Dina Marie, from 88.3 in Portland, OR interviewed me this morning for an hour on Advent. I was interviewed because this Advent, I begin my eleventh year on the radio. The casual interview is an hour.
“The Door of Mercy”
Painting: Ronald Raab, CSC 2015
Advent is here already. The yearning of the ancient people for a Messiah becomes our story once again. We start the story of Jesus so that longing may transform our hearts, in our time and place, in our generation. We hear in Luke’s Gospel, “…Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life, and that day catch you by surprise like a trap…”
We have had a violent month in our city of Colorado Springs. Two different shootings have roused great fear on our streets. Here is an article from NBC about the shootings on Friday.
We begin the Year of Mercy on December 8. In this Advent, let us beg God for peace. Let us take the Year of Mercy to heart. Let us be doers of the peace we seek. Let us be slow to judge and quick to pray.
Lord Jesus Christ,
you have taught us to be merciful like the heavenly Father,
and have told us that whoever sees you sees Him.
Show us your face and we will be saved.
Your loving gaze freed Zacchaeus and Matthew from being enslaved by money;
the adulteress and Magdalene from seeking happiness only in created things;
made Peter weep after his betrayal,
and assured Paradise to the repentant thief.
Let us hear, as if addressed to each one of us, the words that you spoke to the Samaritan woman:
“If you knew the gift of God!”
You are the visible face of the invisible Father,
of the God who manifests his power above all by forgiveness and mercy:
let the Church be your visible face in the world, its Lord risen and glorified.
You willed that your ministers would also be clothed in weakness
in order that they may feel compassion for those in ignorance and error:
let everyone who approaches them feel sought after, loved, and forgiven by God.
Send your Spirit and consecrate every one of us with its anointing,
so that the Jubilee of Mercy may be a year of grace from the Lord,
and your Church, with renewed enthusiasm, may bring good news to the poor,
proclaim liberty to captives and the oppressed,
and restore sight to the blind.
We ask this of you, Lord Jesus, through the intercession of Mary, Mother of
Mercy; you who live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit for ever and
ever.
Amen.
After 42 years of publication, Ministry and Liturgy Magazine has come to an end. I am deeply honored to have been part of this pastoral publication for eleven years. The cover of the last issue is an image of the crucifixion that I painted a few months ago. So in this last issue, I have two articles and the cover image. I will post the articles in a few days. I want to thank Ada Simpson and Donna Cole for publishing my articles and affirming my years of ministry.
Last cover of Ministry and Liturgy magazine, Dec 2015
Here is the photo of my painting that I submitted:
“Crucifixion” by Ronald Raab, CSC 2015
Listen to “On the Margins”. This broadcast comes from Mater Dei Radio 88.3. (I begin my eleventh year hosting On the Margins) This gospel is meant to stir up our longing for God, waiting still for the Prince of Peace. We start over in the story of Jesus as Advent begins, longing for new life, healing and love here on earth. We wait for the power of Jesus in our day. First Sunday of Advent, November 29, 2015.
Stream live On The Margins on KBVM 88.3FM on Saturdays at 3:45pm and Sundays at 8am.
“Harvest”
Painting: Ronald Raab, CSC
Gospel Acclamation: In all circumstances, give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.
Response: In gratitude and praise, O God
For every breath that I take for granted…
For every moment of insight and inspiration…
For every conversation that leads to reconciliation…
For every kind word that offers healing…
For every unexpected encounter of friendship…
For every morning of prayer that leads to gratitude…
For every child that is surrounded with emotional safety and love…
For every person who works in a field or factory to bring us food…
For every grandparent that tells the tales of the past…
For every leader that knows new possibilities…
For every teacher who reveals creativity and wonder…
For every worker who betters the landscape of our lives…
For every moment we realize that we cannot control life and outcomes…
For every sentence that is whispered against violence…
For every meal that is served among people who do not have the basics of life…
For every glass of milk that is offered to a child who goes thirsty…
For every family table that brings forgiveness…
For every shelter that houses people from the cold and violent streets…
For every word that harvests peace within us…
For every act of faith that reveals hope to the marginalized…
For every encounter with a stranger that harvests thanksgiving…
For every morning where peace is real and not taken for granted…
For every possession and a life of simplicity…
For every moment of prayer…
For every act of hope…
For every breath today…
Amen
Happy Thanksgiving,
Fr. Ron
“Christ the King” Painting by: Ronald Raab, CSC 2015
Dear Followers of Christ the King,
Today we celebrate Christ, the King of the Universe. This is the last Sunday of our liturgical year. We believe that all of life will culminate in Christ Jesus. We belong to Christ, no matter who we are or in what circumstances we find our lives.
Christ the King is not about our earthly notions of a king, who yields grand authority over other people or who is distant and removed from daily life. In fact, Jesus is the complete opposite of our fairytale notion of a king, or our images of royalty from a distant land.
Jesus is our Savior. Jesus is our King because he suffered with us, not worked against us. He entered into human life with great humility and purpose. He bore the weight of our sin and our stubbornness. Jesus embraced lepers, kissed the feet of the weary, touched the eyes of the blind, and healed the deaf ear. Jesus is the source and reason for our lives. In his passion, death, and resurrection we find our home.
We celebrate with joy, because he became poor for our sake. He taught us how to befriend the sinner, the outcast and the lost. We follow in his steps; not a path to a glorious throne, but through the nitty gritty of life, in the trenches of human foibles, in the darkness of sin, in our excruciating pain, in our family quarrels.
In my painting above, we see that Christ the King received the crown of heaven because he wore the thorns of death on earth. He gave himself for us so that we may empty our pride and start living for other people. Christ the King takes us by the hand and leads us into eternal glory, even when we think we are not worth the effort.
Pray this litany with a heart for the King, Jesus the Christ.
Response: Jesus, Christ our King, lead us into your Light.
When I am tired because nothing ever works out for me…
When I am lost from searching and never finding…
When I am confused about what tomorrow may bring…
When I am fearful of being truly known by others…
When I am worried that I cannot live up to what the Church teaches…
When I feel lost because of my sinful past…
When I feel I cannot measure up to those sitting next to me in the pew…
When I feel terrified that I am known by only my past…
When I feel I am never really forgiven by the Church…
When I feel I am alone in my doubt…
When I sense the world cannot accept me…
When I sense the Church can never accept or love me…
When I sense that I simply do not fit in with others…
When I sense that I cannot change in the ways others wish I could…
When I sense that my decisions are not what God had in store for me…
When questions haunt me about how my children will care for me…
When questions about my spouse’s infidelity haunt me…
When questions about my sexuality confuse me…
When questions about my marriage overwhelm me…
When questions about my affairs torment my ability to stay with my family…
When my image of God is so narrow and judgmental…
When my image of God oppresses me…
When my image of God becomes so confined and condemning of others…
When my image of God has not changed since the second grade…
When my image of God curtails my understanding of the world around me…
When prayer becomes only rote and sarcastic…
When prayer becomes about rules, regulations and routine…
When prayer becomes more about myself than about God and other people…
When prayer becomes self-righteous and judgmental about people’s lives…
When prayer becomes a form of hiding my true self…
When I forget that our King sought out sinners and prostitutes…
When I forget that our King dined with people on the margins of society…
When I forget that our King ran after the lost sheep…
When I forget that our King was born in a cave and his life threatened…
When I forget that our King was whipped, scourged and put to death…
When I finally give myself, my complete self, to Jesus…
When I finally realize that I cannot live by my own power and control…
When I finally become aware I cannot change my past…
When I finally understand within my heart of hearts that Jesus loves me…
When I finally love as Jesus loves…
Blessings to you,
Fr. Ron
Listen to “On the Margins”. This broadcast comes from Mater Dei Radio 88.3. We celebrate Christ our King, the, our Savior who offers us hope at the end of our liturgical year. We listen to the voice of Christ, leading us all into the promise of Christ here on earth. There is no situation that will be left behind. All life will find hope in Christ Jesus. Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, November 22, 2015.
Stream live On The Margins on KBVM 88.3FM on Saturdays at 3:45pm and Sundays at 8am.
Purchase The Unsheltered Heart from Ave Maria Press: Click here
This Advent at-home retreat was published in 2012. This is the last time this series will be published. Cycle C begins on November 29, 2015.
Award-winning author Ronald Patrick Raab, C.S.C., makes Advent a transformative journey through spiritual direction within a daily pattern of prayer, reflection, and action in The Unsheltered Heart: An At-Home Advent Retreat (Cycle C). Raab draws on his life and ministry at the St. André Bessette Catholic Church in Portland, Oregon, where his daily encounters with people living with poverty, homelessness, addiction, and mental illness complicate the meaning of the Incarnation in a fractured world. His narrative style unsettles, challenges, and enlightens, yet in the end offers the hope of Christ dwelling among us. The Unsheltered Heart provides a popular five-step retreat format for each day of Advent: pray, read, reflect, write, and act. The Sunday gospel readings for each week of the season underpin the retreat and a guide for optional reflection in small groups is available for free download.
Ideal Uses for The Unsheltered Heart: An At-Home Advent Retreat:
“The searching Zacchaeus” Sketch: Ronald Raab, CSC
LK 19:1-10
Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through it. A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was rich.
He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way.
When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.” So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him.
All who saw it began to grumble and said, “He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.”
Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.”
Then Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.”
Response: Seek and save the lost, my Savior
When I am short on patience…
When I am short on seeing the truth…
When I am short on inner peace…
When I am short on options for hope…
When I am short on kindness…
When I am short on respect for other people…
When I am short on where to find you…
When I finally give my life to you…
When I finally gain a perspective of your face…
When I finally offer even my belongings to you…
When I finally stand on the ground of faith…
When I finally affirm the needs of other people…
When I finally show that I am tired of my selfishness…
When I finally stand before your healing presence…
Today, salvation has come.
“Lord, please, let me see”
Finger painting: Ronald Raab, CSC
As Jesus approached Jericho a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging, and hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what was happening. They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by,” He shouted, “Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me.” …Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” He replied, “Lord, please, let me see.”
Response: Lord, please, let me see…
Your peace in the center of violence…
Your love in the midst of my fear…
Your presence in the center of chaos…
Your consolation among the people of Paris…
Your path on the streets of Colorado Springs and every city…
Your hope in the center of grief…
Your call for peace…
Your presence of healing…
Your challenge to respect all people…
Your fidelity in my inability to respect life…
Your promise that death to self brings new life…
Your goodness overriding destruction…
Your life in my anger…
Your truth bringing me real freedom…
Your protection satisfying my loneliness…
Your acceptance calming my revenge…
Your voice inviting me to praise…
Your face forever and ever…
Amen
Broken But Not Divided 