Category: Prayer

Fear or Faith?

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Church, Community, Courage, Faith, Gospel, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Prayer, Truth2 Comments

Tuesday, August 28, 2018

       Readings:  http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/082818.cfm

Mt 23_24 camael gnat

Today, in Mercy, Paul talks seriously with the community at Thessalonika. Some early Christians expected the final coming of Christ to happen imminently. They had become upset, and somewhat obsessed, with concerns and rumors about “the end times”. Reactions range from fear to panic to denial.

Paul basically tells the community to settle down – “Hold fast to the traditions that you were taught.” In other words, focus on the core teachings of your faith – love, service, and grateful, joyful worship – not on the imagined fears of some unenlightened shouters.

We see such misdirection manifested in fundamentalism, scrupulosity, exaggerated devotional practices, cultic behaviors, even superstitions – the kinds of attitudes Jesus condemns in today’s Gospel.  These conditions cause us to become judgmental, elitist and superficial. They distract us from attention to the heart of our faith – mutual love, unselfish service, merciful justice, Christlike inclusivity.

Even as I write this reflection, we have a Church — like Thessolonia — fraught with turmoil.  Many call it unprecedented, although any student of Church History knows it is not. Still. it is a time when we who love the Catholic faith must pray for light, courage and fidelity. Let us pray too for Pope Francis that he may rely on the Holy Spirit to help him act courageously and definitively, as Paul did, to right the Beloved Community.

As for each of us, the fullness of God needs a large soul – not one shrunken by its own pettiness, fears, and self-righteousness. As St. Augustine prayed:

Narrow is the mansion of my soul;
enlarge Thou it,
that Thou mayest enter in.

Music: A Heart Like Yours ~ CeCe Winans

All That Is Upon the Altar

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Charity, Church, Community, Prayer, repentance, suffering1 Comment

Monday, August 27, 2018

          Readings:  http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/082718.cfm

we always pray for you

Today, in Mercy, on the feast of St. Monica, I think of all the good priests and religious throughout the world, whose hearts weep with victimized children, whose souls rage at the treachery of their brethren, and whose dreams of fealty with the People of God lie wounded at their feet.

In our first reading, Paul speaks to these religious and to all of us who love the Church:

We ought to thank God always for you, brothers and sisters,
as is fitting, because your faith flourishes ever more,
and the love of every one of you for one another grows ever greater.
Accordingly, we ourselves boast of you in the churches of God
regarding your endurance and faith in all your persecutions
and the afflictions you endure.
This is evidence of the just judgment of God,
so that you may be considered worthy of the Kingdom of God
for which you are suffering.

Let us encourage each other, servants of God and of God’s People – in this time of suffering but also of renewal – not only to remain true, but to become truer. For as Jesus says in the Gospel:

” One who swears by the altar swears by it and all that is upon it;
one who swears by the temple swears by it
and by him who dwells in it;
one who swears by heaven swears by the throne of God
and by him who is seated on it.”

St. Monica, who prayed incessantly for the deep conversion of your son Augustine, pray for us in our time of testing. Amen.

Music: Servant Song ~ Richard Gillard

Remember Your Fig Trees

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Conversion, Discipleship, Faith, Jesus, Prayer, spirituality7 Comments

Friday, August 24, 2018

Readings: Click here.

Jn 1_48 fig

Today, in Mercy, we celebrate the Feast of the Apostle Bartholomew, also known as Nathaniel. As with many of the Apostles, little is known of Bartholomew’s life outside of a few Gospel stories. John’s Gospel tells the wonderful story of Nathaniel’s call by Christ.

The encounter is a very personal one. Jesus and Nathaniel share a conversation that must have impressed the other listeners because it was remembered and recounted word for word in the Gospel.

One exchange, in particular, carries deep significance for Nathaniel. Jesus says that there is no duplicity, or pretense, in Nathaniel. There is a transparency in him shared even with God. Nathaniel wonders out loud , “How do you know me?” Jesus answers, “Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree.”

What was going on with Nathaniel under that fig tree? A moment of intense prayer, questioning, decision, doubt, hope? Whatever it was, Jesus had shared it, even at a distance. When Nathaniel realizes this, his faith in Jesus and vocation to follow Him are confirmed. Nathaniel professes, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.”

Where are the fig trees in your life story — those moments when, looking back, you realize that God was with you even though seeming distant?

What were the turning points in your faith, when you came out from under the shadow of a challenging experience, to the grateful amazement that God had accompanied you through it.

What are those pivotal, intimate moments when it was just you and God – those transparent moments that changed your life?

If you can’t recall any such moments, perhaps you are not giving yourself the time and space to let God reach you.

It might be time to seek out a “fig tree” – a place of spiritual solitude where you may speak honestly and directly to God about the most important things in your life. Open your heart, like Nathaniel, to hear what God already knows about you.

Music: The Memory of Trees – Enya (Some lyrical New Age music to listen to under your fig tree!)

 

 

Taste and See!

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Eternal Life, Faith, holiness, Prayer, spirituality3 Comments

Sunday, August 19, 2018

Readings: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/081918.cfm

Ps34_Honey

Today, in Mercy, in the beautiful first reading from Proverbs, Wisdom builds her house and invites us to turn in to her welcoming door. Picture a lovely cottage, set in a varied garden. You are coming off a long road through the darkness. But Light shines from Wisdom’s doorway, carrying the invitation for refreshment and rest.

But there is a caveat before you partake:

Let whoever is simple turn in here …
she says,
Come, eat of my food,
and drink of the wine I have mixed!
Forsake foolishness that you may live;advance in the way of understanding.

Are we simple enough to become wise? Do we have a heart sincere enough to trust that there is an Infinity beyond our understanding Who loves and invites us from the depth of It’s Mystery?

In our Gospel, Jesus clarifies that He is the door by which we enter into the fullness of Wisdom. When we meet Him in Eucharist, in the deepest simplicity of faith, we pass through the door to Eternal Wisdom – to the sweet, infinite simplicity of God.

Today’s Responsorial Psalm offers us a refrain to thread through our prayer today:

Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.

This is Wisdom’s invitation offered to us in each experience of our day. May we be simple enough to hear it.

Music: Psalm 34 ~ The Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir 

A Clean Heart

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Conversion, Eternal Life, Mercy, Prayer, repentance2 Comments

Saturday, August 18, 2018

Readings: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/081818.cfm

Ps51_clean heart

Today, in Mercy, God tells Ezekiel that each person will be judged according to her/his own ways – not according to the deeds of our parents, family or friends.

In the Gospel, Jesus blesses the innocent children and says that those in the Kingdom of Heaven must be like them.

Most of us are a long way from innocence. We have our agendas, our politics, our status, our possessions, our grudges, our prejudices that often come between us and a spiritually pure heart.

If we want to be different, today’s Psalm 51 allows us to lay it all on the heart of Jesus.   Create in me a clean heart, O Lord.

(I hope you enjoy this gentle rendering of the psalm in Hebrew.)

Music: Choneni Elohim, from Psalm 51 (Be Gracious to me O G-d) ~ Christine Jackman

I Will Carry You

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Discipleship, Faith, Jesus, Mercy, Prayer7 Comments

Tuesday, August 14, 2018

Memorial of Saint Maximilian Kolbe, Priest and Martyr

Readings: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/081418.cfm

Today, in Mercy, Jesus tells us that he wants none of us to be lost. He wants that so much that he would leave the whole flock just to find us. That’s how precious we are to God.

Mt 18_14lamb

We’ve all felt lost to God at times – maybe through sorrow, depression, doubt, anger, distraction, self-absorption, laziness or a thousand other kinds of paralyses and sins.

We hear people – maybe ourselves – say, “I just can’t pray” or “I don’t have time to pray” or, “I’m too angry with God to pray.” Or, probably the most common excuse, “I’ll pray just as soon as I get everything else done.” Of course, we never get everything else done!

I think that sometimes we stray from God because we are afraid:

  • that our faith is not strong enough to receive God’s answer
  • that we are not good enough for God to love us
  • that we cannot measure up to honest relationship with the God of Truth

In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells us to get past our excuses and fears. He says, “Get up here on my shoulders and let me carry you. I already know all about your excuses and fears – and I love you beyond them. Let’s go home to God’s heart.”

Music: I Will Carry You ~ Sean Clive

Pray for Priests

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Church, Community, inclusivity, Jesus, Prayer5 Comments

Saturday, August 4, 2018

Readings: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/080418.cfm

Today, in Mercy, we hear again about John the Baptist, the greatest prophet and preacher of all time, other than Jesus. John was so powerful that Herod thought he had come back from the dead to punish Herod’s sins.

John Vianney

Today is also the feast of St. John Vianney, popularly known as the “Curé d’Ars”. John was a simple and vibrantly devout parish priest in 19th century France. His humble holiness so transformed souls that he is considered the model and patron saint of all priests. St. John Vianney not only said, but lived, this statement:

“The priesthood is the love of the heart of Jesus.
When you see a priest, think of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

God knows we need the influence of this saintly man today in the Catholic Church. It is a time when many have lost faith in the priesthood because of the heinous sins of some. That loss of faith is inevitably tied to our sacramental life. It is a tragic and profound bereavement.

Our society suffers a similar foundational trauma in so many other areas. When people of my age were young, we could trust our priests, our doctors, our police officers, our bankers, our government to safeguard our good. That trust has eroded in this time of exposure of deep-rooted, extensive corruption in once trusted institutions.

How do we restore our faith in the Church and other service institutions we have loved? We have already begun some of the work in the Church, but there is still much to be done. The work may serve as a model for other institutions:

  • Name and confront the corruption 
  • Remove the structures, myths and attitudes which allow corruption to thrive
  • Declericalize and humanize the priesthood – flatten the “power tower”
  • Support the full participation of women in all societal roles.
  • Redefine “priest” as simply one in the community of believers.
  • Pray for the many good priests who are suffering from the stigma of their errant peers and support them by our vital commitment to true Christian community.

Today, let’s pray together the prayer of St. John Vianney:

God, please give to your Church today
many more priests after your own heart.
May they be worthy representatives of Christ the Good Shepherd.
May they wholeheartedly devote themselves to prayer and penance;
be examples of humility and poverty;
shining models of holiness;
tireless and powerful preachers of the Word of God;
zealous dispensers of your grace in the sacraments.
May their loving devotion to your Son Jesus in the Eucharist
and to Mary his Mother
be the twin fountains of fruitfulness for their ministry.
Amen.

Music: Philippians Canticle ~ John Michael Talbot
This hymn reflects the true nature of the priesthood of Jesus Christ

 

The Tiny Seed of Faith

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Faith, holiness, Jesus, Prayer, spirituality3 Comments

Monday, July 30, 2018

Readings: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/073018.cfm

Today, in Mercy, Jesus teaches us about faith with the simple parable of the mustard seed. Many of us have never seen a mustard seed — just mustard! 😀 So the short video below is helpful.

The Mustard Tree

Sometimes we feel that our faith is that small, don’t we? 

  • We have so many questions about why evil exists in the world. 
  • We wonder the classic question: Why do bad things happen to good people?
  • The religious foundation of our faith might be shaken by scandals within the Church, and the selfish hard-hearted ness of some who proclaim to be Christian.
  • Sometimes we just feel empty and disconnected from God.

Jesus tells us today to think of the tiniest seed, easily overlooked in the big garden. He says our faith is like that seed. By one small prayer, one small turning toward God, that seed will take root again in us and grow.

Music:  Faith of a Mustard Seed ~ byTwo Or More. (if you need a little “ Wake Up”!)

God’s Gentleness

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Eternal Life, Faith, Gospel, Jesus, Prayer, spirituality4 Comments

Saturday, July 21, 2018

Readings: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/072118.cfm

Today, in Mercy, Matthew describes Jesus as He begins to experience a mortal resistance to his message. Jesus slowly realizes that some listening to him are full of hate, fear, and deception. His response reflects the counsel he himself offered earlier in his ministry: offer the evil one no resistance.

Is42_3 and Mt Reed

Jesus does not respond to evil or sin. He confronts it. He stands firm against it. But Jesus does not stoop to argument, violence, or any other form of engagement which would legitimize evil. He will not step into the trap evil always sets for its prey. When we fight evil with evil’s own weapons, we have already lost.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus simply walks away. We can feel his sadness. His offer of eternal love and grace has fallen on recalcitrant hearts. He sees that these hearts are lost to God.

Instead, Jesus gathers around him the humble and wounded, the ones whose hearts have been softened by suffering and shadows. He gently comforts them, heals them, and leads them to a new Light. They are the bruised reeds which he does not break. They are like smoldering wicks which he tenderly rekindles with his Word.

Let us place our own bruises and flickering lights in his presence today. Let us gather the world’s hurts and darknesses in our prayer. We give ourselves to the gentle love of Jesus.

I remember this morning a beloved prayer of my youth. Some of you may remember too: The Prayer before the Crucifix 

Look down upon me, good and gentle Jesus,
While before Thy face I humbly kneel
And with burning soul, pray and beseech Thee,
To fix deep in my heart,
Lively sentiments of faith, hope and charity,
True contrition for my sins
And a firm purpose of amendment.
While I contemplate with great love and tender pity,
Thy five most precious wounds,
Pondering over them within me,
And calling to mind the words that David,
Thy prophet, said of Thee , my Jesus,
“They have pierced My hands and feet,
They have numbered all my bones.”

Music: My Heart Longs for a Touch
(To hear music, tap the center of the picture below.)

Rest

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Conversion, Faith, Jesus, Love, Prayer, suffering1 Comment

Thursday, July 19, 2018

Readings: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/071918.cfm

Today, in Mercy, Jesus stretches out his arms to all the suffering, troubled, lonely, upset people of the world. He opens his arms to us when we are feeling exhausted, confused or lost.

Mt 11_29 Rest

“Come to Me”, Jesus says. I am waiting for you. I see your burdens and distress. It doesn’t even matter if you are the cause of your own problems. I love you and I will comfort you.

Today, let’s just give ourselves, without reservation, into his loving invitation.

I Fall into Your Arms – Sean Clive