September's Invitation and Challange

from today's Gospel:

"Put out into deep water..." (Luke 5:4)

This was Jesus' invitation to Simon and his companions.

Obedience to God's call leads to participation in His life,
an abundance of grace far beyond our understanding.

Two thousand years later, his invitation still stands for each one of us.

How will I respond?

Luke says this of the disciples:

"When they brought their boats to the shore, 

they left everything and followed him." (Luke 5:11)

I want to live these lines from the Gospel this month.
Every day, in big and small ways.

Courage.

Integrity.

Humility.

Detachment.

Obedience.

and above all, Love!

Love says,

"Do not be afraid." (Luke 5:10)

Lord, I am not afraid,
as long as You are with me.
Help me to do the Father's Will.
Help me to pray well for the fishers of men,
for the salvation of souls
that all may glorify Your Holy Name.

Saint Peter's Mother In Law

source

This is my 100th post!

Today, I finally get to explain
why Saint Peter's Mother In Law
is one of the principal patronesses of this blog.

Today, Holy Mother Church places her story
before us for the second time this summer.

Last time, Matthew told it. 

This time, Luke is our witness.

God laid the groundwork
for my devotion to this holy woman throughout my life,
but I did not begin to realize this until June 25, 2011.

My three-week visit to the convent was nearly over.



That morning, during my spiritual reading time before Holy Mass,
I read Erasmo Leiva-Merikakis' commentary
on Matthew 8:14-15, part of the Gospel for the day.

I was amazed at how Leiva-Merikakis took two seemingly simple verses
(that I would have skimmed over so quickly and thoughtlessly without his help)
and expounded on them so beautifully for three pages,
just a few hundred words that changed my life
just a little.

The pericope of the healing of Saint Peter's Mother in Law
came alive for me that day,
and I realized that her story is my story too.

In school as a student of Theology,
I was taught that the references to Saint Peter's Mother in Law in Matthew, Mark, and Luke
can be used to prove that Saint Peter was married,
so that can be used as an argument for married clergy.

"Peter, the first Pope, was married, so why can't priests marry today?"

I'm not going to argue against this idea in any length here,
though I believe that Peter was probably a widower by the time he became Pope,
and possibly before he even met Jesus.
But all this is speculation and beside the point,
and I am sorry that it used to distract me from what the texts actually say.

But to get back to Leiva-Merikakis' reflection on the healing of Peter's Mother in Law...
it is absolutely beautiful.

Here are just a few lines:

"The text [of Matthew] literally says, 'He saw her...and he touched her hand...and she was raised up and she began to serve him.' These four particular verbs in this particular sequence offer us a magnificent summary of the whole Christian life." (Fire of Mercy, Heart of the Word I, p. 341)

So I rejoice this day, as Holy Mother Church picked Luke's account of the same story for part of today's Gospel:

Luke 4:38-39

"After he [Jesus] left the synagogue, he entered the house of Simon. Simon's mother-in-law was afflicted with a severe fever, and they interceded with him about her. He stood over her, rebuked the fever, and it left her. She got up immediately and waited on them."

Same story, different angles...

Jesus' authority to heal by simply speaking words is emphasized here,  in Luke's Gospel,
and it is interesting to note that He had just amazed the people by curing a demoniac by His Word.
In Matthew's Gospel, Jesus cures Peter's mother-in-law by touching her; here His Word suffices.

Of the three accounts, Luke's is the only one where Jesus heals Peter's mother-in-law
before He calls Peter to follow Him.
I am not quite sure what to make of this, but it is definitely something to think about.

Luke and Mark both mention that others interceded for Peter's mother-in-law with Jesus,
while Matthew tells us that Jesus simply saw her lying there
and decided to heal her without being explicitly asked by anyone.
In this regard, I am torn, because I like both versions of the story.
I like the idea of intercessory prayer,
which is a huge part of my vocation and part of the inspiration behind the title of this blog.
However, I also believe that God's mercy needs no invitation,
that His healing graces are freely offered whether we ask for them or not.
So, I'm going to keep thinking about this, too.

Source

By the way, since this post is way too long already,
I'm just about done here.
If you've made it this far, you deserve a treat!
escape by clicking this second picture...
it will take you to a beautiful reflection
by Saint Francis de Sales
on the healing of Saint Peter's Mother-in-Law.
(I believe he is working from Mark's account.)

+   +   +

Saint Peter's Mother-in-Law,
pray for us!
Help us to recognize the ways in which 
we have been healed by God's mercy and grace,
and to serve our Lord in love
all the days of our lives
as you did.
We ask this through Christ our Lord, 
Amen.

The Queenship of Mary, Waiting Days, and New Beginnings

Source

Today is the Feast of Mary, Queen of Heaven and Earth.

No word yet as to whether the Prioress has received my application (though I trust that she has by now), or whether the letter of recommendation from my spiritual director has arrived yet either. Humanly speaking, my acceptance now rests on the reception of these documents and the mercy and love of the Prioress and her Council.

More fundamentally, all my hopes are pinned on God's good pleasure, and I have two reasons for trust:

1. God would not have let me progress as far as I have unless He willed me to persevere and be accepted.
2. failing 1, God has some other plan for me that I don't yet know, but He will never leave me an orphan.

Meanwhile, my sister is making preparations for a new beginning of her own this fall: she is college bound at the end of this week. So between the two of us alone, there is quiet a bit of anticipation of things to come.

Today is Monday, and there is much for which to give thanks, as always, so here goes:

Lord, thank You for Your 1000+x Gifts; for Your Infinite Love!

-The Queenship of Mary :: This video clip from Sister Act (just for fun!)

-breath slowing these last few days :: deep calm :: God's patience :: precious encouragement here and here
-monarch on the marigolds :: distant thunder :: raspberries ripe again
-Grandparents home safe :: newly minted Master's homecoming today
-sister piecing her quilt :: mother making handkerchiefs :: cat's cradle with littlest sister (stalling her bedtime)
-fun haircut :: no more headaches :: blister healing faster than I'd hoped
-Discovering Gruda's Poetry :: new desire to learn more about the Theology of the Body
-thoughtful letters from friends
-the grace to always wear my Grandfather's Pardon Cross :: broken chain quickly and easily replaced
-the Word, always inviting to begin again in faith, hope, trust and above all, love.

Joining the Gratitude Community at A Holy Experience today and every Monday:

 

Blessed be God forever!

Reflection on Matthew 13:44

The following is a reflection on the first verse of the Gospel reading for the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Matthew 13:44-52)...if only I had more time, I would work through the whole thing, but it is too much to take in all at once. Oh, the riches of the Word of God!

The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field,

Ομοια εστιν η βασιελια των ουρανων θησαυρω κεκρυμμενω εν τω αγρω,
 
which a person finds and hides again,

ον ευρων ανθροπος εκρυψεν,

and out of joy goes

και απο της χαρας αυτου υπαγει

and sells all that he has and buys that field.

και πωλει παντα οσα εχει και αγοπαξει τον αγρον εκεινον.

The first half of the verse, “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field, which a person finds and hides again,” reminds me of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In Luke 2:19, we are told that “Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.” And again, at Luke 2:51, it says that Jesus “went down with them and came to Nazareth and was obedient to them; and his mother kept all these things in her heart."

At the moment of the Incarnation, Mary was fully initiated into the mysteries of the Kingdom in a way that no other human being ever was or will be again. The Kingdom of God literally dwelled within her. The first thirty years of Jesus’ life, were, for the most part, hidden ones.  The Word was buried in the field of Mary’s womb. She knew He was there and rejoiced at His coming and His presence, but kept the revelation a secret from all people except a few others whom God had designated as his handmaidens, heralds, and guardians—Elizabeth, Simeon, Anna, and John the Baptist, and of course, Joseph the Just.

*****

In his reflections on this first half of the verse, Erasmo Leiva Merikakis writes:

“We may say, in fact, that the Parable of the Hidden Treasure is a metonomy for the Incarnation itself: the greatest of treasures—the Father’s Beloved—became Emmanuel and was hidden by the Holy Spirit within the good earth of the Virgin’s womb.” (Fire of Mercy, Heart of the Word II, 294)

“the treasure in question is the mystery of God giving himself to us in Christ. This treasure already lies closer to the world’s heart than we ourselves can ever be, worldlings though we are.” (Fire of Mercy, Heart of the Word II, 294)

*****

The discovery of the kingdom of heaven leads to abounding joy—της χαρας. A joy so great, in fact, that nothing can diminish it or take it away. Yet it takes everything we have...we are compelled to “sell” all that we have, holding nothing back. Integrity is key here. To purchase the field we must not only sell all that we have, but we must go through these transactions honestly, humbly, virtuously, lovingly—the kingdom demands nothing less; the kingdom inspires only this. We cannot engage in falsity, trickery, or prostitution of our goods in order to gain access to the field. If we do, the kingdom will be lost to us. Only love holds the key to the joyous stripping of self and careless self forgetfulness. This self-emptying is best expressed by the Greek word, κενοσις, which Paul uses in his letter to the Philippians as he speaks of Christ: « εαθτον εκενωσεν»  “emptied himself” (Philippians 2:7) Obedience is another key—just as Jesus was obedient to the Father (and to Mary and Joseph, see above/Luke 2:51), so also must we be obedient to God and to those with legitimate authority over us. And this loving obedience, in turn, will lead to freedom, joy, and the in-breaking of God’s kingdom among us...Maranatha, Lord Jesus, quickly come!

St. Lawrence of Brindisi on the word of God

Today is the feast day of one of the Doctors of the Church, St. Lawrence of Brindisi (1559-1619).

In the second reading from the Office of Readings this morning, I read these words from one of his sermons:

" The word of God is replete with manifold blessings, since it is, so to speak, a treasure of all goods. It is the source of faith, hope, charity, all virtue, all the gifts of the Holy Spirit, all the beatitudes of the Gospel, all good works, all the rewards of life, all the glory of paradise...For the word of God is a light to the mind and a fire to the will. It enables man to know God and to love him. And for the interior man who lives by the Spirit of God through grace, it is bread and water, but a bread sweeter than honey and the honeycomb, a water better than wine and milk. For the soul it is a spiritual treasure of merits yielding an abundance of gold and precious stones. Against the hardness of a heart that persists in wrongdoing, it acts like a hammer. Against the world, the flesh and the devil it serves as a sword that destroys all sin."

Of Beans and the Bible...

...yes, I did it, option a)! The beans have had some happy sunlight time outside near their future home, the garden at the bottom corner of the yard. And I had some happy sunlight time, too, as I guarded the beans from potential predators, watched bees pollinating the marigolds, admired the one lone magnificent dragonfly as it zoomed around, hovered a bit, and landed on the tomato cages (the dragonfly, not me!)...oh yes, and I also looked at the Mass readings for tomorrow.

The reading from Matthew's gospel account started a process of what I like to call "daisy chaining" (I don't think I made this term up, but I'm not sure where I got it...from one of Prof. Holder's theology classes, maybe?)...I was struck by chapter 12, verse 7: “If you knew what this meant, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned these innocent men,” and thought of something similar from somewhere else in the Bible, but wouldn't you know, I couldn't remember the source of my second quote. So I followed the trail of the notes in my Saint Mary's Press College Study Bible (NAB)...

 first to Hosea 6:6: "For it is love that I desire, not sacrifice, and knowledge of God rather than holocausts.” Hosea then sent me to 1 Samuel 15:22, Ecclesiastes 4:17, and Matthew 9:13, which for the sake of brevity, I will not quote here, 

except for 1 Samuel 15:22, as it turned out to be the next link in my chain: “But Samuel said: ‘Does the LORD so delight in holocausts and sacrifices as in obedience to the LORD? Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission than the fat of rams." After telling me this, Samuel sent me on to Proverbs 21:3, Amos 5:21-25, and Hebrews 10:8-9. 

Hebrews, in turn led me to Psalm 40:7-9, which is what I was looking for. (I knew it was from a Psalm! I just didn't know which one! 

So here are the last two links of the chain, Hebrews 10:8-9: “First he says, ‘Sacrifices and offerings, holocausts and sin offerings, you neither desired nor delighted in.’ These are offered according to the law. Then he says, ‘Behold, I come to do your will.’ He takes away the first to establish the second.” 

and Psalm 40:7-9: “Sacrifice and offering you do not want; but ears open to obedience you gave me. Holocausts and sin offerings you do not require; so I said, ‘Here I am; your commands for me are written in the scroll. To do your will is my delight; my God, your law is in my heart!’”

 

So what did I get from all of this?

 1) A reminder of the unity and complexity of Scripture...the notes are there for a reason...but I wouldn't do this every day as it takes a while and after too much of it my head starts spinning and it would be all to easy to lose sight of what I'm looking for or why I'm even reading the Bible in the first place. This is supposed to be preparation for Mass, after all, not an academic exercise.

2) An interesting journey through the themes of love, mercy, sacrifice, knowledge of God, and obedience...but did I really get a chance to think about any of them in depth as I was chasing references down? Nope. Ok...lesson learned, maybe?

3) I'm still looking forward to what Leiva-Merikakis has to say on this verse, either tonight if I have time or tomorrow morning...hopefully he will be able to help me and reinforce what little I did get out of the daisy chain adventure.

P.S. I finally started getting over my writers block and began drafting my application letter for the convent yesterday! It still needs a lot of work, but it is started anyway and I think I know how I want to continue it...also I have a dentist appointment tomorrow, and a doctor's appointment sometime next week, praise be to God, now and evermore...

Moses and the Condemnation of Towns

Reflections on Exodus 2:1-15a and Matthew 11:20-24

“When the child grew, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, who adopted him as her son and called him Moses; for she said, ‘I drew him out of the water.”(Exodus 2:10)

This story of how Moses was drawn out of the water reminds me of two other passages in the Bible:

Jesus, “said, ‘Come.’ Peter got out of the boat and began to walk on the water toward Jesus. But when he saw how [strong] the wind was he became frightened; and, beginning to sink, he cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’ Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught him, and said to him, ‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt?’” (Matthew 14:29-31)

and

 “Save me God, for the waters have reached my neck.” (Psalm 69:1)

Together, these three quotes are a reminder that God is in control, a reminder that he is the one who draws me out of the waters of chaos, from my utter weakness, and makes me secure in his love and mercy. And he gives me a new name, his own name, which will be written on my forehead, as it says in Revelation 22:4...I always picture the Tetragrammatron in shining gold letters on my forehead whenever I think of this verse. But who am I that I should belong to God? I think it’s a conspiracy...of love and mercy! I knew it!

“Then he began to reproach the towns where most of his mighty deeds had been done, since they had not repented. ‘Woe to you, Chorazin...Bethsaida...Capernaum...for if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.” (Matthew 10:20-23)

Great, just what I need: now that I have been consoled by the passage of Exodus, Matthew gives me a series of woes...what are you saying to me, Lord, through this condemnation of the towns???

And what on earth do the two readings have to do with one another???

it’s a puzzle, for sure...

is this the answer? >>>I am Chorazin. I am Bethsaida. I am Capernaum. God has done mighty deeds in my life; His right hand raised me out of the waters of chaos, inadequacy, and despair more times than I can count. But have I fully repented and turned myself completely over to him, for the execution of his plan? Clearly not. I am Chorazin, I am Bethsaida, I am Capharnaum. I have been duly warned. I stand in need of mercy. I repent. I surrender. And I give thanks to you, Lord, forever, for your conspiracy of love and mercy. It’s a good thing there’s a conspiracy...

Words about Listening on the Feast of St. Benedict

I cannot read or think of this quote from the Prologue of St. Benedict's Rule...

"Listen carefully, my son, to the master's instructions, and attend to them with the ear of your heart."

...without thinking of these beautiful lines from Psalm 45:

"Listen, o daughter, give ear to my words, forget your own people and your father's house. So will the king desire your beauty--he is your Lord, pay homage to him!"  (Psalm 45:10)

This is from the reading for Lauds this morning (according to the Liturgy Archive):

"Listen to me, you that pursue righteousness, you that seek the LORD. Look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the quarry from which you were dug." (Isaiah 51:1)

And, on the subject of listening, who can forget our Lord's admonition:

"He who has ears ought to hear." (Matthew 11:15)

Lord, open my ears to hear your Word, my mind to comprehend, and my heart to love. Open also my lips, and I will praise your holy Name forever!