The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus: Painting by: Ronald Raab, CSC
This image was recently published in AIM Magazine from World Library, Chicago, IL.
The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus: Image published in AIM Magazine, June 2018
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Author Archives: Ronald Patrick Raab, C.S.C.
The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus: Reflection published today in FaithND
The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Painting by: Rev. Ronald Raab,CSC
This reflection is published today in FaithND from the University of Notre Dame. View on website here
The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus
June 8, 2018
JN 19:31-37
Father Ron Raab, CSC
In today’s Gospel, a soldier recognizes the death of Jesus and thrusts a sword into his side. Water and blood flows from Jesus’ body. This image began the centuries old devotion to the heart of Jesus, the divine love flowing toward all humanity to heal heartbreak and suffering. The Sacred Heart of Jesus sustains hope for many believers today.
My heart carries a deep devotion to the Sacred Heart. In high school, a widow handed me a Sacred Heart prayer card. She told me to offer that prayer daily. The prayer led me to my vocation, as I found my way to the priests of the Congregation of Holy Cross, who are dedicated to the Sacred Heart. I carried the mangled card in my wallet for more than 30 years.
Just before ordination, I asked a priest to teach me to pray. He told me to surrender and ask Jesus for an exchange of hearts. I could not comprehend such a command. Now, I understand in my years of priesthood and entering into the suffering of people’s lives the true gift of this exchange. Mercy and love flow abundantly when we surrender to love alone. I find my heart’s home in the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the rich exchange of human and divine.
I am now pastor of Sacred Heart Parish in Colorado Springs. In my longing for healing and integrity among our people, I pray daily for a heart of hope. I see the mystery of this devotion flow through our people when they first recognize the love of God. Only then are they willing to offer love to people who live in poverty or welcome people with disabilities or broken marriages. Together, we find consolation flowing through our lives from the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
“Saint Paul”
“Saint Paul” Painting by: Ronald Raab, CSC
Reading 1 2 Tm 1:1-3, 6-12
Paul, an Apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God
for the promise of life in Christ Jesus,
to Timothy, my dear child:
grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father
and Christ Jesus our Lord.
for the promise of life in Christ Jesus,
to Timothy, my dear child:
grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father
and Christ Jesus our Lord.
I am grateful to God,
whom I worship with a clear conscience as my ancestors did,
as I remember you constantly in my prayers, night and day.
For this reason, I remind you to stir into flame
the gift of God that you have through the imposition of my hands.
For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice
but rather of power and love and self-control.
So do not be ashamed of your testimony to our Lord,
nor of me, a prisoner for his sake;
but bear your share of hardship for the Gospel
with the strength that comes from God.
He saved us and called us to a holy life,
not according to our works
but according to his own design
and the grace bestowed on us in Christ Jesus before time began,
but now made manifest
through the appearance of our savior Christ Jesus,
who destroyed death and brought life and immortality
to light through the Gospel,
for which I was appointed preacher and Apostle and teacher.
On this account I am suffering these things;
but I am not ashamed,
for I know him in whom I have believed
and am confident that he is able to guard
what has been entrusted to me until that day.
Prayer:
God of our integrity,
Send forth the Holy Spirit
That we may be strengthened and set free.
Give us joy in your service and help us always to work for justice.
We are strong only in your love, only in your presence.
We are at peace when your presence finally satisfies your souls.
Loving God, tender are your ways and
we are confident in our search for you.
Amen
The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, June 3, 2018
Dear Followers of Jesus,
Every time we gather for Mass, we celebrate our true identity in God. Now today, we reflect on the gift of the Eucharist itself. At Sacred Heart, these past Sundays of Pentecost, Holy Trinity and now the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, show us why we restored our church building. The building only helps us to internalize our true identity in Christ, revealing to us that we become on earth the Real Presence of Christ.
On Wednesday May 23, 2018, we celebrated the Eucharist in the newly restored Sacred Heart Church. I want to reflect on some of the aspects of that celebration. I will be offering much reflection and many tours as the summer progresses, but here are a couple of the details that formed our first Eucharist back in the church.
The relic of Saint André Bessette: I had the privilege of carrying the relic of Saint André in procession as we began the Mass. With two parishioners carrying candles along side, I carried the second -class relic to the altar. The relic is a piece of clothing of Saint André who died in 1937 at the age of 92 in Montreal, Canada. Brother André Bessette was a Holy Cross Brother who became a healer after being assigned to be the porter, a doorkeeper, at our college in Montreal. He had an enduring devotion to Saint Joseph and began what is now Saint Joseph’s Oratory, the largest shrine to Saint Joseph in the world.
Brother André was a healer. Many people with physical, emotional and spiritual pain came to the college to seek him out, to have him listen to them or to have him touch their wounds. He would see up to 600 people a day and then stay up most of the night praying for the people he encountered during the day. He slept only one or two hours a day. Holy Cross considered him a nuisance because of all the poor people that landed on the doorstep. The priests and brothers really did not know what to do with him because he did not fit easily into the mission of education. God had other plans for him.
I am deeply humbled to have Saint André’s relic in our altar. I pray every day that God will raise up healing in our community, so that we too may more fully understand that healing, hospitality and hope may reside not only from our altar but more deeply in our hearts. André died on January 6, 1937. Over one million people attended his funeral in the bitter cold of Montreal. That was a miracle itself. André’s legacy rests securely within our community now.
The relic is housed in a holy water bottle from 1897. This bottle was part of a home Mass kit for the sick that belonged to my grandmother’s family. I am honored to pass along this bottle to house the relic of André within the altar on which we celebrate the Eucharist.
The chalice donated from Father Nicholas Ayo, CSC: Bishop Sheridan used a chalice for the first time at Sacred Heart that belonged to our first novice master here in Cascade. Father Ayo was my novice master and he began the Novitiate here in 1978. I am so grateful to make this connection with Holy Cross here in the parish. Fr. Ayo is in active retirement at the University of Notre Dame. This chalice also means a great deal to me since he taught me many aspects of the spiritual life. The chalice will remain the property of Sacred Heart Church.
Blessings,
Fr. Ron
Dedication of Sacred Heart Church: More photos from Wednesday May 23, 2018
Photos by: Fred Nelson and Rusty Kern
The Most Holy Trinity: Bulletin cover art
Dedication of Sacred Heart Church: More photos
Images by Professional Photographer, Rusty Kern, May 23, 2018
By: Rusty Kern 2018
Photo: Rusty Kern 2018
Dedication of Sacred Heart Church: Wednesday May 23, 2018
Images by Rusty Kern: May 23, 2018
“Nourishment in the Intimacy of the Mass” from The Priest Magazine, June 2018
Here is a link to my latest article in The Priest Magazine from June 2018.
Pentecost 2018
Come, Holy Spirit, Come!
Today, the gospel takes us into the land of fearlessness. Jesus appears behind locked doors and offers the disciples peace. Calm and tenderness fall upon them. The doors open and their hearts have hope. The Church is born.
Today, fear meets the Holy Spirit. Our hearts carry the same, fear and Spirit. Today, let us recognize that within us is born something new where hope and love create a home.
Faith is an art form. The complete, sin-free, structured, organized Church did not fall from the sky. The Church is human and divine. We all must grapple with how we pass on faith, how we live hope in our world, how we design service to the poor and how art reflects our worship and praise. We put one step forward in each generation because we are co-creators with God. The Church is based on our ability to be creative, prayerful people.
I received a letter from a California prisoner this week. He read my article in Give Us This Day about creativity and art. He explained to me that he has found new skills and talents behind bars. His life is full of art and he is now teaching art to other prisoners and invites other artists to help him. He is the Church behind bars. His fear has met the Holy Spirit.
Pope Francis in an interview last week said, “An artist is an apostle of beauty.” Our creative lives, our self-expressions, our true voices in the world, all come from the Holy Spirit. We are caretakers of hope, we are instruments of the beauty of faith, we are doers of peace, making us all artists of the Divine.
Holy Spirit, free us from fear. Unlock our jaws so we may give you praise. Free our creativity so we may all bring forth hope and love in our world. Holy Spirit, bring fire to our souls, energy to our faith and strength to our voices of worship.
Come, Holy Spirit, Come!
Broken But Not Divided 