Sunday, February 27, 2022
Saturday, February 26, 2022
Ash Wednesday Reflection . . .
Gospel Mt 6:1-6, 16-18
Story:
A businessman needing to
attend a conference in a faraway city decided to travel on country roads rather
than the freeways so he could enjoy a relaxing journey. After some hours of traveling he realized he
was hopelessly lost. Seeing a farmer
tending his field on the side of the road, he stopped to ask for
directions. “Can you tell me how far it
is to Chicago?” he asked the farmer.
“Well, I don’t rightly know,” the farmer replied.
Well, can you tell me how far
I am from Fond du Lac, WI?” the businessman questioned again.
“Well, I don’t rightly know,”
the farmer again replied. “Can you at
least tell me the quickest way to the main road?” The exasperated businessman asked.
“Nope, I don’t rightly know,”
the farmer again answered.
“You really don’t know very
much at all, do you?” blurted the impatient businessman.
“Nope, not much, but I ain’t
lost,” the farmer calmly answered. (Original Source Unknown)
Lent is a season of spiritual
growth – and possibly we will need to take leave of the “business as usual”
main roads in our lives and risk taking some back roads that may lead us into
spaces within ourselves that we have hesitated visiting. We may find ourselves having to be more
aware or watchful of signs and symbols that gently direct us to the next turn
on our journey. We may even find
ourselves a little lost and having to stop to ask for directions or just sit
listening for the soft and intimate voice of the Divine whispering encouragement
to our fearful and anxious hearts.
It is said that Lent is not
an event – It is not something that happens to us. It is at most a microcosm of what turns out
to be a lifelong journey to the center of the Self. The purpose of Lent is to confront us with
ourselves in a way that’s conscious and purposeful, that enables us to deal
with the rest of life well.
In our gospel today, Jesus
addressees the three pillars of religion in ancient Judaism – prayer, fasting
and almsgiving – the voice of Jesus down the ages warns us about being seduced
into believing that any of the practices, by virtue of their own worthiness, is
really religious.
About those who got their
satisfaction out of standing up in the synagogues or praying on the streets, he
warned his disciples “When you pray, go into your room alone and pray in
secret.”
To those who gave great alms
and in return got great publicity for it, he said, “When you give alms do not
let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.”
In regard to those whose
fasting was done with public fanfare and insincere distress, he said to his own
followers, “When you fast, dress up, look your best.” In other words, lighten up and smile!
So what is the Good News for
us today?
The story goes that the Holy
Man, Nasrudin was now an old man looking back on his life. He sat with his friends in the tea shop
telling his story.
“When I was young I was fiery
– I wanted to awaken everyone. I prayed
to God to give me the strength to change the world.”
“In mid-life I awoke one day
and realized my life was half over and I had changed no one. So I prayed to God to give me the strength to
change those close around me who so much needed it.”
“Alas, now I am old and my
prayer is simpler, ‘God,’ I ask, ‘please give me the strength to as least change
myself.’”
Prayer to Welcome Mardi Gras . . .
Mardi Gras Prayer
Blessed
are you, God of all creation,
for it is from your goodness that we have this day
to celebrate on the threshold of the Season of Lent.
Tomorrow
we will fast and abstain from meat.
Today we feast.
We thank you for the abundance of gifts you shower upon us.
We thank you especially for one another.
As we give you thanks,
we are mindful of those who have so much less than we do.
As we share these wonderful gifts together,
we commit ourselves to greater generosity toward those
who need our support.
Prepare
us for tomorrow.
Tasting the fullness of what we have today,
let us experience some hunger tomorrow.
May our fasting make us more alert
and may it heighten our consciousness
so that we might be ready to hear your Word
and respond to your call.
As our
feasting fills us with gratitude
so may our fasting and abstinence hollow out in us
a place for deeper desires
and an attentiveness to hear the cry of the poor.
May our self-denial turn our hearts to you
and give us a new freedom for
generous service to others.
We ask
you these graces
with our hearts full of delight
and stirring with readiness for the journey ahead.
We ask them with confidence
in the name of Jesus. (Creighton
University)
Thursday, February 24, 2022
Our God weeps . . .
Sometimes, Lord,
it just seems to be too much:
too much violence, too much fear;
too much of demands and problems;
too much of broken dreams and broken lives;
too much of war and slums and dying;
too much of greed and squishy fatness
and the sounds of people
devouring each other
and the earth;
too much of stale routines and quarrels,
unpaid bills and dead ends;
too much of words lobbed in to explode
and leaving shredded hearts and lacerated souls;
too much turned-away backs and yellow silence,
red rage and bitter taste of ashes in my mouth
Sometimes
the very air seems scorched
by threats and rejection and decay
until there is nothing
but to inhale pain
and exhale confusion.
Too much of darkness, Lord,
too much of cruelty
and selfishness
and indifference…
Too much, Lord,
too much,
too bloody,
bruising,
brain-washing much.
Or is it too little,
too little of compassion,
too little of courage,
of daring,
of persistence,
of sacrifice;
too little of music
and laughter
and celebration?
O God,
make of me some nourishment
for these starved times,
some food for my brothers and sisters
who are hungry for gladness and hope,
that, being bread for them,
I may also be fed
And be full
Ted
Loder, Guerrillas of Grace
Sunday, February 20, 2022
God of Hope, God of Wisdom . . .
God of
hope,
as Ukraine
balances on a knife edge,
we pray
for peace.
Peace for
Ukrainian citizens living with constant anxiety,
fearful
that calamity will fall upon them today.
Peace for
the Russian soldiers who are waiting for orders,
fearful
for their own lives.
Peace for
neighbouring countries who know
that war
makes refugees that must be welcomed.
We pray
for the beautiful land of Ukraine,
its vast
steppes and rich soil:
too much
blood has been spilled there over time.
God, we
cry to you about the unfairness
of how
power is concentrated in this world,
that one
man holds the fate of so many.
Hold back
the tanks and troops.
Stop the
planes and bombs.
Shelter
these people from aggression,
let the
children grow up in peace.
Give
wisdom to diplomats
as they
try to convince Russian leaders
that no
one wins in war.
Don’t let
this day go down in history
as the
start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
In your mercy, let it be a day of peace. Amen.
Author: Carol Penner
“Copyright Carol Penner www.leadinginworship.com”
Provident God . . .
Litany of Nonviolence
Provident God,
aware of our own brokenness,
we ask the gift of courage
to identify how and where we are in need of conversion
in order to live in solidarity with Earth and all creation.
Deliver us from the violence of superiority
and disdain.
Grant us the desire, and the humility,
to listen with special care to those
whose experiences and attitudes are different from our own.
Deliver us from the violence of greed and
privilege.
Grant us the desire, and the will, to live simply
so others may have their just share of Earth’s resources.
Deliver us from the silence
that gives consent to abuse, war and evil.
Grant us the desire, and the courage,
to risk speaking and acting for the common good.
Deliver us from the violence
of irreverence, exploitation and control.
Grant us the desire, and the strength,
to act responsibly within the cycle of creation.
God of love, mercy and justice,
acknowledging our complicity
in those attitudes, action and words which perpetuate violence,
we beg the grace of a non-violent heart.
Amen.
May, 2012 – Sisters of Providence
