Prayfor2

The Church recently recognized John Henry Newman as a canonized saint of the Church. A brilliant 19th century poet and author, Newman was an Anglican convert to Catholicism from England. While we believe that there are many people in heaven, the canonization process recognizes those who lived lives or heroic virtue in this life, and are interceding on our behalf to Jesus in heaven.

Today, let’s dwell in the prayer of this newly recognized saint…

God had created me to do Him some definite service. He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another. I have my mission. I may never know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next. I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons. He has not created be for naught. I shall do good; I shall do His work. I shall be an angel of peace, a preacher of truth in my own place, while not intending it if I do but keep His commandments. Therefore, I will trust Him, whatever I am, I can never be thrown away. If I am in sickness, my sickness may serve Him, in perplexity, my perplexity may serve Him. If I am in sorrow, my sorrow may serve Him. He does nothing in vain. He knows what He is about. He may take away my friends. He may throw me among strangers. He may make me feel desolate, make my spirits sink, hide my future from me. Still, He knows what He is about. Amen

This is Mike Kelly with Pray For 2. Listen to them anytime at godislove.blog, or on the Redeemer Radio app.

You are the light of the world. Jesus figuratively passed His torch to us in the Gospel of Matthew,

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid. Nor do men light a lamp and put it under a bushel, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

Today, let’s pray a prayer alternately known as The Radiating Christ Prayer or the Fragrance Prayer by Saint John Henry Newman…

Dear Jesus, help me to spread Your fragrance wherever I go.

Flood my soul with Your spirit and life.

Penetrate and possess my whole being so utterly, that my life may only be a radiance of Yours.

Shine through me, and be so in me that every soul I come in contact with may feel Your presence in my soul.

Let them look up and see no longer me, but only Jesus!

Stay with me and then I shall begin to shine as You shine, so to shine as to be a light to others.

The light, O Jesus, will be all from You; none of it will be mine.

It will be you, shining on others through me.

Let me thus praise You the way You love best, by shining on those around me.

Let me preach You without preaching, not by words but by my example.

Amen.

This is Mike Kelly with Pray For 2. Listen to them anytime at godislove.blog, or on the Redeemer Radio app.

Peace be with you. Peace means so much more than a lack of conflict. It’s rooted in the Jewish word, Shalom – which means both hello and goodbye, but is also meant to convey a wish for harmony, wholeness, completeness, prosperity, welfare and tranquility to the hearer. It is a very holistic, and hence holy, expression of faith, hope and love.

Today, let’s dwell in the richness Jesus meant to convey when He said, “Peace be with you,” to “Doubting Thomas,” in the Gospel of John.

Thomas (who was called Didymus, the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”

A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.”

Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”

Let’s pray – Father of grace and mercy – you sent us Jesus to bring your Kingdom of peace into the world. Help us to dwell in your wish for our harmony, wholeness, completeness, prosperity, welfare and tranquility, as we hear you say, “peace be with you.” Amen

This is Mike Kelly with Pray For 2. Listen to them anytime at godislove.blog, or on the Redeemer Radio app.

What is your image of God? In taking with a good friend, he shared that it’s hard to relate to God because we have no image of him. God revealed himself to many in the Bible, but typically cloaked himself, as He did to Moses in the book of Exodus.

Moses …came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush; he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed. .. God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then he said, “Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” He said further, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”

Why does God have to cloak Himself? Because infinite love is that overwhelming. Imagine God as pure white light, a light that would annihilate us. Then picture it striking a prism and splaying out into various colored beams. The beams are created nature, divine revelation, the Church, prayer, the Sacraments, and His son, Jesus Christ. He cloaks Himself in various physical forms that appeal to our physical nature without overwhelming us, each their own beautiful and unique way of revealing and conveying His love.

Let’s Pray – God our loving Father. Help us to encounter you in the many ways you reveal yourself to us, and help us to trust in the blinding power of your infinite love. Amen

This is Mike Kelly with Pray For 2. Listen to them anytime at godislove.blog, or on the Redeemer Radio app.

God calls us to comfort the mourning. When the sister of one of our small Christian Community members passed away, we struggled with how to comfort them.

We discovered a video on an ancient Jewish tradition called “Sitting Shiva,” which seemed to share the Latin root of, “compassion” which means, “to suffer with.” The intent is to sit with the mourning person, with no expectations for conversation, but to simply be present and suffer with them.

Eight of us crowded into our small front room. We watched the video, then said we are going to sit shiva with you. Our friend smiled, shook his head and laughed, and then the words came rolling out. He laughed, and cried, sharing stories for nearly an hour and a half.

This spiritual warrior of a man, who had put his entire family on his back during the funeral, was finally allowed to mourn himself. Our group still sees that as one of our favorite meetings – not for what we put into it, but for allowing the Holy Spirit to move through our silent support.

Jesus says, “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Father of Grace and Mercy – Help us to set aside our fears and sit shiva with those who mourn. Allow us to be channels of your peace, even in our silence. Amen.

This is Mike Kelly with Pray For 2. Listen to them anytime at godislove.blog, or on the Redeemer Radio app.

There are multiple translations of the Bible, largely because the original texts were written in Hebrew and Greek. Some words carry added meaning that English can’t fully articulate.

One such word in Old Testament Hebrew is the word chesed, used in the prayer of Psalm 118. The word has been translated as love, as mercy, but the most thorough may be, “steadfast love.” It reflects the covenantal relationship God has with us – we are family, and there is an enduring loyalty in God’s love and mercy.

Let’s pray the Psalm today, reflecting on the Divine Mercy and steadfast love of God.

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, his steadfast love endures forever.

Let Israel say: his mercy endures forever.

Let the house of Aaron say, his mercy endures forever.

Let those who fear the LORD say, his mercy endures forever.

In danger I called on the LORD; the LORD answered me and set me free.

The LORD is with me; I am not afraid; what can mortals do against me?

I was hard pressed and was falling, but the LORD helped me.

The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.

I thank you for you answered me; you have been my savior….

The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.

This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, his steadfast love and mercy endure forever. Amen

As an agnostic, I questioned a lot. I believed there had to be a creator - the world seemed far too complex, with too many contingencies, to be an evolutionary accident. But it felt like this creator had spun the world into existence, threw up his hands, and wished us all best of luck in sorting life out. God seemed far off and unapproachable.

As I came to faith, I realized that not only is God approachable, He is also an intimate and loving Father that longs for relationship with you and me, His beloved creations.

God listens. He responds. Maybe not immediately, or in the way we would hope, but He is not remote or aloof. He loves you deeply, and has a loving plan for you and your life.

Let’s listen to how God, who is love, encourages us to approach Him, in the gospel of Saint Matthew:

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

Let’s pray – Father of grace and mercy – you thirst for your children to approach and know you. Help us to rest in the comfort of your love, and grant us the confidence to ask, seek and knock, knowing the door of your love will be opened to us. Amen.

Diversity. There is virtue in diversity when we recognize the dignity of every human person, and our unity as members of the one body of Christ. But diversity has increasingly been used to demonize and divide.

As Bishop Robert Baron said, “The demonic power is always one of scattering. It breaks up communion. But Jesus, as always, is the voice of communion, of one bringing things back together.”

Saint Paul addresses our diversity in both his letter to the Romans and his first letter to the Corinthians…

For as in one body we have many parts, and all the parts do not have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ and individually parts of one another. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body…and we were all given to drink of one Spirit.

Today, let’s pray that our diversity leads us to unity, as members of the one body of Christ, using Saint Paul’s letter to the Ephesians….

I, then, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another through love, striving to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace: one body and one Spirit, as you were also called to the one hope of your call; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. Amen.

I remember my daughter, who was in first grade, running home with a picture she had colored. It was wonderfully messy, yet I appreciated it for the joy she had put into and the love with which she shared it.

I think God views our acts of faith like that first grader art project. As we pray this famous prayer from Thomas Merton, dwell in the mind and heart of God. Picture Him smiling down on you like that proud parent, not because you’re perfect, but because you are loved.

My Lord God I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone. Amen.

There’s a hole in your bucket, dear Liza. This line from a children’s song published in Germany circa 1700 is a great analogy for our spiritual life. While are faith is often strong, we hold it in a fragile vessel that leaks. And if we don’t routinely seek to replenish our faith, our bucket can run dry.

This points to the genius of the sacraments. Our physical encounters with the grace of God refill our buckets, to the point that it overflow out onto others. God pours out that grace into us, and we channel that grace on to others.

Listen to Saint Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians,

For we do not preach ourselves but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your slaves for the sake of Jesus. For God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to bring to light the knowledge of the glory of God on the face of [Jesus] Christ. But we hold this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing power may be of God and not from us.

Let’s pray – Father of grace and mercy. You gave us the sacraments as strength for our journey, and a way to tap into the grace you want to pour into our hearts and through our actions. Help us to recognize the hole in our bucket and plant within us the desire to seek you frequently through your sacraments. Amen.