Category: Catholic

I was trained in the USAF Strategic Air Command 28th Bomber Wing during the Cold War.

“Peace Through Strength” was our doctrinal phrase. It has been horribly misused by the current Administration.

Related was another tactical saying I never forgot:

At some point, bombs no longer break the enemy; they only rattle the rubble.

Even as we trained and prepared delivering bombs on the potential enemy, we accepted the limits of warfare.

When “peace through strength” becomes threat-display, humiliation, vengeance, or we will kill you rhetoric, it mutates. Then it is no longer peace through strength. It is identity through domination.

Maybe the distinction is:

Peace through strength requires strength under moral command.

War through strength is strength released from moral command.

Or more sharply:

Peace through strength is deterrence with restraint.

War through strength is power looking for permission.

At some point, power no longer builds peace; it only rattles the rubble.

Strength can preserve peace only while it remembers what peace is. Once it forgets that, strength stops being a shield and becomes an idol.

Fulton Sheen’s Wartime Prayer Book. Best to pray it before such wisdom is dismissed as weakness.

Prayer for Charity and Tolerance

May I be no man’s enemy, and may I be a friend of that which is eternal and abides.  May I never quarrel with those nearest me; and if I do, may I be reconciled quickly.

May I never devise evil against any man; if anyone devise evil against me, may I escape uninjured and without the need of hurting him.

May I love, seek, and attain only that which is good. May I never rejoice  in the ill-fortune of one who has wronged me.

When I have done or said what is wrong, may I never wait for the rebuke of others, but rebuke myself until I make amends.

May I win no victory that harms either me or my opponent. May I reconcile friends who are angry with one another.

May I, to the extent of my powers, give all needful help to my friends and to all who are in want. May I never fail a friend in danger.

When visiting those in grief, may I be able, by gentle and healing words, to soften their pain.

May I respect myself.

May I always tame that which rages within me. May I accustom myself to be gentle and never be angry with people because of circumstances.

May I never discuss who is wicked and what wicked things he has done, but know good men and follow their footsteps, through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Attributed to Eusebius

The War Secretary needs to be relieved. Our President deserves better guidance.

Greetings on this the Tuesday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Readings: Micah 7:14-15, 18-20; Psalm 85:2-4, 5-6, 7-8; Matthew 12:46-50

Summary

While Jesus was speaking to the crowds,
his mother and his brothers appeared outside,
wishing to speak with him.

Reflection

Ever hear of an elevator pitch? The concept is to have ready at all times a concise presentation- a request that takes no longer than the time it takes to ride an elevator from the first floor to the second floor (as you have a captive audience in the elevator unable NOT to listen). Be prepared to have a specific message, a specific invitation and a specific ask ready to go for when the opportunity comes.

So.

What do you wish to say to him?

Thankfully we get some hints on writing our elevator pitch from Micah and the Psalmist today! They can help us write up our individual pitch.

Lord:
I need a Shepherd and your compassion.
If you don’t mind, cast into the sea all our sins.
Remember us as you remembered Abraham and Jacob – our fathers from of old.

Restore us to our innocence, give us life that we may rejoice in you.
Show us, O Lord, your kindness, and grant us your salvation.

Personal Reflection

You see, that pitch (from the heart, of course) is precisely the will of the Father.

Here are my mother and my brothers.
For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father
is my brother, and sister, and mother.

It isn’t a test of works. It’s an expression of need and desire to be real and be well.
This is the will of the Father.

Sacred Readings full text: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/072126.cfm

Peace be with you,
Deacon Gerry

Greetings on this the Monday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Readings: Micah 6:1-4, 6-8; Psalm 50:5-6, 8-9, 16bc-17, 21, 23; Matthew 12:38-42

Summary

You have been told, O man, what is good,
and what the LORD requires of you:
Only to do the right and to love goodness,
and to walk humbly with your God.

This instruction from the prophet Micah should be enough. You need not read any further than this. If Micah makes sense then follow your heart and do it. But we rarely can settle for the obvious. It’s just the way things are.

Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.

Here is the commentary on the request for a Sign: The scribes and Pharisees refuse to accept the exorcisms of Jesus as authentication of his claims and demand a sign that will end all possibility of doubt. Jesus’ response is that no such sign will be given. Because his opponents are evil and see him as an agent of Satan, nothing will convince them. (See https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/12?38)

Reflection

Doubt is a constant human problem. Sometimes it arises for good reason. At other times it grows from disappointment, disillusionment, betrayal, or fear. Doubting another person after betrayal is understandable. Past betrayal may explain our caution, but it cannot safely become a judgment transferred to every person, every relationship, or to God. Self-doubt can be even harder to overcome.

So let’s turn the question around.

Christians, we wish a sign from you.

• We have the visual signs: Sign of the Cross, the Crucifix, the images of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and prayers (ritual and extemporaneous).
• Then we have the famous Letter of James quote: Indeed someone may say, “You have faith and I have works.” Demonstrate your faith to me without works, and I will demonstrate my faith to you from my works (Jas 2:18).

In our gospel portion today, the only sign given is the Sign of Jonah. We immediately think of the three days in the sepulchre and that is good. The three days in the tomb are Christ’s decisive sign. Our answering sign is conversion—a life changed by his death and resurrection. So here I prescribe for you a mini retreat like the Sign of Jonah.

Give the sign of Jonah, and begin again. Take some time today for this exercise.

1. The Storm – Identify the storm within you. The resistance to the divine call to do what is right, to love goodness, and to walk humbly with the humble Lord.
2. Enter the Belly (solitude and darkness) – Spend some time with your doubts, disappointments. Name them. Honor them. Ask for the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
3. Surrender Them – Pray like Jonah – Jonah prayed to the LORD, his God, from the belly of the fish: Out of my distress I called to the LORD, and he answered me; From the womb of Sheol I cried for help, and you heard my voice (Jon 2:2-3).
4. Reenter the Nineveh before you—the world whose response you cannot control—with renewed purpose.

Jonah was first converted, then sent as a sign.

BTW, Jonah still had more purification to come and the story doesn’t end with his perfection but his continuous struggle to change and humbly follow the Lord.

Why do we think it would be easier for us?

Personal Reflection

Lord, we demand signs from you all the time.
But today we’ll reverse it.
Here is my Sign for You.

There is a storm that needs calming, a solitude that needs encountering, a surrender that needs expressing and a reengagement that needs empowering.

Help me to become the sign I keep demanding from Christ.

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful
and kindle in them the fire of your love.

Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created,
and you shall renew the face of the earth.

Let us pray.

O God, who have taught the hearts of the faithful
by the light of the Holy Spirit,
grant that in the same Spirit we may be truly wise
and ever rejoice in his consolation.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Sacred Readings full text: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/072026.cfm

Peace be with you,
Deacon Gerry

Summary

The Sunday gospel portion for the 15th, 16th and 17th Sundays in ordinary time focus on the Parables contained in the gospel of Matthew. It has been a methodical movement through chapter 13, the second half of the Third Book of the Gospel of Matthew. Seven parables plus explanation. The parables are different from the teachings that precede them, as they force us/them to think differently and to probe for meaning (and enter into dialog about them with one another – it is described as ‘hidden’) rather than a simple correction of mistakes in taught laws and off-center practices. Parables hold a precious and sacred space within the life of Jesus and how we can understand divine mysteries: I desire mercy, not sacrifice. Because parables open our minds, we can take this divine message and spot the nuanced difference. I desire mercy as your goal and sometimes sacrifice as its expression – not as an end unto itself.

Next week ends with an important question and a final conclusion.

“Do you understand all these things?”
They answered, “Yes.”

This final question about understanding parables is for us too. Because there is a dramatic transition about to take place. The mystery of parables is a way to understand the mystery of the next part of the life of Jesus (loving sacrifice). Our readings shift (adding back the Friday and Saturday before the 18th Sunday) to The Rejection at Nazareth, The Death of John the Baptist and the Feeding of the Five Thousand. That is, the intensification of the rejection of the Gospel and the broadening of the merciful acts of the Lord. The miracles go basically [editorial leeway, please] from particular (Leper, Child, the possessed, Paralytic) to general, i.e., Feeding 5,000 and 4,000 and the healing of many people – and the sacrifice that is born of love not blind adherence to law. Said another way, expanding in scale, intensifying the divine response.

And he replied, “Then every scribe who has been instructed in the kingdom of heaven is like the head of a household who brings from his storeroom both the new and the old.”

The parables are more than a summation of the Old Testament moral thinking reconstituted. They are an invitation to think anew. Several times in the Gospel of Matthew Jesus asks: What do you think?

Reflection

• I put links to the parable Sunday readings below if you want to cruise back through and ask the question: Do I understand?
• Nobody has perfect understanding, so don’t fret about that.
• Plus there are more parables to come in the Matthew account anyway – more of a blend of teaching/parable.

Personal Reflection

Do you want me to give you the answer? It is hidden in the answer Jesus gave: I desire mercy, not sacrifice.
As we move along into the Gospel these coming weeks sacrifice and mercy are not presented as opposites. In Jesus, sacrifice is no longer an alternative to mercy. Loving sacrifice becomes mercy enacted.

Sacred Readings full text referenced:

Fifteenth – https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/071226.cfm
Sixteenth – https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/071926.cfm
Seventeenth – https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/072626.cfm
Eighteenth – https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/080226.cfm

Personal Space

By the way, I set up a new desk setup in my office for typing and reading. Here are photos of my space. The desk to the left is for scheduling liturgy and financial things we all need to do (the light bill must be paid!). The book cases contain manuscripts, canon, music sheets, scores, multiple bible translations, Jewish midrash, treasured Catholic texts, and odds and ends. The shelf above contains keepsakes of days gone by.

Peace be with you,
Deacon Gerry

Greetings on this the Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Readings: Wisdom 12:13, 16-19; Psalm 86:5-6, 9-10, 15-16; Romans 8:26-27; Matthew 13:24-43

Summary

And you taught your people, by these deeds,
that those who are just must be kind;
and you gave your children good ground for hope
that you would permit repentance for their sins (Wis 12:19).

Reflection

In our sacred readings today, particularly in the second reading, we are given hope that we can become the people the Lord wants us to be.

Brothers and sisters:
The Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness;
for we do not know how to pray as we ought,
but the Spirit himself intercedes with inexpressible groanings.
And the one who searches hearts
knows what is the intention of the Spirit,
because he intercedes for the holy ones
according to God's will (Rom 8:26-27).

In the gospel portion, two specific points are made by Jesus.

1. The evil one sows what opposes the Kingdom (An enemy has done this).
2. The final separation belongs to the angels acting according to divine judgment—not to us. (The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels).

The Lord prefers we think in terms of yeast and mustard seeds.

Small things done with great love (baking with the yeast of love and planting confidence with a tiny mustard seed).

A woman prepares food for her family using a small amount of yeast and patience to bring about sustenance. Three measures of flour is a lot of love (50 pounds of bread)! She prepares not a meager amount. No, she prepares a feast of love for many!

A mustard seed. The smallest of all the seeds, yet when full-grown it is the largest of plants. It becomes a large bush, and the ‘birds of the sky come and dwell in its branches.’ If you allow me, I think this is the masculine imperative of the two parables. But that’s my bias. Feel free to ignore that comment 🙂 Everyone is called both to nourish and to shelter.

Kindness is the single most prominent form of expression of the divine presence. Period. End.

Personal Reflection

Plant a tree of safety.
Cook a batch of love.

The Lord will be your strength.
Those who are just must be kind.

Sacred Readings full text: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/071926.cfm

Peace be with you,
Deacon Gerry

Greetings on this the Saturday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Readings: Micah 2:1-5; Psalm 10:1-2, 3-4, 7-8, 14; Matthew 12:14-21

Summary

In our sacred readings today, we are given the contrast of two ways of living and the ultimate outcome of the powerful and the Servant.

The Powerful

Woe to those who plan iniquity,
and work out evil on their couches;
In the morning light they accomplish it
when it lies within their power (MI 2:1).

The Chosen Servant

Behold, my servant whom I have chosen,
my beloved in whom I delight;
A bruised reed he will not break,
a smoldering wick he will not quench,
until he brings justice to victory (MT 12:18a,20).

Powerful Outcomes (The irony is the powerful lament over loss of property to their own captives)

On that day you shall be mocked,
and there will be bitter lament:
“Our ruin is complete,
our fields are divided among our captors,
The fields of my people are measured out,
and no one can get them back!” (Mi 2:4).

Chosen Servant Outcomes

Behold, my servant whom I have chosen,
my beloved in whom I delight;
I shall place my spirit upon him,
and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles.
And in his name the Gentiles will hope (MT 12:18,21).

Reflection

The contrast is not between the powerful and the poor – although that is a permitted thought. Our Psalmist recounts: Do not forget the poor, O Lord! (PS 10:12b). The contrast is between how we use the power.

Can we go deeper?

Each of us possesses power: personal power, family power, community power and national power. One expression of this power is autonomy: our capacity to choose and direct our actions. You had the power to rise up and get on with your day – go to work or spend your time as you wish.

• The Pharisees went out and took counsel against Jesus to put him to death – because he chose to heal on the Sabbath contradicting the teachings of the Pharisees.
• When Jesus realized this, he withdrew from that place – because he chose to keep healing not arguing.

Jesus could have spent his time in confrontation. He chose instead to attend to those following him and cure them all.

Personal Reflection

It is remarkable what is within our power. Either to plan iniquity, and work out evil on [our] couches or to help a bruised reed or to encourage a smoldering wick. If something lies within my power, may it be for the victory of justice. To become more like the Lord, who sees misery and sorrow and takes them into his hands. You do see, for you behold misery and sorrow, taking them in your hands. On you the unfortunate man depends; of the fatherless you are the helper (PS 10:14).

Sacred Readings full text: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/071826.cfm

Peace be with you,
Deacon Gerry

Greetings on this the Friday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Readings: Isaiah 38:1-6, 21-22, 7-8; Isaiah 38:10, 11, 12abcd, 16; Matthew 12:1-8

Summary

Then the word of the LORD came to Isaiah: “Go, tell Hezekiah: Thus says the LORD, the God of your father David:

• I have heard your prayer and seen your tears.
• I will heal you: in three days you shall go up to the LORD’s temple;
• I will add fifteen years to your life.
• I will rescue you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria;
• I will be a shield to this city.

Up until that point Hezekiah was generally considered a good king. After being forgiven, things went downhill fast (ex: boasted to Babylon the country’s great wealth; a bad Son and successor, etc). After begging for mercy, Hezekiah did not always receive or use its benefits well. Even though the Lord knew what Hezekiah was like and what he was likely to do, for the Lord the higher priority: I desire mercy, not sacrifice.

In regard to the disciples, who were allowed by law to glean a handful of grain, Jesus asked the Pharisees to reconsider how they see things.

If you knew what this meant, I desire mercy, not sacrifice,
you would not have condemned these innocent men.
For the Son of Man is Lord of the sabbath.

Reflection

So what do we make of these things? The Lord answers prayers even when it is uncertain how you will handle the blessing. At the same time, we need to not judge others (especially when innocent) of crime violations against the faith that we are often too quick to accuse them of committing.

Personal Reflection

The sum of it:

Pray.
Use the blessings wisely.
Don’t judge others.

Mercy can change everything. Our condemning judgment closes the relationship.

Sacred Readings full text: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/071726.cfm

Peace be with you,
Deacon Gerry

Greetings on this the Thursday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Readings: Isaiah 26:7-9, 12, 16-19; Psalm 102:13-14ab and 15, 16-18, 19-21; Matthew 11:28-30

Summary

[Of the Lord] For your dew is a dew of light, and you cause the land of shades to give birth. [Boaz to Ruth] May you receive a full reward from the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge. [Jesus proclaims] Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest, says the Lord (ISA 26:19b; RU 2:12b; MT 11:28).

The sacred text of Isaiah 26 is often used as a predictive description of the resurrection and rightly so. However, there is a more pedestrian understanding and one that speaks well to the daily worry of people the world over, that is, the desire and ability for women to have a husband and raise children. During the time of this Oracle, the population of the people was severely diminished – exile, war, and enslavement by the Assyrian Empire.

I inserted the story of Naomi and Ruth to help bring about a warmer understanding of the purpose of the story. Wherever and whenever it was told, its claim of God’s universal concern for humankind and the attractiveness of caring human responsibility shines forth (see https://bible.usccb.org/bible/ruth/0).

Isaiah saw a rebirth (or birthing – birth rate – of a new people) later made explicit by the young women of Boaz who were free and protected. Boaz expresses the divine care: It is by the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge.

Reflection

The sacred text today brings together personal loss (and advanced age), national decimation, racial discrimination, and famine. All these things weigh heavily on people and in particular women who wish to have families. But Boaz, speaking to Ruth, brings into focus the meaning of Jesus’ words most specifically. Come to the Lord, the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge.

Jesus knows. Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. The Lord’s promise is certain; the time and form of its fulfillment remain in his hands.

Personal Reflection

For the women of the world who long for love, marriage, and children: The Lord knows. Rest in the arms of a loving God. Be blessed regardless of the worldliness of the powerful.

Sacred Readings full text: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/071626.cfm

Peace be with you,
Deacon Gerry

Greetings on this the Memorial of Saint Bonaventure, Bishop and Doctor of the Church
Readings: Isaiah 10:5-7, 13b-16; Psalm 94:5-6, 7-8, 9-10, 14-15; Matthew 11:25-27

Summary

Fat Ones

For he says:
“By my own power I have done it,
and by my wisdom, for I am shrewd.
I have moved the boundaries of peoples,
their treasures I have pillaged,
and, like a giant, I have put down the enthroned.
My hand has seized like a nest
the riches of nations;
As one takes eggs left alone,
so I took in all the earth;
No one fluttered a wing,
or opened a mouth, or chirped!”

Therefore the Lord, the LORD of hosts,
will send among his fat ones leanness,
And instead of his glory there will be kindling
like the kindling of fire.

Childlike

At that time Jesus exclaimed:
“I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
for although you have hidden these things
from the wise and the learned
you have revealed them to the childlike.
Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will.

Reflection

In our sacred readings today we are treated to the contrast in perceived reality of the wise/powerful/learned and the childlike.

The first group sees the world through the lens of their power to dominate and control, seize and plunder. The second group see the world through the lens of the Lord of heaven and earth. How very different the view is! For the childlike, no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.

Personal Reflection

Fat with power brings the consumption of others or be known by the Father and Son.
I’m thinking it is better to be known than fat.

For the LORD will not cast off his people,
nor abandon his inheritance;
But judgment shall again be with justice,
and all the upright of heart shall follow it (PS 94:14-15).

Sacred Readings full text: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/071526.cfm

Peace be with you,
Deacon Gerry

Greetings on this the Memorial of Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, Virgin
Readings: Isaiah 7:1-9; Psalm 48:2-3a, 3b-4, 5-6, 7-8; Matthew 11:20-24

Summary

The saying Long Time Dead is a phrase I heard over and over again as a kid. The intended purpose was to make concrete the possible effect of decisions that are sometimes permanent. The loss of life, your own or of another, was an irreversible outcome. How might this apply in our sacred readings today? Jesus is making the same warning about irreversible outcomes, once dead – judgment, but also a warning about a life divided between grace and the hidden.

“Long time dead—not because death defeats God, but because our earthly season of choosing does not last forever.”

Jesus, of course, is not interested in these outcomes to be effectuated. Rather he warns us about ignoring the constant Visitations of the Lord in and among the places we live, work and play. These great gifts, not shared equally or in similar amounts among peoples (Tyre/Sidon and Sodom in contrast with Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum) are a secondary theme.

If we apply this teaching of Jesus to a single person we could say the Lord chooses when and where he visits us and we are obligated to carry/see/know this gift into the Tyre, Sidon and Sodom of our lives – the hidden, disaffected places. We are not bifurcated people. We are one human person, and the Lord claims every territory of our life.

Reflection

For if the mighty deeds done in your midst
had been done in Tyre and Sidon,
they would long ago have repented in sackcloth and ashes.
But I tell you, it will be more tolerable
for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you.

For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Sodom,
it would have remained until this day.
But I tell you, it will be more tolerable
for the land of Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.

Personal Reflection

Lord, may you be Lord of my Tyre/Sidon and Sodom with the fullness of your gifts the same as in my Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum.

I make this prayer freely, with the whole and undivided self your grace has awakened.

Sacred Readings full text: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/071426.cfm

Peace be with you,
Deacon Gerry