Today, in Mercy, on this memorial of Saints John de Brébeuf, Isaac Jogues, and Companions, Paul tells us that we were created “for the praise of His glory”. Paul emphasizes the phrase by using it twice in the first reading.
Thinking about the prayer of praise may remind us of the four types of prayer we learned by nemonic as a child: ACTS.
Adoration
Contrition
Thanksgiving
Supplication
The last three types are prayers centered in the self. They express my regrets, my gratitude, and my needs.But the first type, Adoration, is centered on God – a prayer of awe and absorption into God’s Presence.
That kind of prayer is so important to deepening our relationship with God. We can understand why just by considering our human relationships.
In order to love someone deeply and intimately, we have to forget ourselves and allow ourselves to embrace their reality. It’s very hard to do this. We are naturally self-centered and self-concerned. But through generosity, intentionality and self-sacrifice, we can learn to love unselfishly.
We can learn to love God like this too. Our prayer of adoration may be a shared silence with God. It may be simple phrases we offer in the awareness of God’s Being, as we breathe the breath of God’s life:
You are Beauty….
You are Life….
You are Mercy….
You are Love…
You are…
We let go of time and purpose. We give ourselves to the One who sustains us.
We don’t ask for anything, say thanks or sorry for anything. We simply absorb God’s Presence and return it in praise.
If we feel the need for words to begin this prayer, we might use the first phrases of an old, beloved mantra – the Divine Praises:
Blessed be God. Blessed be God’s Holy Name. Blessed be Jesus Christ, truly God, truly human. Blessed be the Name of Jesus. Blessed be His Most Sacred Heart. Blessed be His Most Precious Blood.
Yesterday in Vatican City, St. Oscar Romero was canonized. This holy man was Archbishop of San Salvador from 1977 until his assassination while offering Mass on March 24, 1980. After Archbishop Romero’s death, a twelve-year civil war ensued in El Salvador, killing an estimated 75,000 people.
The Catholic Church in El Salvador, during these years, became deeply involved in protecting the lives and land rights of the poor who were severely oppressed by a militaristic government. This corrupt government engaged the assistance of the United States to suppress the people by interpreting their struggle as “communism”.
For years, the Salvadoran government received US supplied arms and military training at the School of the Americas in Ft. Benning, Georgia.It was someone trained with these arms who martyred St. Oscar Romero – and thousands of his poor, over many years.
Romero was not a politician. He averted confrontation wherever possible. But he could not stand by as thousands of his flock were slaughteredbecause their human rights threatened the status and greed of the powerful.
Sometimes we hear the empty adage that religion should never mix with politics.
St. Oscar Romero is one of hundreds of women and men who became saints because they believed the opposite.
Our faith is irrevocably entwined with the rest of our lives. Our Gospel demands that we embrace and honor the poor, the oppressed and the marginalized. We may not be called to the level of witness that Oscar Romero was. But we, each in our own way, are called to understand issues of justice, and to act as Jesus would.
We are called to challenge our government, as did many activists during these years, when it is blind to its own sins. The USA is still selling arms to oppressive governments, still supporting regimes and practices that ignore human rights. Our voices and our votes need to be informed, clear, and faith-filled. I find Network and excellent source of education for me on these issues:
Please read the lyrics below first, as they are a little difficult to understand. The images in the video are painful to view, but offer testament to the gross injustices the Salvadoran people endured.
There’s a sunny little country south of Mexico Where the winds are gentle and the waters flow But breezes aren’t the only things that blow In El Salvador
If you took the little lady for a moonlight drive Odds are still good you’d come back alive But everyone is innocent until they arrive In El Salvador
If the rebels take a bus on the grand highway The government destroys a village miles away The man on the radio says ‘now we’ll play South of the Border’
And in the morning the natives say, We’re happy you have lived another day Last night a thousand more passed away In El Salvador
There’s a television crew here from ABC Filming Rio Lempe and the refugees Calling murdered children the ‘tragedy’ Of El Salvador
Before the government cameras 20 feet away Another man is asking for continued aid Food and medicine and hand grenades For El Salvador
There’s a thump, a rumble, and the buildings sway A soldier fires the acid spray The public address system starts to play South of the Border
You run for cover and hide your eyes You hear the screams from paradise They’ve fallen further than you realize In El Salvador
Just like Poland is ‘protected’ by her Russian friends The junta is ‘assisted’ by Americans And if 60 million dollars seems too much to spend In El Salvador
They say for half a billion they could do it right Bomb all day, burn all night Until there’s not a living thing upright In El Salvador
They’ll continue training troops in the USA And watch the nuns that got away And teach the military bands to play South of the Border
And kill the people to set them free Who put this price on their liberty? Don’t you think it’s time to leave El Salvador? Songwriters: Jim Wallis / Noel Paul Stookey
Today, in Mercy, Paul continues opening the minds and hearts of the Galatians to their new Christian identity. It is one inspired and impelled by faith rather than by mere observance of laws.
There are times when all religions, and some of their followers, still struggle with this truth. External observance is sometimes invoked as a measure of holiness or faithfulness. But law will never trump Love.
Just as in any human relationship, we cannot measure love and devotion by external signs. We can send a beloved bushels of flowers, but if our heart is distracted and lukewarm those flowers are a mockery.
Our Gospel tells us that the true measure of our devotion is how responsive we are to God’s Word – how “clothed” we are in Christ. The Psalm today invites us to “glory in God’s Holy Name”. We are to rest our souls in God, the way we might sink our sore body into a warm, healing bath. We are to “clothe” ourselves in the portion of God’s glory inherited through our Baptism.
I absolutely love the picture I’m sharing today. My grand-nephew stands in a stream of refreshing water, totally delighted and free.
We stand in such a fountain of God’s infinite love and grace. May we glory in it, be healed by it, be enlivened by it, be a living blessing because of it.
Music: A precious song by John Nuttall – I Delight in You
Today, in Mercy, we encounter readings that are probably not among anyone’s favorites. In the epistle, Paul is trying to demonstrate to the Galatians how blessed they are to have inherited the promise given to Abraham.
In the Gospel, there is a lot of talk about evil spirits, divided kingdoms, and good old Beelzebub. It’s not really a day when you’ll say, “Gosh, those readings inspired me!”
Is it worth sticking with the daily readings in such a case?I think so.
There is always a string lying among these sacred words that we can tie to our own hearts. For me today, that string is wrapped around the Responsorial Psalm:
I will give thanks to the Lord with all my heart.
Just as the Galatians have inherited God’s promise, so have we. Just as the Kingdom of God has come upon Jesus’ followers, it has come upon us. God’s fidelity remains with us through all the “demons” that might annoy or threaten us. God’s graciousness has already redeemed us for an eternal life beyond their reach.
So let’s have intentionally grateful hearts today. Everything – yes, everything – in our lives is a gift, if we but have the grace to unwrap it with humility, openness and gratitude.
Today, in Mercy, our Gospel gives us three comforting invitations and assurances:
Ask, knock, seek. If you do, you shall receive, be welcomed, find.
That’s nice, isn’t it? But does it really work? I’ve asked for a lot of things I haven’t received. I’ve knocked and sought answers that never came to me. What about you?
Perhaps we’ve been reading the passage with a closed heart.This Gospel may be more remarkable for what it does NOT say than for what it says.
It says ask, not ask FOR something.
It says knock, not BURST IN. It says seek, not seek AFTER something.
The reading is not about getting our particular requests presented before, heard and answered by God. It is not about how to visit a “Santa Claus” God with our wish list and get everything we asked for.
It is, instead, about recognizing our emptiness, and asking God to fill it – in whatever way God wishes.
It is about recognizing that the Spirit lives in a deeper place in our lives – a place that is opened to us only by prayer and trust.
It is about seeking God and God’s desire for us, far beyond any tangible gift.
When we’ve done this kind of asking, knocking and seeking, we have no “answered prayers” to show for it. Instead, we are changed in the way rivers are changed by the rush of melting mountain snows. We are fed, the way trees are fed by the rain disappearing at their roots. We are at peace, the way the deep ocean lies in peace despite any surface storm.
Music: A delightful song from the 60s that will charm you and stick in your head all day. 🤗
Today, in Mercy, our Psalm for the day offers us a tender blessing.One of the most striking phrases of the blessing is “May you see your children’s children.”
Indeed, how grateful we are for the children in our families — no matter how old they are! What a gift to be renewed by their simplicity, openness, and dearness.What a joy to watch these next generations rise to their adulthood in grace and honor. What a particular blessing to live to see their children claim a heritage of life and goodness.
I hope you won’t mind me continuing on a personal note, as I did in yesterday’s reflection. On this celebration weekend, my family also marks the birthday of my oldest niece – a paragon of responsibility, honor and goodness. She was the first bright star of our next generation and our family treasures her.
Similar to yesterday’s reflection, we should also let our younger family and friends know how we love them, what great hope and joy we find in them, how grateful we are for them. We should pray constantly for their life in the spirit, for their strength in this shifting world, and for their friendship with God. We should be light for them, as our elders have been for us.
May we never take for granted what we have been given by the ones who come after us, who carry our hope and life into the future.
Music: – sung by the inimitable Bob Dylan, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature – a singer whom one either loves or hates. I hope you love his rendition of Forever Young.
Today, in Mercy,Jesus castigatesthe people of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and even his beloved Capernaum for their lack of faith.
In these Galilean villages, nearby to his own hometown, Jesus has performed many of his miracles and cures. These people have been the audience for his most memorable sermons. But now, Jesus begins to meet resistance and doubt as his disciples assume greater participation in his ministry.
Jesus is preparing for the time when he will no longer be here. He wants to see strong faith in his followers, but he is disappointed. He tells the crowds that they will regret their hard-heartedness, their slowness of conversion. They will be more harshly judged because they failed to respond to more abundant graces.
This passage is filled with spiritual lessons. We, too, have received so many blessings from God. How have we responded?
It is a sad thing to look back on any part of our lives with regret – to say, “I wish I had…” or “I wish I hadn’t”. The only benefit of such sadness is to learn a lesson for our future.
Let’s pray today to live ever more intentional lives – giving ourselves time to recognize and respond to our blessings, to the needs of others, and to the deepening call of faith within our spirits.
May this prayer help us turn our spirits from any crippling self-interest and lukewarm faith to a dynamic, life-giving spirituality. As our responsorial psalm today encourages us: “If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.”
Today, in Mercy, we celebrate the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, a man who through his deep understanding and love of poverty, worshipped God in all Creation.
In many ways, our reading from Job echoes what we know of Francis. Francis, by choice, and Job, by circumstance, are left with nothing. Each oneexperiences that emptiness as an open pathway to God.
Poverty of spirit is that freedom from dependencies, material and otherwise, which could block us from full relationship with God. The parable of Job shows us a man who possessed such poverty in the extreme experiences of his life.
Francis of Assisi’s story is not a parable. He was real, like you and me. His passionate desire for God burned with the intensity of this verse from Job:
But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives,
and that he will at last stand forth upon the dust;
Whom I myself shall see:
my own eyes, not another’s, shall behold him,
And from my flesh I shall see God;
my inmost being is consumed with longing.
We, too, good friends, shall someday behold Him. May the great holiness of Francis inspire us to unblock our hearts to recognize and adore God, even in this life of challenges and blessings.
Music: We Shall Behold Him – The Woodlands Church UMC Choir
Former American Idol finalist LaKisha Jones sings the solo during an Easter Morning anthem.
Savor the exultant words first. I especially love the lines:
The sweet light in His eyes, shall enhance those awaiting And we shall behold him, then face to face
We Shall Behold Him
The sky shall unfold
Preparing His entrance
The stars shall applaud Him
With thunders of praise
The sweet light in His eyes, shall enhance those awaiting
And we shall behold Him, then face to face
O we shall behold Him, we shall behold Him
Face to face in all of His glory
O we shall behold Him, yes we shall behold Him
Face to face, our Savior and Lord
The angel will sound, the shout of His coming
And the sleeping shall rise, from their slumbering place
And those remaining, shall be changed in a moment
And we shall behold him, then face to face
We shall behold Him, o yes we shall behold Him
Face to face in all of His glory
We shall behold Him, face to face
Our Savior and Lord
We shall behold Him, our Savior and Lord
Savior and Lord!
Today, in Mercy, Job proves his faith in God. His tremendous troubles will not shake him from his deep loyalty to an awesome God.
As well as remaining steadfast, Job uses his circumstances to deliver both a stirring, poetic description of an Omnipotent Creator, and an personal testament to an intimate Companion.
Reading slowly through this beautiful passage, let’s open our imaginations to see the Mountain Mover, the Sun Commander, the Ocean Walker the Star Designer Who is Job’s God.
If our prayer is caught in some old, small image of God, this passage encourages us to reach for the awesome Presence of the God Who loves us – and to trust that Love with the utter simplicity like Job’s.
Today, in Mercy, Wow! Job is as distraught as anybody I’ve ever seen! He is sorry he was ever born, that’s how terrible his circumstances are.
Hopefully, none of us has ever been at such a “Job Point”. But we’ve had our own small brinks where we’ve stood and yelled into the silence, “Why?”
Why me?
Why my family?
Why someone so good?
Why now?
Why like this?
All these “whys” are fragments of the essential question of the Book of Job: How can a good God allow evil to exist? The question even has its own name: theodicy – defined as the vindication of divine goodness and providence in view of the existence of evil.
Philosophers and theologians have proposed an array of explanations. But these fall short of satisfying us when we are the ones at the brink.
When we try to balance the concepts of evil with God’s goodness, we are wrestling with a mystery, not a problem. Problems, like unsolved math equations, have answers – even though we may not have found them yet.
Mysteries do not have finite answers. Sacred mysteries engage our faith to grow deeper in relationship with God, Who shares our life and suffering beyond our human understanding.
On this Feast of the Guardian Angels, whom we ask to be at our side through good and evil, we pray for ever-deepening faith that all will be made whole for Creation in the Infinity of God.
Lavish Mercy 