“Who do you say that I am?” Painting by: Ronald Raab, CSC

From this weekend’s bulletin 

June 19, 2016

Dear Followers of Jesus,

Jesus in today’s gospel (Luke 9:18-24) asks his disciples a couple of questions about the perception of his identity. He asks them how other people identify him. Jesus then asks his disciples this straightforward question, “ But who do you say that I am?”

This question does not remain in the archives of Luke’s gospel. Jesus opens us up to answering the same question for our own lives if we have the courage to listen and to pray. If fact, we really cannot be Christians without having a personal relationship with Jesus. We must listen again to the question Jesus poses us.

We need to bring Jesus’ question to the reality of our lives. This past week, our country once again has faced the brutal murders of 50 people, this time in Orlando. We have faced our own tragedies this past year in Colorado Springs. These issues around the murders still plague our nation. We need to face up to how we relate to other faiths, in particular the Muslim community. We need to face up to how we treat people who live out of different sexual identities. We need to face up to the issues of gun violence in our society.

I believe that none of these issues should outweigh the core belief of our Church that each human being matters. Each person should be treated as a child of God. Sometimes we think that our prejudice and anger are certainly larger than God’s command to love. Guns, race and sexual identity should never be more important than people and how we treat them.

These issues force us to recognize who Jesus is for us. The question Jesus poses is not answered out of forced piety or out of a memorized notion of how the Church teaches us about God. This question opens us up to the reality that our true faith needs to be lived each day in real and practical terms.

The answer to Jesus’ question can be seen by how we live our lives. If we are constantly angry and full of rage, we have not yet come to terms with the peace Jesus is offering us. If we are constantly blaming other people for our own problems, then we most likely have not yet begun to take seriously the solace and mercy Jesus is offering our human hearts. If we cannot work through our grief and feel stuck in our lives, then we most likely have yet to take to heart the dying and rising of our Savior. The real answer to Jesus question is seen in our actions about people. These answers are visible by our neighbors and communities.

I invite you this summer to pray through the real issues of your lives. If you feel stuck in your family relationships, pray with the emptiness you feel and bring that emptiness to the full love of Jesus. If you are upset with a neighbor or an employer, sit and pray with the Jesus who calls you to forgive with all your heart. If you feel you have never gotten a break in life or need a second chance, place your heart in the life of Jesus who loves you and always gives you the mercy and forgiveness you need to start again.

Jesus challenges us in our daily lives to answer his question. However, we can only answer with a true and loving relationship with him. We must pray. We are invited into a deeper, loving and sustaining relationship with the dying and rising of Christ Jesus.

Here are some prompts to pray with Jesus’ questions:

I am often disillusioned with my relationship with Jesus because…

Sometimes I do not feel I am worthy of such a relationship because…

I am not sure I see the point of prayer because…

I wish I could understand the gospels so that I …

I need help with forgiveness in my life and I know I need to turn toward…

I am so angry about how we treat people who are different from ourselves and I …

Jesus, the giver of peace, calls me to…

Jesus, the forgiver of sins, challenges me to…

Jesus, the hope of the world, calls me to…

Jesus, the lover of souls, opens me up to living…

I pray that Jesus may bring peace within our hearts and in our world,

Fr. Ron

On the Margins from Mater Dei Radio, Portland, OR

Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time, June 19, 2016

Luke 9:18-24

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“Who do you say that I am?” How do you respond to this question Jesus poses his disciples? What is your answer?

WATCH VIDEO HERE

I just received a message from World Library Publications that the Diocese of Orlando prayed one of my litanies in the Interfaith Prayer Service on Monday. Please watch this service. The litany “For People Enduring Violence” begins at 32:00.

The litany comes from the book, “Save Us, Send Us” by Ronald Raab, CSC published by World Library Publications, Chicago, IL, 2013.

I am deeply humbled listening to my words in the mouths of people praying through their grief and turmoil from Sunday’s tragedy.

Pray for peace.

“One More Left Cheek” Painting by: Ronald Raab, CSC

Gospel Mt 5:38-42

Jesus said to his disciples:
“You have heard that it was said,
An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.
But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil.
When someone strikes you on your right cheek,
turn the other one to him as well.
If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic,
hand him your cloak as well.
Should anyone press you into service for one mile,
go with him for two miles.
Give to the one who asks of you,
and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow.”

PRAYER:

My Dear Jesus, Source of Mercy,

We are running out of cheeks to turn.

Violence runs like an overflowing river this morning.

Hatred gets under our skin again in our country.

Shooting people cannot be the answer today.

Cheeks are different colors. Eyes see unique perspectives.

Cheek turning is not acquiescing to violence and rage.

Love must be the answer in your command to walk another mile.

Love must bring  our diverse lives together.

Hope must prevail.

We cannot turn our backs on one another.

Cheeks and backs and eyes belong to people no matter what religion, color or identity.

Jesus, help us find our way to love, to peace.

Jesus, kiss us on the cheek that bears the mark of our tears.

Help us go the miles from Orlando to our own hearts.

Amen

“With Tears, Alabaster and Hair” Drawing by: Ronald Raab, CSC

My column from our parish bulletin

June 12, 2016

Dear Followers of Jesus,

Luke’s gospel (7:36-8.3) today invites us into an intimate story. An uninvited guest comes to Simon’s house where Jesus had been invited. The woman bathes Jesus’ feet with her tears. She anoints them with oil from her alabaster jar. She brings here complete life to the feet of Jesus, to the heart of the Messiah, the place of love.

This portrait of love and mercy is often difficult to take into our lives. Many of us think that sin is a list of do’s and don’ts. We tend to think that forgiveness happens when we give a list of sins in a two-minute confession and then we get on with our lives. There is something missing within our hearts when we think sin is a commodity that is traded for forgiveness. What is missing is that we never get to the real issues of our hearts, our consciences and how we truly live in all of our relationships in the world. Forgiveness is not cheap. Our faith demands that we risk letting go of old patterns as we move toward God’s fidelity within us.

The woman who washes the feet of Jesus is sick and tired of being sick and tired. She knows deeply within her heart what is missing. She knows that Jesus’ love and forgiveness is more than skin deep, it is a way of life. She models for us the true treasure of our relationship with God, that we cannot live our lives on our own power, greed, lust and convictions. We need the constant mercy of Jesus to invite us into a radical change of life. Conversion means a radical, loving letting go of our stubbornness and living in God’s grace. Faith is more than an intellectual pursuit.

One of the obstacles in parish life is that we come to church always needing to look good to others. We seldom want to admit our faults because we do not want others to think less of us. So many people want to be perceived as being “perfect.” This is a great trap because we then think our faith is about externals, about having the right education or saying all the prayers correctly. In fact, faith is about our being vulnerable enough before God so that we can feel and experience the love and mercy of Jesus. We need to build our communities based on our own and common poverty, our need for God. We need honesty about our struggles and needs. Then we will be more open to the human poverty others face in life as well.

Our sins are more than a laundry list. We have choices in life. Our sinfulness may lead us to bitterness and being judgmental or we can live within God’s fidelity and learn how to love fully and completely. Life is incredibly complicated and we really need God. So we need to come as we are, with the life experiences we have, with the brokenness that we find ourselves living today. Living a faith-filled life is about us finally realizing that prayer softens our hardened hearts and that confession will open us to the real love that is ours in Jesus’ name.

Our faith gives us a unique treasure in that we have an opportunity to come before God with our broken and fragile hearts. We need the experiences of a fragile community so that we can understand that we live in the mercy and consolation of Jesus especially among others.

The Year of Mercy as it unfolds is trying to get at the meaning of this story for every Christian. I see how the Year of Mercy is working among us who struggle to believe in Jesus amid the hardships, sins and turmoil in which we live. I see this year as a beautiful and joyous opening for us to encounter the real Jesus again. However, there is a need for continuing conversion within our Church. I pray that we could review again some of the issues of family life and sexuality especially. I pray for the continuation of our conversion toward the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the source of compassion and peace.

We welcome Rev. Joseph Corpora, CSC this weekend to Sacred Heart Church to preach on the Year of Mercy. Pope Francis mandated Fr. Joe as a Missionary of Mercy for this year. He will also preach Sunday Vespers this weekend. Fr. Joe is a classmate of mine and we were both in the first class at the novitiate in Cascade in 1978. He now ministers at the University of Notre Dame.

With abundant mercy of God,

Fr. Ron

“Of you my heart speaks” Painting: Ronald Raab, CSC

Today’s image was painted with bottle caps, cardboard, rubber mats and other assorted materials. No brush was used, no fingers this time. This was an exciting way to allow the image of Jesus to emerge. 

Today’s Psalm from the Liturgy

Responsorial Psalm Ps 27:7-8a, 8b-9abc, 13-14

On the Margins: Mater Dei Radio, Portland, OR

Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, June 12, 2016

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The outcast has a place at the table. The woman is forgiven, her heart is full of love. This is a powerful image in this Year of Mercy, the woman washing Jesus’ feet with her tears and hair. Listen to this text with love, with all your heart.

“Untie me and allow me to see your face, O Lord” Sketch: Ronald Raab, CSC

Gospel Lk 7:11-17

Jesus, Healer and Master,

I wait for your gentle hands to untie the shroud of death within me.

I wait to be united with the great grace that allows me full life and love in you.

Unwrap the ways my mouth, my body, my spirit are bound up by division and sin.

Untie me so that I may live in you.

I, too, stand with those who have died in spirit and in truth.

I wait for healing and your restorative presence so that our lives may bear witness to you.

Encourage us all who have lost love so that hope again may thrive.

Help our community and me to stand among suffering and death.

Give us courage to touch what is dead and awaken true discipleship here.

Open up the wrap of cynicism, mistrust and grief that ties us so tightly.

Show us how to throw the shroud away from our anger and shame.

Lift us up to life again, life in the Spirit of hope.

Jesus, Healer and Master, we do not know where else to turn when our words shut others down, when our actions cause death in our relationships, when our attitudes bind us up.

Be gentle with your people.

We desire to see your face calling us out of our numbness and stubbornness.

Be gentle with your people who long for forgiveness and a new relationship with you.

Amen

(Prayer text: Ronald Raab, CSC)

“Mary Searching for Her Son” Painting by: Ronald Raab, CSC

Today’s Gospel for the Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of Mary

Gospel Lk 2:41-51

Each year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover,
and when he was twelve years old,
they went up according to festival custom.
After they had completed its days, as they were returning,
the boy Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem,
but his parents did not know it.
Thinking that he was in the caravan,
they journeyed for a day
and looked for him among their relatives and acquaintances,
but not finding him,
they returned to Jerusalem to look for him.
After three days they found him in the temple,
sitting in the midst of the teachers,
listening to them and asking them questions,
and all who heard him were astounded
at his understanding and his answers.
When his parents saw him,
they were astonished,
and his mother said to him,
“Son, why have you done this to us?
Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety.”
And he said to them,
“Why were you looking for me?
Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”
But they did not understand what he said to them.
He went down with them and came to Nazareth,
and was obedient to them;
and his mother kept all these things in her heart.

– – –
Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dio

On the Margins: From Mater Dei Radio, Portland, OR

Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time: June 5,2016

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Sit with the woman who lost her son in death. Sit with Jesus’ healing touch. Sit with the young man being raised to new life. What are you capturing in your heart from these central characters?