Gospel Mt 11:28-30

Jesus said to the crowds:
“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,
and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
for I am meek and humble of heart;
and you will find rest for yourselves.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”

“The Sacred Heart” Finger Painting: Ronald Raab, CSC

Prayer: (Raab)

Jesus, reveal your humble love to us in these Advent days. Stay with us when we think we can bring peace, forgiveness and mercy through our own egos, in our own efforts. Offer us your tenderness. Show us the way to your Kingdom. Instill within our own hearts the revelation of your love. Sacred Heart, love us and call us your own. Amen

The Prophet Isaiah: Pastel sketch: Ronald Raab, CSC

Isaiah 40:1-11

Comfort, give comfort to my people,
says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her
that her service is at an end,
her guilt is expiated;
Indeed, she has received from the hand of the LORD
double for all her sins.

A voice cries out:
In the desert prepare the way of the LORD!
Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God!
Every valley shall be filled in,
every mountain and hill shall be made low;
The rugged land shall be made a plain,
the rough country, a broad valley.
Then the glory of the LORD shall be revealed,
and all people shall see it together;
for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.

A voice says, “Cry out!”
I answer, “What shall I cry out?”
“All flesh is grass,
and all their glory like the flower of the field.
The grass withers, the flower wilts,
when the breath of the LORD blows upon it.
So then, the people is the grass.
Though the grass withers and the flower wilts,
the word of our God stands forever.”

Go up onto a high mountain,
Zion, herald of glad tidings;
Cry out at the top of your voice,
Jerusalem, herald of good news!
Fear not to cry out
and say to the cities of Judah:
Here is your God!
Here comes with power
the Lord GOD,
who rules by his strong arm;
Here is his reward with him,
his recompense before him.
Like a shepherd he feeds his flock;
in his arms he gathers the lambs,
Carrying them in his bosom,
and leading the ewes with care.

John and Rosemary Raab, 50th Wedding Anniversary 1996

CLICK HERE TO READ ARTICLE: “ABOUT MY FATHER’S BUSINESS”

My father died sixteen years ago today. He suffered with Parkinson’s disease for over ten years. My folks worked together in a grocery with my brother for forty-five years. Read my article that was published in 2008 about his life and how I carry on his life from the grocery store into my ministry as a priest. May he rest in peace.

Second Sunday of Advent: Painting, Ronald Raab,CSC

My painting of John the Baptist is the cover of this week’s parish bulletin. Below is also my column for this Sunday. Read the bulletin by clicking the link. I also included today’s gospel. 

CLICK HERE TO READ BULLETIN

Dear Believers in the Merciful Christ,

I am often criticized for preaching about people’s needs, especially people who have minimal financial resources. I do so realizing that we all need God. In fact, this season of Advent is designed for us to cultivate a desire for God. This need means growing in a true and lasting awareness that we require God in order to live, to breathe and to make honest decisions in our world. We need God in our pain, our grief and to see the real beauty of life itself.

Our prayer is not a pious notion that if we say the right prayers, God will love us. Our prayer is a radical posture of prayer, breaking open our hearts to lay bare the awesome nature of God’s forgiveness and kindness to form us into a people of peace and non-violence.

Advent cracks open our hardened attitudes and cranky opinions. When we take Advent seriously, we are exposed to God, who waits for us to finally come to the conclusion that we cannot live without his mercy, love and compassion. So often, the least among us, show us how faith really works. They show us how to need God.

Today’s gospel (Matthew 3:1-12) tells us of a person who shows us how to need God. This person is Jesus’ cousin, John. John the Baptist is my hero. Even in the womb, he recognized Jesus. He spent his entire life pointing to the direction of Jesus. In most depictions and paintings of John, he is pointing his finger to the direction of the coming of the Kingdom, to the direction of Jesus’ forgiveness and peace.

John steps out of the wilderness, smelly and hungry. His strong will and presence command attention from us. He emerges from the dust in order for us to find our true selves. I wonder if you have the courage to pray with him in Advent? I will warn you, he is very demanding of our hearts! I have often said that Hallmark Cards would certainly go out of business if they relied on images of John the Baptist preparing us for Christmas. John is earthy, focused, and brutally honest about his place in life. I wonder if you could capture such prayer and focus in your own life?

John is the master of calling us to repentance. Why would we do such a thing in Advent? We do so because we always need to come back to the reason why we need God in the first place. We need to shave away our shame, sort through our sin, and simmer down our selfishness. John shows us how to need God.

This is why I speak of people who need God. They show the rest of us, who are so burdened by many things and cannot admit it, how to need God. When we admit our own spiritual poverty, then we can help others in real poverty. John shows us the path to Jesus, our redemption. He shows us how to celebrate the real and loving person of Jesus with a full heart.

Advent blessings,

Fr. Ron

– – –

On the Margins from Mater Dei Radio, Portland, OR

LISTEN NOW: CLICK HERE

Second Sunday of Advent, December 4, 2016

John the Baptist points his life and hope into the direction of Jesus, the Messiah. In these Advent days, we wait for God’s life to open our hearts, lives and actions. We wait for the coming of Jesus in our lives today!

“Blind Man” Pastel: Ronald Raab, CSC

Gospel Mt 9:27-31

As Jesus passed by, two blind men followed him, crying out,
“Son of David, have pity on us!”
When he entered the house,
the blind men approached him and Jesus said to them,
“Do you believe that I can do this?”
“Yes, Lord,” they said to him.
Then he touched their eyes and said,
“Let it be done for you according to your faith.”
And their eyes were opened.
Jesus warned them sternly,
“See that no one knows about this.”
But they went out and spread word of him through all that land.

– – –

I was interviewed today about my Advent book, The Unsheltered Heart: An At-Home Retreat. Cycle A. Listen to On Call with Wendy Wiese from Relevant Radio, Parkridge, IL. I am in the second half-hour.

LISTEN NOW: CLICK HERE

“Saint Andrew” Oil Pastel: Ronald Raab,CSC

Gospel Mt 4:18-22

As Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers,
Simon who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew,
casting a net into the sea; they were fishermen.
He said to them,
“Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
At once they left their nets and followed him.
He walked along from there and saw two other brothers,
James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John.
They were in a boat, with their father Zebedee, mending their nets.
He called them, and immediately they left their boat and their father
and followed him.