Poem: “Consolation of Mary with Christ Arisen” by: Rainer Maria Rilke

 What they felt then: is it not

before all secrets sweet and yet still earthly:

as he, a little pale still from the grave,

relieved stepped up to her:

at every point arisen,

O to her first. How were they then

inexpressibly being healed.

Yes, they were healing, that was it. They

had no need

firmly to touch each other.

He laid for a second

scarcely his soon to be

eternal hand on her womanly shoulder.

And they began,

still as the trees in Spring,

infinitely together,

this season

of their ultimate communing.

Saturday, April 29, 2023

Spirituality: Dag Hammarskjöld, Markings

In the point of rest at the center of our being, we encounter a world where all things are at rest in the same way. Then a tree becomes a mystery, a cloud a revelation, each [person] a cosmos of whose riches we can only catch glimpses. The life of simplicity is simple, but it opens to us a book in which we never get beyond the first syllable.

Poem: Mary Oliver, excerpts from "The Buddha's Last Instruction"

"Make of yourself a light,"
said the Buddha,
before he died.
I think of this every morning
as the east begins
to tear off its many clouds
of darkness....
The light burns upward,
it thickens and settles over the fields...
Even before the sun itself
hangs, disattached, in the blue air,
I am touched everywhere
by its ocean of yellow waves...
And then I feel the sun itself
as it blazes over the hills,
like a million flowers on fire—
clearly I'm not needed,
yet I feel myself turning
into something of inexplicable value...

Spirituality: "The Time will come," by Derek Walcott

 The time will come

when, with elation,
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door,
in your own mirror,
and each will smile at the other’s welcome,

and say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give bread.
Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you

all your life, whom you ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,

the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life. 

Wednesday, April 26, 2023

Reconstruyendo la confianza: El Cuarto Domingo de Pascua

                                                Reconstruyendo la confianza:

El Cuarto Domingo de Pascua

30 de abril de 2023

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Hechos 2:14, 36-41; Salmo 23; 1 Pedro 2:20-25; Juan 10:1-10

 

Jesús puso su confianza en Dios y fue obediente a la voluntad de Dios para él. Es por su confianza en el Padre que podemos alcanzar la salvación. La confianza es una parte central de todas las relaciones humanas, y nos inclinamos a depositar nuestra confianza en los líderes, las personas con autoridad y aquellos que creemos que tienen nuestro mejor interés en el corazón. Ser capaz de confiar nos da un sentimiento de confianza y seguridad sobre nuestro lugar en la relación, y cada uno de nosotros quiere saber profundamente que Cristo se preocupa por nosotros y nos encuentra amables.

 

Con demasiada facilidad, sabemos que una vez que se erosiona la confianza, es difícil recuperarla. Muchas personas hoy en día desconfían de los medios de comunicación, instituciones de cualquier tipo, incluidos los líderes de la iglesia y los políticos. La confianza rara vez es absoluta, pero la aplicamos a ciertos comportamientos o situaciones, como confiar en que un miembro de la familia vaya al mercado cada semana a comprar leche y pan para el fin de semana, y la confianza es un proceso que nos une más en situaciones particulares . Cuando desconfiamos, esperamos una traición a nuestra confianza y crea un sentimiento emocional negativo hacia la otra persona o institución. Tenemos una relación tenue con la confianza, y qué es la fe, sino confiar en Dios. Entonces , para aumentar nuestra fe, tenemos que mirar lo que la confianza requiere de nosotros.

 

Sabemos que Jesús anduvo haciendo el bien, hablando del reino de Dios, sanando a los enfermos y curando a la gente de sus enfermedades. Creó una comunidad basada en el tipo de comunidad que Dios quería que fuéramos: una comunidad basada en la compasión, llena de misericordia, lenta para la ira y rica en entendimiento, y lo más importante, una en la que cada persona pudiera conocer la amistad deseada por Dios. . Esta nueva comunidad aprendió a confiar en el bien común de que todas las necesidades esenciales serían satisfechas y que cada persona tendría la oportunidad de crecer en gracia y dignidad.

 

Si la confianza es confianza en los demás y en Dios, ¿qué es el miedo? El miedo es falta de confianza. Si tenemos miedo, entonces no estamos confiando en Dios. Algunas personas temen cómo se verá la iglesia en unos pocos años en lugar de confiar en que el plan de Dios para la humanidad se está desarrollando. Algunas personas temen a las fuerzas del mal en lugar de confiar en que Jesús ha conquistado definitivamente el pecado y la muerte. Algunas personas temen los procesos de cambio en lugar de confiar en que el Espíritu está obrando a través de los corazones y las mentes humanas para dar forma a los resultados futuros. El miedo no es fe, y uno no confía en el poder de la resurrección. Por lo tanto, como comunidad, tenemos que aprender colectivamente lo que significa confiar en Dios en un momento en que confiamos cada vez menos unos en otros. Para que nuestra comunidad sea confiable, debemos elevar nuestro nivel personal de confiabilidad comenzando con nosotros mismos.

 

Debemos revisarnos a nosotros mismos. Cuando hablamos o actuamos por miedo, debemos preguntarnos: "¿Cómo puedo reemplazarlo con confianza?" Si creo en la Resurrección y en las promesas de Jesús, actuaré como si todo dependiera de mí; confiar como si todo dependiera de Dios.

          

Escritura para la misa diaria

 

Lunes: (Hechos 11) Los Apóstoles incluyen a los gentiles en la comunidad después de una solemne deliberación. Pedro levanta las leyes dietéticas judías para ellos declarando que “Dios concedió arrepentimiento vivificante también a los gentiles”.

 

Martes: (Hechos 11) Los que se habían dispersado desde la persecución que siguió al apedreamiento de Esteban comenzaron a proclamar la historia de Jesucristo a sus nuevas comunidades. El número de conversos aumentó dramáticamente.

 

Miércoles: (Hechos 12) La palabra de Dios continuaba difundiéndose y el número de discípulos crecía. En Antioquía durante la oración, el Espíritu dijo: “Apártenme a Bernabé y a Saulo para la obra a la que los he llamado”.

 

Jueves: (Hechos 13) En Perge en Panfilia, Pablo se puso de pie y contó la historia de la liberación de Dios del pueblo elegido de la servidumbre y la esclavitud. La obra de Dios continuó en la vida de Jesús de Nazaret.

 

Viernes (Hechos 13) Toda la ciudad se reunió para escuchar la palabra del Señor, pero los judíos estrictos se opusieron a Pablo y Bernabé y afirmaron que habían contado la historia equivocada.

 

Sábado (Hechos 13) Los gentiles se regocijaron cuando Pablo y Bernabé abrieron las Escrituras para ellos y los de su inclusión como los elegidos de Dios. La salvación también estaba al alcance de ellos.

 

Evangelio: 

Lunes: (Juan 10) Los cuentos del Buen Pastor continúan cuando Jesús describe a sus amigos las características de una persona interesada en sí misma que pretende ser un pastor. Las ovejas conocen y confían en la voz del buen pastor.

 

Martes: (Juan 10) Durante la fiesta de la Dedicación, Jesús declara que él es el buen pastor y que él y el Padre son uno.

 

Miércoles (Juan 10) Jesús clama: “El que cree en mí, cree no sólo en mí, sino también en el que me envió”. Jesús habla y actúa en nombre del Padre.

 

Jueves (Juan 13) Jesús dice "Yo soy" y muestra que hace la obra del Padre cuando después de lavar los pies de los discípulos, dice: "Yo soy".

 

Viernes (Juan 14) En su discurso de despedida, Jesús consuela a sus amigos. Les dice que el se va pero que pronto regresará para quitarles el miedo.

 

Sábado (Juan 14) Él asegura que como conocen la mente y el corazón de Jesús, también conocen la mente y el corazón del Padre.

 

santos de la semana

 

30 de abril: el Papa Pío V, Papa (1504-1572) , se destaca por su trabajo en la Contrarreforma, el Concilio de Trento y la estandarización del Rito Romano para la misa. Fue un feroz conservador que procesó a ocho obispos franceses por heterodoxia ya Isabel I por cisma. La Santa Liga que fundó derrotó al Imperio Otomano en la Batalla de Lepanto, cuyo éxito se atribuyó a la intercesión de la Santísima Virgen María.

 

1 de mayo: José el Trabajador fue honrado por el Papa Pío XII en 1955 en un esfuerzo por contrarrestar el Primero de Mayo, una fiesta sindical, obrera y socialista. Muchos católicos creen que es el patrón de los trabajadores porque es conocido por su paciencia, persistencia y trabajo duro como cualidades admirables que los creyentes deben adoptar.

 

2 de mayo: Atanasio, obispo y doctor (295-373), fue un egipcio que asistió al Concilio de Nicea en el 325. Escribió sobre la divinidad de Cristo pero esto provocó su exilio por parte de los emperadores no cristianos. Escribió un tratado sobre la Encarnación y trajo el monacato a Occidente.

 

3 de mayo: Felipe y Santiago, Apóstoles (siglo I), estuvieron presentes a Jesús durante todo su ministerio. Felipe fue nombrado como explícitamente llamado. Santiago es llamado el Menor para distinguirlo de Santiago de Zebedeo. Poco se sabe de estos fundadores de nuestra fe.

 

4 de mayo: Joseph Mary Rubio, SJ, sacerdote (1864-1929), es un jesuita conocido como el Apóstol de Madrid. Trabajó con los pobres llevándoles los Ejercicios Espirituales y la dirección espiritual y estableció escuelas de oficios locales.

 

Esta semana en la historia jesuita

 

  • 30 de abril de 1585. El desembarco en Osaka del P. Gaspar Coelho. Al principio, el Emperador estaba favorablemente dispuesto hacia el cristianismo. Esto cambió más tarde debido a la actitud del cristianismo hacia la poligamia.
  • 1 de mayo de 1572. En Roma, muere el Papa San Pío V. Su decreto que imponía el Coro a la Sociedad fue cancelado por su sucesor, Gregorio XIII.
  • 2 de mayo de 1706. Muerte del hermano jesuita GJ Kamel. La flor de camelia lleva su nombre.
  • 3 de mayo de 1945. Las tropas estadounidenses toman Innsbruck, Austria. Los estudios de teología en el Canisianum se reanudan unos meses después.
  • 4 de mayo de 1902. Muerte de Charles Sommervogel , historiador de la Sociedad y editor de la bibliografía de todas las publicaciones de los jesuitas desde los inicios de la Sociedad en adelante.
  • muere en desgracia y destierro Sebastián Carvahlo , marqués de Pombal, cruel perseguidor de la Compañía en Portugal. Su cuerpo permaneció insepulto durante cincuenta años, hasta que el padre Philip Delvaux realizó los últimos ritos en 1832.
  • 6 de mayo de 1816. Carta de John Adams a Thomas Jefferson mencionando a los jesuitas. "Si alguna congregación de hombres pudiera merecer la perdición eterna en la tierra y en el infierno, esa es la compañía de Loyola".

Rebuilding Trust: The Fourth Sunday of Easter

                                                          Rebuilding Trust:

The Fourth Sunday of Easter 

April 30, 2023

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Acts 2:14, 36-41; Psalm 23; 1 Peter 2:20-25; John 10:1-10

 

Jesus placed his trust in God and was obedient to God’s will for him. It is because of his trust in the Father that we may attain salvation. Trust is a central part of all human relationships, and we are inclined to place our trust in leaders, people in authority, and those who we think have our best interest at heart. Being able to trust gives us a feeling of confidence and security about our place in the relationship, and each of us wants to deeply know that Christ cares for us and finds us lovable. 

 

All too easily, we know that once trust is eroded, it is difficult to regain. Many people today mistrust the news media, institutions of any type, including church leadership, and politicians. Trust is seldom absolute, but we apply it to certain behaviors or situations, like trusting a family member to go to the market each week to pick up milk and bread for the weekend, and trust is a process that binds us closer to one another in particular situations. When we mistrust, we expect a betrayal of our confidence, and it creates a negative emotional feeling about the other person or institution. We have a tenuous relationship with trust, and what is faith, but trusting in God. In order to increase our faith then, we have to look at what trust requires of us. 

 

We know that Jesus went about doing good, speaking about God’s reign, healing the sick and curing people of their illnesses. He created a community based upon the type of community God wanted to us to be – one based upon compassion, full of mercy, slow to anger, and rich in understanding, and most importantly, one in which each person could know of God’s desired friendship. This new community learned to trust the common good that all essential needs would be met, and that each person had an opportunity to grow in grace and dignity. 

 

If trust is confidence in one another and in God, then what is fear? Fear is a lack of trust. If we fear, then we are not trusting in God. Some people fear what the church will look like in a few years rather than trusting that God’s plan for humanity is unfolding. Some people fear evil forces rather than trusting that Jesus has definitively conquered sin and death. Some people fear processes of change rather than trusting that the Spirit is working through human hearts and minds to shape future outcomes. Fear is not faith, and one does not trust in the power of the resurrection. Therefore, as a community, we have to collectively learn what it means to trust in God during a time when we trust one another less and less. In order for our community to be trustworthy, we must raise up our personal level of trustworthiness as it begins with ourselves. 

 

We must check ourselves. When we speak or act out of fear, we have to ask, “How can I replace it with trust?” If I believe in the Resurrection and the promises of Jesus, then I will act as if everything depended on me; trust as if everything depended on God. 

          

Scripture for Daily Mass

 

Monday: (Acts 11) The Apostles include the Gentiles into the community after solemn deliberation. Peter lifts the Jewish dietary laws for them declaring that, “God granted life-giving repentance to the Gentiles too.” 

 

Tuesday: (Acts 11) Those who had been dispersed since the persecution that followed Stephen’s stoning began proclaiming the story of Jesus Christ to their new communities. The number of converts increased dramatically.  

 

Wednesday: (Acts 12) The word of God continued to spread and the number of disciples grew. At Antioch during prayer, the Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”

 

Thursday: (Acts 13) In Perga in Pamphylia, Paul stood up and told the story of God’s deliverance of the chosen people from bondage and slavery. God’s work continued in the life of Jesus of Nazareth.

 

Friday (Acts 13) The whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord, but strict Jews opposed Paul and Barnabas and claimed they told the wrong story. 

 

Saturday (Acts 13) The Gentiles were delighted when Paul and Barnabas opened scripture for them and those them of their inclusion as God’s elect. Salvation was accessible to them too.

 

Gospel: 

Monday: (John 10) The Good Shepherd tales continues as Jesus describes to his friends the characteristics of a self-interested person who pretends to be a shepherd. The sheep know and trust the voice of the good shepherd. 

 

Tuesday: (John 10) During the feast of the Dedication, Jesus declares he is the good shepherd and that he and the Father are one.

 

Wednesday (John 10) Jesus cries out, “Whoever believes in me believes not only in me but also in the one who sent me.” Jesus speaks and acts of behalf of the Father.

 

Thursday (John 13) Jesus makes “I am” statements and he shows he does the work of the Father when after he washes the feet of the disciples, he says, “I am.” 

 

Friday (John 14) In his farewell discourse, Jesus consoles his friends. He tells them that the is going away but will soon return to take away their fear. 

 

Saturday (John 14) He reassures that that since they know the mind and heart of Jesus, they also know the mind and heart of the Father.   

 

Saints of the Week

 

April 30: Pope Pius V, Pope (1504-1572), is noted for his work in the Counter-Reformation, the Council of Trent, and the standardization of the Roman Rite for mass. He was a fierce conservative who prosecuted eight French bishops for heterodoxy and Elizabeth I for schism. The Holy League he founded defeated the Ottoman Empire at the Battle of Lepanto whose success was attributed to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary. 

 

May 1: Joseph the Worker was honored by Pope Pius XII in 1955 in an effort to counteract May Day, a union, worker, and socialist holiday. Many Catholics believe him to be the patron of workers because he is known for his patience, persistence, and hard work as admirable qualities that believers should adopt.

 

May 2: Athanasius, bishop and doctor (295-373), was an Egyptian who attended the Nicene Council in 325. He wrote about Christ's divinity but this caused his exile by non-Christian emperors. He wrote a treatise on the Incarnation and brought monasticism to the West.

 

May 3: Philip and James, Apostles (first century), were present to Jesus throughout his entire ministry. Philip was named as being explicitly called. James is called the Lesser to distinguish him from James of Zebedee. Little is known of these founders of our faith.

 

May 4: Joseph Mary Rubio, S.J., priest (1864-1929), is a Jesuit known as the Apostle of Madrid. He worked with the poor bringing them the Spiritual Exercises and spiritual direction and he established local trade schools.  

 

This Week in Jesuit History

 

  • April 30, 1585. The landing at Osaka of Fr. Gaspar Coelho. At first the Emperor was favorably disposed towards Christianity. This changed later because of Christianity's attitude toward polygamy. 
  • May 1, 1572. At Rome, Pope St. Pius V dies. His decree imposing Choir on the Society was cancelled by his successor, Gregory XIII. 
  • May 2, 1706. The death of Jesuit brother G J Kamel. The camellia flower is named after him. 
  • May 3, 1945. American troops take over Innsbruck, Austria. Theology studies at the Canisianum resume a few months later. 
  • May 4, 1902. The death of Charles Sommervogel, historian of the Society and editor of the bibliography of all publications of the Jesuits from the beginnings of the Society onward. 
  • May 5, 1782. At Coimbra, Sebastian Carvahlo, Marquis de Pombal, a cruel persecutor of the Society in Portugal, died in disgrace and exile. His body remained unburied fifty years, till Father Philip Delvaux performed the last rites in 1832. 
  • May 6, 1816. Letter of John Adams to Thomas Jefferson mentioning the Jesuits. "If any congregation of men could merit eternal perdition on earth and in hell, it is the company of Loyola."

Spirituality: Maya Angelou, "Wouldn't Take Nothing for my journey now."

Because of the routines we follow, we often forget that life is an ongoing adventure...and the sooner we realize that, the quicker we will be able to treat life as art; to bring all our energies to each encounter, to remain flexible enough to notice and admit when what we expected to happen did not. We need to remember that we are created creative and can invent new scenarios as frequently as they are needed.

Spirituality: Joyce McGreevy in Gardening by the Heart

Ultimately, I think gardening speaks to a deep-seated desire to experience the real, the essential, the astonishingly possible. To garden is gradually to give up control, to fall literally to one's knees and come into closer and closer contact with the tremendous and often bewildering beauty of the world. Nothing, you find, is at all what you thought it was. Dirt is not dirt, but a teeming mass of microorganisms that turns death back into life.

Poem: “The Servant-Girl At Emmaus” (A Painting by Velasquez) by: Denise Levertov

 She listens, listens, holding 

her breath. Surely that voice 

is his – the one 

who had looked at her, once, across the crowd, 

as no one ever had looked? 

Had seen her? Had spoken as if to her?

 

Surely those hands were his, 

taking the platter of bread from hers just now? 

Hands he’d laid on the dying and made them well? 

 

Surely that face – ?

 

The man they’d crucified for sedition and blasphemy.

The man whose body disappeared from its tomb.

The man it was rumored now some women had seen this 

morning alive?

 

Those who had brought this stranger home to their table 

don’t recognize yet  with whom they sit. 

But she in the kitchen, absently touching 

the winejug she’s to take in, 

a young Black servant intently listening, 

 

swings round and sees 

the light around him 

and is sure.

Saturday, April 22, 2023

Spirituality: On coming in (almost) last in the Boston Marathon

 On coming in (almost) last in the Boston Marathon

Joyful slowpokes, we found each other at mile 11 and buoyed each other right across the finish line.

The Boston Globe
The author, left, with Father John Predmore, after completing the 127th Boston Marathon.
The author, left, with Father John Predmore, after completing the 127th Boston Marathon.LINDA O'CONNOR

You don’t really think about this unless you’re going to be that person, but someone has to be the last runner to finish the Boston Marathon. This year, there was a good chance that would be me.

I’ve completed nine Bostons since 2005, including the bombing year, the hot year, the rainy year, the sunny year, and a bunch of other years. But none of that kept me from two Did Not Finishes, due to dehydration, in 2021 and 2022.

I’ve been chasing the dream of a 10th all this time while, to use Bill Belichick’s too perfect phrase, mistaking experience for preparation.

Marathoning, I’ve come to realize, isn’t a sport — it’s a condition. It does not make your life better; it takes you from your family for hours at a time, it facilitates the dubious exchange of knee cartilage for metal, and the people who do it, in the felicitous phrase of my marathoning mentor, Charlie Monahan, are “pavementally impaired.”

And yet.

You can opt into no other sporting event at this level. You can’t sneak into the Super Bowl dressed like a Kansas City Chief and expect that quarterback Patrick Mahomes will throw to you. You can’t creep into the Churchill Downs paddocks and gallop your way through the Kentucky Derby.

Yet when you run Boston, you’re doing the same thing at the same time, roughly, as the greatest athletes in sport, on precisely the same course, and you receive the same finisher’s medal at the same finish line. Glorious.

Last Monday, I was doing just fine until mile 11, when my brain went foggy and I had to ask myself, Why am I out here?

He’s a Jesuit priest specializing in uplifting people including the homeless and others at risk of bad outcomes. And for the next 10 miles, he made it his mission to get me to the firehouse just past the 17-mile mark, and then through the Newton Hills, and on to the Brighton downslope toward Boston.

We spoke of theology. We spoke of issues in his religion and mine. We spoke of society at large, and together we stayed, if you will, Boston Strong. He got me out of my haze and back into the finisher’s mindset. Then he faltered, and I carried him, emotionally and spiritually, as he had carried me, to Boylston Street.

And we scampered together, laughing like children, across the finish line.

Pavementally impaired. But happy as two men in their 60s can be.

That’s the real beauty of the Boston — the million and one unseen acts of kindness among the runners and loving interactions with the spectators. Did I mention the time that I neared the finish line after six hours of running only to discover a beautiful woman holding my hand, encouraging and congratulating me?

It was Uta Pippig, three-time consecutive Boston winner. Where else does something like that happen but here?

This will be my last Boston. I’m quitting on a high note, erasing the misery of my two incompletions. I’ve now completed the course 10 times. That’s enough. And although I didn’t finish dead last, I was close enough.

New York Times bestselling author Michael Levin runs MichaelLevinWrites.com, a book ghostwriting firm.

Poem: “Early, While it was Yet Dark” by: Alice Meynell

 All night had shout of men and cry

Of woeful women filled his way;

Until that noon of somber sky

On Friday, clamor and display

Smote him; no solitude had he,

No silence, since Gethsemane.

 

Public was death; but power, but night,

But life again, but victory,

Were hushed within the dead of night,

The shuttered dark, the secrecy,

And all alone, alone, alone,

He rose again behind the stone.

Poem: “Messenger” by: Mary Oliver

 My work is loving the world. 

Here the sunflowers, there the hummingbird – 

equal seekers of sweetness. 

Here the quickening yeast; there the blue plums. 

Here the clam deep in the speckled sand.

 

Are my boots old? Is my coat torn? 

Am I no longer young, and still not half-perfect? Let me 

keep my mind on what matters, 

which is my work. 

 

which is mostly standing still and learning to be 

astonished. 

The phoebe, the delphinium. 

The sheep in the pasture, and the pasture. 

Which is mostly rejoicing, since all the ingredients are here,

 

which is gratitude, to be given a mind and a heart 

and these body-clothes, 

a mouth with which to give shouts of joy 

to the moth and the wren, to the sleepy dug-up clam, 

telling all of them, over and over, how it is 

that we live forever.