The state of the world (Henri Nouwen)

    The state of the world suggests to me the urgent need for a spirituality that takes the end things very seriously, not a spirituality of withdrawal, nor of blindness to the powers of the world, but a spirituality that allows us to live in this world without belonging to it, a spirituality that allows us to take the joy and peace of the divine life even when we are surrounded by the powers and principalities of evil, death, and destruction.

    I wonder if a spirituality of liberation does not need to be deepened by a spirituality of exile or captivity. I wonder if a spirituality that focuses on the alleviation of poverty should not be deepened by a spirituality that allows people to continue their lives when their poverty only increases. I wonder if a spirituality that encourages peacemaking should not be deepened by a spirituality that allows us to remain faithful when the only things we see are dying children, burning houses, and the total destruction of our civilization.

    May God prevent any of these horrors from taking place, may we do all that is possible to prevent them, but may we never lose our faith when great misery [descends] on the land and wrath on this people… [when there are] signs in the sun and the moon and the stars… [when] nations [are] in agony, bewildered by the clamor of the ocean and its waves (Luke 21: 24-26). I pray that we will not be swept away by our curiosity, sensationalism, and panic, but remain attentive to him who comes and will say, Come, you whom my Father has blessed, take for your heritage the kingdom prepared for you since the foundation of the world (Matthew 25: 34-35).

--Henri Nouwen

Image source: Victor Vatnetsov, The Last Judgment (1904), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_Judgment#/media/File:Vasnetsov_Last_Judgment.jpg
Quotation source

The strength to stay present (Cynthia Bourgeault)

   Hope wills us with the strength to stay present, to abide in the flow of the Mercy no matter what outer storms assail us. It is entered always and only through surrender; that is, through the willingness to let go of everything we are presently clinging to. And yet when we enter it, it enters us and fills us with its own life — a quiet strength beyond anything we have ever known.

--Cynthia Bourgeault, Mystical Hope

Image source: https://turningthepage.co.nz/the-gentle-art-of-letting-go/

Our spirit can stay with those we love (Henri Nouwen)

   I realize how deeply the death of a [loved one] touches us. We suddenly realize that some of the most intimate ties are broken and that we are called to let our [loved ones] move away from us and their place in history. 

    And still, I also believe that absence might lead to the awareness of a new presence. Lately, I have found much comfort in the words of Jesus: It is for your good that I leave, because unless I leave, my Spirit cannot come. Jesus’ leaving meant that he would become more intimately present to us, that he would unite himself in a new way with us. Because of his death we can say: Not I live but Christ lives in me. I have a feeling that this is not just true of Jesus, but in and through Jesus of all people who leave us. In their absence we can develop a new intimacy with them, and grow. We even can become more like them and fulfill their mission in life until the day comes that we too have to leave so that our spirit can stay with those we love. In this way, mourning can slowly turn into joy, and grief into rebirth. 

--Henri Nouwen   

In November we remember All Souls...

Image source: Giotto di Bondone (1266-1337), The Ascension, https://www.ncregister.com/blog/were-the-apostles-sad-at-the-ascension 

Quotation source

Tomorrow shall be my dancing day (Christmas Carol)

Tomorrow shall be my dancing day;

I would my true love did so chance

To see the legend of my play,

To call my true love to my dance.

Sing, oh! my love, oh! my love, my love, my love,

This I have done for my true love.

Then was I born of a virgin pure,

Of her I took fleshy substance

Thus was I knit to man’s nature

To call my true love to my dance. (Chorus)

In a manger laid, and wrapped I was

So very poor, this was my chance

Betwixt an ox and a silly poor ass

To call my true love to my dance. (Chorus)

Then afterwards baptized I was;

The Holy Ghost on me did glance,

My Father’s voice heard from above,

To call my true love to my dance. (Chorus)

Into the desert I was led,

Where I fasted without substance;

The Devil bade me make stones my bread,

To have me break my true love’s dance. (Chorus)

The Jews on me they made great suit,

And with me made great variance,

Because they loved darkness rather than light,

To call my true love to my dance. (Chorus)

For thirty pence Judas me sold,

His covetousness for to advance:

Mark whom I kiss, the same do hold!

The same is he shall lead the dance. (Chorus)

Before Pilate the Jews me brought,

Where Barabbas had deliverance;

They scourged me and set me at nought,

Judged me to die to lead the dance. (Chorus)

Then on a cross hanged I was

Where a spear my heart did glance;

There issued forth both water and blood,

To call my true love to my dance. (Chorus)

Then down to hell I took my way

For my true love’s deliverance,

And rose again on the third day,

Up to my true love and the dance. (Chorus)

Then up to heaven I did ascend,

Where now I dwell in sure substance

On the right hand of God, that man

May come unto the general dance. (Chorus)

To hear John Rutter & the Cambridge Singers perform the Christmas carol Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day, click on the video below:

Image source 1: Giotto, Nativity, detail, Scrovegni Chapel, Padua, https://www.byunewtestamentcommentary.com/what-on-earth-are-swaddling-clothes/
Image source 2: Giotto, Nativity, Scrovegni Chapel, Padua, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e3/Giotto_-_Scrovegni_-_-17-_-_Nativity%2C_Birth_of_Jesus.jpg
Video source

Salvation history (Fr. Patrick Michaels)

We are always celebrating
salvation history.

 --Fr. Patrick Michaels,
Scripture Class,
November 29, 2018

Image source: Some of Fr. Patrick Michaels’ handmade ornaments on the Jesse Tree, 2017. Each ornament illustrates a different story in our salvation history and is accompanied by a text from Scripture and a prayer. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=mountcarmelmv&set=a.1654353261292756

Sunday Gospel Reflection, November 28, 2021: The days are coming when I will fulfill the promise I made...

The days are coming when I will fulfill the promise I made…

Where do you find hope?

    In the time of the prophet Jeremiah, Israel is long gone and Judah will soon disappear as well. Yet the Lord looks forward to restoration: The days are coming when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and Judah, he says. The Lord wants his people to know that one day Judah shall be safe and Jerusalem shall dwell secure, manifesting God’s divine justice. Even at the darkest moments, we are called to hope. Our readings in the first weeks of Advent look forward to the end times, when all will come to fulfillment; we are called to step back and think about how we are participating in progress toward salvation. In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus acknowledges that there are dark times ahead: on earth nations will be in dismay, and people will die of fright. Yet Jesus’ followers know better than to be overwhelmed; rather, they must stand erect because their redemption is at hand, knowing the Lord is with them, always.

    When fear takes hold of us, it’s hard to hold to our hope. But, in fact, we need precisely to pass through the struggle to find redemption, opening ourselves to the experience and remembering throughout all of our travails the one who loves us and stands with us and came for our salvation. We are never alone; God’s grace is at work in us even when bad things happen. God sent his Son to die on a cross so that he would be with us forever; we must, as Paul tells the Thessalonians, strengthen our hearts, to be blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus. No barriers – and certainly not fear – should keep us from growing in the love we have been baptized into. Indeed, we must increase and abound in love, seeking the paths of the Lord, as Psalm 25 reminds us. We are called to grow in our relationship with the Lord, remaining open to learning every day how much God loves us, and where we fit into God’s plan. God is allowing our world to unfold, and God is carrying us through, until we stand before him, ready to meet him, unafraid. We, for our part, must hope in his love, confident that all the paths of the Lord are kindness and constancy toward those who keep his covenant. God will fulfill God’s promise, and we will one day dwell in his perfect love – that is our hope. In the meantime, let us remain confident in his love, and increase and abound in love for one another and for all as we wait for the fulfillment of God’s promise.

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

As we express our gratitude (John F. Kennedy)

    As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.

--John Fitzgerald Kennedy,
November 11, 1963

Image source: https://www.countryliving.com/food-drinks/g2059/thanksgiving-quotes/
Quotation source