Good Shepherd Sunday

We've been way too serious lately. It's still Easter! Alleluia! So here's a cartoon that's a grinner, and I don't know about you, but when I 'm looking for insight into life, I automatically go to the old Sat. A.M. toons!




O yeah. And a prayer by Merton:

Good Shepherd, you have a crazy and wild sheep in love with thorns and brambles.But please don't get tired of looking for me! I know you won't.For you have found me. All I have to do is stay found.

Music and Mysticism : Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992) "Quartet for the End of Time"

At the outbreak of World War II Messiaen was called up into the French army, as a medical auxiliary rather than an active combatant due to his poor eyesight. In May 1940 he was captured at Verdun, and was taken to Görlitz where he was imprisoned at prison camp Stalag VIII-A. He soon encountered a violinist, a cellist, and a clarinettist among his fellow prisoners. Initially he wrote a trio for them, but gradually incorporated this trio into his Quatuor pour la fin du temps ("Quartet for the End of Time"). This was first performed in the camp to an audience of prisoners and prison guards, the composer playing a poorly maintained upright piano, in freezing conditions in January 1941. Thus the enforced introspection and reflection of camp life bore fruit in one of 20th-century European classical music's acknowledged masterpieces. The "end of time" of the title is not purely an allusion to the Apocalypse, the work's ostensible subject, but also refers to the way in which Messiaen, through rhythm and harmony, used time in a way completely different from the music of his predecessors or contemporaries.

1. "Liturgy of Crystal." Between three and four o’clock in the morning, the awakening of the birds: a blackbird or a solo nightingale improvises, surrounded by efflorescent sound, by a halo of trills lost
high in the trees…




Messiaen on Birdsong:

“For me, it is here that music lives; music that is free, anonymous, improvised for pleasure, to greet the rising sun, to charm one’s mate, to tell all the world that this branch and this meadow belong to you, to put an end to all disputes, bickering and rivalry, to work off the excessive energy born of love and joie de vivre, to articulate time and space and join with your neighbors in constructing rich and improvised counterpoint, to solace your fatigue and to say farewell to another portion of life as evening falls.”


5. "Praise to the Eternity of Jesus." Jesus is considered here as the love and reverence the eternity of the Word, powerful and gentle,…
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”



“… in the face of such hate, this honestly Christian man did not ask, “Why, O Lord?” He said, “I love you.” -----Alex Ross

St. Judas

Saint Judas

When I went out to kill myself, I caught
A pack of hoodlums beating up a man.
Running to spare his suffering, I forgot
My name, my number, how my day began,
How soldiers milled around the garden stone
And sang amusing songs; how all that day
Their javelins measured crowds; how I alone
Bargained the proper coins, and slipped away.

Banished from heaven, I found this victim beaten,
Stripped, kneed, and left to cry. Dropping my rope
Aside, I ran, ignored the uniforms:
Then I remembered bread my flesh had eaten,
The kiss that ate my flesh. Flayed without hope,
I held the man for nothing in my arms.

James Wright

A Request

I try not to espouse political statements (on advice of my doctor who is disgustingly proud of getting my blood pressure below the world record) but this Sunday's posting on ADVENTUS blog has some input you'd be hard pressed to find elsewhere. The link to ADVENTUS is off to the left side of this page, under "spiritual browsing."

i am a little church (no great cathedral)

i am a little church(no great cathedral)
far from the splendor and squalor of hurrying cities
-i do not worry if briefer days grow briefest,
i am not sorry when sun and rain make april

my life is the life of the reaper and the sower;
my prayers are prayers of earth's own clumsily striving
(finding and losing and laughing and crying)children
whose any sadness or joy is my grief or my gladness

around me surges a miracle of unceasing
birth and glory and death and resurrection:
over my sleeping self float flaming symbols
of hope,and i wake to a perfect patience of mountains

i am a little church(far from the frantic
world with its rapture and anguish)at peace with nature
-i do not worry if longer nights grow longest;
i am not sorry when silence becomes singing

winter by spring,i lift my diminutive spire to
merciful Him Whose only now is forever:
standing erect in the deathless truth of His presence
(welcoming humbly His light and proudly His darkness)

ee cummings "

Re: Celtic Blessings

It seems to me the Irish tend to monopolize the blessings business, don't you know?
Here's an "Old Scottish Blessing" I came across:

"May Jesus Christ MacDavid guide our flight,
and give us lodging in His peace-bright hall"

Craig Ferguson Eulogizes his Father.

This is from a while back, but I remember watching it that night in tears and in awe of what this man was doing on T.V. His guest that night was a grief counselor, talking about the death of a parent. Mr. Ferguson can be hilarious, but above all, he is honest.



Maura O'Connell: "The Blessing"

D. H. Lawrence: Creed

This is what I believe:
That I am I.
That my soul is a dark forest.
That my known self will never be more than a little clearing in the forest.
That gods, strange gods, come forth from the forest into the clearing of my known self and then go back.
That I must have courage to let them come and go.
That I will never let mankind put anything over me, but that I will always try to recognize and submit to the gods in me and the gods in other men and women,
There is my creed.

Thank You, Sisters.

Personal Moments Around Holy Week:Looking Back

Friday, Week Before:

At a practice for First Reconciliation with the 2nd graders, a student is asked to make up an example of a sin to confess. He says “I broke a neighbor’s window playing ball.”
“Did you do this on purpose?” the teacher asks.
“No.”
She turns to the whole class and says, “Remember, class, sins are not accidents. Sins are bad choices we make.”
That will be running through my head throughout Holy Week. I toy with the idea of composing a litany of my bad choices, but quickly dismiss the idea.


Palm Sunday:

Weather has always been connected to Palm Sunday for me. (Any “Palm Sunday Tornados” or “Palm Sunday Hurricanes” in your lifetime?) Palm Sunday morning was chilly but sunny, until just before our outdoor procession, when the Chicago winds really did kick in. Everything, including the outdoor sound system, had to be secured. During the passion reading you could hear the wind roaring.
Then for the next mass and the rest of the day, it was cold, windy and rainy. That evening, after vespers, the full moon kept coming out from behind the rapidly moving clouds. From sunny “Hosannas” to the bitter, cold “Crucify Him” to the eerie “It is finished”, in one day.


Holy Thursday:

9:30 in the morning: The Pastor, reenacting the Last Supper with the school children, washes the feet of a tiny preschooler who is “Peter”(shaking off Jesus: ”You will never wash my feet!”)He is so small the shortest server robe drags on the floor. The teachers had to convince him only a special person like Peter gets to wear a rope around his waist.

7:30 in the evening: The Pastor, at evening mass, escorts Mrs.Metz (the oldest active patrishoner--- still walks to church every Sat. afternoon) from the first pew to one of the chairs set up in front. He helps take off her shoes and stockings, and washes her feet. The 90-some year old holds her head high and beams with a quiet dignity.


Good Friday:

I have noticed ever since Mel Gibson’s “Passion”, the “Via Cruces” and other Passion Plays down public streets seem to be escalating and emphasizing the violent side of the story. The bloodiest drama seems to be the goal.
I know all about the importance of catharsis in cultures, but I’m just not that into enactments of Christ’s suffering. For one thing, you’ll never be able to show His inner anguish no matter how much fake blood you buy. How about reenacting the “No Greater Love” part? I guess I could get into a reenactment of “Jesus forgives the Woman Accused of Adultery”(all the accusers drop their stones and go home when reminded of their sins.) Or every family reenacting “The Prodigal Son” and welcoming back the wayward family member they have ostracized. If I want blood-and-gore, I put on my copy of “Bride of Chuckie.”


Easter Vigil

Our Easter Vigil takes a long time ----an eternity, some would say ---
no shortcuts or edits, we use all seven readings and psalms in the vigil, and this year some 30 confirmations.

The first thing I tell my choirs before we start the vigil is to take off their watches. For this rite, it’s like time is suspended.[Juan, the director of our Coro, reminds us to turn off the cellphones,too: "If God is going to call us here, he's not going to use the phone."] We move from ancient ritual to ancient ritual, using fire and water, light and darkness, and sit around the Easter fire and tell the same stories and sing the same songs our ancestors did thousands of years ago.

And like fireworks going off around the world on New Year’s Eve, “Alleluia” is sung and shouted from one time zone to another, encircling the globe with the message that good is stronger than evil, and love does not fail.

"Do You Believe in God, Mr. Langdon?"

“Mr. Langdon, I did not ask if you believe what man says about God. I asked if you believed in God. There is a difference. Holy scripture is stories… legends and history of man’s quest to understand his own need for meaning. I am not asking you to pass judgment on literature. I am asking if you believe in God. When you lie out under the stars, do you sense the divine? Do you feel in your gut that you are staring up at the work of God’s hand?”

-----Dan Brown,
"Angels and Demons"




"Credo in, at most,Unum Deum"
------P.D.Q. Bach (Peter Shickele)

Resurrection Fern

The resurrection fern gets its name because it can survive long periods of drought by curling up and appearing dead. When just a little water is present, the fern will uncurl and reopen, appearing to resurrect. This tiny plant has even been taken on a space shuttle mission to watch it resurrect itself in space!








O God, who has given us analogies and metaphors...

"Worthy is the Lamb"

Worthy is the lamb that was slain,
and hath redeemed us to God by his blood,
To receive power, and riches, and wisdom,
and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing.
Blessing and honor, glory and power,
be unto him that sitteth upon the throne
and unto the lamb,
for ever and ever, Amen.





“On the third day the friends of Christ coming at daybreak to the place found the grave empty and the stone rolled away. In varying ways they realized the new wonder; but even they hardly realized that the world had died in the night. What they were looking at was the first day of a new creation, with a new heaven and a new earth; and in a semblance of the gardener God walked again in the garden, in the cool not of the evening but the dawn.”

-----Chesterton




"The Ascension Of Christ" by Dali


This Easter Party Needs More Music

THE PENULTIMATE EASTER HYMN:
I've always wanted to use this for Sunrise Services. It epitomizes the sheer joy and triumph and, yes, giddiness of the Resurrection!





And Music from Our Ancestors

"Shalom Aleichem" played on Ancient Jewish Lyre




And What's a Party without some Karaoke? "Peace be with You!"

"He Broke the Bonds of Death..."

From the Gospel of Nicodemus
IV (XX)
1 And while all the saints were rejoicing, behold Satan the prince and chief of death said unto Hell: Make thyself ready to receive Jesus who boasteth himself that he is the Son of God, whereas he is a man that feareth death, and sayeth: My soul is sorrowful even unto death. And he hath been much mine enemy, doing me great hurt, and many that I had made blind, lame, dumb, leprous, and possessed he hath healed with a word: and some whom I have brought unto thee dead, them hath he taken away from thee.
2 Hell answered and said unto Satan the prince: Who is he that is so mighty, if he be a man that feareth death? for all the mighty ones of the earth are held in subjection by my power, even they whom thou hast brought me subdued by thy power. If, then, thou art mighty, what manner of man is this Jesus who, though he fear death, resisteth thy power? If he be so mighty in his manhood, verily I say unto thee he is almighty in his god-head, and no man can withstand his power. And when he saith that he feareth death, he would ensnare thee, and woe shall be unto thee for everlasting ages. But Satan the prince of Tartarus said: Why doubtest thou and fearest to receive this Jesus which is thine adversary and mine? For I tempted him, and have stirred up mine ancient people of the Jews with envy and wrath against him. I have sharpened a spear to thrust him through, gall and vinegar have I mingled to give him to drink, and I have prepared a cross to crucify him and nails to pierce him: and his death is nigh at hand, that I may bring him unto thee to be subject unto thee and me.
3 Hell answered and said: Thou hast told me that it is he that hath taken away dead men from me. For there be many which while they lived on the earth have taken dead men from me, yet not by their own power but by prayer to God, and their almighty God hath taken them from me. Who is this Jesus which by his own word without prayer hath drawn dead men from me? Perchance it is he which by the word of his command did restore to life Lazarus which was four days dead and stank and was corrupt, whom I held here dead. Satan the prince of death answered and said: It is that same Jesus. When Hell heard that he said unto him: I adjure thee by thy strength and mine own that thou bring him not unto me. For at that time I, when I heard the command of his word, did quake and was overwhelmed with fear, and all my ministries with me were troubled. Neither could we keep Lazarus, but he like an eagle shaking himself leaped forth with all agility and swiftness, and departed from us, and the earth also which held the dead body of Lazarus straightway gave him up alive. Wherefore now I know that that man which was able to do these things is a God strong in command and mighty in manhood, and that he is the saviour of mankind. And if thou bring him unto me he will set free all that are here shut up in the hard prison and bound in the chains of their sins that cannot be broken, and will bring them unto the life of his god head for ever.
V (XXI)
1 And as Satan the prince, and Hell, spoke this together, suddenly there came a voice as of thunder and a spiritual cry: Remove, O princes, your gates, and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come in. When Hell heard that he said unto Satan the prince: Depart from me and go out of mine abode: if thou be a mighty man of war, fight thou against the King of glory. But what hast thou to do with him? And Hell cast Satan forth out of his dwelling. Then said Hell unto his wicked ministers: Shut ye the hard gates of brass and put on them the bars of iron and withstand stoutly, lest we that hold captivity be taken captive.
2 But when all the multitude of the saints heard it, they spake with a voice of rebuking unto Hell: Open thy gates, that the King of glory may come in.

Calvary

“… He stretched out his arms between heaven and earth, in an everlasting sign of his covenant…”



(and the cross said,"You will be a priest in my arms.")

Keep Me in Your Heart

"It is part of the mystery of any symbol always to contain something of the power of the thing symbolized just as it is more than a mere piece of painted cloth that makes your pulse quicken when you come upon your country’s flag in a foreign country. When in remembrance of Jesus, the disciples ate the bread and drank the wine, it was more than mere bread and wine they were consuming, and for all the tragic and ludicrous battles Christians have fought with each other for centuries over what actually takes place at the Mass, the Eucharist, Communion, or whatever they call it, they would all seem to agree that something extraordinary takes place. Even if the priest is a fraud, the bread a tasteless wafer, the wine not wine at all but temperance grape juice, the one who comes to this outlandish meal in faith may find there something to feed his deepest hunger, a new life to bring him alive.”

----Buechner


Christ is telling us to take hold of our lives and all we hold dear and give thanks to God for them, and break them up, hand them over in sacrifice, and share them with all the world.


“Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbor is the holiest object presented to your senses.”

----C. S. Lewis
“Weight of Glory”

The Thorns of Memory

Buechner:“When you remember me, it means that you have carried something of who I am with you, that I have left some mark of who I am on who you are. If you forget, part of who I am will be gone.
“Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom,” the good thief said from his cross (Luke 23:42.) There are perhaps no more human words in all of scripture, no prayer we can pray so well.”

"The Scourging"

(Artwork by Christopher Santer)

Agony, Gethsemane

“It is the long history of the world, and God alone can bear the load of it. Hopes blighted, vows broken, lights quenched, warnings scorned, opportunities lost, the innocent betrayed, the young hardened, the penitent relapsing, the willfulness of passion, the obduracy of pride, the tyranny of habit, the canker of remorse, the wasting fever of care, the anguish of shame, the pining of disappointment, the sickness of despair: such cruel, such pitiable spectacles, such heart-rendering, revolting, detestable, maddening scenes, all are before Him now; They are upon and in Him.”
-----John Henry Newman
“The Mental Suffering of Our Lord
In His Passion.”