Prayer Purifies

Like any team on a winning streak, there are times in our spiritual lives, when all is going well, according to us: prayer comes easy, we feel good as we pray and afterwards:  a clear sky, no clouds at all.  Then comes the implosion:  a team seems to fall apart, nothing works, mistake follows mistake.  A brick wall? Prayer too can take such an unexpected nose dive; it becomes flat and doesn't go anywhere, again, according to us.  But according to a long line of spiritual directors, these flat times are the ones that purify us, our motivations, our commitment to prayer and its overflow action of loving service.  We learn patience, perserverence, and humility. We need to accept this lull, this quiet, winter, desert time.  It will bear fruit as the patient mother bird sitting on her nest eventuall feels her young break through their shells. It's about PRESENCE, a familiar Marist theme,  as I observed this morning on our porch:  the daddy bird perched on the railing below the family nest, in quiet waiting, ready to step in to protect, to bring food, if needed, serving no other purpose, it seemed, other than to BE THERE.  Our commitment to prayer will be tested periodically to purifiy us, to draw us back to the simple stance of BEING  THERE.   Very hard, but necessary, for those who are DOERS. For without this deeper connection with God, these DOINGS will dissolve like sugar in hot tea. 
 This is how we live out St. Paul's admonition:  "Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."  (1Thess 5:16)
Bro. Rene

St. Rita of Cascia

Perhaps more popular in Italy than in the United States, the 15th century wife, mother, widow, nun, St. Rita of Cascia, nevertheless is a saint for our times and our needs.  Her life was filled with challenges one would deem impossible from an early age when at 12 she was forced by her parents to marry a man with a bad temper who abused her, was unfaithful to her and taught their sons his evil ways. He was eventually killed by one of his enemies, leaving Rita a widow after 20 years of marriage.  Her one consolation was that he repented at the end of his life. Rita was finally able to fulfill her life-long dream, and entered the convent of the Augustinian Nuns at Cascia, but even there, felt isolated and lonely because the nuns feared her husbands enemies might take reprisal on the convent which housed his widow.  The behavior of her sons was a cross, but yet she asked Jesus for a closer tie with him in his passion.  Her request was granted, and she received the stigmata in the form of a wound in her forehead similar to those Jesus bore from the crown of thorns.  Hers was a single wound which she endured with great pain for the rest of her life.  She died in 1457 and was canonized in 1900 by Pope Leo XIII.  It is no wonder that she is the patroness of impossible causes, victims of abuse, sickness, loneliness, parents and widows.  She experienced all of these.  With these situations currently so rampant, it would seem that she should be invoked day and night by everyone.  Her story needs to be re-told.  Google presents many sites for those who wish to know more about her.  St. Rita, help us not to despair when we think we cannot take one more step forward or the burdens we carry are too heavy.  Your prayers, penances, good works and perseverance throughout a life of trial and hardship are a model for us. 
Thank you for being there with and for us. Amen.
Bro. Rene

Lightning Strikes Twice

As we reel from the news of the second tornado in near Oklahoma City, news of another fire in the school in Byimana, Rwanda where a dormitory was destroyed last month.  This time the refectory (dining room), which had become a dorm, the kitchen and chapel were ruined in the blaze last night.  The students were moved to classrooms for the rest of the night and sent home today.  This would make continuing the academic year in that location impossible.
On top of that, one of my former Rwandan students, who lives in More, Oklahoma, lost everything in the tornado.  He was at work, so he himself is safe.
Making its way around the world on You Tube is a song called Clouds by Zach Sobiech, who died just yesterday from cancer.  He wrote the song in December for his parents and friends.  It is filled with hope for a better life.   Sirach reminds us:  "You who fear the Lord, hope for good things,/ for lasting joy and mercy./ You who fear the Lord, love him,/ and your hearts will be enlightened./ Study the generations long past and understand;/ has anyone hoped in the Lord and been disappointed?/ Has anyone persevered in his commandments and been forsaken? has anyone called upon him and been rebuffed?/...he saves in time of trouble/ and he is a protector to all who seek him in truth." (Sirach 3: 9-1)
Br. Rene

Voices

Our three-month renewal program concluded yesterday with Pentecost, and today we enter the longest season of the liturgical year, Ordinary Time.  This period is now an application of the things we learned, the behaviors we attempted to modify, and the gifts of the spirit.  The Church has opened the Book of Wisdom as our first readings for the next few days.  Wisdom...the voices of the past, the voices of our parents, grandparents, and the Church itself.  If we can, let us find a few moments to reflect, ponder with Mary, those voices of wisdom; to repeat interiorly what we have heard and measure how well our behavior reflects them.
Bro. Rene

The Day of the Spirit

The Holy Spirit seems to take a "back place" in our prayers, spirituality and thinking.  Always last in the Trinitarian list:  Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  But not today, for TODAY is the Day of the Spirit,  when the banners and trumpets are out in force, or should be.   Tongues of fire, symbols of the interior "firing up" of the Disciples and Mary in the upper room,  the sound of a great wind, doors flung open, a crowd of 3,000 hearing Peter speak in their own tongues, and the first "big" conversion to Christ set the tone for the day.  The Sequence of the Mass of Pentecost presents beautiful images of the Spirit:  "Light divine, comforter, refreshment, rest, coolness, solace, dew, cleansing water, strength, warmth", the works, it seems.  And rightly so...for the Spirit springs forth from the eternal and all-encompassing love of the Father for the Son.  How blessed are we individuals and a Church to have such a presence in our hearts, in our midst.  Images of Pope Francis at the Vigil of Pentecost sum it up:  a white clothed figure in the midst of a huge crowd of 200,000, reaching out to them, kissing them, urging them to live the way Jesus taught.  He thrusts himself into the hearts of people, literally, inviting them to follow Jesus.  That's what Peter did on Pentecost, that's what we are called to do, must do, wherever we are!  Happy Pentecost. 
Bro. Rene

Endings

For many of us, endings are hard.  I personally hate them:  the end of a movie, a book, a season, an academic year, etc...I guess it's because I'm so totally immersed  in the present situation that I narrow my vision to it, and am so comfortable in it, that I don't think there can be anything better beyond it.  Of course, I've found over and over again that that's not true; the next chapter, or the next whatever, has always been better than the last.  Still, the coming of change causes hesitation and a degree of sadness.
Today we approach the end of the Easter Season, for tomorrow, Pentecost, we celebrate the "birthday" of the Church and the beginning of another phase of the liturgical cycle.  We concluded the Gospel of John and the Acts of the Apostles in preparation for the story of Pentecost and the reception of the Holy Spirit.;  We have meditated on the resurrection and prayed for the coming of the Spirit.  We should be ready.   Perhaps while shopping, or attending graduations, (endings and commencements, beginnings, for the graduates), we might renew our hope in the presence of the Spirit to "make all things new" and ask that we know our own place in making that renewal happen, so that hope and joy may fill us and overflow to others.
Bro. Rene

The Power of "YES"

Let us imagine for a moment that we are gathered with the Apostles and Mary in the Upper Room, awaiting the Spirit.  We look at Mary, serene in her prayer, pondering, no doubt, the many instances when she encountered the power of the Spirit in her life, foremost of which must have been the moment of the Annunciation when her "yes" changed the course of history. Not only was the Spirit present in her all-pure soul, but the power of the overshadowing Presence brought forth the conception of the Son of God in her womb. Her "yes" was the gate of Salvation.  Her example must have helped Jesus in his Gethsemane agony to say a powerful "yes" to his Father's offering of the bitter cup of suffering, death and resurrection.
Then there's Peter, who denied Jesus three times, doubted at least once, but yet affirmed his faith and confidence in Jesus three times with his "yes" at the post-resurrection sea shore  breakfast cooked by Jesus.  "Do you love me, Simon Peter?"  "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you." (Jn 21: 15).  He reversed his denial and accepted his role as Rock, Shepherd and Feeder of Jesus' followers.   How often must Peter have reverted to those "yes" moments? How they must have readied him for the great task that awaited him on Pentecost morn and beyond.
So too for us...how a good look back at our "yes-es" and the difference they have made in our lives and the lives of others.  Food for thought, prayer, and spiritual growth as we await Pentecost.
Bro. Rene