OPreach

The Feast of the Visitation

opreach — Thu, 31 May 2012 15:54:11 +0000

The Visitation in Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris

Today is the Feast of the Visitation, and we remember the loving, accepting, and supportive friendship of Mary and Elizabeth.

Today I include an excerpt of a poem by Mary Oliver, “Am I Not Among the Early Risers.” I’ll bet that both Mary and Elizabeth were early risers. We know that Mary was among “the long-distance walkers.”

May we remember to be among the “long-distance walker” and go the distance in our friendships. Then we, when we touch the holy during our visitations, as Elizabeth and Mary Oliver, “bow down”.

Am I Not Among the Early Risers (excerpt)

Am I not among the early risers
and the long-distance walkers?

Have I not stood, amazed, as I consider
the perfection of the morning star
above the peaks of the houses, and the crowns of the trees
blue in the first light?
Do I not see how the trees tremble, as though
sheets of water flowed over them
though it is only wind, that common thing
free to everyone, and everything?

Have I not thought, for years, what it would be
worthy to do, and then gone off, barefoot and with a silver pail,
to gather blueberries,
thus coming, as I think, upon a right answer?

What will ambition do for me that the fox, appearing suddenly
at the top of the field,
her eyes sharp and confident as she stared into mine,
has not already done?

What countries, what visitations,
what pomp
would satisfy me as thoroughly as Blackwater Woods
on a sun-filled morning, or, equally, in the rain?

Here is an amazement — once I was twenty years old and in
every motion of my body there was a delicious ease,
and in every motion of the green earth there was
a hint of paradise,
and now I am sixty years old, and it is the same.

Above the modest house and the palace — the same darkness.
Above the evil man and the just, the same stars.
Above the child who will recover and the child who will
not recover, the same energies roll forward,
from one tragedy to the next and from one foolishness to the next.

I bow down.

~ Mary Oliver ~

(West Wind)

Flowers, Grass, and a Few Thistles

opreach — Tue, 29 May 2012 21:59:59 +0000

Wednesday’s first reading is from the first chapter of First Peter.

And sometimes we find some thistles amidst the grass.

“All flesh is like grass,
and all its glory like the flower of the field;
the grass withers,
and the flower wilts;
but the word of the Lord remains forever.”
This is the word that has been proclaimed to you.

Thoughts for Memorial Day

opreach — Mon, 28 May 2012 15:08:59 +0000

May we see a day when we no longer feel the need to use such weapons.

I always enjoy going to the website gratefulness.org. I found the following there today, and it reminds me of my reflections last night after watching 60 Minutes and listening and observing the effects of our wars upon these women and men who have offered their lives for others.

Today we show our gratitude for life by mourning war’s victims, both military and civilian. Their loss reminds us how terrible war is, and we pledge our lives anew to the mediation, mercy, and compassion which bring about peace.

You Will Show Me the Path to Life

opreach — Wed, 23 May 2012 22:29:17 +0000

From Thursday’s Responsorial Psalm (Psalm 16) we read:

Keep me safe, O God; you are my hope.

You will show me the path to life,
fullness of joys in your presence,
the delights at your right hand forever.

Keep me safe, O God; you are my hope.

And when God shows us the path of life, may we all see it as clearly as the one above.

Let Us Set Our Sails

opreach — Tue, 22 May 2012 19:46:26 +0000

The winds of grace blow all the time. All we need to do is set our sails.
-Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa

Santa Cruz Sails

I was in Santa Cruz on the weekend with my family. What a wonderful time! The weather was perfect! We saw dolphins, pelicans, sailboats, surfers, and even a whale. Unfortunately my camera was not at the ready!

What Would We Ask of God? What Would Jesus Ask?

opreach — Fri, 18 May 2012 22:58:14 +0000

Jesus said to his disciples: ”Amen, amen, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you. Until now you have not asked anything in my name;
ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.

“I have told you this in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures but I will tell you clearly about the Father. On that day you will ask in my name, and I do not tell you that I will ask the Father for you. For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have come to believe that I came from God. I came from the Father and have come into the world. Now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.”
(From John 16:23b-28 – Saturday’s Gospel reading)

I wonder . . . We end our prayers in Jesus name . . .”we ask this in the name of Jesus”, or “through Christ our Lord, Amen.” We make the sign of the cross at the beginning and the end of our prayers: “In the name of . . . .” Do we use this as a formula after so many years of repetition? (I recall that teachers can often get the class quiet enough to pray by announcing loudly, “In the name of the Father . . .” Indeed, that is a formula!)

I wonder. Maybe Jesus meant to ask the way that he asks – to ask for the things that are in his heart – to live and pray in such a way that our prayers echo the prayers of Jesus. Of course God will answer, for those desires live in the heart of God.

Ask.

Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.

To Be a Saint

opreach — Thu, 17 May 2012 22:25:36 +0000

Recently in a comment on one of my postings, Pastor John Keller reminded me of a quote about vocation by Frederick Buechner. Today I share another of Buechner’s quotes, this one is also about our vocation . . . what we are all called to as God’s people . . . to be a saint.

To be a saint is to live not with hands clenched to grasp, to strike, to hold tight to a life that is always slipping away the more tightly we hold it; but it is to live with the hands stretched out both to give and to receive with gladness. To be a saint is to work and weep for the broken and suffering of the world, but it is also to be strangely light of heart in the knowledge that there is something greater than the world that mends and renews.

- Frederick Buechner

May we live our lives with hands unclenched and our hearts as open as this flower.

Ascension Thursday

opreach — Wed, 16 May 2012 21:40:06 +0000

Here in the U.S. we celebrate the Feast of the Ascension on Sunday. Nonetheless, I still see Thursday listed as an option on the USCCB website, and our Psalters still show the Ascension as a Thursday feast. So I say, let’s celebrate twice! It’s a joyous occasion, this rising from the dead and ascending into light!

The butterfly is often a symbol of resurrection . . . life coming out of a cocoon.
We can also be reminded of ascension as we watch the butterfly rise gracefully from the flower.

Heaven and Earth are Full of God’s Glory

opreach — Tue, 15 May 2012 20:36:22 +0000

Heaven and earth are full of your glory!

Wednesday’s Responsorial Psalm is 148. And there couldn’t be one that is more glorious and uplifting!

Praise the LORD from the heavens;
praise God in the heights.
Praise God, all you angels;
praise God, all you hosts.

R. Heaven and earth are full of your glory.

Let the kings of the earth and all peoples,
the princes and all the judges of the earth,
Young men too, and maidens,
old women, men and children.

R. Heaven and earth are full of your glory.

Praise the name of the LORD,
for God’s name alone is exalted;
God’s majesty is above earth and heaven.

R. Heaven and earth are full of your glory.

God has lifted up the horn of the people;
Be this God’s praise from all God’s faithful ones,
from the children of Israel, the people close to God.

R. Heaven and earth are full of your glory.

Everything We Do Is Sacred

opreach — Mon, 14 May 2012 21:55:58 +0000

Among the poets I enjoy reading is Hafiz. Today I share his poem, “Now Is the Time.”

Now is the time to know
That all that you do is sacred.

Now, why not consider
A lasting truce with yourself and God.

Now is the time to understand
That all your ideas of right and wrong
Were just a child’s training wheels
To be laid aside
When you finally live
With veracity
And love.

Hafiz is a divine envoy
Whom the Beloved
Has written a holy message upon.

My dear, please tell me,
Why do you still
Throw sticks at your heart
And God?

What is it in that sweet voice inside
That incites you to fear?

Now is the time for the world to know
That every thought and action is sacred.

This is the time
For you to compute the impossibility
That there is anything
But Grace.

Now is the season to know
That everything you do
Is sacred.

Everything we do is sacred.
How beautiful our world would be if all we did was with an intentionality about that sacredness.

This poem, and this translation, can be found in,
The Gift – versions of Hafiz by Daniel Ladinsky