Sept. 5-11
23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
A spiritual director once suggested that I begin my reflection on the daily Scriptures by reading the opening prayer used at Mass. So that is the first thing I did to prepare this reflection. These words grabbed my heart:
"With unparalleled love You (God) have saved us from death and drawn us into
the circle of Your life. Open our eyes to the wonders this life sets before us,
that we may serve You free from fear and address You as God our Father." (Excerpt from the Sacramentary, English Translation, (c) 1973 International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc., Used with permission)
I needed this prayer right now. I find human life such a paradox. On one hand, there is so much love, beauty and joy, and on the other hand, there is so much cruelty, tragedy, and sorrow. Then I think, Jesus, too, shared fully in both sides of human life. He enjoyed nature from lake to mountain, experienced love with family and friends and knew that lives were transformed by his touch and message, yet he also experienced being misunderstood, rejected and killed so cruelly.
In this prayer, I hear Jesus telling me not to be afraid, that God loves me as He loves Him, and that he will be with me always, and it reminds me that death is not the end. The more I know and trust in God's love, in Jesus' constant presence and in the "forever" life I am beginning to experience even now, the more I can rejoice in the wonders of life and can endure its suffering and sorrows.
Being Labor Day weekend, I find myself reminiscing about summers spent at my family's cottage on the bay. Labor Day always felt like an "end" - end of summer, end of fun, end of freedom. Our dear cottage neighbor, Dick Hogan, embodied those feelings we all had on Labor Day. We would watch him get up early, ritualistically bring in his boat and take down his dock, and savor the hours of the day before driving his family back into the city for the new school year. I always think of him fondly on Labor Day. Now gone from this human life, he knows that no Labor Day, no sadness, no death is the "end".
Thank you, God, our loving, forever Father!
Sister Mary Kabat
Aug. 29-Sept. 4
Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time
The Church in her wisdom gives us many weeks counted as "ordinary time" to observe the actions, the choices, and stories of Jesus. We might be tempted to ask WHY so much "ordinary time" in a liturgical year? If we look deeply at our own lives and the patterns therein, we will see that ordinary time has the gift of fewer distractions. There is a natural rhythm and pattern to ordinary time that allows for the recharging of the human "battery", if we choose it.
In this week's readings we are invited to take a close look at HOW God sees differently than we see. The gospel has Jesus drawing our attention to a banquet and to where the invited guests choose to seat themselves. Jesus proposes that we choose a place lower so that we might be invited to move up higher by the host. Jesus also proposes for our own personal consideration, the inviting of people who could not return the favor of inviting us. How does that resonate in the ears of our heart?
Our Eucharistic liturgy is a meal of both forgiveness and thanksgiving. Many profound prayers are prayed, Sacred Scripture is proclaimed, and bread and wine are blessed, broken and shared by the many who gather to become "one".
Those who ate consciously with Jesus then, or eat consciously with Jesus now never go away the "same" as they came. When we think about meals being potentially transformative, how can we see any "time"as merely ordinary?
Sister Carolyn Zahringer
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