“The Bewildered Wise”

Gospel Mt 11:25-27

At that time Jesus exclaimed:
“I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
for although you have hidden these things
from the wise and the learned
you have revealed them to the childlike.
Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will.
All things have been handed over to me by my Father.
No one knows the Son except the Father,
and no one knows the Father except the Son
and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.”

Prayer from today’s gospel

Father, Lord of Heaven and Earth:

I stand before you today somewhere between childlike and wise.

My face holds the tension of what the world lives and what you ask of me.

The worldly wise:

Hold guns and sling accusations across high moral grounds.

Hold attitudes of superiority and certainty and entitlement.

Hold the attention of the rich and the powerful.

The spiritual child:

Lets go of violence and trusts in your presence.

Lets go of selfishness and runs toward holiness.

Lets go of possession and enters true humility.

Father, help and save us.

Reveal to us a new way of living and loving.

Reveal to us a childlike peace and non-violence.

Reveal to us a trust that washes hatred away.

Amen

July 10, 2016

Dear Believers in Jesus,

The gospel today (Luke 10:25-37) challenges us to love God and our neighbor. People ask me all the time in our parish why I preach on serving people in poverty.

First of all, I do not know what else to preach about. This is my experience of working with people as a priest. No matter how much money, power, prestigious, education, wealth, admiration, control, or selfishness we possesses, we all need God.

When push comes to shove, our own personal poverty is the place where Jesus lives. We need a crack in our own human hearts to understand that we cannot control life, that we do not possess all the answers, that we need something greater than ourselves. This opening in our heart is a place of faith, the place where God’s mercy and forgiveness can find a home.

The gospel teaches us that we not only need to love God, but also people. This is the greatest of all commandments. This is also the one commandment we first walk away from. It is easy to sit in silent prayer and live in the illusion that we are holy. This gospel challenges that notion, that real holiness is the ability to role up our sleeves and to live our relationship with people who really need God.

When we serve people in need, we are not on a power trip. We cannot look to ourselves and say what great people we are because we are living the Spiritual and Corporal works of mercy. In fact, we begin to learn from people who need God, from people who are honest about their lives, from people who live with pain, suffering and loss. Humility is a great place for grace to grow.

Faith is a tool to educate us about how God loves us but also we learn from people’s suffering. We learn how to extend our lives beyond our comfort; we learn to pray from our common brokenness. This is the way God invites us into these two commandments. These are not legal sentences to memorize, but these sentences are lived as the real mission of the Church.

We live in a society that says, “ I have my stuff and other people can get a job and work for their stuff as well.” We learn from serving God in our neighbor that not everyone has the mental and emotional capacity to apply for a job or to keep a job if they were really able to get one on their own. We cannot be people who listen to this gospel on one hand and hold on to judgment, condemnation and arrogance on the other. This gospel challenges us in our core, to love God and our neighbor as well. In fact our salvation depends on it.

We live with many gifts, talents and opportunities. We are called to be grateful for what we are in God and what we have. We live out of the abundance of God’s grace and mercy. We also learn, the more we pray, to serve people who hurt, people who are afraid, people who seem lost and forgotten. We implement our pray in the world by learning how to serve.

This is the mission of the Church; to put into practice toward others the love that God has given us. The Good Samaritan in today’s gospel teaches us all to go the extra mile for people, to be challenged by Jesus’ teaching and to not be satisfied until people’s lives are healthy, loving and peace filled.

The Church teaches that life matters. We do not limit our service to certain lives. People are people no matter their backgrounds or no matter how they have complicated their lives with sex, drugs, alcohol or power. Real life is the life we reverence as the Church. We live our lives in order to serve. This is the mission of the Church.

This is why I speak about poverty all the time; because we are all poor, and in our common poverty, Jesus heals and loves us.

Some questions to consider this week:

How can I pray and reflect more deeply on my own life experience?

How can I image the needs of people differently than I have in the past?

What stories in my own life can I point toward to show that I am not in control of my own life or situations?

How can I better pray and serve in the heartbreaking stories of other people?

How can I be more grateful for the mercy of God?

 I will be away on retreat this week. Please pray for me.

Blessings to you all,

Fr. Ron

On the Margins from Mater Dei Radio, Portland, OR

Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 10, 2016

Luke 10:25-37

LISTEN NOW: CLICK HERE

Loving God and our neighbor are forever linked. This is the mission of the Church.

Gospel Mt 10:7-15

Ellie Wiesel: 1928-2016, Impression by: Ronald Raab, CSC

Auschwitz Prisoner and Orphan. Moral Voice. Leader. Prophetic Witness to the Dignity of Life. Author. Nobel Peace Prize Winner. Believer in Humanity.

Here is a simple impression of Elie Wiesel who died on Saturday.

Rosemary Raab: July 8, 1921-July 3,2004

My mother, Rosemary Raab, died on this date in 2004. I painted this image this afternoon after Masses. Today’s first Scripture at Mass was a profound reflection for me, to allow my heart to remember the early days of life.

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