Day By Day

Family Mass at my school parish today - gotta love it. The church was bursting with parents and their children, and the kids even helped at Mass as lectors, choir members, and altar servers.

What I think was the best part was at the homily - Fr. Larry (not our pastor but the one who helps out) invited all of the children to come sit at the altar. And he sat right down with them, giving his homily from there. He explained how Bartamaeus had been blind and had called out to Jesus - he wanted to see him more clearly. After being healed of his blindness, Bartamaeus chose to follow Jesus. (It tells us this in the Gospel!) He told the children that we are called to follow Jesus too - and guess where Jesus is. As much as we may hate to admit it, Jesus is in our brothers and sisters. Do you see Jesus in your brother or sister?, he asked them. He wrapped up his homily by having us all sing the refrain to "Day by Day" - what are we called to do? "See thee more clearly, love thee more dearly, follow thee more nearly"...when? "day by day - every day!"

As a child, those opportunities really have the potential to stick with you because too many times, kids (and adults too!) are passive participants in the pews. Heck, I still remember being called up with the other children on any given Sunday morning when our "paper bag priest" would deliver (what I now know as) an object lesson - he would take a candy bar or ketchup bottle or some other seemingly random object out of his bag and teach us the message of the Gospel through some thoughtful activity and discussion.

So, yes, God is calling us to love one another as we follow Him. And, yes, that includes our siblings and those hardest to get along with at times. And it's not just for today or for tomorrow but for always. Day. by. Day.

Beautiful Things Not My Own

1) A beautiful song entitled "The Silence of God" came across my Feedly reader this morning. It's so peaceful and ripe for meaningful meditation.

2) This week, Fr. Mike (of UMD) had an incredible homily that focused on three things we can do to ensure that Mass matters: 1) Embrace our priesthood by offering sacrifice too; 2) Live out in your life what you profess in Mass; 3) Be willing to change because God wants to transform us. I'm not going to go into much detail, for Fr. Mike is far more eloquent than I could ever hope to be. But the bottom line is that Mass matters, just like setting time aside to practice something in order to get better at it or to get to know someone more. Just listen, trust me.

3) Apparently Bishop Lynch (Diocese of St. Petersburg) & Archbishop Cupich (Archdiocese of Chicago) are putting regional food on the line in a bet on who will win the Stanley Cup - LOVE it!

So sorry that I have no original content this evening - what can one do the eve before the last day of school, right?

The iPad and the Wireless - A Modern-day Parable

I am the vine and my father is the vine grower...

Thus began today's Gospel.

But Fr. Larry wanted us to relate this metaphor to today's society:

You (congregation) are the iPads. I (Jesus) am the wireless and my Father is the server. Without me, you cannot check email, surf the web, be connected. Without my Father, I cannot serve you...

He went on a little further, but I think this serves his point. It's easy to lose sight of Jesus' meaning if we're not familiar with the imagery he used (e.g. growing vines), so it's important to "translate" his message into the everyday of our lives.

Well played, Fr. Larry. I think we all really plugged in to that one...

Our Journey Home

"We're in the Easter season until May 24th (Pentecost)," our visiting priest reminded all of us at Mass this morning.

And then he said, "Is anyone familiar with the movie 'The Wizard of Oz'?" Hands shot up, some with more gusto and excitement than others.

"What did Dorothy have to say and what did she have to do to get home?" Click her ruby red shoes together three times and say, "There's no place like home."

"And who were the three characters she met along the way?" Scarecrow, Tin Man, Lion
"What did each one need/lack?" Scarecrow = brain, Tin Man = heart, Lion = courage
"Dorothy already possessed all of these things, didn't she? She just didn't know it at first..."

Fr. Larry - Yes, we have two Fr. Larry's - went on to connect this with the idea that during this season of Easter we are like Dorothy: Easter is our opportunity to realize the gifts God has given us to help us on our journey home (eventually) to heaven. He then challenged all of us to show love to others (Tin Man) and courage in tough situations (Lion) this week. He said we already used our brains (Scarecrow) for learning every day anyways.

Good one, Fr. Larry. (It did take a little debriefing with the 6th graders after Mass for them to "get it," but I think they ended up taking away the message.)

May God bless all of us this Easter season so that we may choose to live each day as beacons and signs of His love and mercy. He is Risen. Amen! Alleluia!

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On an unrelated (but Church) note, so many videos, interviews, and articles have been converging on my Facebook and Twitter newsfeeds, but this (short) one in particular struck a nerve. Oh, to have the faith of a child, especially in the face of imminent death. Beautiful...

On a different unrelated (but, amazingly, still Church) note, this quote was included in today's ND prayer reflection, and it conveys an incredible sentiment, so, naturally, I had to share: “O God, to those who have hunger, give bread; and to us who have bread, give the hunger for justice.” (Fr. Hesburgh)

That's Because It's Friday...Sunday's a comin' (Friday, 6/27)

Friday, 6/27/14

Last night, it felt so good to clean off after having spent time in the Dead Sea. (But what an experience that was – we actually floated!)

A small contingent of my fellow pilgrims ate dinner early and then went to the German Quarter to watch the USA v Germany soccer match. (A few of us got there in time for a beer and the second half.)

After the game was over – we lost 0-1 but that’s okay because we move on to Round 2 anyways! – our group split up. Some went back to the hotel, and some stayed to talk, Fr. Ken included – it’s so great to see him come out and be with us. He is a wonderful listener, and he is full of stories, wisdom, and humor.

I wanted to try to write down a few things here before I forget – we talked about why we came on this trip (of which there were many varied reasons!), the meaning between literal and biblical, places to see in Jerusalem, the gift of St. Francis of the stable scene and Stations of the Cross, and more. My head/brain would not shut off last night when I got back, so I couldn’t fall asleep.

I spoke about how I came because I really grew in my own faith this year by teaching middle school religion and how I came because I wanted to be better so, in turn, I could be better for my students. Selfish, I know – to which Joanne responded, “That is the least selfish thing I’ve heard.” I guess I hadn’t thought about it like that.

Well, I guess we need to get to breakfast. I will try to fill in more later…

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Post-breakfast/Pre-trip:

Finally remembered to thank Fr. Ken today. He responded, “It’s been my pleasure.”

I honestly wish I would have gotten up last night to write down my thoughts because I know I’ve already forgotten many of them – from things like ideas in the classroom (names on shards of pottery/slips of paper to reenact Masada, etc.) to thoughts on how it will be like to pray the Stations of the Cross and sing Christmas carols with my students next year, etc. Wow…

- - - - -

Afternoon reflection:

Back from a pretty hectic day – yet, even in all of the busy-ness, there were moments of peace & reflection…

We started at St. Anne’s Church, the birthplace of the Virgin Mary. It was also the pool of Bethesda, where Jesus healed the crippled man. It was beautiful, inside and out. (Plus, it hadn’t gotten too hot yet.)

We then began the Via Dolorosa (Way of the Cross) – it was quite different than I expected it, and we didn’t really pray the stations because we had only time to stop briefly at each one before moving on. When we got to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, we did the last 5 stations after Mass. (More on that later…)

In following in the footsteps of Jesus, we remembered Jesus’ death an passion: “We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you, because by your holy cross, you have redeemed the world.”

[We started our journey at 9 a.m. and today is Friday. (Pause for effect.) When we left the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, it was about noon. Pretty cool (biblical) timing, eh?]

When we arrived at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (which is MASSIVE!), Youssef reminded us that the Greeks call it Anastasis, meaning “Resurrection” because they want to remember the tomb is empty. (Fr. James Martin had pointed that out in his book too.)

When we went down to Mass, we had to wait a few minutes because there was a group ahead of us. We held Mass in the Crusader Chapel. (Marisa was very happy about that.)

As we began, Fr. Ken made a few connections – the Holy Sepulchre is under constant repair, which gives hope because we are under constant repair too. He reminded us that we are all Simon, helping to carry each other’s crosses. And, we are all Veronica, wiping each other’s faces. All are such beautiful images! Way to go, Fr. Ken!

As he read the Gospel (readings from Easter Sunday today!), he emphasized THIS tomb, reminding us that we were where Jesus died and rose from the cross to save us.

By this point in the trip, I think it’s important to note that I had been feeling as far from a pilgrim as possible – I was completely a tourist today, pushing through the streets, taking pictures, etc. So maybe the beauty and weight of everything related to Jesus’ passion hit me at once, but as we sang “You Are Mine” at the Preparation of the Gifts, I started to cry. And we’re talking big drops, snot and all. (At least I was quiet about it.) I continued to cry through most of the Eucharistic Prayer as Fr. Ken read the words of sacrifice of the Mass. It was all just so real, so amazing. Jesus died for us. We belong to Him. (Best moment of the trip so far!)

After Mass, we rushed to the line for the empty tomb of Christ – it was a long line but only a short visit inside the small room. We also touched the stone of Holy Unction (where they laid Jesus to prepare Him for burial) and the stone on which Jesus’ cross stood.

Later at lunch (falafel, yet again – but I’m definitely not complaining – it was delicious!), I couldn’t help but realize that we are all here on the same trip – we are not only experience the same things as each other but also the same things as millions of pilgrims for thousands of years. And yet, it is a different experience for each of us as well. Everyone has found different parts moving or meaningful or memorable. Pretty cool if you think about it…

Post-lunch, we went to the Wailing Wall – I had a few additional intentions to lift up in prayer this time…

Then, we all split up. I ended up with Kelsey, Kim, and Marisa (and later Linda and her dad) on a trip in search of ice cream, which we eventually found. (And it was delicious and refreshing!) Good conversation, shade…yes…

And our day is not over – tonight we head back to Bethlehem for a farewell dinner (Mary is leaving early). Our itinerary says it will be in a Bedouin tent-style, so we’ll see what that means…

But, all-in-all, today was a very good day. I rarely have those moments when I am truly moved to tears (though I always want them!), and that happened today. God is so good, often coming to us when we least expect it…