This video is about forty-five minutes long. It explores the beginning of L’Arche in 1962. I mentioned a couple of weeks ago the Jean Vanier is receiveing the Templeton Prize. Here, the video explores the beauty, the ministry of L’Arche and the building of community from love, vulnerability and respect for all people.
“People don’t get lost if there are enough people to hold their hands.” Vanier
Jesus, remember me.
Do not forget the lonely gentleman boarding the bus today.
Remember Priscilla who cannot forgive her past.
Please remember to forgive those who live in bitterness because life is hard.
Remember your mercy when Joe shoots drugs to numb the pain.
Do not forget the children who cry in the nighttime.
Bring to your heart those beaten down by abuse.
Embrace the lonely people standing in line waiting for food.
Comfort people in loveless marriages.
Help us remember to love.
Help us remember to forgive.
Jesus, remember us who ache for a new life.
Remember to help the veteran to forget his last tour of duty.
Do not forget the grandfather who can no longer remember his own name.
Do not forget the man down the street who lost his job at the gas station.
Keep in mind the old widow in the corner cafe with the red scarf on her head.
Walk down memory lane with the man who buried his partner.
Jesus, we are your people of memory.
But sometimes we forget to let you into our lives.
We will not forget you as you always remember us on this side of the grave.
Amen
Scrutiny at Sacred Heart Church: March 22, 2015
The Third Scrutiny: (Cycle B) The Fifth Sunday of Lent, March 22, 2014
Response: Christ in me, arise
From the hardness of anger and rage…
From the hardness of resentment and lack of hope…
From the hardness of devaluing all life and our potential…
From the hardness of cheating and lying…
From the hardness of not believing God will love us and change us…
From the hardness of our negative behaviors…
From the hardness of ignoring people surviving urban poverty…
From the hardness of judging people living outside…
From the hardness of labels and judgments on people…
From the hardness of a fearful heart and ill-will toward family…
From the hardness of jealousy and jumping to false conclusions…
From the hardness of envy and a lack of gratitude…
From the hardness of corruption among leaders and governments…
From the hardness of hostility among nations…
From the hardness of indifference to the suffering of others…
From the hardness of hatred of our neighbors…
From the hardness of violence and war…
From the hardness of busyness and lack of attention…
From the hardness of lack of concern for the elderly and the ill…
From the hardness of our inability to care for people with disabilities…
And from all evil…
And from all evil…
And from all evil…
“I don’t remember”
Sketch: Ronald Raab, CSC
Even though I walk in the dark valley, I fear no evil; for you are at my side. (Psalm 23)
We all hold a story of faith and love within our hearts. Faith is about remembering our story of salvation. Our common prayer in the Mass is a memorial of what God has done among God’s people. When our memories fade, we beginning losing our identity. We lose the words to tell others who we are in the world. We lose our link to our past. We lose the love that binds us to family and friends, We lose the God who has brought us this far. Memory is sacred.
Memory loss is one of the most devastating diseases that we encounter for our loved ones or for our own lives. Learn more about how we are called to walk with loved ones whom do not remember us, to care for those whom may not remember our names, to walk with people whom may not understand where God may be leading.
Click here for an episode of On Being with Krista Tippett. (Really good)
“The Jesus Prayer”
Painting: Ronald Raab, CSC
In our prayer, we seek the face of Jesus. In our weakness, we depend on his mercy. In our searching, we ache to be found in his love for us. In the tragedies of our lives, we long to die to our selves and rise to new love in Christ. Our prayer is meant to pattern our lives in the dying and rising of Christ Jesus. This is the message of today’s gospel (John 12:20-33), that unless a grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies it remains just a grain of wheat. Our prayer must find its home in the pattern of Jesus, the cross our only hope.
I want to draw your attention on this Fifth Sunday of Lent to “The Jesus Prayer”. Here is one version of the Jesus Prayer that I learned many years ago.
“Jesus, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me a sinner.”
This ancient prayer is meant to be prayed from our lips. When it is prayed over many years, our hearts and souls begin to pattern life in this message. Our souls take over the prayer and we begin to live the message even without our awareness. Our lips are called to pray this prayer during the Lenten season. I invite you to learn more about this prayer from the early Church.
The painting today is reminiscent of a mosaic from the early Church. I painted this piece on Friday. Seek the face of Jesus always. Please learn more about the simplicity of “The Jesus Prayer.”
Click here to learn more about the Jesus Prayer.
Click here to learn more about the Catholic tradition of the Jesus Prayer.
Listen to “On the Margins”. This broadcast comes from KBVM 88.3, Catholic Broadcasting Northwest. We have a deep instinct to preserve our lives. Yet, Jesus calls us to die to selves so that we can live in Christ. There is a profound desire to pattern our lives in Christ’s passion, death and resurrection. Prayer invites us into change. Fifth Sunday of Lent, March 22, 2015.
Listen now: [audio https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/75239779/On%20The%20Margins/On%20The%20Margins%20March%2022%202015.mp3]
Stream live On The Margins on KBVM 88.3FM on Saturdays at 8am and Sundays at 8am.
(Part 3) This is the third feature article in a ten-part series in Liturgy and Ministry Magazine, April 2015. This series reflects my ministry of celebrating Eucharist in Portland, Oregon. I am very grateful to Ada Simpson, editor for her willingness to publish these reflections.
Kisses of betrayal and mercy
“…She has not stopped kissing my feet since the time I entered.” Luke 7
I approach the altar with a profound bow. I make my way up the two dark-stained wooden steps of the sanctuary. I lean over the altar and kiss the place of sacrifice and of celebration from where we shall eat our daily bread. With the altar I begin the Eucharist with a sacred moment of intimacy. This kiss is far reaching, it is not just a kiss on wood or cloth or stone or mosaic or tapestry. This kiss is public witness that my life as a priest is either authentic – or not. My life must become and remain a vessel for God’s faithfulness to fill every relationship and every human encounter.
My public kiss begins in my private prayer. My lips on the altar may turn into a kiss of duplicity if I do not find my true life in Christ Jesus. My vocation is to make this kiss real and genuine. I am called to find Christ in my silence, in the intimate moments of my life struggle and in my own pain and suffering and on-going questions. If I avoid the truth of my life, my lips will become chapped kissing wood and cloth. My kiss is formed from years of prayer, a lifetime of struggles with personal intimacy, discovering a generative life and a healthy sexuality. This kiss is a public witness that I have found intimacy with God and especially within the Eucharist itself. This kiss goes public at every Mass. Continue reading
St. Joseph
Pencil: Ronald Raab, CSC
Our professed Brothers of the Congregation of Holy Cross are dedicated to St. Joseph, so today is their feast day. Here is a short reflection from our website of the Congregation of Holy Cross:
As Holy Cross brothers, we go to St. Joseph as the model of a life humbly lived for God and for others in poverty, chastity, and obedience. In living out his vocation as the husband of Mary and the foster-father of Jesus, St. Joseph remained unwavering in his loyalty, faithful to his mission, and unselfishly open to the will of God. Following his example, we seek to offer our lives to God and to others with that same loyalty, faithfulness, and generosity.
St. Joseph, pray for us
Click here to learn more about our patrons in the Congregation of Holy Cross
“The Veteran of All Wars”
Painting: Ronald Raab, CSC
Recently, I have listened to several veterans who struggle with their lives now that they have returned to civilian life. One man has lost his family and may lose his home because of his health issues. Another veteran has found consolation in drugs and alcohol to numb the emotional pain from serving several tours of duty.
This painting represents veterans of all wars, from generation to generation. In this Lenten season, learn more about why our veterans struggle with homelessness when they return from serving our country.
“Which pills do I take?”
Charcoal: Ronald Raab, CSC
Today’s gospel is about the man who sat at the pool of Bethesda waiting to be healed. He sat there for thirty-eight years. Jesus heals him. Jesus invites him to take up his mat and walk. Today, many elderly women and men wait for such healing. Prescription drugs are a concern for our older population. People struggle to see the pills, to read the directions and remember when and how to take their medications.
Elderly people are often confused about the right use of these medications in order to find healing and pain management. “Did I take my pills today?” “I really cannot see my pills?” “Do I take them all at once or space them out during the day, I cannot remember?” “I thought for sure I took these pills this morning, I better take some more.”
Let us pray for our women and men who need assistance in their lives for the healing they need. Let us lift up to Jesus our cry for healing in mind, body and soul. Let us hear for our own lives Jesus saying to us, “Rise, pick up your mat and walk.”
Click here to read more about the difficulties older people face with medications.
Click here for a quick fact sheet about our elders and prescription drugs.
