To sum it all up...

"Be merciful, just as also your Father is merciful."

Luke 6:36

 

There were so many wonderful passages in today's readings I could have chosen! Paul to the Colossians: "Put on...heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience..." (Colossians 3:12-17)  And today's Gospel is line-for-line, exactly how we are to live: love your enemies, give to others, forgive, stop judging. (Luke 6:27-38)  But I thought the way to sum all of these wonderful passages into one is "Be merciful, just as also your Father is merciful."  If we are merciful, we are all the others--loving, forgiving, nonjudgmental.  Being merciful to me means realizing that another person is a child of God too.  They may have had a difficult background or horrible things may have happened to them in the past and they are just trying to make their way the best they can.  Being merciful means being understanding and compassionate, not a doormat for others, but understanding and forgiving.  We can't go through a day without someone getting under our skin, but being merciful means we do not let it ruin our day or make us angry or mean.  We can treat each other with the kindness and compassion that St. Paul describes to the Colossians.  So, today, let this scripture run through our minds like a little ticker-tape...."Be merciful, just as also your Father is merciful."  Love, heidi

It's about the love today...

"And so, this morning we come to bury Myke Judge's body, but not his spirit. We come to bury his voice, but not his message. We come to bury his hands, but not his good works. We come to bury his heart, but not his love. Never his love."

Fr. Michael Duffy, at the funeral of Fr. Mychal Judge

Today, on the twelfth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, I read a reflection on Fr. Mychal Judge, the Franciscan chaplain who was the first casualty pulled out of the rubble that dreadful morning.  There are still lessons to be learned from the attacks of 9/11, and the one for me today is love.  Fr. Mychal Judge was not a perfect human being.  He struggled with alcohol himself, so he ministered to people in AA.  He loved the poor, so he ministered to people on the street.  Fr. Mychal was open and honest about his weaknesses, so you know what God did? God used those very weaknesses for good!   There is strength in our weaknesses, once we recognize the weaknesses and ask God to help us.  Then God can do what God does so well...turn our weakness around into good.  So, today, as I think and pray about 9/11, I'm going to dwell on the love. The love that Fr. Myke showed everyone he came into contact with in his beautiful ministry.  The love that propelled that good priest to run into the building with the firefighters, that day, to see who he could help. The love with which his own firemen carried Fr. Myke's body out of the rubble and placed it in a church.   It's only about the love today, Friends.  Love, heidi

If you want to see a good documentary about Fr. Mychal, see "The Saint of 9/11." If you want to read more from the homily and more about Fr. Mychal, here is a good link:

http://www.npr.org/2011/09/09/140293993/slain-priest-bury-his-heart-but-not-his-love

Lessons learned...

"For I was hungry..."

Matthew 25:35

 

I had several thoughts after our day of prayer and fasting, last Saturday, I wanted to share.  First of all, I noticed how really lousy I felt all day and it struck me that people who are always hungry must feel lousy all the time.  They probably don't even know what it feels like to actually feel good and nourished.  I felt guilty diving into a yummy breakfast Sunday morning, knowing that for so many people, that empty-ache doesn't just last for one day...it continues and gets even worse.  Also, as the day went on, I noticed that I had a hard time concentrating and thinking straight.  I am grateful for school breakfasts and lunches to help kids get the nourishment they need to learn! And finally, I felt that I grew closer to the global community who also fasted and prayed for Syria last Saturday, and that felt very good.  We are a global family...spread out far and wide, east to west, but we are all related as human beings.  We, as compassionate, loving, Jesus-people need to walk in each others' shoes and experience the pain our brothers and sisters feel--even if just a day--we need to feel that empty ache.  Our prayers and solidarity must continue for Syria and other places of suffering in our world.  Let us commit to prayer and anything else we can do to ease the suffering of our brothers and sisters!  Love, heidi

The pain passes...

"The beauty remains, the pain passes."

Pierre-Auguste Renoir

 

During the last years of his life, painter Renoir was in tremendous pain as a result of arthritis.  It was terribly painful for him to paint with his arthritic hands, and a friend asked him why he continued to paint through such pain.  He answered with, "The beauty remains, the pain passes."  We learned this during our homily Saturday night, as it was applied to being a follower of Jesus.  Truly following Jesus can be difficult, painful, and surely have life-altering consequences.  In yesterday's Gospel (Luke 14:25-33), Jesus tells us to pick up our crosses and follow him, turning our backs to worldly trappings and possessions. He even tells us not to allow family or friends to come between us and a life lived for God.  All that can be so difficult, as we are spinning around on this planet! But we are assured, in the end, the beauty of our life with Jesus will outshine anything the world has to offer.  The awesomeness will remain, the pain/stress/inconvenience/isolation/whatever-it-is-that-is-undesirable will pass. I thought it was such a beautiful lesson, I wanted to share it today.  Blessings on your Monday! Love, heidi

A Prayer for Peace

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid."

John 14:27

In solidarity with the request of Pope Francis, let us all honor Saturday, September 7, as a day of fasting and prayer for peace in Syria.  However you choose to fast or however you choose to pray, please join with Christians and those of many other faiths around the world, joining together as one voice for peace in this troubled land.

O Jesus, O Peaceful One,

The people of Syria may seem a half a world away from us, but they are our brothers and sisters. Their suffering saddens us deeply and we feel helpless to do anything to help them. But, you have given us the gifts of faith and prayer and these gifts can move mountains. We lift up the suffering people of Syria to your tender care. We ask for compassion and forgiveness for all the people of the region—leaders and followers alike. We ask for peaceful intervention, not more violence, which leads to only more suffering. We ask this in the name of Jesus, who once called this land his home. Amen.

 

Row on out...

"Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch."

Luke 5:4

 

In today's Gospel, Jesus tells Peter to row out into deep water and try again, basically.  Peter had been fishing all night and had caught nothing.  Jesus asks him to give it another go and Peter, though voicing his doubts, does what Jesus asks.  And Peter witnesses a miracle.  Back in 1946, a Sister of Loreto, a teacher in India, was riding on a train when she heard Jesus beckon her to do something too.  And, even though it meant leaving what she had been doing--which was good and holy work--she answered this new call and founded her own order of Sisters. The nun was Mother Teresa and the new order was the Missionaries of Charity.  The situations were so similar when I read them this morning.  Peter must have shook his head at the idea of throwing out the nets again, but he did it.  Mother Teresa faced many obstacles in her work, but she did it...she answered the "call within a call" she had heard on that train in 1946.  It makes me wonder how often we answer the beckoning of Jesus in our lives.  When I think back, I realize how "called" I was to work in the blind rehabilitation field.  It was such a powerful desire I chased it down fairly relentlessly.  I also felt called to the vocation of marriage and motherhood.  And, now I feel very called to spiritual work and spiritual endeavors. I feel called to draw closer to God than I ever thought possible.  Let's spend some time this short-week Thursday pondering the calls we have received, and are still receiving, from Jesus, in our lives.  Are we answering them?  Are we casting out our nets into deep water?  Are we ready for the miracle?  Love, heidi