Category: Speaking to the Soul

“This prayer is for you – if you find it, know it’s been offered in love
By the God who has claimed you before you were born and marked you as beloved.”

“Peter’s mother-in-law understands. She gets up to fulfill her role as one who cares for those under her roof, be it with soup or a clean bed for these friends of her family. A role which gives her pride and satisfaction. Or perhaps she sees in Jesus much more, and the call to serve him leaps beyond a social role. She wants to serve him, as Jesus himself is called to serve her as the doctor of her body and her soul. As he himself serves his Father, for his Father’s glory.”

“We are all beloved servants of God, heirs to the kin-dom of divine love. But we are in a world that does not see this. We ourselves are apt to put belief in societal constructs, family affiliations, and clan-like organizations ahead of neighbor to neighbor caring. Unlearning all that can be dangerous and intimidating.”

“That led me to ponder how things, even sacred things like scripture, may need to be changed to fit a situation, ceremony, event, or artist’s concept. Painters and sculptors have taken Bible stories and, through their culture, imagination, and wishes of the patron commissioning the work, have dressed characters in period costume rather than in clothing of the Biblical time.  Poets and writers described people and actions to convey how they perceived the characters and situations to have been at the time, although often throwing in emotions, activities, and thoughts of the current time.”

“Helena was not merely content to be a pious mom praying on the sidelines–when she was about 70, she went on a two year pilgrimage to the Holy Land and was the instrumental force in establishing what we now know as the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. The site was built on both the site of Jesus’ crucifixion and tomb, and contains the last four stations of the actual Via Dolorosa.”

“I have watched doctors, nurses, and other staff continuing to do their jobs in the most trying of circumstances. We call them heroes—but too often we call people heroes but then are content to continue to put them in harm’s way.”

“But, along came Cornelius, with his very Roman household. They listened to Peter proclaim Good News of God in Christ, and before any of them affirmed faith or gave permission, the Holy Spirit fell unbidden upon them. (Acts 10:44-48) It seems that God refuses to be bound by anyone’s understanding of the way religion ought to be practiced.”

“We wait trusting that God waits with us in our longings, questions, doubts, and fears. We wait holding close to God’s truth that we are not alone. We wait offering our prayers for what is to come delighting in God’s provision right now.”

“Many theologians and mystics have taught ways to separate the two. A classic textbook is St. Ignatius Loyola’s Spiritual Exercises, with its daily examination of conscience (Examen) to stay on track. But actually learning how to live in this messy world full of messy people, and to hear God’s voice within you, takes practice, prayer, and trusted teachers and companions. “

“The essence of the Eucharist is the celebration of Christ’s willingness to commune with us. We focus on that awareness and allow it to inform us. We learn through the lens of love that Christ is in God and we are in Christ and Christ is in us.”