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Dominican Preaching through Word and Image
Remember All that God Has Done
To find the kingdom is the easiest thing in the world but also the most difficult. Easy because it is all around you and within you, and all you have to do is reach out and take possession of it. Difficult because if you wish to possess the kingdom you may possess nothing else.
– Anthony de Mello in The Way to Love
Photo Challenge: Unique
Today’s reading from the Letter to the Hebrews is very stirring and encourages us to persevere.
Brothers and sisters: Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us and persevere in running the race that lies before us while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of faith. For the sake of the joy that lay before him Jesus endured the cross, despising its shame, and has taken his seat at the right of the throne of God. Consider how he endured such opposition from sinners, in order that you may not grow weary and lose heart. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood. Hebrews 12:1-4
One can’t help but think of our own Sister Marion Irvine, a very unique and outstanding woman, when thinking of the perseverance of a marathoner running her race.
Sister Marion Irvine, O.P., the “Flying Nun,” an accomplished runner , has been an inspirational alumna and supporter of Dominican University. In 1983 she qualified for the 1983 U.S. Olympic Trials in the marathon. In her career as a runner, she shattered all major running records in the 50–54, 55–59, and 60–64 age groups, and earned five gold medals at the World Veteran Games in Eugene, Oregon.
After forty-seven years of service in schools, Sister Marion came home to San Rafael and served as the promoter of social justice for the congregation until about four years ago. Of course she still stays active in social justice ministry, working with agencies in Marin County and organizing the sisters’ jail ministry.
She continues to find this work challenging, exciting and rewarding. Whether the issue is abolishing the death penalty, creating compassionate immigration reform, or supporting peace and justice, Sister Marion demonstrates the same focus, discipline and energy she did in running . . . and really just about anything she does.
May we be blessed with this same perseverance and dedication in all the way we serve God and God’s people.
Where Is Your Hope?
In today’s Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 31 – we read:
Let your hearts take comfort, all who hope in the Lord.
How great is the goodness, O LORD,
which you have in store for those who fear you,
And which, toward those who take refuge in you,
you show in the sight of the children of men.Let your hearts take comfort, all who hope in the Lord.
What is Prayer?
Prayer begins at the edge of emptiness.
– Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel
Love Never Fails
Today’s reading is that beloved passage from Paul’s letter to the Corinthians about love.
It speaks for itself.
Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, it is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never fails. If there are prophecies, they will be brought to nothing; if tongues, they will cease; if knowledge, it will be brought to nothing. For we know partially and we prophesy partially, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I used to talk as a child, think as a child, reason as a child; when I became a man, I put aside childish things. At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, but then face to face. At present I know partially; then I shall know fully, as I am fully known. So faith, hope, love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love.1 Corinthians 13:8-13
Our Extravagant Creator
The extravagant gesture is the very stuff of creation.
– Annie Dillard
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
Let Us Handle One Another Delicately
Delicate Iris
The finest qualities of our nature, like the bloom on fruits,
can be preserved only by the most delicate handling.
-Henry David Thoreau
That being said,
we should be delicate with one another.
Walden
More on Being a Blessing
The more alert we become to the blessing that flows into us through everything we touch, the more our own touch will bring blessing.
– David Steindl-Rast
When We Feel Like Giving Up . . .
There are moments when I feel like giving up or giving in, but I soon rally again and do my duty as I see it: to keep the spark of life inside me ablaze.
– Etty Hillesum, An Interrupted Life
Weekly Photo Challenge: Love
We will hear the thoughts below later this week when 1 Corinthians 13 is quoted. Today we hear from Reinhold Niebuhr.
Nothing worth doing is completed in our lifetime; therefore, we must be saved by hope. Nothing true or beautiful makes complete sense in any immediate context of history; therefore, we must be saved by faith. Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone; therefore, we are saved by love.
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