Resting from our usual labors (A Prayer for Labor Day)

We are the clay.
You are the potter.
We are all the work of your hands.

--Isaiah 64:8 

    On this weekend, when we rest from our usual labors, loving Father, we pray for all who shoulder the tasks of human labor – in the marketplace, in factories and offices, in the professions, and in family living. 

    We thank you, Lord, for the gift and opportunity of work; may our efforts always be pure of heart, for the good of others and the glory of your name. 

    We lift up to you all who long for just employment and those who work to defend the rights and needs of workers everywhere. 

    May those of us who are now retired always remember that we still make a valuable contribution to our Church and our world by our prayers and deeds of charity. 

    May our working and our resting all give praise to you until the day we share together in eternal rest with all our departed in your Kingdom as you live and reign Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. 

    Amen. 

Image source: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/SOyBMLfQkBs
Prayer source

 

Alienation from the source (Barbara Brown Taylor)

    Deep down in human existence, there is an experience of being cut off from life. There is some memory of having been treated cruelly, and—a little deeper, perhaps—the memory of having treated someone else cruelly as well…. Deep down in human existence there is an experience of reaching for forbidden fruit, of pushing away loving arms, of breaking something on purpose just to prove that you can. Deep down in human existence there is an experience of doing whatever is necessary to feed and comfort the self, because there is no one else to trust, no other purpose to serve, no other god to follow. 

    For ages and ages, this experience has been called sin—deadly alienation from the source of all life. By some definitions, it implies willful turning away from God. By others, it is an unavoidable feature of being human. Either way, it is a name for the experience of being cut off from air, light, sustenance, community, hope, meaning, life. It is less concerned with specific behaviors than with the aftermath of those behaviors. There are a thousand ways to turn away from the light, after all, with variations according to culture, century, class, and gender. The point is to know the difference between light and darkness, and to recognize the pull when it comes. 

    I do not believe that sin is the enemy we often make it out to be, at least not when we recognize it and name it as such. When we see how we have turned away from God, then and only then do we have what we need to begin turning back. Sin is our only hope, the fire alarm that wakes us up to the possibility of true repentance. 

--Barbara Brown Taylor

Image source 1 : Edward Hopper, Automat (1927), https://nuvomagazine.com/daily-edit/the-art-of-solitude?srsltid=AfmBOooU_7jTqH6XxoJ9oePzYQq8bE19Ajr7f72HXnUvq69k7h_5JVA_ Image source 2: Pompeo Batoni, The Return of the Prodigal Son (1773), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parable_of_the_Prodigal_Son#/media/File:Pompeo_Batoni_003.jpg
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The illusion of separation (The Quantum Riddle)

   According to quantum physics, a particle vibrating due to your sound when you speak can affect a molecule inside a star at the edge of the universe instantly.  This phenomenon is known as quantum entanglement. 

    The greatest illusion of this universe is the illusion of separation. 

--The Quantum Riddle

Image: https://quantummechanicsstreet.com/quantum-foundations/quantum-entanglement/
Quotation source

Correcting an errant brother or sister (Bishop Robert Barron)

    In [Matthew’s] Gospel, Jesus is instructing his community in the difficult task of correcting an errant brother or sister. He tells them to avoid the practice of gossiping and complaining to others about a grievance; rather, they should confront the person who has offended them directly and courageously. That way, the difficulty is addressed, the loving concern of the complainant is evident, and the process of rumor, attack, counter-attack, innuendo, and scapegoating is arrested. 

    Now, if the person does not respond to this loving intervention, “take one or two others along with you, so that every fact may be established on the testimony of two or three witnesses.” Thus, the wider community is involved, but only minimally—enough to bring the offender to repentance. Only if this small circle of the Church is ignored should one bring the complaint to the whole community. 

    What is so rich here is the pursuit of the issue (since speaking the truth, even when it is dangerous, is essential), coupled with a deep care for the person in question and also for the entire family of the Church (since love is our constant call). 

--Bishop Robert Barron

Image source: Guercino, Return of the Prodigal Son (1651), https://encourageandteach.wordpress.com/2014/09/22/if-your-brother-sins-against-you/
Quotation source

Sunday Gospel Reflection, September 6, 2026: Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another...

Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another…

What are our responsibilities toward one another? 

    No one exists independently of others. If there is one consistent message in Scripture, it is that human existence is about relationships. No one is on their own; no one is to live in isolation for themselves only, but for each other, with responsibility to maintain connection in all circumstances. 

    Thus, in the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel, the prophet is appointed watchman for the house of Israel as they try to maintain their identity as community while in exile. The Lord calls Ezekiel to speak to the wicked, those whose behavior is inappropriate, to call them to change; the salvation of the people is in his hands. The people’s covenant with God should tell them what is just and what is not; so long as they remain focused on the community and act justly toward one another, so long as their hearts are not hardened, as Psalm 95 states, the people shall not die to God and to relationship. All are called to find their identity in community and, as community, to do better. 

    Similar wisdom can be found coming from Jesus, in Matthew’s Gospel, as Jesus explains to his disciples that the consequences of one person’s choice affect those around them, and may be damaging to relationship. And so the disciples are called to embrace their responsibility for each other in community: If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault. The community is meant to be in unity with one another; we tell another his faults not be superior but to come together on equal footing and connection. And if that person chooses not to connect, you still love him. Where two or three are gathered together in my name, I am in the midst of them, Jesus says. Jesus is the connection, the source of all unity. 

    Paul sums up these teachings nicely in the Letter to the Romans: Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another. The only debt we have is that of love: we owe it to one another to love one another because Jesus showed the depth of God’s love for us in dying for all for our salvation. As we enter into union with one another, we are drawn into union with God and become the Body of Christ. And so we are called to be Christ’s followers, to model ourselves on the love he has revealed, modeling our love on his love, that we might live justly and one day know perfect union, eternally, with him. 

This post is based on Fr. Pat’s Scripture Class.
Image source: www.wordclouds.com

So that others might have life (St. Thérèse de Lisieux / Fr. Ron Rolheiser)

The only way I can prove my love
is by scattering flowers,
and these flowers are every little sacrifice,
every glance and word,
and the doing of the least actions for love.

--St. Thérèse de Lisieux

     There is a quality I see in the great, selfless people that I have met. They have made peace with the inadequacy of life, no longer demanding that others make them happy, and find real joy in being able to sacrifice their time, their dreams, and their lives so that others might have more life. 

     Our faith needs to give us the tools to handle that, namely, to help us come to grips with the fact that we live and die in incompleteness. 

--Fr. Ron Rolheiser OMI

Image source: https://seedsheets.com/when-does-wisteria-bloom-a-simple-growers-guide/?srsltid=AfmBOoqDga1pc82b7ikcP627HzUkVdFXWjP-MI8_aZDzPtQ3a2pSlaQi
Quotation source 1
Quotation source 2

Letting go (Fr. Patrick van der Vorst)

   Before a tree can produce its leaves, it must grow, shed and nurture. When it sheds them, it makes way for new leaves and new life. In the same way, those who desire closeness to Christ must be willing to let go of certain things in order to embrace new life in Him. This ongoing process of sacrifice and renewal is at the heart of the Christian journey. Peter... is told precisely this: whatever has been left behind will be returned in the form of new, abundant life. 

    Philip McKay, a Liverpool-based digital artist, began creating digital works in 1996. Strongly influenced by René Magritte and the Surrealists, his art often weaves together the surreal and the spiritual, evoking a profound sense of mystery. In our image, the leaves being swept away from the tree subtly take on the shape of a face, a striking visual metaphor. It serves as a reminder that who we are is often revealed in what we give away! 

--Fr. Patrick van der Vorst 

Image source: Philip McKay, In Spirit (2022), https://christian.art/daily-gospel-reading/mark-10-28-31-2025 (Quotation taken from this same page.)