness to light because their deeds were evil. And indeed, everybody who does wrong hates the light and avoids it, to prevent his actions from being shown up; but whoever does the truth comes out into the light, so that what he is doing may plainly appear as done in God. </span></span></div></blockquote><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i> Jesus sees the evil in this world as a lack of trust in God’s love. He makes us see that we persistently fall back on ourselves, rely more on ourselves than on God, and are inclined more to love of self than love of God. So we remain in darkness. If we walk in the light, then we are enabled to acknowledge that everything good, beautiful, and true comes from God and is offered to us in love. </i></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;">--Henri Nouwen</span> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Image source: Lauren Wright Pittman, <i>Born Again,</i> <a href="https://www.churchsp.org/nicodemus-in-art/">https://www.churchsp.org/nicodemus-in-art/
</a><br /><a href="https://henrinouwen.org/meditations/everything-good-comes-from-god/" target="_blank">Nouwen quotation source</a></span></span></div>OLMChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00798357199135886534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8286807389407490041.post-27039488633770442742024-03-11T05:00:00.000-07:002024-03-11T05:00:00.126-07:00Speak in the light (Cameron Bellm)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9ma5eXVmxGDDtpBjJXlkU33QAXkQmbBMqFZULqvFk_dD96ySt2ePl1fRhr9Kc71txD8xD4d5t-iRUP6aIdFEPHh7mX51P2Q3M969O7s8N7gz_6FCN254Gydv8eQ5OcNtXSVfvyDGLcboiU77O76sWmaopTKwKLKVsNVQE-4Sgx2R8x6dLq1yPAUWsZ8w8/s1798/3199-Screen%20Shot%202023-11-17%20at%209.43.01%20PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1302" data-original-width="1798" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9ma5eXVmxGDDtpBjJXlkU33QAXkQmbBMqFZULqvFk_dD96ySt2ePl1fRhr9Kc71txD8xD4d5t-iRUP6aIdFEPHh7mX51P2Q3M969O7s8N7gz_6FCN254Gydv8eQ5OcNtXSVfvyDGLcboiU77O76sWmaopTKwKLKVsNVQE-4Sgx2R8x6dLq1yPAUWsZ8w8/w400-h290/3199-Screen%20Shot%202023-11-17%20at%209.43.01%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i> When Jesus tells us to speak in the light what we have heard in the darkness, he uses the same Greek word that John’s gospel uses to describe him: </i>Phos<i>. The light that shines in the darkness, the light that the darkness will not overcome. And that’s why it’s so startling when Jesus tells us in Matthew’s gospel that WE are the light of the world. Yes, that’s right, us. </i>Phos. </span><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i> We are deeply, fiercely, tenderly loved, all of us, not just my family but the entire human family, by the God who is light and who calls us to be light ourselves—to the world, yes, but also to each other. </i></span><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;">--Cameron Bellm</span> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: x-small;">Image source: <a href="https://www.thenakedscientists.com/articles/science-features/let-there-be-light">https://www.thenakedscientists.com/articles/science-features/let-there-be-light
</a><br /><a href="https://www.catholicwomenpreach.org/preaching/06252023?fbclid=IwAR3dOXpuZmwILGW-_m57t6Wco04WdfL5SQhAOI8pab1ZIqJNQ3GvwM0VX-E" target="_blank">Quotation source</a></span></div></div>OLMChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00798357199135886534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8286807389407490041.post-82057897203701774052024-03-10T05:00:00.000-07:002024-03-10T05:00:00.136-07:00To rise from the ashes (Pope Francis / Dr. Tom Neal)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnK37b5L5sS-HMID0_vkADviF3QQbSOTLXezbLVLSFRtV4hxmqF8FCa_Fzy_2IhMyL696cAxMGEJp4284kVALZNNYIB4JuK5h5WbDb4DWfN7LPINDHq7RVuoGvfv3X2pL-QhwQXSZqWEaJT5pL_TRs6ONdHZIg0h6EIV_1RintW-2vmTOf2Fzl_d-R2jnY/s1996/3198-Screen%20Shot%202023-11-17%20at%209.34.26%20PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1198" data-original-width="1996" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnK37b5L5sS-HMID0_vkADviF3QQbSOTLXezbLVLSFRtV4hxmqF8FCa_Fzy_2IhMyL696cAxMGEJp4284kVALZNNYIB4JuK5h5WbDb4DWfN7LPINDHq7RVuoGvfv3X2pL-QhwQXSZqWEaJT5pL_TRs6ONdHZIg0h6EIV_1RintW-2vmTOf2Fzl_d-R2jnY/w400-h240/3198-Screen%20Shot%202023-11-17%20at%209.34.26%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: right;"><i><span style="font-family: georgia;">The Church is not a museum of saints, <br />but a hospital for sinners.</span></i></p><p style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> --Pope Francis </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i> While we never bend the moral law to accommodate human weakness, we do confess faith in a God who bends down (</i>descéndit de cælis<i>) to meet the fallen sinner on the ground in order to love her into life, to heal her and raise her up. We have no need for God to canonize or condemn us, but to have compassion on us so we can carry on each day with hope. </i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i> I need this God. </i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i> Mercy is the most human aspect of our faith. It embraces our broken human condition and empowers us to rise from the ashes. </i></span></p><p></p><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">--Dr. Tom Neal</span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">Image source: <a href="https://www.salt1065.com/stories/faith/2018/the-god-who-bends-down/">https://www.salt1065.com/stories/faith/2018/the-god-who-bends-down/
</a><br /><a href="https://www.wordonfire.org/articles/stolen-umbrellas-fumbling-into-the-kingdom-of-god/" target="_blank">Source of both quotations</a></span></span><p></p>OLMChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00798357199135886534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8286807389407490041.post-54121105327626628142024-03-09T05:00:00.000-08:002024-03-09T05:00:00.147-08:00God's handiwork (Anne Lamott)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwXCUFcYVw53t8DjbeZQLYcq0GJ3gsubc70p6789wtgX7mRxXqlxhTqJZk3lAiuZel9FOTuGHvu05J7ATw2PcEsS3yN1r6DrDWZ-ixfr7A0JuBqxdEkexaymhMDfxcQRPGuHf_FXrC1iOIZBtSjIyp6AVv_KFrqBj-B5IcRLWT74s90qTdjAXlz2msq9Sh/s1272/3197-1-Screen%20Shot%202023-11-17%20at%207.26.47%20PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1272" data-original-width="942" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwXCUFcYVw53t8DjbeZQLYcq0GJ3gsubc70p6789wtgX7mRxXqlxhTqJZk3lAiuZel9FOTuGHvu05J7ATw2PcEsS3yN1r6DrDWZ-ixfr7A0JuBqxdEkexaymhMDfxcQRPGuHf_FXrC1iOIZBtSjIyp6AVv_KFrqBj-B5IcRLWT74s90qTdjAXlz2msq9Sh/w296-h400/3197-1-Screen%20Shot%202023-11-17%20at%207.26.47%20PM.png" width="296" /></a></div><i><br /></i><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i> Our visiting pastor talked about how, when people are called God's handiwork in Scripture, the ancient Greeks would have translated that as God's poems. This may have changed my life--that we are creativity, depth, condensed truth and light, made to throw off light and truth for others, as poems do.</i> </span></span><div><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: large;">--Anne Lamott</span> </span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmkPE3aug7bzdwJNM3J3P9F-O7y25kfh17tHqlZpyudc08pzAkDOO654HU6shXUPnTf8guiJlMPKNmA1KyHH953iLOAMnw9Vng-_PXI1luxTbnGHKcAuPQui4pL6KUdPTQnXsVgpS-s5CCwQeB9iFm_m6yQmXBMWXYWou58bh2tmCK_i1Az4oIJKSj3wna/s1570/3197-2-Screen%20Shot%202023-11-17%20at%207.24.36%20PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1046" data-original-width="1570" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmkPE3aug7bzdwJNM3J3P9F-O7y25kfh17tHqlZpyudc08pzAkDOO654HU6shXUPnTf8guiJlMPKNmA1KyHH953iLOAMnw9Vng-_PXI1luxTbnGHKcAuPQui4pL6KUdPTQnXsVgpS-s5CCwQeB9iFm_m6yQmXBMWXYWou58bh2tmCK_i1Az4oIJKSj3wna/w400-h266/3197-2-Screen%20Shot%202023-11-17%20at%207.24.36%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">Image source 1: </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/765813832/feeric-vi-gourd-lamp-decorative-lamp?gpla=1&gao=1&&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=shopping_us_-home_and_living&utm_custom1=_k_EAIaIQobChMIwbe3_8zMggMVpkpHAR3tHwylEAkYASABEgKC8vD_BwE_k_&utm_content=go_17434234701_144283651144_602523314340_pla-303628061699_c__765813832_142951456&utm_custom2=17434234701&gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIwbe3_8zMggMVpkpHAR3tHwylEAkYASABEgKC8vD_BwE" style="font-family: georgia;">https://www.etsy.com/listing/765813832/feeric-vi-gourd-lamp-decorative-lamp?gpla=1&gao=1&&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=shopping_us_-home_and_living&utm_custom1=_k_EAIaIQobChMIwbe3_8zMggMVpkpHAR3tHwylEAkYASABEgKC8vD_BwE_k_&utm_content=go_17434234701_144283651144_602523314340_pla-303628061699_c__765813832_142951456&utm_custom2=17434234701&gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIwbe3_8zMggMVpkpHAR3tHwylEAkYASABEgKC8vD_BwE</a><span style="font-family: georgia;"> <br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia;">Image source 2: </span><a href="https://biblicalisraeltours.com/2016/08/the-potters-wheel/" style="font-family: georgia;">https://biblicalisraeltours.com/2016/08/the-potters-wheel/</a><br /><a href="https://www.facebook.com/AnneLamott/posts/on-sunday-our-visiting-pastor-anni-who-looks-like-she-is-about-14-and-weighs-abo/211892008940450/" style="font-family: georgia;" target="_blank">Quotation source</a></span></div></div>OLMChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00798357199135886534noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8286807389407490041.post-78556959820228315592024-03-08T05:00:00.000-08:002024-03-08T05:00:00.174-08:00Through faith (Lee Strobel / Henri Nouwen)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj3ryQHRIbXKY5TNZIkEry15nC2Iaw_J-JgN3EZqZzJpQyRz3SF8Q00GR7jHDQTw3VS8KpxqQ6E_ouaQuPpDInOrT4f20I-Eu5dwO_oPJviOJCVHgIhkB1qV019gvlFJH8gTpS0viKxLkWtkl6K16vKNX1t6AqGec3Tepva6IDqGT8ZNCnfRI6QZSwZhyphenhyphenC/s1930/3196-Screen%20Shot%202023-11-17%20at%208.02.58%20PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1262" data-original-width="1930" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj3ryQHRIbXKY5TNZIkEry15nC2Iaw_J-JgN3EZqZzJpQyRz3SF8Q00GR7jHDQTw3VS8KpxqQ6E_ouaQuPpDInOrT4f20I-Eu5dwO_oPJviOJCVHgIhkB1qV019gvlFJH8gTpS0viKxLkWtkl6K16vKNX1t6AqGec3Tepva6IDqGT8ZNCnfRI6QZSwZhyphenhyphenC/w400-h261/3196-Screen%20Shot%202023-11-17%20at%208.02.58%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i>Only in a world where faith </i></span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i>is difficult can faith exist.</i></span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">--Lee Strobel </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i> </i><span style="font-size: medium;"><i> The word faith is often understood as accepting something you can’t understand. People often say: “Such and such can’t be explained, you simply have to believe it.” However, when Jesus talks about faith, he means first of all to trust unreservedly that you are loved, so that you can abandon every false way of obtaining love. That’s why Jesus tells Nicodemus that, through faith in the descending love of God, we will be set free from anxiety and violence and will find eternal life. It’s a question here of trusting in God’s love. The Greek word for faith is </i>pistis<i>, which means, literally, “trust.” Whenever Jesus says to people he has healed: “Your faith has saved you,” he is saying that they have found new life because they have surrendered in complete trust to the love of God revealed in him. </i></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">--Henri Nouwen </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: x-small;">Image source: Jesus meets with Nicodemus, <i>The Chosen,</i> <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/fans-pour-fundingand-faithinto-a-hit-drama-about-jesus-11637989204">https://www.wsj.com/articles/fans-pour-fundingand-faithinto-a-hit-drama-about-jesus-11637989204
</a><br /><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/218541-only-in-a-world-where-faith-is-difficult-can-faith" target="_blank">Quotation source 1</a><br /><a href="https://henrinouwen.org/meditations/trust-unreservedly-that-you-are-loved/" target="_blank">Quotation source 2</a></span></div>OLMChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00798357199135886534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8286807389407490041.post-65556344723389452292024-03-07T05:00:00.000-08:002024-03-07T05:00:00.140-08:00Sunday Gospel Reflection, March 10, 2024: Everyone who believes in him may have eternal life...<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtMWaPDZ006pPgqps6bYb3_joE15pGlt3VQD5_qI3P-cD5E_qveDl3ZD9aiiJgJ7IgD6mSLsdQJlgyVh7hZwGXP62BCqus35I7oFEqGJySSGughO1pZhtVuZHuCIHdLag8rj-zlOMVjgxV4SXxCaGluaZ7zVtBPgUd9CBkoCE9EAYGlyVV0mkvUAZJMDtU/s1408/3195-Screen%20Shot%202023-11-17%20at%207.21.16%20PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1150" data-original-width="1408" height="326" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtMWaPDZ006pPgqps6bYb3_joE15pGlt3VQD5_qI3P-cD5E_qveDl3ZD9aiiJgJ7IgD6mSLsdQJlgyVh7hZwGXP62BCqus35I7oFEqGJySSGughO1pZhtVuZHuCIHdLag8rj-zlOMVjgxV4SXxCaGluaZ7zVtBPgUd9CBkoCE9EAYGlyVV0mkvUAZJMDtU/w400-h326/3195-Screen%20Shot%202023-11-17%20at%207.21.16%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i><a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031024-YearB.cfm" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;">Everyone who believes in him may have eternal life…</span></a></i></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><div style="text-align: center;">Do we believe in the promise of salvation? </div></span><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"> The last chapter of the <a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031024-YearB.cfm" target="_blank">Second Book of Chronicles</a> contains an abbreviated history of the last four kings of Judah, a time during which the people turn toward the gods of other nations, <i>adding infidelity to infidelity</i>, violating their covenant with God. The Lord <i>sends his messengers to them, for he has compassion on his people,</i> but <i>his dwelling place,</i> the temple, is ultimately destroyed when the people are <i>carried captive to Babylon.</i> There, they pray <a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031024-YearB.cfm" target="_blank">Psalm 137</a>, <i>Let my tongue be silenced, if ever I forget you</i>, fearing that they cannot sing a song of the Lord in a foreign land. Their memory of Jerusalem, <i>Zion,</i> is all they have while in exile. And yet the Lord is ultimately merciful, allowing <i>Cyrus, King of Persia</i>, to send the people home: <i>Whoever belongs to any part of the Lord’s people, let him go up, and may his God be with him! </i> Saved by the Lord, the people of Israel embrace the opportunity to rebuild the temple and worship once again in Jerusalem. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"> This episode is not unique in Jewish history; time and again, the people of Israel were unfaithful to covenant, and yet the Lord was ultimately merciful, each and every time. When, in <a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031024-YearB.cfm" target="_blank">John</a>'s Gospel, the Pharisee Nicodemus visits Jesus in the night, Jesus reminds him of the story of Moses who <i>lifted up the bronze serpent in the desert</i> so that all who looked upon it might be saved, healed from the bites of the seraph serpents. Their salvation involved an act of faith; Jesus, too, <i>must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life</i>; those who look upon him in faith and <i>believe</i> will <i>live the truth</i> and <i>come to the light. </i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"> <i>God is rich in mercy, </i>Paul tells the <a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031024-YearB.cfm" target="_blank">Ephesians</a>: <i>by grace you have been saved.</i> Ultimately, God is defined by mercy, compassion, care, and by <i>the great love he has for us</i> – so much so that, even in our sin, God showers us with<i> the immeasurable riches of his grace</i>. Unlike Nicodemus, who visits Jesus in the dead of night, not wanting to be seen, we must <i>come toward the light of Christ</i> and allow his grace to fill us with faith. <i>For God sent his Son that the world might be saved through him. </i>We have but to <i>believe.</i> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: x-small;">This post is based on Fr. Pat’s Scripture class.
<br />Image source: <a href="http://www.wordclouds.com">www.wordclouds.com</a></span></div>OLMChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00798357199135886534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8286807389407490041.post-10917675062543876332024-03-06T05:00:00.001-08:002024-03-06T05:00:00.298-08:00Living through major change (Rose Marie Berger)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggVRKUowwPtJj01mYD8IFNnllx0xoDKuDFkW2p4OyujKYDgSTZ5U3u1ClaugHR4l1d68c3qYp3X1LLHn-c3wCBDoZmKO7egmq78eDX9c6WCUGN1IkOitKB_PqQK8le6ZLO6IJhOhTNPR_YY747CA9g77scgy6qTHxsEqw3i4x1678inlEEPTIp_LhdZ5Wg/s1582/3194-1-Screen%20Shot%202023-11-17%20at%2012.13.59%20PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="938" data-original-width="1582" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggVRKUowwPtJj01mYD8IFNnllx0xoDKuDFkW2p4OyujKYDgSTZ5U3u1ClaugHR4l1d68c3qYp3X1LLHn-c3wCBDoZmKO7egmq78eDX9c6WCUGN1IkOitKB_PqQK8le6ZLO6IJhOhTNPR_YY747CA9g77scgy6qTHxsEqw3i4x1678inlEEPTIp_LhdZ5Wg/w400-h238/3194-1-Screen%20Shot%202023-11-17%20at%2012.13.59%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i> There is a Shinto community in Japan that burns down its temple every 20 years. But the process of rebuilding begins years before the fire. The choosing of trees for wood, the training of apprentices in building techniques, the preparing a foundation for the new shrine. This community is always preparing for the end of this particular shrine and the building of the new one. In this way, the community has practiced resilience in the face of major change for more than 1,300 years. This is how members of a community live through major change well. </i></span><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;">--Rose Marie Berger</span></span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT3CLUHoZaECqcriTnLgdS25X-Q2dgFJnApJOZ-FQssJfLT66sagKSQxPAmpJVJoqE_ffm-rK5oexy3YbG-3dKZPnseIQsAGw8gecxgqKLM1pneYdeMmQqzvUH28nKkLR8QNF_eH3KiNHUTHIZzrZ05mklEnsXxEYcp7A_TQj4Hwv1S7nd0eMy_EUMrouf/s1342/3194-2-Screen%20Shot%202023-11-17%20at%2012.09.24%20PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="894" data-original-width="1342" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT3CLUHoZaECqcriTnLgdS25X-Q2dgFJnApJOZ-FQssJfLT66sagKSQxPAmpJVJoqE_ffm-rK5oexy3YbG-3dKZPnseIQsAGw8gecxgqKLM1pneYdeMmQqzvUH28nKkLR8QNF_eH3KiNHUTHIZzrZ05mklEnsXxEYcp7A_TQj4Hwv1S7nd0eMy_EUMrouf/w400-h266/3194-2-Screen%20Shot%202023-11-17%20at%2012.09.24%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: x-small;">Image source 1: <i>Christ Driving the Money-Changers from the Temple</i> (ca. 1550-1575) , <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kaubitsejate_templist_v%C3%A4ljaajamine.jpg">https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kaubitsejate_templist_v%C3%A4ljaajamine.jpg</a>. For a discussion of this painting, see <a href="https://aleteia.org/2018/03/14/jesus-temple-tantrum-what-in-the-world-is-going-on-in-christ-cleansing-the-temple/">https://aleteia.org/2018/03/14/jesus-temple-tantrum-what-in-the-world-is-going-on-in-christ-cleansing-the-temple/</a> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: x-small;">Image source 2: <a href="https://medium.com/knowledge-stew/the-japanese-shrine-that-is-rebuilt-every-20-years-4882ce9a1b0f">https://medium.com/knowledge-stew/the-japanese-shrine-that-is-rebuilt-every-20-years-4882ce9a1b0f</a><br /><a href="https://www.catholicwomenpreach.org/preaching/09192021?fbclid=IwAR3skoZ8DAO5C1VoobO1R7wJJGLgkb3hu9dm5RGa86dHGAsiu9nMjA-SXxY" target="_blank">Quotation source</a></span></div></div>OLMChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00798357199135886534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8286807389407490041.post-76187763417804701532024-03-05T05:00:00.000-08:002024-03-05T05:00:00.256-08:00The winds of change (Tess Guinery / Edith Wharton)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimpMnAFeNqC3lzra0bfbA01s6xQO7pZGLHSxAqLa8GgMjcw_FvEIkMfcv98uXNaIpdrX2O3WNB89iVfhEYEA3b0gPkuuDfRdUpfJUt0pBBMGtEJ5WLwJ-9PmEBPOAknfUUnPABSGRV-0DOIKiBY-LMmOe_AO9TYb_2wmeYP5gAvFvqwfFyqm2YIbaf-Lgt/s1002/3193-Screen%20Shot%202023-11-17%20at%201.40.17%20PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1002" data-original-width="712" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimpMnAFeNqC3lzra0bfbA01s6xQO7pZGLHSxAqLa8GgMjcw_FvEIkMfcv98uXNaIpdrX2O3WNB89iVfhEYEA3b0gPkuuDfRdUpfJUt0pBBMGtEJ5WLwJ-9PmEBPOAknfUUnPABSGRV-0DOIKiBY-LMmOe_AO9TYb_2wmeYP5gAvFvqwfFyqm2YIbaf-Lgt/w454-h640/3193-Screen%20Shot%202023-11-17%20at%201.40.17%20PM.png" width="454" /></a></div><p style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i>I open my heart and breathe in the winds of change <br />– as though my heart depends on them.</i></span></p><p style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"> --Tess Guinery </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: x-large;"><i> Habit is necessary; it is the habit of having habits, of turning a trail into a rut, that must be incessantly fought against, if one is to remain alive. </i></span></p><p style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">--Edith Wharton</span> </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: x-small;">Image source: John William Waterhouse, <i>Boreas</i> (1903) <a href="https://www.iris28.art/post/hand-of-life-the-air-and-wind-in-visual-art">https://www.iris28.art/post/hand-of-life-the-air-and-wind-in-visual-art </a><br /><a href="https://www.pinterest.com/pin/460070918179606388/" target="_blank">Quotation source 1</a><br /><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/278585-habit-is-necessary-it-is-the-habit-of-having-habits" target="_blank">Quotation source 2</a></span></p>OLMChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00798357199135886534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8286807389407490041.post-70704777936095327632024-03-04T05:00:00.000-08:002024-03-04T05:00:00.139-08:00Every time we confront change (Robin Sharma / Elizabeth Lesser)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTchsr2Mt3mNd4LW-omyIHMWIdSb_v0_7K6pDIv7eD6VMJRebMmXDC_RzxMGu2Pi0wnZ4Fu8ULDXhWf6Wm8lMljqtw2w8kcGedhOsE5yD0vbmV1dDuOwHxQ6CcoByK-RzsRjYgZtcrbKk7-JyMJ1vm1JPksNSu7whJ2-Infd8_mdG_MPG5FJhge7mL4LGx/s1646/3192-Screen%20Shot%202023-11-17%20at%2012.08.04%20PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1088" data-original-width="1646" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTchsr2Mt3mNd4LW-omyIHMWIdSb_v0_7K6pDIv7eD6VMJRebMmXDC_RzxMGu2Pi0wnZ4Fu8ULDXhWf6Wm8lMljqtw2w8kcGedhOsE5yD0vbmV1dDuOwHxQ6CcoByK-RzsRjYgZtcrbKk7-JyMJ1vm1JPksNSu7whJ2-Infd8_mdG_MPG5FJhge7mL4LGx/w400-h265/3192-Screen%20Shot%202023-11-17%20at%2012.08.04%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i>Change is hard at first, <br />messy in the middle, <br />and gorgeous at the end.
</i><br /><br />--Robin Sharma </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><i> Our lives ask us to die and to be reborn every time we confront change – change within ourselves and change in the world. When we descend all the way down to the bottom of a loss, and dwell patiently, with an open heart, in the darkness and pain, we can bring back up with us the sweetness of life and the exhilaration of inner growth. </i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><i> When there is nothing left to lose, we find the true self – the self that is whole, the self that is enough, the self that no longer looks to others for definition, or completion, or anything but companionship on the journey. </i></span></p><p style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">--Elizabeth Lesser </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Image source: <a href="https://spiritualdirection.com/2017/04/24/why-are-peacocks-considered-symbols-of-the-resurrection">https://spiritualdirection.com/2017/04/24/why-are-peacocks-considered-symbols-of-the-resurrection
</a><br /><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/8598941-change-is-hard-at-first-messy-in-the-middle-and-gorgeous" target="_blank">Quotation 1 source</a><br /><a href="https://www.betterlisten.com/blogs/news/6839160-excerpt-from-quot-broken-open-quot-by-elizabeth-lesser-the-phoenix-process" target="_blank">Quotation 2 source</a></span></span></p>OLMChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00798357199135886534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8286807389407490041.post-16945435019884536692024-03-03T05:00:00.000-08:002024-03-03T05:00:00.139-08:00To risk being changed (John O'Donohue)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1jw0glr6slDRGnZ5aJOzlIfsspZNi1ZeCAg33Rzd7NrhfwRbkn5bQCn1YeaMHQKMmfTmoa2qs3BLlgzRH9WYmOyLHykFUWbXE1ljacJoic8_tYch0LOY60TdgkrrWz24j-Dsy1rCrTQjpeWom4exVWsRXJdzrFpEgMKLhJXCKZ_1WhfT7U0I3pWoxQXLl/s1832/3191-Screen%20Shot%202023-11-17%20at%2012.01.23%20PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1368" data-original-width="1832" height="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1jw0glr6slDRGnZ5aJOzlIfsspZNi1ZeCAg33Rzd7NrhfwRbkn5bQCn1YeaMHQKMmfTmoa2qs3BLlgzRH9WYmOyLHykFUWbXE1ljacJoic8_tYch0LOY60TdgkrrWz24j-Dsy1rCrTQjpeWom4exVWsRXJdzrFpEgMKLhJXCKZ_1WhfT7U0I3pWoxQXLl/w400-h299/3191-Screen%20Shot%202023-11-17%20at%2012.01.23%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></div><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><i>I place on the altar of dawn:
<br />The quiet loyalty of breath,
<br />The tent of thought where I shelter,
<br />Waves of desire I am shore to
<br />And all beauty drawn to the eye.
<br />May my mind come alive today
<br />To the invisible geography
<br />That invites me to new frontiers,
<br />To break the dead shell of yesterdays,
<br />To risk being disturbed and changed.
<br />May I have the courage today
<br />To live the life that I would love,
<br />To postpone my dream no longer
<br />But do at last what I came here for
<br />And waste my heart on fear no more. </i></span></p><p style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: large;">--John O’Donohue, <i>A Morning Offering</i></span> </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: x-small;">Image source: <a href="https://www.uncommoncaribbean.com/photo/sunset-ilet-a-cabrit-des-saintes-guadeloupe/">https://www.uncommoncaribbean.com/photo/sunset-ilet-a-cabrit-des-saintes-guadeloupe/
</a></span></p>OLMChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00798357199135886534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8286807389407490041.post-36386508615814474122024-03-02T05:00:00.000-08:002024-03-02T05:00:00.245-08:00To listen to the sacred Word (Pope Francis)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVGAT8KeDD12lKTl3alV8T5YJKCZnykK6VgZrq8YyC_q5Q4I7enw67etEFyyvYr6kNKyB7gWmQqdpOpA7cmRJB1JhX6Q2GP597yzgHdQv_pobm4tLOqahS_SwsWEkheEwHd6IBzL_7yj-ywj5ZcrLO7O6gSDVUORiQlOSpSkr-BR7Cv7g06pLoW_oDZI-C/s1444/3190-Screen%20Shot%202023-11-17%20at%2011.55.11%20AM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1146" data-original-width="1444" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVGAT8KeDD12lKTl3alV8T5YJKCZnykK6VgZrq8YyC_q5Q4I7enw67etEFyyvYr6kNKyB7gWmQqdpOpA7cmRJB1JhX6Q2GP597yzgHdQv_pobm4tLOqahS_SwsWEkheEwHd6IBzL_7yj-ywj5ZcrLO7O6gSDVUORiQlOSpSkr-BR7Cv7g06pLoW_oDZI-C/w400-h318/3190-Screen%20Shot%202023-11-17%20at%2011.55.11%20AM.png" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i> How good it is, especially for us Christians, to listen to the sacred Word with an open heart and so allow ourselves to be illuminated and guided not by our own plans but by the merciful plan of God, who wants to embrace and save all men and women, all the brothers and sisters of Jesus! </i></span></span><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: large;">--Pope Francis, June 23, 2023 </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Image source: Giotto, <i>The Finding in the Temple</i>, <a href="https://www.theschooloftheology.org/posts/essay/christianity-the-basics-incarnation-1">https://www.theschooloftheology.org/posts/essay/christianity-the-basics-incarnation-1</a></span></span></div>OLMChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00798357199135886534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8286807389407490041.post-63111109473870654562024-03-01T05:00:00.000-08:002024-03-01T05:00:00.132-08:00He pitched his tent among us (Bishop Robert Barron)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2ChgQorboV6oKFsY3FBT4W79ptoFM0qchqdTK2n7RDuoYExn51VyzF_vRZP5-EvGFt8z29nESLstkPXFKqj7ufQwJw_Oj7kxqv_eLB320K4Qp3HTc-Sd0Vy-fZRl72e-6zeTeMnlkfDH9b_oeJgfkcI-rmh82CY1RwRVYDGF13nOuZgSTAysZpcsi8v5R/s1906/3189-Screen%20Shot%202023-11-17%20at%2011.51.48%20AM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="996" data-original-width="1906" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2ChgQorboV6oKFsY3FBT4W79ptoFM0qchqdTK2n7RDuoYExn51VyzF_vRZP5-EvGFt8z29nESLstkPXFKqj7ufQwJw_Oj7kxqv_eLB320K4Qp3HTc-Sd0Vy-fZRl72e-6zeTeMnlkfDH9b_oeJgfkcI-rmh82CY1RwRVYDGF13nOuZgSTAysZpcsi8v5R/w400-h209/3189-Screen%20Shot%202023-11-17%20at%2011.51.48%20AM.png" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /><i><span style="font-size: medium;"> [John’s] entire prologue comes to its climax with the magnificent phrase, “the Word was made flesh and lived among us.” […] Authentic Christianity, inspired by this stunning claim of St. John, knows that the Word of God took to himself a human nature and thereby elevated all of matter and made it a sacrament of the divine presence. </span></i></span><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i> The Greek phrase behind "lived among us" is literally translated as "tabernacled among us" or "pitched his tent among us." No Jew of John’s time would have missed the wonderful connection implied between Jesus and the temple. According to the book of Exodus, the Ark of the Covenant—the embodiment of Yahweh’s presence—was originally housed in a tent or tabernacle. The evangelist is telling us that now, in the flesh of Jesus, Yahweh has established his definitive tabernacle among us. </i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;">--Bishop Robert Barron</span> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: x-small;">Image source: <a href="https://witness.lcms.org/2020/tabernacled-among-us-christ-in-the-exodus/">https://witness.lcms.org/2020/tabernacled-among-us-christ-in-the-exodus/ </a><br /><a href="https://www.wordonfire.org/articles/barron/st-johns-christmas-sermon/" target="_blank">Quotation source</a></span></div>OLMChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00798357199135886534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8286807389407490041.post-47808055228271292232024-02-29T05:00:00.000-08:002024-02-29T05:00:00.136-08:00Sunday Gospel Reflection, March 3, 2024: Lord, you have the words of everlasting life...<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNNglx6M1G08KFcmVnjdfkpFiaAAOP_L6HTXvd3RY0QOLFt69JckMCFOZB4JLb8cx9bWZH65dZRPyB4qA2pmt9Oo4aFS3yFj1QJQdFx2FmiINY5Qdg-HVosAZtCg_bxXlzT0tBlQ_4Aba3Yia01nbD87ihDHU-0-mXTIEn9qCOZL-gweFdvh0MlspUe3Kh/s1398/Screen%20Shot%202023-11-16%20at%204.33.23%20PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1382" data-original-width="1398" height="395" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNNglx6M1G08KFcmVnjdfkpFiaAAOP_L6HTXvd3RY0QOLFt69JckMCFOZB4JLb8cx9bWZH65dZRPyB4qA2pmt9Oo4aFS3yFj1QJQdFx2FmiINY5Qdg-HVosAZtCg_bxXlzT0tBlQ_4Aba3Yia01nbD87ihDHU-0-mXTIEn9qCOZL-gweFdvh0MlspUe3Kh/w400-h395/Screen%20Shot%202023-11-16%20at%204.33.23%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i><a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/030324-YearB.cfm " target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;">Lord, you have the words of everlasting life…</span></a></i></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><div style="text-align: center;">What is the purpose of the commandments? </div></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"> When, in the <a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/030324-YearB.cfm " target="_blank">Book of Exodus</a>, God <i>delivers</i> God’s <i>commandments</i> to the people of Israel, it is understood that this list of precepts is meant to be a set of instructions, a kind of guidance for worshipping God. Each commandment calls the people to responsibility to God and to their own people. God is reminding the people that their lives are not lived out for themselves alone, but rather in a context outlined by the Lord, a context of which they must remain aware as they live in community with one another. God’s <i>commandments</i> are <i>the words of everlasting life</i>. All of them listed in <a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/030324-YearB.cfm " target="_blank">Psalm 19</a> – <i>laws, decrees, precepts, commands, and ordinances</i> – are a revelation from God, meant to guide us, to lead us, and to offer us insights into our human existence. Each is an invitation to take in and internalize God’s instructions, that we might embody them and thus know intimately the fullness of God. For this reason, they are <i>more precious than gold</i>, for they connect us to the God who loves us. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"> But misunderstandings of the law are always possible. In <a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/030324-YearB.cfm " target="_blank">John</a>’s Gospel, when Jesus <i>overturns the tables of </i>those who <i>sold oxen, sheep and doves</i>, and of <i>the</i> <i>moneychangers</i>, he is making it clear that their practices are incongruous with relationship with God. Doves were all the poor could afford, but what if they could not? Is God meant to be expensive? The temple was supposed to give all people access to God; the vendors, who are in fact following the law, nevertheless stand in the way of that access. Jesus wants them to see that they have made a business out of worship, that they are putting barriers between the people and God. Jesus makes it patently clear that he has come for change, for transformation – he is challenging them all to a renewal, to a deeper realization of God’s love in people’s lives. And this includes a new understanding of temples itself, one that replaces the edifice in Jerusalem with Jesus’ own body: <i>Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up. </i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"> The people of <a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/030324-YearB.cfm " target="_blank">Corinth</a> are looking for power and wisdom, but Paul tells them, we <i>proclaim Christ crucified, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God</i>. We use laws to define our hierarchies and our structures so that they can claim to afford power, but this is <i>foolishness</i> in Paul’s terms. <i>Christ crucified</i> means God offered himself entirely for our sake; <i>raised up in three days</i>, Christ demonstrated that the <i>weakness of God is stronger than human strength</i>. Paul is calling the Corinthians to transformation, to a deeper realization of God’s love in their lives. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"> If we are to appreciate all that Jesus Christ has done for us, we have to get past our own limited understanding of his ways, for Christ challenges us all to renewal. Every moment is a call to transformation, to conversion, to change, to a deeper awareness of God in our lives and a fuller awareness of the depth of his love for us. We are on our way, but we have not yet arrived. Let us embrace the one <i>commandment,</i> the greatest <i>commandment</i>, the <i>commandment </i>to love, for only love will move us forward on our journey of transformation.<i> Lord, you have the words of everlasting life… </i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">This post is based on Fr. Pat’s Scripture class.
<br />Image source: <a href="http://www.wordclouds.com">www.wordclouds.com</a></span></span></p>OLMChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00798357199135886534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8286807389407490041.post-4348456523729817352024-02-28T05:00:00.000-08:002024-02-28T05:00:00.133-08:00Let us go up to the mountain (Susan Butterworth)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB-OJL8gIsTkaTbGr-eC_2H487klGFTyTidzgBJrI5_TkCXRrVxruY7tBqSwAVbYGATspqhFgvuucN3tieKwB-ZakLB85yJRSAmaRdMYN8gcNbszR09lUvmnH2uc0Hx4At2PLppEcSWgFFMELI_KpNZ7czDOpANmODQb0YhL5zSBikkjlgeqfFN6bHXSrQ/s1152/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-27%20at%2010.28.33%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="990" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB-OJL8gIsTkaTbGr-eC_2H487klGFTyTidzgBJrI5_TkCXRrVxruY7tBqSwAVbYGATspqhFgvuucN3tieKwB-ZakLB85yJRSAmaRdMYN8gcNbszR09lUvmnH2uc0Hx4At2PLppEcSWgFFMELI_KpNZ7czDOpANmODQb0YhL5zSBikkjlgeqfFN6bHXSrQ/w344-h400/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-27%20at%2010.28.33%20AM.png" width="344" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><i> May our prayer be a time of rest and retreat, seeking the powerful presence of God. Perhaps we will not see a glorious light, nor emerge with our faces shining because we have seen God. We may speak words in hopes that God will listen to us. In fact, our task is to listen to God. </i></span><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><i> </i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><i> Come Holy Spirit, let us go up to the mountain. Let our hearts become quite calm so that God’s spirit may fill us. Give us such fineness of hearing that our hearts may listen. Grant us patience, inspiration, a glimpse of God’s glory. </i></span><i style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: large;">Amen. </span><br /><br /></i></div><div><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: large;">--Susan Butterworth</span> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: x-small;">Image source: Sadao Watanabe, <i>Transfiguration</i> (1971), <a href="https://scriptum.com/artwork/14897-transfiguration?artistsid=1505">https://scriptum.com/artwork/14897-transfiguration?artistsid=1505</a><br /><a href="https://www.episcopalchurch.org/sermon/listen-to-him-transfiguration-august-6-2022/" target="_blank">Quotation source</a></span></div></div>OLMChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00798357199135886534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8286807389407490041.post-21909325390678484232024-02-27T05:00:00.000-08:002024-02-27T05:00:00.344-08:00A transfigured, elevated beauty (Bishop Robert Barron)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS8qgxFSsdc6D1VSuLVB4GhGXX5lloXSrBgh8TAg9lVveQYz7VaQ6puKMyMDef2hawWdnuofpI7P14rBugt29EjxktuT1r9dMS7IUIxR6Lx9utu9yJQjGJ3MPMwfdJ0eQZcCzkV7HOPtIGafIfnDeQuHOnRhc_tUsqdWu40YOQXV5YXDbJS-0uCbULEwEO/s1600/3186-Screen%20Shot%202023-11-13%20at%206.01.17%20PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1230" data-original-width="1600" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS8qgxFSsdc6D1VSuLVB4GhGXX5lloXSrBgh8TAg9lVveQYz7VaQ6puKMyMDef2hawWdnuofpI7P14rBugt29EjxktuT1r9dMS7IUIxR6Lx9utu9yJQjGJ3MPMwfdJ0eQZcCzkV7HOPtIGafIfnDeQuHOnRhc_tUsqdWu40YOQXV5YXDbJS-0uCbULEwEO/w400-h308/3186-Screen%20Shot%202023-11-13%20at%206.01.17%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i> Christ came not just to make us nice people or morally upright folks, but rather to give us a share in his divine life, to make us denizens of heaven, people capable of living in that new environment. </i></span><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i> What gave the first Christians this conviction? The answer is the Resurrection—and the great anticipation of the Resurrection, which is the Transfiguration. This ordinary Jesus somehow became transformed, elevated, enhanced in his manner of being. </i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i> The first thing we notice is that his appearance becomes more beautiful. These somewhat grubby bodies of ours are destined for a transfigured, elevated beauty. </i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i> Secondly, in his transfigured state, Jesus transcends space and time, since he is talking with Moses and Elijah. In this world, we are caught in one moment of space and time, but in heaven, we will live in the eternal now of God’s life. </i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i> Have you ever noticed that even as we appreciate all that is wonderful about this life, we are never really at home? There is a permanent restlessness about human life. But a higher, richer, more beautiful and spiritually fulfilling life awaits us. </i></span><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;">--Bishop Robert Barron, <br />Gospel Reflection, June 30, 2023</span> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Image source: Church of the Transfiguration, Mount Tabor, <a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/30/CHURCH_OF_TRANSFIGURATION_-_MOSAIC_%287723782958%29.jpg">https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/30/CHURCH_OF_TRANSFIGURATION_-_MOSAIC_%287723782958%29.jpg</a></span></span></div></div>OLMChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00798357199135886534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8286807389407490041.post-90410293376359477932024-02-26T05:00:00.000-08:002024-02-26T05:00:00.131-08:00Free to reveal himself where and when he wants (Henri Nouwen)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-IO0RK4ch9LmCPXr_eX-3hwsvW8EnGCv_Tir4_O-WPKWIvVvUDfewkCeqnXLIteu4t2pg-It4pMOzmS_m_m3vK0g-W3ExYqOfo6jSudRT9mJ_Qzv7W8A2aJ1QchB7x1j6F9Xfr0lFLtbmk1geOSrpze7c2VyjXBOxpJKTeS1sg3x0bf1Ks7ufWW0c1sxe/s1702/3185-Screen%20Shot%202023-11-13%20at%205.57.40%20PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1304" data-original-width="1702" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-IO0RK4ch9LmCPXr_eX-3hwsvW8EnGCv_Tir4_O-WPKWIvVvUDfewkCeqnXLIteu4t2pg-It4pMOzmS_m_m3vK0g-W3ExYqOfo6jSudRT9mJ_Qzv7W8A2aJ1QchB7x1j6F9Xfr0lFLtbmk1geOSrpze7c2VyjXBOxpJKTeS1sg3x0bf1Ks7ufWW0c1sxe/w400-h306/3185-Screen%20Shot%202023-11-13%20at%205.57.40%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></div><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i> God cannot be understood: he cannot be grasped by the human mind. The truth escapes our human capacities. The only way to come close to it is by a constant emphasis on the limitations of our human capacities to “have” or “hold” the truth. We can neither explain God nor his presence in history. As soon as we identify God with any specific event or situation, we play God and distort the truth. We only can be faithful in our affirmation that God has not deserted us but calls us in the middle of all the unexplainable absurdities of life. It is very important to be deeply aware of this. There is a great and subtle temptation to suggest to myself or to others where God is working or where not, when he is present and when not; but nobody, no Christian, no priest, no monk, has any “special” knowledge about God. God cannot be limited by any human concept or prediction. He is greater than our mind and heart and perfectly free to reveal himself where and when he wants. </i></span></p><p style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;">--Henri Nouwen </span> </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: x-small;">Image source: Armando Alemdar Ara, <i>Transfiguration of Jesus</i> (2004), <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Transfiguration_of_Jesus.jpg">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Transfiguration_of_Jesus.jpg
</a><br /><a href="https://henrinouwen.org/meditations/gods-love-blows-where-it-pleases/ " target="_blank">Quotation source</a></span></p>OLMChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00798357199135886534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8286807389407490041.post-71888341894073664952024-02-25T05:00:00.000-08:002024-02-25T05:00:00.136-08:00Jesus takes them up the mountain (Fr. Timothy Radcliffe, OP)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0F63pENEUmrp4XVibmded2Yb3HUlsuSaVrP81ZmxIV-aTYMkSdoDN_oRQ4SyyOQSmaZpNPqTITLn6ljbyCh_u8pAzI4WLuwe3H1oK7rcF5HolTnJpLkHEZjAHKEiHZzoxHJX8xngJV-WeiZjDz82CAyeteg4bzY1bQtcptB1OGTtzddznGWMr-p7OsGcb/s1526/3184-Screen%20Shot%202023-11-13%20at%204.39.55%20PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1180" data-original-width="1526" height="309" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0F63pENEUmrp4XVibmded2Yb3HUlsuSaVrP81ZmxIV-aTYMkSdoDN_oRQ4SyyOQSmaZpNPqTITLn6ljbyCh_u8pAzI4WLuwe3H1oK7rcF5HolTnJpLkHEZjAHKEiHZzoxHJX8xngJV-WeiZjDz82CAyeteg4bzY1bQtcptB1OGTtzddznGWMr-p7OsGcb/w400-h309/3184-Screen%20Shot%202023-11-13%20at%204.39.55%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i>God’s Word belongs to God. <br />Listen to him. <br />We do not own the truth. <br />The truth owns us.</i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i> The Transfiguration is the retreat Jesus gives to his closest disciples before they embark on the first synod in the life of the Church, when they walk together (</i>syn-hodos<i>) to Jerusalem. This retreat was needed because they were afraid of this journey they must make together. Until now they have wandered around the north of Israel. But at Caesarea Philippi, Peter confessed that Jesus was the Christ. Then Jesus invites them to go with him to Jerusalem, where he will suffer, die and be raised from the dead. They cannot accept this. Peter tries to prevent him. Jesus calls him ‘Satan’, ‘enemy’. The little community is paralysed. So Jesus takes them up the mountain. </i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i> This retreat gives them the courage and hope to set off on their journey. It does not always go well. They immediately fail to free the young lad from the evil spirit. They quarrel about who is the greatest. They misunderstand the Lord. But they are on their way with a fragile hope. </i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;">--Fr. Timothy Radcliffe, OP</span> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: x-small;">Image source: Giovanni Bellini, <i>The Transfiguration of Christ</i> (ca. 1478-1479), <a href="https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/transfiguration-of-christ/IAEAQTF0ega6cA?hl=en&ms=%7B%22x%22%3A0.5%2C%22y%22%3A0.5%2C%22z%22%3A9.106882842623245%2C%22size%22%3A%7B%22width%22%3A2.0444398021884025%2C%22height%22%3A1.2375136977882655%7D%7D">https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/transfiguration-of-christ/IAEAQTF0ega6cA?hl=en&ms=%7B%22x%22%3A0.5%2C%22y%22%3A0.5%2C%22z%22%3A9.106882842623245%2C%22size%22%3A%7B%22width%22%3A2.0444398021884025%2C%22height%22%3A1.2375136977882655%7D%7D </a><br /><a href="https://www.vaticannews.va/en/church/news/2023-10/synod-retreat-meditation-authority.html" target="_blank">Quotation source 1</a><br /><a href="https://www.vaticannews.va/en/church/news/2023-10/retreat-day-1-radcliffe-first-meditation.html" target="_blank">Quotation source 2</a></span></div>OLMChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00798357199135886534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8286807389407490041.post-13750969482372576362024-02-24T05:00:00.000-08:002024-02-24T05:00:00.136-08:00We are transfigured (St. Anastasius of Sinai)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz5qRiSte22P6ptepv0vQJJMlvqrQaZArgqTh0d-eZ4bnka_mFS3_Su_5huaSj93vS-4ANHPwdc8HaqJn8yHOy4K3xNwJ_usx-kFvNOpqkQlHkjiHqWUo49v9YUw6u9v9j60Rp2A2p4pIQzE3LmcPwFUj5-k2yd_0Fqf1oHjevr6_XzqUR1ij3R4IE6GxG/s1036/3183-Screen%20Shot%202023-11-13%20at%204.36.34%20PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1036" data-original-width="824" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz5qRiSte22P6ptepv0vQJJMlvqrQaZArgqTh0d-eZ4bnka_mFS3_Su_5huaSj93vS-4ANHPwdc8HaqJn8yHOy4K3xNwJ_usx-kFvNOpqkQlHkjiHqWUo49v9YUw6u9v9j60Rp2A2p4pIQzE3LmcPwFUj5-k2yd_0Fqf1oHjevr6_XzqUR1ij3R4IE6GxG/w319-h400/3183-Screen%20Shot%202023-11-13%20at%204.36.34%20PM.png" width="319" /></a></div><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: x-large;"><i> The spirit is the mind’s eye through which we see God, face to face, and by which we partake of the divine nature, and are transfigured, in this life by degrees, through our participation in the mystical body of Christ. </i></span></p><p style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: x-large;">--St. Anastasius of Sinai </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: x-small;">Image source: Icon, <i>The Ladder of Paradise</i> as described by St. John Climacus (ca. 7th c.), <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divinization_%28Christian%29#/media/File:StJohnClimacus.jpg">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divinization_%28Christian%29#/media/File:StJohnClimacus.jpg </a><br /><a href="https://catholicexchange.com/a-7th-century-saint-describes-how-we-participate-in-the-transfiguration-and-shine-with-the-light-that-will-save-the-world/" target="_blank">Quotation source</a></span></p>OLMChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00798357199135886534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8286807389407490041.post-48653333620997868862024-02-23T05:00:00.000-08:002024-02-23T05:00:00.134-08:00What Abraham did (Søren Kierkegaard)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4VoiFdigpFMejRPyv3N1KR51tU1ePn3PCuDwFs9RuRJ4XX1FnxZqBWuL3O3TX_RCnTzNxM88vj61gL_1cA_K6eSpkUcVu2cMi20woJ4UEK6npkmBPtfUZ2iHmIFeOFTaq1XIVH2ZStLyKvqdOjqDia-Rg2o5oU-QCbyfCwJhsx6uOZ6hrjNEqvqxcU3ZL/s1072/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-22%20at%203.35.28%20PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="858" data-original-width="1072" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4VoiFdigpFMejRPyv3N1KR51tU1ePn3PCuDwFs9RuRJ4XX1FnxZqBWuL3O3TX_RCnTzNxM88vj61gL_1cA_K6eSpkUcVu2cMi20woJ4UEK6npkmBPtfUZ2iHmIFeOFTaq1XIVH2ZStLyKvqdOjqDia-Rg2o5oU-QCbyfCwJhsx6uOZ6hrjNEqvqxcU3ZL/w400-h320/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-22%20at%203.35.28%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i> </i></span><i style="font-family: georgia;">The ethical expression for what Abraham did is that he meant to murder Isaac; the religious expression is that he meant to sacrifice Isaac—but precisely in this contradiction is the anxiety that can make a person sleepless, and yet without this anxiety Abraham is not who he is. </i></span><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">―Søren Kierkegaard, <i>Fear and Trembling </i></span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU7pFD3vAMKN79zKeqXXGOvhcO355pe4zzLioU05XxH-Nbkj_2ZSsPFkHs1tF0svqtU6F6DRhTZqF53ibBcCqabDL7ebVe1bMXwbF4iUtGAqszM3uO_dhro2vTQ9krj9tO-78HVaU9RN__WrihqfnwzoZ5g3rkwi3eXM5JDy7hjiy_YzAwpdI10jO0FbUQ/s1892/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-22%20at%203.32.43%20PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1132" data-original-width="1892" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU7pFD3vAMKN79zKeqXXGOvhcO355pe4zzLioU05XxH-Nbkj_2ZSsPFkHs1tF0svqtU6F6DRhTZqF53ibBcCqabDL7ebVe1bMXwbF4iUtGAqszM3uO_dhro2vTQ9krj9tO-78HVaU9RN__WrihqfnwzoZ5g3rkwi3eXM5JDy7hjiy_YzAwpdI10jO0FbUQ/w400-h239/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-22%20at%203.32.43%20PM.png" width="400" /></a><br /><br /></div></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: x-small;">Image source 1: <i>Abraham about to sacrifice Isaac</i> (14th c. Missal), <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binding_of_Isaac#/media/File:Abraham_about_to_sacrifice_Isaac.jpg">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binding_of_Isaac#/media/File:Abraham_about_to_sacrifice_Isaac.jpg</a><br />Image source 2: <i>Sacrifice of Isaac, </i>mosaic, Basilica of San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy (547 AD), <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binding_of_Isaac#/media/File:Sacrifice_of_Isaac_mosaic_-_Basilica_San_Vitale_(Ravenna).jpg">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binding_of_Isaac#/media/File:Sacrifice_of_Isaac_mosaic_-_Basilica_San_Vitale_(Ravenna).jpg</a> </span></div>OLMChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00798357199135886534noreply@blogger.com0