Welcome to The Rousing Word!
Welcome to The Rousing Word at St. Mary! Your hosts of The Rousing Word are Cindy Bernardin and Rob Henson. Guests of The Rousing Word are invited to share in a reflection/conversation which is prompted by a reading of the following Sunday’s scriptures. Look for a “Host Post” every Monday to get things rolling. Join the conversation! All are welcome!JUST 23-LINES
Cindy on the 2nd reading for the 23rd Sunday in Ordinary time
available here or, the old fashioned way, in your Bible Phil 9-10, 12-17
There are 23 lines in Paul’s letter to Philemon. It is a simple letter really. No weighty theological issues. None of Paul’s loud reprimands. No stunning poetic hymns. Just Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus, literally; asking his friend Philemon for leniency toward a runaway slave named Onesimus.
This Paul, imprisoned in Rome around the year 63, is coming to the end of the passionate apostleship (is that a word?) that has defined his life since he fell to the ground on the road to Damascus. He has preached loudly. He has written scores (more than 1/3 of the New Testament is Pauline*.) And now, having earned his wisdom degree he makes it all so simple…
There is this man, he sought refuge with me. And yet, I found refuge in him! That freedom thing, it has made him like a child to me. No, not just a child…we share the same heart.
I am sending him, that is my own heart, back to you.
What if that is the goal of the Christian life? As a response to God, who, through Christ, becomes one with our hearts, we go about our lives trying to add more hearts to that communion. We take refuge or we offer refuge and things start to happen. Before we know it we are sending off our very heart…this way and that! That is communion. Every good that we do…every act of self-donating love that generates from our being is, IN FACT, a work of many hearts!
When have I “given away” or “sent off” my very own heart? Where does it go from there?
Click on the title JUST 23 LINES to enter the conversation!
*either written by Paul or attributed to Paul
Not My Kind of Invitation List
Cindy on the Gospel for the 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time
available here
“He spoke a parable to those who were invited”
You’ll remember the first part of this one (v. 9-11). It’s the one about not taking the place of honor at your host’s table. You never know if you will be asked to step down a notch so best to play it safe. It sounds conventional enough. But then we read v. 12-14 and conventional becomes downright subversive!
“Then he said to the host who invited him”
Forget about all those folks you were thinking about inviting over, instead, invite the poor, the crippled the lame, the blind.
Is he asking us all…guests and hosts…to stop playing that game whereby we take turns propping up each other’s fragile egos? Don’t we often seek to strengthen our reputations by participating in this exchange? My own participation is made clear by my shock response to v.12-14. That’s how a parable gets to you. It’s a real “gut-punch.”
Last Sunday, Fr. Steve challenged us to be “a people who gather.” But when we gather it is for the Glory of God. How do we play the role of host or guest? How do we step out of that “repaying” exchange? What does give glory to God?
Click Not My Kind of Invitation List to enter the conversation.
Judgment and Promise
Rob’s comments on the Gospel for this Sunday. The Gospel reading can be found here.Discipleship involves trust, judgment, and promise. Luke is writing to an audience struggling with who is included in the salvation promise. By the time of this Gospel, many people have claimed the faith and the Jews themselves are wondering where the concept of the faithful remnant went! By the final verses of this passage Jesus assures us that many people (from all directions) will be invited to and included in the banquent. We must trust the Lord, be willing to accept our failings, and open to the promise of salvation.
How do you see God’s promise in your life?
THAT “SOMETHING” ABOUT MARY
Cindy on the Gospel for the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Readings available here.
There is something so real and approachable about Mary. She glides through historical epochs,across cultures and contexts, and plants herself firmly into the living experience of whole peoples. On August 15th we celebrate the Feast of the Assumption of Mary. It is a feast day of the Church that celebrates the special honor and place that Mary enjoys in the Tradition of the Catholic Church.
As the first disciple and the womb of Christ she is the pattern of all discipleship. She gets it right. She opens herself to the gift of Christ. She evangelizes even as he is still in the womb. When she erupts in prayer it is “The Song of Hannah” that rolls off her tongue. We call it the “Magnificat”. She sings and rejoices but her joy can never be separated from the suffering of others or from her own suffering.
Mary gets it right. And for that she is first! She enters the heavenly banquet first…do not pass go…do not wait for the second coming!
What is that something about Mary that makes her especially real? Comfortable? Available?
What role does she play in your life of prayer?
Click on the title “That Something About Mary” to enter the conversation.
Promise and Stewardship
Rob’s reflection on the readings for the 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time- August 8, 2010. The readings can be found here.Our readings this week speak of hope and promise. God promises a new life for us in the Kingdom. It has been prepared for us. We have been chosen by God and we are called to react to that blessing. So, how does this relate to stewardship? One of the principles of stewardship is that our giving should reflect our thankfulness for God’s blessings in our life. We can express our gratitude for the promise that God has made to us through the return of the gifts God has given us to manage. Just as the servants in the Gospel are expected to have the house ready for the return of the master, we should have our stewardship ready in terms of how we manage our time, how we use our talents, and how we return the treasure that God has given us.
How do you respond to the Promise?
Come and Vent
Cindy on the 1st and 2nd readings for the 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time
available here
The Church doesn’t read from Ecclesiastes very often; in fact, only once every three years! And apparently the Rabbis of long ago struggled with wether or not to even include this book in the Bible. This aversion; could it be that it is just so despairing?
“Vanity of vanities! All things are vanity!”
Geoff Wood, in his commentary, says that our translation is too mild and doesn’t capture the absolute despair well enough. He translates: “A wisp of breath, mere mist! All is transient vapor!” Life and reality…nothing more than that! But I need to hear this. This struggling believer feels this way too sometimes. How often have I said to a dear friend “Just listen…I need to vent.” And lately the theme of much of my venting…well, church.
And how about this line from Colossians:
“For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” Maybe it’s in these “ventings” that I am given an explicit opportunity to die and to hide in Christ. I am supposed to be dying to all those things that Paul points out further in the passage…covetousness and ill-directed desire to name a few…and I am beginning to think that the only time I am slightly open to this “dying” business is when I am in a “vanity of vanities” kind of mood!
What does it mean that our lives are hidden with Christ in God?
What shows through?
What role does despairing play in this dying and rising business?
Click the title Come and Vent to enter the conversation.
Talking & Listening-My Desire & God’s Desire
The Gospel for the 17th Sunday in Ordinary time
available here
When our Catechumens grow close to professing publicly their faith at the baptismal waters, the Church makes a big deal about giving them two great treasures. All of us are invited to gather to ritually pass on the gift of the Creed and the Our Father.
Prayer is a gift from a God who cares about our desires. God wants us to ask and God listens and answers. The Disciples ask, “Lord, teach us to pray.” They don’t ask, “Lord, teach us a prayer”. So, in the Lord’s Prayer we have more than a prayer. We have a lesson in praying. A lesson in talking and listening.
The talking part, the part I am so used to uttering, is rather easy. I am well trained. But lest it become just a prayer rather than praying, I need to pause every now and then to give my words life.
A little self-talk is helpful. Remember Cindy…get the name right…its God you are addressing…its His kingdom that needs to come…His culture…put aside your worries about tomorrow and beyond and stay close to today…make use of today lest it disappear in all your worries…give up resentments they keep you in the past…and let God liberate you for the work of healing…Let yourself be made strong in love that those inevitable crosses will bring you closer to God and your neighbor.
Using the same model, I do a lot of asking of God. Every Sunday we do that together in the General Intercessions when we pray for the church and the world and all those who are suffering in our community. And it can be tricky. How easy it can be to tell God how to answer my prayer. Then it is a real short-cut, because I don’t have to listen for an answer I already know!
What about the listening? When do I listen? How is God answering? What is God’s desire for my life? Can I get some specifics please? Much harder indeed!
Click on the title Talking & Listening-My Desires & God’s Desires to enter the conversation.
Hospitality and Presence
On the Gospel for the 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time – July 18, 2010 – available hereSo, what is hospitality? What does it mean to be welcoming? In today’s Gospel I can imagine Martha dashing back and forth from the kitchen to her guests trying to meet every need that she perceives. From utensils, to dishes, to drinks, she wants everything to be perfect. Martha seems to be a bit of a fussy host. She doesn’t have time to relate to her guests because she is so busy trying to make them comfortable. Martha seems to be consumed with doing hospitality instead of being hospitable.
Mary shows us another view of hospitality. Her concern seems to be relating to her guests and thereby welcoming them through being present to them. Mary’s hospitality grows from perception of the guest’s wishes and this guest is unique! Jesus isn’t asking for the perfect table setting or a perfect meal. Jesus is on a search for disciples who are ready to listen to the Word and then share with the world!
How would you compare and contrast the hospitality of Martha and Mary? What could they each learn from each other and what can we learn from them?
“there was a beauty in her gesture…”
On the Gospel for the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time – July 11, 2010 – available here
The following story, “A Modern Good Samaritan”, by Richard J. O’Dea, appeared in the March 6. 1999 edition of AMERICA magazine.
Recently I was fortunate to witness a modern re-enactment of the story known as “the Good Samaritan”. I was giving a series of lectures on English literature at Washington State University in Pullman. Each week I would fly from Seattle, rent a car in Spokane and fly back to Seattle.
After the seventh lecture, the airport in Spokane was closed because of fog, so I took the bus to Seattle. It was a milk run that infuriated my fellow passengers, business folks who had missed their flights. They all had meetings to make in Houston, New Orleans or New York and they voiced their frustration.
Soon after we left Spokane, the bus picked up a drunk, one of the worst I have ever seen. He looked as if he had been in a fight the night before, or perhaps had fallen through a plate glass-window, for his arms and head were covered with bloody bandages. My fellow passengers complained that he should not have been permitted to board the bus.
They had probably never in their lives seen such a person. He immediately fell asleep in the front of the bus, snoring and drooling. Then he slid halfway from his seat into the aisle, which enraged his fellow travelers even more.
At the next stop, a town named Davenport, a beautiful young woman boarded the bus. She was tall, slender, blond and elegantly dressed in a long camel’s hair coat. Every masculine eye on the bus turned toward her and the complaints halted. As we neared the Cascade Mountains, the bus became quite cold. Suddenly the young woman rose from her seat, walked up to the inebriated man, folded his arm over his chest and helped him back into his seat. Then she took off her camel’s hair coat, covered him with it, and returned to her seat. There was a complete silence in the bus; for there was a beauty in her gesture that made us seem ugly and we all knew it.
Both the young woman and the intoxicated man left the bus in Everett, seven hours later. By then he was sober enough to hold the coat for her and thank her. Then he bent and kissed her hand. We drove off in silence, forgetting for the moment how important we thought we were.
Click the title “there was a beauty in her gesture…” to enter the conversation.
IN THE NAME OF…
Cindy on the 1st Reading and the Gospel for the 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Available here
In the first reading from Isaiah, the people rejoice and are glad because their long exile is over. And Isaiah names God as the source of this good news. He isn’t rejoicing in God’s awesome heavenly power and might but rather in his earthy, tender, motherly comfort. This is no ordinary God. This is the one God who continually breaks into history to heal and liberate and comfort.
In the Gospel, when the disciples return rejoicing they say, (just for fun read the all capitals in a loud voice and then switch to a hushed voice) “LORD, EVEN THE DEMONS ARE SUBJECT TO US because of your name.” Remember, just last week, the disciples were about to “call down fire from heaven” upon that Samaritan village. And now it seems even more clear that this new power has gone to their heads!
The phrase “in your name” is often used in the scriptures and in our liturgy. Jesus never claims to be coming in his own name but rather he is always pointing to the one whose mission he is about. When we gather on Sundays we start be reminding ourselves of who it is that gathers us. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. And as a community, when we bless, and heal, and baptize; we do so as the body of Christ, in the name of Christ our Lord. Not in our own names but in the name of the one who sends us. How do I go about my daily discipleship and NOT come in my own name? How do I rejoice, not because of my personal successes and power, but because my name is written in heaven? Who’s power is it anyway?
Click the title IN THE NAME OF… to enter the conversation.