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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

Saturday of the Seventh Week of Easter 2020: JN 21:20-25, Homily, Art

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Life of Spirit: Painting by: Ronald Raab, CSC 2016

 

CLICK HERE to listen to today’s homily

Gospel JN 21:20-25

Peter turned and saw the disciple following whom Jesus loved,
the one who had also reclined upon his chest during the supper
and had said, “Master, who is the one who will betray you?”
When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about him?”
Jesus said to him, “What if I want him to remain until I come?
What concern is it of yours?
You follow me.”
So the word spread among the brothers that that disciple would not die.
But Jesus had not told him that he would not die,
just “What if I want him to remain until I come?
What concern is it of yours?”

It is this disciple who testifies to these things
and has written them, and we know that his testimony is true.
There are also many other things that Jesus did,
but if these were to be described individually,
I do not think the whole world would contain the books
that would be written.

Pentecost 2020: Bulletin Cover and Column

May 31, 2020 bulletin cover

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Sunday May 31, 2020

Pentecost

 Dear Followers of Jesus,

COVID-19 took away the breath of thousands of people. The ventilator has become an image of hope during this virus. Breathing freely is our hope for those stricken with disease. Breathing. Jesus invites us into such a mystery.

In today’s gospel, John 20: 19-23, Pentecost is revealed behind locked doors, hours after the resurrection. “Peace” is the first word uttered from Christ’s resurrected breath. Peace becomes balm for fear. His breath becomes our new life in the Holy Spirit. His breath remains with us beyond the closed room. His breath renews our lives and offers consolation for the world for all eternity.

Pentecost refreshes our understanding of what life is about. Pentecost is the Church taking a deep breath and realizing that our breath is what we have in common with those whom we think are completely different from ourselves. Our breath holds the Holy Spirit within us. Our breath is a reminder we are born again in Jesus’ dying and rising. The Holy Spirit does not fade away or given partially or in increments. There is no golden age of the Spirit. We receive the same breath of hope, the same miracle of joy, as did the disciples.

Many people will glaze over such a feast. We may think Pentecost is only something the Church celebrates dressed in red that remains contained in the sanctuary. Yet, Pentecost becomes the container where we ask ourselves some important questions. For in our hearts, God dwells.

We have an opportunity to ask such questions as: What if we breathed in genuine hope for the first time? What if this hope could change our perspective toward people on the margins of society and Church? Could this breath sustain our young so hopelessness and meaninglessness would not penetrate them? Could this breath teach us how to care for the earth, feed the hungry, and provide adequate pay to the people who teach our children, and who care for our elderly parents?

What if breathing deeply into the life of the Holy Spirit could change how we view our own lives? Could Pentecost teach us not to hate so to offer the world non-violence? Could we settle our differences by taking in the breath of God rather than holding our breath in rage, indifference and violence? These questions become our spiritual work and reflection.

Our way out of the pandemic is God’s initiative in you and me. The Holy Spirit is trying to teach us something as we live in our bodies. We cannot remain stuck in our heads. Change is a dirty word for many people. Pentecost is the source of change. Pentecost is an opportunity for people to understand the suffering of the human race. This feast pushes us out of the nest of Easter and into the world to live the consolation and peace of Christ Jesus. The Holy Spirit compels us to get to work and to quit moaning about our lives. This breath of life drives us into union and communion with our brothers and sisters.

Pentecost is more than adhering to regulations in hope that the Church will give us eternal life. Pentecost is a breath of fresh air that reveals meaning, depth and purpose here on earth. We all carry a responsibility within our human bodies to breath in the gift of faith, hope and love.

The Holy Spirit pushes on our chests so we may breath deeply in love and forgiveness. The Holy Spirit then pushes us out into the world so we may become people of integrity. We are to love and not cave into despair. We are to act in kindness and not resort to holding our breath in cynicism or apathy.

Pentecost opens new possibilities about who we are and what God wants us to become. We see Pentecost made flesh when we provide space in our parish center for people in recovery to sort through their demons and joys. We know Pentecost is real when we receive the stranger in midst and listen to their story before Mass. Pentecost opens doors and softens hearts. The Holy Spirit helps us hold the hand of the dying or the newborn child in joy. Pentecost promises life forever in God.

The Holy Spirit guides us to stop worrying about our futures and helps us pursue the task of serving other people even when a pandemic threatens to take our breath away.

Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you.
As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”

God give you peace,

Fr. Ron

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Friday of the Seventh Week of Easter 2020: JN 21:15-19, Homily, Art, Link to Bulletin

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“Tend My Sheep”, Painting by: Ronald Raab, CSC 2020

CLICK here to listen to today’s homily

 

CLICK HERE to read this weekend’s bulletin

 

Gospel JN 21:15-19

After Jesus had revealed himself to his disciples and eaten breakfast with them,
he said to Simon Peter,
“Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?”
Simon Peter answered him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”
Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.”
He then said to Simon Peter a second time,
“Simon, son of John, do you love me?”
Simon Peter answered him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”
He said to him, “Tend my sheep.”
He said to him the third time,
“Simon, son of John, do you love me?”
Peter was distressed that he had said to him a third time,
“Do you love me?” and he said to him,
“Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.”
Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.
Amen, amen, I say to you, when you were younger,
you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted;
but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands,
and someone else will dress you
and lead you where you do not want to go.”
He said this signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God.
And when he had said this, he said to him, “Follow me.”

Thursday of the Seventh Week of Easter 2020: JN 17:20-26, Homily, Art

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“The Glory of Heaven” Painting by: Ronald Raab, CSC

CLICK HERE to listen to today’s homily

 

Gospel JN 17:20-26

Lifting up his eyes to heaven, Jesus prayed saying:
“I pray not only for these,
but also for those who will believe in me through their word,
so that they may all be one,
as you, Father, are in me and I in you,
that they also may be in us,
that the world may believe that you sent me.
And I have given them the glory you gave me,
so that they may be one, as we are one,
I in them and you in me,
that they may be brought to perfection as one,
that the world may know that you sent me,
and that you loved them even as you loved me.
Father, they are your gift to me.
I wish that where I am they also may be with me,
that they may see my glory that you gave me,
because you loved me before the foundation of the world.
Righteous Father, the world also does not know you,
but I know you, and they know that you sent me.
I made known to them your name and I will make it known,
that the love with which you loved me
may be in them and I in them.”

Wednesday of the Seventh Week of Easter 2020: JN 17:11b-19, Homily, Art, Article from The Priest Magazine

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Painting by: Ronald Raab, CSC

 

CLICK HERE to listen to today’s homily

 

Gospel JN 17:11B-19

Lifting up his eyes to heaven, Jesus prayed, saying:
“Holy Father, keep them in your name
that you have given me,
so that they may be one just as we are one.
When I was with them I protected them in your name that you gave me,
and I guarded them, and none of them was lost
except the son of destruction,
in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled.
But now I am coming to you.
I speak this in the world
so that they may share my joy completely.
I gave them your word, and the world hated them,
because they do not belong to the world
any more than I belong to the world.
I do not ask that you take them out of the world
but that you keep them from the Evil One.
They do not belong to the world
any more than I belong to the world.
Consecrate them in the truth.
Your word is truth.
As you sent me into the world,
so I sent them into the world.
And I consecrate myself for them,
so that they also may be consecrated in truth.”

 

Here is a link to my article published in The Priest Magazine, from the May 2020 issue.  I am posting this article again as we approach the Solemnity of Pentecost 2020. CLICK HERE TO READ 

Memorial of Saint Philip Neri 2020: JN 17: 1-11a, Homily

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“I pray for them” Painting by: Ronald Raab, CSC 2020

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Gospel JN 17:1-11A

Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and said,
“Father, the hour has come.
Give glory to your son, so that your son may glorify you,
just as you gave him authority over all people,
so that your son may give eternal life to all you gave him.
Now this is eternal life,
that they should know you, the only true God,
and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ.
I glorified you on earth
by accomplishing the work that you gave me to do.
Now glorify me, Father, with you,
with the glory that I had with you before the world began.

“I revealed your name to those whom you gave me out of the world.
They belonged to you, and you gave them to me,
and they have kept your word.
Now they know that everything you gave me is from you,
because the words you gave to me I have given to them,
and they accepted them and truly understood that I came from you,
and they have believed that you sent me.
I pray for them.
I do not pray for the world but for the ones you have given me,
because they are yours, and everything of mine is yours
and everything of yours is mine,
and I have been glorified in them.
And now I will no longer be in the world,
but they are in the world, while I am coming to you.”

Monday of the Seventh Week of Easter 2020: JN 16: 29-33, Homily, Art

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“Do you believe now?” Painting by: Ronald Raab, CSC 2020

CLICK HERE to listen to today’s homily

 

Gospel JN 16:29-33

The disciples said to Jesus,
“Now you are talking plainly, and not in any figure of speech.
Now we realize that you know everything
and that you do not need to have anyone question you.
Because of this we believe that you came from God.”
Jesus answered them, “Do you believe now?
Behold, the hour is coming and has arrived
when each of you will be scattered to his own home
and you will leave me alone.
But I am not alone, because the Father is with me.
I have told you this so that you might have peace in me.
In the world you will have trouble,
but take courage, I have conquered the world.”

The Ascension of the Lord 2020: MT 28: 16-20, Homily, Prayers of the Faithful

May 24, 2020 bulletin cover

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Gospel MT 28:16-20

The eleven disciples went to Galilee,
to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them.
When they saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted.
Then Jesus approached and said to them,
“All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.
And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”

 

 

Prayers of the Faithful 

Let us pray to set our sights on our Church Universal, that we may work diligently even beyond our fear to spread the Good News of the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Christ Jesus.

We pray to the Lord.

Let us pray to set our sights on the needs of parents who struggle to raise their children with autism or misfortune or disability. May we walk among people who need strong shoulders as guides and immense resources to survive.

We pray to the Lord.

Let us pray to set our sights on our desperate poor here on earth, for family members who stray from our nests, for people who face catastrophic need from storms and floods and for our youth unable to make sense of their futures.

We pray to the Lord.

Let us pray to set our sights on the person of Christ Jesus living here on earth among all who most need healing, love and forgiveness. May we walk in faith, integrity and service. May COVID-19 offer us a vital humility and ongoing compassion.

We pray to the Lord.

Let us pray to set our sights on healing and hope for people with mental illness and who may not want to live another day. May we as believers offer remedy and insight to people who question their very existence.

We pray to the Lord.

Let us pray to set our sights on the needs of people who are ill or homebound, that we may serve to alleviate fear among those who sit at the bedsides of the dying. For our beloved dead, especially those who died of COVID-19.

We pray to the Lord.

 

 

 

 

 

Saturday of the Sixth Week of Easter 2020: JN 16: 23B-28, Dedication Anniversary, Homily

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Dedication of Sacred Heart Church, May 23, 2018

CLICK HERE to view slide show of our history at Sacred Heart Church

 

CLICK HERE to listen to today’s homily

Gospel JN 16:23B-28

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Amen, amen, I say to you,
whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you.
Until now you have not asked anything in my name;
ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.

“I have told you this in figures of speech.
The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures
but I will tell you clearly about the Father.
On that day you will ask in my name,
and I do not tell you that I will ask the Father for you.
For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me
and have come to believe that I came from God.
I came from the Father and have come into the world.
Now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.”

 

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Dedication of Sacred Heart Church, May 23, 2018

Friday of the Sixth Week of Easter 2020: JN 16:20-23, Homily, Art

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“Mother and Child” Drawing by: Ronald Raab, CSC 2014

CLICK HERE to listen to today’s homily

CLICK here to read this week’s bulletin about May 30/31 opening

Gospel JN 16:20-23

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Amen, amen, I say to you, you will weep and mourn,
while the world rejoices;
you will grieve, but your grief will become joy.
When a woman is in labor, she is in anguish because her hour has arrived;
but when she has given birth to a child,
she no longer remembers the pain because of her joy
that a child has been born into the world.
So you also are now in anguish.
But I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice,
and no one will take your joy away from you.
On that day you will not question me about anything.
Amen, amen, I say to you,
whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you.”