I placed this prayer in my Prayer Journal in 1983.
I thought you would enjoy this beautiful Native American Prayer like I do. It was written by Tom White Cloud (Objibwe). It speaks to my heart. Blessings, love, and hugs, Fr. Jack. O great Spirit, whose voice I hear in the winds, and whose breath gives life to all the world, hear me. I am small and weak, I need your strength and wisdom. Let me walk in beauty, and make my eyes ever behold the purple sunset. Make my hands respect the things you have made, and my ears sharp to hear your voice. Make me wise, so that I may understand the things you have taught my people. Let me learn the lessons you have hidden, in every leaf and rock. I seek strength, not to be greater than my brother, but to fight my greatest enemy - myself. Make me always ready, to come to you with clean hands and straight eyes. So when life fades, as the fading sunset, my spirit may come to you without shame. I needed to hear this message from St. Paul today.
I get all weighed down in my medical problems, and feeling guilty that I can't do all of things I used to do for all of you. In short, feeling very sorry for myself in general. This reflection from the October 21, 2001, Forward Day by Day, was very helpful for me. I wanted to share it with you. Blessings, love, and hugs, Fr. Jack. 2 Timothy 4: 6-8, 16-18 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. From now on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me on that day, and not only me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing. How many of us today who, at the least bit of disappointment, just give up: stay put, never grow and never learn. In the otherwise unmemorable, movie, "The Evening Star," the character Aurora Greenway says, "Oh, Melanie, discouragement has killed more people than all the diseases ever known to man put together." Confidence born of faith in Jesus Christ, knowledge of the love God for us, conviction in the hope of eternal life - these alone are gifts enough to keep us from despair. Let us go out and do the work God has given us to do with gladness and singleness of heart. Friends. I really enjoyed this wonderful April 1991 Forward Day by Day reflection about a "singing God."
I don 't know who the author was. In 1991, FDBD didn't tell you who they were. Blessings, love, and hugs, Fr. Jack. Jeremiah 31:31-34. I will be their God and they will be my people. George A. Benson in "The Silent Self, A Journal of Spiritual Discovery," remembers watching an old Nepalese couple plowing on a poor farm. The man pulled the plow and the woman guided it. It was a pitiful picture of poverty and hopelessness. But in the evening he saw them at them at the village spring. The woman was stripped to the waist and the man was washing her back. He remembered that the woman sang to the man as they plowed. "What, then, did the Nepalese couple have that separated them from the inherent travail of existence? I believe that they had one further piece of knowledge; they knew that they were more than themselves. They knew that beneath and beyond their humanity there is a singing God." We are made in the image of this "singing God," and we are more than we realize. The love that is available to us, in us, for giving - what we are and what we can do - is much greater than we have ever imagined. We are like gifted musicians who could compose and play like Bach, but stick to running the scales. God in Jesus, was both showing us what it means to become our true selves and providing a way to do it. God's song is a love song, and we are invited to listen with our hearts, with our spirits, and join in. Friends, here are some quotations I placed in my Prayer Journals over the years.
I thought you might find them as helpful as I have. Blessings, love, and hugs, Fr. Jack. " Deliver us from evil." Evil lies in despair and bitterness, in a lack of gratitude, and in a posture of arrogance. (Kenneth J. Dale) "If the only prayer you say in your entire life is, Thank you! that would suffice." (Meister Eckhart) Colossians 3:12 - As God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. "Who's in and who's out doesn't concern you... all you need to think about is God has mercy for all." (Lindsey Melden) "What is done in love is done well." (Vincent Van Gogh) "Anytime we come clean with God, Church is in session." (Rev. Patrick Gannon) "Let us never forget that authentic power is service." (RC Pope) "We all face times of consolation and loneliness and desolation. But we never face these times alone. God is with us." (St. Ignatius of Loyola) I placed this reflection in my 2003 Prayer Journal. I thought it had a good message for today's world and for me too.
Blessings and love, Fr. Jack. 1 Timothy 3:1-16. Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of our religion… Clergy have been taking it on the chin in the media of late, all too often deserved. Hearts break when church leaders are tied to scandalous events, sexual abuse or its cover-ups, theft of money, or tyrannical authority. No church is exempt from the scrutiny, and no church holds exclusive rights to having particularly bad men and women in the ministry. Wherever horrendous, illegal, or immoral acts occur they need to be addressed swiftly, correctly and morally-even if it’s the church to do so. When people say their faith is deeply shaken by disclosure of inappropriate behavior or scandal by clergy, I remind them: no priest, no bishop died on the cross for you. Jesus did. Your salvation depends on your faith in God and in his son Jesus Christ- not on clergy, or churches or hierarchies. If you forget that, your faith is misplaced. The church is composed of frail, finite and sinful human beings. It will forever face scandals and sinful behavior. Yet it remains a wonderful and sacred mystery, a vessel of unique grace, because the gift of the Holy Spirit will not be driven out of it-even by the most corrupt of members, clerical or lay. Written in "Forward Day by Day" by an unknown author, February 19, 2003. "Pray without ceasing" was the advice of the Apostle Paul to the newly founded Christian community in Thessalonika, present day Greece. Paul was a realist who knew that ordinary people had neither the time nor inclination to devote long periods to contemplation. His meaning was: "Pray whenever you can. In short, hurried bursts, if necessary. But if you are to be followers of Christ, and coworkers in the saving of the world,
you must be men and women of prayer." This was written by James Keller in a book titled "Prayers for today," Richard Armstrong's book published by the Paulist Press. Here's one of the wonderful prayers from this book. Have you ever felt this way? Blessings and love, Fr. Jack. PRAYER IN MOMENTS OF DESPAIR God sometimes I want to give up stop dead in my tracks go off someplace and hide. I get so tired and don't want to try any more. Where can I find the courage and strength to go on? The hope that things will eventually get better isn't enough. The thought that adversity builds character doesn't convince me. The only thing that gives me any hope is the example of Your Son. He didn't quit even though He faced death which he conquered in His resurrection. May what He did teach me. May I find in His life the pattern according to which I can live mine. And may I try-at least in a small way-to urge others to keep trying even though they've come up against a dead end. Amen. How are we supposed to be Christians in a non-Christian world?
I placed this reflection from Forward Day by Day in my 1992 Prayer Journal. It was written by an unknown author. It's tough being a Christian today and has been for many centuries. It gave my a lot to think about. Blessings and love, Fr. Jack. How are we supposed to be Christians in a non-Christian world? Maybe we should concentrate on maintaining as pure a faith as possible. If we are to be salt, and retain our saltiness, a case can be made for defining ourselves against a culture which does not, by and large, embrace our faith. We would know that within the Christian community the faith was purely taught. But then what would happen to the world? If we kept ourselves separate from it and did not allow it into our midst, we would have no opportunity of transforming it. We could only harangue the world from a position outside of it. And, as our separate state continued, we would know less and less of the world's language. We would be less and less understandable. So maybe we should be completely part of the world. Learn the language. Understand its workings. Be part of things. But then our saltiness would be so diluted that nobody could taste it. Not us and not the people we're trying to reach. We'd be one of many civic groups peddling programs for improving the world solely on the world's terms. No good. It's not easy to retain our saltiness, the love of Christ, joined to a genuine love of the world. IN it, but not OF it. I was going through my 1995 Prayer Journal and came upon this I pasted in it.
I thought you would like its message like I did. Blessings and love, Fr. Jack. Psalm 55:24 - Cast your burdens upon the Lord, and he will sustain you. Give thanks to the Lord always and your life will be a song. Some songs are sad, of course, but the melody is still there as well as the movement and the feeling of freedom that comes from music. To praise and thank God, no matter what happens, is a gift which few possess. To lift your voice and heart on high in failure and defeat places you among the saints of God. For only faith and love can explain a song of praise and thanksgiving when times are bad. Selections from Song of the Sparrows by Murray Bodo O.F.M., St. Anthony Messenger Press. I was reading Psalm 121 today. It's always so encouraging to me when I have not so good days.
You know about such days I'm sure. It's a short but totally uplifting Psalm for me. I need to hear how much God loves and consoles me. God is always my friend, and yours too. Blessings and love, Fr. Jack. Psalm 121 - I lift my eyes to the hills, from where is my help to come ? My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth and earth... the Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. "God's love is ever present; it does not falter or catch with the wind and rain the way our anxieties and fears do. God has given me safety and grounded me in such mighty love ...I remember and I pray my thanks." Wonderful words from Liz Bartenstein, a Forward Movement Board member, July 2, 2019. Loving kindness seems out of vogue in some quarters of our national life.
Some find fault with fellow Americans constantly. Jesus calls us to always to be loving and kind to each other, even when we disagree with them on issues. Easy to say, hard to do isn't it. In May of 1991, I put a reflection from Forward Day by Day, by an unknown author, that speaks to this issue. I have found St. John's to be a loving and kind, blessed community, as Fr. Tom says. Blessings and love to all. Fr. Jack John 12.20-3 (Some Greeks ) came to Philip...and said to him, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus." Pulpits sometimes have these words-" Sir, we wish to see Jesus" carved upon them or engraved on a brass plate, a reminder to preachers of what they are supposed be doing. We might all consider similar engravings on our dashboards, on our telephones, our typewriters and computers, our front doors - both sides-and other places (replacing sir where appropriate). Jesus went on to say to say, "I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself." He was looking forward to being lifted on a cross. If we would show Jesus, again he must be lifted up, this time in what we say and do, in words and acts of compassion and loving kindness. Remember the Greeks' request and engrave them on your heart. Lord Jesus, give us the power to touch the souls of those who have not seen you, and to open their eyes. |