Comments for St. Mary Catholic Church • Evansville, IN

Comment on Talking & Listening-My Desire & God’s Desire by cbernardin

cbernardin — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 12:21:01 +0000

Thanks Steve! This business of prayer is a lifelong courtship AND mystery! I once read that the distinguishing characteristic between many of the Jewish sects of the 1st century was how they prayed. In Luke’ s Gospel Jesus is always going off “to some deserted place” to pray and perhaps the disciples finally begin to think of themselves as a group “outside” the Judaism they have always known. How does my prayer characterize me? How does our prayer (Eucharist) characterize all of us?

I like how you put the “advent” notion in the mix. It makes me think that all that praying, little by little, will advent something new out of me. Bringing My desire more in line with God’s. Luke gives us what we need for the “adventing” long haul!

Comment on Talking & Listening-My Desire & God’s Desire by Steve McCallister

Steve McCallister — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 19:59:42 +0000

I’ve always wondered why St. Luke waited this far into his Gospel to have the disciples ask how to pray. They had already been following Jesus for a while; 72 of them had already been sent on a preaching/healing mission; and all of them, at one time or another, had already seen Jesus praying. Why, at this late date, halfway through the Gospel, do they begin to ask? I can’t answer that, and what Jesus taught them was not necessarily anything new. Maybe it just re-emphasized some “talking-points” they surely already knew. Or maybe, it became a question of inserting that great overriding “thy will be done on earth”. That’s the line we often forget. Like Cindy, I often wonder just what God’s will is. He already knew my grocery list of what I think “I” need, before I even sat down to write it. “Ok God, here’s what I really, really need”, I pray…”And my name, to remind you, is not Job or Jonah. It is Stephen, but no rocks either please!” That part of my prayer is about the talking, but what about the listening…that’s an equal part of it, and its the harder part. And most times, the answer doesn’t come just then. Waiting is part of the listening, I think, and just as hard too. And then comes recognizing the answer. That’s sometimes difficult too. I finally, usually, step back and try to think of my relationship, my prayer, as a kind of Advent. I keep hoping, and every day Christmas is a day closer. But it’s so far away, the waiting is so long. And yet, the Lord does come.

Comment on Hospitality and Presence by Rob Henson

Rob Henson — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 14:59:31 +0000

thanks, steve! especially as people responsible for ministry planning, we can get wrapped up in the details. i am looking forward to being a better listener, too!

Comment on Hospitality and Presence by Steve McCallister

Steve McCallister — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 14:08:10 +0000

Bethany was a small place, a suburb of Jerusalem. Martha, Mary and their brother Lazarus (who doesn’t make an appearance in this particular passage) lived there. Previously, we know from St. Luke, Jesus was single-mindedly determined to get to Jerusalem in order that everything might be fulfilled. Well, he had arrived, so to speak, and stopped by to visit his friends for dinner.
The difference between the way Mary receives Jesus as guest and the way Martha receives him, is notable, according to the Gospel. And to me, this difference is all about perception; perceiving the real need of the guest and the inevitable difference between being practical and being a dreamer. Martha is determined to get dinner on the table, a good dinner, and one that is “on-time”. But Jesus’s real and driving need at the moment, is to get his message out, to help those who would remain understand this path he had been preaching. Perception of the big picture is what is important; perception of what is truly on the guest’s mind. And Mary seems to have realized that.
For me, I think, especially when preparing for Eucharist, and working with all the singing and stuff that goes into liturgy, the lesson here is to step back sometimes. I need to see the big picture more. I need to receive Jesus and just listen to him in my heart with undivided attention. Then, with the Spirit’s help, I may truly understand who he is, what he means, and what we celebrate.

Comment on “there was a beauty in her gesture…” by Steve McCallister

Steve McCallister — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 14:19:12 +0000

What a great story….a parable about a parable!

Comment on IN THE NAME OF… by Steve McCallister

Steve McCallister — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 16:24:34 +0000

In my Father’s name……….no one comes to my Father except through me. We are called into the newness of the kingdom, making use, by faith, of that once-and-for-all event of salvation. Just as ancient Israel rejoiced in returning to the new-ness of not being in exile, just as we rejoice in being the new Israel of God (for whom the rabbinic law no longer applies)as St. Paul names us, so as St. Luke tells us, we should rejoice, aware that we are known and called, each one of us, by God.

The disciples, 72 of them, were given an early-day Clinical Pastoral Experience, and they found it thrilling. Why, even the demons were subject to their commands at the name of Jesus and they marveled at that. Jesus, in Luke’s best apocalyptic sense, then tells them to marvel rather that they have been called and counted and chosen. If they remember that, if they practice that, then whatever good they do reflects the Godhead in whose name they come. Whose power is it anyway? Humbly put, it can only be God’s, who loved us and saved us and washed us in the blood of his Son, and who continues to call, and count, and choose us as his own.

Comment on A TOUGH READ by cbernardin

cbernardin — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 02:21:11 +0000

Yes indeed! Thanks Steve!

Comment on A TOUGH READ by Steve McCallister

Steve McCallister — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 00:26:19 +0000

It all doesn’t really matter, does it?

I think that’s what St. Luke is telling us that Jesus tried to teach in this passage. Everyone knows that the Jews were not fond of Samaritans, and the Samaritans, well aware of their “place”, certainly begrudged the Jews. Frankly, the Samaritans being in this story, to me, is only coincidental. Scapegoats, maybe; archetypes probably. It’s not important what group you belong to, or what laws you follow, if all those things are sort of end-alls, be-alls in themselves.
Have you ever listened to how religions tend to talk? Things are constantly being lumped together as some sort of bipolar opposites that never visit each other,and cannot get along, much less meld with each other. It’s an either/or kind of thing: Heaven/earth; divine/human; sacred/secular; monotheism/paganism. One is clearly better, in a religion’s viewpoint, and to be strived after. The other is to be avoided if you want to get to heaven.
The Jewish burial customs of the day, were prescribed by religious law, laws which if not followed, also outlined consequences of uncleaness, among other things.

And Jesus says that all that name-calling and pigeon-holing and separation and following man-made laws really doesn’t matter in the long run. In fact, the opposite is true. Jesus spent his life marrying the opposites together: by his very nature he was both human and divine. He is God, yet he chose to show off his Divinity in the dirt and mud and sand of this world. The highest of heaven became the lowest of the little people of this world.

I think what Jesus would ask of us is to approach our living as more of a Both/And, rather than an either/or. Be inclusive. Come to know divine love and then share it. Be moved, and then show it. Meld the sacred with the secular and by grace help build this new kingdom. Don’t even bother looking back. Fulfillment is ahead.

Comment on A Good Question by cbernardin

cbernardin — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 11:17:00 +0000

Thanks Steve and Mary Jo
Yes, baptized, anointed, gathered together, and made into a motley crew. And then, always there, that cleansing and refreshing fountain of water!

Comment on A Good Question by Mary Jo Bennett

Mary Jo Bennett — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 02:12:19 +0000

A fountain….to purify from sin. Those words from Zechariah strike me. God doesn’t just give us a quick forgiveness but an overflowing fountain of forgiveness. Even the visual is a cleansing one. Start over, be refreshed!