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Posted by Theologika on May 7, 2023

The Way – Expanding Understandings

Following Pentecost, large numbers of people joined the community of believers, who spoke of themselves as Followers of the Way. Jesus had told his followers, “I am the way and the truth and the life.” (Jn 14:1-12) But when it came right down to the day-to-day project of living out the teachings of the master, it was challenging.

When the community began to grow beyond the Jewish faith tradition and include non-Jews from around the known world, it got even more challenging. Who gets the most of the shared resources? If I am responsible for distributing goods, do I make sure my family and friends have enough even if that means some others didn’t get as much as they wanted? Do I favor the folks who have come from another country? Should they get the same share as I do? They didn’t bring as much wealth to the community. Why should they get as much as the folks who were here first?

We hear some of these same questions and have some of the same arguments today. Why should immigrants get extra help? If a child came to the country illegally, why should they get free education and health care? Why should we care if they are sent to do unsafe work by unscrupulous “hosts”? If people don’t have jobs, why should we give them health care or food?

The apostles had to address these issues of justice and fairness in their community too. They were being distracted from the preaching and teaching of the Good News by the need to mediate these disputes. So after talking and praying about it, they decided to select some members of the community to handle the day-to-day administration the communal life and distribution of resources. They selected a group of people to take this role, including Stephen, the first martyr. (Acts 6:1-7)

Although the roles they played are somewhat different from the roles of deacons today, we often speak of these men as the first deacons. They took as their responsibility the care of the community in its daily life. The apostles were the preachers and teachers. The deacons made sure everyone got what they needed to live a good life together. Women also served as deacons in the early community, but they are not named in the reading describing the selection of the first deacons.

Deacons today preach and teach, both in words and deeds. They assist with the celebration of Eucharist, welcoming those gathered and leading the Penitential Rite. They also bring the needs of the broader community to the attention of the Church community. As they prepare the gifts for the sacrifice and raise the cup of the precious blood at the conclusion of the Eucharistic Prayer, they bring the needs and hopes and joys of the world to the Father in the sacrifice. They dismiss the community gathered in prayer to go into the world and serve the needs of all those they meet, including the poorest of the poor. They call forth leaders from the community to organize helpers and address those needs.

Just as the early church leaders adjusted their practices to meet the growing and changing needs of the community, we today listen to the Holy Spirit speaking to us through the everyday, ordinary folks we meet. The Spirit calls the Church anew in every age to meet new challenges as we continue to share the good news Jesus brought to all – that God is with us and loves us dearly.

May we remember this as we move through the coming weeks and months. Those we meet along the way speak to us of the hopes and dreams of God for all of us and for the marvelous creation we share. I pray we will be open to hear the Spirit calling us to service.

Readings for the Fifth Sunday of Easter – Cycle A

Posted by Theologika on Apr 7, 2023

Why did Jesus have to Die?

“Why did Jesus have to die?” “What kind of a God would require a blood sacrifice, of a human being no less, before forgiving the disobedience of the first humans?” “What kind of parent would demand the death of a son?” “Who is ultimately responsible for the death of innocent people?”

All of these questions and more have been raised throughout history, following the death of Jesus. Believers and unbelievers alike have wrestled with the problem of evil and the painful finality of death. Answers are complex and, many times, unhelpful. At best, they provide some logical foundation, based on human values and cultural expectations. At worst, they are downright illogical and unsatisfactory.

I have no good answers either, but I have some thoughts. One of the most important things I have learned in my lifetime is that without difficult times, I don’t appreciate the good times as well. I also have much less appreciation for the challenges faced by others.

If there had always been enough money to be sure of where the next groceries were going to come from, I would not appreciate what it is to go through year after year of food insecurity. If I had always been able to purchase health insurance, I would not be as ready and able to encourage and rejoice with folks who can now get health care and insurance because of the Affordable Care Act (aka, Obamacare) in the United States. I would also be less able to encourage those who have always been part of the middle class and now find their income has fallen so much that they are qualified for Medicaid (Medi-Cal in California). If I had never spent late nights with a crying baby, I would not be able to sympathize with and offer nonjudgmental help to another parent whose child just will not go to sleep!

So many times in my life, there have been difficult moments. Each time, as I come through them, I appreciate more deeply the pain and suffering that are part of life for others as well. I become, I hope, a more compassionate person.

I wonder to what extent Jesus also had to go through hard times as part of growing in compassion and determination to help make life better for others. He had an intense experience of God’s love at his baptism in the Jordan. He grew in wisdom and faith during his time of fasting in the desert. He shared the experience of God’s love with those he met during his public life. He would have been encouraged by its reception among so many ordinary people. He must have been surprised at times that the message he brought was doubted and opposed by so many who were leaders of the community.

In the end, he realized the danger he faced in continuing to proclaim the coming of the kingdom. After all, he lived in a conquered nation where those who led revolutions or opposed the power of Rome were routinely executed publicly. Yet he chose to remain faithful to the call he had received. His cousin had paid the ultimate price for his proclamation of the coming of the Messiah. Now Jesus was facing the same powers and penalties.

He chose freely to continue forward. He could have run away. He saw the soldiers coming out from Jerusalem, down through the valley and up the mountainside to the Garden where he and his friends were spending the night. He could have slipped away before they arrived.

But he didn’t run away. He chose to go and testify to what he had come to understand. When asked if he was the Messiah, he did not deny it. In fact, in St. John’s account, Jesus used the name of God, I AM, three times during his arrest in the garden. When Pilate tried to release him, his accusers retorted, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.” This frightened Pilate, but when push came to shove, Pilate did not resist their demands. Anyone who called himself a king or a god was too dangerous to keep around. (Jn 18:1-19:42)

Jesus went to his death freely. He chose fidelity to what he had come to know and understand about God, about humanity, and about his place in the grand scheme of things.

Did he know he would rise? I don’t know. In the Gospels, there are statements about rising, but they were usually phrased in terms of “on the third day,” which was a code phrase for “God will come to the rescue and make things right.” But literally, who knows when or how?

Jesus died. Of that there is no doubt. To make doubly sure, his heart was pierced by a soldier’s lance. He was buried in a borrowed tomb. His friends and family went home to mourn his passing. A guard was posted outside the tomb to be sure there would be no false claims of resurrection.

Jesus was a human being in all senses. If he had not gone through all the suffering he endured, would we who follow his teachings and believe what he came to proclaim about God’s love for all of us be deeply convinced of the truth of God’s unwavering love and forgiveness? I’m not sure we would be.

Jesus died not to appease a vengeful God. Jesus died not because of the “sins of Adam” that made humanity unfit for Heaven. Statements about his sacrifice as payment for Adam’s sins are found in the Scriptures and tradition, but those are from a specific cultural context in which animal sacrifice was a given. They may not be the way we would speak of the same reality today, though all of us are guilty of adding to the pain and suffering of those around us in big and little ways as we go through life.

Maybe Jesus died because he was so totally committed to what he had come to understand and experience of his relationship with the Father that there was no other option but to trust and go forward. In the process, he showed us too the way to move ahead through the sorrows and pain that come to each of us in our daily lives. He showed us that we grow in compassion through suffering and hard times. He showed us that the Father loves us through it all. And he is there with us as we go through it too. We just need to trust that he is there and open our hearts to receive his love and support.

There is no celebration of Eucharist on Good Friday. But we gather to remember the great love of Jesus and his willingness to go through all of the hardest things ever asked of humans: betrayal, unjust trial, condemnation, mocking, physical abuse, and death. He was there. He will be there always with those who suffer the same. And he’s even there for those of us who pass through less dramatic but deeply painful times.

We gather this day in prayer and silence to be with him in the mystery of timeless eternity. We continue in quiet through the day to come.

Peace be with you.

Readings for Good Friday of the Lord’s Passion

Posted by Theologika on Apr 2, 2023

A Destination is Reached

We have arrived at the end of Lent. Today we enter, with Jesus, into Holy Week. We have traveled with him from Galilee, through Samaria, to Judea and Bethany. We have heard that he brings living water, sight to the blind, and life to the dead. Today we see him enter Jerusalem, riding on a donkey. Kings and conquering heroes entered cities on horseback, with great fanfare, welcomed by throngs of people. Jesus entered on a donkey, as had been foretold in ancient scriptures (Zec 9:9). This is not a conquering hero. This is a man of peace.

On Palm Sunday, as we enter into Holy Week, we hear of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Immediately afterwards, we hear Matthew’s account of his Last Supper, the agony in the Garden, his trial, and his execution as an enemy of Rome. It’s a week of powerful readings, profound emotions, and great mystery. We travel with him from the heights of praise to the ignomy of death on a cross, outside the walls of the city, by the city dump.

God did not choose to come among us as a conquering hero. He did not choose an easy life, filled with praise and luxury. He didn’t worry that the powerful might not like to hear the news that the poorest among them were cherished by their maker. He chose to experience all of the ups and downs of human life. Security in family life and career. Excitement in working with people. Wonder in seeing the growing faith and hope of the community. Joy in being able to help relieve suffering. Courage in speaking truth to power. Fear in knowing that great suffering would soon be unavoidable, especially if he did not back down from the truth he had been called to proclaim. Betrayal at the hand of a trusted friend. Terrible pain in the end, as he suffered a death reserved for those who had committed great crimes, including rebellion against Rome. Burial in a borrowed tomb.

Yet through it all, Jesus did not back down. The Son of God, the Word made flesh, who pitched his tent among us, held on to the reality he had come to understand and proclaim. A new day had dawned. Creation was new again. The relationship between God and humans was healed.

As he was dying, Jesus prayed one of the most powerful psalms ever written. “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” It sounds like the words of a man who is despairing. They are certainly the words of a person in great distress, and Jesus had to have been in great distress. But more than that, it is also a song/prayer of great faith and hope. Psalm 22 describes the agony of a man who has been betrayed, abandoned, and mocked by all. “He relied on the Lord; let him deliver him, let him rescue him, if he loves him,” say his tormentors. The prayer continues, with more description of the agony being endured, until finally a great song of praise and hope bursts forth, “I will proclaim your name to my brethren; in the midst of the assembly I will praise you…”

As we travel with our Lord through this week, may we too know the love and consolation of our God, who didn’t hesitate to enter into human life and share it all, especially the hard times, when hope seems far away. He will be there to meet us in those hard times, because he experienced them himself.

Blessed Holy Week to all.

Readings for Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion

Palm Sunday liturgy – Resurrection Catholic Community – Aptos, California

Posted by Theologika on Sep 11, 2022

God’s Justice Is Extravagant Mercy

“I will rise and go to my father.” (Lk 15:18)

Have you ever had the experience of doing something that you know was wrong and were hoping no one would notice? Perhaps you were embarrassed about it. Perhaps you were afraid of punishment. Perhaps you feared that what you had done could never be forgiven. Maybe you were a child and hid in a closet or out in the back yard for as long as you could, rather than face the parent whose anger or disappointment you feared. Maybe you simply didn’t respond to the letter or phone calls of the friend whom you had hurt.

Rejoice. You’re not alone. I think we all have had this kind of experience at least once in our lives. The peoples of the Bible had these kinds of experiences too. You are not alone, and you don’t have to stay in that frightened, embarrassed place forever.

Moses and the Israelites

Shortly after the Exodus from Egypt, Moses received the Law from the Lord on Mt. Sinai and presented it to his people. Then Moses was called again to the mountain of the Lord. The book of Exodus devotes many chapters to the encounters of Moses with the Lord and the reception of the Law. This time when he went up the mountain, he again disappeared into the cloud at the top and did not return for many, many days – forty days in all! The people waiting at the foot of the mountain became afraid. What had happened to their leader, the one who faced Pharaoh, the one who led them across the Red Sea and through the desert? Had he died? They believed that anyone who saw the face of the Lord would die. Who would be their leader now? Who would be their representative to God? They had welcomed the proclamation of the Law from Moses and offered sacrifice to confirm their agreement to it before he left again. Why was he gone so long? Maybe what they needed was a god they could see and touch, like the ones of the peoples among whom they lived.

Aaron, brother of Moses, was approached by a group of them, asking him to help them find a god whom they could worship and who would protect them. Not knowing what had happened to his brother, Aaron ordered them to bring gold jewelry and coins. He melted them down and formed a calf from the gold. Calves were worshiped by many of the surrounding peoples as representations of their gods. The people rejoiced and began to worship the golden calf.

Up on the mountain, the Lord noticed what was happening and was not amused. “Go down at once to your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt, for they have become depraved.” (Ex 32:7-11, 13-14) The Lord was angry and proposed to Moses that he would simply destroy them all, then make a new nation for himself from the descendants of Moses. This would have been the right and just thing for a monarch or a god to do, according to the experience and traditions of the nations at that time, so that is the response ascribed to the Lord in this account.

However, Moses boldly spoke up and presented a different option, imploring, “Why, O Lord, should your wrath blaze up against your own people… Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Israel” and the promise made to them. With this reminder, “the Lord relented in the punishment he had threatened to inflict on his people.”

Did that settle the issue forever? No. There was much more to the story, as Moses descended from the mountain, broke the tablets on which the Lord had written the Law, punished the people who had rebelled, and again returned to the mountain top for another forty days, so the tablets could again be inscribed with the Law. The relationship between the Israelites and God continued to be rocky through the centuries, but God always remained merciful. There were times when things went very badly for Israel and they interpreted the suffering that came to them as punishment for having offended God. But when once again peace returned and all was well, they rejoiced in the mercy of their God, who never left them.

The Psalms often speak of the loving mercy of God, asking God to wipe out our offenses, cleanse us of sin, and open our mouths to proclaim his praise. “A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.” (Ps 51)

St. Paul’s Experience

St. Paul also experienced mercy from the Lord. Paul was the Roman name of a pharisee named Saul who grew up in Tarsus. Tarsus was a Roman city in an area northwest of Syria. Saul was a Roman citizen because of his birth in Tarsus, but he was also a Jew. He had studied in Jerusalem and was greatly distressed by the teachings of Jesus’ disciples after the resurrection. When the authorities began to arrest Christians, Saul was totally in favor of wiping out this new, heretical group. In fact, he was a witness to the stoning of the first Christian martyr, Stephen. Those who were throwing the rocks at Stephen laid their cloaks at Saul’s feet for safekeeping as he looked on with approval.

Later, as the Christian community dispersed to other cities in the empire, Saul followed after them to Damascus, planning to arrest them, return them to Jerusalem, and witness their deaths. But the Lord had other plans for him.

On the road to Damascus, Jesus appeared to Saul. Saul was totally blown away by the appearance of Jesus. Jesus instructed him to continue his journey to Damascus. There he met members of the Christian community and became one of them. Thus began his long journey as a follower of Jesus and apostle to the Gentiles.

Many years after his conversion, Paul wrote to Timothy, one of the men who had been converted by Paul’s teachings and had become a companion on some of his missionary journeys. (1 Tim 1:12-17) Paul spoke of his experience of having received mercy from the Lord, despite his earlier attempts to wipe out Jesus’ followers. “I was mercifully treated, so that in me, as the foremost, Christ Jesus might display all his patience as an example for those who would come to believe in him for everlasting life.” It was through the mercy of God that Paul found a new meaning and way in life. A new kind of justice.

Jesus’ Stories of Forgiveness

Jesus embodied God’s approach to sinners. Sinners were anyone who did not live by Jewish Law and customs. As in any society, there are always folks who skirt the rules or refuse to follow them. Most people avoided contact with public sinners – tax collectors, prostitutes, thieves, and so forth. But Jesus went out of his way to speak with them. This brought constant criticism from the religious authorities. “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” Eating with someone who was a sinner, who was ritually unclean, made a person also ritually unclean. It was a big deal.

In response to the criticism, Jesus told three stories. (Lk 15:1-32) The first was about a shepherd who had one hundred sheep. One of them got lost. The shepherd left the ninety-nine and went in search of the missing one. When he found it, he returned to the rest of the flock and called his friends to celebrate with him because he had found the missing sheep. Jesus told his audience that in heaven, there will be much greater joy over the repentance of a sinner than over those who have always lived righteously. Like his listeners, we might wonder about the wisdom of leaving ninety-nine sheep to fend for themselves. In practical terms, unless others were watching out for the flock, the rest of the sheep would probably be gone by the time the shepherd returned with the stray. But Jesus takes it for granted that a true shepherd would care about the missing one too.

Another example of God’s extravagance is that of the woman who had ten coins. When she lost one, she lit a lamp and cleaned the house carefully, looking for the coin. When she found it, she called her friends and neighbors to celebrate with her because the coin had been found. Having recently found a coin that I had dropped and been unable to find for several days, I can appreciate her delight. For me the coin was not a huge issue, but I had been wondering where it had managed to hide when I dropped it. For her, the coin was much more important. Important enough to burn expensive oil in the effort to find it. Jesus explained again that the angels rejoice when each sinner repents. The cost doesn’t matter to God and the angels rejoice.

The final story is one we often know as that of the Prodigal Son. It might also be called the story of the Extravagantly Merciful, Welcoming Father. A son requests his share of the family wealth, takes the money and spends it all on wild living. Then he finds himself without resources in a foreign land as drought and famine rage. Eventually he comes to his senses and declares, “I will rise and go to my father…” The son intends to ask for a job as a servant in the household, but his father, seeing him coming down the road, runs out to welcome him. He treats him as a much-loved son and restores his position in the household. A great celebration then begins, with no expense spared, to welcome the son back to the family.

The brother who had remained with his father is very hurt and angry at the way his father treats the one who had gone away and wasted the family resources. He refuses to enter the house and join the celebration, considering his father’s actions to be unfair. But the father of both young men explains, “now we must celebrate and rejoice, because your brother was dead and has come to life again.”

Like the Extravagantly Merciful, Welcoming Father in the story, we are loved and welcomed by our God, who is a parent to us. Sometimes we really make wrong choices. Sometimes we deliberately do what we know is wrong. Sometimes we don’t do what we know we should do. Like the Israelites in the desert, or Saul on the road to Damascus, or the young man who went off and spent his share of the family money, our actions can be very wrong. Yet God does not punish us. God doesn’t interfere with our free choice to turn away. But God always wants us to return, not to be afraid to come back. The circle of love is always open to receive us again. We just have to turn back and accept the big hug that God wants to give us. The justice of God is not something to be feared. The justice of God is extravagant mercy and love. Today, tomorrow, and always.

Thanks be to God!

Find the readings for the Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle C

Posted by Theologika on Jul 3, 2022

Up from the Ruins – The Kingdom of God is Here

During the past few weeks, the divisions among peoples and nations have once again come starkly into focus in the United States and around the world. Recent decisions by the Supreme Court have upset precedents that had long seemed established. Revelations regarding the events on January 6, 2021 make clear the potential fragility of the American system of self-governance. War continues to rage in Ukraine. Other conflicts smolder around the world. Political parties bicker over what needs to be done and how to do it. Fires, earthquakes, drought, and famine plague many around the world. And COVID-19 continues to cause illness and death.

We might be tempted to feel sorry for ourselves – a “woe is me” type of moment, perhaps. Weren’t things always better in the past? But no, they weren’t. Things have always been hard at times. Not exclusively hard all the time, mind you. Things have also been wonderful, maybe mostly wonderful. Yet the wonderful times have always also been punctuated by harder times that make people grateful for the boring, everyday-ness of most of life.

Through it all, God is present, working from within the hard times through ordinary people, to bring about the happier times and restore peace among peoples and families. The Kingdom of God is here, rising from the ruins of broken relationships and societies.

On this Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, the prophet Isaiah (66:10-14c) speaks the Lord’s words to the people of Israel at the end of their period of exile in Babylon. They are returning to their own land, to cities that have been destroyed and a temple that is in ruins. Ancient warfare left cities leveled, just as we are seeing today in Ukraine. It took a bit longer, perhaps, but the cities were destroyed and the land laid waste. The conquerors wanted nothing to be left to those whom they defeated.

So now the people return to their devastated homeland and what does the Lord say? “Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad because of her… I will spread prosperity over Jerusalem like a river … as a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you…” God is present with the people. Their city will rise again. God will comfort them like a mother nursing her child. Intimately. Tenderly. With love and dedication. Up close and personal. Sweet and filling!

Isaiah’s words are for us too. Our world has been turned upside down in some ways. Yet the Kingdom of God is here because God is here with us in the midst of the challenging times. “The Lord’s power shall be known to his servants.”

In a different, happier time for Israel, the psalmist rejoiced at God’s deeds (Ps 66) – “Shout joyfully to God, all the earth.” God has acted with power to protect the children of Adam. The sea was changed to dry land, a passage opened through the river (Jordan). The Lord is present with his people. “Blessed be God who refused me not my prayer or his kindness!”

The theme is continued in Paul’s letter to the Galatians (6:14-18). The reading for this week is from the end of the letter. He has presented his argument about the reasons for not requiring Gentiles to become Jews before becoming followers of Jesus and members of the Christian community. He states his position clearly. Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything in terms of salvation. The only thing that matters is to become a new creation, based on the cross of the Lord and our sharing in the redemption it brought. Paul notes that he has himself suffered physically because of his faithfulness in proclaiming Jesus’ death and resurrection. He ends his letter with a wish of blessing for the members of this community. It is a blessing familiar to us even today. “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers and sisters.”

Jesus, too, shares this message. “The Kingdom of God is at hand.” St. Luke (10:1-12, 17-20) tells us that Jesus selected seventy-two of his disciples and sent them ahead of him to the towns he was planning to visit. They went in groups of two. He gave them very specific instructions about what to take with them, what to say, where to stay, what to eat, and what to do if people in a town didn’t welcome them. They were to cure the sick and share the message of the coming of the kingdom of God wherever they went.

Jesus wasn’t living in a free and independent country. He was living in a conquered land, with overlords who took whatever they could get from the land and the people. Large numbers of people grew cash crops, for use by the empire, and had little left for themselves and their families. Soldiers could force people to carry their gear. Tax collectors were allowed to take as much as they could get, even above and beyond what was due. Anyone who opposed the Romans would be killed. It was not a great time in Israel. Yet he had arrived – the kingdom of God was at hand! His disciples were charged with sharing that news.

It’s interesting to note that Moses also selected seventy-two elders to help with administration of the camp and keeping order as the people moved through the desert in the years before they entered the Promised Land. Perhaps that’s part of the reason Jesus selected seventy-two disciples to alert people to the coming of God’s kingdom. This time of his coming was one long awaited.

The disciples returned with great rejoicing. Their mission had been well received and “even the demons” had obeyed them because of the power of Jesus’ name. Jesus notes their success and cautions that even more important than this power they have experienced is the fact that their own names are known by God in the heavenly kingdom.

In the midst of the troubles and hardships experienced by the Chosen People at the time of Jesus, the ruins of the former glory of their nation, the Kingdom of God has arrived.

Do we believe that God’s kingdom is present here and now as well? When things go differently than we would have chosen, can we trust that God will stand beside us in the ruins of our hopes and dreams and lift us up to the joy of the new Jerusalem and the kingdom? Will we let the Lord cradle us as a mother cradles her infant, and will we nurse as a well-loved child, secure and trusting the one who provides all we need? Will we have the courage to go forth and proclaim the love of the Lord and the Kingdom of God in our own world through our patient work to care for the most vulnerable among us? Will our commitment truly be to support children, families, women, immigrants, refugees, non-binary folks, the elderly, those with special needs? This is where God is present. In the “ruins” of social systems that favor the few and are willing to discard the rest, we find the Lord present and working.

The Kingdom of God is here, opened for us by the coming of Jesus.

Posted by Theologika on Jun 14, 2018

Fun Resources for Learning Serious Psychology

Disney Pixar and Erik Erikson’s Eight Stages of Development

Discerning God’s Will – God’s dream for us requires an in-depth knowledge of how people grow and develop. In particular, if we are going to understand ourselves, which is our first step in responding to God’s grace, we need to know where we are in our development. We also need to see what went right and what went wrong in our own growth and development.

James Fowler’s Stages of Faith Formation

Our faith also has stages of development based on our human development. Many adults can reject their faith because they don’t realize that their faith formation is still that of a small child. On the other hand, there are many people who are religious churchgoers that are still clinging to a childhood faith for a variety of reasons that are not healthy.

Posted by Theologika on Feb 10, 2016

Prayer as Lent Begins

Today God our Father brings us to the beginning of Lent.

We pray that in this time of salvation he will fill us with the Holy Spirit, purify our hearts, and strengthen us in love. Let us humbly ask him:

Lord, give us your Holy Spirit.

May we be filled and satisfied,
— by the word which you give us.

Teach us to be loving not only in great and exceptional moments,
— but above all in the ordinary events of daily life.

May we abstain from what we do not really need,
— and help our brothers and sisters in distress.

May we bear the wounds of your Son in our bodies,
— for through his body he gave us life.

Intercessions, from Morning Prayer for Ash Wednesday,
Liturgy of the Hours

Posted by Theologika on Dec 31, 2015

A Prayer at Christmas time

Almighty God and Father of light,

a child is born for us and a son is given to us.

Your eternal Word leaped down from heaven

in the silent watches of the night,

and now your Church is filled with wonder

at the nearness of her God.

Open our hearts to receive his life

and increase ouf vision with the rising of dawn,

that our lives may be filled with his glory and his peace,

who lives and reigns for ever and ever.

From Liturgy of the Hours, Morning Prayer
Christmas

Posted by Theologika on Dec 6, 2015

Advent Chant – Creator of the Stars at Night

Conditor Alme Siderum — Creator of the Stars at Night — is a 7th century hymn commonly sung during Evening Prayer (Vespers). Redemption comes not only for humanity but all creation. In this rendition, both the Latin and English words are sung.

Image: Supernovae, NASA, public domain

Posted by Theologika on Aug 20, 2015

Work: Share in the Divine Project or Join the Lemmings

When does getting a job and going to work become a question of “joining the lemmings going over the cliff?” The question arises one night over dinner. A young man who has an independent source of income finds he has no real reason to get out of bed in the morning. He has a new skill and set of training, but he finds himself hesitant to put himself into a situation that would require him to charge for services he would otherwise offer at no charge. He questions whether charging for services means he is joining the lemmings. Yet he feels an urgent need to have recognizable work.

Another person at the table finds such language distressing. This person does not have the luxury of choosing whether to go to work or not and certainly does not feel like a lemming!

The critical question, it seems, regards the value and importance of work. Work in and of itself is neutral. What we do each day to fulfill our responsibilities may be called work. Things we do for relaxation we often call play, despite the fact that some forms of relaxation take more physical and psychic effort than “work.”

Given that both work and play may take significant time and effort on a daily basis, how do we value each? Most commonly, we think of work in negative terms and play in positive ones. When something is hard, we even say, “That’s why we call it work!”

Work is a participation in the divine endeavour, bringing new energies into focus to carry out an ongoing development, whether of something old or new. As such, work can be a positive experience — tiring, yes; repetitive, perhaps; boring, sometimes — yet ultimately of value.

When does work become the province of “lemmings?” Work becomes something negative when it reduces or threatens the human dignity of the person who engages in it. It also becomes lemming-like when performed solely or largely for less-than-human reasons, such as the proverbial “keeping-up-with-the-Joneses.” If the only reason a person has for doing a job he or she hates is in order to buy a mansion, sports car, or other luxury item, then the value of that work is of lemming quality. If, on the other hand, the work keeps a roof over the head of the individual and/or family and food on the table, that work is valuable and not to be disparged.

In our daily lives, as we seek to recognize the presence of God in what we do, whether work or play, we are called to evaluate our actions regularly in terms of how they align with God’s plan for us and for this wonderful world in which we live. Work aligned with God’s activity is not the province of human “lemmings” but rather the path to human fulfillment.

Note: The notion that lemmings in nature have a propensity to go “over the cliff” in a mass suicidal wave is not actually correct. Sometimes when the population becomes too dense, they migrate to other areas. Bodies of water that must be crossed may prove too wide for some of them and some will drown. This may be the source of the idea that lemmings deliberately go over the cliff. In fact, lemmings too live according to divine plan, praising God through their daily lives by being lemmings!

Image from Wikipedia Commons – public domain

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