Free Will

 Do you ever wonder why God gave man free will knowing that he would misuse that gift.

There are many answers to that, but what convinces me the most is the idea that God did not want automatons. He wanted sons who respond to Him lovingly  from the heart and not out of obligation.

His love is free. He wants our love to be free as well.

There is a Star Trek Voyager episode that I like. In it the idea  of human beings not being automatons is clearly portrayed.

In it the Doctor decides to create a family for himself on the holodeck. It is the perfect family. An adoring wife. Two perfect children - one boy and one girl.  He thinks that this is how he will learn what it is like to be human and to live in a real family.

Belona bursts his happy little balloon by informing him in no uncertain terms that no real family is like that at all. Families have conflicts that they have to work through. Human beings are not robots, so they cannot be programmed to act the way the Doctor wants them to.

See where I am going with this?

So, he recreates his family, giving them free will. The results cause lots of conflict and pain. In the end, though, it is love that prevails.  It is because of the conflict, pain, and tragedy that real love is able to flourish.

Of course, each one had to choose to respond to the tragedy in love. The tragedy is what makes them see that the only thing that really matters is the love they share for one another.

Yeah, it’s just a television show. It’s fantasy. However, there is a lot of truth and wisdom in it.

In a similar way, our Creator took a huge risk when He gave man free will. This episode in Star Trek may help someone else see why He did that.

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Morning, Afternoon, and Evening

All kinds of Christians follow the ancient Jewish tradition of praying in the morning, at noontime, and in the evening.

We teach this tradition to children.

Whisper a Prayer is a  song that little kids love.

It goes like this.

Whisper a prayer in the morning
Whisper a prayer at noon
Whisper a prayer in the evening
To keep your heart in tune


Then there’s the All Day Song. Instead of the word “pray”, Fischer used the word “love.”  It’s the same ancient idea.

Here is a great article from a Jewish source explaining where the idea of praying morning, noon, and evening comes from.

Basically, it is from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the three great Jewish patriarchs. The wonderful little article from Chabad.org called The Three Daily Prayers is a summary of Jewish traditions about prayer. I can see that the Liturgy of the Hours which is part of Catholic religious daily life is a continuation of this Jewish tradition. It all starts to make sense!  Catholic Christianity that is. Of course, all Christians pray, or should. I am learning to love the Catholic way, but I don’t reject my former way of praying, either. It’s just that the Catholic way is kind of new to me, and I appreciate it more each day.

Our Sages tell us that the custom of praying three times a day was originally introduced by our Patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Abraham introduced prayer in the morning, Isaac—in the afternoon, and Jacob added one at night.1

 ...Abraham served G‑d with love; Isaac—with awe; Jacob—with mercy.

- Nissan Mindel 

You can find this article, The Three Daily prayers by clicking here.  

More on Prayer

When I started to think about prayer in the Bible - as the priest at Blessed Sacrament suggested we do in this year of mercy - it started to dawn on me. The whole thing can be seen as a book of prayer.

The book of Psalms is certainly a prayer book and hymnal for God’s people. There are other prayers recorded in its pages. There are many examples of people praying, both in groups and privately.

You know, the priest gave us a wry smile when he made the suggestion. Hmmm. Maybe he wanted us to figure it out for ourselves.  The Bible is one long prayer - God speaking to man, and man speaking to God.

I guess that’s really obvious and nothing new. Simple and ancient. I like that.

Prayer in the Bible

I don’t think I’ll get very far with this little project that the priest at the Blessed Sacrament parish suggested - that in this Year of Mercy we take a look at the prayers in the Bible.

Well, I suppose the first reference to prayer as conversation with God is in the book of Genesis,

In the 2nd chapter we read the following.

15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.”

It’s not a two way conversation yet, but God does talk directly to Adam.

Chapter 3 records this for us.

8 They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 

Some say that God made it a kind of habit to visit the garden and talk with Adam and Eve in the evening.  After they sinned, Adam and Eve avoided God.  That is what v. 8 tells us.

God was looking for them, but they were in hiding. Sin and its consequent guilt and shame makes human beings want to hide.

God made them come out of hiding and ‘fess up to what they had done.

I can think of several points about prayer from these two chapters of the Bible. Let’s see.

1. God speaks to people. A lot has been written about what that means. He generally does not speak in an audible voice. He has other, more ordinary ways and those are what He normally uses.  I suppose someone has made a list of those ways. Hebrews 1 gives some.

His clearest word to us is Jesus Christ, His Son.

Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son,[a] whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds. 

2.  People speak to God. Sometimes people even try to lie to God, or make excuses like Adam and Eve did. People may as well be honest with Him since He knows everything already anyway.

3. People don’t just talk at God, but God talks back.  That’s kind of amazing. Again, to best get what God is telling us humans study the life of Jesus - the living Word of God.

So, I suppose these are examples of prayer if prayer is basically having a conversation with God. It’s kind of sobering as well as encouraging. God doesn’t mince words or waste words. Maybe we shouldn’t, either. Speak the truth in love. A person doesn’t have to be mean or merciless. We’re all sinners after all.

Ephesians 4
 14 We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. 15 But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 

Yeah, it’s pretty obvious.  

Prayer

There’s a little acronym that is helpful in understanding what prayer is and how to pray. I have heard both Catholic and Protestant teachers use this acronym. It’s pretty simple. It is quite ancient, really, and very Christian. 

A - Adoration

Adoration involves praising God, but it is more than that. It is the heart expression of deep love for and devotion to God in response to His love. 

Here is what the Catechism of the Catholic Church says about adoration. 

Adoration is the first attitude of man acknowledging that he is a creature before his Creator. It exalts the greatness of the Lord who made us and the almighty power of the Savior who sets us free from evil. Adoration is homage of the spirit to the "King of Glory," respectful silence in the presence of the "ever greater" God. Adoration of the thrice-holy and sovereign God of love blends with humility and gives assurance to our supplications.
—Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 2628

The USCCB website has some good instructions about adoration, especially what is called Eucharistic Adoration. Click here for more information. 


C - Confession

Acknowledgement of one’s sinfulness and need of salvation is a natural result of spending time adoring God.


The idea of confession following adoration comes from Isaiah 6, I am told. 

This is where the prophet has a vision of being in Heaven, in God’s presence. Being there made him realize how sinful and needy he was. 

Isaiah 6Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE)A Vision of God in the Temple6 In the year that King Uzzi′ah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and his train filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim; each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another and said:“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;the whole earth is full of his glory.”4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”6 Then flew one of the seraphim to me, having in his hand a burning coal which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth, and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin forgiven.” 

T - Thanksgiving

This is pretty simple. A person gives thanks to God for everything.  Just say “thank you” to God. 

Psalm 921 -It is good to give thanks to the Lord,    to sing praises to your name, O Most High;

S - Supplication

A person presents his or her requests to God. 

Philippians 4:6New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)6 Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

Catholics involve the saints in this as well, asking them for prayer. No, we don’t talk to the dead. God is not God of the dead, but of the living.  

We can ask any Christian to pray for us, including the saints who are already in Heaven. Christians have been doing that for 2,000 years. 

The ACTS “thingy” is  helpful. The order isn’t really important. 

Prayer

This year has been pretty messed up so far. Well, not all in a bad way, but messed up nevertheless.

For one thing, we have spent more time on the road than at home so far. Don’t get me wrong. We visited some amazing places and spent time with good friends and family. It has been pretty intense, though. Some of our friends and family members are in difficult places doing difficult things for the Lord.

Then, for the last month we have been involved with our grandson’s hospital stay and now with his recuperation. This has involved numerous trips to Seattle. He just turned 4 and in his short life has had 3 open heart surgeries. This should be the last one.

I guess that explains why I’m kind of exhausted!  That and the birthdate on my driver’s license.

Now the part about prayer. On Pentecost Sunday  I was able to attend Mass at St. James Cathedral in Seattle. It is a beautiful, even heavenly place.

The cathedral is a place of pilgrimage for this Year of Mercy. I didn’t  complete the series of prayers and devotional exercises suggested in a little brochure provided by the church.  Maybe I can do that another time before the jubilee ends in December.

The people there were very nice. Funny thing was that neither the altar boys I talked with nor the priest himself seemed to know much about the Holy Door thing. That made me feel less clueless, somehow. I was in good company.

I finally found the brochure which explained it all very well. Here is the online version of the printed brochure. Well, click on the word “here.”

While I was wandering around, trying to figure out what I should be doing,  I met this young homeless man.  He was sitting at the back of the church.

He said he was born in Turkey and from a Muslim background. He said it was the first Mass he had ever attended.

Well, not sure how much of what he told me was true. He did have a slight foreign accent in his otherwise almost perfect English. So, maybe it was all true. What made me think he might have fudged a bit when he said he had never attended Mass before. Fact is he was wearing a crucifix around his neck. He also seemed to know quite a bit about Catholicism.

I showed surprise at what he said about never having been to Mass. He responded by saying that he had been inside the church before, but had never stayed for Mass. That made sense. He is a seeker.

He asked me some questions, and I gave my best answers. He seemed satisfied with what I said. He seemed especially interested in knowing what prayer is. He wanted to know how to pray.

I told him some stuff.  He told me some stuff. We had a nice conversation. It was mutually edifying in fact. He said several times how peaceful he felt inside the cathedral. I agreed. It’s the presence of the Holy Spirit. It’s the Real Presence of Jesus.

Later in the week I got to go to a weekday Mass at the Blessed Sacrament parish in the University District.  The priest spoke about prayer. He encouraged us to go through Scripture and do a study of the subject of prayer.

I thought that was a good idea. Twice in the same week the subject of prayer became the focus of my attention. Hmmm.

What will I do about it?  Well, for one thing, pray! I might blog about it as well. In fact, because of the trips we have made this year and because of our grandson’s health problems, I have been praying a lot.

The travel has taken us halfway around the world and back again. It has taken us across our great state several times, and even to Texas. As I think about it I see that prayer is what has made this year great, really. It has not been nearly as messed up as it could have been given what we have experienced.

I wish I’d told the homeless guy that during the Mass, he could get in line with the other worshippers and receive a blessing from the priest. Not everyone can eat the body and drink the blood of Christ, but anyone can receive a special blessing.

I encouraged him to take the RCIA class and become Catholic. Then he would understand better what was going on around him.

Three

 I love  hidden object games. You know the kind. There are objects hidden within a picture and a person has to find them all in order to pass on to the next level. Some clues are available, but mostly a player just has to look until all of the objects on the list are found. 

In some ways the  Bible is like that. There are certain patterns that are found scattered throughout its pages. A person needs to have good observational skills among other things.

Think about this.

Jonah spent 3 days and 3 nights in its belly.

Jesus spent 3 days and 3 nights dead in the belly of the earth.

Jesus was “lost” for 3 days while the family caravan started for home without Him.

At the Wedding in Cana, the wine ran out after 3 days of feasting.

God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit - One God, three Persons.

At Jesus’ baptism, the Son was baptized, the Father spoke from Heaven, and the Spirit descended in the form of a dove.

At the Mount of Transfiguration the Son was glorified, the Father spoke, and wasn’t the Holy Spirit present in the cloud?


Are there more “threes" in the Bible?  Yes, there are. Can you find more?

Kind of cool to contemplate. God’s revelation all fits together and all points back to Him.  He is the Mystery who reveals Himself in the details. God is in all of them.  

A person has to pay attention, though. Jesus said it this way. 

Do you have eyes, and fail to see? Do you have ears, and fail to hear? And do you not remember? 

Matthew 18:8 

What got me thinking about this?  The Mysteries of the Rosary for one. Another is  that I was not paying attention to all the clues that lead to the fact that Jesus has only One body, not many. Things like that.  

It is so easy to miss the things that are right under one’s nose. May God give us ears to hear and eyes to see. 

Why Catholic?

There is a scenario, a little drama that has been playing in my head off and on. In it I am asked by an Evangelical friend, “Why did you convert to the Catholic Church?"

In my mind, the question is not put in polite terms. I can see the shocked look on my friend’s face. I can hear the incredulity mixed with shock, even anger.

The person asking me this question varies. Sometimes it is one person, sometimes another. Sometimes it is a man, and other times it is a woman. Sometimes it is a young person, but never an old person, surprisingly. Don’t know why that is.

What do I respond?

I don’t know where to begin. My conversion surprises me maybe even more than the friends in my little mental drama. It even makes me laugh out loud sometimes. You would have to know more about me to know why it surprises me so much and even makes me laugh at myself.

So, why?  I could give the long answer which begins when I was a little girl of 5 or 6 or 7. It was Christmas Day, and I held a Rosary in my hand. I thought about Jesus being born on Christmas and about Jesus dying on the cross.


As I contemplated the life of Jesus, without knowing that was what I was doing, I prayed a simple little prayer. Since you gave Your life for me, I give my life to You.

The prayer is reminiscent of the Eucharist and Romans 12:1,2. 

A prayer of sacrifice to the One who sacrificed all for me.

I didn’t know that was what I was doing.

Why was a Rosary just lying around our house?  My mother was what many Evangelicals call a backslidden Christian. My father was an atheist.

I could continue with my story, step by step, signpost by signpost which pointed me ever towards the Catholic Church.

The friend in my little mental drama would have lost interest and left me in disgust long before I could finish even the first sentence.

So, what do I say?

Do I just smile a Cheshire Cat kind of smile and say nothing?

Yet the question needs an answer. I have answers for myself, long ones. Many answers. More answers all the time.

But I need a soundbite kind of an answer.

This morning I thought of what seems to me to be a good one. Here it is. 

The Catholic Church is a gift. I don’t know why it took me so long to accept the gift. I really don’t know how I could have missed her. She has been there all along. [The Catholic Church is a “she” - the Bride of Christ, our Mother.]

My friend still would not be amused.

Pray, brethren, that my sacrifice and yours may be acceptable to God, the almighty Father.
[the people rise and reply:]
May the Lord accept the sacrifice at your hands for the praise and glory of his name, for our good and the good of all his holy Church. 

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

It’s that b Minor Mass

Our family is going through a really intense time. Our 3 year-old-almost-4 grandson just had open heart surgery. He is doing well, but is still in the ICU.

The thing is, he has always been kind of given to drama, so it’s a little hard to know how much is just his normal reaction to life and how much is the operation. Of course, he has plenty of reason to be dramatic. He has an incision that starts close to the top of his chest and goes about to his belly button.  He has tubes, IV, heart monitors and a bunch of other stuff connected to him.

He needs to have that spunky, fighting spirit he has always had. He has not forgotten his manners, though. One nurse was impressed that he thanked her!

Why am I sharing this?  Well, I have gone to the hospital each day. In the car, I have been listening to Bach’s Mass in b minor. I drove through the University District yesterday with the windows of the car down and the Bose sound system blaring out the Gloria right through to the Gratias agimus tibi. It was a beautiful day.

See, the Bach’s Mass in b minor is one of the main things that helped me convert to the Catholic Church. Yes, I know he was Lutheran, but that is just a detail of history. It is how he handled the Catholic Mass that matters to me.

It can be argued that this piece of music is the greatest ever written. I believe that.

The Sanctus is about as close to being Heavenly music as we will get on this earth, it seems to me. For a long time I thought that the women’s voices most accurately represented the voices of angels and saints singing around the Throne of God in Heaven.

Yesterday I changed my mind. It is really the ripping bass parts that remind me of angels. Why the bass parts, especially that of the bass viols, that remind me most of St. Michael the Archangel and Heavenly Host?

Angels are warriors.

St. Michael, the Archangel, defend us in battle!  We need some heavenly help.

Well, of course the women’s high voices are meant to sound angelic as well.

It is the bajo, though, that really converted me, or helped to. When I first started listening to this piece of music a couple of years ago or more, it was the bass that really stood out to me. I could hear myself playing the oboe over the continuo.

So, to be specific, it was the sound of Bach’s bass parts that won my heart and converted me. What could inspire such glorious beauty but the Mass? It had to be true.

Why did Bach choose the Mass to put on display his greatest music?  Some say it was little more than an audition for a job. I don’t believe that. Why the Mass? He could have written another Oratorio, but he chose the Mass.

Of course God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in time of trouble. He has His messengers, though, and they are called angels. St. Michael is one of many that God uses to accomplish His will. He has to sing bass, not soprano.

Can I help it if I hear their presence in the Mass in b minor? Listen to it and see if it doesn’t lift your spirit up to the heavenly realms. Get the NY Philharmonic version.

Of course, the Mass itself is all about Heaven on earth.

The Rosary - a few thoughts - 1

This is another post without a lot of developed ideas, just a few thoughts and those kind of random. Here goes.

The Rosary is called the Mysteries of the Rosary. For most Protestants, the Rosary itself is a mystery. 

Why would Christians pray to and worship Mary?  When I was a Protestant, I thought that the Rosary was all about Mary and probably mariolatry - the worship of Mary as though she were a goddess. It was kind of creepy.

Well, now I know that it really isn’t all about Mary. It’s more like seeing the life of Jesus, Mary’s Son, through her eyes. It is also an appeal to Mary to pray for us. It is a very human form of devotion, to put oneself into the Gospel narrative and see it all through the eyes of the one who made the Incarnation possible from the human point of view. Mary’s “yes” to God made our “yes” to Him possible. 

Eve’s “no” to God’s will brought about the effects in our world that we call in theological terms "the Fall." Mary’s “yes” changed everything. If you think about the parallels between Eve and Mary you may begin to see why Mary is so highly favored, being called “blessed” all throughout the history of the Church.


So, the Rosary involves the contemplation of the key points of the life of Christ as seen through His mother’s eyes as well as an appeal to her for prayer. That kind of thing makes Protestants uncomfortable. I know, because I used to think that was strange. 

Why do Catholics pray to the dead?

Catholics and Orthodox used to tell me that Mary is not dead, but actually more alive now in God’s presence than she was during her earthly life. So, just as we would ask someone here on earth to pray for us, we can ask those who are in Heaven right now to pray for us. That is the kind of intercession we are talking about.

I used to argue against that idea. Scripture won the debate for me. I will throw this in, even though it doesn’t relate directly to the Rosary. One of the final blows to my carefully laid Protestant foundation was St. Thomas Aquinas.

Now, generally when someone says they are a Thomist, it means they are steeped in philosophy, natural law, and are just plain smarter than the average human being. That is true about many Thomists. 

However, I am one of those simple Thomists. I have never studied philosophy in any kind of serious way. The one course on philosophy that I took in college traumatized me. I hated it.

So, what is it that impressed me about Thomas?  Here it is. Thomas knew his Bible. He had it memorized. 

That meant a lot to a good, old fashioned and proud of it, Bible thumper. I love God’s Word. I listen to parts of it every day. I read it every day. I have large sections of it memorized, like any good Bible thumper has. Bible thumpers get a bad rap. We love God’s Word, and we love the God of the Word. That part has not changed at all. God bless the Bible thumpers! All of them who spoke the truth of the Bible into my life and my dull mind!

So, I read the first few pages of his Summa Theologica, and I was hooked. It is the most Biblical of all the theological “stuff” I had ever read. In fact, it is like the fountain of all other theological works, since it brings together all that had gone before him, and set the stage for all that followed. 

Many Protestants claim him, even. He indeed summarized all of Christian theology. His philosophy was his handmaiden, and his theology is about God Himself.  It is a very foolish Christian theologian who tosses Thomas aside. It is a very foolish Thomist as well who does not memorize Scripture and argue from that point of view. So, this is also an little advertisement for St. Thomas Aquinas. 


One key Scripture that I could not ignore and that helped in my conversion was this. 

Mark 12:27New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)27 He is God not of the dead, but of the living; you are quite wrong.”

Read this verse in context. The words are very clear. 

Mark 12:26b‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? 

Here is the complete context. Notice this. 

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are said to be alive, not dead. So, you may not be ready to go the whole way and begin to ask  the saints to pray for you, but at least you may be able to see that Catholics and Orthodox do not pray to the dead. 

In fact, we do not “pray to” the saints in the same sense that we pray to God. We do not believe that they are little gods with supernatural powers of their own, coming from them. It is all about the grace of God operating in the lives of His saints. 

Remember the passage about the effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man accomplishing much?  That passage is a key to understanding what Catholics and Orthodox do in asking the saints who are now in God’s presence to pray for us. (James 5:16)

The Question about the Resurrection18 Some Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him and asked him a question, saying, 19 “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies, leaving a wife but no child, the man[b] shall marry the widow and raise up children for his brother. 20 There were seven brothers; the first married and, when he died, left no children; 21 and the second married the widow[c] and died, leaving no children; and the third likewise; 22 none of the seven left children. Last of all the woman herself died. 23 In the resurrection[d]whose wife will she be? For the seven had married her.”24 Jesus said to them, “Is not this the reason you are wrong, that you know neither the scriptures nor the power of God? 25 For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. 26 And as for the dead being raised, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the story about the bush, how God said to him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? 27 He is God not of the dead, but of the living; you are quite wrong.”

I will leave it there for now. Later I will probably post the sequence of the Rosary. It, like the Creeds, is a way of keeping the Gospel alive among the people of God. 

The world changes. This cosmos - the way that the world is manifested in a specific time frame - is constantly changing. So, the Creeds and the prayers of the Church are ways to keep Christians from following the cosmos. They are ways that Christians can keep from being conformed to this world, but rather being transformed by Christ. They are ways, along with Scripture itself of course, to renew our minds. 

See Romans 12:1,2

It is not obligatory to use the devotional prayers of the Rosary. The Creeds are obligatory. 

The Creeds - The Nicene and the Apostles’ - are incorporated into the Mass. Many of us pray the Creeds every day as well. That is another subject. It touches on the subject of the Rosary, though, because the first prayer is the Apostles’ Creed. 

Yes, I have been praying the Rosary almost every day, now, for about a year. True confessions of an ex Protestant. Yes, it surprises me, too.  It shocks me, even. I never would have believed it about myself!

Some thoughts on reading a Catholic Church

This is my parish church. It is generally full for Mass, but this is a weekday communion, liturgy of the Word service. There are usually about 10 people present for that service.

This isn’t a great photo, but I want to use it to illustrate a point or two. See, a Catholic Church always tells a story. Actually, it tells many stories, but all of them have the same theme - God. Everything in the church is meant to draw one’s attention away from himself or herself and up to God.

A Catholic Church is a sanctuary. It is a place where Heaven and earth meet as one. Jesus Christ, His body, blood, soul, and divinity is present, really present. The sanctuary is an Ark of salvation like Noah’s. It is the heavenly vision in the book of Revelation.

Notice the roofline. Notice the center of attention - the image of Jesus, crucified and risen from the dead. Under his feet is the tabernacle.

Look at the objects in the photo and think about what they represent. Here are a few things that I thought about today.


Mary is on Jesus’ right. 
Joseph is on His left. 
Jesus is in the middle and raised above both of them with his arms extended. 
To me, this is powerful imagery to contemplate. Here are a few words that come to mind. 

Balance. 
Unity. 
Beauty. 
Strength. 
Love. 
Self sacrifice. 
Welcome. 

I believe that this ancient wisdom holds the key to the present. The Holy Family holds the key to understanding how the world works and how men, women, and children are supposed to relate to one another in love. 

We live in an analogical world. I am working on seeing the world that way. Everything God created was and is good, and all of it - every last bit of it - is in some way or another an analogy of who He is. I am not sure what that means, exactly, but I hope to learn. 

Now, this is obviously not a very well developed post. I apologize. Tomorrow is Mother’s Day, so I started thinking about the Blessed Virgin, and then the Holy Family, and then the images in the front of our parish church. 

It’s all so beautiful! You can’t see them in the photo, but along both side walls are the carvings of the 13 stations of the cross. 

Some call the image of the resurrected Jesus the 14th station - Jesus alive from the dead, with His arms extended, ready to welcome all who wish to come to Him in faith. 

Now, this sanctuary is not the most glorious. I have a friend who calls it St. Ikea’s. There is none of the stained glass that is in most churches. It’s architecture reflects the Scandinavian heritage of the town. It took me awhile to warm up to the decor and be able to appreciate its subtle beauty. 

No matter. The message is clear. The Gospel. 

Christ, the Good Shepherd

I have always loved the Shepherd analogies in the Bible. Psalm 23 was the first Bible passages I learned. In fact, it was the only one my mother taught me. It has always stayed with me from the time I was a little girl. 

The story of the Good Shepherd searching for the lost sheep is a story I love to tell to children. Jesus is that Good Shepherd who gave His life for His sheep. Such beautiful images come to mind, ones that bring comfort and encouragement. 

Christ loves us. Christ came to find us. We easily stray away. We get into messes. He gave Himself to us in love. We give ourselves to Him. 

Such beautiful simplicity! 
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Here is part of a homily from a long, long time ago. 

From a homily on the Gospels by Saint Gregory the Great, pope
Christ the good shepherd

I am the good shepherd. I know my own — by which I mean, I love them — and my own know me. In plain words: those who love me are willing to follow me, for anyone who does not love the truth has not yet come to know it.

My dear brethren, you have heard the test we pastors have to undergo. Turn now to consider how these words of our Lord imply a test for yourselves also. Ask yourselves whether you belong to his flock, whether you know him, whether the light of his truth shines in your minds. I assure you that it is not by faith that you will come to know him, but by love; not by mere conviction, but by action. John the evangelist is my authority for this statement. He tells us that anyone who claims to know God without keeping his commandments is a liar.

Consequently, the Lord immediately adds: As the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for my sheep. Clearly he means that laying down his life for his sheep gives evidence of his knowledge of the Father and the Father’s knowledge of him. In other words, by the love with which he dies for his sheep he shows how greatly he loves his Father.

Again he says: My sheep hear my voice, and I know them; they follow me, and I give them eternal life. Shortly before this he had declared: If anyone enters the sheepfold through me he shall be saved; he shall go freely in and out and shall find good pasture.He will enter into a life of faith; from faith he will go out to vision, from belief to contemplation, and will graze in the good pastures of everlasting life.

So our Lord’s sheep will finally reach their grazing ground where all who follow him in simplicity of heart will feed on the green pastures of eternity. These pastures are the spiritual joys of heaven. There the elect look upon the face of God with unclouded vision and feast at the banquet of life for ever more.

Beloved brothers, let us set out for these pastures where we shall keep joyful festival with so many of our fellow citizens. May the thought of their happiness urge us on! Let us stir up our hearts, rekindle our faith, and long eagerly for what heaven has in store for us. To love thus is to be already on our way. No matter what obstacles we encounter, we must not allow them to turn us aside from the joy of that heavenly feast. Anyone who is determined to reach his destination is not deterred by the roughness of the road that leads to it. Nor must we allow the charm of success to seduce us, or we shall be like a foolish traveler who is so distracted by the pleasant meadows through which he is passing that he forgets where he is going.

RESPONSORY See John 10:14, 15; 1 Corinthians 5:7

The Good Shepherd who laid down his life for his sheep has risen from the dead.
— For the sake of the flock he willingly suffered death, alleluia.