Lord, Teach Us to Pray

Jesus used an intimate word in the prayer we know today as “The Lord's Prayer” or “The Our Father.” He used the word “Abba” which is a word a child uses when calling out to a loving Daddy.

But the prayer also recognizes God’s holy name and exalted place. God is not our buddy, just because Jesus taught us the intimate relationship of Fatherhood. God is still the God, the sovereign Lord of all creation and all history. The prayer gives us permission and instruction to go to God continually in a spirit of confession, petition, dependence, and hope. This model prayer gives guidance to our spirit that it is God to whom we can go with our worship, our physical needs and our spiritual failures.

The most mature Christian follower still recites and prays this prayer as part of a daily discipline. It is the starting place for prayer but also the finish line of life’s prayer marathon.

- Deacon Robert

“The heart is drawn towards what it loves most. The heart of a good
  Christian turns towards Heaven, where God is, who is his treasure.”
- The Cure D’Ars

Are You Paying Attention?

Dear Parishioners,

The other day as I was taking a walk, I noticed two girls walking down the street, and they were talking. However, they weren’t talking to one another. They were talking on their cell phones to two other people. Today we are plugged into cell phones, the internet, iPads, and various other electronic devices. But the one thing we are not plugged into is real, personal relationships with God or one another. Have you ever been having a conversation with a friend and he/she gets a call on their cell phone? What do they do? The considerate thing to do would be to ignore it or turn it off and check for a message later as we give our full attention to the friend.

The sacred scripture readings (Genesis 18:1-10a; Colossians 1:24-28; Luke 10:38-42) are about paying full attention to the other person. Abraham stops what he is doing right away and makes them welcome by attending to their needs. When Jesus visits Martha and Mary, they both pay attention to Jesus in different ways. Mary is sitting at the feet of Jesus and listening to his words, while Martha is busy with the details of hospitality. While it is important to meet the physical needs of others, it is also important to meet their spiritual and emotional needs by listening to them attentively. As for God, not only do we care for him when we help our brothers and sisters, but he helps us when we listen to him in prayer and worship.

- Fr. Carl

Can We Be Too Careful?

Dear Parishioners,

Our Gospel today is not a Divine command to pick up every hitchhiker or throw caution to the wind (Luke 10:25-37). But it does call us to reexamine our cowering fear that makes us miss the opportunity to make a difference in the world, and to face our fears for the sake of love. The fireman knows all too well the danger of the burning building, but rushes in while others are rushing out. A friend stays up all night providing a shoulder for the tears of her broken-hearted friend. Getting involved in that domestic problem is messy, time and energy-consuming; but she can do no other because her love for her friend draws her in.

Sometimes we just have to face our fears and walk into the path of potential danger or inconvenience for the sake of doing the right thing, for the sake of our higher calling as followers of the one who gave us this parable in the first place. Apathy, that makes us see injustice or suffering and simply shrug our shoulders as if to say, “Well, at least it is not my neighbor,” cannot define our lives.

Fear that makes us see the suffering of others and run the other way into our safe cocoon, cannot define our lives. We can be too careful. Lord have mercy. And may we find the courage and compassion to have mercy, too.

- Deacon Robert

Let All The Earth Cry Out With Joy

Dear Parishioners,

The theme of today’s readings is JOY. Isaiah tells us to rejoice and exult with Jerusalem (Isaiah 66:10-14c); the psalm response tells us, “Let all the earth cry out to God with joy;” and the gospel (Luke 10:1-12, 17-20) shows the seventy-two returning to Jesus jubilant from their missionary work. It has been said that joy (not pleasure or excitement), is the unmistakable sign of God’s presence. People who have a good relationship with God so very often exude that joy in their demeanor and dealings with other people. However, lest we become too caught up in our successes in life that bring us natural joy, Jesus reminds us that the greatest joy is that our names are inscribed in heaven.

- Fr. Carl

Let Freedom Ring

St. Paul tells the Galatians “For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery!” (Galatians 5:1, 13-18) In just a few days, we celebrate the birthday of our nation. Let freedom ring!

Let it ring celebrating the good gift these United States are to all of us. With all of our challenges, we are still the envy of the world. For many reasons, not the least of which, is the right to elect our own government, and then when voters choose to transition to a new government, we do so without armed conflict. The freedom we know as citizens ought to cause us as Christian believers to thank God once again for the freedom first found in Jesus Christ.

Let freedom ring most of all by living out God’s generous love given to others. No one can compel another to believe. But by our lives lived in love, we show others Christ’s way and Christ’s love and the awesome freedom Christ gives to all who follow him. Reject anything in your life that would enslave your soul or another and in its place, let Christ’s freedom ring out from your life and in so doing become God’s good gift of freedom to others.

- Deacon Robert

God’s Beloved Family

We who are clothed with Christ are family. Saint Paul says we “are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise.” God has written all of us into God’s estate plan and wants to lavish on us all the wealth of His love.

Clothed with Christ, we are heirs with Christ, God’s beloved family. Look around… see Christ in your brothers and sisters… and understand the good news, that by God’s grace, we are all clothed with Christ.

- Deacon Robert

Humility, the Mother of All Virtues

Dear Parishioners,

The greatest king of Israel, a law abiding Pharisee, and a well-known sinful woman come together this week to teach us about sin, humility, and forgiveness (2 Samuel 12:7-10, 13; Galatians 2:16, 19-21; Luke 7:36 - 8:3). We see the great King David revealed to be a murderer and an adulterer. He who was so powerful and blessed by God succumbed to temptation, sinned, and then sinned even more severely. However, when his evil deeds came to light, he humbly repented and discovered, to his great relief, that God had forgiven him.

The Pharisee’s sin was slight in comparison to David’s. He omitted the usual hospitality of having his guest’s feed washed and judged Jesus not to be a prophet. Furthermore, in his pride, the first of the capital sins, he judged the woman. Only God judges. When we judge, we put ourselves in the place of God.

We don’t know for sure what the woman’s sin was, but we can make a good guess. She knew what she had done and humbled herself in repentance for her sins, and showed her love for God by washing, drying, and perfuming our Lord’s feet. Of the king, the Pharisee, and the woman, she outshines the other two, for humility, the mother of all virtues, is the first step to the greatest – LOVE.

- Father Carl