July 3, 2016

Dear Believers,

Today’s gospel (Luke 10:1-12, 17-20) continues to challenge us in the ways we follow Jesus. Jesus tells us that the harvest is abundant but laborers are few. So back up only a few belongings and get with the program. Go out with no money bag, no sandals and greet no one along the way. There is work to do and the gospel to proclaim.

Jesus tells us that, “Peace” needs to be proclaimed in the household that is visited. “Peace” is also the first word that Jesus proclaims after the resurrection when the disciples were locked in a room in fear. The gospel proclaims this peace as we go out to proclaim the Kingdom of God. Peace is key to discovering the love and mercy of Jesus.

This holiday weekend brings travel, job changes and a new fiscal year. Transitions in July include family vacations or more quiet time. Peace is something that we not only desire but also must live in our country and world. We are grateful for our own country, especially this weekend. Peace in our day is not easy to come by.

We welcome all who are visiting the Tri-Community this weekend. We are glad you are praying with us. Please take us with you and continue to pray for us wherever you call home. I hope you enjoy your time at the Eucharist with us.

I hope that you will get to enjoy your family this weekend, enjoy a vacation or retreat. Get some rest. Read a real book. Listen to your grandparents. Pray with your kids. Offer ice cream to someone whom needs your forgiveness. Breathe deeply. Hike a trail. Sleep in. Laugh with a friend. Be grateful for your life. Call, don’t text. Visit an art gallery. Create something. Write in your journal. Finger-paint a picture. Eat sweet corn and at least two burgers. We need to fill our lives with leisure as well as work. We need downtime in order to discover God’s saving and loving life in our lives. We need perspective in order to discover how we cling to God’s mercy and hope for our lives. We need balance and healthy relationships.

Enjoy the weekend. Enjoy your search for integrity and prayer. Pray for peace in our day and time. Our Independence Day calls us all to reflect on our role to bring peace to our world and nation. We are grateful for our veterans in our parish community who have served our nation. We pray for them and their families. We always pray for peace…

I want to share with you one of my litanies that is published in “Save Us, Send Us: Praying with Litanies” published from World Library Publications, Chicago, IL, 2013

For Peace and Justice

(Matthew 5:38-48)

 Response: O God, work your will through us.

Help us give to one another who asks:

Help us provide shelter for the weary and tired:

Help us protect the weak and the lonely:

Help us to become a better people when we serve others:

Help us walk the extra mile:

Help us listen with all of our attention:

Help us love when love seems impossible:

Help us turn the other cheek:

Help us give our extra cloaks to those who face long winters:

Help us offer our time as well as our clothing:

Help us extend our attention to all who are addicted and ill:

Help us remember the dignity of all people:

Help us claim the wounded in war:

Help us teach the children who face hunger and disasters:

Help us remember the eyes of the poor:

Help us believe you are among us in our suffering:

Help us know our responsibility to offer our gifts and talents:

Help us cling to the message of peace:

Help us put an end to war, violence and hatred:

Help us be compassionate as you are compassionate:

Blessings to you all,

Fr. Ron

On the Margins from Mater Dei Radio, Portland, Oregon

Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time: Luke 10:1-12

LISTEN NOW: CLICK HERE

We are sent forth to be instruments of God’s peace in our world. We carry little with us. We carry hope.

Charcoal: Ronald Raab, CSC

Prayer based on: Matthew 9:1-8

Jesus, Son of the Living God,

You call the man out of his paralysis, “Rise, pick up your mat and walk.”

Help me to sort through the years of fear and regret that I too may live a life of integrity.

Open me to the wisdom that is your forgiveness and presence.

Send me forth into the world even when I know I am still stiffened by doubt.

Enable me to learn more about myself from seeking you within my heart.

For I am paralyzed not in my limbs but in my ability to discover you from within.

Jesus, source of mercy, run toward me in my longing for you alone.

With you my heart will rise again.

WIth this wisdom, I will live forever.

Amen

June 26, 2016

Dear Followers of Jesus,

Luke’s gospel (9:51-52) invites us to reflect on the ways in which we follow Jesus. Some of the disciples offered a variety of excuses not follow Jesus. After all, following Jesus lead them into strange lands with little resources and little food after they had already left their livelihoods and families. Following Jesus was not easy, seemingly with little reward.

One disciple used the excuse that he had to go and burry his father first. Jesus insisted that once you have your hand on the plow, sure enough, you must continue on the journey. Don’t look back. Keep focused. Never tire. Jesus demanded a lot from his early followers. The gospel of Luke wanted to make sure that people were getting the message of Jesus because the gospel writer Luke thought for sure that Jesus would come back to the earth the second time in his day and age. Luke wanted to make sure that everyone was ready.

We have lots of excuses not to follow in our day and age. “I need to spend more time with my family.” “My work schedule is crazy.” “I am divorced and the Church doesn’t want me anyway.” “I am gay and people don’t accept me and why should I bother with Jesus.” I will pray more when I retire. I will be more active when my children get in school.” Our excuses are many and varied. Our excuses tell us much about priorities, our future plans and ourselves. However, all we need is to seek God and the Holy Spirit will take of the rest.

One of the reasons why we hesitate following Jesus more is that we have been hurt in the past. Our prayers have not been answered, at least in ways that we wanted them to be. We grieve the loss of a child or a spouse and our prayers for healing never worked and the community still avoided speaking with us and supporting us. We carry within our fragile hearts the many excuses that keep us from fully entering into the mystery of our relationship with Jesus.

Jesus seem pretty demanding in this text because he is trying to get his followers to understand that nothing stands in the way of our primary relationship with him. Nothing. No parent or death. No work or position. No other identity other than being a Child of God and learning to follow the life and gift of Jesus. This message takes time for us to hear and realize. This message comes at us full force when we would rather seek other plans.

I invite you as you enter into your summer plans, to take some prayerful time this summer and to examine your priorities about following Jesus and being part of the Church. We need you in the Tri-Community. We want the best for you. We desire to support the stranger as well as the parishioner. Jesus wants you close to his heart so that you may know his mercy and kindness, that you may understand with you full heart that love is real and hope is not something abstract in your life.

Jesus want us to be fit for the Kingdom of God even in this warning in today’s gospel. He desires us to follow unreservedly, with hope to bring the world. Let go of the excuses to pray. Become hope filled in your prayer. Be patient as God’s calls you closer to himself. Jesus treasures us and loves us all.

Here are some thoughts for you to let go of your excuses:

My usual excuses about not praying, about not following Jesus seem to be______

I know if I hold on to my excuses about not drawing closer to God, then God will not ask much of me so___

I fear being close to God’s love because___

I feel more comfortable with my work, kids and life and I really do not have time for prayer because it usually gets in the way of____

I wish Christians could accept me because I struggle with___

I want to know Jesus and I am lost about how to get there so I ______

Jesus, do not abandon me today so that I ____

Blessings to all of you,

Fr. Ron

“Protect us, O Lord” Painting: Ronald Raab,CSC

Lord Christ,

We come before you amid the flooding of West Virginia and the firestorms in California. We are wounded from the violence and hatred in Orlando and the continuation of violence in our cities of Chicago, New York and Los Angeles and more.

Give us resilience and courage, give us peace within our hearts. Send us the power of your mercy that we may turn to you in our need once again. Help us live in our cities listening to your words of consolation and healing. Allow peace to echo in the canyons of our cities.

We turn to you. Keep us from hatred and harm. Protect us. Love us.

Amen

On the Margins from Mater Dei Radio, Portland, OR

LISTEN NOW: CLICK HERE

Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time: Luke 9:51-62

We follow Christ today, not just with our feet but from within our hearts. This is where our redemption is, this is where God’s presence heals and loves us. Let us not turn away from love. Keep your hands on the plow.

“The eyes of all” Charcoal: Ronald Raab, CSC

Communion Antiphon

The eyes of all look to you, Lord, and you give them their food in due season. Psalm 145