A Catholic Pilgrim's Daily Prayer

April 30: Thursday of the Third Week of Easter

2009-04-30T08:03:00.007-04:00

Rembrandt van Rijn, Baptism of the Eunuch, Museum Catherijne Convent, Utrecht, 1626

First Reading: Acts 8:26-40

“How can I, unless someone guides me (NRSV, Acts 8:31a)?”

Let us pray.

Father, how gracious you are to all of us in every situation. At each moment, you reveal yourself to us through your one spoken Word, uttered to all in every place and time. You have as well given us your written Word passed down to us through the centuries. Your truth is contained in the wisdom of the ages shared by the whole human family. If this were not enough, in the fullness of time, our Lord Jesus Christ, has come among us, your Word in the flesh, indeed truly the way, the truth and the life, present among us to teach, to comfort, to heal and even to die with us.

Father, our situation in life and history, the heavy burden of the sin of the world, and our own personal selfishness and sin, make it difficult fully to grasp your Word in every situation even though every moment, without fail, is always saving.

Your truth, Father, spoken to us all in the depth of our being through the Word, abounds throughout creation in ways we often least expect. May every one of us, Lord, come to a deeper understanding of who you are and what you challenge us to become. May we also encourage one another so that we may each one benefit from the truth revealed to all but only understood in part by any one of us. May each of us, in ways not always yet determined, share in mediating your Word to one another.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

April 28: Tuesday of the Third Week of Easter

2009-04-28T08:48:00.006-04:00

Bernardo Daddi, The Martyrdom of St Stephen (detail), Santa Croce, Florence, 1324

First Reading: Acts 7:51--8:1

“Lord, do not hold this sin against them (NRSV, Acts 7:60a).”

Let us pray.

In the moment of his approaching death, Stephen called out to you, Father, begging forgiveness for those who were killing him. In Luke’s gospel, Jesus himself, begged for forgiveness for those putting him to death.

Father, I truly believe that you offer forgiveness to all of us for our sins, through the Word, even before we ask for it. All that is needed is that we turn away from the evil that we have done and once again freely accept your life into our own, even as we did in the power of the Spirit that first moment of our existence in our mother’s womb.

Father, as you offer us forgiveness and we accept it forgiving ourselves for what we have done, may we also, as Stephen did, turn to those who sin against us and pass on to them the forgiveness that we ourselves have received. To be forgiven is also to forgive in turn.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

April 27: Monday of the Third Week of Easter

2009-04-27T16:58:00.003-04:00

Paolo Uccello, The Disputation of St. Stephen, Duomo, Prato, 1435

First Reading: Acts 6:8-15

And all who sat in the council looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel (NRSV, Acts 6:15).

Let us pray.

Father, divine power transfigured Jesus even in apparent ignominy and defeat. In Mark’s gospel, seeing the manner in which Jesus was dying, the pagan centurion at the foot of the cross came to believe: “Truly this man was God’s Son!” In John’s gospel, the last to be written, the power that came from Jesus is such that he is seen as resurrected already throughout his entire public ministry.

Stephen, one of the seven, ordained to “serve,” the first martyr for faith in Christ, was so full of grace and power that at his trial before the Sanhedrin his face shone like an angel.

Father, may I respond in such a way to the life which you always offer to me through the Word that I too may be changed, that others may come to believe your Word encouraged by everything that I say and indeed everything that I am.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

April 25: Feast of St. Mark, Evangelist

2009-04-25T21:33:00.003-04:00

Andrea Mantegna, St. Mark the Evangelist, Das Städel, Frankfort am Main, c.1450

Gospel: Mark 16:15-20

And they went out and proclaimed the good news everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that accompanied it (NRSV, Mk 16:20).

Let us pray.

Father, when Barnabas traveled to Antioch, we read that a large number came to believe because Barnabas was a good man filled with the Holy Spirit and faith. When we accept your gift of life, Father, always offered us through the Word, now made flesh, dwelling within us, we are transformed. Your life fills us with great power that cannot help but radiate out from us to others.

Your Word is a human in our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the only mediator, Father, between you and us but the life and power that we receive from you through him can influence others to say “yes” to you through the Word as we have done.

If there is only one mediator, Father, you enable us through him to share in that mediation.As the Lord Jesus worked signs and wonder during his life on earth, so we too are called, and indeed empowered, to work signs and wonders among one another.

May we ever be responsive to our calling that like Jesus we too may effectively proclaim the coming of the kingdom to our sisters and brothers.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

April 24: Friday of the Second Week of Easter

2009-04-24T08:10:00.003-04:00

Castillan-Moresque Haggadah, Rabbi Gamaliel and His Students, British Library, London, c.1300

First Reading: Acts 5:34-42

Then Gamaliel said to the members of the Sanhedrin, “Fellow Israelites, consider carefully what you propose to do to these men. . . because if this plan or this undertaking is of human origin, it will fail; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them—in that case you may even be found fighting against God (NRSV, Acts 5:34,38b-39a)!”

Let us pray.

Father, may we be attentive to the words of Gamaliel who sensed deep within him, although not clearly, the Word spoken to him. Often we, like the members of the Sanhedrin, are so certain that we understand what has been revealed, only to be enlightened later by one more sensitive than ourselves. Even in high places within the Church there has been found need to apologize for conclusions hastily reached and imposed upon others.

Father, may we be open to the movement of your Holy Spirit in our midst that we may be ever more and more responsive to the one Word that is spoken to all in the depth of our being. May we always be ready to admit error in judgment and then to grow in understanding of your truth.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

April 22: Thursday of the Second Week of Easter

2009-04-23T12:52:00.005-04:00

Metropolitan John the Icon-Painter: Christ the Savior and Lifegiver, Museum of Macedonia, Skopje, 1384

Gospel: John 3:31-36

Jesus said to Nicodemus, “The Father loves the Son and has placed all things in his hands. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life (NRSV, Jn 3:35-36b).”

Let us pray.

Father, your love for the Son and your Son’s love for you is the Holy Spirit. Everything that you do in the one act that is your being is done through the Son, your Word. You give us a share in your divine life through the Word who is with us, and remains with us always, from the womb. It is the Word who challenges us to believe, to accept your life. This challenge, made at every moment, in every place, to everyone, at the depth of one’s being, is made manifest and visible, in the same one act that is your being, in the Word made flesh, your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. It is through acceptance of the Word that we receive eternal life.

Father, may all of us, everywhere, called also with the Christ to be your daughters and sons, say “yes” to the Word present to us that we may all share in your life through him, the Savior and Lifegiver, and grow in that life at every moment.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

April 21: Wednesday of the Second Week of Easter

2009-04-22T10:42:00.004-04:00

Christoph Weigel, The Apostles Freed from Prison, Biblia ectypa Bildnussen auss Heiliger Schrifft Alt und Neuen Testaments, 1695

First Reading: Acts 5:17-26

But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors, brought the apostles out, and said, “Go, stand in the temple and tell the people the whole message about this life (NRSV, Acts 5: 19-20).”

Let us pray.

Father, as you call us forth in every moment to accept and to grow in your life, that for which we long is freedom. However, that freedom, Father, is often misunderstood as merely freedom from the present condition in which we find ourselves. When freedom is understood in the limited manner of freedom “from,” the best that can happen for us is that we exchange one form of slavery for another. The Israelites longed for freedom from slavery in Egypt but no sooner across the sea in the desert they lamented that situation as well.

True freedom, we learn from your Word speaking within us and made manifest in our Lord Jesus, Father, is always freedom for someone. The apostles were freed from prison, not merely to be delivered from confinement, but to preach the good news to their sisters and brothers.

At every moment, Father, you call us forth from the situation in which we find ourselves, not merely to overcome its limitations, but that we might grow in your divine life and share it with our sisters and brothers through serving one another.

May the freedom that we long for, Father, always be freedom for you and for one another.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

April 21: Tuesday of the Second Week of Easter

2009-04-21T11:50:00.003-04:00

Anonymous English Master, Christ and Nicodemus, British Library, London, c 1430

Gospel: John 3:7-15

Jesus said to Nicodemus: “You must be born from above (NRSV, Jn 3:7b).”

Let us pray.

Father, in your one act that is your being, you speak the uncreated Word. In the same one act you, Father, and the Word love one another in the procession of the Holy Spirit. In the same one act you create the universe and everyone who will ever live. In the same one act you offer everyone a share in your divine life through the Word in the Holy Spirit, even from the womb. It is this same one act, always saving, that we experience under visible signs in baptism, the Eucharist and in the other sacraments.

When Jesus tells Nicodemus that he must be born from above, Father, it is that our life as human beings is not only physical life passed on to us through our earthly parents but divine life that comes directly from you. It is the offering of divine life, accepted by us in the womb through the Word in the Holy Spirit, which truly defines us as human beings. It is the very life that you give to us at every moment by your same one eternal act if we will accept it. It is the very life, always given by the same one divine act that is your being, that we receive under visible sign in baptism and that we share in the Eucharist when we partake of the Body and Blood of your Son, the Word made flesh.

Father, to be a human being is to be offered divine life from you. As that life comes from above, may the focus of everything that we are always be, not on the things of earth, but always on you, Father, our only true future.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

April 20: Monday of the Second Week of Easter

2009-04-20T08:48:00.004-04:00

John La Farge, Visit of Nicodemus to Christ, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C., 1880

Gospel: John 3: 1-8

The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit (NRSV, John 3:8).’

Let us Pray.

Father, from that moment in our mother’s womb when we became physically capable of recognizing you and receiving you, then for the first time we experienced the wind of your Spirit, present in your Word, blowing over us, bestowing on us a share in your divine life and calling us to grow in that life.

Even when, in the moment, we say “yes,” Father, and accept the gift, it is never the end. Your Word remains ever-present to us in the power of the Spirit, summoning us to let go of what we have become up to that moment to become something new and unexpected.

How gracious you are to us, Father, for you never abandon us, even in our deepest sin, but your Word is always there offering forgiveness and calling us to repentance. Your Spirit is always blowing over us so that every moment is truly saving.

During these days, Father we celebrate the resurrection of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh. May we recognize that with Jesus we too are resurrected even from the first moment of our lives. May we be ever faithful to the power of the resurrection given to us in the Word through the power of your Holy Spirit.

Alleluia. Amen.

April 19: The Second Sunday of Easter

2009-04-20T08:23:00.002-04:00

Luca Signorelli (1441-1523): Doubting Thomas, La Basilica di Santa Maria, Loreto

Gospel: John 20:19-31

Thomas answered Jesus, “My Lord and my God (NRSV, Jn 20:28)!”

Let us pray.

Father, how often when we seek to find you we look outside of ourselves to the world around us. We seek evidence of your presence in your “footsteps,” your effects, in the world. We even prove your existence from your physical creation. Like Thomas we must be shown.

Father, you love us so much that your Word has become flesh to dwell among us in our Lord Jesus Christ. But that same Word who walked the earth also dwells within each one of us, even the most abject of sinners. Your Word calls us all into existence and remains always present to us challenging us to grow in your life that you share with us or, if we have rejected that life, to accept forgiveness and to start afresh.

Father, when we doubt, remind us to turn inward to find your Word closer than we are to ourselves. We may abandon you, Father, in sin but, in your Word always present to us, you never abandon us. You are there at every moment revealing yourself to us in him before whom we can only prostrate ourselves and declare: My Lord and my God.

Alleluia. Amen.

April 18: Saturday of Easter Week

2009-04-17T22:47:00.003-04:00

Parmigianino, St. Peter and St. John Healing the Cripple, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, c 1530

First Reading: Acts 4:13-21

“We cannot keep from speaking about what we have seen and heard (NRSV, Acts 4:20).”

Let us pray.

Father, everyone of us is charged to join with Peter and John as they declared before the Sanhedrin: “We cannot keep from speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

Father, you speak your one Word to all of us at every moment at the depth of our being. No one is excluded from that revelation. But our rehearsing aloud of what we have experienced at the depth of our being enables us all to clarify our understanding and for many of us it prompts us to turn more frequently within and discover what we have perhaps hitherto ignored or even misunderstood.

May we always seek clarification from other believers and especially from those charged with teaching within your Church. May we turn as well to all people of good will for enlightenment and guidance as we speak out with courage what we understand to be the truth. Keep our minds and hearts ever open to greater comprehension of the one Word that you always speak to us.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

April 17: Friday of Easter Week

2009-04-17T00:33:00.005-04:00

Konrad Witz, The Miraculous Draught of Fish, Musée d'Art et d'Histoire, Geneva, 1443-44

Gospel: John 21:1-14

Jesus said to them, “Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish (NRSV, Jn 21:6).

Let us pray.

Father, the one mediator between you and us is the Word, made flesh in our Lord Jesus Christ. It is the Word, constantly present to us, even in the midst of sin, always offering forgiveness and newness of life, who defines our existence as human beings. Every moment then is a saving moment for us.

As we share in the one life that is yours, Father, we also share in the mediating role of the Word. The life that we share with you, Father, we also share with one another. We are therefore challenged in every situation to encourage one another and to bear witness to one another.

As Jesus was sent to proclaim the good news of salvation, so we also are sent, all of us, to proclaim the gospel to our fellow human beings. We are all called to be fishers of our sisters and brothers.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

April 16: Thursday of Easter Week

2009-04-16T00:30:00.003-04:00

William Blake, Christ Appearing to his Apostles, Tate Gallery, London, c.1795

Gospel: Luke 24:35-48

Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem (NRSV, Lk 24:45-47).”

Let us pray.

Father, you reveal yourself to us in every moment in your one act that is your being, even from our first moment in the womb. Throughout our lives we long to grow in understanding of the Word spoken to us. Some of us, we call them prophets, see more clearly than the rest of us and show us the way to deeper understanding of your revelation made to all through the Word always present to us.

Father, our sisters and brothers, disciples of the Lord Jesus, only came to grasp who Jesus was in the experience of him raised from the dead. Their response as the risen Jesus opened their minds was that they should have realized it all along. Even then the understanding of those gathered in the Church continued to grow over the decades with further reflection, prayer and discussion.

May we, Father, in this Easter season, come to a fuller understanding of the reality of our Lord Jesus Christ, your Word made flesh, and of the life in which you always, through him, call us to grow. May we live the resurrection even now in this world in preparation for the world to come.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

April 15: Wednesday of Easter Week

2009-04-16T00:25:00.003-04:00

Caravaggio, Supper at Emmaus, National Gallery of Art, London, 1601-02

Gospel: Luke 24:13-35

When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight (NRSV, Lk 24:30-31).

Let us pray.

Father, there are moments when even the holiest and the wisest among us becomes confused as to your presence in our lives. Your Holy Spirit, who enlivens us whenever we accept him into ourselves, can often seem so far from us. Even your Word, who never abandons us, can, in the midst of our sinfulness, seem absent. Because of the sin of world and our own tendency to selfishness, bewilderment can overcome us and we can sense ourselves as lost.

It is then, Lord, that the blessing of the Eucharist becomes clear. It is in leaving the workaday world and entering sacred space to listen to the rehearsal of your written word and in breaking bread together that it can all become clear. Like the disciples on the way to Emmaus we too can become lost on the way only to find ourselves and you, Father, when we share the body and blood of Christ your Son and our brother in the Eucharist.

We believe, Father, that every moment is the saving moment and that we can find you in every situation but we remain grateful to you nevertheless for the tangible presence of the Word in Holy Scripture and in the breaking of bread, the Word who is always for us the Way and the Truth and the Life.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

April 14: Tuesday of Easter Week

2009-04-14T11:23:00.002-04:00

Lavinia Fontana, Christ Appearing to Mary Magdalene, Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence 1581

Gospel: John 20:11-18

Jesus said to Mary Magdalene, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God (NRSV, Jn 20:17).’”

Let us pray.

Father, even as in Matthew’s gospel, for John, the first appearance of Jesus risen from the dead is to a woman. Here it is not the two Maries but Mary Magdalene alone. For John, she is the first apostle, the first one, not only to have seen the risen Lord, but the first to be sent to bring the good news to the others. Mary is the proto-apostle.

Jesus speaks to Mary of his ascension which we so often, Father, fail to understand. To begin, all of the paschal mystery (Jesus’ death, resurrection, ascension and the sending of the Spirit) is one moment that is anchored in space and time but also transcends it. The ascension of Jesus, to isolate an aspect of this one mystery, speaks, not of Jesus’ final departure from us, but of his definite presence among us.

In the ascension of Jesus, the Word, your eternal Son, always present to us in the depth of our being, calling us to grow in divine life, defining our very existence as human beings, is recognized as being hypostatically united to one of us in our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus not only lived on this earth and walked among us. The Word made flesh, Jesus, enthroned with you in heaven, Father, lives as well in the depth of our being, never abandoning us, even when we sin, but always challenging us to repentance and the acceptance of new life.

This, Father, is the message given to Mary to bring to the others. Many we always be faithful to it.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

April 13: Monday of Easter Week

2009-04-14T11:14:00.004-04:00

Jerome Nadel, Christ Appears to the Women, ADNOTATIONES ET MEDITATIONES IN EVANGELIA, 1595

Gospel: Matthew 28:8-15

Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me (NRSV, Mt 28:10).”

Let us pray.

Father, your apostle Paul teaches us that an apostle is one who has seen the risen Lord and is then sent to bring the good news to others. Paul understood himself as the least but also the last of the apostles, one born out of undue time.

In Matthew’s gospel, then, the first of the apostles are the two Maries, the holy women who went to anoint the body of Christ, who encountered Jesus in his risen body and were told to bring the good news of his resurrection to the others.

Father, as you bless the holy women who were the first to be sent, may we who have also received the good news of Jesus’ resurrection in our time so respond to the same blessing that we may be effective instruments of your grace to all of our sisters and brothers.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen

April 12: Easter Sunday

2009-04-12T08:23:00.005-04:00

Piero della Francesca, The Resurrection, Pinacoteca Comunale, Sansepolcro, 1463-65

Gospel: John 20:1-9

So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God (Col 3:1).

Let us pray.

Father, as we reflect on the mystery of this most important day on which we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus, it becomes clear that Jesus was not resurrected only after his crucifixion, death and burial. Jesus was truly resurrected throughout his entire human existence. The life and the power which brought him through death was indeed his from the very beginning. That life was a gift from you, Father, to your Son, the Word, from all eternity and that life filled Jesus from the very first moment of his existence. It is because of that life that healing power went out of Jesus to others, that he was indeed the Way, the Truth and the Life.

The life which you have given to the Word from all eternity, Father, you share also with every one of us, if we accept it, even from the womb. It is the life that you give to us in baptism and that we celebrate and share with one another in the Eucharist. Because of our participation in this life, we too are resurrected beings from the beginning. This life and power enables us to face all of life’s difficulties, as Jesus faced them, and to be victorious over them. As healing went out from Jesus to others, it can also go out from us to be shared with our sisters and brothers.

And most of all, death, which so often seems the enemy and our undoing, can now be seen in the light of the resurrection as passage, as an hour of glory, summing up everything we have been, and leading us to fuller life, Father, with you.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

April 10: Good Friday

2009-04-10T01:12:00.004-04:00

Matthias Grunewald, The Small Crucifixion, National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., c.1511-20

Gospel: John 18:1--19:42

When Jesus had taken the wine, he said, "It is finished." And bowing his head, he handed over the spirit (NAB, Jn 19:30).

Let us pray.

Father, so often the passion and death and death of your Son Jesus are presented as momentary defeat that is then definitively reversed in the resurrection. But Jesus’ death, even in the midst of such terrible pain and suffering is really, as John puts it, his hour of glory. This is true, Father, not only in John’s gospel, in which Jesus is clearly in triumph on the cross, but in the other gospels as well.

In Mark’s gospel, the pagan centurion is able, for the first time for anyone to grasp the divinity of Jesus: this, not in spite of Jesus’ suffering but radiating out through his suffering. “This is truly the Son of God.”

In Luke’s gospel, healing goes out to the women of Jerusalem and forgiveness to Jesus persecutors and the good thief.

In Matthew’s gospel all of nature is convulsed by Jesus death. The earth quakes and even the dead rise from their graves.

But it is in John’s gospel that Jesus’ crucifixion is truly presented as victory. The Church begins from the cross and the sacraments of the Eucharist and baptism have their foundation in the blood and water that flows from Jesus side. Even the Holy Spirit is handed over to the Church as Jesus breathes his last.

Father, through and with Jesus the Word may death be for us as well not even temporary defeat and undoing but a glorious passage to a fuller life in you.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

April 9: Holy Thursday

2009-04-09T08:11:00.004-04:00

Ford Madox Brown, Jesus Washing Peter's Feet at the Last Supper, Tate Gallery, London, 1865

Gospel: John 13:1-15

“So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet (NRSV, Jn 13:14).”

Let us pray.

Father, your being and your act which are one consist in giving life, receiving life and sharing life in love. At every moment you invite everyone human to take part in that life, to share in it. In our Lord Jesus Christ, beyond inviting us to share in your life, you take upon yourself our human life and make it your own. In Jesus your life of giving, receiving and sharing is made visible for us in this world.

Father, your Word is always present to every one of us at our innermost being. He also remains present for us in a visible way in the sacred meal he has left as a memorial of his physical life, death, and resurrection. Whenever we gather to remember that last meal that Jesus shared with his disciples, we are aware that it is Jesus himself who is present with us blessing the bread and the cup and in these visible signs giving of himself so completely to us that as we partake of what appears to be bread and the wine we can say in faith that they are truly the body and blood of Christ.

At every moment when we say “yes” to you, Father, at the depth of our being, we are caught up more fully in the true sacrifice of sharing that is your life. Whenever we celebrate the Eucharist that life which we are called to share with you at every moment becomes ritually visibly and acted out in this sacred meal.

Father, we are grateful for your gift of your life always offered. We are grateful to you as well for loving us so much that you also in your Word take upon yourself our life and a human nature, and for remaining visibly present for us in your Church and the sacraments, especially in the Eucharist in which we ritually share under the appearances of bread and wine in everything that is our Lord Jesus Christ.

As Jesus shared everything that he is with us even to death, may we who partake of the Eucharist and his body and blood also serve one another.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen

April 8: Wednesday of Holy Week

2009-04-08T11:09:00.007-04:00

Giotto di Bondone, Judas Betraying the Christ, Cappella Scrovegni Padua, 1304-06

Gospel: Matthew 26:14-25

Then one of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What will you give me if I betray him to you?” They paid him thirty pieces of silver. And from that moment he began to look for an opportunity to betray him (NRSV, Mt 26:14-16).

Let us pray.

Father, when Judas heard Jesus calling him to be his disciple, he did not realize that the voice he heard was one that spoke to him constantly at his innermost being, every moment from the first within his mother’s womb. It was the voice of your Word, Father, which speaks to every one of us in every moment, the voice of your Word who became a human being in our Lord Jesus Christ.

When Judas, for money, thirty pieces of silver, succumbed to betraying Jesus, he thought that Jesus would just vanish from his life. But the Word, always present to us at the depth of our being, is who defines our being. We are humans called to share in your divine life, Father, because the Word is always there pressing in upon us, inviting us, challenging us, to greater growth. Or if we sin, calling us to accept forgiveness and to redirect our life.

Father, Judas thought that he would betray Jesus and it would be done with but there was no way in which he could banish the Word from his life. Nor is your Word ever vindictive, Father. No, in the face of Judas’ great sin, your Word only continued to offer the gift of life and Love that is the Holy Spirit.

Poor Judas! How unfortunate we all are in our sinfulness! Choosing evil but still having to live in the embrace of Love! May we, Father, through the Word in the Holy Spirit never to turn away from you but always to accept your gift of a fuller life that you offer us in every moment.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

April 7: Tuesday of Holy Week

2009-04-07T11:11:00.004-04:00

Michiel van der Borch, Last Supper Christ gives a piece of bread to Judas, Koninklijke Bibliotheek, The Hague, 1332

Gospel: John 13:21-33, 36-38

After Judas received the piece of bread, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, “Do quickly what you are going to do (NRSV, Jn 13:27).”

Let us pray.

Father, how easy for us to keep our distance from Judas. To us, he is the consummate doer of evil. But, if we read on just a bit, we find Jesus confronting Peter and warning him, against Peter’s protests, that he will deny him. And then, shortly afterwards, in the garden, every one of the others flees. Jesus goes to his death betrayed, denied and abandoned. In the first three gospels there is no one at the foot of the cross to comfort the dying Jesus. Only the holy women watched from afar. True, in John’s gospel, his mother, the beloved disciple, and the two other Maries are there but their presence is clearly for a symbolic reason. John has the Church begin, not on Pentecost, but from the Cross.

And so Jesus was alone as he lay dying, with only you, his Father, to comfort him as you vindicated the just man in the 22nd psalm. It was not only Judas but all of Jesus’ disciples who finally turned away from him. And we too betray, deny and abandon, every time that we turn away in sin.

Yet in our sinfulness, Jesus never abandons us. The Word remains ever present to us, in the worst of sin, always offering us your forgiveness, Father, and challenging us to accept the Holy Spirit once more into our lives.

Father, keep us ever mindful of the great love that you show us in your Word who became a human being to be with us, not only at our innermost being, but to be present visibly showing us the way to you.

Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.

April 6: Monday of Holy Week

2009-04-06T08:07:00.003-04:00

Master of Jean Rollin II, The Supper at Bethany, Koninklijke Bibliotheek, The Hague, c. 1455

Gospel: John 12:1-11

Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair (NRSV, Jn 12:3a).

Let us pray.

Father, you speak to us, everyone of us who has every lived, at each moment of our lives, through your Word at the depth of our being. But that one Word is also made manifest and visible in many particular situations.

In the great sacrament of human existence, your Word is made flesh; he becomes a human being, in our Lord Jesus Christ. He shares our life, everything we are; he teaches us and heals us; he even passes through death with us.

Your Word is also visibly present in the world through the gathering of those who believe in him, your Church, as it proclaims your written Word contained in Sacred Scripture and celebrates your one saving work among us in sacramental actions, especially in baptism and the Eucharist.

Father, even from ancient times, kings and priests were set aside for your service through sacred anointing with oil. Prophets were understood to be anointed immediately by your Spirit.

The evangelists are in agreement that the Lord Jesus, after his baptism by John, was anointed by the Holy Spirit who descended upon him in the form of a dove. In baptism, and when we are confirmed in our ongoing faith in you, Father, we, your daughters and sons, are anointed with oil as a visible sign of our calling in the Holy Spirit. Your presbyters are likewise anointed with oil as are the sick and those facing the great passage through death.

Father, we are ever grateful to you for your presence in the Word and in the Spirit at our innermost being, uniting us all in one divine life, and for your visible presence in the Word made flesh and in the Church, in which we celebrate your sacraments.

As Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus, anointed the feet of Jesus in preparation for his death, may we too anoint our sisters and brothers as they prepare for the journey through death and thus encourage them to join with the Word on this passage which can be for all their hour of glory.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen

April 5: Passion Sunday

2009-04-04T23:56:00.001-04:00

Pietro Lorenzetti, Entry of Christ into Jerusalem, Basilica di San Francesco, Assisi, c.1320

Liturgy of the Palms
Gospel: Mark 11:1-11

Then those who went ahead and those who followed were shouting, "Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord(NRSV, Mark 11:9)!”

Let us pray.

Father, in the gospel of Luke, Jesus’ physical life here on earth begins with a pilgrimage from Nazareth to Bethlehem. For Matthew, there is also pilgrimage, to save the infant from death, pilgrimage from Bethlehem to Egypt and eventually to Nazareth. In the entire synoptic tradition, Mark, Matthew and Luke, Jesus’ public ministry is a great pilgrimage from Galilee to Jerusalem where the paschal mystery of Jesus’ passion, death and resurrection then unfolds.

So much, Father, of our story as your people is pilgrimage: out of Egypt through the desert and into the land. Centuries before Moses, Abraham also went on pilgrimage leaving his home in Mesopotamia in search of you on a quest that brought him to the land.

Today, Father, we celebrate Jesus’ final ceremonial pilgrimage over the crest of the Mount of Olives down across the Kedron Valley into Jerusalem. It was a day of triumph for Jesus leading, however, as the days went on, to his eventual betrayal, arrest, passion, and crucifixion; his passage through death, which John describes as his hour of glory.

Father, all of human life is pilgrimage, from that first moment, still in the womb, when in response to your Word, and in the power of the Holy Spirit, we say “yes” to your gift of life, human and divine. All of life, from that moment on, is an everlasting journey towards you, Father, who are our only true Future.

Whenever we foolishly turn away from you in sin, you are always there in your Word challenging us to accept your forgiveness and renewal of your life in the Holy Spirit. You are there with us especially as the Word guides us through physical death as he himself, during this Holy Week, passed through it in his human nature. The Word is our Way to you, Father, on a journey that never ends but leads on and on into an ever increasing share in your life.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

April 4: Saturday of the Fifth Week of Lent

2009-04-04T23:15:00.010-04:00

Unknown Illustrator of Jerome Nadal's 'Evangelicae Historiae Imagines', The Council Plots the Death of Jesus,1593

Gospel: John 11:45-57

So the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the council, and said, “What are we to do? This man is performing many signs (NRSV, Jn 11:47).”

Let us pray.

Father, at every moment you call us forwarded to a greater understanding of your Word spoken once and for all as well as further growth in your divine life. How unfortunate for us in any situation that we conclude that we have arrived at final answers about you and our life in you. The only result for us can be arrogance that is ready to strike out at those around us.

Jesus is your very Word made flesh and yet many among us refused to accept him because his message did not fit the mold of what was expected and his preaching instead of being good news to summons us forwarded was understood as threat. The result was that we rejected Jesus by putting him to death, an ignominious death on the Cross. So caught up in our own understanding were we that we tried foolishly to banish your Word made flesh from this world.

But Jesus who from the beginning was resurrected life itself passed victorious through the death to which we condemned him and, risen from the grave, proclaimed the power of the resurrection, always available at every moment in history, in the lives of all who would repent and accept him in faith.

Father, may our spirits ever be open to a greater understanding of who you are and the life and destiny to which you call us. May we always be ready to cast off our prejudices and misjudgments, to be repentant of our sins, and accept greater understanding and life in the power of the Holy Spirit through your Word, impossible to banish in any way, always dwelling in us.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

April 3: Friday of the Fifth Week of Lent

2009-04-03T02:08:00.006-04:00

Alexander Master, Christ healing a boy, Koninklijke Bibliotheek, The Hague, c.1430

Gospel: John 10:31-42

But if I do them [good works], even though you do not believe me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father (NRSV, John 10:38).’

Let us pray.

Father, over the centuries there has been a long debate as to whether we can be saved by our good works. In the end, we realize that it not the works that save but it is faith, the acceptance in trust and confidence of the great gift of your divine life that you offer, through the Word ever-present to each and every human being at every moment, even from the womb.

The acceptance of your gift raises us up to share in everything that you are, the giving, receiving and sharing that is your inner life. Just as you give Life to the Word and Word receives that Life and you both share that Life in the Love that is the Holy Spirit, so we too, transformed by the gift that we have freely accepted, find ourselves inevitably but freely giving, receiving and sharing with one another. Good works proceed without fail from true faith as it is lived out.

As the truth about Jesus was clear in the signs he performed, may our faith be manifest to others by the good works that faith empowers us to do.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

April 2: Thursday of the Fifth Week of Lent

2009-04-03T02:07:00.006-04:00

Alexander Master, Attempt to Stone Jesus, Koninklijke bibliotheek, The Hague, c.1430

Gospel: John 8:51-59

"Very truly, I tell you, whoever keeps my word will never see death (NRSV, Jn 8:51)."

Let us pray.

Father, as we reflect upon John’s Gospel, it becomes clear that Jesus is resurrected throughout his entire life here on earth. Death for Jesus, as ignominious as it seems, is not his undoing but rather his hour of glory. Every moment of Jesus’ life is a manifestation, Father, of the living out of your inner life: giving and receiving shared in love. The power of this life goes out from Jesus to heal others who would accept it. No one, nothing, can extinguish this truly divine life. Death then for Jesus is not undoing, a defeat, even a temporary one, later to be overcome. For Jesus, death is passage from a worldly existence into the world to come, where he now sits at your right hand.

Jesus’ death, Father, is truly sacramental, an outward sign of inward grace. Your one act that is saving in every situation is lived out on earth in every moment of Jesus’ life but never more manifest than in his death which sums up in one instant the total giving of his life to you, Father, in love.

Father, may we join with our sisters and brothers of all times and places who have accepted resurrected life here on earth through the Word dwelling within them and whose deaths also are not defeat but passage to a fuller existence with you in the Holy Spirit.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

April 1: Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Lent

2009-04-03T02:05:00.000-04:00

Simeon Solomon: Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednego
Preserved from the Burning, Fiery Furnace
Private Collection, 1863

Readings for Mass
First Reading: Daniel 3:14-20, 91-92, 95
Responsorial Psalm: Daniel 3:52, 53, 54, 55, 56
Gospel: John 8:31-42

Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free (NRSV, Jn 8:31-32).”

Let us pray.

Father, so often, when we long to be free, it is freedom “from” something that we seek. As long as the Israelites understood their freedom as merely freedom from slavery in Egypt, they simply exchanged one form of slavery for another. Once across the sea into the desert they could only bemoan their condition and murmur and rebel against you, Father. Freed from their Egyptian taskmasters, they were still enslaved.

Freedom, Father, is always found in accepting your life, of being caught up in you, receiving life from you, yes, but also fully giving of self to you through the Word in Love that is the Holy Spirit. True freedom is always finally never merely freedom “from” but always freedom “for.”

The prophet Daniel tells the wonderful story of the three boys cast into the fiery furnace. They lived not for themselves, Father, but only for you. They were victorious over their fiery fate even as your Son Jesus was victorious on the cross and we can be victorious as well, in any situation however dark, if only we forget ourselves and live for you, Father, and for all of our sisters and brothers.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

March 31: Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Lent

2009-03-31T01:01:00.001-04:00

Anthony van Dyck, Moses and the Serpent, Museo del Prado, Madrid, 1621

Readings for Mass

First Reading: Numbers 21:4-9

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 102:2-3, 16-18, 19-21

Gospel: John 8:21-30

And the Lord said to Moses, "Make a poisonous serpent, and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten shall look at it and live (NRSV, Nm 21:8)."

Let us pray.

Father, at no moment is it clearer to us that the Word made flesh gives of himself totally to you than as he lay dying on the cross. That moment sums up everything that Jesus is: He receives his life from you and he gives all that he is in return. This giving, receiving and sharing in Love, however, takes place not only on the cross. It is, Father, your very life as God. You, Father, give life to the Word. The Word receives that life from you. You, Father, and the Word share your life in Love who is the Holy Spirit.

The Cross is our salvation, indeed, but so is every moment a saving moment. Your act, Father, is one and cannot be separated from your being. In the one act that is your being, Father, you generate the Word and the Holy Spirit proceeds from Father and Word. In this same act that is your being you create the world and each one of us, you share your life with us through the Word, you become one of us in Jesus Christ, and you manifest yourself in Church and sacraments.

We, Father, have a history, each one of us and your people as a family, but you are beyond time and place. You are at once nowhere and everywhere and because of this your salvation for us is always available.Thank you, Father, for the gift of your life and for the gift of your Son. You are made manifest for us in him and your salvation is made visible in his life and death. May we understand you ever more clearly by keeping our eyes up the cross of your Son. May we find everlasting life through his life and death.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen

March 30: Monday of the Fifth Week of Lent

2009-03-30T17:38:00.000-04:00

Lorenzo Lotto: Christ and the Adulteress
Private Collection, 1530-32

Readings for Mass
First Reading: Daniel 13:1-9, 15-17, 19-30, 33-62 or 13:41-62
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 23:1-3, 3-4, 5, 6
Gospel: John 8:1-11

Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again (NRSV, Jn 8: 11).”

Let us pray..

Father, the forgiveness which you offer us through the Word is without condition. There is nothing that we must do to earn it. It is gift, only to be accepted and to allow it to transform us so that we are ready in turn to offer it to those who have offended us.

Jesus never inquires into the past of a sinner. He never demands a promise for the future. He merely offers forgiveness with the challenge to sin no more.

Father, may we in our sinfulness always be responsive to your Word, made flesh in the Lord Jesus, who in every instant offers us your life. May we accept the gift of new life, allow it to change us, and then share it with others. Thus may we become one with you Father, in the Spirit, through the Word, and may we ever grow in that unity which for us who are your created daughters and sons a neverending journey.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

March 29: Fifth Sunday of Lent

2009-03-29T08:05:00.005-04:00

Duccio di Buoninsgna, Jeremiah, Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, Siena, 1308-11

No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, "Know the Lord," for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more (NRSV, Jeremiah 31:34).

First Reading: Jeremiah 31:31-34

Let us pray.

Father, we used to think that prophets were persons specially chosen by you and then given secrets about a future already determined, passed on to us as warning and challenge. But if the future is already fixed, if history is indeed a play already written in advance, what need is there to speak of it? What could be done in any case to redirect it?

No, prophets do not really speak of a pre-determined future. It is the present of which they speak and its implications for the future, what will happen if we who are truly free by God’s favor, do not choose well.

Nor is the prophet specially chosen by you because, we have learned, you do not choose this one or that one over the other, but rather reveal yourself to all through your ever-present Word, once and for all, yet in every moment at the depth of our being, even from the womb. You speak your truth to all and offer your divine life to all. As the saints are those who respond best by living well, the prophet are those who respond best in understanding and then share what they have grasped with the rest of us, challenging us to live out our lives more fruitfully.

At Mount Sinai, our spiritual forebears came to understand for the first time what you speak to all in every moment: that you are one God and that you are God for your people, that you call us to a future, and that you require that we love you and one another. They saw, as best they then could, the future to which you call them as life in the land for your people and they hammered out, as best they could, the manner in which the people should live, inscribed as it were on tablets of stone.

If Moses is the prophet, it is also to Jeremiah that we owe so much for Jeremiah realized that the Law has not been given, not written out, in stone, but given within us, written in our hearts.

Prophet that he was, so very sensitive to the revelation given to all, Jeremiah sensed that it was not really from the prophet or any created being that we learn the truth but from you alone who speaks to all.

In Jesus, your only begotten Son, truly your Word made flesh, we have come to understand, Father, ever more fully your revelation to all. You are truly our God, but a God for all people. You love us all and call us not to the land but to an ever greater share in your own divine life in which we are called to grow continuously in this world and beyond. There is no law written in stone once and for all but spoken to each and every one of us at every moment and we are called to grow in our understanding of that Word and to apply it ever more effectively in our lives and in all of our actions. However well we grasp that law, you call us always to move beyond whatever understanding we have reached. And when we fail in understanding and in action, when we err and when we sin, you are always there in your Word challenging us to begin again and to move forward. Every moment, we now understand, is the saving moment.

And all of this we now see so clearly through Christ our Lord. Amen.

March 28: Saturday of the Fourth Week of Lent

2009-03-28T08:15:00.001-04:00

Anonymous French Master: Jeremiah Being Stoned to DeathKoninklijke Bibliotheek, The Hague, c 1297-1320

Readings for Mass

First Reading: Jeremiah 11:18-20

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 7:2-3, 9-10, 11-12

Gospel: John 7:40-53

God is my shield, who saves the upright in heart (NRSV, Ps 7:10).

Let us pray.

Father, you reveal yourself to us at every moment, even from the first moment in our mother’s womb, through your Word, who challenges us to accept and to grow in your life. Even though you reveal yourself once and for all in each moment, because of our finite human condition intensified by the sin of the world, we can only grow gradually in understanding as in grace. Even the psalmists and your prophets, so sensitive to your presence and your call, only see in part. They often cry out for you to swoop down and rescue them from an oppressive situation and then to wreak vengeance on those who maltreat them.

Father, you anticipate all our needs. You have in every situation one gift that you offer to us even before we ask: a share in your divine life. This gift is all we ever need. It does not rescue us however bleak the situation may be. Rather it empowers us to transform the darkest moment into blessing for ourselves and others. Strengthened by your grace, Father, we can always be victors even as Jesus was victor on the cross.

Psalmist and prophet sometimes call upon you to take vengeance on their enemies. Father, when we committed the most heinous of crimes by crucifying your beloved Son and banishing him from this world, what was your response? Through your power given to him, Jesus passed in triumph through death to new life and you, Father, poured out your Spirit upon all humankind, as you always do, through the Word, now risen from the dead, that we might in every instance be able to say “yes” to your gift of life.

Father, the gift of your life is salvation in every moment and your vengeance is rather forgiveness to all who will accept it and share it with others.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

March 27: Friday of the Fourth Week of Lent

2009-03-27T08:35:00.000-04:00

Fritz Eichenberg, Christ of the Breadlines, 1950

Readings for Mass
First Reading: Wisdom 2:1, 12-22
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 34:17-18, 19-20, 21, 23
Gospel: John 7:1-2, 10, 25-30

The Lord is near to the brokenhearted, and saves the crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord rescues them from them all (NRSV, Ps 34:18-19).

Let us pray.

Father, you reveal who you are to us at every moment at the depths of our innermost being through your Word who is always present to us. This revelation, only brought to conscious comprehension by us gradually, has been made clearer to us through your prophets, who seem to respond to you more sensitively than many of the rest of us, and especially through the Word made flesh, our Lord Jesus Christ, in whom you share our human life with us.

When Jesus lay dying on the cross, your presence to him was most manifest. In Mark’s gospel the pagan centurion at the foot of the cross, alone in the whole gospel, comes to recognize your divine presence in your Son. In Matthew the universe goes into convulsion in union with our Lord. Luke speaks eloquently of the healing that goes from Jesus to those around him. John sums it all up by indicating that passage through death, a human being’s most difficult moment, can be truly an hour of glory.

Father, you were with your Son Jesus as he passed through death and you will be also with us empowering us as you did your Son. As death is the saving moment, Lord, so is every moment. I truly believe that there is no time when you are not present to us. In every moment, even the bleakest, when all others seem to have abandoned us, you are there, sharing your life with us, or, if we are in serious sin, calling us back to you through your Word. Every moment then can be blessing opening up to new and even more glorious future.

May we find you, Father, when we are most troubled and seemingly most abandoned, that we may rejoice in the life that you always share with us.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

March 26: Thursday of the Fourth Week of Lent

2009-03-27T08:32:00.000-04:00

Emil Nolde, Dance around the Golden Calf, Staatsgalerie Moderner Kunst, Munich, 1910

Readings for Mass

First Reading: Exodus 32:7-14

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 106:19-20, 21-22, 23

Gospel: John 5:31-47

And the Lord changed his mind about the disaster that he planned to bring on his people (NRSV, Ex 32:14).

Let us pray.

Father, as you at every moment call us, through the Word, to transcend ourselves to grow in your life, we, foolish ones, so often try to bring you down to our size. Because, when we are sinned against, we have a tendency to become angry with the transgressor, we assume, Lord, that you become angry also with us when we sin.

When Moses tarried on the Holy Mountain, the people below became impatient with him and forced Aaron to make for them a golden calf which they might worship. When Moses descended, so outraged was he at the spectacle of the idolatrous dance, that he smashed the tablets of stone. As to be expected, Moses’ anger was transferred to you, Lord, and even intensified. Moses great love for the people soon overcame his rage and then he turned (Oh, how very foolish we are!) to placate you, Father. The psalmist even says that Moses withstood you in the breach to turn away your destroying anger (As if Moses, or anyone, could stand against you, O Lord our God!).

How strange it is that, whenever we sin, we experience this great chasm that separates us from you, Father, but then, when we repent of our sin (And how could we possibly do that without your immediate aid?), there you are, without delay, present once more to us, any anger that we sensed coming from you abated.

Lord, the truth is (if only we could make it permanently ours) that even in sin you never leave us. It is we who reject the gift of your Holy Spirit dwelling in us but through your Word you remain ever present to us. Your Word is unfailing in challenging us to change our ways, to repent, to accept once again the indwelling of your Spirit. You, Lord, are Love and forgiveness. Any anger that we experience coming from you is our projection upon you. Since the anger is really of our making, it vanishes whenever we accept anew the gift of your Spirit and your life.

Father, through your Word, may we recognize that you are all-forgiving, in every situation, however grievous, and may we accept your forgiveness and the renewal of your Spirit and your life in us. Moreover, through your power given to us may we share that same forgiveness with all who have sinned against us.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

March 25: The Solemnity of the Annunciation

2009-03-25T13:39:00.000-04:00

Fra Angelico, The Annunciation, Convento di San Marco, Florence, 1430s

Readings for Mass

First Reading: Isaiah 7:10-14

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 40:7-8, 8-9, 10, 11

Second Reading: Hebrews 10:4-10

Gospel: Luke 1:26-38

Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word (NSRV, Lk 1:38a).”

Let us pray.

Father, we believe that every moment is the saving moment, that you challenge us through the Word constantly to say “yes” in your Holy Spirit and accept that your life may grow within us.

Reflecting on the mystery of the Word having been made flesh and having left the Church as the continuing sacrament of his presence in the world, Father, the early Church singled out one moment, out of all saving moments, to speak to us with great significance.

Mary, at a particular moment, said “yes,” in such a way that she consented to be the mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh.

Father, we recognize that your Word is the only mediator between you and your children on earth. It is only through him that we can accept the gift of your Holy Spirit and grown in your divine life.

Mary agreed to share in that unique mediation by becoming the mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh. Mary is Theotokos, God-bearer to the world.

Father, as we celebrate the solemnity of Mary’s acceptance of her role in salvation history, may we too with her say “yes”, that each in his or her own way may also be Theotokos, God-bearer to the world, by announcing the gospel in everything we say and do and by serving one another.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

March 24: Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Lent

2009-03-23T22:59:00.006-04:00

Artus Wolfart, Christ at the Pool of Bethesda, Ontario Museum of Fine Arts, Toronto, 1620-30

Gospel: John 5:1-3, 5-16

Jesus said to him, “Stand up, take your mat and walk.” At once the man was made well, and he took up his mat and began to walk (NRSV, Jn 5: 8-9a).

Let us pray.

Father, so often healing comes about in our lives and we are not explicitly aware of how it is taking place. I am not referring now, Lord, to the usual physical healing that occurs following causes within the physical order of things. I mean the deeper spiritual healing that brings forgiveness of sin and which overcomes the alienation which always accompanies sin. This deeper spiritual healing often has effects as well within the physical order, effects which puzzle the natural scientist.

Before the coming of Jesus, no one recognized that we are called to share in your divine life, which life always brings healing to us. So many then have, through your Word, said “yes” to you, Father, at the depth of their being without being conscious of the full significance of their response. Such it was with our parents who preceded Jesus and our sisters and brothers who have come after him, never having heard his name or not fully understanding the gift that he shares with us. Even those who openly reject you, Father, and your Son, often do so out of confusion and really embrace you at their innermost being.

Your healing, Father, is accessible to all who accept your life even implicitly. It is available in a tangible way in your sacraments but, even when the sacraments are not to be had or are not appreciated; there is no moment in human experience that is not the saving moment.

Your healing power, made our own, brings forgiveness and new life. It overcomes the alienating effects of sin and is sufficient for us to greet death, with Jesus, as our hour of glory. No wonder then that spiritual healing often brings with it physical healing that confounds the wise of this world.

Father, you heal us and make us whole.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

March 23: Fourth Monday of Lent

2009-03-22T22:00:00.001-04:00

William Blake, The Ancient of Days (God as Architect), British Museum, London, 1794

Readings for Mass
First Reading: Isaiah 65:17-21
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 30:2, 4, 5-6, 11-13
Gospel: John 4:43-54

“For I am about to create new heavens and a new earth; the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind (NRSV, Isaiah 65:17).”

Let us pray.

Father, there is no situation in which we find ourselves but that we cry out to be delivered from it. When we were slaves in Egypt we longed for freedom. Yet once across the sea, we murmured in discontent in the desert and longed for something more. Centuries later, we lamented our return to captivity, this time to Babylon. Even when we were released from that captivity by Cyrus the Persian and allowed to return to the land, all still seemed bleak, without reason for rejoicing. There is in fact, Lord, no circumstance, however blessed that it may seem, that satisfies. The reason, Lord, that it is only in you that we find happiness.

You have created us, Lord, to become one with you, to share your life into eternity. From the first moment, Father, your Word, always present to us, challenges us to accept the gift of your life and then to grow constantly in that life. It is this life and the continual growth in it that gives meaning to everything we are and everything we do. It alone gives us the power and strength to serve our neighbor in need. No matter how bleak a particular situation may seem, it is the acceptance of your life into that circumstance and the sharing of that life with one another that makes of it a moment of salvation.

Lord, may we not bless or curse our present condition but rather to lift our eyes up out of the present and to keep them always on you who are our future. We look to your promise of new heavens and a new earth that will overshadow former things and brings us to the fullness of life in you. May we become instruments of that future now by living transformed lives in the service of our sisters and brothers.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

March 22: Fourth Sunday of Lent

2009-03-21T23:14:00.006-04:00

Taddeo Gaddi, Allegory of the Cross, Santa Croce, Florence, 1330s

And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life (NRSV, John: 3:14-15).

Gospel: John 3:14-21

Let us pray.

Father, from Jesus we have learned that every moment of human existence is a call to die to what are, and have been up to that moment, and to accept the gift of new life. Jesus’ physical death on the Cross is but the summing up of what was every moment in his life and what every moment should be in every human’s life.

Whenever we stop and look back, wondering who or what put us into a particular situation, we are lost. It is only when we look ahead and up, into the future, and ask ourselves what we must do to make this moment, often seemingly so dark and bleak, into blessing for ourselves and others, that the saving reality of the moment, every moment, becomes clear.

The Israelites, on their journey into freedom, paused, murmured, and looked back: all seemed lost. It was only when they were ready once again to look ahead and up, that the journey could recommence.

Father, may we always look to you who are our Future and, in every moment, accept your life more fully into our own, that the cross of the moment, death, may open to resurrection, with blessing for ourselves and others.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

March 21: Saturday of the Third Week of Lent

2009-03-21T09:40:00.002-04:00

Christian Dare, The Pharisee and the Tax Collector

Readings for Mass

First Reading: Hosea 6:1-6

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 51:3-4, 18-19, 20-21

Gospel: Luke 18:9-14

“All who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted (NRSV, Lk 18:14b).”

Let us pray.

Father, the life which you share with us, and in which we are called to grow at every moment, makes us to be divine beings in you, capable of constant increase. Alone of all your earthly creatures we share in the ability to love because, as long as we accept the gift, the Holy Spirit who is Love abides in us. In union with your Word, we are empowered to share in the ongoing formation of the world with the ability to soar to the heights in the creation of great art and music. As companions of your Word who is always present to every one of us, your Word through whom you set in motion and sustain everything that is, we too can utter great works of spoken and written speechcraft. So great is the power that is ours that death, Father, can be for us, as it was for Jesus our brother, an hour of glory, not the unconquerable enemy but a passage to a still greater life.What a glorious existence to which you have called us, Lord, that we alone may raise our heads above all of your earthly creatures in singing your praise.

But how we must be grateful to you, Father, because in the midst of all of this glory which we enjoy, none of it has its origin in us. Of ourselves we are nothing. Everything we are, everything we do, everything we have, it all comes from you. And in the midst of all these gifts, so often, Lord, we turn away from you in sin. We act as if we are center of all things when in reality we are nothing without you. And when we sin, when we turn away from you as if you did not even exist, when we heap abuse upon sister and brother, you, Lord, never abandon us. In your great love, you always maintain your presence with us through your Word, challenging us, pleading with us to accept your forgiveness. Such is your love that no payment is ever required for our waywardness, merely the acceptance of forgiveness and the renewal of your life within us.

How great you are, Father, to call us over and over again, not only out of the nothingness of non-being, but then out of the nothingness of sin. In all the glory of the summons to share in divinity, may we be ever mindful of the nonbeing from which we come and, without the constant presence of Your Word, into which we would return.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen

March 20: Friday of the Third Week of Lent

2009-03-21T09:38:00.002-04:00

Vincent Van Gogh, The Good Samaritan (after Delacroix), Rijksmuseum Kröller-Müller, Otterlo, Netherlands, 1890

Readings for Mass

First Reading: Hosea 14:2-10

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 81:6-8, 8-9, 10-11, 14, 17

Gospel: Mark 12:28-34

“‘To love the Lord your God with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength,’ and ‘to love one’s neighbor as oneself,’ —this is much more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices (NRSV, Mt 12:33).”

Let us pray.

Father, in each moment that we say “yes” to you, we grow in your life. As we grow in your life, we also grow in love. That, Lord, is because your life is love, love that is the mutual sharing in the Holy Spirit both of you, Father, who gives life to the Word, and of the Word who receives life from you.

To be a human being, Father, is to be on journey towards you our future. As well as a journey of growth in life and love, there is also growth in understanding of the one revelation that the Word always speaks to us at the depth of our being. Our understanding of the dignity of life grows as we make progress on the journey as does also our understanding of the meaning of love. Progress can be made as individuals but also as a human family.

There was a time when we first recognized you, Father, as God for us, as we came out of slavery in Egypt, that our understanding of the dignity of life and what it means to love was much more limited than it is today. Thou shalt not kill, we thought, but that was limited only to members of the tribe. Slavery was permissible even within the tribe. Women were treated like chattel, things to be owned. Death was imposed as penalty even for minor crimes.

And the neighbors we were challenged to love were only our own people, not the others.

Much has changed, Father, as we progress on our journey towards you. We are especially thankful for the teaching of the Word made flesh, your only begotten son, Jesus, who has enlightened us in so many ways. May your help, Father, through your Word, continue to increase our understanding of your truth that is revealed to us from the beginning that we may grow constantly in the life and love which in you are one.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

March 19: Solemnity of St. Joseph

2009-03-19T00:01:00.001-04:00

Rogier van der Weyden: St. Joseph (fragment), Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon, 1445

Readings for Mass

First Reading: Second Samuel 7:4-5, 12-14, 16

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 89:2-3, 4-5, 27, 29

Second Reading: Romans 4:13, 16-18, 22

Gospel: Matthew 1:16, 18-21, 24, or Luke 2:41-51

When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him (NRSV, Mt 1:24a)

Let us pray.

Father, all who believe, who accept you in faith are your children. You offer a share in your divine life to all who will accept it and make it their own. On this solemnity of St. Joseph we look to St. Joseph as a model of faith because he trusted in your revelation, perceived as spoken to him in dreams by the presence of an angel.

Father, you speak your one Word to all of us at the depth of our being, from the first moment of our existence, the same Word that we then hear at every moment of our lives.

To each of us, according to our time and place and our history, this same one Word is appropriately heard. To Joseph it was to care for Jesus, to Abraham to come forth from Mesopotamia, to Moses to lead the people out of slavery in Egypt.

Because of circumstances, many have difficulty acknowledging you, Father, as the source of this Word spoken to us, or even to acknowledge the Word, especially the Word made flesh. Many who have said “yes” to you by committing themselves to a life of Love do not recognize that Love is your Holy Spirit living in them, or much less that you are the source of that Spirit always given through the Word.

Father, we pray that we shall always be a people of faith, trusting in you and committing ourselves to you. May more of your children come to conscious realization of your grace working in them.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

March 18: Wednesday of the Third Week of Lent

2009-03-17T23:09:00.001-04:00

Philippe de Champagne: Moses Presenting the Tablets of the Law
Milwaukee Art Museum, 1648

Wednesday of the Third Week of Lent

Gospel: Mt 5:17-19

Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill (NRSV, Mt 5:17).”

Let us pray.

Father, in experiencing his resurrection, the apostles recognized that Jesus, the Word made flesh, is the fulfillment of all things. Nothing has been abolished. Nothing has been wiped away. All has come to completion.

Father, through the Word always present to every human being, you have taught us from the beginning that as we say “yes” to you in faith we share your life, united with you, Father, in the Spirit. Bringing to consciousness what has been revealed to us at the depth of our being, however, has been a gradual process. We are blinded principally by the sin of the world, the sum total of the evil that humanity has done, and by our own selfish desires. We have the common experience of being distracted from our pilgrimage of grace by the sins that we commit.

The first time in memory that the people became aware of you, Father, as God for us, was as you led us out of slavery in Egypt to freedom. Once across the sea, there in the Sinai desert, in a mountain storm, it all became so much clearer than ever before. We realized then that you are really one God, not many; that you are somehow one with us; that you love us and want us to love you and one another. In calling us out of slavery, we sensed that there was a special destiny to which you were summoning us. We pondered on all of this and spoke of it as best we could. Our union with you, Father, we reasoned, had to be something like an agreement, the Law, a covenant made between you and us with provisions like a treaty governing how we were to live one with the other. The destiny had to be a land of our own in which we could live in freedom. But how to deal with sin, with our failure to keep the covenant? Payment had to be made, in the form of gifts, of animal sacrifices, of incense and first fruits offered to appease you.

And so, Lord, we continued on our pilgrimage across the desert and into the land. But things were never right. Somehow there had to be a better understanding.

In Jesus came fulfillment. In his resurrection we realized that we are not united to you, Father, by an agreement, by the Law, but by your Holy Spirit that you pour out upon us through your Word. The destiny is not the land at all but everlasting life with you in the world to come, a life that begins even here on earth. Our union with you then is a union of shared life. And the commandments? They were not given once and for all from Mt. Sinai but they are written on our hearts by the Holy Spirit that we may grow in our understanding of how we are to love you, Father, and one another, as we grow in the very life that you share with us, growth possible at every moment.

Father, thank you for your gift of the Spirit who brings us your life and thank you for the Word, made flesh in our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom the Spirit comes and through whom we move towards you.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

March 17: Tuesday of the Third Week of Lent

2009-03-16T21:05:00.001-04:00

Gianlorenzo Bernini, Daniel, Santa Maria del Popolo, Rome, 1650

Readings for Mass

First Reading: Daniel 3:25, 34-43

Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 25:4-5, 6-7, 8-9

Gospel: Matthew 18:21-35

But with contrite heart and humble spirit let us be received; as though it were holocausts of rams and bullocks, or thousands of fat lambs, So let our sacrifice be in your presence today as we follow you unreservedly; for those who trust in you cannot be put to shame (NAB, Daniel 3: 39-40).

Let us pray.

Father, Bernini’s statue of Daniel in Santa Maria del Popolo might just as well be a representation of Azariah as he prayed to you in the fiery furnace: “But with contrite heart and humble spirit let us be received; as though it were holocausts of rams and bullocks.”

How strange it is, Lord, that in the most difficult situations, when all seems on the verge of being lost, that suddenly we see so much more clearly and that actually things are better than we ever could have thought. It was during the captivity in Babylon, when there was no longer temple or priesthood or animal sacrifice and the offering of incense and first fruits was no longer possible, that it became obvious that the true offering to you, Lord, is a contrite heart and a humble spirit.

Today, in the risen Jesus, we recognize that a contrite heart and humble spirit are really the acceptance of your life, Father, into our own and of our being caught up in your inner life of giving, receiving and sharing in love that is true sacrifice. This true sacrifice, the archetype of all others, is offered to you, Father, in the Holy Spirit through your Word who became one of us and died with and for us. It is the sacrifice made present for us visibly in the Eucharist.

Father, may we realize that there is nothing that we can give you on our own. All we can do is accept with gratitude the life that you share with us. But, once having received life from you through the Word, we are empowered to share that very life with you in the love of the Holy Spirit.

Father, as you heard the prayer of Daniel, and of Azariah in the fiery furnace, hear also our prayer that we too may offer back to you, in sacrifice, through your Word, the gift you give to us: a contrite heart and a humble spirit.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

March 16: Monday of the Third Week of Lent

2009-03-15T22:13:00.001-04:00

Anonymous German Master, The Naaman Plaque, The British Museum, London, 12th cent.

Readings for Mass

First Reading: Second Kings 5:1-15

Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 42:2, 3; 43:3, 4

Gospel: Luke 4:24-30

And Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s hometown. . . There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian (NRSV, Lk 4:24,27).”

Let us pray.

Father, how often some of us among your holy people attempt to put a claim on you. It is so easy for us to consider you as “our” God instead of God “for us.” We try to use you in so many ways, as if we are the only ones to whom you speak or the only ones whose interests are yours. We pray in our holy places pretending that you listen only to us. We even go to war against our neighbors convinced that it is you who lead us into battle against sons and daughters who are also yours.

Luke tells us, when Jesus spoke in the synagogue in Nazareth making reference to the wonderful things that you did through Elijah in feeding the Widow of Zarephath and her son in Sidon and through Elisha in healing Naaman the Syrian of his leprosy, that the people rose up in their anger and tried to kill Jesus.

Father, may we realize that you speak the same one Word to all peoples, in every time and place. In fact, it is the presence of your Word to everyone of us at the depth of our being, a presence that is never denied or abrogated, that finally makes us to be human beings. It is the share in your own divine life, first offered in our mother’s womb through the Word and accepted by us in the power of the Spirit, that begins our everlasting pilgrimage as human beings.

Each of us, Lord, comes to a fuller understanding of you admittedly in different ways influenced by so many factors that surround us. Help us, Lord, to recognize you and your truth in all of our fellow human beings even when it is dressed in cultural garb that may at first seem alien. Truly it is by listening to the many voices of your one family that we can all come to a greater understanding of the same Word spoken to everyone of us.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

March 15: Third Sunday of Lent

2009-03-14T22:36:00.009-04:00

Raymond Balze, Jesus Clears the Temple, Musée Ingres, Montauban

Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up (NRSV, John 2:19)."

Gospel: John 2: 13-25

Let us pray.

Father, Jesus told his challengers: "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." We realize now that he was not speaking of a building at all. A building may be set aside as sacred space to assist us in concentrating on your presence but you do not live in a building. You live in a person. You live in the person of Jesus who was speaking of his own body that might pass through physical death but, because of its divine life, could not be conquered by death.

If we say “yes,” Father, to the gift of your own life, offered to us at every moment at the depth of our being, even in our sinfulness, then these words of Jesus can also be our words: "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." Death, enemy that she may often seem to be, because of the divine life that you share with us, is really our sister and passage to a fuller life of union with You. Death cannot touch us, if, with Jesus, we live in union with you, Father, in the Holy Spirit, because we are already resurrected in this life, as Jesus was resurrected at every moment of his earthly existence.

Father, we live in the already but not yet. May we always respond to your gift and call, accepting your divine life into our own at every moment and growing constantly in it, resurrected already in this life and called to an even greater resurrection in the world to come.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

March 14: Second Saturday of Lent

2009-03-14T20:36:00.000-04:00

Giorgio de Chirico, The Prodigal Son, Museo d’Arte Contemporanea, Milan, 1922

Readings for Mass

First Reading: Micah 7:14-15, 18-20

Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 103:1-2, 3-4, 9-10, 11-12

Gospel: Luke 15:1-3, 11-32

Then Jesus said, ‘There was a man who had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, “Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.” So he divided his property between them (NRSV, Luke 15:11-12).

Let us pray.

Father, for time out of mind and in places all over the globe, human beings have been trying to placate the divine power for their own wayward actions by offering gifts in payment. Jesus, in one story, perhaps the best attributed to him, puts it all to rest. There is never need for payment to you, Lord, for anything. Everything from you, Father, material creation, divine life that is shared, and most importantly, forgiveness for sins, all is freely given. All is gift.

Like the prodigal son who has squanders his father’s inheritance, we wonder what we must do to find forgiveness from you for our sins. What possible payment? The father in the story is only waiting for his son’s return. When he sees the son approaching in the distance, he rushes out, embraces him and orders the fatted calf killed to celebrate. The father is so effusive in expressing his welcome that the son never even gets to express his contrition.

And so it is, Father, with you and us. Even when we commit the most grievous of sins, your Word never abandons us even though we may try to flee his presence. He remains always with us, pressing in upon us, offering us your forgiveness, Father, and the renewed gift of your life. All we must do is accept it and allow it once again to transform our lives.

Renewed in your grace, Lord, we go out to others that we have sinned against in an effort to undo as best we can the evil that we have wrought. The forgiveness we have received, we too will share with those who have sinned against us. Hopefully then sinner and sinned against will together accept even a further growth in the divine life of your Spirit that you always offer to all through your Word.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

March 13: Friday of the Second Week of Lent

2009-03-12T12:50:00.003-04:00

Marc Chagall: Joseph the Shepherd
Musée national message biblique Marc-Chagall,
Nice, 1931

Friday of the Second Week of Lent

Reading I: Gn 37:3-4, 12-13a, 17b-28a

They said to one another, “Here comes this dreamer. Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits; then we shall say that a wild animal has devoured him, and we shall see what will become of his dreams (NRSV, Gen 37:19-20).”

Let us pray.

Father, Jacob met you in a dream and wrestled with you only to realize more clearly who he was and who he was to be become, the father of your people. His son Joseph was a dreamer as well. His dreams turned his brothers against him at first but eventually led to their rescue from famine. There was another Joseph, much later, who also learned from you in his dreams. Others, among your servants, like Isaiah, experience you in visions.

Some of your children, like Thomas Aquinas, search for you in your creation, like examining footprints left in the sand. Artifacts always speak, if only indirectly, Lord, of the artisan. Your creation, Father, reveals to many your very existence and much about who you are.

All of life, Father, is a process of learning. One of my most precious acquisitions over the years is the realization that you actually speak directly to me, that you speak to all of your created children. It is in your very Word, he who is begotten but not created, that you speak to us. He comes to us even in the womb to summons us into existence and he never leaves us. He speaks to us of you once and for all in every moment. Even sin can not drive him from us. In midst of the worst evil that we do he is there calling us to repentance and new life. His presence to us is what makes us to be human.

How difficult, it is, Lord, to bring to consciousness what your Word speaks and what we hear with our being. All through history we struggle as your people to express it more clearly. We do it through reason, yes, but also in dreams and visions. We do it in ways proper to our different cultures and ways of living. All in the hope of bringing greater clarity to the life bestowed upon us. Help us, Lord, to grow in our understanding of the truth that you always speak to us in your Word that deeper understanding may lead us to embrace your life more fully.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

March 12: Thursday of the Second Week of Lent

2009-03-11T21:35:00.001-04:00

Masaccio: The Trinity with Mary and John
Santa Maria Novella, Florence, 1425-28

Thursday of the Second Week of Lent

Reading I: Jer 17:5-10

Thus says the Lord: Cursed are those who trust in mere mortals. . . Blessed are those who trust in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord (NRSV, 17:5a,7).

Let us pray.

Father, your prophet Jeremiah, long before Jesus, had warned us never to put our trust in one another but only in you. Jesus repeated this warning. Only you, Father, and your coming kingdom, are what finally matter in all of human existence. Everything else, chosen apart from you and your kingdom, is distraction and can only bring confusion and destruction into our lives. Jesus warned the rich young man, who was committed to following the Law, that, because of the rule of his riches over his life, it would be better for him if he were to sell all that he had and give everything to the poor. And, Jesus warned that it is not just material things but even loved ones who reap disorder for us. The would-be disciple only wanted first to bury his father before following Jesus. “Let the dead bury the dead,” Jesus retorted.

Over the years, Father, I have been very puzzled by this aspect of Jesus’ preaching. Does it mean that nothing here in this world, not love of spouse, or offspring, or parents or friends, is of any worth? I found the answer, Lord, strangely enough, not in the writings of a theologian or a mystic, but in a fresco on the wall of a church in Florence, a fresco depicting you, Father, your crucified Son and the Holy Spirit, painted by Tommaso di Ser Giovanni, whom we know by his nickname, Masaccio. For the first time in the history of art, Masaccio organized all of the lines of a painting so that they converged on one point. One can find this focal point on the surface of the painting but to the eye it is behind the painting and all lines finally meet visually beyond the painting in the distance. Up until Masaccio, persons and objects in pictures tended to float free of one another without orderly relationship. In Masaccio’s painting all is ordered and in proper rapport because of its dependence on the focal point. It is the focal point that gives meaning to everything within the painting.

And so I realized it is with the kingdom of God. It is in choosing you, Father, and your kingdom above all else, by placing our final trust only in you, that everyone and everything within the world finally takes on its true value. Once all is related to you, Father, beyond this world, all is related to everyone and everything else within the world as well. If the rich young man had ordered everything in his life towards you, Father, he could have used his riches effectively. Having once made your kingdom, Lord, the sole focus of his life, the would-be disciple would have had no choice but to bury his deceased father.

Father, may we always follow the urging of your prophet Jeremiah and of Jesus, the Word made flesh, that you may be the center and focus of everything we are and everything that do, the object of all our trust.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

March 11: Wednesday of the Second Week of Lent

2009-03-10T22:49:00.000-04:00

Christoph Weigel, A Mother's Request, Biblia ectypa: Bildnussen auss Heiliger SchrifftAlt und Neuen Testaments, 1695

Readings for Mass

First Reading: Jeremiah 18:18-20

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 31:5-6, 14, 15-16

Gospel: Matthew 20:17-28

“Just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many (NRSV, Mt 20:28).”

Let us pray.

Father, it is so often the case when we plan our future that there is really nothing new about it at all. We merely take our present situation which is always impoverished when compared to what could be and dream up a future that is just more of the same. Jesus preached the coming of your kingdom and, of course, we thought of it as just another earthly kingdom, maybe one that might function a bit better than others. What Jesus really preached was a kingdom unlike any other that the world has experienced. It is a kingdom, Father, in which your rule will overcome all evil and everything will be put right. Even death will be finally understood, not as undoing, but as passage to a fuller life.

The wife of Zebedee, the mother of James and John, came to Jesus, Matthew tells us, to seek places of honor for her two sons, that they might sit at the right and the left of Jesus when he would come into his kingdom. Jesus tried to explain that in his kingdom that there would be no places of honor as they are usually understood. Jesus said that all he had to offer was a cup of suffering. In the coming kingdom there would be no lording it over one another. In the kingdom to come the one who would be great would be the one who would place himself at the service of the others, even as a lackey might do. After all Jesus himself had come not to be served, as one might expect of a king, but to serve and to give his life for the many.

Father, we think we know what a priest is, what sacrifice is, what a kingdom is, what a king is, but Jesus shatters all of our preconceptions and opens up for us a radically new understanding of what it means to be human, a radically new understanding of the future. It is a future, not of self-fulfillment, as we might have thought, but a future of self-denial and service of others.

May we, Father, break out of the past, even as it has brought us to the present moment, always open to a future of constantly growing, unexpected newness of life in you and of committed service to one another.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

March 10: Tuesday of the Second Week of Lent

2009-03-10T00:05:00.001-04:00

Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, Pharisees, Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1912

Readings for Mass
First Reading: Isaiah 1:10, 16-20
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 50:8-9, 16-17, 21, 23
Gospel: Matthew 23:1-12

Cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow (NRSV, Isaiah 1:16b-17).

Let us pray.

Father, we first met you in our mother's womb, when you called us into life, a share in your own divine life, through your Word who would remain ever-present to us in the power of the Holy Spirit. We responded "yes" then to become human, indeed divine beings, but how, since then, we have faltered.

You share your very life with us and challenge us to share what we have with our sisters and brothers, especially those who are oppressed and in need, but instead we think first of all of our own selves and of how we can increase our material possessions and our prestige among our fellows.

Father, in the mystery of our Lord Jesus Christ, your Word made flesh in our midst, we have come to understand that you call us to die to sin and self in every moment that we may grow in your life.

May we learn, Father, to put the needs of others first, that in constant death and resurrection, we may grow in the one reality that truly matters, your divine life, which share with all who will accept it and live it out in service of one another.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen

March 9: Monday of the Second Week of Lent

2009-03-09T07:53:00.003-04:00

Johann Eck: Lesson in Forgiveness
Christenliche Ausslegung der Euangelienn, 16th century

Monday of the Second Week of Lent

Gospel: Lk 6:36-38

Forgive, and you will be forgiven (NRSV, Lk 6:37b).

Let us pray.

Father, everything begins with you. In the order of being you are before the Word whom you beget and the Holy Spirit who proceeds from both you and the Word. We, your created daughters and sons, have received everything that we are from you through the Word. The life that we live is life in your Holy Spirit that is mediated to us through the Word. That life, as all life, has its origin in you.

Forgiveness too begins in you. When, seduced by the sin of the world and our own desires, we turn away from you, Father, to do evil; when we reject life in the Holy Spirit, always offered to us through the Word; you, Father, are, through the Word, ever present to us offering us forgiveness and new life. Every moment is for us the saving moment. It is impossible for us at any moment here in this world to put ourselves beyond the pale of grace and salvation.

Your forgiveness, Father, is freely given. It is the renewed gift of your own life, a second raft always offered, that catches us up once again in your own divine life of giving, receiving and sharing in love.

All of this is revealed to us through the Word at every moment in every place and time at the depth of our being and made manifest effectively for us in the same one act that is your being, Father, in the life, death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus the Christ, the Word made flesh.

Your forgiveness then has no price. It need only be accepted by us. But once truly accepted it has its marvelous effect. To accept forgiveness from you, Father, means that we also forgive ourselves for what we have done, task not possible without your divine grace. Forgiveness of self opens the way to forgiveness of those who have sinned against us, so that divine life, mediated to us through the Word, indeed the Word made flesh, is then passed on by us to others through participation in the one mediation of the Word.

Divine life is giving, receiving and sharing in love, not only by Father, Word, and Spirit, but by all who accept your forgiveness, Lord, and take part in everything that you are.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

March 8: Second Sunday of Lent

2009-03-06T08:39:00.003-05:00

Theophanes the Greek: The Transfiguration
The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, early 15th century

Second Sunday of Lent

Gospel: Mark 9:2-9

Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them,(NRSV, Mark 9:2).

Let us pray.

Father, as his disciples followed Jesus they were nevertheless not clear about who he was nor even sure of his message. So insecure were they that they easily abandoned him at the moment of his arrest. Peter would even publicly deny him. It was only in experiencing Jesus risen from the dead, Lord, that it all began to make sense to them. As their minds opened finally to understand that the message of the kingdom of God had to do, not with an earthly, but with an otherworldly reality, to which all are called, and that Jesus had himself entered into the fullness of that kingdom in his body; only then did they begin to rethink their previous understanding of who Jesus was. Surely, they now concluded, this Jesus, whom they had followed, was truly Messiah and Lord, your very Son. They should have realized it, they argued, by his message and the power that went out from him, overcoming evil, forgiving sins and healing the sick. Indeed, your life and power, Father, were manifest in him. Of course, the disciples should have been ready for Jesus to pass through death and rise to new life.

Father, from the very beginning, the divine life that you give eternally to your Word shone out through the life of the Word made flesh. We rehearse the story of the transfiguration of Jesus on the mountain but Jesus was truly transfigured in every moment of his life. Your life, Father, given to Jesus was always manifest in him. Father, you share that same life with all of us who are ready to accept it and grow in it. Help us so to say “yes” to you that the same power that filled Jesus and went out from him to help others may also fill us and go out from us that we too may stand against all evil in the world and come to the assistance of our sisters and brothers in need. Father, enlivened and empowered by you, may we too lead transfigured lives.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

March 7: Saturday of the First Week of Lent

2009-03-06T08:32:00.004-05:00

Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones: Love and the Pilgrim
The Tate Gallery, London, 1896-97

Saturday of the First Week of Lent

Gospel: Mt 5:43-48

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you (NRSV, Mt 5:43-44).”

Let us pray.

Father, it was as you led us out of slavery in Egypt that we realized for the first time how you are God and we are your people. We learned then of the great care you have for us and how you want us to care for one another. It was at Mount Sinai, as our deliverance continued that we focused our attention on how you would have us live. We continued on our journey after Mount Sinai convinced that we were your covenanted people bound to you by the Law. The Law found expression in precepts to guide our lives, precepts attributed to you.

As we continued on from Mount Sinai we came to understand ourselves as a pilgrim people journeying towards the land of promise. We looked into our past and recognized that the journey had begun long before even with our father Abraham as he left his home in Mesopotamia, surely even before him, right from the beginning. Then your son Jesus, the Word made flesh, awakened in us the understanding which the Word has always taught us in the depth of our being, if hitherto unacknowledged, that we are on pilgrimage not towards the land at all but towards you, Father, to the fullness of the eternal life that you share with us. It is our very nature to be a people on pilgrimage, even from this world into the world to come.

All along this journey, Father, through your Word you teach us. You teach us once and for all in every moment but that teaching becomes ever more real for us as we move forward on our journey. There are certain moments that seemed privileged for our understanding, moments such as at Mt. Sinai or when Jesus taught us on the holy mountain, but every single moment contains within it the possibility of real growth. It is as we grow in your life that we grow in our grasp of what you require of us.

Just as our pilgrimage is everlasting our realization of the meaning of love is continually challenged to increase. No one understanding of love is final as there is always the possibility of growth in comprehension.

If we mistakenly conclude, Lord, that we have finally reached the open clearing of definitive knowledge, that we have at last the answers that we seek, the clearing inevitably becomes obscured in darkness and we are caught in the brambles of confusion and error. It is then that Love herself who is your Holy Spirit, prompted by your ever-present Word, beckons us forward, offering us her hand to help us on our continuing pilgrimage.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

March 6: Friday of the First Week of Lent

2009-03-05T13:25:00.004-05:00

Roger van der Weyden: The Archangel Michael
From the Altarpiece of the Last Judgment (detail)
Hôtel-Dieu, Beaune, 1443-46

Friday of the First Week of Lent

Reading I: Ez 18:21-28

But if the wicked turn away from all their sins that they have committed and keep all my statutes and do what is lawful and right, they shall surely live; they shall not die. None of the transgressions that they have committed shall be remembered against them (NRSV, Ez 18:21-22a).

Let us pray.

Father, so many Christians look on the final day as one of judgment in which all of one’s life will be placed on the balance and the good weighed against the evil that we have done. In the late Middle Ages there was a popular artistic representation found all through Europe with the Archangel Michael holding the scales and demons and angels struggling for the souls of the deceased.

But as I read the gospels, Father, I find there a Jesus who announces true forgiveness of sins, a forgiveness which involves a wiping away of the past and a really new beginning. Even the prophet Ezekiel tells us that, as we repent and choose to do that which is good, the past drops away forgotten. We are, Lord, what we make ourselves to be in the moment in response to your gift of forgiveness and new life.

As we accept forgiveness and begin anew we shall always be mindful of the effects of the past evil that we have done and, moved by your divine favor, we shall make every effort to correct the injustices that we have caused.

Father, we are grateful for the gift of divine forgiveness which you offer to us in every moment, even when it is not sought. May we always be ready to change our lives, to let go of our sinful past and to accept growth in your divine life so freely given. May the last day be for all of us not a time of tribulation but of great joy as we accept even more fully the life that you share with us.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen

March 5: Thursday of the First Week of Lent

2009-03-04T23:01:00.000-05:00

Andrea del Castagno: Queen Esther
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence, 1450

Thursday of the First Week of Lent

Reading I: Est C:12, 14-16, 23-25

Then Esther prayed to the Lord, the God of Israel, saying: "My Lord, our King, you alone are God. Help me, who am alone and have no help but you (NAB, Est C:14)."

Let us pray.

Father, in the story that we rehearse, Queen Esther, desperate to save her people from slaughter, cries out to you as her only hope. We, your people, Lord, minister to one other in our interdependence. Each of us is his own person, distinct and separate, but we depend on one other for so many things. What we often overlook is that everything that we are and everything that we have comes from you. You, Lord, are the source of all. In certain moments, however, moments that only appear more critical than others, we become aware of ourselves as alone. The usual visible supports of our daily life melt away. Perhaps, like Jesus as he underwent his passion, we are even abandoned by all. There is no place and no one to whom we may turn.

Lord, we realized that every moment is crisis; every moment is privileged; but this is a reality that we often brush aside in the coming and going of everyday experience. It is only when all else has failed and we are thrown back upon ourselves with no other human, no other force, to help, that we finally face up to what is the reality of every moment. Ultimately, Lord, you are our only help in every situation. Your help is often mediated to us by others but in the end that assistance, the life and the power that are our salvation, comes from you.
Lord, may I learn from you what you always teach me through your Word that every moment is crisis, that all that I am and all that I have comes from you and that you never abandon me, ever, but are always there for me offering me your life and power in the Spirit through your Word.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

March 4: Wednesday of the first Week of Lent

2009-03-04T15:04:00.000-05:00

Michelangelo Buonarroti: Jonah
Cappella Sistina, The Vatican, 1511

Wednesday of the First Week of Lent

Reading I: Jon 3:1-10

The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time, saying, "Get up, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you." So Jonah set out and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord (NRSV, Jon 3:1-3).

Let us pray.

Father, I have always thought of Jonah as one who could not stand up and face the destiny to which you call us. He hoped, by fleeing to escape from your presence. But there is no escaping, Lord, not that you pursue us but that, in your Word spoken to us, you are always with us calling us to repentance, forgiveness and further growth in your life.

When Michelangelo painted Jonah on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, he envisaged a different Jonah, this one naked and daring, challenging you with rebellious contempt, but also in the process of conversion, his defiance being transformed by the elation and happiness that comes from the reacceptance of your life, Father, and renewal of the sonship that he had once affirmed in his mother’s womb.

All of us, Father, have experienced moments of behavior like those of Jonah when, succumbing to the enticements of the sin of the world or our own delights, we either try to flee from you or to stand defiant in your presence. How grateful we are that, despite what we do, you never abandon us but remain present to us in your Word always offering renewed acceptance and life.

May we, like Jonah, finally listen to your invitation and your challenge. Having allowed your forgiveness and new life to transform us in ever increasing measure, may we too bear witness to your presence and universal call to repentance and salvation to all of our sisters and brothers.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

March 3: Tuesday of the First Week of Lent

2009-03-02T17:21:00.004-05:00

Christoph Weigel: Our Father Who Art in Heaven
Biblia ectypa : Bildnussen auss Heiliger Schrifft Alt und Neuen Testaments, 1695

Tuesday of the First Week of Lent

Gospel: Mt 6:7-15

“When you are praying, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him (NRSV, Mt 6:7-8).”

Let us pray.

Father, we realize that you are unchanging and that everything begins in you; yet, when we pray, so often we begin by trying to get your attention and then continue by letting you know our needs and how important it is that they be fulfilled. Finally we ask you to come to our assistance, to do what you have not been doing up until that moment in order that our prayers may be answered. The matters that we pray about are often not trivial. We pray for a friend who is seriously ill even unto death. We pray for the poor and those oppressed. We pray for peace and justice throughout the world. When many of our prayers seem to go unanswered we argue that you, Lord, must have a better plan for us. Acquaintances will often argue that we did not pray seriously enough or believe intensely enough. If only we had sufficient faith, they say, then our prayers would be answered.

How foolish of us, Lord. We begin our prayers by asking you to come, to listen, as if you are not always present to us, you who have sent your Word to dwell with us, your Word who constantly challenges us to accept your Spirit and to grow in your life.

Then we explain our needs, even in great detail, as if you, Lord, did not know everything that there is to know. You are aware of our needs ever much more fully than we are ourselves.

We beg you to come to our assistance when it is you who in every moment offers us through the Word your own divine life in the Holy Spirit.

How unthinking of us, Lord, to ask you who are unchanging to change and help us (as if you were not always helping us and everyone with the fullness of your divine power at every moment).

Father when are we going to learn that pray does not change you? Prayer rather should sensitize us to the life and power that you always offer us so that we might accept it and make it our own, even share it with others in need. How grateful we should be that you respect our integrity and our freedom, that you do not belittle us by acting for us, that you never take over in our lives but in every instant empower us to act if only we would accept the gift of your life. Father, prayer does not change you. Prayer should change us.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

March 2: Monday of the First Week of Lent

2009-03-01T23:00:00.001-05:00

Guido Reni: Moses, Galleria Borghese, Rome, 1600-10

Readings for Mass
First Reading: Leviticus 19:1-2, 11-18
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 19:8, 9, 10, 15
Gospel: Matthew 25:31-46

Rx. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life (NRSV, John 6:63b).

Let us pray.

Father, it was as you led us out of Egypt into freedom that we realized for the first time who you are, that you are God, that we are your people, that you love us and expect us to love one another. In the encounter that we remember as a mountain storm in the Sinai desert all of this and more became clear to us. We came away from the holy mountain convinced that you were leading us to a destiny. We were sure that it was the land that you promised. It was a promise, we would remember, that you had long before made to Abraham as you called him out of his ancestral home in Mesopotamia. We also came away from Sinai convinced that we are a covenanted people bound to you by the Law. Ever since, we have been struggling to read your holy will for us given, we believed, once and for all on the holy mountain. In succeeding generations, Lord, we have refined our understanding of the Law, enshrining it in precepts attributed to you.

Jesus, truly one of us, from his first moment in his mother's womb, has so completely accepted you, that he is your spoken Word made fully manifest in the flesh. In the resurrection of Jesus, your Anointed One, a new understanding has emerged. Yes, we are truly a covenanted people but we are not bound to you by the Law, as we once thought, as best we could, but by your Holy Spirit, given to us, even from the beginning, through your Word, and in whom we live. Your Spirit is given to all human beings as that Spirit is accepted in the womb, one life shared by you, Father, with everyone.

Your Word, made fully manifest to us in the flesh in Jesus, is always present to us, not just from the time of Jesus alone but in every moment of human history. Nothing, not even the worst of sins, can cause him to abandon us. He remains ever present to each of us, and to all your people, challenging us in each moment to growth in the life of your Holy Spirit.

With that growth in your divine life, Father, always comes greater understanding of the one Word that you speak to us, not just from the holy mountain, but at every moment in the Spirit in the depth of our being. We must always be ready to let go not only of who we are that we may increase in you but we must also be ready to grow in our understanding of how you want us to live. The love that you would have us make our own, Father, has never been written down in final form on tablets of stone. In every generation, in every moment of every generation, we must be ready to find new and better ways of living out your love with and among one another.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

March 1: First Sunday of Lent

2009-03-01T00:39:00.002-05:00

William Blake, Christ in the Wilderness, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.

He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him (NRSV, Mark 1:13).

Gospel: Mark 1:9-15)

Let us pray.

Father, to be human is to exist in space and time. We move from here to there, remembering the past and looking forward to the future. Right now we are entering the holy season of Lent in which we shall spend the next forty days. We are with the Israelites in the desert and with Jesus in the wilderness. This is the time set aside each year to discover more fully who we are and what we are called to be.

Even though we live in time and space and we set aside seasons for penance and seasons for rejoicing, and rightly so, it is finally in the moment, the here and now, that all is lived out. Real death is not the physical death which inevitably awaits us at a future moment. Real death is the dying to everything that we are and have been up to the moment that we may be reborn to divine life now in the moment. The moment is always crisis because all can be lost or gained.

To be human is always to be in the desert with the wild beasts of our own sinfulness and the effect of the sins of all humanity weighing us down so that we may choose other than the life which the Word always offers to us.

Father, may we always be responsive to the gift of your life, divine life, which you offer to us through the Word in the moment that we may grow constantly in everything that you are.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

February 28: Saturday after Ash Wednesday

2009-02-23T08:32:00.003-05:00

Hendrick ter Brugghen: The Calling of St. Matthew
Centraal Museum, Utrecht, The Netherlands, 1621

Gospel: Lk 5:27-32

After this Jesus went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, “Follow me (NRSV, Lk 5:27).”

Let us pray.

Father, Jesus chose his close disciples, each during a passing encounter. I used to wonder what would have happened to them if they had hesitated or even said “No;” if Peter and Andrew and James and John had not dropped their fishing nets and left their boats to run after him; or if Levi, whom we also know as Matthew, had not gotten up from his counting table to abandon his profession of tax collector. There is also the case of the would-be disciple who wanted first to bury his dead father. Is it possible that he did actually abandon his deceased father to follow Jesus then and there? Or is there another, somewhat cryptic message for him, and us, hidden in Jesus’ challenge? We know, from the story, that the rich young man did walk away from Jesus saddened because of his attachment to his wealth. Was there a second chance for him? Many argue, Father, that you have a particular life’s work laid out for each of us? One can wonder what might be our fate if that opportunity is deliberately missed.

Father, what I have learned about you and my relationship with you has come to me in flashes of insight received now and then over the course of a lifetime. With each of these advances, I have acknowledged that it was always something that I knew all along but just did not seem capable earlier of putting into words. My conclusion, Lord, is that your Word to me has been spoken all along, the same one Word, everything that I have to know about you and everything else, spoken there within me waiting to be understood.

In fact the Word spoken, I now realize, is the Word speaking. Your Word, your Son, made flesh in our Lord Jesus, is always present to me. He not only reveals you to me in one spoken Word; that revelation also offers me your life. Even when I sin or resist his offer, your Word always remains present to me, calling me to conversion, offering me your forgiveness and new life. All of this is essential to my being a human being.

And that, Lord, gives me the answer to what I have so long wondered: every moment, not just one particular moment, is the saving moment. Every moment, every occasion is privileged. Regardless of what I have done in the past, of how many possibilities missed, each moment brings the opportunity of a new beginning.

Father, I am listening. Through your Word, ever present to me at the depth of my being, regardless of how I have responded up until this moment, you are calling me right now to die to myself and my past and to be reborn in you. Help me to accept and to say “Yes” now, and in every moment to come.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

February 27: Friday after Ash Wednesday

2009-02-23T08:22:00.006-05:00

Anonymous German Master: St. Elizabeth Clothes the Poor
and Tends the Sick (edited)
Wallraf-Richartz Museum, Cologne, 1390s

Reading I: Is 58:1-9a

Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin (NRSV, Is 58:6-7)?

Let us pray.

Father, it seems possible that we can believe that you exist and know certain truths about you without it transforming our lives, but when we say “yes” to the challenge of your Word always present to us and accept his offer of a share in your divine life, or, even more, growth in that life, then something inevitably happens to the way we live. As you, Father, go out of yourself in begetting the Word, and both you and the Word go out of yourselves in the procession of the Holy Spirit, so, when we accept that life which you, who are three in one, share each with the other; when we get caught up in the one true sacrifice of divine giving, receiving and sharing; our lives are inevitably changed by your grace and the decision that we have made.

As you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit share life and love among yourselves and with us, so also will we share life and love in return, through the Son, with you and, among created beings, with one another.

The life and the love that you share with us, Father, will inevitably and without fail, as long as we remain faithful to the gift, transform our lives. We shall freely ex-ist, go out of ourselves, especially to all of our sisters and brothers in need. We shall feed those who are hungry and tend to the needs of the poor. We shall console and comfort those who are sorrowing. We shall care for the sick.

In ages gone by, it was individual acts of mercy that consumed us who would live out your life shared with us. Today, we realize more and more that changing the very structures of our society can do much better. Society can be reorganized so that many of the pains and difficulties that oppress us can be more effectively alleviated than by disparate individual acts. A structural reorganization of society, built upon individual conversion, is the most effective way towards greater justice and peace throughout the world.

Father, we are ever grateful for the gift of your life in the Holy Spirit that we receive through your Son, the Word. May we live out that life effectively through loving and serving our neighbors, especially those most in need, and by working to change society so that justice and peace may prosper.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen

February 26: Thursday after Ash Wednesday

2009-02-22T20:14:00.005-05:00

Gustav Klimt, Life and Death, Collection of Frau Marietta Preleuthner, Vienna, Revised 1915

Readings for Mass

First Reading: Deuteronomy 30:15-20

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 1:1-2, 3, 4, 6

Gospel: Luke 9:22-25

I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses (NRSV, Dt 30:19a).

Let us pray.

Father, in the Book of Deuteronomy, Moses says that he set before the people two choices, life and death, and challenged them to choose life. As your people emerged from slavery in Egypt into freedom in the desert, they understood, as best they could, that you were leading them into the land that was to be theirs. When they and Moses thought of “life,” what they projected was ongoing life, not for the individual, but for the people in the land. “Death” meant death in the desert, the promise lost. Moses challenged them to choose life!

In the resurrection of your Son Jesus, we have learned, Lord, that from the very beginning you have not only offered us life that is more than just physical life here on earth, even life as a people in the land, you have offered us a share in your own divine life. That offer has been made to every human being in his mother’s womb. The acceptance of that offer, saying “yes,” to you, Father, offering us your Spirit through the Word, is what makes us to be human beings. To be human is already to be on the journey to everlasting life shared with you in the world to come, a gift that begins with the very first “yes” in the womb and continues to grow forever with each additional “yes” made in each moment.

Choosing death, Father, is far more than denying ourselves the possibility of a future as a people in the land. Choosing death, turning away from you, Lord, and succumbing to the web of evil that surrounds and ensnares us all, and to our own self-gratification, is to deny our very nature. It is to deny who we are and who we are called to be.

Father, how grateful we are for the gift of divine life that you share with us. May we be responsive in every moment to your Word, ever present to us, who invites us to grow in your gift, and if we have turned away, implores us to repent and to say “yes” to forgiveness and new life.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

February 25: Ash Wednesday

2009-02-22T16:59:00.009-05:00

Anonymous Russian Master: The Ladder of Divine Ascent
Spencer Collection, New York Public Library, New York, 16th century

Ash Wednesday

Reading II: 2 Cor 5:20–6:2

See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation (NRSV, 2 Cor 6:2b)!

Let us pray.

The story of creation and the story of the beginning of the individual human being, Father, is your Word calling all that is finite out of nothingness to being. We, who are your children, your Word calls to share in your very life: not only to participate in your being but to ex-ist, to go out of ourselves in your Holy Spirit and to grow constantly in your divine life. Your Word challenges us at every moment to move higher along the ladder of divine ascent.

Father, as we ascend towards you, it is important for us to understand more fully what we are called to be and how we are to live. We reflect on this, hopefully, a number of times a day. We pause on our journey to find ourselves and you in prayer as we move forward and upward.

In the assemby of the Church we gather, some of us more frequently, but, as a community, once a week, on the day set aside for you, Lord. If possible we meet during this sacred time in a sacred place so as not to be distracted by the always pressing concerns of the workaday world. There we pause to celebrate the Eucharist, to remember who we are and the destiny to which you call us. We listen to the sacred Scriptures, your Word written down for us, and we break Bread together celebrating the sharing of your life with us in the Body and Blood of your only begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. We pray to you, Lord, during this sacred time in this sacred space, but both are really set aside for us that we may be refreshed on our journey in the Spirit forward and upper to you.

If once a week we observe the Lord’s Day as sacred, every year, before the annual celebration of the mystery of Jesus’ passion, death and resurrection, we set aside forty days to pause significantly on our pilgrimage for a fuller assessment of our life and the direction it is taking. During these forty days of Lent we go out into the desert to fast and to pray with Jesus that our mission may become manifest to us as it was to him.

We fast and do penance, we read and devote more time to prayer, not so much too subjugate a rebellious body, as to renew our focus on our final destiny and to order our entire life in conformity with that goal.

Father, may this Lent be for us truly a sacred season, a holy time of growth in understanding and direction, of further growth in your divine life.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

May 20: Tuesday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time, Cycle II

2008-05-19T23:58:00.003-04:00

Nicholas Papas: Christ Blesses the Children

Readings for Mass

First Reading: James 4:1-10

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 55:7-8, 9-10, 10-11, 23

Gospel: Mark 9:30-37

“Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me (NRSV, Mk 9:37).”

Let us pray.

Father, you are present everywhere in the world but especially with us, your sons and daughters, everyone who is a human being. Not only are you present to us but, through the Word, now made flesh in the Lord Jesus Christ, you offer us your very life. All that we must do is say “yes” to your offer and accept the gift of your life into our own.

It is one life, through the Word, that we all share, one with the other, in the Holy Spirit. When we accept one another, we are, through the Word, accepting you, Father. May we share your life with one another and together may we grow in that life forever.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

May 18: The Solemnity of the Holy Trinity

2008-05-18T08:24:00.006-04:00

Marc Chagall: Moses Receiving the Tablets of the Law

Readings for Mass

First Reading: Exodus 34:4-6, 8-9

Responsorial Psalm: Daniel 3:52, 53, 54, 55, 56

Second Reading: Second Corinthians 13:11-13

Gospel: John 3:16-18

The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name, “The Lord (Ex 34:5).”

Let us pray.

Father, you reveal yourself to every human being at every moment in every place, speaking to us at the depth of our being, closer than we are to ourselves, through the Word, offering us life in your Holy Spirit in every situation.

Because of the sin of the world, the combined evil of all of humanity pressing in upon us, and because of our own sinfulness, we grasp only with great difficulty the reality of your presence to us and the Word that you speak to us. Moses and the Israelites experienced you in a special way at Mount Sinai but your truth is available to us all at every moment if we would only allow it to break through.

Father, may our minds be ever open to your Word and our wills ready to accept the great life to which you call all of humanity.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen

May 8: Thursday of the Seventh Week of Easter

2008-05-08T23:51:00.003-04:00

Pieter Coecke van Aelst, Arresting Paul in the Temple in Jerusalem, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, 1535-40

Readings for Mass

First Reading: Acts 22:30; 23:6-11

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 16:1-2, 5, 7-8, 9-10, 11

Gospel: John 17:20-26

That night the Lord stood near Paul and said, “Keep up your courage! For just as you have testified for me in Jerusalem, so you must bear witness also in Rome (NRSV, Acts 23:11).”

Let us pray.

Father, as the Word stood near Paul (actually nearer to him than he was to himself), so the Word is at every moment and in every place close to every human being, summoning us all to be faithful to the truth, spoken to us all once and for all and in every moment, faithful not only in our growing understanding of that truth and but also in the commitment to live it out in action.

Father, may we be ever responsive to the knowledge and courage given to us all in every situation.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

May 7: Wednesday of the Seventh Week of Easter

2008-05-07T01:07:00.003-04:00

Claes Brouwer, St. Paul Boarding a Ship for Jerusalem; Taking Leave of the Elders of Ephesus, Koninklijke Bibliotheek, The Hague, 1430

Readings for Mass

First Reading: Acts 20:28-38

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 68:29-30, 33-35, 35-36

Gospel: John 17:11-19

“Keep watch over yourselves and over all the flock, of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God that he obtained with the blood of his own Son (NRSV, Acts 20:28).”

Let us pray.

Father, the life that you share with us, you challenge us through the Word to share with one another, not lording it over one another, but as servants one to other, ready to give of our very selves, as did Jesus.

Father, some have been set aside as elders, others as deacons and bishops, to shepherd the flock, but all are equally called to minister, opening the minds of our sisters and brothers to understand the one Word revealed to all, forgiving one another our sins, and healing our injuries and pains through love.

All this we are called to do, every one of us, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

May 6: Tuesday of the Seventh Week of Easter

2008-05-05T22:40:00.004-04:00

Paul's Farewell Discourse at Miletus (detail), Richmond Chapel, St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral, Buffalo, New York, 1851

Readings for Mass

First Reading: Acts 20:17-27

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 68:10-11, 20-21

Gospel: John 17:1-11

“And now, as a captive to the Spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem (NRSV, Acts 20:22a).”

Let us pray.

Father, Paul’s missionary efforts in preaching the gospel led him from one place to another, always on the move, eventually to Rome and his martyrdom. To be a human being is always to be on the move. To live in the Holy Spirit, given to us through your Word, now made flesh in the Lord Jesus, is to be called in every situation to let go of the past, of what we have done and what we have become up to the present, in order to become something truly new. Every moment of growth in your life, Father, means becoming a new creation.

In response to your challenge, Father, given to every human being in every time and place through the Word, may we always say “yes” that every situation may bring us to new growth in the Holy Spirit which is a greater share in your divine life.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

May 5: Monday of the Seventh Week of Easter

2008-05-05T14:32:00.005-04:00

Jacquemart de Hesdin (?):St. Peter and St. Paul Baptizing Les Petites heures de Jean, duc de Berry La Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris, 14th cent.

Readings for Mass

First Reading: Acts 19:1-8

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 68:2-3, 4-5, 6-7

Gospel: John 16:29-33

Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, in Jesus.” On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus (NRSV, Acts 19:4-5).

Let us pray.

Father, we believe that you are present to everyone at every moment and in every place, even from the womb. Through the Word who never abandons us even in our sinfulness, you offer us, in the Holy Spirit, a share in your divine life. You offer us forgiveness for our sins and growth in new life in every situation.

We rejoiced in the baptism of John which under the tangible sign of renewed passage through the Jordan we effectively celebrated the leaving of our sins in the desert and accepted the challenge to live in justice and holiness in the land.

In experiencing the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, we came to understand, what you reveal to us always in him, the Word now made flesh, that it is not the land at all to which we are called but rather eternal life with you, Father. We have come to understand that you offer us that life at every moment, through the Word in the Holy Spirit, by your one act that is your being. In baptism in the name of the Lord, in your same one act, you effectively give us, always through the Word in the Spirit, that one gift of new life but under the tangible and visible sign of death-dealing and life-giving water.

We rejoice in every situation, Lord, because every moment is salvific. We rejoice in our baptism because you effectively come to us under the tangible and visible sign of water in the liturgical re-enactment for us of death and resurrection in Jesus. We rejoice as well in all of the sacraments, visible signs of your one, saving act, above all in the Sacraments of our lord Jesus Christ and of the Church and the ongoing celebration of the Eucharist. We rejoice, Father, in everything you are and in all that you give to us and in which you call us to grow forever and ever.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

May 4: The Seventh Sunday of Easter, Cycle A

2008-05-05T14:26:00.002-04:00

The Upper Room, Jerusalem

Readings for Mass

First Reading: Acts 1:12-14

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 27:1, 4, 7-8

Second Reading: First Peter 4:13-16

Gospel: John 17:1-1

When they had entered the city, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying, Peter, and John, and James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers (NRSV, Acts 1:13-14).

Let us pray.

Father, your holy people are liturgically gathered in the upper room with Mary, the apostles, and companions in prayer. It is the great novena of the Church praying for the coming of your Holy Spirit.

Father, may we always be responsive to the gift of your life in the Spirit offered to all peoples, in every place, at every moment, even from the womb. May we grow constantly in that life as we accept your Spirit ever more completely into our own lives.

Your Spirit empowers us to live the resurrection even here in this world. May we manifest that life in the Spirit by loving and serving one another and may the Spirit bring us to the fullness of the resurrection with you and all the saints in the world to come.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

May 3: Feast of SS. Philip and James the Less

2008-05-03T09:24:00.004-04:00

El Greco, The Apostle Saint James the Less, Museo del Greco, Toledo, 1606

Readings for Mass

First Reading: First Corinthians 15:1-8

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 19:2-3, 4-5

Gospel: John 14:6-14

For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures (NRSV, 1 Cor 15:3-4).

Let us pray.

Father, you speak to every human being at the depth of our being through your Word spoken once and for all in every moment. This one revelation is only understood gradually because of our situation as created beings located in time and space and because of the distractions introduced by the sin of the world and our own personal sinfulness. In Jesus Christ, the Word now made flesh, all has become clearer. We realize that our destiny is not the land as we had previously concluded but rather resurrection and new life with you, a life that begins even here in this world.

Father, with Paul may we be faithful to the tradition that we have received while at the same time may we always be open to further new understanding of the one revelation that you make in every situation to every human being through the Word always present to us.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

May 2: Friday of the Sixth Week of Easter

2008-05-01T23:51:00.002-04:00

Joseph Mallord William Turner, Corinth from the Acropolis, The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, 1831-32

Readings for Mass

First Reading: Acts 18:9-18

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 47:2-3, 4-5, 6-7

Gospel: John 16:20-23

One night the Lord said to Paul in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but speak and do not be silent; for I am with you, and no one will lay a hand on you to harm you, for there are many in this city [Corinth] who are my people (NRSV, Acts 18:9-10).”

Let us pray.

Father, during his passion Jesus underwent excruciating torture and then was put to a most ignominious death, but in it all he was never the victim but always the victor. Jesus was resurrected even as he passed through death.

As you are with Jesus in your life and love that you share with him, so, Father, as long as we are willing to accept you, you are also with us, sharing your life and your love also with us. Because of that life, we too can live resurrected lives even in this world. Because of that life, we too need never be victim but can always be victor. Nothing can really harm us, not even death, because you are with us.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

May 1: Solemnity of the Ascension

2008-05-01T07:31:00.004-04:00

Anonymous Norman (Fécamp ?) Master: The Ascension Koninklijke Bibliotheek, The Hague, 1180.

Readings for Mass

First Reading: Acts 1:1-11

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 47:2-3, 6-7, 8-9

Second Reading: Ephesians 1:17-23

Gospel: Matthew 28:16-20

The two men in white robes said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven (NRSV, Acts 11:10a)?”

Let us pray.

In the celebration of the mystery of the Ascension of our Lord, we recognize, Father, that, although the Word now made flesh is seated definitively at your right hand, that does not mean that he has left us. The Word remains as always present to everyone of us, closer than we are to ourselves, always challenging us to accept and to grow in your divine life. The Word never leaves us even in our worst sinfulness. We may turn away from you, Father, and reject the gift of your life in the Holy Spirit but the Word remains ever present inviting to forgiveness and new life. The presence of the Word is a defining element of human existence.

Father, we should not dally by staring of into the skies, wondering where the Lord has gone or dreaming about his return. He comes, as he has always come, in every moment, now one of us, to invite us to share in your life, Father, to accept forgiveness for sin and to grow in your life. As we say “yes” to his challenge, may we lead lives with him that are truly resurrected.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen

Apr. 30: Wednesday of the Sixth Week of Easter

2008-04-29T18:27:00.003-04:00

Sir James Thornhill, Paul Preaching in the Areopagus, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1729-31

Readings for Mass

First Reading: Acts 17:15, 22--18:1

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 148:1-2, 11-12, 13, 14

Gospel: John 16:12-15

“When they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some scoffed; but others said, ‘We will hear you again about this (NRSV, Act 17:32).”

Let us pray.

Father, when Paul arrived in Athens, he went directly to the Areopagus, and, speaking to the people gathered there, began to make a reasoned appeal about the good news and of Jesus’ resurrection. Those listening would have none of it. Paul made only a few converts. Yet, Father, when Barnabas went to Antioch, because he presented himself, not bubbling over with arguments, but as a man of the Holy Spirit and of faith, a large number came to believe.

Father, may we bear witness to you, not so much by our logic which appeals to reason, as by our lives that testify to the transformation that occurs by accepting your life into our own. It is thus that we can truly bear witness to you and share in the one mediation of the Word always present to all of our sisters and brothers.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen

Apr. 29: Tuesday of the Sixth Week of Easter

2008-04-29T04:21:00.004-04:00

Nicolas Tournier, St. Paul, Musée des Augustins, Toulouse, 1625-26

Readings for Mass
First Reading: Acts 16:22-34
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 138:1-2, 2-3, 7-8
Gospel: John 16:5-11

"Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved (NRSV, Acts 16:31)."

Let us pray.

Father, we thank you for the gift of your divine life that you offer to every human being in every time and place. This same one gift is made manifest in our Lord Jesus Christ who is the Word made flesh. While we rejoice in our knowledge and open acceptance of him, may we recognize as well the many who say "yes," to your gift without being able explicitly to express their faith in words. Everyone who gives himself in love, can only do so because of your life, Father, that you share through the Word now made flesh in Jesus, our Lord.

Father, your saints are many and often those outside the visible bounds of your Church, and even those who through confusion seem to deny your very existence, lead exemplary lives that bear witness to your divine sharing with us.

May we all grow in your life and share it with one another.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Apr. 28: Monday of the Sixth Week of Easter

2008-04-27T22:59:00.004-04:00

David M. Mastrobete, St. Lydia

Readings for Mass

First Reading: Acts 16:11-15

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 149:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 9

Gospel: John 15:26--16:4

When Lydia and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, ‘If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home.’ And she prevailed upon us (NRSV, Acts 16:15).

Let us pray.

Father, According to Matthew, the first apostles were the holy women who arrived at the tomb to anoint the body of our Lord. He met them there and commissioned them to bring the good news of his resurrection to the others.

Father, holy women have served your Church in many ways even being admitted to the rank of teacher at the highest level. Lydia welcomed Paul into her home and offered him hospitality.

Father, has not the time arrived, is indeed long overdue, when women should be admitted to serve at every level of life in the Church, “for in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body--Jews or Greeks, slaves or free--and we were all made to drink of one Spirit (NRSV, 1 Cor 12:13)?”

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Apr. 27: Sixth Sunday of Easter, Cycle A

2008-04-26T19:13:00.004-04:00

Anonymous Russian Master, The Apostles Peter and John the Theologian(detail from The Appearance of the Mother of God to Venerable Sergius of Radonezh), late 18th cent.

Readings for Mass
First Reading: Acts 8:5-8, 14-17
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 66:1-3, 4-5, 6-7, 16, 20
Second Reading: First Peter 3:15-18
Gospel: John 14:15-21

Then Peter and John laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit (Acts 8:17).

Let us pray.

As with the people of Samaria, we rejoice for the Philips in our lives who bring to the surface the good news of salvation, perhaps long hidden in the depths of our consciousness, and who baptize us; and for the Peters and Johns who make us aware of the Holy Spirit working in us.

Father, your truth is spoken to us once and for all in every moment by your Word dwelling within us even from the womb, the same Word who challenges us in every situation to accept your divine life in the Holy Spirit. Because of the limitations of our created being, hemmed in as it is by space and time, and weighed down by the sin or the world and our own sinfulness, we often find it so difficult to grasp our true relationship with you.

As we are grateful for those, our sisters and brothers, and most significantly our Lord Jesus Christ, the Word now made flesh, who awaken in us an awareness of who we really are and what we are called to be, may we also, Father, join with them in sensitizing others around us so that they too may see clearly and recognize their true nature and calling.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Apr. 26: Saturday of the Fifth Week of Easter

2008-04-25T23:23:00.003-04:00

Modern Mosaic, Vision Telling Paul to Come Over to Macedonia, Veroia (ancient Berea), Greece

Readings for Mass
First Reading: Acts 16:1-10
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 100:1-2, 3, 5
Gospel: John 15:18-21

During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us (NRSV, Act 14:9).”

Let us pray.

Father, in every situation in which we as human beings find ourselves, if we are sensitive to your one Word spoken to us, we realize that you are calling us forth, out of the limitations of the present moment, to grow in your life. Abraham sensed himself called to leave his home in Mesopotamia in search of you. The Israelites were called out of slavery in Egypt. Paul was called forth continually to preach your gospel to all peoples.

Father, sensitive to the inevitable inadequacy of our present situation, may we be always ready to respond to your call to move forward from where we are, to let go of our past, indeed our sins and our selfishness, to grow in your life and to give ourselves ever more fully to the service of our sisters and brothers.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Apr. 25: Feast of St. Mark, evangelist

2008-04-24T22:31:00.004-04:00

Andrea Mantegna, St. Mark the Evangelist, Das Städel, Frankfort am Main, c.1450

Readings for Mass
First Reading: First Peter 5:5-14
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 89:2-3, 6-7, 16-17
Gospel: Mark 16:15-20

And they went out and proclaimed the good news everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that accompanied it (NRSV, Mk 16:20).

Father, when Barnabas traveled to Antioch, we read that a large number came to believe because Barnabas was a good man filled with the Holy Spirit and faith. When we accept your gift of life, Father, always offered us through the Word dwelling within us, we are transformed. Your life fills us with great power that cannot help but radiate out from us to others.

Your Word is the only mediator, Father, between you and us but the life and power that we receive from you through him can influence others to say “yes” to you through the Word as we have done.

If there is only one mediator, Father, you enable us through him to share in that mediation.

As the Lord Jesus worked signs and wonder during his life on earth, so we too are called, and indeed empowered, to work signs and wonders among one another.

May we ever be responsive to our calling that, like Jesus, we too may effectively proclaim the coming of the kingdom to our sisters and brothers.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Apr. 24: Thursday of the Fifth Week of Easter

2008-04-24T08:32:00.003-04:00

Michael Wohlgemuth and Wilhelm Pleydenwurff, Jerusalem, The Nuremberg Chronicles, 1493

Readings for Mass
First Reading: Acts 15:7-21
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 96:1-2, 2-3, 10
Gospel: John 15:9-11

The whole assembly [gathered in Jerusalem] kept silence, and listened to Barnabas and Paul as they told of all the signs and wonders that God had done through them among the Gentiles (NRSV, Acts 15:12).

Let us pray.

Father, in every situation there is the possibility of growth in understanding of the same one Word spoken to us all at every moment and every place. It is to the Word living within us to whom we must listen most carefully. Because of our very nature as created beings, located in space and time, however, it is impossible for us to grasp all at once the truth, final and absolute, that is revealed to us. We are also hindered in this task by the sin of the world which presses down heavily upon us and of course by our own personal sinfulness.

Father, you offer your life to all humanity and everyone hears your word. Help us to be open to the understanding of others, those within your church, especially those in positions of leadership, but also others who have found you in different ways and even those of good will who seem to deny your very existence. All have their contribution to make and all must be heard.

May we, Father, through the Word in the Holy Spirit, continue to grow in our understanding of who you are and the life that you challenge us to lead. Yes, Father, may we seek understanding rather than final answers which are never really possible within history. May our conclusions always be tentative and subject to revision as we grow in you who are our final goal and who alone are absolute truth.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Apr. 23: Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Easter

2008-04-22T21:20:00.003-04:00

The Vine and Branches, Beit Jala Latin Seminary, Jerusalem

Readings for Mass
First Reading: Acts 15:1-6
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 122:1-2, 3-4, 4-5
Gospel: John 15:1-8

Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit (NRSV, Jn 15:5a).”

Let us pray.

Father, there is only one life that you offer to share with all humanity. When we say “yes” in faith to the challenge of the Word, a “yes” always uttered in the power of the Holy Spirit, we become partakers of that one divine life. All become one with you, Father, through the Word, now made flesh in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Without a share in your life, Father, there is not one good thing that we can do. Love has its foundation in grace. With you, Father, all things are possible to us.

Christ is the vine and we are the branches. Through him may we accept your life, Father, and allow it to flow through us, and in and out among us, who are all one in you.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen

Apr. 22: Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Easter

2008-04-22T09:38:00.004-04:00

Gustave Doré, Lucifer in Hell, Illustration for The Divine Comedy, 1861-68

Readings for Mass

First Reading: Acts 14:19-28

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 145:10-11, 12-13, 21

Gospel: John 14:27-31

“The ruler of this world has no power over me (NRSV, Jn 14:30b).”

Let us pray.

Father, even from the womb, created for physical life on this earth and already given a share in your divine life, we are oppressed by the evil forces that fill the world. The sum total of all of the evil ever committed is our inheritance along with the life and power that you always offer us in the Holy Spirit through your Word.

We are at once weakened by the influence of sin and strengthened by your grace.But, created in your image, we are endowed with free will in every situation in which we may find ourselves. We are always free to say “no” to sin and “yes” to you, Father, thanks to the gift always available to us in the Holy Spirit.With Jesus we too can rightly say, “The rule of this world has no power over me.”

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Apr. 21: Monday of the Fifth Week of Easter

2008-04-20T20:49:00.007-04:00

Jesus taking his departure and the coming of the Holy Spirit from Martin Luther, Hausspostilla vber die Sontags vnd der furnemesten Feste Euangelien, durch das gantze Jar

Readings for Mass
First Reading: Acts 14:5-18
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 115:1-2, 3-4, 15-16
Gospel: John 14:21-26

"But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you (NRSV, John 14:26)."

Let us pray.

Father, with the resurrection of Jesus we realize that the Holy Spirit is given and not just from that moment. The Spirit is given in every time and place in the one act that is your Being. It is in the power of the Spirit, even in our mother's womb, that we are able, without language or logic, to say "yes" to the Word and thus, Father, to become your children.

May we ever be responsive to the gift of the Spirit that we may "remember" ever more fully the one Word that is spoken to us.

Father, we look forward to the celebration of the feast of the Holy Spirit. May we live that feast at every moment, ever accepting the Spirit more fully into our lives and growing in our understanding of what the Word teaches.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen

Apr. 20: Fifth Sunday of Easter, Cycle A

2008-04-19T12:33:00.004-04:00

Brother Nicholas, The Stone Rejected Has Been Made into the Head of the Corner, Speculum Humanae Salvationis, Koninklijke Bibliotheek, The Hague, c.1450

Readings for Mass
First Reading: Acts 6:1-7
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 33:1-2, 4-5, 18-19
Second Reading: First Peter 2:4-9
Gospel: John 14:1-12

‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the very head of the corner (NRSV, 1 Pt 2:7b).’

Let us pray.

Father, the author of 1 Peter writes of Jesus as a stone, first rejected, then used as the cornerstone, not just any kind of stone, but rather a living stone which communicates life to all of the others stones of the building so that the whole building becomes alive.

Father, the first Christians were not yet much familiar with the dome which the Romans had only just invented. A dome is built upon scaffolding which holds all of the stones in place. Then finally a keystone is dropped into the open space in the apex of the dome. The keystone exerts pressure on the stones around it and they in turn on those around them and so on until finally all is held in place by the living forces unleashed by the keystone. The scaffolding, no longer needed, can be removed. The dome becomes alive through the forces distributed from the keystone.

Father, the first of your churches built with a dome is the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople. There the forces exerted by the dome press down upon the apexes of four arches upon which it rests and the pendentives uniting the arches and upon which the dome also rests. The forces continue right to the ground. The whole building becomes alive by the forces coming from the keystone.

Father, Christ, the Word made flesh, is the living cornerstone, yes, even the keystone, of the Church and indeed of the whole human family. It is through him that your life comes to all who will accept it and grow in it. May every one of us be ever responsive to this life-giving force.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Apr. 19: Saturday of the Fourth Week of Easter

2008-04-19T12:27:00.002-04:00

Albrecht Dürer, Saint Philip the Apostle, Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence, 1516

Readings for Mass
First Reading: Acts 13:44-52
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 98:1, 2-3, 3-4
Gospel: John 14:7-14

Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father (NRSV, Jn 14:8-9a).”

Let us pray,

Father, we find you in a number of ways.

We can walk in your footprints, examining what you do in creation, learning about the craftsman from the work he does.

Mostly, we find you by looking inward, deep within ourselves where we always find your Word challenging us to grow in the Holy Spirit in whom we share your very life. Even when we reject you in sin, the Word remains present to us offering us your forgiveness and the renewed gift of your Holy Spirit.

And so we find you, Father, by looking outward at the world you create or inwards to the Word through whom you create everything that is.

If the Word always dwells within all of us, Father, we also find your Word in a way that is tangible and visible, for the Word has been made flesh in our Lord Jesus. Through Jesus, Father, we meet you in a human body, here among us, sharing our joys and sorrows and even passing through death with us.

And we do not forget, Father, that we also meet you in a tangible and visible way in your Church in the sacred actions you perform in our midst, the actions which we know as sacraments.

Father, there is no situation possible in which you are not present to us through your Word. May we ever be responsive to the gift of your life which you always offer to us.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Apr. 18: Friday of the 4th Week of easter

2008-04-18T07:37:00.004-04:00

Irving Amen (b. 1918), In My Father's House are Many Mansions, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.

Readings for Mass

First Reading: Acts 13:26-33

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 2:6-7, 8-9, 10-11

Gospel: John 14:1-6

“In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places (NRSV, Jn 14:2a).”

Let us pray.

Father, the life that is yours is infinite. You share it with everyone who is ready to accept it. In truth, it is your life, always, in every situation, even from our mother’s womb, offered to us by your Word, now made flesh, that constitutes us as human beings. It is your life, Father, freely offered in the Holy Spirit to all of us that sets us aside from the rest of creation. There is no end, Father, to the number whom you embrace and with whom you share your very being.

Father, in offering us your life, you speak your one Word to everyone called to be a human being, once and for all, in ever time and place. Because of the sin of the world, our own personal sin, and the limitations of created time and space, the one Word is understood differently in different situations. Hopefully all of us, as a human family, and as individuals, grow in that understanding as we are challenged in every moment to grow, Father, in your life.

As each of us understands your truth from a different and inevitably limited perspective, Father, may we all share with one another and learn from one another as, hopefully, we all grow together in your life.

Keep us from being discouraged, Father, by the limitations that our humanity places upon us because it is that very humanity that launches us on the way towards you, our only true future, and enables us, through your gift, to share in that future even in this world.

Father, we believe that the fullness of your revelation is made manifest in the Word made flesh in Jesus Christ. As we move forward, emerging from darkness in light, may he always be for us the way, the truth and the life.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Apr 17: Thursday of the Fourth Week of Easter

2008-04-14T21:17:00.005-04:00

Duccio di Buoninsegna, The Washing of Feet, Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, Siena, 1308-11

Readings for Mass

First Reading: Acts 13:13-25

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 89:2-3, 21-22, 25, 27

Gospel: John 13:16-20

Jesus said to his disciples: “Very truly, I tell you, whoever receives one whom I send receives me; and whoever receives me receives him who sent me (NRSV, Jn 13:20).”

Let us pray.

Father, Jesus called each of his disciples but then he also sent them. He washed their feet the night before he died; then he challenged them to wash one another’s feet.

Father, you have sent your Son, the Word, now made flesh, into the lives of every one of us. He calls us into existence even in the womb and challenges us at every moment to grow in your divine life. But then, as he calls us, your Word also sends us to share the life that you give us with all of our sisters and brothers. It is one divine life that you share with us through the Word and which we are then challenged to share one with the other.

Father, you send your Word to all of us. Through him you also send us to minister to our sisters and brothers. May we ever been responsive to your gift of divine life by manifesting you to one another.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Apr 16: Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Easter

2008-04-14T21:05:00.005-04:00

Icon of Sofronov: Christ Pantocrator, Monastère de Chevetogne, Belgium

Readings for Mass

First Reading: Acts 12:24--13:5

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 67:2-3, 5, 6, 8

Gospel: John 12:44-50

Then Jesus cried aloud: “Whoever believes in me believes not in me but in him who sent me. And whoever sees me sees him who sent me (NRSV, Jn 12:44-45).”

Let us pray.

Father, even though you are creator and Lord of all, you are not a God who is distant from your people. Through your Word, always living within us, you are intimately present to all of us, sharing your life with us, and even if we reject you by sin and turn away from you, you are still there ever offering us, through the Word, your forgiveness and the opportunity of once again partaking of your life.

Not only are you present at the depth of our being through your Word always spoken, once and for all, to us; not only do you offer us a share in your divine life in every situation; Father, in your Word, now the Lord Jesus Christ, you have become one of us, taking upon yourself a human body and human nature, to share with us everything that we are and do, our joys and our pains, even to pass through death with us.

Father, we are grateful for your great gift to us. May we always be responsive to the challenge of your Word, and, saying “yes” to you through him, always to grow in your divine life.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Apr. 15: Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Easter

2008-04-14T20:58:00.004-04:00

Jean le Tavernier, St. Barnabas, Koninklijke Bibliotheek, The Hague, 1450-60

Readings for Mass
First Reading: Acts 11:19-26
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 87:1-3, 4-5, 6-7
Gospel: John 10:22-30

For Barnabas was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were brought to the Lord (NRSV, Acts 11:24).

Let us pray.

Father, your life is mediated to us through the Word who dwells within every human being. All of us are called to participate in that mediation by sharing our lives with our sisters and brothers.

Barnabas went to Antioch proclaiming the good news of Jesus’ resurrection and many were moved openly to accept the Lord because they saw in Barnabas a man who was himself full of the Holy Spirit and of faith.

May we lead lives responsive to the gift of the Holy Spirit offered through the Word to all of us so that others will see your good works, Father, before their very eyes and thus come openly to proclaim their faith in you.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Apr. 14: Monday of the Fourth Week of Easter

2008-04-13T19:52:00.004-04:00

Christoph Weigel, Peter's Vision, Biblia ectypa: Bildnussen auss Heiliger Schrifft Alt und Neuen Testaments, 1695

Readings for Mass

First Reading: Acts 11:1-18

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 42:2-3; 43:3, 4

Gospel: John 10:11-18

“If then God gave them the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could hinder God (NRSV, Acts 11:17)?”

Let us pray.

Father, you speak your one Word to everyone in every time and place but, because of the confusion that comes from the sin of the world and our own personal sinfulness, we come consciously to understand and to express that one Word only gradually.

In the resurrection of our Lord Jesus, the Word now made flesh, we understood clearly for the first time, what had been given to us from the beginning, that our destiny as your people is not the land, as had been supposed from Mt. Sinai, but eternal life with you, a life that you share with us even now in this world, and have shared with us from the beginning, through your Word who dwells within us.

Peter was the first in the Church to grasp how much of our religious practice comes from ourselves, Father, rather than from you. Peter was the first to understand as well, what Jesus had taught, that your people are a people of faith and not of blood descent. All who believe are daughters and sons of Abraham.

Father, may we always keep our minds open to understand more and more the one Word that you speak to us in every moment.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Apr. 13: Fourth Sunday of Easter, Cycle A

2008-04-13T00:17:00.006-04:00

Anonymous Master, Christ as the Good Shepherd, Musei Vaticani, Rome, c. 225

Readings for Mass

First Reading: Acts 2:14, 36-41

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 23:1-3, 3-4, 5, 6

Second Reading: First Peter 2:20-25

Gospel: John 10:1-10

“I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture (NRSV, Jn 10:9).”

Let us pray.

Father, to be a human being is to be related to one another, that is, to share life with one another. One is never truly a human being alone. We are necessarily dependent upon one another but often we fail each other. Even a mother has been known to abandon her children.

There is one, however, who never fails us. It is the Word now made flesh in our Lord Jesus Christ. The Word is with us from the beginning. It is through the Word that every thing that is has been made. It is through the Word that each one of us who is human has been called into existence, Father, and indeed called to share your divine life.

The Word is there from the first moment of our life as human beings. At a certain moment in our mother’s womb he offers us that life which is also a share in your divine life. Without benefit of language or logic, in the Holy Spirit, we are empowered to say “yes,” and to begin our journey to you, Father, as a human being.

From that moment on, the Word never leaves us. He is always there challenging us to grow in life. Even if we turn away in sin and say “no,” he remains ever present to us, calling us to accept forgiveness and new life, Father, from you. The presence of the Word to us at every moment is a defining element of our humanity.

The mother may abandon her children but the Word remains ever with us so that through him, Father, we may always pass to a new and greater share in your divine life.

The Word, now made flesh in the Lord Jesus, is truly the good shepherd. May we ourselves extend his care to all of our sisters and brothers.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Apr. 12: Saturday of the Third Week of Easter

2008-04-12T10:46:00.003-04:00

Masolino da Panicale, The Raising of Tabitha (detail), Cappella Brancacci, Santa Maria del Carmine, Florence, 1424-25

Readings for Mass

First Reading: Acts 9:31-42

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 116:12-13, 14-15, 16-17

Gospel: John 6:60-69

Peter put all of them outside, and then he knelt down and prayed. He turned to the body and said, “Tabitha, get up.” Then she opened her eyes, and seeing Peter, she sat up. He gave her his hand and helped her up (NRSV, Acts 9:40-41a).

Let us pray.

Father, because of the sin of the world and our own personal selfishness and sin, death often seems like the undoing of human life. Father, beginning in the womb, when, through the Word, you offered us life, even a share in your own divine life in the Spirit, you called us to constant growth without end. Human life is an everlasting journey which does not end in death but only passes through death to further, perpetual growth in you.

The power that filled Jesus enabling him to pass through death in glory has also been offered to every one of us. Father, the stories of the raising of Lazarus by Jesus and of the raising of Tabitha by Peter are merely signs of the power and glory also available to us to share in the resurrection. In saying “yes” to your ever-offered gift of divine life may we begin, even now, in this world, to live resurrected lives.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Apr. 11: Friday of the Third Week of Easter

2008-04-11T07:14:00.007-04:00

Caravaggio, The Conversion of St. Paul, Santa Maria del Popolo, Rome, 1600-01

Readings for Mass
First Reading: Acts 9:1-20
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 117:1, 2
Gospel: John 6:52-59

But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go, for he is an instrument whom I have chosen to bring my name before Gentiles and kings and before the people of Israel (NRSV, Acts 9:15).”

Let us pray.

Father, an apostle is one who has immediately experienced the risen Lord Jesus and has been sent to announce the good news to the others. Mary Magdalene may have been the first apostle; Paul claims that he is the last.

Paul is important for us, Father, because he is the only apostle who has himself written about resurrection. Indeed, he is the first to write of all of those who have contributed to Christian scripture.

For Paul, and this is so important for us, Father, the resurrection is not resurrection merely of the spiritual principle, or soul. Jesus rose in his entirety, that is, also in the body. But, as Paul experienced it, the body was transformed into something beyond the physical, no longer subject to earthly forces. Jesus did not resurrect back into this earthly life but resurrected into the world to come, a destiny to which we are all called.

Father, Paul encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus in a way that changed his whole life. All of us, Father, in every time and place, experience the Word, now made flesh, at the depth of our being, closer than we are to ourselves, at every moment of our lives. May we be every responsive to this one Word spoken to all of humanity that we too may experience conversion in our lives, not merely on one particular occasion, but in every moment that we live, here in this world and into the next.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Apr. 10: Thursday of the Third Week of Easter

2008-04-10T08:28:00.005-04:00

Rembrandt van Rijn, Baptism of the Eunuch, Museum Catherijneconvent, Utrecht, 1626

Readings for Mass
First Reading: Acts 8:26-40
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 66:8-9, 16-17, 20
Gospel: John 6:44-51

“How can I, unless someone guides me (NRSV, Acts 8:31a)?”

Let us pray.

Father, how gracious you are to all of us in every situation. At each moment, you reveal yourself to us through your one spoken Word, uttered to all in every place and time. You have as well given us your written Word passed down to us through the centuries. Your truth is contained in the wisdom of the ages shared by the whole human family. If this were not enough, in the fullness of time, the Word has become flesh in our Lord Jesus Christ, indeed truly the way, the truth and the life, come to teach, to comfort, to heal and even to die with us.

Father, our situation in life and history, the heavy burden of the sin of the world, and our own personal selfishness and sin, make it difficult fully to grasp your Word in every situation even though every moment, without fail, is always saving.

Your truth, Father, spoken to us all in the depth of our being through the Word, abounds throughout creation in ways we often least expect. May every one of us, Lord, come to a deeper understanding of who you are and what you challenge us to become. May we always encourage one another so that we may each one benefit from the truth revealed to all but only understood in part by any one of us. May each of us, in ways not always yet determined, share in mediating your Word to one another.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Apr. 9: Wednesday of the Third Week of Easter

2008-04-09T12:20:00.003-04:00

Matthias Grünewald, The Resurrection of Christ from The Isenheimer Altarpiece (detail), Musée d'Unterlinden, Colmar, 1510-15

Readings for Mass

First Reading: Acts 8:1-8

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 66:1-3, 4-5, 6-7

Gospel: John 6:35-40

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty (NRSV, Jn 6:35).”

Let us pray.

Father, we are grateful for the gift of the Eucharist in which we celebrate the continuing presence in our lives of the Word made flesh under the tangible and visible signs of bread and wine.

Your act that is the Eucharist is the same act in which the Word challenges every human being in every place, and of every time, to accept and grow in your life, acceptance which is faith in you through the Word, faith that is often anonymous and implicit.

Father, in every moment, not only when we celebrate the Eucharist, may we recognize your presence in our lives through the Word made flesh, and say “yes” to the challenge with which he confronts us, for he is truly the bread of life.

Alleluia. Amen.

Apr. 8: Tuesday of the Third Week of Easter

2008-04-08T10:26:00.005-04:00

Bernardo Daddi, The Martyrdom of St. Stephen (detail), Santa Croce, Florence, 1324

Readings for Mass
First Reading: Acts 7:51--8:1
Responsorial Psalm: Palms 31:3-4, 6, 7, 8, 17, 21
Gospel: John 6:30-35

“Lord, do not hold this sin against them (NRSV, Acts 7:60a).”

Let us pray.

In the moment of his approaching death, Stephen called out to you, Father, begging forgiveness for those who were killing him. In Luke’s gospel, Jesus himself, begged for forgiveness for those putting him to death.

Father, I truly believe that you offer forgiveness to all of us for our sins, through the Word, even before we ask for it. All that is needed is that we turn away from the evil that we have done and once again freely accept your life into our own, even as we did in the power of the Spirit that first moment of our existence in our mother’s womb.

Father, as you offer us forgiveness and we accept it forgiving ourselves for what we have done, may we also, as Stephen did, turn to those who sin against us and pass on to them the forgiveness that we ourselves have received. To be forgiven is also to forgive in turn.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Apr.7: Monday of the Third Week of Easter

2008-04-07T08:47:00.004-04:00

Paolo Uccello, The Disputation of St. Stephen, Duomo, Prato, 1435

Readings for Mass
First Reading: Acts 6:8-15
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 119:23-24, 26-27, 29-30
Gospel: John 6:22-29

And all who sat in the council looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel (NRSV, Acts 6:15).

Let us pray.

Father, divine power transfigured Jesus even in apparent ignominy and defeat. In Mark’s gospel, seeing the manner in which Jesus was dying, the pagan centurion at the foot of the cross came to believe: “Truly this man was God’s Son!” In John’s gospel, the last to be written, the power that came from Jesus is such that he is seen as resurrected already throughout his entire public ministry.

Stephen, one of the seven, ordained to “serve,” the first martyr for faith in Christ, was so full of grace and power that at his trial before the Sanhedrin his face shone like an angel.

Father, May I respond in such a way to the life which you always offer to me through the Word that I too may be changed, that others may come to believe your Word encouraged by everything that I say and indeed everything that I am.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Apr. 6: Third Sunday of Easter, Cycle A

2008-04-06T06:37:00.004-04:00

Pontormo, The Meal in Emmaus, Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence, 1530

Readings for Mass

First Reading: Acts 2:14, 22-28

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 16:1-2, 5, 7-8, 9-10, 11

Second Reading: First Peter 1:17-21

Gospel: Luke 24:13-35

When Jesus was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us (NRSV, Lk 24:30-32)?”

Let us pray.

Father, every Sunday, as we celebrate the Eucharist with you, we are like the disciples on the way to Emmaus. As we listen to the Word proclaimed, it is Jesus himself, the Word made flesh, who unlocks for us a fuller meaning of the Scripture. As we break Bread together, we are those same disciples, gather around the table in the inn, with our eyes on the Lord. In the Bread and the Cup, Jesus gives us his very life to share, the same life that is offered to everyone at every moment at the depth of our being, but now shared with us in a way that is tangible and visible.

Father, encountering Jesus as he taught them concerning Holy Writ and shared himself with them in the blessing of Bread, the disciples on the way to Emmaus came to a deeper understanding of who Jesus is and a fuller meaning of the journey that is human life. May we, Father, in the celebration of the Eucharist and indeed at every moment, grow in that same understanding that guides us on our continuing journey to you.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Apr. 5: Saturday of the Second Week of Easter

2008-04-05T15:33:00.008-04:00

Giovanni Battista Piazzetta:
St. Stephen, One of the Seven, Proto-martyr
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., late 1730s

Readings for Mass
First Reading: Deuteronomy 30:15-20
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 1:1-2, 3, 4, 6
Gospel: Luke 9:22-25

And the twelve called together the whole community of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should neglect the word of God in order to wait on tables. Therefore, friends, select from among yourselves seven men of good standing, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may appoint to this task, while we, for our part, will devote ourselves to prayer and to serving the word (NRSV, Acts 6:2-4).”

Let us pray.

Father, in the course of the journey towards you who are our only true future, it is often the case that we unfortunately ignore the interests and well-being of some of our sisters and brothers journeying along with us. In the apostolic Church that was the case in Jerusalem with Christians of Hellenic origin. To address their needs Seven were appointed and ordained to serve them, those we often recognize today as the first deacons.

Father, we stand ready to accept further growth in your life through the Word always present to us, may we be ever conscious of those close to us and faraway that we may be always ready to share with them your life and whatever else they may need and encourage them on our common journey. Keep us conscious, Father, that every human being is loved by you and called to share in your life.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Apr. 4: Friday of the Second Week of Easter

2008-04-04T07:29:00.003-04:00

Castillan-Moresque Haggadah, Rabbi Gamaliel and His Students, British Library, London, c.1300

Readings for Mass

First Reading: Acts 5:34-42

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 27:1, 4, 13-14

Gospel: John 6:1-15

Let us pray.

Father, may we be attentive to the words of Gamaliel who sensed deep within him, although not clearly, the Word spoken to him. Often we, like the members of the Sanhedrin, are so certain that we understand what has been revealed, only to be enlightened later by one more sensitive than ourselves. Even in high places within the Church there has been found need to apologize for conclusions hastily reached and imposed upon others.

Father, may we be open to the movement of your Holy Spirit in our midst that we may be ever more and more responsive to the one Word that is spoken to all in the depth of our being. May me always be ready to admit error in judgment and then to grow in understanding of your truth.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Apr. 3: Thursday of the Second Week of Easter

2008-04-03T08:24:00.007-04:00

Metropolitan John the Icon-Painter, Christ the Savior and Lifegiver, Museum of Macedonia, Skopje, 1384

Readings for Mass

First Reading: Acts 5:27-33

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 34:2, 9, 17-18, 19-20

Gospel: John 3:31-36

Jesus said to Nicodemus, “The Father loves the Son and has placed all things in his hands. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life (NRSV, Jn 3:35-36b).”

Let us pray.

Father, your love for the Son and your Son’s love for you is the Holy Spirit. Everything that you do in the one act that is your being is done through the Son, your Word. You give us a share in your divine life through the Word who is with us, and remains with us always, from the womb. It is the Word who challenges us to believe, to accept your life. This challenge, made at every moment, in every place, to everyone, at the depth of one’s being, is made manifest and visible, in the same one act that is your being, in the Word made flesh, your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. It is through acceptance of the Word that we receive eternal life.

Father, may all of us, everywhere, called also with the Christ to be your daughters and sons, say “yes” to the Word present to us that we may all share in your life through him, the Savior and Lifegiver, and grow in that life at every moment.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.