“Thomas, the wonder of faith”
Knife Painting: Ronald Raab, CSC

Thomas, show me how to touch the wounds of the Risen Christ.

Help me probe the mystery of suffering when life overwhelms people.

Teach me to reach out from my apprehension to honor his sacred scars.

Give me courage to befriend what I fear.

Thomas, you stood with your brothers behind locked doors unable to confirm their words.

Let me not hesitate to examine what is dark, lonely and shadowed within me.

Help me from my own vulnerability to affirm the testimony of believing people.

Give me courage to befriend what I fear.

Thomas, I beg you to show my heart how to believe and my lips to speak the truth.

Open my narrow perspectives as you reach out to the nail marks on Jesus’ hands.

Release my worry as you put your hand into the Savior’s side.

Give me courage to befriend what I fear.

Part my lips and show my heart how to sing your profession of faith,

“My Lord, and my God.”

( I just painted this piece this afternoon. This is my first face painting with a knife. On this Feast of Thomas, Apostle, I wanted to share his face of wonder and faith)

“Jairus’ Daughter”
Sketch: Ronald Raab, CSC

June 28, 2015 (From our parish bulletin)

In Mark’s gospel (5:21-43) we read about two healing miracles. Jairus’ daughter is cured and so is the woman who has suffered hemorrhages for twelve years. Jairus had the courage to ask Jesus for healing for his daughter and the ill woman simply wanted to touch the hem of Jesus’ garment because she did not feel worthy of healing or even being within his presence.

We all need to seek Jesus for healing. I know some of you are shy about your faith, simply because you do not feel worthy of such an encounter of love. If there is one thing I could change about the Church today, it is this sense or perception of feeling unworthy by so many people. I want you to go for it, touch Jesus’ hem and see what happens. Pray as you are, not how you think Jesus wants you to be.

Over the years, I have watched people who sit in the last pews of all the churches in which I have served. I know that some of you want to hide in the back so not to be noticed. I understand that you do not want to use your voices to sing out when the hymns begin because you do not feel that your voices matter in the collective worship. I know that you are hesitant to offer your voices in response to the prayers of the Mass because somehow you already feel judged by God and tender from the ambiguous welcome you sense from people around you.

I realize that some of you hesitate to walk down the aisle of the church to the altar table to receive the Eucharist because you feel unworthy to taste the Body and Blood of Christ. You have heard all of your life that your decisions, your choices, your life circumstances and even those you love may keep you from the grace of opening your hands to receive the living Christ. I understand with my entire heart that some of you only want to touch the hem of Jesus’ garment and that will be enough for you. Meanwhile, you hide in the corner of the church, thinking that no one else will see your hesitation or come close to you to ask you to participate in our community or join a committee or in some way serve beyond your expertise. You want to simply reach out to Jesus blindly and hope for the best.

I learn a great deal from people who desire to reach out to Jesus’ garment in quiet and hesitation. Many of you are shy and do not believe that you have enough faith to make a difference. I listen with great care to the stories of people who are searching for the healing of Jesus but have never really experienced it in their lives. I hope that you will never give up the search. I pray that you may enter into our worship with a full and active realization that you belong even though your music teacher once told you that you couldn’t sing.

I hear from people that there are many people in our neighborhood and in our city looking for something new and hope filled, but they cannot quite put their fingers on what that might be. You are looking for your faith to make sense, to be fed by preaching and to feel that you belong. I listen to many of you who simply want your church to mean something to your aches and pains, your divorces and lost children or your father’s new diagnosis of dementia.

I want you to know that touching the hem of Jesus is all it takes. You do not have to sing every song or even feel that your name is known in this community. You do not have to be perfect. In fact, throw that notion out some stained-glass window, please! The only thing that I would encourage you to pray about is that your hand belongs on Jesus’ garment. In other words, your life matters to Jesus. He wants to heal your dissatisfaction about the Church or your guilt over how you have raised your children. You and Jesus belong together. No matter how you need to find him, please do so. No matter how you think you are negatively perceived within the Church, let it go. Touch the garment of the living Christ just as you are and you will be clothed in mercy and peace.

Here are some things to consider as you reach out to touch the hem of Jesus:

Jesus, I ache for healing because________________________

Help me reach out beyond my hesitation so ________________________.

Jesus, help me to get over my feeling of unworthiness_____________________.

Jesus, sometimes I feel all alone in my faith and so I ___________________.

Jesus, claim me as your own so that _____________________

Heal me O Lord, come to my aid and ________________________

“Inner Storms”
Drawing: Ronald Raab, CSC

Dear Believers in Jesus,

The gospel of Mark (4:35-41) invites us into the calm of Jesus’ presence. “Jesus woke up, rebuked the wind and said to the sea, ‘Quiet! Be still!’ The wind ceased and there was great calm. Then he asked them, ‘Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?’ They were filled with great awe and said to one another, ‘who then is this whom even the wind and sea obey?”

In these past few years, our area here in Colorado Springs has experienced a variety of storms, from fire to flood, from wind and hail to cold and snow. The great storms in life however, do not come from the water in our basements or the leaks in our roofs. They come from the deep uncertainties we carry in the recesses of our hearts, the destruction we feel from the infidelity of other people. Often grief is a rapid storm that settles into our lives from the people and possessions we lose in this life. We are all vulnerable to passing storms.

Many people face a variety of storms that seem to put their lives off-kilter. The unsteadiness of losing a job and the questions of raising children get the best of many parents. The untimely diagnosis of cancer in a young mother’s breast forces the family to learn how to live differently. The college student whose reputation is destroyed from using drugs can set worry a sail for years to come. The high school senior who does not get into his first choice of colleges brings the dark cloud over his future and shakes up his sense of entitlement.

Some years ago, I experienced job loss and uncertainty about my own future. At that time, it was difficult to pray, to pay attention and to relax. I worried endlessly. I was terrified beyond measure. I would sit in front of the television during my very early prayer time and just stare instead of being silent in prayer. It was all I could do, to just be there in front of the television instead of in front of the face of Jesus. I was so full of fear.

I eventually found my way back into prayer and realized that the storm brought me into a deeper trust that the calm presence of Jesus had never left me. I am confident that storms do not poke a leak in our trust. These inner storms have the potential of making us stronger.

Feeling terrified in the storms of life is very natural. However, if we believe that Jesus is at the center of life, then nothing should rock our boats. The life of the Holy Spirit within our hearts helps us steady the course. I invite you this summer to reflect on how worry, fret and fear gets the best of you. I encourage you to experience the love and assurance that Jesus has for you, your families and loved ones.

I pray that our parish community can help get people back on steady ground. I pray that the storms of divorce, job loss, and illness give way to the grace to keep going if you are feeling overwhelmed. I hope as well, that you invite your friends to our parish, to feel and experience for themselves a community that survives the storms of drug addiction, loneliness and fear, of uncertainty about work and confusion about how to make ends meet. I hope that calm can prevail, that nothing in your life will keep you from experiencing the healing love and presence of Christ Jesus.

I invite you to steady your lives and search for the face of Jesus. Here are some questions to ponder before the storms get too severe:

When I do not get my own way, I usually fret over ________________________.

I struggle to pray when I am feeling _____________________________________.

Lately, the storms that seem most unsettling in my heart are ____________________.

I get so discouraged over ________________________________.

I want Jesus to _____________________________.

I am lost in my relationships and I hope to_____________________.

This summer I hope I can spend more time in the presence of Jesus so that ___________.

My family seems unsteady lately because______________________.

Jesus, be for me the steady ground of ______________________.

Jesus, wake up and find me so that ___________________________.

Blessings,

Fr. Ron

(From our parish bulletin for this weekend)

“The Fragile Wise”
Colored Pencil: Ronald Raab, CSC June 2015

From the second Letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians:

“We are treated as deceivers and yet truthful; as unrecognized and yet acknowledged; as dying and behold we live; as chastised and yet not put to death; as sorrowful yet always rejoicing; as poor yet enriching many; as having nothing and yet possessing all things.”

 Last year I sat with a spiritual direction that has been listening to me for almost twenty years. We touch base at least twice a year even though we do not live in the same city. I have always sought a spiritual director in every city, but he is the one priest who listens with a unique ear, a holy and longing perspective on what is behind the words I speak.

He told me with boldness that I am to seek wisdom. He invited me into a new phase of life in not only my priesthood but within my heart. Wisdom, as he reminded me is not for the weak or faint of heart, it is a real paradox such as we hear in today’s first reading at Mass.

Wisdom is all about letting go. Wisdom is overcoming fear. Wisdom is learning the truth of our lives and the real reverence of our voices, so that we can live the truth and use our voices for other people.

Wisdom is living the paradox that when we finally learn of the real things in life our bodies change, our physical strength become weakness and our physical beauty is replaced with the loveliness of the soul.

Wisdom is not a possession but a journey. Wisdom is not a plan but a discovery. Wisdom cannot be bought but costs our entire lives. Wisdom cannot be manufactured but only is given with grace. Wisdom is not artificial but comes with the natural process of aging. Wisdom is not always obvious, but a treasure sunken deep within pain, suffering, doubt and turmoil.

I pray that I may discover this holy wisdom before my personal weaknesses and sins grow even stronger, so strong that wisdom will decide to move on to someone else. I pray that we all may search for the holy exchange of our attitudes for the wisdom of God’s whisper within our hearts. I pray that we may use the strength of our bodies to house the holy force of the Spirit’s love. I pray that we all may recognize our accomplishments as a house of cards and live for our place prepared for us in the Kingdom of God.

Sacred Heart
Finger Painting: Raab 2014

(Homily for today’s Solemnity at Sacred Heart Church)

This is a special day of prayer in our parish community. Our building and our people are named for an image of Jesus that reminds us of the enduring love that God has for of us, especially people who are hurting, lonely and fragile. We are named for the compassionate life and ministry of Jesus, the Sacred Heart.

Our prayer this morning, even more than yesterday or tomorrow, challenges us to live among those whom the Sacred Heart loves. We are chosen by the heart of God to bring compassion, peace and a rich understanding of mercy to those around us. Of course, we cannot give what we do not have, that is why we pray today for our own lives to be converted into love, because we are also fragile, lonely and misunderstood.

We are challenged to live within the Heart of Jesus to be for others what we hope Jesus will be for us. We must first examine our own lives to uncover within our sin the heart of love that we seek.

We are tempted to put other people down because of their talents or gifts because so often we believe we are not good enough, yet Jesus offers us the realization that our talents must be woven together to become a community of heartfelt compassion.

We are tempted to stifle other peoples’ voices because we do not agree with their perspectives or their accents or patterns of speech, yet Jesus is inviting us to listen to other people with new ears and a new awareness of people’s stories and backgrounds.

We are tempted to sit comfortably in our pews, in the places that we think belong to us, yet the Heart of Jesus is calling us to shift our bodies to move over, to provide a place of rest for people who are here for the first time, those who wait for optimism and encouragement from us and from God.

We are tempted this morning to believe that love is only for those who keep the rules of the Church, those people whom we already know, those who fill this room on a regular basis, yet the Sacred Heart is challenging us to pray for people across the globe who exist daily without shelter or clean water or family or those who restlessly search for meaning, for jobs and for a healthy future.

We are tempted to use our own voices to judge people, to speak with violence and blame, to shame those whom we do not even know, yet Jesus is inviting us to learn a new language of peace, a peace that begins with our interactions, a peace that begins today in our Eucharistic action of breaking bread and sharing a cup.

We are tempted to humiliate people because of how their lives have turned out, whether in divorce or ill health or addictions to food or drugs or rage, of how often or not they stand in line for confession, yet Jesus invites us to be the soothing balm that brings people together without judgment or violence.

We are tempted into worry for our children and grandchildren about their faith and lives, yet the Sacred Heart challenges us to not become hypocritical about our own lives and actions, making sure love is always our guide. We cannot become cynical or threatened for we must allow the work of the Sacred Heart to heal those in need of healing and to protect the lost, the abandoned and the forgotten even when they are own children.

We are tempted to point our fingers at people to set them into a direction that is not easily attainted. “Get a job…Get your act together… You are lazy and fat…you are a bum or a fag or a druggie, or a dike or a sinner or a crazy. You just suck resources from the government. Why should we help you?” Yet, Jesus reminds us of the blind man, the leper, the demonic, the tax collector and the prostitute. We are called today to put mercy, love and forgiveness into daily practice for real people in our families, neighborhoods and cities.

We are tempted in our church this morning to sit in silence because we want to protect our lives from God, to sit without challenge, to have our private morning devotion, yet Jesus calls us together to become the name that is on our building, the place where the Sacred Heart dwells, a people of hope for tomorrow, a people of love for the future.

Let us pray on behalf of all of our parishioners in the name of Jesus:

Sacred Heart of Jesus, guide our parish community beyond our fear. Open for us a new path in times of transitions with our staff and the worries we bear of the care of our buildings, our service among people in poverty and the future of our children. Guide us as we work with Catholic Charities, Westside Cares and other organizations to more easily put charity into practice. Protect our parishioners with mental illness and depression, those who live from paycheck to pay check, those who cannot find forgiveness from past hurts, those who live with despair, those who feel abandoned raising their children, people who grieve their losses and those whom we have lost in death. Comfort us in our sorrows and give us hope today in your loving and embracing mercy. We ask this through the Father and in the guidance of the Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen.

Sacred Arts Showcase! Saturday June 7, 2015

Tomorrow, we will host at Sacred Heart Church, “Sacred Arts”!

From 4:00pm until 9:00pm. Reception from 6:30pm until 8:00pm. Join us for dessert and live music! Art work will be on sale, priced from $10-50. All proceeds will benefit our Music Ministry in the Tri-Community.

Lisa Lundquist, our teacher, deserves so much acknowledgement. She has put together a program this year for so many people who are hurting, addicted and grieving and has helped them work through their issues with drawing and painting. Nearly 60 students have participated in her “spiritual painting” classes. Lisa has also worked with our Holy Cross novices for ten years.

I see this art program as part of the New Evangelization that Pope Francis is asking us to be part of, ways in which we can invite people to explore their lives in God. I am so happy to host this class at our parish center. Pictured: Sherri, Annie and myself, we are part of the Friday class. Thank you, Lisa!

For those of you who are in the area, I hope you can join us!

“Peter’s Perseverance”
Painting: Ronald Raab, CSC May 28, 2015

In today’s gospel, Mark 11:11-26, Peter watches Jesus curse the fig tree and rear up his anger in the temple over the money changers. Jesus tries to get the attention of the disciples to make sure they are trusting in prayer. Peter is watching and I imagine is completely perplexed by Jesus’ actions. Peter perseveres.

Jesus, help me persevere in prayer even when I give up yet again.

Open my heart to forgiveness even when I enjoy holding on to a grudge.

Set me free even when I cling to old ways out of fear and self-righteousness.

Help me pray for the needs of people even when I do not get what I want.

Send your grace of hope within me even though I think I can handle life on my own.

Transform my selfishness in reliance on you even when my prayers are not answered.

Allow my heart to love you even when I turn toward my own self-hatred.

Teach me to pray as you taught Peter and the disciples even when I want to give up.

“Breakthrough”
Painting: Ronald Raab, CSC, May 25, 2015

Jesus, breakthrough the walls of self-doubt this morning. Help us all know that we are sisters and brothers of you and of one another. Guide our lives into offering hope for all people behind the tragic walls of hatred, discrimination and violence. Bring us to you, dear Savior of the World. (Mark 10: 28-31)