jesus' love

jesus looks at us with compassion and gives us himself.  this is the very definition of love: self giving and there is nothing that can separate us from this divine love

fair dealing

"Do not deal unfairly... but stand in fear of your God." Lev 25: 17  strong words!  esp if one is in politics.   let's pray for our senators

the new AND the old

to those instructed in the kingdom of God... "is like the head of a household who brings from his storeroom both the new and the old."

if we only stay with the old, we cannot respond to the newness of the re-creation of the Holy Spirit; if we only stay with the new, we embrace every passing fad

wisdom and prudence help us integrate the old and the new: only if we live through the inspiration and guidance of the Holy Spirit

God's rule

gospel reflection: mt 13: 46 talks about the kingdom of God as "a pearl of great price"-- how do i cherish God "ruling" my life?

solitude and identity

"Critics have also noted the American fear of loneliness. Individual identity is sacrificed in an effort to stay close to the herd, to be no different from others in thought, feeling, or action. To stand aside, to be alone, is to assert a personal identity...one of the surest signs of the resolution of the identity crisis is an increased capacity for being alone, for being responsible for oneself."

Merton, Thomas. Contemplation in a World of Action (Notre Dame, Indiana: Notre Dame Press, 1998) 42, 43

sign chi do

ever since our intro to sign chi do on july 16th, i have been thinking a lot about the power of this style of prayer.

i have been practicing daily the "be still and know that i am God" and "come Holy Spirit".  i will often do these in front of the blessed sacrament and feel the energy from the Eucharist.

sign chi do is consistent with my belief in the holistic nature of who we are in prayer: the Spirit reaches all parts of us: mind body, soul, spirit.  the intentionality of the scripture within the prayer allows our minds to focus on the Word of God and centers us in the present with the actions.

the deep and coordinated breathing as an integral part of the prayer helps us take in the Spirit's energy.  it is no accident that ruah in hebrew means both breath and Spirit.  the power of the "Holy Breath" reverberates through our bones if we are attentive to that gift.

it was a grace to learn that chi do in korean means "prayer" because that is what this really is: a way to experience the great Mystery of God through sign and breathing.

i look forward to grow in this style of prayer; i desire to be a facilitator to show others this gift of the Spirit!

check out:  http://www.signchido.com/

be a servant!

gospel reflection  (matthew 20: 26):: "whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave"  do we REALLY believe this?


the gospel paradoxes always inspire me and help me realign my life

the pearl of great price

in the gospel today, it says that the kingdom of God is like the person who found the buried treasure in the field then out of JOY sold what he had in order to obtain it

out of joy!

it was the greatest thing he ever found and he did all he could to have it

why do we often take our faith in the kingdom of God for granted and treat it as something we shrug at instead of the greatest gift that we have?  can we too joyfully give up whatever it takes in order to realize what is already given?

"everything"?

“We will do everything that the LORD has told us.” (Exodus 24)-- oh, if only we had this kind of faith/strength!

THY will be done

jesus said:
For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father
is my brother, and sister, and mother.” 


and it


relates to the Lord's Prayer's "thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven"


how do i align my will with God's will in a noisy world where it is a challenge to LISTEN in prayer?

the will of God: JOY!

john 15: 9-17--jesus teaches us because his will for us is that his joy may be in us and our joy might be complete.  accept this JOY today!

our weeds

gospel reflection: the weeds and wheat also exist in each one of us..."how is our soul garden?" how patient am i with my own weeds?

approaching jesus

jesus' answer to his opposition in today's gospel was to withdraw and attend to those who followed him--- he cured them

we must come to jesus for him to heal us

gospel reflection: jesus' spirit will be our strength and healing.  how do i approach jesus today?

mercy

 "forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us" echoes "i desire mercy not sacrifice"

strive to be child-lke

But Moses said to God,
“Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh
and lead the children of Israel out of Egypt?”
He answered, “I will be with you;
and this shall be your proof that it is I who have sent you:
when you bring my people out of Egypt,

you will worship God on this very mountain.”


how great is it to realize that God is ALREADY present to us and that this very presence will sustain us in what we must do!






“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.


gospel reflection: what an invitation to be child-like in order to KNOW jesus! can we confuse being childish with being child-like at times?

God chooses the weak and sinful

moses was saved as a baby from pharoah who wanted to kill him; jesus escaped herod's attempt to kill him. grace & providence trumps violence


it always amazes me that moses killed a man and went forward to become the leader of the hebrew people and let them out of slavery.  God uses the most unlikely of people to be instruments of freedom and grace

st benedict

benedict is the founder of western monaticism and his rule is influential to this day.  one of his famous quotes is "ora et labora"  pray and work

check out a few chapters:  http://www.osb.org/rb/text/toc.html  (and remember that it is for monks who live together in a common like-- but there are applications to many lifestyles)

i like this quote from the prologue:
"For as we advance in the religious life and in faith, our hearts expand and we run the way of God's commandments with unspeakable sweetness of love."

st benedict, pray for us!

good soil

is our faith stagnant or growing?

if we are to believe the gospel for today's mass, it all depends on the soil in which the word of God is planted

how is your/my soil?  is fertilizer needed?

how does God see us?

Mt 10:24-33


gospel reflection: we dont often realize how PRECIOUS we are in God's eyes 


it is beyond our imagination that God sees us differently than we see ourselves.  our limited human vision sets conditions for our self acceptance.  or at the other end of the spectrum, we believe ourselves to be something GREATER (esp in non essential areas) than we really are.   this is the source of an unhealthy pride


the solution?  God's perspective.  
how we intuit God's perspecive?  prayer


indeed, the center of it all is God's love for us AS WE ARE

how to live in this world

“Behold, I am sending you like sheep in the midst of wolves;
so be shrewd as serpents and simple as doves."


gospel thought: we need the the Spirit's gifts of wonder to be simple as doves; courage and wisdom to be shrewd as serpents

"Because I could not stop for Death"

by Emily Dickinson




Because I could not stop for Death,
He kindly stopped for me;
The carriage held but just ourselves
And Immortality.

We slowly drove, he knew no haste,
And I had put away
My labor, and my leisure too,
For his civility.

We passed the school, where children strove
At recess, in the ring;
We passed the fields of gazing grain,
We passed the setting sun.

Or rather, he passed us;
The dews grew quivering and chill,
For only gossamer my gown,
My tippet only tulle.

We paused before a house that seemed
A swelling of the ground;
The roof was scarcely visible,
The cornice but a mound.

Since then 'tis centuries, and yet each
Feels shorter than the day
I first surmised the horses' heads
Were toward eternity.

your kingdom, come

it is a worldview to be able to state:  "the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Mt 10:7-15).  it is a style of life to look for this kingdom in the here and now.  jesus' actions show us God's will for healing in our world and in our lives


"without cost you have received; without cost you are to give" helps us try to keep self serving intentions at bay

victims of rape

"unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains a single grain.  but if it dies, it will yield a rich harvest"

children always capture our hearts.  our compassion comes to the fore when a child dies tragically.  this is what captivates us still about maria goretti.  she forgave her murderer after he attempted to rape her and was part of his conversion in jail when she appeared to him in a dream.

just as revenge breeds revenge; forgiveness breeds forgiveness

maria goretti is the patron saint of young women and victims of rape.  we pray for their healing of mind body and soul

how jesus sees us

first mass reading: jacob "contended with divine and human beings and prevailed" and had seen God face to face. grace comes to us when we wrestle with our faith because God always wins-- and when God wins, we win too

gospel: jesus had a deep compassion for his people because they were troubled and abandoned. he still sees us and the world the same way

rationale for beginning

well, i am going to try my hand at "blogging". i am going to start with the twitter style-- 140 characters and i will repost the reflections on FB and twitter

i think it will help me in my reflections for the daily readings for mass

any help that i you can give me would be appreciated greatly