Over the next few days I will share with you some excerpts and thoughts on Fr. Gerhard Lofink’s book, The Our Father: A New Reading.  I hope and pray that in addition to these reflections you take the time to read his powerful book

He was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished,

one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as

John taught his disciples.”  He said to them, “When you pray, say:

Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come.

Give us each day our daily bread and forgive us our sins for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us, and do not subject us to the final test.”

In the Preface we read that “lead us not into temptation”, what does it mean, how should it be correctly translated; this section alone is worth reading the entire book.

In Chapter One: The Curious Form of the Our Father the author states the Our Father is primarily a prayer for Jesus’ disciples, and in the Gospel of Matthew [5:1-2] it is placed it at the center of the Sermon on the Mount

In the Gospel of Luke [11:1], the disciples ask Jesus to teach

them to pray and He taught them the Our Father and in this Gospel it is primarily for Jesus’ disciples, a petition for bread.

The Our Father leads us to desire only what God wants.  In the early Church the Our Father was so precious that it was fully given only when the catechumenate was completed, shortly before the baptism of new candidates.  The catechumens were presented the Creed and the Our Father solemnly.

For us much of the Our Father is routine, foggy and vague, here are

“… five observations about the Our Father:

1. the Our Father is pure petition

2. it is very short

3. it gets right to the point

4. God’s interest comes first

5. God acts through people

May God Be Praised!

Four years ago today I retired from my position at De Sales University after 36 years of joy-filled work.  My son Brian and my daughter Elizabeth shared the thoughts of the Kelly family and really the DeSales Community.  Those reflections are below as well as my response.  May you be blessed today and every day.

 

Brain’s message 9-07-15

 “I just wanted to reach out to you on the eve of your last day of official work at DeSales. I have no doubts that it is bittersweet.  You have been associated with the university almost as many years as I have been on the planet. That is a remarkable feat that not many people can say they've ever accomplished.

While I am sure there may be some anxiety as you turn off the lights and shut the door for the last time, know that you are an inspiration to many people, especially your kids.  One thing that I have been able to appreciate is your tireless work ethic and devotion to your family, the Lord, and of course DeSales.

DeSales is like your 6th child, there are so many memories that you have with that place.  I wish you nothing but happiness in your retired life.  I am sure it will be an awesome feeling this time tomorrow knowing that you do not have to set an alarm to make that drive to Center Valley.  I look forward to many extended visits in the future.  I love you.”

Elizabeth’s message 9-07-15

“And it all comes full circle for the Deac, back to Dooling Hall, where he started as a student in '65, where he met my Mom at a mixer, where he started working in Admissions and today, where he ended his last day... footprints left on the hearts of all the lives he touched.”

My response to retirement well wishes the ones above and the hundreds that I carry in my heart is below.

“A humble and grateful thank you, I offer each of you this morning, for the prayers, thoughts and comments on my retirement from Allentown College of St. Francis deSales and DeSales University yesterday.

My student days and my employee days are a precious gift from our loving God.  Each of you will be in my prayers as I continue my journey, now by other paths; may we meet often, and praise God often.

In one of the Morning Prayer antiphons we pray, "Lord, let the light of your face shine upon us."

May each of us recognize that light each moment here on earth, until we are in the Presence of that Light, eternally when every tear will be wiped away!”

May God Be Praised!

Rainer Maria Rilke wrote, “Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books that are now written in a very foreign tongue.

Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them.

And the point is, to live everything.

Live the questions now.  Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer.” 

  

Rilke gives us great insight into our prayer life, occasionally God answers us directly and clearly most times God is forming us to trust Jesus, the Word Made Flesh.  Jesus shows us the way, the truth and the life, we choose how to respond.

We can TRUST the God has the Kingdom under control; we need to live the Lord’s way to show a glimpse of its wonder and beauty.

Today pray with Trust that God who created you and loves you is with you, your prayer opens your heart and your soul to God’s love, love the questions and love God.

May God Be Praised!

The letter from St. Paul to Timothy reminds that we should pray.  “Prayer is spiritual breathing; exercise for the soul.”  We are called to “... pray for everyone … NOT because prayer changes God’s will; rather it opens us up to [God’s will].  (Celebrations: 9-18-16)

Jesus challenges us to reflect on the way we THINK; on what we hold as most important.  Prayer opens our minds, our wills and our heart to God’s grace and only God’s grace can lead us to the right path!

 

To be a disciple of Jesus Christ calls us to not follow the normal expectations of this world.  The Kingdom of Jesus is not human normal, as we know it.  Remember the last shall be first; whatever you did for then least you did for Jesus.

May God Be Praised!

Sunday Homily Cycle C 9-01-19

Readings: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/090119.cfm

 

Today’s Scripture readings could be summed up ”Let God be the air in which your heart breathes at ease.”  [St. Francis de Sales] 

Or they could be summed up by Teihard de Chardin who put it this way, “We are not human beings on a spiritual journey, we are spiritual beings on a human journey.”

Many times we forget God, today we are reminded to remember God, to let God direct our lives.  In the Opening Prayer [Collect] for Mass the priest asked God, “… to put into our hearts the love of your name, so that, by deepening our sense of reverence, you may nurture in us what is good and, by your watchful care, keep safe what you have nurtured.”

Humility is TRUTH – the TRUTH of our lives is following Jesus in our actions and in our attitudes.  The TRUTH is -- loving God with all of our heart, with all our will and with all our mind.

We acknowledge God’s goodness and the fact that any goodness we have comes from God.  de Sales said, “You make spiritual progress by continually beginning again & again.” (Every Day with Saint Francis De Sales, p.238)

Jesus calls us to give our best effort in following Him!  Take a moment to think about your efforts as a follower of Jesus Christ. 

Are you living a humble life as Jesus calls you to live?

How can we answer God’s call to be HUMBLE?

Are we called to be DOORMATS for the world?  NO! 

We are called to live the TRUTH of who we are!  “Humility is appreciation, not abasement … truth not insecurity.”  [Bausch, 60 Seasonal Homilies, p.134]

The TRUTH IS each one of us has God given talents, God given gifts.

We are to use those talents to honor God, to build–up God’s Kingdom here on earth.  St. Teresa of Calcutta [Mother Teresa] said, “God does not require that we be successful only that we be faithful.” 

For a few minutes, in silence, reflect on how HUMBLE you are as a disciple of Jesus Christ? 

May God Be Praised!

Today I want to share with you part of Sunday [yesterday’s] Morning Prayer,

“I will sprinkle clean water upon you to cleanse you from all your impurities, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. I will give you a new heart and place a new spirit within you, taking from your bodies your stony hearts and giving you natural hearts. I will put my spirit within you and make you live by my statutes, careful to observe my decrees.  You shall live in the land I gave your fathers; you shall be my people, and I will be your God.” [Ezekiel 36:25-28]

We give thanks to you, O God, as we call upon your name.
– We give thanks to you, O God, as we call upon your name.

We cry aloud how marvelous you are,
– as we call upon your name.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
– We give thanks to you, O God, as we call upon your name.

Spend some time today offering your petitions to Our Lord Who is our light and our joy and Who is listening to you. 

Blessed Louis Brisson, OSFS  [Founder of the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales] 
said,  “O Jesus, teach us how to make our soul be silent so

that You may speak to us.”

Today after you speak to the Lord, spend a few minutes in silence, so He can speak to you.

May God Be Praised!

Today reflect on three different but good people St. Teresa of Calcutta, Arnold Palmer and the Good Samaritan.   

 

St. Teresa of Calcutta said, “Not all of us can do Great things, but we can do small things with Great love.”

Arnold Palmer said,  “What other people find in poetry, I find in the flight of a good drive.  He was a man of the people, willing to sign every autograph, shake every hand, and tried to look every person in his gallery in the eye. He lived by the Golden Rule, ‘Do unto others what you would want them to do to you.’”

In the Gospel account of the Good Samaritan Jesus reminds us that there will be many ditches on our pilgrimage here on earth.  Keep an eye along the roads you travel for the ditches: along country roads, mountain trails, city streets and sidewalks.  In office buildings, schools, even churches have them.

Ditches where people are left when they're of no use; discarded when any value they had has been stripped from them.  Ditches are where people fall when they have nothing left to give.

You may have the opportunity today to pull someone out of the ditch they've fallen into or left to die in.  Your kindness, your respect, your willingness to help or listen can be the mercy of God for someone who is broken, battered, left for dead.

We can “Dare to Be Great”: if we do all things with love of God as Mother Teresa did; if we “Do unto others what we would want them to do unto us.”,; as Arnold Palmer did and if we help those we find in the ditches of life as the Good Samaritan did!  (Ditches from Connections 10-03-16)

St. Francis de Sales said, “Great occasions for serving God come seldom, but little ones surround us.”  (Sermon in a Sentence, p.49)

Take a few minutes today and reflect on how you can “Dare to Be Great!”

May God Be Praised!