Author Archives: Ronald Patrick Raab, C.S.C.

Unknown's avatar

About Ronald Patrick Raab, C.S.C.

Ronald Raab, C.S.C.,serves as religious superior at Holy Cross House, a medical and retirement home for the Congregation of Holy Cross, Notre Dame, Indiana

Thanksgiving Day 2020

Posted on by
2
He returned, glorifying God! Painting by: Ronald Raab, CSC 2020

CLICK HERE for today’s scripture readings for Thanksgiving Day.

God of Miracles,

You do not distance yourself

From our raw humanity.

We are yours,

No matter the art form of our language

Or the shades of our skin color

Or the chaos on our streets

Or the places we call home.

As we experience our common mortality

In this year of pandemic,

We look out from our isolation

To view your presence,

In the ICU unit with overwhelmed caregivers,

In the technology that brings to focus the faces we love,

In the ingenuity of small business owners,

In the grief, yes, even in the grief from illness and death.

Gracious God,

We learn from the scriptures about

These socially isolated men

Without work

Without respect

Without love and human touch.

In the face of your Son, Jesus

All were healed.

All ten where overwhelmed with joy

Because now their bodies did not hurt

And their loved ones could be near again.

One healed man

Came back grateful

To behold again the face of Jesus,

The face we long for even today.

In these days of chaos

And isolation

Help us all rejoice

As a nation and as individuals.

No matter our uncertainty.

We reach beyond bitterness today

To be grateful.

This hope is for today

And forever.

Amen

First Sunday of Advent 2020:Bulletin Art and Column

Posted on by
1

First Sunday of Advent

November 29, 2020

Dear Followers of the Messiah,

So, we start a new liturgical year. We take a deep breath and learn again to rely on the love Jesus has for his people. We sing, still with masks covering our mouths, but with a new desire in our bodies to welcome the Incarnate Savior. I pray we can pay attention to Jesus this year and keep our focus on love. Much healing needs to happen. Our children have experienced the clumsiness of our world, the inappropriate manner in which we have treated people, and the offensive language of our political lives. This Advent can be different. This Advent, we can focus on the mystery that love is born in our world even when we feel we have misplaced such a gift.

I pray for the world this Advent, that we may bear the unbelievable mystery of God. We are caretakes of love. Our skin colors may be different, our accents not easily understood, but we are all children of God. We don’t have all the answers to the pandemic. We struggle to care for the earth upon which we live. We are caretakers of the fact that Jesus became flesh for all people. In this mystery, I hold fast.

We carry much baggage with us into this new liturgical year. We still can’t easily gather in groups.  Our children don’t know from week to week how they will be educated. Our parents have delt with job loss and financial uncertainty. The one thing we have learned however in this pandemic is that we need God. Jesus can no longer be a stranger in our households. The baby Jesus does not remain in a manger scene. He has to grow up. We begin with the adult Jesus in the Advent gospels. He is a sign to us to get our acts together, to grow up, and to explore our adult faith. He advises us to get moving.

Today’s gospel, Mark 13:33-37 is short but packs a real punch. Jesus tells a simple story of a man traveling abroad. He leaves home.  His servants are in charge. Jesus commands, “Stay awake…Be alert…Watch!” Those commands compel us. What are we watching for? What shall we be alert to? If we don’t, what will happen?

The servant is asked to protect the property from disaster, from theft, and from those who would destroy the owner’s goods.  We are asked to care for all that God has left us on earth. In other words, God has left everything for us to hold as treasure. I think this is really important for us to acknowledge. Sometimes we think that world peace is not our worry or that the ground we stand on is not our responsibility. We often live the sin of entitlement, that we have earned our place standing on the earth. The earth, and even our lives, are not throw-a-way.  The earth is ours for which to care. Every day is sheer gift. Every aspect of raising children or burying our parents and everything in-between becomes an opportunity to hold the mystery of God’s presence within us.

This gospel helps us expand our view of life and faith. It penetrates our hearts toward the care of people who need us to stay awake. This new liturgical year gives us an opportunity to open a new door to our own selfishness, our obstinance toward others, and our apathy toward people who are different from our selves. We are called to stay awake and to live with expectation of the Lord’s coming.

We must learn to live differently in Advent. We are asked to stay awake through all the turmoil of racial violence, to stand among the marginalized, to ask deeper questions to those who abuse their power. Waking up is not passive. We are challenged to hold the light of faith boldly in the world. Our actions in the world declare our faith.

Advent does not begin by waiting for the cozy scene of childbirth with red and green accessories. This is not what we are waiting for in the first weeks of this season. We are waiting for a fresh breeze in our hearts that wakes us from slumber so we may get to work. Our faith in God is serious, life changing, and full of compassion toward all people.

Advent holds a three-dimensional understanding of God’s presence. We wait in the past, along with our ancestors who longed for the Messiah. We wait in the future for Jesus’ Second Coming. However, the third may be more important for us. We wait for God to crack open our stubborn and callused hearts. Today is the day to wake up.

If life in these past months of pandemic and all of the events in our world have not showed us that we need God, I am not sure what will. So, together, let’s remain awake.

God give you peace,

Fr. Ron

The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the King of the Universe 2020

Posted on by
2
Christ the King. Painting by: Ronald Raab, CSC

I believe in the King.

I believe his face overwhelms any darkness.

I believe all will be right in the end.

I believe even the wicked will find home under his crown.

I believe we do not earn his mercy.

I believe the lost shall show us the way to him.

I believe the hungry reveal our deepest desires.

I believe the prisoner unlocks our selfish confinement.

I believe the naked shall show us not to live in shame.

I believe the ill show us how to heal the world.

I believe that we are to act justly and love honestly.

I believe faith is measured by love alone.

I believe service is golden in the eyes of the King.

I believe listening is rewarded in the King’s presence.

I believe hope is modeled by the addicted and mentally ill.

I believe salvation comes in offering a cup of water.

I believe the King waits for us.

I believe the King summons us.

I believe the King welcomes and never condemns.

I believe the King shall come.

I believe the King believes in me.

I believe in the King.