Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time: Homily from 9:00am Mass at Sacred Heart
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The Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time: Prayers of the Faithful
Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
Prayers of the Faithful
Let us pray that the Church may serve with humility and not arrogance, with vulnerability and not haughty power. May we bring Christ Jesus to the margins of society.
We pray to the Lord.
Let us pray for wisdom in our decision making in serving our families, our communities and our own lives. May God’s love abound within us.
We pray to the Lord.
Let us pray for the weak and forgotten. May the weary find strength, the poor find the richness of love and the hopeless discover the beauty of the Kingdom.
We pray to the Lord.
Let us pray for our planet earth, that we may work diligently for clean water, the conservation of forests and debris-free oceans. May we all learn to labor on earth for all God’s creation.
We pray to the Lord.
Let us pray that we will not discriminate because of skin color or language, education or family heritage. May we welcome all people to dine with us.
We pray to the Lord.
Let us pray for our beloved dead. May our loved ones be assured of a place at the table in heaven. In this Mass…
Article from Give Us This Day: Published by Liturgical Press, August 2019
Article based on today’s gospel, Matthew 25:1-13
This article is published in Give Us This Day from Liturgical Press, August 2019.
Awake to Grace
Every morning I find myself among the foolish. I want to stay awake for God but my human intentions are weak. My regrets and fears make me drowsy. I pray among all the foolish for God’s open door. With all of my emotional and spiritual obstacles, I understand that others cannot help me on such a path. I cannot borrow virtues as a cup of sugar from a friend. I must face God in the truth of my life.
The oil in the story of the wise and foolish virgins cannot be duplicated or given away. This oil is grace itself, offering us a place in God’s love. Each of us is responsible to God by showing up in our own life. This is wisdom. No other person can take this risk for us. No spouse or child can show us how to let go of the past or to surrender to the love of God in our sin or infirmity. When five foolish virgins beg for oil, the others cannot give them such gifts of readiness, prayer, or atonement. We all wait with our own gifts and foibles for the door to be opened.
God longs to awaken us today to love and gratitude. God’s holy name becomes our thankfulness. On many days I want be among the wise, changing my clumsy motivations. Today, I search for love within my own heart, accepting the dying and rising of Christ Jesus. For this I long to stay awake.
Fr. Ronald Raab
Ronald Patrick Raab, CSC, is pastor of Sacred Heart Parish in Colorado Springs. Learn more at http://www.ronaldraab.com.
Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time: Bulletin column
Sept. 1, 2019
22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time
Dear Followers of Jesus,
We are all anxious to find our place in life. The young worry about what class in school will assure them a place in college. Some people wonder about who will marry them if they know how much baggage they carry from the past. Others send out hundreds of resumes to find a place not only for employment but a place that will facilitate their real gifts. We struggle to get ahead. We search to find the real place in life where our true voice will be known and shared.
Today’s gospel, Luke 14:1, 7-14, invites us into a profound humility. Humility is certainly a journey into life. Several months ago I reached in front of a woman to access an item in a drug store. I did not say, “excuse me” or “I am sorry.” Afterward, I felt my reach was really selfish. At that moment, I was very self absorbed. By that time, it was too late. Sometimes in our lives we know we have reached beyond our bounds. This is the invitation in today’s gospel, to understand our place in life. I think this is one of the toughest lessons we learn.
This lesson is not easy because some people believe they have earned a place greater than how their lives have turned out. Some people believe that if they have earned a living, found a job and have enough emotional stability to keep it, then everybody should lift themselves by their own bootstraps and earn their own place. They may even put others down because they have achieved power and purpose in the world. Looking down on people is very easy to incorporate into our lives, no matter our maturity.
Humility requires deep patience. Learning to acknowledge people from our lives of self-sufficiency is never easy. Humility invites us to constantly reflect on our lives. When we finally come to the conclusion that we live the life we have and not the life we think we should have, we will come to know and understand the movement of God within us. God desires to break down our bloated egos in order to accompany us in life. The reason for our humility on earth is so we can truly live in God, making room for love, forgiveness, and compassion within us.
The gospel also explores hospitality as a genuine attribute of the Christian. If we can learn to accept other people, to listen to their needs, to accept the brokenness of the other, then we can learn to sit at the same table with strangers. This circle of souls is the core of the sacred Eucharist. The Mass itself teaches us that humility is a value not only so we can find our place in God but that we can also lift up people who most need us in life. The poor teach us humility when they constantly feel powerless in the world. This is the reason we serve, feed and house people who long to be seated among us. This is the reality of God’s Kingdom here on earth.
Blessings in this new week,
Fr. Ron
Bulletin Update: Beginning this Sunday, Sept. 1, the parish bulletin will temporarily become a bi-monthly publication. The bulletins from the previous week will be distributed on the “off” weeks.
Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time: Bulletin column
Dear Followers of Jesus,
“Lord, open the door for us.” This sentence from Luke 13:22-30 invites us into deeper relationship with God. Let’s explore what this sentence says to us and how it might be one of our most profound prayers.
This sentence intrigues me. It is like a song, a one-line poem of longing. It speaks of an experience that has been passed on for us to live. There is a core truth imbedded in these words that rings within our souls. Our life on earth is entrusted to God and without this relationship we are lost and alone.
The door stands as a divide between God and us. In our prayer, God does all of the initiating. Not only does God open the door for us to be in union with him, but he also opens the door for us to experience possibility, wonder and awe. I beg God to open the door so we may understand that we belong, and in time, all will be revealed to us.
This sentence invites us to surrender. We are called to rest in the love that God has for us. The door is a reminder of our own obstacles that keep us from such union. Our pride, our ego, and our stubbornness keep us from putting our shoulders on the door of God. We are called to live in God, and through God, and with God. The door that separates us from God is simply our sin, our own false assurance and life’s illusions.
I long to see what is revealed on the other side of the door, on the other side of my resistance to surrender in prayer. This longing is what keeps us all knocking and asking. For we all understand that beyond the door of our resistance lies God’s eternal love for us.
Sometimes we stop knocking or asking because we are afraid we may get what we are asking for. Sometimes we have trouble absorbing God’s love and faithfulness toward us because we do not feel worthy or good enough. I pray God’s love may burn away such notions within us.
This line also invites us to pray for others. God longs to be in communion with us. However, we live in physical pain and emotional need. Our human bodies and relationships need healing. We seek comfort when our pain overwhelms us. When such pain stops us in our tracks, it is time for others to also pray for us. We are called as Christians to ask God to open the door to new life for all who are ill, for all who wait for mercy, for all who face tragedy and loss. We are invited to trust in Divine life for all on earth.
As we walk in the communion line at Mass today, we pray for such profound union with God. Let us ask God to open up miracles, new life, and hope that lies un-known for us behind human doors.
Blessings,
Fr. Ron
Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time: Homily from 9:00am Mass at Sacred Heart
Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time: Bulletin column
Dear Followers of Jesus,
We proclaim and listen to Luke 12:49-53 at Mass. In this text, Jesus does not like a feeble approach to his teachings. Instead of a fearful, even bashful acknowledgment of his healings and miracles, he desires fire within his disciples. He wants not only his followers, but also us to pursue the miracles and the music of his presence and magnificent touch to human concerns. He wants fire in water, a baptism that will set the world ablaze with hope, mercy and kindness. He wants the Kingdom to sprout from our fear, the hope of the Father to be made known in every action we make and in every syllable we speak.
I can’t say I blame him. His death was for us. His resurrection was for our eternal home in heaven. He deserves our complete attention to such mystery and the hope that a small piece of heaven will be here on earth when we reach out to people lost along the way or when we offer a sip of water to the faint of heart. A fire is not just smoke. We need true motivation from the fire we find within our hearts.
Our hearts are where the rubber meets the road. A fire within cannot be given from a pulpit or a confessional. A fire within cannot be roused from a helicopter parent or inherited from a grandfather’s estate. A fire within can only be fanned with the grace of God and the openness of God’s people. This fire is the warmth of love when we feel lost and alone. This fire is mercy when we know we deserve much less. This fire is hope when we are lost like the forgotten and lonely sheep of his day. Fire within takes prayer, courage and a new way of life. This is Luke’s challenge for us today. I am not sure many people will take heed or notice that the fire is for them. Most likely, many of us will remain frozen from fear and discouraged by life. We might even blame God for all the tragedy that remains caught in our hearts and consciences.
So Jesus wants fire. I think we should find out what that means. We cannot give what we don’t have. We cannot rouse in others what is dead in us. So the fire starter is the Holy Spirit. The flames that begin come from the debris that is stacked so neatly in our hearts, the debris of anger, rage, dis-appointment, and maybe even the old stacks of despair. Let’s do some fanning our selves; let’s shake things up and recognize that faith is about our relationship with the Divine so that we can bring the Divine to our dying world, our world in need of tenderness and relationship.
Does anyone have a match? Let’s make sure children are fed today and mothers have clean water to nourish their new-born. Let’s work together to welcome strangers and find a place for migrants to flourish in life as they flee the tortures of poverty. Let’s work for healthcare and just insurance for our elderly. Let’s set a blaze of hope for people who rebuild from the devastations of storms and floods. Let’s set a blaze on earth by learning how to pray more profoundly and to serve without cost. This is fire on earth.
Peace,
Fr. Ron
The Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary: 8:00am Homily and Prayers of the Faithful
Homily from 8am Mass today: CLICK HERE
Prayers of the Faithful:
August 15, 2019
Let us proclaim the greatness of God as we search for integrity within our Church and among those who lead us. May we become true prophets.
We pray to the Lord.
Let us proclaim the greatness of God and model our lives on Mary’s prophetic witness. May we voice our faith among the weary.
We pray to the Lord.
Let us proclaim the greatness of God even when fear overwhelms us and loss forms our days. May we voice our confidence in God.
We pray to the Lord.
Let us proclaim the greatness of God and search for hope when life disappoints us. May Mary model for us integrity and service.
We pray to the Lord.
Let us pray to proclaim the greatness of God who lifts up the poor and fills the hungry with good things. May hope abound in the lives of the poor.
We pray to the Lord.
Let us pray to proclaim the greatness of God who welcomes home our loved ones in death. May they rest in the peace of Christ Jesus. In this Mass…
We pray to the Lord.
Solemnity of The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary 2019
“The Assumption of Mary” Watercolor by: Ronald Raab, CSC August 2019
Prayer/poem based on today’s gospel, The Magnificat. On this day we shall hear that God’s promises to Mary are also for us. Today, we sing at the top of our human voices for a home in heaven.
And we shout out-and-out:
Souls and bodies sing
Of God and miracles
And we can’t stop
For God has looked me in the eyes and
I have not shied away this time
His name is far reaching
Beyond my imaginings and abilities
Every day he comes to me in the dark
Untying fear
Surrendering
I am part of his loving plan
His body is my strength and his bounty fills me
He shuns those who think they’re cool
He doesn’t tolerate those whose noses are long
Raised eyebrows reveal their disdain
God counts me among the needy when
I get over myself
My stomach sings after last week’s bread
And he hears me every time
God is no slot machine of hope
No one has enough coins any way
He remembered my grandpa and
His earthly blood flows
Even within me
Mercy is medicine and I just got
An insurance card
He loves and heals me too
This I ache to text my kids
I know he waits for me in
Heaven
Maximillian Kolbe 2019
Saint Maximillian Kolbe: Painting by: Ronald Raab, CSC(This painting and reflection is from 2015)
Saint Maximilian Kolbe, Priest and Martyr, 1894-1941
This is a crude finger painting. It is meant to be incomplete and simple because there is no easy way to interpret this man’s faith, life and death. This Polish Franciscan priest died in Auschwitz on this day in 1941.
Crown: The red crown was given to him in a vision when he was 12 years old. He had a vision of Mary who presented him with two crowns, one white that would become his reward in heaven, then a red crown, representing his martyrdom. He accepted both crowns from Mary, the Mother of God.
Mary, the Mother of God: Mary’s appearance to Maximilian gave him purpose in life. Notice how the blue beads of the rosary co-exist and even blend into the barbed wire. I must believe that the painful pieces of wire in the concentration camp became a rhythm of prayer for him. The wire knots of the fence became a sequence of prayer so that he could keep his faith alive. As the artist, I hold on to this notion.
The brown shirt: Fr. Kolbe was a Franciscan priest. He dedicated his life to the proclamation of the gospel; the passion, death and resurrection of Christ Jesus. The red mark represents the martyr of martyrs, Jesus.
The prisoner uniform: At the same time, he was a prisoner and his number was, 16670.
The drops of blood on his face: There were ten people put to death by lethal injection. The blood stains represent those who died with him. The blood comes from the martyrs crown. He took the place of a man who had a wife and children. That man was then present at this canonization in 1982.
The green background: The green background represents hope for the people who died and hope for the people who lived through such anguish and suffering. The green backdrop invites us all into our own suffering and the realization that “everything will be all right.” I believe this message is the key to his priesthood. I know it is the eternal message of my own priesthood.
The gold halo: Maximilian’s halo is hope to us all, that our faith in Jesus, in the suffering of this world, leads us safely home.
Broken But Not Divided 