A Daily Dose of God - Offered by Dcn. George Kelly

 

                                                The Interaction of two earthly kings

 

My college roommate shared this story with me a few weeks ago, “Years ago, the professional golfer Arnold Palmer played a series of exhibitions in Saudi Arabia. When he finished the king was so impressed with Palmer's expertise that he desired to give Palmer a gift. Palmer, a multimillionaire in his own right, demurred: ‘It isn't really necessary, I just enjoyed meeting your people and playing in your country.’

     

The king indicated his extreme displeasure at not be able to give the golf pro a gift.  Palmer wisely reconsidered and said, ‘Well, how about a golf club?  A golf club would be a wonderful memento of my visit here’ The king was pleased.  The following, day, a messenger delivered to Palmer's hotel the title of a golf club, thirty-six holes, trees, lakes, buildings.  The moral of the story.  In the presence of the king, don't ask for small gifts.  [Brennan Manning---The Furious Longing of God]

 

 

Our king is God almighty, and we should accept the gift God offers us, the gift of eternal life, the gift of being all that we can be!  I think reflecting on Psalm 85 (7-14) can help us put our life into an eternal perspective: Prayer for Divine Favor

 

“Certainly you will again restore our life,

    that your people may rejoice in you.

Show us, Lord, your mercy;

    grant us your salvation.

 

I will listen for what God, the Lord, has to say;

    surely he will speak of peace

To his people and to his faithful.

    May they not turn to foolishness!

Near indeed is his salvation for those who fear him;

    glory will dwell in our land.

 

Love and truth will meet;

    justice and peace will kiss.

 Truth will spring from the earth;

    justice will look down from heaven.

Yes, the Lord will grant his bounty;

    our land will yield its produce.

Justice will march before him,

    and make a way for his footsteps.”

 

In our Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church the first question is, “What is God’s plan for man?”  The answer is profound and enlightening “God, infinitely perfect and blessed in himself, in a plan of sheer goodness freely created man to make him share in his own blessed life…. heirs of his eternal happiness.”  [p.5]

 

God gave each of us the gift of life, our gift to God is how we live our life as disciples of the Son of God, Jesus Christ.  Think about the gift of life you have received and the gift of how you live your life for God.

 

Saint Joseph, pray for us.

 

Saint Andre Bessette intercede for us.

 

May God Be Praised!

 

 

A Daily Dose of God - Offerd by Dcn. George Kelly

 

 

                      

Why Spend Time Reading the Scriptures?

 

Pope Francis in his Encyclical Letter, “Fratelli Tutti” uses the parable of the Good Samaritan as the theological focal point of his teaching in this encyclical.  “The parable eloquently presents the basic decision we need to make in order to rebuild our wounded world.  In the face of so much pain ad suffering, our only course is to imitate the Good Samaritan.”  [Fratelli Tutti, 66]

 

Read “The Parable of the Good Samaritan”
today and think about what Jesus is teaching you.

 

There was a scholar of the law who stood up to test him and said, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”  Jesus said to him, “What is written in the law? How do you read it?”  He said in reply, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”  He replied to him, “You have answered correctly; do this and you will live.”

 

But because he wished to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”  Jesus replied, “A man fell victim to robbers as he went down from Jerusalem to Jericho. They stripped and beat him and went off leaving him half-dead.  A priest happened to be going down that road, but when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side.  Likewise, a Levite came to the place, and when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side.  

 

But a Samaritan traveler who came upon him was moved with compassion at the sight.  He approached the victim, poured oil and wine over his wounds and bandaged them. Then he lifted him up on his own animal, took him to an inn and cared for him.  The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper with the instruction, ‘Take care of him. If you spend more than what I have given you, I shall repay you on my way back.’  Which of these three, in your opinion, was neighbor to the robbers’ victim?”  He answered, “The one who treated him with mercy.”  Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”

 

The Gospel of the Lord.

 

Pope Francis reminds us that we are called to seek, promote and foster “The Common Good”, he wrote, “The effort to seek God with sincere heart, provided it is never sullied by ideological or self-serving aims, helps us recognize one another as travelling companions truly brothers and sisters.”  [Fratelli Tutti, 274]

 

Reading the Scriptures enables us to grow closer to God each time we allow the Word of God to mold us.

 

Saint Joseph, pray for us.

 

Saint Andre Bessette intercede for us.

 

 

May God Be Praised!

 

A Daily Dose of God - Offered by Dcn. George Kelly

                                                    “Where Is God when You Pray?”

 

Hear and answer my prayer, O Lord; let me not weep in vain.

 

“Mighty and wonderful are your works,

Lord God Almighty!

Righteous and true are your ways,

O King of the nations!

 

Who would dare refuse you honor,

or the glory due your name, O Lord?

 

Since you alone are holy,

all nations shall come

and worship in your presence.

Your mighty deeds are clearly seen.”  [Revelation 15:3-4]

 

St. Francis de Sales advised us, "If the heart wanders or is distracted, bring it back to the point quite gently and replace it tenderly in its Master's presence. And even if you did nothing during the whole of your hour but bring your heart back and place it again in Our Lord's presence, though it went away every time you brought it back, your hour would be very well employed."

 

St. Paul taught us, “Let everything you say or do be done in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; through him give thanks to God the Father.  Whatever you do, do all for the glory of God.  In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; through him give thanks to God the Father.”  [Colossians 3:17; 1 Corinthians 10:31]

 

The Prophet Jeremiah said, “When I found your words, I devoured them; they became my joy and the happiness of my heart, Because I bore your name, O Lord, God of hosts.”  [Jeremiah 15:16]

 

 Erasmo Leiva-Merikakis observed, “The deepest meaning of Christian discipleship is not to work for Jesus but to be with Jesus.”

 

Reflect on what place Jesus has in your life, particularly your daily life, God is with you each moment of the day.

 

Saint Joseph, pray for us.

 

Saint Andre Bessette intercede for us.

 

May God Be Praised!

 

A Daily Dose of God

 

St. Francis de Sales said, “It is a great evil to fail to do good.”  There are many ways we can show the light of Christ to the world.

 

"Our confidence in God must be founded on His infinite goodness and on the merits of the Passion and death of our Lord Jesus Christ, with this condition on our part: that we should preserve and recognize in ourselves an entire and firm resolution to belong wholly to God, and to abandon ourselves in all things, and without any reserve, to His Providence.

 

The virtues of abandonment and indifference reside in the higher region of our soul; the lower region, generally speaking, has nothing to do with them. We must remain at peace, and paying no attention whatever to what that lower nature desires, we must embrace the divine will and unite ourselves to it—whatsoever this may entail. There are very few persons who reach this height of perfect self-renunciation; nevertheless, we must all aim at it, each according to his little measure."  St. Francis de Sales, The Art of Loving God [pp22-23]

 

 

 

St. Francis de Sales gives us a powerful insight in his Treatise on the Love of God, “Great works do not always come our way but every moment presents us with opportunities to do little ones with excellence.” (T XII 6)

 

 

 

 

St. Augustine teaches us what love looks like, “"What does love look like?

It has the hands to help others.

It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy.

It has eyes to see misery and want.

It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men.

That is what love looks like."

 

So, we are called by God to love, today look for an opportunity to love God, by loving your neighbor in prayer, in action or in both.

 

Saint Joseph, pray for us.

Saint Andre Bessette intercede for us.

 

May God Be Praised!

 

 

A Daily Dose of God

 

                                                         Why Go To Mass?

 

Whether we are going to Mass in person or virtually, Mass enables us the breath the breathe of God, and enable our souls to flourish.  We breath God, let us use that breath wisely.

 

Would we go without food/drink (nourishment) on a regular basis?  No, we know we need them to sustain our physical well-being.  What about our spiritual well-being? The same logic applies; we need to feed our spiritual life to sustain it.

Why go to Mass on Sunday or any day?  Here is something to consider!

At Mass Jesus comes to us Sacramentally to remind us that He is with us on our earthly journey.  He strengthens us so that we can make a difference where we live, with our spouse, with our children, with our neighbors and with ourselves.

God’s grace flows though us so we can live as His disciple, whether we are the Magi Seeking, the Good Samaritan Helping, the Forgiving Father Embracing, the Poor Widow Sharing, the Apostles Teaching, Martha Working, Mary Listening, or just going about our daily routine!

We go to Mass to prepare ourselves to live our story as best we can for God, for the God Who loves us and created us, and for all those we meet while we are on our earthly journey.

 

“My soul, give praise to the Lord; I will praise the Lord all my days….
He is happy who is helped by Jacob’s God, whose hope is in the Lord his God, who alone made heaven and earth, the seas and all they contain.” (Psalm 146)

Remember we breathe God, let us use that breath wisely!

 

Saint Joseph, pray for us.

 

 

Saint Andre Bessette intercede for us.

May God Be Praised!

 

A Daily Dose of God

            

Chapter 10 “Each of Us Has a Personal History of Prayer”

 

“Most important of all is Sacred Scripture, the word of the living God and likewise the oldest faith-tradition of the church.  But all that must always be bound up with experiences of faith that are personal to every individual Christian.” [p185]

 

Prayers and praying are most easily learned when children hear and see adults pray regularly.

 

St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians [and to us], “What do you that you did not receive? [1 Cor 4:7]   In the Diary of a Country, George Bernanos wrote, “All is grace.”

[excerpts from p. 191]

 

“A human being truly becomes a person only when someone looks at her or him with joy, and that joy has to be uttered.  If there is no living dialogue between God and a human person, no complaint, no petition, no thanksgiving, God can never be a living person- and so, in the end, will not exist.”  [p.192] “Prayers should indeed be spirit-filled, but they should not be ‘spiritual.’  “They are not for spiritual enjoyment; they are an appeal to the holy God …. They [should] always remain simple and direct.”  [p195]

 

 

“What makes prayer to be prayer is not its perfect form and most certainly not ant spiritual enjoyment: it is the will to pray.  Those who want to pray and open their hearts to it are already praying.”  [p.197]

 

It is extremely important to remember that “Prayer is not magical.”  [p.202]

 

Prayer is a way of life to be lived, to be repeated each day, because today is the only day we have to pray, the only day we have to live.  When tomorrow gets here it is today, and yesterday with its prayers has already entered eternity.

 

 

Saint Joseph, pray for us.

 

Saint Andre Bessette intercede for us.

 

May God Be Praised!

 

A Daily Dose of God

 

                                Chapter 9 “What Happens in the Eucharist Prayer?”

 

“… the phrase ‘Eucharistic Prayer,’ … the great central section of the Mass that begins with the Preface and ends with the great Doxology before the Our Father…. this part of the Mass was not always called the ‘Eucharistic Prayer.’  [p.162]

 

“… one of the most ancient accounts of the form of the eucharistic celebration. Namely, the one given by the theologian Justin in his Apology, written around the year 150 for the Roman emperor, Antonius Pius…. the most important aspects of the two accounts: 1. The communities gather on Sunday, in Judaism the first day of the week, 2. The Sunday assembly begins with a Liturgy of the Word, 3. [next a] homily, 4. … all stand and offer prayers, 5. … exchange the kiss of peace, 6. … bread, wine, and water are brought ... 7. the bishop, speaks ‘prayers and thanksgivings [Praise and Glory], Benedictions.”  [pp.164-167]

 

 

 

“The Didache is the oldest church order, giving instructions for community life… it gives orders for baptism and Eucharist.” [p.171]

 

One of the oldest and most beautiful Eucharistic Prayers is attributed to Hippolytus, “… he died a martyr … in the year 235.”  [p.173]

 

“The Eucharistic Prayer is the church’s basic event.”  [p.181]

 

“In Jesus the Logos of God has truly become flesh.  That incarnation continues in the sacrament of the Eucharist.”  [p.184]

 

Truly the Source and Summit of our Faith, our Church and [really] of the Universe.

 

Saint Joseph, pray for us.

 

Saint Andre Bessette intercede for us.

 

May God Be Praised!

 

A Daily Dose of God

 

                            The Feast of St. Francis de Sales, the Gentleman Saint

 

Today I offer you two of Francis de Sales most beneficial prayers, one to begin your day and the other to end your day.  If you faithfully pray them, you will draw closer to Jesus Christ and your daily anxiety will decrease as your love of God increases. 

Most of these Salesian spiritual thoughts have been gathered from Msgr. Charles Murphy’s book, “Belonging to God: A Personal Training Guide for The Deeper Catholic Spiritual Life.” 

“Belonging to God” is based on de Sales’ “Introduction to the Devout Life” while updating it with the teachings of both St. Francis de Sales and St. Jane de Chantal for a rich and powerful spiritual manual. 

 

Direction of Intention (St. Francis deSales) 

My God, I give you this day.

I offer you, now, all of the good

that I shall do …

and

I promise to accept, for love of you,

all of the difficulty that I shall meet.

Help me to conduct myself during this day In a manner [most] pleasing to you.

 

The purpose of lay spirituality is to bring holiness to the secular world. 

St. Francis de Sales lived when Kepler, Copernicus and Galileo lived.  He drew upon John of the Cross, Luis of Granada and Teresa of Avila.  de Sales was taught by the Jesuits and influenced by Ignatius of Loyola.

“The holiness of the lay baptized is based on the prudent ‘enjoyment’ and ‘use’ of the things of this world in poverty and liberty of spirit.… to be holy is to discover and to accept that we belong to God, who alone is holy.” (p.14 & p.21)

 

Reflect on the Five Salesian Spiritual Principles:

1. listen to the heart

2. commit

3. perfect freedom

4. belonging to God

5. ordinary things

 

Fidelity to prayer is fundamental to progress in the spiritual life, in Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s Novella, The Little Prince – we learned that “It is the time you wasted with you rose that makes it important.”  Reflecting on your prayer life [the rose] by this world’s values is a waste of time, yet in the spiritual realm “what is important is wasting time” with God.  For us, “belief in God is not just a philosophy or a theology – it is a relationship, one that is nourished by prayer.” (p.96)

 

We know from experience that CHANGE – “…takes place only little by little …. We must not be disturbed by our imperfections.” (p.81)

The prayer below can help us review our day, its successes, its failures and its missed opportunities.

 

Day is Ending (St. Francis de Sales)

Thank you for all the gifts of the day,

for the place I spent it

And for those with whom I spent it, for all its joys

and all its sorrows, for the troubles overcome

and for those that remain.

I offer you the silence of this night, its darkness and its solitude.

Whether you chose under the cover of this night to take away the problems of this day, or leave them for tomorrow, I will bless your name.

Thy will be done.               

Amen.

Saint Joseph, pray for us.

Saint Francis de Sales pray for us.

Saint Andre Bessette intercede for us.

May God Be Praised!

 

 

 

 

A Daily Dose of God

 

Today and tomorrow, we will divert from our reflection of Fr. Gerhard Lohfink’s book “Prayer Takes Us Home” to think about my homily offered yesterday to the OLPH School Mass [8:45 am].  Tomorrow I will share a few spiritual insights for St. Francis de Sales on his feast day.  Next Monday and Tuesday we will conclude our sharing on “Prayer Takes Us Home.”  

 

 

 

 

Homily Cycle i - 1/22/2021 Our Lady of Perpetual Help School Mass

Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/012221.cfm

 

Today our readings remind us that we are made in God’s image and likeness; God’s imprint is on each human heart and God promises us a “new” covenant.  God’s laws are “… placed in our minds and written on our hearts.”  God told the Israelites and us “I will be there God and they will be my people.”

 

We are God’s people, in our Gospel today Jesus called His Apostles and at our Baptism He called us to be His disciples.  Only God grants life and only God can call us home.  Biblically - Mountains are very important information like An Alert, Breaking News coming through electronic media:

Moses received the Commandments on Mount Sinai,

Apostles were summoned and called by Jesus,

The Transfiguration,

The Sermon on the Mount,

The Crucifixion & the Ascension,

Very Important Events happen on Mountains.

 

This past Wednesday we experienced an Important Political Event, the Inauguration of a new President and Vice President we should pray for them and all elected officials and government workers in our nation.  Let me share some Biblical reflections that were shared that day:

1.    At Mass in the morning: “… the divine summons [is] for all of us, no matter our faith background or walk of life.”  And St. Paul tells us that “The Lord is near. Have no anxiety at all ….” [Kevin O’Brien, S.J., the president of Santa Clara University, Homily 1/22/2021]

 

2.    Invocation: “Gracious & merciful God, at this sacred time we come before you in need—indeed on our knees. But we come still more with hope ….”  [Fr. Leo Donovan, SJ]

 

3.    Benediction: “More than ever ... [God] they and our nation need you … for in you we discover our common humanity.”  [Rev. Sylvester Beaman]

 

We are like the Apostles in today’s Gospel called by God to as St. Francis de Sales said, “Be who you are and be that well, to give honor to the Master Craftsman whose handiwork you are.”  We are to reflect God’s goodness to the world. 

Emily Dickinson wrote, “‘Hope’ is the thing with feathers –                                  

That perches in the soul –                                                                                                   

And sings the tune without the words                                                                       

And never stops - at all….” 

 

Today remember that our Hope and our Salvation is in Jesus Christ.  Today He reminds us to Hope in Him and to follow Him.                                                             

 

 

Saint Joseph, pray for us.

 

Saint Andre Bessette intercede for us.

 

May God Be Praised!

A Daily Dose of God

 

                                 Chapter 8 “Meditation Makes History Present”

 

 

“… we are to understand that the whole of human existence is subject to the power of sin: constant self-praise, unlimited self-care, disordered and boundless greed.  Human beings are not masters of themselves as many guides meditation suggest; they are ‘slaves to sin,’ torn this way and that, doing what they hate. “This situation of humanity is not, however, natural; it is the product of history.”  [p.144]

 

“… God confronts the powers of evil not only with individual prophets and saints but with a whole people.  God wants to have a people in the world - a people from which blessing can come for the whole world.  That is a baseline in Old and New Testament theology…. here is Jesus with his parables ….’  [p.145]

 

 

 

“True meditation cannot be unworldly; it is radically engaged with the world.  It most certainly cannot be objectless.  Its object is God and God’s history with the world.”  [p.146]

 

“… the subject of the Bible is the history that has taken place between God and the world and between God and God’s people.”  [p.147]

 

We may look at the history of the Church as the ‘Bible’ being lived by God’s people, many times not well, but always under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

 

“The Christian mystic wants to empty the self, become ‘nothing,’ but only in order to be completely filled by God and to be fully present for God…. becoming empty is not the goal but only the precondition for the real thing: the presence of God.”  [p.149]

 

“… Christian meditation arises out of contemplation of the works of God.  That contemplation may include many things: nature, humanity, the world, the whole of creation, the Torah, the nature of God.  But the frame and underpinning of it all must be God’s action in history, for us that is the Bible’s basic story.”  [p.152]

 

 

Saint Joseph, pray for us.

 

Saint Andre Bessette intercede for us.

 

May God Be Praised!