As we set out on our parish pilgrimage to the holy land, we will be sharing a small travelogue here so that you can join us in some way even as we carry you there in our hearts. We will remember you as we break bread at the holy sites where Jesus preached and healed and prayed, where he worked miracles and called his followers, from his birth to his passion to his risen appearances & ascension.
This excerpt from a poetic blessing starts us on our way.
For the Traveler
By John O’Donahue
Every time you leave home,
Another road takes you
Into a world you were never in…
When you travel, you find yourself
Alone in a different way,
More attentive now
To the self you bring along,
Your more subtle eye watching
You abroad; and how what meets you
Touches that part of the heart
That lies low at home…
To create a crystal of insight
You could not have known
You needed
To illuminate
Your way.
When you travel,
A new silence
Goes with you,
And if you listen,
You will hear
What your heart would
Love to say.
A journey can become a sacred thing…
May you travel in an awakened way,
Gathered wisely into your inner ground;
That you may not waste the invitations
Which wait along the way to transform you.
May you travel safely, arrive refreshed,
And live your time away to its fullest.
🙏 Until next time - from Jerusalem!
In introducing the language of friendship, Jesus ties "commandment" to inner freedom of heart. The disciples have this freedom precisely because they know "what [the] Master is doing." Jesus has invited his followers into intimate friendship all along. He shares openly with them. He has patience with their flaws. He isn't scandalized by their failures. He celebrates their successes. We, too, have been called by love and invited into a relationship with Jesus. It is you and I that Jesus chooses and appoints. He does so personally, not from a distant mountain shrouded in clouds. This "new commandment" to "love one another" is received around the shared table in the breaking of the bread.
Loving God and Father,
bring the truth, grace, and power of Your Love into our current situations, into our personal stories of pain, into the hearts of families, and into the needs of all your children.
Turn our sighs into songs,
our struggles into servanthood,
and our grumblings into the rumblings of a coming visitation of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Open Hearts had an ABBAFABulous time celebrating summer! Thanks to all who came out, and the parishioners and friends who stopped by & joined in the fun! You all helped make this a PARTY to remember. So much so, we are making it an annual event!
#exceptionalfamiliesministry
#Hecallsusfriends
#abbafab
That's a great turnout! God bless!
When the days for Jesus’ being taken up were fulfilled,
he resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem,
and he sent messengers ahead of him.
On the way they entered a Samaritan village
to prepare for his reception there,
but they would not welcome him
because the destination of his journey was Jerusalem.
When the disciples James and John saw this they asked,
“Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven
to consume them?”
Jesus turned and rebuked them, and they journeyed to another village.
As they were proceeding on their journey someone said to him,
“I will follow you wherever you go.”
Jesus answered him,
“Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests,
but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head.”
And to another he said, “Follow me.”
But he replied, “Lord, let me go first and bury my father.”
But he answered him, “Let the dead bury their dead.
But you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”
And another said, “I will follow you, Lord,
but first let me say farewell to my family at home.”
To him Jesus said, “No one who sets a hand to the plow
and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God.”
Luke 9:51-62
#dailyingodsword
Each year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover,
and when he was twelve years old,
they went up according to festival custom.
After they had completed its days, as they were returning,
the boy Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem,
but his parents did not know it.
Thinking that he was in the caravan,
they journeyed for a day
and looked for him among their relatives and acquaintances,
but not finding him,
they returned to Jerusalem to look for him.
After three days they found him in the temple,
sitting in the midst of the teachers,
listening to them and asking them questions,
and all who heard him were astounded
at his understanding and his answers.
When his parents saw him,
they were astonished,
and his mother said to him,
“Son, why have you done this to us?
Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety.”
And he said to them,
“Why were you looking for me?
Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”
But they did not understand what he said to them.
He went down with them and came to Nazareth,
and was obedient to them;
and his mother kept all these things in her heart.
Luke 2:41-51
#dailyingodsword
🎨 Immaculate Heart of Mary by L. Williams
Take my yoke upon you, says the Lord,
and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart. Matthew 11:29
#dailyingodsword
#solemnityofthesacredheartofjesus
📸 Detail of a mosaic in San Lorenzo fuori le mura in Rome of Christ the Good Shepherd, combined with an image of the Sacred Heart.
Fr. Lawrence OP
Happy Feast of the Sacred Heart!
How blessed is our church to be named after God’s own heart!
Most sweet Jesus, redeemer of the human race, look down upon us, humbly before your altar. We are yours and yours we wish to be; but to be more surely united with you, behold each one of us freely consecrate ourselves to your most sacred heart. Many, indeed, have never known you, many too have rejected you. Have mercy on them all, most merciful Jesus, and draw them to your sacred heart. Be you king, O Lord, not only of the faithful, but also of the prodigal children who have abandoned you; grant that they may quickly return to their father's house. Be you king of those who are deceived by erroneous opinions, or whom discord keeps aloof, and call them back to the harbor of truth and unity of faith, so that soon there may be but one flock and one shepherd. Be you king also of all those who sit in the ancient superstitions, and refuse not you to deliver them out of darkness into the light and kingdom of God. Grant, O Lord, to your Church, assurance of freedom and immunity from harm; give peace and order to all nations, and make the earth resound from pole to pole with one cry: Praise to the divine heart that wrought our salvation; to you be glory and honour forever. Amen.
– Pope Leo XIII (1810-1903, pope from 1878 until his death), Prayer of Consecration to the Sacred Heart
God loved you before you were born, and God will love you after you die. In Scripture, God says, “I have loved you with an everlasting love.” This is a very fundamental truth of your identity. This is who you are whether you feel it or not. You belong to God from eternity to eternity. Life is just a little opportunity for you during a few years to say, “I love you, too.” -Henri Nouwen
