Please Join Us in Prayer

From June 11 to 19, the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart, we  join in nine days of prayer to end racism of every kind.

Prayer recited in unison.

Oh, Sacred Heart of Jesus, we have failed to live in your love. Generation after generation, your people of color have been disregarded and abused, tortured and killed.  Dispel the darkness of racism and hatred in the soul of our nation and nations of the world.  Have mercy on us and transform our hearts to love each person as you love them.

Sacred Heart of Jesus, we place our trust in you.

Day 1, June 11

 “We cannot tolerate or turn a blind eye to racism and exclusion in any form and yet claim to defend the sacredness of every human life.”
Pope Francis (Virtual Public Audience, June 3, 2020)

The manner in which George Floyd died is an atrocity to the humanity and dignity that each person has as a child of God. As a Church, we stand in solidarity with peaceful protesters who demand justice and respect for black individuals who have suffered the effects of racism for generations.

As is stated in the 2018 USCCB Pastoral Letter, Open Wide Your Hearts: “Racism arises when—either consciously or unconsciously—a person holds that his or her own race or ethnicity is superior […] When this conviction or attitude leads individuals or groups to exclude, ridicule, mistreat, or unjustly discriminate against persons on the basis of their race or ethnicity, it is sinful. Racist acts are sinful because they violate justice. They reveal a failure to acknowledge the human dignity of the persons offended, to recognize them as the neighbors Christ calls us to love (Mt 22:39).”

As Bishop of this local Church, with sincere concern for the souls of all within our Diocese, I urge all people of good will to seek peace, unity and just changes that will affirm the dignity of all lives, regardless of color, status, age or stage of life. I also urge an end to violence and destruction that victimizes communities and destroys hope.

Please join me in reflecting on how we, including our institutions and families, can be a part of the solution to end the cycle of racism in our nation. As noted elsewhere in Open Wide Our Hearts, “Racism still profoundly affects our culture, and it has no place in the Christian heart. This evil causes great harm to its victims, and it corrupts the souls of those who harbor racist or prejudicial thoughts.”

Asking our Blessed Mother to intercede on our behalf we pray:

Mary, friend and mother to all,
through your Son, God has found a way
to unite himself to every human being,
called to be one people,
sisters and brothers to each other.

We ask for your help in calling on your Son,
seeking forgiveness for the times when
we have failed to love and respect one another.
We ask for your help in obtaining from your Son
the grace we need to overcome the evil of racism
and to build a just society.

We ask for your help in following your Son,
so that prejudice and animosity
will no longer infect our minds or hearts
but will be replaced with a love that respects
the dignity of each person.

Mary, Mother of the Church, pray for us.  Amen.

For a list of resources and prayers to help us on this journey towards peace, justice and unity, visit www.dosp.org/multicultural/blackcatholic/printed-resources.

May the Lord bless our nation with peace during these turbulent times and always!

This reflection could be a litany of the gifts of our community members.  Perhaps you can compose a litany for your family members…

   God Bless!

For the Solemnity of Pentecost, between the extended Vigil Celebration and what is termed “Mass During the Day” there are eleven (11) selections for the readings.

In this reflection I’ll circle through the messages in Paul’s Letters to the Galatians, the Romans and the Corinthians.  I wondered: what would Paul say to us today?  I suspect he would say much the same things he wrote to his audience of his time.  He might personalize it a bit to highlight the gifts (he’d say “peculiar”) to the body of people he was addressing.  He’d speak of the group’s gifts – why? – because they are manifestation of the Spirit for the edification and benefit to the community.

I could hear him saying, or writing:

You do know that to all of you – and each of you – is given the gift of faithfulness to prayer, stability to each other and an endeavor for life-long learning.

To one of you may be given the aptitude of expressing psalmody in musical settings; to another the skills to lift the notes off the page in song and to another the gift of prayer in poetry.  To one is given the gift of sensitivity to the needs of the poor and to others the gift of touching the heart of the weary, the aged, the infirmed.  One may have the gift of never knowing a stranger, and another the flair and daring to entertain the community as emcee for a party.  To one is given the gift of calligraphy and to another the proficiency to write icons.  To one is given the gift of fingers that dance across the keyboard and to another a green thumb that provides food for the table; to a gardener the knack to raise flowers from the dirt and to another the gift of arranging bouquets that inspire prayer.  To some there is given ease in outreach ministries; to others the gift of keeping the home fires burning in internal ministries.  To some there is given a volunteer’s heart with a seamstress skill or a caterer’s aptitude.  Some have the gift of quiet presence; to others the gift of keeping a conversation in play.

And, you all have the privilege of witnessing a woman’s response to God’s invitation to begin a journey in community with us.  And don’t overlook or minimize that you are daily graced to witness each other’s perseverance in a life-long commitment to THIS community and your combined efforts to feed the hungers of the people of God.

Paul speaks again: “There is diversity of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them.  There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord.  There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.  Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given (why?) – for the common good.”

In your midst there presently are those who respond to a knock on the door and others who answer the phones; “knobbers and wipers” (wipe door knobs, drawer knobs and tables); some take inventory, others are “personalized shoppers.”  There are those who wield a mop and those who sweep and those who use the blower; those who run the dish washer and those who scrub pots and those who restore order in the “keep” (cabinet)/ those who are bell ringers, and weed pullers or mail carriers; those who write, those who read and those who watch.  Some “sow” seeds and others “sew” facial masks; some share the news, some inspirational stories and others a “Lady of Guadalupe” episode.  Some set up the chapel, others the kitchen or buffet table or a meeting space.  Some seek companionship; others are happy in solitude – some indoors, others outdoors; some walk the halls, others the driveway and some mark their steps going up the road apiece.  Some like the later schedule; others still get up at 5 a.m. to catch the sun rise while others prefer to put the sun to bed at night for another day.

Remember what Paul really said: “There is diversity of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them.”  “But, what if,” you may ask, “I haven’t found my gift yet.  Or my gift seems to be changing over the years?”  Listen to the voice in your heart: “My child, you always have the gift of prayer …  that doesn’t change … the expression of prayer, the words you use, whether you sit or stand or kneel, the method you practice are all conversations with God, spoken or unspoken.”  Remember the old Chinese proverb: “A Bird Does Not Sing Because It Has an Answer.  It Sings Because It Has a Song.”  

As needs and station in life and health permits, your “song” may change over the years.  Then, change your tune and let the world hear it.  Sing your song with your life just because you have a song!  It is one of the polyphonic parts in the grand harmony of the miracle of Pentecost – “They were filled with Holy Spirit and began to sing in different voices, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim the mighty acts of God.”

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB, Prioress

Act 2:1-11           1 Corinthians 12:3b-7, 12-13     John 20:19-23