Spiritual Communion in the Time of Covid-19

 

In light of the Covid-19 pandemic our diocese has just cancelled all Sunday Masses. My wife's 91 year-old father lives with us, so we had been proactive in missing last Sunday's Mass, as weird as that felt.

As a result, a friend of mine, who is always concerned about her friends' spiritual well-being, sent me a link to the daily Mass available at Word on Fire.

Here is the link to the daily Mass from Word on Fire Ministries:

https://www.wordonfire.org/daily-mass/

Also available on that page are previous daily Masses.

In my friend's forwarded email, Bishop Barron offers the following wisdom and prayer:

"If you cannot attend Mass or join us online, I encourage you to read the Gospels, pray with your families, and join yourself to the Eucharist—the source and summit of our Catholic faith—by making an act of spiritual communion like the one recommended by Archbishop Gomez: "I wish, my Lord, to receive you with the purity, humility, and devotion with which your most holy Mother received you, with the spirit and fervor of the saints.""

Amen.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

 

Yes, Saint Patrick's Day is yet another day of celebration of our Christian/Catholic Faith (along with the ever-popular Christmas, St. Valentine's Day and Easter) brought to you, the whole world, by the Catholic Church.

Your welcome.

Post Scriptum:
Saint Patrick is a saint in name only, since he has not been canonized by the Catholic Church!
Huh. The more you know...

https://www.irishcentral.com/roots/history/patrick-never-canonized-saint-catholic

Friday Joke

Q: How many philosophers does it take to change a  light bulb?

A: Only one, but s/he needs three weeks to think it through before changing it.

Poem Based on Sunday Meditation

God's praises
in the songbird's trills.
His Graces
in my soul He fills.

The warm sun,
on my shoulders.
My sins, the Son,
carried like boulders.

Sunday morning meditation,
Sunday morning reconciliation.

Sunshine, Songbirds and the First Sunday of Lent

 

Today I walked to Mass. As I made my way on the wet streets I prayed my Rosary (I'm an auxiliary in the Legion of Mary and our duty is to pray the Rosary daily).

Even though it was the start of March ("Stupid Smarch," as Homer Simpson once famously noted) the sun shone and its rays warmed up my shoulders. I lowered the zipper on my winter jacket and the air felt invigorating.

A few songbirds caught my attention and I became conscious that they were meant to be there, singing their love song to God on this surprising warm day.

This was a perfect moment, one created by God, and I enjoyed it. All moments are perfect, since God designed and created them all, but some strike us as more perfect than others, either due to our emotional disposition, receptivity, or even basic awareness at the time.

As I considered this event, I also became aware that I had no idea where or how the songbirds fit into God's plan for the salvation of mankind, and that was okay. After all:

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
    neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.
“As the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so are my ways higher than your ways
    and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8-9

What calculus could God possibly be using that would include me walking on that street at that precise moment, those songbirds within earshot (even given my tinnitus in one ear), the westerly breeze at my back, the time of day, the temperature, etc., and my awareness of His proximity to me in the Graces of that single moment?

I cannot begin to fathom this interconnectedness. And I'm all right with that. I just have to remember the feeling of this Grace when things are not going so well, that that moment will also be designed by God, and that it will be filled with His Graces - for me.

Monday Morning Musing on Forgiveness

In discussing the concept of forgiveness, our priest during his homily this past Sunday referred to Jesus on the cross forgiving the Jews and Romans for killing him. It occurred to me that this was, at the very least, literally incorrect. Since Catholics believe in Lectio Divina instead of Sola Scriptura, I thought my criticism needed further examination.

First off, to the Bible! Luke 23:34 (New American Bible)
"Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." And they divided up his clothes by casting lots."
So, Jesus does not forgive "them" but goes out of His way to ask his Father in Heaven to forgive them!

Just to be clear, all throughout the Gospels we read how Jesus forgives sinners and sends them on their way and tells them not to sin again, etc. But not in this case. He doesn't forgive them. Instead He asks God the Father to forgive them.

What can we draw from Jesus' last (human) act on Earth? What moral teaching are we to get from this? Are we asked to walk around forgiving everyone who harms us? Or, instead, are we to ask our Father in Heaven to forgive them? It makes a difference, doesn't it, whether I'm asked to forgive someone (something which I'm not personally sure is within my abilities as a human being to do) or to rely on God's forgiveness and mercy for the Other's transgression toward me.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church chooses instead to focus its interpretation of this passage on the mercy offered to those who sin out of ignorance.

Mozart and Springsteen

(Random) thought:

If we take into consideration musical themes and length of lines, we must conclude that:
Mozart is the Bruce Springsteen of classical music. :-)