May 31: Welcome the Word at Every Moment

Domenico Ghirlandaio : The Visitation
Musée du Louvre, Paris, c.1491

Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Gospel: Lk 1:39-56

When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb (NRSV, Lk 1:41a).

Father, you send the Word to every human being in every place at every moment. The Word brings the gift of your life and the challenge for us to accept it and grow in it in every situation.

With John the Baptist may be we welcome the Word at every moment as we are called to become one with you, Father, and to grow constantly in your divine life given to us in the Holy Spirit.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

May 27: Forgive As You Are Forgiven

Rembrandt van Rijn: The Return of the Prodigal Son
The Hermitage, St. Petersburg, 1669

Friday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time

Gospel: Mk 11:11-26

“Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone; so that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses (NRSV, Mk 11:25).”

Father, at every moment, in every place, as you offer your life to every human being through the Word, you offer your forgiveness as well. It does not have to be pleaded for or paid for. It is free to all who will accept it. But in accepting your life and forgiveness we bind ourselves as well to forgive those who have sinned against us.

Help us, Father, not to reject the gift that you offer to us by refusing to pass it on to others.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

May24: Love God and Do What You Will

Anonymous Master: Saint Peter
Saint Nicholas Church, Studenica Monastery
Serbia and Montenegro, first half of 17th cent.

Tuesday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time

Gospel: Mk 10:28-31

Peter began to say to Jesus, “Look, we have left everything and followed you (NRSV, Mk 10:28).”

Father, Peter thought that he had to leave everything to follow Jesus. What you do require of us, Lord, is to make you the center and focus of everything that we are and everything that we do. To empower us to make this decision, through the Word always present to us, you give us your life in the Holy Spirit. Once we have accepted your life into our own everything that is meaningful to us is returned to us just as we need and desire it.

Father, you have chosen us, all of us. As we accept you, nothing is left behind but all is transformed so that it may be lived in you. May we ever be responsive to the invitation that you offer us through the Word in the Holy Spirit. Amen.

May 23: Choose First the Kingdom of God

Alexander Master: Jesus and the Rich Young Man
Koninklijke Bibliotheek, The Hague, c.1430

Monday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time

Gospel: Mk 10:17-27

Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, “You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions (NRSV, Mk 10:21-22).

Father, from the preaching of Jesus we realize that your coming kingdom must be the center and focus of everything that we are and do. Not family, not the poor, certainly not material possessions, no matter how well we use them, may come between you and us.

May we ever be responsive to the grace that you always offer us through the Word and never allow any created good to come between you and us. May we always choose you, Father, and your kingdom first and then order all other goods under that first and foremost choice.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

May 22: God Revealing Himself to Us

Marc Chagall: Moses Receiving the Tablets of the Law

The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity

Reading I: Ex 34:4b-6, 8-9

The LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name, “The LORD (Ex 34:5).”

Father, you reveal yourself to every human being at every moment in every place, speaking to us at the depth of our being, closer than we are to ourselves, through the Word, offering us life in your Holy Spirit in every situation.

Because of the sin of the world, the combined evil of all of humanity pressing in upon us, and because of our own sinfulness, we grasp only with great difficulty the reality of your presence to us and the Word that you speak to us. Moses and the Israelites experienced you in a special way at Mount Sinai but your truth is available to us all at every moment if we would only allow it to break through.

Father, may our minds be ever open to your Word and our wills ready to accept the great life to which you call all of humanity.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

May 21: Accept the Kingdom of God as Little Children

Jacob Jordaens (1593-1678):
Let the Little Children Come unto Me

Saturday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time

Gospel: Mk 10:13-16

“Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it (NRSV, Mk 10:15).”

Father, help us to learn to become as little children that we may be welcomed into your kingdom. The child is totally dependent upon others for everything. To the child all is gift. We do not ask, Father, to become young again but to recognize that there is nothing that we can truly do on our own. Everything that we have, and everything that we are, is from you, given to us through the Word. All is gift.

May we accept all, Father, as little children and thus enter upon your kingdom.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

May 20: One Life Shared By All

Isaac Fanous: Miracle at Cana of Galilee Wedding
St. Peter and St. Paul Coptic Orthodox Church, Santa Monica, California, 1997

Friday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time

“Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate (NRSV, Mk 10:9).”

Father, there is nothing in this world more than the intimate love that spouses have for one another that reveals to us the sharing in life and love that exists between you and your holy people. Your one life is offered to us all to be shared not only with you but also with one another. Through the Word, now made flesh in our Lord Jesus, in the Holy Spirit, we all have the opportunity to grow in you at every moment by accepting you more fully into our lives. And not only to grow in you but also in one another. One life, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, shared with all of your holy people. May we grow always in the life with you, Father, and with all of our sisters and brothers.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

May 19: The Word is Always Present Offering Life and Love

Coppo di Marcovaldo (1225-74): Hell
Baptistery, Florence

Thursday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time

Gospel: Mark 9:41-50

“It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into hell, ‘where their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched (NRSV, Mark 9:47b-48).’”

Father, over the centuries the religious imagination has attempted to visualize what it means to reject you, to choose evil rather than good. Finally nothing could be worse that the realization that no matter how much we might try to flee you that you are always there in your Word offering us forgiveness and new life. Father, you do not know anger, a human vice, but only love.

That, Father, is the worst of punishments: to reject love but yet to be pursue by it, love always present to the sinner, always offered by the Word whose very being there is a defining element of one’s humanity. The sinner may reject you, Father. In freedom he may turn to evil but he can never remove himself from your presence through the Word always offering love and forgiveness.

Father, may we never surrender to the temptation of sin and always embrace your life and love offered to us through your Word, now made flesh in our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

May 17: One Life Shared with One Another

Nicholas Papas: Christ Blesses the Children

Tuesday of the Seventh Week of Ordinary Time

Gospel: Mk 9:30-37

“Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me (NRSV, Mk 9:37).”

Father, you are present everywhere in the world but especially with us, your sons and daughters, everyone who is a human being. Not only are you present to us but, through the Word, now made flesh in the Lord Jesus Christ, you offer us your very life. All that we must do is say “yes” to your offer and accept the gift of your life into our own.

It is one life, through the Word, that we all share, one with the other, in the Holy Spirit. When we accept one another, we are, through the Word, accepting you, Father. Help us to share your life with one another and together may we grow in that life forever..

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

May 15: Pentecost Sunday

Giotto di Bondone: Pentecost
Cappella Scrovegni, Padua, 1305

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 104:1, 24, 29-30, 31, 34

When you send forth your spirit, they are created; and you renew the face of the ground (NRSV, Ps 104:30).

Father, you send us your Holy Spirit not just in moments of special need, for the accomplishment of a particular mission, but always in every time and place to every person.

Your Spirit is sent through the Word, now made flesh in our Lord Jesus Christ, who challenges us, even from the womb, to accept, in the Spirit, your gift of divine life.

That challenge, which is a defining element of our humanity, is made in every situation, not only that we may accept the gift of the Holy Spirit, but that we may grow constantly in the Spirit who is your life in us.

Father, may we always accept the Holy Spirit into our lives that we too may be created and renewed in every moment.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

May 12: The Lord Stood Near Paul

Pieter Coecke van Aelst: Arresting Paul in the Temple in Jerusalem Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, 1535-40

Thursday of the Seventh Week of Easter

Reading I: Acts 22:30; 23:6-11

That night the Lord stood near Paul and said, “Keep up your courage! For just as you have testified for me in Jerusalem, so you must bear witness also in Rome (NRSV, Acts 23:11).”

Father, as the Word stood near Paul (actually nearer to him than he was to himself), so the Word is at every moment and in every place close to every human being, summoning us all to be faithful to the truth, spoken to us all once and for all and in every moment, faithful not only in our growing understanding of that truth and but also in the commitment to live it out in action.

Father, may we be ever responsive to the knowledge and courage given to us all in every situation.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

May 11: Keep Watch Over the Flock

Claes Brouwer: St. Paul Boarding a Ship for Jerusalem;
Taking Leave of the Elders of Ephesus
Koninklijke Bibliotheek, The Hague, 1430

Wednesday of the Seventh Week of Easter

Reading I: Acts 20:28-38

“Keep watch over yourselves and over all the flock, of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God that he obtained with the blood of his own Son (NRSV, Acts 20:28).”

Father, the life that you share with us, you challenge us through the Word to share with one another, not lording it over one another, but as servants one to other, ready to give of our very selves, as did Jesus.

Father, some have been set aside as elders, others as deacons and bishops, to shepherd the flock, but all are equally called to minister, opening the minds of our sisters and brothers to understand the one Word revealed to all, forgiving one another our sins, and healing our injuries and pains through love.

All this we are called to do, every one of us through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

May 10: Paul’s Farewell at Miletus

Paul's Farewell Discourse at Miletus (detail)
Richmond Chapel, St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral
Buffalo, New York, 1851

Tuesday of the Seventh Week of Easter

Reading I: Acts 20:17-27

“And now, as a captive to the Spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem (NRSV, Acts 20:22a).”

Father, Paul’s missionary efforts in preaching the gospel led him from one place to another, always on the move, eventually to Rome and his martyrdom. To be a human being is always to be on the move. To live in the Holy Spirit, given to us through your Word, now made flesh in the lord Jesus, is to be called in every situation to let go of the past, of what we have done and what we have become up to the present, in order to become something truly new. Every moment of growth in your life, Father, means becoming a new creation.

In response to your challenge, Father, given to every human being in every time and place through the Word, may we always say “yes” that every situation may bring us to new growth in the Holy Spirit which is a greater share in your divine life.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

May 9: Baptism in the Name of the Lord

Jacquemart de Hesdin (?):St. Peter and St. Paul Baptizing
Les Petites heures de Jean, duc de Berry
La Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris, 14th cent.

Monday of the Seventh Week of Easter

Reading I: Acts 19:1-8

Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, in Jesus.” On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus (NRSV, Acts 19:4-5).

Father, we believe that you are present to everyone at every moment and in every place, even from the womb. Through the Word who never abandons us even in our sinfulness, you offer us, in the Holy Spirit, a share in your divine life. You offer us forgiveness for our sins and growth in new life in every situation.

We rejoiced in the baptism of John which under the tangible sign of renewed passage through the Jordan we effectively celebrated the leaving of our sins in the desert and accepted the challenge to live in justice and holiness in the land.

In experiencing the resurrection of the lord Jesus, we came to understand, what you reveal to us always in him, the Word now made flesh, that it is not the land at all to which we are called but rather eternal life with you, Father. We have come to understand that you offer us that life at every moment, through the Word in the Holy Spirit, by your one act that is your being. In baptism in the name of the Lord, in your same one act, you effectively give us, always through the Word in the Spirit, that one gift of new life but under the tangible and visible sign of death-dealing and life-giving water.

We rejoice in every situation, Lord, because every moment is salvific. We rejoice in our baptism because you effectively come to us under the tangible and visible sign of water in the liturgical re-enactment for us of death and resurrection in Jesus. We rejoice as well in all of the sacraments, visible signs of your one, saving act, above all in the Sacraments of our lord Jesus Christ and of the Church and the ongoing celebration of the Eucharist.

We rejoice, Father, in everything you are and in all that you give to us and in which you call us to grow forever and ever.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

May 8: Waiting in Prayer on the Holy Spirit

The Upper Room, Jerusalem

Seventh Sunday of Easter

Reading I: Acts 1:12-14

When they had entered the city, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying, Peter, and John, and James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers (NRSV, Acts 1:13-14).

Father, your holy people are liturgically gathered in the upper room with Mary, the apostles, and companions in prayer. It is the great novena of the Church praying for the coming of your Holy Spirit.

Father, may we always be responsive to the gift of your life in the Spirit offered to all peoples, in every place, at every moment, even from the womb. May we grow constantly in that life as we accept your Spirit ever more completely into our own lives.

Your Spirit empowers us to live the resurrection even here in this world. May we manifest that life in the Spirit by loving and serving one another and may the Spirit bring us to the fullness of the resurrection with you and all the saints in the world to come.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

May 7: Growth in Understanding of the Word

Sir Edward Poynter: I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.
Tate Gallery, London, 1872

Saturday of the Sixth Week of Easter

Reading I: Acts 18:23-28

Apollos had been instructed in the Way of the Lord; and he spoke with burning enthusiasm and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John (Acts 18:25).

Father, Apollos began preaching the good news of the gospel even before he had understood the full significance of baptism. The same is true for all of us: our enthusiasm often outstrips our comprehension.

Your Word, now made flesh in our Lord Jesus, is spoken to all of us at the depth of our being at every moment in every place but it is a Word that does not always find even adequate expression in our conscious mind. Help us, Father, through your Word, ever present to us, to grow in understanding that we may more truly live the life to which you call all people.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

May 6: I Am With You

Joseph Mallord William Turner: Corinth from the Acropolis
The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, 1831-32

Friday of the Sixth Week of Easter

Reading I: Acts 18:9-18

One night the Lord said to Paul in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but speak and do not be silent; for I am with you, and no one will lay a hand on you to harm you, for there are many in this city [Corinth] who are my people (NRSV, Acts 18:9-10).”

Father, during his passion Jesus underwent excruciating torture and then was put to a most ignominious death, but in it all he was never the victim but always the victor. Jesus was resurrected even as he passed through death.

As you are with Jesus in your life and love that you share with him, so, Father, as long as we are willing to accept you, you are also with us, sharing your life and your love also with us. Because of that life, we too can live resurrected lives even in this world. Because of that life, we too need never be victim but can always be victor. Nothing can really harm us, not even death, because you are with us.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

May 5: The Ascension

Anonymous Norman (Fécamp ?) Master: The Ascension
Koninklijke Bibliotheek, The Hague, 1180.

Solemnity of the Ascension

Reading I: Acts 1:1-11

The two men in white robes said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven (NRSV, Acts 11:10a)?”

In the celebration of the mystery of the Ascension of our Lord, we recognize, Father, that, although the Word now made flesh is seated definitively at your right hand, that does not mean that he has left us. The Word remains as always present to everyone of us, closer than we are to ourselves, always challenging us to accept and to grow in your divine life. The Word never leaves us even in our worst sinfulness. We may turn away from you, Father, and reject the gift of your life in the Holy Spirit but the Word remains ever present inviting to forgiveness and new life. The presence of the Word is a defining element of human existence.

Father, we should not dally by staring of into the skies, wondering where the Lord has gone or dreaming about his return. He comes, as he has always come, in every moment, now one of us, to invite us to share in your life, Father, to accept forgiveness for sin and to grow in your life. As we say “yes” to his challenge, may we lead lives with him that are truly resurrected.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

May 4: Called to be Living Witnesses

Sir James Thornhill: Paul Preaching in the Areopagus
Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1729-31

Wednesday of the Sixth Week of Easter

Reading I: Acts 17:15, 22-18:1

“When they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some scoffed; but others said, ‘We will hear you again about this (NRSV, Act 17:32).”

Father, when Paul arrived in Athens, he went directly to the Areopagus, and, speaking to the people gathered there, began to make a reasoned appeal about the good news and of Jesus’ resurrection. Those listening would have none of it. Paul made only a few converts. Yet, Father, when Barnabas went to Antioch, because he presented himself, not bubbling over with arguments, but as a man of the Holy Spirit and of faith, a large number came to believe.

Father, help us to bear witness to you, not so much by our logic which appeals to reason, as by our lives that testify to the transformation that occurs by accepting your life into our own. It is thus that we can truly bear witness to you and share in the one mediation of the Word always present to all of our sisters and brothers.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen

May 3: Tradition and New Understanding

El Greco: The Apostle Saint James the Less
Museo del Greco, Toledo, 1606

Feast of Saints Philip and James, apostles

Reading I: 1 Cor 15:1-8

For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures (NRSV, 1 Cor 15:3-4).

Father, you speak to every human being at the depth of our being through your Word spoken once and for all in every moment. This one revelation is only understood gradually because of our situation as created beings located in time and space and because of the distractions introduced by the sin of the world and our own personal sinfulness. In Jesus Christ, the Word now made flesh, all has become clearer. We realize that our destiny is not the land as we had previously concluded but rather resurrection and new life with you, a life that begins even here in this world.

Father, with Paul may we be faithful to the tradition that we have received while at the same time may we always be open to further new understanding of the one revelation that you make in every situation to every human being through the Word always present to us.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

May 2: All Baptized into One Body

David M. Mastrobete: St. Lydia

Memorial of Saint Athanasius, bishop and doctor of the Church

Reading I: Acts 16:11-15

When Lydia and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, ‘If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home.’ And she prevailed upon us (NRSV, Acts 16:15).

Father, According to Matthew, the first apostles were the holy women who arrived at the tomb to anoint the body of our Lord. He met them there and commissioned them to bring the good news of his resurrection to the others.

Father, holy women have served your Church in many ways even being admitted to the rank of teacher at the highest level.

Lydia welcomed Paul into her home and offered him hospitality.

Father, has not the time arrived, is indeed long overdue, when women should be admitted to serve at every level of life in the Church, “for in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body--Jews or Greeks, slaves or free--and we were all made to drink of one Spirit (NRSV, 1 Cor 12:13)?”

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

May 1: Sent to be Instruments of Grace

Anonymous Russian Master: The Apostles Peter
and John the Theologian
(detail from the Appearance of the Mother of God
to Venerable Sergius of Radonezh), late 18th cent.

Sixth Sunday of Easter

Reading I: Acts 8:5-8, 14-17

Then Peter and John laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit (Acts 8:17).

As with the people of Samaria, we rejoice for the Philips in our lives who bring to the surface the good news of salvation perhaps long hidden in the depths of our consciousness and who baptize us; and for the Peters and Johns who make us aware of the Holy Spirit working in us.

Father, your truth is spoken to us once and for all in every moment by your Word dwelling within us even from the womb, the same Word who challenges us in every situation to accept your divine life in the Holy Spirit. Because of the limitations of our created being, hemmed in as it is by space and time, and weighed down by the sin or the world and our own sinfulness, we often find it so difficult to grasp our true relationship with you.

As we are grateful for those, our sisters and brothers, and most significantly our Lord Jesus Christ, the Word now made flesh, who awaken in us an awareness of who we really are and what we are called to be, may we also, Father, join with them in sensitizing others around us so that they too may see clearly and recognize their true nature and calling.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.