Athirst Is My Soul For The Living God

The image of the hind longing for running waters (Ps 42: 2) has appealed to Seekers for centuries. No one has been exempt from the need to drink refreshing water, and certainly our souls thirst in the same needy way for God.  We may not always sense that it is God we long for; it may simply be rest from the "rat race",  a short break from our daily routine, or a long vacation "away from it all" on the surface, but what really it is God alone who fully satisfies our thirst and for whom we are truly longing.   "Athirst is my soul for God, the living God, When shall I go and see the face of God?" (Ps 42: 3).  Pilgrims on the way to the Temple in Jerusalem sang this song, and we in our own hearts, sitting for a few moments during Mass or simple in a chair at home, have that same desire. Besides the obvious need to escape from those constantly besieging us, our souls cannot continue for long without contact with their Creator, who longs as much as we for contact with us.  Let us take some time today to slake this mutual thirst, so that with the Psalmist we can proceed refreshed and with confidence:  "Send forth your light and your fidelity;/ they shall lead me on./And bring me to your holy mountain, to your dwelling-place." (Ps 43:3). 
Bro. Rene

World Day of Prayer for Vocations

The Fourth Sunday of Easter is referred to as Good Shepherd Sunday, and this year it is the World Day of Prayer for Vocations.  April 29th is also the memorial of St. Catherine of Siena, but she takes a back seat today in deference to the Sunday Liturgy.  However, her sterling example filters through and merges with the Good Shepherd theme as we take a moment to ponder the various vocations in the Church, give thanks for them, ask  God  to strengthen each one of us and to spread the call loud and clear to many more to become priests, sisters and brothers, deacons and good lay people.  Mother Teresa said over and over that vocations would come if consecrated religious would live their vows.  We decry the empty churches on Sundays, but if we lived our faith and showed it in church and in the parking lot, the churches would be full again.  I attended an Easter Service (before going to Easter Mass) at a United Church of Christ in Nashua, NH, and was very touched by the hospitality and friendliness I experienced even walking into the church through the parking lot.  People just struck up conversations as if we were long lost family members.  Greeters inside were genuinely helpful in welcoming me and finding me a seat in the very full church.  A simple thing like that makes a huge difference.  It's another case of "getting back to basics"...for all of us, from the bishops to the children who come with their parents.  Part of our reflection today, in addition to thanking God for the courageous people who have answered the call, might be a prayer that each of us look into our hearts to see how in our interactions with one another we are sharing the love and joy with which God constantly fills our hearts.  St. Catherine gave us a wonderful prayer that seems appropriate today:  "O ender Father, you gave me more, much more than I ever thought of asking for.  I realize that our human desires can never really match what you long to give us.  Thank you and thank you again, O Father, for having granted my petitions, and even that which I never realized I needed."  We might add, "Let me live my joy and gratitude for all to see and imitate."
Bro. Rene

Two of Mary's Men

The Church celebrates the Memorials of two men who have a special place in Marist spirituality:  St. Peter Chanel and St. Louis Gringnon de Montfort.  Fr. Peter Chanel was a Marist Father who for awhile taught in the Marist Seminary at Belley but whose dream to be a missionary finally came through in 1836 when he boarded a ship for New Hebrides in the South Pacific.  Ten months later he landed on the island of Fotuna, and worked for three years evangelizing the people until he was clubbed to death by men sent by the king whose son was interested in becoming a Catholic.  Five months later, the whole island had converted!
St. Louis had great devotion to Mary and his book, True Devotion to Mary, which had a profound influence is the spiritual life of St. Marcellin, is still popular today.  Mary brought Jesus into the lives of these men, enabling them to be missionaries and martyrs, in the case of St. Peter, and teachers and founders of religious orders, in the case of St. Louis.  What would happen to us if we listened to her with the same zeal these men had?  St. Peter Chanel and St. Louis de Montfort, pray for us that we may realize our potential in the service of Jesus and the kingdom.  Amen.
Bro. Rene

Growth In Charity

One of the characteristics of Easter life is a more visible growth in charity, not only in deed, but also in word.  St. James tells us that if we offend not with our tongues, we are perfect (cf Js 3:2).  Not only are we to offer kind words of encouragment, empathy, and compassion but to avoid uncharitable talk about others.  It is very hard to do, since in our judging minds we have the answers to way others should behave, or how a situation should be handled.  If our words were monitored each hour, how many minutes would be devoted to criticism that is not really constructive, but destructive?  There is a place for constructive criticism which can bring improvement to a situation or to another's behavior; above all, there is a place for the communication which will  let others know how they are perceived, or how their actions are hurting us or others.  Being objective, and having the purpose of helping to improve what might be an unjust or intolerable situation is being charitable is speech.  Praying to keep ourselves on this track and thinking before we speak will help us practice a charity which gives life.
Bro. Rene

Christ Is Risen Indeed

The Eastern Church keeps the good news of the resurrection alive with the greeting, "Christ is risen" and the response, "He is risen indeed", or "He is truly risen."  As we move further away from the fervor and excitement of Easter morning, we need to deepen our understanding of that "truly risen" if we are to sustain our Easter enthusiasm.  He is truly risen if we are more compassionate toward others and towards ourselves, if we express our love for others in deeds...going the "extra mile" to do favors for them, to boost them from their discouragement, to be with them in sorrow, to calm their anxieties and melt down their impatience, to chip away at our own self-seeking and fill our empty spaces with purpose and joy.  The phrase, "Easter People" was popular several years ago, but it remains a fact:  our baptisms have given us new life, new roles, and a new relationship with God and one another.  Our Lenten disciplines, we trust, have honed our behaviors so that we can bear witness that not only has Jesus arisen, but that we have risen with him.  Yes, Christ has risen indeed, and so have we!
Bro. Rene

St. Mark

Mark's was the first Gospel and is the shortest.  Interestingly enough, the original version ended with Chapter 16: 8:  "Then they [the women]  went out and fled from the tomb, seized with trembling and bewiilsderment.  They said nothing to anyone, for they were aftraid."  A longer ending was added, it is estimated, about two hundred years later and is based on the post-resurrection accounts of Matthew and Luke. Mark, as always, is succinct but detailed enough to give a realistic picture of what it must have been like to come to an open and empty tomb.  Trembling, bewilderment and fear make sense when we stop and reflect that rising from the dead was not an everyday occurrence.  How would we have reacted?  Startled? Spooked?  Most likely, as if the corpse at a wake had sat up in the casket.  Ending the Gospel with this scenario gives the reader a jolt as well and poses the unstated question, "What next?"  A call to faith, trust and a hearkening back to what we've experienced of Jesus,  a call to the community to share its faith.  A firming up of our trust in what apparently seems "the impossible becoming possible".  Can we do it?
Bro. Rene

Transformation

This third week of Easter continues the theme of resurrection and transformation that our baptisms have given us.  We have died with Christ and risen with him; the path leads eventually to complete victory and union with him in heaven, but while here on earth, there are always obstacles and challenges that prune and hone us to that final form into which we are being transformed.  The martyrdom of the deacon, Stephen,  not long after the apostles began their ministry, reminds us that death is sometimes the consequence of adherence to Jesus and his teachings.  The years of persecutions until the fourth century starkly verify this truth. Yet, their deaths were the "seed of faith" for thousands.  The imprisonments of the apostles often led to the conversion of their prison guards.  St. Augustine tells us that the martyrdom of Stephen was a factor in the eventual conversion of St. Paul, who as the young Saul, oversaw his stoning. 
Sickness, surgeries, periods of convalescence can be opportunities for us to reflect on our lives, our fragility, and the need for a deeper relationship with God.  Anything can be taken as a transforming event if we accept it with openness and trust that God uses all means to contact us and invite us to himself.
Br. Rene