Month: November 2019

Last evening, I posted a Morning Prayer for Thanksgiving Day. After we have all napped after the afternoon turkey meal and all its delicious wonder, here is an Evening Prayer for Thanksgiving Day. Like the Morning Prayer, I have used my favorite inclusive language Bible, The Inclusive Bible for the Psalms, Canticles, and other scriptural texts. There is a beautiful text by Fred Prat Green which the liturgical music composer David Haas set to music a number of years ago. Acknowledgements for both the Inclusive Bible and the hymn text Now It Is Evening follow the prayer below.

THANKSGIVING EVENING PRAYER

INTRODUCTORY VERSE

O Adonai, come to my assistance. Lord, make haste to help me. Glory to God our Abba, to Jesus the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: as it was in the beginning is now and will be for ever. Amen. Alleluia.

HYMN

Now It Is Evening[1]

Now it is evening: Lights of the city
Bid us remember Christ is our Light.
Many are lonely, Who will be neighbor?
Where there is caring Christ is our Light.

Now it is evening: Little ones sleeping
Bid us remember Christ is our Peace.
Some are neglected, Who will be neighbor?
Where there is caring Christ is our Peace.

 
Now it is evening: Food on the table
Bid us remember Christ is our Life.
Many are hungry, Who will be neighbor?
Where there is sharing Christ is our Life.

Now it is evening: Here in our meeting
May us remember Christ is our Friend.
Some may be strangers, Who will be neighbor?
Where there’s a welcome Christ is our Friend.

Fred Prat Green

PSALMODY[2]

Antiphon 1: Let us come before God with thanksgiving and extol God with music and song.

Psalm 23

Yahweh, you are my shepherd—
I want nothing more.
You let me lie down in green meadows;
you lead me beside restful waters:
you refresh my soul.

You guide me to lush pastures
for the sake of your Name.
Even if I’m surrounded by shadows of Death,
I fear no danger, for you are with me.
Your rod and your staff—
they give me courage.

You spread a table for me
in the presence of my enemies,
and you anoint my head with oil—
my cup overflows!

Only goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life, all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in your house, Yahweh,
for days without end.

Glory to God our Abba, to Jesus the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: as it was in the beginning is now and will be for ever. Amen.

Antiphon 1: Let us come before God with thanksgiving and extol God with music and song.

Silent prayer

Antiphon 2: I will give thanks to you, my God, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.

Psalm 117

Praise Yahweh, all you nations;
extol God, all you mighty ones.
For God’s love toward us is great,
God’s faithfulness, eternal.
Alleluia!

Glory to God our Abba, to Jesus the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: as it was in the beginning is now and will be for ever. Amen.

Antiphon 2: I will give thanks to you, my God, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.

Silent prayer

Antiphon 3: Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.

Canticle – Ephesians 1: 3-10

Praised be the Maker
of our Savior Jesus Christ,
who has bestowed on us in Christ
every spiritual blessing in the heavens!

Before the world began,
God chose us in Christ
to be holy and blameless
and to be full of love;

God likewise predestined us
through Christ Jesus to be adopted children—
such was God’s pleasure and will—
that everyone might praise the glory of God’s grace
which was freely bestowed on us in God’s beloved, Jesus Christ.

It is in Christ and through the blood of Christ
that we have been redeemed
and our sins forgiven,
so immeasurably generous is God’s favor
given to us with perfect wisdom and understanding.

God has taken pleasure in revealing the mystery
mystery of the plan through Christ,
to be carried out in the fullness of time;
namely, to bring all things
in heaven and on earth
together in Christ.

“We give thanks to you, Sovereign God Almighty,
the One who is and who was,
for using your great power
and establishing your reign.

The nations raged,
but now it is time for your own anger,
and time for judging the dead,
and for rewarding your faithful and your prophets,
and your holy ones and those who revere your
Name—
both great and small
and for destroying those
who destroy the earth.”

“Now have come salvation and power,
and the reign of God,
and all authority for God’s Anointed.
For the accuser of our sisters and brothers,
who accused them before our God night and day,
has been brought down.

They triumphed over the accuser
by the blood of the Lamb,
and by the word of their testimony;
their love of life did not dissuade them from death. Let the heavens rejoice
and all who dwell in them;

Glory to God our Abba, to Jesus the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: as it was in the beginning is now and will be for ever. Amen.

Antiphon 3: Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.

Silent Prayer

SCRIPTURE READING – Matthew 11:25-30

Then Jesus prayed, “Abba God, Creator of heaven and earth, to you I offer praise; for what you have hidden from the learned and the clever, you have revealed to the youngest children. Yes, Abba, everything is as you want it to be.” Jesus continued, “Everything has been handed over to me by Abba God. No one knows the Only Begotten except Abba God, and no one knows Abba God except the Only Begotten— and those to whom the Only Begotten

wants to give that revelation. Come to me, all you who labor and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon your shoulders

wand learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart. Here you will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

RESPONSORY

Lord, you have given us food, bread of the finest wheat.
Lord, you have given us food, bread of the finest wheat.
Honey from the rock to our heart’s content,
Bread of the finest wheat.
Glory to God our Abba, and to the  Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
Lord, you have given us food, bread of the finest wheat.

CANTICLE OF MARY

Antiphon: We give thanks to you, O God, for you satisfy the thirsty and fill the hungry with good things.  

My soul proclaims your greatness, O God,
and my spirit rejoices in you, my Savior.
 For you have looked with favor upon your lowly servant,
and from this day forward all generations will call me blessed.
For you, the Almighty, have done great things for me,
and holy is your Name.

Your mercy reaches from age to age
for those who fear you.
You have shown strength with your arm;
You have scattered the proud in their conceit;
you have deposed the mighty from their thrones
and raised the lowly to high places.
You have filled the hungry with good things,
while you have sent the rich away empty.

You have come to the aid of Israel your servant,
mindful of your mercy –
the promise you made to our ancestors –
to Abraham and his descendants forever.

Glory to God our Abba, to Jesus the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: as it was in the beginning is now and will be for ever. Amen.

Antiphon: We give thanks to you, O God, for you satisfy the thirsty and fill the hungry with good things.  

INTERCESSIONS

Our hope is in God, who gives us help. In thanksgiving to our God we call upon God and say: Look kindly on your children, Lord.

In thanksgiving to you, O God, for your loving care of our Church, may you guide us all as disciples of Jesus Christ.

In thanksgiving to you, O God, for earth, our home, may we protect our home from all that would harm all living things.

In thanksgiving to you, O God, for the change of seasons, may our hearts be open to the beauty and splendor of you present in Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter.

In thanksgiving to you, O God, for our family and our friends, may you bless them and watch over them.

In thanksgiving to you, O God, for our community of faith, who rejoice with us in good times, and support us in time of sorrow.

In thanksgiving for the gifts which you have given us, O God, may we use our gifts to build up your Reign on earth .

In thanksgiving to you, O God, for the lives of all those who have gone before us, may they now rest in the peace and joy of heaven.

THE PRAYER OF JESUS

Our Father, who art in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come, Your will be done,
On Earth as it is in Heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
And forgive us our trespasses,
As we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil, for the Kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours, now and for ever. Amen.

CONCLUDING PRAYER

Loving God,

you are the true light and creator of all that is good. At morning, noon, and evening you watch over us and provide all which we need. May we ever live in the splendor of your presence, till that time we take our place around the table of your heavenly feast. We pray this through Jesus Christ, our Savior and brother, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

DISMISSAL

May God bless us, protect us from all evil
and bring us into everlasting life.

Amen.

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[1] Now It Is Evening, by Fred Prat Green, © 1974, Hope Publishing Co.

[2] All Psalms and scripture passages from The Inclusive Bible: the first egalitarian translation , © 2007 by Priests for Equality, The Rowan & Littlefield Publishing Group Inc, Lathan, Maryland, 20706, USA

As an ordained deacon, I am to pray the Liturgy of the Hours at Morning, Evening, and at Night, daily. The Liturgy of the Hours is made up of Psalms, biblical canticles, scripture readings, prayers of intercession, and, of course, the Lord’s Prayer. Since there isn’t a specific morning/evening prayer for Thanksgiving Day, I put together a Morning Prayer for Thanksgiving Day. Because I pray better with Inclusive Scripture, the Psalms, Canticles, and Scripture passages are from The Inclusive Bible (c) 2007 by Priests for Equality. The Rowan & Littlefield Publishing Group Inc, Lathan, Maryland, 20706, USA

THANKSGIVING MORNING PRAYER
INTRODUCTORY VERSE

O Adonai, come to my assistance. Lord, make haste to help me. Glory to God our Abba, to Jesus the
Son, and to the Holy Spirit: as it was in the beginning is now and will be for ever. Amen.
Alleluia.

HYMN
My Heart Leaps Up
by William Wordsworth

My heart leaps up when I behold A rainbow in the sky:
So was it when my life began; So is it now I am a man;
So be it when I shall grow old, Or let me die!
The Child is father of the Man; I could wish my days to be
Bound each to each by natural piety.

PSALMODY

Antiphon 1: I praise you, Yahweh, for you are good, your love endures forever.
Psalm 104

Bless Yahweh, my soul!
Yahweh, my God, how great you are! clothed in majesty and glory,

rapped in a robe of light, waters above;

you use the clouds as your chariot and ride on the wings of the wind; you use the winds as
messengers and fiery flames as attendants.

You fixed the earth on its foundations so it can never totter,
and wrapped it with the Deep as with a robe, the waters overtopping the mountains.

At your rebuke the waters bolted, fleeing at the sound of your thunder,
cascading over the mountains, into the valleys, down to the reservoir you made for them;
you imposed boundaries they must never cross so they would never again flood the land.
You set springs gushing in ravines, running down between the mountains, supplying water for wild
animals
and attracting the thirsty wild donkeys;
the birds of the air make their nests by these waters and sing among the branches.

From your palace you water the highlands
until the ground is sated by the fruit of your work;

you make fresh grass grow for cattle and plants for us to cultivate
to get food from the soil— wine to cheer our hearts, oil to make our faces shine,
and bread to sustain our life.

The trees of Yahweh drink their fill— those cedars of Lebanon,
where birds build their nests and, on the highest branches, the stork makes its home.
for the wild goats there are the high mountains, and in the crags the rock badgers hide.

You made the moon to tell the seasons, and the sun knows when to set:
you bring darkness on, night falls, and all the forest animals come out— savage lions roaring for
their prey, claiming their food from God.

The sun rises, they retire,
going back to lie down in their lairs, and people go out to work,
to labor again until evening.

Yahweh, what variety you have created,

arranging everything so wisely!
the earth is filled with your creativity! there’s the vast expanse of the sea, teeming with
countless creatures, living things large and small,
with the ships going to and fro
and Leviathan whom you made to frolic there.

All creatures depend on you
to feed them at the proper time. Give it to them—they gather it up.
open your hand—they are well satisfied. Hide your face—they are terrified.
take away their breath—they die and return to dust. send back your breath—fresh life begins
and you renew the face of the earth.

Glory forever to Yahweh!
May you find joy in your creation!
You glance at the earth and it trembles; you touch the mountains and they smoke! I will sing to you
all my life,
I will make music for my God as long as I live.

May these reflections of mine give God as much pleasure as God gives me!
May the corrupt vanish from the earth and the violent exist no longer!

bless Yahweh, my soul! Alleluia!

Glory to God our Abba, to Jesus the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: as it was in the beginning is now
and will be for ever.

Antiphon 1: I praise you, Yahweh, for you are good, your love endures forever.”

Silent prayer

Antiphon 2: It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O
most High.

CANTICLE – Ezechial 36:24-28
I will take you from the nations,
and gather you from all the countries, and bring you into your own land.

I will sprinkle clean water upon you,
and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you.

A new heart I will give you,
and a new spirit I will put within you;
and I will remove from your body the heart of stone

and give you a heart of flesh.

I will put my spirit within you,
and make you follow my statutes a
nd be careful to observe my ordinances.

Then you shall live in the land that I gave to your ancestors;
and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.

Glory to God our Abba, to Jesus the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: as it was in the beginning is now
and will be for ever.

Antiphon 2: It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O
most High
Silent prayer

Antiphon 3: In everything I give you thanks my God.
Psalm 100

Acclaim Yahweh with joy, all the earth! Serve Yahweh with gladness!
Enter into God’s presence with a joyful song!

Know that Yahweh is God! Yahweh made us,
and we belong to the Creator; we are God’s people
and the sheep of God’s pasture.
Enter God’s gates with thanksgiving and the courts with praise!
Give thanks to God!

Bless God’s Name! For Yahweh is good;
God’s steadfast love endures forever, and God’s faithfulness
to all generations.

Glory to God our Abba, to Jesus the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: as it was in the beginning is now
and will be for ever.

Antiphon 3: In everything I give you thanks my God.
Silent prayer

SCRIPTURE READING – Colossians 3:12-17
Because you are God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with heartfelt compassion,
with kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with one

another; forgive whatever grievances you have against one another—forgive in the same way God has
forgiven you. Above all else, put on love, which binds the rest together and makes them perfect.
Let Christ’s peace reign in your hearts since, as members of one body, you have been called to that
peace. Dedicate yourselves to thankfulness. Let the Word of Christ, rich as it is, dwell in you.
Instruct and admonish one another wisely. Sing gratefully to God from your hearts in psalms, hymns
and songs of the Spirit. And whatever you do, whether in speech or in action, do it in the name of
Jesus our Savior, giving thanks to God through Christ.

RESPONSORY
Praise and exalt God forever.
Praise and exalt God forever.
Let all the earth bless our God.
And exalt God forever.
Glory to God our Abba, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
Praise and exalt God forever.

CANTICLE OF ZACHARY
Antiphon: It is a good thing to give thanks to you, O Lord, and to sing praises to your name, O
most High.
Blessed are you, the Most High God of Israel – for you have visited and redeemed your people.

You have raised up a mighty savior for us of the house of David,

as you promised through the mouths of your holy ones,
the prophets of ancient times: salvation from our enemies
and from the hands of all our foes.

You have shown mercy to our ancestors
by remembering the holy covenant you made with them,

the oath you swore to Abraham, granting that we,
delivered from the hands of our enemies,
might serve you without fear, in holiness and justice, in your presence all our days.

And you, my child,
will be called the prophet of the Most High, for you’ll go before our God
to prepare the way for the Promised One, Giving the people the knowledge of salvation through
forgiveness of their sins.

Such is the tender mercy of our God,
who from on high will bring the Rising Sun to visit us,

to give light to those who live in darkness and the shadow of death
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.

Glory to God our Abba, to Jesus the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: as it was in the beginning is now
and will be for ever.

Antiphon: It is a good thing to give thanks to you, O Lord, and to sing praises to your name, O
most High.

INTERCESSIONS
O God you have given us the light of another day. In return we thank you as we cry out to you:
Bless us and bring us close to you.
For the universal Church, may we embody Christ’s message of hope, love, mercy, compassion and
healing to all who are broken and overwhelmed by circumstances in their lives.
In thanksgiving for the men, women, and children of the world, who daily offer their lives and time
in service of God and humanity.
In thanksgiving for God’s goodness and grace,
which God daily bestows upon us.
In thanksgiving for friends, families, and loved ones in whom we experience God’s love,
may thy travel safely to and from their places of destination,
For all those who are ill and injured, and those who are terminally ill, and for those who love and
care for them.
For the departed who in life were baptized into the death and resurrection of Jesus, may the Spirit
through whom Jesus was raised from the dead, raise up their bodies into everlasting life.

Insert other needs and thanksgivings to God here.

THE PRAYER OF JESUS
Our Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come, Your will be done, On Earth as it is in Heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread, And forgive us our trespasses,
As we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil,
For the Kingdom and the power and the glory are yours, now and forever. Amen.

CONCLUDING PRAYER
Loving God,

you are the true light and creator of all that is good. At morning, noon, and evening you watch
over us and provide all which we need. May we ever live in the splendor of your presence, till that
time we take our place around the table of your heavenly feast.
We pray this through Jesus Christ, our Savior and brother, who lives and reigns with you and the
Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

DISMISSAL
May God bless us, protect us from all evil and bring us into everlasting life.
Amen.

In the Catholic Church, this last Sunday of the liturgical year is called the Solemnity of our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, or for short, the Feast of Christ the King. Perhaps it is my American heritage, but I have always considered the name of the feast as unfortunate.

The word “king” carries with it a negative connotation. Throughout all of human history, the number of human monarchs who have been benevolent  and wise rulers are far fewer than those who have been heartless, greedy despots. Of all the kings in the Hebrew Testament , only David, Solomon, and perhaps, Josiah, are remembered fondly, and they were all flawed. As we read about the kings listed in the books of Kings and Chronicles in the Hebrew Testament, more often than not, the words written about these kings are, “He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, as his ancestors had done.”  This is usually followed by a description of the generally quick and grisly demise of the king.

The Gospels paint an image of Jesus that in no way resembles that of a king. Instead of having people serve him on hand and feet, we find Jesus on his knees washing the feet of his disciples and serving their needs. Jesus states time and again throughout the Gospels that he came to serve and not to be served. In John’s account of the feeding of the 5000, the people come to make him king, and Jesus responds by fleeing and hiding from them.

In John’s Passion we hear this dialogue between Pilate and Jesus. “Then Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?”  Jesus answered, “Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?”  Pilate replied, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?”  Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.”  Pilate asked him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king.” With such negative historical references about kings, why on earth would we impose such a title on Jesus?

Listen to these words from John’s Prologue. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people.  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” Jesus is far more than a King. He, through him all things were created, is the Lord of all. How is his reign described?  The Gospel today describes the kind of ruler or leader that Jesus is as “Lord.”

Throughout his earthly ministry, Jesus did not identify himself with the rich and the powerful. He becomes one with the most despised  or most forgotten of his society. In the passage from Luke’s Passion, in his passion and death, Jesus becomes one with the thieves executed alongside him. Around him, the Jewish religious leaders mock and taunt Jesus. One of the thieves, in extreme pain physically and spiritually derides Jesus. The other thief rebukes the thief, stating that while Jesus is innocent of any crime, he and the other thief are being justly held accountable for the crimes they had committed. Jesus responds to the thief’s compassion by promising him a place in the eternal reign of God.

We will soon be celebrating the incarnation of Jesus at Christmas, when he became one with humanity by becoming one with us in everything human except for that of sin. In his passion and his death, out of love for us he became one with us in our suffering and our death. Denise Levertov describes this “oneing” with humanity in her poem, “On A Theme From Julian’s Chapter XX”.

One only is ‘King of Grief’.
The onening, she saw, the onening
with the Godhead opened Him utterly
to the pain of all minds, all bodies
sands of the sea, of the desert –
from first beginning
to last day. The great wonder is
that the human cells of His flesh and bone
didn’t explode
when utmost Imagination rose
in that flood of knowledge. Unique
in agony, infinite strength, Incarnate,
empowered Him to endure
inside of history,
through those hours when He took Himself
the sum total of anguish and drank
even the lees of that cup:[1]

Normal human kings seek to separate themselves from their subjects. Their relationship with the people they rule is not a power with relationship, taking on the hardships of the people they lead, but in a power over relationship that is meant to dominate and overwhelm their subject. Jesus is the complete antithesis of a human king. The “oneing” to which Denise Levertov refers, is one in which the one through whom all was created makes it his primary mission to be ONE with us. His is a power with relationship, never a power over relationship.

I love the portrait of Jesus above by Brother Robert Lentz OFM. It is entitled “Christ of Maryknoll”. It is a portrait of Christ as a Latino refugee held captive behind the barb wire of an internment camp run by ICE in the United States (Google Brother Robert Lentz OFM to see all his art). As he was in his earthly ministry, Jesus remains one with those who are poor, those who are outcast, those who are imprisoned. As Lord of Heaven and Earth, he continues to serve those who are in most need.

As we celebrate this Feast of “Christ the King”, let us not model our discipleship after that of earthly monarchs. Rather, let us model our discipleship after Jesus, Lord of All by becoming “one” with those most in need, serving them as Jesus once served us. iN OUR “”ONEING” WITH THE POOR AND OUTCAST, WE BECOME “ONE” WITH JESUS THROUGH WHOM ALL WAS CREATED.

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[1] “On A Theme From Julian’s Chapter XX”  © 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987 by Denise Levertov, A New Direction Book.

THE 33^RD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, 2019

I have written about my 2^nd grade teacher, Sister Angeline many times. She was a woman of great love and was earnest about making sure us kids would go to heaven. She believed that if we were not willing to go to heaven on our own volition, she would scare us into going to heaven. My second grade year was filled with stories intent on frightening the “hell” out of us usually by telling us stories that scared us to death.

I remember vividly how she painted what the “end of the world” would be like; the fire and brimstone that would destroy the earth and how Jesus would be the severe judge, sending some people to heaven and others sentenced forever to suffer in the fires of hell. I, also, remember how if given the choice of God flooding the entire earth, eg. Noah, and Jesus coming at the end of time, e.g. fire and brimstone, I far preferred dying by drowning then by being burned alive. Placed at the time of the Cuban Missile crises and the belief that a nuclear World War would happen at any time, the thought of being vaporized in a nuclear storm only added to the imagery she painted.

As a result, my image of Jesus was not that of a savior who loved us so much that he died for us, but the Son of God who would judge us all harshly. Jesus is writing down everything we did wrong in his book, as we were told, did not help us in dispelling the angry image many of us had of Jesus. I guess, it could best be summed up in this rewording  of the song, “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town.” “You better watch out. You better not cry. You better be good, I’m telling you why. Jesus Christ is coming to town.” Judging by the readings we hear today on this Sunday, Malachi 3:19-20a and Luke 21:5-19, it is easy to see how the second coming of Jesus could be perceived as very frightening and intimidating.

I know that some Christian traditions get around the horror of the second coming by speaking of the “rapture”, that is, to borrow from Star Trek, the righteous being “beamed” up to heaven before all hell breaks loose on the earth. (One of my favorite bumper stickers is one a friend had that said, “When the rapture comes, can I have your car?”). In my serious study of the Book of Revelation, I think the idea of the rapture is a misinterpretation of the scripture.

So, how we do approach the whole idea of Jesus’ second coming? Is it from a place of great fear, as I was taught as a kid by good intentioned nuns? Is it from a place of privilege as is taught by some Christian traditions, e.g. the rapture? For me, neither approach is valid. I like to approach the second coming of Jesus from the viewpoint of the liturgical season of Advent.

In the first couple Sundays of Advent, we look forward to Jesus’ second coming at the end of time, as we remember the great grace of his first coming over 2000 years ago. I adopt the posture of hopeful anticipation that our Jewish ancestors had as they eagerly looked forward to the coming of the Messiah. The second coming of Jesus is a time of great anticipation in which the brokenness and suffering of our world will finally be healed and humanity fully reconciled to God. The image that Isaiah paints for us in Isaiah 2 is of all nations coming to the mountain of God, in which all human want is satisfied, all weapons transformed from instruments of destroying humanity, into instruments building up humanity, e.g. swords into plowshares, spears into pruning hooks, and humanity finally learning the lesson to never go to war again, but, rather, to walk in the light of God.

As we listen to the totality of the Gospels, Jesus emphasizes the overly abundant love and mercy of God, and calls all of humanity to model God’s love and mercy in the way we live. It is this that is the promise of Jesus’ second coming. Is this something to fear, or to escape via the rapture, or is it, rather, something we would want to embrace fully?

In the last verse of Marty Haugen’s great hymn “Gather Us In,” we hear, “Not in the dark of buildings confining; not in some heaven light years away. But here, in this place, new light is streaming, NOW is the kingdom, NOW is the day.”[1] What Marty writes is what Jesus taught. We must live in God’s reign not just as something that will happen at some future date, but rather we must live in God’s reign, God’s second coming NOW. While Christ’s second coming is not fully established, the second coming of Jesus has a good foothold in our world. As disciples of Jesus, we must live in the second coming of Jesus as if it is fully established. If we live our lives today fully embracing a life filled with God’s love, goodness, and abundant mercy, we will have the power of increasing the Reign of God more fully in our world.

I would like to end  for our consideration with a quote from Fr Richard Rohr’s book, Falling Upward.[2] Rohr writes in chapter 8, “Perhaps this is what Jesus means by there being “many rooms in my Father’s house” (John 14:2). If you go to heaven alone, wrapped in your private worthiness, it is by definition not heaven. If your notion of heaven is based on exclusion of anybody else, then it is by definition not heaven. The more you exclude, the more hellish and lonely your existence always is. How could anyone enjoy the “perfect happiness” of any heaven if she knew her loved ones were not there, or were being tortured for all eternity? It would be impossible. Remember our Christian prayer, “on earth as it is heaven.” As now, so then; as here, so there. We will all get exactly what we want and ask for. You can’t beat that. … Jesus touched and healed anybody who desired it and asked for it, and there were no other prerequisites for his healings. “ … How could Jesus ask us to bless, forgive, and heal our enemies, which he clearly does (Matthew 5:43–48), unless God is doing it first and always? Jesus told us to love our enemies because he saw his Father doing it all the time, and all spirituality is merely the “imitation of God” (Ephesians 5:1).

To embrace the second coming of Jesus is to live the all inclusive love of God expressed in the life and teachings of Jesus. And as Marty Haugen emphasizes, we must live it now, in this place, and in our time. The second coming of Jesus is all around us. Let us embrace it and live it.

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[1] GATHER US IN, Mary Haugen, © 1982 GIA Publications, Inc.

[2] Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life, by Richard Rohr, © 2011. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA.  pp. 101- 103, All rights reserved.

Over the Summer, I edited three volumes of poetry, namely, The Book of Ruth: The Courting Begins, The Book of Ruth: Courting In The Minnesota Valley of Tears, The Book of Ruth: The Courting Never Ends. I also copyrighted them with the United States Copyright Office.

Thr first volume began in December of 2011 as I was recovering from a MRSA infection and awaiting a second left hip replacement The poems were my Christmas present to Ruthie. It just continued to grow from there to its present form.

If there is a common theme between all of these poems it is encountering God in my lifelong relationship with my wife, Ruth.

For those who have followed this blog over the summer months, you may have read some of the new poems that I have written.

Last night, I composed a Preface for the new collection of poems. What follows is that Preface.

“On June 13, 2019, I had my retirement open house. On June 24^th, I went to the New Prague Times to do interview on my retirement and upon completing the interview fell down the front steps of the building breaking my left ankle. On June 28^th, I had the first surgery on my left ankle. On July 1^st, I officially retired from active paid church ministry. On July 12^th, I had the second surgery on my left ankle. On September 6^th, I had the third surgery on my left ankle. On October 4^th, with the aid of a walker, I walked for the first time since June 24^th. As I write this, the healing of the surgical incision is still a work in progress. The circulation in my left leg is not good, a result of the numerous surgeries and MRSA infection back in 2011. With the same incision being opened three times, it is taking some time to completely heal over. There is still just a small part not yet healed, and that part, I discovered today has an infection. Here I go again …

I give this chronology of events to illustrate that I had plans for my retirement from full time ministry and it did not include hopping around on my right foot from bed to bathroom to chair to bathroom to bed for fifteen weeks. For some reason, beyond my comprehension, God apparently had other ideas for my retirement. This is not to say that God deliberately tripped my feet up as I was descending the front steps at the New Prague Times Building on June 24th. But, all the activities to which I had been looking forward were altered far beyond anything I could have planned or imagined.

Our lives are shrouded in mystery. To use the image of Psalm 23 of walking through the Valley of Death, I was unaware of the walking, or in my case, the lack of walking beginning my retirement. As Rabbi Harrold Kushner expressed so well in his book, The Lord Is My Shepherd: Healing Wisdom of the Twenty-Third Psalm, God never says we will never experience suffering. Rather, God tells us that we will not suffer alone. God will walk with us through our suffering.[1]

I hesitate to use the words “God’s plan for me” because it implies a life of fatalism in which there is no human choice. God allows us to experience life: our loves, our sorrows, health, illness, joys, thanksgivings in all its manifestations. Contained within all these experiences is God’s grace. Sometimes, especially in those joyful times of our lives, God’s grace is easily seen and experienced. However, sometimes God’s grace is deeply hidden within the experience, especially true with the hard and painful experiences. The volumes of poetry in which I chronicle my life with Ruthie is my way of trying to part the mist of mystery in which to find God’s grace in my life.

I believe life is comprised of periods. The first period is that of our birth and the first five years in which we begin to learn to navigate the world around us. Our parents and family assist us in that navigation. The second period is comprised of our school years, in which we acquire “book knowledge” and other skills that continue to expand our knowledge of the world. While our parents remain a big part of our lives, we begin to explore, on our own, the world. We explore our interests and seek the knowledge we need for a career. The third period is using the skills we have learned to make a living at a job or career. Subsets during this period may be seeking a spouse/life-partner, raising a family, and continuing to pursue those interests that enrich us. The fourth period may be called “retirement” in which the busyness of our lives slows, giving us the opportunity to reflect over our past and looking for those significant events in which God has touched our lives with profound grace.

I have found the most significant times in which God’s grace is found are those times of great stress, illness, and physical, mental, and spiritual suffering. Scripture familiarizes us with many stories of God’s paradoxical habit of shaping people’s lives for the better in the worse of circumstances. As Paul of Tarsus notes in his second letter to the Corinthians, it is at our weakest and most vulnerable moments in our lives in which God’s grace is most profound. “[The Lord] said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.’ So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Cor 12:9-10, New Revised Standard Version Bible)

As I begin this fourth volume of poems, I have had fifteen weeks of essentially “sitting on my butt” reflecting on God’s grace in the past, and trying to ascertain God’s grace in the present. This volume of poems will continue to grow as I reflect on God’s presence in past events and attempt to seek God’s presence in the here and now. I believe God to be more immanent rather than aloof and transcendent. God is Emmanuel, “God with us.”

One thing that will always be consistent in my life’s story, is the immanent presence of God in my bride, Ruth. As I have said on numerous occasions, she is the greatest experience of God for me. In her embrace, I feel God embrace me. From her lips I hear God say, “I love you! I forgive you.” From her body, I have witnessed the creation of the world as she gave birth to our children. After all, this collection of poems is entitled: “The Book of Ruth.” Perhaps these poems will help readers reflect on the presence of God in their lives.

Robert Charles Wagner

November 12, 2019

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[1] The Lord Is My Shepherd: Healing Wisdom of the Twenty-Third Psalm, by Harrold Kushner,  Alfred A Knopf, New York, 2003. See Chapter Eight for an expanded discussion of this.

WHEN YOUNG, WHEN OLDER

When young,
there is little retrospection.
Life is an adventure,
new experiences
which we sample and taste
as if at a smorgasbord,
in which we are so busy living,
we have no time for reflection.

When young,
life is full of expectation:
chasing dreams of a career,
of spouse and children,
seeking after and possessing
that which we presume
will support our expectations and dreams.

When young,
consumed with life,
dreams of God
and that which is everlasting
seem as far away as
traveling to Mars.
Eyesight is isolated to
only the here and now,
not to some galaxy far, far away.

When older,
as life naturally slows,
retrospection creeps into our lives
often unwelcome.
A lifetime of experience,
our virtues and sins accumulate,
like the scars we bear
on our bodies and spirits.
And, that galaxy that seemed
so far, far away,
is as close to us
as our neighbor’s house.

When older,
exciting vacation destinations
to exotic places
are replaced by the mundane
visits to doctors,
medical clinics and hospitals.
The weddings and baptisms diminish
replaced by a multiplying number
of wakes and funerals
not only of the ancient ones
in our lives, but that
of our siblings and friends.

When older,
as we page through the brittle pages
of old photo albums
looking at pictures of children
who became our parents,
we realize that one day,
memories of our lives
will be confined to a fading picture
of who we once were.

When older,
life becomes that of waiting in line,
grasping in our hands a numbered ticket
as if waiting to be served at a market.
The ticket we clutch holds
the diagnosis which will unite us
to the ancestors who preceded us,
and wonder whether those
upon whom we once gazed
in photo albums,
will greet us in person
as we pass from this life to the next.

When older,
we finally comprehend
that much after which we chased
when we were young
was merely a passing fancy,
a temporary diversion from
that which is ultimately
the goal of our lives,
and hope, that we will experience
the abundance of God’s mercy
which Jesus preached,
expanding upon our virtues
and less focused on our sins.

It was January 2004, the last year of my dad’s life. Dad had had a heart valve replaced when he was 80 years old, and now at the age of 89 was facing another heart valve replacement.  I took him down to Mayo Clinic in Rochester for him to get a second opinion from one of the cardiologists. The cardiologist, after having examined dad and all of dad’s tests, sat with us and said to dad, “Walter, you can have this heart valve replaced. However, I cannot guarantee that the surgery will make your life better, nor can I guarantee that it will prolong your life.” My dad, was a mechanical engineer, and I saw expressed in his face the logic that guided him professionally most of his life. He looked at the doctor and replied, “Hell, I am 89 years old. I am not going to live forever.” He decided to not have the surgery and died from congestive heart failure in November of 2004.

The scripture readings for this weekend force us to face that which my dad confronted in January 2004. We are finite beings and our bodies are going to breakdown and eventually die. While we are still alive in our bodies, we are giving a choice. Do we wish to cultivate and grow our relationship with God, or, do we wish to ignore the relationship that God offers us? The choice is exclusively ours.

The first reading from the second book of Maccabees (part of the historical books in the Catholic Bible, and in the apocrypha in the Protestant Bible) is a rather macabre, grisly tale of a Jewish mother and her seven sons being tortured, maimed, and then burned alive at the order of the Greek King Antiochus. Their crime was refusing to eat meat that had been sacrificed to the Greek gods. They chose to be in relationship with God and suffer a horrible death, rather than to destroy their relationship with God and live. In reading the full story from the second book of Maccabees (2 Maccabees 7:1-42) the mother tells her sons that their relationship with God is closer and supersedes even that of a mother for her children. The mother consuls one of her sons, “Son, have pity on me, who carried you in my womb for nine months, nursed you for three years, brought you up, educated and supported you to your present age. I beg you, child, to look at the heavens and the earth and see all that is in them; then you will know that God did not make them out of existing things. In the same way humankind came into existence. Do not be afraid of this executioner, but be worthy of your brothers and accept death, so that in the time of mercy I may receive you again with your brothers.”

The Gospel reading is the familiar story of the Sadducees challenging Jesus’ teaching about resurrection and everlasting life. They pose to Jesus, a story of a woman, who over time had married seven brothers, widowed at each marriage and who eventually died never having borne any children. They ask Jesus, if there is a resurrection, to which husband would she be married? (I must interject at this juncture, that this Gospel story always reminds me of an inappropriate Ole and Lena joke, in which Lena is married to Ole, widowed, and then, marries, Hans, widowed again, and then marries Sven, and is widowed again. The only difference from the Gospel story is that Lena had a very fruitful life having giving birth to 24 children collectively during her marriages to Ole, Hans, and Sven.) Jesus replies that life after death is not consumed with the relationships we formed during life, but rather, overwhelmingly consumed in being in relationship with God.

These two readings remind us that God entered into relationship with us at the moment we were conceived in our mother’s womb. We were named and claimed by God at that very moment. Our relationship with God is ultimately the most important relationship in our lives. God has always been in relationship with us, even when we refuse to acknowledge that very relationship. In the Gospels, Jesus points out that instead of being self-consumed and focused only in our present life, ultimate happiness rests in the relationship we cultivate with God. What is in the present is temporary. What lies beyond the present is everlasting. The pastoral letters of Paul, John, James, and Peter teach the same lesson. That which human beings consider treasure, e.g. gold, silver etc, in this world, rusts, disintegrates and passes away. That treasure that lasts forever is the relationship we have with God. Are we going to spend our lives chasing after treasure that is no more than a mirage, or are going to spend our lives pursuing a treasure that will last into eternity?

The goal of our life is not that which we will find in the present. The goal of our life must focus on that which will be.  Our life after death will mirror the relationships we have with others in this life. If our life is self-focused, and self-consumed, than the future of our life after death will be one of isolation from God and others. If our relationships with others are unloving and only formed to satisfy ourselves, eternity will be filled with the emptiness and darkness of the relationships we had. If our relationships with others were that of unselfish love for others, then those relationships will be stepping stones to an everlasting life of love, happiness and fulfillment with God. Again, this is a message we hear preached not only by Jesus in the Gospels, but repeated in the pastoral letters of Paul, Peter, John and James.  

As my dad so succinctly expressed in January of 2004, we do not live forever. Our bodies are going to wear out and eventually die. My dad was a person of great honesty, integrity and compassion. He did not fear death because he knew that the life and love that after death was going to surpass the life and love he had experienced in life. He knew that when he died, he would be swept up in God’s everlasting embrace of love. The fulfillment for which my dad strived and after which my dad sought, would be realized not in this life, but in everlasting life.

Woody Allen once said, “I don’t fear death. I just don’t want to be there when it happens.” None of us actively seek death. Our bodies are programmed to seek life. Let us program the lives we are living now, not for what we can find in the present, but that life which beckons beyond this life. Let us live lives that always seek the relationship we have had with God from the moment we were conceived.

HOMILY FOR THE 31^ST SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME, YEAR C

In the first reading from Wisdom, we hear, “For you love all things that are and loathe nothing that you have made; for you would not fashion what you hate. How could a thing remain, unless you willed it; or be preserved, had it not been called forth by you? (God) you spare all things, because they are yours, O Ruler and Lover of souls, for your imperishable spirit is in all things! (Wisdom 11:24-25, 26-12:1)

Human beings like to compartmentalize things. We like to group things and people into neat, little categories. We also like to do this with God. It is easy for us to isolate God to a building that we visit one hour a week, making God a prisoner of a building. Then we walk out the door of a church, thinking we have left God behind in the church and that God has no relationship with anything or anyone outside the church doors.

In the reading from the book of Wisdom, it is written that God’s imperishable spirit is in all things. As the psalmist in Psalm 139 observes, there is no place to which we can escape without God already being there. What the author of the book of Wisdom makes it so very clear that God’s spirit is present in all created things, earth, wind, water, fire. There is not one thing in heaven and earth in which God’s Spirit is absent. There is not one thing in heaven and earth that God does not love.

As we get closer to the end of the liturgical year, it is important for us to open our awareness of God not only in all that is around us, but especially God’s presence within us and in other people.

This expanded knowledge of God in and around us must reflect the relationship we have with nature. Since God is present in all created things, to deface, to diminish, to harm our environment is an indicator of our relationship with God.

The hardest thing for us to swallow is the love that God has for all people. The author of the Book of Wisdom reminds us that God loves all things and loathes nothing, for how could God create anything that God hates. If God does not hate that which God has created, nor can we. God does not love exclusively. God loves inclusively. This is something with which many of us struggle. If we truly believe that God’s Spirit is present in all people, and there is not one person that God does not love, then we cannot use, cheat, or abuse people. If we truly believe that God’s Spirit is present all people, prejudice, racism, violence, hunger, and all want would be eliminated from our world.

In the familiar story of Zacchaeus, the tax collector (Luke 19:1-10), Zacchaeus has this moment in which his eyes are open to the presence of God in the people with whom he is in relationship. Zacchaeus realizes that in the way he has harmed others, he has harmed God. He needs to correct the harm he has done. He says to Jesus, “Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor, and if I have extorted anything from anyone I shall repay it four times over.” For those who held Zacchaeus in contempt, Jesus quickly corrects them that God is present in Zacchaeus. “Today salvation has come to this house because this man too is a descendant of Abraham.”

As we get closer to the end of this liturgical year, and the readings point to the time of Christ’s second coming, let us open our eyes like Zacchaeus to the presence of God all around us; in nature, and most importantly, in all people.

Some pictures of the Saints I know.

left to right: my mom, my Uncle Bob, my grandfather Oscar, my Uncle Ozzie, and my Aunt Ruth (Greta, the little girl is still with us)

It is the feasts of All Saints/All Souls. I do not think of these feasts as separate, in spite of the tedious 20 minute homily I heard last night at Mass explaining the difference between the church militant, the church suffering and the church glorious. It was all a bunch of yah-dah, yah-dah, yah-dah to me.

Who are the saints in our lives? While I believe that Peter, Paul, all the rest of the apostles, Mary the mother of Jesus, Mary Magdalene, and others are legitimate saints whose lives we must venerate, there are a lot of saints on the official Church calendar I consider hardly saints. And there are some people who should be on the calendar of saints and are omitted. For years, Archbishop Oscar Romero was declined sainthood because of Pope John Paul II’s right wing politics. Romero was a martyr for the faith, who died for his faith, which should make him an automatic saint. Ironically, John Paul II, who held up his canonization, was made a saint even though he looked the other way and knowingly did not discipline bishops and priests guilty of sexually abusing children. Under his papacy the corruption within the Roman Curia skyrocketed. The canonization process is highly political and flawed.

So who are the saints in our lives? It is those people who have tried throughout their lives to live the commandment Jesus gave us on Holy Thursday night, “love one another has I have loved you.” Think of those whose love for us has shaped our lives. Think of those who gave of themselves to us and to others in love. They used their lives gradually perfecting how to love as Jesus loves. And though their bodies wore out and died, they continue to live and love us. At funerals, I often speak about how death does not sever the bonds of love we have had with those who have died. They are no longer hampered by a body, but love more intensely then when they had a body. All we need do is think their name and they are at our side. If our loved one had been a parent, well, us kids can’t get away with anything any more. Like Santa, they now KNOW when we are naughty and nice.

You will notice that I have two of my pet dogs among the human saints pictured above. Pope Francis has preached that our pets are in heaven. If the definition of a saint is that of one who has loved as Jesus loved, those two great Pyrs loved me and my family more fully than many people. Those two dogs loved us so much that they were ready to guard us and die for us if necessary. When they died, their loss was hugely felt by all of us and we still grieve their loss.

I love how the Latino culture celebrates these two days. They keep the memory of their dead loved ones alive by celebrating their lives, picnicking at their gravesites, building a special altar with the pictures of their loved ones, cooking their favorite foods, having their favorite drinks present, and their favorite pass times. The Latinos I have known, never forget their loved ones because they believe their loved ones are always present. That is why I believe we must honor and celebrate the feast days (the day of their death is the day of their birth into everlasting life) of our deceased loved ones. We need to tell and retell the stories, especially those that were important for us. We need to keep their pictures around us, and remember them when we gather at those important family functions and banquets.

In conclusion, I would like to relate the last two days of my sister, Mary Ruth’s life. On August 8th, 1997, my sister was moved from ICU to hospice. After my sister was settled into hospice (there was no home hospice at that time), she greeted all our dead relatives in the room. She turned to my mother and I and said, “They are playing my song but I am not ready to hear it.” My mom turned to me and said quietly, “It must be the morphine.” I told mom, “Morphine is not a hallucinogen like LSD, mom. She is beginning to see what is really real from that which is temporary (as St Paul writes in the 4th chapter of his second letter to the Corinthians). Mary was correct. She was not ready to hear her song. She still had two days and died early in the morning on August 10th.

When we are born from this life to the next, I hope to see all those pictured above welcoming me home to heaven. Till that time I will keep holy their feast day (the day of their death and birth to heaven). We will light candles in memory of them at our banquet table here on earth, till we can join them around the banquet table of God promised to us by Jesus.