21st Sunday of Ordinary Time
http://www.usccb.org/nab/082105.htm
Who do people say that the Son of Man is?
This is probably every bit as pertinent a question in our time as it was when Jesus walked the earth. Who do people say that the Son of Man is?
For many, the question seems surprising. Of course he is Christ, the Son of the Living God. Peter had it right. But does our behavior match what we would really say about that? Who is the Son of Man to us? What difference does it make that he is our God? It can often seem like the Son of Man is irrelevant in our world, and if we look deeply, sometimes in our lives too.
Because if we really knew that he is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, then maybe our lives would be more Gospel-centered. Maybe our words would be more healing and our actions more loving. Maybe we would take more time with our families than at our jobs. Maybe we would relentlessly pursue relationships with our God rather than relentlessly pursue more posessions that rob the world of resources meant for all. Maybe we would look past our own wants and see the needs of the poor and the oppressed. Maybe we would preserve the resources of the world that all might have enough.
Maybe if we really knew that Jesus is the Son of the Living God we would bind all those really important things and loose all the things that take us out of relationship with God. We really must live the truth that Peter proclaimed. It is only in doing that that we can one day hear Jesus say to us, “Blessed are you!”
Sphere: Related ContentDayenu: It would have been enough
This wonderful Jewish prayer has been rolling around in my spirit these days. It came up during a group discussion in CPE. I want to do my own version of the Dayenu someday soon … what are all the blessings I have received for which any one of them would have been enough?
How many levels of favors has the Omnipresent One bestowed upon us:
If He had brought us out from Egypt, and had not carried out judgments against them–Dayenu, it would have been enough!
If He had carried out judgments against them, and not against their idols–Dayenu, it would have been enough!
If He had destroyed their idols, and had not smitten their firstborn–Dayenu, it would have been enough!
If He had smitten their firstborn, and had not given us their wealth–Dayenu, it would have been enough!
If He had given us their wealth, and had not split the sea for us–Dayenu, it would have been enough!
If He had split the sea for us, and had not taken us through it on dry land–Dayenu, it would have been enough!
If He had taken us through the sea on dry land, and had not drowned our oppressors in it–Dayenu, it would have been enough!
If He had drowned our oppressors in it, and had not supplied our needs in the desert for 40 years–Dayenu, it would have been enough!
If He had supplied our needs in the desert for 40 years, and had not fed us the manna–Dayenu, it would have been enough!
If He had fed us the manna, and had not given us the Shabbat–Dayenu, it would have been enough!
If He had given us the Shabbat, and had not brought us before Mount Sinai–Dayenu, it would have been enough!
If He had brought us before Mount Sinai, and had not given us the Torah–Dayenu, it would have been enough!
If He had given us the Torah, and had not brought us into the land of Israel–Dayenu, it would have been enough!
If He had brought us into the land of Israel, and had not built for us the Beit Habechirah (Chosen House; the Beit Hamikdash)–Dayenu, it would have been enough!
In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
“Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. For I say to you, many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.” Luke 10:23-24
Saying goodbye is hard. If it were easier, I think the bunch of us would have been out of the hospital sooner today. But as it is, we lingered until after 4:30, and said goodbye several times. And that was just to each other.
It was a whole day of goodbyes. Goodbyes to the nurses, doctors, techs, staff chaplains, and other staff. We might not mind saying goodbye to on-calls until 2:30 in the morning or Level 1 Traumas, but saying goodbye to people you’ve come to care about and love is a way different thing. Saying goodbye is just hard.
So we will have to dwell on the many blessings:
- The times we supported one another in prayer and in word and in deed during the intense 11 weeks.
- The prayer and liturgical experiences we were able to do together as an ecumenical group.
- The referrals we passed back and forth with great confidence in the rest of the group’s ability to care for the sick and their families.
- The sharing and challenging that was done in group with real concern for the growth of the other people in the group.
- The mentoring from the staff chaplains.
- The mentoring from the nursing staff and other staff members.
- And so many more…
But what makes it so hard to say goodbye is how the whole experience came together. The hospital atmosphere, the staff chaplains, our supervisor, the group … I couldn’t have asked for anything better. Out of that milieu came all the really awesome things that I got to “see” as Luke’s Gospel is saying: The times words came out of my mouth that I never would have thought of on my own; the sense of peace after sitting with a dying patient; the intimate personal stories shared so freely by patients and families alike; the really intense times of prayer; our group’s morning devotions; the incredible grace of growing with a supportive group and the incredible grace of getting to watch them grow too; the many opportunities to debrief from intense experiences with fellow students, staff chaplains, and our supervisor; all the stuff that got sorted out in weekly meetings with our supervisor; the times we were just silly and all the laughter; the many tears of joy and sorrow; the intense atmosphere of the emergency room that helped me past my fear of it.
There’s more, I know. But all I can say at this point is that I’m incredibly grateful for this experience. Truly blessed are my eyes for having seen what I have seen.
Sphere: Related ContentTruth or Fiction
Contemporary Christian Music on Chicago Radio
http://www.patmulcahy.net…=showpage&pid=2
St. Matthew Parish
http://www.stmatthewchurch.org/
St. Joseph Parish, Bradley IL
http://www.stjosephbradley.org
Good Samaritan Hospital
http://www.advocatehealth.com/gsam/
The End is Near
Well, the end of CPE is near anyway. CPE is clinical pastoral education - basically chaplaincy in a hospital setting - and that’s been what I’ve been doing with my summer vacation. It’s been difficult and grueling at times, but always profound and holy. I’ve had times of sadness and grieving, but also times of joy and blessing.
Some highlights for me:
- Realizing I can work in an emergency room without throwing up.
- Coming to feel accepted by the high-intensity staff that work in the emergency room.
- Realizing that I worked with such a good group of fellow students that I didn’t worry about referring my emergency room patients to them when they moved to other areas of the hospital, because I knew they would be well cared-for.
- The time I learned what pastoral authority means — a ministry that is authoritative and authentic without being authoritarian — and feeling that that kind of ministry really fit for me.
- Learning the importance of self-care, so that I can care for others. I’ll never forget the time I said to the ER staff, WHOPAGEDTHECHAPLAIN???!!! and realizing it was time I had lunch and sat down in a quiet place for a while!
- The two times I got to bless marriages on their anniversaries, one at 58 years and the other at 65 years. The wife in the 65 year marriage died the day after her anniversary. That was such an awesome experience for me, and I felt like I was totally on holy ground with those families.
- Staff chaplains who treated me and my fellow students as equals, and partnered with us in our ministry rather than looking down on us.
- A supervisor, AS, who worked with me from my gifts instead of the traditional CPE model of tearing a person down to build him back up. I went a lot further with AS’s adult learning model.
There are many more things for which I am grateful, too numerous to count. Maybe I’ll share more of them in the weeks ahead as I continue to prayerfully unpack this summer’s intense experience of ministry.
But one thing is clear for me right now. Priestly ministry really fits for me, and pastoral care is a huge part of my vocational call. Words can’t express how grateful I am to have known that.
CPE: More info…
Sphere: Related ContentThe Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
http://www.usccb.org/nab/081505.htm
Hail, holy Queen, Mother of Mercy!
Our life, our sweetness, and our hope!
To thee do we cry, poor banished
children of Eve, to thee do we send
up our sighs, mourning and weeping
in this valley, of tears.
Turn, then, most gracious advocate,
thine eyes of mercy toward us; and
after this our exile show unto us the
blessed fruit of thy womb Jesus;
O clement, O loving, O sweet virgin Mary.Pray for us, O holy Mother of God
That we may be made worthy of the
promises of Christ.
Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
“Now have salvation and power come,
and the Kingdom of our God
and the authority of his Anointed One.”
Rev. 10:11ab
What I have come to love about the Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary is what it means for us. The Assumption marks the feast of Mary’s Assumption, body and soul, into heaven. The Church believes that Mary never saw death, because of her virginity and her participation in God’s plan of salvation through the conception, birth, death and resurrection of her son, the Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ.
Mary was a young girl with all the concerns of a young girl in that time and place. She was as yet unmarried, yet faithfully embraced God’s call, strange and unfathomable though it must have been to her. For me, her faith is incomprehensible. If I could have a tenth of it, my own faith would be increased immeasurably.
This humble girl, with great faith, was raised on this day to the heights of heaven that we can yet hope for. What the Assumption means for us is that as Mary has gone to exaltation before us, so we can hope for exaltation on that Great Day.
Because there are those among us too who have unplanned pregnancies. There are those among us whose children go in directions that put them in danger. There are those among us who have to watch a child die. But because Mary suffered these sorrows too, and yet was exalted, we can hope for the day when that which she was given and which we have been promised will surely be ours.
We are called to simply live our faith, not knowing where it will take us always, but always having faith that God will reward our efforts and raise us up from our fallenness.
We too can hope to be assumed into the great heavenly vision and rejoice when we hear that great voice say:
“Now have salvation and power come,
and the Kingdom of our God
and the authority of his Anointed One.”
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
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