Text: My column from our parish bulletin

Dear Believers in Jesus Christ,

Today’s gospel (Luke 18:1-8) is about patient persistence. A widow keeps approaching a judge for justice. She does not give up even when she is tuckered out. The judge finally gives in because the widow wears him down.

This text and the widow’s persistence can be compared to our own prayer life. We often become tired of praying for peace or coming to God about our grandchildren. We become exhausted struggling to make ends meet or praying our loved one survives a surgery or gets a new job. Prayer is exhausting. So many times our prayers are not answered the way we think they should be and we give up. Sometimes we unfold our hands and throw up our fists to God is shear frustration.

We cannot give up in our relationship with God, even though we may become tuckered out and exhausted by what life throws at us. Although our prayers may not be answered the way we want, we must remain consistent in our search and diligent in our prayers. We pray so that we can remain in the person of Jesus Christ. The more we pray without clinging to results, the closer we become to the heart of Jesus. Our persistence in prayer forms our lives. We finally, then, let go of our expectations about how we think life should be for ourselves and our fellow human beings.

Life is really tough. Life is no less tough in the Church. Yet, our individual and common prayer becomes a life formation tool. This tool carves a unique place within our hearts – a place of compassion, mercy and forgiveness. We cannot live the Christian life without praying every day. We cannot be formed by only greed, self-righteousness, anger, control or the desire to always be right. When we pray, we are then formed by the graces God provides for us, the graces that soften our hearts. These graces form our hearts into becoming a more loving and forgiving people.

One of the ways in which we can respect all life is to pray. In the gospel, the judge finally gave up his self-protecting behavior and granted the woman her justice. The widow was without power in her society. Even though we may not have the place in the Church or in our family that we think we should have, God listens to us. God listens to our pleas and creates hope within our exhaustion.

Blessings,

Fr. Ron

“The Widow” Ronald Raab, CSC

On the Margins from Mater Dei Radio, Portland, OR

Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Luke 18:1-8

LISTEN NOW: CLICK HERE

We are all weary in our prayer. Yet, we pray so that hope may live within us. We claim God in the center of anguish. We open our lives to the healing God has for us alone.

“For Freedom” Painting: Ronald Raab, CSC

Monday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time

“The Emotional Leper” Sketch: Ronald Raab, CSC

(Text from my column in the Sacred Heart parish bulletin) 

Dear Believers in Jesus,

This gospel today (Luke 17:19) is a favorite of mine because Jesus breaks down so many barriers. In our culture, it is difficult to understand how countercultural this passage really is for the early Christian community.

The trauma of leprosy was real. People were moved to the margins of their community because they were not only contagious but thought to be possessed by demons. Usually the leper died alone, separated from daily meals with loved ones, education, care, compassion and hope. Jesus steps in the center of the turmoil. I believe that Jesus still does this, even now in our lives and world.

The gospel suggests that people have always separated out those they did not want to deal with. This human action is deep. We still divide. We still separate out. We still draw lines about who is in and who is out. We live in a time where division is profoundly real. We see this during our national campaigns for the presidency. We see this in our families when children and parents do not get along and siblings still fight for attention. We see this in the way we blame people for mental illness or disease, or when we draw lines in the Church about who stands on which side of Vatican II. Divisions, lines drawn, isolation and fear are all real, even today.

For Jesus, there are no outcasts. Jesus’ presence heals. Today, in our prayer, we understand that we are challenged to be the healing that we desire. We are to become Jesus’ presence among outcasts. We are to be converted into the dying and rising of Jesus.

This encounter Jesus has with outcasts also shows us how to be grateful. Gratitude in this text is the grand healer. One man who was healed comes back to Jesus in gratefulness. This suggests that gratitude is hard to come by and that a grateful heart is the full expression of faith, love and hope. Being grateful is also contagious.

Here are some ways to pray through this gospel:

Jesus, help us realize our own trauma and the ways in which we separate other people…

Jesus, help us to cross the boundaries of how we shun people or think that only some deserve you…

Jesus, come to us and heal all the separations even in our own hearts….

Jesus, help us always to remain in full gratitude…

Blessings,

Fr. Ron

On the Margins from Mater Dei Radio, Portland, OR

Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time, October 9, 2016

Luke 17:11-19

This week’s edition does not have the usual opening and closing due

to technical difficulities

LISTEN NOW: CLICK HERE

The leper comes back to give thanks to Jesus. The leper is marginalized. The ill are given new life in Jesus. God heals us no matter how broken we are. The touch of Jesus is all we need.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE FROM THE WASHINGTON POST ABOUT POPE FRANCIS

CLICK HERE TO READ ABOUT SAINT FRANCIS OF ASSISI 

Gracious God, today we remember Saint Francis of Assisi who stood among the rubble of the Church so many years ago. Through his simplicity and prayer, he brought the Church to a new awareness of your Son, Jesus the Christ and our place among people of the earth. He restored dignity to our relationship with nature and brought hope again to people destitute and forgotten. Today we see Pope Francis, named for Francis of Assisi, standing among the rubble, among the ruins of a city. We are reminded of all the ways the Church needs re-formation as well. Give us all courage to help people in need, to offer food to the starving, homes to people lost among the fray and give us courage to pray on behalf of others to restore the world in our relationship with one another. Give dignity and joy to all who believe this day. Give us courage to stand among the ruins and bring hope to those in need of your love. Through the intercession of Francis of Assisi, give courage to our Church this day in the name of Jesus the Christ. Amen

Domestic Violence Awareness: Drawing: Ronald Raab, CSC

Colorado resources: Click Here