Month: July 2024
Remade
Memorial of Saint Alphonsus Liguori, Bishop and Doctor of the Church
August 1, 2024
Today’s Readings:
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/080124.cfm
I went down to the potter’s house and there he was,
working at the wheel.
Whenever the object of clay which he was making
turned out badly in his hand,
he tried again,
remaking of the clay another object
of whatever sort he pleased.
Then the word of the LORD came to me:
Can I not do to you, house of Israel,
as this potter has done? says the LORD.
Indeed, like clay in the hand of the potter,
so are you in my hand, house of Israel.
Jeremiah 18:3-6
In the simple image of a potter with clay, we come to understand the transformative power of God’s grace. Like nourishment for a precious plant, that divine grace breathes new life into any fading flowers of faith, hope, and love. Jesus came among us so that we might be remade in his image as the Beloved of God.
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:
We pray for a supple heart, an acute attention, and a patient openness to God’s power in our lives.
Poetry: The Song of the Potter – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Turn, turn, my wheel! Turn round and round,
Without a pause, without a sound:
So spins the flying world away!
This clay, well mixed with marl and sand,
Follows the motion of my hand;
For some must follow, and some command,
Though all are made of clay!
Turn, turn, my wheel! All things must change
To something new, to something strange;
Nothing that is can pause or stay;
The moon will wax, the moon will wane,
The mist and cloud will turn to rain,
The rain to mist and cloud again,
To-morrow be to-day.
Turn, turn, my wheel! All life is brief;
What now is bud will soon be leaf,
What now is leaf will soon decay;
The wind blows east, the wind blows west;
The blue eggs in the robin's nest
Will soon have wings and beak and breast,
And flutter and fly away.
Turn, turn, my wheel! This earthen jar
A touch can make, a touch can mar;
And shall it to the Potter say,
What makest thou? Thou hast no hand?
As men who think to understand
A world by their Creator planned,
Who wiser is than they.
Turn, turn, my wheel! 'Tis nature's plan
The child should grow into the man,
The man grow wrinkled, old, and gray;
In youth the heart exults and sings,
The pulses leap, the feet have wings;
In age the cricket chirps, and brings
The harvest home of day.
Turn, turn, my wheel! The human race,
Of every tongue, of every place,
Caucasian, Coptic, or Malay,
All that inhabit this great earth,
Whatever be their rank or worth,
Are kindred and allied by birth,
And made of the same clay.
Turn, turn, my wheel! What is begun
At daybreak must at dark be done,
To-morrow will be another day;
To-morrow the hot furnace flame
Will search the heart and try the frame,
And stamp with honor or with shame
These vessels made of clay.
Stop, stop, my wheel! Too soon, too soon
The noon will be the afternoon,
Too soon to-day be yesterday;
Behind us in our path we cast
The broken potsherds of the past,
And all are ground to dust at last,
And trodden into clay.
Music: Abba, Father – Carey Landry
All
Memorial of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, Priest
July 31, 2024
Today’s Readings:
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/073124.cfm
Again, the Kingdom of heaven is like a merchant
searching for fine pearls.
When he finds a pearl of great price,
he goes and sells all that he has and buys it.
Matthew 13:45-46
On this feast, our readings offer us a perfect understanding of what motivated the life of St. Ignatius Loyola – he gave everything to possess the pearl of eternal life.
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:
We pray the Suscipe of Ignatius, asking to deepen in our understanding of how we are called to holiness in our particular life circumstances.
Poetry: As Kingfishers Catch Fire – Gerard Manley Hopkins, SJ
As kingfishers catch fire, dragonflies draw flame;
As tumbled over rim in roundy wells
Stones ring; like each tucked string tells, each hung bell’s
Bow swung finds tongue to fling out broad its name;
Each mortal thing does one thing and the same:
Deals out that being indoors each one dwells;
Selves — goes itself; myself it speaks and spells,
Crying Whát I dó is me: for that I came.
I say móre: the just man justices;
Keeps grace: thát keeps all his goings graces;
Acts in God’s eye what in God’s eye he is —
Chríst — for Christ plays in ten thousand places,
Lovely in limbs, and lovely in eyes not his
To the Father through the features of men’s faces.
Music: Take, Lord, Receive – John Foley, SJ
Take, Lord, receive all my liberty,
My memory, understanding, my entire will.
Give me only Your love and Your grace, that’s enough for me.
Your love and Your grace, are enough for me.
Take, Lord, receive all I have and possess.
You have given all to me, now I return it.
Give me only Your love and Your grace, that’s enough for me.
Your love and Your grace, are enough for me.
Take, Lord, receive, all is Yours now.
Dispose of it, wholly according to Your will
Give me only Your love and Your grace, that’s enough for me.
Your love and Your grace, are enough for me.
Seed
Tuesday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time
July 30, 2024
Today’s Readings:
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/073024.cfm
The seed is the word of God,
Christ is the sower;
all who come to him
will live for ever.
Encapsulating today’s Gospel, our Responsorial Psalm delivers the clear message that Christ sows the Word of God in our hearts. Will that Divine Seed be overwhelmed by selfish weeds? Or will it thrive? The answer comes with very high stakes – eternal life.
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:
We pray for a fertile soul, open to God’s Word, vibrant with the Gospel of Christ.
Poetry: May we raise children who love the unloved things – Nicolette Sowder
May we raise children
who love the unloved things – the dandelion, the
worms & spiderlings.
Children who sense
the rose needs the thorn
& run into rainswept days
the same way they turn towards sun…
And when they’re grown &
someone has to speak for those
who have no voice
may they draw upon that
wilder bond, those days of
tending tender things
and be the ones.
Music: Gardens of the Sun – Georgia Kelly
Friends
Memorial of Saints Martha, Mary, and Lazarus
July 29, 2024
Today’s Readings:
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/072924.cfm
Many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary
to comfort them about their brother [Lazarus, who had died].
When Martha heard that Jesus was coming,
she went to meet him;
but Mary sat at home.
Martha said to Jesus,
“Lord, if you had been here,
my brother would not have died.
But even now I know that whatever you ask of God,
God will give you.”
John 11:19-22
Jesus needed and had friends, just like we do. Martha, Mary, and Lazarus were that kind of close friends. Jesus could hang out at their house, be comfortable at their table. They loved when he visited, bustling about to tidy the house and make him a special meal. They could sit with him for the afternoon in the comfortable silence between close friends. And could expect him to share their joys and sorrows.
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:
Jesus wants to be that kind of friend with us – sharing presence, refreshment, a quiet comfort, a lively conversation. He wants to share our ups and downs and in-betweens.He wants us to love him as he loves us.
Poetry: Malcolm Guite – The Anointing at Bethany
Come close with Mary, Martha, Lazarus
so close the candles stir with their soft breath
and kindle heart and soul to flame within us,
lit by these mysteries of life and death.
For beauty now begins the final movement
in quietness and intimate encounter.
The alabaster jar of precious ointment
is broken open for the world’s true Lover.
The whole room richly fills to feast the senses
with all the yearning such a fragrance brings.
The heart is mourning but the spirit dances,
here at the very center of all things,
here at the meeting place of love and loss,
we all foresee, and see beyond the cross.
Music: Pour My Love on You by Craig and Dean Phillips
Abundance
Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
July 28, 2024
Today’s Readings:
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/072824.cfm
Jesus said, “Have the people recline.”
Now there was a great deal of grass in that place.
So the men reclined, about five thousand in number.
Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks,
and distributed them to those who were reclining,
and also as much of the fish as they wanted.
When they had had their fill, he said to his disciples,
“Gather the fragments left over,
so that nothing will be wasted.”
So they collected them,
and filled twelve wicker baskets with fragments
from the five barley loaves
that had been more than they could eat.
John 6:10-13
Today’s readings are about being fed – not only in a physical sense, but also in a spiritual sense. Jesus’s miracle with the loaves and fishes fed a lot of hungry people, but it more importantly opened their eyes to his power to redeem them. It gave them hope, the spiritual food for which we all hunger.
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:
We realize that the same Lavish Mercy which fed those on the ancient hillside feeds and transforms us throughout our lives. As Paul indicates in the second reading, it makes us one in the infinite abundance of God’s grace and call.
May we therefore “live in a manner worthy of the call we have received.”
Poetry: When a Little Was Enough – Irene Zimmerman, OSF
“Send the people away from this deserted place
to find food and lodgings,” the
twelve urged Jesus,
“for the day is advanced and it is almost evening.”
Jesus looked at the crowd (there were about five thousand)
and looked at his disciples, still excited and tired
from their first mission journey.
What had they learned from
the villagers of Galilee
who shared bread and sheltered
them from cold night
winds?
What had they learned of human coldness
on the way?
He remembered the pain in his mother’s voice
as she told of his birth night when
they found no room
in all of Bethlehem, House of Bread.
“You give them something to eat!” he said.
“We have only five loaves and two
fish!” they protested.
“How can we feed so many with so little?”
He understood their incredulity.
They had yet to learn that a little was enough
when it was all they had—
that God could turn these very stones to bread.
“Have the crowd sit down in
groups of fifty,” he said.
Jesus took the food and looked up to heaven.
He blessed it, broke it, gave it to the disciples
to distribute to the new-formed churches.
Afterwards, when everyone was satisfied,
the twelve filled twelve baskets
of bread left over—
as faith stirred like yeast within them.
Music: I Am – by Finding Favor
While you were sleeping
While the whole world was dreaming
I never left your side
And I can promise I won’t be leaving
I watch you breathing
And I hear you singing
I feel your heart beat and I know every pain
That you’re feeling
And I am the comfort when you are afraid
I am the refuge when you call my name
I was, I’ll be, I am
I know you’re broken
You’re busted wide open
You’ve fallen to pieces and you feel there’s nothing left
You can hope in
But I’ll hold you together
We’ll stand the weather
Cause I paid the price for you
And I won’t let you go, no never
And I am the comfort when you are afraid
I am the refuge when you call my name
I was, I’ll be, I am
And I am the future, and I am the past
I am the first and I am the last
I was, I’ll be, I am
I am the Father, I am the Son
I am the Spirit, I am the One
I was, I’ll be, I am
And I wore the thorns and I took the nails
I am love, and love never fails
I was, I’ll be, I am
I am, I am, I am
Reform
Saturday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time
July 27, 2024
Today’s Readings:
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/072724.cfm
Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel:
Reform your ways and your deeds,
so that I may remain with you in this place.
Put not your trust in the deceitful words:
“This is the temple of the LORD!
The temple of the LORD! The temple of the LORD!”
Only if you thoroughly reform your ways and your deeds;
if each of you deals justly with his neighbor;
if you no longer oppress the resident alien,
the orphan, and the widow;
if you no longer shed innocent blood in this place,
or follow strange gods to your own harm,
will I remain with you in this place,
in the land I gave your fathers long ago and forever.
Jeremiah 7:3-7
Jeremiah tells the people that God wants to reform them in a very particular way. They are to be reshaped by justice, truthfulness, mercy, holy hospitality, non-violence, and faithful worship.
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:
We examine our lives for where we need reformation. Don’t tell me you don’t need it. Everybody needs it. We get weary, distracted, hurt, stubborn, fooled, proud, and arrogant. These human conditions knock us out of spiritual shape. How great that God grants us the indulgence to reform and gladly assists us in the process!
Wisdom:
“In a higher world
St. John Henry Newman
it is otherwise,
but here below to live
is to change,
and to be perfect
is to have changed often.”
Music: Purple Indulgence – Masako
Yield
Memorial of Saints Joachim and Anne, Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary
July 26, 2024
Today’s Readings:
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/072624.cfm
But the seed sown on rich soil
is the one who hears the word and understands it,
who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.
Matthew 13:23
How appropriate, on this feast of Anne and Joachim, that the Gospel describes the abundant yield of love and fidelity. Those virtues in Anne and Joachim shaped the heart of Mary as the Vessel of God.
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:
We gratefully remember those in our own lives who helped shape us by their faith, guardianship, and generosity – parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, trusted mentors, generous friends.
Poetry: The Splendor Falls – Alfred Lord Tennyson
The splendor falls on castle walls
And snowy summits old in story;
The long light shakes across the lakes,
And the wild cataract leaps in glory.
Blow, bugle, blow, set the wild echoes flying,
Blow, bugle; answer, echoes, dying, dying, dying.
O, hark, O, hear! how thin and clear,
And thinner, clearer, farther going!
O, sweet and far from cliff and scar
The horns of Elfland faintly blowing!
Blow, let us hear the purple glens replying,
Blow, bugles; answer, echoes, dying, dying, dying.
O love, they die in yon rich sky,
They faint on hill or field or river;
Our echoes roll from soul to soul,
And grow forever and forever.
Blow, bugle, blow, set the wild echoes flying,
And answer, echoes, answer, dying, dying, dying.
I found a reference to this poem in a lovely reflection by Franciscan Sister Kathleen Murphy which you may read here:
Music: Ancestors – by Sarah Pirtle
Chorus:
We are standing on the shoulders of the ones who came before us.
They are giving us their courage, and they say we are glad you’re in this world.
- May the strength of the ancestors encircle you.
May the strength of the ancestors encircle you.
And may this strength stay with you your whole life through.
May the strength of the ancestors encircle you.
We are standing on the shoulders of the ones who came before us.
They are giving us their courage, and they say we are glad you’re in this world.
Refrain:
May you have all your choices. May you have all your voices.
May your wisdom now be heard.
They say we are glad you’re in this world.
- May the trust of the ancestors be healing you. (2x)
And may this trust stay with you your whole life through.
May the trust of the ancestors be healing you.
We are lifting up our vision to the ones who will come after.
We are sending them our courage, as they wait to come into this world.
Refrain:
May you have all your choices. May you have all your voices.
May your wisdom now be heard.
They say we are glad you’re in this world.
Earthen
Feast of Saint James, Apostle
July 25, 2024
Today’s Readings:
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/072524.cfm
We hold this treasure in earthen vessels,
that the surpassing power may be of God and not from us.
We are afflicted in every way, but not constrained;
perplexed, but not driven to despair;
persecuted, but not abandoned;
struck down, but not destroyed;
always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus,
so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our body.
For we who live are constantly being given up to death
for the sake of Jesus,
so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh.
2 Corinthians 4:7-11
Today’s passage from Corinthians reminds us that any beauty and goodness in us is a gracious gift from God. That gift strengthens us beyond any human or personal capacity so that our lives may give God glory.
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:
We prayerfully relax in the Potter’s hands Who shapes our lives according to Mercy. We realize with Paul that, even in affliction, we give glory to God by our fidelity and trust.
Poetry: Within this earthen vessel – Kabir, (1398–1518) a well-known Indian mystic poet and saint.
Within this earthen vessel are bowers and groves,
and within it is the Creator:
Within this vessel are the seven oceans
and the unnumbered stars.
The touchstone and the jewel-appraiser are within;
And within this vessel the Eternal soundeth,
and the spring wells up.
Kabir says: “Listen to me, my Friend!
My beloved Lord is within.”
Music: Earthen Vessels – John Foley, SJ
Before …
Wednesday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time
July 24, 2024
Today’s Readings:
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/072424.cfm
Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
before you were born I dedicated you,
a prophet to the nations I appointed you.
“Ah, Lord GOD!” I said,
“I know not how to speak; I am too young.”
But the LORD answered me,
Say not, “I am too young.”
To whomever I send you, you shall go;
whatever I command you, you shall speak.
Have no fear before them,
because I am with you to deliver you, says the LORD.
Jeremiah 1: 5-8
This passage recounting the call of Jeremiah is full of tenderness and encouragement. God assures Jeremiah that the world is bigger than his present hesitations, fears, and inadequacies.
God has known him and been with him even before he was born.
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:
We give thanks that God has been with us always, even before we were born. God accompanies us through whatever fears and hesitations we have in living a good and holy life. Trust is the key that opens our hearts to this blessed truth.
Poetry: Before the World Was Made – W.B. Yeats
In this intriguing poem, Yeats writes from the perspective of a woman whose efforts at physical beauty leave her unfulfilled. She longs for the spiritual beauty she possessed “before the world was made”.
If I make the lashes dark
And the eyes more bright
And the lips more scarlet,
Or ask if all be right
From mirror after mirror,
No vanity’s displayed:
I’m looking for the face I had
Before the world was made.
What if I look upon a man
As though on my beloved,
And my blood be cold the while
And my heart unmoved?
Why should he think me cruel
Or that he is betrayed?
I’d have him love the thing that was
Before the world was made.
Music: I Have Loved You – Michael Joncas
Lavish Mercy 