Category: Lesson
Blessed Anthony Pavonius, M.O.P.
Memorial Day: April 9th
Antony grew up to diately was engaged in combatting the heresies of the Lombards. be a pious, intelligent youth. At 15, he was received into the monastery of Savigliano, was ordained in 1351.
Pope Urban V, in 1360, appointed him inquisitor-general of Lombardy and Genoa, making him one of the youngest men ever to hold that office. It was a difficult and dangerous job for a young priest of 34. Besides being practically a death sentence to any man who held the office, it carried with it the necessity of arguing with the men most learned in a twisted and subtle heresy.
Antony worked untiringly in his native city, and his apostolate lasted 14 years. During this time, he accomplished a great deal by his preaching, and even more by his example of Christian virtue. He was elected prior of Savigliano, in 1368, and given the task of building a new abbey. This he accomplished without any criticism of its luxury–a charge that heretics were always anxious to make against any Catholic builders.
The consistent poverty of Antony’s life was a reproach to the heretics, who had always been able to gain ground with the poor by pointing out the wealth of religious houses. He went among the poor and let them see that he was one of them. This so discomfited the heretics that they decided they must kill him. He was preaching in a little village near Turin when they caught him.
The martyrdom occurred in the Easter octave. On the Saturday after Easter, he asked the barber to do a good job on his tonsure because he was going to a wedding. Puzzled, the barber complied. On the Sunday after Easter, as he finished preaching a vigorous sermon against heresy at Brichera, seven heretics fell upon him with their daggers, and he hurried off to the promised “wedding.” He was buried in the Dominican church at Savigliano, where his tomb was a place of pilgrimage until 1827. At that time the relics were transferred to the Dominican church of Racconigi.
Oddly enough, this Dominican Antony takes after his Franciscan namesake. He is also invoked to find lost articles.
Born: 1326 at Savigliano, Italy
Died: Martyred in 1374 at Turino, Italy
Beatified: 1868
Patronage: Lost Articles
Saint Vincent Ferrer, C.O.P.
Memorial Day: April 5th
Born into a noble, pious family headed by the Englishman William Ferrer and the Spanish woman Constantia Miguel, Saint Vincent’s career of miracle-working began early. Prodigies attended his birth and baptism on the same day at Valencia, and, at age 5, he cured a neighbor child of a serious illness. These gifts and his natural beauty of person and character made him the center of attention very early in life.
His parents instilled into Vincent an intense devotion to our Lord and His Mother and a great love of the poor. He fasted regularly each Wednesday and Friday on bread and water from early childhood, abstained from meat, and learned to deny himself extravagances in order to provide alms for necessities. When his parents saw that Vincent looked upon the poor as the members of Christ and that he treated them with the greatest affection and charity, they made him the dispenser of their bountiful alms. They gave him for his portion a third part of their possessions, all of which he distributed among the poor in four days.
Vincent began his classical studies at the age of 8, philosophy at 12, and his theological studies at age 14. As everyone expected, he entered the Dominican priory of Valencia and received the habit on February 5, 1367. So angelic was his appearance and so holy his actions, that no other course seemed possible to him than to dedicate his life to God.
No sooner had he made his choice of vocation than the devil attacked him with the most dreadful temptations. Even his parents, who had encouraged his vocation, pleaded with him to leave the monastery and become a secular priest. By prayer and faith, especially prayer to Our Lady and his guardian angel, Vincent triumphed over his difficulties and finished his novitiate.
He was sent to Barcelona to study and was appointed reader in philosophy at Lerida, the most famous university in Catalonia, before he was 21. While there he published two treatises (Dialectic suppositions was one) that were well received.
In 1373, he was sent to Barcelona to preach, despite the fact that he held only deacon’s orders. The city, laid low by a famine, was desperately awaiting overdue shipments of corn. Vincent foretold in a sermon that the ships would come before night, and although he was rebuked by his superior for making such a prediction, the ships arrived that day. The joyful people rushed to the priory to acclaim Vincent a prophet. The prior, however, thought it would be wise to transfer him away from such adulation.
Another story tells us that some street urchins drew his attention to one of their gang who was stretched out in the dust, pretending to be dead, near the port of Grao: “He’s dead, bring him back to life!” they cried.
“Ah,” replied Vincent, “he was playing dead but the, look, he did die.” This is how one definitely nails a lie: by regarding it as a truth. And it turned out to be true, the boy was quite dead. Everyone was gripped with fear. They implored Vincent to do something. God did. He raised him up.
In 1376, Vincent was transferred to Toulouse for a year, and continued his education. Having made a particular study of Scripture and Hebrew, Vincent was well-equipped to preach to the Jews. He was ordained a priest at Barcelona in 1379, and became a member of Pedro (Peter) Cardinal de Luna’s court–the beginning of a long friendship that was to end in grief for both of them. (Cardinal de Luna had voted for Pope Urban VI in 1378, but convinced that the election had been invalid, joined a group of cardinals who elected Robert of Geneva as Pope Clement VII later in the same year; thus, creating a schism and the line of Avignon popes.)
After being recalled to his own country, Vincent preached very successfully at the cathedral in Valencia from 1385-1390, and became famed for his eloquence and effectiveness at converting Jews–Rabbi Paul of Burgos, the future bishop of Cartagena was one of Vincent’s 30,000 Jewish and Moorish converts–and reviving the faith of those who had lapsed. His numerous miracles, the strength and beauty of his voice, the purity and clarity of his doctrine, combined to make his preaching effective, based as it was on a firm foundation of prayer.
Of course, Vincent’s success as a preacher drew the envy of others and earned him slander and calumny. His colleagues believed that they could make amends for the calumny by making him prior of their monastery in Valencia. He did withdraw for a time into obscurity. But he was recalled to preach the Lenten sermons of 1381 in Valencia, and he could not refuse to employ the gift of speech which drew to him the good and simple people as well as the captious pastors, the canons, and the skeptical savants of the Church.
Peter de Luna, a stubborn and ambitious cardinal, made Vincent part of his baggage, so to speak; because from 1390 on, Vincent preached wherever Peter de Luna happened to be, including the court of Avignon, where Vincent enjoyed the advantage of being confessor to the pope, when Peter de Luna became the antipope Benedict XIII in 1394.
Two evils cried out for remedy in Saint Vincent’s day: the moral laxity left by the great plague, and the scandal of the papal schism. In regard to the first, he preached tirelessly against the evils of the time. That he espoused the cause of the wrong man in the papal disagreement is no argument against Vincent’s sanctity; at the time, and in the midst of such confusion, it was almost impossible to tell who was right and who was wrong. The memorable thing is that he labored, with all the strength he could muster, to bring order out of chaos. Eventually, Vincent came to believe that his friend’s claims were false and urged de Luna to reconcile himself to Urban VI.
He acted as confessor to Queen Yolanda of Aragon from 1391 to 1395. He was accused to the Inquisition of heresy because he taught that Judas had performed penance, but the charge was dismissed by the antipope Benedict XIII, who burned the Inquisition’s dossier on Vincent and made him his confessor.
Benedict offered Vincent a bishopric, but refused it. Distressed by the great schism and by Benedict’s unyielding position, he advised him to confer with his Roman rival. Benedict refused. Reluctantly, Vincent was obliged to abandon de Luna in 1398. The strain of this conflict between friendship and truth caused Vincent to become dangerously ill in 1398. During his illness, he experienced a vision in which Christ and Saints Dominic and Francis instructed him to preach penance whenever and wherever he was needed, and he was miraculously cured.
After recovering, he pleaded to be allowed to devote himself to missionary work. He preached in Carpetras, Arles, Aix, and Marseilles, with huge crowds in attendance. Between 1401 and 1403, the saint was preaching in the Dauphiné, in Savoy, and in the Alpine valleys: he continued on to Lucerne, Lausanne, Tarentaise, Grenoble, and Turin. He was such an effective speaker that, although he spoke only Spanish, he was thought by many to be multilingual (the gift of tongues?). His brother Boniface was the prior of the Grande Chartreuse, and as a result of Vincent’s preaching, several notable subjects entered the monastery.
Miracles were attributed to him. In 1405, Vincent was in Genoa and preached against the fantastic head-dresses worn by the Ligurian ladies, and they were modified–“the greatest of all his marvelous deeds, reports one of his biographers. From Genoa, he caught a ship to Flanders. Later, in the Netherlands, an hour each day was scheduled for his cures. In Catalonia, his prayer restored the withered limbs of a crippled boy, deemed incurable by his physicians, named John Soler, who later became the bishop of Barcelona. In Salamanca in 1412, he raised a dead man to life. Perhaps the greatest miracle occurred in the Dauphiné, in an area called Vaupute, or Valley of Corruption. The natives there were so savage that no minister would visit them. Vincent, ever ready to suffer all things to gain souls, joyfully risked his life among these abandoned wretches, converted them all from their errors and vices. Thereafter, the name of the valley was changed to Valpure, or Valley of Purity, a name that it has retained.
He preached indefatigably, supplementing his natural gifts with the supernatural power of God, obtained through his fasting, prayers, and penance. Such was the fame of Vincent’s missions, that King Henry IV of England sent a courtier to him with a letter entreating him to preach in his dominions. The king sent one of his own ships to fetch him from the coast of France, and received him with the greatest honors. The saint having employed some time in giving the king wholesome advice both for himself and his subjects, preached in the chief towns of England, Scotland, and Ireland. Returning to France, he did the same, from Gascony to Picardy.
The preaching of Saint Vincent became a strange but marvelously effective process. He attracted to himself hundreds of people–at one time, more than 10,000–who followed him from place to place in the garb of pilgrims. The priests of the company sang Mass daily, chanted the Divine Office, and dispensed the sacraments to those converted by Vincent’s preaching. Men and women travelled in separate companies, chanting litanies and prayers as they went barefoot along the road from city to city. They taught catechism where needed, founded hospitals, and revived a faith that had all but perished in the time of the plague.
The message of his preaching was penance, the Last Judgment, and eternity. Like another John the Baptist–who was also likened to an angel, as Saint Vincent is in popular art–he went through the wilderness crying out to the people to make straight the paths of the Lord. Fearing the judgment, if for no other reason, sinners listened to his startling sermons, and the most obstinate were led by him to cast off sin and love God. He worked countless miracles, some of which are remembered today in the proverbs of Spain. Among his converts were Saint Bernardine of Siena and Margaret of Savoy.
He returned to Spain in 1407. Despite the fact that Granada was under Moorish rule, he preached successfully, and thousands of Jews and Moors were said to have been converted and requested baptism. His sermons were often held in the open air because the churches were too small for all those who wished to hear him.
In 1414 the Council of Constance attempted the end the Great Schism, which had grown since 1409 with three claimants to the papal throne. The council deposed John XXIII, and demanded the resignation of Benedict XIII and Gregory XII so that a new election could be held. Gregory was willing, but Benedict was stubborn. Again, Vincent tried to persuade Benedict to abdicate. Again, he failed. But Vincent, who acted as a judge in the Compromise of Caspe to resolve the royal succession, influenced the election of Ferdinand as king of Castile. Still a friend of Benedict (Peter de Luna), King Ferdinand, basing his actions on Vincent’s opinion on the issue, engineered Benedict’s deposition in 1416, which ended the Western Schism.
(It is interesting to note that the edicts of the Council of Constance were thrown out by the succeeding pope. The council had mandated councils every ten years and claimed that such convocations had precedence over the pope.)
His book, Treatise on the Spiritual Life is still of value to earnest souls. In it he writes: “Do you desire to study to your advantage? Let devotion accompany all your studies, and study less to make yourself learned than to become a saint. Consult God more than your books, and ask him, with humility, to make you understand what you read. Study fatigues and drains the mind and heart. Go from time to time to refresh them at the feet of Jesus Christ under his cross. Some moments of repose in his sacred wounds give fresh vigor and new lights. Interrupt your application by short, but fervent and ejaculatory prayers: never begin or end your study but by prayer. Science is a gift of the Father of lights; do not therefore consider it as barely the work of your own mind or industry.”
It seems that Vincent practiced what he preached. He always composed his sermons at the foot of a crucifix, both to beg light from Christ crucified, and to draw from that object sentiments with which to animate his listeners to penance and the love of God.
Saint Vincent also preached to Saint Colette and her nuns, and it was she who told him that he would die in France. Indeed, Vincent spent his last three years in France, mainly in Normandy and Brittany, and he died on the Wednesday of Holy Week in Vannes, Brittany, after returning from a preaching trip to Nantes. The day of his burial was a great popular feast with a procession, music, sermons, songs, miracles, and even minor brawls.
Born: 1350 at Valencia, Spain
Died: April 5th in 1419 at Vannes, Brittany , France
Canonized: 1458
Patronage: brick makers; builders; Calamonaci, Italy; construction workers; pavement workers; plumbers; tile makers
Representation: cardinal’s hat; Dominican preacher with a flame on his hand; Dominican preacher with a flame on his head; Dominican holding an open book while preaching; Dominican with a cardinal’s hat; Dominican with a crucifix; Dominican with wings; flame; pulpit; trumpet
Living Simple to Simply Live!
Well its 3 am, and I am once again running my To-Do list through my head. That’s when it hits me……….maybe I have to re-evaluate my priorities, pare down my list of to-dos. It was then I had a revelation, I’m in the midst of too much clutter. That’s my problem, too much STUFF in my life. Too much clutter in my home, too many people depending on me for something, too much mental chatter in my head. I’ve always envied those people who can throw or give away their belongings, and live simply. I’m also a big fan of TV shows such as Clean House, or Extreme Home Makeover. Wouldn’t it be great if someone came in to your home, cleared out the clutter, and then remodeled the inside of your home so it would appear new again? My only problem with that is, I so do not want my stuff, clutter, etc. put on display for a national audience. Its not that I’m ashamed of my home, but I’m a very private person and to know millions of viewers are staring at what’s in my fridge is a little bit disconcerting.
As a nation of consumers, I’m sure you all can relate to this……..instead of fixing something that is broken, such as a cell phone, computer, or a major appliance, we usually go out and buy another. Or if you are an avid reader like me, you already own more books than you can possibly read in a lifetime. Or maybe you have a hobby, or two, but lament the lack of time needed to enjoy them. You see where I am going, before long you simply have too much stuff in your house. And we haven’t even talked about the children’s clutter. Maybe your spouse is the one who collects Mickey Mouse memorabilia and now is running out of storage room for such trinkets. But all this adds up to clutter, and in time you may find it all becomes unbearable.
Then there is the mental noise, or clutter, we all carry around in our heads. It’s either the voice of your conscience telling you to please put that donut down, and save your diet, or maybe it’s a small voice from your childhood. This one I think we all hear at some point in our lives, the one telling us we aren’t pretty enough, smart enough, or maybe even just saying, Why Me? Or maybe you hear the voice of a parent, always nagging in the back of your mind, like a broken record. Then there is that To-Do list mentioned earlier, the one that seems to be keeping me up way past my bedtime. What’s sad, is most of the items on my mental list are tasks that I really don’t have to do, but feel I should. Some days my life is filled with more should do’s, instead of want to’s. I imagine your days mirror my own in this respect.
I sometimes wish I could escape all this mental and physical clutter. Just shuck it all and live possibly as I imagine a monk does, cloistered in a monastery. But I know for me it’s not an option, but maybe possibly an idea for a spiritual retreat. I would miss some of my busy, cluttered life, but definitely not all of it. And then there is the actual noise of living in a city that seems to contribute to my sense of overwhelming clutter.
You ask……where is all this leading? Well in my own meandering way, I am trying to confess something here. And maybe this isn’t the place, and since God is all-knowing, and hears my pleas, He already knows this, but I feel we all in some way can relate to my dilemma. As I am reviewing my mental list, I realize that here recently I’ve let the busyness of life, the plethora of a cluttered home, and nonsensical mental chatter, to slowly intrude in my personal relationship with my Father. Yes, I know as the loving Father he is, I am forgiven, but still I realize this is not a good thing. In Psalm 46:10 we are told, “He says, “Be still, and know that I am God”. Well, I have been far from still, and yes I can come up with many reasons why I get caught up in life, but that really is no excuse.
Then as I glance around my home, it comes to me that not only should I clear out some of the mental clutter, but maybe its time to do my own version of Clean House. See, I’m not the most organized person, so all my precious books are helter skelter, and being a bibliophile, I have a ton of books. More that can be read in a lifetime, and yet the stress of not being able to enjoy them as much as I would like, adds to my sense of unease. I feel, for me, that all this STUFF, has gotten in the way of living a life of intent and purpose. I’m a huge fan of, shall I say it, How-To books on living simply, or de-cluttering your home. But as stated in Romans 12:2 “And be not conformed to this world: but be you transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” Isn’t this exactly what it means to live simply? To cut the physical and mental clutter, to not be “conformed to this world”?
How can we focus on God and his purpose for our life, when we are constantly distracted by things in this world? So where to begin……..we all know about de-cluttering our home, but what about the mental chatter? Maybe the first step is praying to our Father, beseeching His help, and then we can begin to clear the cobwebs from our overloaded lives, and focus on what’s really important. Knowing God, learning all we can about His grace and salvation, discerning His will for our lives, and in the process, becoming a true child of Christ. As I learn, pray, and talk with others on this same rocky path, I know I am not alone, and help is only a prayer, or phone call away.
Lent 1: Keeping Up With the Joneses?
In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him. Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.” Mark.1:9-15
Like Jesus we are often taken into the wilderness, although in a more superficial way. We are tempted by the pressures of society to “keep up with the Jones’.” We value ourselves only when we compare what others have that we don’t. We strive to be better than our neighbors, and to show that we can outdo them: My car is better than theirs. My house in larger than theirs. Our financial restraints are tested daily if our neighbor acquires self-recognition through their possessions, and we soon find ourselves pursuing the same task, regardless of the cost.
The cost of this is often is our spiritual guidance and our spiritual lives. No longer do we think of the message of God. In reality our material satisfaction overshadows who we are within our souls. We do not acknowledge the simple things in life. We fail to love ourselves and others in the name of greed. We must learn to be content with who we are and look at how we can share with others the Good News that represents the message of Jesus. Our failure to accept what we have, true friends and a loving family, divides us as God’s children. We soon find ourselves trapped in the constant upheaval of modern society. We lose our ability to relate to others the way Jesus does.
We must look at our neighbors as people we can turn to in a time of real need, and to look at ourselves as people to whom they can turn. Who cares how big their house is, or how new their car is? Jesus doesn’t care! He simply wants us to love and respect one another.
Some day we might need to open our doors to our neighbors and should expect the same in return. We must ask ourselves why we live the way we do. When will we change? Who is looking out for us? There are times in every one’s lives when we discover that we are lost. Take me for instance. When I was in high school, I found myself following others as a way to fit in. I had few friends but when someone approached me as a potential friend, I quickly attempted to give answers on various issues that I thought they would like to hear, such as “Do you think so and so is pretty?” or “Have you tried this? or that?” Not to be ridiculed, I would respond with” no, not really” and “yes I have done this or that.” What was my purpose? Why did I need to lower my expectations? I never wanted to feel like an outcast, but to be seen be part of the group, I went along with them, so I could fit it. It took me time to realize that my lack of spiritual guidance, created an emotional scar on who I was as a person.
So, I took the time to re-evaluate what was important to me. In my effort to “fit in” with God’s plan I had to look deep inside myself and with the guidance of the Holy Spirit and my select friends, I was able to build a life for myself. Embracing others allowed me to see my true friends and how, in their strength, they would accept me as I was. I no longer used my opinions to harm others, but used the common sense of a good Christian to learn and to share in the goodness of others. To this day my true friends are my equals and we care not for who has what, or who knows whom and so forth. It is by the power of the Holy Spirit, that all of our friends and family create a lasting foundation on which to build a purposeful life.
Over time I was able to repent from my judgmental ways, knowing that God will be there for me. The good news that Jesus shared with his disciples will always live. It is for us to take this news and grow from it. Our hearts and minds will open up to their fullest and in essence we will love ourselves and others unconditionally just as Jesus does. Remember, it is not our material items that make us, but our ability to live and share the good news.
I challenge you, as we strive to become more Christ-like during this Lenten season, to concentrate not on the material things in life, but on the spiritual, so that you, too, may hear the words, “This is my beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” Amen.
Dirty Faces In Holy Places
Fine, powdery, dark gray and black ashes, smudged onto our foreheads in the shape of a cross, for all the world to see, and then imagine what we’ve been doing…. looking like we bumped our heads while cleaning out the fireplace, and forgot to wash that part of our faces…
Just a few ashes…symbolizing more than most of us realize as we go through the motions of Ash Wednesday. What do we say to people who ask us the obvious question: What IS that on your head? Why do you have black stuff on your face?
Why WILL we participate in this strange custom this afternoon or evening? What DOES it mean?
The spiritual practice of applying ashes on oneself as a sign of sincere repentance goes back thousands of years. Frequently in the days of the Old and the New Testament, when someone had sinned, he clothed his body with sackcloth and covered himself with ashes. [Jer. 6:26] The sacramental that we are observing today arises from that custom, the spiritual practice of observing public penitence. Church history tells us that the liturgical practice of applying ashes on one’s forehead during the Lenten Season goes back as far as the eighth century. This was accompanied by different forms of fasting, prayer, sacrifices, charity towards others, etc… The writings of St. Leo, around 461 A.D., tell us that during the Lenten Season, he exhorted the faithful to abstain from certain food to fulfill with their fasts the Apostolic institution of forty days. In the days of the Old Testament, many tore their clothing as a sign of repentance.
Today, we use the ashes as a reminder of who we are. The Bible tells us that we came from the dust and to the dust we shall return. The first human was formed out of the dust of the earth by God and then God breathed life into that dust. That is a powerful image. One that is meant to remind us that without the breath or Spirit of God moving in us, we are just like these ashes: lifeless – worthless.
The ashes that many of us will wear today are meant to be for us symbols of our repentance and signs that we truly seek to follow in God’s path. The people in the Biblical stories probably put the ashes on top of their heads – so why do we, instead of putting these ashes on our heads, put them in the sign of the cross on our foreheads?
We do so because it is a reminder of how we are sealed for Christ. In most churches when a baby is baptized the minister or priest uses oil to mark the child with the sign of the cross. The mark of the cross is a mark of ownership. Again, when we are confirmed, we are marked as the Lord’s own forever. The ashes of Ash Wednesday remind us that we are Christ’s – that he died so that we might live. These may be just a few ashes but they mean a lot. They are a symbol of our need for God. We are nothing but dust and ashes apart from God.
But what about Lent itself? What is it? Why do we have this season? Most of us were taught that the lengthy period of Lent was one of penitence and fasting, a time provided for those who were separated from the church by their sins, so they could be reconciled by acts of penitence and forgiveness.
For most of us, Lent is the time of sometimes painful self-examination, during which we scrutinize our habits, our spiritual practices, and our very lives – hoping to make ourselves better, trying to make ourselves worthy of the love of God. We “step up” our prayer, fasting, and self-denial in order to remove worldly distractions from our lives. And we take on Bible study, classes, and service projects in order to add meaning and depth to our existence. For some children, Lent means no sweets, for teenagers, less time on Facebook. For adults, it may be consuming less meat or alcohol, or attending that Lenten course offered by the Church.
However we go about it, the goal is pretty much the same: Lent makes us ready for Easter. Quite simply put, we are better able to appreciate Resurrection joys come Easter Day by enduring these Lenten disciplines now.
The Old Testament Lessons, the Psalm appointed for today, and today’s Gospel Reading (Joel 2:1-2, 12-17 or Isaiah 58:1-12 • Psalm 51:1-17 • 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10 • Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21) all tell us the “how” and “why” of Lent. But then, there is Paul. Saint Paul tells is, right off the bat, in the very first verse of the Epistle for today, to “BE RECONCILED TO GOD.” Nowhere does he say, “Observe a Holy Lent, THEN be reconciled to God.” Not after enduring a forty-day fast. Not after lengthy Bible study. Not even after prayer, but now, here, today: Be reconciled to God. Paul not only invites us to be reconciled to God, he actually beseeches us. That is, he pleads, implores, presses, begs, and demands. “We beseech you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. … Now is the acceptable time, now is the day of salvation.”
If we but recognize this, if we are but reconciled to our God NOW— and THEN work toward our Lenten goals of fasting, of prayer, and of penitence; if we seek to discipline ourselves during Lent, and make those disciplines into daily habits, we will not only most assuredly have the Holy Lent we all desire, but will come to live a more holy life in general. And isn’t that, really, what Lent is all about in the first place? Amen.
Transfiguration
TRANSFIGURATION:
1. change in appearance: a dramatic change in appearance, especially one that reveals great beauty, spirituality, or magnificence.
As I shake off the dust from the past holiday celebrations, and begin looking forward to Spring, with its promise of freshness and vitality, I find myself thinking of two words: change, and beauty. There is something about that quiet time between the joyful celebrations of Christ’s birth, and His rising from the grave after three days that inspires me to want to clean the cobwebs and clutter from hearth and home and make a change in many areas of my life. When we read the Gospel appointed for today, Mark 9:2-9, we have an excellent example of those two words: change and beauty:
2After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them. 3His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. 4And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus. 5Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” 6(He did not know what to say, they were so frightened.) 7Then a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!” 8Suddenly, when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus. 9As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus gave them orders not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. Mark 9:2-9 (NIV)
Yes, this passage is ripe with visualization, but when we look beyond the glossy special effects, we also find so much meaning. What resonates with me is one word: “frightened”. Here are pious men, who walk daily with Jesus, and yet in the face of His transfiguration, their first reaction is fear. How many of you, when you meet old friends, have seen this same fear in their eyes when you tell them of how God’s love has transformed your life? Or do you see confusion, or worse apathy?
Not too long ago I was relating to a close friend about my journey of faith, and how I wanted to have a better understanding of God’s purpose for my life. During my monologue, this very masculine male broke down in tears; tears of worry, of fear, as if I had announced that I was embarking on a trek into a hostile land, and with no map to guide me. The more I tried to reassure him that I am, and will continue to be ok, the more his reaction confused me. He was afraid for me, as if my transformation was something bad, but then I realized his fear was coming from a place of uncertainty. He could not know how God’s love changed me, and his lack of knowledge about Jesus’s teachings caused him to be afraid. This was what Peter felt, as he saw the reaction of James and John, when they witnessed Jesus’s transfiguration. They didn’t know why Jesus changed, so they reacted with fear and confusion. Only after they heard God proclaim Jesus as His son, did they understand the situation.
As I continue to learn and grow in my faith, and as I share my journey with others, I find my friends and family reacting in different ways. They react with fear, and also anger, as if by changing I’m not the same person they know and love. But if I can only communicate to them that, yes I am still me, and any change they witness is only positive, never negative. Where once I was lost, wandering along a rocky road of addiction, now my steps land on the solid rock of salvation. Where there lived a person consumed by self-hate, now there is a beautiful creature, marveling at her wings of splendor, ready to take flight when the Master calls her, and ready to fly! Of course here I can speak eloquently of my transformation, my transfiguration, but how to share this with loved ones?
Then, I hear that voice, I hear God whispering in my ear, such as he did to those gentleman who were afraid, “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!” And I know He will provide me with the words to best communicate my thoughts to those I love, to show them how His love has truly changed me. And in that moment I really understand the beauty of change, and how those two simple words convey so much, and are the key to a happy life. As the old sayings go, “Change is inevitable” and “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder”. Well for me, I am glad to change, despite reactions from others, and it is only in God’s love that I have truly felt beautiful.
Blessed Alvarez of Cordova, C.O.P.
Blessed Alvarez is claimed by both Spain and Portugal. He received the habit in the convent of Saint Paul in Cordova in 1368, and had been preaching there for some time in Castile and Andalusia when Saint Vincent Ferrer began preaching in Catalonia. Having gone to Italy and the Holy Land on a pilgrimage, Alvarez returned to Castile and preached the crusade against the infidels. He was spiritual advisor to the queen-mother of Spain, Catherine daughter of John of Gaunt, and tutor to her son John II. Alvarez had the work of preparing the people spiritually for the desperate effort to banish the Moors from Spain. He also opposed the Avignon pope Peter de Luna.
Blessed Alvarez is probably best remembered as a builder of churches and convents, an activity which was symbolic of the work he did in the souls of those among whom he preached. He founded, in one place, a convent to shelter a famous image of Our Lady, which had been discovered in a miraculous manner. Near Cordova he built the famous convent of Scala Coeli, a haven of regular observance. It had great influence for many years. His building enterprises were often aided by the angels, who, during the night, carried wood and stones to spots convenient for the workmen.
The austerities of Alvarez were all the more remarkable in that they were not performed by a hermit, but by a man of action. He spent the night in prayer, as Saint Dominic had done; he wore a hairshirt and a penitential chain; and he begged alms in the streets of Cordova for the building of his churches, despite the fact that he had great favor at court and could have obtained all the money he needed from the queen. He had a deep devotion to the Passion, and had scenes of the Lord’s sufferings made into small oratories in the garden of Scala Coeli.
On one occasion, when there was no food for the community but one head of lettuce left from the night before, Blessed Alvarez called the community together in the refectory, said the customary prayers, and sent the porter to the gate. There the astonished brother found a stranger, leading a mule; the mule was loaded with bread, fish, wine, and all things needed for a good meal. The porter turned to thank the benefactor and found that he had disappeared.
At another time, Blessed Alvarez was overcome with pity at a dying man who lay untended in the street. Wrapping the man in his mantle, he started home with the sufferer, and one of the brothers asked what he was carrying. “A poor sick man,” replied Alvarez. But when they opened the mantle, there was only a large crucifix in his arms. This crucifix is still preserved at Scala Coeli.
Blessed Alvarez died and was buried at Scala Coeli. An attempt wads made later to remove the relics to Cordova, but it could not be done, because violent storms began each time the journey was resumed, and stopped when the body was returned to its original resting place.
Founded Escalaceli (Ladder of Heaven), a Dominican house of strict observance in the mountains around Cordova; it became a well known center of piety and learning. Alvarez spent his days there preaching, teaching, begging alms in the street, and spending his nights in prayer. In the gardens of the house he set up a series of oratories with images of the Holy Lands and Passion, similar to modern Stations of the Cross.
A bell in the chapel of Blessed Alvarez, in the convent of Cordova, rings of itself when anyone in the convent, or of special not in the order, is about to die (Benedictines, Dorcy).
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Born: Born about the middle of the 14th century in Cordova, Spain
Died: 1420
Beatified: Cultus confirmed September 22 by Benedict XIV in 1741
The Sixth Sunday of Epiphany – Fr. Seraphim McCune
2 Kings 5:14 (Catholic Public Domain Version):
1 Naaman, the leader of the military of the king of Syria, was a great and honorable man with his lord. For through him the Lord gave salvation to Syria. And he was a strong and rich man, but a leper. 2 Now robbers had gone out from Syria, and they had led away captive, from the land of Israel, a little girl. And she was in the service of the wife of Naaman. 3 And she said to her lady: “I wish that my lord had been with the prophet who is in Samaria. Certainly, he would have cured him of the leprosy that he has.” 4 And so, Naaman entered to his lord, and he reported to him, saying: “The girl from the land of Israel spoke in such a manner.” 5 And the king of Syria said to him, “Go, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” And when he had set out, he had taken with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand gold coins, and ten changes of fine clothing. 6 And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, in these words: “When you will receive this letter, know that I have sent to you my servant, Naaman, so that you may heal him of his leprosy.” 7 And when the king of Israel had read the letter, he tore his garments, and he said: “Am I God, so that I could take or give life, or so that this man would send to me to cure a man from his leprosy? Take notice and see that he is seeking occasions against me.” 8 And when Elisha, the man of God, had heard this, specifically, that the king of Israel had torn his garments, he sent to him, saying: “Why have you torn your garments? Let him come to me, and let him know that there is a prophet in Israel.” 9 Therefore, Naaman arrived with his horses and chariots, and he stood at the door of the house of Elisha. 10 And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go, and wash seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will receive health, and you will be clean.” 11 And becoming angry, Naaman went away, saying: “I thought that he would have come out to me, and, standing, would have invoked the name of the Lord, his God, and that he would have touched the place of the leprosy with his hand, and so have healed me. 12 Are not the Abana and the Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel, so that I might wash in them and be cleansed?” But then, after he had turned himself away and was leaving with indignation, 13 his servants approached him, and they said to him: “If the prophet had told you, father, to do something great, certainly you ought to have done it. How much more so, now that he has said to you: “Wash, and you will be clean?” ” 14 So he descended and washed in the Jordan seven times, in accord with the word of the man of God. And his flesh was restored, like the flesh of a little child. And he was made clean.
I am focusing in on this passage because this is the first Bible passage I can remember being read in a Christian church. I was fourteen at the time, but the lesson I have to share today was very much lost on the Mormon teenager I was back then. I’ll get back to the Naaman the Syrian in a minute.
As a Mormon, if you are in church even as little as once a month, you are heavily indoctrinated. There is no searching of the Scriptures to “see if these things are true.” Mormons are, if they know their faith at all, first rate proof texters and eisogetes. And they beat into your head every major point of their distinctives at every turn. Without giving a lesson in counter-cult apologetics here, there is a lot of pride in being one of the ‘chosen few’ who get to go through the secret temple ceremonies, or to be eleveated to the higher ranks of Mormonism’s priesthoods. There is a lot of ceremony and public acknowledgment.
This is how religion in the ancient Near/Middle East was: full of pomp and ceremony and a great deal of public acknowledgment for the one undergoing or commissioning the rite. We see brick on temples in Gilgamesh’s kingdom with the names of sponsors preserved even to today. It is a tradition that has persisted into our time. I have been in Protestant and Catholic Churches alike have stained glass windows or pews with the names of donors emblazoned on them. Mankind cannot resist making pomp for ourselves out of even simple things. We all want recognition. But what does this passage say to us? I posit that this is a decidedly different message that we will extract from this passage.
Naaman is a general, a man who flies in the orbit of the king himself. He has power and is comfortable with it. He is also required to participate in the rites of state, which bring a lot of additional attention to him whether he wants it or not. But even the greatest of us are cursed with mere mortality. We must confront our mortality daily whether we want to or not. Naaman is no different. God has struck him with leprosy. Now we don’t know whether he had Hansen’s Disease or some other skin condition, but in those days any such condition was leprosy and it was believed to be potentially fatal.
What happens? God uses the lowliest. He uses those who will not get in His spotlight, claim any of His glory for themselves. He uses a slave girl who serves Naaman’s wife. Women were very low on the rank structure of most ancient world already, but this slave maiden was the lowest of the low. And she was God’s choice of mouthpiece because no one would give her any credit in the events to follow except for having opened her mouth. “I wish that my lord had been with the prophet who is in Samaria. Certainly, he would have cured him of the leprosy that he has.”
Now in these times, miracles are readily believed in. The peoples of the pagan nations readily and unashamedly paid good money to acquire them. Naaman goes to the king of Assyria and gets permission to go to Samaria to seek the cure he surely wants very badly.
The king not only agrees (who wants to lose friends and valued and talented generals?), but gives out of his own treasury gifts for Naaman to give to his curer: gold, silver, fine clothes – in short everything the fashion conscious and well employed prophet might want or at least enough money to buy copious amounts of whatever he likes. The king wants a piece of this glory, too. It always helps to look like a benefactor to one’s people, after all. Then he gives him a letter to the king of Israel. But when Naaman arrives in Israel, the king rents his clothes and believes himself to be in danger of death!
Now the grapevine might have been a little slower back then, but it was no less healthy. Political news, then as now, was the greatest form of national gossip. The news reached Elisha of what had happened and he sends a letter inviting Naaman to his house. “Let him know that there is a prophet in Israel.” But wait! Isn’t this the same kind of pomp we were just discoursing against? No, Elisha here is humble, too. He does not promote himself, but rather he is promoting his office of prophet as something given by God and that only YHVH of the Hebrews can grant it. It is in Israel, not Assyria, that there is a prophet. He is, in effect giving God the glory.
Naaman comes. No doubt he has figured out that this is the prophet his wife’s slave has spoken of, or at least he has found a prophet who will give him an audience. He arrives and Elisha, who went to the trouble to invite such a dignitary won’t even let him in! How audacious! What a violation of hospitality! Then, not only does he say to stay out, but he tells the leper general to go bathe in the Jordan River seven times to be clean.
What about the sacrifices? What about the gifts? After all, it seems as if Elisha is thinking himself too good for one above his station! Who does this? He is not only deeply insulted, his nationalistic pride has been bruised. Are not the rivers of Assyria better, cleaner, bigger rivers with the gods of his own people living in them? All this effort and dusty travel just to take a bath? What an insult this whole thing must have seemed to Naaman. He was probably thinking of ways to torture and kill that foul little slave girl.
He turns and leaves in disgust. But once again, it was the voice of the lowliest that God used. Naaman’s own slave approached him and asked him what he was thinking. Would not Naaman have done the hardest thing without question had it been commanded? Would he not have bought and slaughtered a thousand bullocks and sheep? Given any amount he could? Crawled on his knees up some mountain to pray? Then why not go take a bath in a nearby river? Why not do the simple thing? After all, what is the worst that could happen? You lose the dust off your skin?
But what did happen? Well we know that his leprosy was cured and he went home clean. But what else happened? Naaman was converted to the Faith. Naaman gave in and set himself, his office, his pomp, his power, his wealth, and his influence aside. He did something very humble. And he obeyed the voice of God.
This is perhaps one of the greatest illustrations in Scripture of the power of faith and humility working together. So powerful was the event that Naaman went back and consulted Elisha about his job, part of which was to help his king into and out of a pagan temple, whose god Naaman no longer worshiped. It is all about God and His power. It is all about being humble, not holding oneself above any other, but rather submitting to God in a way that holds one’s hands out and simply allowing God to put in and take out whatsoever He pleases. If you have an office, remember it is the office, not the person who is important. As a priest, I must remember that while I confect the Holy Eucharist, it is me acting in persona Christi, not me acting in my own person; I have no power in me to do any such thing. Elisha understood that God heals and he was a mere messenger. The slave girl of Naaman’s wife realized her place and while I suspect she would not have chosen it, she used it for God’s glory. In fact, it was the simple words of human concern of a slave girl so lowly as to be unnamed, that brought the conversion and healing of one of the greatest among her people’s enemies and overlords.
If we are humble we may, like we hear in the gospel, hear Jesus say to us, “I am willing. Be cleansed.”
WWJD in a LOL World?
WWJD-What Would Jesus Do
LOL-Laughing Out Loud
What Would Jesus Do?
Lyrics by Steve Wiggins of Big Tent Revival
Some people just want to survive
And I don’t know about you, but I am alive
Lately it seems that I need a hand
In a fallen world
I just want to stand
What would Jesus do walkin’ in my shoes
Workin’ at my job and goin’ to my school
And I hear people say, “Jesus is the way”
I believe that is why I’m asking you
What would Jesus do?
And as we all know,
Life can be tough
And all that we need is love—sweet love
So where do we go? Well, here’s what I see
To change my world
I gotta change me
Catchy tune, isn’t it?‼
What would Jesus do, in a LOL world? How many times a day do we use modern technology? Five, ten, twenty or more? From the time our smart phone alarm chimes in the morning until late in the night, as we crawl in to bed, checking our email for the hundredth time that day, or reading the daily newspaper on our Ipad or Kindle, the modern man or woman can rarely escape this pervading intrusion into our everyday world. And even for those few souls who manage to live on a tropical island, or in a hut in the middle of the Amazon rain forest, one can still usually find a Wi-Fi hotspot, Internet Café, or even just an almost obsolete desktop pc, running Windows 98, with a dial-up connection (yes, there are still some of those around). So how best to use this tool? Or the better question is this, how best to use this tool to spread God’s word?
Of course, in years past, TV evangelism was seen as a very powerful avenue to preach the message of God’s love and salvation. And it was a great success. Witness the rise of Oral Roberts, Jim Baker, Jerry Falwell, and Billy Graham, to name a few. Faithfully following the command set down in Romans 10:17, “So then faith comes from hearing and hearing by the word of God”, these gentleman, and ladies, reached out to millions of people worldwide. And through their TV ministries, many people who were lost, or had no faith, were saved and found a renewed spirit in Jesus Christ. This gave those who were unable, or unwilling to attend their local church to feel a sense of community, and to strengthen their faith in God, through daily-suggested bible readings and prayer requests.
But in all this, did anyone stop to think, is there a better way? Shouldn’t everyone attend church, isn’t that what a good Christian does? The better question is this: WWJD? What would Jesus do? More than likely, He would approve the message, but would He approve the delivery method? We would like to think the answer is yes, He would, as stated in Mark 16:15 “And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” No one can argue that is exactly what TV evangelists did, “preach the gospel to every creature.”
Now, dear readers, we come to modern times, we who are inundated with information overload. Do you often wonder, “How did anyone ever function without their smart phone, Ipad, or netbook?” Would not the world market crash if you forget to check your email like twenty times a day, or would your brain turn to mush if you did not work that Sudoku puzzle on your laptop, when you really should be working? Do you realize that even newborn and very young babies are now being subjected to information overload, whether directly or indirectly through the inattention of their parents?
This is an article, which brings home this point, and hopefully will serve as a wakeup call to a few parents. Yes, we are on a high speed thrill ride (and no, I don’t only mean your internet connection,) and even the author of this blog must admit a certain addiction to her Kindle Fire.
So once again, we ask ourselves, WWJD? In a world where information is at your fingertips, your children, who should be listening attentively in class or playing on the playground, are now texting their friends the answers to that day’s quiz, how would Jesus use this technology to spread his word? Where once He trod on weary feet, now would He be as nimble to type on a tablet, or even an Iphone keyboard? Would He embrace instant messaging, as readily as He once carried a staff in times long past? Or would He feel a sense of disconnect from his people, and be bemoaning the usefulness of living in the information age. Just as in biblical times, we would like to think He would, once again, be as radical in his ministry, and as the saying goes, “Do His own thing.”
Yes! Yes, that is exactly what Jesus, through the power of the Holy Spirit, has done and is continuing to do. We have progressed from TV evangelism to online ministry, reaching millions of people with just one website, or blog posting. There is no denying the power of the internet. Have not we all at one time tuned in to YouTube, to catch a funny video that went viral in an instant? Now we see this same power at work in God’s people, utilizing Facebook, Twitter, WordPress, etc., to once again “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” (Mark 16:15). Through texting, email, blogs, Facebook, and the latest Android app, the Word is being spread, and for those who are lost, or of little faith, a new life in Jesus Christ is now close at hand.
Now, you naysayers are going to ask, where is the sense of community? Or doesn’t the bible say, “For where two or three are gathered in My name, I am there in the midst of them”? (Matthew 18:20) For some, this would literally mean that one isn’t a true Christian, or faithful to the commandments set down by God, unless they are worshipping in a Church, a physical building. But did not Jesus preach, and speak to His people, wherever they were, be it house, synagogue, palace, or outside under a tree? This is exactly what God’s people are doing today, utilizing the internet to spread the message of salvation, fostering a sense of community, and praising God in many ways, and to millions of people who previously may never have known His blessings.
So in this author’s humble opinion, WWJD in a LOL World? He would do what He has always done, spread the message of love and salvation, and let the Holy Spirit, via the internet, guide his children home.
Abiding in Him
The Song of Simeon ~ Nunc Dimittis
“Lord, you now have set your servant free
to go in peace as you have promised;
For these eyes of mine have seen the Savior,
whom you have prepared for all the world to see:
A Light to enlighten the nations,
and the glory of your people Israel. “- Luke 2:29-32
A single match lighted in a dark room can reveal much; the Light of Christ, which dwells within us, can reveal characteristics and habits we need to change, with God’s help, and transform us in ways unimaginable so that we may do our Father’s will in everything we put ourselves into. The first step to this transformation is total surrender to Christ. That is, surrendering our will and giving all our cares, worries, fears, anxieties, doubts, and feelings of unworthiness to Christ. This is also, probably, the hardest. Often, I will be made aware of a particular fear or doubt standing in my way of serving the Lord with EVERYTHING I have. I pray about it, surrender and lay it at the Lord’s feet, and then find myself later stressing over that which I had earlier given to Christ! Upon realizing this, I, once again, with fervent prayers, give those concerns back to Jesus. I can admit, for me, it isn’t easy to ‘Give it to God’ and just leave whatever IT is in His Hands.
Psalm 55, in verse 22, assures us that if we cast our cares on the Lord, He will sustain us and he never allow the righteous to fall. This doesn’t mean, when relying 100% on the Lord to sustain us, that we will never FAIL, that is to say, pick up again what we’ve given to God. Sometimes, we even find comfort, as bizarre as it sounds, in our fears, worries, and deep-seated anxieties. Some of us would worry about not worrying!
Simeon, when giving his song in the Gospel of Saint Luke, says something very telling: “… to go in peace as you have promised; for these eyes of mine have seen the Savior…” I believe that we, too, can have that peace the Bible tells us, in Philippians 4:7, which exceeds anything we can understand. However, there are conditions placed on obtaining this peace, if we just look a verse before, Philippians 4:6, tells us what we must do… that step one: “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.” (NLT) So we see that it is required that we give up our fears and worries and let the Lord handle them for us, then we are told, in verse 7, that His peace will guard our hearts and minds as we live in Christ Jesus.
These verses hold the keys to living a happy life and disposition unaffected by all that the enemy sends our way. To KEEP the peace of God, to have our hearts and minds guarded, we must abide in Christ Jesus. We must make known through prayer our cares to Him and then with an attitude of THANKSGIVING, praise Him for taking the yoke of oppression from off of us. Praying, Praising, Thanking, and Abiding.
If you are living a life filled with stress – when you lie down, they are there and when you rise in the morning, they greet you – I invite you, as we celebrate and contemplate the Presentation of Our Lord – the Light to Enlighten, as Simeon titled Him – to ask yourself if you are allowing the Light of Christ to present to your heart and mind that peace we cannot begin to grasp. And if you are allowing it, but still find yourself utterly miserable with the stressors of your life, then ask yourself where are you failing, that is where are you taking back what you have given the Lord? Are you talking to God as a friend, a best friend, who cares for you and wants your life to be fruit-filled and happy? God put on my heart and continues to remind me that He wants a relationship with us. Yes, we should participate in corporate worship at church, but we must remember that when we leave the church building God is still right there with us. When the bills are piling up, or we have a case of the ‘Mondays,’ or strife just seems too much for us to bear, our God is still RIGHT THERE, with us. He is waiting for us to present to Him all that we are and all that we have, both what we believe to be our assets and those shadows that steal our peace.
If we, as the children of God Almighty, cannot find peace, then how are we to show hope to those who are lost? If God’s adopted sons and daughters cannot achieve happiness, then who can? When you think logically about it, it is obvious that we are meant to be filled with joy, full of peace. What sense does it make for God to send His Son to die in our place, to pay the price in full for our sins, to redeem all who know Jesus as their Lord and Savior yet still live downtrodden, in fear, and full of doubt? Certainly we should look forward to the life of the world to come, but what about now? In the meantime I highly doubt that God wants to see us suffer in mind and hurt in heart. Only when living a joyous and peace-filled life can we make those we meet, who are lost, want to have what we have and wonder how we got it.
And when asked, we can tell them the GOOD NEWS: It’s free, it’s amazing, it’s Christ living in us, presenting Himself through us.
So I invite you to ponder what it meant to the Holy Family, to Simeon, to Anna, to anyone else in the temple that day being told of or overhearing about this child being presented there. And then go a step further and prayerfully ask Christ to shine His revealing light in you, so that you may see that which needs to be laid aside? What does the Light of Christ reveal that we need to present to Him, to lie at His feet, so that He may take it from us and give us His yoke in exchange? What can we lay at His feet with prayers and thank our Father for the purification going on within us, so that we may receive that unfathomable peace and use it to live the life God wants for us and to serve our Him, filled with the Holy Spirit and unfettered by the bondage the enemy? God wills it for us: for me and for you, let us show ourselves to Him and present all we are – good, bad, and terrible, rest in His presence – praising Him with thanks, and let God do the worrying for us! Amen? Amen.
The Order of Preachers, Independent 
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