May we be known by our Love: 2014

Jesus, you became obedient; sanctify us.

You are our teacher,
and your own mother pondered in her heart
every one of your words and deeds,
–– make us attentive to your word,
and let us ponder it in hearts that are pure and good.

Jesus, you became obedient; sanctify us.

From the Intercessions at Lauds - Dec 28, 2014

That you may come to us, Emmanuel

Bring low the mountains of our pride,
and fill up the valleys of our weakness.
Lord, may your kingdom come.

from the Liturgy of the Hours:
Advent, Week 3, Tuesday - Lauds - Intercessions

May my life reflect none but your Word, O Lord

Lord, may my whole being
-- all that I say and do,
anything and everything that emanates from me,
all my thoughts, and all that is within me --
be one faithful reflection of your Word.

//dD

Lord, let us see your kindness (Psalm 85.8)

God's kindness - Ephesians 2.7 - in the Christ is in each one of us, for we are all sons and daughters of God, made to God's image and likeness.

When we discover it within our self, and offer it to others, true peace ensues.

We then fulfill a corollary to Matthew 5.9: happy are we, children of God, for the kindness that we extend to others truly contributes to God's plan and desire for peace on earth.

Last Sunday's (Advent 2, Yr B) responsorial psalm, "Lord, let us see your kindness", expresses our longing to discover, to uncover, the Lord's kindness and gentleness that is, and has always been, in us.

//dD

Lord, let us see your kindness.

May I learn from you

in order that

I may offer the same to others,

Lord, let us see your kindness.

//dD (cf. PS 85.8)

May we be ever faithful as Jesus Christ

Remember your leaders

who spoke the word of God to you;

consider how their lives ended,

and imitate their faith.

Jesus Christ is the same

yesterday, today, and forever.

Do not be carried away

by all kinds of strange teaching.

Hebrews 13:7-9a

Be it done to me.

I am about to do a new thing;

now it springs forth,

do you not perceive it?

Isaiah 43:19

Lord, help me to love and to live tenderly

Increase in me, O Lord, the desire for tenderness,
as in the message of your prophet, Micah.

With your kindness, soften my heart,
then, following your example and your call,
may I offer the same kindness - without reservation - to all.

//dD

The Lord requires only this ...

Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
with tens of thousands of rivers of oil?

Shall I give my firstborn for my offences,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

He has told you, O mortal, what is good;
and what the Lord requires of you:

Only to do justice,

and to love tenderly,
and to walk humbly with your God?

Micah 6.7-8

The Deacon and the Gospel

Vested as a deacon, the newly ordained goes to the bishop and kneels before him. The bishop places the Book of the Gospels in the hands of the newly ordained and says:

Receive the Gospel of Christ,

whose herald you now are.
Believe what you read,
teach what you believe,
and practice what you teach.

From the Rite of Ordination of a Deacon

Without you, Lord, I am poor

Turn your ear, O Lord, and give answer
For I am poor and needy.
Preserve my life, for I am faithful:
save the servant who trusts in you.

You are my God!

Have mercy on me, Lord, for I cry to you all day long.
Give joy to your servant, O Lord for I lift up my soul to you.

Psalm 86

We give you thanks, Lord, and exalt your name

I will give thanks to you, O Lord,
for though you were angry with me,
your anger turned away,
and you comforted me.

Surely God is my salvation;
I will trust, and will not be afraid,
for the Lord God is my strength and my might;
he has become my salvation.

With joy you will draw water
from the wells of salvation.
And you will say on that day:
Give thanks to the Lord,
call on his name;
make known his deeds among the nations;
proclaim that his name is exalted.

Isaiah 12:1b-4

Before the world began, God chose us to be holy

Praised be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

who has bestowed on us in Christ

every spiritual blessing in the heavens.

God chose us in him before the world began

to be holy and blameless in his sight.

He predestined us to be his adopted sons through Jesus Christ,

such was his will and pleasure,

that all might praise the glorious favor

he has bestowed on us in his beloved.

In him and through his blood, we have been redeemed,

and our sins forgiven,

so immeasurably generous is God’s favor to us.

God has given us the wisdom to understand fully the mystery,

the plan he was pleased to decree in Christ.

A plan to be carried out in Christ, in the fullness of time,

to bring all things into one in him,

in the heavens and on earth.

Ephesians 1:3-10

Your words, O Lord, my joy and happiness

May your Word, O Lord, be the sole source

of all my desires, thoughts, words, actions.

//Dd

When I found your words, I devoured them;
they became my joy and the happiness of my heart,
Because I bore your name,
O Lord, God of hosts.

Jeremiah 15:16

May we, too, go before the Lord to prepare his ways

And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
to give knowledge of salvation to his people
by the forgiveness of their sins.

Luke 1: 76-77

Canticle of St. Francis of Assisi

Most high, omnipotent, all good Lord,
Yours are all praises, all glory, all honour, and all benedictions.
To You alone, Most High, do they belong.
No one is worthy to mention Your name.

Praise to you, my Lord, for all Your creatures,
especially for my Brother Sun,
who brings the day and through whom you give light.
And he is beautiful and radiant in all his splendour!
He bears the likeness of You, Most High.

Praise to you, my Lord, for Sister Moon and the stars:
in the heavens have You made them bright, precious and beautiful.

Praise to you, my Lord, for Brothers Wind and Air,
and clouds and storms, and all the weather:
through them You give Your creatures sustenance.

Praise to you, my Lord, for Sister Water:
she is very useful, and humble, and precious, and pure.

Praise to you, my Lord, for Brother Fire,
through whom You light up the night.
He is beautiful and cheerful, and powerful and strong.

Praise to you, my Lord, through our sister, Mother Earth,
who nourishes us and sustains us,
and produces various fruits with colored flowers and herbs.

Praise to you, my Lord, for those who forgive for love of You,
and for those who endure sickness and trial.

Happy are those who persevere in peace,
for by You, Most High, will they be crowned.

Praise to you, my Lord, through our sister, Bodily Death,
from whose no living person can escape.

Woe to those who die in mortal sin!

Happy are those whom death shall find doing Your most holy will,
for the second death can do no harm to them.

Praise and bless my Lord, and give thanks,
and serve Him with great humility.

Amen.

~ St. Francis of Assisi //Dd

Peace is the fruit of Wisdom

Wisdom from above is first of all innocent.
It is also peaceable, lenient, docile, rich in sympathy
and the kindly deeds that are its fruits, impartial and sincere.

The harvest of justice is sown in peace for those who cultivate peace.

James 3:17-18

How deep are your designs, O Lord!

It is good to give thanks to the Lord,
to make music to your name, O Most High,
to proclaim your love in the morning
and your truth in the watches of the night,
on the ten-stringed lyre and the lute,
with the murmuring sound of the harp.

Your deeds, O Lord, have made me glad;
for the work of your hands I shout with joy.
O Lord, how great are your works!
How deep are your designs!

Psalm 92:1-5

Reliance

For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord,
plans for your welfare and not for harm,
to give you a future with hope.

Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me,
I will hear you.

When you search for me, you will find me;
if you seek me with all your heart,
I will let you find me, says the Lord,
and I will restore your fortunes
and gather you from all the nations
and all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord,
and I will bring you back
to the place from which I sent you into exile.

Jeremiah 29.11-32

When the Lord brought back the exiles of Sion,
we thought we were dreaming.
Then was our mouth filled with laughter;
on our tongues, songs of joy.
Then the nations themselves said,
“What great deeds the Lord worked for them!”

What great deeds the Lord worked for us!
Indeed, we were glad.

Psalm 126:1-3

Lord, take away any hardness in my heart

I will sprinkle clean water upon you
to cleanse you from all your impurities,
and from all your idols I will cleanse you.

I will give you a new heart
and place a new spirit within you,
taking from your bodies your stony hearts
and giving you natural hearts.

I will put my spirit within you
and make you live by my statutes,
careful to observe my decrees.

Ezekiel 36:25-27

Deny yourself of all in all

To reach satisfaction in all, desire its possession in nothing.
To come to possession in all, desire the possession of nothing.
To arrive at being all, desire to be nothing.
To come to the knowledge of all, desire the knowledge of nothing.

To come to the pleasure you have not,
you must go by the way in which you enjoy not.
To come to the knowledge you have not,
you must go by the way in which you know not.
To come to the possession you have not,
you must go by the way in which you possess not.
To come by the what you are not,
you must go by a way in which you are not.

When you turn toward something,
you cease to cast yourself upon the all.
For to go from all to the all,
you must deny yourself of all in all.
And when you come to the possession of the all,
you must possess it without wanting anything.
Because if you desire to have something in all,
your treasure in God is not purely your all.

-- John of the Cross, "The Ascent of Mount Carmel"

Lord, that I may live as you love

Do to no one what you yourself dislike.

Give to the hungry some of your bread,

and to the naked some of your clothing.

Seek counsel from every wise man.

At all times bless the Lord God,

and ask him to make all your paths straight

and to grant success to all your endeavors and plans.

Tobit 4:15a, 16a, 18a, 19

Lord, help me to be honest about myself

He also told them a parable:
‘Can a blind person guide a blind person?
Will not both fall into a pit?

A disciple is not above the teacher,
but everyone who is fully qualified will be like the teacher.

Why do you see the speck in your neighbour’s eye,
but do not notice the log in your own eye?
Or how can you say to your neighbour,
“Friend, let me take out the speck in your eye”,
when you yourself do not see the log in your own eye?

You hypocrite,
first take the log out of your own eye,
and then you will see clearly
to take the speck out of your neighbour’s eye.

Luke 6:39-42 NRSV

Rediscover and promote the truth innate in us

It is therefore urgently necessary,
for the future of society and the development of a sound democracy,
to rediscover those essential and innate human and moral values
which flow from the very truth of the human being
and express and safeguard the dignity of the person:
values which no individual, no majority and no State
can ever create, modify or destroy,
but must only acknowledge, respect and promote.

Saint John Paul II: Evangelium Vitae - Gospel of Life, #71

Nada te turbe

Let nothing disturb you, nothing frighten you,
All things are passing. God never changes.
Patience obtains all things.
Whoever has God lacks nothing. God is enough.

----
Nada te turbe,  nada te espante
 Todo se pasa.  Dios no se muda.
 La paciencia todo alcanza.
  Quien a Dios tiene  nada le falta.  Solo Dios basta.

--Teresa of Avila

Lead me, Lord

Guide me, Lord,

to be as you would have me be,

to do what you would have me do,

to go wherever you deem I should be.

May my life be a reflection of my love for you

whose light and love gives me life,
and whose care guides me onward.

//Dd

What it's all about...

The kingdom of God is not a matter of eating or drinking,
but of justice, peace, and the joy that is given by the Holy Spirit.

Whoever serves Christ in this way

pleases God and wins the esteem of men.

Let us, then, make it our aim
to work for peace and to strengthen one another.

Romans 14:17-19

Christ in us, we in Christ

The words that I say to you
I do not speak on my own;

but the Father who dwells in me does his works.

Believe me
that I am in the Father and the Father is in me;

but if you do not,
then believe me because of the works themselves.

John 14.10b-11

May we experience the fruits of redemption

God, who in this wonderful sacrament
have left us a memorial of your Passion,
grant us, we pray,
so to revere the sacred mysteries of your Body and Blood
that we may always experience in ourselves
the fruits of your redemption.

Who live and reign with God the Father
in the unity of the holy spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

Collect from the Solemnity of Corpus Christi

Lord, come and change me.

Do not conform yourselves to this age
but be transformed by the renewal of your mind,
so that you may judge what is God’s will,
what is good, pleasing and perfect.

Romans 12.2

Recreate your Spirit within us, Lord.

I will sprinkle clean water upon you

to cleanse you from all your impurities,

and from all your idols I will cleanse you.

I will give you a new heart

and place a new spirit within you,

taking from your bodies your stony hearts

and giving you natural hearts.

I will put my spirit within you

and make you live by my statutes,

careful to observe my decrees.

Ezekiel 36.25-27

Lord, make known to me the path that I must walk

Never let evil talk pass your lips;
say only the good things men need to hear,
things that will really help them.
Do nothing that will sadden the Holy Spirit
with whom you were sealed against the day of redemption.
Get rid of all bitterness, all passion and anger,
harsh words, slander, and malice of every kind.
In place of these,
be kind to one another, compassionate, and mutually forgiving,
just as God has forgiven you in Christ.

Ephesians 4:29-32

At daybreak, be merciful to me.

Make known to me the path that I must walk.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,

– At daybreak, be merciful to me.

From Lauds on Friday of Week 1

May I rely on God alone

May I not seek the approval

of the powers of this world

nor let myself be taken in

by that pride which seeks

gratification and recognition.

In the face of those temptations,

may I put my reliance on God's faithfulness.

May God, and only God,

be my source of confidence and peace.

(Adapted from remarks by Pope Francis in June 2014.)

My heart is ready, O God

My heart is ready, O God; my heart is ready.
I will sing, I will sing your praise.
Awake, my soul; awake, O lyre and harp.
I will awake the dawn.

Give us help amid our difficulties,
for human aid is vain.
With God, we shall do bravely,
and he will trample down our foes.

Psalm 108.2-3, 13-14

Nunc Dimittis

Lord, now you let your servant go in peace;
your word has been fulfilled:
my own eyes have seen the salvation
which you have prepared in the sight of every people:
a light to reveal you to the nations
and the glory of your people Israel.

Luke 2:29-32

Gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit

The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. They complete and perfect the virtues of those who receive them. They make the faithful docile in readily obeying divine inspirations. (CCC 1831)

When we accept and nurture God's gifts, they do bear fruit.

The fruits of the Spirit are perfections that the Holy Spirit forms in us as the first fruits of eternal glory. The tradition of the Church lists twelve of them: “charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control, chastity.” (CCC 1832)

May all the earth revere God

May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face to shine upon us,
that God's way may be known upon earth,
       God's saving power among all nations.

Let the peoples praise you, O God;
       let all the peoples praise you.

May God continue to bless us;
       let all the ends of the earth revere him.

Psalm 67.1-2,7

God's plan

He has let us know the mystery of his purpose,
according to his good pleasure
which he determined beforehand in Christ,
for him to act upon when the times had run their course:

that he would bring everything together under Christ, as head,
everything in the heavens and everything on earth.

Ephesians 1:9-10 NJB

That I may give as I have received

You received without payment; give without payment.

Matthew 10.8b NRSV

Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give.

Matthew 10.8b NAB

You received without charge, give without charge.

Matthew 10.8b NJB

Take the log out of your own eye

Why do you see the speck in your neighbour’s eye,
but do not notice the log in your own eye?

Or how can you say to your neighbour,
“Friend, let me take out the speck in your eye”,
when you yourself do not see the log in your own eye?

You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye,
and then you will see clearly
to take the speck out of your neighbour’s eye.

Luke 6:41-42

The grace not to speak ill of others

From Pope Francis...

"There is no need to go to a psychologist to know that when we denigrate another person it is because we are unable to grow up and need to belittle others, to feel more important. This is 'an ugly mechanism'. Jesus, with all simplicity says: 'Do not speak ill of one another. Do not denigrate one another. Do not belittle one another'". (Homily on June 13, 2013)

From the Scriptures...

"Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips." (Psalm 141.3 NRSV)

"O Lord, who may abide in your tent? Who may dwell on your holy hill? Those who walk blamelessly, and do what is right, and speak the truth from their heart; who do not slander with their tongue, and do no evil to their friends." (Psalm 15.1-3a)

"I will guard my ways that I may not sin with my tongue." (Psalm 39.1a)

"Whoever guards his mouth and tongue keeps himself out of trouble." (Proverbs 21.23 CJB)

"From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this ought not to be so." (James 3.10 NAB)

"It is what comes out of the mouth that defiles." (Matthew 15.11b NRSV)

-30-

On Judging Others

Do not judge, and you will not be judged;
do not condemn, and you will not be condemned.
Forgive, and you will be forgiven;
give, and it will be given to you.

A good measure, pressed down,
shaken together, running over,
will be put into your lap;
for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.

Luke 6:37-38

Happy are those who love the Lord!

Happy are those who love you,
and happy are those who rejoice in your prosperity.
Happy also are all people who grieve with you
because of your afflictions;
for they will rejoice with you
and witness all your glory for ever.
My soul blesses the Lord, the great King!

Tobit 13:14-15

Our Shepherd is leading us ...

Our Shepherd is leading us to sainthood. Let's go follow!

So should we also do...

"If I, therefore, the master and teacher,
have washed your feet,
you ought to wash one another’s feet.
I have given you a model to follow,
so that as I have done for you, you should also do."

Holy Thursday, 2014

Christ emptied himself

Be of the same mind that is also in Christ Jesus:
although he was indeed God,
he did not regard that equality with God
as something to be exploited.

Instead, he emptied himself,
and took on our form, the human form,
and became humbly obedient to God.

Therefore God highly exalted him!

(cf Philippians 2:5-9)

The dawn from on high shall break upon us

In the tender compassion of our God
the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death,
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.

From "The Morning Canticle" - Luke 1.78–79

One is happy who hears and lives God's word

A woman in the crowd called out:
How happy your mother must be,
she bore you and fed you at her breast.
But Jesus answered:
Happier still those
who hear the word of God and live by it.

Luke 11:27-28
(from Thursday, 3rd week of Lent, Evening Prayer)

On writing a homily...

Come, Holy Spirit,
fill my heart that desires to be true to You,
kindle in me the fire of Your Love.
Send forth Your Spirit
that I may listen to Your Thoughts,
articulate and proclaim Your Word and only Yours
unwaveringly and ever faithfully.
Take away
all that gets in the way
of the radiance in Your Truth
and the spreading of Your Love.
Amen.

My Lord and my God, make me Yours

Today if you hear the voice of the Lord,
harden not your hearts.

Thus says the Lord,
the creator of the heavens,
who is God,
the designer and maker of the earth
who established it,
not creating it to be a waste,
but designing it to be lived in:

I am the Lord, and there is no other.
I have not spoken from hiding
nor from some dark place of the earth.
And I have not said to the descendants of Jacob,
“Look for me in an empty waste.”
I, the Lord, promise justice,
I foretell what is right.

Turn to me and be safe,
all you ends of the earth,
for I am God; there is no other!

~ Isaiah 45

Your love, Lord, is life to me

Have mercy on me, God, in your kindness.

In your compassion blot out my offense.
O wash me more and more from my guilt
and cleanse me from my sin.

My offenses truly I know them;
my sin is always before me.
Against you, you alone, have I sinned;
what is evil in your sight I have done..

A pure heart create for me, O God,
put a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from your presence,
nor deprive me of your holy spirit.

Give me again the joy of your help;
with a spirit of fervor sustain me,
that I may teach transgressors your ways
and sinners may return to you.

~ Psalm 51

Miserere mei, Deus

Miserere mei, Deus:
secundum magnam misericordiam tuam.
Et secundum multitudinem miserationum tuarum,
dēlē iniquitatem meam.

Have mercy on me, God,
according to your unbounded love.
And according to your abundant mercy
blot out my iniquities. ~Psalm 51:1

Mediocrity leads to a ‘loss of sense of sin’

When the presence God is not felt among men, “you lose the sense of sin,” and so others end up paying the price for our “Christian mediocrity.” That was the message behind Pope Francis’ homily at this morning’s Mass at the Santa Marta guesthouse here in the Vatican.

All too often today, the Pope observes, grave sin such as adultery is declassified as simply a "problem to be solved ." That’s what happens in today’s reading in which King David falls in love with Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, one of his generals. Taking up this story, Pope Francis says David took her for his own and sent her husband to the front lines of battle where the man was killed. In actual fact, the Pope stressed, David also committed murder. And yet, having committed both grave sins, the King is not moved. Despite committing a grave sin, the Pope observes, David does not feel pity and fails to ask forgiveness. He only considers how he can resolve a problem.

This can happen to any of us, the Pope says, and observes “When the Kingdom of God diminishes, one of the signs is that you lose the sense of sin."

Conversely, you also lose the “sense of the Kingdom of God" and in its place, reflects the Pope, there emerges an “all-powerful anthropological vision," that leads us to believe we “can do anything.”

The Pope confesses that even he himself can fall into the trap of losing a sense of sin. But a commitment to daily prayer, he stresses, can counter the injustices perpetrated out of human pride and stop so many from falling victim to “Christian mediocrity” and our “unrecognized sins.” -30-

(Vatican Radio, January 31, 2014)

Christian commitment is not philanthropy

Pope Francis affirmed that being the Church “doesn't mean administration, but going out, being missionaries, bringing people the light of faith and the joy of the Gospel. Let us not forget that the momentum of our commitment as Christians in the world is not a philanthropic idea, not a vague humanism, but a gift from God, that is, the gift of being sons and daughters that we have received in Baptism. This gift is, at the same time, a task. God's children do not hide; rather they bring their joy as children of God to the world.”

Vatican City, 31 January 2014 (VIS)

Pope: Christians must "feel with the Church"

(Vatican Radio, 2014-01-30) Humility, faithfulness and prayer are the three signs of a Christian who belongs to the Church. That was the theme that Pope Francis chose for his homily at morning Mass in the Casa Santa Marta on Thursday, urging his listeners to really “feel with the Church”.

The Pope said the first fruit of our Baptism is to make us a part of the Church, a member of the people of God. Recalling the words of Pope Paul VI, he said it’s absurd to claim that we love Christ without the Church, that we listen to Christ but not the Church, that we are with Christ but on the margins of the Church. The Gospel message, Pope Francis said, comes to us through the Church and our path to holiness must be found within the Church.

Speaking of the three pillars which underpin our sense of belonging to the Church, the Pope said the first is humility and the realization that the story of salvation does not start or end with us. A person who is not humble, he said, cannot feel with the Church but only feels what he or she desires. Instead, humility helps us understand that we are just a small part of the great people of God, that is following the way of the Lord.

The second pillar, Pope Francis said, is faithfulness to the teachings and doctrine of the Church. Quoting again from his predecessor Paul VI, he said we receive the Gospel as a gift and we must pass that gift on to others in faithfulness, rather than seeing it as something that belongs to us.

Thirdly, the Pope said, we must remember to pray with and for the Church in all parts of the world. Do we really pray for the Church, he asked, not just at daily Mass but also when we are at home? May the Lord help us, he concluded, to follow this path, to deepen our sense of belonging and feeling with the Church. -30-

Lord, you are the fullness of my joy!

O Lord, it is you who are my portion and cup;
it is you yourself who are my prize.

And so my heart rejoices, my soul is glad;
even my body shall rest in safety.

You will show me the path of life,
the fullness of joy in your presence,
at your right hand happiness for ever.

Psalm 16.5, 9, 11