Ready or Not

And here we are in the midst of Holy Week, whether we're ready or not.

Given that we are celebrating our Sacred Triduum from our own living rooms and kitchens I find myself pondering what is the essence of each of these days? What are the essential truths of these liturgies and can I pray with those truths even if I'm not gathered with others physically in the same space? Whether I can or not isn't really up for discussion, I must find a way.

What are the moments in Holy Week that you love the best? How will you pray those moments this year?

I am always moved by the foot washing, the retelling of the last supper narrative, the idea of service, the mystery and wonder of the incredible gift of the Eucharist and the quiet prayer at the altar of repose when the Holy Thursday service is done...the sense of humility that comes through on Good Friday, the pain in the retelling of the crucifixion, and then just the absolute glory of the Easter miracle.

How will we pray these days? Will we take the time to pray with the readings from our liturgies at home, with friends on a group chat? Can I look for some intentional quiet in my day to ponder the mystery of the passion of Christ? Will I eat my meals more prayerfully? What music might I choose to listen to to surround my soul in prayerful melody?

I think I'm going to bake bread on Thursday and really pray about the gift of Jesus's self in the Eucharist...as well as wonder and gratitude for the gift of faith in that Eucharist.
On Friday, maybe I'll take a quiet walk, (of course keeping a safe distance from others) remembering Jesus' walk to Calvary...

I'm a bit at a loss as to what to do on Easter Sunday. It's hard to think of not being with church family and birth family and friends for services, for a special meal, for the laughter and fun. Perhaps a walk down to the river to just sit and watch the water glisten in the sunlight (I'm hoping for sunlight!!) I will find a way to hum a little Alleluia song somewhere on Sunday. I will remember the despite our present reality, the truth of Easter is that Love always wins...and yes, even this year, Love will win.

I pray that these days are most special for each of us, that we realize we are being given the gift of a retreat time with Jesus, that we didn't even ask for! May we use these holy days well, and may we discover the blessings that God has in store for us!

Peace and Easter blessings to one and all!

What Is Palm Sunday Without the Palms?

Is it really possible that this Sunday is Palm Sunday? This has truly been a strange Lenten season for us all! Now we stand here before the holiest of weeks for us as Catholics with the knowledge that we will not be together for any of our most sacred and treasured rituals. There is a real sense of loss for many of us.

And yet, today is a bright and sunny day, the earth is coming back to life, tulips are popping up in the park next door to me, and it seems like the birds are chirping "Alleluia".

How odd it is to feel both the heaviness of our present social reality and the joy and expectation that comes with springtime flowers and fresh air. Both my brain and my spirit seem discombobulated. I don't know what to feel.

I've always felt the crush of a week's time when we read and pray the Palm Sunday liturgy. We know the story: the week begins with a bang, Jesus is being treated like a rock star. Parades, praise and palm branches are all the rage. Even as we listen to or read the passion narrative, we know in our very bones that before the week is out, those same people will be shouting "Crucify him!" How very fickle we human beings are. How easily we can be swayed by the influencers in the crowd. Perhaps Jesus felt this same heaviness of heart that we know now...caught between joy, hope and sadness. Wishing that things might be different, knowing they can't be.

The reading from Isaiah reminds us of who the Suffering Servant is. Traditionally early Christians came to associate this character with the person of Jesus. Today, as we look at the many who are working so hard on the 'front lines' to keep us safe and well cared for: doctors, nurses and respiratory therapists as well as grocery employees, chefs, delivery persons, supers and janitors, I wonder if they aren't our suffering servants in 2020. Let us hold them close in our prayer this week.

"Morning after morning" may God open our ears that we may hear his word in the midst of this holiest of weeks. What is God asking us to learn today? How will we mark this Holy Week in our living rooms and kitchens? What kind of rituals can we share with one another while we are at home? If you are with your family, might you read the gospel of the Last Supper and do a foot washing with one another? Will we turn off Netflix on Friday at 3pm? If you're by yourself can you read the passion narrative and unite your prayer with the rest of the world ?

Do we really need palms to remember that Jesus is our King and our Savior? That his suffering and death is the greatest act of love the world has ever known. Palms are a fun 'take home' for sure, but maybe this year we are being given the opportunity to really focus on the point of the story: Jesus' crazy unbelievable love for us. Just as we are, human, frail, broken and weak. Jesus loves us any way.

As we enter into Holy Week 2020, how will we receive this tremendous gift of love, and, how will we share it with one another?

Lenten Surprises

What are we learning these days of our Corona Virus Lent?

Facebook has all sorts of comical references to what it's like to have kids at home doing school work while mom and dad try to work at home too.

There are also plenty of references to who our real super heroes are today...health care professionals, teachers, grocery store employees, truckers, (I'd include sanitation workers too...can you imagine....??)

This morning when I was praying, I found myself thinking of and praying for our parish families and wondered how they were coping. So, I sent a note out to some of them, just to let them know I was thinking of them.

I was happily surprised by the responses I got. To a family, every one responded that they were enjoying the time that they had been given to spend together as a family. They were playing games, reading stories, cooking and baking...just absolutely reveling in enjoying their time together.  How great is that?? No snarky FB memes here...just really busy city families grateful for the chance to slow down and appreciate one another.

What a precious gift from God!
What's even better is that we are recognizing this time as a gift!

Sure, it's hard to slow down, and it's hard to stay inside and it's hard to not have every food item on hand that I might crave.

But it's lots of fun to pick a different part of my family each night and sit down in front of the computer at 5 pm and share a glass of wine or ice tea and chat about our days.

Fr Kelly will attest to the truth that a few weeks ago when we were mandated to stop hugging and shaking hands, I was having a really hard time with that. Deep down I think I was afraid that if we stopped greeting each other with that familial hug, we would forget how to do this before too long.

I'm not afraid of that anymore. I can see how we are all longing for community and looking forward to the days to come when be within 6 feet of one another again. I am moved by the ways in which we are looking out for one another and looking for ways to offer help and comfort. I am heartened by the awareness that by staying apart from each other, we are, in fact, showing great love and care for one another.

I've often wondered why in the gospel story of the raising of Lazarus, Jesus waited two days before making his way to Martha and Mary. Why didn't he go to them immediately?

I still don't know the answer to that, but I'm caught by the similarity of circumstance. Surely he wanted to be there, just as we long to be together today. There was a reason he stayed away. We know what our reasons are today.

Surprisingly enough, at least to me, the glory of God is being shown in the loving ways we are learning to be together, to help one another, to care for and pray for one another. I sense with every fiber of my being that this time apart will make us so much stronger when we come back together.

And for that I am so very grateful.

So, enjoy your family, your solitude, your spouse...
Enjoy the slower pace, the beautiful chaos of all sharing the same space...
Be patient and loving and kind with one another.
Take time to be by yourself when you can, even if the bathroom is the only private place in your apartment...
Bake cookies, eat salads, enjoy the taste of the meals you prepare.

Celebrate these days. For soon enough we will go back to our regularly over scheduled lives. I hope and pray that when that day comes, we will remember what we are learning now, about what is truly important, and hold on to the important with both hands.

Lenten Reflections on a Pandemic

I apologize. I'm not sure where the heck I've been in the last seven months...and how that much time has gone past, but here we are, and, since we've all become a bit more homebound than we're used to, I figured now was a good time to get back into the practice of blogging!

I've been reflecting on this a lot lately...at the beginning of Lent I had prayed for the grace to slow down my life a bit. I felt like I had been running around at such a crazy pace, at least internally, that I needed to consciously slow it down. Bur really Lord, I just meant me..., not the whole world!

So, I'm gonna take a deep breath and focus a bit on the Sunday coming up. It was really quite a surprise to me how very much I missed being together with everyone at church. I missed my community. Today as a staff we gathered in the church, keeping a safe distance from one another, we videotaped liturgy for the 4th Sunday of Lent. As I noticed the maintenance man join us, my heart swelled a bit. I love these people I work with, and how fortunate I felt to be able to share this liturgy with them after being absent from one another for even one week. "Fasting" is taking on a whole other significance for me this Lent. It's not so much about food on Fridays as it is the presence of others in my life. The opportunity for human connections. Those every day hugs and greetings that we take for granted.

But I digress. This Sundays' gospel is the story of the healing of the blind man. The constant refrain in this story is the question of what happened to him. He was blind, now he can see. Was he really blind? Who was the one who sinned, as if that were the cause of the blindness? Is he your son? Was he blind? Who healed you? Are you a sinner? What happened for real? And the blind man answers only "I don't know. I was blind, he touched my eyes and now I can see."

His parents don't understand what happened. The pharisees don't want to understand. The man himself really doesn't know what happened, but he sure is grateful, I'd bet. And when Jesus invites him to believe in the Son of Man, the man is all to willing to accept this invitation.
By the end of the story, we understand that the folks who were blind in this parable were the pharisees and all the folks who couldn't or wouldn't believe in Jesus. A very cool turn of events if you ask me.

Where are we blind today in our lives? In these days of Covad 19 what do we refuse to see clearly? In the face of the horrible stories of illness and death, of hoarding and doctors being forced to decide who gets a respirator and who doesn't, of disregarding advice from medical experts and being foolish or callous in the face of an unknown virus, perhaps what we are blind to are the simple human virtues that we need to call upon today: charity, kindness, a love for our neighbor. A willingness to share (do we really need all that toilet paper?)

The question I keep asking myself is this: What does all this have to do with my own lenten journey?
Fr Neil would surely be asking: Where is Jesus in all of this?

Have you pondered that for yourself yet? What is the connection between your Lenten Journey and what's going on in the world around you? I'd be curious to know what you discover for yourself. I know there's much to learn here, and like the blind man, much I need to see.

Will we have the grace and courage to open our eyes and see what Jesus is inviting us to discover?

Are You Rich?

Chapters 11 and 12 in the Gospel of Luke might rightly be called parables of the snarky siblings. Last week we heard Martha complaining about her sister, this week we here "someone in the crowd" complaining because his brother wouldn't share his inheritance. Makes me realize there truly is nothing new under the sun for sure. Human nature really doesn't change much does it?

Jesus goes on to tell a parable about a rich man who was happy with all his stuff and wanted to protect it well. That might seem pretty responsible to us. Surely we are to be good stewards of the gifts God has blessed us with.

I think the point of the story is that we sometimes forget who and what are the real gifts that we have been given. In the case of Sunday's parable, the man was more concerned about his harvested grain and other goods than about any other things in his life.

What are those other things? Relationships. God. Family. Friends. Care for our part of the world we live in. Being good and helpful to others. Laughter and love. Are these not the most important 'things' in life? If we are lucky enough to be well off, are we happy and free enough to share our blessings? I am so grateful for all the friends I know who are incredibly generous. They are such good examples to me of how I want to live.

Jesus ends the parable by having the voice of God say to the rich man: "You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you....what happens to all those things you thought so important?"

For very personal reasons this Gospel hits home with me particularly hard. Recently a man I was just coming to know as both family and friend, passed away unexpectedly in his sleep. Those who love him most are beyond sad and lost. His passing is felt deeply by so many who knew him and were proud to be his friend.

In many ways, he was a rich man. He had really just rebuild a home for his retirement. It was to be a place of peace and joy for him. As he lay in his bed in this tranquil space, God called him home.

However, unlike the man in the parable, Gary was a man who was 'rich in what matters to God'. Gary was a man of faith, a man who adored his family and friends and shared his life and his blessings freely. I am honored to have known him for the short time I did.

I know with certitude that unlike the man in this weekend's Gospel who heard such sad words from God, I know, without a doubt, Gary was received with open arms, and the words we all long to hear: "Well done, good and faithful servant"!

So when I pray with this scripture this weekend, I ask Gary to help me be more generous with the gifts I've been given, and I hope to live a life,  'rich in what matters to God'. What about you? Are you rich?

"Better..."

This weekend we will hear again the Gospel story of Martha and Mary...

This story caused quite a ruckus among my RCIA team this past week. Much discussion over why Jesus would praise Mary over Martha. After all, Martha was doing all she could to make Jesus feel at home. So many of us work hard to be the perfect hosts, that we were a bit offended by Jesus' choice for the sister who sits there seemingly doing nothing...

I tried best I could to defend Jesus in this story...and Martha does come across with a bit of a snarky attitude...
But my team pointed out, the Scripture does say that Mary has chosen the 'better' part and it would not be taken from her...

I am pondering what does 'better' mean in this case?

Maybe it doesn't mean that she's right and Martha's wrong...

Could it mean that while hospitality requires both active work and a welcoming heart, what might be 'better' for us, is to, when we can, take the time to just listen to what Jesus is saying to us. That idea of centering ourselves in the God who loves us.

I think about what Sundays are like when you are busy in a parish. We do as much as possible to make sure folks feel welcome. We set lemonade stands on the street. We warmly greet folks at the doors. It is not often on a Sunday when, as a person involved in ministry, you might, we might, actually remember who calls us together for worship. It takes some actual effort to quiet ourselves down in the midst of all the folks and actually pray. Much the same way, when we're having company over our homes and trying so hard to be the consummate host, we may get carried away with the details and miss the opportunity to spend quality time with our guests.

Martha was doing a fabulous job. It sounds like she exhausted herself getting ready for a visit from Jesus. In hindsight, I wonder if she wished she had done things differently that day?

Mary, chose to take her place as a disciple and listen to what was going on right in front of her. She was paying attention to this moment with Jesus, and she didn't let anyone disturb that, not even a snarky older sister.

I'm guessing there must have been more than a bit of sibling jealousy there, and if this Gospel raises your blood pressure the way it did for my friends this week, I'm thinking that could be because we all recognize, whether we want to or not, the kernel of truth in the story: we say we want Jesus to be the center of our lives but it's too easy to let so many other inconsequential things get in the way.

May this re telling of the story of Martha and Mary gently remind us to take the time, as often as we can, to sit at the feet of the Lord and listen to what he wants to share with us in love. For in truth, isn't the best hospitality we can offer another to listen to them with all our heartfelt attention? What is Jesus trying to say to you this week?

Where Have Three Months Gone?

With humble apologies for disappearing from our site, I'd like to try and jump back into blogging weekly.

I've been spending a lot of time lately thinking about justice, mercy and forgiveness. My starting place is always gratitude that God is in charge of judging our actions and intent, not me...because I trust God is way more merciful than human little me would be.

The story of the Good Samaritan we hear this week combined with today's gospel of the naming of the disciples (and their instructions to go to 'the lost sheep of Israel') highlights for me the immensity of God's mercy.

Who were those lost sheep of Israel?
Did the priest and the levite repent over their failure to help the poor man beaten on the side of the road?
Do I repent when I fail to do good for another? When I 'cross the road' to avoid someone in need what does God think of  me then?

When I close my eyes or my heart to the plight of another, or when I can't listen to the news anymore-isn't that the same as crossing over to the other side?

The story of the Good Samaritan tells us quite clearly, as Jesus' followers we are called to see the pain of the stranger on the road with us, and we are called to figure out how to help alleviate that pain. We are supposed to do this as individuals, and as a society as well. There's no waffling on this point.

Justice means that there are consequences for our actions. That causes me to pause and reflect seriously on what I'm doing in the here and now...how am I helping or hurting those around me?

Mercy means that when I fall short in my actions, when I neglect to do what I should for my sister or brother, God may take pity on me and not treat me in a like manner.

Forgiveness...ahhh, forgiveness. St Vincent de Paul is quoted as saying "It is only for your love, your love alone that the poor will forgive you the bread  you give them."  One day we will all have to answer for the times we crossed the road won't we? I pray it's not to late to open my eyes and see what's going on in front of me. I pray I have the courage to act as kindly as that Good Samaritan.