OPreach
Dominican Preaching through Word and Image
We Remember
Last night at Dominican University Father Joe Aleugaray shared a story about distilling the message of the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures to one word. Apparently someone once asked a rabbi to do exactly that. His answer was the word “remember“. Father Joe expanded on this and proposed, that, as we listen to the readings from both testaments, we too are called to remember.
I was glad to be reminded that this Holy Week is a week of remembering.
On Monday we remember Mary’s caring anointing of Jesus’ feet.
On Tuesday we remember how Jesus broke bread with those he knew would betray and deny him
On Wednesday we remember the betrayal of Jesus by Judas
On Thursday we remember Jesus washing the disciples’ feet and his Last Supper
On Friday we remember Jesus death on the cross
On Saturday we wait so that . . .
. . . on Sunday we can remember the Hope that Jesus’ resurrection offers us.
I’ve been quoting Desmond Tutu this week:
“Nothing can be more hopeless than Good Friday; but then Sunday happens.
You can’t but be a prisoner of hope.”
That is why we can say
– no matter where we are
– no matter our circumstances
– whether we are experiencing a Christmas, Good Friday, Easter, or Annunciation moment,
“Let us remember that we are in the Holy Presence of God.”
A Holy Week Prayer
Jesus, on the eve of your passion and death, you found comfort in the company of your friends. In the truest sign of friendship, you gave your life for them and for us. Help us to live the call of the gospel more deeply. Let our relationship with one another be a sign of your presence. Help us to live and die in your love, that we may live with you forever. Amen.
The above prayer is found in People’s Companion to the Breviary.
The Reluctant Prophet also Gives a Promise of Hope
It may have seemed to his listeners that Jeremiah, whom they called “Terror-All-Around”, had nothing to offer but bad news. But in today’s reading from the 31st chapter of the Book of Jeremiah we read:
Hear the word of the Lord, O nations, proclaim it on distant isles, and say:
The one who scattered Israel, now gathers them together and guards them as a shepherd the flock. The Lord shall ransom Jacob and redeem him from the hand of his conqueror. Shouting, they shall mount the heights of Zion, they shall come streaming to the Lord’s blessings: the grain, the wine, and the oil, the sheep and the oxen. Then the young women shall make merry and dance and young men, and old as well.
I will turn their mourning into joy. I will console and gladden them after their sorrows.
– Jeremiah 31:10-13
A Prophet’s Job Surely Isn’t Easy
In Friday’s reading (Jeremiah 20:10-13) for the 5th Friday in Lent, the Prophet Jeremiah was sure having a bad day. Of course, if we read the entire book attributed to him, we’ll see that he suffered ridicule and persecution for more than a day. And how would any of us like it if our enemies AND our friends coined the nickname for us “Terror-All-Around”? They must have thought he was the bearer of bad tidings.
In spite of his experience of persecution, Jeremiah could still say: Sing to the Lord, praise the Lord, for God has rescued the life of the poor from the power of the wicked. May we have the courage to be prophetic, and may we always remember the source of our strength and our hope, for a prophet’s job surely isn’t easy.
Let us remember life and beauty in our times of dryness.
And to do so, let us cherish them now.
We Hold onto the Promise in Hope
On the 5th Thursday of Lent we read from today’s passage from Genesis 17 of God’s faithfulness
I will maintain my covenant with you and your descendants after you throughout the ages as an everlasting pact, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.
I will give to you and to your descendants after you the land in which you are now staying, the whole land of Canaan, as a permanent possession; and I will be their God.”
We hold onto this promise in these last weeks of Lent.
We hold onto this promise in the times of dryness.
We hold onto this promise in hope.
Sister Adele gave the name Counterpoint Images to her particular technique of creating the photo montage (long before there was even a thought of Photoshop). These counterpoint images showed the genuine relationship between the juxtaposed elements. And it is the authenticity of this relationship which underlies the integrity of her montages – the final image presenting a living, organic, coherent whole.
The Truth Will Set Us Free
Today’s Gospel reading from John, chapter 8 includes:
Jesus said to those Jews who believed in him,
“If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples,
and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
Loving God’s Creation
I remember reading Crime and Punishment and The Brothers Karamazov when I was in high school. If there were quotes like this in Dostoevsky’s books, I missed them entirely. Of course I was 18, and likely not looking in the same way. It is wonderful to read them now!
Love all that has been created by God, both the whole and every grain of sand. “
Love every leaf and every ray of light.
Love the beasts and the birds, love the plants, love every separate fragment.
If you love each separate fragment,
you will understand the mystery of the whole resting in God.
– Fyodor Dostoevsky
She Announced the Good News
Today we celebrate the Feast of the Annunciation. Our Lenten reflection has been prepared by Sister Cathy Murray, OP., and she recalls the lovely presence and passing of Sister Anna Louise LaVoy, often remembered as Sister Ignatius (and lovingly as gracious Ignatius).
In the first reading today, we see that Ahaz responded to God’s great offer of giving any sign – NO MATTER HOW GREAT OR HOW MOMENTOUS – by spiritualizing his decision not to follow God’s advice. “Oh, I would never want to tempt God by asking for a sign.” God’s will for Ahaz was very clear, but the path of God’s will for Ahaz required great courage and great risk. God was asking him to neither surrender to Israel nor to align with the Assyrians for protection.
We contrast Ahaz with Mary, a young woman born in an obscure village. She experienced God’s intervention in her life through an encounter with an angel. There was no guile with Mary. She had the presence of mind in the midst of this divine experience to dialogue with the angel.
As I write this Lenten reflection, I am sitting alongside our sister Anna Louise as she is dying. Anna Louise is one who answered many annunciations in her life. She lived without guile and was genuine and wholehearted in her response to God. Anna Louise loved so many sisters in our congregation and so deeply. She saw and celebrated the good and the best in others. She delighted in God and the wonders of creation. She lived the presence of Christ within her and her Christ-bearing joy was contagious. At 93 years old, she faced many changes in religious life and church; yet she had the presence of mind and freedom with God to dialogue about those changes and trust where God was leading religious life and church. The Good News was announced to her and she lived it lovingly, beautifully and justly.
She announced the Good News, in her very being, that God is with us.
This reflection can also be found on the website of the Dominican Preachers for the Western Region.
. . . And One More Thing about Gratitude
Though the Busy Person’s Retreat on “Going Gratitudinal” may be completed, we are never finished with the opportunities for gratefulness. May the readings, reflections, and thoughtful questions over the last few days assist us in continuing to cultivate a grateful heart.
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!
Philippians 4:4
And in the words of Richard Rohr, OFM, “Prayer is sitting in the silence until it silences us, choosing gratitude until we are grateful, praising God until we ourselves are a constant act of praise.
Going Gratitudinal – Part 5
Today’s “Gratitudinal” Scripture passage is from Ephesians 1:16:
I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.
Rabbi Harold Kushner challenges us: “Can you see the holiness in those things you take for granted–a paved road or a washing machine? If you concentrate on finding what is good in every situation, you will discover that your life will suddenly be filled with gratitude, a feeling that nurtures the soul.”
What are the ordinary things in my life that I take for granted?
Who are the people I take for granted?
Can I, by expressing my gratitude, transform them to something or someone far beyond ordinary?
OPreach 