Peter's Request

Note...this comes as part of a double slice of bread...I'm at Camp Marist in Ossipee, New Hampshire, and had hoped to post  it after the morning prayer and daily announcements, but the program started late and took longer than I had been told, so I missed the posting deadline.  The rest of the day also took a different turn other than planned (as always).  God continues to teach me, even at 78:  His way is always different and always the BEST!

The Gospel recounts the appearance of Jesus walking on water and Peter's request to walk with him.Matt 14: 22-36).  Just stop for a moment and ask yourself if you would ask for such a favor, even if you saw Jesus walking on water. What ever possessed Peter to ask for such a "favor'?  Most of us, except the most daring, would not even consider it.  Evidently Peter had second thoughts, and began to sink, as would be expected...Yet, everything happens for a purpose. and here Jesus uses Peter's impetuousness to as the occasion for a lesson in Faith and Trust.  We don't ask to walk on water, but we do make some preposterous requests at times, and then flounder on our own ridiculousness and want to pull back. Jesus says to us as he did to Peter, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" (Mt 14: 32).  Makes us wonder about our prayers, our requests, so often laced with doubt or hesitation...Jesus never stops repeating the lesson, so let's pray that someday we might learn!
Bro. Rene

Seeing The Real Jesus

Todays' Feast of the Transfiguration brings us to Mount Tabor with Peter, James and John, who for a brief time were given a vision of the Real Jesus, aglow in resplendent light, with snow white garments, flanked by Elijah and Moses and affirmed by a voice from a cloud, "This is my beloved Son. Listen to him." (Mk 9: 8). Awestruck, the apostolic trio fell to the ground. As they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus told them to keep the vision to themselves until he had risen from the dead.  No doubt they did not grasp its significance until then
It is now our turn to seek and understand it's significance in the light of the Resurrection and 2000 years of reflection on it.  The Divinity of Jesus was so revealed to enable us to realize that Jesus is no mere man or teacher, but the Son of God.  Belief in him is essential and the base of all we are and do.  Seeing and believing in the Divine Son of God, and acting as he did, enables us to become more like him, and as the Fathers say, to become Divine ourselves..."Silently from Tabor's splendor, the Savior begs: 'Become what you behold!'"  (Magnificat, August, p. 85)
Bro Rene

Honoring The Mother of God

Today marks the dedication of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major (Santa Maria Maggiore) in Rome, on a location said to have been designated by the strange appearance of SNOW...This day is also known as Our Lady of the Snows...The basilica has been enhanced over the centuries and is one of the four major basilicas in Rome. Since the feast falls on a Sunday, it will not be observed this year...Yet devotion to Mary brought thousands of people to the National Shrine of Divine Mercy in Stockbridge, Massachusetts yesterday for the annual Encuentro Latino, a pilgrmage for Latinos speakers. The Mass honored Mary, the Most Blessed Virgin, before this crowd of faithful believers who had traveled from far and wide.  To see their faith, their hunger for the Bread of Life, which Jesus offers in today's Gospel (Jn 6: 24-35) was inspiring and reassuring.  As always, Mary brought these pilgrims, who came to honor her, to her Son.  Whether in Rome or Stockbridge or in local parishes, Mary continues to invite believers, drifters, and searchers to her Son's table.  For this we give her honor and thanks...
Bro. Rene

A Model of Simplicity and Dedication

St. John Marie Vianney, spent 40 years as the pastor of the village of Ars, a remote place where he was sent because he was such a poor student as a seminarian and where he would not cause any trouble. Though he struggled with Latin, he had a keen sense of right and wrong and the gift to read hearts.  The people of Ars had drifted from their faith, but seeing the fervor of their pastor, his prayerfulness, his fastings and outreach to them, they realized they had a saint among them and mended their ways...His reputation in the confessional reached all over France and Europe and people flocked to Ars, keeping the Cure in the confessional 16 hours a day in the summertime.  Even on his deathbed, he heard confessions and gave absolution.
His simple life and his zeal for souls remain an outstanding model for parish priests and for all of us. Discouragement, fatigue and onslaughts of the Evil One made him at time want to run away from Ars, but God intervened and he returned to continue his arduous ministry. He is an example of how God uses the weak, those despised by the world, and  the tempted to work marvels that can only be attributed to him. May the Cure of Ars be an inspiration to us as we face our own inconveniences and trials.  St. John Marie Vianney, pray for us!
Bro. Rene.

Unwelcome Prophets

We sometimes wonder if Jesus were preaching and teaching in our present world, would he have an audience, or would he be rejected as he was in his own "native place"? (cf. Mt 13:54-58).  The people then came up with excuses ranging from family connections to questions about his "credentials" .  :"Where did he get all this?"  Skepticism, excuses to avoid listening to the Truth prevailed then and, no doubt would still be present today.  Seems to be the way we are made.  Unfortunately, Jesus could not do much because of their lack of faith...and would be in the same predicament today.  But let's not just look at our world, but start with ourselves.  Do we listen attentively and act on what we hear, or do we, find excuses or reasons not to?  And when we try, even in our woundedness,  to be faithful witnesses or prophets, will we continue to speak out to an unwelcoming audience?
Bro. Rene

Old Things and New

Not quite sure if Jesus was talking about this when he said, "Then every Scribe who has been instructed in the Kingdom of heaven is like the head of a household who brings from his storeroom bot the new and the old." (Mt 13:52).  Yesterday, August 1st, was a day of bringing out the old and setting it up anew, for the Sheridan Street community in Lawrence, MA.  With the help of friends we placed the statue of St. Joseph, which had adored the Marist Property in Tyngsborough, Massachusetts for at least 50 years, presiding over the garden on a large pedestal, on a new pedestal facing the back door of the residence.  Painted like new, the white statue gleams in the sun, reminding all that the child he holds in his arms is the Light of the World.  It is like having a piece of the Kingdom of God in our own back yard.  Thanks to all involved in this move to preserve a piece of Marist history and inspire generations to come.
Bro. Rene

My Pearl of Great Price

What is my treasure?  What is my Pearl of Great Price?  What is so worthwhile in my life that I would sell all that I have to keep it? Is it my health?  My family? My friends? My relationship with Jesus? All of these are precious, priceless, actually. This morning's Gospel (Mt 13:44-46), as brief as it is, might give us pause and force us to look at what we take so much for granted.  We could lose them in an instant. They are GIFTS!  Might we take stock of our treasure and our pearls this day, thank God for them, and work to keep them in the forefront of our thoughts...to treasure them in our hearts.
Bro. Rene